The story is set 2 months after the initiation process. The war does not happen & slight parts of the divergent story have been altered. It is a slight mix between divergent and the hunger games.
I awaken to a loud ringing. The Pit's huge clock signals the start of the day. My eyes snap open and I feel a nervous energy shoot through me, an anxious pounding begins in my head.I'm not surprised to see I'm not the only one to feel this way. My roommate Christina is already up, tying her shoelaces with trembling fingers. Seeing her like this, however is unnerving, my best friend, as tough as nails, reduced to an emotional wreck. I can see she is trying to be brave but I know her too well and her worry is catching. We all dreaded this day, right from the start of initiation. It was one of my biggest motives to get a high ranking, as we were told that lowers your chance of being picked. Being picked for The Dauntless Games, the event that happens every 2 years, in which dauntless are put through impossible challenges to prove to the other factions what we are made of. Other factions have their equivalent of course, but none can really match the Dauntless Games. The Erudite hold the The Mind Battle in which 5 members fight for their membership through a series of six gruelling 12 hour exams & mental trials, pushing their knowledge to the very edge. Only 1 member in each Games will stay in their faction however, the rest banished from the city, labelled as an 'embarrassment' to their faction. This ancient tradition, although seemingly brutal, has kept the city running for countless years, the winners portrayed as the perfect examples of how each faction should be.
The candidates are reaped from the initiates from the current year and the previous year: attempting to prove the quality of the young members & to show how effective the initiation training is. Some call it the 'second' initiation, the one that picks the sheep from the lambs, as it were, although only five initiates take part. This year marks the 8th anniversary of the Dauntless Games, the year of my initiation.
This means both me and Chris, and our other fellow initiates are in contention to be picked.
We walk to the Pit in silence. The tension is broken slightly as Chris's boyfriend Will joins us, solemnly wishing us both luck. We return the gesture however we all know that luck plays a very small part in the reaping. Since I came first in initiation, my name will only be in the ballot once, making my chances of being picked extremely low. The same cannot be said for Will and Christina. Coming 6th and 7th respectively, the likelihood of them being picked is already far greater than any of us would have liked. Also being the younger year of initiates, we are at an immediate disadvantage shall any of us be picked. At least this is what everyone presumes. I know otherwise. The exact details of what happens in the Games are kept top secret, only known by Dauntless leaders and previous victors. (Rumour has it that the true challenges are not reported in detail or shown to the public for if anyone knew the horrors of what went on, the Games would be shut down immediately!) Luckily for me my mentor-turned-boyfriend Tobias ( more commonly known as Four) was victor two years ago, in his initiation year,and assured me that nothing, neither age nor experience, can prepare you.