Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Divergent, including Eric. Which is slightly overly depressing. If I do happen to claim the rights to Eric, you will be the first to know.

Chapter 10

Eric's POV

I woke the next morning feeling disoriented. It took me a moment to remember where I was. I glanced at the clock on the wall and realized that it was only a little past six in the morning. Plenty of time to shower and get some breakfast before heading to the training room.

I quickly climbed out of bed and headed to the shower. None of the other initiates were awake yet. Many probably wasn't used to rising early like I was.

The shower was hot and quick. I didn't waste any time getting dressed. I was almost to the door when I decided to wake Angel and Xavier up.

"Angel. Wake up." I poked her in the shoulder, trying to get a response. "If you want a shower AND breakfast before training I suggest you get up NOW. That goes for you too Xavier."

Angel shot straight up in her bed and glared at me; she was definitely not a morning person. She grumbled something before heading off to the shower. I glanced at Xavier as he started to get dressed.

"No shower for you?" I asked him as he laced up his boots.

"Naw, I took one last night when ya'll were sleeping." He sounded very much still asleep but I just shrugged my shoulders at him. He kicked his brother as we walked out of the dormitory, he had succeeded in waking him up as curse words followed us out the door.

"What's for breakfast?" He asked through a yawn as we walked into the dining room. I couldn't suppress my own yawn, it was contagious.

"Looks fruit and muffins." I said as I started piling my plate with all my favorite fruits; watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, and strawberries. I then grabbed two blue berry muffins.

I had already made it through half of my plate when Angel sat down next to me and stole one of my muffins. She just gave me a challenging looked before taking a bite. I wasn't awake enough to argue with her but I did eat the second one before she could get to it. She then finished off the rest of my fruit for me.

"Remind me why we are friends again?" I asked as we walked toward the training room.

She just laughed but didn't answer. We were all silent the rest of the way there. We were the last of the initiates to arrive but we were not late. Amar was already waiting for us and started as soon as we enter the room.

"Alright lamb chops this is how this is going to work!" Amar shouted, quieting down all conversations. "Training is divided into three stages. At the end of stages one through three cuts will be made. Stage—"

"What do you mean cuts?" A Candor boy cut in. Amar glared at him for interrupting.

"At the end of the each stage, two initiates will be cut." Amar answered flatly.

"Cut? Where do they go?" Another Candor boy asked fearfully.

"They leave Dauntless and live Factionless." Amar said coldly. I felt my blood run as cold as his voice. This was not something any of us had known before. I had assumed like most the only that the only way to end up Factionless was to fail initiation completely. Not get cut during the process.

"We didn't know—" A Candor girl started.

"Doesn't make a difference that you know now does it? You're here now and if you plan on staying you need to shut up and listen." Amar told us glaring slightly. When no one else spoke he continued. "As I said 6 initiates will be cut at the end of stage one. Though you will be trained separately from the Dauntless born all of you will be ranked against each other. That means that at the end of stage one it could be six of you going home, or six of them, or any combination of the two. All that should matter to you is that you aren't ranked below the cut line."

"Do we get to see both sides of the rankings?" I asked, there were fifteen of us but I didn't know how many Dauntless Born there were.

"No you will only see how you rank against the other transfers. Same for them. Stage two and three will be combined and are designed to test your emotional and mental capabilities." Amar answered. "If that's everything, let's start your morning run."

There had been a lot of information sprung on us and now we were going on a run. I didn't like running. But it did give me a chance to think. I couldn't afford to be Factionless. I could think of a few people I would like to be Factionless, Four being one of them.

With an angry look I glanced at the back of Four's head. He was concentrating on the run. He didn't talk to others or gravitate toward any of the other initiates. He had kept to himself. It irritated me that he only had four fears. How could someone only have four fears?

The run was quiet. No one spoke as we ran the halls of the compound. Very few Dauntless members were roaming about, so we didn't run into many people. We ran for an hour before Amar led us back to the same hall that the training room was on but into a different room.

"The rest of the morning you will learn how to fire a gun." He said as he walked into the new room. "This is the Range." He informed us.

"They really have a knack for names here don't they…" A Candor boy right beside me snorted. He had said it a little too loudly as Amar's eyes snapped over to the boy and narrowed. I consciously took a step away from the boy not wanting to be looped into whatever was coming the guy's way. The Candor boy swallowed fearfully as Amar walked over and got within an inch of his face.

"If I want Candor commentary I'll ask for it, and I will never ask for it." He was every bit the Dauntless Trainer as he reprimanded the boy. "As for the 'they' remember, you are in Dauntless now." He warned. "Now grab a gun and pay attention!"

I jogged over with everyone else to the table that had the handguns laid out on it. Picking one up I noted it was just as heavier than I thought it would be. The metal was cold in my hand but I liked the feeling. If felt like power.

I watched as Amar demonstrated how to load the bullets and click the safety off. He watched each of us do it before showing us the proper posture before emptying his own gun into the first target on the opposite wall. Even from here I could tell that all 9 of his shots were dead center.

"Initiates line up!" Amar shouted. Immediately everyone ran to a firing pad. I took the one next to Angel and Xavier took the one on my other side. "Well get started!" Amar shouted and shots began to ring out loudly in the room.

I mimicked Amar stance and pointed the gun at the target. I lined the sight up with the center of the rings and fired. The first three shots hit the outside of the third ring. The handgun had a lot more power and kick than I had anticipated. Adjusting to the new feeling and strength I fired the last nine shots within the two most inner circles with four hitting the very center. As I lowered the gun I was met with complete silence. I looked around to see everyone gaping at me.

