Chapter 5

The following morning Four had woken them up and instructed they meet in The Pit. Riley wondered what they would be meeting about, but deep down, she already knew. It was her first morning in Dauntlesss, and her body was filled with a childish joy that she hid from the others. She walked besides Tris as they entered The Pit. Her eyes instantly landed on her brother, and Eric, one of the leaders. "Listen," Four began walking towards them. "There are two stages of training. The first is physical. You have to push your bodies to the ultimate breaking point, and you'll master the methods of combat. The other is mental, again a breaking point. You will face your worst fears and conquer them, or they will conquer you." Riley nodded in understanding. What Four said she understood, at least to a point. "You will be trained separately from the Dauntless born, but you'll be ranked together." That part confused Riley. She didn't understand what Four meant by ranking. "After initiation, rankings will determine where you move onto." Riley nodded. "If that is guarding the fence, leadership, or keeping the factionless from killing each other."

"They will also determine who gets cut," Eric spoke without care. This caused Riley's heart to jump in her chest. She didn't know what he was talking about.

"Cut," Christina questioned unsure.

Eric pushed off the bench he was sitting on, "at the end of each stage, the lowest ranking initiates will be leaving."

"To do what," Al asked.

"Well," Eric started. "You can't return home, so you live factionless." Riley blinked in surprise as she processed the news she had been given.

"Why didn't we know that?"

"It's a new rule," Eric shrugged. Riley felt her heart drop in her chest as the idea of being kicked out of Dauntless. She had only just arrived, she wasn't ready to leave.

"A new rule," Christina huffed. "Someone should have told us-"

"Why," he cut her off. "Would you have chosen a different faction? Out of fear? If you are really Dauntless, it shouldn't matter." Eric looked at them carefully, "you choose us. Now we choose you."

"Let the training begin," Tobias stepped forward. Riley sucked in a sharp breath knowing the next ten weeks were going to be the most challenging of her life, if she made it that long.

~~~~~~

Riley's body ached as she stood in The Pit, Four had made them run five miles as there starting workout along with some basic punches on the punching bag. Now, they were starting combat. She found learning combat to be easier than running. Even more so with Four as her group's teacher. She felt safe and happy listening to her brother's voice, a sound she missed. It was the same voice that would read her stories before bed. It was also the same voice that soothed her after her father's outbursts. "Two more," Four instructed, and Riley listened. She was determined to prove herself in Dauntless and make it on the leader board. Her fist hit the punching bag hard, and then harder the second time, causing the bag to swing back. "Good," Four nodded at her. "That's enough for today." Riley took a step back and smiled to herself. She raised her hand and wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Get cleaned up before dinner."

"Hey," Christina walked over to her. "How are you feeling?"

Riley looked over at her friend. "Exhausted, drained, but overall I'm happy that training is over. How are you?"

"The same," she smiled at her. "This is a lot harder than I expected."

"I understand," and it was true. "It'll be worth it."

"Let's go before all the showers are taken," Christina began walking towards the rooms.

"I'll catch up with you," Riley called after her. Christina only waved in acknowledgment. The strawberry blonde turned on her heel and noticed that Four was standing behind her. He was bent over, picking up a black bag. Riley looked around the room and began walking towards him. Four stood up and noticed her stepping closer. He stopped packing his bag and smiled at her. She smiled back, but her walk was cut short at the sound of someone calling for her brother.

"Four," it was Eric. Four tuned at the sound of his name, and Eric was marching towards him. "They need you upstairs."

"Sure," Four glanced over at Riley. By now, she was standing in her spot, looking away from him. Four had asked her to keep a low profile, and that's what she was doing, even if she disagreed. "Let's go." Four turned away from her and grabbed his bag. Riley's shoulders fell slightly as her brother began walking away with the tattooed man.

It was only when her brother was out of sight that Riley was brought back into reality. She realized that living in Dauntless without being able to communicate with her brother was going to more complicated than she anticipated. However, the young girl tried to remind herself of what she left behind in her old faction. She reminded herself why she came to Dauntless in the first place. It wasn't just to see her brother. She knew that wasn't guaranteed on her choosing day. Riley chose Dauntless because it felt right. She knew she was Dauntless, more than any other faction. She had to remind herself of the fact that she was Dauntless.

Riley glanced at the direction her brother had once been standing in and smiled to herself. She felt grateful for her brother, but she was going to make it into Dauntless without his help. Riley promised herself that. 

~~~~~~~

It was four days into her training at Dauntless. It was a lot harder than Riley was expecting. The training was intense, and some of the people were tough. However, she wasn't letting it get her down. She had made a group of friends, which was more than she had in Abnegation. Riley felt comfortable with Tris and Christina the most. There were a few others like Will and Al that had joined her group. They ate together and slept near each other. Outside of they're training, they socialized. The worst part about Dauntless was Peter. Riley didn't understand his hatred towards herself and Tris. She knew it was about their faction, but she still didn't understand.

