I wake up with a pleasant sensation that it's earlier than it should be. It's a good feeling, the one where you're allowed to lie peacefully instead of rushing out because you're late for work. I peel off the covers and make my way toward the bathroom to shower.
When I'm done, Tobias still isn't awake yet. I walk toward my dresser and take out a tight fitting tank top and throw a black sweatshirt over it. Pulling on tight black jeans, I go back to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. Looking in the bathroom mirror, I think of the drastic changes that occurred this year. Last year, I was the young, naïve, nervous and fearful Beatrice Prior. But now, I am Tris, the ex-initiate who jumped first, an instructor, the first-ranking initiate, Dauntless prodigy.
I make my way back to the bed. "Tobias, wake up," I order, jokingly, poking and prodding his muscled arm.
"Five more minutes…" he mutters.
"But it's already 7, and we should watch the choosing ceremony on television, now that we're not required to go ourselves," I reply.
"Oh right, the choosing ceremony. That's today!" Jumping out of bed, he pulls black sweatpants over his boxers, and tosses on a loose fitting t-shirt that says "Dauntless All the Way".
Making his way to the bathroom to shower and go through the morning routine, he hollers to me, "Get me a muffin, would you, Tris?"
"No problem, Tobias. Be right back," I said, slipping out of the door to go to the cafeteria.
"Here you go," Tris says, tossing me a muffin over her shoulder while nibbling on her own with her back faced to me.
She turns around just in time to see me catch the muffin with perfect ease.
"I got us chocolate, of course. The only other choice was blueberries, and they looked mushy so I didn't get any of those. Besides, we won't need more breakfast; all we're doing today is introducing ourselves to the new initiates and then giving them a tour. Is that right?"
Smiling, I replied, "Yea. Since when did you know so much about the Dauntless initiation instructors' schedule?"
"Well, living with you for the past year has definitely rubbed off on me," she grins.
"Whatever. Turn on the TV, they should be choosing soon. D'you think there'll be any Abnegation this year?" I question Tris.
"Probably not. I mean, you and I are the only ones in Dauntless history to transfer here from Abnegation. And I quite like it that way," she replies without hesitation, as if she'd thought about this before.
Maybe she has… I think. I grin.
"So, are you going to go by Six this time?" I ask, though there wasn't really a need to do so. Obviously she would.
"Of course. We'll be Four and Six!" she smiles, "How many transfers do you think there'll be this year?"
Hmm… I don't know. Biting my lip, I reply, "Maybe eight? Ten? It doesn't matter anyway, we'll be finding out in 2 hours."
"Mmkay then. And remember: We are keeping our relationship a secret. To see how long it takes for them to find out. That means no hand-holding, or kissing me at all during the time we are in the training room, or in front of the initiates. Do. You. Understand?" she asks, raising her eyebrows at me, with a hint of a smirk.
Groaning at how long this initiation will be, I reply, "Fine."
Marlene, Shauna, Lynn, Zeke, Christina, Will, Uriah, Tobias and I gathered around the net with the rest of the Dauntless members, waiting in anticipation for the first jumper.
"Who do you think will jump first this year?" Christina asked, eagerly bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"Dauntless, of course," Uriah replied, "Hopefully, they're not a bunch of pansycakes!"
"Says the one who didn't jump first," scoffs Lynn.
"I think it'll be Abnegation," Will says, "After all, Tris was the first to jump last time."
"I think that'll happen only once in Dauntless history. And that one time was with Tris," Tobias interjects calmly, his arm slung across my shoulders. I let my hand snake around his waist, and, smiling, rest my head on his shoulder. Oh yes, did I mention that I had my growth spurt? Well, now I'm 5 feet 5, and no longer 5 feet 1! Of course, this is nowhere near Christina's willowy height, but at least I can now reach Tobias' shoulders. Kind of.
"Besides, if you even watched the choosing ceremony this morning, you'd know that there wasn't even one Abnegation transfer," I said to Will, smirking, "I'm probably one of the only few people who transferred from Abnegation."
Above, we could hear Max telling the initiates to jump into the net, which were responded with quite a few fearful gasps.
Suddenly, a red and yellow blur fell through the hole into the net, her high pitched and joyful scream cutting through the noisy Dauntless clatter.
Instantly, the entire mob of Dauntless gathering at the net quieted down, and Tobias' arm went back to his side, remembering our promise to see how long it would take the initiates to find out about our relationship.
"Name?" I asked bluntly, with the most intimidating voice I could muster.
"Amb…No. Uh…" she replied.
"Think carefully, you don't get to choose again," I said, smiling at the memory of Tobias' words to me during my own initiation.
"Alyssa," she replied confidently.
