The Aviary

Damen had an easy life in the public’s eye, the only, and therefore favored, son of a Victor, but that also meant there were strict expectations on him. It wasn’t like his father wanted him in the Games, but he trained him like he did. It was the only way Terrance knew how to prepare his children. This kept Damen a bit distant from other kids, his free-time always got taken up. Eventually, though, he found the time to play baseball, so he got to hang out with cool people for once. But that ended with school, and so did training, so now most of his days are spent managing his brother-in-law’s factory.

Chicken Count: 125, 5 are roosters, those are named below:

Tailless:

Tweaky:

Pokey:

Fiesty:

Big Boy:

She also has 2 dogs

Bruiser:

Doodle:

And 3 cats

Fudge:

Gadget:

Little Man:

And 5 sheep

Mary:

Blossom:

Bubbles:

Buttercup:

Hammy:

And a horse

Nessa:

Born in a large family, her childhood was hard, as her older siblings were still too young to help support the family. However, they were kept afloat by selling sheep wool, sheep milk, chicken eggs, and vegetables from her older sister's garden. They still are mostly self-sufficient, living off their farm with enough left over to sell for a good profit. It certainly helps that Danny and Emiry have both moved out (Stacey now maintains the garden along with Cattie) and Jamie has taken up a job elsewhere, pulling in more money and bumping their status to Middle Class. This way, the younger kids don't have to do much but help with the chickens. Stacey is raising her own lambs, in order to sell their wool and milk for herself; she hopes to buy a horse one day, as she loves the animals and has only been able to ride one once or twice.
Well, that used to be the case. Until, of course, she met Travis. Stacey was honestly in love from first sight. Maybe it was just because he let her ride his horse, Blitz, or maybe there was something more. Either way, eventually they were a couple, and they took things a bit far. Then Travis was reaped. There were no volunteers. And Stacey was pregnant. Go figure.

Grayson has never felt as close to his family as he should; being the middle child, he wasn’t ever as “special” as the other two, always in the shadow of Isaac and never the baby who could afford to make mistakes. But that also meant he wasn’t exactly expected to do anything great, which really gave him some much needed freedom.
Gray spent that freedom in arguable methods, for the most part just hanging around in the district, looking for sources of entertainment until he was old enough to actually work on the boats. That’s pretty much how he came into the company of certain people who like to do stupidly dumb stuff for the thrill. And yeah, he joined them.
When he finally got old enough to go out on the boats, he worked for free. Not because he had to or it was slavery or anything illegal; he just felt like he had enough money from his father to support him. Grayson didn’t need to take money from anyone who was struggling as it was. So he often helped the poorest fisherman, rotating who he worked for from day to day. He liked to think he was helping them, anyway. But as he soon found out from his first venture into the seas, Grayson sucks at fishing. He could help in other ways, of course, but it was a bummer.
About a month after that first trip, the universe decided it hated District Four. Or at least the boat Gray was on. A pretty rough storm came along; not too bad, but enough to send everybody back to shore. Little 13-year-old Grayson, in the tiniest boat on the water, with almost no experience in the ocean, had a rough experience, aided by the fact that he got tossed rather violently into a net. Yeah, he didn’t have a fun time. But he survived, so naturally he was back on the boats as soon as his back was healed from the vicious net attack.
After he’d been doing this for a few years, one of the fisherman got fed up with not being able to pay the boy for his efforts. This fisherman’s dog had just had puppies at the time, and he’d been planning to sell the pups once they got old enough; he gave one to Grayson for free. Gray named the thing Grizzy, and loves him to death. Grizzy’s only two now, but he’s already huge and messing with Grayson’s siblings.
Now, for recentness, Gray still hangs out with those thrill-seekers, but he’s been a bit distant as of late, partially due to his working on the boats, and partially because he doesn’t exactly feel like getting himself killed on accident.

Born the baby of the family, Ori had a bit of a pampered lifestyle. She's had various reptilian friends in the past, all bought willingly by her father; Salsa, of course, is the only surviving "friend" at the moment. For most of her life, Ori made friends everywhere, her happy aura resonating with others and making them feel better. Recently, she's started hanging out with a few peacekeepers, preparing for a future career and picking up a few tips from them as well.

Storm never could remember his father’s face. The man had died when he was too young to remember him. Lupa, just two years older than him, she remembered, but she didn’t like to speak about Elliot. It was painful for her, something that kept her secluded from people. Storm was the only person she got close to, but that was okay by him. For the rest of their lives, they relied on each other; food, money, clothes on their backs, it all came from their own effort. The siblings stuck together through it all, supporting their mother as well, and protecting each other. Well, Storm did most of the protecting. Even in the grain fields, when they could work for their money, they stuck together like glue, each trying to take the older-sibling role despite the true age gap.
But that all ended when a name was called. “Lupa Avian.” The words were spoken by a Capitol woman who didn’t care. But that name destroyed Storm’s life. His sister’s Games were the shortest in history, but she didn’t come home. The Final Two, so close to the end, and she died. Storm changed that day, being forced to watch his sister die the way she did, killed by a boy his own age.
The next few months were the hardest; Storm had only himself to support his mother and he now, so he stole, worked, and ran about twice as much. His down time usually was occupied with training. He’d learned that the Reapings could take anyone, no matter how much they were needed; and his mother certainly needed him. So if he did get taken, he knew he had to make it home.
Storm’s friends grew distant during this time, partially because he pushed them away. But how could a normal person deal with someone who’d lost such an important person to the Games? The boy grew to being alone then, though he still managed to be nice to people; it was just different without his sister there, the girl’s quiet always having to be made up for.
After the few months of struggle and distance, someone came to the Avian family’s rescue. Or at least, the guy thought he was their savior. But Storm had too many questions his father couldn’t, or wouldn’t, answer. Why did he pretend to be dead? Why not show up again for years? Why after Lupa died? Where’d he been all this time? Elliot Avian had no answers, and Storm was unsatisfied. But the boy couldn’t argue with his mother; the woman was so elated at the return of her husband after the death of her daughter that she didn’t care.
It wasn’t long before a baby was on the way.
Kaden Avian was born just after the end of the 33rd Games, in October, and their mother became homebound. That was perfect, having the crazy lady home all day with the newborn. Storm had lost faith in his mother’s judgment, so he stopped his weapons training and spent his free time with Kaden, trying to protect him in as subtle a manner as possible. This, of course, has brought an even further divide between Storm and his mother, but this time the son doesn’t really care about crossing it.
Two years after Lupa’s death, Storm himself was reaped. But there was a volunteer. That made him think. What was so special about him that someone would sacrifice themselves for him? The boy died in the bloodbath, a tragic death really. But Storm knew he’d die. The kid didn’t seem like a surviving type. Still, he never got to ask why. He was just as likely to die by the hands of a peacekeeper someday as in the Games.
This point was emphasized one day soon after when he nearly got caught in his thievery. Storm, in his older self, had gotten a bit slower than he used to be, apparently, and well, that sucked. But one good thing did come out of it. He ran into a girl there. Fallon King. And well, let’s just say the rest is history.