Training had ended for the day, and it was late into the night. Nevertheless, everyone was awake and hanging out with each other. The initiates had broken up and formed their own groups. Riley was sitting on Al's bed with the boy and Tris while Will and Christina sat in front of them. They were talking about how hard the training was that day. They were beginning to branch out from combat to weaponry. That meant handling and shooting guns, which was new to Riley. She had never touched a gun. This entire experience was new to her, but she was learning to take it day by day. What got her through it was seeing her brother.

"I thought my back was going to give out on mile five," Christina laughed. Her arms were laying gently in her lap. "But, I made it."

"I hate running," Will agreed with Christina. "I'd much rather train in combat."

"I'm pretty excited to start working with guns," Al glanced at Riley. "What about you, Riles?" It was a nickname, one she wasn't used to having.

The strawberry-blonde smiled at her friend. She felt a weird feeling in her stomach at the idea of someone caring about her enough to call her a nickname. The only person in her entire life to call her Riles was her mother, and she was dead. "I think," Riley pushed off the bed. "I need some air."

"Are you okay," Tris broke her silence.

"Yeah," Riley assured her friend. "It's just cramped in here." With that, she began walking away from the four and towards the door. The young girl hoped that during her walk, she would stumble upon her brother, but knew that was unlikely.

As Riley walked down the hall, she wrapped her arms around her body. It was colder in the hallway than she was expecting, and her tank top didn't provide much coverage. Her feet carried her down the dimly-lit corridor at a fast pace. Riley had no idea where she was going or why she had left her group. All she knew was that the word 'Riles' had bothered her. It shouldn't have. Her mother had died shortly after her birth. Riley never got to know her, but Tobias had told her stories. In those, her mother would refer to Riley only as Riles. That was all she had now, stories. The ones that Tobias choose to tell her over the years. At one point, he attempted to describe what she looked like, but that was difficult. Riley knew it was harder growing for him without her, and she hated asking about her. Instead, she imagined her mother. She imagined her as beautiful, healthy, and strong. Riley wished many nights that her mother would magically return and rescue her, she never did. Instead, she grew up in Abnegation, motherless. Her mother hadn't been a thought on her mind in years, not until Al called her by that special nickname.

Riley continued to walk down the corridor with her mind going down a spiral. In her spaced-out state, she hadn't heard the footsteps approaching from the hallway beside her. In seconds a body stepped into her path, and her body slammed into them. Riley let out a breath as she stumbled backward, her hands flying up. The person she had run into easily grabbed her upper arm to stop her from hitting the ground. The girl looked up through her lashes to lock eyes with Eric. She silently cursed to herself for running into the most ruthless person in Dauntless.

"Are you good," he asked with raised eyebrows. The piercing above his eyebrow shifted. The question caught Riley off guard. She nodded despite her gut telling her not to. "Good. Watch where you're going next time initiate."

"I'm sorry," Riley felt helpless in the situation. She didn't want to upset him but found herself stumbling over her words. "I wasn't paying attention."

Eric dropped his grip on her arm, "don't let it happen again." Riley's face twisted at his words.

"It won't." She quickly took a step back and turned on her heel. Now, after the horrible encounter, she wanted nothing more than to get back to her room. It wasn't a secret that Eric was the rougher and fiercer leader. The words heartless were often used to describe him. Riley agreed with those words. However, this was the first time she had spoken to him face to face. It was more terrible than she imagined. In seconds she was rushing back inside the room where her friends were sitting. Al noticed her almost instantly.

"Hey," he waved at her. "How was your walk?"

Christina noticed her pale look, "woah. Are you okay?"

Riley nodded as she walked over to them. "Yeah." She sat back down on the bed. "I ran into Eric. I mean, I actually ran into him."

"Oh god," Will laughed. Riley looked up at him, and the brunette boy swiftly placed his hand over his mouth.

"How was that," Tris asked, bringing her knees to her chest.

"Horrible." Riley ran her hands over her face.

"Wow," Christina reached out and took her hand. "I can't believe you lived to tell the tale." With that Will slapped her shoulder. "Sorry." She raised her hands in defense.

"It was so embarrassing," Riley was replaying the moment over in her head. In reality, she knew it wasn't a big deal, but her brain was telling her otherwise.

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad." Al set his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it."

Riley sighed, "thank you. All of you, but Christina."

"Hey," Christina shouted, but she knew her friend was joking. "Not fair." Riley simply stuck her tongue out at her.

"I'm going to head to bed," Tris declared standing up. At her words, Riley realized how tired she was. The idea of sleep sounded pleasant after the long day of training she had.

"I think I'm going to sleep also."

"Boo." Christina gave them both a thumbs down. Riley simply rolled her eyes at her friend's childish behavior.

"Night," Al and Will spoke at the same time. She waved in response and followed Tris to there beds a few feet away.