Name: Diomache Persephone Rayn (first name pronounced Dee-oh-mahk)
Nicknames: Dio (by friends), Rayn (used as a stage name of sorts for the Games)
Age: 18
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Birthday: April 2nd
District: Four - Fishing
Weapon of choice: Nets and Snares.
Talent: General Survival.
Weaknesses: Dio is perhaps the most agile, cunning competitor in the Games, and she has a formidable knowledge of deadly traps, as well as impressive skill with her barbed nets, but her size leaves her vulnerable to direct confrontation, especially if her quickness has been reduced by injury or fatigue. Also Niles is a weakness of hers, though she won't admit it, even to herself.
Hobbies: Dio used to highly enjoy fishing, swimming, music (listening, mainly. She can't play anything, and has a rather poor singing voice), and playful, physical activities with others. She hasn't done these things for enjoyment in some time.
Likes: Water, wilderness, fish, warm weather, control over others, having purpose.
Dislikes: Feeling unsure of herself, dry areas, the cold, not having a goal, incompetence from others.
Fears: That she made the wrong choices with her life. Sometimes she has trouble believing she ever had choices, but she's vaguely aware that she could have had a different life, if she had only taken it. She fears that the life she refused was worth more than the life she has taken.
Token: Her mother's bandanna, the one she wore during the 5th Hunger Games, where she returned to District Four as Victor. It's a reminder of what awaits her when she defeats her opponents in the arena.
Personality: There was a girl once from District Four that enjoyed swimming and fishing with close friends, that shared laughter and late nights filled with music. She was free-spirited, independent, kind, generous. She enjoyed spending practically every day with Niles, her closest friend. Swimming, fishing, listening to him sing, laughing the daily routine away, living what they both saw as a happy life in District Four, away from the troubles of the less fortunate Panem civilians. Ask that girl what she thought of her life, and she would tell you she was happy.
Ask her now, and she'll tell you that life was empty. Because that girl is gone, buried under a mountain of parental influence and preparation. The Diomache Rayn the world knows today is cold, her blood turned to ice. The persona she was taught has become the persona she owns. It's been perhaps two years since anyone has seen Dio not calm, composed, and downright deadly in appearance. Her eyes seem to bore into you, dissecting your weaknesses, exposing your flaws, while her own exterior remains impenetrable, giving few signs of what is going on in her mind. Her unofficial Career training has done this to her. It hasn't made her arrogant, simply aware of the fact that, physically and mentally, she is far more prepared for the Games than the majority of her competition. Towards those whose strength she respects, she is civil and cooperative, but certainly not friendly. She understands alliances are necessary, and expected of her, but that doesn't mean she has to bond with those she fights with. She'll have to kill them sooner or later, after all.
It isn't entirely clear what her motivations are. She doesn't spout Capitol propaganda like some Career tributes do. In fact, she was quite silent when she volunteered, presenting the calm, cold front she'd become known for as Rayn, the daughter of a previous champion. It appears her goals are largely personal, not for the Capitol or for her district. But the blood of the Games runs through her veins, and everyone knows she's fully prepared to do whatever is necessary to win.
History: An 18 year old girl from District Four emerged as the lone survivor of the 5th Annual Hunger Games. The first champion of that district, she was regarded as somewhat of a heroine upon her return home. She hadn't volunteered, but her intelligence, cunning, deception, and skill with traps and snares allowed her to take down even the most powerful opponents. After her victory tour, she returned home to District Four, married her childhood sweetheart, who was most elated to see her return at all, and a year later, she had a daughter.
Diomache Persephone Rayn was born into as much luxury as a girl from District Four could receive. It was already one of the wealthier districts, and when combined with the riches her mother was rewarded with for surviving the Games, and the young girl wanted for nothing. Perhaps surprisingly, she showed an initial aversion to wealth, preferring to spend her time among the poorer areas of the district, getting her nails dirty, swimming, fishing, and getting to know the children there. This was how she met Niles Bayou. They were both very young upon meeting, but soon found themselves more or less attached at the hip, spending practically every day together. Dio absorbed a good amount of his spirit, and by spending so much time with him, Dio began to develop not as the rich girl who looked down on the others, but as a girl who didn't care about wealth and social statuses, but rather the people around her.
