As i stand on the edge I feel an uneasiness creep into me as the wind rattles through my bones shifting me off balance and making my heart skip a beat. I can feel my heart rate increase and it feels as if it's about to burst right out of my chest. My head is spinning as i look down i suddenly feel weak at the knees and I'm pretty certain I'm about to throw up. I've been standing here the past couple of minutes contemplating weather to jump to my certain death or to just run, run back home and beg my parents and my faction to take me back. I've clearly made a big mistake leaving and its blatantly obvious that i don't belong anywhere outside the fields of Amity let alone in Dauntless.
"Move it initiate we haven't got all day!" A man that i assume is one of our trainers barks at me, I can barely hear him through the howl of the wind but i can tell by the scowl on his face he's not very pleased I'm taking so long. I turn to look at him, he's standing tall, arms folded across his chest as he glares at me with big brown eyes. If i wasn't too busy thinking about my impending death i would certainly be thinking about how attractive he is.
"You have two options here Amity." he decides to continue when he realises I'm not moving anytime soon. "You either jump which i suggest you do, or you can go live on the streets with the factionless. Now I'm gonna count from ten and if you haven't jumped by then you're out." I turn around to look at him again to see if he's joking but his face could not be more serious. I swallow hard and turn back to face the death-defying drop. What have i gotten myself into?
"You can do this." I whisper to myself trying to build up the courage to throw myself off the ledge of the building into the unknown. "I mean you might die but dying would be better than being factionless right? " I ramble on hoping to convince myself.
"10...9...8..." he begins his countdown much faster than i was expecting.
"Shit! Okay, fuck fuck fuck! Calm down Elodie you got this!" I'm definitely getting funny looks from the remainder of the other transfers behind me that have yet to face the jump and some even laugh taking pleasure in the fact I'm about to have a nervous break down. I'm also not helping the fact that I'm the only female initiate and I'm pretty sure all bets are already on me to be the first to be booted out. "What a crappy first impression this is." i think to myself.
I try to block out their laughs and taunts but in the process of doing so i forget all about the countdown, he's already over half way through and i now have all of three seconds to man up and just jump, so that's exactly what i do.
I throw myself forward without another thought and feel myself plummet into the dark abyss below. It feels like I'm never going to reach the bottom that I'm going to keep falling forever and never touch my feet on solid ground again, that is, until i come to an abrupt stop in what seems to be a very large net. I bounce a few times and instantly feel nauseous, i try to escape the tangles of the net to get myself back on precious land before i vomit all over myself but i find it almost impossible to make any leeway. After a couple seconds of scrambling around like a fish out of water the net is yanked down and i roll all the way over to the edge to be met by a set of piercing blue eyes.
The eyes belong to a rather large man who immediately grabs me under the arms not really caring that he's being quite rough, he lifts me up with ease then sets me down on the ground. I instantly feel intimidated as he towers over me looking down with a callous look on his face and i have a feeling that he would much rather be anywhere else but here fishing initiates out of a net.
"Name?" he asks in a deep monotonous voice without even looking at me. It takes me a second to realise what he said and that's he's actually talking to me.
"Ohh uh.. Elodie. I'm Elodie." i stammer back sounding more nervous than i wanted to.
"You sure?" he shoots back glancing down at me then back up to the hole from where i just came.
"Am i sure? Well unless that fall messed up my brain I'm pretty sure i can remember what my name is." i boldly throw back instantly regretting my tone as he turns his glare back on me.
He holds my gaze for a few seconds and i feel as if his stare could strike me down where i stand, I want to look away, i urge myself to, but i find myself staring back and taking in his features. His eyes are the highlight of his very handsome face, even though he has an aura of complete arrogance and unfriendliness the longer i stare his eyes give off a softness that doesn't quite match his hardened facade.
"Jumper number seven, Elodie." he shouts out to the crowd of people behind him, his unblinking eyes still holding my stare. They all begin to clap and holler as i stand there still not breaking eye contact, it's as if he thinks this is a game and the first to look away is the loser, i can already tell he's going to be a stubborn ass and there's no way he's losing to me, so i give him the satisfaction of looking away first and go to stand with a bunch of people i recognise as the initiates who jumped before me. I throw one last glance at him and i can see a hint of a smirk sit upon his smug face as another body drops into the net.
We stand there until all the initiates have jumped which takes a lot longer than i had hoped and now we're all gathered around to meet our trainers and be assigned our rooms. The man from the roof has now joined us and is standing beside a woman who I've not seen before and the man who pulled me from the net. "Welcome to Dauntless. My name is Four, this is Lauren and Eric." he introduces everyone "You will be split into two groups for your training, Dauntless born who will be trained by Lauren and transfers who will be trained by me. Eric will be helping with both classes when and if the need arises but for the time being he's focusing mainly on his leadership duties."
I shift my attention across to who i now know is called Eric and i catch him roll his eyes as Four speaks tapping his foot impatiently constantly checking his watch whilst sighing rather loudly. "Rude." i think to myself as Four glances at Eric and seems frustrated by the lack of attention Eric is giving and i can almost feel a tension radiating off both of them. After Four finishes giving his little welcome speech we're escorted off to our sleeping quarters.
Dauntless is the complete opposite to Amity. It's dull, dark and cold and it feels very hidden away, whereas Amity is warm, colourful and bright and out in the open. As i walk through the damp halls i feel like I'll never see the sun again, i feel like I'm going to be confined to the deep dark depths of Dauntless forever and never feel the warmth of a summers day on my skin.
I then shake my head, willing myself to stop being such a negative Nancy. There's a reason i chose to transfer and i had to keep that in mind no matter how hard the change felt. Although i was free to do pretty much whatever pleased me in Amity i never truly felt as though i belonged there. I felt as if my life was slipping away day by day and i had absolutely nothing to show for it. I wanted my life to mean something, i wanted to make a difference and i knew that if i stayed there I'd wake up one day old and grey and regret all the things i never done. So that's when i made the decision to come to Dauntless, i know i can better myself here and I'll do everything in my power to prove that this was the right decision.
We arrive at the sleeping quarters and I'm horrified to find that we will all be sleeping in the same room. Not only that but the showers and toilets are all communal also. As if being the only female transfer wasn't bad enough this just put the final nail in the coffin. I turn to face Four in hopes he'll tell me that ill be placed in a separate room, that there's no way I'll be made sleep let alone shower in a room with thirteen boys, but he speaks out before i even get a chance to voice my concerns "This is where you will all stay for the duration of your training. You will find all you need to get you by on your beds. Get changed and meet me outside in fifteen minutes and I'll show you around some more then take you get lunch." he turns and leaves the room without another word and suddenly i can feel my cheeks heat up as i look around to see all eyes are now on me.