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.
Hopes and wishes have chances of not coming true and for Issy hers didn't. Every time she closed her eyes the disappointed looks would resurface causing her eyes to snap open. To keep her thoughts from lingering and overthinking something she cannot change she goes over the plan that herself and Kayden had came up with. The main outline of it was to sprint to the table, grab what they could, sprint off and watch each other's backs. From where they were stood neither of them could see what was on the table. Thankfully they'd have a few more minutes to plan at the starting line today.
She had just showered and changed when Four came in, banging a metal pole against the wall to wake them up. Their eyes connected and once again she was greeted with disappointment. She rolled her eyes, wishing for the day to end quickly. 'We'll show 'em.' Issy promised herself as Kayden spat out an insult to her, the grin clear in his green eyes. 'We'll show them not to doubt us. Not to assume shit that's false about us.' She quickly snapped one back and waited for her friends to finish up.
Breakfast wasn't very long but Issy thought it had dragged on for eternity. Either one of her instructors had told her older brothers about yesterday and Issy could tell that they were trying not to look at her but she saw the glances they shared. As Issy munched on her second apple Blake tried to pull Dec and Hugo into the conversation but failed each time until the table fell into a heavy silence. She tried to ignore how most of the table glanced at her, she tried to keep her temper in check when Four and Eric, who had graced them with his presence this fine morning, peeked at her from the corner of their eyes and shared a look. Picking up another smaller apple, Issy stood up loudly, pissed that everyone on the table had doubted her. Everyone snapped their eyes to her as she picked up a bottle of water and climbed over the bench.
Declan looked alarmed, his voice equally so. "Issy, we're –"
"Go fuck yourselves." She snapped at them, glaring fiercely at each of them in turn. Most of the shrank away from the golden fire blazing in her eyes but only Alec, Bree and Eric met her gaze without flinching. Without another word she strode out of the hall while most of its inhabitants cautiously watched her go.
Issy ignored those around her as she made her way to the corridor that they were shown yesterday. She'd happily go to the training rooms to have a go at a punching bag but Issy doesn't think she has time. Slumping down the wall, she stretches out her legs while she eats her apple. Going by her watch she's been sat there for twenty minutes. Breakfast should by finishing any minute now meaning she has at least five minutes before she's joined by everyone else so she stood up and leant against the wall. Precisely three minutes later she is joined by the rest of the initiates and surprisingly Max and the other Leaders. She nodded at Max, Harrison, Kim, Winnie and two others that she didn't know the names of and ignored Eric along with the other instructors. Once again Four unlocked the door and strode in. Bree quickly made her way to Issy and squeezed her hand, looking at her knowingly. Issy shot Bree an appreciated and a little bit confused glance as they walked into the room together. Issy had a feeling Bree knew exactly what she was doing. Four guided the initiates to room below and Issy thanks her one lucky star she wished on when Eric stayed with the rest of the Leaders on the metal platform. Lynn and Lauren however, follow after Four. The initiates spread out and Issy leaves Bree to stand near the line as something on the table has caught her eye.
"You will have ten more minutes to discus your strategy with your partner." Four glances at Issy and Kayden. "After those ten minutes are up we will be coming round to attach a microphone to you to listen in to see how your work in the course. Your ten minutes start now!" Issy hears feet shuffle about until Kayden stands to her left.
"It'll be over soon." He lightly snarls at her, his hateful mask in place.
"It better fucking be." Issy doesn't have to act her snarl. She glares at the table. "Do you see that grey pair of gloves at the end of the table?" She hisses at him and he steps back with a furious snarl on his face.
"The fingerless ones with the red stitching by the curved band?" Issy give him a subtle nod. "Yeah why?"
"You get a gun and some ammo, I'll get that."
"What is it?"
Issy's grin is feral. "You'll see." If Issy paid attention to those around her, she'd notice the cocky and overconfident looks from Crystal and Tom, Ollie and Zara and a few others, she'd also notice Max shake his head as she and Kayden snap at each other.
"Your ten minutes is up!" Lynn calls out. "Gather round for your microphones!" They all line up as Lynn and Four go down the line clipping them on. Kayden and Issy are towards the back of the line. Its when everyone was geared up and Alec makes a snide comment about Issy losing when Kayden laughs, smiling as he winks at Issy. Everyone in the room turns to them shocked and confused as Issy grins, shaking her head.