"Make the announcement, Four," I said, making sure to emphasize "Four".
"Sure, Six," he grinned a small smile that only I could spot.
"First jumper, Alyssa!" Tobias yelled through the hole in the ceiling. Everyone here yelled and stomped their feet, and you could hear cheers above on the building as well.
Eight transfers. Twelve Dauntless-born. Twenty in total. That means ten will get cut and be factionless…
That's not worse than last year, when Tris was an initiate! I mentally write down a list of this year's transfer initiates' names, traits, and where they came from.
Alyssa: First jumper, Amity, tall, fierce and calculating eyes, seems to be making friends with Snow and Tesa
Tesa: Second jumper, Candor, willowy/tall, seems to be equally brain and brawn, like Alyssa, which means she'll have a good chance of passing initiation
Jose: Third jumper, wimpy looking Candor, scared eyes, has body odor, bulky with beady eyes, seems to be full of himself, and apparently broke his dominant arm (left) when he landed in the net—stupid idiot, no way he'll be able to pass initiation
Snow: Fourth jumper, short, funny, seems to be smart (of course, an Erudite), which would cover up for absence of muscles
Clement: Fifth jumper, twin brother of Snow, also Erudite, tall, more brain than brawn, and seems intimidated by Tris, and apparently trying to slip into the shadows behind Snow
Michael: Sixth jumper, Amity, a little taller than Tesa, but shorter than Aly, seems smart but too bulky (slow), might barely pass stage one, but definitely will score well in stage two
Hestia: Seventh jumper, Candor, short, few muscles, seems lazy and has no brains whatsoever, slutty (I see Tris glaring at her)
Justin: Eighth and last jumper, friend of Jose, Erudite, smart but lazy, no muscles (which he probably got from staring at a book all his life), currently checking out Tris (instantly, I feel a flare of anger and decide that I hate him)
"Okay, enough. Shut your mouth or I'll make you hang over the chasm for at least five minutes!" I yell. Immediately, everyone shuts up, including the Dauntless members who had gathered at the net. "Good. Now, if you're not an instructor or an initiate, please leave to continue your daily jobs. What are you waiting for go!" Everyone scurries off, with the exception of me, Tris, Uriah, Christina and Zeke.
"Zeke, get the hell outta here," Tris shoves him, "You're not an initiate or an instructor!"
"Why should I, Six?" Zeke replies, with an emphasis on the word "Six".
"I won't hesitate to embarrass you in front of all these initiates, Zekeybear, would I now," Tris replies sweetly.
Zeke's eyes grow wide.
"Remember everything that you told us during Truth or Dare last week? I can spill everything here…" she sings. I smirk, remembering everything he accidentally slipped out of his mouth while being drunk.
"Got it, I'm leaving, just shut your mouth, girl," Zeke hollers over his shoulder, bolting out of the room as fast as he could, which earned Tris some fearful looking eyes from the initiates.
"Anyway, I'm Four, this is Six, Christina, and Uriah. We are your—"I began.
"Wait—so your names are numbers?" one of the Candor girls asked. I think her name was Hestia.
Slowly turning towards her direction, I walked to her and stood right in front of her, towering above her head by nearly a foot.
Gazing down at her, I asked, "What's your name, Candor?"
"H—Hes—Hestia" she shakily replied, not meeting my eyes.
So I was right, her name is Hestia…
"Well, Hestia, if I had wanted to deal with Candor smart mouths, I would have joined their faction. But I didn't, and none of your instructors here did either, so I suggest you shut your mouth before you do something you'd regret. The first lesson you'd learn from me is to keep your mouth shut!"
A/N: There is a change in POV. It is now Tris' POV, no longer Tobias'.
Turning on his heel, he walked back to where Christina, Uriah, and I were standing.
Tobias continues on, as if nothing had just happened.
"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I'm Four, this is Six, Christina, and Uriah. We are your instructors for your initiation. Usually, I work in the control rooms, and Six is an ambassador to Abnegation, and in her spare time, helps around in the tattoo parlor. Christina works in a clothing store as a clothes designer, and Uriah is leader-in-training."
"But if you're going to underestimate me simply because of my job… Well, let's just say that you're in for a big surprise," Christina smiles wickedly.
Tris yells, "Dauntless-born, I'm hoping that you can find your way around here and that you won't need a tour because if you do, get it in your head that you didn't live up to Dauntless standards." They smirk at each other.
Standing perfectly still, Uriah and Christina lead the Dauntless-born initiates into the shadows toward the dorms.
