The week was filled with vigorous training. Besides combat, the initiates ran in the morning with Four all around the Dauntless compound. They also learned how to use firearms as well as how to properly wield knives. Isabelle found that she was better with knife and with gun than she was with her fists alone.
With target practice, she was able to use her knowledge of physics and statistics to her advantage as she calculated the best way to hit the bullseye—and that she did. Besides Warsan, Isabelle proved to be the best at knives and nearly third when handling a gun, improving her rank tenfold; her two other friends did not fall far behind. Avicus too was quite good in his own way, but not nearly as good as the four who stuck together.
Eric had noticed Isabelle's technique, however, and warned her not to rely on her old factions ways, her people's ways. She was Dauntless now, for the time being, and she had to embrace her new factions way of life. It was faction before blood. Always.
There was one girl, a small and thin child of Abnegation named Mia, who did not seem to find her niche in any of the physical aspects of training. This caused concern for Isabelle, fearing the worst for the former Abnegation. She fought poorly, handled her gun with little accuracy, and her knife throwing lacked precision. Isabelle couldn't help but wonder how the girl even tested for Dauntless, but she found it harder to believe that this meek and seemingly powerless girl gained the courage to choose Dauntless over her own faction. Warsan warned the brunette not to worry herself with the girl—she was just one among seventeen destined to leave; she was destined to end up factionless.
As noted by character, Avicus mocked Mia and told her what all others were thinking to her face—that she would not make it to the second stage of initiation. He openly taunted Mia whenever he could, but especially so when she sat to eat in the dining hall. It was one thing to think such things of others, but to take away all sources of hope, of self-esteem in front of one's peers, that was another thing all together; that was downright disgusting and disgraceful.
It amazed Isabelle how quickly ill-feelings towards the former Amity had spread amongst her friends. The same attitude was felt with Kathryn and Robbie when they were told of the boy's antics and behaviors. Kathryn suggested to subject him to such humiliation by defeating him in the matches that were to be held soon for the transfers—and to do so in front of the leaders. That would be their greatest revenge towards the heartless Amity without starting trouble and losing points themselves.
Isabelle couldn't agree more. They were supposed to be Dauntless—courageous and strong—and picking on a girl weaker than oneself was neither of the two, in fact it was the opposite. She would see to it that Avicus faced defeat during combat. Nothing would make her happier than to see that boy fall from his own mighty pedestal.
The rankings had finally been listed for all to see just before the transfers were to fight for the first time for points, to show either their progression or their decline. Showing the rankings before the matches was to serve inspiration to those who needed it. Although all the names behind the fifteenth initiate were of those who were beneath the cutoff, the ones bolded were those who faced elimination from the first stage go initiation.
1. Kathryn 2. Robbie 3. Virgil 4. Alexandria 5. Warsan 6. Vikki
7. JD 8. Nicole 9. Aliyah 10. Sido 11. Nikki 12. Artemis 13. Morgan
14. Mattie 15. Mark 16. Durro 17. Jordan 18. Isabelle 19. Avicus
20. Shelby 21. Flot 22. Danielle 23. Anne 24. Axel 25. Levy
26. Bruce 27. Maxine 28. Jay 29. Mia 30. Abigail 31. Aldo 32. Connor
Isabelle sighed in relief when she saw that she was safe at the moment, although she was quite lower on the list than she would've liked. She thought for sure she'd secure the top fifteen at least. She needed to improve her skills to move up in the ranks fast or else she'd get cut from Dauntless. But what irked her even more was to see that Avicus was just one rank below her.
"It seems that Mia is not as low as I would've expected." Warsan said as his eyes examined every inch of the board.
"But she is still in the bottom six; if she doesn't improve during the upcoming matches she will not make it to the next stage."
The dark-skinned boy glanced over at his friend, placing a hand on her shoulder as he squeezed it lightly. "Like I said before, don't worry so much about her. I'd focus more of my attention to your own rank. You're still under the cut-off line."
The brunette nodded, agreeing completely with her friend sadly as she looked at the ground, shuffling her feet. "I know. I just have to win my matches."
"I'd rather worry about Avicus moving ahead of you." He jested, causing the girl to cringe.
"Don't, please. Just the mere though of him and I being so close in the rankings has made me irritable."
"As it does to the rest of us," Mattie exclaimed as she moved closer to the two former Erudites, along with Nikki at her side.
