"CLARKE GRIFFIN" I glide towards the stage, my mind already made up. I feel all eyes on me, my mother's beaming with pride, and I scoff internally. I love my mother, but we are completely different people, she has failed to understand that I do not rely on her, and I am capable of making my own choices. I could see it in her eyes; I could see how in her mind, she has no doubt that I would stay in Candor, and the thought of me choosing otherwise doesn't cross her mind. Her naivety causes my blood to boil; I guess a part of me has never really forgiven her. I shake the memory of her out of my head as I accept the silver dagger out of Marcus Kane( the leader of abnegation)'s hand. I quickly drag the dagger across my palm, and hover my bleeding hand over the bowl of coal, letting my blood sizzle into the flame. Dauntless.
Marcus echoes my thoughts out loud, earning a gasp from my former faction, and cheers of rejoice from my chosen faction. Without giving my former faction a second glace, I walk on over to the dauntless. I make my way over and sit next to a guy I recognized, who had just moved out of Erudite. He greets me with a childish grin, the type that you can't help but to return. I study him for a moment, taking in his long brown hair that fell right under his ears, and his welcoming brown eyes. "Finn Collins" he introduces himself to me, and suddenly the nerves that previously controlled me went away. We spent the rest of the ceremony engaging in small talk. I was glad that I was not going to be the only outcast, that I at least had someone I kind of knew with me.
After the ceremony, we make our way towards the train, and while the majority of the dauntless members sprinted past us, Finn and I joined in a comfortable silence. His erudite was showing, as I couldn't help but notice his muscular lean form, and his speed. He was way ahead of me, and I look up and notice him jump up to the train, and a wave of panic posses me as i realise that it was practically impossible for me to make it onto the train. I clench my teeth and force myself to try harder, when unexpectedly I feel someone's hands wrap around my forearm and pull me up. I take a moment to catch my breath, before I look up at the figure standing in front of me, and suddenly I was out of breath again. The woman standing in front of me was breathtakingly stunning, the type that catches everyone's eyes as soon as she walks into a room. My attention went straight to her striking hazel eyes, which appeared to be illuminated in contrast to her tanned skin. I took a moment to study all her features, and I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy come along with the realisation that everything about her was perfect; her nose was perfectly rounded up, her full lips making me feel self conscious about my smaller ones, and she had the type of smile that I imagined all guys easily fell in love with. Her face was framed by her layered black and red curls, which were pulled behind her ears, just enough for me to get a good look at her piercings. She had a silver arrow shooting from one side of her cartilage to the other. Below it, she had three small piercings on her earlobe. My eyes trailed down to her hourglass body, but not without noticing the beautiful tribal tattoos on either side of her neck. She was wearing a tight black tank top which hugged her curves in all the right places, while at the same time emphasizing her small waist. Her tank top was tucked into black shorts, which showed off her toned legs. Finally, I noticed the henna design on her hand, as well as the maze-like tribal design on her forearm. I finally bring myself to look back up at her, and I notice that she's a few inches taller than me.
She looks down at me and with a playful smirk she sparks up the conversation. "Are you going to say anything or are you going to just keep on staring at me? If you want I could turn around and also give you a view of my ass." I felt a blush burn onto my cheeks, feeling embarrassed. Even by the way she speaks, her confidence radiates off of her, and everything about her screams 'fire'. She was the perfect embodiment of dauntless, her appearance was practically everything I wasn't. I clear my throat and introduce myself. "Nice to meet you, Clarke" she smirks yet again. "I'm Nikol, I'm one of the leaders here. I'm not supposed to help you, you were supposed to get up here by yourself, but I noticed a fierce spark in your eyes, and I knew I had to help you." She offers me a smile, which I wholeheartedly accept. Before I manage to say anything, I see Finn making his way towards me. "Nice to see you again, princess." He nods his head towards Nikol, and I can't help but feel that jealousy as he checks her out. "Who's your new friend?"I introduce them to each other, and as they start talking, I look out the window, and squint my eyes, I let out an involuntarily gasp. "Are they crazy?" I exclaimed, and Finn and Nikol made their way towards me, and they realised what I was talking about. Nikol lets out a chuckle, and once Finn and I looked at her with a nervous look on our faces, all she said was, "Oh yeah, did I not mention that you guys have to jump out of here, and onto the roof?" followed by an innocent smile. Finn looked up with his cheeky smile, looked right at me, and proceeded to say, "Follow my lead, princess". He winks at me and jumps without hesitation, causing Nikol to roll her eyes and shake her head. "That boy is so into you". I feel a blush forming on my cheeks again, as I deny it, causing her to roll her eyes again. "Oh shut up, you know he did that just to impress you." Before I had the chance to respond, a look of realisation spread across her face. "Come on Clarke, we have to jump." She walked towards the window, ready to follow the others onto the roof, when she looked back and saw the worried expression I had on my face. She walked back towards me, and reassured me that I could do that. "Come on, you chose dauntless for a reason, you know you are fearless, I could tell from the moment I had first laid eyes on you. With time, you will realise it too." She grabbed my hand, and together, we made our way onto the roof.