"Oh brother dear," She drawls sarcastically. "Bless your delusional heart. It's gonna break so much when we win." She saunters over to where she and Kayden stood not ten minutes ago and Kayden joins her soon after.
"Ready?" Kayden flashes a smile her way. All hatred is gone from their voices as they talk.
"Are you?" They laugh causing a few jaws to drop as they clasp hands. Issy lifts her head to where the Leaders are stood and her eyes find Eric's. She raises an eyebrow challengingly and laughs lightly when his eyes widen and then he scowls. The rest of the Leaders wear similar expressions as Eric does but she doesn't care, Issy just wants Eric to know that he was wrong.
The pairs prepare themselves at the starting line, Issy and Kayden settle into sprinting positions.
"Ready!" Four calls out when himself, Lynn and Lauren have joined the Leaders.
"I've got your back if you've got mine?" Issy murmurs to Kayden.
"I've got your back." He answers and Issy nods back.
"Set! . . . Go!"
The initiates sprint from the line. Issy and Kayden run side by side, quickly gaining the lead. When the pair reach the table Kayden quickly grabs a guns and a crossbow, he slings the crossbow and quiver onto his back and loads the gun and fires, protecting Issy's back as she quickly slips on the gloves and the curved band which was actually a headset. Issy presses a button on the headset as the initiates get closer and the palms of the gloves glow red. Curling her fingers into a fist as she folds her arms into her chest while she closes her eyes to concentrate. Reopening them, she flings her arms out wide, splaying out her fingers. As she moves the gloves reacts with her movements and red holographic blocks appear from her gloves, pushing forward and forming a barrier between the rest of the initiates and them. Gasps come from the Leaders and instructors as Hector and Alec run straight slam into it and fall to the floor. Issy laughs eerily as Kayden turns to her wide eyed.
"How did you know how to do that?!"
She grins at him, glancing up at the Leaders before turning her gaze to the rest of the initiates who are trying to find a weak spot in the wall. As she curls her fingers back into fists, the red wall illuminates with them. She does this once more before bringing her hands backwards so they are level with her face. "Because I designed and manufactured the tech." Suddenly she pushes her hands forward and the wall shadows her movements by going forward and pushing the initiates back forcibly. Kayden laughs and shakes his head as they sprint to the maze. Issy brings her left fist to her shoulder and the wall disappears but the blocks separate and reform just behind her into a smaller version, protecting their backs as they head into the maze. For a while they come upon no one having had the generous head start. As they turn the corner Kayden comes to a halt as Noah and Flare appear in front of them. Quickly, Issy duplicates the barrier behind them and creates another front of them just after Noah shoots. Three of them stand amazed as Noah's darts hit the barrier and fall to the floor.
"Shoot!" Issy whispers in Kayden's ear. A few seconds after Kayden shoots, a surprised expression clouds his face as his darts go through the barrier hitting their targets.
"You amaze me Golden Eyes."
"Perhaps you can save the compliments until after we get out of the maze thanks." Issy pushes the front barrier forward, pushing Flare and Noah back. Issy follows after Kayden through the next opening. "I just hope we don't run into Alec." They go through the course determinedly, only having met two dead ends and three other pairings – none of which happened to be Alec and Hector – and Issy prayed they wouldn't stumble into them. She was lucky enough that she had seen her tech on the table but she had also seen something that Alec had worked on in his time in Erudite, Issy just hoped Alec didn't spot it.
Her hopes and prays be damned as they turn right to see Hector and Alec standing at the other end. Issy freezes when she spots the black fingerless gloves with blue stitching and the headset on his hair.
"Fuck!" She utters as blue holographic spears raise from the ground and shoot towards them. She manages to push Kayden out of the way as the spears pierce through the red barriers. "That fucking cock sucking bastard!" She shouts towards her brother as his defensive blue barrier falls into place.She raises her own barrier as she summons more red blocks, picturing them differently. The blocks begin to shift until two sets twenty red arrows hover above the ground on her left and right. She shoots them towards her brother randomly before she grabs Kayden's collar, pulling him away and in a different direction.
"Hey! Wait, Issy what are you doing?!" Kayden tries to pull back but Issy's grip is firm as she pulls him forward.
