Born to be Dauntless

Chapter 22

When we got back I scavenged some food from the pit and took it with me. I'd found my new favorite spot. It was a ridge next to the chasm. I loved it because it was always quiet there. You had to climb to get there and, because it was slippery because of the chasm, no one followed me there. I sometimes watched people from my spot. Other times I just sat against the rock and got lost in my thoughts.

At some point I noticed that the flow of people changed; usually the people went to the pit at a certain time and after that they just went at random directions. This time after they went to the pit, most of them went the other way in little groups of three to five. I saw that it was getting darker so I decided to head to the training's room.

On my way I had to pass more people then I'd expected. They were all heading in the same direction as me. Wait... are they heading to my fight? No one recognized me so I slipped passed them. When I reached the training's room, it was so crowded that I couldn't get passed them. I tried to spot an opening but there was none.

Just push through.

I began to shove people out of my way. I heard all kinds of unhappy grunts around me but I had to get through so I didn't care. It sort of worked until I was about two meters away from the door. The Dauntless members pushed me back and began to argue.

"You think you can just take our spot? Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"Rogue."

They all stopped and their expression turned from angry into expressionless.

"Oh... You're the one who's going to fight! Epic!" they all said getting excited. They made a tight path for me to reach the door.

The room was nearly empty compared to the hallway. Some 'lucky' members got to stand against the wall of the room but that was the only crowd inside. Gina was already sitting on the plateau and behind her stood Eric. Four and the other instructor were also there. Probably to rate us.

Eric noticed me and began to speak up. "As you've probably heard, we're here to see the fight of the top two initiates!" He motioned for me to come up the plateau and Gina to stand up. "1th place: Gina" he pointed at Gina. "and second place: Rogue!" I noticed that a lot of people cheered for Gina. Also kind of logical. She's lived here her whole life. She probably made some friends and she has parents who also have friends etc. She knows a lot of people here, while I'm just a new orphan.

I'd already analyzed Gina. She was small and fast. It also looked like she could hit pretty hard (or Mason was just being a wimp) and that she liked to use one attack to actually hit with the other one. It was a hard combination to beat but there's always a way.

I also have an advantage; she doens't know how I fight. She wasn't present at any of my fights so the only info she could've gotten was from others, which isn't reliable since people like to exaggerate when they tell a story.

Eric stepped off the plateau and we got into fighting position. Her posture was perfect. So far, no visible weaknesses.

"Fight!"

The Dauntless members cheered for their favorite fighter. Most of them were for Gina but a decent amount of them were for me. As I expected, she tried to draw me out. She didn't know how I'd fight so first you make sure what your opponent can't or can do.

I made an intimidating move towards her without actually hitting her and she spasted out. She sort of dodged it... But without it being effective in any way.

I stifled a laugh and went back to analyzing. She is really nervous. She hardened her jaw and tried to punch me. She aimed for my side. I blocked it but was on high alert for a second attack.