Zia Fallows ~ District 11

This is a tribute by Sambaroses, please don't use her without prior permission! :3

Zia's Basics
Name: Zia Fallows

Age: 16

District: 11

Weapons: Sycthe, Dagger, and generally passible with most tools used in agriculture.

Height: 5'7

Appearance


Fairly tall and lithe, Zia has very curly dark brown hair that just surpasses her chest, though when pulled straight it actually falls closer to her waist. She also has dark, hazelnut brown eyes, and quite dark skin.

Personality
Zia once used to be an innocent, sweet girl, who was never short of a kind word to say. Not so much anymore. After what happened with her parents and Barley (detailed in backstory) she became quieter, more reclusive even, hardly saying a word unless it was absoloutely necasary. She also became rather bitter as well, but also exceedingly headstrong and determined. It might of made her a little reckless, yes, but it also made her tough. All she wanted was a normal life, but with that taken away from her she became a rather dangerous person.

After all, there is nothing more dangerous than a girl who has nothing to lose...

Backstory
Born and raised in District 11, Zia was a good child, sweet, kind, helpful, everything her parents could possibly want in a child. She was well liked by those who knew her, holding down a comfortable job which involved climbing to the tops of trees to pick the fruit that the adults couldn't get at. She was the perfect daughter really.

But to get to the beginning of the tale that would change her life forever, we must stay with a six year old Zia, who at that particular moment in time had just started work. She'd just been chatting to the other workers - adults and children alike - as she prepped herself for the days work, when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Or more, someone.

A young boy, who didn't look that much older than Zia herself, sitting on his own on a crate and looking up at the towering trees with a great look of apprehension on his face. Zia, being the bubbly, curious girl she was decided to go over and find out why he looked so worried.

'Hi!' She'd announced as she bounded over to him, perching on the crate next to his as she swung her legs jovially back and forth. She'd always been a morning person, so the whole 'getting to work at sunrise' thing suited her very well and nearly always made her in a good mood.

'Oh, h-hi.' He'd stuttered, looking incredibly surprised that anyone was actually bothering to talk to him at all.

'I'm Zia.' She offered, grinning at him as he obviously tried to work out just why she was talking to him.

'Barley.' He replied, letting a tentative, shy smile cross creep onto his face.

'So, Barley, why do you look so worried?' She asked bluntly, as she had never been one to beat around the bush.

'It's my first day... I... I-I'm not exactly good with heights...' He confessed with a small chuckle and a shrug, as if it was obvious.

'Oh, that's nothing to worry about! Stick with me and you'll be fine.' She reassured, patting him on the shoulder as the whistle rang out for the start of the days work.

After that day they soon became best friends, Barley already doing the harvesting from the ground by the time he was ten, and Zia staying as a climber for as long as she could, which turned out to be when she was eleven, before she also joined the harvesters on the ground.

By the time she was eleven Barley was already thirteen, and was blossoming into quite the handsome young man, if she did say so herself. He'd got over his fear of heights years ago with her help, though he was still quite a shy boy at heart, something she found rather endearing. He'd actually become rather popular with the girls of the district, something that gave her a twisting feeling in the pit of her stomach. Little did she know - being so young - that this was what most people would call ' Jealousy '.

Anyway, on one particular day in the height of summer they were both harvesting fruit from the trees in total silence, since peacekeepers were practically hovering over their shoulders wherever they turned. Eventually the whistle came to them that alerted them to it being time for lunch, and Zia hurried to grab her pitiful amount of food, before taking her regular perch on one of the low branches of a tree. Her enthusiasm hadn't really waned much over the years despite the bad pay and scarce food, and she soon found herself swinging her legs back and forth in a childlike manner as she waited for Barley. Soon enough he scrambled up to join her, sitting next to her as he grinned broadly.

Because of the rules against talking during work the workers didn't get to talk often, so the place had soon exploded into chatter as soon as the break had been announced. Thankfully, this would mask the conversation that was to come, one that would surely end up getting them both killed.

'Zi?' He'd asked after rather a lot of small talk with her, using the nickname he'd given her as a child.

'Yeah?' She'd responded, sensing the tone of the conversation had changed as she raised her eyebrows curiously.

