Flower Child

Chapter Ten

Eric had lead us to the chasm, not letting his steal grip on Christina's arm go the entire way. We all followed silently, terror keeping us quiet. We stop by the railing and Eric shoved Christina against it.
"Climb over it," he orders.
"What," she asks, her eyes wide in terror.
"Climb over the railing," he says slowly, pronouncing each word as if he was talking to a small child, "if you can hang over the chasm for five minutes, I will forget your cowardice. If you can't, I will not allow you to continue initiation."
   I take a step forward, a bubbling rage in my gut, "she just got beat to a pulp!" Eric's eyes fall on me and I glare at him. "She can hardly stand let alone hold up her weight over a damn chasm!"
   "Mor, stop," Chris says, "I can do this."
   Eric raises a studded brow as if to dare me to keep talking, to make a stupid decision that would end up making me factionless. Will has to pull me away from him because I very well might have.
   Christina gives me a uneasy smile and turns towards the railing. She swing her right leg over it with ease given how tall she is. She places her foot carefully before swinging the other leg over. Her eyes are wide a scared as she turns to us, wiping her sweaty palms on her pants before gripping the railing with both hands, her knuckles white. She shakily takes one foot off the walkway and lowers herself down, bringing her other foot off after.
   On the other side of Tris, who is next to me, Al sets his watch.
   I hold tightly to Will's hand and he returns the favor.
   Chris is fine for the first minute and a half. Her hands are firm and her arms still. My hopes begin to rise for her, she can do this and she will show Eric she's not a coward. Until the river hits the wall with sudden force and splashes all the way up to Chris. Her already battered and bruised head hits the bar and she cries out in pain. She's holding on by her fingertips now. She grabs the bar again but now her hands are wet and she's slipping.
   I want to rush forward and pull her up, to tell Eric to shove his big head up his ass and take Chris and I to the factionless section where Seraphina and little rose were waiting for me. If it wasn't for Will, I probably would. He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me back, again, stopping me from doing something stupid.
   Chris let's out a heart wrenching sob and Will has to tighten his hold around me to keep me from running to her. Another wave hits and sprays her body. Her hand slips again and one falls off, her right hand holding her up now.
   "Come on, Christina," Al suddenly yells, clapping, "come on, grab it again. You can do it! Grab it!"
   She swings her arm up, grasping for the rail but not quite making. Al claps and cheers loudly again, trying his best to support her, no one else does.
   "Come on, Chris," I yell, "come on."
   "Come on," Tris says, her voice frail, "one minute left."
   Her hand finally grasps the railing again. Her arms shake badly and she looks like she could loose grip at any moment.
   "Come on, Christina," Tris, Al, and I yell together.
   Another wave hits and this time her hands slip. A scream leaps from Tris and I pry myself out of Will's arms.
   Chris doesn't fall, but grabs the bar of the barrier. She slides down but she doesn't fall.
   "Five minutes are are up," Al practically spits at Eric.
   Eric takes his time checking his watch, slowly bringing his wrist up to check, "fine, you can come up, Christina."
   I race forward and so does Al.
   "No," Eric calls out, "she has to do it on her own."
   I whirl around on him, my eyes narrowed in a heated glare that could set the world on fire. It takes everything in me to not push him over the railing right then and there.
   "No, she doesn't," Al growls, speaking before I could dig my own grave, "she did what you said. She's not a coward. She did what you said."
   Eric stares me down but doesn't say anything. I turn away from him as Al bends over the rails to grab Christina. I help pull her over, pulling her arm over my shoulders and putting my right arm around her back. She collapses and I ease her to the ground. Her blood smeared face looks between Al and I. We all take a deep breath in and out.

