One Drop

[tamaracorine]

Anna had to do two things - avoid his punches, and try to find a place to wedge herself on him. She managed the latter successfully, straddling his waist, but one of his punches got her face just as she prepared to begin to hit him. She reeled back for a second, her hand freezing in the air as she tried to get her vision back. On the ground, she could win - but only if he didn't overpower her.

 

[Lioness075]

Shade took this moment to make another move as he grabbed Anna's hand that was mid-punch and then yanked her towards him as he used his legs to maneuver them into a rolling movement. In just a few seconds, Anna was below Shade, who was now straddling her waist. Shade couldn't resist a half grin as he felt like he was in a better position now to beat Anna. Around the fighting mat, Dauntless were cheering and jeering as the fight had taken a different turn. Jai stayed on the mat, making sure that he was close enough stop the two if it were necessary to do so. The twins eagerly watched and Chiro cheered for Shade whereas Manjano seemed to have chosen to cheer for Anna.

 

[tamaracorine]

Anna grunted as he took hold of her hand. She felt their weight shift and looked up at him, her eyes panicked as she tried to think of a way out of her position. "Desperate times..." she mumbled, landing a sharp punch in his groin. It was a low blow - both literally, and metaphorically. She would apologise later.

 

[Lioness075]

Shade's eyes went wide and his mouth was gaping as he instantly doubled over, no longer straddling Anna. He gritted his teeth as a hush came over the crowd and Jai rushed forward to stop the fight. Just about every guy there knew that the fight was over at this point. One of the younger Dauntless helped Shade to his feet and then off of the mat. Shade was still recovering at the time so he didn't even bother looking at Anna. The twins were both silent as they subconsciously felt Shade's pain and both winced at one another.

 

[tamaracorine]

Anna gulped, looking at the roof. She could feel her stomach twisting into knots with the guilt that was filling her. She stayed down on the mat, not wanting to look at Shade or any one else.


A Dauntless woman stepped forward, her arms covered in tattoos. She offered Anna her hand and helped her up. "Low blow, kid." she told Anna. "But to tell you the truth, I did it to Jai in our first fight. Sometimes you've got to fight dirty in Dauntless. Especially in initiation. Be warned, though." she leaned in to whisper. "They're about to punish you a whole lot more for what you did..."


Jai looked at the twins, then at Anna. "Dirty fighters get dirty fights." he smirked. "You two." he gestured to the twins. "On the mat. Now. Start when you're ready. Remember, you're Dauntless now, now Abnegation."

 

[Lioness075]

The twins grinned eagerly at one another and jogged to the mat, not looking concerned at all what fighting one another. They'd actually grown up sparring with each other and so they were the least concerned with hurting each other. They both took up offensive stances and cracked their necks simultaneously before they shook each other's hands and then backed up, now pacing with the other. Their faces became focused almost immediately and they exchanged no friendly words or gestures as Chiro lunged forward to strike a fast and strong blow to Manjano's shoulder. Manjano dodged the blow and retaliated with a low sweep to Chiro's ankles. His move was swift and precise, tripping Chiro and causing him to stumble backwards, off-balanced.

 

[tamaracorine]

Jai shook his head and pulled the two boys apart. "I didn't mean fight each other." He snarled, "I meant her." He nodded towards Anna with a smirk. Anna was backing off the mat, looking utterly terrified. "I know brothers will hit one another. I want to see you work against a common enemy."


Anna bit her lip to force herself into silence. She looked at the twins with a nervous expression as she stepped back onto the mat and Jai stepped off it.


"Whenever you're ready, kiddies." He laughed dryly.

 

[Lioness075]

The twins exchanged a look of slight confusion before regaining their composure and standing side-by-side, facing Anna. They raised their fists in an offensive manner again and then separated as they slowly stepped to either side of Anna, leaving her in an uncomfortable position as she'd have to choose to look at one or the other in order to defend herself somehow. They grinned at one another, which was very creepy in them moment, and waited for Anna's response to their small move.

 

[tamaracorine]

Anna watched their steps carefully, moving back a step herself. It pushed her closer to the edge of the mat, but she could at least see each of them in her line of vision. She wasn't sure how to strike. Two guys, both larger than her. It was a reckless fight and she was going to lose - how badly, was the question. She kicked out, swiping her leg along the mat to try and knock one or both of the twins over.

 

[Lioness075]

Chiro danced away from Anna's kick and Manjano, who'd been distracted by their exchange of looks, was struck by Anna's leg sweep and stumbled backwards and then onto his back with a, "Oof!" Chiro, seeing his brother in a weakened state, rushed forward and drove a swift upper hook at Anna's face to keep her from potentially attacking his brother. While Chiro's attack was recklessly offensive, the whole point of it was to distract Anna so his brother could recover.

 

[tamaracorine]

Anna let out a cry as blood spluttered from her mouth. She rose to her feet hesitantly and took a step towards Manjano, ready to knock him down before he could stand up. The air felt tense. She wished they would simply knock her out and do it quickly.

