*** DISCLAIMER ***

I own NOTHING regarding the divergent series e.g. the books/the movies
The only things I own are my own characters that I've created.

"Why would anyone want to jump into that thing?" Andie asked as she and Nix both looked over the railing into the chasm that Adam had told them about earlier, about not trying to be a daredevil and dive in because apparently it had been done before and instant death followed.

"I have no idea." Nix said softly as she looked down into the depths of the crashing water down below.

"It's wouldn't be brave, it would just be stupid!" Andie said before she looked up around the caves that surrounded them and then she mused, "This place really is huge."

The girls had looked for the infirmary once they had eaten, to have Nix's leg looked at, Andie insisted that they do it even though Nix said she was fine and that there was no need for them to go, it did turn out to be fine after all, the medic cleaned it for her and gave her a small tub of cream to apply to the worst bits before she went to bed.

They found themselves back in their dormitory for a bit after that and then when boredom got the better of them...more Andie than Nix really, the girl just wouldn't sit still, they had decided to have a wander around the compound and they visited the pit first.

The pit area was huge and it was very busy with a lot of dauntless members, they seamed to be gathered in groups, some large and some small and despite the size of the place it was still hard to think with all the noise going on.

When Andie and Nix had arrive they noticed some members had been fighting each other whilst others were gathered around them watching and cheering them on, it wasn't until both members had begun to laugh once their fight was over that the girls realised that it had only been semi-serious and for entertainment purposes.

There was music that seamed to be heard throughout the compound, some was just an echo, some was very loud in places and some could even be heard far away in the distance like it was right now where the girls were.

There always seamed to be some type of activity happening somewhere and if you didn't see any members they could definitely be heard whether they were far away or nearby.

"What are you two doing here?" a voice asked loudly followed by footsteps heading towards the girls, they both turned around to find a dauntless man infront of them, he looked to be in his early twenties and had short brown hair, when neither of the girls replied to him right away he asked, "Well?"

"We were just having a wander...getting to know the place." Andie replied and then smiled but the man didn't smile back, he scowled at them both.

"Don't." he simply said in response, "Get back to your dormitory initiates."

"Why?" Nix blurted out loud without thinking as the man turned to walk away and he stopped then slowly turned back around to face them.

"Because I said so." he snapped back at her a beat later and she opened her mouth to reply but stopped when he took a step towards her, "Got something to say?"

"No." she said quickly and a beat passed by before she continued, "It's just...this is our free time."

"And?" he asked instantly and she glanced briefly at Andie who was stood with a worried expression on her face.

"Well...why? Why do we have to go back to our dormitory? It's still early yet." she replied then folded her arms across her chest, the man watched her do this and it seamed to annoy him, as if he'd taken it as some form of defiance from her when really she'd only done it because his hard glare was starting to make her feel uncomfortable.

He began to walk towards her some more until he was stood about a foot away from her then he stopped, "You had better learn fast initiate."

"Learn what?" she asked after a beat.

"How to take orders from your superior." he replied instantly and stared down at her, the way he was looking at her told her she shouldn't talk back but despite herself she found she was doing it anyway, as if she had no control over herself.

"We were only having a look around, there's nothing wrong with that is there?" she replied and the man's mouth twitched at the corner as if he was about to smile and then he took another step towards her.

"Didn't you hear a word that I just said? Is there something wrong with your ears?" he asked.

"I heard you fine." she replied after a beat whilst never breaking eye contact with him and with that response he did smile, she knew that for sure that wasn't good and she wished she'd never opened her mouth at all, it had gotten her in trouble in the past and also very recently as well...obviously she'd not learned from her mistakes.

"What's your name?" he asked her and she swallowed before answering.

"Nix...what's yours?" she replied and mentally scolded herself.

He ignored her question and looked at Andie, "And what's your name?"

"Andie." she replied and he turned back to look at Nix.

"Go down to the kitchens and wash the dishes." the man said to Nix.

"Sorry?" she asked with furrowed brows.

"Thought you could hear me fine?" he asked her with a brief smirk.

"You want me to go to the kitchens...and wash the dishes?" she asked and he smiled whilst shaking his head, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"No, not you." he replied then looked at Andie, "Get going."

"Me?" Andie asked a beat later and looked between him and Nix.

"Am I looking at anyone else?" he demanded with a glare and she shook her head.

"No." Nix said and the man turned his head back to her slowly, "You're not really punishing her because of something I said...are you?"

"Ding ding." the man whispered with raised brows.

"But, that's not fair." Nix said to him and he lowered his brows in a deep frown and stepped closer to her, she wanted to step back from him but her feet wouldn't move.

"Next time you'll know to keep your mouth shut and do as you're told." he told her in a menacing voice with his eyes boring into hers until she looked at her feet, she then glanced over at Andie and hoped that the girl could understand that she was sorry, Andie only shrugged her shoulders in response.

