Chapter 9:

Author's Note: This fan fic contains references of my previous stories. Some lines from the book and movie have been changed.

Renesmee's point of view:

Ten seconds ago the Dauntless leader Eric, had just been kicked out of Dauntless by losing a betting wager to me. Four, had just sent us off to breakfast but stopped me by taking hold of my shoulder.

"Nessie, a word please." he said in an annoyed tone of voice.

I walked with him to an empty corner of the pit. He faced me with a look on his face indicating a variety of things. Curiosity, irritation, anger, and admiration.

"How did you do that?" said Four.

I knew what he meant, how did I defeat Eric in a fight? But of course I could not tell him the truth. I put on my appropriate body language on my face and posture to indicate nonchalance and honesty.

"I don't know what you mean?" I said to him in a questioning tone of voice of confusion and curiosity.

"You know exactly what I mean!" he said in a firm voice. "How in the world did you sweep a fight with, Eric?"

I then realized that my impulsive actions to fight Eric and beat him easily may not have been a good idea. It seems that I'm making some people more suspicious. This is not like me. I am usually much more cautious and careful.

"I believe that you would call it an adrenaline rush." I told him in a convincing tone of voice.

"I think that it had to have been more than that." he said in a voice of suspicion.

"Okay," I said, trying another approach, "since I am no longer of Abnegation, I will level with you,...I have been secretly practicing a few fighting moves away from the prying eyes of my selfless faction for quite some time now. I felt that I would survive Dauntless better if I was prepared."

"I think that you are lying to me." said Four.

Dang, this guy is a little over inquisitive.

"What do you want me to tell you. That I am an alien from outer space that possesses lightning fast speed and superhuman strength?" I told him in a half sarcastic half serious tone of voice.

It was called a reversed-double-bluff. That is where you tell someone the truth knowing that they won't believe it. Of course, it was still not the truth, but you get what I mean. "Would you believe that, if I told you that?"

He raised his eyebrows in both interest and curiosity.

"Well, let's just say that you are an alien from outer space with lightning-fast speed and superhuman strength, and that I were to believe you..." he paused for a moment before going on, "...it would certainly make a lot of sense."

"Ok, are we done here?" I asked, eager to move on. Though if I wanted I could just touch his face and use my telepathy to place a hypnotic suggestion in his mind to ask me no questions...(yes, I can do that! I used to only be able to put my own thoughts and memories into other peoples minds, but with time and practice I learned to do just about anything with my telepathy).

He stared at me for a while longer before going on, continuing to analyze my profile.

"You know," said Four in an irritated voice, "I don't know how stiffs nowadays process information or come up with unusual ideas, but...WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!?" he shouted the last part.

"Don't tell me Eric, was your friend or anything." I said in a disbelieving voice. Though now that I think of it, Eric could have been Four's friend.

"No, he was no friend of mine." said Four. "But that doesn't matter. What matters is, no matter what you do around here, you can not, I repeat, CAN NOT, go around getting Dauntless leaders kicked out of Dauntless. For that is the very thing that is going to get you kicked out of Dauntless." he leaned in close to whisper in my ear. "Or worse!"

I thought of what Four, just said. Taha Aki, said something bad was going on. It sounds like a government conspiracy to me.

"Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself." I told him politely with a tone of reassurance. "And in my defense, he was under no obligation to accept the bet."

"On the contrary, he was under every obligation to accept the bet." said Four. "You insulted his manhood and threatened his pride and courage in public, with your challenging him to a fight."

"In my defense, I said barely under my breath, 'I bet I could beat you in a fight', that was not a formal official challenge to him for him and I to do battle." I said Four. "It was a snide comment. He was the one who made the challenge to me."

"I stand corrected. But your snide comment was a challenge to his dignity." said Four. "If at that moment he had not challenged you to the fight then people would have rumored behind his back that he was a coward. That is a very serious thing here in Dauntless."

"And I am on the impression that my fellow Dauntless do not start rumors about their fellow Dauntless behind their backs around here?" I asked sarcastically.

"On the contrary, all of our fellow Dauntless say stuff against each other. But Eric was particularly proud. It is best that you not say anything that would involve a person getting kicked out of Dauntless, like, let's say, making a bet that they get kicked out of Dauntless if they lose. You did not make the challenge, but you were the one who made the bet."

