Russell Steele
Name: Russell "Russ" Steele
Gender: Male
Age: 19
Rank: Recruit
Personality: Level-headed, Russell is a very stable person. He thinks things through, and, at times, can be seen as a sort of leader. However, if he is to be considered anything, he is more of a second-in-command. He prefers to hang to the back, give his ideas, and then step in to enforce whatever commands he has been given. It is a very rare occurrence when he will completely disobey whatever he is told to do.
Russ is friendly enough, but rarely considers a person a friend until he knows a fair bit about them, and will likely be reluctant to reveal much about his past until they have given him enough to trust them. He almost has a complete refusal to be romantically involved with anyone and will usually bristle slightly if anyone dares to approach him in any such manner.
As for habits, Russ taps on his legs in cadences, sometimes whistling or singing as an accompanist. If someone (rudely) informs him that he is being an annoyance, he will usually persist or find the exact thing about it that annoys them the most and proceed to wheedle at them. Polite requests are accepted and met.
History: Russell was born an only child. He was raised in the hopes that he might show an aptitude for some talent, but the only thing that was ever apparent was music. From a young age, any music the boy could make, he proceeded to do so. Rhythmic tapping around the house and singing were common.
This talent was, however, not what he wanted to live off of, if such a thing was even possible. He was told stories of the Wolfriders and became enamored with the idea of joining their ranks. Soon, the natural rhythm took way into stick fights or roughhousing with any other children he met. While they banged away with chaotic, nonsensical moves, he drew them into a pattern.
When he turned 14, he began pestering his parents to enroll him in the Academy. For the first time in his life, he begged, pleaded, until they gave into his demands. At first, he seemed to think that he could cruise through his work. When he was threatened to be sent home, the boy cracked down on himself.
Russ became engrossed in his studies, accepting very few people into his life that were not a necessity. One of these people was Eliza. A year younger than he, his fellow recruit was just as eager to learn as he was, and the two became fast friends. In a few years time, when he was sixteen, the pair began dating, and Russ was convinced that he had found true love. For two years, Eliza was his world, his song, his purpose and he would have been content to live in an unhappy situation just so that she was there to brighten his day.
A few weeks after she turned seventeen, Eliza disappeared. Russ frantically searched through the Academy, tore through, until the letter arrived for him from The City. Eliza had left, discovering a pregnancy and thinking him unwilling for her. She told him to stay where he was, that, even if he found her, it wouldn't change anything.
Russ buried himself back in his studies, becoming increasingly detached. He stopped singing, stopped tapping even when he was alone. The only time anything could be seen that seemed to be emotion was during physical trials, deep anger that never seemed to be directed at whatever he faced. One day, shortly after he turned nineteen, Russ picked up a stick he found and began to hit at the air. Eventually, tears began to roll down his face, he flung the tool as far as he could, and he began to cry.
He's returned to being his mostly normal self at this point; his emotions have returned to being existent. Mentions of quitting, leaving, or anything that implies abandonment makes him wince in remembrance, but, if he holds any anger any more, it's not very present.
