Bianca Tarbuck ~ District 2

[sbeeg]

Bianca of House Tarbuck
District 2, Female, 17

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red, than her lips red:
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

There are many things that could be said about Bianca's looks. After all, they have molded her into the person she is today. Dainty, tiny girls pick flowers and live easy lives being adored. Girls of Bianca's league do not have the same privilege. Even young, the girl had always been tall, towering over her peers, awkwardly trying to fit in. However, how is a young woman supposed to blend in when she's a foot taller than the others, and built like an oxe? Needless to say childhood was not a pleasant time for her. The teenage years ahve treated her well either, and one can predict that becoming an adult will only add fuel to the fire.

Bianca was stuck with a cruel nickname when she young, "Bianca the Beauty". It was well known that the girl was not blessed with fair looks and all her training for the Games didn't help either. The girl's nose had been broken multiple times leaving it large and crooked. Her pink complexion is awash with freckles covering her cheeks and shoulders and pretty much everywhere. Along with her amazing height- an estimated length of somewhere over six feet- her shoulders are as broad as a man's. The bulky, awkward body of hers comes in handy during training and fighting but anywhere else it is a curse. The names and the laughter is what keeps Bianca in training most of the time for it's the only place where she is respected. They see she can fight but that's all they can see behind the large lips, straw colored hair and giant frame.

Knowing full well that she does not have any kind of great beauty someone might adore, Bianca sticks mostly too loose clothes. However the training armor is her favorite, it makes her look lethal and no one dare call her ugly with a spear in her hand. As revolting as some might say Bianca appears, she takes solace in her eyes. Light blue things that shine out of her face, not really looking like they belong. They are the only outer part of her that resembles something pretty, or ladylike. However, Bianca accepted her fate long ago, she is so no lady.

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

If there is on trait everyone can tell Bianca has, it is loyalty. You can put all of your trust into Bianca, she'd never turn against someone. She had very strong morals and would never let things like money get in the way. A perfect soldier, you could say. With children being as cruel as they are, Bianca was bombarded with insults on her looks and her size since she could walk. Being abused like that tends to form walls around a person. That is why Bianca does trust the people who confine in her because for once they see something worth speaking to her for.

She truly has had a difficult, sad life. Wanting to be respected as a Career and a fighter, but still wanting to be a girl. When you put a sword into the girl's hand, she doesn't mess around. Bianca shows true potential as a tribute, with the exception of her loyalty. Traits like that get a knife in your back in the dark of the night. Not the type of gal to give a person a second chance, Bianca knows all too much about what that can do. They're just an invitation to be hurt all over again.

Closed off to most, Bianca is still willing to speak up against something wrong. Being the victim of wrong doing herself she can not bare to stand by while others are called names or told that they are not worthy of life. All it takes is one person standing up against a bully to change someone's life. That does not mean she has earned the respect of the majority of people around her. Most still look down on her as the brute of a girl who they could surely take down in battle. Make no mistakes, Bianca is not a girl to be reckoned with when it comes to sword play. The blade is practically just an extension of her arm. Fighting is the one thing the child is good at, the one area where it is good to be strong and large. The only time people pay her any attention worth having.

I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound.
I grant I never saw a goddess go:
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

Children can be cruel. Adults look at them and think they are innocent things that are not capable of causing pain. They are. At least adults try to hide their disappointment and disgust, kids flaunt it. When Bianca was born she was like every other child, a beautiful healthy baby. However, as she grew older her interests went towards training, her body grew larger and wider than most and faster too. Fighting brought about injuries, and not just scrapes and bruises. A broken nose and other such wounds made Bianca's homely appearance even worse. Even her own parents were upset with the thing they had for a child. Selward and Frana had tried for children many times, but miscarriages and infant deaths plagued the family, until Bianca. However, what good was an ugly beast of a daughter? They're line would surely end with her.

Selward didn't even want anything to do with training Bianca, as bloodthirsty as he was. He didn't like the idea of women training for the Games and much less to the extent that Bianca went to. The girl never really had much of a relationship with either of her parents. Awkward family dinners were the norm; completely silent except for the scratching of forks against plates. Occasionally her poor mother would try to break the thick layer of ice that had collected over the family but was usually shot down. Although Bianca appreciated her efforts, they were usually shallow starts that had nothing to do with any of the girl's interests. Why not ask how training was going? How she was doing with throwing knives she had just started with, or something of value in her life. No, all Frana had to offer was "Made any friends?" "See any boys you like?" She just didn't get it.

Although her parents are the least of Bianca's worries. Her peers are the people the girl worries about the most. Sure, after seventeen years they finally respect her fighting ability but that doesn't mean they like her as a person. They think she's an eyesore. A blonde, watery eyed ox. On the special day of the year when Bianca is in her Reaping dress, that's when it's the worst. It should be her favorite time of the year- a chance to volunteer and win glory and prove to everyone in this stupid District that she was worth something. Bianca Tarbuck was more than the awkward, bulky girl in the corner of the training center that no one would even give the time of day to. She was a person. She was a girl. She worked hard at training in order to be the best she could be. Bianca was loyal and trustworthy but no one could see it. So, the girl goes through training alone most of the time.

When she was younger and someone would tease her there was not a whole lot the girl could do to defend herself. Bianca mostly ended up in tears and curled up in some corner of the house trying to figure out why everyone hated her. Now that's she is stronger and bigger and knows that it is not hate that drives the insults, it's something else. She has found that people get satisfaction when they put others down. Bianca has a couple of choices when it comes to dealing with this abuse now that she is older. Either she can ignore it and just deal, which the girl usually ends up doing to avoid conflict, or she can fight back. It is very rare that Bianca will choose the later but the handful of occasions that she has have been very memorable for both the people watching and the victim. Some cocky Career challenged her to a fight after training center hours where the coaches and trainers aren't there and anything can happen. Bianca doesn't really like to talk about it, but afterwards the kids stopped teasing her for a while but it picked up again like it always does. The Career? Well, he's not in proper condition for the Games anymore.

Bianca Tarbuck was not blessed with the life she deserved. With hardly a single person she could call a friend and a near nonexistent home life, she can put all her focus on training and improving. It's the only thing she can do- go into the Games. It's the only place where she would be useful, maybe even cheered on. The only place where Bianca could feel like she belonged.

Odair

[Deleted]