Hello everyone! I'm super excited that we're already at the ninth Reaping chapter and I've got a little surprise for you guys! Instead of doing two more chapters after this, I've decided to put three POVs in both this chapter and the next one. That way we can get to the pregames quicker! Without further ado, here's Indigo, Agri, and Natalia!
Indigo Whitesand, 17
District Eleven Female
Indigo was calm as her mother shook her awake before the sun had even risen. She hated when her mother did that, but it wasn't as if she had a choice in the matter. Time to do an inordinate amount of chores before she could even leave and attend the Reaping.
Honestly, dealing with her mother when she was like this was far worse than having to work several extra hours a day for a week or even longer. Her hours were always subject to change, and it just depended on the man in charge of the orchard she worked in.
Feet hitting the floor gently, Indigo stood up and yawned while holding a hand up to her mouth. Her mother had already gone to the kitchen, most likely preparing the first meal of the day. It was an occasional thing to have more than two meals a day, with five mouths to feed among the household. Today was a special day, that was why they were getting extra food. Or perhaps it was to comfort Indigo and the rest of her family, with both her and her sisters being eligible to be chosen for the Games.
She exited her room and walked into the next room over, the kitchen. A pot clattered next to her and she spun around to see her mother huffing as she moved quickly, handling several things at the same time. This was where Indigo was used to helping at. It was her job to do the things her mother told her, training to be a proper housewife, the woman claimed.
No matter what her mother said it was, she was still going to be doing chores around the house in this amount until she joined a different household or heaven forbid, died. Indigo took charge of a few bubbling pots and pans on the stove, and with a quick glance at the contents, determined that it was an oatmeal type thing and some fruit preserves. They got to take home a few pieces of fruit per week, only the damaged ones that wouldn't sell because of their appearance, but they were still good to eat.
Her mother had a wonderful recipe for the fruit preserves, and it could be used across a variety of fruits too. The only issue with it was that sugar was a bit hard to afford with their level of income, so it was also a rare thing to see around the house.
Thankfully, her mother had already done the brunt of the cooking, so Indigo only had so much to do before she was shooed off to go get ready for the morning.
"Go on child, get yourself looking nice for the day," her mother insisted.
She nodded compliantly and tilted her head down as she quickly covered the few feet between the kitchen and her room for the second time that morning. Pushing the door open, she strode across her room to pick up the dress that had already been laid out on her dresser from the night before. It was an old thing, worn cotton looking like it could tear at any moment, but it had lasted for a long time and would continue to do so with Indigo's gentle care.
Indigo shed her nightgown, wearing a fairly clean pair of undergarments beneath, and delicately tugged the dress over her head. Next, she slid her arms through the sleeves and looked at her appearance in the foggy, barely shattered mirror.
The girl looking back at her was unrecognizable. She looked pretty and clean and like she was in control of every situation she was in. This wasn't how Indigo felt like she looked. The appearance that Indigo had thought of for herself was the exact opposite of how she was seeing her reflection now. She thought she always looked exhausted and dirty, not pretty in the slightest.
Maybe she was finally seeing what Verde said she looked like. God, she wished that Verde and her could be together and not have to hide from everyone, but that was just how her family influenced that part of her life as well. They wouldn't approve of a relationship like that and she didn't want Verde to get hurt by that.
The final touch to her appearance was a scrub of her teeth and face and then she was off again, heading back to the kitchen to do chores once more. Hopefully it wouldn't be too much more of a load before she could be on her way to the square.
Turning into the now steamy room, Indigo was faced yet again with her mother, except this time the woman handed her a cloth and told her to go wipe down all of the tables and picture frames in the house. Great, more dusting.
She took a deep breath in, calming herself with a well used technique back from when she was young and was first introduced to such boring tasks. Be grateful for what you have and what you can do, she reminded herself. Indigo was very fortunate in these ways and she shouldn't have to remind herself so many times of her luck. It was shameful to be selfish when you had nothing that you didn't work for.
