Name: Rafa Saporta
Age: 26
Species: Initia 
Family: Rafaela Saporta
Element: Water and Earth
Face Claim: Baptiste Giabiconi

Rafa was born in the favelas on the outskirts of Rio, Brazil. The place where he grew up was not great, the area of Favelas he lived in was surrounded by crime and poverty, and it was where there was a lot of heavy drug lord activity. Rafa grew up with his mother and sister Rafaela. His mother had them both out of a wedlock. Rafa’s father left his mother when she was pregnant with Rafaela. He never knew who his father was as his mother made Rafa keep his distance but, he never did want to know him. All he knew was that his father was a bad man, one who was involved with the police, crimes, drugs and whatnot. He knows his father is out there somewhere, maybe left in a jail to rot.

His family were quite poor and led a simple life, but it never affected his childhood. His mother tried to give him the same childhood as other kids his age, although it was difficult for her to as they were quite poor. As his mother worked two jobs to put food on the table, Rafa was often left alone during the day and he and his sister got themselves into a lot of trouble while exploring. The two of them were inseparable. Everywhere Rafa went, Rafaela went too. Even though Rafaela was two years younger than him, she was never afraid because she was with him. They often came home with cuts and bruising but Rafa made sure to protect Rafaela from anything worse than that.

From a young age Rafa knew he was different. He could feel the water around him. It didn’t matter if it was a puddle of murky water or the water in the pipes under the floor Rafa could feel it like was an extension of himself. He realised that the water reacted to how he was feeling. If he was angry with someone he could feel the water bubbling under the surface ready to explode at his command. He also jumped up from his sleeping spot in the middle of the night when he was 17, he was in a cold sweat and had a burning sensation just below his collarbone where a tattoo had appeared.

One day after he exploded the tap in his home out of rage, his mother explained that he was an Initia - a supernatural being who could manipulate the elements. She herself was one but she hadn’t practiced or learned how to control her element so she wasn’t very good, all she could do was change the wind direction and send very small bursts of air at people. She told him that there were others like them living in the favela but she didn’t talk to them because she didn’t know who to trust.

When Rafa was older he realised that his mother was seeing another man. The man had hawk wings tattooed on his back and Rafa didn’t trust him at all. The man made jokes about his mother when she wasn’t in earshot and constantly made derogatory remarks about him and his family. One day while Rafa and his sister were visiting the market there was smoke coming from the direction of their home. As they ran towards it they saw it was their house on fire. There mother was laying on the ground outside barely breathing from the smoke. With her last dying breath she said "It was him. The Phoenix."  Rafa saw him standing smirking in the crowd. He wanted to chase after him for what he'd done but he had his sister to look after now.

Trying to do the best he could to look after his sister he found them some new accommodation. Both of them lived in a small one room hut on the edge of the favela barely getting by. They lived there in relative peace until the day the man with the hawk wings appeared once again. He tried to burn down their house and kill them too but they managed to get away. Rafa and Rafaela have been on the run ever since.

A year ago they crossed the border into America as they were smuggled onto a ship with the last of the money they had. When they arrived they began moving slowly north. As they stumbled across the land, they took refuge in whatever place of shelter they could find. One day while working as a shoe shiner in Detroit, Rafa passed out. When he had awoken he felt very strange and also felt a connection to the Earth, just like he had felt when he found out he could control water. Rafaela was there when he awoke and explained that a comet had hit. The male didn’t understand how this event could have made him pass out and feel this way. Nevertheless they continued on moving north.

Recently the Saporta’s have been living in Evermore. Rafa likes this city and hopes that they will be able to stay here for more than a year unlike the other places they have stayed in. Rafaela seemed to also enjoy living here as she seemed to have made some friends in the Initia and Human community. She didn’t seem to have the same Intia genes he had received from their mother. Rafaela was still an ordinary human.

As the two grew close to those around them, they trained and learned more about the supernatural. In the process of learning about the supernatural Rafa had also found out that the comet was the cause for his new ability. The ability to control Earth. He learned to master his elements and soon became a bodyguard for not only his sister but also for Zosia Ellwood, a privus initia.

Traits~

Positive: Protective. Good Instincts. Independent

Negative: Rash. Hot Headed. Emotionally unavailable