Adair Vernon, Victor of the 22nd Games

## Background

**Adair Vernon** (ItsZach\_) was born the second son of two lumber mill

overseers, placing him in District Seven's middle class. Because of this, Adair never had to depend on wielding an axe for work, instead, living a fairly carefree existence with enough food on the table and money in his pocket. A quiet but friendly young man, Adair was well known by local merchants that he frequented, and he quickly developed a small group of friends among the merchants' children. At the age of 14, Adair's father passed away from what was reported to be Cholera. While the loss of his father hit him hard, his economic situation remained stable with a working mother and older brother entering the workforce. It was because of his father's death, however, that Adair became very close to the local butcher, Thicket Sutton. Mr. Sutton was a partially crippled widower with fascinating tales from the lumber mills, but he counted his blessings at being able to take over the butchery after the loss of his leg in a mill accident. Adair became something of an apprentice to Mr. Sutton to escape the loneliness of his frequently empty house.

At 16, Adair's local popularity grew when he gained second place in the annual adolescent's axe-throwing contest. He was the only kid not belonging to a wood-cutting gang to have placed. Immediate neighbors in the wood cutting sectors of Seven typically formed wood-cutting gangs to increase productivity and morale, but no such structure existed in the town for obvious economic differences. However, with the praises of onlookers for his strength and sportsmanship, Adair and the merchant children jokingly became known as "Townie Gang." The game, however, was soon over when two real wood-cutting gangs erupted in full-scale warfare over dwindling resources. A tree blight had killed many trees that year, and one gang had lost the bulk of their allotted territory. In the chaotic scuffle to re-organize resources and territories fairly, a riot broke out against the authorities destroying a number of lumber mills.

The district was placed under strict lockdown, but riots and fires continued. One night, Adair's mother and older brother sat him down and revealed to him that they were the main organizers of the riots and were preaching the Capitol's wrongdoings to their workers. His father had not died of Cholera but was fatally wounded in a nighttime raid of a peacekeeper watchtower. They used the tree blight as the catalyst for a new, glorious rebellion but hid this information from Adair to protect him in his youth. Suddenly, his family seemed like strangers to him, and he was devastated they hid so much from him. On top of that, they were fighting against everything he had ever known. He went to Mr. Sutton the following morning for trusted guidance. The two chose unquestionable loyalty to the system that fed them, and Adair was able to retrieve information on the riots to deliver to the district authorities. The riots were swiftly brought to an end, and the instigators, including Adair's mother and older brother, were executed by gunfire in the main square. Adair survived punishment from his close association with rebels because of his report and Mr. Sutton's testimony.

Instantly following the trial, Adair became a controversial figure in Seven. He knew his future options were severely limited because he took a stand against the peoples' uprising, but he also knew that loyalists were still doubtful of his close affiliations with the riot ringleaders. He grew more paranoid and ashamed than a teenage boy could handle, and at the age of 17, he volunteered for the 22nd Hunger Games. Trapped, he knew he would either prove his loyalty to the Capitol and its cause or escape his shame through death.

## Games

Adair took a hesitant and careful approach at the beginning of the games trying to avoid confrontation at all costs. His high odds meant he would be seen as a formidable threat. After a few days passed, however, Adair found himself in an unescapable scuffle with a strong tribute. After fiercely wrestling the weapon out of his opponent's hand, Adair channeled his experience in the butchery to see the tribute as a piece of meat: nothing more. He grabbed his opponent by the hair and drowned them. After enduring hellish obstacles and mutts themed along the beach arena, Adair survived to the final four. He was exhausted and weak due to a lack of sleep and had by then contracted Yellow Fever.

When the Gamemakers announced there were four vaccines for the painful disease in the ruined tower, he shuddered with a fear he'd never felt before. This would be the final fight, and he was looking at his death straight in the face. He decided to lay low and see what tributes would kill each other off. Witnessing the District Four tribute finish off the District 10 tribute, Adair felt a final rush of adrenaline and gut-wrenching fear: he wanted to live. He rushed the District Four tribute, chasing him to the shore. The District Four male tribute was well-trained with his trident but had been severely weakened by an earlier pufferfish mutt attack. While the opponent tribute stabbed at Adair defensively, Adair grabbed the base of the trident and thrust his sword into the District Four male's stomach.

Feeling his intense weakness again, Adair began to worry that he could be ambushed by the last tribute, his district partner, in his vulnerable position. He grabbed the District Four male's trident and sat on the beach to watch possibly his final sunrise straining to catch his breath. He sat dreading his feeling of vulnerability and in complete shock at his suffering until he heard whimpered cries from the jungle's edge. His district partner was an old friend, the child of the grocery clerk, and a member of the unofficial "Townie Gang." Instinctively, Adair forgot his pain and ran over to his partner's side remembering their cries from back in Seven. His partner, a 16-year-old by the name of Jukoz, was bleeding from the head and struggling to breathe through their cries. Adair stood with the suffering Jukoz comforting them as he had back in Seven during their childhood games, but neither of them wanted to kill the other. They both tried to convince the other of going home, but it was Jukoz who squeezed Adair's shoulder choking out the words "Townie Gang" with a cracked and bloody smile. Jukoz turned and bolted towards the mutt infested sea chased by a shocked Adair until Jukoz dove in headfirst. A cannon went off shortly after and Adair collapsed in the sand in both weakness and sorrow.

## Life as a Victor

The festivities immediately following the games had to be postponed due to a collapsed lung Adair received from his Yellow Fever. He spent two weeks in a Capitol hospital and was slowly nursed back to health. Adair started to feel some sense of ease knowing he survived, but as soon as the nightmares of the murders he committed began to appear, he began to live in dread. He returned to Seven hoping to find some sort of peaceful life waiting for him in the Victors' Village and in Mr. Sutton's butchery, but his collapsed lung back in the Capitol makes him often short of breath causing him to faint on occasion. He is slowly becoming less fit due and increasingly depressed due to this condition, but gets a feeling of purpose assisting the District Seven tributes as the games continue. He also instructs his tributes to broaden their understanding of other weapons as he never got to hold an axe during his games. Despite his weakened condition, Adair never makes his occasional pain noticeable, and the Capitol crowds never knew he was any weaker. He is widely praised in the Capitol for his bravery and strength, but also his gentle-side made evident by his treatment of Jukoz. To continually prove his loyalty in the Capitol, he regularly makes trips to the Capitol to entertain adoring fans and powerful people. Adair eventually married fellow victor Rowan Heavenfall.