A/N: To the wonderful guest who left a review asking if we would see Peeta's fearscape. A few chapters from now… you may get just what you're hoping for! And I'm SO SORRY that I suck at updating, I thought summer break would make things easier, but I've actually been working a lot more in order to save up for my upcoming year of school! Thanks to everyone again for reading/reviewing. Love you all! This is the longest chapter I've written for the story, and I really tried to cut it down, but I couldn't bring myself to!
Chapter 14
Tris paced slowly in front of Will and Christina as they sat cross legged with their backs against the Pit's stone wall.
"She should be down by now," she said, and Christina sighed before standing.
"Stop fidgeting, you're freaking me out," she said, and Tris only gave her and exasperated look.
"Are you not worried?" asked Tris.
"About Katniss? No, not at all actually. I'm more worried about the power outage just now. I thought Stalwart had the cities electricity well kept, I don't think any of us have ever gone a day with a power outage before right?"
"Right," said Will, deciding to stand as Tris and Christina had. "Katniss seems like the most capable out of all of us, and the black outs must be happening for a reason."
"Right," Tris sighed. "I know, just… So much could happen to her. And have you guys seen Al?"
Will shrugged before looking to Christina. The girl only frowned as she blinked back at him.
"Uh, I think he went to the dining hall," Will said after some thought. "He seemed like he didn't want company, so we waited here with you for Katniss and Peeta."
"Weird," Tris said as she bunched her eyebrows together. Al seemed to hate being alone, yet more and more often he would wonder off to some place where he could be by himself. Tris made a mental note to remind herself to ask him about his distant nature as she slowly began pacing once more.
Katniss was alone in a room with Eric. Crazy Eric who wanted to see her get impaled by an air-born knife. The same Eric who pitted them all against each other and forced Katniss to fight Peter. Katniss being alone with him horrified Tris, but she had no other choice than to simply have faith in Katniss' resilience and trust that she would make it out alive. Of course, Tris's situation was completely different from Katniss'. Four seemed sane enough, while Eric…
Stomping coming from the stairwell that lead up to the testing room made Tris, Will, and Christina all look up, just in time to see a serious looking Katniss walking toward them.
"Katniss," said Christina. "Tris has been going bonkers waiting for you to finish up, how'd you do?"
"Better than I thought I would," she said with ease, and her light attitude made Tris give her a confused look as the girl stopped beside her and turned to face Will and Christina. "Eric's still a piece of work as usual."
"Are we surprised? No. Disappointed? Hell yes," sighed Will, and Christina smiled as she leaned into him.
"Peeta's due to go after me," said Katniss, and Will looked up the flight of stairs that lead to the testing room and shivered.
"Think he'll be okay?" he asked, and Katniss shrugged.
"I think he's a lot like Tris. Tougher than he looks."
"He looks pretty tough enough as it is," said Will, and Katniss smiled as she nodded her head in agreement.
Turning suddenly to face Tris, Katniss gave her a brief look for a moment before smiling.
"Mind coming with me to the dorm? I want to splash some cold water on my face, wake myself up. I don't want to go alone, I'm still pretty freaked out from my simulation run."
"Sure," said Tris, not missing a beat. Something was wrong, and Tris could tell that it was something that Katniss couldn't talk about with the others around.
Katniss nodded her head in thanks as she looked back to Will and Christina. "Can you guys wait for Peeta? If he comes back before I get here, find us in the dorm rooms."
"Al is in the caf," said Christina. "We should all meet there."
"Sounds good," said Katniss, her words coming out a little quicker than Tris was sure she meant for them too.
Running a hand over her braid Katniss turned and began walking back toward the cafeteria. Tris followed beside her, and knew exactly where she was about to go. Heading this way would make it seem like they were going where she had told Christina and Will, but instead, they would go to the same abandoned hallway they had the night that Katniss told Tris that she was divergent.
"Tris?" whispered Katniss as they neared the entrance to the cafeteria.
"Yeah?" Tris whispered back.
"I think we have a lot to talk about."
They snuck into the hallway unnoticed and walked in deeper than they had the first time. It was only mid-day, and standing too close to the entrance meant being noticed. The cave like corridor smelled of earth and wet stone, much stronger than it had the first night they entered it, and perhaps it was symbolic for the current state of their journey. To Tris, the intensity of the Dauntless compound was increasing daily, and perhaps it was because the possibility of being reaped for the hunger games was finally coming into view over the horizon. The games were close, and Tris couldn't forget that. The darkness of the thought of the games rivaled the darkness of the hallway in which they stood now.
