A/N: Finally it's fighting time. And of course poor Myra is totally not up to it. There's a little romance to make up for Myra's constant depressing thoughts tho~

Chapter 4: Fighting

It has only been one day. One exhausting, infuriatingly insane day. In that time, I have chosen to become Dauntless, I have jumped on and off trains and I have leaped into the Dauntless compound. Which is just as freaking insane as the rest of the faction. I mean who has a pit in the middle of their compound where people could slip and fall into! It defies safety regulations. Wait, I forgot. Dauntless don't have safety regulations. They just have a 'try not to die' guidelines. Go figure.

After a nights rest that surely isn't enough time for the brain to recover and recuperate, we are now standing here in the middle of a room with guns in our hand. Brilliant. Whoever thought to give a bunch of sixteen year old's loaded gun was obviously Dauntless. Erudite would never do such a thing. No, they'd use robots and machines to test parameters before even thinking of involving humans into the equation. Trust Dauntless to move first, think later.

Edward however looks relaxed. He handles the gun easily. I know how to hold a gun and where the safety trigger is and how to aim properly, but I am not made of steel. When I fire the gun, the recoil practically sends me sprawling. Eric, steel-studded Eric, has pretty much given up on me. Just like Max, his eyes slide over me. But that's okay.

I try to fire the gun as little as possible. I try to remain invisible. To no avail. Four approaches me and steadies me, makes me fire the gun. Gods, I could hate him for this.

The next day is worse. It's not guns anymore but actual proper hand-to-hand combat. Dear Lord, someone up there really hates me. I'm paired up with Edward which is the only good piece of news. That however turns sour when Eric tells us that the only way out is to knock the opponent senseless. My conviction is complete that I will die a horrible death, but all of a sudden Christina opts out and Eric forces her to hang from the chasm for five minutes.

It's a terrifying five minutes for me even though I am not the one hanging for my dear life over that godforsaken chasm. Luckily, that little sideshow meant that Eric forgot about the other fights and we discontinued from there on.

The image of Christina nearly falling haunts me to bed. I cannot sleep for fear that the next person playing chicken will be me. Statistically speaking, it is highly likely to be me. I sit on my bed, shaking with the thought of the spray of water tickling my toes and my fingers slipping. The thought of Edward standing there, unable to help me as I fall to my watery death. I can't help choking out a gasp.

I know that showing weakness will be my downfall so as quietly as possible, I run out of the room. Out to the darkness of the night. It's about 3 in the morning so even the biggest partiers of Dauntless are tucked away in bed. They dream of freefalling and fighting and all things death-inducing, but they rejoice in that adrenaline rush. I however fear it. I lower myself to the stone step floor and curl up. I try to rationalize that I will survive, that Edward will help me out of this all. That I won't die, die, die, die….

"Myra?" a voice pierces through the night. It startles me and I have to hold back a shriek.

"Myra." The voice comes closer and out of the gloom appears my Edward. I let out a relieved sigh.

"Edward." I say. "You scared me."

He lowers himself gracefully next to me and pulls me close. I didn't realize how cold I was until he shared his warmth. How alone I felt until he gave me his company.

"What's wrong?" he asks. "Are you scared?"

I nod, unwilling to bring my nightmares into reality through words.

"I'll protect you always." He whispers into my ear. He promises things he can never be sure of. I used to love him for his consistency, for his belief that our future consisted of the both of us. But now I am not sure. Dauntless has forced our differences out into the open. He is striding forwards and I am left behind. "I promise." He says, as if hearing my thoughts.

Can you? I think, but do not voice. Are you sure, dark thoughts prickle my conscious. I shake my head and decide what I need is a distraction. "Myra?" Edward asks, unnerved by my silence. He cannot calculate how to react if I say nothing.

I turn my head and pull down his face. I stare into those soulful brown eyes, glimmering with intelligence and kindness. His lips part and his breath warms my cold thoughts. I draw myself close so that our noses are touching, our eyes staring right into each other. "Myra." He whispers, forming my name and breathing it out. "Yes." I murmur back and run my hands through his short brown hair, reveling in its silkiness.

"Nothing." He says and then closes his eyes and presses his lips to mine. I shape mine around his, letting the passion flow. He wraps solid arms around me and kisses me harder. And for this moment, I feel like maybe I can do it. Maybe Dauntless can be faction for me.

I should've known better.

Yes Myra, you should've know. Now it's time for her life to truly spiral out of control.

Please R&R -