It turned out that training was not to begin with firearms like Callum had hoped. Tris had come in with almost zero expectations of what exactly Dauntless initiation would be like, but she certainly did not think that the first thing that Lauren would cover would be hand to hand combat.
There was some warm up first, of course. Lauren talked briefly through basic concepts for phase one's strength training and for the different paths that they could take to determine their own strengths and weaknesses. It just didn't mean as much to Tris as it may have meant to the others to be told about agility, endurance, and cardio exercises that they should focus on. She had heard about burpees and ropes courses in her physical education classes in school. It's just that most Abnegation students got passes to exempt them from the majority of those exercises in understanding that they got plenty of exercise in the community clean-ups, volunteering hours, and even the time that they spent walking too and from school.
None of that would obviously have prepared Tris to be given a pair of hand wraps and a punching bag on her first day in Dauntless. There was a demonstration for each routine that Lauren told them to run through, but by the time that Tris had figured out the right stance and position they were getting the whistle to stop and pay attention to the next demo. When Lauren did pass by, she only had time for small corrections like adjusting how the wraps had gone between Tris' fingers or how she needed to keep her torso firmly locked when she was preparing to strike.
A final, long blast of the whistle notified their ragged group that it was time for lunch. Tris loved that whistle almost as much as she hated it. Stopping meant that she could take a break, but it also meant that she more than likely hadn't actually figured out the drill quite yet.
Still, Tris unwound her hand wraps and trotted with the other initiates back to the cafeteria. Her stomach was growling desperately even after she had eaten the rest of her nuts during one of Lauren's demonstrations. It was now that Tris realized that she never even got dinner last night. Her trek from the Hub to Dauntless had been right at meal time, and Lauren and Eric had then immediately dropped her off in the dorm.
The food was good. Tris hadn't ever had sandwiches like this before. There were multitudes of deli meats to pick from, and there were even sandwiches loaded with fresh vegetables or pressed flat with ooey, gooey melted cheese seeping out the sides. She had selected a roll loaded with probably four or five slices of turkey, though she suspected she would have been happy with any of the options available. Everyone's attention was on the food - the one great equalizer of any faction.
Returning to the gymnasium after lunch was a feeling unlike one Tris had felt before. She wasn't dreading it because earnestly she did want to improve. But she also knew that she wasn't making nearly as much progress as the Dauntless-born initiates around her. She resolved to herself to block them out and focus only on her own work.
That was easier said than done. Lauren gave them a handful more drills to run on their own and then broke them into partners for the rest of the afternoon. "To keep things random, everyone find your bunkmate. That's your buddy for the rest of the day," Lauren called out across the room.
Tris looked over at Lynn and gave a small wave. A frown flashed across Lynn's face and she said something to Uriah - the boy from this morning whom Tris got reintroduced to at lunch. Tris' smile fell and she tried to put it from her mind. It didn't mean anything if Lynn didn't want to work with her. Everyone had a partner and everyone would have to deal with that. Lynn gestured for Tris to walk over to where she had set up and that was that.
Max's warning yesterday about needing to get over physical contact sooner rather than later was practically unnecessary. Lauren's drills she assigned now were more of the same that they had been running on the punching bags, but this time they had to be directed on their partners.
"If you know blocks, resist the instinct to use 'em," Lauren called out. "The goal is to let your partner get comfortable with the drill. They won't hit hard, promise." Tris looked at Lynn for guidance.
"Blocks?" she whispered.
Lynn snorted. "Yeah. You know. To keep from getting your teeth knocked out?" That was all that Tris had to go on before Lauren's whistle sounded again and they were set loose to try out the drill on one another.
Lynn settled into a stance and made a 'come on' gesture with her fingers. Tris wiped the sweat off of her nose. She moved into the stance that Lauren showed them just now, pulling her fists up and tucking her elbows close to her body. She waited another beat, adjusting to the idea of actually throwing her punches at another human being.
"Ready?" she asked Lynn. The other girl nodded tightly. Tris bounded forward and threw the first punch. Her knuckles hit Lynn's forearm lightly, and Tris flinched quickly back. She was supposed to follow up with an elbow strike upward! She remembered after a beat and awkwardly threw in the next motion. Her feet had shifted though. The resulting motion wasn't smooth. Her elbow barely brushed past Lynn's raised forearms.
Tris shuffled back to where she started, a flush creeping up her face. "S-sorry," she mumbled.
Lynn's arms dropped briefly. "For what? You barely hit me," Lynn replied. "Are you gonna apologize over nothing, or are you gonna hit me like you mean it?"
Embarrassment burned the tips of Tris' ears and her cheeks. She bounced on her heels and mumbled denials under her breath. Taking in a deep breath, she threw herself forward again. This time her first hit felt more solid. She didn't flinch away from it. The follow up was still awkward. Her feet didn't want to cooperate, but overall it was better.
Lynn pushed back with both arms before launching at Tris with her own pair of blows. They connected hard on Tris' forearms that she brought up in front of face out of instinct. Smack, smack ! Then she had stepped back, right where she had started from.
Tris blinked behind her hands. "What?" she blurted out in confusion. Lynn huffed in reply.