Letting that serene smile return to her face, Indigo worked fast as she moved along the hallway, knowing that she wouldn't have much left to dust off in this small house once she got done with the many pictures adorning the walls. She got done with those, then worked on the three tables within the house, the task only taking around five minutes or so. Then, it was time to get something in her stomach before they would leave for the Reaping ceremony.
Indigo made her way back into the kitchen with the dusty cloth she had used and placed it on top of the kitchen counter for now. She would eat a little bit and then take it to the proper spot before departing with her two younger sisters.
Spooning a bit of the grain mixture onto her plate, Indigo also got a little treat: a piece of dark brown bread with the fruit preserves she had helped with earlier spread in a thin layer across the top. This would definitely brighten her day, hopefully for a longer duration than a shorter one. She offered her mother a smile in exchange and went to sit down at the freshly dusted table to eat her food.
She took her time eating, taking each delicate bite in her mouth and chewing generously before swallowing it and taking another small bite. However, it wasn't long before her plate was cleaned and she was up and taking it to the sink where she would wash and dry it. Once Indigo had done that, she hugged her mother goodbye and offered a smile to her father, who was sitting in one of the two chairs in their living room.
He returned her smile with one that looked a bit forced, but hey, she would take it. Indigo ducked out of the front door, turning her head just enough so that she could check that her sisters were following, and then began the long journey to the square.
They lived on the outskirts of the main town in Eleven, so it would easily be thirty or forty minutes before they reached the center of town, where the square was located. Trudging along the dusty path, the three girls walked for what seemed like forever, until finally, they caught sight of the edge of the square.
All three let out a sigh of relief at the familiar sight, glad that they wouldn't have to rush their walk any more now seeing that a steady flow of people were just now showing up. They were all perfectly on time.
Now, they headed to the check in line, which was starting to slowly grow with the influx of people arriving at the same destination that Indigo was now at. The kids around her chattered noisily as they waited their turn to have their finger pricked and attendance verified, but with nobody that she knew around her, Indigo just stood there and waited for her own turn silently.
In a short ten minutes, Indigo was soon approaching the table occupied by the woman who was checking the eligible teens into the Reaping. She offered her hand to the woman and her wrist was quickly grabbed and her finger pricked a bit roughly and then pressed onto a piece of paper. At least the painful part of the day was over now.
The woman gestured for Indigo to enter the center aisle of the square and to find her section, so she complied and made her way to where she would be standing until the end of the ceremony. Ducking under the rope barrier, Indigo entered the section full of girls her age and spotted a familiar face as she was turning back around to face the stage.
It was Verde, just the person she needed to see to relieve her nerves. The girl offered her a smile and it made Indigo's worries just melt away. Verde pushed her way through the crowd until she was standing right next to Indigo, and she grabbed her hand once she was situated once again. Now Indigo would have someone with her to help wash the stress away.
"Hi," Verde whispered to her.
"Hey Verde," Indigo responded at the same level of noise.
The pair stared into each other's eyes and Indigo felt like she was just about to melt with all of the good feelings currently flowing through every inch of her body. However, they were soon interrupted by the screech of feedback from a microphone and then a bubbly sounding voice.
"Welcome everyone to the Reaping for the 80th Annual Hunger Games!" came the escort's ecstatic sounding greeting. "Now how about we watch a little video before we get into our Reaping?"
The citizens present quieted down, although a few groans could be heard across the square at the thought of having to watch that video again. It was a bit repetitive every year, the Capitol having not changed it from before the war, but Indigo really didn't mind it that much. She probably wasn't going to pay much attention to it anyway with Verde standing next to her.
The change in music from what it had been during the rest of the video signified to Indigo that it was coming to an end and that it was about to be time to choose who the unlucky girl and boy tribute for Eleven were going to be. She was hoping that Verde would be her luck charm so that the slip of paper selected didn't have her name printed on it.
