At Peace: A Tobias and Tris Fanfiction ®

Chapter 4: Stage one

I wake up to the sound of a razor. The bathroom door is open and I can see Tobias attempting to shave the stubble from his face. I walk up next to him silently, and smile in the mirror.

"Morning." He says.

"Good morning." I reply and rest my head on his shoulder. He sets down the razor and puts an arm around my shoulders.

"I'll go get ready." I say, and walk to the dresser. I pull out a pile of black clothes and slip them on. Tobias wears a black tee shirt and jacket. He grabs my hand and leads me out the door to deal with the initiates. Today we start stage one. 

I keep silent as we slowly walk to the initiate dorms. 

"You okay?" He finally asks.

"Mmhm." I reply. When we arrive at the dorms, Four opens the door.

"Get up! Stage one is today, see you in the training room in two minutes!" He yells.

Then we leave and wait in the training room. We have only two minutes to talk to each other. Two minutes until Four and Six come out, and Tris and Tobias leave.

We sit on a bench while we wait. Its very dimly lit here, it brings back bad memories. 

"Do you want to pair them up for fighting or should I?" I ask.

"You can."

I write pairs down on the white board on the wall to my right.

SAGE(Candor) VS. DALTON(Erudite)

JOHN(Candor) VS. ANDREW(Amity)

LINDA(Erudite) VS. LUKE(Erudite)

JODIE(Amity)VS. MYA(Candor)

JACOB(Candor) VS. JENNA(Erudite)

Then the initiates come in. Four stands up and explains the rules.

"Today you will be learning how to fight. Six has chosen pairs. The rules are simple. The first one unconcious loses. You cannot give up. Sage and Dalton, are you ready?" Four asks.

"Yep." Sage replies. Dalton nods.

The two step up on the mat. Dalton is the first to make a move. He effectively swings a punch targeted at Sage's jaw. She falls, but bounces back up ready to continue. I can see blood on her ear, good. She attempts to kick Dalton, but he grabs her ankle and she falls on her back. Dalton kneels over her and punches her again and again. She is screaming now. Blood  covers her nose and chin. Dalton stands up and helps her to her feet, only to deliver a blow to the stomach. She falls and closes her eyes. Four drags her off the mat and instructs Jacob to take her to the hospital.

Next is John and Andrew. Andrew is small and weak. John is only slightly larger, his near-white hair, messed up. They spend ages circling each other.

"Today!" I shout

Andrew kicks at John's leg, evidently trying to knock him down. John punches him in the nose, hard. Andrew stumbles back, but John kicks him hard in the stomach. Andrew pukes all over the floor next to the mat. He looks at Four and I.

"That is no excuse to quit! Keep going!" Four yells.

John whispers something to Andrew, and he nods. John punches him in the side of the head and Andrew, falls on the floor and pretends to be unconscious. Four helps me drag him over to the corner.

"Maybe you should practice acting, Andrew." I whipser to him.

The next fights go by quickly, and I tune them out. Linda, Mya, and Jacob won their match. I send the initiates to their dorm. That's when Sage comes back. Her face is swollen up and her nose is crooked. I smile. She walks over to me.