After the leaders discuss all the rules, in which I already know, we go to the dorm.

  Kara's bunk is completely quiet. As is mine. 

Their are 9 initiates like last time.  Me, Kara, Candor: Ben, Danny, Thomas, Mary, Lucia. Erudite: Kara, James, Tyler. Mary and Lucia seem like friends. Danny, Thomas and Tyler stayed together all of a sudden. James and Ben became friends, it better to have some friends I guess. I stay with Kara. 

I hear some cries and whimpers.  Mostly from Mary and Lucia. Ben cries or makes a sound every once in a while. No screams.

 I think of Al, screaming at night. 

Then my eyes feel heavy and I fall into a restless sleep.

I get up. Everyone is still sleeping so I wake only Kara up. "Kara!" I whisper. Her eyes open immediately and thanks me silently. We get to the training room 5 minutes before everyone.

"The first thing you will learn today is to shoot a gun. The second, is to win a fight. Tobias presses a gun to my palm. He explains ranks, while everyone is shocked, I fake it. 

He demonstrates how to fire a gun correctly giving us a few pointers. 

"Shoot!" He yells.

 Everyone scrambles to a target. 

I aim as taught. Inhale... Aim... Exhale... Shoot. Center. I shoot again and again. Each time hitting the center. 

"Stiff?" Tobias says in my ear. "Natural, learned, or luck?" He asks.

 "I've... been learning?" I say with a questionable tone. 

"Stiffs." He grumbles and walks away to help Mary.

 "Dude! You're amazing!" Kara shouts.

 Everyone looks at my target. Bullets practically on top of each other. 

"Stiff... You're just lucky today." Thomas says. 

"Shut up Candor." I say back.

At lunch I sit with Kara. Ben and James walk up.

 "Can we join you?" James asks. 

"Sure."

We talk, a lot. Until Tobias tells us we have to go.

We start to do combat.  Tobias demonstrates some techniques. After he dismisses us to start, I hit the bag making it swing wildly.

 "Stiff. Stop it. It's not normal that you're good at fighting." Tobias say sternly. I stop punching and lightly hit it. 

"You wanna get piercings or dye our hair, or a tattoo?" Kara asks us. 

Ben and James are with us. 

 "I already have tattoos. I say proudly.

 "Show it!" Kara yells.

 "Nah." I say with a grin. 

"Since there is a odd number of you, Mary will not be fighting someone. I'm paired with Tyler. He's alright. Though he's annoying as hell. 

"Fight." Tobias says.

We circle around the ring arms up, stance. I stay back.

 "Attack first." Tobias told me once. I go for a punch to the jaw. He steps back, trying to punch my stomach. I punch his side. And kick his leg. He falls to the ground.I continue punching him until he falls unconscious.  

"Stop." Tobias shouts. He eyes me. I realize that he didn't demonstrate the same moves as he did 3 years ago, but I did my years moves. "Stiff... take a break." He tells me.

 And the fighting continues.