Her heart started beating a faster rhythm in her chest, the suspense of it all bringing that stress back from when it had disappeared earlier. The escort plucked a name out of the girls' bowl and Indigo sucked in a deep breath, her sweaty hand gripping Verde's tightly.
"The girl representing Eleven this year in the 80th Annual Hunger Games is Indigo Whitesand."
Indigo released Verde's hand with a gasp and both of her hands flew up to her mouth in shock. The tears were readying themselves to fall from her eyes, but Indigo wouldn't let them. She needed to stay strong for Verde and for her family.
As she was making her way up to the stage, Indigo continued to sniff the tears away. Her one thought before she was swept up in the rest of the chaos and attention was that she hoped she had a gentle death, for her sake, for her family's sake, and for Verde's sake.
Agri Cola, 15
District Eleven Male
Agri was already pouring sweat and it was just barely past sunrise. He and some of his buddies were working an extra shift that got dumped on them by the older teens that worked with them. Sure, he wasn't really close with any of them, but they got along and related enough to each other to talk with each other when they all had a shift together.
The heavy gloves he was wearing rubbed at the calluses that had been on his hands for years, not enough to bleed, but enough to make them uncomfortable and raw. The constant use of the rake he used also wasn't helping.
They were almost finished clearing this field, once they were done, Agri could head home and get ready for the Reaping. He needed to at least shower and then put on a fresh pair of clothes. There was no way that it would be acceptable to go to the Reaping all sweaty and in torn up clothes that were barely held together.
His estimate was that they only had about a ten square yard section left to clear, and that it would hopefully only take about fifteen or twenty minutes. The work was completed rather quickly for how much energy they had already expended while clearing the rest of the field. With one final rake of the broken up debris on the ground, Agri was done with his portion and he walked the fifty yard trip back to the bus at a fair pace. He threw his rake in the back, where all the equipment was kept when it wasn't in use.
Climbing the few steps onto the bus, Agri took a seat towards the front and slumped down into a semi-comfortable position while he waited for all of the other workers to climb on board. Upon the last person's boarding, they were off towards the drop off point where they would exit and head back towards their homes to get ready for the Reaping.
Thank goodness for his work benefits, his employer provided transportation from work to a certain spot in the neighborhood he lived in, plus transportation from that spot to the Reaping every year as well. There were positives to this new job, especially a lower risk of another accident like the devastating one he'd experienced a year earlier. He'd lost two fingers on his left hand and his left arm was massively scarred. He was considerably weaker in that arm, but it was just another thing he needed to do some more work on to improve the function of it.
The bus screeched to a stop around ten minutes after their original departure, this being the stop that Agri would get off at. His house was a couple of blocks away, which was nothing compared to some of the distances he had to walk when he was working in the fields.
As soon as the last person had just stepped off the last step, the bus was off, speeding its way towards the next and second to last stop it would make before returning to this stop again in around an hour or so. It was plenty of time for him to get ready in, especially since his routine would be particularly simplistic compared to those who cared about their appearance a lot.
His feet slapped against the gravel path with each step he took, just getting closer to home pace by pace. Reaching the home he shared with his parents, Agri opened the front door with his key and closed it quietly behind him. Both of his parents still worked late shifts at the machine factory, so they would likely still be asleep and would leave for the Reaping after him.
Making his way into the tiny little bathroom, Agri shucked off his clothes and turned on the water. It was lukewarm when it began to sputter out of the faucet and it wouldn't change, with the temperature outside directly affecting the temperature of the water due to the exposed pipe that it flowed through while outside of the home.
Once the tub was filled, Agri turned the faucet off and dipped his hands into the water to clean them off. They didn't have any washcloths, so they just made do with their hands to scrub themselves clean. It didn't take long to wash the rest of the sweat and grime off his body, the longest part was patting every inch of himself dry so he wouldn't make a puddle and slip and fall.
