Caria
"Well don't you look fierce today," Amar remarks as he settles down beside me. The small smile on his face is irksome, and he makes a point of sweeping his eyes over me in an exaggerated gesture. He throws his head back and laughs when I glare, settling back into his seat and grinning down at the five bowls in the center of the room.
"I don't want to be here," I grumble to him, too quiet for other members to hear me, but loud enough for him to.
"The Choosing Ceremony is an important process," he replies.
The ceremony hasn't actually started yet. We're waiting for Abnegation members to file in, all of them a bit behind because they take the stairs every year. For a group that preaches selflessness it's kind of funny they don't see this act as wasting time for the rest of us. Especially considering there are a solid twenty flights of stairs.
"I'm hungover," I breathe. His lips quirk into a smirk and he glances at me from the corner of his eye.
"That's not fair to our initiates," he tells me. It's true, though. Every kid who bleeds into our bowl is going to rouse screams from the rest of our faction, which will worsen my headache, which will make me despise every single initiate.
"Maybe no one will transfer," I respond. "Maybe we won't have any initiates this year."
Amar snorts beside me and I know he's made his point.
Max, one of our leaders, is in charge this year. He makes his speech and begins the process of calling the names of all the sixteen year old initiates. Each new person is presented with a knife and a choice and, because faction is supposed to come before blood, each person gives their life to their new faction.
I watch without any enthusiasm, though Amar makes up for it by hollering and clapping and laughing every time a person bleeds onto the burning coals. My head pounds and I purse my lips as the next initiate takes the place of the last.
I can't help my reaction when a drab Abnegation boy nearly cuts his palm down to the bone and then bleeds into our bowl. My eyes widen, my jaw drops, and the people around me are on their feet in their excitement. I follow the boy with my eyes as he ascends the stairs. I watch the wobble of his steps.
When I turn back to Amar the stunned expression on my face is still there; I can feel it. He grins at me and laughs. He leans in to ask me over the screaming of the crowd, "Something caught your eye?"
"When was the last time a Stiff transferred here?" I shout at him, not waiting for his answer as I turn and crane my neck to see him. He is wrapping his hand with a piece of his shirt to try and stop the bleeding.
"Twenty years at least," he replies, and as the rest of the faction quiets down we turn our eyes back to the choosing. The grin is still on his face and I know it's likely I still look shell shocked.
When the process ends Amar grabs my arm and hauls me to my feet so that we can leave quickly. We rush into the stairwell and begin our descent. Adrenaline begins to pound through my veins and a couple of times I misjudge and end up slamming into the wall. Amar laughs at me and I can't help the smile that worms its way onto my lips as my headache finally begins to retreat.
The moment we reach the ground floor we fling ourselves outside and into the sunshine. As a group we begin to sprint toward the train tracks, not bothering to see if the initiates will follow us or not. Amar and I reach the train platform, still grinning from a runner's high, and he leads me to a black-haired woman I recognize almost immediately.
"Tori!" I crow, throwing an arm around her so I can pull her close and kiss her cheek.
"Caria!" she shouts in response. "Haven't seen you buy the shop in a while."
"Soon," I tell her, letting her go so I can begin my jog on the platform.
The train approaches quickly, and with confidence that only comes from experience, I reach out to grab the handle and swing myself into the car. Amar appears shortly after, then a few other Dauntless members, and then Tori. I think that's the last of us until another body appears, landing right as the train begins to curve. They barrel forward and slam into the side of the car.
Amar nudges me and hums, "Smooth."
"He made it onto the train, Amar," Tori chastises him. "That's all that matters."
I can't help but blink in surprise at the Stiff, who holds a hand to his nose while he studies us. The cloth he'd wrapped around his hand didn't do much good, as it's turned a bright, saturated red.
"He's supposed to be on the other car," Amar reminds Tori. However, when Tori doesn't seem at all bothered by the initiate in our train car, he shrugs and asks, "So what's your name, Stiff?"
The initiate opens his mouth to reply and then stops. His brows furrow and it becomes clear he doesn't want to tell us his given name. He looks away a moment and then back before saying, "You can call me Stiff for all I care."
My eyes go to Tori, who I know was in charge of aptitude tests, but she just gives the Stiff a nod. Curiosity burns immediately but I don't say anything. The kid is entitled to his demons.
It doesn't take long for him to back away from the open door and settle into a crouch beside us. He holds his head in his hands and tries to control his breathing. I nudge Amar and nod toward the kid, and Amar just grins and shrugs.