I met the slightly angry eyes of Angel on my left. She had fired a few shots, only one of which hit the target. And it was on the outer rings. I looked back at her. I didn't really know what to say about my talent with guns.

"That's only the first time you've fired a gun, you'll get better." I offered her as I looked at the other initiate's targets. Xavier's target was better than Angel's. He had only fired four shots but all of them had hit the target, with one in the center ring.

A quick glance at the other targets told me that the other initiates were someone between Xavier and Angel's skills. That put at Angel at the bottom. With me and one other person at the top.

And that one person who did as well as I had was Four. Instantly anger filled up inside me. There was nothing that the Abnegation transfer wasn't good at so far. He was a mystery. One that I would solve. There was some way to best him and I would find it.

Amar handed me another clip as the other's started to fire again. I replaced the empty one with the full one and rapidly fired all the bullets into the center of the target. I didn't know if I was just really that good or if my anger made me better. Either way, I was the best shot in class so far.

I heard Angel huff from beside me. I glanced at her target, she had fired four more shots. All had made it on the target but in the outer rings. I said nothing as I watched her fire two more shots into the target. I knew what she was doing wrong.

"Your stance is wrong." I whispered to her. I didn't want to embarrass her in front of the other initiates but I couldn't let her keep practicing wrong. "Instead of facing your whole body toward the target, shift your weight so that your dominate side is facing forward. Bend your non-dominate elbow, then line the site on the gun up with center of the target. Brace your shoulders and fire." I knew that the only person who could hear me was Xavier but I still whispered.

Angel glared at me but did as I instructed. She fired four shots rapidly and all were inside the two inner circles. She gave me a look of pure exhilaration. She was afraid of becoming Factionless. I wouldn't let that happen. I smiled back and turned toward my own target.

I was out of bullets again and Amar didn't bring more, so I took to watching the initiates. Four was the only one who matched me in this particular field. I would have to make my shots perfect to be better than him.

"Time for lunch initiates." Amar barked at us. After the last shot was fired we all placed our guns on the table and followed him toward the dining hall.

Angel had fallen is step beside me. "Thanks, you know, for back there." She bumped her shoulder against mine. The gesture was friendly but my shoulder still protested in agony from the effort of holding a gun steady for three hours.

"We are both going to make it Angel. I promise. We owe it to Eve." I rubbed my shoulder as I answered her. She chuckled and went to bump my shoulder again but I side stepped her and she fell into Xavier, who just caught her before she landed flat on her face. I couldn't stop the laugh that escaped my lips.

"Did I miss something?" Xander asked as his brother released Angel. All three of us were laughing as we entered the dining hall. We all split up to find food and then met at an empty table.

"So Eric, was that the first time you've ever shot a gun?" Xander asked as we all sat.

"Yeah, kind of surprised myself as well." I answered as I bit into a hamburger.

"Well remind me never to get on your bad side." Xavier said around a mouth full of cake.

I gave him a questioning look. "Why are you eating cake for lunch?"

"Our parents didn't allow sweets in the house." Xander said as he bit into his own cake.

"So your idea gouge yourself now that it is available?" Angel asked as she ate her own hamburger.

"Yeah, well, you never know when it's going to your last." Xavier shoved more cake into his mouth and his brother shook his head in agreement and did the same.

"None of us will become Factionless. So you will have all the cake you want for your entire lives." I held up my hand to keep them from interrupting. "I suggest you slow down or you're going to make yourself sick."

Both brothers just shrugged their shoulders at the same time but went and got real food to eat, leaving Angel and myself alone.

"Why are you helping us?" She asked earnestly.

"We all grew up together, we may not have exactly been friends, but we can relate to each other more than we can others here in Dauntless." I said matter-of-factly. They reminded me of home. Not of my parents or of my aunt. But of Eve. Of all the things that I left behind. None of it would be in vain. I would not be Factionless.

Before long we were all back in the Range waiting for Amar. When he finally entered he was not alone. Standing next to him was the last person that I expected to see, Eve. The chatter in the room died immediately when they realized we had company.

Angel grabbed me elbow and squeezed. She was internally freaking out as much as I was. I could think a few reason's that Eve was here and none of them were good. That was because all of them included Jeanine. Whatever Jeanine had Eve mixed up in, it was definitely bad.

"Listen up initiates, today we have a special guest." He gestured toward Eve next to him, "This is Eve Johnson. She is the liaison between Dauntless and Erudite. She is here to assess our training methods. You will only speak to her if she speaks to you. Other than that, act like she is not even here." Amar gestured for her to stand off to the side and observe us.

I couldn't take my eyes off of her as she walked over to the far wall and leaned against it. She was wearing a business suit, I had never seen her look so professional before. She had a cold exterior, she hadn't looked at either me or Angel. She was hurt by us. Her body language almost suggested that she didn't want to be here at all.

"All right, all of you take five knives from the table and line up at the same targets." I tore my eyes from her and grabbed my knives and made my way back over to my target. Someone had placed all new targets on the Range.

I watched as Amar demonstrated how to properly hold the knife and release it. It was quite similar to holding a gun. I would pick this up easily. I looked over as I heard the sound of a knife hitting its mark.

Four had thrown three of his five knives and all were in the center of the bulls-eye. I glanced back at Eve, hoping to catch her eye. She was looking at Four with a look of satisfaction on her face.

I turned back toward my target with new determination and let my first blade fly.