"Put me in." I make myself say the words before the logical, methodical part of me intervenes. This is not the way to lay low.
"Lily's in the infirmary and unable to fight, and since I'm meant to get this off later what will a few hours do?" I carry on, and Four turns to me with his arms crossed.
"A few hours or not, it's doctor's orders, you don't want to risk-" I undo the straps easily and tear the constricting contraption of my arm. I move it around and flex it out of its sweaty confinements.
"Avery." Four states my name, his eyes seemingly pleading with me as I remember him trying to warn me to stay low to keep of Eric's radar. I stare back defiantly.
"If it counts for anything, I don't mind fighting her, just one weak opponent for another." Kasper inputs stupidly as both Four and Eric have their eyes locked on me. I realise I'm going about this the wrong way. Four isn't the superior here.
"You said you wanted to see my potential." I turn my gaze to Eric, throwing out the bait. "I'm pissed enough that there's a possibility you'll see it." My words are gritty, and testing, and the twitch of his brow shows how much he's considering it. I
/take a step closer.
"You're not cleared." He says, but without the usual authority laced through it. He wants me to give him a good enough reason. I can do that.
"This morning, I know you saw me using it, and you know it's completely healed. My previous doctor cleared it for 2 weeks anyway, not 3." I point out. I'm not sure how long he was watching me train, but he interrupted at around 12 or 13 past five. He's
/an orderly man, so it's my bet he arrived at five, early enough to have seen me rowing. "Come on Eric. Don't you want to see someone else get knocked out this time?"
I know that's enough. He turns on his heel, a smirk plastered on his face and he rubs of Lily's name and replaces it with mine in big, white letters.
"Eric-" Four protests immediately, but I know I've won my case.
"Kasper, Avery, in the ring." He barks, and I nod at him, before walking up to the ring, rolling my shoulders. I catch the glances of Jay, Ben and Beth, my friends looking at me worriedly. I look down and realise Lily's blood is on my arms and probably
/unseen on my black clothing, before giving them a reassuring smile. I take my stance in the ring, looking up at Kasper, unyielding.
"Fight then!" Eric yells, and Kasper immediately charges at me. His defence is sloppy. I can tell his punch is very strong, and fast enough to land on most, but I'm not most. It's an easy duck out to the side for me, before a quick side step, my feet
/continuing to draw shapes on the mats. I carry on with the defensive, merely waiting for his punches to lose power. It works, but his arm speed doesn't weaken and I have to bend backwards to narrowly avoid it before spinning away bringing up the standard
/defensive position.
He's panting with all the swings he's made, while I'm easily relaxed, having only made small movements with my feet. His glare is ice cold, and a smirk flows onto my lips without hesitation.
"I thought you said potential." I hear Eric's voice and meet his eyes with an easy deadpan. Sorry if I feel like playing with my food this time round.
I bite my lip with irritation, but as soon as Kasper charges forward once more in attempt to take advantage of my looking away, I bend my knees, then send one leg up to push his fist up, taking away his punch's momentum.
"Time's up." I murmur, a sadistic smile moving to my face. I push him back slightly before stepping to quickly sweep his legs out from under him. Assoon as he hits the floor he rolls away and back onto his feet, but as soon as he does I'm landing
multiple kicks just under his ribs, thoroughly winding him. After the state I found Lily in, he's not going to get away with justgetting knocked out.
After I get bored of his ribs, I stopfor a second while he stumbles backwards, before I reach down onto my hands, bend down and push off, landing a perfect kick right under his arm, hearing the satisfactory pop, and the scream accompanying it. One
/shoulder dislocated, what should I do next I wonder?
He attempts to get some hits in once again, taking a step forward but his defence is nothing now one of his arms is gone. It's a quick block then a swift knee to his groin. He rolls onto the floor once again, clutching his crotch.
After a quick glance at my watch, I realise this has gone on long enough. I wait for him to stand, not bothering to put up defence so he'll take another punch towards me. When he does, I pull off one of my favourite combos.
