Araise Hasting

"And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't, so here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my road. And I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope; it's a shot in the dark aimed right at my throat."

- Florence and the Machine, Shake it Out Araise Jewel Hasting is a citizen from District Nine, and a tribute in the Hunger Games. She belongs to Enraptured Misfit. Please refrain from employing this tribute in your Hunger Games without his permission. If you wish to use this tribute, leave the owner a message. Her district partner is typically Quentin Ryes. The two do not need to be submitted into Hunger Games together, or in a special order.

Information
Name: Araise Hasting

Age: Sixteen

District: Nine

Gender: Female

Personality: Araise tends to have an everlasting impression on whoever she comes across, not just because of her unique appearance, but because of her captivating attitude. Upon meeting Araise, one can easily describe her as a one of a kind collectible. Her parents have always encouraged her to be her very own person and never stick to the norms of society, pieces of advice she will carry alongside her for the rest of her life. She is also incredibly smart, and the way she brainstorms her plans is very convincing. Araise may come off as shy because she is softspoken, but in reality, she is far from that. She is very outgoing and friendly, and cannot bear the thought of sitting down, instead of being out there in some sort of crazy adventure.

She may regret several of the things she has done throughout her life, but if she was given the opportunity to travel back in time to change anything about her life, she would definetly decline, for she knows that everything she has been through happened for a reason, and helped shape her as the person she is today. Truth to be told, Araise likes to live without a care in the world. She is far from being sullen and disciplined, but that does not stop her from being respectful. She is a polite, pleasant individual and it is quite hard not to enjoy her company. Araise was always told to be loud and innovative, and to be herself unapologetically and always express who she is at her fullest capacity, and that is something she will always carry with her.

Weapon(s): Araise's primary weapon is a sickle. It is a common tool, frequently used by harvesters in District Nine, or even Eleven, which is known for its prestigious crops. Araise has learned how to use a sickle not only through school, for it is responsible for preparing the youth for their future jobs, but she has gained the opportunity to practice with one. For a few months, her father worked as a wheat harvester, and he would sometimes take Araise to work alongside him, which has rendered her able to use a sickle with ease. Her secondary weapon is a knife; a rather basic weapon that she can easily master during the training period.

History:

Araise was born in a peaceful morning of the sixth month of the year. It had been an exceptionally difficult year for both of her parents, Asteria and Vernon. The two were never one of the richest families in the District, but they were able to get by. They never expected to have a child of their own. Instead, they dreaded the idea; not because they did not like children, in fact, Asteria had a soft spot for infants and always dreamed of having a daughter, but rather, because a child could only mean trouble. A child was equal to one more mouth to feed, and the two lovers were barely able to bring food to the table for two.

Because of that, Asteria had to quit chasing her dream, and after she married Vernon, a charming and open-minded man, at a very young age, being barely 17 while he was one year older, the two decided not to have a child anytime soon, but instead, try to work their way to the upper class of the District and finally be able to provide for their child and give them a better life than the two of them could have ever dreamed of as children. However, they were careless. They were young, and in a cold night, Asteria became pregnant.

The news hit the young couple hard; Asteria cursed her own ineptitude and Vernon blamed himself for the mishap, completely overcome with guilt. At the time, Vernon and Asteria lived in a shared room with several other grain processing factory workers, many of them dangerous. The room was filthy and smelled, and it was not a good place to raise a child. Despite that, many single mothers or father lived in the complex, their children staggeringly thin and scarred.

Terrified that their child would grow up in such an unhealthy environment, Asteria and Vernon quit working at the factory, and left the complex with very little money on them searching for opportunities. For the first four months Asteria was pregnant, the couple would often wander around the District in odd jobs. Within a couple of months they were able to buy a small house. It wasn't anything special, but it was warm and clean; a nice enough place for a child to grow up in. As the months went by, the day when the child would be born was coming soon, and Asteria was growing tired. She stopped working two months before giving birth to the infant, albeit Vernon continued working at a local bakery. He wasn't making as much money by himself as he would be making by working alongside Asteria, but he earned enough to provide for himself, his wife and their future child.