Realizing that I was the last person to jump off, everyone turned to look at me. I made my way next to Finn, while Nikol made her way next to what I assumed to be the leaders. She placed herself next to a man who looked like someone you did not want to mess with. He stood tall, with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. His icy blue eyes were visible from miles away, as well as his perfectly structured clenched jaw line. He also had a stubble which further shaped his face, and helped enhance his pink plumped lips. Looking at his glaring and stoic expression, I felt a shiver run down my spine. I made a mental note to stay out of his way. However, his expression seemed to soften when he saw Nikol walk over to him. She leaned in, and softly brushed her lips against his cheek. He wrapped one of his muscular, lean arms around her tiny waist and I noticed that he had the same tattoos as her. She looked at him with adoration in her eyes, which made my heart ache. It reminded me of look my mum used to give my dad when I was young, and every night I would lay in bed next to my mum, and he would read to us, I don't think either one of us could've fallen asleep without him. She would look at him with loving pouring out of her eyes, a look that filled me up with hope, hope that maybe one day I could have someone to look at like that, back when I believed in true love, back when I thought their love was eternal.
A deep voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and my eyes went back to Nikol and the man beside her. "My name is Eric. I'm one of your dauntless leaders, and this is Nikol, another leader. And I see the way you guys are looking at her, don't even think about it. She's also my girlfriend. Anyway, the only way to get into dauntless is to jump over the ledge." He looks at all of us with a hard stare, and suddenly, I head a familiar voice call out. I turn to Finn as he says "Is there water at the bottom or something?", Everyone begins to shuffle nervously around him, and Eric raises his eyebrows. "There's only one way to find out..."
Finn smirks, and without hesitation he was the first to jump. That was something I really liked about him, he was fearless. He always took lead, and he was not afraid of anything. I admired him for that. After Finn jumped, everyone started lining up and taking turns to jump, and of course I was at the end of the line. I sighed. In a way, I wish I could be more like Finn. I wish I could act without constantly over thinking about the consequences, I wish I was brave enough to take lead. Maybe I should've stayed in Candor. I never felt like I belonged there but here, I feel more like an outsider than I ever had there. But on the other hand, a part of me knows that this is just the beginning, and dauntless is the place for me. My thoughts get interrupted by a high pitched laugh, and I turn around, and I couldn't help but smile at the sight. Nikol was standing with Eric, leaning against him, and she was laughing at something she was telling him, while he looked at her with a fond smile on his face. Before I could stop myself, the thought of Finn and I maybe having that one day crossed my mind. I pictured myself leaning against him, both of us unable to stop laughing at something, and feeling the love so deep in my heart, that I forget why I ever doubted it's existence.
Realising that I was the last dauntless member left on that roof that hasn't jumped, I took a deep shaky breath, and stood near the ledge. I hear Eric call from behind me "INITIATE. You're too late. You don't belong here, just go to the factionless sector." Tears were swelling up in my eyes; I could not back down. Nikol rolls her eyes at him, telling him to shut up. She walks over to me and reassures me once again that I should just jump. She reassures me that everything's going to be okay and for some reason I trust her. I give her a small thankful smile, and I let myself fall.
After I land, I can't help but laugh; still shaken up by what had just happened, and my inability to believe that I, Clarke Griffin, had brought myself to do something so reckless. "What the fuck?" A deep, husky voice breaks my stream of consciousness. I squint my eyes, and I make out in the darkness a tall, muscular figure stomping towards me. He walks close enough that the sky light radiates of him, making him appear God-like. He had a stern look on his face, and you could tell he was in charge; just by the way he carried himself. You could see the authority just by the way he spoke. There was something about him that was mesmerising, maybe it was his deep brown eyes, or maybe it was his dark curls that seemed to bounce perfectly in the wind. Perhaps it was the serious expression that he had on his face, which made it clear that he was not messing around. It wasn't hard to tell that he was the type of person that was not liked by many, but you could tell that he was respected, maybe even feared by some. Without any warning, he brings his arm forward, and pulls me off the net. He doesn't break staring at me for a couple of minutes, and his stare makes my skin crawl, and my heart stammer in my chest. "What's your name, initiate?" For some reason, I find it impossible to form a sentence, and all I could do was stare at him, captured by his eyes. "I asked you a question." This time his voice is deeper, and more demanding. Before I had the chance to attempt to answer his question, I hear Nikol's raging laugh fill my ears, snapping me and the stranger from the daze we seemed to be in. We both turn around to see Nikol on Eric's back, clearly not noticing that they weren't alone. He pulls her into a deep kiss, before the stranger rolls his eyes, and clears his throat sarcastically, causes Eric to pull away. Nikol clearly still doesn't notice us, as she goes in for another kiss, before Eric brings it to her attention. Her cheeks turn into a deep red, before she makes her way towards us, with Eric trailing behind her. "Oh, I see you've met Clarke, Bellamy." I look at the stranger, who I now knew as Bellamy, and once again, we don't break staring at each other. "Welcome to dauntless, Clarke." He then walks off, with Eric and Nikol following shortly.