If you read The Blackest Shade of Gray you know I ran into writer's block a little while ago. Here is what I was working on while I took a short but needed break from that story.
This short story works within the Dauntless Gray/Blackest Shade of Gray world (my pre-Divergent story of Hana Pedrad). This matches up with chapters 26 to 29 and chapter 44 in The Blackest Shade of Gray. It starts with George's time in Dauntless and follows him to the Bureau. If you haven't read Dauntless Gray and The Blackest Shade of Gray, you can still follow this. You just need to know one thing. In the Dauntless Gray world, Hana discovers what Natalie does and works for/with her from inside Dauntless.
There are a few of my own characters from Dauntless Gray/The Blackest Shade of Gray that are used or mentioned in this story. I'd love for you to read those books, but they are long (Dauntless Gray is 64 chapters and over 200,000 words). The Blackest Shade of Gray is currently 44 chapters and over 100,000 words).
So, if you want to read this without reading either of those, here is a quick list of my characters that appear in George's story and a little about them.
Isaac- Hana's younger brother. He stayed in Abnegation.
Conner- Danika's older brother. He works with Hana in the control room and is married to one of her and Tori's friends, Bekah.
Jazz- Dauntless trainer, Amar's mom, one of Hana's and Tori's friends in Dauntless.
Ava- Former Dauntless leader, Natalie's mother figure while she was in Dauntless. Natalie and Hana removed her from Dauntless earlier when it was discovered she is Divergent.
Ben- Trainer candidate for Dauntless, normally works factionless patrol. Married to one of Tori's and Hana's friends, Abilyn , he is also Shauna's father.
Chaz- Trainer candidate for Dauntless, normally works in maintenance. Married to Hana's best friend and cousin-in-law, Leeann.
Renee- Trainer candidate for Dauntless. Hana and Natalie work to keep an eye on her. She's a transfer from Erudite. Natalie thinks she may be a spy.
Eli- Leadership candidate for Dauntless. He works in Tech Support. Best friends with Jazz's husband, Rais. Eli is Hana's husband, which makes him Zeke and Uriah's dad (although Uriah hasn't been born yet).
Levi- Leadership candidate for Dauntless. He is one of Eli's good friends and married to one of Hana's good friends, Kelly. He's also Lauren's dad.
Sue- Leadership candidate for Dauntless. She works in the control room with Hana.
Wyatt- Leadership candidate for Dauntless.
I also want to give a special thanks to BK2U who is stepping in as Beta for this story so that it can be published around the time of chapter 44. Real life comes first, and I appreciate her willingness to help me out on this.
Enjoy!
Chapter 1 Choosing Ceremony
It takes a lot of work to keep my excitement at bay as Mom and Dad walk with me to my place next to — what's his name, Tori's friend's brother... Isaac, that's right — for the Choosing Ceremony. It doesn't matter what the Abnegation man from the aptitude test yesterday told me. Inconclusive or not, I know where I belong. I can't wait until this ceremony is over so I can start my new life where I truly belong.
"Tell Tori 'hi'," Mom whispers as she gives me one last hug and moves away.
The smallest feeling of guilt stabs at me. How on Earth could Mom, with her priorities always firmly rooted in all things Erudite, realize I'm going? I would be surprised if Dad had figured out I am planning on following Tori, but Mom? Tori manages to arrive at that moment. No, Mom doesn't know I'm going. She never cared enough to pay attention to me after Tori left, any more than she paid attention to Tori before she left. She must have seen Tori coming, but she can't even be bothered to linger a moment so she can tell her daughter 'hi' herself. Either that, or she's so concerned about her image that she doesn't want Jeanine to call her a faction traitor for speaking to her daughter.
Tori walks up with Isaac's sister, who is pregnant, and gives me a hug. "Hana?" I hear Isaac whisper his sister's name in awe, but Tori captures my attention before I hear any more of their conversation.
"Well?" she asks in an excited whisper. "Did you get a Dauntless result or not?"
I don't smile as I softly give her the confusing report. "Inconclusive."
"What?" She pulls back a little, her brow puckered with concern.
"Don't tell anyone, but the test didn't tell me what faction I belong in." I keep my voice down. The Abnegation man who gave me my test told me that I shouldn't go around announcing my result. In fact, he told me I shouldn't tell anyone at all, but Tori isn't just anyone.
