Chapter 28

(Four's POV)

Uriah, Christina, Tris and I were standing in a line when the first of the initiates walked in. When the last ones scrambled in, Uriah took a step forward. I saw Tris smile when the light glinted off the metal band around his finger, one that Marlene matched.

"This is the last day of Stage Two. Then, you'll get a break day tomorrow, and the day after that will be Stage Three. Today, we'll be doing something different. Except for the top six initiates, you all are required to go through the Simulation one more time for Stage Two. For the top six, it is optional. You can choose to get more practice, or train with Six and Four. Just because you're not testing your mind doesn't mean you can't train your body. Questions?" Uriah asked.

The initiates all mutely shook their head.

Tris and I walked to the Training Room, all of the Top Six tagging along behind us, as the rest stayed with Uriah and Christina. I tried to walk a little slower, because even though Tris no longer showed a limp, I knew she tired easily on that leg.

The heavy, metal door clanged opened as Tris and I walked in. The room was (mostly) empty, thankfully.

"Tori!" Tris yelled out happily, increasing her stride slightly to reach the tattoo artist standing in front of one of the knife-throwing lanes.

"Hey, Tris," Tori said, without looking, as she threw the last knife, which landed firm and true. She faced Tris. "How's everything going?"

"It's all going well, thanks," Tris responded with a smile. Lately, she hadn't had a chance to talk to Tori, and I knew that she had missed her. "Actually, Four and I were going to train these initiates a little bit right now. They all scored well for Stage Two, so we thought it'd be more productive to train them physically. Wanna help?"

"Sure," Tori replied, walking over to where the six initiates and I stood.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce me?" Tori asked, crossing her arms.

"Mmm, no, I think they all know who you are, thanks to Tris here," I replied, with a wry smile.

"Great, so, I just finished with knives, and I want to do something different..." she trailed.

"Let's do King of the Ring!" Skye suggested enthusiastically. I heard Alyssa cough, and Skye added, "Or, uh, Queen of the Ring."

I looked at the six of them, and none of them had any real objection. I shrugged, "Sure, why not? Let's start with Snow and Jess. Winner fights..." I scanned their faces. "Ivy."

Snow smiled at Jess as they walked into the ring. "You may be Dauntless-born, but I intend to win, you know."

Jess smiled back. "I don't intend to lose, either." With the last word barely out of her mouth, she lunged forward with a jab, hoping to catch Snow unawares.

I smiled inwardly, knowing that while the thought was on the right track, it seldom worked in a fight where both people knew they were fighting.

After a few quick back and forths, Snow had Jess' arm pulled behind her, and, after holding it for three seconds, she released it.

Ivy walked up, and Snow was wise to have a wary look on her face. Within minutes, Ivy had bested her. "Try to avoid exposing your side so much," she advised the girl, before turning to where the other four stood, and called up Blade.

Tris leaned a little closer to me and whispered, "It's refreshing to see the Dauntless-born initiates actually helping the transfers rather than avoiding them, don't you think?"

I nodded, and watched Blade try in vain to hit Ivy. There was no denying that both had good technique and form, and that Blade's strength greatly outmatched Ivy's. However, as I told Tris countless times, speed more than made up for strength. What was the point in being strong, if you could never land a hit?

A few minutes later, Ivy proved why she was ranked higher than him, and Blade walked out of the training room, a little miffed that he'd been bested by a tiny girl.

Alyssa walked into the ring, and I winced a little. Both girls hated to lose. I wouldn't be surprised if the fight lasted longer than any of the others' did. Ivy had the advantage of knowing more techniques, but Alyssa, unlike Ivy, was not breathing hard.

I supposed I underestimated how winded Ivy was from fighting Blade and Snow consecutively, because Aly managed to win the fight.

"To say I'm disappointed would be lying, since I'm really not. That girl fights well!" Tori commented, leaning on the wall next to Tris and me.

"I know! And she was from Amity too!" Tris remarked. "You know what they say: where there's a will, there's a way. She got Skye to help her out with fighting, which explains her rapid progress a little."

Tris quieted down, though, when Skye prowled up to Alyssa.

She tilted her head at a jaunty angle.

"What's that smirk for, Aly?" Skye asked, acting unimpressed. "You haven't won, you know."

"Oh, but we all know that I'm going to!" she purred, eyes glinting.

"In your dreams," he replied, quietly enough that I almost didn't catch it. And then the two were circling, eyes never leaving the opponent, until Alyssa saw an opening and went in. Turns out, it was a fake, and from there, they fought up close.

"He turns too much when he does a reverse punch," Tris murmured to me.

"I've noticed." I turned to look at her. "You've gone really far from this time last year and now, you know."

She looked at me and smiled. "Only because I had a fantastic instructor."

"Well, I hear that instructors tend to have more of a motive to teach well when they feel connected to their student," I smirked.

"Oi! You two, break it up!" Tori whisper-yelled. "You're supposed to be watching these two, you know!"

Tris turned faintly pink, and we turned back to Skye and Alyssa, who were still exchanging attacks. Alyssa tripped suddenly, and before she knew it, it was all she could do to keep from being overwhelmed with attacks.

"C'mon Aly!" Snow cheered, her tiny fists pumping, eyes excited. "You can do it!"

