Claiming:Camp/Christopher 'Saint' Santos

Name: Christopher 'Saint' Santos

Gender: Male

Current Age: 16

Godly Parent: Iris

Species: Demigod

Concept: Graffiti Artist



Appearance:

Santos is a young Latino male with a lanky build (despite his seemingly never-ending appetite). He's got brown eyes and dark hair, which is permanently hidden underneath his beanie. He always wears a jacket with paint-stains on the back, dark shoes and sports a collection of tattoos on his forearms (all temporary stencils for now). He doesn't really dress up too often but would make the effort for the right event or the right girl. Really his style reflects his personality; colorful, casual, carefree.

Personality: 

Santos could easily be confused for a son of Hermes. He's loud and outgoing with a penchant for getting himself into trouble. Santos considers himself to be a free-spirit and hates to be constrained. As a result, he's not afraid to speak his mind - which can verge on the crude. However, Santos knows what it's like to grow up with very little. For him, his art is an outlet for his beliefs and allows him to transform dilapidated spaces into areas of vibrancy and colour. He's a loyal friend with good humor and a natural charm. This somewhat compensates for his lack of a natural work ethic. He's not the best fighter - often preferring to talk his way out of trouble or flee if necessary. Where Santos really excels is in his role as a messenger. He's a people person with the ability to think quick on his feet. At times his recklessness has bitten him in the ass, and his charismatic nature makes him easy to follow. But when it comes to making a statement or empowering the downtrodden, Santos is your man.

History: 

New York has always been a city of opposites - of glamour and dilapidation, colorful lights and dismal concrete blocks, of dreams gained and shattered. Juan Carlos Santos was a second-generation immigrant who dreamed of being a great film-maker. He worked long hours as a projectionist at an old, local cinema to fund his studies. Sometimes, when the cinema was empty, he would play his own amateur creations. He, one day, was playing some film he'd taken from his local neighborhood, when a young woman with bright hair, covered in rainbow tattoos came into the theater. Half-expecting her to leave, Juan was surprised on finishing his shift to see she was still there. The rainbow woman introduced herself, and stated that she loved the film's use of colour. Juan and Iris struck up a passionate conversation which lasted the night, from the theater to several bars, and finally his little, battered apartment. Around her, everything seemed to be brighter, more vivid and alive. She stayed for a while, often leaving briefly before coming back until she left for the last time.

Several painful weeks later, Juan opened his apartment door to find Christopher on the doorstep. He was sad that she left, but remarked that Christopher was their best creation. Growing up, Christopher didn't have a lot of money or luxury to his name. He lived in a bad area of town, his dad dropped out of college and spent his time perpetually working two jobs to make ends meet. After a few years, Juan got remarried and had other kids. For his part, Christopher never took this too personally. He was all to happy to sneak out, trash things, to cause trouble and blame it all on all his siblings. Santos knew though, that there were untold stories in places where nobody else would dare look.

During this time he made friends with Reggie, an old bum living underneath an old underpass on the way home from school. Many of the other kids liked to ignore or make fun of the smelly man. Reggie seemed to like it that way. Santos enjoyed visiting though. The old man was happy to share jokes and stories in exchange for the bottle or some gossip. When the bullies tried to turn on Santos, Reggie taught him to throw a mean right hook and treated his black eye afterwards.

One day, at the age of fourteen, Santos walked home from school with his buddies. Nearby, there was a dog, barking behind a chain fence. It wouldn't have been out of place, if it wasn't three times the size of a Doberman. His friends however didn't seem to be alarmed as it chased after him. He ran for his life, in his head, silently begging for Reggie to come save him. It didn't take long for the hell-hound to corner him in a darkened alley. As it charged for Santos, he felt his palms tingle. He felt a giant multi-colored flash of light leave his hands. It rebounded off a trashcan and hit the hell-hound, which seemed to howl in some form of pain. Santos didn't look twice, running towards the end of the alley. Past him, the hound scrambled to flee, somewhat staggered (and almost drunk?) as Reggie finished it off with his blade. He explained that it was a loose hell-hound, that he was really a son of Dionysus, charged with keeping an eye on the streets, and that Santos was likely a demigod too.

After speaking with his dad, Santos learned that it was true. He also learned about Camp Half-Blood, a safe place for demigods. However Santos didn't like the idea of leaving so soon, there were family and people in the area he cared about. So Reggie agreed to take him on as an apprentice of sorts, teaching him how to survive until he was ready. As a result, Christopher became more acutely involved within the community. He dropped out of school. With his ADHD and dyslexia, Santos figured that he never had a chance anyways. He would only get tossed scraps in the form of crappy low-paying jobs like his dad. For him, Reggie became family. Santos couldn't stay around in one place for too long. So he spent his time with the wrong crowd, skating, smoking pot, and tagging. Strangely, as soon as Santos picked up his first spray can, everything seemed to make more sense. It gave him a place to air out any of his own problems, and his critiques of the world. He took the name 'Saint' and wore it with pride, doing his best to help out in the local community.

Although Santos didn't get the same training he would've gotten at Camp Half-Blood, he became a useful asset for Reggie and for the camp itself - helping to find, train and protect young demigods on the streets. In particular, his skills as a son of Iris made him an excellent messenger, able to travel quickly, ferret out information, take messages and spread them - either personally, through his graffiti, or his free access to the Iris Network

A couple of years passed. He was skating through the streets, when he noticed a quick blur. Suddenly a flock of Stymphalian birds decided to smash into him, making him fall of his skateboard, spraining his ankle. As a result, he wasn't in a position to run or fight. In response, Santos summoned a dome of rainbows to protect himself for the multitude of beaks, clawing for his throat. They bashed at the dome, weakening it bit by bit. As the dome shattered, Santos threw a rock at a nearby car. The resulting alarm was enough to disorient the birds. He used the last dregs of his strength to focus a beam of light, burning the beasts to a crisp.

That's how Santos found himself face-deep in a mucky puddle, clothes half-charred, a car alarm beeping in the distance. He was able to slowly crawl away, using the reflection in the water to send an IM for help. Reggie and his buddies picked Santos up and dragged him to camp, feeding him a little ambrosia to heal him up. He needed some time to recover, so under duress from Reggie's crew and his father, Santos did agree to stay at Camp-Half Blood for the time being. He's not used to settling in one place, but he knows it's going to be home for the time being. Maybe it'll even become a place to fight for.