"I stand corrected. But he didn't have to accept the bet." I told him.

"It's the same difference, had he not accepted the bet then he would have been branded a coward. He had to accept the bet. Next time, do not make such a bet, no other Dauntless makes bets like that. We may be proud, obnoxious, arrogant thrill-seekers, but we do not threaten another Dauntless's honor."

"I'm sorry." I said sincerely and understanding.

Four continued, "My advice to you, alien girl, is keep a low profile, and don't talk about unorthodox, and esoteric ideas...you watch yourself, and be careful."

He stood up straight, and walked toward the dinning hall.

"Eat breakfast and go to the gymnasium!" he ordered, returning to his professional manner.

I went to the dinning hall and sat beside Christina.

"You have a death wish." said Christina matter of factly, half amused.

Everyone around me was still smiling admirably in my direction.

"What did he want?" asked Christina gesturing in Four's direction.

"He was giving me some helpful advice." I told her matter of factly.

"He scares me." said Christina. "I don't know how you can even talk to him."

"You talk to him all the time." I say.

"That's different. Candor honesty makes us talk."

I let the conversation end there. I looked at my plate of food. Oh man! My throat is on fire, I see the pulsing veins in everyone's necks, I feel the heat coming off of their bodies, I smell the blood through both their skin and for a lot of these Dauntless in this room, open wounds! ...Damn! I need to hunt.

I shook it off and fought the urge. I am half human, so I don't strictly need blood in order to survive. I gulped some water, and forced down the food. When it hit my stomach acid and started being absorbed into my blood stream the fire in my throat from my vampire thirst cooled a little.

We got up and went to the gymnasium.

Since we were all wearing boots, jackets, and two to three layers of clothing, Four, encouraged us to change into whatever clothing we felt was comfortable for exercising. I stripped to just a tank top and pants. Most of the girls and guys did the same.

Four had us run on the spot hard for a few minutes, then pushups and jumping jacks. We then did a fast jog around the gymnasium for fifty laps, (we all counted). I stayed near the front, running at human speed, just behind the arrogant Candor boy, Peter, and a tall and strong looking Erudite boy named, Edward, (ironic). The small Erudite boy, Mickey, took up the rear and finished the fiftieth lap last.

When we were done everybody was sweating, their faces and shirts were all wet. Even Four was out of breath and sweating. My guess is he is trying to set an example to us by showing that he doesn't ask for anything he won't do himself. I splashed some water on myself to hide the fact that I wasn't sweating, as none of this was exhausting in the least bit for a vampire hybrid.

Mickey, was wheezing with laboured breathing, I was concerned for him. Maybe he has asthma. He is small and thin. Why did he pick Dauntless. He was also crying. With my vampire senses I detected a tone of despair on his face and voice. He must be having second thoughts, wishing he'd chosen differently.

I then had a thought. Maybe I could influence the Dauntless leaders to change the rules to let all the initiates become members. A little hypnotic-suggestion by means of my telepathy could do that easily enough. And it's not full out mind control, because I would NOT be taking away their 'free will', I would just be merely...rendering them a little assistance in...'seeing the light', figuratively speaking.

Four gave us a five minute breather.

"Alright!" he called us to order, loudly. "That is but a taste of the physical exercise that you all will have to endure during Stage 1! Get used to it! For those of you who are out of shape, relax; in a short time it will get easier and you will get stronger...alright, now time for target practice."

We were than taken to a shooting range with some 'bullet-impact-absorbing' foam dummies, and some standard dartboard bullseyes. On the table were a long row of guns, some rifles, some pistols.

"Everyone pick up a weapon!" Four ordered.

Four picked up a pistol, aimed at the target, and squeezed the trigger. The bullet hit the very center of the bullseye.

Peter picked up his gun and scrutinized it with a confused face, and then he looked at Four.

"What does shooting a gun have to do with bravery?" asked Peter arrogantly.

Four then turned his gun on Peter and clicked a bullet into the chamber.

"Open your eyes! You are holding a loaded gun!" said Four in a strong tone of voice with an angry face.

Four then turned and walked away from Peter while Peter stood there stunned. Also, I could smell that he kept himself from wetting his pants.

