Taya Stone, District 2

Taya is rather pretty; several people have told her she should stop wasting her time training for the games and, instead, should marry a victor and have a couple of strong sons for the next generation of tributes. While she does take pride in her looks, Taya disagrees wholeheartedly with these people.

Unless she is training, Taya wears her long blond hair loose. Her roots are darker, giving her the appearance of fake hair color though that is simply not the case. Most days her hair is unmanageable without the forty mintues or so she spend on it to get it under control. Would it be easier to simply wear it up? Yes. But Taya loves a challenge. Her dark blue eyes and pale skin display a German ancestry she is completely unaware of, of course. Her skin doesn't burn easy, but nor does it tan. She's sort of stuck with pale skin.

Taya's abilities are well known in her district, even now, but that doesn't entirely stop people from underestimating her. She is short, only 5 feet 2 inches tall but the lean muscle she carries is very evident. When she is training, which is most days, she wears tank tops and canvas pants. Some days, when there are ceremonies going on or when she has some sort of ulterior motive, she'll wear dresses, but these days are few and far in between. The only jewelry she wears is a circle pendant on a black thread. It belonged to her father, it was his token when he was in the arena. He gave it to her brother, but when her brother dissappointed the family he ripped it from his sons neck and gave it to her. She wears it always.

That's not to say Taya doesn't work on her appearance. Not only does she spend that forty minutes with her hair each day, but even when she is training she makes an effort to look her best. Sure, by the end of training she is still a sweaty mess, but she started out looking all right and that's what counts to her.

Taya has a way of walking that betrays the arrogance she feels entitled to. Her back incredibly straight, her arms held loosely at her side, though not so loose as to swing about lazily while she walks. Her chin is high, her shoulders back. Look a bit further down her leg and you'll find she walks with her toes pointing ever so slightly towards each other. You can always tell when she's tired, angry, or frustrated because the angle of turn in becomes worse, to the point that it affects her walking at times. She's tried desperately to train herself out of this. It's improved to the point that she can walk in a straight line.

Her body and hair and skin are pleasant, but the overall effect is ruined by the facial expression she always seems to wear. Halfway between scowl and determination, it makes her look mean. Which she is, though only to those she fights. Okay, she's sort of a bitch to most people she knows. Often, when she smiles, only the left corner of her mouth turns up.

Taya is, above all else, strong, not only physically but also mentally. She has had to put up with a lot of crap from her father, and she has had to put up with a lot of crap from the other people in her district, about how she could never win the games if she dared volunteer because she was as weak as her brother. In a district where strength is everything, she is at a surprising advantage that not many recognize. Sometimes she is too strong. As often results from a child that has had to grow up too quickly, Taya has adapted to some defensive mechanisms, all of which result in stone cold indifference. It protects her emotionally and mentally, stopping anyone from breaking past her strength. Human connections only spawn regrets in the arena, her father taught her that.

Although she is certainly not the most clever person in any arena or in the district, Taya is fairly intelligent. She can learn battle strategies quickly, and picks up on things she think will be helpful in the arena very quickly. Unfortunately, that is the only thing she has a mind for. Math? No way. If they had the sort of traditional school we know she would flunk out unless all of the classes were physical classes or perhaps how to set a trap for an oblivious opponent.

Taya is a very quiet person, not only because it helps her observe those around her without having to interact, but also because it allows her to sneak without being observed. She has spent entire days wandering the district, trying to see how far she can go before being caught. Not only is she quiet vocally, but she prefers her physical violence be a bit calmer in that respect as well. Her weapon of choice is a wooden staff her father gave to her on her thirteenth birthday, or a short knife and a fist. She is not much of one for ranged weapons or swords. Swords are heavy, take more effort to swing, and ranged weapons provide, in her case, too many variables.

Taya and her family have often been criticized for the way she has been raised, even in their own district. But Taya thinks that she was raised the right way, and for her that is all that matters; her belief. Whatever she thinks is law in her head, and she rarely changes her mind. She has the kind of stubborness that mules envy. Her father has frequently told her that it will get her in trouble in the arena, but she prefers not to listen to that one bit of advice.

Taya herself didn't start training until she was seven, but before that she helped her brother train. She's had 8 years of personal training and 3 years of helping her brother.

Originally, Taya was never meant to compete. Her father was a victor. When he married her mother that was an unspoken agreement that she was to bear him at least one son and at least one daughter. The son would be trained to become a tribute before his eighteenth birthday, and the daughter would be kept safe and married off at an appropriate age, preferably to another victor.

The best laid plans of mice and men...

When Taya's brother was nine and she was six he fell from a ledge, 40 feet, to a rock shelf, breaking his leg in the process. He lay on that ledge for two days before Taya found him. Their father brought him to a doctor, but the damage had been done. Taya's brother would never walk again, his leg was too damaged. His father no longer recognized him as a son, and Taya was instructed to no longer think of him as a brother. Her mother and father tried for a year to have another son until a doctor's visit sent their dreams crashing to the floor. Her mother had, due to a complication during Taya's birth, become infertile.

Taya's father almost disowned her. She was the reason there was no son to continue his name. She was the reason their name would never be exalted again. He turned cold, distant, unwilling to be her father but also unwilling to disown his second child. He sank into depression for a few months before it occured to him that girls could win the arena as well. It was not preferable. He would have preferred a son to win, but if she won it would still bring him honor. He began training her, paying for her to be trained by others, pushing her harder and harder.

Taya had never wanted to compete, but now it seemed the only way to win back her father's love. She pushed herself harder than he pushed her, training every day, from sun up to sun down, even as a child. Many of the other people in their district criticized her father for it. Yes, they were also training their children at similiar ages, but they were not pushing their children to work for 12+ hours a day. They told him his daughter was going to burn out. Instead, she grew strong and powerful. Does she want to compete for the sake of killing like some tributes? No. Does she want to compete for the honor and glory? No. She wants to win her father's favor.

Sometimes she visits her brother. She'd like to win it for him, too. Her brother had wanted to be a warrior. Instead he sits behind comptuer screens at the nut, monitoring possible riots.

Llama.