They all awoke to Four banging pots and pans, "Everyone in the pit. 2 Minutes!"
"Ugh," groaned Rae, "I feel like I just went to sleep!"
It took about a minute for everyone to finally wake up with groans, so they all had to rush to change and meet in the pit in time.
"Glad to see you all made it," said Four. "What we do as protectors of the city requires incredible endurance. So to build that endurance up in all of you, we're going to go on a nice five mile run!"
With that he turned and began running, shouting over his shoulder "This will be included in your rankings!" That was all they needed to get going, nobody wanted to lose points already. And nobody wanted to be kicked out and factionless either.
By the second mile, most of the transfers were lagging behind and out of energy. Four stopped and turned to all of them, "This is pathetic! How do you all expect to be able to keep peace in our city if you have no endurance?" Almost everyone was panting and wheezing, bent over trying to breathe. Four shook his head, "Those of you that want to stop here, will immediately lose points in your ranking. So we can either stop here, or keep going so you don't lose points." Everyone was silent.
Four took a moment to think, "Or, if one of you thinks you can run the last 3 miles racing me, nobody will lose points." He looks around as he says this until he locks eyes with Skye. "Think you can do it Stiff?"
She laughs in response, "let's go!" and she takes off running. Four takes off after her while the rest of the group starts whooping and hollering for Sky.
They were neck and neck for most of the way. But both had drastically slowed down from exhaustion.
"You've got some balls stiff," Four says between breaths. "How is it that a girl from Abnegation is already so tough and brave? Usually isn't like that until after initiation is over."
Sky laughs, "I've always known I belonged in Dauntless, Four." And with that, she sprints with her last burst of energy to the building that marks their finish line. Four was shocked when he came in after her, but laughed his defeat off. "Looks like no one will lose points for this run. You however will be gaining some." With that the rest of the team began cheering. She grabbed the water bottle sitting by the door and chugged as much as she could before responding, "Well maybe you get some points too! How did you guys get here so quick?" she asked the group of transfers.
Rae laughed, "we took the short cut!" Everyone started laughing as Four herded them into the next room. They all took about 30 minutes to rest, rehydrate, and stretch it out. Most of the group took advantage of the chance to sit and rest. Sky however started throwing kicks at the punching bags hanging in the room. Four walked over to her and watched her form. "Make sure to keep tension here," he said holding her core. He liked that she instantly changed it and noticeably held tension there. "You continue to surprise and impress me Stiff." She started laughing, "Why, because I'm tiny and transferred from Abnegation? I've always known I was Dauntless, Four."
He leaned closer and whispered in her ear, "I've always known you were Dauntless too," And walked away. That stopped her mid punch, What did he mean by that? Does he somehow know me?
Before she could ponder the though any further, he called the group together. "What we will be focusing on today is fighting, hand-to-hand combat. You will each pair up and practice fighting techniques. Rae and Sky immediately paired up and practiced their techniques, taking turns on the punching back for an hour each.
"Alrighty," shouted Eric, startling everyone. "I want to see some real fighting. First jumper will be fighting last jumper!" Sky walked into the fighting square and sized up her opponent. She had to fight Meg, a tall, broad shouldered girl with chronic bitch-face. She was a foot taller than Sky and weighed probably 100 pounds more. It didn't look like an even match, but Sky wasn't scared. She knew how to defend herself.
She looked over at Tobias and Eric for the signal to start. Tobias looked irritated, Eric smug. "Go!" he yelled "I want real fighting ladies. Not some lame hair pulling. But if you'd like to make out at the end, I won't object."
Both girls took their fighting stance, Meg swung first. Sky dodged it and punched her in the neck, causing her to wheeze for breather. This earned cheers from the group, but only made Meg angry. She charged Sky, but Sky was faster dodging the charge and tripping Meg. When she got Meg on the ground she punched her repeatedly in the face until being thrown off. Meg got up faster than Sky and grabbed her arm before punching her in the face then stomach. This caused Sky to lose her breath and collapse to her knees, giving Meg a chance to kick her in the face. Surprisingly, Sky blocked the kick and tripped Meg again. She got up and kicked Meg in the face, knocking her out. The group exploded in cheers, Four held her hand up in victory, even Eric cracked a smile. "Impressive Stiff," Eric congratulated before calling the next fight. After the fights, Eric showed everyone's rankings-Sky was number one. After everyone was dismissed for the day, Sky started towards Four. I have to find out what he meant earlier about knowing I belonged in Dauntless! But by the time everyone had cleared out, he and Eric were in heated argument about God knows what so she decided she'd ask later.
When she got into the training dormitory, she saw everyone gathered around her bed. She parted through the crowd and saw that someone had painted the word "Stiff" on her sheets and pillowcase. Peter was laughing loudest, so she was pretty sure it was him. Everyone was looking at her like they expected her to start crying; instead she went to take a shower before dinner. When she came out, everyone was gone except Rae. "I thought I'd wait for you so we can have dinner together." Sky noticed her sheets were changed. She smiled, "Thank you for changing those for me." Rae just laughed, "What are best friends for?" As they went to dinner Sky thought about how it was a good decision to make Rae her best friend. She already loved her new life as Dauntless, she finally felt like she could be herself.