AN: Happy New Year! Thanks for all your reviews, and welcome to the new followers :) I look forward to continuing on this journey with you all this year! Happy reading :)
Chapter 5
Despite her racing mind, Tris fell asleep before she'd been in bed for five minutes, and slept soundly all night.
She was not plagued with nightmares about drowning, she was simply too tired to even dream.
When she awoke the next morning to the sound of an alarm she hadn't set, she felt refreshed.
"Who set that alarm?" Christina groaned, sitting up, hair tousled. It appeared as though she had tossed and turned a little in the night.
"I think it came from a speaker in the room," Tris mused, throwing off her covers and getting up. "I guess they want to make sure we're up in time for training."
"Please tell me it doesn't sound on weekends at least," Christina said hopefully.
Tris opened a dresser in her drawer and looked in at her identical uniforms.
She picked one up and held it, looking at it. As soon as she put it on, she would really feel like a Dauntless agent in training.
Tris peaked over her shoulder and saw that Christina was dressing silently. She really didn't appear to be a morning person.
Tris faced her wall, squelched her hatred of changing with anyone around, and threw on her clothes as quickly as possible.
Just as she was about to throw her hair up into a quick bun Christina said, "Wait! Let me do it."
Tris smiled and sat on the edge of her bed compliantly.
Christina quickly did Tris's long hair into a neat, thick braid that fell half way down her back.
"Food time," Christina declared. "I will feel more human after I've got some food in me. If I can't get a good cup of coffee I might just cry."
Tris chuckled and the two of them made their way to the dining hall, picking up Will and Al along the way.
"How are we supposed to know where to go or at what time?" Al mused over their breakfast. "Harrison didn't tell us last night, and that alarm just woke us up with no warming."
"They seem to like to keep us on our toes that way," Christina said wryly, much happier as she had found bountiful quantities of coffee.
"I'm going to guess we'll just get an announcement over that speaker system, like after dinner yesterday," Will guessed.
"You will," a voice said, sliding into the seat next to Tris.
"Tori!" Tris exclaimed in happy surprise. "I was hoping to see you again."
"This is part of my job, the whole recruiting process," Tori replied. "Who are you friends? They all must have seen other agents after their first meeting."
"This is Christina, she's my room mate. And this is Will and that's Al," Tris supplied. "We're all being trained by Four."
"You know, you might envy the group being trained by Eric, because they seem to have the advantage with family members in Dauntless," Tori began. "But you definitely have the better instructor. Four may be intimating, but he's one of our very best."
"Oh, please adopt us and be our guide to all things Dauntless," Christina exclaimed impulsively.
Tori smiled in gentle amusement and replied, "I'm happy to answer any questions you have. Come find me whenever. When I'm not on assignment, during the training period, I work in the gym. You can usually find me there. Or just message me. Your new cells have any contact details within Dauntless that you will need, including mine."
"Can you tell us anything about what to expect this morning?" Al asked hopefully.
"Be prepared for anything," Tori said with a smile. "That's all I'm saying."
Tori chatted with them for a little while, until, as predicted, the speaker came to life.
"New recruits, training commences at 8 a.m. Do not be late. Four's recruits are to gather on the 9th floor in room 3, and Eric's recruits are to go to the 9th floor, to room 6."
"Let's get going, it's already 7.40," Tris said, standing. There was no way she wanted to be late.
"No, I'm finishing my coffee first. I have a few more minutes," Christina said firmly. "You go ahead."
"I'll come with you, Tris," Al offered, standing as well.
Tris smiled gratefully – she didn't really want to make her way to their first day of training alone. And Al seemed really nice, unlike that Peter.
As they walked, Tris looked up at Al and said, "You're really tall," suddenly struck by his immense height.
"Yep, I've always been taller than everyone else. I don't always feel taller though," Al replied.
"Well, maybe that's something they'll teach us," Tris suggested.
