Yaron Raidan [District Eight]

Yaron Raidan
District Eight
Seventeen
Female

I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours

The youngest reasonably tall Raidan isn't much to look at. Her deeply tanned skin would be lovely if it was usually clean, but she works with sheep, so that doesn't happen much. Beyond that, her dark eyes and hair are uninteresting shadows, and her wide-set features are frankly odd-looking, especially against the sharp lines of her gaunt body. Even so, there is a certain appeal to her boundless energy and ringing, confident voice. Yaron favours bright, even obnoxious, clothing and plays her patches off as a fashion statement.

But I think that God's got a sick sense of humour

Yaron is everything her parents hate: rebellious, promiscuous, uninhibited. She shoots her mouth off at every chance and flies in the face of every rule and tradition she sees. She doesn't set out to be a pain in the neck to everyone who meets her, but that's what generally seems to happen—and when she irritates her family, well, she doesn't mind. (Consider it payback.)

Overall, despite having no close friends, Yaron's happy with life. She's finally free, in action if not physically, and she loves it.

And when I die I expect to find him laughing

Third children don't get much attention, especially when four through seven are close behind. Yaron used to be okay with that; she believed in God as strongly as the others, and felt that his love made the neglect better.

As passing years failed to answer her prayers and her parents started falling apart, she started slipping. She tried to clamp down on her snark and obey authority and believe in God and stop hooking up with every other girl, but it got harder and harder as her desperation fed on itself. Finally, a screaming match with half her family exploded and the embittered girl let loose. She would find herself without anyone's help.

She has. And, for better or for worse, she's happier than she's ever been.


Odair.