The Fifth Annual Writer Games: The Fall

District Four Female: Nerida Cresswell [AEKersey]

Name: Nerida Cresswell [neh-REE-dah KRESS-wehll] — Ree to her older sister and to nobody else

Age: Eighteen

District: Four

Sex: Female

Physical Appearance: Nerida looks like she spends as much time on the beach as she does—which is to say a lot. Her hair is always knitted and wet from the water, though the thickness of her curls would probably lead to a fair amount of that anyway. The dark tan of her skin is partially due to hours in the sun—she's definitely darker than her siblings—but also to her lineage. Her eyes are a strange combination of blue and grey that look like a stormy sea, and her lips are plump and red, though chapped from the sun. As one might expect from someone who spends as much time swimming as she does (and, she supposes, someone who trains as much as she does) she is muscular and lithe, particularly strong in her thighs and her shoulders.

Personality: Nerida is what most would call a beach bum. She spends most of her time on the shores of Four, lounging around or swimming or helping—and occasionally flirting with—the fishermen, who are particularly flustered by her willingness to dive in and try to catch fish without any supplies other than a net and spear. A bit of a daredevil, Nerida struggles to back away from the pressure of a challenge, and thus often tries to stay underwater as long as she can or to swim around without any mask or goggles to protect her eyes from the salt water. She is kind, soft-spoken and gentle, only killing fish when she knows they will go to the market and feed the hungry, but she isn't squeamish. Softness, as her older sister loves to tell her, isn't weakness; it's nothing more than a different world view.

Background: Nerida has loved the sea for as long as she remembers. Her parents are fish merchants and her twin brother Nereus is an apprentice to one of Four's expert fishermen. Her older sister, Nixie, collects seashells to make jewelry, something which doesn't appeal to Nerida in the slightest; how can one be satisfied with the shore when there's a whole ocean to enjoy? She remembers a time before the Games. Nerida was nine years old when they first started, and though she being reaped has been part of her reality since she was of age, she remembers a time when the Hunger Games were a new and interesting puzzle which scared her parents as much as the sea could when she'd swim too far or when a storm would hit. When they opened the training centre the year of the fifth Games, a teenage Nerida ventured in for biweekly training out of curiosity and with the appetite for a challenge. The rest is history.

Family Tree:

GRANDPARENTS:

Neith Cresswell, paternal grandfather, 70

Ripley Loire, paternal grandmother, 69

Dover Marlowe, maternal grandfather, 63

Sedna Morrissey, maternal grandmother, 65

PARENTS:

Sheldon Cresswell, father, 45

Hali Marlowe, mother, 42

SIBLINGS:

Nixie Cresswell, 23

Nereus Cresswell, 18 (and six minutes older than his sister!)

Nerida Cresswell, 18

EXTENDED FAMILY:

Meris Cresswell, sister of Sheldon, 43

Seymour Dunbar husband of Meris, 44

Adrian Dunbar, son of Meris and Seymour, 25

Delta Loire, sister of Hali, 42

Brooks Halloran, husband of Delta, 42

Morgan Halloran, son of Delta and ?, 21

Volunteered

Weapon of Choice: A spear and net. There's a reason the Capitol chose to build a Training Centre in Four (unofficially, of course) and their proficiency with these weapons might be part of it.

Token: A seashell necklace made by Nixie. Every member of Nerida's family picked a shell for it to wish her luck.