Samuel MacLaren [Peacekeeper]

With his slightly-too-large hands and feet, messy sandy-blond hair that falls in his face and wide, trusting blue eyes, Samuel Ezekiel MacLaren resembles a puppy in more ways than one. Thankfully, though, he lacks that puppyish discoordination between his long limbs and the rest of his body; standing a respectable 6 feet 2 inches tall, it's served to make him look much more gawky than he actually is. Sam also sports a dusting of freckles on his face and shoulders, though whether they're inherited from the sun or his parents he's not altogether sure.

Having lived all but the last few months of his life on a ranch in District 10, the hard physical labor of his previous profession has made Sam wiry with muscle and strong as a horse; since joining the Peacekeepers (and no longer worrying where his next meal is coming from), he's put on enough weight to transition from lanky --bordering on gaunt-- to lean and strapping. His square jaw and high cheekbones, previously too defined to make him appear almost skeletal, have softened out enough to transition into boyish good looks (that, if commented on, he'll deny any such thing with a blush and a smile). Though its faded somewhat from his time in the Academy, Sam also sports calloused hands and a tan from a lifetime of many hours outside spent roping, riding and otherwise maintaining the ranch.

What probably allows Sam to stand out the most isn't his tall frame, his bone-deep tan or his nearly ever-present smile; though he's not exactly secretive of the fact, it only takes moments to figure out exactly where he's from thanks to the mellow drawl of his accent. Sam's vocabulary is rife with slang from his district --ain't, y'all--, and he has a tendency to draw out his vowels and leave off the last letter or two of his words. Though Sam has been trying to pick up some of the dialects of his new comrades-in-arms, he's so far been very unsuccessful, sliding back into his old habits when he's not actively trying to use another accent. So much for doing as the Romans do.

Samuel wears his heart on his sleeve, and he doesn't care who sees it.

Right off the bat, most people's first impression of Sam is that he's out of his goddamned mind; who the hell is this happy to be in the Peacekeepers? Make no mistake; Sam misses his momma and little brother dearly, but it's hard not to be relieved and over-the-top grateful when he now has money to send home, three square meals a day, a roof over his head that doesn't leak and a brother that's going to live to see another day. Sam is highly optimistic (his naivete lends itself well to this), and more often than not can find something to look forward to or be happy about; his sunny personality tends to either be highly infectious, or exceptionally annoying.

Admittedly, Sam isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, and his drawling accent doesn't do any favors to that impression; though Sam isn't stupid (he's had just as much education as anyone), he's never had any use for school subjects like history or math and has relatively little interest in subjects that don't involve putting his hands on something and doing it. What he does bother to retain, though, Sam knows well. Being a well-seasoned rancher, he's a talented roper and rider and is something of a jack of all trades when it comes to the various chores the upkeeping of a ranch entails; in the Academy, Sam showed great proficiency for marksmanship and hand-to-hand combat, the latter of which is a carry-over from his love of roughhousing with some of the other ranch hands he worked with back home.

In spite of the roughnecks he spent time with in District 10 and the infamously foul-mouthed military personnel he now works with, Sam is quick to be offended by vulgar language and humor (and finds slurs about his mother to be especially offensive); much of it comes from the lifelong habit of trying to set a good example for his younger brother Abel. By the same token, Sam's vocabulary contains copious amounts of (clean) District 10 slang that he uses freely, even when addressing superior Peacekeepers. In spite of months of drilling at the Academy, Sam still (compulsively) calls all of his superiors 'sir' or 'ma'am', regardless of the etiquette he's supposed to follow.

One thing that the Academy was unable to drill out of Sam is his rather pronounced naïveté; having never been away from home before, and used to being able to trust the people around him has conditioned Sam to believe the best in the people around him, and is overly trusting as a result. He's oftentimes unaware if he's being made fun or taken advantage of, and though it might come back to bite him in the ass later has a hard time believing anyone would actively want to hurt him. It has, to an extent, endeared him to his superiors being willing to blindly follow orders believing they're well thought-through and in everyone's best interest; Sam hasn't yet been in the Peacekeepers long enough to begin to question the morality or the motive behind much of what he's told.

In spite of his glaring innocence, though, when he has the time Sam is very social and can be very flirtatious; in dealing with the fairer sex, Sam is gentlemanly and likes to lay on the flattery. Around men, still apprehensive whether or not he likes them (three months showering with 80 other men will have that effect), he's considerably more reserved, unsure of how to approach them. While he will admit to having had his share of lady-friends and covert kisses, for the most part Sam's love life is nearly nonexistent due to his preoccupation with keeping his younger brother out of trouble.

Life began hard for Sam.