Eric and Four came into view and they stood at the front of the scoreboard, their eyes scanning the group of initiates who stood before them. Four looked down at his clipboard while Eric straightened up.
"Attention!" It was the blond who spoke, "there are sixteen of you, so before lunch we'll complete four matches and when we come back the remaining four matches will resume. Our first match of the day is between Mia and Virgil. Both of you get ready and head towards the ring."
The other initiates made their way to the arena as well, eager to see how the first match would fare. Eric and Four took their sweet time as they strolled over to the ring in order to examine the opponents who already stood in the arena.
"How cruel is that?" Nikki asked as she leaned into Isabelle, her voice barely above a whisper, "They are purposely pairing up one of the worst initiates with the best in our group. I knew Eric was cruel, but this is downright humiliating—for the both of them."
Isabelle raised a brow as she watched the fragile girl prepare herself for the match. "If Mia is to beat Virgil, her ranking will improve immensely."
"You believe the girl will best Virgil?" Mattie asked, joining in on the conversation.
Isabelle shook her head. "No, but anything is possible."
Despite Isabelle's words, this was not possible. Mia was defeated in under two minutes. The poor girl didn't stand a chance against the boy; he was tall and lean with fine muscles that had caused great damage to the weak girl. The fight was almost pathetic as Mia was barely able to land a single punch at her opponent. She did draw blood, but it was a pure accident as Virgil had lost his balance for a moment while she punched him in the nose. He didn't take that very well as he threw her to the ground, her bones seeming to crack at the sudden assault. He wailed on her mercilessly, blood staining his knuckles as he continued to punch her everywhere he could. It was then she asked to concede before she was escorted to the infirmary by two other trainers.
Eric didn't take her forfeit well, spewing out how a true Dauntless would never concede; a brave man never surrenders. Four shook it off as he announced the next match. This time it was Mattie's turn to fight Morgan.
This fight lasted much longer as the two were so close in rank. It seemed almost choreographed as the two moved in synchronized motions. Kick, block, punch, block, kick, punch, kick. Kick, punch, kick, block, punch, block, kick. Nikki, Warsan, and Isabelle watched intently as their friend fought to defend her rank. They had to admit, watching the two girls fight was almost beautiful despite the blood that had been spilt and the bruises that already started to form on their faces. A few minutes later, Mattie had landed a hard blow to the back of Morgan's head, causing the girl to fall face-first to the mats below. Mattie took her opportunity to sit on the girl's back as she grabbed Morgan's arm, twisting it back harshly. Morgan wailed in pain before Four ended the fight, awarding Mattie victory.
Isabelle sighed in relief. It was good to see a friend succeed when so much was at stake. Mattie looked over at her friends as she stepped down from the ring, blood between her teeth as she smiled brightly at them. The three smiled back, offering their congratulations to the girl.
Anne and Avicus were next. He was just as merciless towards the girl as Virgil was towards Mia, the only difference was that Virgil acted that way because he knew he had to survive and show the trainers that he was worth being called Dauntless. Avicus acted like a heathen because he liked to see a poor girl suffer at his own hands—he liked to see blood shed because he could make it so. Isabelle felt sick to her stomach as she watched Avicus attack the girl so viciously, like a wolf preying on a wounded fawn. If it had been any other opponent, Isabelle wouldn't think twice about the amount of aggression used, but it was Avicus and it drove her mad with disgust.
The fight ended with Avicus as victor, causing Isabelle to groan in detest. Avicus noticed her distress and as he passed by the former Erudite he made sure to brush against her shoulder roughly as she stumbled back slightly. Her eyes bore into his momentarily and she made sure to hold back no amount of hate that she harbored towards him. He merely chuckled as sat down on the side of the ring to regain his breath and strength.
The final fight of the morning was between Sido and Warsan. This fight was quicker than Avicus' or Mattie's but longer than Mia's. Though Warsan was of higher rank, he allowed himself to be fooled with a false sense of security which gave Sido the opportunity to strike when Warsan was unprepared. She ended up winning the match and Warsan was blind with anger at himself for being so reckless in the fight. Eric seemed just as disappointed as his jaw clenched when he saw the top ranking transfer lose to someone who didn't seem like much of a challenge.
