The majority of the friends Jordyn had made within her initiation class ended up on Virgil's team. In fact, Trent and Hannah were the only people she really knew at all on Hendo's team, but Jord wasn't particularly concerned. It gave her a chance to get to know the two Dauntless borns a little better. After the initial shock at being deliberately used in some kind of power struggle between the two trainers, Jord quickly realised that it wasn't the end of the world that she wasn't with Virg. She liked playing capture the flag, and although the stakes were slightly higher this time round, with the stun darts and all, she appreciated the adrenaline rush. Games like this appealed to the competitive streak within her inner Dauntless.
"Alright," said Hendo, eyeing his troupe of initiates, after they'd jumped off the train at the southern end of the pier. "I want you guys to think for yourselves, work together and come up with a plan. The other team will be starting from the Northern end, and we've got about fifteen minutes to sort ourselves out before it's go time."
"Let's just run in there and take it," said Mason, who was brandishing the amber glowing flag. "They won't be expecting that."
"They one hundred percent will be expecting that," Jordyn responded. "We've got a lot of fast runners on our team, they'll be expecting us to use it to our advantage."
"So you're saying we should not play to our strengths?" Asked Angel.
"Of course we should play to our strengths," the blonde shook her head. "I'm just saying, if we run in there guns blazing, we'll get picked off pretty quickly, and you've got to remember if you get hit, you're out, so if we commit all our soldiers to one place we'll end up crippled."
"Hendo are you allowed to help us?" Asked Daniel.
"I can only play as a soldier," the trainer shook his head. "I can't give you any tactical help, but I can advise you here and there."
"Okay, well Hendo obviously has to deal with Virg then, since no one else is gonna be able to handle that," said Mason.
"Speak for yourself," Jordyn stated, raising an eyebrow at him. Hendo looked at her in surprise. Evidently he hadn't been expecting that, but Jordyn knew something the rest of them didn't about Virgil, and there was a reason why she would genuinely be their best option of catching Virg by surprise.
"Okay, what about this then," said Hannah. "Hendo and Jordyn can both deal with Virg, and whoever he's got with him. But we sit here and defend the flag until they show up to come grab it. Once we've dealt with them, then we go in for their flag, since they'll be significantly weaker after the attack."
"That's risky," said Mason, "But I like it."
Jordyn considered that this had to be one of the only times she'd ever seen Mason and co. in the vicinity of Trent without trying to bully him, and she realised it must be the Dauntless competitive streak that forced them all to work together, wether they liked each other or not.
"Mason and Trent should be the ones to go for the flag," she suggested. "I'd say they're the fastest."
"Wait can we use..." Trent began, but then stopped himself suddenly, his eyes widening. He met Jordyn's eyes in alarm, and she suddenly realised he'd been about to ask if he could use his abilities as an enhancer to move faster. Both of them started giggling, and the rest of the group looked at them in confusion.
"What just happened?" Asked Angel, a confused frown apparent on his face.
"Never mind that," said Hendo. "You're happy with this plan then? Where are you putting the flag?"
"On top of the sea crates would be our best bet," suggested Hannah. "It's easily defendable, we've got the high ground."
"Okay Hannah, I see you," Jord grinned at her. "We got a tactical genius over here."
"Right?" Angel smirked, glancing at Trent, which led Jordyn to believe they still weren't above winding him up where they could, and that included indirect flirting with his not-girlfriend. "Where did you learn all this?"
"You take the flag then," said Mason, handing it over to the brunette, who was blushing a little at all the praise. She took the flag from him, before heading off on her own little mission to get the flag situated.
"Trent, Jord, you better go with her," suggested Hendo. "The rest of you, I'd suggest checking out the rest of the pier around the area just so you know the lay of the land. We'll meet up in the middle in ten minutes."
The initiates scattered, with Trent and Jord heading off in pursuit of Hannah. The girl had weaved her way between two tall stacks of abandoned sea containers that were insurmountable, but in the middle, there was a slightly shorter pile that could be climbed with relative ease if you knew which path to take.
"Can't believe you put up your hand to fight Virg," Trent shook his head at the blonde as soon as they were out of earshot. Jord laughed at his words.
"It's the only logical option," she told him. "Every single person on this team's got an aura that he can sense, apart from me. Did you notice Virg deliberately picked Ems and Lola first, right after Rory? They're both shields, and he'd struggle to know where they were if they tried to attack him. But obviously Hendo picked me before he could have the chance, and that will be his biggest issue. He can't sense where I am, as long as I hold my powers in close to me, and I intend to use that to my advantage."
"Are you sure you're not part Erudite?" Trent wondered, impressed by her thinking. "I'm glad you're on this team, by the way. I think the smartest thing Hendo could have done was splitting up you and Virg. He'd only need half a brain to notice that you two together would be a force to be reckoned with."
"Hmm," said Jord. "Let's hope that's all he's noticed. Wait..."