"What happened?" Tris asked, her tone serious and quiet.
"It was horrifying," Katniss whispered back. "I don't think Eric found out. And Four?"
"I think I'm in the same boat as you," Tris sighed, and the girls let their shoulders slump forward as their bodies relaxed.
"Thank God," Katniss said, and Tris nodded her head.
"What was the experience like, being put into a sim like that I mean. We've only ever been in one before, and it was nothing like that," Tris asked, and Katniss pursed her lips as she looked to her wrist. Rubbing her thumb gently across it, she looked back up to Tris.
"I got through two fears, but the power outage stopped me from getting passed my third," she said, and Tris couldn't help but let her mouth drop to the floor as she took in what Katniss was saying.
"Oh my God, how did you do that?" she asked in a hushed voice. "I… I barely got through my first."
"Really?" Katniss asked in disbelief. "It felt easy, but you were much faster than I was."
"That's because I didn't have to fight through my second fear," Tris said, and Katniss cocked her head to one side as she gave Tris a perplexed look.
"What is it? What are you thinking?" Tris asked, and Katniss only shook her head before looking around herself once more to make sure no one was listening in.
"Lean in closer," the girl whispered, and Tris did what was asked of her. "Being divergent… We know that when we're in a sim we can control it, right?"
"Of course," Tris whispered back. "What are you getting at?"
"How long did it take for you to realize that you were in a sim?"
"Maybe ten seconds, I'm never sure right at the beginning… Why?" Tris said, and Katniss leaned away slowly as she looked Tris in the eyes.
"Katniss… You're scaring me," Tris continued, but Katniss seemed lost in thought as she stared at Tris with an intense look about her. After some time, the girl recovered from her break from reality and took in a deep breath before speaking.
"It took me almost a minute," she said, and Tris's breath caught in her throat before she could decide whether to gasp or speak.
"Are you sure?" she asked, and Katniss nodded her head as she closed her eyes.
"I was almost halfway through my first fear before I realized it. For a moment I believed it… I believed that my father was alive and that he needed me."
"But you still got through more fears than any other initiate on their first try," said Tris, and Katniss forced a weak smile.
"That's true, but the aptitude test was different. I knew it wasn't real the second I opened my eyes."
"Me too," said Tris.
"What do you think about this time then? Why did it take me so long to realize? Do you think- I don't know," Katniss said, her voice trialing off at the end of her sentence, and Tris couldn't bare the thought of her holding back information.
"Are you thinking about your friend who transferred to Candor?" Tris asked, and Katniss was caught by surprise as she turned to look Tris in the eyes again.
"Yes, I was," she admitted, and Tris could piece together the rest.
"Maybe divergence is rated on a spectrum," Tris said. "Maybe its not just one thing like we thought."
"Exactly what I was thinking," said Katniss, and she began pacing the corridor back and forth slowly as she bit at her lip.
"I have to see Gale," she said. "He's bound to know more about the games and what divergence is."
"Visiting day is coming up, maybe five days or so from now."
"That's right, I almost forgot," said Katniss, and she stopped pacing in front of Tris and turned to face her. "You should come with me."
"I would, but I think I should see my brother instead," Tris said. "It's important. I need to know that he's okay."
"Is that more important than learning about what we are?" Katniss asked, and Tris only shook her head as she looked to the floor.
"If we get reaped," she whispered. "I want to know before hand if I can still love him like a brother before we go into the games."
Katniss seemed stunned for a moment, seeming to have forgotten the harsh reality that was the impending games that were sure to tear her world apart. Tris remembered that Katniss had a younger sister, but didn't bring her up as she remembered her own brother's face.
"I can't afford to think that way," Katniss said after a beat, breaking the stretch of silence that had soothed Tris into a quiet memory of her old home. "I'll see my family one day… Right now I need to try and understand why the city wants people like us dead. The games can come after that."
"Right… Of course," Tris murmured, and she could see Katniss' intense features soften for a moment before returning to their usual hardened survivalist look.
