I continued stretching until the rest of the initiates had finished their runs. Though Lily had been at the back she had stretched with me since she only had eight instead of fourteen extra laps. But the real thing that had everyone's attention, was the fight.
Not a fight spurred on by feelings, a better word would be spar. A very tense spar. Four and Eric were fighting in the ring, but it barely looked human. Every hit Eric threw was dodged, and whenever he looked irritated enough by it Four would land what may have looked to be a strong hit, however barely affected Eric. My eyes followed the fight endlessly. The amount of skill shown was immense, but not only that, they were even. Which was incredibly odd, considering the differences in fighting style. Four chose the hit and avoid technique, not the usual buff man type, used mostly for people with lighter bodies that can't take many hits. He then went in for weak spots. Eric however was the typical muscly man type. His body took all of Four's hits, though they were starting to wear him down, and his hits were powerful. Very.
And at that very moment, the door opened, Four looked away, and was pounded with one of those hits. He rolled away with a quick thought, and the fight resumed. Four slowly wore down a stronger opponent, Eric in quick blasts. Their eyes seemed to lock in understanding as they both ducked hits and moved to opposite sides of the mat.
"It was a fun time killer Four, though try and step it up next time it was getting easy." Eric growls as they both walk towards the initiate class.
"Please, next time try to get more than one measly punch." Four flies back, neither even glancing away from us.
"That, is what some of you could possibly achieve by the end of these next 4 months of physical training. It is the first stage of initiation. If you pass the cuts, there will be the second and third stages, the emotional and mental stages."
"Cuts? Excuse me?" Isobel, the ginger erudite questions.
"Yes." Eric confirms. That doesn't surprise me either. They don't seem the type to accept failure like amity.
"…Then we should have been told! What if-" Tom the Candor starts. Bad idea.
"What, you would've chosen differently? If that's true you can leave, you're not cut out for bravery." Eric drawls with a threatening tone. I want to learn how to do that. There's a heavy silence in the room as the words linger.
"Right, first up, guns. Follow me." Four shouts and walks to the far end of the training room to the stairs precariously carved into the walls. I follow in the group, and silently notice Lily fall in beside me, a solemn look on her face.
"Okay, I will only tell you how to do this once, so pay attention." We stand around Four who's holding a sleek black handgun, and starts dismantling it. My eyes follow carefully, and I try to take in the actions best I can. Once he's done he puts it back together, routinely. "There's a gun in front of you. Get to work."
We all seem to look amongst each other before looking at the gun, before picking it up, some more hesitant than others. Flexing my exposed fingers in my right hand to get blood flowing, I examine the gun carefully. Then without thinking, I pull a notch back, and dismantle it. Before I know it there are only pieces in front of me, and then I'm slipping the magazine back in.
"How did you do that? I've already forgotten the second step!" Ben says from beside me.
"I think you slot that out from there." I say vaguely, pointing to a slide instinctively. I'm not even sure what I'm doing, my hands are moving by themselves, even though I don't remember remembering all the steps.
"Once you've reassembled it thrice correctly, we can actually move on." Four's voice rings, irritated as usual. By the time the last erudite girl Isobel has succeeded thrice, I've done it eight.
"Finally. Now I believe in visual learning, so watch." My eyes take in Four's stance, squared shoulders, feet the same width apart, a strong hold on the trigger. There's a yelp as the first goes, and more than a couple widened eyes at the second and third. Only one hole on the board.
"Your turn." The instruction is simple, and I take to copying the stance in my memory. I shuffle my feet, push my shoulders back and raise my arms. But as I clasp the gun its pushed down.
"Not you. You need to go to the infirmary so I can get to grips on what you're allowed to do." The order is in Eric's eyes but my brow furrows.
"Surely the recoil isn't that strong? I'm sure it can wait till the fighting." I try to argue with a calm quiet voice but I am overwhelmed by a new presence.
"Not our choice, it's protocol. Move initiate." A firm grip on my shoulder I am pushed towards the stairs, the presence looming behind me.
"Sir, I'm sure as long as I don't fight for the next week or so it'll be fine. It wasn't very serious." I try to point out, glancing behind me, but his blue eyes are unyielding.
"I wasn't lying when I said its part of my orders." He replies.
"Okay." I accept curtly, and carry on walking, guided by the vice claw on my shoulder. Mentally, I do it grudgingly.
"It's your fault for getting run over." He says as he comes up beside me when we enter the main corridor.
"True." I admit. "But it would be nice if the consequences didn't fall on such an important hour."
"Well look who it is gracing my infirmary, it's been far too long!" The sarcasm drips from the female voice in a white coat as we enter.
