The training room was a large room, with punching bags at three-foot intervals on one end, a large green chalkboard on another, and a large circle painted on the floor in the center of the room. Tobias wondered what the circle was for.
"Look," Shauna points out. Tobias looks away from the floor. On the chalkboard ten names are written in alphabetical order. The names the Initiates.
Ash
Blaise
Eric
Haven
Lissa
Lynn
Rachel
Shauna
Tobias
Tyler
Rowan enters the room. "Fighting," he begins. "is preparing the body to act if the face of a physical threat. It is not all just brute force. If it was, people like him," Rowan points to Eric. "Would have a definite advantage over someone like her." he points to Lissa. Eric looks smugly over at her and she scowls but does not say anything. "However, there is a great deal of technique involved in fighting. Some of the best fighters I know have Lissa's height and build and they are more than able to beat someone like Eric in a fight." Eric does not look happy at this. "Today we will be going over technique. Tomorrow you will be fighting each other."
Rowan goes on to describe a few different punches, before the initiates get a chance. They moved to the punching bags. It took Tobias several minutes to figure out how to hold his body correctly. But after than Tobias really got into it. All his rage at his father, all his pent up anger was finally coming out. The punching bag was violently swinging around.
And he felt good. It felt good to release.
Rowan walked by and surveyed Tobias's progress. "Relax you shoulders, you'll swing better. Keep your tension in your stomach."
Tobias struggled to make the suggested changes. Rowan pursed his lips but didn't say anything more before he moved on to the next Initiate. Tobias didn't care. He was proud.
"Lissa stop," Rowan's voice carried across the room. curious Tobias stopped and glanced around the punching bag. Lissa and Rowan where facing each other. He looked angry and she looked just about the same, with a one hand on her hip.
"I'm trying." She was angry.
"Not hard enough." Rowan insisted. "Do it again."
"I did. Exactly how you should me." She punched the bag. It swung slightly. Tobias couldn't see anything wrong with the punch, technique or otherwise but Rowan didn't seem satisfied.
"That's wrong. If you punch like that you're going to hurt yourself. Hold you're tension there." Rowan roughly pressed his hand to her stomach. She snapped back "Don't touch me like that."
"I am you're trainer. I will touch you however I like if I think it will help you do it right which right now you are not." He pressed his fingers deeper into her abdomen. She hissed and raised her fist to punch him. in seconds Rowan had her turned around and in a head lock. Tobias balled his fist. He shouldn't be treating her like that. If she didn't want him to touch her that was her choice. Correct her, yes, but invade her personal space? Tobias thought of Rowan's hand on her stomach. This angered him more than he realized.
Lissa choked, gasping for breath. Rowan slackened his grip. "Learn to pick your fights, Lissa." He said, harshly. "And don't pick the ones that are impossible to win. There is no bravery in getting yourself killed." Then he saw the rest of the Initiates watching him. "Get back to training. Now." He commanded. Then to Lissa, "Do it again."
After several more minutes Rowan called everyone back together. Lissa was one of the last to join, rubbing her neck and pointedly staring at Rowan, while he just as pointedly refused to look her way. Tobias jogged over and stood next to Lissa her neck was still pink from Rowan's grasp.
"You, okay?" Tobias muttered.
"I'll survive."
"He really shouldn't have done that, manhandling you like that. That wasn't right."
"Yeah well," Lissa shrugged making a rude hand gesture at Rowan's turned back.
"Well you seem a better. At least you still got your attitude. "Tobias said grimacing slightly. It was a gut reaction. Most Abnegation would die before making such a gesture. On top of that, the last and only person Tobias had seem making that gesture was Marcus.
"Yeah well that's never going away," Lissa smiled.
What was she talking about? Marcus was gone. He, and his belt, and his words would never reach him again. Unless Lissa knew something he didn't? What if…then in the back of his mind Tobias realized that Lissa wasn't talking about his father. She didn't know what he was thinking about. Tobias smiled weakly at his friend. He had completely forgotten what they had been talking about.
"Are you alright?" Lissa asked. She looked concerned.
"Yeah, I'm okay now."
"You sure? Cause you have that look."
"What look?"
"The one you get sometimes. The one that makes me wonder what you're running from."
"Who said I'm running?"
"It's just a guess."
"It's a good one," Tobias admitted.
Rowan cleared his throat. "I am ready to teach you about kicks, unless of course, Tobias and Lissa have something better they'd like to share with all of us."
Lissa opened her mouth but Tobias nudged her in the side. He shook his head a fraction of an inch but she caught it and closed her mouth, shooting a grateful glance in Tobias's direction.
"Very well then," Rowan said looking satisfied. He then went on to describe the different kicks, demonstrating them on a punching bag before sending the Initiates off to try for themselves.
Like the punches it took Tobias a bit before he figure how to properly hold himself. He found the kicks a bit harder but eventually got into the swing of it. The trouble he was having might have been in part because he kept trying to sneak glances at Lissa. She was engrossed in kicking her own punching bag. Rowan walked by and made a comment. This time however there was no outburst from that end of the room. Lissa merely paused, nodding before resuming her kicks.
"Focus Tobias," Rowan's voice said. Tobias snapped back to his own punching bag and his kicks became more determined and Rowan passed without further comment.