"C'mon, transfer," she said hotly. "Back and forth. That's the point of it. Again."
"Oh," Tris replied. She shook her head. She had to stay focused. The issue was, the more that she worried about being unfocused and about messing up, the less focused she actually was. The next volley between her and Lynn was just as awkward as the first. As Lynn stepped back to her starting position, Tris moved and swung too early. She missed her completely.
One single eyebrow twitched up on Lynn's face. "You wanna try that again?" she said flatly.
Tris ground her teeth together and nodded. This was going to be a long afternoon.
Mercifully the day could not last forever. Eventually Lauren's whistle sounded for the last time and the group was sent out of the gym for the final time for the day. "Prior, hold up," Lauren called out. Tris winced. This was exactly what she had feared.
Lynn clapped her on the arm, perhaps out of pity or just in consolation because Tris wasn't going to get to head down to get food with the rest of them yet. Tris gave a vague thumbs up at the girl, hoping that would be an acceptable response. Then she turned to their instructor. Lauren was gathering the used hand wraps into a bin marked Laundry which reminded Tris that she still needed to ask about where to get her new clothes. Assuming that she was still free to stay. The frown on Lauren's face had Tris' nerves back in overdrive.
"Yeah, Lauren?" Tris said cautiously.
The trainer continued to look at the gear she was untangling in the bucket. "Today was rough, initiate," Lauren finally admitted.
Tris felt her heart fall. It was one thing to suspect. It was another to hear it right from the mouth of her trainer. "I-I know," Tris admitted. "I didn't get as many hits on Lynn as I probably should have, and I was behind on the bag drills. But I think I was starting to catch on in the last few. The footwork is tripping me up a lot." Rambling on let her admit to everything that was bothering her while also preventing Lauren from outright saying anything about her performance.
Lauren put up a hand, cutting off the next thing that Tris was going to say. She finally looked up from the bucket. "You're putting in a lot of effort. That I can see on your face, in everything that you're doing," Lauren said.
Tris nodded tightly. She could see in Lauren's body language that there was an enormous but coming along soon.
"That being said," Lauren sighed, "you're obviously not at the same level as the rest of them. Which makes sense. You're a transfer. You're from Abnegation. It's not exactly the ideal combination."
"I know that I'm not amazing," Tris insisted, "but I am trying. Really hard. And that's what I'm going to keep doing."
Lauren sighed again, brushing her hair back behind her ear. "I know you're trying now. I'm just worried if things stay this hard that you might not keep it up. We really don't want to have a quitter here."
Tris started. She wasn't going to just quit . Not after everything that she had given up to be here. "I'm not going to give up," she replied quickly.
"You say that now, but after a week of this? Two? When you're this far behind everyone else? Tris, I just want to make sure you realize the severity of this all. How much pressure there really is now that you've accepted this faction to try and join."
It wasn't fair. Lauren had said herself that she saw the level of effort that Tris was willing to put into training even on day one. She licked her lips and tried again from a different direction. "I'm behind now, but I can put in extra hours, too. After dinner. Early morning." Lauren had informed them that most mornings weren't going to be quite so early. This had been to make up for the time they were going to lose later in the month due to other planned exercises.
Lauren was still frowning. "I can't help you with extra training," she said slowly. "If you want to put in the time, that's… that's definitely what you would need. But I need you to understand that I am not allowed to help outside of hours."
Tris carefully considered her words. "You're not saying that I can't do extra training though, right? I could work on my own and… and catch up with everyone else and that wouldn't be against any rules?"
The facade on Lauren's face cracked. "That was what I was hoping you would say. No, it isn't against the rules at all. None that are explicitly stated," Lauren admitted. "I just can't as your instructor help you any more than I would help others. That would be favoritism."
"And we abhor favoritism when it comes to the new kids," a new voice joined the conversation. Tris turned and blinked in surprise as she realized joining them in the gymnasium was Eric. Lauren lifted a hand to wave at him.
"That's my cue to leave," Lauren said suddenly. Tris opened her mouth to ask why. Lauren shook her head and gestured to the hallway. "You make sure that you still make it down for dinner. The caf closes at eight."
With that, the trainer slipped out of the gym with the bin under one arm. Eric waved her away as he passed by. He stopped in front of Tris, a sly grin that Tris didn't quite know what to make of on his face.
"What's going on, exactly?" Tris pressed. If she was going to remain this off-beat then she might as well demand some answers.
"Just what you were claiming you're going to do - you're gonna fight for your place here," Eric said simply. He grabbed a pair of hand wraps from the clean pile on the table and tossed them at Tris.
Her instincts let her catch them even as her brain was trying put together what Lauren had been saying between the lines and how that seemed to be tied to Eric showing up now. "You're here to help me?" Tris asked with a skeptical note to her voice.
Eric tipped his head to one side and the other. He was wrapping his own wrist and palm with quick, practiced motions. "You might not call it help after today. Definitely not once we've gone ten rounds on the mat," he replied wryly.
He cocked his head to the open space where Tris had spent her afternoon. "C'mon, traitor. Let's see what you're giving me to work with."