A/N:
I can't believe I'm doing this again! Ahhh! Okay. So I must warn you this is a OC/Eric ship. Only because I feel Tris/Tobias ships are to common. Most of this will try to stay IC, but I cannot promise that. I will say this now, this is before Eric became leader, and Tobias is in the control room only, so he may pop in and out. Please tell me what you think. I'll keep going if I hear something good. Have fun! Oh, and the italic parts are flashbacks.
"Rosalinda Cassini." The man at the front of the room says loudly. I look up to see the entire room stare at me. I take one last look at my parents, the smile on their face hard to conceal. They give me a pat on my leg before almost pushing me out of my seat and towards the stage. I hang on to the hem of my long shirt, slowly walking to the front. My black hair is in a tight bun, and my clothes are mix matched from different factions. My boots are Dauntless, with duct tape around them, my skirt is Amity yellow, a blue Erudite tank top underneath a long grey Abnegation shirt with dirt stains unfortunately everywhere. I can hear the murmur of the people behind me, speaking to their family and each other. "How can she be allowed to choose? She's one of them…" "I'm surprised she even showed up…" "Look at her, she won't make it anywhere…" I squeeze my eyes closed for a second, taking a deep breathe before opening them and finishing my walk to the stage. I ascend the stairs one at a time, counting my breaths while keeping my eyes on the man in grey in front of the faction bowls. Marcus, I think his name was, gives a small smile and holds out his hand to me, so I take it nervously. He helps me up the rest of the stairs, and releases my hand only to place a knife in its place. I look down at the knife, the edge of the blade shining in the light coming from the ceiling. I look up at the crowd in front of me, my eyes darting to each face as my mind wheels.
"Please, just let her take the test. She needs this!" I remember my mother begging the council of leaders in front of her. My father next to her, nodding his head in agreement. I was seated in the back of the room, close to the door. I stared down at my hands folded in my lap, looking up occasionally.
"If we allow that, she would have to be treated like any of the faction kids. She would have to go to school, act like the others. She would be expected to keep up with anything that was thrown at her." The woman in blue says, her eyes skirting me for a moment, before going back to my parents. She pushes some of her short blonde hair out of her face, shifting herself on her chair and folding her hands on the table again. Her body shows kindness, understanding, but her eyes are hard, contemplative
"And we would have to do this for every factionless child out there. We can't show favoritism for one girl." A man in all black speaks up this time. He's different than the woman in blue, his kindness reaches his eyes, and when our eyes meet, he gives me a small smile. I return the smile.
"Max, Jeanine, I promise you that she can keep up. And she's the only factionless born. So you won't be breaking the rules." My dad persists. He takes my mother's hand, looking at everyone in the room. "I need her to have something better than what we can give her. I need her safe! Just please, give her a shot."
"How about we let her show us." Another lady says, the scars on her face half covered by her dark hair. Her bright clothes are a change for the scene in the room. She and the council look at me then, and my mouth goes dry. I clear my throat and stand when a man in grey motions me forward.
I look at each bowl in turn, seeing the different contents in each bowl. I bring the knife up to my hand, and shakily draw the knife across. The sting from the cut is quick, and so is the blood the pools into my hand. I close my eyes for a moment to breathe.
"Hey! Factionless! You don't belong here!" I hear a kid scream from the bus as it passes me on the road. Someone throws something out of the window, a cup, and its contents splash all over me. All the kids laugh inside, disappearing around a corner. I hold my books closer to my chest. I pick up the pace of my walk, trying to get home before I run into anyone else from school. I turn down a street, which gives me a clear view of my 'house', if you can call it that. I can see the tarp on the roof flapping in the breeze, smoke coming from one of the windows.
I look at the bowl for what seems like forever, the blood in my hand collecting, almost ready to drop onto the floor. I quickly move my hand over one of the bowls right as the blood drips from my hand.
I curl into the smallest ball on the sidewalk. I muffle my sobs while hiding my face into my arm. The kids kick and throw things at me. I can only see fabrics of blue, black, and white. I black out for a moment when someone kicks me hard to the head, but quickly come back when someone pours some type of liquid on me. God I hope it's water.
"You'll never make it, factionless, you'll always be a nobody. We'll make sure of it." One of them says and they laugh, giving me one last kick and walking off. I stay in my position for a while, making sure they don't have a reason to come back.
I hear the sizzle from my blood hitting the coals. I put the knife down and grab the gauze and wrap that is placed for me. I wrap my hand as Marcus announces behind me, "Dauntless!" I hear cheers and claps from around the room, mostly from the group in black behind me. I walk to join them, looking at the smiles and faces that surround me, getting claps on the back and hugs from others. I take the last empty seat in the front, moving a bit to see my parents still in the crowd. They're crying, but I know it's tears of joy.
I made it. I actually made it. I'll have to work especially hard to pass initiation, according to my mom and dad. Or I'll just have to return home, and I'll be the girl that tried and failed.
