Ariana Skye, District 12

Ariana Skye, at the tender age of 17, is tall and lanky, with long limbs that make her look awkward. She's awfully clumsy, often tripping over her feet. The girl has layered, blond hair: in the back it only hikes up to about her chin, but it gradually "grows" until it reaches her chest. She's slender, too, and was often mocked for being a "beanpole," but truthfully, the boys were goggling at her eyes.

Because her eyes aren't the usual shade of grey that people from District 12, from the Seam, had. She had blue eyes that never smiled with her face. In truth, she never had any reason to smile, so never did. She had light tan skin, but it was still pretty pale, despite all the time she spends in the sun, but hates being pale. Her grandmother was superstitious, and told her, "You're pale? Oh, you'll have bad luck. Bad, bad luck! Bad, bad, bad . . ." Ariana's weight is extremely low, as she never had any food on the supper table.

As for clothes, she's normally dressed in rags, and only has one nice outfit - she made it herself. (She is wearing it in the picture, but does not have the rings, nail polish, and the gloves aren't so fancy.) It's a black dress that goes down to about her knees, and it's tight to her body. She made some small little gloves to wear, along with it. All tied together, this outfit is her Reaping dress, and the one she wears when something major happens.

Ariana Skye is about as sullen and hostile as a person can get. She hates people, anything social, so she'd usually hanging around the Hob. She's "rough," and usually heads out to the meadow, there she'd balance on her favorite willow tree's upper branches, or pick apples, or occasionally bring down some game. She was too meek, however, to go swinging around town with her kills and food, so she'd wait out the day, and come home at midnight with a huge smile and a single loaf of bread - about once every six months. Almost every day, she was empty handed, and the family would lie in bed and stare at the wall as their stomachs churned and roared in agony.

Ariana was clever, too, as she loved to outsmart people, and was good at it. If you gave her a puzzle - which she very rarely saw, down at the Seam - she'd spend about two minutes staring at one piece, then start putting it together and not even pause to think. She didn't brag though, she's either too modest, or too busy. She managed to get employed by the baker, takes care of getting game for the baker, and trades at the Hob, yet she's still dirt poor. Maybe she's just too calm about the fact that her family is dying, and she isn't getting as much money as she should, but for some reason, she isn't paid in full.

She's an independent survivalist, lethal, but good at thinking outside the box. Ariana's past hardships (her brother and mother's death, her depression, and starvation) have made her a natural survivor, and she will endure hardship and hard work to preserve her own life and the life of her family. She has shown she will protect those she loves, no matter the cost to herself. Because the majority of her time was spent keeping herself and her family alive, she does not understand many social cues and is often ignorant of other people's emotions.

Ariana was born outside of Panem, in a distant country (what used to be Russia) called Redolence. Her father, a successful merchant, was the proud father of two boys, Gabe and Isaac, and Ariana, his only daughter. He was married to a beautiful woman, Lianna, and they loved each other more than you could imagine. But on April 19, of (I don't know what year to put here...), Isaac and Lianna decided to go to the park. Needless to say, they never returned, but three months later, Ariana's father discovered the bodies at the morgue, taken from a serial killer's home.

Before he even got home, he told Gabe and Ariana they were moving to a place called "Panem" and they would be living in "District Twelve." Without parents. So brother and sister moved into the Seam. They could afford a tiny, two-room home with the money their father gave them, and about two loaves of bread, and a slice of meat. But after they bought it all . . . they were completely broke. Ariana ran around town, begging for a job, when she came across something interesting at the Hob. A long, wicked-looking knife with a blade that curled into itself. It was a throwing knife. I bought the knife from Greasy Sae for about 25 cents, but she gave me some useful information: "Hunt. You can sell it for money, and take some of it home to Gabe."

So Ariana did. She learned to rely on the game she brought home, and to ignore the taunts at school. Her brother grew up first, since he was older, and died in a coal mine. So now, Ariana's alone, and she isn't planning on kids. They could go to the games, and Ariana didn't even want to risk something like that.

xxx