"Of course, Jen. What can we do with this one?" Eric shoves me forward to the blue haired nurse who looks me once over.
"A hello would do. Are you Avery the new transfer? I'm Jen." I nod to her as she walks forward. "May I ask for your old name? Your file will be under it since you hurt yourself before you joined."
"Avery Knighthood." I answer systematically. I notice Eric's eyes on me and I catch them, almost daring him to… I'm not sure, do what he was planning. He seems to think better of it. With a few clicks of her computer Jen looks up.
"Well, according to your file, you'll have to take the cast of in one week's time, and we'll replace it with a brace to make sure it doesn't receive any strain. " She mutters scrolling down. "The break isn't in a position to be too worried about starting shooting once the cast is off, but I'd keep the brace on for two further weeks. You can do light practices with the brace, but no fighting. And refrain from using it on the punching bag."
"I have to wait three weeks?" I ask, not being able to hide my impatience. Three more weeks out of fighting is almost a fifth of physical training without fights. They must be weighed heavily as well in importance. I may not want to stand out and make myself a target, but I don't want to avoid fighting all together. Jen nods sternly at me. "That leaves me with running. Should I just continually run round the compound?" I mutter to myself, an amused grunt from beside me.
"Doctor's orders are final. If your arm isn't healed completely and gets damaged in a fight, it'll be worse. You won't get cut before then." Jen says, and though my face is passive anger spikes in me as she says it as though it doesn't matter.
"What about knife throwing? Could I learn with my left hand first? Sure, I need the other arm for proper form but I can do that with a cast." I ask aloud, looking to both Jen and Eric.
"…using your left hand wouldn't worsen your right." Jen says obviously, though waiting warily for Eric's verdict.
"…fine. But you'll be judged as if it were your dominant, so don't even think of relaxing." Eric grumbles, his eyes steel. I nod back respectfully.
"What should I do now, sir?" I ask obediently. He nudges his head outside and I follow his fast pace once more.
"I don't have anything for you to do, so unfortunately you were right in that you're just going to have to continually run round the compound." Eric tells me and I scowl at his back. "Running is an important part of the physical initiation. We use it to increase initiate speed. Speed can be a woman's best attribute in a fight."
His words spike my interest. Alone the statements can just be passing facts they throw at us, but together, they're basically instructions for me to make the best out of my situation. I won't be able to build muscle while my arms out of action anyway, so a strength based fighting technique is out ruled anyway against stronger male opponents. I'm not going to lie, words of wisdom weren't what I was expecting from him.
"If your gun assembling is anything to go by, you should catch on to firing them reasonably fast. Not that you still won't be at a disadvantage." He says as we reach the top of the stairs and the gun range where shots are continuously going off. "Laps. You can change the route from before, when you get to the straight go up the stairs to the third floor then back down again, then pass through here instead of the training room. You have till 12, I expect 25 laps by then, Initiate."
The other initiates had paused as I set off on my run, though at a much faster pace than before, as I'll have to. A passing clock tells me its 10:27, which gives me an hour less time to do five less laps then before. My run is almost a sprint, since I know my stamina won't last regardless of what speed I start at, so I might as well start fast. Axel always told me it reflected my personality, and my lack of stamina represented my impatience, but at least I can attempt to work around it. By the time I finish the first lap and pass back through the gun range, it took me two and a half minutes. I need to average around three and a half minutes, so I need to keep the pace up.
The time flies by and the sweat slicks over my skin like a body suit. What really gets me in going up the stairs, the burn hurting like nothing did this morning. I push through the pain, and I think I'm doing better than expected. By the time I have five laps left, I have twenty minutes left. Just in spite, how about I pull another lap.
With renewed vigour, I pump my arms up the stairs once more, and leap 4 steps at a time on the way back down. I barely register any of the faces passing, and barely register the gun range as I pass it for the twenty fifth time. I do notice however, Eric, standing, waiting for me to stop as I push on. And I sprint. I push harder and harder, watching the seconds hand of every clock I pass. I'm going to be late. I'm going to be late.
And as I pass the last clock, a few steps before the training room, I'm not late anymore.
"26 laps initiate." The voice above me is blurry as I sit cross-legged on the floor, the large figure blocking the wary gazes from the others. My limbs ache. It was easy to block it out with the running, but now I've stopped moving its all falling down on me, so I just nod vaguely in response. When I actually open my eyes, there's a smirk on his face.
"Good. If you keep pushing yourself like that, you'll do fine punching bags without one arm in the afternoon. Get lunch. Now." I push up on my hands to stand, legs like jelly. I'm pretty sure he wants me out of his sight, so I don't think I can just lie here until I feel like leaving. As I leave the room, Lily comes up to me.
