Iris Lulane - District 12

The girl in the background
The one you never see
The one who sees you

Iris isn't the average girl-not by a long shot-yet no one notices her. She has a small frame and an anorexic build-most likely because of the years she's spent caring for her forbidden animals-along with gathering berries from the forest and hunting small game for the little critters. She isn't at the point where its unhealthy-she is actually quite strong and lean. But her lack of womanly curves is noticeable by this age. She does acquire a normalish amount of chest, but has a slender body the rest of the way down. Her thighs aren’t sticks like her sisters, but they aren’t fat like her emotion. They’re lean, strong, and willful-never letting Iris down when needed-which is often. Her neck is average, if not a bit large for her shoulders. Her head is oval shaped with sharp, rough angles. Overall, Iris’s head is normal sized-but her feet are quite little large and usual rules out any fancy shoes, as if she could afford them, and pretty much leaving only boots.

Iris’s face is a peculiar thing. Her cheeks weren’t prominent, but were full and a little soft from often rubbing berry juices and mixing herbs. Yet, her face is roughed everywhere and her chin is sharp, along with her molded and strong jaw. Her lips are usually cracked from dehydration and/or licking or chaffed from biting them, but when hydrated, a smooth pink colour and is considered small. Her sister jokes that it is like that since they are always pressed together in a line and that they would’ve shrunk after so much pressure. Or that the lack of other lips has caused them to shrink along with her feelings. Iris often ignores her sister’s comments, but still listens. Iris’s eyes are a whole other topic all together. They are a mixture of almost every eye colour except for black, violet, and red. Iris’s mother thought she had given birth to the Goddess of eyes herself and that’s pretty much how Iris earned her name. The colours in her eyes are: brown, blue, green, hazel, grey, and flecks of yellow at times. Some say her eyes are more observant than others, others say naught. But Iris always bringing home something to eat made others forget the latter.

Her hair isn’t too abnormal as the rest of the concoction, but still has its part. Iris Lulane had been born with dark brown name, hence leading to her nickname of Melanie, as it’s referred to the meaning ‘dark beauty’. But years later, her hair starts coming out blonde. People say that she had accidently burned her hair and that it was a wig of the remains and straw, but her roots are a very dark blonde and help set a reminder that if you try to pull her hair, it won’t come out. But yours will. Iris’s odd hair reaches the top of her ribs or the middle-whichever you decide the right tilt of her head to be when measuring the root to the split ends. Her hair is usually found in a braid down her neck, a ponytail, or lying out on her shoulders. Iris has only had one haircut in her life that she will never suffer from again and doesn’t like to talk about. It does have something to do with why her hair is lighter and why she refuses to cut it, though.

Iris usually has little care for what she looks, but does remain decent and lives up to the meanings of her name. As for tops, Iris usually acquires a T-shirt or tank top-depending on the weather-and always wears a jacket, preferring to keep her little bit of lady parts hidden. Only on sweltering days, she’ll not where the brown leather jacket because of the heat and that she sometimes doesn’t mind being looked at, as long as there is no sort of communication or physical affiliation. Bottoms are a simple subject: slacks or jeans. Not shorts, not skirts, nor dresses. Iris is often in a certain place she shouldn’t be, like the flower of her name, and doesn’t need nettles to tear up her sleek legs or poison ivy to brush on a vat of rashes. Iris also is not a girl to show things off. She doesn’t believe in marriage and is still too young to try and get anyone to be interested in her. Dresses are only-only-for Reapings and for school when her jeans and slacks are too dusty, muddy, and suspicious for wearing. Though she may be a little hot at times, it’s worth looking decent and not trying to flirt with some guy-or gal-because she is now eligible to be killed for some sicko’s entertainment.

Sounds of laughter
Shades of gray
What else to say

Alas, again, this is an odd subject. Some people who are studying the medical field call her semi-Schizophrenic for her slightly violent nature and changing moods. But others say that Iris is the sweetest girl they know and wouldn’t hurt a fly. It all depended on a few things: who you were, what are you about, how you look/dress, the ‘tude, what mood Iris was in, what subject you want to know and more. Iris’s personality and respect quality was a mixture and always changing, worthy of her own eyes. Her mind sometimes or half the time had to do with her personality and traits, and the other half of the time or sometimes, her heart was in it, too. Though her personality has morphed over the years and has so many thin and thick layers, the true Iris still resides somewhere in the metamorphic depths.

