Riocard Keâts

[Deleted]

Original

Name:
Xavier Riocard Keâts

Age: 29
Gender: Male.
Species: Half-human, half-Karlaithyan.
Planet of Origin: Earth.
Occupation: (Self-proclaimed) Adventurer!

Physical Description: Rio's appearance isn't particularly exciting. He's 188 centimeters (6'1ish) tall. His body build is more reminiscent of a girl than a sturdy muscular man. He has a slender waist and legs. His fingers are long and slim – “piano fingers”. He weighs about average for height; 63 kilos (141 pounds). He has a pointed jaw line and a 'dimpled' grin. The dimple is actually a scar resulting from a fight when he was ten. He has a vague tan and some light freckles scattering around his face. He’s got several scars on his stomach from being stabbed and shot.

The only Karlaithyan trait he has is his bright green eyes. His dark brown hair he received from his father. His hair is usually swept to the side and unbrushed. He tries to keep it short but oftentimes he has trouble keeping his hair maintained due to his travels. He has a light French accent when he's speaking English. Although he has been known to speak with a heavy accent when playing dumb - something he does quite often to get himself out of trouble. Who would ever expect a Frenchman of causing trouble, non?

His clothing choices are generally limited to what he can carry his messenger bag. He has a few dress shirts, several pairs of jeans, scarves, and ties. He doesn't like to wear his ties or scarves too tight because he has problems with things touching his neck. He has become rather fond of suspenders, but he rarely wears them. He wears various hats depending on the situation and location.

Personality: Rio's got enough personality to spare. He isn't exactly what you would call 'rebellious', but if he believes that the authority is doing something wrong he won't rest until he's fixed it. He has an adventurer's spirit, something that he developed from his parents (although he doesn't know his mother). He isn't good at maintaining friendships because he's never in one place for very long, but he tends to leave a mostly good impression on a person. Well, unless he's trying to overthrow a government that the person believes in. Despite his go-go-go nature, he can take time to listen to what is bothering a person, and he finds that people usually trust him. And sometimes he even gets chocolate.

He's a little too decisive. Rio's calculating mind often makes decisions quickly and he acts without thinking twice about his decision. His one rule in life is to trust your first instinct. He's not the textbook example of 'brave'. His only bravery comes from his blind faith in his plans. In his defense, however, things usually fall into place. He doesn't lack in confidence, but there are moments when he reflects on his past failures. There were things in his past that he moved on from, but they were things he'd never forgive himself for.

Rio is cheerful and a generally optimistic man. He can find the bright side in any situation. He's a forgiving person to everybody. And although he does forgive people, it doesn't mean that they automatically go back into Rio's good graces. There's a vast difference between not holding a grudge against somebody and calling them over for pizza. That being said, it's very hard to get into Rio's bad side. He doesn't like unfair laws or those who take advantage of others.

He's a very enthusiastic and friendly person. Rio likes to keep himself busy so that he doesn't have time to reflect inwardly. When he's not busy he tends to withdraw into himself and, quite honestly, he doesn't like what he finds. He finds that there's... something missing. A thirst that can't be quenched and it bothers him. There's something from his life that he's missing, and he feels bitter about the mystery.

He doesn't like to admit it, but he's actually afraid of a lot of things. He’s prone to panic attacks and gets anxious easily. He’s got a crippling case of claustrophobia – he either shuts down completely or he reacts violently in enclosed spaces, slamming himself around and clawing at doors or windows. He’s severely afraid of narrow places and dead-ends. He’s got a phobia of guns. When exposed to any of these fears, Rio normally has intense anxiety and flashbacks to his violent past and begins to feel betrayed or tricked. These reactions make him feel ashamed and crazy, so he covers it up with sheer enthusiasm.

History: Where to even begin to start describing his history? Well, he was born on a sunny afternoon - the fourth of August - in Cap-d'Ail, France. His father, a human by the name of Tomaz, was the boy's sole care-giver. His mother was a Karlaithyan - a physically weak and small species - and had died during childbirth. Tomaz decided that it was better for Riocard not to know of his alien nature; this was the reason that Rio was clueless to his heritage. In a time of evil robots and strange men with screwdrivers, it was downright dangerous to be an alien. So Rio was raised to believe he was a normal little boy with very pretty and unique eyes. That was all.

Tomaz was an avid explorer. He often took his small son out on hikes, sailing trips, and the boy's first zip lining experience took place when he was eight. Rio had a thirst for adventure, and Tomaz was the equivalent of a Gatorade. They traveled the world together - from Paris to London to sailing to the shores of Kiribati. They found adventures wherever they went; whether it be a torn sail while they were on a boat, or an aggressive person they crossed paths with. But no matter what, Tomaz protected Rio at the cost of his own health.