"Get moving initiate, you'll stay there till everything is clean every night for a week and you're to wash it all by hand, I'll be checking in later to make sure you're doing just that." the man said to Andie then he turned to Nix, "And you...I'll escort you back to your dormitory."

Nix stared up at him with pursed lips before she stepped around him and headed back the way she and Andie had came, she looked over her shoulder to see the back of her as she headed to the dining hall.

She suddenly felt very deflated as she walked, it was her fault that Andie was being punished...all because she couldn't shut up.

"Four." A deep voice called out and Eric emerged from the tunnel Nix was heading towards.

"Eric." the man behind Nix said and she turned around to look up at him, so his name was four.

"I'll take care of this." Eric said and gestured to Nix without even looking at her.

"She's all yours." the man named Four that was behind Nix replied after an irritated look appeared on his face and then he was walking away in the direction he'd first come from earlier, when he was out of earshot Eric looked down at Nix infront of him and smirked.

"You're just making friends everywhere you go aren't you stiff." he said to her and a scowl appeared on her face, he grinned at her reaction then grabbed her upper arm in his large hand and practically dragged her towards the tunnel where he then shoved her roughly ahead of him and something in her then snapped.

"You DON'T have to manhandle me!" she shot at him loudly, surprising herself.

She might have thought that there was some remote kindness within him after he'd shared a piece of his dessert with her earlier but that was no longer in her thoughts, it had obviously been a very fleeting quirk of his.

A glare appeared on his face at what she said and then he marched the short distance that was between them until he was stood directly infront of her, "Remember who you're talking to initiate."

She stared up at him with her own glare for as long as she could until his gaze got the better of her, she looked away briefly then back at him and said, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't use as much force on me in the future."

One of his eyebrows rose at her words and he stared at a spot on the wall behind her for a moment, as if he was considering what she had said, he then took a step back and gestured with a nod of his head for her to continue on ahead of him.

She hesitated for a few seconds, watching his facial features carefully but they gave nothing away to her so she eventually started to move, however, something knocked her in the back of the head and caused her to stumble forward at the mild pain.

With a gasp she turned around and saw Eric's hand was raised in mid air, she then asked him in disbelief, "Did you...hit me?"

He responded by lowering his hand and walking slowly towards her, once he was stood infront of her a silence fell upon them and lingered briefly until he shoved her backwards into the wall, she crashed into it and almost fell down but she managed to catch herself.

"Hey!" She exclaimed loudly as she shoved herself away from the wall, he responded to this by then jabbing her in the stomach with his elbow, it wasn't that hard but it did make her wince and it managed to knock her off balance so she fell to the ground, "Ow!"

"Suck it up." he said in an almost bored tone and she suddenly saw red, growing up in abnegation she along with other members of the faction were regularly subjected to bullying by members of the other factions, mainly erudite and candor.

A week before the choosing ceremony she was deliberately tripped up by an erudite boy in the school hallway and her lip had burst when her chin hit the ground and caused her teeth to clamp shut on the flesh, he and his group of friends had then stolen the book she'd been holding and ripped pages from it before they took turns shoving her between them.

Erudite had always seamed to have a problem with abnegation but that time was the first time any of their members had done anything physical to her, it had only stopped when the school bell had rung.

She hadn't retaliated then, even though she'd wanted to but now was different, she wasn't abnegation anymore.

She shoved herself up so she was standing infront of Eric once more and without thinking her hand raised to hit him but he caught her wrist in his own hand and shook his head.

"That is an extremely bad idea stiff." he told her in a low voice.

"Let go of me." she said through gritted teeth and he then squeezed her wrist tightly in his hand, hard enough to make her eyes tear up, "Stop, that hurts!"

"You're going to get your ass kicked." he told her matter of factly and she stared at him with wide fear filled eyes.

"What is it that I've done to make you hate me so much?" she asked in a whimper and he rolled his eyes then let go of her wrist, she grabbed it and rubbed as she stepped back from him.

"By the other initiates." he stated as he crossed his big arms over his equally big chest and when she didn't respond to him he sighed in an annoyed way and said, "The first stage of initiate training is physical endurance, that includes us teaching you how to fight and all the techniques involved in it...you...you're weak, the others are going to pummel you, every time."

"I'm not weak." she replied in irritation.

"Yes you are." he said instantly and stepped towards her so he was invading her personal space, "Even if you had tried to defend yourself against me you never would have been able to."

"Yes I would have but I didn't know you were going to try and hurt me did I?!" she snapped.

"You never will!" he growled at her, "That's why you have to always be prepared just incase."

"I am prepared." she said and suddenly out of nowhere he backhanded her across the cheek, she stumbled to the side with a gasp and held her face.

"Really? Were you prepared for that?" he asked with a glare and she stared at him in disbelief which caused him to scoff at her, "Don't be dramatic I barely touched you."

