A/N: Hah, decently timed updates ;D!
Hope you guys enjoy this!
~ Anna ;D
Madiha Rael, 16
District 9 Female
The harsh sun is relentless, beating down on me as if it were a lashing from a Peacekeeper. My scythe cuts smoothly through the grain, my strong swings sending it flying to the side. I groan when I reach down to pick it up and toss it into the basket behind me. The other workers look as miserable as me, all about ready to quit even though it would be no income and starvation.
But I have more to worry about than that. Education for my younger siblings is more important than my discomfort. Yep, it sucks. But life sucks too so I'm used to things being ridiculously terrible. My flimsy straw hat offers a small bit of shade from the bright sun, but it blows off my head anytime there's even a soft breeze. I should really invest in something better if I have the money.
I sigh deeply, stretching my aching back and hearing a few satisfying pops. The break is short-lived when the Peacekeeper supervising us casts a hateful glare in my direction. I scowl in response then go back to cutting the grain and piling it into the basket behind me. I'm relieved albeit surprised when the Peacekeeper doesn't do anything about my dirty glare. She's looks about as hot as all of us and probably doesn't feel like moving from her spot under a willow tree.
It seems like hours before the sound of a bell rings through the field, signaling a ten minute break. A collective sigh of relief rises from within the grain as us workers head for the nearest source of shade or water. I take my mother's old flask from off my belt and take a long drink of the water inside. It's unpleasantly warm from being heated up by the sun and I scowl, but force myself to be grateful for it anyway. I take my hat from my head and fan myself with it, hoping to cool myself down.
"Madiha!" a chipper, yet tired sounding voice gains my attention.
I glance over my shoulder, using the hat to shield my eyes from the sun. I recognize my friend Arley, and his older brother Theo waving me over to a tree. I don't respond but slip the hat back on my head and walk over to them, throwing my scythe aside as I join them under the cooling tree. I settle myself down beside Arley and glance at Theo when he hands me an apple.
"Eat fast before we have to get back out there." he says, his voice hoarse.
I take the apple and make a face when I feel how unexpectedly soft it is. Theo bites into his and makes a face.
"Sorry, they get that way when it's hot but just suck it up, it's better than nothing." he says.
"Well I wasn't going to waste it." I retort, taking a large bite from the apple.
As unpleasantly mushy as it is, it's still incredibly refreshing. The apple's gone in a matter of a minute and I throw the core by the base of the tree, taking a small rag from Arley's basket. I take the flask from my belt again and wet the rag slightly, then rub it over my face to keep myself cool. A soft breeze blows throw the leaves giving us one moment of heaven in the scorching sun. Arley smiles pleasantly.
"These are the moments I live for..." he sighs.
I scoff and toss the rag back into the basket.
"You live for breaking your back in a field and then sitting under a tree?" I ask, leaning against the trunk.
Arley shakes his head.
"No, spending time as friends and family under a tree breaking all our backs together." he elaborates, standing stiffly.
Theo rolls his eyes and gives a small smile of either amusement or annoyance. I'm with him, Arley can be too positive for his own good. Guess he's not in tune with the world enough to see how terrible everything really is. That or he just doesn't choose to.
I stand up as well, casting a glance over the field and sighing when the bell rings again, forcing us to get back to work. I snatch my scythe from the ground and head back to my basket, going back to filling it up. I keep my thoughts on my siblings so I don't have to think about the heat. But that doesn't really help because I know as soon as I'm done working here in the field, I'll have to go home and take care of all of them while my father works late.
All because of my stupid adrenaline-junkie mom who decided to leave us because I guess being a mother of four wasn't exciting enough for her. She preferred the alcohol and the thrills.
Screw her. At least she discovered where all that alcohol would lead her. At least she's out of our lives for good this time.
Dad's not like that though, thank God. He actually loves and cares for us and is willing to work to support us. He's willing to stay and I love him for that. If only my mother was the same then maybe she could have known what it felt like for her own children to love and care about her. Too bad she wasn't like that.
My basket ends up filled to the brim as the work day winds down. I place my scythe in the pile of tools, hauling the basket with me. I drop it beside the transport vehicle Arley hops into. Lucky him, he doesn't actually have to cut that much grain, he just has to transport it.
I huff and toss some strands of my black hair out of my face, turning to the road to walk home. Theo catches up to me and walks beside me, remaining silent as he usually does on the way home. He's typically more talkative when we first walk to the fields in the morning, but by the end of the day we're both too exhausted to even make small talk.
Walking together is enough.
Ty Wellstrom, 15
District 9 Male
Run.
Run. Run. Run!
My feet move faster than my mind as I weave through the afternoon workers returning from the fields. I know I'm being pursued by the shady men I was hired to carry a message to. I guess they never heard of the phrase: "Don't shoot the messenger".
Good for nothing guy set me up, he probably knew these guys were bad news and he specifically told me what time I had to deliver the letter. He knew something was going down but a freaking murder?
I always get mixed up all sorts of trouble, but what the literal hell?