 

[Lioness075]

Manjano quickly rolled to the side, and away from Anna. Chiro lunged forward at Anna again and threw a quick jab at her back, again aiming to distract her. Manjano used this moment to roll onto his back, place his hands flat on the ground, and then lurch forward in to the air as he pushed off of the ground and did a small jump, landing on his feet and standing back up.

 

[tamaracorine]

Anna jumped suddenly to avoid the punch, but was thrown off balance by it enough that she had to take a moment to steady herself. "Stop playing with me. I'm not a cat. Just get it over with." She told them quietly, looking between them.

 

[Lioness075]

The twins looked at one another and shrugged before lunging at Anna simultaneously. While Chiro threw two rapid jabs at Anna's face, Manjano aimed lower with a roundhouse kick aimed at her lower abdomen.

 

[tamaracorine]

Manjano's kick forced her to double over, tucking her face between her hands instinctively to protect herself. She did her best to stay standing, doing the only thing she could - kicking wildly at the twins. It was hopeless, but she was learning her lesson - don't kick guys in the groin.

 

[Lioness075]

The twins, now working in sequence with one another, dodged Anna's kicks, though they took a few hits in the shins along the way, and they started throwing punches at her from every direction so as to throw her off and keep her guessing as to where the next punch would come from. Chiro then jumped back before sprinting forward and sliding, aiming to slide right under Anna and trip her up. With the momentum he'd given himself, and if this was successful, then he'd slide under and past Anna before she'd have the chance to fall on top of him.

 

[tamaracorine]

The punches were relentless. She couldn't do much. She saw Chiro sliding towards her, but couldn't do anything to stop him from causing her to fall over. She tumbled to the ground and continued to simply cover her face for protection.


"It doesn't end until she's unconscious, boys." Jai told them sternly. "Mercy isn't something we value. It's a weakness."

 

[Lioness075]

Manjano nodded at Jai and then, while Chiro stood back up from his sliding maneuver, Manjano rushed to Anna's side and delivered a swift, and unforgiving, kick to her ribcage, sure to break at least one of her ribs if it hit her successfully.

 

[tamaracorine]

Anna grunted loudly as a crack sounded from her rib cage. She was suddenly limp on the mat, laying flat on her back with her eyes closed. Her face only had one bruise, but the rest of her was littered with them.


"Carry her to the infirmary." He told Shade. "Get your junk checked out as well. Make sure she didn't do any damage. You're both expected in training tomorrow. No more flirting."

 

[Lioness075]

Shade nodded, still wincing slightly as he moved towards Anna's limp body. The twins took a few steps backwards, panting with the adrenaline bursts from the recent skirmish. They silently watched Shade as he kneeled down and then picked up Anna before standing back up. Luckily Shade had done plenty of lifting growing up and so Anna felt lightweight to him. He paused though, as he had no idea where the infirmary was. The same Dauntless that had helped him off the mat earlier saw his confusion and quickly took the lead, showing Shade the way to the infirmary. The twins then caught their breath, sweat covering their faces and lightly dampening their shirts from the tension and exertion from the fight, before simultaneously turning to Jai, unsure of what to do next. Chiro's knuckles were bloodied from his harsh punches, but his adrenaline levels were so high that he didn't even notice any pain from them or that they were bloodied at all at the moment.

 

[tamaracorine]

Jai smirked at them all. "Now go work on punching. All of you. Go." He demanded. "You flail like girls. Go learn to target your punches."


Anna woke up as Shade put her down, groaning quietly. "I'm sorry." She mumbled. "I shouldn't have kicked you."

 

[Lioness075]

Chiro huffed indignantly at the insult to his punching, but said nothing as Manjano put his hand on his brother's shoulder, a silent sign to calm down. The twins then exited the mat and made their way over to some training dummies and chose two that were side-by-side. They then began practicing their technique together, as they did nearly everything together. While Chiro excelled at punching, Manjano excelled at kicking.


Shade stayed silent even after hearing Anna's apology and backed away as one of the nurses rushed to Anna's side to assess her injuries. Another nurse approached Shade and assessed him as well before handing him a bag of ice and shoving him back out of the infirmary. The other Dauntless was waiting for Shade and led him back to the training resting area. She told him to rest up as he'd only have a couple hours before he'd be pulled back into training for the rest of the day. Groaning at this, Shade cautiously sat down with the bag of ice to his groin. He hissed at the initial cold pain, but slowly relaxed as a couple minutes passed and numbness kicked in.

 

[tamaracorine]

Lucy joined the twins, practicing near them. She was consistent with her effort, though unsure about how to throw around the small amount of body weight she had. She was out of breath, but kept working.


Anna groaned again. "Shade..." She pleaded as he walked out. "Damnit." She muttered, looking up at the nurse. "It's just a broken rib. I'll be fine. Let me go back, please."

 

[Lioness075]

The twins continued their punching practice, though Chiro paused in his work as he saw blood stains on the punching bag that he'd been using. They were recent, too. Looking at his knuckles, Chiro frowned slightly to see they were bloodied up. Deciding to take a subtle break, Chiro walked over to his brother to see how his technique was coming along. Seeing that it was a bit rough, Chiro began helping teach his brother in a proper punching stance and technique.


Shade continued to ice his groin for the time being, savoring his limited resting time.