The first time Rio was exposed to an unfair law was when a woman was punished for trying to see a doctor without her husband. It turned out that she didn't have a husband, and she was gravely ill with an infection she got when she had cut her foot on accident. His father had argued with the officials in angry Arabic while Rio clumsily mended the woman in secret. He was only eleven years old so his first aid skills weren't as fantastic as the doctor's would have been. But she lived, and Rio was happy about that. After that incident Tomaz taught Rio about medicine and first aid. Since then he was a make-shift medic for his father, himself, and other people that were in need of healing.

The two did some things that weren't exactly legal to fix things that were wrong. Rio had once asked whether they were really helping the world, or if there efforts were in vain. It seemed as though all the terror and bad things were happening in Great Britain or the Americas, and not in a shabby little hut in Afro-Asia. His father had led him outside and waved a hand around to the suffering children, the invisible people who were starving and being forced into free labor. Tomaz had then asked if what was happening there could ever be worse; people were ignoring their own species. The entire planet was just fighting with itself.

Rio didn't question what they were doing after that. Instead he focused on trying to make people's lives better by smuggling them out of their country so that they could live somewhere safer and be happier. Whole families and villages hid at the bottom of their boats on the journey to a better life. He was fourteen at the time - and he was sure that even if the families weren't successful in their new homes, they were at least safer - so how could they not be happier? He practically lived for the amazement the refugees displayed when being dropped off in the new country.

He and his father visited Russia when Rio was ten years old. He’d been born amidst a plague, but neither Rio nor Tomaz had given the plague much attention. By the time he was born there had already been vaccines created and only poor countries were still infected. Tomaz and Rio had come across a house burning down – an arsonist who decided to take action into his own hands to cut off the plague completely. The parents died in the fire, but Rio and his father had gotten the children out. His father left with the children but Rio snuck away, trying to attack the arsonist. But a mysterious red-haired woman who had known his name had protected him, telling him that one day he was going to go on a great adventure. But he was incredibly stubborn. The arsonist put him on the brink of death, and Rio didn’t remember much after that until he woke up in his father’s arms. The mysterious ginger kissed his forehead and smiled at his papa before disappearing in some weird… disappear-y thing.

No matter how hard Rio pressed, his father refused to tell him who the girl was.

When he was seventeen he asked his father about his mother. Tomaz had told the boy that she was a very special woman. She was feisty and had a strong sense of justice. Rio had smiled and stopped dwelling on his mother as much. For those who said 'you can't miss what you never had'...well, they obviously hadn't grown up without a mother. Rio was fond of going up to the top of the boat and lying on the roof so that he could gaze up at the stars. His father had told him that there were such things as 'aliens', and Rio often wondered if they were as hostile as people feared. Somewhere, he reasoned, in some shanty little corner of the universe there just had to be a planet where everything was just safe and calm. There just had to be.

Things didn't always go to according to plan. Tomaz and Rio had gotten lost in the Caucasus mountain range in Azerbaijan. They had gotten separated from the people that they were supposed to be helping while at a gorge in Russia because officials had been alerted of the group. The group had two small children, and both Tomaz and Rio were too bitter about the loss to worry about the cold. They soon heard angry shouts in Russian; the officials that had separated them. Rio couldn't understand Russian, so he didn't know why his father suddenly got scared and told the boy to run. Rio backed off hesitantly, unwilling to leave his father. But then he heard gunshots.

He woke up inside a room. Rio had been terrified that he was captured, and he was terrified that he was locked in a room. So he had screamed and jumped to bang his fists against the door or window when he felt a searing pain shoot through his body. He tentatively lifted his shirt to see various bandages on his shoulders, chest, and stomach. He took one off gently to see that it was covering a wound. Then the door had opened and a woman explained to him that he had been shot, and his father was dead. The woman had found him bleeding to death and took them both to her house to try and save them. His father had died - a shot in the stomach was a slow and painful death, or so Rio had heard. What he did after that was a blur of painful flashbacks, and all he could remember was slamming a baseball bat into someone's skull. He isn't sure if it's a memory or a vengeful dream.

The boy hadn't been sure what to do after that. He was adept at sailing, climbing, hiking and everything of that sort, but his father had always been the one with the map and the plan. So he had just wandered through Asia - stealing money and food to eat. He occasionally dined with beggar children and stitched their clothing and gave them stolen money. They needed it more than he did. He eventually found his way in Europe. For three years the boy walked and tried to fix as many wrongs as he could. But Europe was strange - some of their problems he was almost sure weren't from Earth. So he continued doing what made him happy - getting involved in things that didn't concern him.

Additional Medical Information: He’d probably be diagnosed with PTSD if he ever went into a hospital.

[Ace McShane]

Accepted!