Broken, But Brave

Chapter 4: Welcome to Dauntless

"Easy Izzy. It's 6am. Save some energy for the rest of us." 

"Sorry. I'm just excited and nervous. And I'm no stranger to early mornings, wakeup call is 4am in Amity." 

"And somehow you're the faction of kindness? I think I'd be the meanest person ever if I had to wake up and farm at 4am every day."

"Well, I have a feeling this is going to become a regular thing, so you better either get used to it or be prepared to become a total bitch." 

Annabelle couldn't help but laugh out loud at Izzy's words, mostly because they were likely to become true. But the sudden appearance of Four and Eric quieted everyone from their tired groaning pretty quickly. 

"Alright. Like we said yesterday, first stage of training is physical. We will teach you how to fight and how to handle weaponry, but first, you all need to build up your strength and stamina. So, to start us off, give me five laps around the Pit." 

The chorus of groans left the lips of every initiate present, including Annabelle, but Four was having none of it. 

"Now, before I make it ten!" 

Needing no further convincing, the transfers all hurried to fall in stride around the Pit's perimeter and gave Four the laps he required. It was in this moment that Annabelle realized how grateful she was for all those years in her childhood running through the fields when her father was at work. She was a little less grateful for the moments she'd have to run between Abnegation and the city center for help when he beat Tobias, but nevertheless, the practice seemed to serve her well today. At the completion of the laps, everyone was hunched over and gasping for air or chugging as much water as possible before their next assignment. Yet Annabelle felt as though she'd barely broken a sweat. She was just in the middle of teasing Damien for his struggling when a distinct voice sounded from behind her. 

"Still weirdly good at running it seems." 

With a sharp roll of her eyes, Annabelle turned to face Eric who stood at a fair distance behind her, a soft smile on his face in hopes of softening Anna's demeanor towards him. 

"What can I say? I got even better at it this last year." 

Immediately, Eric's smile faltered and filled with shame and guilt. It only lasted for a moment though to keep the other initiates from noticing before he returned to his cold and stoic demeanor, becoming completely unreadable to everyone once again, including Anna.

"Alright. Everyone around the fighting ring. Quickly." 

At the sound of Four's voice barking orders again, Annabelle turned back towards one of the sparring mats at the center of the Pit. To the side, Max pulled forward a screen with all of the initiates names in pairs. 

"Sparring matches. Just to see where everyone is at on an individual level. You will still be scored on this, so give it your best shot. And remember, no conceding." 

"First pairing is our first jumper, Annabelle, and last jumper, Scott." 

From the other side of the ring, Annabelle watched her opponent approach the ring, an arrogant smirk on his face. Scott was big, well over six feet tall and had a decent amount of muscle already on his person, but if Annabelle had learned one thing in the past year, it was that size did not matter. With a smirk of her own, Annabelle jumped into the ring, being sure to chalk up her hands and feet as she did so. She caught Eric and Tobias each tense from the side of the ring, clearly concerned with this particular pairing that Max had set up, but both knew better than to speak out of turn. 

"Whenever you're ready." 

From his side of the ring, Scott took a couple of harsh steps forward as a means of intimidating Annabelle, but the girl remained calm and collected as she waited for her opponent to make an actual first move.