Dauntless use the trains to get everywhere, which means a lot of jumping on and jumping off because the trains never actually stop. A fear of heights could be a liability for the time being, but it's also something that'll be confronted very quickly.
When we get closer to our destination Amar reaches out and nudges the Stiff with his foot. The kid looks up in confusion.
"Time to get up, Stiff," Amar tells him. "It's almost time to jump."
"Jump?" he asks, fear lighting his blue eyes.
"The train doesn't stop," I explain.
"For anyone," Amar concludes.
The Stiff stands slowly and swallows hard. Tori pushes him closer toward the door and shouts to the rest of us, "Let the initiate off first!"
"What are you doing?" he hisses, face set in a scowl.
I don't think I've ever seen a Stiff so angry before. It almost makes me laugh, but instead we wait for him to jump from the car. The rest of us follow him quickly and with practiced ease. My feet hit the gravel and I let my knees go so that I roll forward and onto my shoulder and then back onto my feet.
The first time I jumped from the train I sprained my ankle because I thought it would be best to stay on my feet. The truth is you either need to roll or hit the ground running if you don't want to get hurt.
Amar claps a hand onto my shoulder and guides me toward the ledge of the building. I give him a wary look but he just grins and nods to me. I huff in annoyance. He was supposed to give the initiates the pep talk to make them jump.
"Slacker," I whisper as I step up onto the ledge. He just chuckles and shoves his hands into the pockets of his jacket.
I widen my feet so their equal with my shoulders and place my hands on my hips while I observe the initiates. The Dauntless born are already chatting with each other and brushing the dirt from their shoulders while the transfers mostly look nervous. Their eyes dart from me to the ledge like cornered animals trying to find an escape route. The Stiff just looks sick.
"Welcome to Dauntless," I call. The Dauntless born quiet down except for a few chuckles and exchanged smiles. The transfers are all tight lipped and pale. "This faction values bravery above all else, meaning all of you will be facing your fears or you will die trying. If you choose not to try, you can leave. It looks like this year we have a record low of transfers."
My fellow members shout their joy and pride, something that makes me smirk.
"If you want to get into the compound, this is the only way. You'll have to jump off this ledge." I pick up one foot and move it back so that it's past the ledge, and I rest my toes against the outside. From my place I can see the Stiff pale even further.
"Initiates, you have first jump."
With that I hop down to stand beside Amar. He nudges my shoulder and grins.
The first jumper is a Dauntless born who hops onto the ledge, only to put his weight forward too quickly and literally fall off the ledge. I roll my eyes and the other Dauntless born begin to laugh. The initiates begin to line up and they jump quickly after that. Amar has them wait after the jumper before them.
The Stiff is the last one to jump, and when Amar gives him a nod, all he does is close his eyes and tilt forward.
We watch him disappear.
"I'm a little surprised he's made it this far," I comment as Amar climbs up onto the ledge.
"I'm not," Tori says. "He's a fighter. I can tell."
"I'll take your word for it then."
I am the last of the members to jump.
I glance up from my food as Amar walks into the cafeteria with the Stiff. Amar's eyes find mine and he grins so wide it has to hurt. I watch him speak to the initiates a moment, and then he looks up at me.
"Tori! Car!" he calls, and across from me Tori looks up at him. "You two ever hear of anyone with only four fears in their fear landscape?"
Tori and I exchange a look.
"Last record I heard was seven or eight," Tori replies.
"Well I've got an initiate here with only four fears."
I choke on my drink at his words. I cough into my hand as Tori points toward the Stiff. Amar nods and I take a shaky breath before coughing again.
"That's got to be a new record," Tori says.
Amar comes and sits with us after a few more words to the initiates. He thumps my back and grins at us.
"Four?" I ask. "Four fears?"
"Watched them all myself," he replies.
"That's incredible," I whisper. "Things might get interesting this year."
Amar grins at me and winks. "We'll certainly see tomorrow, won't we."
I pick up my tray and stand from my seat. "I'm going to turn in early then. I'll see you in the morning, Amar."
"You want to wake them or should I?" he asks with a smirk.
"You two are doing training together?" Tori asks with a furrowed brow.
"Yeah, Amar asked me to help a bit in case a time comes when he won't be doing initiate training," I explain to her. I give him a shrug then. "I'll wake them up."
He nods and I give a small wave as I leave the cafeteria. Tomorrow will be interesting.
A/N: I do not own Divergent.
Any follows, favorites, or reviews you'd be willing to give this story would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading and have a nice day!