Hal

B A S I C
[Name] Hal
[Age] 17
[Zodiac] Gemini
[Gender] Male
[Employment] Miner
[P.O.B] Gaoling
[Residence] Gaoling
[Sexuality] Bisexual
[Relationship status] Single

R E L A T I O N S H I P S
[Family]

[father] Edric (imprisoned)
[mother] Leann (deceased)
[brother] Max

A B I L I T I E S
[Bending] None
[Weaponry] Kukri (main); bow and arrow
[Class] D
[Experience] His father started training him to use the kukri when he was younger, so that Hal would be able to defend himself in case anything ever happened. Even after his father’s imprisonment, Hal kept up his training, eager to defend his brother.
He took up archery so that he could hunt for food whenever money was scarce, though he’s less proficient with it than he is with a kukri.

A P P E A R A N C E
[Hair] Brown, curly.
[Eyes] Brown.
[Height] 173
[Weight] 54
[Build] Skinny. He doesn’t eat enough and moves around a lot.
[Style] Whatever he can find. Most of his clothes look tattered and have one or several holes in them (which may have been patched or simply left as they are).

P E R S O N A L I T Y
[Positive traits] Gentle, affectionate, protective, adaptable, expressive, energetic
[Neutral traits] Curious, outgoing, serious
[Negative traits] Restless, nervous, easily distracted, impulsive, nosy
[Alignment] Neutral Good
[Briggs-Myers] ISFJ
[Temperament] Sanguine-Phlegmatic

H I S T O R Y
Hal was born to a poor family in Gaoling. Both of his parents worked hard to make ends meet: his father worked the mines while his mother wove baskets and other items so that she could sell them on the market. Though they didn’t have much, they always made sure Hal was well-cared for: his clothes might have been shabby, but they fit, and he had food every day.

When he was younger, Hal didn’t see that his parents gave up much to take care of him. He didn’t see that they sometimes went without food for days if it meant they could feed their son that way. He didn’t see the bruises on his father’s skin from the gruelling work in the mines; he didn’t see the cuts on his mother’s hands from weaving baskets all day. Hal was a happy child, entirely oblivious to the hardships of the world.

That changed once his younger brother, Max, was born. Max was a difficult birth – so much so that his mother didn’t survive it. At six years old, Hal was suddenly without a mother. Because his father had to work the mines if they meant to have any money, the task of raising Max fell mostly to Hal; as a result, Hal’s childhood was cut short very abruptly. He never complained, though – Max was important to him from the moment he was born, and Hal gladly took care of him.

For many years, the family scraped by – barely, but they managed. Max grew up happy and as carefree as Hal had once been, mostly because Hal did what his mother had once done and did his best to keep all money and food problems from Max. If their father came home with bruises or injuries, Hal put Max to bed first and then went to take care of his father. It wasn’t ideal, but it worked, for a time.

As Max grew older, however, it became increasingly more difficult to keep things from him. He started asking more questions and he started noticing Father’s bruises, or when Father and Hal didn’t eat for a day. Hal tried to reassure him as much as possible, but it was difficult not to worry. Matters came to a head several months before Hal’s seventeenth birthday. Tensions between Gaoling and the Fire Nation were brewing, and people were growing increasingly discontent, especially among the lower classes. Hoping to create a better future for his children, Edric joined a group of insurgents who attempted to loosen whatever hold the Fire Nation had on the Earth Kingdom.

Their rebellion was relatively innocent: kidnappings for ransom or concessions, blown up supply carts, subtle anti-Fire Nation propaganda. No one died and few Fire Nation citizens were hurt, but the Fire Nation didn’t take to it kindly. The rebellion was lured into a trap, its ringleaders executed, and the rest imprisoned in Boiling Rock. Edric was among the latter group. He was taken away, leaving Hal and Max on their own.

When Hal heard what had happened to his father, he immediately took over Edric’s job at the mine. The work was hard, almost too much so for a boy Hal’s age and strength, but he pushed himself harder than he ever had before. He works long days and eats and sleeps little, but he doesn’t complain. He pretends everything is fine whenever Max looks at him worriedly and economises where he can.

All the while, he’s trying to think of a way to get their father home.