All in all, Iris is a good person. At times, she is rude and a fiery flame to defiantly not mess with. This is usually her passionate side that covers both loving passion and willing passion. Or even the passion to connect her fist with your face and make sure to stop fighting or flee. Her passionate side comes from the rough way of her childhood and that she must have the will to fight and the will to love and protect. But Iris must have a tough layer-which sadly is very thick-and it sometimes just gets to her. She is usually a respectful person, but when she is high on stress and just doesn’t know what to do, the girl sitting next to her that decides to poke her with a pencil ends up with that pencil somewhere else. She also can be violent to animals-but not intentionally. There is a rumour that Iris spends a few days a week just lounging in the forest, gathering berries and such and hunting small game with an unknown weapon. Overall, her major flaws are her temper, trust, sneaking, and reclusiveness.

But though everyone has their small potatoes and large potatoes, there are those prized potatoes that are cherished and well known-though Iris probably wouldn’t even know what a potato was or, if she does, has never had one or rarely has had one. At times, she is a sweet, caring, and empathetic person who you would think is friends with everyone. This is her passionate side that just covers her loving and gullible side. Or the passionate side that would take you in and feed you a hot meal and give you a cot to rest the night on. Iris has this side because it was her original layer but she’s spiraled into an onion and is peeling off the layers, each thicker than the other and leading to the main person-also, it exists larger because the bad must have the good. She is very intelligent and observant and applies that to everything, usually being several steps ahead of everyone. But Iris has the weakness to stay behind and help. She also never says a mean good-bye to loved ones for a reason she can never forgive herself for. Overall, her major good traits are ambition, strength, passion, motivation, compassion, intelligence, cleverness, and empathy.

It hurts to think
To do
To want
To say goodbye

Iris Lily Lulane was born to Myranda Lulane (nee Gregs) and Garren Lulane in the most special place possible-on the living room couch. At 9:30pm on March the 21st, Iris Lulane gave her first breath as her father lightly tapped her on the bottom, wrapping her in a slightly rugged blanket and placing her in her weak mother’s arms. But nothing else came from the baby. She wasn’t dead, nor was not breathing-she was quietly observing them with a frustrated look in her hollow face. Her parents merely thought she was figuring how to breathe-but Iris was really memorizing most things in her view from that moment while her parents were busy trying to figure out her height and weight, which turned out to be 6 pounds and 10 inches long-a slightly underweight and small child. It was no surprise, as Myranda’s belly was only a little bigger than it was when she was 6 months pregnant and she weighed 130, even with Iris. The parents didn’t fret or worry, but still quickly began feeding Iris, who became immersed in her mother’s chests and didn’t pay too much attention to this new world, but her multicoloured eyes still looked through any angle of her mother’s arms.

Iris was always a slightly, ah, abnormal child. She didn’t grow very much after age 6, even for a girl that lived in the Seam. Myranda was always feeding her as much as possible-even through her husband’s glares-but Iris always seemed to stay little in height, width, and weight. She also had large feet for her age, wearing shoes-rather, boots-that were intended for teenagers. The problem was that her toes weren’t fat, nor the foot itself, but that they were longer-which made it more money to make it custom, causing her father to take longer and extra shifts at the mines and even her mother to make pastries and deserts to sell. Iris’s eyes were a thing of interest that caused anyone to look into their multicoloured depths to be amazed. They often mixed and switched with other colours-though usually keeping to a light green/hazel with blue around it with flecks of gold-from grey to hazel. Most children that were her friends, people she’s stood up for, or even people that simply admire her would say that her different eye shades are what caused her difficult concoction of personalities-though that would start later in life. For now, she seemed like a brave and very intelligent, rather witty, young girl. She did well in almost every class except for gym. Her lanky and thin frame made running long distances a bit difficult, but she managed to just pass because she was able to perform gymnastics and complete the unneeded test of stealth.

Iris was a child who thought that any punishment is worth it to do something right. She thought this ever since age 10 when a girl in the Seam was turned into an Avox for trying to escape District 12 without any permission. The girl was actually helping an acquaintance escape-whom was never caught and the only information known is that it was a boy-and she would’ve escaped with him if they hadn’t been confronted by an obstacle, which some have rumoured to be one of the supposed mutated animals. Iris has always made that her motto and even wonders what is beyond the forest. One day, her father was suspended from work for being caught in the woods. Iris was with him that day, gathering berries for her mother’s special cream and her pies when one of the Peacekeepers decided to patrol the woods. Iris hurriedly climbed a tree, thanking God for her strong and resilient legs from the hard gym days, and hid, her father being guided back. He had one of two options: be laid off or represent himself in violation of laws to have the chance of becoming an Avox, but his family getting the help they need. He chose to be laid off and Iris remained angry at him for days. She loved him dearly, but she thought that it would’ve been worth it to prove he wasn’t afraid of the Capitol, but forgave him when her father all of a sudden decided to teach her how to hunt small game around age 12. Iris thought it was a bit queer, but went along with it. She never got the hang of the bow, but was accurate and easily was able to hold it, the few calluses on her hands helping her small hands wrap around the handle tightly enough to keep it in her hands, but lightly enough for her to throw far. Her mother was a bit stiff about this, but allowed it, warning them to be careful. Everything seemed abnormally perfect for a while, until she was 13.

