val gerard pk | fin
Dec 8, 2015 22:40:41 GMT -5
Post by Lyn𝛿is on Dec 8, 2015 22:40:41 GMT -5
Val Gerard
forty-three, district two, male
{those who follow the path of the righteous
shall have their reward}
shall have their reward}
I have always hated my name.
My given name, Valentine, is long and unnecessarily flowery and weak-sounding, no matter how much my mother would blather on about ancient name meanings and inner strength. She has always been one to talk, but such words are useless, frivolous drivel. I go by Val; much crisper and more efficient that way.
My family name, on the other hand, only serves to remind me of the sorry excuses I had for parents, and whenever possible I avoid mentioning it. I was born in a jail; that alone should tell you all you need to know about them. My father was an anarchist troublemaker who would spew hateful rants denouncing the Games, and my mother, to put it plainly, was a whore. I grew up in the District Two community home, which mostly meant fending for my own on the streets, while my parents rotted and died in jail.
To my great chagrin, my looks come almost entirely from my deadbeat father. My eyebrows are prominent and narrow, protruding from my forehead and highlighting my thin, downturned eyes. A mustache and beard trail from my broad, flaring nose, surrounding my thin lips; on this note, however, I am careful to keep it trimmed neatly and professionally, for one must always present oneself as well-groomed. I am beginning to spot white hairs growing from my head and face, yet another unfortunate feature that I share with my father.
My skin is pale and pasty, wrinkles already beginning to form at the creases of my forehead and the corners of my mouth. Despite my unassuming demeanor, however, many criminals have been taken off guard by my strength and reflexes. I am sinewy and tough, without the bulging muscles and toned hue of the Careers, but I have had the discipline of a fighter and am not to be underestimated.
I am nearly always in uniform, and even when I am off duty, I make sure to dress sharply, for a man must strive to maintain order in all that he does. Sloth, after all, is one of the great vices. I do not indulge in gaudy and impractical hues; instead, I prefer my clothing to be a simple, dark-colored jacket, neatly buttoned. I seldom smile, for I do not see the need to indulge in the trifling nonsense from which people seem to derive their joy.
There are two kinds of people that society detests - the outlaws, and the Peacekeepers. Being born from those who have turned their backs on the Capitol and the path of virtue, I was an outcast by birth, destitute and scorned. Growing up, I was lucky to have food on my plate; I could never dream of going into the Games like the rich kids who had money to spend on training and the chance to volunteer as the district's representative. But I was still lean and strong, determined to make a better life for myself instead of slaving away like the lowly laborers in the stone mines. I have striven to become more educated, setting my sights on the Peacekeeper academy that towered over the district's town square, and I was selected to train there when I was eighteen. Since then, I have worked my way upwards relentlessly and efficiently, passing the tests with flying colors and eventually graduating with honors to become a full-fledged Peacekeeper.
My first assignment was in District Twelve, the coal mining district. Ripred must have given me that assignment to try my dedication, for the people of that district are lazy and uneducated, and the place itself is the filthiest of Panem, choked with dirt and coal dust. The people do not even bother to make themselves look presentable, and my fellow Peacekeepers, who have sworn to uphold the law, have become corrupted and lazy by their exposure to these lowlifes, not willing to put in the effort to catch the criminals and racketeers I reported dutifully to my superiors.
It is meticulousness and hard work that has gotten me to where I am today, however, and Ripred damn me if I would fail to do my best even in such trying circumstances. But I must follow my supervisors' words, because that is the law for us Peacekeepers to abide by. Most of all I abhor a job left unfinished, and I will perform all the duties that I am able. I seldom reflect on these duties; we are not ones to interpret the orders we are given, after all, but merely to carry them out. I am not like the hypocrites that roam the streets around me, for I know that I must be as harsh on myself as I am on the citizens of Panem.
Justice. That is the guiding principle I have striven to live my life by, and the principle I continue to uphold as a Peacekeeper. I am the law, and I must strive to be unflinching, to not let my guard down, even when the weak-willed hoodlums try to pretend they had no other choice. But every human has free will, has a choice. They knowingly made the decision to act illegally, so they must face the consequences. They could have gone to school and worked hard and pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, but they are too lazy to put in the effort of finding a real job, so they steal and rob and terrorize honest citizens instead.
They clamor for freedom, but they fail to realize that freedom without responsibility will only amount to chaos. Without the Peacekeepers to enforce the law, the lawbreaking thugs will weaken the entire fabric of Panem. If we enforce the rules too lightly, the criminals will only grow more immoral and entitled at the expense of the safety of the law-abiding citizens that these criminals victimize. Panem is a land of opportunity, where anybody who works hard enough can make something of themselves. After all, I had always been penniless, growing up, but I never had to resort to stealing, and now that I have made it into the Peacekeeping forces, I have more than enough for myself to live on.
You may say I am harsh, but that is the only way to maintain order. There are always those who seek chaos and destruction, and the only way to lessen the havoc they create is for us, as Peacekeepers, to be ruthlessly efficient and dedicated. For you that naively talk of mercy and forgiveness - there is no mercy to be had when you spare the murderer and he goes on to kill an innocent citizen, if you blind your eyes to the thief and he goes on to steal from the homes of those who earned their wealth. For men like those will never change, after all, and those will good moral character would never resort to such base and dishonorable acts. I must not forget nor forgive those who taint not only their own reputation, but that of our Peacekeeping forces, when they elude our watchful eyes.
I am a man of honesty, and all the above I have said is what I know to be true. Ripred watches over those who abide by the rules of society and who refrain from deceit and subterfuge. I am the law, and the law will always prevail.