"Yeah, maybe," Al agreed. "Your hair looks nice like that."
"Oh, uh, thanks. Christina did it," Tris said disinterestedly. She did not want to dwell on what appeared to be a compliment, even if Al seemed nice. She didn't want to pursue anything romantic at the beginning of training. She would have to be careful and try and nip anything in the bud. Perhaps she should have just gone alone to the training room.
They continued on in silence reaching the room a few moments later.
To Tris's surprise, Four was already there. To her greater surprise, she was relieved. She wasn't enjoying the tension that had suddenly sprung up between her and Al.
Tris found herself walking to the front of the room and approaching Four.
"What are those targets for?" she asked.
"Target practice," he answered, with a shadow of a smile.
Tris smothered a sigh and persisted, "What are we going to be aiming at them?"
"Today, guns," Four replied. "By the time you've finished training, you should be able to shoot an apple off someone's head at 100 feet. Take a seat, we'll start in a minute."
With that Four walked off and left Tris standing there, mind racing.
Christina walked up and said curiously, "What were you talking about with Four?"
"I just asked what we're doing today," Tris replied.
"And he didn't bite your head off?" Christina asked.
"He doesn't seem to mind questions," Tris replied.
Before too long, Four had handed each recruit a hand gun, and they were lined up, one to each target.
"This morning, you will have your first lesson in shooting a gun. This afternoon, you will begin training in hand-to-hand combat," Four said commandingly.
At this, Peter snorted, as if learning these to shoot and fight was beneath him.
"Do you already know how to do these things, so well that you could take down anyone?" Four asked Peter, his voice dangerously calm.
"I just don't see the point of starting with this. Aren't there more important things to learn?" Peter asked in a bored tone.
Four suddenly raised his arm and fired one, two, three, four bullets, straight into the dead centre of the target.
Peter flinched at the noise, as Four stood right next to him as he fired.
"If you don't think that being able to do that is not important, leave now," Four said dangerously. "Being an agent isn't about knowing the most, or high-tech gadgets. If you don't have the physical capabilities and knowledge needed to be an agent, there's no point in moving on to training you in other areas. So, let's see what you've got."
Four stared expectantly at Peter, his eyes never wavering.
Peter raised his gun, braced himself, and tried to appear confident.
His first bullet missed the target completely. His next three hit near the outer edge.
Four simply looked at Peter in disgust, then said, "The rest of you, begin."
Tris held her gun in her hand, focusing at the cool, hard, heaviness of it. She'd never held a gun before. Her family had never had one, her father did not like them. He hated all violence, especially seeing what it could do to people, as a doctor.
Tris looked at the target, raised her arm, braced herself, and prepared to pull the trigger.
She squeezed, tentatively at first, then firmly, and noise exploded around her.
The force of the gunshot caught her off guard, almost knocking her off her feet. She looked around. Everyone else seemed to have stayed mostly firm. Perhaps her small size would be a disadvantage. Her bullet certainly had missed the target.
Still, she steadied herself, and took aim again, determined to do better, to hold her own, and to prove to herself, more than anyone else, that she could do it.
Her next bullet hit the target, but barely.
Driven by determination, Tris fired round after round, until she regularly hit the middle of the target. This brought her a sense of accomplishment. She was on her way to being a Dauntless agent.
Tris took aim again, but before she could fire, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
Four.
"You're relying too much on your upper body to support you," he said, sliding his hand down from her shoulder to the middle of her back. "You need to support yourself with your core."
He placed his other hand on her stomach, putting light pressure to indicate what she needed to change.
A tingle shot up Tris's spine at his touch, but she ignored it, focusing on his words.
Tris made the recommended changes, and found they improved her technique immediately.
When it was time to break for lunch a little while later, she was almost sorry, but the aching in her arms was enough to make her glad to give up the rhythm she had got in to.
As they sat down to lunch, all looking a little tired, Al said, somewhat nervously, "What do you think he meant by hand-to-hand combat?"
