A/N: So for those of you who were reading my other Divergent story, Burn It To The Ground, I am sorry to say I deleted it. I actually wrote it at three AM one night, and didn't really remember where I was going with it the next day... so yeah, I got a lot of good responses, so I am making another story, this time I actually have a plot in mind and everything. Please let me know what you guys think, and thanks for reading. xoxo
"Are you excited?". Raven didn't really have to ask the question to know the answer. By thee way amane was bouncing in her seat, the answer was obvious. But she asked her best friend anyway, enjoying her excitement.
"Unbelievably so. This is it! I'm joining Dauntless!" Amane whispered, not wanting to disturb the choosing ceremony that was going on around them.
"Yes you are. But just do me a favor, and remember you aren't indestructible?" Raven said with a smile, causing amane to send a playful glare at her.
"I do not think I am indestructible." Amane said. Raven rolled her eyes.
"Tell that to the time you broke your arm trying to jump from the top of one tree to another. Or the time you fractured your leg trying to scale the wall. Or the time-"
"Okay okay I get it sheesh. I've been a little careless. But I'm different now, more mature." Amane said.
"You almost broke your neck two days ago jumping from roof top to roof top." Raven said with a small laugh.
"Oh just shut up." Amane glared.
"RAVEN HOLLOW" Michael, the head of Abnegation, called. Raven smiled before standing up and heading to the stage. She cut her hand, and let her blood drip into the amity bowl without hesitation. "AMITY!" The entire Amity section clapped as Raven headed back to her seat. Amane smiled at her.
"God, you are such a hippie." Amane joked, causing Raven to laugh, but it earned several glares from the people around her. She glared right back. Stupid people still didn't know what a joke was. Amane sighed shaking her head. She couldn't wait to leave Amity.
"AMANE YURICAMI" Amane stood when she heard her name called.
"One week, right?" Raven asked.
"One week." Amane nodded, before heading to the stage. They had agreed that even though they were good to be in different factions, they would remain friends. So they arranged for their first meet up to be in one week from the ceremony day. And amane wasn't going to miss it.
Amane grabbed the knife once on stage, and quickly cut her hand. She then held her hand over the dauntless bowl, letting her blood drip onto the sizzling coals.
"DAUNTLESS" Michael yelled. The dauntless section clapped and cheered as Amane walked over. She got a few pats on the back before someone moved to give her a seat. Amane looked over towards Raven and gave her a smile. It would be the last time she would see her for a week. Amane felt a pang in her chest. Raven was the closest thing she had to a sister. The closest thing she had to family. Amane walked away sadly as everyone started to leave. She noticed a girl from abnegation that had the same look as her.
'It suxks, huh? Leaving everyone behind?" Amane asked. The girl look over at her before nodding.
"I just hope they'll be okay." She said, glancing at them one last time. Amane did the same.
"Me too. I'm Amane by the way." Amane introduced herself.
"Beatrice." As soon as she said that, all of the dauntless started cheering as they hit the stairs. Amane glanced at Beatrice before smiling, and following in suit. her years of causing mischief in Amity paid off. She was in shape, better than most of the other initiates. Even the dauntless born. But then again, most of them didn't have to work in the fields, which built quite a lot of muscle. As they ran, Amane easily caught up with the front of the group.
"Are you dauntless born? I've never seen you before." One of the males at the front of the group asked.
"No. I'm from Amity." She responded. His eyebrows shot up in shock.
"Since when does Amity have such... revealing clothing?" He asked. Amane glanced down at her outfit. She was wearing the classic harem pants of amity. They were a deep red, tight at the waist, loose and flowy in the legs, and cuffed at the ankles. Her top was a simple red tank top. Sure, it was tighter than most of the things people in Amity wore, and showed a little of her skin, but it wasn't really revealing.
"Its not that bad." Amane said defensively, and the guy laughed. Amane joined in. "Yea, I never fit in at Amity."
"I can tell. I hope you can climb." He said, as they approached the rail line that went through the city. Amane watched as the Dauntless born began to climb the metal rail posts that held up the track. She quickly followed in suit, climbing up the railways behind the guy she met. At the top, he held out his hand to help her up. Amane accepted it, and he pulled her up.
"I never thought someone from Amity would do better than most of the Dauntless born." He said with a grin.
"People underestimate us. Sure, Amity are peace lovers, but we are also strong. We do a lot of building and farming. Builds more muscle than most people think." Amane said.
"I'm Uriah." He greeted, holding out his hand to shake.
"Amane." She replied, shaking his hand.
"Well, Amane, you made it this far. I really hope you can make it onto a moving train. You'd be the first Amity to do so in... well... I don't know of any, actually." He said, watching as the train approached.