"That tech is the exact same as mine." She throws over her shoulder as she takes the center opening with Kayden now jogging by her side. "There are no weak spots for either of them and we'd be there for days unable to get the upper hand. The blue tech is meant for offence and the red tech is meant for defense only. Yes, that means Alec's attack would be stronger but my defense would also be stronger. They were made to level each other out. We originally created this tech to fight beside each other not against each other."
"Okay." They come to a cross roads with four openings – excluding the one they had just came from. Kayden grabs her wrist and pulls her to the one on the end. "This way, I have a strong gut feeling about it. When in doubt, go with your gut."
"Well then, your gut better be correct or you'll be getting a fist to it." Issy laughs as Kayden mock winces as they set off jogging. Issy follows Kayden until they both stop in surprise as the leave the maze.
Grinning happily, Kayden punches Issy on her shoulder. "See? I told you my gut was right!"
"You never actually said those exact word just to follow your gut." She snarked as they took off sprinting towards the finish.
"Oh shut up smartass."
When they crossed the line Issy saw Bree clapping at them as she walked forward with Sam just behind her.
"I have to say you fooled me with that performance. I had honestly thought you both couldn't do it, me and everyone else it seems." Sam winked at them.
"Don't look at me, it wasn't my idea." Issy raises her hands in surrender and red blocks appeared in front of them. A sheepish smile covers Issy's face as she presses the button on the headset and the blocks disappear.
"Damn girl, where do you get that from?"
Kayden smirks as he answers for her. "She created it back at Erudite."
"Technically it's still just a prototype, I'm not sure why Dauntless has them." Issy takes of the gloves and the headset. "Anyway, how did you guys get out so quick?"
"Oh! That would be down to me." Bree smiled slyly. "I have photographic memory so when we were overlooking the maze I was able to more or less save a picture of it and navigate using that."
"Damn. That would be handy." Kayden laughs along with Sam.
While they waited for the other initiates to finish they chatted happily. Issy was both surprised and pleased to see both Bree and Sam pull Kayden into conversations whereas a few weeks go they'd ignore each other. Taking third place was Noah and Flare. Noah had laughed and clasp hands with Kayden, saying that Kayden's idea was a clever one. Forth dragged in Alec and Hector. Hec joked about Issy and Kayden being a better team than Issy and Alec, this resulted in two firm punches from each shoulder from both of the twins. By the end of the exercise the leader board looked like this:
1 . Bree and Sam
2. Kayden and Issy
3. Noah and Flare
4. Hector and Alec
5. Jess and Luke
6. Cody and Meg
7. Lilah and Charlie
8. Zara and Ollie
9. Crystal and Tom
These scorings will effect their rankings which won't be shown until after dinner and they only had half an hour until then so they were let off early after they had handed back their weapons and their mics. Saying goodbye to their friends, Issy and Bree headed for the dorms for a shower before dinner. Once again Issy made a point of ignoring her instructors, mostly Four and Eric. Lynn and Lauren hadn't really done anything then glance at her warily. Four had not only looked at her with clear disappointment but she had found out from Cody that it was Four who told her brothers and more or less the rest of the table her and Kayden's 'spat'. She was still annoyed with Eric doubting her last night and she wanted an apology. Yes, she did get one last night but that wasn't for hissing his disappointment at her.
In the dorms, Issy rummaged through her clothes while Bree finished off in the shower. Issy herself had had only a quick shower and was now dressed in a red tee shirt with a leather jacket throw over it, a pair of black skinny jeans and her black combat boots. She had left her hair down instead of tying it up like she normally does and was mid way through brushing it when Bree came out of the bathroom in a loose, dark grey zip up hoodie, black jeans and black trainers.
"You know I saw through your little ruse from the start?" Bree leaned against the frame of her bunk as Issy continued to brush out her hair.
"I had a feeling you knew but how? How could you tell?"
"Your eyes." When Issy shot her a confused look Bree carried on. "From when you would snap at Kayden at the start of initiation your eyes would be three quarters gold, one quarter blue. This time your eyes were equally gold and blue. Normally your eyes are only like that when you find amusement in things. This morning at breakfast your eyes were a shade lighter than what they usually are, that signified sadness, maybe annoyance. Then when you stood to leave, they turned darker, more golden than blue and I could see clearly that you were angry. Have you ever heard the phrase 'eyes are the windows to the soul'? Well your eyes are a good example of that. Your eyes literally tell people what you're feeling, they just have to pay attention to notice."