My right foot goes up to take the momentum of his punch, but then reaches further over his shoulder. His eyes are widened in confusion, as I hook my foot around the back of his neck. Then, in less than a moment, I pull up, my left knee nestling itself
/at the junction of his throat and his jaw, snapping his neck back.
Meanwhile I've bent my back backwards, planting my hands firmly on the floor to flip my feet over before landing back in a defensive position, Kasper lying on the floor, cold.
"Time." I hear Eric's words, and am about to walk out of the ring, but it seems none of Kasper's friends want to come get him, so I take a hold of his arm attached to a fully functioning shoulder, and drag him out towards Four.
"His neck is still in one piece, I promise. He'll be out for… probably over a day though." I inform, him, and he meets my eyes with wary respect. I give him an honest look, and hope he can see I had a good reason to do this. I think he understands. I
/watch as he calls someone over to take him to the infirmary, vaguely aware I'm trying to put off looking at Eric. But he commands my attention.
"A good win, Avery." He murmurs softly, under his breath. My heart swells with pride at the easy smile on his lips, along with the pride in his own eyes. It only lasts a moment, but that moment's enough.
"Your defence was sloppy, and basically non-existent when you were attacking! You'll lose next time!" He barks at me, a snarl on his face, but the smile on my own lips has not left, and I merely nod low to him.
"Permission to be excused to wash up?" I question in my usual polite tone, indicating the blood still on me from Lily. He nods briskly, giving me a small smile as I turn away to leave.
I know I shouldn't have put myself out like that. There was no need to show off like that, exposing my strengths. I could have played it as a lucky win, but I don't regret it. Just a glimpse of Lily in my mind and I have no remorse for Kasper. None at
/all.
When I sit down at lunch after the rest of the fights, there's a long silence around me, but I barely notice it as I eat my pasta.
"So… you put Kasper in the infirmary." Ben says awkwardly, and I spare him a glance before shrugging obviously and continuing eating.
"Have you always been able to fight like that?" Jay asks. I'm glad as I look up, to see genuine curiosity, instead of Ben's wary glance, and I smile warmly.
"Of course not. No one noticed with my broken arm, but I've basically only been working on kicks this entire time, Four banned me from any punches." I reply with the usual half-truth.
"But why did you do that? I know he's brutal, but that was even-" Beth begins but I interrupt, not wanting to bear her next words.
"Have you guys seen Lily yet?" I ask collectively, though focussing on Beth. They shake their heads.
"We were going to after we'd finished eating, what happened by the way, do you know?" Ben asks, and I ponder my thoughts for a second.
"Go and tell me he didn't deserve it, after you've seen her." I say, taking my last bite before standing and leaving. It may be a bit standoffish, but I've been like this since the beginning, and it will do no good to argue my case. They didn't see her
/like I did.
Lily wasn't in afternoon training either, probably still unconscious or being restrained by the doctors there. Besides, nothing interesting happened anyway. I situated myself next to Lottie one of the weak erudite girls, and started to shoot, finally
/avoid the brace. However, before I started, I had to decide whether to give it my all. In all honesty gun work has been my weakest easily, and I'd guess I'm above average, but nothing special. So I might as well go all out, just so I can get the training
/in to improve. But knives as fights are a different matter. I've already gained much more attention than I'd wished, since Kasper was ranked first. But I can tell there's no going back now, besides, I have no idea what Eric will do to me if I purposely
/lose fights.
So, I conclude, that I will only fight as hard as I need to against specific opponents. In fact, I should stick with no kicks. And blocking with my arms. It will be good training anyway. And with knives… they don't actually count for much for ranking,
/so I think I can carry on trying my hardest. They're fun anyway, and fights count for most. Not like I can pretend I'm really weak anymore.
So with that, I carry on trying to adjust to the new gun Four provided us with, a damned shotgun. I won't lie, it really isn't for me. Even when I'm completely ready for it, I get jolted back. I still manage to get into the rings of the target, and get
/a complete fluke of a bullseye. By the end of the day my muscles are aching from its weight and I'm dragging myself to the dining table.
I sit alone at first, methodically cutting through my pork chops, taking long sips of water, until I hear someone sit opposite me, and I look up.