"Hey," said Katniss, nudging Tris's shoulder gently as she smiled softly. "Phase two and three will be a piece of cake for us. We're divergent, I mean what could go wrong?"
Tris smiled as Katniss leaned back and chuckled. Together they laughed for a while, forgetting about the horror that was initiation and the coming games. A few more moments later they were back to business. Peeta should have finished by now.
Tris, Christina, Will, Al, and Katniss all waited eagerly for Peeta to finish his first simulation run for phase two. They sat in the cafeteria, slowly picking at the food in front of them as they silently went over what they had each gone through in their heads.
"I think," Will began, and everyone turned to look at him. "That it's safe to assume that we all did pretty bad for our first go."
"I'd say so," shrugged Christina, and Will reached a hand across the table and squeezed the girl's hand. The gesture was kind, and Christina's gloomy expression lightened for a moment.
"How'd you do?" Will asked, and Christina once again shrugged.
"I was under for thirteen minutes…" she said, lacking her usual light-hearted attitude.
"That's not so bad, I was down for a minute longer than you. What about you Al, how'd it go?"
At Will's direct question Al looked up from his plate. His face was paler than Tris thought to be normal, and again the guilt of not doing something to help him yet hit her hard.
"I, uh… I wasn't so good," he said, and with that he looked back to his plate of food and picked at some vegetables with his fork.
The room was heavy with a metaphorical darkness that no light could cut through. Phase two had thrown something at the initiates that none of them could see coming, and the sheer amount of determination necessary in order to overcome it was astronomical. But as for Tris, the most painful part was knowing that herself and Katniss would be able to pass it with ease. They wouldn't even have to lift a finger… They would just have to walk through the simulation and get to the end.
Being unable to sit in silence with her own thoughts any longer, Tris took in a deep breath and pushed her plate of food away from herself and toward the center of the table.
"I can't stand to just sit around," she said. "Maybe we should walk to the Pit, wait for Peeta there."
"Don't think that's necessary," said Katniss as she pointed over Tris's shoulder.
Tris turned and saw Peeta sheepishly walking into the cafeteria. His face was paler than Al's was, and in an instant Katniss was up and walking toward him.
"Damn," sighed Will. "I wonder how he did."
"I wouldn't guess he did too well," said Christina, and Al gave her a look. "I'm just being honest," she finished, and the boy sighed slightly as he stood and began walking over to Peeta as well.
Turning back to Christina and Will, Tris swept a portion of her hair out of her eyes and stepped away from the table. "Come on," she said. "I really think we should all keep moving."
"Sounds good," said Will, standing and walking over to Tris's side, yet when he reached her, Tris realized that Christina had not moved.
"Christina?" she said, but the girl only bit her lip anxiously as she nodded with her head in the direction of the entrance to the cafeteria.
Following her gaze, Tris saw why she looked so nervous, and sighed as she stepped away from Will and toward what was sure to be an uncomfortable interaction.
Four had entered the room, taking long strides toward her with his mouth set in a firm straight line. He had changed out of the clothes he was wearing while he administered her phase two simulation, and was now wearing a pair of jeans with a deep black sweater. He looked intense and out of place in this setting, and Tris wondered why he had never worn clothes like this in public before. Pushing those unimportant thoughts aside, Tris thought back to her time with him in the testing room. Was it possible that after looking over the tape of her first simulation run that he discovered she was divergent? The only way she would find out was to face him, so as the two met halfway, she prepped herself mentally for a possible attack.
"Tris," he said.
"Four," Tris said back.
For a moment they simply stood watching each other, and after a while Tris could sense that her friends were watching.
"I need to talk to you," Four said, his tone even and not giving anything away.
"I can't," Tris said. "Not now at least, I need to be with my friends, make sure they're okay."
"You don't have a choice. I need to talk to you, now."
His words made a stone form in Tris's stomach, and she prayed that her face didn't give away how afraid she was on the inside. Looking over her shoulder she saw her friends all standing together, talking about something serious as they occasionally looked over to herself and Four. Giving them a reassuring smile, Tris nodded at them and turned back to face Four.
"Okay, lets talk then," she said, and Four's usual frown deepened.
"Not here, come," he said, and before Tris could react he grabbed her hand and turned toward the exit.
