RANK FOUR.

Cal was ranked fourth in a transfer group of eight.

Syn was ranked first.

Ben was ranked second.

Tatum was ranked fifth.

And Sonny, their Amity transfer friend, was ranked seventh. Second to last, right before Caine's fellow Erudite transfer friend - a girl named Zoe.

Cal released her brothers shirt, the black fabric was held in between her fingers in a fit of nerves while she read the list that Four and Eric presented. But Cal was no longer worried for herself, or even Syn. Their spots in stage 2 of initiation were now set in stone. They were going on with their initiation, but Sonny might not be. Not unless the 10 dauntless-born transfers completely failed at their first stage. Unless that happened, Sonny was going to be leaving Dauntless.

Cal's hair tickled her jawline as she looked around the room.

"Sonny?"

Cal saw her through the small crowd, standing on the opposite side of the room by herself. The lanky redhead was breathing heavily, and her eyes were beginning to water. Her hands shook as she held them in front of her mouth and over her freckled nose, trying to hide the surprised 'o' and threatening cries.

"Sonny."

Someone grabs her wrist before she can reach the shaking girl, and Sonny's eyes seemed too engrossed on the leader-board to notice her friends haste and halt. She doesn't have to guess who grabbed her after he begins to speak, his voice high pitched and mocking.

"SHE WAS TOO WEAK TO SURVIVE IN THIS FACTION."

She doesn't think, Cal let's her anger control her next action.

She remembers what Eric taught her, when someone grabs your wrist. One option would be to break his arm, but that was a couple more steps than she was willing to take. So, Cal settled for turning her body - Caine's hold making her wrist turn red with agitation - and used her opposite hand to uppercut. Hitting him right on the underside of his chin.

This caused a horrible domino effect.

Steven, Caine's closest "companion", came running to his defense and roughly shoved Cal backward, causing her to stumble and nearly fall. Ben and Syn stomped forward, grasping Steven before he could continue any further with his assault. Tatum tries to calm the two, pleading with Syn to calm down and begging Ben to help him stop the angry twin. Cal could feel her chest ache where Steven had pushed her, but she had little time to rub her wounds before Caine was after her in a flurry of anger. His lower jaw dribbled with saliva and blood, and he bared his teeth like the dog from the simulation.

RABID. WILD. ANGER.

Cal gasped when Caine grabbed her by her shirt, lifting her off of the ground until the toes of her dirty boots barely scraped the floor. She sucked in a gulp of air when her back smacked against the wall - her head following with a less painful (but still painful) thump.

Caine still held onto her shirt with white-knuckled fists and Cal clawed at his exposed wrists, doing anything she could to get his hands off of her. She lifted her feet, swinging and kicking them against his hips and thighs. He grunted and twitched in pain at her bucking but he didn't budge. Instead, Caine maneuvered himself so he could swing his elbow at her face - cutting into her skin and forming a large gash through her eyebrow.

"ENOUGH."

But Eric's order was ignored, and no one stopped fighting.

Syn against Steven, with Ben and Tatum trying to pull the two apart. Steven swung blindly while Syn - although lanky and lean - landed hard and heavy punches when he could.

Caine held Cal. She kicked and squirmed, but her vision was turning red the more the open wound dripped down her face. Her throat tightened with fear but she kept her teeth bared and her nails sharp as they dug into the skin on Caine's wrist. His forearm moved to her neck, pushing against her throat.

Zoe was sobbing in the background, asking Caine to stop and telling Steven to stop him.

Sonny ran, but no one noticed.

Caine's forearm was only on Cal's neck for a couple of moments before he was roughly yanked off of her. She fell to the floor, coughing and trying to fill her lungs with air again. Caine was groaning at her feet, Eric's foot pressed tightly down on his chest. His cheeks had a slightly flush to them from his growing irritation.

Behind him the fighting had stopped, Four stood between the boys with disheveled hair and a scowl. Next to him, Syn sported a bloody lip and Ben's cheek was pink - turning purple.

"When I say enough," Eric's voice was low, and his lip curled over his teeth in a way that made the hairs on the back of Cal's neck stand with fear. He looked around the room, eying everyone before finishing his sentence while looking at Cal, "I mean enough."

He removed his foot from Caine's chest, causing the male to turn on his side while wheezing. Cal flinched as he strode towards her, yanking her up by her torn shirt and dragging her out of the room without another word. She followed as best she could, tripping and spluttering in pain. She continued to stumble, the blood in her eye didn't lessen when she tried to wipe it away - it only seemed to make her vision worse.

She reached for him, gripping onto his wrist with the hand not bloodied from her brow.

Eric refused to look at her, pulling her away from the room and towards a destination she wasn't aware of. He removed his hand from her shirt and, instead, tugged at her wrist.

She yelped when her foot slipped while they passed the chasm, the water on the rocks making her footing even worse than what it already was.

Cal shut her eyes tightly, her fingers curled around Eric's wrist more firmly.

"I really don't like the idea of babysitting, kitten."

His grip on her waist was tight, and his voice was laced with a settling annoyance.

Cal's heart hammered against her chest and she smacked her lips together. As thankful as she was for him saving her from a hellish beating, the nickname bothered her again. Coming from Eric, hearing babysit and kitten made her feel like a lesser.

Cal belonged in Dauntless, she wasn't a fragile little kitten. She refused to be.

"You could've just let me fall, or just let Caine beat me to a pulp. Wouldn't have to babysit me then, Eric."

When she opened her eyes Eric's face was clouded with a similar anger she had seen in the room just moments ago. Again, he refused to meet her gaze as he lead her forward - but his arm never left her waist, and he continued to help keep her steady until the two were at the Dauntless infirmary.

"What a stupid thing to say."

AUTHORS NOTE

Fights! Cal's temper is short, maybe not as short as Syn's but it's still a pretty short fuse.

Cal isn't good with words, either. She doesn't necessarily think before she does / says.

Thank you RiverRunsDeep for the review!

Thank you for reading!