Her father was fine with how she was growing up, having come from the poorer side of Four himself, but her mother had had enough of that life, and had greater visions for her daughter. Quite secretly, Dio's mother began preparing her for when she would enter the Games, and follow in her footsteps, straight to glory. The years lined up so that when Dio was eighteen, it would be the twenty-fifth Hunger Games, the first Quarter Quell. Though the twist had as of yet been unannounced, the actual event being years away, Dio's mother was convinced that by winning the first Quarter Quell, her daughter would achieve greater glory than even she had achieved. Her training began in secret, unbeknownst to anyone, even her father. Dio was resistant to her mother's teaching at first. She'd seen kids die in the Games, and though she knew this was how her mother had found her happiness, she didn't initially want that life for herself. Niles hated the Capitol and the Games. Why should she feel any different?
But incessant repetition from a woman you respect and love has a way of wearing down one's defenses. The timing of Dio's change in attitude proved to be awkward. She was growing into a woman, and Niles was growing into a man. It was only natural for them to begin to see each other differently. But only Niles was willing to express it. His influence on her was not so strong as it had once been. She now knew that attachment such as this could make someone weak, it could ruin their judgment in a pivotal moment of the Games. The difference between life and death. So Dio found herself rejecting Niles, and drifting away from him. She stopped spending time among the poorer districts. She stopped swimming for fun, only for training. She fished so that she might remember how to in the Arena. She learned how to throw nets for purposes of catching boys and girls, not fish, nets sharpened with wicked barbs meant to dig into the skin, making attempts to escape only cause further harm. She becamed deadened to violence. Came to even find some kind of gratification from it. Those that knew her now were in awe of her cold composure, her fearless attitude, her dedication to bringing victory back to District Four. Those that knew her before were saddened by the transformation.
By the time her father truly understood the degree to which his daughter was being changed, it was too late. He was furious with his wife for training Dio for the Games, but Dio's mother took her stand, and refused to change her position now. It caused a schism in the family. Her father didn't know what had become of the woman he had once loved, but she wasn't the same girl anymore. He left, not willing to be a part of his daughter's corruption. Dio let him go. She knew where she was going with her life at this point. At least, she thought she did.
At eighteen, her time had come. A girl was reaped for the 25th Hunger Games, but the actual name doesn't stick in Dio's mind, because it didn't matter. She calmly volunteered once given the chance, to thunderous applause from her district. Careers, as they were becoming known, were not always seen from District Four, but this year it appeared as though the fishing district would have an excellent chance of winning the games. The boy that was reaped, though... well, Dio didn't know what to think. When Niles Bayou's name was called, she wasn't sure what to call the emotion that she felt. But as he joined her on the stage as the second tribute from District Four...
It felt a lot like regret.
Anything else?: In the arena, Dio is skilled with nets and traps, the nets she'll likely fashion barbs to if she has the time. She's also extremely quick and brutally accurate with her knife strikes, so long as she isn't hampered by injury or extreme fatigue. She's somewhat better suited to life in the wild than the tributes from Districts One and Two, but still not so adept with it as the lower ones from districts such as Eleven and Twelve.
Your reaction to being chosen for the Hunger Games: Expression. Dio was stone-faced as ever upon volunteering, showing the cameras, and the other tributes, that she was more than prepared to kill every last one of them. Upon hearing Niles called, though, she couldn't help but react. She hates that he caused her to show something that could be construed as a possible weakness, and has vowed to never let him do that to her again. But subconsciously, she can't help but feel glad that of all people, it's Niles who is beside her in her most important moment.