With a towel wrapped securely around his waist, Agri walked out of the bathroom and into his bedroom, which was across the hall. It was time to get dressed and then he would head back to the bus stop so that he was on time to be picked up.
After entering his bedroom, Agri pulled open the drawer in his raggedy dresser that contained his nicest clothes and selected the first shirt and pair of pants that he saw. Everything pretty much went together, it wouldn't matter exactly which ones he had grabbed.
He pulled them on quickly, rushing out of his room before he had even gotten his shirt all the way over his head. Now was not the time to miss the bus and be late for something. It wasn't about to be time to get punished for being late to an important, mandatory event.
Upon tugging his shirt down to where it settled right on the top half of his body, Agri rushed out of the door and yanked it shut behind him. He had just enough time where he could walk to the bus stop without having to feel rushed or increase his pace.
Having completed his couple block walk back, Agri slowed as he approached the stop and plunked down onto the rundown bench that sat there. He had no worries about getting a splinter, most likely because he was wearing pants. It wasn't like he was wearing shorts like he did sometimes on his way to work in the early mornings.
The bus arrived a few short minutes later, with all of the boys and girls who met at that particular stop present and accounted for by the time it halted with a screech and the doors opened with a whoosh.
Agri was one of the last to board, letting all of the people who had been waiting at the stop earlier get on before him. Once the last boy had climbed on, the bus driver stepped on the gas and they were off on their short trip to the middle of town.
The neighborhood was on the outskirts of the town itself, which made it easy for people who lived there to make it to the fields in a short amount of time. This was, however, a bit of a pain whenever the kids who lived there had to attend the Reaping. It was a good fifteen minute ride from the town's center, so that meant at least a forty-five minute walk. Thank goodness for free transportation.
It seemed to take a lot less time than Agri was expecting before they were rolling up to the bus stop. He followed the line of other kids exiting and stepped out onto the concrete sidewalk alongside them.
The bus stop was a block from the square, a super short walk. It only took the group two or three minutes to cover the short amount of ground and they were soon lining up in the check in line.
The wait in the line was longer than the actual bus ride, which honestly could be expected with the amount of teenage population in Eleven. Agri finally got to the front of the line after about twenty minutes of slowly shuffling up in the line. He presented his right hand to the woman sitting at the table, with his index finger extended up so that her manhandling would hopefully be a bit less than it had been in the past years.
Thankfully, she was somewhat gentle when she pricked his finger, and it was over quickly. After that, he was sent on his way, signaled to go join the section for boys his age.
Agri walked over to that area, ducking under the rope partition and finding himself a spot that looked relatively okay to stand in for the next half hour or so. The Reaping had always just seemed so boring to Agri, with the same things happening each year. The escort would be way too happy for someone choosing two kids to send to their deaths, they would play that old video from before the rebellion, and the two unfortunate souls would actually be selected. Eleven didn't have volunteers. Nobody in their right mind would volunteer for someone they didn't know. Maybe for a sibling, but usually it was just whoever was picked got picked.
He must have been staring off for a while if he had only just been startled out of his thoughts by the sound of the closing music of the video. It was loud and instrumental, exuding the atmosphere of the Capitol itself without providing the districts enough sight of it to experience even a drop of the luxury there.
The escort walked over to the girls bowl and plucked out a name. Agri felt for each of the kids picked each year, it must be a horrible shock to find out that you have to go into an arena where you either murder or get murdered.
"The girl representing Eleven this year in the 80th Annual Hunger Games is Indigo Whitesand."
The girl in question let out a loud gasp of shock and Agri could see the tears that threatened to fall from her watery looking eyes. As she made her way up to the stage, you could hear her sniffing while trying not to cry.
Moving on quickly, the escort speedily reached the boys bowl and selected a name.
Reaching the microphone, the escort exclaimed, "The boy representing Eleven this year in the 80th Annual Hunger Games is Glean Cola!"
