A/N: I am so very happy about the response I have gotten from this. Eris fics are not my forte at all as well as doing a story in primarily Tris' POV. Here is the next installment! Enjoy!

Chapter 4

Life seemed to move at varying speeds for me after the day it was determined by my parents that I needed to prepare for the faction they were sure I was going to be going to, where my heart was leading me.

Sometimes it felt like it was moving at the speed of light, and it should be no surprise that it was at these times I was involved in something that I enjoyed or was interested in. What might be surprising is that I found I was enjoying things I might not have thought I would before.

For instance, when Tobias came to work at the volunteer center it was to help with upgrading the computers and their systems that are used there. He had an amazing ability with the technology and could be found in the server room for the majority of his time. There he helped to install the new upgrades but he also had a workstation set up that he spent time at taking apart and putting together new computers.

He was in his element in his small and dark room, and at first, I could tell he resented my presence there. But over time, my genuine interest in what he was doing won him over.

I won't lie and say that wasn't what I hoped would happen. Before I found that approach, using his work and fascination with machines, all other attempts to get to know him had failed. But I found myself really liking and enjoying those times when he would let me help him there in his domain. The time seemed to fly by and then we would have to go our separate ways to see to other tasks.

It took another month from Hana's visit for Tori to be able to start coming herself and seeing to my training. During that time, I found out alot from my mom and Hana about my future faction. Some of those things seemed to fan the flames of my impatience to be there already, while others seemed to dim the shine of my fantasies.

The biggest one had come a week before Tori started to train me. It was on the day my mom had taken me aside to tell me that, along with something I still am trying to process.

"Bea, I have gotten word from Hana that Tori will be at the center for the first session on Monday. She will be there for the morning as she will need to be back to Dauntless and in her parlor by noon." She looks at me across the desk in the office at the center, and she smiles at me. "Considering most of Dauntless isn't likely to be looking for tattoos before lunch time, we figured that would be best."

I smiled back and nodded. "I can't wait to get started. I know I still have a long way to go, but I think I have really made some progress with what I have been doing so far."

She nods, looking at her desk and paperwork in front of her but I can tell she isn't really seeing what she is looking at. I watch her and wait, it doesn't take long before she looks back up at me and sighs.

"Beatrice, I have spent many nights praying and meditating about something. I know you are excited about going to Dauntless and being somewhere you belong. I know before we started all of this you have had your daydreams about leaving and going to Dauntless, and I have worried that if I don't tell you these things, you would be in for a rude awakening. I also wondered if I wasn't in some way wanting to tell you because, it might keep you with me, but I know that isn't the case. I have just been afraid that you would see what I am going to tell you as me trying to discourage you. But what I am hoping is that what I am going to tell you will encourage and help you when you get there."

She pauses and looks at me, I nod with frown. "Okay."

"Do you remember when I was telling you and your brother that there were things that happened there that I didn't like or had a hard time understanding why they were handled the way they were?" Her hands are clasped when she is asking me this but the normal calm gesture is a mask betrayed by the wringing she does of them from time to time.

"I do remember that." I agree verbally and with a respectful nod.

"Dauntless have the roles of being the cities police, military, security and manual laborers for some of the jobs that require it; these are all things you know and that are widely known. But what isn't known is what goes on in the faction itself when there are things that happen that could be considered criminal or questionable. The thing I have debated about is telling you just what I saw and my thoughts on them then, or telling you all of that but also what I have come to determine given time and age. I have decided to tell you all of that, but I want to let you know these are my observations and feelings. I am going to tell you these things, but I truly want you to think of them and form your own opinions. It might take you going to Dauntless and seeing these things for yourself but that is why I am preparing you in advance, to give you the time."

She takes a breath and nods then begins to launch into the first bit and what might be the more difficult for her. These are accounts of times when she witnessed what she thought were attacks against members of the faction. Brutal attacks that left the person dead or as good as dead. Some caused the person to be rendered disabled and that saw them being made factionless. In her youth she hadn't looked beyond the disgust and fear those incidents had made her feel. There were facts and factors involved that she hadn't wanted to really look at and see. All she knew at the time, was that she wanted no part of a faction that could allow those things to go on.

