Chapter 5
Jamie POV
CLANG CLANG CLANG
Seriously? It's been a week now, and I still can't get used to the wake up call.
"Pit in ten. Don't be late."
Oh right, today is the first day we actually get to fight each other. Four and Eric have been showing us different techniques and moves, and I've been learning all I can, trying my best to prepare for this. I know I'm small, so every advantage I have, I will definitely use. I did notice that, while they were teaching us, Eric always looked a little nervous when Four would demonstrate, and use him as a practice dummy. Makes me think maybe Four has beaten Eric a few times. So that's his weak spot. He's too cocky to admit he wasn't on top on something, but he also still remembers it.
"You ready?"
I turn around to see Will waiting for the rest of us.
"Yeah, sure. I'm ready to get creamed probably. How do you think they'll pair us up?"
"Who knows. I guess we'll see when we get there. Come on slow pokes, let's go."
When we get to the Pit, my nerves shoot through the ceiling. I am nearly shaking, but i'm not sure if I'm excited at the thought of actually fighting, or terrified of the thought of being crushed. Eric stands right in front of the mat and immediately has our attention. I'll give him credit, he's pretty good at silencing a crowd.
"Today, we are going to pair you up to fight. A winner will be declared, when one person is no longer able to continue."
"The fight may end when one person is no longer able to continue, or when one concedes."
"Four, those are the old rules. The new rules state that no one concedes. When one person can't continue, meaning they are rendered immobile, or unconscious, the match will end, and a winner will be declared. Now, for the starting match. First jumper, last jumper, on the mat."
We all look at Tris, and she's gone pale. Well, more pale than she already was. I look up to see who the last jumper was, and realize, this is not going to be pretty. It's the broad girl that follows Peter around everywhere, along with the redhead, Drew. I'm pretty sure the girl's name is Molly.
For the majority of the fight, I can't look up. I don't want to see Tris get killed up there. Finally, I hear Eric call the match, announcing Molly as the winner. I look up and Tris is laying on the mat and doesn't look like she'll be getting up for a while. Eric nods to Four and he takes Tris off to the infirmary.
"Alright, that was a quick fight. Second jumper, next to last jumper. In the ring."
Everyone looks at me, and it takes me a second to remember that I was the second jumper. Well, at least if I'm going to be beaten to a pulp, I don't have to dread it all day. Let's get this over with.
I step onto the mat, and Drew steps up. We both look at Eric, and he nods as a signal to begin. I look Drew in the eye, and see him glance towards my stomach. As soon as I see him move, I know where he's going to hit. There's a flaw in his system: he always looks where he's about to hit. You always need to keep eye contact with your opponent. After a few seconds of blocking and thinking, I realize that he's really thin, if there was weight on his shoulders, it could easily make him top heavy.
Now, not that I've tested this theory too often, but I've sort of figured out that I land on my feet pretty well and I can be pretty flexible. The next time he throws a punch, I act quick, I throw my leg over his shoulder, and pull up, now pretty much on top of his head, then I lean backwards. As I pull him down, I jump off and land on my feet, while he continues to fall. I hop on top of him as quickly as possible and punch him in the nose a few times, until Eric pulls my arm away.
"Geez, three hits to the face and he's already out. What a wimp. Okay, Jamie wins. Here, help me move him over until Four comes back."
I help him carry Drew to the side and when I'm about to go back to the group, he holds me back.
"What was that?"
"What do you mean?"
"I don't think I've ever seen anybody fight like that. You hopped on his shoulders and tipped him over like a little teapot. I don't think I've ever seen someone think so far as to take in balance, weight, all of that, actually do a full analysis of their opponent, especially on the first fight. That's pretty smart. I guess that Erudite blood is still in there."
"Well, yeah it is, but it helped me not die in my first fight, so I'm not complaining."
"Oh, I'm not either. That was cool. I only have one thing wrong with it. It wasn't Dauntless. To be brave, you use your skills with confidence that they will work, whether you lose or not."
"I did use my skills. I just used my intelligence instead of my strength. I still won the fight. The rules clearly state that the winner simply has to beat their opponent, it doesn't lay out a specific way to do it."
"Okay, you don't have to smart off."
"I'm not smarting off, I'm simply stating the facts. I'm just being honest."
