"We do not accept cowardice of any form, it has no place amongst the brave. We are Dauntless."

Days pass as the initiates do obstacle course after obstacle course. Today they had been put randomly into a maze, timing how long it took them to get out and what their strategy was. Most of them had banded together with those who they could find and made it out as a team. Within what Issy thinks is the first five minutes she had literally walked into Meg with Luke not far behind. Together they moved forward and found Zara, Tom and Ollie. It took a while but eventually they made it out in a time of forty seven minutes and thirteen seconds. When everyone else had made it out they were dismissed for dinner but were asked to go back to the training rooms after dinner. Why? No one knew, their instructors didn't say. Shrugging his shoulders, Cody pulled them to the dining hall.

As ever, the dining hall was loud and boisterous. Their table was as full as ever, Issy didn't know how they all fit. Their table was located towards the middle of the hall, close to the Leader's table. On one side sat Hugo, Blake, Four, Tris, Lynn and Will with Christina on his lap. On the other sat Declan, Zeke with Shauna on his lap, Uriah and Marlene. Sometimes thing would get really squished when Eric, Josh and Jason joined them. Thankfully today they were sat on the Leader's table with the rest of the leaders and their friends and family. Lilah waved at Issy and Bree as she passed, joining the rest of the Dauntless born initiates a table behind theirs. Issy laughed when she saw Dec and Hugo in an arm wrestle, neither of them appeared close to winning. Hugo looked almost bored as Dec made a show at pulling at his brother's arm. Issy crept up behind Declan and loudly sat down next to him. Dec jumped in surprise and Hugo slammed his hand down onto the table, winking at his sister. Her friends laughed as they joined the table. Bree sat next to her with Alec in between Hugo and Blake. Cody and Noah were further down the table next to Lynn and Marlene.

"Dammit Issy!" Dec whined as he shook his hand out. "I thought you were on my side!"

Issy grinned as she reached over to snatch an apple from the bowl in front of Blake. "That's where you're wrong dear brother. I'm on whichever side that's winning."

"Heathen." He sneered playfully before grinning and catching her in a headlock.

"Hey! Get off!" Issy claws and scratches at his arm leaving rad marks. He hisses, tightening his hold and ruffling up her hair. Once Issy feels him loosen his hold, she pushes him away a little harder than she meant to as he falls from the bench. Again the tables bursts into a fit of giggles.

Kim turns around from the Leader's table looking rather irritable. "Could you at least be behave and be quiet for one moment please?"

Issy smirks at Kim as she quotes the manifesto. "We do not believe in good manners."

"We do not believe that silence is useful." Cody adds in with a grin.

From where Issy is sat she can see some of the remaining leaders and their families puff out their chests with pride. Max being one of the main ones as his pride for them. "I think you have your answer Kim."

The rest of the dinner was spent with stories embarrassing the older brothers. Blake, Four and Zeke were more than happy to indulge into stories that had Dec and Hugo blushing red from retellings of their initiations. When it was time Four, Eric, Lynn and Lauren led them to the training rooms. Confused glances were shared when they walked straight passed the training room, passed the obstacle course corridor and into a new corridor not the far away from the first or second. In this corridor was only one door at the very end. Without uttering a word, Four unlocked the door and led them onto a metal platform overlooking a large room. More or less underneath them is what Issy thinks is a starting line. After that there's a fifty meter stretch until there's another, thinner line than the fist with a long table parallel to it. On the table are many different types of weapons ranging from guns – most likely dart guns – to staffs to crossbows with padded bolts. A few meters behind the table is another maze but different from todays, this one is more complex. After the maze is another fifty meter stretch before the finish line. Just by looking at it Issy can't wait to have a go. Bouncing on her heels she tears to eyes away from the course below them and gazes challengingly to her brother, arching an eyebrow. He returns the look with words clearly written on his face. Come at me! A predatorily grin etched onto her face. You're gonna wish I hadn't. Her grin widens as she sees Alec momentarily falter for a second before narrowing his eyes at her. Don't overdo yourself sister, I wouldn't want you to try too hard and lose.

"Alright, stop it!" They were interrupted by Four who was rubbing his temples. "I can mentally hear you both egging each other on and you don't even know what you have to do yet."

"By looking at it, I would have thought that much was simple." Alec drawled, slowly moving his eyes from his sister to Four. Issy chocked out a laugh as Four fidgeted on the spot.

