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I tie m hair into a messy up do and then pull on my clothes. I look in the mirror and smile. My flying Ravens tattoo is viewable and covers the whole inside of my left for arm. My hip bone tattoo is covers but you can see the ink covering my shoulder blades.

I quickly pull on my boots and head down to the cafeteria to grab some a muffin. I take the muffin with me to the training room because I know I'm running a little late. I walk in and see Nik and Carmen helping the transfers with their fighting techniques. I knew that they had been going at it for at least two hours. "Nice of you to join us." Nik says with a smirk, sending the attention in the room my way. I stopped, about to put a piece of muffin my mouth. I shrug and throw it in any ways, quickly swallowing.

"So have you initiates learned anything yet?" I asked and they all just looked around and then at me. "Well?" I asked, a little more sternly.

"Yes." First jumper says.

"What's your name?" I asked him, throwing the last of my muffin in my mouth.

"Tobias." He says and I nod. His voice. I love his voice.

"Show me what you've you learned." I say and slip my boots off.

"With you?" He asked, looking very unsure of himself.

"Of course." I step onto the mat and he follows. I can tell he is nervous to fight me. Either nervous or afraid.

Tobias' POV

I step onto the mat and watch as she moves around with her arms up, guarding her face and I mirror her motions. She had a couple tattoos that I could see. One that covers her shoulder blades and another on her left forearm, it was a raven flying away. I couldn't hit her. I couldn't do it. She was beautiful and…

'WHACK!'

"Wake up!" She yells and I realized that she just back handed me right across my right cheek. "You fight or you're out Tobias!" She yells and then goes to hit me again but I block her, which leaves my stomach open. She hits me hard in the gut and I double over, giving her the opportunity to knee me in the stomach. "What are you teaching these kids?" She asked one of our trainers but it gave me the chance to hit her, and I did, hard across the face with a closed fist. She stumbles back and then meets my eyes, giving me a small smile.

She came at me again, getting another good punch but I was quicker and I gave her one back. It was too hard. I knew it was as soon as I let it go. She fell to the ground and I quickly dropped to the floor and straddled her. She was under me and between my legs. For a split second my core filled a fire that I wanted so badly to extinguish but then I remembered where I was. I went to hit her again but she caught my fist and flipped us over. She hit me three times and then things started to get blurry.

"Zero wins!" Carmen calls and the weight is lifted off me. "Shit. Is he ok?" I roll onto my stomach and groan but I jump to my feet only to wobble a little. An arm catches mine.

"Shit. I'll take him to the infirmary."

Zero's POV.

I help Tobias to the infirmary and part of me feels bad, even though there is a smile on my lips. During the fight, there was a split moment where he was on top of me and I saw the fire in his eyes. It wasn't for the fight. My emotions mirrored his but he would never know that. I would ever tell him. He was an initiate and I was a leader.

"Oh my! What happened?" Betty, the nurse, answered when we interred through her doors.

"Initiate. He had to fight me." I tell her and she gives me a playful glare.

"That's just mean Stella." She says and I give her a scolding look for using my real name. "Sorry, bring him over here. I'll grab some ice."

I help him sit down, "I'm fine. I didn't need to come here." He says and I roll my ice, taking the seat next to the bed.

"Don't worry. It's your first day so I'm being nice. I won't drag you here next time I beat your ass." I say and he gives me a small smile.

Betty comes back and hands him an ice pack and some pills, which he takes. "Let that kick in and give the ice some time. You'll be fine in a little bit." She says and walks away.

"Stella." He says my real name and I look at him with a little bit of shock but then remember that Betty let it slip. "It's pretty. It suits you."

"You're delirious. I hit you to hard." I say with a small smile.

"You do hit hard, despite your size."

"Never let the size of your opponent fool you." I say and he stays quiet for a few minutes.

"If Stella is your real name. What does Zero stand for?" He asked and I took a deep breath.

"It's a secret." I say with a smile and he smiles back.

"I'll keep it."

"It's the number of fears I have." I tell him and he looks at me confused.

"You're not afraid of anything?" He asked and I shook my head.

"No, I'm not. But sometimes I wish I was."

"How is it possible to be fearless?"

"The way my mind works is different from other people. Fear is a state of mind and once you get it under control then you realize that you control your fear. Either you are going to die or you aren't. There is nothing to fear my head. Things are already set in motion." I explain and he seems to think about it.

"I guess that makes since. But I don't think I could get rid of my fears." He admits and I give him a small smile.

"Not many people can." Our eyes lock for a moment and that feeling I had on the mat starts to come back. I stand up. "I need to get back. I'll see you at dinner." I say and quickly walk away, feeling the need to get away from the initiate. He may only be 16 but he was mature beyond his years. He seemed at least 18 and if he wasn't an initiate I wouldn't have known better.

I walk down the hall and realize that the initiates must be on their lunch break when I run into one of the Erudite transfers.

"What's your name?" I asked him and he stopped in his tracks. He was tall and muscular for 16 but I knew he would fill out even more as he got older. He had short dirty blonde hair and beautiful eyes.

"Eric." He says and I nod.

"Did you fight today?" I asked and he nodded. "How did you do?"

"I won." He says with a hint of pride and I nod.

"Good. We start shooting and knives tomorrow. I'm sure you'll enjoy that." I say and he gives me a small smile and a nod.

"Your fight against Tobias was good. It taught us a lot."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Like not letting your emotions get in the way."

"What emotions are you talking about?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"His. Not yours. He needs to realize that you are a leader and not his peer." He says and I nod. Dismissing him. He must had had a point but what he didn't realize was that they were my feelings as well.