Hello, I'm a bit ill at the moment but I'm still sorry I haven't written in a while. Thanks for reading- K.F
Tobias POV;
I wake with Tris in my arms lying on the bed, my hands on her stomach. She wakes with a start "morning, were you having a nightmare?"I whisper, when she grows more aware of her surrounding, she tenses at the feel of my hands. I can tell she's uncomfortable; I roll over away from her and get off the bed to save her having to wriggle out my arms or make an excuse. It was stupid idea really Tris doesn't show affection easily she has to build herself up for it, the Abnegation in her I suppose but I thought she'd be used to me by now, used to my frame next to hers, used to my warmth. I guess the fact that we haven't really done anything yet should be a reason for this but I'd hope that... well I'd just hoped. "First fights today" I say overly casual, she makes a noise in agreement but doesn't look up. Sometimes I wish Tris was better at small talk, then again I can't really talk, I can't abide mindless conversation. Small talk was always a part of Abnegation life; a few polite remarks then you move on and blend back in to the background. I often wonder whether I could have grown to like small talk. I walk to the bathroom, I close the door but leave a few centimetres betwixt the door frame attached to the wall and outer edge of the door, a small sign of one of my fears. Through the small crack I can see Tris pulling down he loose black shorts so they cover more of her legs and adjusting her top so that most of her skin was covered, he face was slightly red. 'Once a stiff, always a stiff' my old instructors words echoed in my head, yes, that would be what Amar would say. This thought made me think of Lizzy, she had only lived in Abegnation for a short while when she was very young but I wonder if there's still some of it ingrained within her. She can blend in when she is quiet but that only happens when she's concentrating on a task or problem, I've noticed that when she trains but I feel that is more of an Eudidite quality then one of Abegnation. However, she is selfless , I know that much from yesterday, or was she just being kind? What would an Amity do in that situation? Keep the peace and stay quite I suppose. I wonder what her results where, Dauntless, Amity or maybe even Abegnation? Tris and I get ready for the training, we talk normally and I think she might have put this morning out of her mind, we walk to the training room together and I write up who will be fighting who. Once I've finished Tris surveys the names, she's thinking the same as me who will win, and to a lesser extent out of these which one of these names will still be here at the end of the six weeks. "Ready?" I ask Tris
"Ready." she replies sure of herself and firm. Today the initiates all arrive more or less at the same time. As soon as there all here I begin
"Today, is the first of the fights. There are eight of you so you will have at least six fights maybe seven. As you heard when you first arrived four of the initiates, that includes you and dauntless born, will be cut at the end of this stage so I advise that you win your fights" at my words Tris moves to the board and swings it round so that the initiates can see who they're fighting against. I see their eyes flit to their opponents judging them. Lizzy eyes up Jenson, frowning, trying to asses him. I look around the room, I look at a Candor kid called Ryan looking at Evie. Is he seriously scared of her? No, but that's what his face shows but maybe... it looks more like guilt. He doesn't want to fight the small blonde Erudite girl who hang from the rails of the chasm, he doesn't want to hurt her. I can understand that, in my first fight, it was against a girl, I didn't want to hurt her either. Eventually I had to when she had me in a headlock but still. I let the initiates draw their attention back to me. When Eric walks in, he looks as if he's forgotten all about yesterday but I know this isn't true. The initiates turn to face him, but he waves his hand in my direction and they obediently turn towards me again. "You will fight until one of you cannot continue or one of you concedes" I wait about a millisecond for Eric to correct me
"Old rules, Four, there will be no conceding" I shake my head slightly, I think Eric sees but he does not challenge me on it.
"First up, Evie and Ryan" Tris says clearly trying to distract Eric, and maybe me, as quickly as possible. Evie walks calmly to the right side of the ring and Ryan follows suit to the left.
"You better hope your initiates stay in line this time Four" Eric leans over and whispers to me. He's threatening me and my initiates. He is threatening me and Lizzy, we have to be careful. I walk towards Ryan remembering his expression.
"You're going to have to fight her" I say loud enough for only him to hear "Properly, I don't want you throwing this fight, I will be able to tell if you do" he looks even more nervous, so I soften my voice, only slightly and say in a hushed tone "if you don't want to hurt her, try and knock her out as quickly as possible, trust me she won't get as hurt that way" Ryan nods gratfully. I back away to were Tris and Eric are standing and shout "begin." If there is one thing for sure Evie is not a fighter, at least not physically but she is trying. Mimicking the stances she's seen me and Tris perform. Ryan strikes out at her jaw and she stumbles back. Ryan hesitates slightly but strikes out again, Evie sways and with one last guilty look Ryan hits out again and Evie falls down and out. Ryan bends down to see whether Evie is okay and Tris walks over to check the same thing. Eventualy she stands up and just like she did after she came away from the railing walks back to her possession with her head held high. There's something I admire in that I look over at Tris, she looks approving like she feels the same. Ryan walks away as well his head down, I notice Lizzy is looking conflicted. She's up next against Jenson, I don't think she knows how to feel about violence being treated this easily without much thought. Amity certainly doesn't approve of violence but perhaps she might be remembering Marcus. She was young but so was I and I remember all of it, all the times he beat my mother. Does she remember them as vividly?
"Next up, Jenson and Beth" Eric shouts. Lizzy walks up to the ring, Jenson follows. Lizzy precisions herself, centre of balance low and knees bent, standing on the balls of her feet, bouncing slightly from side to side. I follow her eye line, once again she's eyeing up Jenson the way an Erudite surveys a set of statistics taking everything in.
"Begin" Tris shouts.
Thanks for reading. I will post the next chapter as soon as possible. Please reveiw, follow and favourte. Thank you- K.F