Four then continued, "In answer to the question though, as Dauntless it is sometimes necessary to either kill a criminal running from us, or to simply wound them. Perfect aim is essential on that account. You may be aiming to disable them by shooting them in the leg, but if you have a bad aim, you may accidentally shoot them in the heart. Or you may have an enemy that is fighting you, they are pointing a gun at your head, you in turn will have to shoot them in a vulnerable spot in order to kill them right away, but if you have a bad aim, you my hit them in a spot that is not immediately fatal and they will still be able to shoot you in the head. 'COURAGE' on the job equals 'shot accuracy'! Shooting another human being is not supposed to be a right or a privilege. It is supposed to be a very difficult choice that one must be brave enough to take, only, and I repeat, ONLY...when your good judgment tells you that you have no other choice!"

Interesting way he described it? Killing a dangerous criminal being a difficult choice that a policeman must be brave enough to take. He seems more decent than his stern demeanor makes him out to be.

He then demonstrated to us how to hold the weapon and how to position our bodies while holding the weapon.

"Begin!" Four ordered as he gestured to the targets.

I then heard the sounds of triggers being pulled. The guns didn't make loud bangs like the guns in my world do, for these guns seem to have built in silencers because when the bullets left the chambers they just made dull pops.

I examined my weapon. It was of a different design from that of standard guns in the 21st century in my universe. But the basic principle of the technology of how the projectile weapon worked was the same, or at least very similar.

I raised my rifle, pulled it tight into my shoulder, closed one eye and then looked along the length of the barrel, right in front of me was the target. I have never fired a gun before, vampires don't use weapons, they just slow us down, but I know the theory. With the way I was holding the gun steady and the direction I was pointing the gun, my vampire brain was able to calculate the exact spot that the bullet would hit, granted that the bullet fly straight in the direction that I point the gun.

I squeezed the trigger. With my vampire abilities, I held the gun perfectly steady, not a fraction of recoil showed when my weapon fired. The bullet hit the very center of the bullseye. I fired again. The bullet hit the center of the target. I emptied the clip. Every bullet hit the center of the target.

Peter and Edward were also good, but not as good as me. Edward, kept his mouth shut after all of his successes, but Peter was always boasting loudly to everyone on how he was the best. Molly Attwood, one of the last at the Choosing Ceremony to be called, and another Candor boy named, Drew, were usually with, Peter. He had directed a lot of snide comments at me yesterday, but ever since he saw me beat Eric, he seemed to have stopped talking to me entirely. He probably thinks I'll kick his butt if be upsets me (I'm thinking about it).

After lunch, we practiced some more exercising for hours until 6:00.

At 5:50 pm, Four, and Lauren, the instructor for the Dauntless born, consulted in the corner near the scoreboard tapping at keys on the computer.

"Alright!" Four shouted for attention. "Good job everyone! Hear is your rakings after careful evaluation of your first ten hours of training."

The screen lit up, and there was my name, 'Nessie', right in 1'st place. In spite of my body being short and skinny in comparison to the tall big kids, I guess I had proven myself superior in performance in the physical exercising, in every way.

The Erudite boy, Edward, was 2'nd.

A Dauntless-born boy, Uriah, was 3'rd.

Peter was 4'th.

From 5'th place to 11'th place were all Dauntless-born, a girl named Lynn, in 5'th place, and Marlene, in 6'th, where, Al, then came in 12'th place.

Two more Dauntless-born, then, Will, came in 15'th place, then Peter's friend, Drew, was 16'th.

Another Dauntless-born, then Peter's friend, Molly, in 18'th place, and, Christina, in 19'th place.

From 20'th place to 28'th place were all Dauntless-born, where, Hunter, came in 29'th.

From 30'th place to 37'th place were all Dauntless-born, and the remaining eight were all transfers. Between 30'th place and 31'st place, was the infamous red line meaning that anyone below it would be factionless at the end of Stage 1. And Edward's girlfriend Myra, was in 44'th place, and my group's friend Mickey, was in 45'th place.

"You may all go to dinner now and are free to do whatever you want for the rest of the evening and you're to be back in the gymnasium at 8:00 tomorrow morning! Dismissed!"

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