"Well then I'll be the first." Amane said with a smile. Uriah smiled at her.
"I hope so. Keep up, Amity!" He yelled playfully as the train began to pass them. Amane watched as they all began to run alongside the train, before jumping onto the side and climbing in. Amane was so distracted the train almost passed her. She quickly ran and jumped on, making it into the last train. She stood leaning against the wall, and watched as Beatrice jumped in, just barely making it. Amane watched as she sat on the floor next to a candor girl, both trying to catch their breath.
"You made it." The candor girl said.
"I was starting to think you wouldn't." Amane said with a smile. Beatrice smiled at them both.
"I'm Christina." The candor girl said with a smile.
"Beatrice."
"Amane." They introduced in turn.
"Is it just me, or are they trying to kill us?" She asked with a laugh. They all laughed for a bit, as slowly caught their breath and stood up, joining Amane by leaning on the wall.
"Do you know where we are going?" Christina asked. Amane shrugged.
"I imagine Dauntless headquarters. But I don't think anyone outside of Dauntless really knows where that is." Amane said. Just then a Woman walked into their compartment.
"Get ready." She said, walking over to the door. The three girls shared a confused glance, before moving forward to look out the door. Amane and Beatrice leaned out a little, to see the train approaching a roof. And even though there was a good six foot gap between the train, other dauntless initiates were jumping from the train to the roof.
"They're jumping!" Beatrice yelled.
"What?!" Christina asked in shock, finally sticking her head out the train.
"What if you don't jump?" One of the candor boys asked.
"What do you think? You'll be factionless. Good luck, Al" Another candor boy asked, before he turned and jumped. Amane looked at Beatrice and Christina.
"Together?" She asked. The nodded, before stepping back to get a running start.
"On three. One... Two...THREE!" Amane yelled, and they ran forward, jumping off the train, and landing on the roof. Amane managed to land on her feet, before dropping into a roll, but the other two were significantly less graceful. They all sat on the ground for a minute, before Beatrice and Christina started laughing. Amane was sure it was from shock, but she laughed with them.
"Alright, listen up!" A voice said, and they got to their feet and moved towards where everyone was standing. There was a guy standing on the edge of the roof. He had on a shirt and vest, tattoos on his forearms and neck, and two piercings above his eyebrow. He was the definition of Dauntless.
"'m Eric. I'm one of your leaders. If you want to enter Dauntless, this is the way in." He said, looking down behind him. "And if you don't have the guts to jump, then you don't belong in Dauntless."
"Is there water at the bottom or something?" A Erudite boy asked.
"I guess you'll find out. Or not." Eric said.
"We just jumped, and they want us to jump again?" Christina whispered at us.
"Well, someone has to go first, who's it gonna be?" Eric asked, eyeing the crowd. Amane was about to say something, when Beatrice spoke up.
"Me." She said, before walking up to the ledge as Eric jumped down. She looked down before looking back, and taking off her jacket.
"Yeah stiff, take it off." The annoying Candor yelled, causing laughs. "Put it back on." He then joked as Beatrice got on the ledge.
"Today, Initiate." Eric said, annoyed. That was all beatrice needed, and she jumped. Amane watched her go down. She didn't hear a splash of water, or a scream of agony, so she assumed she lived.
"Who's next?" Eric asked. There was another silence.
"Me." Amane said, stepping forward.
"A stiff and a hippie jump first. You've got to be kidding." Eric said, causing a few people to laugh. Amane rolled her eyes.
"I don't see any of your dauntless born volunteering." Amane said, hopping onto the ledge. "Maybe Dauntless aren't as brave as everyone says." Amane said. Eric looked pissed, but she jumped off the ledge before he could give a response. She didn't scream as she went down, and she landed in a net, bouncing a few times. She had just managed to balance herself when strong hands grabbed the net, sending her tumbling
"Shit!" Amane groaned as she tried to get her balance back. She looked up to see a guy with short brown hair, who quickly pulled her off the net.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"Amane." She responded.
"Second Jumper, Amane." He yelled and there was a chorus of whoops and welcomes. "Welcome to Dauntless." He said before Amane went and stood with Tris.
A while later, everyone had jumped down. Well, almost everyone. Amane noticed two less than what they had on the roof. She guessed not everyone jumped.
"Dauntless born go with Lauren, transfers stay with me. Go." The guy said. And they all moved quickly. Soon it was just the transfers left. "Most of the time in work in intelligence, but during your training, I will be your instructor. My name is four."
"Like the number?" Christina asked.
"Exactly like the number." He responded.
"What? one through three were taken?" She said, and even Amane giggled at that. But Four didn't look happy.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"Christina." She said. He stepped closer. It was then Amane realised how tall he was. Christinia was about her height. 5'2. And everyone seemed to be taller than them. Four was at least 6'0. And it was kind of intimidating.
