I've been inspired, and i think that's all i need to say.
Allegiant: A Different Ending finally has a new chapter again.
I hope you enjoy.
-Imaginexo29
Chapter Thirteen – Tobias
Dust springs up in a puff before my face. My knuckles sting from the impact of the hard fabric colliding with my skin. I keep punching, kicking every so often; practicing an art I've come to love.
After an hour of training, my breaths become heavy and my arms grow tired. I feel warm as sweat covers my neck and my brow. I turn away from the large punching bag and make my way over to the edge of the room to take a seat on a wooden bench.
As I sit and feel my pulse slow down, I peer around me, remembering some of the first and last times I stepped foot in this training room.
I was a Stiff, nervous and cowardly. I had been weak and untrained, and had been preparing myself for my future as one of the factionless. I never thought I'd make it through initiation, let alone ranked first in my class.
I remember standing behind the initiates as an instructor, watching them try and fail to hit the punching bags for the first time. Standing behind Tris and feeling poorly for the little Abnegation girl who was small and weak and got picked on. I remember feeling sorry for the girl who would get the fate I thought I was going to get in initiation.
I inhale a deep breath, and turn my focus to the arena.
/
I had just finished writing the initiates names on the chalk board, and who they would be fighting that day, when the first couple started to file into the room. I stepped away from the board, and watched as the transfers searched for their names, seeing the worry or excitement flood their faces once spotting their competitors.
The very large boy – Al – stepped into the room, with the Candor smart-mouth girl behind him, and the Stiff behind her. The first jumper, Tris, wiped her hands on her pants and scanned the board, eyes wide. When her stare stopped, her lips parted as I could see shock fill her system.
The day before, she didn't have to compete against anyone. That day, though, she was against Peter; the obnoxious Candor boy who's head I put a gun to.
I had watched as her two friends turned to her, looking angry. Though I couldn't hear what they had been saying, I knew they were discussing Tris' match. She was very small with no muscle and was about to head into a fight against the very ruthless Peter.
If it had been up to me, I never would have made her fight once; especially not against him. But Eric was never one to play fair, and so he put together the matches.
After watching a few fights that ended quickly, Tris stepped into the arena, facing Peter on the other end. She formed her mouth into a hard line, making her almost look tough. She tucked her fly-away hairs behind her ears, and placed her fists in front of her face. I shook my head, seeing as she left her whole torso wide open, practically inviting Peter to beat her.
I watched as Peter analyzed her, a sick grin pulling at his mouth. I closed my eyes, taking a few deep breaths, and then opened them to hear a loud thump and see Tris sprawl across the ground. Peter pulled his foot back, sending it straight to her stomach. She stood, and then fell again as a punch was thrown at her. Another kick to her side. A kick to her chest.
She continued to struggle, never seeming to give up on trying to stay on her feet. Eric stepped up beside me, and nudged me with his elbow; averting my stare to him.
He smirked and whispered, "Looks like your little stiff friend's getting a good beating. I'll bet she'll get enough hits to the head to be brain dead by tomorrow."
Everything in my stomach clenched as I watched her. Eric's words echoed again and again throughout my head, and I watched as her eyes slide up to meet mine. Blood coloured her face and her eyes rolled up in their sockets for a moment, then back to mine. It killed me to watch her like that. It took every fibre of strength in me to turn on my heel, and walk out of the room, listening as her small scream curdled behind me.
/
I stand, brushing myself off. I feel cold after remembering the day Tris was beaten. My breaths are shaky as I make my way to the other end of the room. When I pull the door open to head out, Amar stands before me, a light smile brushing his lips.
"Hey Four," He starts, his voice low and smooth. "You got a minute?"
I nod, keeping my eyes on his, and we walk a few minutes in silence until we reach the dining hall.
We both take our respective seats at one of the many round tables. It's mid afternoon, a couple hours after lunch, and a few before dinner, so the room is empty except for us. I look at him, waiting for him to start talking, but he just stares at the entrance. More silence is shared between us, and I'm about to ask why he asked to talk to me, if he wasn't in fact even going to talk, when the doors swing open and in walks Cara, Christina, Zeke, and Tris.
They all sit down in the empty seats; Tris across from me, smiling without teeth.
"What's up, Amar?" Zeke is the first to ask. We all look to him, waiting for his response. He stares back at us, making a point to make eye contact with each of us.
"So I've been thinking." He begins, and his eyes fall on Cara, never leaving her. "We've been thinking, I should say," he winks at her, "that the faction system should be re-instated." A thick hush falls across the table, and we all go wide-eyed. I look to Tris, who looks at me with a shock sort of wondered expression, and we both look back to Amar.
"I don't know if either of you've noticed, but the factions didn't exactly end well last time!" Christina starts, raising her voice. Amar holds up a silent hand, and she doesn't continue.
"Cara and I have put thought into this. There will be leaders of each faction, but the members and initiates will train within all five. A new faction every month, in an order; Erudite, Dauntless, Amity, Abnegation, Candor, repeat.
"The leaders will train those under them, and so all in the city will have the same set of skills. Cara had the idea of putting all the Divergent as leaders. For example, Tris would alternate leading Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite, since those are the factions she got in her aptitude test, and so fourth for the rest of the Divergent. Again for example, Tris would switch every three months in an order; Erudite, Dauntless, Abnegation, repeat. This way even the leaders get to exercise the different quality workings of their brain just as the rest of us do. We would train them as the factions have always trained their initiates; minus the new Dauntless rules. Those will be forgotten and put back to the original rules from the Dauntless manifesto, as well as Erudite." Amar finishes and looks at each of us again; his eyes never lingering on someone too long, until connecting his focus with mine. We stare at each other, and he nods his head ever so slightly.
I do not know what to think. The original faction system worked fine until it became corrupt, then half of the city was killed and now we are trying our best to piece everything back together. The one problem we have now is that there is no purpose to any of it. We have just been living day by day, doing nothing special. I feel a click in my head, and I turn to Tris, her eyes already on me, and realize that she must be thinking the same thing.
We must bring order back into our city, and we must do it as soon as we can. She, like Amar did, nods her head at me and stands. I see her baby bump through the tight fabric of her shirt, and remember how much we have to lose if everything we have is shattered once again.
"I think this idea could work. It will bring a sense of purpose to all of the people in Chicago, and that's what we need if we don't want any more acting out within the city. I'll fight to make this work if I need to." Her hand flutters up to meet her belly for a short moment, and she says, "I'll fight as long as this city never falls apart again. I have too much to lose for that to take place." Her eyes flick to mine with that last, unwavering sentence, and she turns, and heads out of the room.
I remember feeling poorly for the little Stiff girl who I knew wouldn't do very well in Dauntless initiation. I used to think I was smart, and that I knew things, but Tris easily proves me wrong about my first assumptions, everyday.
"I'm with Tris." Says Christina, and a moment later Zeke and I join in.