"I saw Lily." It's Jay, and his face is serious, I nod.
"Is she any better? I only got the summary." I ask, keeping eye contact whilst he looks slightly awkwardly around.
"She was still asleep, but she has two cracked ribs, but other than that she's just very bruised. Lucky she didn't hurt her head, a concussion right now would be terrible." He tells me and I nod, relieved. "What…exactly happened to her?"
I let the silence mull, unsure of how much to tell him. But Jay's been the most accepting of me up till now, and the sentimental part of me wants to keep that.
"Well… I think it started early this morning. I was up early… around four and I bumped into Kasper, Zander and Mickey… very drunk." I start, and I can see him trying to figure out how it was related. "He started hitting on me… and tried to go further
/than that, but I got away pretty quick. But I said something…that I regret."
"Which is?" Jay asks, almost reluctantly.
"That if he wanted to rape someone, to find someone who can't fight back." I say, my even voice swamping my real thoughts. "I didn't make a connection out of it until Beth was talking about him calling her and Lily weak, then Lily staying behind to shower,
/and Kasper wasn't at breakfast either… so I went there as fast as I could. Someone had called him out so I didn't have to confront him there, but she was already out, and very damaged. Took her to the infirmary, then went to fights."
We both stay silent for a few minutes, until we've both finished our food.
"So you're the calm angry type. I'd never have been able to hold back at the beginning of that fight and just dodge, would've gone right for him." Jay says, a trial smile on his face. I smile back.
"What's the point of acting recklessly just to lose, I mean just asking to fight him was as impulsive as I'll ever get." I answer, and he chuckles.
"I know it can all get a bit blurry when we fight." He says, and I can see the doubt in his eyes.
"I'd never do any of that to someone who didn't deserve it like he did. If I had had time to calm down he wouldn't have come out any better. She looked a lot worse collapsed in the showers than she will now." I tell him, leaning forward to try and convey
/my honesty. He nods.
"Come on, do you want to visit her? One of the doctors said she'd be up around now." He asks, standing up, but I shake my head.
"I think I want to do something first."
The dark rooms are just as they were before, the patterns and scripts decorating all the walls and surfaces. I walk around aimlessly, but find myself in front of the same set of birds as I was the last time I was here.
The eagle is diving down, slightly to the left, and I can picture it exactly in my head. I pick up the design and take it to the nearest free artist.
"Can I please have this, very small between my left ear and my hairline? And in black please." I ask, and the woman with multiple piercings that I could barely count smiles.
"First one?" I nod. "Let's see if you manage to stay quiet." It's sadistic, and a small smile works its way onto my lips as I sit down, tying my hair to the side.
The first seconds are painful, yes, but after I'm more used to it… it's more like a humming buzz tickling my skin. In the dimly lit room my eyes flutter closed while I relax into the feeling. It doesn't take long, since it was a reasonably small area,
/and won't be visible with my hair down and not from most angles with my hair up. When I feel the needle lift from my skin, I take my hair down, and my eyes flutter open.
"Celebrating a first win?" His voice rumbles from the darkness, and my eyes blink up at him, slightly puzzled.
"Of sorts." I murmur, letting my eyes rake over him in a charcoal jumper and some dark jeans, unaccustomedto his casual attire. Pulling my eyes away from the more than welcoming sight, I stand and give my name to the tattoo artist so she can get
her money, before turning to leave. As I'm about to walk past him he stops me with a hand on my wrist, before lifting his other to lift up the hair covering my new tattoo.
We stay there for many moments, and I can barely see his face through the darkness, but I daren't do anything but blink up at him blankly.
"Curious much?" I murmur, following his eyes examining my eagle.
"It's nice… good placement." He replies. He doesn't move away nor take his eyes of my tattoo as he continues. "You should be proud of your performance earlier."
"Proud?" I question, my eyes widening even more. "I wouldn't think so. It wasn't much of an achievement, just something that had to be done." My voice still lifts at the end, in question to what he meant.