The rest of the ceremony goes by quickly, with a couple more transferred from Candor, Erudite and Amity. None from Abnegation. Go figure. Once it's over, Dauntless stands firsts, starting to run for the exit, hooting and hollering before we reach the stairs. I take one look back at my parents, and they wave and smile, their eyes bright with excitement, almost proud. I smile as I turn around, following my new faction out into the street. I catch up to the rest of the crowd just as I see the first member's scaling the beams to the train tracks. Thank goodness for always have to run everywhere. "Get ready!" Someone shouts, as the rest climb, then stand at the top, jumping and talking with friends. Once I reach the beam, I take a breath and climb, only losing my grip for a couple moments. I'm almost at the top when a hand reaches out for me. I look up to see a boy with a cute smile and tan skin looking down at me. I take his hand, and he pulls me up the rest of the way.
"Thought you could use a little help." He said and smiles again, he holds his hand out again so I can shake it. "I'm Zeke. I'm originally from Dauntless. And you?" He asks as I shake his hand. Before I can open my mouth and say anything, the floor under us rumbles, and the train pops into view. Once it catches up with us, everyone starts to run, jumping into the empty cars. "Here we go!" Zeke next to me shouts, and I follow his lead, running and jumping into the car. I land on the floor, rolling to the back of the car.
"Damn, the nobody made it on." Someone says from the corner, I look up, and it's one of the boys from Erudite, a girl that's pretty much hanging all over him laughing at him. I think I recognize him from somewhere, but I don't look long just in case.
"HEY!" Zeke says as he helps me up. "I bet she'll beat your ass during initiation. She kepy up better than anyone else so far." He hooks his arm around mine, pulling me closer to him. I smile while looking at Zeke, who gives me a wink. "Don't worry, I got your back." He whispers to me.
"Time to go." An older Dauntless member says, leaning half out of the car. We all take a peek out, watching the other cars of people start to jump out and onto a roof.
"Ladies first." Zeke says, holding out his arms to me. I take a deep breath, and run forward, jumping out of the car and just making the roof. Maybe it is a good thing I'm skinny. I land on my hands and knees, taking a minute to catch myself. I laugh as I stand to my feet, scraping off the pebbles from my knees and palms. Zeke shows up next to me, and we walk towards the group, as two members stand on the ledge of the roof. I recognize one as Max, the leader of Dauntless, from a meeting a long time ago. On his right is a tall, strong built man, with tattoos on his arms and neck and piercings on his face. His arms are crossed across his chest, as his mouth absentmindedly plays with the piercing in his lip. His hair is short in the back, but hangs to almost his eyes in front. In the light it looks almost white. I stare at him for much longer than I mean to, but he doesn't notice.
"Everyone listen up!" Max says, and everyone hushes and moves in closer. "I'm Max, leader of hopefully your new home and this is Eric, our newest leader in training. Welcome to Dauntless. Since you guys have passed the first part of initiation, it's time for the second." He finishes, gesturing to the edge of the roof. "Time to see whose brave enough to go first."
"We have to jump?" I say, a little more loudly than I meant to. Everyone's attention turns to me, and I can feel my face turn bright red. I try to hide behind Zeke, but it's too late.
"Of course, stupid. Did you really think we would get a nice pony ride into Dauntless?" the Erudite boy says again. A couple people laugh, but not enough. Thank god.
"Then I guess you won't mind going first then." Eric says, dropping down onto the roof and walking over to the boy. "What's your name?" He asks, grabbing the boy's shirt.
"Peter." The boy says, puffing out his chest. If I didn't know any better, I could swear I saw fear on his eyes.
"Well Peter," Eric starts, walking them both over to the edge. "Time for you…" He starts, picking up Peter by the shirt and half throwing, half dragging him over the edge and watching him disappear from sight. "…To enter Dauntless." He finishes, finally looking at me. He stares for the longest time, not moving a muscle. I start to fidget under his gaze. I break first, looking down at my hole filled shoes.
"So, who's next?" Max says, looking at everyone. Surprisingly, my hand slowly raises up after a couple minutes, and Max gestures for me to stand on the edge with him. I give Zeke one last look, and he smiles and nods at me, while I make up way to the front. I reach up for my hair, pulling it down from its bun, letting it fall down to my back. I hear catcalls and whistles as I take off the baggy shirt, feeling the air hit more of my arms and the top of my chest. I join Max on the edge, looking down to see the hole below. I start to shake, reaching out for anything to grab onto. Warm strong hands find mine, and I turn to see Eric holding my outstretched hand. I look at our hands, and he follows my gaze. He lets go as quickly as he took hold, looking anywhere except at me.
I turn to look at the crowd behind me, watching all the faces watching me. I chance my luck and find Eric's eyes again, his pierced eyebrow raising slightly. I take another breath and close my eyes, slowly leaning back until I'm no longer on the roof, and all I feel is a rush of air behind me.
