With the sun nearly reaching its height, the two had departed the ocean side they had claimed and made their way back into town. They hid their tools within a crevasse of two rocks, a place where when the tide was high it was unreachable. Though their usual routine would keep the two out till nearly dusk, on Reaping Day, it was only as long as they could push it. With their lunch basket and a stray line filled with more than a dozen fish, the two knew they could make a good profit. When they arrived back into the lower part of their district, they scuttled across and took cover by a small patch of trees.
"Here, you take the basket," Harper suggested as he took the hooked line from her pale hands, "there's more in it and their fresher. That'll be good if you take it to Pier 4."
"Right," she nodded a smile on her lips. She easily traded the line for the basket, situating it under her arm, "I'll meet up with you after. Still think its stupid how you fisherman get to skip out on the Reaping if you're 'working'," she laughed.
"Well it takes a lot to man a boat," he smiled, waving as she began her trek towards the dock, "and you better bring some of those cinnamon candies you always have!"
The blonde smiled as she responded, basket tucked neatly under her arm as a small cloth covered the proof of their adventure. Koi had once gotten caught by a peacekeeper for having a fish out on a line, her pole in another hand. They had thought she was illegally fishing, which would have resulted in a public lashing, but thanks to Harper and an older merchant, she had gotten away by saying she had bought both her pole and fish from the merchant, though it was clearly a lie. She heaved a sigh as she remembered those days, the days after her parent's passing.
Her father had been a strong man who had dark ash curls which kept the sunlight from reaching his sea coloured eyes. The mermaid could remember her father like he was still there. His booming laugh which seemed to shake the support beams of their house and his strong hands which always chased away her nightmares were always the closet in her minds reach, always reminding her like a storm. He had been a fisherman under one of the Adelaine Fishing Companies, the largest factory in the district, boats; being sent out to sea by the end of summer and returning by the beginning of Winter.
It had only been three years since his disappearance at sea; the raging storm having swallowed him up in a single second. The family of three had been given a plaque etched with his name and words of honor and good word, a small compensation fee alongside it, but the damage it wrecked was far more devastating to them then they would have hoped. Her brother had taken to getting as many odd jobs at any of the docks as he could, making little but enough for them to sustain what life they had left. Her mother, with her fair hair and dull eyes, had taken up another job at the docks, working as a ship cleaner. With both focused on work, the young blonde of only 15 quit her after school activities and began to do small outsourced jobs as well, hidden from her families worries. She had started as a deck hand for an elderly man who taught her how to scale and gut a fish, teaching her how to properly tie knots and use a spear for fishing. The old man had become a help to her, teaching her how to snare beavers who threatened the rivers bends and which plants were good or bad, teaching her how to survive better than a textbook and display could ever do.
It hadn't been long till their mother followed in their father's steps, growing sicker and sicker as the months passed by. She had grown pale and her strength was sipped from her muscles by the illness which plagued her. The wound was still fresh upon her bosom as she remembered the final days of her mother's breath. Her hair had been smoothed as the pale golden silk had lost much of its colour, turning into a tasteless shade of grey. Her once warm chocolate eyes had become sunken in and hollow as they faded to a glassy glazed look, her boney cheeks and cracked lips giving her more of a deathly look. Rumors had swept across the district like wild fire, the idea that she had killed herself, giving herself scurvy and suffering through the pain.
Koi would always defend her mother, shouting at anyone who challenged the disease which had stolen her from them. She knew her mother, the once gentle heart and soft sin of her mother's touch which always soothed the storms of her mind and heart. Their mother had been a beauty compared to the dreary life which she lived, a pearl among the oysters and clams of the district. Some believed she had passed on the glimmering beauty to her daughter, while others saw the venomous glow which Koi would carry if she showed her face in the richer parts of town; her icy gaze freezing all who dared to match her hues.
Now their lives were sullen but well. Her brother had continued to pick up deck hand jobs on any port which required one, returning home with the stench of fish and alcohol as blood soaked into his skin and clothes. Koi too had kept her jobs secretive, working within the older parts of the district as a trapper while also selling some of her own caught goods at market. As long as she played her cards right, the young mermaid could bargain her way into nearly any deal, selling a basket of ten fish for more than enough to buy a new pole or spear, but never was it used for that.
Stuffing the money into the pocket over her breast, she thanked the merchant with a genuine smile, something Harper had told her made her look more appealing in public then keeping her face sullen and somber. Taking the basket, now filled with only two fish and a medley of vegetables, she sleuthed her way from the public's eye of the market, covering her bought good in the crook of her arm. She could easily be home in time to surprise her brother as she always did, telling him how the money he had brought in yesterday had been more than enough for her to prepare a splendid dinner as always.
The rising sun began to taunt her as she got closer to home, reminding her what little time she would have to change into one of her dresses and be ready for the Reaping. She shivered at the thought of it all giving her skin a fresh wave of bumps. She shook it off, rolling her neck and shoulders back. She was not going to let Harper's curious words infest her mind about her brother's safety and his nearly endless amount of slips. It was his last year and she knew he wouldn't be called, she just knew it.
She quickly made her way into the kitchen, placing the basket of perishables into the fridge before anything could come about them. The blonde girl swiftly made her way up to her room, pulling out the first dress she saw and laying it out on her bed. It was a pale lavender shade with small gold accents in the waist. It was long and billowed as she walked, the only type of dress Koi was keen to wear. It hugged her torso but slowly melted down her hips and felt like water as it moved along with her. She pulled out her twisted braid, letting her golden silk curl and twist down her back an shoulders freely, the only way her brother would let her leave the house. She danced on her feet gently for a moment, swaying the material across her flesh like a child as she let her hair tail behind her. She always felt childish when she wore a dress, having become accustomed to pants and boots so quickly.
"Koi fish! You better be ready or else we'll be late!" called a rugged and harsh voice, the seed of comfort tinting his tone.
Jumping down the stairs, the childish girl laughed as she leaped from the steps, gracefully landing on her bare feet. Smiling up at her brother as she let her eyes wonder about his form. He was tall, much like their father had been, but he was lean like her, having fair skin like their mother. A mop of dark curls accented his sea coloured eyes, the ones he shared with her, while his high cheek bones resembled the ones their mother had before her passing.
"Well then, aren't you all prettied up for the day," he joked, setting aside his boots and rising from the small entry way bench, "isn't that one of mums old dresses?"
Koi smiled as she nodded, "I thought since it would be the first reaping without her, a token to remember her by would be in order." The two smiled, silently agreeing, "Aren't you getting ready as well?"
Minos shook his head, his curls bouncing as he did, "my last year," he stated proudly, "if they want me dressed for another year of reaping, well they better choose a different tribute." She smiled widely, her eyes glittering as she looked at her brother proudly. Quickly the two vanished back into the open district, the two gaining secretive glances and whispers as they passed; it never bothered them though, they lived a simple happy life, one which not even the Capitol could invade.