After Eric made Jillian hang above the chasm, he ordered for us to go back to the training room. He says that we will be fighting each other after lunch, which is why Four is currently showing us how to punch, kick, and use our arms to block punches.

"All right, initiates," Eric says, his voice loud and authoritative. "On the bags."

We rush to the bags and start hitting. I throw some punches, making the bag swing more than it did earlier. I glance to my right and watch Tera punch the bag, barely making it move. I look around, making sure Eric isn't near, before getting Tera's attention.

"Tera," I say, "you need to tighten your upper arm and put your whole body into your punch."

"Okay," she says, nodding. She does what I said, causing the bag to swing backward. She smiles. "Thanks."

"I don't believe I told you to stop," Eric says. I glance behind me to see him with his arms crossed across his chest and a bored look on his face. I turn around and start punching the bag, putting as much effort into it as possible. Maybe if he sees me working hard he'll leave me be.

I don't seem to have much luck today because he continues to stand there, watching me. I see him move closer out of the corner of my eye, making me uncomfortable. He stands there, not moving or saying a word.

I punch the bag for what seems like forever until Eric decides to move on and observe another initiate. I glance down at my hands, wincing when I see my bruised knuckles.

"All right," Four's voice says, "you all are dismissed for lunch. Be back in here at one. Don't be late."

I start walking toward the door and Tera falls in step with me. We make our way out of the training room, trailing behind the rest of the transfers.

"That was tiring," she says, holding out her hands. "This looks rough."

"If that small exercise tired you, maybe you should run home to the Factionless," a voice says. Jillian turns around, shooting glares at Tera and me. "Besides, I don't see how you're tired. You didn't have to run, and you didn't hang above the chasm."

"We didn't have to run because we were on time," Tera says. "Should've listened to Four."

"You're right," I say, making her eyes lock onto mine. "We didn't hang from the chasm, and you wouldn't have had to if you had kept your mouth shut."

I go to brush past her but her hand latches on my arm and she pulls me back. I yank my arm from her grip and she pulls her left hand back before sending it across my face. She stands there smirking at me while I lift my hand to feel my cheek.

Oh, she did not just do that.

I ball my hand into a fist, ready to attack her but someone yanks her away from me and slams her into the brick wall. Eric pins her to the wall with his lower arm pressing into her neck. Her hands claw at his arm and she gasps for breath.

"If you ever lay a hand on another initiate, you will regret it," he says, his voice dangerously low. "Believe me, I can make your death look like an accident." He releases her and she falls to the floor clutching her neck, trying to catch her breath.

He holds my gaze as he brushes by but doesn't utter a word to me. I watch him disappear around the corner before turning toward Tera and motioning for us to leave. She nods and we make our way to the dining hall.

My eyes scan the room before I find Raiden sitting at the same table he was at dinner yesterday. I start walking toward him with Tera right behind me. I sit down on his left and Tera sits on the left of me.

"Rori, hey," he says after swallowing a mouthful of food. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up."

"Oh, I'm here," I say with a chuckle. "Just ran into a little trouble on the way here."

"Uh oh, like what?"

"Another transfer girl slapped me on the way here," I say, loading some food on my plate.

"On the cheek, right?" I nod and he brushes his thumb across my cheek and I wince. "Ouch. It's already starting to bruise."

"It's no big deal," I say, taking a bite of my sandwich. "She was taken care of."

"Ahem," Tera says from my left. "You going to introduce me to your friend or what?"

"Oh," I say, wiping my mouth with a napkin. "Tera, this is Raiden. Raiden, this is Tera."

They shake each other's hands before returning their attention to their food. We eat the rest of our meal in silence and stack up our plates before Raiden speaks up.

"You two ready to fight?" he asks, resting his elbows on the table.

"Definitely not," Tera says, shaking her head. "I'm afraid I'm going to get beat up."

"You two are smaller than most of the other transfers," he says. "You can move quicker. Aim to hit their throat. Doing so will distract them long enough for you to swipe their feet out from under them."

"Thanks for the tip," I say with a nod. "I'll remember that."

I get up to dump our plates and throw our trash away. I dump the trash and put our plates on top of a stack of plates. I walk back toward Tera and Raiden and take my seat. I pour some water into a plastic cup and down it before checking the clock.

"Fifteen till," I say, nudging Tera. "We better go."

The three of us stand and throw our trash away on the way out of the dining hall.

"Good luck on your fights," Raiden says. "Remember what I said. It could help you two win."

"We will," Tera says.

"Good luck," I say, before we part ways. Tera and I make our way to the training room in silence. I push open the door to the training room to find that we are yet again alone with Four and Eric.

We sit in our spot on the floor, leaning against the wall, and wait.

"I'm nervous," Tera whispers, her gaze on the ground in front of her. "I've never really fought anyone."

"I haven't either," I say. "But it'll be okay. Just remember what Raiden said. We can do this."

***

When the other transfers pile in, barely making it on time, Eric calls us over to a board that's labeled initiate rankings. Tera and I stand up and make our way to the where him and Four are standing.

"This board behind me will help us leaders decide what jobs you will get after initiation is over," Eric says, his hands behind his back. "The better you do, the higher rank you get. The higher you rank, the better selection of jobs you will get."

"Today, you will fight each other," Four says, speaking up. "Depending on how well or poorly you do will determine how you rank."

"First up is," Eric says, looking us over before continuing, "Thomas and Finn."

"How long do we fight?" Thomas, one of the ex Candor boys, asks. He hops onto the cement block, looking confident and ready to fight.

"Until someone concedes," Four answers.

Finn steps on the block, looking slightly nervous. He's a couple inches shorter than Thomas and a little bit slimmer.

