Dauntless Sweethearts

Chapter Tristeen (Four)

My first fight was against Marcus, and even though I knew that it wasn't my father, seeing the name on the board next to mine sent a jolt of fear down my spine.

"Remember that it's not him," Tris said beside me. "It looks like I start against Elsa."

My sister stands in front of us covered in padding. She tells us all to find the right size for each of us at the table behind her and get ready.

Once everyone was situated, Elsa calls Tris into the circle where we are supposed to fight. The rules were simple, fight until one can't continue, or they concede. Elsa and Tris started us off, and although Tris did better than expected, but my sister still won the match.

My fight was set to be the last one of the day which gave me more time to dread the name of my opponent. By the time it reached my turn, I was so nervous, I stumbled into the circle.

At first I just kept dodging punches keeping an eye on his movements  to find a weak spot. He eventually catches me off guard and pulls me into a choke hold. I flail about trying to figure out what to do, and as dak spots start to cloud my vision, some sort of primal instinct takes over and I elbow him in the head. He falls to the ground and we both get back up. I decide to try and start the attack this time aiming for his exposed chin. With an uppercut, I find my hand hitting flesh, and Marcus goes down unable to continue.

Fights continue for a few days, and I continue to do well while Tris sits at probably fourth in the rankings as she wins some fights and loses others. When we fight each other, we just circle around one another until she decides to concede before I get the chance to. She tells me later that it was to keep me undefeated.

At night before we go to bed I normally go back through my fear landscape, as if going through it every day will make him disappear, but today, I am in the training room getting in some extra practice since my fight tomorrow is against Eric. We're both the only two undefeated, so this match will decide which of us is going to be in first rank.

Amar drops in to the training room and convinces me to come with him for a game of dare after he tells me that Tris is worried about me with how much time I spend in the fear landscape.

Elsa wasn't there when I hopped on the train with them, and I assumed that she probably didn't want to ask anyone to watch Mia for her until she jumps on at the last second.

"Sorry I took so long," my sister greeted us. "I had to make sure Tris was comfortable watching Mia."

I smiled knowing that Tris would be safe away from the other initiates while I was gone. By the end of the night, I could barely walk in a straight line with how much alcohol that we had all consumed, all of us, that is, except my sister who did her dare completely sober. When we reached their apartment, Amar asked her about it.

"You never shy from alcohol," he mentioned. "Not even during your own initiation."

Elsa turned towards the door, "I'll talk to you about it later."

I got the distinct impression that she wanted to talk to Amar in private, so once the door was opened, I found Tris and we went back to the transfer dorm.