Roland Pepper (Avox)

Roland isn't the biggest kid every, he is fairly tall at 6'4", but is very skinny. He used to work out almost obsessively, but after being betrayed (as he saw it) by the Capitol, he started not eating as much. Food just lost all appeal to him. He very much looks like someone recovering from an eating disorder, and most of his clothing is still to big for him with all the weight loss. But, despite being on the border of malnourishment, there are some muscles beneath his papery white skin and he is a lot stronger than a lot of people take him for at first.

His hair is long and bushy and dark, rarely being washed and taken care of (by him at least) and he often had to be forced to wash or bathe. He feels that if he is being treated like a slave he shouldn't make any effort to make himself more presentable. This attitude was not tolerated for long, and his higher-ups soon found ways to make him take care of himself. A look of despair often clouds his light grey eyes, but there are times when he can make that cold color come to life. Every emotion shows on his face whether he likes it or not and it has gotten himself trouble more than once. In artificial lighting Roland's hair looks pitch black, having a slight blue-ish tint to it, but when he gets outside his hair seems to lighten considerably and it looks just dark brown and very very thick.

Roland was the model citizen under the Capitol. He aspired to be a tribute in the Games, and all he wanted to do was serve the Capitol by becoming a Peacekeeper. Sure, the people around him would call Roland arrogant, maybe even smug, but once he is friends with you he is fiercely loyal. Anything that would ever harm his friends or (god forbid) his family will be quickly dealt with with little to no mercy.

Roland's temper is something of a legend where he comes from (district 2), though it takes some coaxing to get him to fly into a rage. Roland didn't speak much, even when he could, but when he did people listened. His reputation of arrogance came from his family which is rather well-to-do and are very well aware of the fact that they are better off than a lot of other people even in district 2. Roland himself never shook this judgement of him because, as well as being relatively quiet, he always had a look of disgust varying from slight to extreme. It often wasn't that he didn't like the people or he thought that they were below him, he just kind of disliked being in public.

Despite his rich family and high social standing, Roland is a very private person. He often feels like he has to live up to the expectations of others and it feels like a weight on his shoulders when he is around his father or any friends approved by his family. He would much rather sit in his room and draw than be out on the football field mingling with other kids of his age and stature. His (former) room in district 2 was wallpapered with drawings and painting that he did. Some were simple, like the sun on a flower or a bowl of fruit, but some were his dreams. These were very abstract and, in a very old tongue, would be called "psychedelic."

The Pepper family (as mentioned above) was very wealthy and very high up on on the social ladder. Amelia and Joseph Pepper had four wonderful children, Roland being the oldest and Xander being the youngest (12 years younger than Roland) with a set of twins in between (Samantha and Stephanie, both ten years younger than Roland). His mother was often around town, being the best socialite she could be and his father was either with her or working. Everyone expected Joe Pepper to be the next mayor of district 2 (including all of the Peppers).

With the age gap between Roland and the rest of his siblings, and his parents always gone, Roland took on the responsibility of raising them. But he never resented his parents, in fact he practically worshiped the ground his father walked on, knowing that his work was very important and he strived to be just like him. At a young age Roland became the parent to both his siblings and his actual parents, keeping schedules straight, making meals, getting food, and helping everyone to the best of his abilities. Roland was very protective of his family and that would be his downfall.

When he was 24 and his youngest brother was just entering the time when he could be a part of the Reaping, Xander's name was drawn. Being a Hunger Games enthusiast Roland would never disrespect the Capitol (hoping to be a Peacekeeper one day himself) and he honestly didn't think that he would ever have cause to oppose them. But his brother was somewhat of a rebel, always saying things that could get him in trouble and it seemed to Roland that his brother's name had been drawn on purpose to 1) punish Xander to silence his words forever and 2) to make sure that the rest of the Pepper family did not share the child's views. Perhaps it was just the luck of the draw, or maybe the Capitol was really behind the drawing of Roland's brother's name, but only one thing was clear to Roland: his brother would not live through the Games. He had to stop it by any means necessary. Later that night when they had all returned home Roland put his plan into motion, knowing every inch of his home district and knowing that there was a way to get out. He would take his younger siblings out of the district and run. He knew just enough about the woods from his books to know what was edible and what was poisonous. If need be they would start their own district of a sorts and keep his siblings safe from the Capitol he loved so much.

They were just at the point where they would get out of the official bounds of district 2 when they saw that a whole line of Peacekeepers and the current mayor, along with his father, was standing in his way. Determined to make his family safe Roland went into beast mode. He took out four Peacekeepers and broke the mayor's nose before they sedated him and brought him in to the Capitol. He was tortured for knowledge of a rebel movement that, apparently, he was at the head of until he broke, his mind went and he couldn't speak coherently for all the torture in the world. They took his tongue and repaired his mind and turned him into the slave he is today.

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