Four had grabbed her hand, he was touching her, and he was now walking her toward some secret place for them to talk, and the thought of what may follow – though it once seemed exciting – now scared Tris more than anything. This was it, Four must have found out that she was divergent. Her only options were to either run now or wait to hear what he had to say, and when considering how fast and strong Four was, Tris was sure that her best option was to hear him out first.
He hadn't let go of her hand the entire way, and instead of scaring her as it once had, it now brought Tris a sense of security as they entered the Pit, taking a right at an unlikely place and walking down a hallway that Tris had never been through before.
The smooth concrete floor gave way to the natural structure of an unpaved stone walkway, and Tris could smell and hear the rapid waters of the chasm rushing forth at the end of the tunnel.
"Where are we?" she asked, but Four didn't respond. He only continued leading her down the hallway till eventually they emerged in a sort of lookout over the chasm.
Looking up, Tris saw the bridge that she had walked on in order to enter Dauntless when she first arrived at the compound, and realized just how close she was to the waters as she looked back to her feet and over the edge of the cliff. Herself and Four were so close to the waters now that every few seconds a strong spray of mist would reach up and hit them. It was cold, but the warmth of Four's hand made her feel as though she wouldn't fall in. He had her, and he wasn't going to let go. Actually, that thought seemed to scared her a small bit as well.
"We're almost there, keep moving," Four instructed, and again Tris took note of the fact that Four hadn't let go of her hand yet.
They now walked along the edge of a narrow path that was cut into the side of the cliff along the chasm river. Why anyone would come down here willingly Tris couldn't understand, but in remembering the fact that Four might know she was divergent made her heart skip a beat as he stopped walking and let go of her hand.
Turning to face her, he paused for a moment and took in a deep and slow breath.
"This is it, this is where he pushes you in," Tris thought to herself, and involuntarily she began to spread her feet apart slowly in case she needed to start fighting. Why she agreed to go down there with him was beyond her, and just as she was considering turning and sprinting away, Four began to kneel as he turned to face the waters.
Sitting on the edge of the drop-off, he let his legs fall over its side as he leaned back on his hands. There was no railing, and seeing the boy sit so carelessly on the edge the way he was nearly made Tris gasp.
"Sit," he said, and Tris hesitated as she watched him. He seemed relaxed, more so than she had ever seen him, and the sight made her feel comforted. She did as she was told and sat next to him, doing as he did and letting her legs drape over the side of the cliff.
A cold breeze was blowing up from the raging waters, dusting her legs with a chilled mist. It felt refreshing, and she leaned back on her palms as Four did as more chilled mist raced up to meet her.
"So," Tris said after a moment of silence. "What made you bring me here?"
Four looked her over thoughtfully as the roar of the river, maybe thirty meters beneath them, raged on.
"I have some questions to ask you," he said calmly. "Questions I can't ask while others are around."
"Well here I am," Tris said, and Four gave her a serious look before continuing.
"How did you scare the birds away," he asked, and Tris visibly froze as Four stared into her eyes.
"I already told you."
"Don't lie to me Tris," he said forcefully, and his forwardness made Tris feel as though she needed to go on the defensive.
"I'm not lying."
"The monitor started freezing up while you were on the ground. What happened?"
"I don't remember."
"Yes you do."
"No. I don't," Tris said stubbornly, and for the first time ever, she saw Four smile genuinely and hold it for longer than a few seconds. He was watching her, taking in the site of her next to him as she slowly began shivering from the cold of the chasm's waters. Tris knew that he must have known her secret, but he wasn't doing anything about it. He was just smiling at her, laughing inwardly no doubt, and the thought made her furious.
"What's so funny if you don't mind me asking?" she snapped, not caring that he was her initiation leader any longer.
"You have no idea how crazy you are, do you?" he said back, and Tris gave him a confused look as she wrapped her arms around herself, wiping her hands clean of dirt and pebbles before doing so.
"You shouldn't be talking about others being crazy," she said. "I wasn't the one who willingly threw knives at an initiate."
"You could have chosen not to take his place."
"Would you have chosen not to take his place?" Tris asked, and Four shrugged.
"I guess I would have done the same thing," he said, and Tris rolled her eyes as she looked to her lap and her teeth started chattering. The conversation was flowing easily for some reason, not feeling fake or awkward as she had expected it too, but she couldn't let her guard down. Not yet.