'Is this really what you want to be doing for the rest of your life?' He inquired, taking her by surprise. Sure, of course she didn't want to be harvesting fruit 'til the day she died, but she was quite content with the routine, the safe familiarness of it all.

'I don't know... I guess so.' She said in a hushed voice, quite worried about where this was going.

'Don't you want to do something better than this?'

'Like what? There aren't many jobs on offer Barley-'

'No, I don't mean like that. What if the Peacekeepers weren't around, or the Capitol. What would you want to do then? ' He said as if he was talking about the weather, making her eyes widen in surprise.

'Shh! Do you know what you're saying? You could get yourself killed!' She hissed out of the corner of her mouth, followed by a grin, just in case anyone was watching them, which they undoubtedly were.

'It was just a question-' He responded, actually looking a little hurt at her reaction.

'Keep your questions to yourself then.' She'd warned, more for his safety than her own. If he was going to go around talking about things like that he'd surely end up six feet under soon enough. At this point she'd already finished her meager lunch, so she hopped off the branch, landing gracefully on her feet just as the whistle drifted over the treetops towards them, signalling the end of their short break. After that they'd worked in silence for the rest of the day, but even if it hadn't been enforced she knew there would have been an awkward silence between the two of them anyway.

After that he never mentioned it again - or at least to her anyway - and the years flew by, until she was thirteen and he was fifteen. She knew by now that she most definately had a crush on him, which was apparently obvious to asoloutely everyone but him. The older teens and adults were regularley referring to them with the term 'Puppy Love', though they seemed to abruptly change the subject whenever she came near, which was infuritating to say the least. If they were going to talk so openly about her feelings, at least talk about it to her face!

Though, unbeknownst to her, he wasn't as oblivious as most people thought. He knew she liked him, and he had to admit to himself that he had more than just a little bit of a crush on her. But how to tell her? And what would she say? Despite the knowledge that their feelings were mutual, he was still beyond nervous about the entire thing.

'Hey, Zi, can I... c-can I talk to you for a minute?' He'd finally worked up the nerve to ask one day, her confusion apparent as her eyes narrowed slightly.

'Sure?' She said as more of a question than an answer, wiping the dirt off her hands using her trousers, before gesturing for him to accompany her as she walked home. Work had finished for the day already, so there weren't many people around, just a few stragglers who were busy clearing away the tools and baskets.

'So I was thinking... I mean, I... do you like me?' He asked as they walked away from the workers, obviously shocking her as she fought her emotions off her face.

'...What do you mean?' She asked tentatively, running a hand through her brunette curls as she casually started to walk at a brisker pace.

'It was just, well, I like you, and if-'

'You do?' She asked, looking even more taken aback, if that was possible, stopping abruptly in her tracks.

'Yeah... I-I do.' He confessed, looking down at his shoes as if waiting for the ground to swallow him up. Then, to his utmost surprise, she leaned forwards, placing her hands on his shoulder hesitantly, before pressing her lips to his in what turned out to be a rather gentle kiss. It only lasted a few seconds, barely giving him enough time to react before she pulled away, a broad grin lighting up her face.

'See you tomorrow Barley! ' She'd exclaimed happily over her shoulder as she started to skip away, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all, leaving him quite perplexed to say the least, though with a smile on his face that refused to go away.

From there they soon embarked on a relationship, which went well for many months, until she was fourteen and he was sixteen. However, after a while, she started to notice a change in him. It was subtle at first, he'd say he had to be somewhere, or give a suspicious sounding excuse and then disappear. Her first worry was that he was cheating on her, though she soon started to realise there was something far bigger than that afoot after his absenses and cryptic comments started to become less and less subtle.

So one day, she made a choice. She was going to follow him the next time he just left, find out just what he was up to. It had to be something important since he wasn't telling her, right?

Luckily for her, he made his excuses just after work that evening, and then walked away towards the center of the district. Following along quite a way behind she managed to stay far enough away from him to not be noticed, but close enough to keep an eye on him. He walked for what must have been at least an hour as the sun started to set, sticking to the shadows and avoiding other people and peacekeepers alike.