"Something that had to be done… that led to you being in first place, and the previous first-ranked to be out of action for more than a little while." He says, finally looking me in the eye. I don't fail to notice the close proximity we're in, as usual,
/my breaths land on his chest as I look up, lips parted. "His shoulder was fixed pretty easily, but he's still not awake, and bruising on his neck will restrict his breathing, so he'll have to stay a few days."
He finishes, but doesn't follow up, despite the curiosity in his eyes. He wants to know how I react, whether I feel guilty, or whether I did it just for the fun. I merely sigh.
"I just hope he's worse off than she is." I say quietly, looking away. I don't know why, but I feel like he'll think differently of me, as if I'm weaker, if he knows my reasons. I hope not, because one glance to his expression shows me he's going to grill
/it out of me if he has to.
He puts an arm round my back, tingling as his large hand fits on my waist as he leads me from the room and into a slow walk into an unused corridor. Once again there's the rational part of my mind that will chime in after he's far away asking, is it normal/right
/to have be in such close and familiar proximity with a leader and instructor? But the path of fire against my back walking me forward quickly banishes the thought. It's different from how he's walked before, its only purpose to pace out what we daren't
/say.
"Explain." It's simple, but a distinct order against his softer words in the tattoo parlour.
"I don't usually stick up for the innocent. They've usually done something stupid to deserve it. But with Lily, I influenced it, and she got hurt. And she definitely didn't do anything to deserve it." I say, my words quiet even in the deserted hallway.
/He turns to me, his blue eyes bright in the dull interior.
"What do you mean influence? Kasper wanted to fuck, it just happened to be her." He says it as though it's the most normal thing in the world, but my heart leaps as the slight constriction of his jaw, his only sign of discomfort at the act. I look away,
/and I know a slight tinge of pink dusts my cheeks with embarrassment. I wish I wasn't embarrassed of being targeted, but in front of him I can't help it.
"Before I got to the training room, I… bumped into him and a couple others in the pit. They were completely drunk but… I said something about going after the weak. And she was an easy target." I say, finishing the whole thing with my eyes to the floor.
Before I can even look up to gauge his response, his hand grasps my chin lightly tilting my face towards his. I let out a gasp of surprise.
"What do you mean when you say they bumped into you?" His question sounds like a statement, and I can tell he already has speculations in the right direction, with the gravel in his voice and deathly intent. I can barely put my thoughts together for an
/answer.
"He hit on me." I say clearly, but its barely a whisper. "It was going somewhere more, so I kneed him in the crotch and went straight to the training block-"
"Did he do anything to you?" His question is quick, and his eyes are dark and his arm around my waist grasps me tighter. My cheeks warm but nevertheless I place a light hand on his arm, and he seems to relax slightly.
"He barely got close enough to touch me, there's nothing to worry about." I murmur soothingly without realising. His iris' seem to lighten and after a quick glance around he pulls away, detaching himself reluctantly as it seems. Before he starts walking
/again I cut in with a question.
"Will anything happen? I don't know how things work in Dauntless. If she reports it is there a punishment? Or will it be written off a fight or argument between initiates?" I ask, honestly curious. I don't want to sound justice-sought, but I know Lily
/would want to know. He looks back to me.
"There would be an investigation, but no further punishment would come of it." He answers, but before he moves to walk again, and interrupt on impulse, before I can stop my curiosity.
"Would it be different if it were me?"
Oh my God I fall in love with Eric even more with every chapter! Going to admit it now, there's no way I'm missing out more sexually suggestive (but only suggestive) in future chapters, sorry its just hormones, I mean technically they're both in their teens so somethings bound to happen…. Right? Who am I kidding, anyone who hasn't realised there's going to be an Eric/OC in this is… welcome to continue to try to figure it out… And can I just say- I've been waiting so long to show the true extent of Avery's bad-ass-ness! She is brutal when she needs to be, and I hope I managed to convey that! Anyway, hope everyone enjoys this chapter! I'm really busy at the moment, but school will end soon, so I plan on writing some chapters in advance so I can post around once a week! Please review, not even my brain can think of everything and any feedback is greatly appreciated!