Suddenly Four was moving, and Tris jumped. As she looked over at him, she saw him lifting his sweater over his head, and Tris caught a glimpse of a tattoo on his lower back as he pulled the sweater off completely and straightened out the white shirt underneath.
"Here," he said handing her the sweater. Tris only stared at it as she bit the inside of her cheek.
"I'm okay. Thanks," she said, and once again Four smiled at her.
"Why are you all smiles right now? It's weird, seriously," Tris said, and though she meant to sound angry, the words came out soft and light-hearted. Her body was betraying her.
"You'll freeze down here, I should have thought of that before leading you here, I'm sorry," he said, and his words made Tris give him a confused look before sighing and reaching a hand over in order to grab the sweater.
"Thanks," she said.
"No problem," Four murmured, and Tris slowly put her arms into the sweater before pulling it completely over her head.
Wearing a boy's sweater was an experience that Tris couldn't quiet put into words. Four always seemed warm to her, not in an emotional sense, but a literal and physical one. As she pulled her hair up and out of the sweater and let it fall behind her, she paused as she realized just how good it felt to be warmed through by something other than the intense nature of initiation work outs. The sweater was far too big, making Tris have to push the sleeves up in order for her to use her hands, and it smelled of fresh laundry and what could only be described as the world outside of Dauntless. Four must have gone for walks a lot outside of the compound, since an earthy scent seemed to be laced in his clothes. There was something minty in the air around her now, and in that moment of perfect simplicity with Four's black sweater cradling her as she sat next to him by the chasm, she realized that the boy next to her may mean more to her than she had originally wanted him to.
"Tris," Four said, making the girl look back to him as she continued adjusting the large sweater.
"What?"
"How did you get rid of the birds," he asked, but this time it didn't sound like a question.
For a long moment Tris only watched Four as his usually stern features relaxed and gave way to the expression that the average man his age should have. He looked younger now, and for a fleeting moment he reminded her of Caleb.
"Maybe I'll tell you if you tell me about the tattoo on your back," said Tris calmly.
"What if I told you it was meaningless and I just like tattoos?"
"You getting something meaningless? You don't seem the type."
"Tris, I'm serious," said Four, and his usual stern self began slowly creeping back into view. Tris knew now that there as no getting around the inevitable. She trusted Four, and he must have already known her secret. There was no point in trying to hide anything. Suddenly she felt her insides heating up as the threat of tearing up became a serious problem, and she looked away from Four as she sighed heavily before smiling slightly.
"I'm not going to pass initiation," she said, almost chuckling as she let the words run free. It felt good to say it out loud and mean it.
"Why do you say that?" asked Four, but his face suggested that he already knew the answer. Pausing slightly and simply staring into his eyes, Tris closed her eyes and pursed her lips as she forced herself to stay calm. When she opened her eyes again, she found that Four had a look of understanding on his face.
"You know why," she said, and neither of them moved.
"Tris… You can do it. You can pass."
"Maybe I don't want to."
"What?"
"Maybe I'm tired of fighting," Tris admitted, and as surprised as Four was with her confession, Tris was equally confused. She had barely admitted that small truth to herself let alone considered telling someone else about it. That was the affect that Four had on her. He made her spit out the truth more than she wanted to without even trying.
"You have no idea how strong you are," he said suddenly, and Tris smiled as she wiped at her cheeks even though she hadn't cried.
"People keep saying that about me, I don't know why," she laughed, but Four remained serious as he reached a hand up and brushed a few stray hairs out of Tris's face. The gesture felt so familiar to Tris that she didn't even flinch as he moved closer to her, allowing their legs to touch each others as they sat.
"Does anyone else know?" Four asked, and Tris looked into his eyes as she swallowed back her emotions. She knew exactly what he meant.
"No," she said, hoping that her lie would be believed. Luckily, Four seemed to not care much for the answer as he leaned into her and put an arm around her shoulder. He looked back to the chasm as he did so, and Tris found herself looking toward the waters too as Four's side pressed against hers. He was so much bigger than she was, and he felt like a wall that closed in on her from all sides, making her feel secure as she wiped at her nose and rested her head on his shoulder. What was happening didn't feel real. It was all too good and genuine to be true, so instead of focusing on the past or future, Tris only thought of the moment she was in now, and how nice it felt to have Four reassuring her the way he was.
