Author's Note: We've arrived in District Nine, possibly the District we know the least about. This left plenty of room for world building, so I hope you like what I've done with it. As ever comments, reviews, feedback, or constructive criticism would be much appreciated!

District Nine's Victors and their Games: Granger (6, deceased), Mona (19), Barley (34), Barric (40), Maizey (48)

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District Nine was huge, consisting of miles upon miles of flat, golden fields, interspersed by granaries and concrete factories used in harvesting and processing the grain which stood in stark contrast to the rest of the district's landscape. In turn, its population was spread out amongst the fields, living in small villages dedicated to a particular crop. Consequently, its four living victors were almost completely isolated, living away from the villages in which they grew up, leaving wider family members behind.

District Nine's Victors' Village was situated centrally, only a short walk away from the Justice Building and the main square. The district's centre only came to life one day each week when villagers would set up the market, one of the only activities where people from the different villages could mix, other than the Reapings and the handing out of the most severe punishments. Other than the victors, only the Mayor, his family, some shopkeepers, and the workers who dealt with transporting the harvested grain, lived centrally.

Thus, most of District Nine was completely disinterested in its victors and their lives. So, when the Quell was announced, the general populace breathed a sigh of relief. They would not lose any of their villages' children. It was the victors' problem and nobody else was going to get involved. This was how District Nine worked. Each village cared about its own with only their leaders who occasionally met, having a passing interest in the lives and welfare of their neighbours.

This shaped how the Hunger Games affected District Nine, or in contrast to some of the other districts, how it did not affect District Nine. Unlike Three, Six or Eight for example, the loss of a child was the villages' loss, not the entire district's. Each year two of the district's children would die under the charge of the Capitol and most of the district would never have heard of them. More children died each year in harvesting and machinery accidents. Only the villages, or, if they were especially unlucky, the village, affected by the Games mourned the loss of their tributes. Similarly, if on the rare occasion they had a victor, the most real celebrations would be from the affected village, although the whole district knew they would benefit from Parcel Day every month. But since their last victor came home before the previous Quell, victory and Parcel Day was not something that District Nine thought of. The Games happened and whilst they were forced to watch them, unless they were from the same village as the tributes, they were not much to talk, shout or cry about. It happened and life moved on for most people.

That did not mean they were happy about it, however. The Capitol kept its grain producers under pressure, reminding them that it was their responsibility to provide the country with its staples. The Mayor knew that it was largely to feed the Capitol's greed and that the rest would provide just enough so that enough people did not starve each year. Any failed crops or less than optimum harvests would be a disaster and their Capitol masters would tighten the screws and the village deemed responsible may find their children in the next year's Games.

This provided another divergence between the lives of the victors and the ordinary citizens of Nine. Whilst the latter were only concerned about the Games for a couple of weeks each year, they shaped the victors' lives forevermore and likewise, the victors remained largely unaffected by a less than optimum yield in a certain crop. They would hear about it from President Snow during their time in the Capitol and they would duly report back to the Mayor, but unless it involved their former village, they avoided becoming involved.

The victors therefore lived their lives in relatively quiet, safe, boredom with each other and their close family members for company. Old friends slowly drifted apart as their lives became more segregated and they found they had less in common. But they liked the quiet life. After all, the Games had provided enough 'excitement' to last a lifetime. They lived comfortably with their families and until the announcement, felt vindicated in their choices, for no relative of theirs had been reaped. They knew what Mags, Pluto and Woof had been cooking up for years, had resisted their recruitment attempts and kept their heads down. Before he died, old Granger had managed to have a happy family and Mona had the same. Barley had married around the time President Snow came to power and that had deterred him, and the two victors who came after him from ever having children. But their compliance kept Granger and Mona's grandchildren safe and none of their nieces or nephews had ever had their names pulled from a reaping bowl. Nowhere other than Districts Two and Five shared that record.

But their compliance would not be enough now. Not now that two of their own would likely die in another arena. They knew their chances were not great. After all they had one of the oldest cohorts of victors across Panem. None of them were likely to be drawn into an alliance either, and they would certainly stay away from the Twelves or anyone else likely to cause additional chaos.

Within an hour of the card being read, each of the victors, and Barley's wife, Ana, had made their way to Mona's house.

"Well, if anyone's got a burning desire to go back in an arena, now's your chance," Mona smirked.

The other victors just stared back at her, whilst Ana looked distraught.

"Okay, okay. I shouldn't have said it like that. So, no volunteers. That's fine," Mona continued.

"Look Mona, if you don't, or can't-" Maizey started, addressing their oldest victor and her former mentor.

"No, Maizey. You don't want to go back and I'm not going to force you," Mona replied.

"But you're older than-," Maizey started again.

"We're all too old for this Maizey," Barley interjected, "You're the youngest of us yes, and you'd probably get away from that damn Cornucopia quickest, but honestly, none of us have kept up with our fitness."

"Plus, the Games have changed even more since we all won. It's just been us since the Forty-Eighth, we haven't brought anyone else back," Barric added, joining the conversation.

"Well, it seems the odds aren't exactly in our favour," Mona chimed back in.

"You sound like you're giving up!" Ana shouted.

"We're just being realistic," Barley replied, trying to reassure his wife as much as he could.

"For what it's worth, if it's me I'll give it a good go. It's not like I feel a huge affection towards most of the others, although after sitting next to him for so long, I don't think I could go after old Woof. Rebel plans or not, I'm not killing him," Barric spoke up. Maizey nodded, indicating her agreement.

"I think," Barley noted, "that whoever ends up in the arena just does their best for themselves. Go it alone if you want, stay as District partners if you want. If you're in the Centre, work for whoever out of us is in that arena and nobody else. Wherever you are, don't be drawn into any alliances or grand plans and don't be lured by false promises and ideals," he finished.

"I think we can all agree on that," Mona replied, answering for all the victors in her house.

With that the conversation lulled. Although training for the Games was technically illegal, Barric proposed some fitness drills and hand-to-hand combat practices in the privacy of the village. Maizey quickly agreed whilst Ana insisted Barley take part at least a couple of times a week. Mona politely declined, again referring to her advancing age.

As rebellion brewed, carried by the victors that they all knew, District Nine's own victors stood firm. Loyal to only themselves and each other, they would do what they could upon arrival in the Capitol. They knew their odds were not the strongest and knew they were not the most popular group of victors, but they would make of it what they could. After all, they were never the ones to cause trouble and they hoped that that had to count for something.