"You look terrible, are you alright?" She asks, linking my arm in hers. I try not to seem weak, but I lean on her instinctively.
"Just fine." I reply, though the corners of my vision are ever so slightly blurry. "Just have… to keep breathing. And get food." I mutter, as the long tables and benches come into view, along with the food lining the walls.
"How many laps did you do, you look like shit." I look up and it turns out the Dauntless born are also walking in. Leon and Mark are walking towards us. "You ran past us a few times."
"She was banned from shooting because of her arm, so Eric made her." Jay explains. "Did you do the same route as this morning? How many laps?"
"Same route. He requested 25." I say shortly. It's going to bring attention to me anyway, I don't to showcase the extra lap.
"25? In that time? We did 30 with an extra hour this morning!" Ben exclaims. We sit down and I look at the plate filled to the brim by Jay and Ben.
"It's a good thing I have all this food then cos it was ten times as exhausting. Stupid arm." I scowl. "How was gun practice?"
"It was alright actually! Ben's really good, and I managed to hit bullseye a few times as well!" Lilt replies enthusiastically. Good, at least she's feeling better after the run.
"Yeah, I think me and Jay will need a little more time to hit bullseye, but we both improved over the session." Beth says as well.
"The stiff Zander, he's got one clean shot." Jay adds looking to the side. "He seems to be siding with that lot though." Indicating to the 3 candor boys.
"Why do I feel like they're going to become a problem at the fights?" Beth wonders aloud, our eyes wondering to the more malicious laughter of Kasper.
"Come on guys, think positive, it can't be that bad." Lily attempts, and I send her a disbelieving stare.
"Keep dreaming Lily." I mumble.
"Right, you saw our fight this morning, recall it. That's leagues away from all of you. For now we'll be going through the basic moves, pair up." Four explains.
Lily comes up and smiles at me, and I see Jay and Ben pair up.
"Not you Avery, Lily go with Beth." Four says, pulling my elbow to the front. "Since you can only use one arm and we wouldn't want to inconvenience any of the other initiates, you're with me." Oh crap. Somehow I don't think he'll be going easy on me. At least he'll correct me. What they don't know is that I already developed a very…. Specific fighting style with Axel. However it has its weaknesses, so it's probably a good idea to start working on ordinary moves, especially to keep up appearances.
"First up, the defensive positioning. This should be you, at all times, only leave it to attack." Four's instructions are clear, as he lowers his body and brings his arms out. I follow, though put my left arm in front to protect my broken right arm. "Good. Stay there." Four tells me and I hold the position as he goes round assessing everyone. He comes back, and out of nowhere throws a punch at my side. I will my quick reflexes into not reacting as I usually would, and merely move my arms to block it. If I had blocked it as I usually would, it would be a dead giveaway.
"Good. Everyone repeat that step, ten times with each arm. Step into it and…" Four lists the details, and then beckons me forward. With my left hand I throw a punch, attempting to follow each detail, and any I missed I attempt to amend with my second, third, and so on. He blocks every one easily.
"You're techniques good, but you're weak." How blunt. "You have no arm muscle. You try to compensate by stepping forward which is correct, but not enough. Practice by yourself." Four tells me before leaving. That wasn't much of a surprise.
You see, I favour my legs. I also have exceptionally flexible arms, and tend to use acro skills to get into positions where my feet can do the work. So my arms are lean, but I can rely on my wrists and shoulders more than muscle, so I never bothered to work on them with Axel.
"Right, kicks!" Four shouts over the group. Great, my favourite. "You need balance, lower your centre of gravity otherwise you'll fall over instead of your opponent. Use the turn from your hip to get more power." He demonstrates, slowly though so it doesn't have much of an impact, before instructing ten on each leg. And then I start. The motion is familiar and comfortable, and I aim sharp, light, accurate kicks with the flick of my ankle.
"Will you just aim at your opponent's arms?" Four asks around my sixth kick on my right leg. He asked for it. The next I aim to his lower ribs, then clip his knee causing him to lapse his stance. The next two to opposite sides before I change legs fluidly and brush his collarbone area, before going back to hitting his torso.
Four's eyes are narrowed as I finish of the set, and I can see the question in his eyes. But, he doesn't ask.
"Good." He says, a small smile in his eyes, before moving on.
Next chapter Yay! As I said on the first chapter, the delay has been pretty long for this, as I've had mocks, but hopefully I should have more time for writing now! I'm loving Avery's character, especially the impatience and the scowling. Hope it's enjoyable!