I own nothing…

Chapter 3

"The first thing you will learn today is how to shoot a gun. The second thing is how to win a fight." I tell the initiates once they have all arrived. I walk around the room handing guns to each of the initiates. I place a gun in Tris' hand without looking at her, afraid I may linger on her face for longer than I should. "Thankfully, if you are here, you already know how to get on and off a moving train, so I don't need to teach you that."

Out of the corner of my eye I can see Tris looking at the gun. Tris looks at it like it is something she never thought she would ever handle. She appears to understand how dangerous it can be.

None of the other initiates regard the weapons in their hands with the same reverence. They would do well to have the same kind of respect for these weapons as she does.

"Initiation is divided into three stages. We will measure your progress and rank you according to your performance in each stage," I tell them. "The stages are not weighed equally in determining your final rank, so it is possible, though difficult, to drastically improve your rank over time."

I pause and look around at the initiates; most of them appear to still be trying to wake-up despite the dangerous weapons that they are holding. Tris is the only one that reverently holds the weapon, alert and ready for the task that I am going to have them perform.

"We believe that preparation eradicates cowardice, which we define as the failure to act in the midst of fear," I say. "Therefore each stage of initiation is intended to prepare you in a different way. The first stage is primarily physical; the second, primarily emotional; the third, primarily mental."

"But what..." Peter says while yawning. "What does firing a gun have to do with...bravery?"

I'm not sure if it is the fact that he reminds me of Eric or if it is the way he flippantly ignores the dangerous weapon in his hand, but this comment sets me off completely. I flip the gun in my hand, press the barrel to his head, and click the bullet into place. He stops dead in the middle of a yawn.

"Wake. Up," I snap at him. "You are holding a loaded gun, you idiot. Act like it."

I lower the gun from his head. His eyes harden once he realizes that the threat is gone. I have a feeling that I am going to have to beat that look out of him at some point. He thinks he is some kind of bad ass; he has no idea who he is dealing with. He makes no effort to make any more comments. He is lucky that he's learning to keep his mouth shut, especially after speaking his mind his whole life in Candor.

I turn my back to Peter and begin again.

"And to answer your question...you are far less likely to soil your pants and cry for your mother if you're prepared to defend yourself." I stop and turn on my heel once I reach the end of the line. "This is also information you may need later in stage one. So, watch me."

I turn to the targets lining the opposite wall and ready myself. Clutching the gun in both hands, I raise my arms, part my feet, breathe, and fire.

The bullet hit the target dead and center, like usual.

I motion for the initiates to begin practicing and make my way over to the side of the room. I lean against the wall with my arms crossed, and start making observations once the first shot has been fired.

I span up and down the row a couple of times before resting my eyes on Tris. She is so much smaller than the rest of the initiates and is struggling with the weight and kick back from the gun. She squeezes the trigger and the force of the shot catches her off guard. She has to press a hand against the wall to steady herself. I have no idea where her bullet went but it was nowhere near the target. She continues to fire again, and again, and again. Still, none of the bullets hit her target. I get a little worried. If she can't pass the physical part of initiation, she will be factionless in less than two weeks. Then again, I intend on being factionless once initiation is over, maybe that will give me more incentive to leave here. But then again, her success may give me reason to stay.

One of the Erudite born initiates makes a comment about her lack of hitting the target. This angers me for reasons that I don't quite understand. Initiates razzing each other is normal.

I continue to observe the initiates. Bullet holes begin appearing in everyone targets, including Tris'. Sooner than I expected, a bullet plants itself in the middle of her target and I watch as her eyes widen and smiles.

XXX

We break for lunch and the initiates and I head for the dining hall.

"Hey, Four!" Zeke calls.

I grab some food and sit with Zeke, Lauren, and Shauna.

"How are the transfers?" Lauren asks.

"They will get it, eventually." I tell her.

"How about that Stiff, do you really think she is going to get it?" Shauna questions.

I glance over in Tris' direction. She is sitting at a table with Christina, Will, and Al. They are clearly looking over at Edward and his girlfriend kissing. Tris has a familiar look on her face. I smirk, remembering that Abnegation frown upon public affection and their kissing might be a little much for her. Her friends say something to her and her face begins to flush. She is really cute.

"Four… Are you still here?" Shauna snickers looking from me to Lauren.

"What? Yeah!" I say

Shawna and Lauren look at me with a look of knowing. I avert my eyes and continue eating without a word.