"Then where…" Tori starts to ask me where I'm going, but I decide to keep her wondering.
I notice Isaac saying goodbye to his sister. "You better get going." I nod my head towards Hana. "You shouldn't stick around here much longer."
"You better make the right choice," Tori mumbles under her breath. "We aren't through talking."
I keep my grin under control until she is behind me. There is no doubt in my mind I'm making the right choice.
The advantage of having my little-used surname towards the end of the alphabet is only seen on Choosing Day. Today, instead of being one of the last ones called when the Erudite teacher calls roll, I will be one of the first ones to pick my faction, to decide my fate. I try not to look too excited, to look too confident. Especially since most of my peers look unsure and a few of them look a little green.
It doesn't make sense to me for them to look so shaky. Our memories don't stretch back far enough to remember a time when we didn't know this day was coming. We have been raised knowing, since before we could walk, that one day we would choose to go or to stay. We have taken classes that tell us about the other factions. We have studied side by side with students from other factions, other backgrounds. We've been able to listen to them in class, and get a glimpse of what their life and their faction is like in the way they behave at school.
Then there is the aptitude test itself. For almost all of them, it told them exactly where they should go, where they belong. For most of them, it has confirmed what they already knew, that they should just stay at home. For a few of them, it confirmed what they have long suspected, that they don't belong where they are.
There can't be many like me. There can't be many who took the test and had the Abnegation who administered it shake their head, sit down beside them, ask them if they realized anything about the test, and when they said they realized that it wasn't real received a sternly whispered warning. "Don't ever tell anyone what I am about to tell you. This is a matter of life and death to you."
I realize in my wonderings that I just missed the announcement of who is taking Norton's place as the leader of Erudite, but it doesn't matter. I already knew Mom isn't going to be leading Erudite, Jeanine is. Those in the Top Ten, the elite group in the faction formed by those with the ten highest IQs, were told two weeks ago that Jeanine has the highest IQ. They were informed that they weren't allowed to tell anyone, but that Jeanine would be the one running the faction. I overheard Mom tell Dad, as she was understandably disappointed to find out she was still only the third smartest person in the faction, but she has always known that when it comes to leading the faction, all the hard work and hours she put in didn't really count for anything. It always has been, and always will be, all about the number.
I don't bother listening to Jeanine's short speech introducing herself as the newest leader, or the speech meant for us by Candor's leader, Krista. Jeanine's delivery, I'm sure, is a factual recital of the importance of her job and Erudite. Krista, who is the actual leader of today's ceremony, will try one last time to persuade anyone who is leaning towards Candor that the truth is important to each of us.
May Young, my former study partner for calculus, is the first name called, and predictably she stays in Erudite. She was slightly better in every class than I was. I would have been very surprised if she had left.
In no time, Krista calls my name, and I confidently stride up to take my knife. There is no fear, no hesitation. The knife is sharp and the pain is brief. I head straight to where I belong, and with my eyes on Tori, I let my blood follow hers and drop upon the coals.
My sister is on her feet in an instant. Her arm pumps the air. I smile when I pick out her yell above everyone else's in Dauntless. I walk over and take my place among my faction, my new family. I am where I belong.
Tori spends the rest of the time trying to hide her excitement about my transferring. She wouldn't have to, except her friend sitting next to her, Hana, seems to be a little down that her brother is predictably staying in Abnegation. It's not surprising that he does, since teens in Abnegation are hardly ever selfish enough to leave their families.
As the last name is called and the last blood is spilt for the year, Tori leans into Hana. Hana pushes Tori up to her feet as the rest of Dauntless stands and runs. The members run to the stairs, Tori lagging a bit behind until we run next to each other, but only for a brief second. She suddenly reaches out and punches me on the shoulder. "You're it!" she yells and speeds up, leaving me to chase her.
I almost catch up with her at the bottom of the first set of stairs. She loses me when she suddenly vaults over the handrail and lands on the next flight. There are whoops and cheers as she does, and suddenly more and more of them, of us, are skipping steps. Tori seems to get further ahead of me. I grab onto the railing and try to push myself off it, but quickly realize I'm not going to make it and land back where I started.