There's a shout of alarm and a crashing sound from behind me. I glance over my shoulder to see a girl had been knocked down by one of the men after me. The guy doesn't even stop to help her, he makes to jump over her but the girl snatches his ankle and the guy jerks to a stop, face planting into the pavement. I keep running blindly, not bothering to wait and see if the guy gets back up.
I don't slow down until I reach a small alley between two stores, my heart thumps painfully in my chest as I frantically try to catch my breath, glancing around carefully. When I was approached by the guy who offered me this job I knew I'd seen him before. I probably got mixed up in his gang stuff. A lot more have sprung up around Nine lately, regardless of the efforts made by Peacekeepers to stop their growth. Although I doubt the Peacekeepers actually care that much. The gangs mostly just deal with drugs and occasional murders, and Peacekeepers are rarely bothered by murders, they kill people all the time so why should they be?
Peacekeepers only interfere if someone's being rebellious and typically the gangs manage to take out some rebels, even if it's by accident. And I've been known to take any job offered to me, whether it be a rebel or a gangster, as long as it's money I'll take it. So yeah I've made a few enemies but who would intentionally try to get me killed?
Once I manage to catch my breath I inch toward the other end of the alley, peering both ways before I slip out onto the street, blending in with the crowd. I breathe a quick sigh of relief, still a bit out of breath and start to head in the direction of home. I'm done, no more jobs for a while, I need to get off the radar again. This will blow over soon enough, but it'll take time before I'll feel confident enough to try to get another job like this.
I'm fortunate to be able to run as fast as I can, it's what got me the job of being a messenger in the first place. But that was only for delivering grain and stuff, or messages to the mayor, that sort of thing. I didn't get involved with stuff outside of that until I was approached by some random rebel who offered me a job to deliver some sort of package or something.
I guess rebels are bad news after all, don't care about you unless you're useful to their cause at the time. Although I gotta say, it is pretty fun to mess around with the gangs and stuff if I can get away fast enough. I've messed drug deals and thefts. Thefts are things that get on my nerves the most. As someone who lives in the poorest part of Nine, I can tell you, we barely have enough to live as it is. But if you steal what little we have? That's messed up.
I'm suddenly aware of a man moving toward me, walking against the crowd. I don't think I recognize him but he's looking right at me. That doesn't feel right. I quickly turn and pick up the pace, almost jogging to get some distance between me and the man. Some people in the crowd scowl as I shove past them, but I hear more angry voices from behind me as people are getting pushed out of the way.
I quickly decide to dart out of the crowd to try to run home, but something suddenly grabs me by the back of my shirt and pulls me into an alley. The sharp flash of a knife sends me reeling into panic.
"Wait a minute!" I shout quickly.
The man who was following flicks the knife in front of my face and scowls.
"Shut up unless you want to end up like the last guy who crossed me."
I go quiet and stare at him, scared out of my mind.
"Who sent you, why were you following my friend and I?" he growls lowly.
"Look man, I was just trying to bring you this." I explain quickly, digging around in my pocket for the letter.
I grip it tightly and hand it out to him, my hand shaking like a leaf. The man snatches it from me and I flinch back as he uses the knife to open it swiftly. He seems to skim through it, his eyes becoming more dangerous looking with each word he reads. I slowly back away as he's distracted by the letter, obviously not happy with it's content.
I use the momentary distraction to turn and bolt down the alley.
"Hey!" the man shouts sharply.
But I'm already gone.
I just keep running.
A/N: Yike, these characters were so complex I really hope I was able to capture their personalities and their backstories. Of course just know, that you will be hearing more of each character's backstory and seeing more of their personalities after the initial introduction chapters so don't feel discouraged if you think we didn't show enough. We kind of want each tribute to have something special to tell during other POVs.
Hope you liked the chapter!
What did you think of Madiha?
Ty?
How do you think their particular 'jobs' or skills will help them in the Games?
Predictions?
Item List
*2 points per review and by the time the Games get rolling some people will have a lot of points. The points received for each review may also go up later in the Games if we decide so don't freak out if you see something you want but it's a lot of points.
Net: 6
Rope: 8
Wire: 8
Matches: 10
Flashlight: 10
Food: 12
Sleeping bag: 25
Knife: 30
Dagger: 40
Spear: 50
Axe: 70
Sword: 80
Bomb-Making Materials: 100
Points
TranscendentElvenRanger: 18
tracelynn: 4
ParanoidSylph: 2
TWilkins: 2
Exoreon: 2
Winter's Writing: 16
goldie031: 14
Nordic Nonsense: 6
Fangirl101: 2
One True Victor: 14
recklessinparadise: 12
aceswims: 6
ThomasHungerGamesFan: 10
Galactic Coach: 2
Red Roses1000: 2
luka11303: 14
Sparky She-Demon: 4
DaughterOfTigris: 8
Singlewave: 2
District5Chemist: 8
A/N: Next update should be later today or tomorrow! Stay tuned and please review ;D!
~ Anna ;D