I woke to the sound of light footsteps, what peaked my interest was the fact that , it didn't belong to a person, but to that of a group of people, opening my eyes slightly, I was terrified at what I saw. Fighting against my basic instincts, I lay still, pretending to be asleep, as the people exited and their shadows faded from the entrance of the corridor.

... 0...

My second day on the Dauntless compound began quite uneventfully. I woke up earlier than most people, so that I could carry out the necessary daily activities without much trouble.

I was excited since today, in the second half of the training sessions, the Dauntless born initiates would accompany us in the training, which meant that I'd finally be able to meet Mason and Eddie again, the last day had tired me too much for socialising with people.

It was again the three of us, Christian, Christine and me, heading towards the gym in the morning. A trio, it felt as if we had entered an unspoken bond to be together and not that I was complaining, I enjoyed the company of the Ozeras, Christines chatter and Christians snark, helped me keep my mind off a certain someone who was the magnet of my attention .

The first half had been allotted to us, to train in the way, we felt comfortable , to get ourselves prepared for the second half, that included combat training and usage of ammunition.We had been given a quick introduction to a set of basic exercises, and were expected to catch up soon as the training proceeded.

It was here that we ran into Lissa again.

"Hello Rose."

She greeted.

"Morning."

I replied.

"Good morning..."

She was about to greet Christine when she was at a sudden loss of words.

"Uhhh.. Christine..."

Supplied Christine, happily introducing herself and enveloping Lissa in a hug.

Lissa only smiled, nodding slightly, as she shyly extended her hand towards Christian, expecting a shake.

"Good Morning, I am Lissa."

She said.

But the ever sullen Christian didn't return the courtesy.

"Christian."

He stated with a subtle nod, and walked away leaving the three of us alone.

If I wasn't mistaken the snarky boy appeared to be flushed with joy.

Christine, probably didn't see the things that I did, and she was happily chatting with Lisa, while exercising.

A particular moment struck me when the calm and pleasant Lissa turned flustered and mumbled, expressing her desire to end the topic.

"Hey, Lissa, how come I didn't see you among the transfer initiates on initiation day?"

Christine asked.

"Nope, I... I. was there. A.. Among them all, you must have missed me, amongst al.. all."

Replied Lissa.

"Rose, had you noticed her?"

Christine said, directing the question at me.

"Nope."

I stated, continuing observing Lissa.

"Oh, we must have missed it, but doesn't it seems weird, with the red, orange or the yellow dresses that you amity people dress in."

Said Christine, expressing her confusion.

"Why would you consider me to be a transfer and not a Dauntless born?

I never said I was a transfer. "

Asked Lissa, it appeared as if she was worried, lying or probably hiding something.

"Oh dear! Your politeness gave you away, Dauntless are rash and out spoken, members of team free will, if you say."

Replied Christine smiling.

"Oh!" exclaimed Lissa.

"Must be, so lets talk about something more exciting than me."

She continued.

By the time the first session came to an end, I was tired.

Together we went to the cafeteria to grab something to eat before the other session began. I had had my breakfast but now I was hungry, very hungry.

Grabbing an apple and a salad, I sat between Christine and Lissa, and soon tuned out, thinking about Lissa's behaviour, there seemed to be something off about her.

It was his lilted voice that brought me out of my reverie.

"Ms Dragov, may I have a word with you."

Lissa graciously accepted his request and followed him to a sparsely populated corner of the room and returned in a few minutes, he was nowhere to be seen anymore.

And all too soon a familiar voice made its way towards us.

"Hey, little fighter, haven't seen you in ages."

Said Adrian.

"It has only been a day Adrian, could you be any more dramatic?"

I asked, failing at my try to fake an annoyance.

"Nope, I was just stating the obvious, you know you like it little fighter, don't you?"

He replied smiling.

I simply nodded, denying the truth. Adrian was really funny, but being here for only a day, I could hardly determine who were my friends, or perhaps competitors.

" You have combat and ammunitions in the next half don't you? "

He asked, seeming excited all of a sudden.