"It's harder than it looks," a boy with close-cropped hair and just a hint of a tattoo showing behind each ear tells me. "I'm Lance."
"George," I answer as we jump down the last few steps.
"Are you ready for this? It's not the easiest thing to become Dauntless. There is more than book learning to this." I look at him for a moment, trying to decide if he is being condescending, but he merely looks concerned.
"I have been reading," I admit, looking him over and trying to judge the trustworthiness of my new friend. I decide quickly he has honest eyes, and I have to start somewhere. "But I've been practicing, too. I even have a set of knives I've practiced throwing."
Lance's eyes grow round. "Are you any good? I haven't even managed to do much with that."
We run up the platform to the cars, talking about tips for throwing knives and about some of the things Lance just can't wait until he is a full member to do. While we wait for the train to arrive, I try to remember what Tori told me about jumping on a moving train. Push with your legs, pull with your arms. The train whistle pierces the air and half of the group starts running for the first car. I see Tori grab onto the bar and swing herself in. She finds me and gives a little salute before she disappears inside the car. I run with the rest of the initiates for the second car. I try to do what Tori did and what she told me to do, but I don't pull quite hard enough with my arm and I end up on my knees before rolling out of the way for Lance to get in.
"Not bad, for a transfer."
I look up and see a pretty Dauntless girl looking down at me. "I'll do better next time."
"You'll need to do better when you get off," she says shortly. "From what I understand, if you miss jumping off, your chances of becoming Dauntless aren't very good."
"Lay off him," Lance says as he sticks up for me.
The girl rolls her eyes at Lance, and says in a superior tone, "I'm right, and you know it."
"I think you're right, from what we've heard, but neither of us knows exactly what happens between the time we jump on the train and when we are brought in for dinner tonight. Danika, you may have a big brother who gave you a few hints as to what happens, but Conner's been known to pull your leg, too, so you don't know for sure if you know anything."
Danika huffs and heads over to the huddle of Dauntless and Candor that are getting to know each other in one corner.
"Don't worry about her," Lance says as he leads me to a different corner where there are Dauntless, Erudite and a lone Amity transfer talking. "Danika likes to think she's hot stuff. She doesn't mean anything by it. It's Dauntless swagger, and it's encouraged around here."
Take a running start, jump as far as you can, and keep running with the momentum when you jump off the train. Tori told me this countless times when we met in secret over the last few months. She seemed to repeat that phrase more than almost any other. Run to jump far, and keep running when I land so that I land on my feet. As I run off the momentum from jumping off the train to the roof, I understand why she repeated that so many times. One wrong step here is fatal.
"Ron!" A screaming girl who started the day in Candor captures my attention. "Ron!"
I look around for Ron, puzzled when I don't see anyone responding to her shriek, until I realize that there are two hands slowly losing the battle with gravity. For a moment, no one moves to help him. He is literally holding on for his life, and no one moves towards him. I realize that I am frozen in disbelief, too, and force myself to be brave, to move towards the edge. "Hold on, Ron," I encourage him. "Hold on." I kneel on one side of him and grab his arm. Lance realizes what I am doing and hurries over to grab his other arm. Together we pull him up. At one point Lance starts to lose his balance, and suddenly Danika is there, grabbing Lance around the waist to anchor him.
After we get Ron up, we all take a moment to stand there and think about what we have done. Ron moves first. He's short, and dressed in black and white like the girl. He looks at us, and then down the edge of the building, and then at us again. "Thank you," his voice is shaky as the girl throws her arms around him.
The three of us turn towards the crowd gathered around someone who stands near the edge of the building. "Welcome to Dauntless," a man with a blonde ponytail booms out from the edge.
Time is supposed to be a constant thing, always moving at the same pace. One thousand nanoseconds make a microsecond. One thousand microseconds make a millisecond. One thousand milliseconds make a second. Sixty seconds make a minute. Sixty minutes make an hour, and, according to my watch, it's been less than five hours since I was at my Choosing Ceremony and became Dauntless. It feels like scientific laws have been changed, rearranged, and broken since that moment my blood joined the blood of so many others on the coals, since that moment I became a part of Dauntless. I didn't know it was possible to fit so much into five hours; they've gone by so quickly that it feels like barely an hour has passed.
