navarre truett - district one [ finished ]

Nara is not per say the image of beauty. She has some better qualities- she's tall, with willowy limbs and the gracefulness resembling a dancer or even, perhaps, a swan, and a mildly pretty face when she tries her best. Even so, as most teenagers do, she picks out her flaws and ignores her admirable traits. Though she's thin, she weighs more than the average seventeen year old district 1, her parents trained her from a young age, and it seemingly paid off- her extra pounds are not a result of fat, but rather of muscle.

She's not blonde- her hair is instead a rather unattractive shade of brown, and shoulder length. Elegantly mussed at the best of times, it seems to have a mind of it's own and much prefers knotting and tangling into an unmanageable mess. The hot summer sun and the short winter days have alternately shaded her hair lighter in some parts, and darker in others, the colors bleeding together into a (in her opinion) quite horrible patchwork of dirty blonde, brown, and black.

Her eyes are perhaps her most attractive quality. Pale grey or light blue, depending on the lighting, they seem larger than they are by the dark velvet eyelashes that ring them. Often they're vacant-looking, for Nara is a dreamer and not one to simply look. A vacant gaze or an intense stare is her trademark, and often that feeling that you're being watched comes from her eyes, watching you but seemingly not seeing. On the other side of the spectrum we have her nose. In her view, her worst aspect. Oddly shaped as it is, it looks out of place on an otherwise average face. A thin bridge, a rather large tip, and small nostrils. Slightly upturned, the way one would imitate a pig as a child.

Nara's definitely not one to care about fashion. Ew. She much prefers a simple shirt and pants, and if need be, a plain dress. Solid color, pastels or greys preferred. Nothing of the flowery, shiny, or sparkly stuff that her sister Bris wears. She absolutely despises those girls at school who wear gemstones, sequins, and ribbons, though of course she despises pretty much everyone. She hates fashion and appearances and everything to do with it, and finds it shallow.

Navarre's family always expected the best of their children- nothing more, and certainly nothing less. With an older sister to compete with for attention, Nara was nearly always ignored. Bris was, of course, the perfect daughter, respectful and charming and sociable and a complete kiss-up. With parents high up on the social ladder of the district, Bris and Nara were expected to behave perfectly all the time; smiling when need be, laughing at the horrid jokes of their parents' peers, and keeping quiet and not asking questions when you were dismissed. Nara was horrible at all these things. Figures.

When her parents hosted dinner parties, Bris would engage in such floaty, brainless talk that was discussed around the dinner table, while Navarre sat quietly, eating her food and watching. Not until she was older did she realize that watching, eavesdropping, and keeping completely and utterly silent was not the kind of behaviour her parents didn't condone, and by then it was clear that they had made up their minds; Bris was without a doubt the 'better' child. And thus, they also decided that Nara would be their 'Games child'; the one they trained 24/7 for the games, and whom they would force, when the time came, to compete in the Hunger Games. The mentality behind it has always been clear- they can't risk losing Bris, but still want the glory and wealth of winning the games, and the easiest way to do that was, of course, to offer up one of their other children. In this case, Nara.

With all her training, it left little time for anything else in her life. It was all Hunger Games, Hunger Games, Hunger Games. With a one-in-twentyfour chance of survival, the odds were not, and of course would never be, in her favor. So she'd train with the others, and be the perfect little Career Tribute, and whatever else her parents wanted, until the Arena. She planned to go off on her own, and try to not die. Simplest. Plan. Ever. But when she was supposed to be practicing swordplay, or lifting weights, she'd let herself watch. A favorite pastime of hers- watching. She never focused on anything, and yet focused on everything. She can deduce a whole world of information from a single facial expression- while their parent's wanted them to, they would not volunteer when the time came. Or perhaps a slight limp would give way to a flood of possibilities, narrowed down to one- childhood injury. Repetitive. Almost certainly abuse.

All this watching left little time for human interaction. This was fine by her, but she knew that soon enough her parents would confront her, for what would the people say? Oh, that Truett girl, her sister's such a lovely girl but she's quite the oddity. I wonder what's wrong with her? Nara would watch them say it, read their lips and see what they thought of her, truly. She'd wanted to yell at them, that there was nothing wrong with her, and what was wrong with them? Didn't they know better than to talk behind her back when she was only barely out of earshot? But she didn't. She knew better than to stir up more trouble, and of course, they didn't know not to talk about her, they had no idea she could read lips. Nor did they know that she spent her nights watching from her bedroom window, watching secrets unfold before her eyes.