"Almost there, Skye!" Ivy yelled at almost the exact same time. "Get her!"

Before the last word left her mouth, Skye had Aly on the floor, a knee on her chest.

"I think I won this round... wouldn't you agree?" Skye smirked.

Alyssa breathed deeply, muttering, "Sure." Skye then released her, and gave her a hand up. Tris quietly let out an "Awww", which I promptly ignored.

"Hey, kiddo, you winded at all?" Tori called out to Skye.

I looked at her, confused. Alyssa wasn't an easy opponent to fight, but someone as skilled as Skye wouldn't be breathing heavily at the end of the fight, and Tori knew that.

Skye shook his head confidently.

"Then you won't mind going against us three, right?" Tori smiled. "How can we really crown you King of the Ring if you can't hold up against us?"

Alyssa frowned, still standing next to Skye. "But you're instructors, aren't you?"

Tori held in a chuckle. "Nah. I'm actually a tattoo artist. But..." Tori cocked her head slightly. "If Skye's too afraid to fight me..."

I sighed, even as I saw Tris' eyes dance with laughter. As a teenage boy, there was very little chance that Skye would pass up the fight, now that his pride was on the line- especially in front of his friends and Alyssa. You couldn't just back off from a fight in front of your girlfriend, now could you?

"Oh, you wish I would say no, Tori," Skye grinned as Alyssa stepped back to give Tori room. Jess, Ivy, Snow, and Alyssa formed a circle around the two, and Tris tugged me forward so that we stood with them, around the two Dauntless.

"This should be interesting," I murmured to Tris.

Fifteen minutes later, and the two were still going at it, going in and exchanging a few attacks before moving back again.

"Hurry up, Skye!" Jess complained.

Tris looked at her and cheered on her favorite tattoo artist. "Let's go, Tori!"

Finally, Tori was lying on her back, gasping in air, as Skye hit her with a perfectly timed punch to her solar plexus.

Skye had taken a few hits too, and once Tori conceded, Alyssa rushed forward to examine his cheekbone, where Tori had clipped him some time during the fight.

"I'm fine, Aly," Skye said, exasperated. "It was just a punch."

Alyssa glared at him. "I don't care, it looked painful."

Tori stood up just then, having caught her breath sufficiently. She clapped Skye on the back, and said, "Nice punch, kiddo. How did you get so good?"

Skye smiled. "At least you were a better opponent than Aly here," he said, to which Aly replied by swatting his arm.

"Oi, leave the girl alone. She just transferred here, and she's ranked second too!" Tori came to Aly's defense.

Skye sighed playfully. "Well, I'm a little tired after that, and I want to rest." He turned to face Tris and me. "Please, o great instructors, give us ten minutes off?"

Tris looked at him, unimpressed. "And since when has flattery worked on us?"

"Well, it's time for Lunch anyway, so..." I laced my fingers through Tris'. "Let's grab something to eat really quickly, and drop something off for Uriah and Christina."

The initiates nodded, walking with us to the cafeteria.

Tris squeezed my hand, and I squeezed back, gently.

Maybe this year's initiation wasn't so bad, after all.

After Lunch, we all piled into the Simulation Room that Uriah and Christina were using.

Only a few people remained, and the six initiates that had tagged along with Tris and me this morning hung around outside as Tris and I walked into the actual Simulation area.

Tris handed Christina a hamburger, and gave Uriah the (huge) slice of chocolate cake.

"Yay!" he said happily, before digging into the cake.

"Uh... Uriah? Can you at least pretend to focus on the kid here?" I asked. Last year, I'd always looked at Uriah with a bit of annoyance. His constant enthusiasm and cheer just didn't suit me all that well. Or so I believed, anyway, because now, it was hard to imagine Dauntless without the ever happy leader-in-training, who might actually lead Dauntless in the right direction.

I turned to Tris, and saw a grimace on her face. Half a second later, I understood why.

We were witnessing Hestia's simulation.

Now, instead of the usual fear of being ugly, the screen displayed... Me?

Huh. It looked like I was rejecting her, and she was crying hysterically.

I looked at Tris, who looked at Uriah, who looked at Christina, who then looked at me. A heartbeat passed, and we all burst out laughing.

Unfortunately, Hestia chose this moment to calm down and wake up from the Simulation.

"Oh! Four, you're here!" she squealed, somehow immediately clinging to my bicep, and digging her nails in.

Tris firmly pried each finger off, glaring at Hestia through it all.

"Daaamn," Uriah sang, laughing nervously. "Hestia... You better run! Tris is out to get youuuu!"

She took a look at Tris' face, which was filled with animosity, and took off, with a last, longing-filled glance at me.

After stumbling into the wall, since she was looking back, she fumbled and found her way out of the small room.

A few seconds of silence reigned, and Christina blinked.

"How have you not scared her into submission yet, Tris?" Christina asked incredulously.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. It's really awesome that you guys still read my work :') *happy tear* I'm sorry that this one was so short ;-;

Thanks especially to TooManyBooks7, Digidestined and DauntlessDivergent, as well as Factionb4blood, and ArstsyDoll01. You guys (and everyone else who reviewed- guests included) are the reason why I keep writing...

~myperfectionismyimperfection