Eventually, he made it to an uninspiring little shack, rapping on the door six times in a distinct rhythm. Soon enough the door swung open, a shifty looking man glancing around before letting Barley in. Zia, who had taken to hiding behind a nearby stack of crates waited a couple of minutes, before ever so slowly creeping forwards, wondering what was going on. The sun had long set by now, sending the district into darkness. If anybody saw her or Barley out at this hour they'd be whipped in the town square, that was for certain. So why was he taking these kinds of risks, and what for?

Crouching outside the shack she pressed her ear to the door, listening in to the conversations inside. There sounded like there were a lot of people in there, the snippets of conversation she could hear chilling her to the bone.

' - take down the Capitol - '

' - Peacekeeper control - '

' - Rebel cause - '

All words that could get them killed, and all words she had hoped beyond hope she would never hear out of Barleys mouth again.

Just then, she was pulled upwards violently by the back of her hair, someone pressing something sharp and smooth to her throat, almost certainly a blade. She didn't even dare breathe out of fear, listening to what the person was saying.

' Thought you'd listen in did you?! ' The decidedly male voice exclaimed angrily, removing the blade and pushing her through the door and into the shack unceremoniously as she stumbled over her own feet.

' Zia?! ' The very familiar voice of Barley said in shock, as she looked up from her new found spot on the floor with wide, scared eyes.

' You know her? ' One of the men asked, nearly all of them wearing cloaks that covered their faces, making it difficult to tell which one was talking.

'Yeah, s-she's my girlfriend. ' He stuttered nervously, gulping as he looked around anxiously, before moving forwards to help Zia up, who had a small trickle of blood running down her throat from the knife the man who guarded the place had pressed to it.

' I thought you said you hadn't told anyone!' Another one of them hissed angrily, too afraid of attracting peacekeepers to raise his voice anymore.

' I didn't! ' He hissed back, keeping a protective arm around her shoulders as she looked around at all the people crammed into the tiny shack. It was difficult to tell because of the cloaks, but she did notice that there were also quite a few women in there too, obviously part of some sort of rebel group.

' Well, it's too late now. ' One of the decidedly female voices muttered, shrugging nonchalantly.

' You don't say. ' Another one of them mumbled, before pulling back the hood of his cloak. 'Zia, right? You promise not to tell anyone about this? '

At this she had just nodded, far too afraid to do anything else. After they had made their 'introductions' she had to sit through their entire meeting, apparently being lucky to even still be alive, according to one of the women anyway. Apparently they were only trusting her because she was accosiated with one of their 'best', and if he trusted her then they did too.

However, as soon as the congregation had dispersed she pulled him into a shadowey alley, determined to gain some answers.

'What the hell do you think you're doing?!' Zia hissed in his face, unsure if she could even remember ever being this angry before.

' I could ask you the same thing! ' He fired back in an equally angry tone, before looking around for peacekeepers nervously.

'Did you really have to do this?! Why couldn't you just stay quiet? I was thinking you could be trusted, Barley... ' She muttered dejectedly, sighing as her anger gave way to more of a strange kind of sadness.

'I can be Zi-'

' Did you even think all of this through? All of this will catch up to you, and I don't- '

' It won't, I promise. ' He reassured, and even though she knew she shouldn't, she actually believed him.

A few close calls later they finally made it home, Barley making her swear not to breath a word about the group to anybody before bidding her farewell, disappearing into the night as she watched from her front door.

The next few weeks were tense between them to say the least, especially as she had refused to take part in any kind of rebellious actions. She liked the routine of her work, she liked the safety of being blissfully unaware of the growing rebellious groups, she even liked being able to walk by peacekeepers without feeling a horrific feeling of guilt and dread. Except, she couldn't do any of those things anymore without something niggling at the back of her mind, reminding her she never really was safe, no matter what she did or where she went. She already knew now, she already knew too much...

Now, we've finally reached the day that would truly change the course of her life forever, just over a year later, when a fifteen year old Zia was returning home after a long days work. The sun was just dipping below the horizon, the sky painted with rich shades of pink, orange, and red. It was a beautiful sight really, one that she never quite got used to no matter how many times she saw it. Sighing she ran a hand absentmindedly through her hair, trying to push away the niggling sense of something being... wrong.