"So you can control the simulations," Four said, his voice low as he gazed out and into the white waters below.
"Something like that," Tris whispered, and admitting this to Four felt like finally ridding herself of a weight that had been haunting her for years. It was amazing.
"You shouldn't have come to Dauntless. They'll find you here."
"Who is they? Why am I such a threat?"
"'They' is everyone who isn't like you Tris. You don't fit into a single faction. You threaten the balance."
"You sound like an Erudite. I haven't done anything wrong. That can't be the only reason why they hunt us. Why am I so dangerous?"
"Nothing about what you are is dangerous, not in my opinion at least," Four said, and Tris paused to breath as she once again felt the urge to cry build within her.
"I'll teach you how to hide it better," Four said.
"Why do you want to help me?" asked Tris, and Four couldn't help but laugh for a reason that was beyond Tris.
"You really are oblivious for some reason aren't you?"
"Excuse me?"
"Forget it," Four smiled, and he pulled his arm away from her shoulder. Using one hand, he gently grabbed Tris's chin and directed her toward him. For a moment they held eye contact, and before Tris could react, Four was leaning closer, and their lips touched.
They held this pose for a long time, and when Four eventually pulled away, Tris found herself lost in his eyes as he stared down at her.
"Don't give up Tris," he said. "Because I won't give up on you."
"Okay," she whispered awkwardly, and Four smiled as Tris's cheeks went red.
"Don't be afraid," he said. "While we were down here, you're times were posted for phase two."
"Oh my God. How could you let me miss that?"
"I thought you'd like it here better, since you don't seem to like a lot of attention."
"Why would I get a lot of attention after the times were posted?"
"Why do you think?" Four asked, and Tris's jaw nearly dropped to the floor.
"Don't tell me…" she started, and Four's expression changed from light-hearted to full on instructor mode in a matter of seconds.
"That's right," Four said. "As of now… You're ranked first."
Tris and Four had talked for a very long time, and as she watched Four walk off toward the Pit, she sighed as she thought of the moon and stars that were sure to be above her. Was Caleb looking at the sky in that moment too? The thought upset her, so instead of thinking of her old life, memories of her new one took their place.
The feel of Four's arm around her shoulders still lingered on her skin as she walked idly along the edge of the chasm, its waters rabid and seething with white foam, spraying her ankles with a soft mist. Still, she couldn't stop thinking of Caleb.
"If he's in the games and so am I, will I be able to do it? Will I… Kill him to survive?" she asked herself, and of course the answer to her question was no. Caleb was the only family she had left. Hurting him was the last thing she wanted to do.
Instead of going back to the dorm room, Tris chose to stay near the chasm as she gently ran her tongue across her lips. She had been kissed, and it was one of the simplest yet most amazing moments of her life. Looking down, she smiled to herself as she realized that she was still wearing Four's sweater.
"He'll get this tomorrow," she said to herself, almost giddy with a sort of joy that she had never felt before. Four must have liked her, a lot in fact, if we was willing to understand that she was divergent and not turn her over to the Erudite. The weight of the information she so easily gave away to him was sure to weigh him down exponentially, yet he walked away from her with ease as he smiled over his shoulder at her. Tris was as likely to kiss Peter and enjoy it as Four was to betray her and reveal to the world that divergents were alive again. She couldn't stop smiling now, and in that moment nothing was missing from her life.
Reaching her left hand out Tris touched the cave wall beside her and let her fingertips play against its soaked surface. Deciding to finally go to bed, she walked up the cave path and rounded the corner, entering the pit slowly and silently. It was dark now in this area of Dauntless, as it was late at night and no one wanted to start another round of phase two with no sleep.
She was walking far too slowly, and at this pace she wouldn't get back to her bed before midnight. The other initiates must have been in bed by ten o'clock, so she hoped that no one would be awake to see her walk in.
Tris swept a portion of her hair out of her eyes as Four had done earlier, and smiled again as she remembered the touch of his lips against hers.
"Everything will be okay now," she thought to herself, and just as she was about to begin walking across the Pit in order to go to bed, the sound of footsteps to her left made her jump.
Her head swerved to the side where the noise had come from, but she could see nothing through the darkness. She thought of calling out and asking who was there, but chose to remain silent as she looked back to the direction of the initiate dorm room. There was no one with her in the Pit, she just needed to relax.
