During training, Eric was all grumpy, acting like somebody killed his cat (if he had one). I couldn't help but smirk even though I was also on the losing team. He deserved it for charging brainlessly and not leaving enough people to defend. He was acting less and less like the Erudite I had known while growing up. My brother back then would have hidden his emotions. He also would have thought things through. 'Maybe he really does belong in Dauntless,' I couldn't help but think. The more I saw my brother now, the more I questioned how much I really knew him when we were growing up together in Erudite.

I watched as Four demonstrated knife throwing, calculating the distance and force I would need to have in order to have a knife follow the trajectory I wanted. Before long, I was successfully hitting the bullseye of the target without even having to think. Not everyone else was this successful, however.

Even after half an hour's worth of practice, Al was still unable to lodge a knife into the target. This made my already cranky brother become even more impatient. His already pent up anger blew up when Al refused to go pick up his fallen knives while the rest of us were still throwing. The final blow was when Al admitted that he was afraid.

"You're going to stand there as he throws those knives, until you learn not to flinch," Eric said to Al while pointing to Four. His low voice was bone chilling.

Just as Four was about to throw the first knife, Tris stepped in. "Stop it," she said, questioning my hot headed brother's authority. I sighed. One by one, my friends were challenging Eric. I was the only one who had ever challenged Eric, and was left unharmed. 'What will I do if I ever have to pick between my brother and my friends?' I could help but ask myself.

Now, Tris was stuck standing in front of a target. Eric didn't leave and allow Four's throwing to stop until blood was drawn in the form of Tris getting nicked in the ear.

Visiting Day was exciting. I couldn't wait to see my parents. Yes, I knew that the concept of "faction before blood" was important, as emphasized by Eric, but that didn't mean I didn't miss my parents.

I ran ahead of all my friends, certain I would find my parents in the crowd of people at the Pit. "Mom! Dad!" I yelled out when I spotted them, standing there waiting for me. My mother held out her arms and I ran into them, missing the feel of her arms around me. I turned to my father next and hugged him tightly as well.

The rest of the day went smoothly. I caught up with my parents, telling them how well I was doing. "See, my martial arts training was useful after all," I couldn't help but tell them. After all, my father had disapproved of me spending so much time on it and had wanted me to focus more on my studies. I was sad to say goodbye to my parents. After all, unless I had a good reason to go to Erudite, I wouldn't see them until next year on Visiting Day.

That night, we saw the rankings from Stage One. I was ranked third. Sadly, when fighting Peter, I had been distracted by the fact that there was a spider on the ground next to me. In an attempt to avoid stepping on the spider, I misstepped, giving Peter the chance to give me the defeating blow to my head, knocking me down.

This regret about losing to Peter was quickly lost when I woke up to the sound of screaming. When the lights turned on, Edward was lying on the ground, blood streaming out of him. It was obvious to me who did it. Peter. Relief flooded through me as I realized I would have had the same fate had I beaten Peter in the fight.

Still, unable to sleep soundly anymore, I trudged towards my brother's room. Rapping on the door loudly, I stood in front of the door until a barely awake Eric opened the door.

"Let me in. I'm sleeping here tonight," I announced as I pushed Eric out of the way and walked towards his bed.

"Huh?" he asked groggily, blinking at me uncomprehendingly.

"By the way, I'm taking the bed," I said, making myself comfortable and leaving Eric to sleep on the couch.