Dauntless Sweethearts

Chapter Tobiasteen (Four)

For those who have read up till this point prior to my changes, I changed a couple things from when Elsa explains the fights to Tris and Tobias. It's going to be one week of fights like in the actual book, and Max will be sitting in on most of the lessons, not one a week. I'm rereading Divergent due to how long it's been since I last read the series, and I'm still making Max good in this, but there is another story I plan to write that will feature Max as the not so honorable person he is in the books with another leader being the good guy. Also, if anyone hasn't noticed yet, I will not be having any wars happen in any of my fan fictions for this series.

I watch as Tris gets her tattoo wondering if that's really safe for the baby.

Walking around myself, I thought about what I might want to do, if anything. I already knew that I didn't want anything that would be highly obvious, but I thought about what my father had told me about being Divergent. He had told me that he was Divergent, and that it meant that I would be too. Marcus had also told me that people who are Divergent don't belong to just one faction.

I waited until Tris was done, and went to Tori to explain what I had in mind for a tattoo.

It was late when Tori shut off the machine. I apologized for the large size of my chosen markings, but she told me that she didn't mind as it had been a while since she got to do something new.

Back in the initiate dorm, Tris and I took turns changing into sweats for bed each of us holding a blanket up to cover the other. As we drifted off to sleep, I wondered how things were going to be from here on out.

For me, the ink signified all of the things I want to be. I want to be brave and selfless and smart and honest and kind, but I wasn't sure if I could ever live up to that. To others, though, they would simply see my tattoo as getting myself fully immersed in the society of Dauntless.

The next morning, Elsa led us from the training room we were in the day prior to another room with long tubes hanging from the ceiling.

"Today I will be teaching you how to fight and tomorrow, you will all be paired up to do actual fighting."

My sister proceeded to show us some different punches and kicks and wanted us to practice them into the punching bags, as she informed us that the tubes were called.

Elsa walked around giving everyone pointers on their technique. Although I must have learned quicker than most as she only nodded as she passed me. Tris was struggling the most because of her small stature, but even with all the coaching she was given, she just wasn't strong enough; that worried me.

"After lunch, you will resume practicing on the bags, and tomorrow, we will start the fights. Each of you will be paired with a different person each day, and since there is an odd number of initiates, one of you will get the chance to go against me." She looks over at Tris before continuing. "Everyone will be wearing padding, and any blows to the midsection will result in your immediate loss of the match. We will be ranking all of you based on your skill level, and then we will rank you based off of who you beat and who you lose against. Lose to a lower ranked opponent, and your rank will lower, defeat a higher ranked opponent, and your rank will increase."

"Why are we being ranked?" one of the Candor twins asked. I think it was Marcus, but it was hard to tell with how identical the two were.

"The rankings serve the purpose of deciding in what order you will choose your jobs," Elsa pauses and sighs. "There are only so many desirable jobs, and the bottom five to ten initiates will most likely end up guarding the fence."

After her short speech, we are dismissed for lunch. I look at the food that was set out and see another new food for us to try. The Dauntless-Born from the train, Zeke, tells us that it's called roast beef with gravy. There are other foods out that I was sure we could grab too, but Tris wanted to try one thing at a time so that we could find something more nutritious for her to eat without emptying the contents of her stomach.

At first, it seemed that maybe Tris had succeeded, but after about half her plate, she rushed back out. Looking at it, I saw that the mashed potatoes and the vegetables were gone completely, but there were only a few bites out of the meat. Maybe it was just beef that her body had decided she wasn't allowed to eat while pregnant.

I went back to the table of food and served up some fresh food that included pork as I remembered that the first food she had gotten sick on was chicken on the night after the aptitude test.

When she returned, Tris was afraid to try what I had gotten for her, but I told her that it would be best to try and eat so that she wouldn't become weak. She was still nauseous, but this time, at least, Tris didn't have to throw up.