The Natural {Divergent | Eric Coulter}

Part I: Chapter 6

"First jumper, last jumper, in the ring." Eric calls out.

The last jumper was a male Amity, skinny as the crops they grew and almost as ugly as Abnegation grey.

We advanced into the ring and I took the same stance as I did yesterday against Eric.

I couldn't deny the nerves building in my stomach, a direct result of my first fight. The awkwardness of the man- no, boy, in front of me helped me regain my confidence, though. He stood with his arms too close to his face, cowardly and shy- two unacceptable qualities here at Dauntless.

"Fight until one concedes," Four says, "You may begin!"

We both know he won't throw the first punch, so I barely hesitate stepping forward and driving my fist into his unprotected stomach. Unlike Eric, who dodged the punch yesterday, he took the punch square in the stomach.

He stumbled forward towards me, clutching his middle.

I sidestep him and grab the back of his hair, pulling him up straight. I throw my whole body into this punch- not just my arm, like the last one, but keep my left hand rooted into the boy's dark curls. My fist hits hard; I can feel his head contract as it pushes against my other hand.

I can already see the intention as I drop him onto the ground- his nose is smashed, and so is a large portion of his forehead.

There's blood everywhere- a dark, clumpy, nasty blood. It covers Amity's face and seeps onto the mat. I feel the warmth of it on my fist long before my eyes finally tear away from the body at my feet.

Holy fuck, I just did that.

A slow clap draws me out of my thoughts. "Sixteen-mother-fucking seconds," Eric says, "I'll be damned."

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"You shouldn't have made him fight me, Eric." The leader plopped his tray down next to mine.

"First and last jumper always fight first, it's tradition," he paused, "and I didn't know it wasn't going to be a beating."

He makes a good point- I wasn't favored by my peers, even over the Amity. But I doubted Eric would care even if he had known what the end result would be.

"When will rankings be announced?"

Eric laughed, "Damn, stiff, you've only been here three days. Chill."

I try to hide my smile behind a glare, but I don't succeed.

"In two days- this Friday. We'll announce them each morning, but we don't know enough yet. You're all close together right now."

"Will we train over the weekend?"

He nodded, "Saturday morning you will, until about 3. But it's something- different. You have Sunday off."

"Cool."

"You got a hot date? I would recommend not getting wasted, Dauntless alcohol will beat you your first time." He teased with a wink.

What is it with this man and winking at me?

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We train with the Dauntless borns, but we don't fight them. Not yet.

The boys from the train are the only ones who I know, and I bet they're the only ones who know me.

Wes just fought, and Mac and Benji each fought this morning. All 3 won their fights.

The Candor, the boy who teased me earlier, and I have the next fight.

I warmed up earlier, but now we're all watching the current fight. There's an Amity girl, Rose, who won't last long. The Erudite boy is beating the crap of her, but she's an easy win. Not only are her punches weak, she refuses to throw one at a moving target- aka, any of us.

And it's quickly pissing Eric off.

The nose lands another punch before Eric calls out.

"Stop! Get on your damn feet, hippie. Stiff, come here."

Excuse me, what?

As I approach him, his hands grab mine and pin them behind me.

"Hey, asshole, quit it," I groan and try to push him off.

"Shut up, Stiff," he says, grabbing my hair to pull me back.

"Alright, Amity," Eric says, "Hit her."

Dammit Rose.

"Hit her, Amity," he growls again. "Hit her!" 

Here, only a few feet away, I can see the fear in her eyes. She won't do it. She isn't Dauntless. 

Rose seems to come to this same realization as she stumbles backwards, shaking her head. "No."

"No?"

Oh, she's so screwed.

"No."

After a moment of consideration, Eric shoves me out of the way and crosses his arms.

"Get out." His voice is low and animalistic.

"Ex- excuse me?" Rose is shaking.

"You heard me. Out."

She starts to cry and drops to her knees.

Quit fucking stuttering and fight him on it. Stupid Amity.

He radios something into the watch he wears, and two guards appear a few seconds later.

Eric motions to the crying girl, and the men each pick an arm and hoist her up and out of the training room.

23 initiates.

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oop.

published Oct 30, 2019

updated Sept 25, 2023