Suddenly there was a small scrapping sound against the stone walls to her left again, and Tris gasped as she looked back to the same spot as before.
"Is someone there?" she thought to herself, and before she could react two figures came running out of the darkness.
The shock made her open her nearly scream, but before she could a hand reached out and clamped itself over her mouth. A set of arms wrapped themselves around her mid section and began lifting her into the air while another grabbed hold of her left wrist.
With her right hand she threw out a punch wildly into the darkness, but missed whoever was grabbing her. A flurry of information swam at the front of her conscious now, giving her directions that didn't make sense. She wanted to scream while other parts of her wanted to run while other parts wanted to fight. Panic raced through her, making it hard to breath as another person grabbed at her flailing legs and swept them up and into the air.
"Get her up!" shouted a voice, and instantly Tris recognized who it belonged to. It was Peter.
Fighting hard now as the shock of the blind attack ebbed away, Tris closed her eyes as she tried to part her lips in order to bite the hand that was over her mouth.
"The chasm!" another boy whispered angrily, grunting with effort as he tugged at her legs. "To the chasm!"
Tris was being carried now, and as she fought and wiggled her body as hard as she could, she realized that whoever the people were that were holding onto her were hoping to kill her.
They were moving fast, and Tris continued to jerk her arms and legs as hard as she could in order to try and break free, but her attackers would not let go, and suddenly she could hear the rushing waters of the chasms river. They were close now, and she was only moments away from being thrown into its depths.
"Focus focus focus, think, breathe. Think," her survival instincts were speaking directly to her, but its voice came in a panicked and hurried sort of way that only made Tris more confused as she tried to remember how she had gotten into this position.
"Push her over! Through her in!" said a boys voice, and in that moment, all things became clear to Tris.
There were three people who wanted her dead, and one of them was Peter. The other two were boys, she knew this because one of their voices was too deep to be a girl, and the other one was tall and thick with muscle. The shock of the initial attack was gone, and all that was left now was her will to survive.
Opening her eyes Tris twisted her body to the right hard as she managed to open her mouth and bite down on the boys hand that was there. She tasted blood as she heard Peter cry boy who was holding her legs lost his grip as she twisted, and her ankles slammed against the stone floor above the chasm with a painful crack. With her arms still being held she moved quickly and pushed herself back with her legs, making the boy gripping her triceps behind her stumble. She kicked out with her right leg, and connected with Peters shin. He recovered quickly and punched down hard into her eye as he looked to the other boy and told him to grab her legs while he grabbed the other. In seconds Tris was back to where she was before, unable to shake the hands off her that were so close to ending her life.
"Breathe! Focus!" she screamed inwardly, and as she willed her limbs to keep fighting, she took in a deep breath, and nearly froze as she caught the faint scent of lemongrass coming from the boy behind her. She recognized that smell. At night, it was something that soothed her into sleep. The third attacker was Al.
The boys were closer to the edge now, Tris knew this because she could feel cold sprays of mist playing against the back of her neck. Her body burned with fatigue as she continued to struggle, and just as she was sure one of the boys was going to toss her over the edge, the boy behind Tris let go of her arms, and she fell down onto her back with a thud.
Her head hit the ground hard after her back did, and for a moment she saw black stars pop in and out of the space in front of her, but moments later she was back in the present moment and realized that the other two boys had let go of her legs. Tris gasped for air, pushing herself up and into a standing position as fast as she could while she looked around herself.
The three boys who had dragged her all that way were now fighting against someone else, someone who had come to keep Tris from dying. As she squinted through the darkness, she instantly recognized who it was. It was Four.
The sound of bone meeting bone slapped itself across the stretch of tunnel and made Tris jump as one of the boys fell to the ground.
Four was moving fast, taking on all three of the boys with ease as he blocked punches and kicks as if he were fighting infants instead of young adults. Still, Tris couldn't let him be outnumbered, so she began running toward him as she saw the boy that must have been Peter go to kick Four from behind. Without thinking she leaned forward with her shoulder and rammed into him, making them both fall to the floor. At this point, one of the three boys had run off, while the other stood frozen for a moment, and while Tris watched him Peter pushed her off of his back as he stood and ran in the opposite direction of Four.
Tris pushed herself up and saw that the remaining boy must have been Al. Four went to move toward him, but Tris caught his arm as she ran forward.