She broke off, gesturing to the stack of sea crates that was now immediately before them. Hannah could be dimly seen, a dark figure slightly illuminated by the glowing flag she held in her hands. She appeared to be hunting around for something, but what had caught Jordyn's attention was when she spied a large plank of wood on the ground below the stack. Instead of climbing down to pick it up, however, she stretched out her hand towards it, and the plank swiftly levitated up off the ground, and flew easily into her hands. As they watched, she continued to use her power to position the plank where she wanted it, before reaching up, and hanging the flag from the top.
"Boom," said Jord, in wonder. "There it is. It's weird watching someone else do that, though."
"Bet she has no idea why she can do that, either," murmured Trent, his eyes transfixed on the brunette. "I'm going to talk to her."
And instead of climbing up the stack, like a normal person, he simply jumped right to the top from where he'd been standing on the ground. Jord's mouth had been open to reply, but the words were lost.
"Okay then," she said, to the empty space around her.
Hannah was staring at Trent in amazement, and Jordyn couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could see them having an earnest conversation. As she watched, Trent reached out for her hand with one of his own, using the other to run a delicate finger through the brunette's long hair. And then they were kissing, and at that point Jordyn decided she should definitely turn away.
As she glanced around the eerily quiet pier, she suddenly caught sight of Hendo making his leisurely way between the sea container stacks. His eyes were fixed on the two initiates on top of the stack of crates, and his face was expressionless. Jordyn felt her heart descend into her boots.
"So that happened," he nodded up to Hannah and Trent, as soon as he was close enough to the blonde to have a conversation. He gave her a pointed look, and Jordyn's eyes widened, but she said nothing. She glanced up to the top, and thankfully saw that Hannah and Trent were making their way down the side in a non-divergent manner, but she had a feeling it was too late for secrecy.
The two were surprised to see Hendo there at the bottom already, but to Jordyn's surprise, he gave them no indication he'd seen anything he shouldn't have.
"Come on, you two," he chided them. "You can do that later. We've got a game to win." Both their eyes widened, and they nodded sheepishly.
"Did you see that?" Asked Trent, in a hushed whisper to Jordyn. Jordyn rolled her eyes.
"Did I see you kissing on top of a massive sea stack that can literally be seen from pretty much everywhere? Yes. I saw."
Trent's eyes widened, and he glanced at Hendo pointedly, who was walking several paces in front of them. Jord shrugged, feeling a little clueless. There was no way Hendo wouldn't have said something if he'd witnessed the two of them using their powers. But he must have seen. He wasn't blind.
They reached the others, and all was forgotten as they began to plan their course of attack. Mason and Angel had laid out a map for the others using sticks and rocks, which was actually pretty helpful.
"We've got the flag here, and the only way to access it is between these two stacks," said Mason. "The flag is behind the top of the centre stack, so from the ground, you can't see it. We need to defend this area, but I think if we have a decoy over here..." he gestured to another stack of crates represented by a rock, "That should draw their fire. Once we've got them occupied down there, Trent and I will cross to their side up here, and go get their flag which is in this building."
"Oh, you saw their flag?" Asked Jord.
"No," Angel shook his head. "But I've been keeping an eye on what's going on, and most of them have spent all their time there. That's our best bet."
"I guess if it's not in there we can keep looking," said Trent.
"Exactly," said Mason. "And if most of their soldiers are on our side, we shouldn't have any problem dealing with them."
"So you've got me and Jord down here by the water?" Asked Hendo, pointing to the side of the map beside their decoy flag location.
"Yep, you should be able to see where the bulk of the people cross from there, and you can move to where you need to to deal with them, but particularly Virg, who will be their best fighter. Angel and Diego are your back up, but they're in closer to the decoy crates," said Mason. "Everyone else needs to be up here by the real one."
"Alright," Hannah nodded, her arm leaning on Trent's back, as he was huddled over the impromptu map, memorising his route to the other side. "Go time. Good luck everyone!"
The initiates spread out, with Jord picking up her dart gun, and following Hendo down to the bottom of the pier. The water was dark and murky there, but it sparkled in the moonlight, and much to her surprise, Jord felt her power reacting to this. There was something about the water that was attracting it to the surface, but she didn't dare let it out at the moment incase Virg was already on the lookout.
"You coming, initiate?" Hendo had turned to see why she'd paused, and was looking at her oddly.
"Sorry," she nodded, moving to catch up with him. "I'm thinking we need to get Virg by himself somehow."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," nodded Jord, determinedly. "Then we can split. You take him head on, and I'll ambush him."
Hendo was quiet for a minute, as though contemplating her words.
"Can I trust you, Jord?" He said, at last. "I mean... really?"
Jord was surprised by his words.
"It's a game, Hendo, isn't it? Unless there's something I'm missing."
Hendo was silent again, and Jord suddenly realised that he was worried about being turned on by the two of them. He thought they were trying to get rid of him, which wasn't true, strictly speaking.
"Tonight you can trust me," she stated.
The trainer finally turned to look at her, taking in the complete openness about her facial expression, and eventually nodded.
"Okay. We'll go with your plan."
Jord moved away from the water, which made her power feel as though it was poking at her skin, and followed Hendo behind a large crate where they could begin the waiting game.
A/N: Chapter ten will be out in an hour or so :)