"I would assume we're going to learn to fight," Will deduced confidently.
"Well, of course," Al snapped. "But who?"
"Each other?" wondered Christina.
"We'll find out soon enough," Tris said tiredly.
"If you tell anyone, like that snake Peter, that I said this, I'll deny it, but my arms have never been so sore," Will disclosed. "I'm not even going to explore my new phone, just to conserve my strength."
The others chuckled, but were definitely in agreement.
"I must say I enjoyed watching Four tell Peter off," Christina announced. "I just hate that guy."
"There is something detestable about him," Tris agreed. "I don't know enough about the others to pin them just yet."
"Edward is dating Myra," Will supplied. "I bumped into him in the showers, and in the brief time we have shared together, he could not shut up about her. I might stab him with a fork if he keeps it up."
"I don't like the look of that girl, Molly," Al said quietly. "She's practically as big as me, and she always seemed to look like she's ready to kill someone."
"Maybe she is," Christina joked.
A quiet settled over them as they all released that they would probably end up killing someone, at some point, in their new line of work.
After they had finished eating, Tris stood and said, "I'm going to head to the bathroom before the afternoon session. See you guys there."
She hurried off, made a quick stop at the nearest bathroom, and headed back to the training room, as per the post lunch break instructions given by Four.
She found the training room empty, but she was only alone for a handful of seconds.
"Early again," Four commented.
"Habit," Tris replied simply.
"Why?" Four asked.
"I was always early to class, I never really had anyone to delay me," Tris answered honestly.
Four nodded, as if he understood, which puzzled Tris.
Four was popular, and always with friends, and with good reason. He was talented, good looking, and there was just something about him that drew you to him. Or at least, something drew Tris to him.
"I see the targets have been replaced by punching bags," Tris commented. "So I guess we're not fighting one another."
"Not today, you're not," Four answered, a little grimly.
The rest of Tris's recruit class came in all in a bunch then, and Tris joined her peers.
"This afternoon you will learn the basics of hand-to-hand combat," Four began. "Tomorrow, you will be using these skills to fight one another. Pay attention today or tomorrow will not go well for you. The outcome of your fights will be recorded and taken into account for your ranking. There will be several rounds of fighting to determine your skills against different opponents."
A little murmur ran around the room. Fighting one another? The thought caused a range of emotions from curiosity, to anxiety, to exhilaration, depending on the recruit.
Their afternoon was spent using punching bags, learning to kick and punch, to duck and weave. They did not use gloves. They would not be using gloves tomorrow, and they would not be using gloves in the field. The purpose of learning to train that way was to best equip them for what they would face in the field.
Tris's hands, and everyone else's hands, were red and stinging by the end of their session. Her muscles ached, including several muscles she never had known she had. They had only learnt basic moves, the rest was supposed to be instinctive. Instincts and a little bit of knowledge were supposed to be the best combination, according to Four.
He had helped each person individually, stopping with Tris and saying, "You have a good level of fitness, but not much muscle. In a fight, your best advantage will be to use your knees and elbows. You can get quite some force by using them in the right situation."
By the end of the day, all of the new recruits felt, and looked, tired.
They had just made it through dinner when Al said suddenly and determinedly, "I want a tattoo."
"What?" Tris said, surprised.
"Haven't you noticed that everyone around here seemed to have at least one tattoo or piercing," Al pointed out.
"Well, yes," Tris replied. Thinking specifically of the dark marking she had seen peaking out of Four's shirt neckline when they had talked before the afternoon session.
"Well, I want one. I heard that they actually have a tattoo parlour in here, with an agent who is a trained tattoo artist," Al told them.
"We'll come find it with you," Christina said, apparently deciding for them all.
Will, struck by an idea, pulled out his new phone, and within a few minutes, had found out where to find the tattoo parlour, and the four of them made their way there.
AN: Thanks for reading :) I'll post a new chapter within the next week.
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