"Wait!" she yelled in order to stop Four, and as soon as she spoke Al turned and ran, disappearing into the darkness of the tunnels connecting to the chasm drop off.
Turning around suddenly, Four grabbed Tris by the arms as he looked her over quickly.
"Your eye," he said without emotion, and Tris couldn't shake the adrenaline coursing through her that made everything feel as if it were moving in fast motion.
"It's fine," she gasped, and suddenly Four was pushing her behind him as the sound of multiple footsteps came flooding through the tunnel.
"Who's that?" Tris found herself asking, even though she was too tired to actually question anything.
"I don't know," said Four, his tone flat. He seemed ready for anything.
As the footsteps came closer, Tris thought back to the horror of the attack and the numb ache that realizing that Al wanted her dead brought her, only now the ache was transforming into a serious and throbbing pain.
"Shouldn't we run?" asked Tris, but the voice didn't feel as though it came from her body.
"No. If its more people that are after you, I'm throwing them into the chasm," replied Four, and Tris shuddered as she realized how serious and angry he was.
The footsteps were much closer now, and Tris found herself shrinking behind Four when she really wanted to stand beside him and fight, but the want to fight fled her body as two familiar people rounded the tunnels corner and emerged onto the narrow path that dropped off at one side to the chasm's river below.
"You have to be kidding me," said Four angrily, and Tris looked out slowly from behind Four's back to see an alert looking Eric standing a few meters away from herself and Four. And beside Eric stood a girl with a long dark haired braid flowing over her left shoulder. Eric and Katniss must have come running to the chasm together when they heard the struggle, but all Tris could focus on was the voice in her head asking why the two of them had come together.
"Tris?" said Katniss in surprise.
"Katniss?" Tris said back, and Four and Eric locked eyes harshly as they straightened out their postures and cleared their throats.
Stepping forward slightly, Four spoke loud and clear over the roar of the chasm's river.
"Tris was being attacked by three other initiates," he said, and finally getting over the shock of seeing Eric and Katniss walk onto the scene of the crime together, Tris stepped forward and stood beside Four.
"That so," said Eric, his tone serious and deadpan just as Four's was.
"Who was it?" asked Katniss, ignoring Four and looking directly to Tris.
"Why are you with Eric?" was what Tris wanted to say back, but instead she decided to answer the girls question passively.
"I think we have a lot to talk about," she said, almost smiling uncomfortably as she remembered Katniss saying those exact words to her in the morning. Katniss frowned deeply at her words.
"So," Eric began, not breaking eye contact with Four. "You fought them off?"
"Yes," said Four.
"Nice to see our number one initiate can fend for herself then," smirked Eric, and Tris saw both Katniss and Four give him a dirty look.
"I think Tris being ranked first may be why she was targeted," said Four, and Eric visibly held himself back from rolling his eyes dramatically.
"Of course it was," he snapped, and Tris looked away from him and back to Katniss as the tension between Eric and Four intensified.
Suddenly, Tris realized something. Looking at Katniss standing next to Eric made her think of the contradictory nature of everything that made up the girl in comparison to herself. There was something innately dark about her, and she was far stronger than Tris physically. Something about her was cold and calculating, always thinking of the current situation and how to get past an obstacle in the now. While Tris found that she was one to think more of the future and the good of all while she made a decision. Looking between Eric and Katniss made Tris realize that the two shared astonishing similarities just as herself and Four did. Katniss and Eric seemed to foil, in a literary sense, Four and herself almost perfectly.
Finishing his short conversation with Eric, Four turned around as he grabbed Tris's hand, and instantly Tris looked down to Eric's hand as she slowly turned in time with Four. She saw Eric's hand twitch as it neared Katniss', but it didn't grab hers.
He wanted to. Eric wanted to grab Katniss' hand the way that Four had grabbed Tris's, but he didn't, and Katniss hadn't noticed or cared. Now three questions remained in Tris's mind as she silently looked away from Katniss and Eric as she followed Four. The first was why Katniss was with Eric this late at night, and the second asked what Peeta would think of the two of them getting closer. And the last question asked what she would do when she ran into Al the next morning.
Next Time: Tris confronts Al and is surprised with the results. Also, round two of initiation ends, and the initiates ranked under 21 are cut.