Her father was becoming a little more reckless with Iris. He began teaching her how to hunt game as large as Deer. He had to buy her a longer, sharper, and larger blade-which cost even more money from Myranda, who was already wearing down from having to take care of Iris’s sister, Lobelia. Myranda soon became sick about 7 years after Lobelia’s birth and Garren had to take up a job in one of the Market stands. Iris even sometimes sold squirrel skin, or even the meat, very rarely to avoid suspicion. Of course most could start rumours, but there was no proof. The only thing Iris used was her knife and she made sure to always stab somewhere inconspicuous and let the poor animal bleed to death. During this time, Iris usually didn’t stay around, letting her father watch and clean things up. Iris started things, but at times, didn’t finish. Lobelia grew up as spoiled as you could be in the Seam with the whole family working. Iris often joked with Lobelia, leading to her sardonic and mature remarks toward her older sister. The two were peas in a pod, though Lobelia was a bit jealous of Iris’s forest trips. One day, Iris and her father Garren were hunting for the Lobelias and Irises that grew deep into the forest and crossed into an area of thorns with sickly smells. She knew that they were going to be Peacekeepers on the border and pulled her father’s arm where they faced somewhere else that was draped with vines. Iris wanted to go on, but had a queasy feeling in her stomach and begged her father to take her back. Her father had a longing look in his eyes and continued toward the strong smelling area where a cave sat. The smell sickened her and made her eyes water. Once inside the cave, water dripped and there were pits with shadows that lurked and stalked. But when seeing a girl in these depths, Iris reached for her. Her father looked at the person, and then took Iris away from the cave and out of the woods back home-ignoring her questions and complaints. In the months to come, Iris would learn that the girl may have been her abandoned sister. She confronted her father and they yelled and screamed, arguing and Iris absolutely furious. Garren admitted and Iris took over, a fire in her eyes. Something happened.

Myranda collapsed and young Lobelia ran to her mother, screaming at the both of them with tears running down her soft cheeks and frizzing her brunette hair. Iris turned on her father and took a quieter, but even more torturing voice to her father, even calling him less of a man. Garren had a hollow look and said goodnight to his family, heading toward the bedroom without saying anything else and leaving Lobelia and Iris to help their weak and pale mother. Iris felt as if she never hated anyone as much as she hated her father at that moment. Myranda soon gained some strength after Iris had tended to her for a few hours and took another few hours to calm Lobelia down enough to put her to sleep. Iris had aged 10 years in that night and went to her cot beside Lobelia’s, collapsing and drifting away. She was gruffly awoken in what seemed like minutes later by her mother, whom was a pasty white and was trembling. She whispered for her daughter to wake up and told Iris the horrible situation, choking on tears every few sentences. Garren had gone back to get his true oldest daughter, but it seemed as if she was rouge. Peacekeepers trailed Iris’s father and something just went wrong: the cave was covered in kerosene and when one Peacekeeper shot at the rouge girl, it let off an explosion. All in the area had been killed-which meant her father, too. Iris didn’t think, just moved when she rushed out the door back to the area, no Peacekeepers around to be seen. She trembled as she stumbled upon the rubble and yelled for her father, tripping and unable to find the cave they once went through. Soon, after feeling dizzy, she was caught by Peacekeepers and led back home from the woods. Because of the unwanted media of the once missing child, they gave her and children of the Peacekeepers Medals of Valor. Iris than grew her tough layer, becoming a more strong and slightly violent as she got towards her age of 14. Her 8 year old sister no longer made as many jokes, as she was just as traumatized as Iris. Myranda seemed to always get sick and taught Lobelia how to make the creams and pastries for her and Iris continued selling her hunted and gathered goods, getting better each month with her hunting partner, Proch. For the last two years, Iris has applied for Tesserae. And it seems as Myranda has gotten unhealthier since then.

Iris always keeps the last blade her father gave her at hand in her slacks, refusing to give up the little that she has left of him. Her hair is blonde because she tripped in a puddle of gasoline and her hair was doused in it. Instead of losing it or it turning back, the amount was only enough to lighten her hair and dry it out, causing her split ends. She never cuts it as a reminder of her mistakes; even though Lobelia is worried it might split to the root and ruin the hair.