"Transfers. Listen up. You should know by now, assuming you were listening, that my name is Six. I was ranked first during my initiation, yes, first, and I'm just warning you: Appearances can deceive. If any of you mess with me, I will personally make sure that you punishment is very—and I mean very—severe. Is that understood, transfers?" I barked.
Meekly, the transfers all nodded, with the exception of Hestia, who just smirked.
"Now, before we start our tour of the Dauntless compound, I will answer any questions you may have," I continue.
Jose, Hestia, and Justin raise their hand, and, hesitantly, so does Clement.
"Jose?" I call.
"Six, two questions. One, what is your real name? And two, who in the world would want to be an ambassador to Abnegation, of all factions especially when you were the first-ranked initiate?"
His snobby voice bothers me. Nonetheless, I answered, "For your first question, you will call me Six. When you choose Dauntless, you get to pick a new name, start a new life. And my name is Six. And for your second question…" I walked up to him and he gaped at me in fear, "Like Four had said, if I had wanted to deal with Candor smart mouths, I would have joined their faction. But I didn't! Now, shut your mouth before a fly flies in." Silently, he closed it. Turning to the next initiate, which happened to be Hestia, I asked, "What's your question, Hestia?"
"Actually, I had a question for Four, not you."
"Ask away," Tobias said, which earned a glare from me.
"How old are you? Do you have a girlfriend? Are you married? Can we—"
Interrupting her mid-sentence, I interjected, "Transfers, let me remind you: This is Dauntless Initiation. Not Seductiveness 101. We are here to train you, and you either get in to Dauntless, or you don't! You are not here to start hitting off on your instructor!"
Turning beet red, Hestia shut her mouth. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tobias with a hint of a grin. Of course, only I could spot it, and none of the initiates. Slightly blushing, I realized that Tobias was thinking of what I said before about how initiation was not about hitting off on the instructor. I could almost feel him bursting to say, "Doesn't that remind you of someone you know, Tris?" I try to act unfazed by Tobias' facial expression.
Continuing on, I asked, "What about you, Justin?"
"Actually, I wanted to know about initiation. What do you mean by 'either you get in, or you don't'?"
Tobias answered that one, "Well, what she meant was that at the end, if you don't rank as the top ten, then you don't enter Dauntless; you will be factionless. If you do rank as the top ten, you get to stay in Dauntless. Remember: you chose Dauntless; now we have to choose you."
Justin answered with relief in his voice, "Well, then we don't have to worry, do we now? After all, we only have 8 initiates here!"
Smirking, I answered, "Yes, but at the end, your rankings are combined with the Dauntless-born initiates' rankings. Which means that out of the total of 20 initiates, 10 of you will be cut. Is that clear?"
Suddenly, all of the faces became shocked, nervous, or scared, and Clement's hand drops limply to his side.
Damn, this is fun, I think.
Tobias takes over.
"Now, if you'll follow us, we're going to the Pit. Someday, you will learn to love it. I suppose it'd be better sooner rather than later." Tobias and I push open the doors to the Pit.
I watch the initiates' reactions. Their eyes are as large as saucers, and some jaws even hit the ground.
Whispering, I asked Tobias, "Was this how me and my fellow initiates looked like when we first saw the Pit?"
Smirking slightly, he nodded, "Yea, you looked like them. Except I don't remember what the others' reactions were like—I wasn't watching them, only you." Blushing slightly, he continued talking out loud to the group, "If you'll follow me, I'll show you the Chasm."
I point to the dark side of the Pit, and the group slowly walks towards there, as if the ground might suddenly break away and they'll fall to their deaths.
"The Chasm reminds us about the fine line between bravery and idiocy," Tobias yells over the roaring of the crashing water. "A daredevil jump off of this ledge will end your life. It's happened before, and will happen again. You've been warned." The initiates all take a step back.
"Now, we'll go to the dining hall," I scream, trying to let them hear me over the crashing waves.
When the group, Tobias and I walk into the dining hall, the Dauntless members start to cheer and stomp their feet. The initiates look much more confident and prideful.
I point to an empty table and tell them, "Occupy whatever table is empty. I don't care where you sit, but after lunch, meet me at the doors and I'll show you to the dorms."
Scurrying off, I turn toward Tobias and smile.
"I'll get you a hamburger," he says, walking off toward the line.
I slowly walk to the table in the middle where our friends are sitting.
By the time I sit down, Tobias is already arriving with lunch, my hamburger with only ketchup, just the way I like it. Also, he is holding two plates of Dauntless cake on his right arm, which I eagerly snatch and place in front of us before Uriah can even think of stealing it.
"Thanks," I say to him.
"No problem," he replies, and begins to eat his burger.
A/N: I accept (like every other writer out there) constructive criticism but no flames please? Reviewwwww :)
