Juniper Knoll District 7

Juniper likes her hair. That's about it. It's a beautful dark brown with a few reddish highlights that glow in the late afternoon sunshine. It's thick, wavy, and long; it cascades down to her mid-back. Unfortunately, Juniper is very practical and un-girly. She usually just ties it back in a simple ponytail at the base of her neck. But she refuses to cut it, because really, she is proud of it.

Her face is pale-ish, with a spattering of freckles. Her eyes are a beautiful dark brown with hints of forest green, but they're bit small and a too close together for Juniper's taste. She struggles with acne, hates her nose, and is always fighting yellow teeth. Her body also seems to have a strange need to sweat profusely.

Her frame is elegant; not slight, but not stocky. Just strong and well proportioned, except that she's a bit small around the bust. So definitely NOT sexy. But Juniper is past caring how she looks, so why should she care what anyone else thinks? Juniper carries herself with confidence and composure, and this helps her to appear more pretty than she actually is.

Juniper relates to people by teasing, sarcasm, and laughter. She's not at all mean about it, but people who aren't used to a constant barage of her type of humour tend to be overwhelmed. Although Juniper's sense of humor can be hurtful on occasion, she is also someone who will listen to others for as long as they need an ear and then offer the best advice she can. She genuinely cares about those around her, but stupidity and the inability to think on one's feet tend to exasperate her. While Juniper is a tease, she by no means spares herself. Some of her funniest jokes are about herself, and she is extremely aware of her own shortcomings.

Juniper is extremely comfortable in her own skin, unflattering though it may be. As a child, she was considered very precocious. She enjoys conversations with adults and always looks people straight in the eye when she talks to them. She is a chameleon who can fit into any group she desires without losing herself.

Juniper is very honest, she tells it like it is and doesn't bother to mince words. This can sometimes lead her into trouble. She believes being straightforward is the best policy, although she sometimes pulls pranks which require her to lie...just to keep herself in practice. A flaming extrovert, Juniper's wit and confidence can electrify a room, or her anger can cast a cloud over everything. As a child, Juniper was more prone to outbursts of anger, routinely punching both boys and girls who contradicted or opposed her. She was a tomboy, one of the strongest girls she knew and able to reduce even boys to tears with her sharp tongue or solid punches. A lot of her rough edges though have been smoothed out by the arthritis.

The arthritis came when she was 15. At least, that's what Juniper's family had decided it was. Juniper had been bed ridden for weeks, and the healers couldn't tell her anything. Eventually Juniper's father remembered a disease his grandmother had once suffered. He began to ask her more about her symptoms, and finally said that it certainly sounded like arthritis. Her parents couldn't afford any real medications and there were no doctors around, but fortunately the healers had some natural solutions that worked. Well, half worked. The whole thing was hard on Juniper, what good is anyone in a district like seven when they have arthritis? Juniper had a wonderful relationship with her family, Dad Jack, Mother Autumn, little sister Rowan, and little brother Ash. This and her inborn acceptance of herself helped her to get past the whole thing, take what was given to her, and work for everything that wasn't.

Juniper couldn't work anymore, the arthritis had seriously weakened her. At her worst, she had lost about 22 pounds in less than six weeks. Juniper was once strong, excellent with an axe, but now even lifting an axe was a serious ordeal. And Juniper was horrified, horrified of what would happen if she were reaped for the games. She hated this feeling of complete helplessness. She had always been competitive to a fault, and although she hated the idea of the games, she had once or twice allowed herself to think, "I could do that." But not now. Not with arthritis. So Juniper made a commitment to herself to regain her strength as quickly as she could. More, she decided to become an expert with an axe. Fear can drive people to do incredible things.

She would steal one of her father's axes and leave for a few days, lose herself in the woods, and work on strengthening. While she was out there, she learned a few edible plants and how to start a fire, stuff that helped on her quick camping trips, but nothing to what she knew a Career would learn. She evntually got so strong that she conviced her family to let her go back to work cutting down trees with her father. Then the camping trips had slowed down. She would still sneak away at night on occasion, but she couldn't take the exsessive three day trips anymore. But she was confident in her strength again. And if worse came to worse, she could survive the games.