The next week passed faster than I could have ever thought possible. Huh. Who knew training 5 hours per day would be this draining.
"Thank goodness" I heard Rachel say as our group was dismissed for the weekend "I don't think I have ever worked out that much in my life!"
"Really?" Asked Leo as he shifted positions in the little line that had formed as we all walked next to each other so that he ended up being on my right as we walked to the canteen for lunch. "It wasn't any harder than a long day in the fields under the sun harvesting wheat though..."
"Speak for yourself!" Said Dana "I'd take plowing any day over body combat!"
"Why did you transfer then?" I asked, my erudite curiosity taking over.
With an exaggerated mocked surprised look on his face, Leo exclaimed "SHE FINALLY SPEAKS!"
I felt a blush come over me as I slightly nudged my elbow into his side "Hahaha let's make fun of the shy girl who doesn't speak that much!" I replied, trying to make my tone as ironic as I possibly could. I hadn't spoken that much since Josh had asked me about my fighting techniques except for the basics of conversation: a hello there, how are you here, I mean, what am I supposed to do really? I'm shy! So what?
"Relax," he said as he put his arm around my shoulders and squeezed playfully "I'm kidding! Don't they teach joke 101 in erudite?"
Everyone laughs, including me, even if that was one TERRIBLE joke! It feels good to let go of my so-called roots where I always felt like a fish out of the water.
But here in Dauntless, even if it's only been a week, I feel like I fit in perfectly, like that one puzzle piece that gets jammed into the wrong place again and again and again before finally settling in the place it was meant to be. And who knows? Maybe I'll even learn how to open up more.
As we sit down around a table with our food, Christopher asks
"So I wanted to go check out the parlor, anyone up for coming along?"
"The parlor?" Asked Rachel.
"Yeah, the tattoo parlor" he answered "I spotted it when they lead us to our dorms and I've been thinking... I kinda want a tattoo..."
The table burst into protests, mainly coming from Rachel, and admiration from the rest of us. I had myself wanted to get a tattoo, to mark my leaving erudite behind and fully immerse myself in the dauntless culture, but hadn't dared say a word about it. I didn't really want to seem like the girl begging for attention by doing something no one else would be doing and bragging about it, but now that I know that Chris wants a tattoo as well, I grab my courage before it runs away and say
"Actually, maybe we could go to the tattoo parlor together? I also have been wanting to get a tattoo since I saw it"
And with these words, everyone fell silent and looked at me. Shit. Oh shit. I made a fool of myself again! I should not have spoken up! I should have kept my mouth shut!
I start to feel my face redden while they all look at each other and back at me, keeping the silence going until it's broken by Leo, who looks straight into my eyes, his luscious lips splitting into a sly grin, says
"You're just full of surprises aren't you?"
With that, we all chuckle and the tension diffuses immediately
"And why would I be so full of surprises?" I ask
"Well" says Dana "it's just that you barely say anything and then judo-flip poor Josh over here with no warning what-so-ever!"
"Hey!" Snaps Josh at the other end of the table
"Yeah," adds Rachel "and you just seem so reserved and, no offence, like you HATE new experiences!"
"Haven't any of you heard the saying 'Don't judge a book by its cover'?" I answer while shrugging lightly
"It's not just a cover that you have on!" Says Dana "It's a barricade! And we have no idea what's waiting on the other side!"
"You" starts Leo while draping an arm over my shoulder and extending his other hand in front of us gesturing to empty air as if he was admiring it "are like the great wall of China... Except, well, we don't know what country is behind it"
I roll my eyes around and try not to blush at his hand on my bare shoulder
"But fear not!" He continues dramatically "For I shall break you out of your shell and let you shine your light upon the rest of us!"
"Well aren't you peopling the drama kind? All I said was that I wanted to get a tattoo! It's not a big deal..."
"Well I think we should all go to support Chris and Aya in the MUTILATION of their skin!" said Rachel.
"Oh calm down Rach'" said Chris, sighing heavily "it's only a tattoo! Aya's gonna do it!"
"Yeah I kinda want one as well to be honest," says Leo with a small voice while rubbing the back of his neck with the one hand that he hadn't left on my shoulder.
WHY IS HIS HAND STILL ON MY SHOULDER?!
