Venus Eaton is desperate to escape the abuse of her previous faction although she is unaware and unprepared of the ordeals of Dauntless initiation. She is a stranger to her own brother until he accuses her of murdering their mother, and finds out th...
"when it comes to fighting, there is no honor, no code."
-12:02 0504
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VENUS
I CAN'T believe I'm fighting against one of the strongest boys in initiation. His name is Rhett Morley, a former Erudite, and I've seen him hanging around Peter Hayes. Both of them look brutal, and a part of me knows I'll never win the fight.
Our fight is last, so I have to watch six brutal fights before it's my turn. I pick up on some good battle moves and tactics and cover my eyes when Tris loses to a bulky girl with a bulbous nose.
Just before Harmonie goes up for her fight against Lucy, she nudges my shoulder, pointing across at one of the girls that stood next to Rebecca at breakfast yesterday.
"Emily's fighting Rebecca's sister." She tells me, and I find Emily's name on the board next to Kathleen. I thought Rebecca had similarities to that girl, Kathleen, and I was right. They're related. "Rebecca is Kathleen'older sister. Rebecca has already finished initiation, so that age gap between her and Eric isn't that large-"
"Woah, woah... how'd you know all this?" I ask, tilting my head to one side.
Harmonie shrugs. "They were both in Amity. Rebecca is kinda sweet, but Kathleen... well, let's just say she isn't as sweet."
Just as she is about to walk onto the platform, I call out, maybe a little bit too loud. "The scary two year age gap, right?"
She glances over her shoulder at me, with a little giggle. "The scary Dauntless leader, right?" My cheeks turn a dark shade of pink.
Harmonie wins against Lucy and Emily loses against Kathleen. Harmonie was right; Kathleen isn't a very nice girl. It didn't take many punches to knock Emily down.
Now it's my turn.
I'm slightly put off by the way Rhett keeps looking at me, like he's gonna kill me, but I can't let that happen. I've got to show that I'm not weak, and the only way to do that, is by winning this fight.
Otherwise, I'll probably be Factionless by the end of the stage. My ranking is terrible. I'm far under the red line.
We prowl around each other, our fists raised. I scan Rhett's posture, looking for any advantages. He's bulky and broad-shouldered whilst I am not, which could mean he's slower than me. But fuck it, what do I know? I guess I'll have to wing it and see how I do.
Is it a mistake coming to Dauntless?
My fist collides with Rhett's face. For a moment, he clutches his nose, and I let out a shaky breath.
No. I'm sure it isn't.
Before I can defend myself, I'm shoved to the ground. Rhett pins my hands above my head, using his other hand to punch me. In the face, in the head and I let out a cry of pain, squirming furiously in his grip.
Bringing up my leg, I knee him in the groin. He contains his pain, letting a small grunt escapes his lips. His grip slacks on my wrists and I wriggle free, pushing him away and rolling to my feet.
I shouldn't doubt myself, as I wipe the blood from my nose with the edge of my hand. Rhett is still trying to get to his feet when I run into him, elbowing him in the gut. He doubles over, grinding his teeth together, although I don't know how I never see his coiled fist swinging toward me.
I fall to the ground with a thud.
I don't know where he hit, but it hurts so much I can't move. I stay where I am, laying on my side, breathing through my nose as black spots dwindle in the corners of my vision.
No. I can't fail. I can't let myself look weak. I can't fail this easily.
Ignoring the shooting pains in my chest I push my self to my feet, only to see Rhett charging toward me at full speed. I let out a cry of pain as I collide with the ground again, bashing my head against the concrete, trying to fight off his punches with my hands although it just makes everything even worse. His fist collides with my temple, with my eyebrow, and every time he punches my head slams against the platform. I let out a cry.
I hear Emily yelling something, like make it stop! and Christina joins in with her. I wonder what Four is doing to stop this. I wonder where Eric is. I can't see anything out of my peripheral vision, all I can see are black splotches and Rhett's face and his fist as blood trickles down my eyebrow and I wheeze when I breathe.
I watch as Rhett lifts his foot. Everything is in slow motion, I try to pull myself further away from him with the last of my strength, but he proceeds to kick me. Instead of his foot hitting my face it hits my torso, and I crawl onto my hands and knees, spluttering, trying to regain my breath.
"That's enough." I hear a sharp voice, my hands trembling, unable to hold myself up anymore. Breathing rattles my chest and I let out a whimper as I see Eric hovering over me, his eyes dark.
"Is that all you've got?" He snaps, disdain crossing his features. Tears build in my eyes, but I can't risk crying. It'll turn into that awful, ugly crying; the kind where you can't catch your breath, and that'd probably kill me right now. The urge to cry turns my throat hoarse and my vision starts to sway.
"I said, is that all you've got?" Eric raises his voice, and I sniffle a little. I break into an outburst of coughing, raising one of my hands to my mouth, tears blurring my vision until I can't see anything. I hear a worried remark from Christina and a snicker from Rhett or Peter, I can't make out who it is, they both sound the same.
Eric reaches to grab my arm but just as his fingertips skim my skin I collapse onto my side, and my vision caves in.