"Yup, why?"

I concluded, breifly.

"Good to know that. I'll be there to help as well."

He added smiling wickedly.

"Seriously, what will you do among the leaders Adrian?

I inquired.

He simply shrugged not trying to answer at all.

As soon as the time for the break was up, we all made our way to the practice area/gym. I liked it there, the smell of the place was different a mixture of leather sweat perhaps even a bit metallic, nothing that I had ever come across before.

Adrian remained with us until Ivan came to talk to him.

"Ivashkov, mind joining me?"

He asked Adrian.

"Definitely not, but this company here is far better."

He replied blinking at me with a single eye.

I wondered what that was.

"That's called winking."

Somebody whispered in my ears.

Turning around I grinned widely seeing Mason, who had Eddie in tow.

"No need to be so confused, I saw your dilemma from across the room and came to your aid."

He stated, practically answering all the questions in my mind.

"My knight in a shining armour, aren't you?"

I stated sarcastically.

"What do you mean by that?"

He asked, staring at me blankly.

"There are things that you still have to learn, ducky."

I said grinning, and patting his head.That was a close save, I was glad that no erudite was around, they would have noticed the difference, or probably been curious about the reference. Nobody was aware of much about me, including the fact that I borrowed books from the library to read, sometimes I returned them, sometimes I didn't, and the erudites took the fall. There was something quite appealing about life in the old world, ideas of harmony, peace, coexistence and love.

"Initiates, form two files. Dauntless borns on one side and the transfers on the other."

Instructed Belicov. His voice alerted me as I proceeded according to the instructions.

He and Ivan then continued to show us some maneuvers while Adrian stood in the background, sometimes explaining and sometimes observing.

Once they were done, we were asked to practice on punching bags, and told to move on to one to one combat soon after.

Practicing felt weird, it made me aware of muscles that I didn't know existed, the stretches and exercises that had been done that morning , definitely proved to be of help.

Ivan and Adrian, surprisingly were the only ones who had come up to give pointers on my technique and stance, as I practiced on the punching bag. Adrian was proving to be the most helpful and I was greatful for his help.

"Keep your fist tight and let your thumb be like this, it'll protect the other fingers or help to prevent injuries."

"Here, angle your wrist in this way, it'll help when you come face to face with a taller opponent."

"Let you weight lie on your back foot before you proceed to attack."

Were some of the various pointers given by Adrian.

Belicov observed from afar, or so I assumed, but never spoke a word to me, occasionally helping other initiates, but not me.

I wondered why his presence bothered me so much. I couldn't understand why his actions mattered so much to me.

When the one to one combat sessions began, a transfer initiate was paired against a dauntless born initiate and, lucky for me my opponent was Mase.

I had never been in such a session before, I had sure hit people here and there, but here in this ring, I didn't have the element of surprise, I had had everywhere else.

As the combat continued I realised that I wasn't probably going to win and that Mason wasn't trying his hardest.

"Give it all redhead, I want an opponent not your pity."

I ordered between punches and blocks.

Slightly nodding Mason relaxed into the fight, and the fight continued.

I was glad when Ivan rang the bell, signaling the end of our fight. I was about to quit, to end the fight soon,but did not need to.

Each session was supposed to last for three minutes and mine felt like I had been fighting for ages, I had surely packed some punches , but it was guaranteed that Mason, hurt me more. He seemed to be aware of the fact.

"Don't be guilty! You did well. I'd just have to work a bit more and then I'll be wiping the floor with you."

I assured him grinning as we went to our respective sides of the gym.

"That wasn't very bad for a first try little fighter."

Adrian complimented me, coming to stand behind me, rather quietly.

I simply smiled in reply.

"Be attentive, you have ammunitions training next."

He stated almost giddy with excitement.

-o-

A longer chapter, celebrating the new year.

Wishing all my readers, a very very Happy New year!

Here's to hoping that you have an amazing year ahead!

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Until the next time!

-Katnipsc ;)