Ordinary Acts of Bravery [A Divergent Fanfic]

Chapter 9 - Coward or not

"Surround yourself with people who are going to motivate and inspire you."

          It had been an unusually quiet day yesterday, so when the familiar banging of metal against metal woke me up the next morning I kinda felt relieved. The soft jerk that I made when waking up, made me grasp my sheets a little tighter before Four's voice disrupted the room. "I want you all in the training room before eight, you have half an hour!"

Without hesitation and much soreness, I rose from my bed, throwing the covers aside even before many of the others began stirring. The climbing yesterday had alleviated some of the soreness and I was ready for a new day, with new challenges. I felt ready for whatever would be thrown at me. And especially what Four was going to throw at me.

"Rox, come on!" I urged her, even poking her arm before throwing the covers off her. She had remained in bed, groaning, and exclaiming that it was too early and that she couldn't get up. The death glare she sent my way only made me smile even wider as I reached for my shoes. When sitting down on the edge of my bed to get them on, she finally left her own bed. Roxy jumped down onto the floor next to me, with the same graceful landing she always had. Though I noted a slight stumble this time.

It took her no less than five minutes to get dressed, and after a quick bathroom break, we quickly headed towards the dining hall. The watch around my wrist had portrayed a quarter to eight when we arrived, leaving us enough time to grab a light breakfast before hurrying towards the training room.

Roxy rubbed the last part of the sleep from her eyes as we entered the training room, only to be greeted by a mischievously looking Eric and an indifferent Four. The look Eric sent me only made me fear what would happen today. Fearing more combat training, I quickly secured all my hair in a ponytail on the top of my head while the last four people arrived. Of course it was Isaac's' gang.

"Today, you will get to put everything you've learnt to the test. Today you will fight each other—properly!" Eric clapped his hands and gestured for us all to follow him to a mat in the middle of the room. It was the biggest and the one Four normally used whenever he needed to show us all something.

Reaching a board to Four, Eric turned back to us again. "You will be scored on these fights, so fight hard!" He smirked. "You will fight until your opponent is rendered unable to continue or is knocked out." Eric's smirk only grew wider at everyone's apparent dismay. "Due to the uneven number, Grace will train by herself." He ended while Four hung the board up for everyone to see.

All had been paired up and when my eyes finally found my name it was next to Sophia's. I felt a twinge of fear course through me while dread settled in my stomach. Sophia was twice the size of me, and much, much stronger than me, and her fighting style was quite brutal on top of that. Roxy wrapped her hand around my shoulder and squeezed tightly for moral support, even she felt the pairing unfair.