Naya Cobalt - District 12

In essence Naya is very much like every other girl from the Seam. Dirty ragged hand-me-down clothes, messy long hair that she cuts herself... and a look in her eyes that only years of poverty can bring out in someone. Her hair is long and carbon black with her almond shaped eyes to match, pale almost luminescent skin only enhancing the contrast in her features. Soft rosy lips, sculpted cheekbones and an almost heart-shaped face framed by her naturally silky black hair. Since none of her siblings share this trait, Naya always assumed that this was something from her father... who had always been absent from her life.

If she were more confident in herself, most people would take notice of how pretty she is... with her slender petite figure, reminiscent of the dancers you catch brief glimpses of on TV from Capitol during the Games. Standing at 5'3'', hiding under layers of clothes and quite often her skin covered up in dirt, Naya is very easy to miss in the crowd. She moves with surprising grace, slipping between the crowds like a ghost, completely missed by everyone in her path. Just another face in the crowd. She actually prefers it that way. Even if she would wash her face and get some nice clothes, Naya wouldn't consider herself pretty.

The sixteen year old has a couple scars to show for her tough life in the Seam. One of them is on the outer corner of her left eyebrow, where a peacekeeper slammed her across the face. Naya covers the scar up with her hair, not wanting to think of the painful reminder of the circumstances which lead to that scar. But she's learnt to see her variety of scars as part of her strength... each one showing a fight she'd gone through and survived.

Naya is a very quiet girl that keeps to herself mostly, but she's tough when it comes down to it. When possible, she would rather not fight. In her eyes there is already enough violence in the world... if she can she'll put her little bit in by not starting useless fights. For a girl of her stature and build, you'd think she wouldn't be able to hold her own in a fight... but growing up in a house where strange men came and went almost with every cycle of the moon, Naya had to learn to handle herself...

One good thing that has come out of her being quiet, and almost invisible to the eyes of people on the streets, is that she's become quite adept at pickpocketing. She still holds her standards, never going for people her age or younger, or the elderly or sick... but the richer folk of District 12 can spare whatever they have in their pockets as far as she's concerned. Even though she knows stealing is wrong, and knows she'll have to pay for it eventually... all that she cares about in the moment is getting some money to allow her and her siblings to survive.

As the oldest one of her siblings, at the oldest surviving one, Naya has taken it upon herself to make sure her brothers and sisters have as much as she can possibly offer. She doesn't mind the fact she doesn't do well in school because she focusses on making sure her siblings get their work done... it's not like there's much in District 12 for a girl like her to achieve. Naya would love to be a dancer, but the arts aren't exactly a priority in the Seam.

If only she would apply herself to school, Naya would be a bright young girl, picking up things quite quickly... but for a girl of her age, Naya works a lot. She does all the chores in the house (mostly because her mother sleeps through the days), goes to school, helps out in a bakery in town... pickpockets when she can find a suitable target... and then takes care of her siblings whilst trying to avoid her mother's newest boyfriend. But she would never complain... not unless she found someone she could trully trust to know the gritty side she hides behind the small smile she usually has.

Roughly sixteen years ago, Naya was born to Kahlen Cobalt, a single mother of already four children. Naya never knew her father, and no one would tell her about him. All she really knew throughout her life was that men came and went in this house... mostly leaving once her mother became pregnant once more, leaving a set of siblings that had little in common but their surname and the roof under which they lived.

This pattern followed the young girl throughout her life, leaving her no longer surprised when the last boyfriend would sneak out in the middle of the night or leave in the middle of an almighty row when he found out he was going to be the father of a bastard child. It was because of this instability that Naya and one of her older brothers, Nick, had become so close. He'd been there to make sure their mother's boyfriend's kept their hands off his sisters... until he was reaped.

That day Naya had been six years old. When she heard her brother's name called, her dark eyes had widened, screaming out and running to him... clinging on desperately to not let him go. But then the peacekeepers stepped in, slamming her against the side of her head so that she was forced to let go. By the time she woke up, Nick was gone... only leaving behind a small necklace for her. When he had been killed in the Games, Naya knew she had to toughen up. No matter what happened to her, she had to stay strong and not let her brother worry about her wherever he was now.

So even without the protection of her older brother, her older siblings being taken by her side one by one either through the Games or the mines... Naya refused to break down. She would fight her mother's boyfriends off as best she could... not always winning, but definitely leaving a mark on them for her mother to question. When her older sister, Melana, passed away when Naya was 12... leaving her as the oldest, the young girl knew she had to become the protector for her siblings... giving up on her own schooling to make sure the others had the best possible chances to succeed. But ever since her mother's newest boyfriend, Drake, came into the picture... things went from bad to worse.

Faceclaim is Kacey Barnfield

And here's notes on her family, just because I keep losing the papers where I write em ><;;

Kahlen Cobalt (38)
- Nick Cobalt (died age 16 in the Hunger Games, when Naya was 6)
- Radi Cobalt (died age 18 in the mines, when Naya was 10)
- Copey Cobalt (died age 15 in the mines, suspected suicide, when Naya was 12)
- Melana Cobalt (died age 15 in the Hunger Games, a few weeks after her twin, when Naya was 12)

- Lee Cobalt (13)
- Odine Cobalt (10)
- Lith Cobalt (died at 5 weeks of age)
- Merc Cobalt (9)
- nameless twins (died at 2 weeks of age)
- Cal & Cad Cobalt (6)
- Meagan Cobalt (5)

After Meagan was born, Kahlen has had several miscarriages and stillborn babies that Naya has lost track of. Naya has also asked her mother how many children she's had, but either due to blocking the memories or not caring, Kahlen says she can't remember, having lost track over the years. So Naya's not entirely sure how many siblings she's had over the years, especially since her childhood is fuzzy to her.