Before he was fully finished speaking she found herself making a fist and threw it up towards his jaw but he whacked it away with his hand immediately.

"Really?" he asked and she tried the same thing again but this time with her other hand and he held his forearm up infront of his face to stop it, she let out an irritated sigh at his actions and in response he suddenly grabbed her own forearms and held them up, she gasped in surprise and expected him to try and twist them over her head or something but instead he positioned her arms up infront of her neck and chest.

"This is the proper way to block attacks." he told her, "Whenever you're against someone make sure you protect yourself at all times, don't leave yourself vulnerable."

He mimicked striking her in slow motion and she made sure to use her arms in a protective way to deflect it, he nodded his head with an expressionless face and nodded at her to go again, he repeated his actions once more only faster this time and she managed to stop him doing it again.

"You're at a both a disadvantage and an advantage with your size." he said and she made a face at him, he ignored her expression and continued, "Being smaller than the rest you'll need to always be on your guard with blocking when you attempt hits at your opponent."

As he was speaking Nix threw a punch at his gut which caught him off guard temporarily and he attempted to give her another backhand in return but she blocked it and then reached up and slapped the side of his head, however, she dropped her block for a second and he hit her against the mouth.

She looked up at him with a scowl from where she was on the ground and he stood above her shaking his head in disappointment, "Don't underestimate your opponent Phoenix."

She narrowed her eyes at him when he used her full name and he smirked at her reaction then reached his hand down to her, she looked at it as if it was a predator ready to attack her.

"It's just a hand." he said with a roll of his eyes and then she slowly placed hers into it and he pulled her up to her feet then he pointed at the corner of her mouth, "Let that be a lesson to you."

She reached a hand up and touched her mouth to feel it was wet, she pulled it away and saw her fingers had blood on them and she stared at him.

"Don't look at me like that, you're the one that left yourself open to an attack, I told you to make sure you always block...isn't my fault you didn't listen, it's yours, just like it's your fault the hippie is on cleaning up duty right now." he said.

She looked away from him to ignore the dig and pursed her lips, "You didn't have to hit me so hard."

"Hard? You think that was hard? I was going easy on you, you're going to get a lot worse than a busted lip over the next few weeks I can guarantee you that." he replied and she looked back at him, "We train you Monday to Saturday eight till six for a reason...if you listen and learn from this then you might just make it...but you though, you had better get working hard."

"What's that supposed to mean? That I'm going to fail?" she asked bitterly.

"From what I just saw? Yes." he replied immediately and she stared at him open mouthed, "It's only you that can change that."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." she muttered as he started to walk away and he halted then turned to look at her.

"Talking back is something you're going to have to learn to nip in the bud as well...you're in for a tough couple of months stiff so I suggest that each night you should really get as much rest as possible...starting tonight...move your ass." he said and finished the last part in a firmer tone.

She looked at the wall opposite her briefly before she started walking slowly towards him, thinking as she did about his comment on her talking back, she was actually very good at holding her tongue when she wanted to say something...it had never really been a problem until she joined dauntless, she assumed it was her newfound freedom that was causing her to speak out.

When she reached him he turned swiftly and started walking ahead of her and she had to walk fast to keep up with him as his legs were that long.

"Pick up the pace." he called over his shoulder at one point and she sighed.

"I know the way back, you don't have to show me." she replied and he glanced briefly behind him.

"I'm not showing you the way, I'm TAKING you back...to make sure that you don't take another detour." he told her and she rolled her eyes at him which caused him to stop walking.

She slowed to a halt a few feet away from him and watched as he turned around to face her, he gestured for her to come towards him but she didn't.

"Come...here." he told her slowly in a quiet voice and she swallowed, she then started to move towards him slowly and when she was stood about a foot away from him she halted, "During the initiation process you're awarded points...by your instructors and the leaders."

She stared at him as he spoke then she inwardly sighed and felt like banging her head on the wall at the realisation of his words, why couldn't she just follow him back to the dorm without saying a word?!

"You can also have those points taken away from you at any time." he added.

"I understand okay? I apologise...I won't roll my eyes at you or talk back or do anything else again." she replied quickly and a smirk slowly formed on his face.

"Did I look like I was finished speaking?" he asked and she closed her eyes briefly in annoyance, more at herself than him, "Well?"

"No...sorry I interrupted you." she replied in a monotone like voice.

"Dauntless is classed as the warrior faction, we are this city's defence...we train soldiers and good soldiers...they take orders." he told her and a frown formed on his face as he spoke, "Do I need to explain this to you in any way further?"

His question told her that the answer was no, that if she answered anything other than no then she would be in deep trouble.

"No." she said quietly then looked down at her hands as she fiddled around with her fingers.

"Good." he said simply then turned and began walking again, "Follow me and keep your mouth shut."

She did just that, she didn't want to annoy him anymore so she followed him in silence until they reached the initiate dormitory and he sent her inside with a glare before he disappeared.