"Thanks Bree." Issy put the brush down and pulled her into a hug. "I just didn't like how everyone was looking at me. Like I had let them all down and I was the biggest disappointment in the room."
Bree pulled back with a caring expression. "Don't you worry about it. When you left, Dec and Hugo was beating themselves up about it, Four seemed ashamed and Eric looked somewhat guilty?" Bree trailed off uncertainly.
"Last night when I left you I went to the tattoo parlor and damn my luck, Eric was there taking to Josh. Instead I went over to Tori and drew three new tattoos – I'll show you them later. After I had shown Tori the designs Josh and Eric had came over, Tori had disappeared and Josh ran away with my designs leaving me with Eric. Basically Eric told me that it was his idea to put me and Kayden together and he was disappointed that I didn't live up to his expectations of putting our hatred behind us. I ended up snapping at him saying that he's not as observant as I thought he was."
"If he wasn't a Leader and I wasn't an initiate, I swear to god – "
"Bree chill your passion, it's fine." Issy checks her watch. "C'mon, dinner will be starting soon."
The chatter at their table immediately stopped when herself and Bree sat down. Like this morning, Eric had decided to grace them with his presence as had Josh. Their table seemed a bit smaller than usual as Lynn and Shauna had joined their brother Hec at the table behind them with Zeke, Marlene and Uriah. Also, Jason and Blake had joined the Leader's table in front of them. Issy sighs as her brothers glance at her warily.
"Whatever you have to say, say it now."
Instantly apologies came from Dec, Hugo and Alec. The rest added on their own shortly afterwards, all but Eric. Josh smiled and didn't really say anything as Issy had told Josh exactly what Kayden's idea was and he promised not to say anything to anyone else. Now that Four had said sorry Issy stopped ignoring him but continued to ignore Eric. From the corner of her eye, Issy could see that Eric was getting close to snapping again when Max put a hand on Eric's shoulder, leaning down to whisper in his ear. Eric nodded once To Max and then nodded to Four. The tables fell silent as Eric joined Max on the balcony overlooking the dinning hall. Four went to stand by Lauren towards the exit.
"Stage One has now ended." Eric's voice carries over the hall. "Fourteen initiates will make it into Stage Two and four will be cut. Those who have been cut, follow Four and Lauren to collect your belongings and leave. Those that pass Stage One will have two days off before Stage Two starts. With that being said, here are your rankings." Eyes turn to the screen and the initiates waited with baited breath. It took a minute before name by name their rankings appear. Happy shout and yells sounded as Issy looked at the board.
1 – Luke
2 – Hector
3 – Kayden
4 – Alec
5 – Noah
6 – Issy
7 – Cody
8 – Sam
9 – Lilah
10 – Bree
11 – Flare
12 – Charlie
13 – Crystal
14 – Meg
15 – Ollie
16 – Tom
17 – Jess
18 – Zara
Bree whooped in Issy's ear as Dec and Hugo laughed and yelled, reaching over to hug Alec and Issy. Issy's cheeks had began to hurt she was smiling so much. Sixth! She was the highest ranking female initiate! She pulled Bree into a side hug as reached over to clasp hands with Cody as placed an arm on her shoulders. Her eyes immediately sought out the rest that made it to Stage Two. Alec was shaking Josh's hand and both men winked at her, Shauna and Lynn were hugging their younger brother while Sam and Luke hugged Crystal and Meg briefly, Lilah and Flare are squeezing each other, Kayden was sat with Charlie a few tables away grinning widely. Kayden caught her gazed and lifted his cup up to her before he turned back to Charlie. Everyone around her was cheering for them. 'If this is what people are like after Stage One, I can't wait to see how people are by the end of initiation.' Issy thought as people she didn't even know slapped her on the back lightly when she realised she was missing that one person. Apology be damned, Issy just wanted to see him. Her eyes snapped up and searched the crowd again. Eric was staring straight at her from the balcony above her. She grinned at him, her eyes shone brighter when he shot her a small grin back.
Her brothers herded them into the Pit where they celebrated for most of the night until Issy slipped away and headed to her alcove by the Chasm.