"Are they always like this?" Lynn muttered to Eric as she eyed the twins warily.

Eric just shook his head and smirked. He moved in front of Four, partly blocking him from view or blocking the twins from Four's, either way worked. "As you see in front of you is the last obstacle course of Stage One. The idea, like this morning, is to get through it and you will be tested on your strategy. The only difference is that today you will be put into small groups, having half an hour today to think about a strategy and tomorrow you will use it." Eric looks over the crowd. Some like Issy and Alec are buzzing, wanting to take on the course now, others look unsure but ready to take it either way. "Tomorrow after dinner the final rankings of Stage One will be posted and those below the red line will be leaving so try your hardest tomorrow, it will decide whether you leave or stay." While Eric was talking Four and Lauren were fiddling with a screen, probably what their groupings will appear on. A few minutes later name by name appear on the board. With Korey's death it now meant that there was an even number of initiates so there was two to a team.

Luke and Jess,

Flare and Noah,

Hector and Alec,

Sam and Bree,

Crystal and Tom,

Ollie and Zara,

Kayden and Issy,

Lilah and Charlie,

Meg and Cody,

Gasps sounded around her as she stared at the board. Her and Kayden? In a team? She looked at her friends around her and was greeted with several sympathetic looks. Not too far away Kayden looks at her like she's ruined his life, maybe in some unknown way to herself she has. She almost doesn't hear Lynn tell them to get into their pairs and start planning. Determined not to lose she squares her shoulders, it's nothing more than a small speed bump in the road. Kayden's glare hardens as she walks over to him. Before he can open his mouth to insult her she raises and hand, interrupting him.

"Look I don't like this anymore than you do, okay?" Issy hisses quietly at him. "And I don't care that you'd rather sit here and insult me but from what remember from Capture The Flag we both like winning too much to lose. I am willing to put all of that shit behind us for now to form a temporary alliance just for this exercise and then we can go back to spitting insults at each other after."

His glare lessens slightly as he rolls his eyes. "Fine." His eyes focus on anything other than her as he glances around the room. Many people are looking at them warily taking in their tense postures and hateful gazes. "People think we hate each other right?" He sneers but Issy can see the small twinkle in his dark green eyes. "That we can't get along? Maybe we should keep that show up until the very last moment, say five minutes before it begins?"

Issy's eyes widen slightly. It's a good idea. She huffs out a snide laugh, going along with his idea. "And then people will get cocky thinking we can't work together." He sneers in her direction but Issy can now see the laughter in his eyes. For the remaining minutes of the session they snap and snarl at each other while coming up with a reasonable plan. From a distant any one would assume they're arguing but Issy and Kayden can see the smirks in the other's eyes. When Lynn calls time Kayden barges into Issy's shoulder, hard enough that she is pushed aside.

"Watch it!" She snaps. They have, after all, got a façade to keep up. Kayden sneers at her over his shoulder as he makes his way to Charlie. She rolls her shoulders as she turns to head for her friends. Issy catches Eric's gaze as he stands watching her. She almost shrinks away from the disappointment in his grey eyes. A burst of emotion shoots through her making her want nothing more than to run up to him and reassure him that it's all just a trick but she steels herself to leave before she does just that. Walking towards Bree she ignores the same disappoint in Four's eyes and the other instructors. She stands next to Bree, Cody and Noah waiting for Alec to finish up as most of the initiates and instructors pass by them. A few of the initiates have a cocky look to them already as they glance to Issy. As Four and Eric file out she gets a shake of the head from Four and is totally ignored by Eric. Her troubles must show on her face when Bree shakes her shoulder lightly.

"You okay? You seem a bit down."

"I'm fine." Issy said while inside she can't wait to reveal the scam her and Kayden are playing, then maybe people will stop being disappointed in her. Issy grabs Bree's arm, pulling her away slightly. "Hey, I uhh, I'm gonna wander 'bout a bit. I'm just feeling a little stressed, okay?"

Bree wraps Issy in a light hug. "If you need anything Issy you know where I am, yeah?"

"Yeah. See you later." Quickly she makes her way out of the room and towards the Pit, a few tattoos might make her feel better, if not at least she'll be able to get some sleep.

Striding into the tattoo parlor she looks around the room. She spots Josh almost instantly but he is talking to Eric and Jason next to his work station. Right now Issy doesn't want to see that look of disappointment again so she looks around the room once again and spots Tori on the opposite side of the room in a closed off corner. Issy makes her way to the tattoo artist, praying that neither men had seen her enter.