Agri's eyes widened upon hearing the name of the reaped boy, his brother. He hadn't seen him since they were separated by the Rebellion. Fate had to be cruel to reunite them like this. Without even a thought, Agri made the decision that he knew, deep within, was the right thing to do.
"I volunteer!"
His brother turned to see who had just saved him and a few stray tears bubbled up at the sight of his lost brother. Agri ran up to him and crushed him in a hug, trying to make the most of the little moment that they had.
"I love you, Glean, but I need you to look at me. Go to the house and see mom and dad again. They've missed you so much. I'll make it through this, but I need you to stay strong."
The peacekeepers that now surrounded them forced them to separate and Agri caught one last glimpse of his brother before he disappeared back into the crowd. Glean was so young, yet Agri needed him more than he needed Agri.
It was decided. Agri was going to make it through this, and he was going to be strong for his brother.
Natalia Maude, 18
District Nine Female
Natalia's strange sleep schedule due to her work was slowly catching up to her. The bubbly energy was beginning to fade and she could feel the exhaustion creeping in behind her eyelids after each blink. Just one more stakeout, then she could hopefully get some rest before the Reaping later this morning.
She was currently crouched on a street corner, observing her target. The mission for today was to gather information on where her target would be come nighttime so that she could successfully turn them over to the peacekeepers and collect her reward.
Her target was in a warehouse at the moment, presumably up to some illegal activities if the peacekeepers were offering this much money for their capture or even just information on their whereabouts. Maybe she would just observe and report her findings instead of trying to put all this energy into capturing them.
Yes, that actually sounded like the better strategy now that Natalia thought about it. Less effort, yet still a pretty decent chunk of money would be earned for it. Scrunching up her eyes, Natalia squinted at her target's swiftly moving figure through the cloudy glass window and stood up. There was about to be a silent chase, it seemed like.
They were on foot, heading out of the north exit and down the gravel road back towards the city center. Perhaps on the way to deliver some drugs or weapons. She followed far enough behind that she could just barely make out their figure and she was confident that they wouldn't notice her tailing them.
Following them for close to half an hour, Natalia finally caught sight of a crucially important piece of information that would surely get her a hefty sum in reward. The peacekeepers would sure love to hear this little tidbit of information about their wanted target.
The truth was, Natalia was exhausted and running on fumes that would barely help her make it past the Reaping. She should have taken that opportunity for a nap a day or two back. She was what, forty-nine hours without sleep or rest at this point. Oh well, she would make it up after making it back to the little shack she called home around noon.
Having finally attained that lovely piece of information for her mission, Natalia started on her way to the section of town where the peacekeeper office was. She was going to turn it in and then head to town square to be at the Reaping early. It wasn't like she had anything else to do today.
She'd luckily ended up on the same side of town that the office was located on, so it was a short ten minute walk before she finally stopped in front of the door at the front of the building.
Tugging her hood down, Natalia opened the front door and let it go after she was past the threshold. The air conditioning felt wonderful, although it was one of the rare opportunities that she got to be in here and experience it this long. She usually met up with the officers she informed around a certain meeting point on a street corner or in an occasional bus stop.
Smirking at the man occupying the chair behind the front desk and his acquaintance currently sitting in one of the many chairs in the lobby, Natalia wiggled her fingers in greeting.
"Why hello there boys. I've got some information for you, if you've got my reward for me."
The one sitting behind the desk sat up first, having been slumped over from boredom and general tiredness.
"You again, huh?"
"Yep!" Natalia replied perkily.
"Alright then, follow me to the back. You know how it goes."
As instructed, Natalia followed the pair through another door and down a hallway until they reached the room that Natalia had grown to love. The first time she'd been in it, it had been at the age of fifteen, after coming here to turn in her first bit of information on the first criminal that she'd helped capture. She'd been here dozens of times after that, and each time she came, she got money as a reward. It helped her to stay out of those industry jobs that Nine was just so famous for, and it helped to keep the streets safer.
