A*N. I was going to make this Eric's POV but was suggested not to because it might ruin everything. I agree so I will might do it later. For now I will continue this book with mainly Aly's POV and occasionally some third person POV to set for the future chapters and make it less confusing. Leave a review if you can because like I said, it really motivates me when I get to interact with you guys as well. Again hope you guys enjoy this chapter, thanks for reading!
By dinner time, almost everyone in dauntless had found out about me and Eric's confrontation. Although no one dared to openly mention it, I was greeted with high 5s and back slaps at dinner time from the people near us. I have also received plenty of glances from other dauntless members, some of them fearful and shocked but mostly impressed and approving. Standing up to Eric has somehow proved my bravery to the entire faction within a few hours. Eric was no where to be seen at dinner which made me feel relieved. However it is also a little concerning, making me feel he's planning some kind of revenge. After what he said to me, I really need to start watching my back.
'ALYSIA DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH?' Jac whisper screamed when my friends arrived at the table. 'Challenging Eric like that? I'm surprised he didn't throw you out of the compound already.' Rose looked concerned, like a disappointed mother after finding out how much trouble her kid was in. Caroline just looked proud, secretly sending me a wink and giving me a high-5 when Jac and Rose wasn't looking.
'It's Aly now, and no I just had to do what's right. He was bullying that poor girl.' I defended. I'm not regretting what I did, without my help Myra might either be outside factionless or dead on the floor with a knife in her back. 'Besides, it's over now. Even Eric's gotten over it.' I purposely left out the part where he threatened me, something tells me Eric is not the type to just 'get over' being disrespected. Rose sighed and Jac raised an eyebrow confirming my theory about Eric's revengeful personality. The entire table suddenly became really quiet as my friends decide what to do to help make the situation better. Caroline suddenly speaks up.
'You know what we should do? We should go down to the pit to dauntless-ify Aly' Yes Caro, me looking more tough might intimidate Eric and get him to back down. He might even runaway screaming when I show him my new ear piercing...*note the sarcasm* However i've always wanted to get a tattoo and in all honesty, my hair needed some fixing as well so I agreed.
We decided to get tattoos first because it was usually empty. I flipped through the portfolio trying to find one that speaks out to me. However everything here either looks too common-the faction symbols- or too...not me- Bears, tigers and wolves. Seeing my stress, the tattoo artist-Tori- came to my rescue.
'Anything I can help with?' I took one last look at the tattoos in my hand before frowning.
'Do you guys do customize tattoos?' I asked, she thought for a moment before responding.
'We usually don't' she responded before a look of recognition flashed across her face 'but aren't you the girl that stood up to Eric today?' I immediately looked down, even the tattoo parlor received my glorious news. 'I'm impressed, not many people dare to speak up to Eric.' She hesitated for a moment before adding 'you know what, for you I'll make an exception. What design do you have in mind?' That question threw me for a loop, I have never considered what tattoo I wanted. If It's going to be permanently on my skin I want it to at least mean something. I hesitated before something clicked in my brain.
'I want an amity tree, however the leaves to be dauntless fire' I told her. An amity tree symbolize the roots and where I was from, but the fire symbolizes that I was meant to be dauntless all along.
'Where do you want it and how big?' Tori asked as she lead me into one of the private rooms.
'On my back. the size of my hand' I responded before the needle hit my skin.
We then went to the hair salon, my hair dresser was a middle aged man with at least 10 face piercings and purple hair. He scoffed when he saw me hair.
'Sorry sweetie, just from your hair I can tell you were an Amity transfer.' That got me self conscious, I peaked at my friends from the mirror and could tell all three of them were trying hard not to laugh. I gave the hairdresser a questioning look from the mirror. 'I mean, blonde is already an amity colour, and the soft curls? You may as well go help in the soup kitchens and read to the factionless children.'
'I'm not naturally blonde' I defended feeling the urge to explain how I never truly fit into Amity. 'I'm naturally a brunette' My friends nodded behind me, backing me up. 'I just always dyed it blonde because that's what everyone else had back in Amity.'
'Well, what do you have in mind today?'
'Back to brunette, with a hint of red undertone' The hair dresser smirked.
By the time he was done, everyone widened their eyes. The old honey blonde soft curls were replaced with brunette redish hair and layered thin waves. It made my blue eyes pop and emphasizes my sharp cheekbones. I looked dauntless. The hairdresser whose name I learned was Simon looked proud of his work. Caro whistled from behind.
'Dayum girl, you should have embraced your natural colour this whole time.' Jac commented.
'It looks really beautiful Aly.' Rose complimented.
'Thanks.' I looked back at my reflection in the mirror. I looked fierce and tough, not one trace of amity left in me, and I wasn't sure if i'm happy about that or not.