Knowing what seemed to be all the secrets and emotions and stories of everyone, Nara withdrew completely. She hated people, and people probably hated her, though her family's status ensured there would be no public knowledge that Navarre Truett was considered an outsider. She knew better though. She always knew. She could see the contempt on their faces, every day. People disgusted her. Even though she was regarded as an outsider, she did have her fair share of boys wanting to, to put it delicately, get with her. But she turned each and every one down in the same manner- she doesn't do 'boyfriends', she's alone. And she likes it that way. That combined with a glare was enough to turn most of them away, and those who still persisted would be dissuaded immediately by a smile- dark, scary, innocent, like a child that was going to murder you in your sleep.

Sure, she hates everything and everyone, but she's a pretty little actress, a wolf in sheep's clothing if you will. She never bothers acting happy or untroubled for anyone, but she knows how. She used to, in her younger teenage years, pretend she loved her parents and her sister and they loved her too and everything was happy, but the effort was too much, and she really didn't know why she bothered. They'd already sealed her fate- she would win the Games or die trying.

While others were planning to back down and not volunteer, Nara knew she would not. Her parents' favoritism had hurt her enough, and it was time to show them who was really, truly stronger. By winning the Games, she'd show them that they didn't own her, and by using her own strategy, she'd let them know that none of it was thanks to them. She would not give them the satisfaction of saying- oh, yeah, her strategy was ours. Never. And so she'd wait one more year, one more year to go before she could prove her parents wrong. A year seemed like an eternity.

Navarre Myrabelle Truett was born on January 14th, a cold night resulting in a cold child. Personality-wise, that is, for in the Truett household nobody would ever be cold. Not with all the money they spent on the house. Nara's early years were normal, surprisingly, with doting parents, though they spent considerably less time with her than her sister. Bris being three years older, her parents already got to have their fun with their firstborn, and Nara was nearly boring to them. So they cared for her well enough, as well as anyone would expect, until she was around 5. Then, her odd tendencies and quirky habits surfaced, and it became nearly immediately clear that she was a weird child.

And so Nara was left well alone- her parents paid little if any attention to her, until when she was 7, it dawned on her that perhaps she wasn't a complete waste of space. She could win them the Games, therefor ensuring a life of ease, which of course they already had. And more importantly, a life of glory. They sent her into training, and she trained. They didn't want her to be reaped, they wanted her to volunteer, and made her promise to volunteer when she was 18. Of course, she'd be breaking that promise as soon as she was 17. She wasn't her parents' puppet, she was an independent person. Alone, but never lonely, for she didn't care that she had no companions- she enjoyed being on her own.

She trained mostly in using herself as a weapon- hand-to-hand and evasion. After all, what's to guarantee she'd get anything from the Cornucopia, or if there would be anything useful. But during the few stolen hours when she didn't train, she'd walk around and watch. She'd see the hushed rumours conveyed behind perfect manicured hands, or the less subtle glares and malicious laughs. The black sheep of her district.

When she was thirteen, a boy asked her out. Not just any boy, but one of those high-status gorgeous boys that all the girls would drool over. Not Nara. Absolutely not. This was, of course, before she was a complete outsider, when she still acted as if nothing was wrong. He'd ask and flash her what he supposed was a winning smile, and she'd simply stare vacantly. And he'd pose the question again, this time more obviously. And her vacant look would turn into almost a glare, and she'd shake her head. "No. I don't do the whole 'boyfriend' thing. I am alone, and I like it that way," and she'd turn her head sideways like a curious bird, and smile maliciously. And he'd turn around, and not look back. Two more times this happened, before people realized what a freak she really was. And then they left her well enough alone.

At age 16, her sister being 19 and no longer at risk of being reaped, hurriedly married her long-time boyfriend, and within the week announced she was pregnant. For Nara, all this meant was one more reason for her parents to completely ignore her, which was both a curse and a blessing. While she hated them, there was some part that longed for acceptance. She knew she wouldn't get it, and wanting something you can't have wreaks havoc on a person after so long, which probably led to her whole hate-the-world attitude. Though of course, it wouldn't change after all these years. And then, only a few days after she turned 17, Bris' daughter was born. Ew. Another little brat that Nara would have to deal with, she presumed, though her concerns were misguided. Thinking she was old enough to fend for herself, which she was, her parents unofficially disowned her. She lived in their house and ate their food, but they never spoke and rarely were even in the same room together.

So now, completely isolated from nearly everyone, she was more determined than ever to prove her worth by winning the Games, or at least dying a worthy death. Not that death seemed so bad, at this point in time. She wonders sometimes if the Games will be anything different than everyday life, if perhaps she'll feel something in them. Probably not, but anything was worth a try.

faceclaim; Rachel McAdams