#kassis

biography:

Kassis’ childhood wasn’t any different from any other kid in district two. His dad was never really around, working as a high ranking peacekeeper in the Capitol itself, dragging him away from home for months at a time, while his mother stayed behind to look after their only son. Still, growing up with his mother didn’t make him soft, or weak, like many people had tried to suggest throughout his childhood. She was fierce as anyone else, and she was the one who taught him how to fight, how to stick to his guns even when everyone else disagreed. The strict discipline always came from his father, when he would come back from work, but it was never a negative thing, it only made him better. A true warrior like anyone else.

It was a no brainer when he joined the academy, training everyday in hopes of volunteering one day. In the beginning, he wasn’t any better than anyone else, in fact he lagged behind. Kassis was a short kid, with scrawny arms, the only thing really going for him was his stamina. But, he learned quick enough, putting in more hours than any one to catch, soon surpassing everyone with the hours he was putting in. Over the years growing up, he never stopped training extra, putting in the additional effort to stay on top. When he was approaching eighteen, it seemed like a set plan that he was going to volunteer. He talked about in constantly with his trainers, with his peers. The excitement only grew the closer he got to his birthday, the closer he got to that reaping date. That is until his mother, a mere month before the reaping, begged him not to go. As her only child, she didn’t want to see him die. No amount of arguing changed her mind, and Kassis couldn’t do that to her. So, despite his own anger and wanting to go, he relented, telling someone else to volunteer.

The shame that followed was unbearable. The great Kassis was too scared to win, too scared to even try. He couldn’t handle it, getting into quite a few fights. His purpose had been taken away, and he couldn’t even talk to his mother about it. It was a few months later, when his father had come back from his tour, that he demanded to become a peacekeeper. To get away from district two, from the frustration of doing nothing with his life. His dad was ecstatic about the idea, and used his connections to quickly push Kassis through the training process. Before he was even nineteen, he was officially a peacekeeper, being sent to the great District 11 to work. It was a culture shock, going from the rich district two, to the vast and poor district eleven. Even though he worked in the largest city, it didn’t feel like much.

In the beginning, he was a hardass like any other, using his own frustrations to fuel his strictness with the citizens. Any small rule, Kassis would enforce. But, as time went along, he eased up, and even began to know some of the citizens. They were kind, strong, and no more (openly) rebellious than anyone he had grown up with. Over the course of a couple of years, he went from being a hardass, someone to afraid of, to the most helpful peacekeeper. He turned his head the other way at the secret markets, even buying from them himself. He would walk around, and help anyone he could. It was a different kind of life than he ever imagined having, but it was one he grew to love.

And so he lived there for ten years. Even when given the option to return to two, or to work in a different district, he stayed in eleven, feeling apart from a community, even if he had to hide that fact from his coworkers. It was during the seventy-fourth that his shifted allegiance became apparent. Watching the Games with everyone else, on duty in the town center, he felt as horrified as everyone else watching when Rue died. Over the years, his opinion on the Games had changed, and finally he understood the horror everyone else felt. When they started to cry, mourn, and finally start shifting into a riot, he understood, hell a part of him wanted to join in the outrage. But, he couldn’t, only standing there for a moment as his fellow peacekeepers started to beat people back, dealing with it through violence alone. When the person next to him lifted his gun, Kassis knocked into him, repeatedly stopping him from firing into the crowd before it developed into a full fledged fight.

Kassis won the fight, but loss everything else. Attacking a peacekeeper, even if you are one, was a serious crime. His trial was nonexistent, and it only took three days for his acts to be considered treasonous. Another day later, he woke up with no tongue, feeling more lost and angry than he ever had in his life. If they thought taking his tongue would make him more obedient, more loyal, they were certainly wrong. Spending time with other avoxes, where they taught him sign language in secret, where they covertly talked about real rebellion, only fueled his anger more.

Now, working in the tower for the victors and tributes from district ten, Kassis is as stubborn and angry as ever. He’s not so obvious with his acts of disobedience, he has no death wish, but it’s not uncommon to find him attempting to communicate with others, to make a life out of what the Capitol thought was the worst punishment.