When the time came for the child to be brought into the world, Vernon lead Asteria to a safe, peaceful meadow beyond the District's fence, as the couple could not afford to have their baby at a hospital. Vernon's now deceased parents had once been doctors, so the child was born without any complications.

"It's a girl," Vernon announced softly with his gentle voice. "what are we going to name it?"

"Araise," Asteria stated through pants, still exhausted from childbirth, but with a smile on her face nonetheless. "our child will be named Araise."

"I love it, Asteria." Vernon truthfully agreed to the name, and the couple shared a tender kiss. Then, he turned to the weeping baby cradled in Asteria's arms, wrapped in a green blanket. "Hello, Araise. We're your parents. And we're going to make sure you'll never hurt, never feel hungry and never feel blue." And with that, he kissed little Araise's forehead.

Initially, Araise's upbringing was better than her parents could have expected. Being young and free-spirited, Araise's parents always encouraged her to be her very own person and strive for uniqueness, rather than blending in and following trends. Araise grew up to be a charming, carefree girl that was never afraid to be herself and speak her mind. However, she would never do the latter in a way that was offensive or distasteful, having the bad habit to sugarcoat things in order to prevent people from being hurt.

However, things would change when Araise reached the eleventh year of her peaceful life. While working, Vernon suffered an accident that caused him to fracture his left leg. After a quick visit to the doctor, Asteria learned that her husband's leg was broken. It wasn't anything to worry about, as he would just need to wear a cast for a certain amount of time, but what worried Asteria is that her husband wouldn't be able to work. As the couple no longer worked at the bakery they used to, they had very different jobs, and made different amounts of money.

Whereas Araise worked as a housemaid to a rich, influential family, Vernon worked as both a business assistant and a machine repairer in a local grain processing factory, the latter being the job that wounded him. Working two jobs, Vernon made much more money than Asteria, who earned a small, but decent, payment. However, such payment would not be enough to sustain three people.

Having no other choice, Asteria left searching for more and more jobs, while Araise felt obligated to claim tesserae as soon as she turned twelve. Soon, Vernon was cured, and Asteria was finally able to quit all her jobs but her original one as a housemaid. Vernon continued to work as a machine repairer, however, the business he worked for refused to take him back, for some reason.

This was a mystery for the family to solve, as Vernon had always been a hard worker and wa sone of the most promising people in his workplace. Looking for answers, Araise went to investigate, but she soon found out that her father worked for an illegal market located near the outskirts of the Districts. At first, Araise was started, but as she started asking questions, she quickly realized that the market was not a bad place at all. It was an independent business that consisted of mostly young nomads selling art, fresh food and various other items for a very small price. Araise grew interested, and soon became a frequent client to some of the people in that market.

Its existence was not unknown to the Peacekeepers, as there had been frequent rumours about an independent business that existed without the consent of authorities being spread around, although the Peacekeepers were never able to find it. Until one day, that is.

On a Saturday morning, Araise woke up and put on some clothes and her headband, grabbing some money and leaving for the market she used to go to. She walked for a good half an hour with the feeling that she was being followed, but she reached the market without any problems. She bought a recently-slain rabbit, deciding that she would have it cleaned and prepare it for dinner later that day. After she made the purchase, some money was still left, so she decided to buy a tiny pearl she spotted.

It had reached the District illegaly, coming from District Four, and Araise had never seen a real pearl before. Excited about her new possession, she left the market happily. However, as she was walking back home, the smell of decease lingered in the air, and smoke billowed in the distance. It did not take long for Araise to realize the source of the fire was the small market she had just left.

Shocked, Araise ran towards it, and as she came near it, the sound of gunshots filled the air, and inside the burning building, people screamed. Peacekeepers surrounded the small construction, shooting down anyone who was able to escape the fire's grasp and leave the building. Araise watched as a little girl, around 8, ran out of the building with the majority of her clothes blackened by the fire and several small burns scattered all over her body.

A gunshot was fired and the girl fell face first; the bullet killed her instantly. All around the dead little girl, the bodies of hardworking people who suffered the same fate were scattered in close proximity to each other, forming a large pool of blood.

