Rio Waterborne

=This tribute belongs to The Wayward Daughter=

"If I'm going down, I'm going down swinging. So take your best shot, because all you'll be shooting at is fire. - Rio about herself

Basic Information=

Full Name: Rio Ashlynn Waterborne

Age: 16

District: 14 (4, 2, Capitol, 1, 5)

Height: 5'4

Alignment: True Neutral

Weapons: Rio's specialty weapon is a spatha, a type of Roman cavalry sword which Rio is an expert at using underwater to stab her opponents both above water and under water. Her secondary weapon would be a harpoon, followed by a gladius, a roman short sword.

Appearance: Rio has dark red hair cut in a bob style that falls just above her neck. She has warm, green eyes that can seem aggressive and welcoming at the same time. For her age, Rio is rather petite and short, standing at 5'4, but this allows her to be more aerodynamic in the water.

Allies: Rio would most likely ally with the Careers alliance, since she is from a Career District.

Personal Traits= Personality: If someone were to describe Rio in one word, it would be plucky. Rio's a brave girl who can act bold and fiery, but she's not afraid to stand up against her enemies, whether it's to prove a point or simply to fight for what she believes is right. She's rather outspoken and tries to hide her fear, but just can't always do it.

Strengths: Rio is an amazing swimmer, having the capability to hold her breath underwater for just over five minutes. As well, growing up in District 14, Rio's had some training in taming mutations. She's also very skilled in combat, both above water and underwater.

Weaknesses: Rio is terrible at identifying plants and has a hard time climbing trees since she was trained to be a fish, not a mammal. As well, Rio has a hard time being stealthy because she'd rather confront an enemy rather than sneak up on them.

Fears: Rio is fearful of legitimate land animals because she's convinced that such an animal can easily kill her, while a mutation is something that isn't quite real. As well, Rio is scared of being stuck in a tree.

Backstory= It had been a hard pregnancy for Kalanni Waterborne, as she had been carrying twins in her womb for nine months at this point. Today was the day when she would sit in the ocean with her fellow Waterborne relatives as they all were preparing to give birth to mighty warriors of the water. As the day began, all of the relatives gave birth to their children, as Kalanni gave birth to fraternal twins before the parents sat in the water and waited as their children started to battle for their lives and their lungs.

Eventually, there was a child here or there that would pop up in the water, dead from overcapacity of water. One of those children that day was one of Kalanni's twins, a baby boy. Kalanni had tried to reach into the ocean to grab her once alive son, but one of the male relatives shot her through the head and killed her dead as her blood stained the water. This bloody water would be the very first thing that Rio ever sees in her life and the cruel consequences that come to standing up to your enemies. As Kalanni's story abrupted ended, Rio's story was just beginning.

After Kalanni's death, all of the surviving children were immediately pulled out of the water and given to their parents. Rio, however, was given to her father Murphy, who would grow to love and care for his precious daughter. But he never forgot Kalanni's death and instead of raising Rio in the luxury of District 4, he instead abandoned the Waterborne family and moved to District 14, the land of wild mutations. It was in this land that Murphy would raise his daughter from inquisitive toddler to open-minded child to a plucky adolescent.

Everyday, Murphy would take his daughter swimming in a lake not far from their house. Day by day, Rio would be able to hold her breath underwater for a little longer. Once Rio could hold her breath underwater for two and half minutes, her father started to teach her underwater combat while continuing to work on holding her breath for longer. Despite the training, Murphy would always make room for some fun time in the water, mostly spent with Rio splashing him. At the age of twelve, Rio became an expert in underwater combat, and she and her father decided that Rio would move into the Career Academy where she would continue her training, but at a different level.

So, Rio made herself at home in the Career Academy practicing one on one sword combat with other members of the academy and learning new weapon skills like how to use a gladius and a harpoon. A part of the Career training at the District 14 Academy included learning about mutations, how to tell the difference between them and practicing how to tame them. Over her first few months at the Academy, Rio learned that the Careers there all acted like one big family, despite the little competitions between each of the protégées, because they all figured that one day in the games, each pupil would be part of a Career alliance, like a unit working together to win.

Of course, there was always threats to the system. One day, a snotty girl named Candice who clearly moved from District 1 enrolled in the Academy and arrived as everyone else was training. Candice, being used to having all eyes on her for attention, got disappointed and started making a fuss and made a cruel plan for the Academy. Candice got a hold of various poisonous snakes and other aggressive animals and let them loose throughout the entire academy. When the District 14 kids arrived in the Academy, they became freaked at the attacking creatures and started screaming (and yes, this included 18 year old boys with six-packs screaming at tarantulas). Rio, now around age 14, spotted Candice laughing in the corner at the entire academy. Out of pure fire, Rio charged the District 1 girl and placed a blade across her throat.

"One more laugh from that mouth, and you won't be able to laugh anymore." Rio proclaimed Candice, pure fury in her voice.

Candice simply laughed at her. "You're a puny 14 year old who's just over five feet tall. How can I take that threat seriously?"

Candice's words stung in Rio. "If you aren't going to take me seriously, then I'll let the professors give you a piece of their mind.. unless you'd prefer to duel me underwater."

"You know my answer you little runt." Candice smirked. "Duel. I''l teach you a lesson before you can scream for your parents."

Rio kept ignoring Candice's comments as she grabbed a gladius, then dove into the water with Candice. The prissy girl made the first move and charged Rio above, but Rio dove under and tackled the girl, knocking her underwater. Before Candice could recoil, Rio socked her in the face, then pushed her against a wall and started to choke her. It was at this point that Rio had a flashback to her mom's death and seeing the blood in the water. Rio eventually let go of Candice and let her recoil to the surface as Rio swam up on her own. The little group that watched the duel were happy for Rio, showing a snobby girl that a fiery redhead just over five feet tall could give her enemies hell. Candice ended up volunteering for the games that year, and died by being drowned by a Career tribute.

Over the next two years, Rio kept fine tuning her skills, practicing them to perfection. At the age of sixteen, Rio decided to volunteer, and did just that, taking the place of a little girl that looked too innocent to be in the games. Rio felt ready to take on any tribute in the games and bring home honor, but was Panem ready for Rio? Inspiration=

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