After some more arguing, we all came to an agreement.
We'll all go to the parlor after we're all done with lunch in order to support those of us who are getting tattoos.
God... What should I get?
That question hangs over my head for the rest of lunch, my brain blocking out everything happening around me. Well, not everything. Not the pressure of Leo's leg against mine underneath the table. Not the way he seems to phase out from time to time, staring at thin air past everyone. Not the way he leans towards the table whenever he gets excited about something. Not the sweet aroma coming from him. No. Not one detail about him was being left out by my senses. I was feeling everything that could be felt about him from this position, and, is it wrong for me to say I want to feel more?
Over the past week, Leo and I have grown closer, training together when needed, walking to and back from training together. Plus, our beds were both the corner bottom bunks, making it that our heads slept near each other.
The sound of his voice mesmerizing me at every inflexion, the flow of his movement making me wish I could study anatomy all over again, just to understand how he could look both like a flame and a wave of water while walking.
And those eyes-
"Aya?"
I look up from my plate into his dark molten chocolate orbs that take my breath at every glance.
"Yeah?" I reply.
"Lunch is over" he starts grinning while he gets up from his seat and joins the rest of the group who is already up and ready to go "You know what that means don't you?"
"That next time we'll get food will be dinner?"
He rolls his eyes while chuckling
"Come on let's get tattoos!" he says as he holds out a hand to help me up.
I take it, get up, and we all start heading out.
The tattoo parlour is this pretty big shop with a pretty small exterior. You'd never known it was this big if you hadn't walked in. It's walls are plastered with possible tattoo ideas, to inspire the clients I assume, but it's not too much, which is surprizing considering that there isn't more that one third of the original light grey wallpaper that shows. The drawings are all spaciously distributed, all of them different sizes, so that it looks more like an art exhibition than a tattoo shop. Which I guess in a way it is. Tattoos are really art on skin when thought about.
We all disperse through the shop, admiring the walls, contemplating, and deciding which of them would look good on our skins.
I still haven't chosen what I want. All I know is that I want it to remind me of my home while cutting me from it. Tattoos are frowned upon gravely in Erudite, and me getting one marks my real departure I guess, but I don't want to end up forgetting where I'm from, who I am. As much as it surprises me to think, I miss my life there. But I wouldn't give up being Dauntless for the world. So what I want really is for my tattoo to be a link between my old and new life.
I find myself looking at beautiful drawings of weaponry. Guns, rifles, knives, but what catches my eye the most, is a beautiful arrow. The tip of it a smooth looking bronze metal, glistening in light, red cherry wood and at the end of it, the most beautiful feathers.
I point it out to the artist, a young woman with hot pink hair and black strands, who smiles and nods when I ask for the tattoo.
"I have an arrow as well actually!" she says as she pulls up her baggy pants over her left foot to point out a thin arrow drawn around her ankle, way more simplistic that the one I have chosen but beautiful non the less.
I sit down in the chair and pull up my right sleeve and turn the inside of my arm up, and while she starts prepping the skin on there, I am joined by the rest of our crew.
"Where's Chris" I ask, not seeing him.
"Oh he's still choosing," replies Rachel, clearly over her argument with her brother earlier.
When Chris finally chooses a skull with a rose between its teeth, he settles in the seat to my right while Leo sits down at my left.
And the artists get to work.
Half way through my arrow, Leo is done. I hadn't had the chance to ask him what he had chosen, so I do when he grabs a chair and pulls it into the small circle that had constructed itself from around Chris and I.
"Check this out!" Leo says to me as he shows me an awesome looking metal dragon on the inside of his elbow.
"Whoa! That is really cool," I say as I bring my fingers up to the dragon and graze my fingertips on it.
"You're one to speak," says Dana "Your arrow is looking SO badass!"
This comment is followed by a lot of agreeing, making me blush. Man, I think to myself, I really need to get this blushing thing under control…
Finally, Chris and I both finish our tattoos at around the same time. While mine is way less complicated than his with the dents in the skull, and the work on the rose and what not, mine has an extreme amount of work put into it, making the details look astounding.
The arrow represents agility, concentration, and skill, characteristics of Erudite. But it also represents freedom, fearlessness and strength, to represent Dauntless.
And with this arrow, I am marked.