It took her leaving and looking back to see what she has now come to believe. Dauntless believe in justice being served, without a doubt. As much as Dauntless look wild and out of control, when it comes to upholding the laws, there are none more firmly behind that. This makes Dauntless rather ruthless when it comes to members of their own faction commiting a crime and if one is committed against someone of their own faction, it can be downright terrifying how they handle this.

She listed one of the accounts she had witnessed as proof. The story of a member, who was fairly well known in the faction and rather liked. A man who had, unknown to her, committed a terrible crime of abuse against a dependent. A girl not far from her mother's age, at just a year younger. It wasn't well known because it turned out that the case was dismissed when the girl went missing. Rumors had spread she ran away, afraid to face up to the lies she had been trying to tell about the man. Other rumors spread that it was all true and he only got away with it because she was no longer there to testify.

Mom hadn't needed to tell me what she discovered to be the truth after she left. I somehow knew that the man had silenced the girl forever. I felt burning rage in me at this. He walked away from such a crime while the girl lost her life. But my mother wasn't done and she carried on.

"It took me leaving to see that what I saw as an unprovoked attack on this man was really Dauntless carrying out their own justice. I am not sure I agree with it, but I think I can understand now. In their minds, he betrayed the faction and the city. He commited a crime, several by the facts I have come to know now, and was going to walk away. This happened in the faction that is supposed to uphold the law, and it drove them to do that no matter the cost."

"But weren't they also breaking the law then, by attacking him like they did?" I ask with a frown, trying to wrap my head around all the conflicting feelings I am having about this entire conversation.

"No. Remember that Hana and I have told you that Dauntless often have events where members can face off against each other in fights? They can challenge each other and set the limits for these fights. This happened during one of those times. Strength is a highly regarded trait in Dauntless and those in powerful positions are often challenged to test their worthiness."

I sighed and looked at my hands in my lap, deep in thought. The fact that someone could get away with something that awful was disturbing to me. Then I remembered my own fight with the Candor and how easily he had gotten away with lying to get out of trouble himself. More thoughts and questions plagued me.

"Mom, can that happen anywhere? Something like what happened to that girl, I mean? What keeps something like that from happening in another faction and what happens when the person walks away just like he did?"

My mom looks older, just having to answer this question for me and just at the thought of it.

"There is no simple answer to that question I'm afraid Beatrice. The truth is that it could happen in any faction but we can hope that it doesn't. We can hope that the justice system would protect us and punish the guilty parties. But no system is perfect and there are many flaws. The factions are all so insular. Look at how little real interaction between the factions happen. Look at how many people don't really understand what we are trying to do here in our own faction and from that false rumors or beliefs are raised."

"Think about what I have told you about Dauntless and what you have seen. You would never have guessed what life would be like there, and how seriously roles and duties are taken, just going by how wild and carefree they seem to be. It is hard to say for sure what might be going on in the factions because we don't live their lives. I know this is disheartening, that's what drove me from Dauntless to Abnegation. It was a desire and want to make a difference. To help where I could and in the ways I could. In the end, that is all we can do. You can only be responsible for what you do or don't do in times of need. So, those in my old faction that saw a wrong that needed to be righted, they did so in the manner they knew or felt appropriate."

The silence stretches for a few moments before my mom comes over to sit in a chair right beside mine and she takes one of my hands in hers.

"I know you heard me telling your father that protecting someone is an act of sacrifice and I still believe that. What I didn't say at the time to him but I need to tell you now, is that it isn't just the sacrifice of putting yourself in harms way. There is much more that can and is sacrificed when you become all that a Dauntless is. To be Dauntless, you have to be willing to sacrifice your sense of self preservation, that little instinct that tells you to run away from the danger especially when you know that you are walking to certain death. When you follow orders, you sacrifice the control of your own actions. When you are a Dauntless you have to be prepared to hurt someone else, possibly even kill them. This is a type of sacrifice that can take place in your heart and soul. But what I want you to know, to go in knowing without a doubt, is that this will not make you evil or a bad person. Another sacrifice you will make is how others will look at you because they know you have or are capable of those things. But know your family and those who love you will always see your heart if you let them, to see who you are and what drives you."

Days later and I am still trying to figure out how I really feel about what we discussed. Through the worry and fear, anger and disbelief, I have come to one real conclusion.

I still want to be Dauntless and I will work even harder to make sure when I get there no one can ever doubt it is where I belong.