Then they broke for lunch. Isabelle and Nikki ate lightly as they didn't want to upset their stomachs before or during their match. With each passing moment Isabelle grew more and more anxious of the fight that was to take place. The one person whom she saw as nearly invincible had lost his match; she was not nearly the fighter he was and yet he still fell defeated, so how was she to fare in the ring? She felt her stomach twist into knots at the thought of failing. She was already so low in the ranks that if she were to lose her first match, Isabelle thought of just giving up.
No, she thought suddenly, a true Dauntless wouldn't allow herself to feel such things, allow herself to wallow in self-pity over something that hasn't even happened yet. Isabelle choose Dauntless for a reason, because she felt that she belonged nowhere else and that this faction could give her life meaning. Giving up now was not an option. Like Eric said, a brave man never surrenders.
Isabelle slapped herself mentally for actually quoting Eric, even if no one else knew. She found herself thinking of him often during the past week. She still couldn't figure out why he seemed so familiar, but she also couldn't help but allow herself to watch him from time to time. He was quite handsome despite his cold exterior and Isabelle couldn't help but be fascinated by his cold-exterior.
Nikki wasn't nearly as nervous as Isabelle was about her match, in fact she was extremely excited as she shook with anticipation in her chair as she ate and drank. Warsan remained silent, ashamed of his defeat in the ring. Mattie tried cheering him up but her words fell to deaf ears as he would not listen to any of it. Kathryn was going to jest about the subject, but her brother stopped her before she said something she would surely regret. Besides Mattie's attempts to lift Warsan's spirits, the group of six remind silent.
Avicus, on the other hand, made sure to boast about his victory in the ring as he sat one table behind the six. His obnoxious voice ringing in Isabelle's ears as he spoke of how he so viciously drawn blood from Anne. The brunette girl clenched her fists as he continued to speak and with every word that left his mouth, Isabelle despised him more and more.
Back at the warehouse, it was revealed that Isabelle was to fight Aliyah who was a few rankings above the brunette. Nikki, Mattie, and Warsan wished their friend good luck as she took off her shoes and jacket before she stepped into the ring. Eric and Four stood at the side to watch.
Aliyah was taller than Isabelle, and stronger as well with nicely formed muscles in her arms and legs. During training, Isabelle noticed that she was improving everyday and that intimidated Isabelle. No, it didn't really, but it did fuel her to accomplish what she had come here to do.
The girls circled each other for a moment with arms raised in a defensive position. Aliyah was the first to attack, attempting to punch Isabelle in the jaw, but the brunette was able to dodge it swiftly. Aliyah ran at Isabelle, swinging her fists maliciously as she tried to land a single punch, but Isabelle kept dodging, not yet attacking.
Isabelle heard Eric sigh loudly, knowing that he was growing impatient with her passive defenses. Aliyah attacked again, throwing a successful punch to her face. Isabelle yelled out, feeling the blood ooze from her nose. Aliyah continued to punch, but Isabelle was able to block the rest. Finally, Isabelle saw her chance as grabbed Aliyah's wrist twisting it as she did so. In a split second, Isabelle lifted her leg and kicked the other girl in the stomach, causing the taller girl to groan out in pain. Aliyah didn't take that too kindly as she grabbed Isabelle by the shoulders and threw her to the ground just before landing several kicks to her sides.
Aliyah got in a few good kicks in before Isabelle had enough, grabbing the other girl's foot as she yanked her to the ground. Isabelle rolled on top of the girl as she locked her legs around Aliyah's, keeping her in place as she applied a great amount pressure to the back of the girl's neck while pushing the girl's face against the mat below; again Aliyah let out an agonized yelp of pain.
"Stop playing around," Eric called out as he glared at Isabelle. "Finish it. Now."
Without hesitation Isabelle punched Aliyah in the back of the head, causing the girl to fall unconscious. The victor stood, her eyes never leaving the girl's body. Eric ordered for two initiates to take Aliyah to the infirmary; they obliged as they each grabbed one of the girl's arms before dragging her away. When Aliyah and the two others were out of sight, Isabelle's eyes fell to her hands; they were trembling slightly.
"Good job," it was Eric who stood beside her. Isabelle didn't look up at him, her mind seemingly to be elsewhere. "It seems that every time we watch you demonstrate a task you prove us wrong."
Isabelle was silent for a moment before her hands ceased trembling, finally glancing up to meet Eric's eyes. "That's what I'm here to do, prove that I am Dauntless." And with that Isabelle stepped out of the ring, grabbing her shoes and jacket before making her way to the back of the group.