Tori looks at her with a smile on her face. "Hey girl, how ya doing? Do you want me to call Josh over?"

"Oh no, he's busy. Can I borrow a pad to sketch out a few designs, I'll trouble him after he's finished?" Issy cuts in quickly.

Tori looks questioningly at her before looking over at Josh and her eyes widen in some sort of understanding. "Trouble in training?"

"Sort of."

"No problem chick." Tori hands her a sketch pad and pats the seat next to her. "You don't mind me watching, do ya?"

Issy shakes her head, sitting down and flipping the cover open. Carefully she draws out three text based tattoos. The first is in cursive writing – similar to the text beneath her sun – in black:

Stars can't shine without darkness

The second looks like someone's used a loose graffiti template so the edges are almost smudged and some parts of it the paint has run. Around the text is the Dauntless flames in the same style as the text. For the second one Issy uses a mix of red, yellow and black:

I've got fire

for a heart,

I'm not scared

of the dark.

And the final one is in bold block lettering:

LIVE LIFE AS IF

YOU'LL DIE

TOMORROW.

DREAM AS IF

YOU'LL LIVE

FOREVER.

The words 'Tomorrow' and 'Forever' are red whereas the rest of the words are black.

Issy already knows what will go where as she has been thinking about these three for a while now. Happy with her designs she hands them to Tori. She grins widely as she studies each one. Tori looks back up to Issy to say something when another voice cuts her off.

"I feel insulted." Issy glances back to see Josh with his hand on his heart in mock hurt. Jason was heading out of the door as Eric followed after Josh. "I thought you'd show me your drawings first."

"You looked busy so I didn't want to interrupt."

Josh looked back at Eric who was leaning against a near by pillar. "Hardly busy." Before Issy could say any more, Josh snatched the pad out of Tori's hands and pranced over to his station. "I'll get everything set up, shall I?" Issy knew for a fact that it was a rhetorical question so she didn't bother answering. She turned to say bye to Tori but she had suddenly disappeared without a word. Issy huffed, getting up to follow after Josh when Eric was suddenly blocking her way. Issy switched between staring at the ground to staring at the wall. She really didn't want to see that look again.

"Issy." He said and she kept her eyes on the wall. "Issy." He said again and she could hear he was starting to get frustrated. "Issy for fucks sake, look at me!" Her eyes snap up to meet his then. Whatever disappointment his eyes once held were now replaced with annoyance and something else she couldn't pin down. "You know it was my idea to put you with Kayden for tomorrow's course. I'd thought you were strong enough to put aside any differences you had and work together on this but obviously I was wrong. Pity." Never mind, it came back with the hard edge that had entered his voice. Inside Issy was fuming, not just because the façade Kayden and herself were playing was grating at her already but because Eric thought Issy was petty enough to keep shitty grudges like that.

"Obviously I was wrong in thinking that you'd be able to catch onto things quickly." She sneered lightly at him. Initiation as a whole was grating on her and she just wished the pressure would stop. One more day. "But then we obviously don't know that much about each other to jump to conclusions like that, do we sir?" His cold eyes narrowed at her when she said 'sir', she had knew that saying that would get to him.

"What did I say about calling me sir?" He hissed, taking a step forward.

"What should it matter?"

"Because it does." Eric took another step forward with a snarl on his face.

"But why?" Issy knew she was pushing her luck. "I mean – "

"Initiate!" Eric snapped at her and she flinched. Eric must have noticed as he took half a step back and his face softened slightly. "Issy, I – " He paused and shook his head, stepping out of her way. "Go get your tattoo, Josh is waiting." She nodded her head as she swallowed and walked away. "I'm sorry." Eric said almost too quietly that Issy didn't hear it. Issy came to a halt, turning back to look at Eric. His eyes didn't hold anger anymore just what Issy classed as an apologetic look. She nodded once and went two the other side of the room.

Three hours later and Issy came out of the tattoo parlor fully inked up. The first design she had placed along her collar bone beneath her constellations, the second was on her left rib cage and the third was in the middle of her lower back. The tattoos didn't make her feel any better than before but just like she had thought she was able to catch up on her sleep. The dorms were dark as she entered so she didn't bother with getting changed before she got on her bunk, hoping for a few more hours sleep so she wasn't alone with her thoughts for very long.