XXX

After lunch I lead the initiates to the room where they will begin to learn to fight. Faded black punching bags hang around the room. The initiates each find their place behind a punching bag while I remain standing in the middle of the room, where they can see me.

"As I said this morning," I begin, "next you will learn how to fight. The purpose of this is to prepare you to act; to prepare your body to respond to threats and challenges - which you will need, if you intend to survive life as a Dauntless."

"We will go over technique today," I continue, "and tomorrow you will start to fight each other, so I recommend that you pay attention. Those who don't learn fast will get hurt."

Dauntless is faction that values bravery and pride above all. To survive life as a Dauntless, one simply has to exemplify these values. The leaders now have different stances on how to represent the qualities of a Dauntless, and they believe physical violence is one way. This is the reason that the initiates will be fighting each other tomorrow, to satiate Eric's thirst for blood.

I approach a bag and begin to name and demonstrate a few different punches and kicks, both against the air and the punching bag.

The sound of skin hitting tough fabric fills the room as every initiate tries to imitate my actions. It takes a few tries for everyone to get acquainted with the proper stance and movements, just like it did the guns.

I slowly move around the room while making careful observations of everyone's strengths and weaknesses. Edward, I notice, seems the most comfortable. While everyone else is still familiarizing themselves with the basic movements, he has already mastered a couple of proper punches and kicks. He is strong and very capable; he will do well here if he can also master the mental part of initiation.

I stop in front of Tris and scan her body from head to toe. She has already figured out how to hold her body and the mechanics of throwing a punch and kick, but she is small. She has little muscle and is weaker than the rest of the initiates. If she is going to succeed, she is going to need to figure out how to use other parts of her body to inflict damage on people.

She stops punching and looks at me expectantly waiting for my instruction.

"You don't have much muscle," I tell her, "which means you're better off using your knees and elbows. You can put more power behind them."

I press a hand to her stomach, I don't know what possesses me to touch her, but I can't seem to help myself. She is so small that my hand covers her enter stomach. I can feel her muscles tighten at my touch.

"Never forget to keep tension here," I advise her quietly. I remove my hand and continue my pacing.

This simple touch sent a spark through my hand. I could feel her heart hammering in her chest. I wonder what that means.

The group continues to practice until I released them for dinner. The room clears out fairly quickly.

Eric finds me in the corridor heading toward the Pit. "Four, I'm going to come to the fights tomorrow," he tells me.

Great! Just what I wanted, to spend the morning watching Eric get off on seeing the initiates beating the crap out of each other.

"Fine," I say. "Do whatever you want!"

He smirks and walks away.

I go into the cafeteria and sit with Zeke, Shauna, and Lauren and eat my dinner.

"So Four, any of the transfers natural fighters?" Lauren asks.

"Actually one of the Erudite transfers, Edward. He is strong and already knew how to throw punches and kicks. He has probably already trained to fight. And one of the Candor is also pretty good, though not as good as Edward. The rest of them will get it eventually," I say.

"Lauren, how is Uriah doing?" Zeke asks.

"Zeke, Uri will be fine. Don't worry about him."

I finish my dinner without any more questions about the initiates. I say goodnight to my friends and leave the cafeteria for the night.

I continue down the hall and into the Pit. As I'm walking through, I see Tris and Christina in a clothing shop where Christina clearly has Tris trying on clothes that she is not comfortable with. I can see her staring at herself in a mirror, something that she is not used to doing. She looks beautiful in a black dress that Christina has her wearing. This girl is absolutely breathtaking and she doesn't even know it.

Why am I so captivated by this girl? Yeah she's pretty, but there are other pretty girls in Dauntless and none of them capture my attention like she does. I can't figure it out and it is driving me crazy.

As I'm gazing at the scene in the clothing shop, someone comes up behind me and taps me on the shoulder.

"So Four, you have something to tell me?" asks Shauna.

I start moving toward the chasm and she follows.

"Come on Four, anyone with eyes can see that you are attracted to that girl."

"She is an initiate Shauna, there is no attraction there." I tell her.

Damn it, if Shauna can tell, can anyone else? I hope not.

"You are such a liar, Four!" she says. "Why don't you just talk to her and get to know her?"

"That would be completely inappropriate, Shauna." I say. I lower my gaze at her and growl, "Now just drop it." I walk away to the sanctity of my apartment.