But first and foremost, it began hard for his mother; Evelyn was only 17 years old when Sam was born in District 10, the spitting image of his daddy with his blond hair and cornflower-blue eyes. It was apparent early on he was like his father in more ways than one; while he was out ranching from sunrise to sundown, Evelyn was outside tending to the crops with Sam toddling around her chasing bugs and the stray cats that lurked around the property. There were few things that made the sandy-haired little boy happier than being outside in the sunlight, and even well into his later years made no secret of his disdain for having to be inside.

When he was 6, Sam's younger brother Abel was born, and he took to the infant like a fish to water; Evelyn had little difficulty persuading her older son to look after his baby brother for minutes at a time. Sam was utterly inseparable from his brother, having taken to heart his father's advice that he'd be responsible for Abel being the older brother; it's a duty that he's taken seriously ever since.

Sam couldn't get onto the back of a horse soon enough, begging his father from the moment he could talk ('hawsey!') to be allowed to ride. At first, sitting tied to the saddlehorn on the back of an old nag while his father walked the horse around was enough; but by the time Sam was 7, he wanted something more exciting. While Micah's back was turned, Sam had hopped onto the back of his father's horse, spooking the animal and causing it to take off; while his father ran after it in a panic, Sam was absolutely delighted and irreparably addicted. Evelyn reluctantly allowed Micah to start showing Sam how to ride.

But, it would seem, it wasn't meant to last. Every day, Sam ran home from school to say hello to Abel and his momma and daddy, in that order. When he was 8, Sam came home one day, greeted his brother, and when he went to go find his mother found her sitting in the kitchen sobbing, his father nowhere to be found. None of the ranch hands would tell him where Micah had gone; Sam ran all over the ranch looking for him, unable to find him and refusing to come back inside even as the sun set, becoming steadily more distressed until he was too exhausted to search anymore, crying himself to sleep.

Evelyn eventually found him, curled up against his father's horse in its stable. Sam simply took her explanation at face value; that Micah was going away for a while. Sam asked when he would be back.

"Soon."

He asked the next day. And the day after that, and the day after that. Then he would only ask every few weeks, once a month, once a year until Sam finally came to realize that when his mother said 'soon', what she meant was 'never'. Young as he was, Sam rose to the occasion; with Evelyn now having to work to support her sons on her own, now more than ever he decided it was his duty to be the man of the house and take responsibility for his brother.

While Abel was young, it was easy; if he acted up, Sam simply had to tuck his brother under his arm and take him away from trouble. He scolded his brother if he didn't do his schoolwork, dirtied up his knees and fists when bigger kids thought pushing little Abel around might make for some sport, showed him to ride as Micah had shown him.

As he grew older, Sam's own social life dwindled to near nonexistence as he took up working around the ranch with the other hands, spending whatever time he wasn't fixing fences, roping cattle or riding horses to keep his eye on Abel. He was growing swiftly into a tall, strapping young man, but with three mouths to feed and little money available, Sam often went hungry to make sure Abel and Evelyn didn't, pretending he had eaten when they weren't around. Abel was becoming older and more independent, but it never stopped Sam from trying to be the example by which his brother followed.

No such luck. Abel was an inherent troublemaker, and as Sam was approaching adulthood found himself digging his younger brother out of greater trouble than he'd ever been in before. Evelyn, in particular, looked devastated every time Sam brought his brother home from a conference at school or a talking-to from the local Peacekeepers.

It never occurred to him why.

Sam pleaded and begged and did favors for the officers, anything to keep them from laying down the law down on his brother any more than they already had; but their leniency wasn't indefinite. To this day, he still wasn't entirely sure what angered the Peacekeepers to the point that they literally chased Abel down to his front door; Sam didn't think, grabbing Abel and throwing himself over him to protect his brother.

He had offered himself up in Abel's place; they could do what they wanted to him, Abel was just a child and didn't know better. At the age of 19, Sam was too old to be taught a lesson by 'coincidentally' being drawn in the Reaping... but he wasn't too old to serve his country. Given only a day to get his affairs in order, Sam said his tearful goodbyes to his mother and brother, packed his meager belongings and reported to the Peacekeepers to be taken to District 2 and to the Academy.

Failure wasn't an option; only time in service would ensure Abel's safety. Sam struggled with military history and memorizing ranks as he had done with most academics in school. But he quickly discovered his niche in many of the hands-on evolutions, showing a particular proficiency for firearms marksmanship and his strength lending itself well to hand-to-hand combat. Though his written test scores reflected a pupil with below-average intellect, his physical tests told a completely different story; working the ranch had made Sam strong, the stakes made him driven to succeed, and his naivete made him unwaveringly obedient to his superiors.

With Evelyn and Abel still in District 10, Sam graduated alone.

Nowadays, Sam is still trying to find his niche within the Peacekeepers, unaccustomed to life in another district and on his own for the first time in his life. It's terrifying, but to keep Abel safe it's a labor of love.