Fitz Alexander Ripley
Citizen of District 4
Sixteen Years Young
Pirate Graverobber and Ball of Sunshine
Straight as a Pin

[justify]appearance
Most babies all look the same. Little eyes, noses, mouths, ears, hands, feet, and itty bitty bodies. However, even at the youngest of young ages, little Fitz stood apart. His eyes were wide and questioning even as he first opened them, letting the glistening orbs take in everything they could. The doll-like, chocolate eyes blinked slowly and carefully, trying to make sure that they wouldn't miss any of the wonders the world had to offer. As he grew up, Fitz's tiny face grew into his eyes enough to make him not look like a bug-eyed mutant. His pouty lips were almost constantly upturned in a smile as he followed his brothers around their neighborhood, frowning when he wasn't allowed to tail Jude and Nino as their father took them on a super secret mission. His doe eyes wouldn't catch sight of them again until the next morning when they were dozing at the breakfast table. He'd stare at them inquisitively and question them constantly about their mission and complain about how he didn't get to go and pull at his messy brown hair with a pout, but all of that was solved with the gift of a small button or little thimble.

It seemed like no matter the amount of food he took in, his body just couldn't keep it on. Even as he grew older, his weight stayed low. His bones jutted out of his skin at his hips and made him look almost sickly thin, but he wasn't really unhealthy. No, he was in fine shape. After years of begging, he'd been allowed to go on those super secret missions. He'd been allowed to dig holes for hours and run through graveyards and hop fences just for a little extra money. Fitz had lost even more weight then, with the nightly exercise and daily slumbering. He learned just to hide his figure beneath layered shirts and sweaters that hung loosely on his five foot ten inches frame. Still, it probably wasn't so good that a growing teen only weighed in at one hundred and twenty six pounds.

Over time, his second, part-time job at the docks also put a toll on him. His skin was darker and dried out constantly due to working in the sun. His hands almost always smelled of fish and his fingers were always dirty, whether it be from the grave dirt he dug or the spoiled fish he dealt with. However hard he tried to scrub off the dirt and stench of his jobs, it just wouldn't leave him. Fitz was sure his hands were forever tainted by death and fish. Not a good combination. They grew used to the blisters of a shovel and the salt of the ocean and roughened up, leaving his skin dry and cracked constantly. He had to do what he had to do for his family though, so he'd put up with just about anything to help them.

personality

Fitz, despite being surrounded by the dirt and grit of the world he's been forced to live in, is innocent. He is as pure and gentle as the summer breeze. His joy and mirth are infectious to the point that it's practically a disease. Hardly anyone can escape from his kindness or say no to his charming smile. He knows just what to say and just how to say it to make people eat out of the palms of his hands. He's got the world on a leash and his brothers know it. Fitz's genuine personality and disarming smile have been used on more than one occasion to get them out of sticky situations that they shouldn't have been in in the first place. Had he not gone along with it, who knows where their family would be. His brothers know just how to use him though. He wishes he weren't so gullible.

Although he's not the oldest of the boys, Fitz sometimes feels as though he is. He can't stand their squabbling and shenanigans all the time, but he also doesn't know what he'd do without them. They're his everything. Their lives are a mess and Fitz feels helpless to do anything. It kills him more than any of his brothers realize. Behind his face of eternal sunshine and glee, Fitz is constantly paranoid that everything is going wrong. He worries for all of his brothers constantly and is surprised they can't see past his jolly mask. Fitz is loyal to his brothers to death. No matter how they've fought or hurt each other or how much wrong they've done, he'd do anything for them without exception.

Fitz is very endearing and lovable, having garnered the attention of many girls- and boys, for that matter- over the years. However, one of his many flaws is his ignorance of the world outside his own. His bubble of sunshine and gumdrops is hard as steel and he refuses to let anyone else in. He and his brothers are locked inside. Letting in another person would only tear down the already fragile security that their lives as graverobbers give them. Should anyone rip them apart, Fitz would be devastated and surely blame himself. He's oblivious to everything around him unless it involves his brothers or if their on a dig. In those situations, his senses are at high alert, trying to keep himself and his family safe.

Along with his ignorance, Fitz's constant cheer can lead to him seeming monotonous when it comes to reaction. Everything is dandy in his eyes. That is at least how people see him. Fitz's unwavering elation is never yanked from the heavens. Even at the passing of his parents, Fitz was able to stay cheery. His teachers must have surely thought he'd gone crazy. In a way, he did. Despite his attempts to be anything else, he was a broken record. He couldn't stay off of that same, happy track. No matter what he did, he couldn't find any other way to cope than to pretend. But then, every little boy pretends, don't they?

history

When Fitz was just a little boy, he used to watch his two older brothers and his father leave at night while he and his younger brother and mother would stay behind in their little house. They'd sit up for maybe another hour before their mother would tuck them into bed and tell them to "sleep tight, my little ripples" and send them into the land of dreams. Fitz's dreams were colorful and beautiful and left him dazed with images of sea-life and creatures he couldn't name. They left him stranded in a fantasy world where no one could touch him and his family. Nothing could go wrong. He'd wake up in the morning with new life and a bright smile, one he'd try to keep on his face when he'd see his father's and brothers' tired, drawn faces at the breakfast table. Even at a young age, Fitz wanted to be a part of their secret missions. However, it was not for his own curiosity. He just wanted to make their sad faces disappear.

When Fitz started helping in the family business, he didn't question anything. If it helped his family, then it helped his family. They'd sneak out at night and creep into the forgotten graves of old townspeople and pilfer what they could. "They don't need it anymore, son. They'd be happy to help someone else," his father would say. Fitz believed it. Why wouldn't he believe his father? Father always knew best. There could be no question to it. End of story. Good bye. Finished.

He couldn't deny the sinking in his stomach every time he snuck out to dig up someone's corpse. He couldn't deny the heavy weight in his chest every time he cracked open an old, dirty coffin. He couldn't deny the guilt. There was supposedly nothing to be guilty for, so then why did they have to sneak out at night, under the cover of darkness? Why did they have to lie to their neighbors as to how they got a little extra bread? Why did they have to lie to their teachers about why they were so tired in school? Fitz just knew it wasn't right. There was no questioning father, but that didn't mean he couldn't doubt him from inside. For years, they continued with this life. And then, just like that, their parents were gone.

The only thing that matters anymore to Fitz is his brothers. Jude, Nino, and Noah as his brothers and his best friends, through thick and thin. Despite living in such a dark and dirty world, Fitz is determined to stay happy, if not for himself but for his brothers. He'd do anything for his brothers, even if that means causing himself emotional harm in the process. Family is everything. Ripleys are for life.[/justify]

PIRATE GRAVEROBBERS PLOT



odair