The next day at training, Eric was still no where to be seen. I thought I was lucky until a dauntless member came to announce a message from Eric.
'Eric wants Aly to run the tracks until he gets back while other people work on their techniques. He believes she needs to work on her stamina.' Stamina my ass, this is clearly a way to get back at me from yesterday. Wasting my energy so other people can improve on their techniques. Four gave me an apologetic look telling me he can not disobey Eric's orders and sent me off to do my laps.
Eric returned in the afternoon, by then I had been running for 4 hours and was close to passing out. He was back holding the board of the fighting pairs and I wasn't sure how I felt when I saw the name next to mine. Peter. Eric stood to the side, not making eye contact with me. Peter on the other hand seemed excited, hell the name was announced less than a minute ago and he's already doing stretches on the floor. I'm not terrified because I saw it coming, Eric wanted me to lose and so far Peter is the only one that can stand a chance against me. He fought dirty, but so can I. He lost to Edward and Edward is still out of training after the fight with me-not that i'm proud of. I think I can take Peter, but I also have a feeling he's not going to go down without a tough fight. Peter also did not just spent 4 hours running laps and is on the edge of collapsing.
'Come on, no time to rest. Lets get the first fight going.' Peter jumped in the ring immediately at Eric's request. My legs felt shaky as I make my way to the ring.
'Asshole' I muttered. Eric purposely and carefully planned all this so he can see me lose, he also knows Peter has no sympathy towards me and wouldn't hesitate to knock me out. Well he obviously underestimated me, he doesn't know what I've been through. How hard I worked back in Amity to achieve the skills I have today. I'm not going to let them go to waste just because of my temporary lack of energy and a dirty fighter. The only way I have a chance of winning is to defend and defend until an opportunity opens to take Peter out, so I wouldn't lose my already minimal strengths on blind attack. I scanned around the room, Christina, Will, Al and Myra all looked sorry for me. The others all hope I would lose to knock my rankings down a bit. Suddenly a strong hand grabbed my elbow, I looked back surprised to see a pissed off Four.
'He's going to think it's an easy match, take a few blows and seek your own opportunity to recover, but no matter what. Don't let him pin you down. That's how he finishes everyone.' Four quickly whispered before walking off. I felt a pang of warmth through me. I'm going to win this for both Four and Eric. For Four's faith in me winning, and Eric's faith in me losing.
Peter did not give me much time to prepare, his fist had already connected with my core the moment Eric announced for us to start. I already saw it coming and dodged to the side at the last minute so it only connected with the side of my core, but it still hurt like a bitch. My hands were up near my head ready to block any attack at my face, my lower body was not protected at all so Peter took full advantage of it. Punching rapidly at my stomach. Each punch knocking air out of my lungs. However I was also prepared to take some hits, dodging as quickly as I could while at the same time mentally embracing the blows he's managed to hit. However I also know I can't keep going on like this, even though my core is less vulnerable than my face, keeping this up is still not a lasting strategy. I decided to look for ways to attack, moving my arms down to my neck area while throwing Peter a punch. However my punch was weak because I had barely any strength and Peter took this as an opportunity to grab my arm. He twisted it behind me and pinned me in a position where my arms were behind me and my back was to him. My arms were stuck.
'I like your hair, did you think that was going to make you more dauntless?' Peter whispered in my ear. 'If you beg now, I might finish this earlier and make it easier for you.' He pulled my arm back a little more to emphasize his point and I screamed out in pain.
'Stop playing around, finish her already' Eric's bored tone shouted at us. I laughed out from the intense pain on my arm and Eric's stupidity for thinking how easy it is to defeat me.
'Oh Peter' I teased quietly. He leaned in to hear what I have got to say. 'You have no idea how much pain I can take.' I shouted the last part. Before he had the chance to process what I just said. I pulled my arm back further bending it at the same time. The sharp pain brought tears to my eyes but I'm not going to let it stop me. Peter was too shocked at what I had just done so I used this to my advantage. I swang my begs under him knocking him off balance and jumped on top of him. I punched his face again and again with my good arm until he's out unconscious.
'Stop.' Four's voice put a stop on my attack. Him and another dauntless soldiers came and dragged Peter to the infirmary. Unfortunately for me, the adrenaline from the fight ran out and the sharp pain from me dislocating my own arm, the pain in my stomach from Peter's punches along with exhaustion from this morning and the fight all came back to me. Before I know it, my legs gave out and everything went blurry.
The last thing I remember was my friends calling my name and a pair of strong arms carrying me to the infirmary.
That normally cold face finally has something else to it. But I couldn't quite pinpoint the exact emotion on Eric's face before darkness clouded my eyes.