In that time, I've jumped on and off a train onto a roof, pulled someone back onto the roof from the edge, jumped off the building, gotten new clothes, started making new friends, and learned my way from the Pit to the training room to the dorms and finally to the cafeteria, where the cheering throng of Dauntless loudly welcomes us to dinner.
I'm happy to see Tori's group is seated near us. Tori is next to Jazz, one of our trainers. I sit at the edge of the initiates while Tori sits at the edge of her group of friends. We can't actually sit with each other; 'faction before blood', after all.
"Nest?" Tori suddenly calls out the lone word that has nothing to do with any conversation going on.
I wait to make sure no one realizes my response is tied to hers. "Rolling pin," I respond.
Tori also gives it some time before she responds back "Banshee."
I try to pay attention to what Lance is saying, instead of paying attention to Tori to make sure I don't miss her leaving. I try to remind myself it doesn't matter if I do; we've already confirmed that we're meeting at the tattoo parlor after dinner. So, if she does leave without me noticing… we'll still meet up again tonight.
"I've got to get to work," Tori announces as she picks up her tray to leave. She walks away without a backward glance at me, which is the way it should be.
"So, let's check out the chasm," Ron suggests.
"You can do that. I'm going to do something a little more Dauntless than that." I try to put some of what Lance described as Dauntless swagger into my voice.
"Oh? What are you going to do that is so Dauntless?" Danika asks, smiling at me patronizingly.
"I'm going to get a tattoo." Or at least talk to my sister about one, I finish to myself as I stand up to go. I'm thankful that no one decides to join me.
"There you are." Tori pulls me deeper into the tattoo parlor and gives me a quick hug. "What took you so long?"
"It couldn't look like I was following you," I remind her.
"True, but did you have to wait that long?" I try to keep from smiling at myself as Tori holds me by my shoulders at an arm's length from herself. Evidently time has played its other trick on Tori: going so slowly it doesn't feel like it's moving at all. "It is so good to have you here." She pulls me back in for another hug. "Here's what I've been thinking." She pulls out a sheet of paper that looks about as long as my back. There is a drawing of flames covering it. "This tattoo will take me about a month to do."
I look at the tattoo and then at her. "Are you serious?"
"Yes." Tori looks a little hurt at my comment. "I'll need to give it some healing time, but with this tattoo I can see you at least every other day."
I reach out and trace the nearest flame with my finger. "You drew this?" I let the admiration and awe seep into my voice. I had no idea my sister was so talented.
"Of course, this is what I do."
I look at some of the innermost curves of the flames. "Those almost look like Erudite eyes," I say softly as I trace the nearly oval shape.
Tori looks over it again. "I must have done that subconsciously. I can change it."
"Can you make the eyes hidden in the flames?"
Tori looks at me like she is trying to see through me. It's the look she's always used whenever she is trying to talk me into something. "I'll do that if you'll explain to me what happened during your aptitude test."
I lay down on my back, on the table I'll lie on when Tori does the tattoo, and stare at the ceiling. "There's not much more to tell. I knew that it wasn't real."
"How did you know that?" Tori's voice is soft while she erases a portion of her drawing and then gets out a pencil to draw in the hidden eyes.
"I don't know how I knew it. I can't explain that any more than you can explain to me how you didn't know it wasn't real."
Tori presses her lips together in a stern line.
"It basically means it would have been just as easy for me to stay in Erudite as to move to Dauntless, except there was no reason to stay in Erudite when my best friend was already in Dauntless." Tori smiles, and I let the punch line fall. "I only met Lance today and I already know we're going to be best friends."
Tori starts to respond, then throws her pencil at me. "You're still a brat, I see."
"I don't see any ink. Looks like someone chickened out," Danika taunts me.
"I didn't chicken out. Tori decided she's going to create a custom tattoo for me." I add Dauntless swagger to my tone again.
"Yeah, well, I'll still believe it when I see it, Nose," Danika says with her own brand of pride.
"You're not likely to see it," I respond back before I think about it.
Danika laughs. "I'm right! I'm not going to see it, because you're not getting one."
"It's going on my back, and trust me, I'm not showing you my back," I return quickly.
Danika makes a disgusted face. "Like I would want to see you with your shirt off."
