Other Side (A Divergent/ Eric fan fiction)

5| Ink

5| Ink

The tattoo parlor is dark, with red and blue fluorescent lights, and music in the background. Amber walks over to a wall where artwork is hanging. These days, the only artists left are in Amity. My mother sometimes sold her paintings. Most of the time, for free. I skim the wall with my fingertips. My finger stops at a specific tattoo. It's quite big, and it's a sketch of a feather. Part of the feather is turning into little birds in flight.

I unhook the sketch from the wall and turn around. I nearly bump into Brendon, who had been standing behind me the whole time. He puts his hands on my shoulders when I nearly fall back. "Wow, easy there." He chuckles.

I hold up the sketch and he eyes it. "What do you think of this?" I ask.

"It's amazing, Skye. It's going to look so good on you."

"Thanks," I look around. People with tattoos and piercings walk past but I don't catch sight of Amber.

"Where's Amber?"

"She's getting a tattoo done." He replies. We walk over to the counter where a big, tall man covered in tattoos and metal sticking out from parts of his face stands. I hand him the sketch, he takes one look at it and tells me to follow him. We are both in a back room now, and a chair sits in the middle of the room. Next to the chair is a table with a tray on top. The needle lays on the tray.

When I sit on the chair, I suddenly feel nervous. The man fiddles with the needle for a bit. "Where do you want it?" He asks me. I think for a moment, I hadn't thought about where exactly I wanted this permanent piece of art to go.

"The back of my shoulder." All I get is a nod before I feel the needle prodding the surface of my skin.

>>>

The next morning, I walk into the training room with Amber. Her arm is red and swollen where she got the Dauntless symbol tattooed. Mine barely hurts, only when I move my shoulder. I am happy with the tattoo. It's in the right position to be able to be half seen under my tank top. I received a lot of compliments from the other initiate, too. Except for Jacob, who had yelled out that this didn't make me officially Dauntless. I just ignored him.

At the end of the room stands a large target. I catch sight of the knives laying on a table. Eric is standing tall in the middle of the room, his hands behind his back. He watches us with squinted eyes. When they land on me, I feel like his stare is bearing down on me. I remember what he had done to me.

I keep my head down and walk towards him with Amber. When every initiate is gathered around him, he finally speaks. "Today, you will be learning how to throw knives. Everyone, pick up three knives each." We obey, grabbing the cold handle of the sharpened daggers. We stand in front of our own targets.

Eric and Four both demonstrate the correct technique for throwing them. I watch Four's arm and stance as he throws the knife at the target, hitting it perfectly in the middle.

For the next half hour, I find myself struggling to hit the target. Combined with the burning pain at the back of my shoulder every time I moved my arm, and Eric's cold stare, it's feels nearly impossible. But when I do hit it, the knife doesn't stick and clatters loudly to the floor. I sigh in frustration as I pull the knife back again, aiming directly in the middle. I breathe out deeply as I exhale, releasing the knife into the air. The sharp end sticks to the board, but is directly underneath the target.

I look over at Amber, who is throwing the knives flawlessly, and having them hit the middle of the target. How does she do that? I watch her a couple of times, trying to mimic her actions. But it's still no use.