My fight is postponed until after lunch and I spend it with Mar, Lynn, and Uriah.
"I wish I could've punched him in the mouth," I grumble.
Uriah laughs loudly, "don't we all. Eric's a prick, always has been and always will be."
I stab my food a little harder than necessary, "damn straight."
Mar grins at me, "you know it's really funny seeing you mad Flower Child."
I glare at her, "I'm not mad, I'm livid. That narcissistic, egotistical, maniacal-"
"Woah, cool it with the big words," Uriah laughs.
I glare at him, "oh I'm sorry your little brain can't keep up."
Someone snorts behind us, "damn Uriah, you might wanna go take a dip in the chasm to cool that burn."
"Shut up Zeke," Uriah grumbles.
I turn around and look at the person. He has brown eyes and bronze skin just like Uriah but that's where their similarities end. He seems to be shorter than Uriah but he has a broader build and toned muscles.
He smiles at me warmly and sticks his hand out, "I'm Zeke, Uriah's big brother and you must be the infamous Mor, my brother won't shut up about his Flower Child friend."
I grin at Uriah as I shake Zeke's hand, "aw, I'm flattered Uriah."
Uriah shoves my shoulder, "shut up, I do not talk about you."
Zeke chuckles and imitates his brother, "I met this pretty Flower Child today, she's so cute and nice and blah blah blah."
My grin widens, "aw, Uriah that's so sweet!"
Uriah glares at me and his brother, "I never said-"
Zeke cuts him off, looking me up and down, "I mean, you weren't wrong. Flower Child is definitely easy on the eyes."
Suddenly Four walks up behind Zeke, his face set in a frown, "Mor, let's go. Lunch is almost over and you fight first."
I groan, looking at my friends, "if you like my face, look at it now before it gets pulverized."
Uriah pats my shoulder as I stand up, "you'll be ok."
   "Sure," I snort, "sure I will."

When Eric called mine and Edward's name I had to take a few steadying breaths before I could stand up. I didn't look at anyone, just focused on breathing. I had been in plenty of fights before. I'd wrestled Taylor in our living room when we were little, I'd punched a few candor's for bullying Celeste, I'd even fought a Dauntless kid who stole my brothers bag. This wasn't my first fight, but it was the first one that mattered.
Edward and I stand across from each other, our hands up in the stances that Four taught us. Edward stands exactly like Four and that's his first mistake. Edward is not weak by any means, but he definitely is not as strong as Four, he didn't alter that stance to best fit him. Edward is also tall, taller than Four and his stance is not wide enough to keep him completely steady.
He strikes first, lunging towards me ready to hit me across the jaw. I jump to the left, grabbing his wrist and throwing him forward while I twist his arm behind his back. He doesn't fall over so I send a hard kick to his back which sends him sprawling forward. Someone, I think it might be Will, cheers.
Edward jumps back up quicker than I had expected and whirls around, his fist connects with my jaw, not hard enough to break anything, but hard enough to make the world spin a little. I stumble back a few steps but stay vertical. Edward lunges forward, trying to catch me off guard. He knows that my strength is my quickness, if he can get me on the ground, it's all over.
I jump, not away, or around, but over. Climbing trees all my life had made me quite the gymnast so flipping over Edward was simple. His arms try to grab me but I use them as leverage to lift me in the air. I flip over him and land in a low crouch. Edward is clearly confused and shocked so I use it to my advantage.
   I stand up and kick him in the side. He stumbles to the side but doesn't fall. Edward whirls around quickly, lunging towards me again. I jump left but he still catches hold of my right arm. He wrenches me towards him and hits me across the jaw again. Pain racks through me, sending little black spots across my vision but the adrenaline in my veins keeps me from passing out.
   Instead of trying to pull away from him, I push forward, using all my weight to punch him in the nose. I feel his nose break beneath my fist. Edward let's go of me and stumbles away, holding his nose in his hand.
   I try to steady myself, but the pain in my jaw is setting in and my vision is blurring. If Edward gets one more hit in on me, I'm done for.
   Edward pulls his hand back from his face, looking at the blood covering his fingers. He jumps towards me and this time I don't have the strength to try and jump away. His fist swings towards me and I close my eyes as his fist hits my temple. I fall to the ground, not completely unconscious but in no way able to get back up and fight.
   I hear Eric scoff, "get her out of here."
   Someone, probably Edward, picks me up off the ground. One arm beneath my knees and the other around my back. My head rests against their shoulder as they carry me out of the ring and then out of the room.
   "You put up a good fight, Mor," Four says quietly.
   Of course it's Four carrying me. I slowly open my eyes, blinking away the black spots as I look up at him.
   "This is your fault," I mumble fake crying, "my beautiful, beautiful face."
   "Your face is fine," Four says, "just a little bruised."
   I snort, "sure it is."
   I let my head fall back against his shoulder.
"Hey, we don't know if you have a concussion," Four says, "stay awake."
"God you're so bossy," I mumble.
"And you're stubborn," he says, "stay awake."
"Ok, mom," I snort.