She wasn't quite sure what it was, maybe the fact that it was too quiet, or maybe just the way the few people around kept staring at her as she walked by, but she knew something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

Quickening her pace she kept looking around, scared that peacekeepers were going to jump out on her at any moment. Not that they'd actually have any reason to arrest her, it would be Barley they'd be after if it was anyone... that very thought actually scared her too much to really contemplate, so she shook her head, trying to clear her mind.

Rounding the last corner between her and her house, her breath caught in her throat as she saw the crowd gathered around her home. There were throngs of people just standing outside it, many with looks of total, unbridled fear, others with horrifying looks of remorse as they saw her.

By now she was running, she wasn't sure when she had started doing so actually, her footsteps ringing in her ears. What had happened? Was it her parents?! Was it Barley?! So many wild thoughts were occupying her head that she didn't even seem to register that she was shoving people out of the way and yelling, until she finally broke through the crowd and burst through the now door-less door frame, coming to an almost immediate stop at what she saw.

Blood. Especially the two words written on the wall in it, huge letters that told her everything she needed to know.

BAD BLOOD.

She didn't need to be an expert to see what had happened here, the bullet holes riddling the walls, the wrecked room.... and the blood. It was enough to make her break down, knowing that her parents were most likely gone or captured. ''The Capitol. ''It was a message from them, she knew that, but not just to her... to Barley too.

She hadn't even realised she was sobbing until the tears started to splash onto the floor, continuous streams of the rolling down her cheeks and the tip of her nose to the floor. She couldn't breathe, couldn't function...

Dropping to her knees she braced herself against the floor, her wails of grief halted only by the arrival of the one person she never wanted to see again.

'Zia! Oh my god, Zia, are you okay? What happened? Wha-'

'YOU happened!' She shreiked in his face as he knelt down beside her, shrugging his hand off her back. It was like salt in the wound him still being there, alive, like the Capitol were laughing right at her. Hitting her in one of the few places she was weak. The ones she loved...

'What?!'

'Look at it Barley, take a look what you've done! ' She hollered, gesturing around her with one arm, screwing her eyes shut so she wouldn't have to look at it as her body shook with every sob.

'Zi, I-I-I didn't-'

'What? You're going to say this isn't your fault now, are you? Is that it?!' She shouted, getting to her feet as she came nose to nose with him, her eyes burning with overpowering grief and anger.

'Zia, i'm so, so sor-'

'DON'T YOU DARE!' She screamed, cutting him off.

'Sorry-'

'I don't need your apologies Barley! Just get out! Get out, get out, GET OUT!' She screeched, pushing him harshly towards the door as he hesitated, as if he was going to say something, before obviously thinking better of it and turning away slowly, leaving her alone in the house once more.

After that, time seemed to move far slower for poor Zia. She had to learn how to support herself, never being able to bring herself to look in the room that was the permanent reminder of how badly everything had spiralled. The door to that room was always shut now, not once opened since that day.

Suddenly, her friendly, familiar routine was the opposite, unfriendly and monotunous and she struggled through every day with unshed tears in her eyes and a heaviness in her heart that refused to go away. She still worked alongside Barley as well, neither of them saying a word to each other for well over a year. Well, except once.

He'd turned to her, opening his mouth as if to say something, though she cut him off before he could.

'Time can heal but this,' She started, gesturing between the two of them with her hand, her face stony and blank. 'won't, so if you're coming my way... just don't.' She'd finished, turning away to signal that she had no interest in listening to whatever she had to say.

Zia's sixteenth birthday had already been and gone, though she honestly hadn't even noticed until one of the workers pointed it out, trying to make small talk with her - and ultimately failing - through their lunch break. She was no longer the sweet, bubbly little girl they'd once known, she was now quiet and reclusive, hardly saying a word unless she had to.

Soon enough the reapings were already rolling around again, and the day before them Barley seemed determined to talk to her.

'Zia, please.' He said as he turned to her at the end of work, making her jump in surprise.

'Did you think we'd be fine?' She asked bluntly, spinning around to look him in the eyes as the other remaining workers gave them a very wide berth.

'Huh?'

'Don't you dare think it's in the past, these kinds of wounds they last and they last. ' She said curtly, watching as his brow furrowed.

