The 'shapeshifters' live in a modern world where everything is how you would expect... except living amongst humans are rare individuals who can shapeshift into a single animal. These people used to be incredibly common, and arguably more-so than powerless humans. In fact, humans were the defect result on shapeshifter offspring being mutated to not have that special power that makes them what they are. In time, as technology became more prevalent, the magic inside shifters was losing its touch with nature. The industrial revolution was the cause for a drastic decrease in shifter population. Most – if not all offspring born in these cities around this time – were born without the power. Born human.

In time, humans started breeding together and had started to separate themselves from their shifter cousins. Started spreading rumours about these animalistic beings. Not all good, not all negative either. Humans were particularly biased towards their safety over anything else, believing shifters to be dangerous. They weren’t entirely wrong, as there had been too many incidents where those with more predator-like instincts would hunt things they shouldn’t. Those who could transform into an animal were often attacked with weapons if they got too close to human cities, and murders of such creatures were kept silent. Shifters eventually retreated to more natural areas such as forests, deserts – anywhere their animal felt most at home, to avoid conflict, but their numbers dwindled in time.

If you read a book you might see traces of shifters, stories told throughout history. Werewolves are the most well known – stories woven from incidents with packs of wolf shifters getting too close to civilisation and preying on livestock. In time, as people grew and developed, shifters started to crawl back into the spotlight. Recently in the more modern era, shifters have become more accepted and a lot of the population have moved into the cities to blend in with humans and to do human things such as school, work, and participate in activities like going to fairs. Some preferred to stay ‘wild’, staying in nature where their instincts and senses were at their highest.

It’s still a shock to most seeing a shifter in person. They’re not as common as they used to be, with one out of a hundred being different. However, if you know one – it's likely you’ll meet a lot more, especially with those who’s animals prefer to be in packs of it’s own kind. For example, a meerkat might seek out others – regardless of the animal – to feel safe.

Shapeshifters themselves are quite easy to spot. Before puberty, it’s unknown whether a child of shifter parents will have the power as they resemble normal humans. Once they start to develop, if they do possess it, they will experience their first shift. Upon transforming back, they tend to retain an aspect of their animal self. Whether it be animal ears, a tail, a patch of scales, skin patterning, light webbing, slit pupils, fangs, or even small wings - just to name a few. Ears are the most commonly seen, and those with wings cannot use them in their human forms and they usually don't appear any larger than small growths. Scientists who have been studying the species for years don't know why 50% of the shifter population retain ears, but they suspect it might have something to do with human ears and animalistic ears being in two different areas of the skull, making it hard to switch back. Of course, it's just a theory, and a weak one at that as they can't seem to find evidence to back it up - outside the fact that it is usually mammals that end up with this feature, such as felines or canines.

What animal someone can transform into usually 100% relies on their family tree, which has ties to the animal’s natural environment. One of your parents may be American with the ability to transform into a chipmunk, and your other may be living in America, but is Australian, with the ability to turn into an Echidna. Despite living in America, you may be born as an Echidna, as you are inheriting the animal from one of your parents. In rare cases, you may inherit an animal from a grandparent or great-grandparent, but it is more common to receive a power directly from either of your parents.
It is incredibly rare and almost unheard of, but a very select few of the billions of population may come from an untainted bloodline, and have the ability to transform into a mythical being – most of which are extinct. In medieval times, these creatures were the only ones able to rule kingdoms. There are only three known families today who have this ability, the dragons, gryphons, and kirins. The others, such as unicorns, eventually died out due to the bloodline being tainted... and from being hunted. Anyone that isn’t of a mythical roots who has offspring with someone who is can know for certain that their young will not have that ability. These people today still somehow maintain their high status, but in other ways. Family members are usually in professions such as acting, and have a lot of money to their names.

More to be written.