A/N: I'm not the owner of the Divergent series, though I do claim the characters I've created. Please comment to let me know what you think.
Chapter One
Linden heaved a deep sigh and hung her head in disappointment. It seemed she'd had too high expectations when it came to her fellow transfer initiates. She had thought that maybe they'd at least be half as much of an adrenaline junkie as herself, or at least not be on the brink of giving up before initiation had even gotten started.
A redhead from Amity was cowering away in the corner, clutching her stomach, looking as if she was going to be sick, whilst the rest stood back and watched in horror and awe as the Dauntless-born showed no sign of hesitation or dread before they jumped out of the moving train.
Leaning back against the far wall, hands behind her back, Linden observed the last of the initiates with mild interest as the moved closer to the edge of the train coach. The small group glanced down at the ground below, and Linden couldn't help but scoff when there was an audible gasp among them before they scrambled back.
Inhaling an exaggerated breath and running a hand through her dark curls, Linden pushed herself off the wall, and rolled her shoulders. Then she leaped off and landed gracelessly on the rooftop, catching herself on the palm of her hands, but not before scraping up her right knee. A small laugh left her lips.
A Dauntless-born came up beside her. He'd been one of the first to jump. He had a lean muscular body, and a mass of dark tousled hair, an angelic face, and pretty, blue eyes. The boy offered out his hand to help her up and she took it gratefully.
"Thanks!" she beamed up at him.
They stood side by side as they watched the last of the initiates jump onto the roof. The redhead from before didn't jump far enough, but in the last fleeting second, she managed to grab onto the edge of the building. Linden, who'd witnessed the whole thing, quickly sprung to action. She tugged at the boy's shirt, and together they rushed to grab onto the girl's upper arms and pulled her up to the roof.
The girl breathed heavily, tears welling up in her green doe eyes. "Thank you," she panted.
"All right, listen up!" a deep male voice, sharp with authority, called for everyone's attention. Linden tore her worried gaze away from the redhead and locked eyes with the man who'd spoke. He had a serious expression on his face as he gave her an approving nod, and she realized he must've seen them rescue the redhead. "I'm Eric. I'm one of your leaders."
As they walked up to where he was standing on the ledge, Linden had to try really hard not to gawk. He was absolutely gorgeous; tall and well-built with strong shoulders and bold tattoos circling around his forearms and more of them running up his neck. His short, dark blonde hair was slicked back and shaved on both sides of his head, and as she got closer, she noticed he also had two very distinctive piercings above his left eyebrow.
"If you want to enter Dauntless, this is your way in. And if you don't have the guts to jump, then you don't belong in Dauntless." At his words, Linden's face screwed up into her habitual scowl of determination. "Someone's gotta go first. Who's it gonna be?"
Linden stepped forward immediately, drawing everyone's attention. Eric jumped down from the ledge, and she thought she saw his mouth quirk up a little. She swept past him, closing her eyes for a brief second when she caught the scent of his cologne, and climbed up on the ledge. She peeked down to determine how far drop it was and inhaled sharply through her teeth.
"Damn," she muttered under her breath. Then she calmly stepped off the ledge.