'I really am sorry Zia, i'm not-'

'All you're doing is saying sorry for show! You don't mean it! ' She exclaimed angrily, going to walk away before he caught her by the arm.

'It wasn't my fault Z-' He started, before she cut him off with a humorless laugh.

'It wasn't? If you live like that, you live with ghosts Barley.' She muttered, shaking her arm out of his grip but making no move to keep walking just yet.

'You know, it used to be mad love-'

'We've got problems, and I don't think we can solve them with a simple 'I'm sorry'. My family may well be dead Barley, and band-aids certainly don't fix bullet holes.' She finished, not once looking back as she turned her back to him and walked away. The next day was the reaping day, and she followed along with rest of the sixteen year old girls into the section that had been cordoned off for them specially, sighing as their escort came on and started wittering on about the games, and the Capitol that Zia hated with every fiber of her being.

Then the time came for the female name to be drawn, and she'd already made her mind up on what she was going to do. There was nothing left for her here anymore, and maybe if she won, she'd have the power and money to find out what happened to her parents...

'Aluma Miller! ' Came the lucky girls name, just before Zia shouted 'I volunteer! ', making her way up to the stage with a blank expression and a confidence in her step that could only come from having nothing to lose.

She found Barley in the audience fairly quickly, his eyes wide and shocked at what she'd done. It looked like he might of been trying to mouth something at her, but a warning look from a peacekeeper quickly shut him up. Gazing forwards again she waited as the unfortunate boys name was called, before they were ushered into the justice building for the last goodbyes.

First came along some of her friends from work, who she had become far more distant from since that fateful day. They wished her luck, followed by a couple of her parents friends and then a few more people from work, before finally Barley appeared. She wasn't that surprised to be honest, but she still had nothing to say to him, regardless of whether this was the last time she'd see him or not. She obviously still felt something for him, but after how he'd reacted, claiming it wasn't his fault, she felt she couldn't forgive him no matter what he did.

'Zia, hey, I-I...' He started, reminding her distinctly of the shy boy she once used to know, before he became the confident, rebellious guy he was today.

'I have nothing to say to you Barley.' She stated, going to sit down on the lone bench that had been provided in this room.

'Zi, I really need to tell you something-'

'And I don't want to hear it.' She said, leaning back against the wall with a deep sigh.

'Please, it's about-'

'Visiting time is over. ' A peacekeeper informed them, though Barley made no move to leave.

'Well, bye then. ' She said neutrally, watching as a peacekeeper tapped him harshly.

'One minute, please! ' He begged, making her raise her eyebrows in surprise as the first peacekeeper and another one took hold of his arms, dragging him back towards the door no matter how much he protested.

'Please, I just- Zia! Your parents are -' He shouted just as he was thrown back out, the doors slamming in his face and cutting off the end of his sentance completely. Her parents were what? Dead? She wouldn't be surprised, and she most definately didn't need the reminder.

There was only one thought occupying her mind now though - a mantra even - running through her head: Damn the Capitol, Damn Barley, and damn anyone who got in her way.

Little did she know however, that her parents might not have met the untimely fate she thought they had...

Strengths
Due to her tough, headstrong nature she is definately a force to be reckoned with, especially as she is determined to find out what happened to her parents. She excels with most tools used in agriculture, especially a scythe, and is very handy with a dagger. She is also pretty light on her feet, and exceptionally good at tree climbing considering where she grew up, something that also means she has an extensive knowledge of nature.

Weaknesses
Because of the district she grew up in she doesn't know how to swim, and would probably not be very good at hand to hand combat. Also, past the weapons mentioned she probably wouldn't be that good with any other types of weaponry. Finally, her nature means that she quite often ends up pushing people away, making alliances a bit difficult, partly for fear that the Capitol or someone else will use them to hurt her.

Token
TBA

Song Inspiration
Zia is heavily inspired by the song ' Bad Blood ' by Taylor Swift. I was listening to ' 1989 ' the album this song comes from, and the idea for the backstory just came to me all of a sudden. That's also why a lot of the lyrics match up with parts of her backstory as well. :3

Anyway, it's a very good song, and well worth a listen if you have a moment, especially if you read the backstory while listening to it! :D