"Well, Christina, the first lesson you learn from me, if you wanna survive here, is keep your mouth shut. Do you understand me?" He said.
"Yes." She responded, barely above a whisper. "Good." He nodded before turning away.
"Follow me." He said, and everyone hurried behind him. He lead them through the Dauntless compound. Amane decided then this place was a maze. How she was going to find her way around, let alone find a specific person, was beyond her. She had always had a good sense of direction, and could always find her way when lost. But the Dauntless compound was a lot different from the fields and forests of Amity. She just hoped not to get permanently lost. She was snapped out of her thoughts when everyone suddenly stopped, causing her to run into Tris. She mouthed an apology as Four spoke.
"This is the Pit, the center of life here in Dauntless." They all gawked. It was huge. Amane estimated it was at least 10 stories. At the bottom the floor looked to be sand, or dust. People were gather around having fun, or sparring. He let them gawk for a few minutes before moving on. They walked through the halls again, and Amane did her best to take in every detail and remember the way back.
"You're gonna be sleeping here for the next ten weeks." Four said as they entered a room that resembled a bunker. metal beds lay in rows throughout the room.
"Boys or girls?" THe candor boy Amane had come to recognize as Al asked.
"Both." Four says.
"That works." Al responded as several people murmured.
"If you like this you are going to love the bathroom." He said walking them in a little farther into the room. There were sink basins in the middle, toilets lined the left and right walls, and the showers were all along the back wall. All in the same room. No privacy. Yay. There were several murmurs of shock.
"Are you kidding me?" Christina asked.
"You should feel right at home, Candor. Everything out in the open." Four said before walking off. "Get changed."
"Great. Shower anyone?" Peter, the annoying candor, asked. Amane walked over to the ranks and started sifting through. She finally found clothes in her size and changed, ignoring the crude comments. Once they were done, Four had them burn all their old clothes. It made Amane sad, she liked the loose pants of Amity.
After that they all were aloud to go eat, but they had to find the cafeteria first. After some trial and error, they all made their way into the mess hall. It was intimidating. Everyone was crowded at the tables, talking and laughing. They tried to find a table, But the only open table had four sitting at it. They sat down and all the other transfers were there. Amane grabbed some bread and cheese, and started munching. She watched as Tris grabbed a hamburger with a fork.
"Have you never seen a hamburger before?" Christina asked. Tris looked over at her.
"No, I...I've seen one, I just have never eaten one." Tris responded
"In Abnegation you plant food, plant based diet without sauce and minimum seasoning. Same with Amity." A boy said.
"Depends on who's cooking." Amane stated.
"Which text book did you swallow?" Christina asked, causing everyone to laugh.
"Nice to meet you too. I'm Will. Erudite." He said.
"Of course you are." Christina said, rolling her eyes. "No offense, but I'm surprised Abnegation even eats at all. Too selfish, right? No wonder you left."
"You gotta be pretty self confident to be friends with a Candor." Will said
"what is that supposed to mean?" Christina asked, offended
"You have no filter. You say the first thing that comes into your head." Will said, and Amane nodded in agreement.
"Like you're an idiot?" Al said, causing everyone to laugh.
"Nice one, Al. Well, at least we tell the truth." Christina said.
"Erudites can tell the truth cause we have the facts." Will said.
"Any faction can tell the truth. It just matters on if they want to." Amane said
"I don't wanna hear about your old factions. You're Dauntless now." Four said, interrupting them all.
"Were you a transfer to, or Dauntless born?" Tris asked. Four finished drinking before responding.
"Are you kidding?" He asked.
"No." Tris said, looking confused.
"What makes you think you can talk to me?" Four asked.
"It...must be because you're so approachable." Tris said. causing a few chuckles.
"Yea. Like a bed of nails." Amane added, and several people laughed. Four looked between the two, before muttering something she didn't quite catch. Before she could ask what, a dauntless member walked up and started talking to him.
"You, my friends, have death wishes." Christina said.
" You know he was first in his class. They tried to recruit him for leadership twice, but he said no." Will whispered. Before anyone could say anything else, the rest of the hall started banging their cups on their tables. Amane looked up to see Max, the Dauntless leader, arrive. She recognized him from the times he would go to Amity to talk to Johanna.
"Initiates, stand." He said, and they all hesitantly stood up. " You have chosen to join the warrior faction tasked with the defense of this city and all its inhabitants. We believe in ordinary acts of bravery and the courage that rises one person to stand up for another. Respect that. Do us proud." With that everyone started clapping and cheering as he walked away. Soon, Amane felt herself lifted into the air, and Dauntless passed all the initiates around. Amane and Tris laughed happily.