"Finn is going to win," I say, whispering in Tera's ear. She turns toward me, disbelief written all over her face.

"No, I don't think so," she says, shaking her head.

"Finn may slimmer and shorter but that doesn't mean anything," I say, keeping my voice low. "Being Amity means we worked in the fields most of the day. It wasn't just berry picking either. We had to lift a lot of stuff, and it gave us muscle."

She still looks skeptical but I drop it and return my attention to the fight, where Thomas and Finn are circling each other with their arms blocking their faces.

"Get on with it," Eric snaps. "You're supposed to be fighting, not dancing with each other."

Thomas throws the first punch but Finn ducks, causing Thomas to lose balance. He regains his balance and punches Finn square in the jaw.

Tera glances at me, giving me a look as if to say I told you so.

"Oh, it's not over yet," I say with a smirk.

Finn stumbles from the punch but shakes it off when Thomas charges at him. He kicks Thomas's feet out from under him, making him fall. Finn takes advantage and pins Thomas's hands and starts punching him in the jaw. Finn gets a few good ones in before Thomas whimpers for him to stop.

"Do you concede?" Four asks, stepping up on the mat. Thomas mutters a yes and Four announces that Finn wins. Finn stands up and offers Thomas a hand but he ignores it and stands up by himself. He walks off the mat slowly with his tail in between his legs.

"Don't underestimate someone based on where they came from," I say, smirking at Tera.

"Yeah, yeah," she says, "you told me so."

"Well, that was pathetic," Eric says, directing his comment to Thomas. He looks over the rest of us before his eyes stop on Jillian, making her eyes go wide.

"Next up is Jillian," he says with a smirk. His eyes fall on the rest of us before his eyes meet mine. "Jillian and Rori. On the mat."

"Good luck," Tera says, nudging my side.

I hop up on the mat and lift my arms to protect my face. She steps up on the mat slowly, her eyes locked on mine.

"Ready to lose?" she says with a smirk. She charges at me and I duck and swipe at her feet, successfully making her fall and kiss the floor. I stand there, waiting for her to peel herself (and her pride) up off the floor.

She stands up and swings at me but I dodge it and land a punch to her throat. She hunches over, gasping for air, and I swipe at her feet again. She falls and I throw myself on top of her and start punching her. She whimpers and tries to block the punches with her arms.

"Stop," she whimpers.

"Are you conceding?" Four asks. Jillian nods. "Rori wins."

I stand up and offer her my hand like Finn did. Unsurprisingly, she ignores it so Four helps her up and motions for Finn to come to him.

"Help me take her to the infirmary," he says. He nods and they basically drag her out of the training room.

I hop off the cement block and stand next to Tera. She gives me a thumbs up and I manage a smile. I thought winning would make me feel better, but it didn't.

"Up next is Reid and Tera."

"Good luck," I say, nudging Tera in the side. "You can do it."

Reid, the ex Erudite boy, walks onto the platform and puts his arms up, ready to fight. Tera takes a deep breath before walking onto the cement block. Reid is a good half a foot taller than her, and he has more muscle on him. But she's smaller and can move around quicker, so she has a chance.

He swings his fist at her and it connects with her jaw. She stumbles back and he takes advantage by landing another punch, sending her to the ground. He pins her to the ground and swings at her face but she dodges it, making him hit the cement floor. He hisses in pain and she throws a punch, hitting him in the jaw. His head snaps to the side and she tries to shove him off of her but he grabs both of her hands, holding them with his left before sending his right fist to her face.

He stands up, brushing his hands off on his pants about the same time Four and Finn return from the infirmary.

"Reid wins," Four says, walking toward Tera. I rush to her side as well and help Four pick her up.

"All right, initiates," Eric's loud voice says. "You have the rest of the day off. Training starts at 8 in the morning."

Four and I drag Tera's unconscious body to the infirmary. A nurse spots us as soon as we enter and she has some male nurses pick up Tera and place her inside a room.

"What happened?" she asks Four.

"Training," he says. "She got a punch to the face and it knocked her out."

"What are you going to do to her?" I ask the nurse after she finishes scribbling something onto a note pad.

"Probably give her some pain killers," the nurse says. "Not much else we can do."

"Okay," I say with a nod. I hear footsteps retreating and I turn to see Four walking out of the infirmary.

"I'm Willa the head nurse," she says. "We're going to run a few quick tests to see if she has a concussion. I'll let you know what we find out."

***

I have been sitting in a chair outside the room where Tera is for what feels like hours. The door to the infirmary opens and I glance up to see Raiden walking my way.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, standing up to stretch my legs.

"I was told you were in here so I thought I'd keep you company," he says, sitting in the chair next to mine. "Besides, she'll probably be dizzy when she gets out, so I'll help you get her back to the dormitory."

"Thanks," I say, sitting back down and letting my head rest against the wall.

"Okay, we ran the tests and lucky for her, she doesn't have a concussion," Willa says, standing in front of my chair. "But she needs to take pain killers every six hours for the next couple of days, and she needs to rest." She hands me a bottle of pain relievers. "She's free to go, but make sure she takes things easy."

I nod and she opens the door to the room Tera is in. Tera is sitting on the edge of the bed with her eyes closed, her hand on her head.

"You're free to go Tera," Nurse Willa says. "Hopefully we won't see you in here any time soon."

I wrap Tera's arm across my shoulders and Raiden gets on the other side of her. We leave the infirmary and head toward the dormitory.

"You know," Tera says, quietly, "I put up a good fight."

"Yeah," I say chuckling, "you sure did."

A/N: Hey initiates! This is a much longer chapter than the others have been, but I hoped you liked it. If you did, please vote and add this story to your library. <4