Before I can respond, Jazz, one of our trainers, interrupts us from where she sits nearby with her friends and family. "You're down to fifteen minutes to be in the training room, ready to go." She kisses a little boy — who has brown eyes the same shape and shade of brown as hers — on the top of his head, and then kisses a man I'm guessing is her husband before she picks up her tray to dump it.
Without another word, we all look at each other, then hurry to finish eating. We have an important day of training in front of us.
Harrison, the man with the ponytail who was on the roof when we arrived, is our other trainer. He takes the Dauntless-born into a different room to train; the dozen of us who transferred stay with Jazz. "For the next couple of days, you will be training separately from the Dauntless-born. You need to learn the basics of fighting, which they already know. Normally you would all be stuck with me, but this year is Harrison's last year as a trainer, and we are in the middle of replacing a leader here in Dauntless due to the unexpected death of Ava." Jazz pauses; she seems a little more… emotional than I would have expected from a Dauntless. She shakes her head like she is shaking off an unwelcome thought. "Anyway, we have our trainer candidates — Ben, Chaz and Renee — with us to help you learn to fight, and our leadership candidates — Eli, Levi, Sue, and Wyatt — helping you as well. Just so you know, Harrison is also a candidate for leadership. We're going to work on getting you caught up with the Dauntless-born so they don't snap you like matchsticks when you fight each other next week."
We all look around the circle at each other. I have a feeling I look more confident, more sure of myself, than the others do. Most of them look worried. I'm sure the Amity boy has never thrown a punch, and although I'm sure the six Candors have had plenty of practice with verbal sparring, I doubt they have ever become physical. I know from my own experience in Erudite that it is illogical to hit anyone. I hide my grin; I should be ahead of everyone in the room, thanks to the private lessons Tori gave me when we would both sneak out of our factions to meet.
"Everyone find a punching bag." Jazz's voice breaks into my thoughts. "We'll start with the basics."
Danika looks cute with only her eyes and mouth peeking out from her padded suit. "You're about to be beaten by a girl," she taunts me.
All thoughts of her being cute fly from my mind in that moment, and I spar back verbally before I can stop myself. "That's what you think. The truth is you're about to lose to a transfer." I strike her on the chest, giving me the first score, before she even knows what hit her.
Danika throws two punches in quick succession, but she's rushed and upset. They are both easy for me to block. Danika's eyes narrow and I smile, hoping to unnerve her. We circle each other as each of us looks for the advantage.
I fake with my left arm like Tori taught me, and when she moves to block it, I come in with my right arm and left leg, catching her off guard so she stumbles onto the ground. I hold out my hand to help her up, like Tori always helps me when she knocks me to the ground. Danika eyes me, breathing heavily, like she's trying to decide if she trusts me or not. Finally, she takes my hand and pulls me down instead of pulling herself up. I wasn't expecting that, so instead of being braced for it, I end up almost on top of her. "Bet you can't do that again."
"Bet I can."
"Oh, yeah?" Danika uses me to push herself back up. "What do you want to bet?"
"Loser has to serve the winner Dauntless cake tonight." I stand up, too.
"You are going down this time," Danika says grimly.
Danika gives my empty plate a sour look, then stands up and marches off in a huff to the counter where the Dauntless cake awaits. She grabs two pieces and heads back. I keep an eye on her, just to make sure she doesn't do anything like spit on it. "Here's your cake." She lets my piece drop the last couple of inches from her hands. "How did you do that?"
Trying to keep up the Dauntless swagger, I take a bite of the cake. It is so much better than the gelatin we had for dessert in Erudite. Although I still miss the Erudite fizzy drink, I'm starting to think Dauntless cake might make up for it. I try not to look at Tori, but I can't keep from stealing a quick glance at her as I brag, "I'm just that good, I guess."
If you read my writing you know I love reviews and sometimes bribe you to get them. I have a new bribe for you on this story. YOU decide how quickly the next chapter is posted. This story is completely written, edited, and loaded on Fanfiction. At the end of each chapter, I'll tell you how many reviews I need to post the next chapter. The next chapter will be posted within 24 hours of that number of reviews.
Since I average around 15 reviews a chapter on The Blackest Shade of Gray when I bribe you, we'll start there. When there are 15 reviews (and Guests, your reviews count, too!) I'll get the next chapter up in 24 hours.