Sitting down in that uncomfortable metal chair, the lights blared on above her and Natalia began her short tale of the evidence that she'd gathered earlier that morning. It would be recorded and used in the case against her target, but she would remain anonymous.
The recording was brief, only a few minutes long, but it would make up a major piece of evidence in the case against that criminal. She sashayed out of the room, followed by the pair of peacekeepers, and made her way back to the lobby.
Once there, she was handed a manila envelope and she quickly opened it to make sure of its contents. As promised, a hundred dollars for a significant piece of information on a wanted criminal.
As Natalia turned to leave, she made sure to express her appreciation to the pair of men that had helped her out.
"Well thanks now boys! I'll see you in a couple of days or so!"
She heard a grunted response and shrugged, at least it was something. Now, she would be off to the Reaping.
It was around a fifteen minute walk from the peacekeeper office, so the sun had made a full appearance, shining well above her head as she finally made it to the square and the check in line.
The walk had been somewhat pleasant, she had gotten to enjoy her alone time, but it was around that time that Nine's weather was beginning to heat up. She was only sweating a little bit, but she much preferred the winter and early mornings of a classic stakeout.
Natalia paused before she joined the growing line of teens waiting to check in, she wanted to have one last moment of solitariness before she was crowded in with a bunch of people in a cramped space. Sure, she didn't mind a cramped space if it was just her, but crowds were a whole different situation.
She joined the line after one final breath and was considerably lucky. The wait was only around ten minutes before she reached the front and had her finger pricked and identity tested based on her blood. Natalia passed that checkpoint with ease, not understanding how anyone would be foolish enough to try and fool the technology that was worlds smarter than any citizen of Nine.
Following the flow of the crowd, she made her way to the section marked off specifically for the eighteen year old girls. Time to stand there until she could leave. Maybe she could get a little standing up nap in while the Reaping video played.
At last, the escort took it upon himself to start the Reaping ceremony with an awkward walk to the microphone. He squeakily introduced the video and then backed off to his chair quickly.
Natalia let out a quiet yawn and her eyes fluttered shut for a little moment. The video seemed to take even longer as she was trying to keep her eyes open and not actually fall asleep and miss the whole thing. That would definitely be a bad thing to do, and her connections, no matter how strong, wouldn't save her then.
Thank goodness, it eventually concluded and they were on their way to finding out the unfortunate girl and boy that would be representing District Nine for the Games this year. Natalia hoped that it wasn't her, she could probably handle herself just fine, she just would rather stay in Nine with her way of supporting herself instead of having to murder a bunch of kids her age or younger to earn a lifetime living for herself.
The escort giddily skipped his way over towards the bowl full of girls' names and Natalia's heart started to beat just a touch faster. It was going to be okay, she told herself. The odds were more in her favor than against her.
Dramatically choosing a slip of paper, he made his way back over towards the microphone and opened it slowly. The time he took to clear his throat just made it even more anxiety inducing.
"The female tribute for this year's Hunger Games is Natalia Maude!"
Of course it had to be her. It was her last year of eligibility, of course fate would choose to have her reaped right when she was on the cusp of freedom from the Games.
Natalia let out a loud huff and scrunched her nose in frustration. Might as well try and make the most out of the opportunity to earn enough money to keep her fed and in comfort for the rest of her life. She would make the ultimate decision on if she wanted to be murdered or murder others when the time came.
I can't believe we only have one chapter left of introductions! I'm super excited to be this close to the Pregames, and I hope you guys are too! I want to give a special thanks to CalvinHobbesGatsby for Indigo, Dante Alighieri1308 for Agri, and explosioncat for Natalia! I hope I did them all justice! Thank you guys so much for reading, and I would really appreciate it if you reviewed! I love getting to hear you guys' thoughts on the tributes! I'll see you in the last Reaping chapter!