With that, I walk back to my friends, shaking, more over having to talk to Eric than over the fight. He said it wasn't Dauntless. What if he figures out that I'm Divergent? I haven't had to worry about this since I got here. I thought I was safe, nothing came up that worried me, but now Eric is on my case. He's a leader, if he figures out, I'm sunk.
Will puts a hand on my shoulder when I get back over to him.
"You okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine."
"What did he want?"
"He just had a few… comments on my fighting."
"Good or bad?"
"I really can't tell with him. Well, he wasn't yelling, so I guess good."
I look up at Will, and he can tell that I'm worried about something else, I can see it in his eyes, but he doesn't say anything. I look back at Eric, and he points back to the infirmary.
"Why?"
"Sure you won, but I still want them to give you a once over. I sent Molly too. Go."
I nod and make my way to the infirmary, kind of glad that I'm getting away from him. I'm afraid of him now because I'm afraid he's on the track to finding out about me, but I still don't understand why everyone else is afraid of him. As long as you don't do anything stupid, you're on his good side.
Eric POV
I know I fussed at her about it, but that was cool. I have never seen anyone do that. She is pretty small, so I figured she would probably lose her first fight, even though she was doing pretty well in training. She just proved me very wrong. I'm still going to have to work on her thinking though. Yes, the Erudite way works for now, but one of these days she's going to be standing there thinking, and there won't be any way out, except for throwing punches and hoping you get out alive, meaning she would have to be brave enough to keep fighting even though there's no way to win. That's the Dauntless way, bravery, not intelligence. I mean, we jump out of moving trains, do you really think we're that smart?
I watch the rest of the fights, calling, not really paying much attention until someone loses, still thinking about her. I can't figure it out, but there's something different about how she acts. One thing that is still eating at the back of my mind, the fact that everyone else, afraid of heights or not, was afraid to jump, thinking they would die or something. She was the second jumper. Tris was first because she was a Stiff going into Dauntless, she had something to prove, but Jamie was second, even though she was afraid of heights. She was the only one that didn't seem to think she was going to die, she was rational, she knew something had to be at the bottom, or else we'd be killing all of them off. She is brave, she's going to do great in Dauntless, but she's extremely smart, and uses it like an Erudite. She would've done very well there too. She would fit great into two factions. I wonder… no. They would've figured her out by now, she can't be… but what if someone covered for her? No, I won't believe it. She's not Divergent. She can't be, she's the only one here I can actually stand.
"Eric."
"Huh?"
I look up and Four is staring at me.
"When did you get back?"
"Just now, and it looks like you should have called that fight a while ago."
I look to the mat, and one of them is knocked out, and the other must have seen it, because they weren't still beating on them, they had just sat down beside them, I guess waiting for me to call it.
"I'm not even going to say anything, you know who won. Edward, congratulations, I'll be back in a minute."
As I'm going up to get the other guy to take him to the infirmary, Four puts a hand out to stop me.
"What?"
"What just happened? Why weren't you watching the fight? You were just staring off into space or something."
"I was thinking, I lost track. Edward knew not to go too far anyways, it's fine."
"It's not fine, you need to be watching your students. It's your job."
I know he's right, so I don't argue, but I do shove him out of my way as hard as I can, before I go grab the kid off the mat.
Once I get to the infirmary, I drop the kid off, and start to head back, but I hear somebody call me back.
"Hey, wait a second."
I turn around, and see it's Jamie.
"Okay, what's up?"
She looks nervous coming up to me, but she still walks up beside me.
"Well, they're sending me back, said I was fine. Anyway, I know you're our trainer, I figured you could give me some tips. You told me I was doing it wrong, maybe you could help me out, tell me what I need to do."
"Now, I never said you were doing anything wrong, I said you were doing it different. What you did was good, it got the job done, I'm just saying that sometimes you won't have time to think things over, and you'll have to just go at it, use your instincts."
"Okay, so that means I need to work on my strength and reaction time."
"Uh, well, yeah basically."
"Okay, thanks."
With that, she just runs off, back to the Pit. I'm kind of surprised she actually spoke to me by choice, but she did, and I think she actually listened what I told her too. She picks up on things quickly, and seems to want to learn whenever she can. She'll be an easy one to teach. I still think she has just a little too much Erudite in her, but it's nothing, right? She's not Divergent. She can't be.