Terrified out of her mind, Araise ran back to her home, exploding into the living room where her parents were peacefully seated and darting upstairs, locking herself in her room and crying until she felt no more. She was entirely convinced that there was nobody to blame for the deaths of dozens of people but herself. She now realized that she wa sin fact being followed. Followed by peacekeepers, who must have noticed her unusual behavior, for she was walking into an empty, forgotten part of the District at dawn.

Her parents tried to come into her room, but they were unable to obtain any answers. Vernon would eventually learn that his previous workplace had been burnt to the ground, with everyone inside falling victim to the flames, and frowned as he recalled that Araise would constantly go there.

Araise was absolutely disconcerted and became a dark, secluded person. Her parents took note of her behavior and did their best at trying to turn her into her old, cheery self. Overtime, Araise became the person she used to be, more or less. She would still be pleasant and smile whenever spoken to. Her skippy, carefree attitude soon returned, and a smile would never leave her face.

But if only someone knew about the pain neatly tucked behind that smile.

Strengths: Throughout Araise's teenage years she would discover the aforementioned market, and would soon not only become a frequent customer of it, but would sometimes try to make some money out of it, as well. She would commonly trespass the District's fence in order to hunt and obtain edible or medicinal plants, which has made her quite skilled in the art of hunting, as well as getting her to obtain some basic plant identification knowledge. She also excels at climbing, something she mastered by climbing trees in the woods in order to avoid peacekeepers of feral animals.

Weaknesses: Araise has never attempted to swim in her life, and while swimming is a common weakness to nearly all tributes who do not hail from District Four, it is one of Araise's main weaknesses, as well as one that might hinder her greatly in the games. Aside from cooking and preparing food with a knife, Araise has never put her hands on a weapon with the intent to kill, and weaponry is another one of her weaknesses. She is also not as strong as some of the tributes from the richest Districts, and lacks greatly in the field of physical strength.

Appearance: Araise's appearance is quite intriguing, and can be considered to be extremely rare, given the District she resides in. Unlike most of the residents of District Nine, who are born with a full head of glimmering red hair and a soft, cinnamon sprinkle of freckles on their faces, Araise's appearance is a much more subtle one. For that, however, she stands out from the district's masses. Her alabaster complexion is clear and as soft as her motherly attitude, and her ravenous black hair is glossy and voluminous. It cascades down her back in a multitude of neatly combed curls, and its very dark tone contrasts with Araise's alabaster skin.

Throughout the majority of her life, Araise has considered herself to be a fairly slim individual, but if compared to the staggeringly frail bodies of those from the most outlying regions of Panem, her structure is evidently more natural, given that she had had a good enough diet during most of her life; only because her parents worked very hard for it. She has delicate, light mint-green eyes, which may not appear to match her dark shock of hair, but do compliment her usual thoughtful expression quite nicely. Thin, curved eyebrows hover over her mint-colored orbs, and her forehead is clear of any freckles or patches of acne. She is relatively tall, standing at five feet and eight inches at sixteen years of age.

Fear: Araise fears to ever inflict harm upon anyone without meaning to do so. She still blames herself for the tragedy that went down in the market, and while she would be perfectly comfortable in taking the life who did her or her allies any wrong, she would be absolutely terrified in learning that she somehow caused the loss of the lives of any more innocent people without meaning to do so.

Token: A petite, shiny pearl she obtained a small handful of weeks prior to unwillingly partaking in the Hunger Games. She holds no real feelings towards the object, but finds it as a fitting enough symbol of her past, given that she obtained the item, originally from District Four, in the business she is held responsible for destroying due to her carelessness.

Trivia

 * Although Araise was Enraptured Misfit's very first tribute on the wiki, she was a completely different person when she was originally created, and went through a massive re-do in late 2016.
 * Originally, Araise was named Asteria Ghanis, a name that now belongs to Araise's mother.
 * When first created, Araise was a citizen of District Five, and was fifteen years old. Her backstory remained more or less the same, although it was completely rewritten to a more polished version of itself.