Author's Note: Welcome to chapter two! I can't currently commit to a constant updating schedule, but I know I want to keep going with this story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent. It all belongs to Veronica Roth. I'm just playing around

Chapter 2

The Pit is almost empty when I walk through it. No one is "required" to attend the Choosing Ceremony, but most people know a dependent that will be choosing, so a good eighty percent of the factions attend. The normally crazy HQ of Dauntless is left quiet for once in its life. It is nice for me to enjoy, but eerie at the same time. Though I have no real reason to, the silence of this Dauntless brings me back to Abnegation. Back to when the silence was terrifying. I'm surprised silence didn't appear in my fear landscape.

I can't remember how long they take. The ceremony, that is. Of all of the things in the world that should bother me, the time it takes for the dependents to choose should not bother me. But it does. I'm known for being in control of my life with no real variables. I appear when I'm needed; I disappear when I'm not. Here, I have no idea when to show up at the back net, considering the different trains our new trainees could be arriving on.

Stopping in the middle of the Pit, I allow my eyes to wander upwards, looking at the blue lights, the glass ceiling, the small portion of blue sky I can see though the Dauntless ceiling. Who knows what this class of initiates will bring into Dauntless. Will it be more Eriks, more Maxes? Divergents not aware of how dangerous this faction would be for them? I glance towards the chasm, allowing myself to wander towards the rushing water.

The public eye believes murder has long since been eliminated, but I know better. The leaders would be more than willing to throw anyone over into this high-powered water if they might cause a threat to the community. Maybe it isn't always leaders who decide to throw them over, but they are the people who choose to look these crimes over. Dauntless asks for a hard life, so it is not too unbelievable that someone would pitch themselves over into the chasm in an act of desperation. Suicide is not an uncommon word, as it was in Abnegation.

"Four! You planning on coming anytime today?" A loud voice, such a contrast to the silence of the compound or even the rushing water, pulls me out of my trance. I turn to see Lauren, on her way to the back entrance. The net we will be watching people throw themselves into.

"Yeah, I'm coming. Just didn't know what time to be there." I flashed her a quick smile before heading in her direction.

"I figured the earliest train, and if they're later, they're later, you know?" The look I give her reminds her that, no, in fact, I don't know. "It's more harmful to be late than early this time, Four. I apologize for not being perfect."

"That's true, Lauren. I didn't mean to be judgmental."

"No problem, Four. I think I'm just on edge today. Would you believe I'm nervous about training a bunch of sixteen year olds? I know I could beat any of them in a fight, and that half of them already know how to fire a gun, but I have the future of Dauntless in my hands. It's an intimidating job." Yeah, I thought. We could be training killers.

I let out a short laugh. "Careful, Lauren, or this might end up in your fear landscape. And what would the leaders do if they knew one of their members was afraid of their own faction?"

She punches me in the shoulder, not hard. "I am looking forward to roughing them around a bit. Think Zeke's little brother will be back to take Dauntless on and restore the first place spot back to the family? I think Zeke is still stinging that a transfer beat him."

"Two transfers beat him: Erik and I. Zeke finished third. Of course Uriah will be back. I think of a few others that won't be back." My mind flashes to James and how his clumsiness stood out among the compound. No, he wouldn't survive long here. I hope for his own sake that he transferred.

Lauren nods a silent agreement as we reach the net. "I'll bet you five tokens a Dauntless-born will be first to jump."

"I think I'll take you on that bet. It'll be a transfer, they have more to prove." I picture the Candor that jumped first my year, followed by Zeke, and then myself. We shook, just as the walls started vibrating, signaling the arrival of a train. "That could be them."

"I hope so, waiting doesn't quite sound entertaining."

The two of us grow silent as we listen for thumps of landing members, cries of pain from transfers, and the shouts of leaders as they greet the initiates. I close my eyes and lean against the wall; even if that train is them, it will take a while for any initiate to gather the courage to jump off of a building, unaware that only Lauren and I, possible the two least threatening members of Dauntless there are, await them at the bottom.

One sound reaches my ears, louder than the rest: sobbing. A full-hearted sob that can only mean Lauren and I just lost a person to train. I listen harder, hoping to hear the name of the initiate, most likely Dauntless-born for someone to know him or her so closely. I thought of James again, hoping that he chose somewhere better instead of that pavement.

I grit my teeth. Am I the only one that sees what is wrong with this faction? Am the only one that knows it is wrong to allow your friends, your children, your siblings to fall to the death because of a mistake they never had a chance to correct? Even the most experienced have flaws. Don't they see that?

Then I hear another call among the initiates. "A Stiff…!" My head shoots up. I didn't just hear that, did I? As far as I know, I'm one of the very few Abnegation that has transferred to Dauntless. Anger shot through me. Didn't I join this faction to be rid of those Stiffs? I never wanted anyone to remember who I was; I am Four now.

I shake my head. No, I couldn't have heard that word. I know I am safe here.

Max's voice drifts down the hole; instructing how the initiates should enter. I'm sure I don't imagine the gasps. Conversation continues, too quiet for me to hear. I fight the urge to look up the shaft so I can see the roof.

"What's taking so long?" I mutter to Lauren. She just shrugs. Maybe we should still make the initiates go through the fear landscapes when they first come here; make them face every fear at once and get it over with. Besides, after jumping off of a building, the rest of the world seems less intimidating. Or was that just me?

A chorus of laughs, a rush of air, and a distinct thud. The first jumper.

As Lauren and I reach our hands into the entrance, the girl lets out a laugh, shaking her head. I don't blame her. Especially since she's wearing the gray clothes of Abnegation. I wasn't hearing things.

Her equilibrium must be off, still, because she stumbles as she climbs out of the net. As I reach out the catch her, I take the moment to study her face. Plain, as her clothes are. None of the make-up that Dauntless girls are so found of. Her gray-blue eyes, taking in everything around her. The gray slacks, almost too big for her slight frame. And the tight t-shirt that I know would never have been acceptable in Abnegation.

I release her arms quickly, before I have time to try and remember her. To make her remember me. A small "thank you" escapes her lips, tiny like the rest of her.

"Can't believe it." Lauren smirks at the girl. A Stiff, the first to jump? Unheard of." Why would I want to defend the Abnegation, and her, against this attack?

"There's a reason why she left them, Lauren. What's your name?"

"Um…"

No, a Stiff name wouldn't fit in easily around here. Especially Tobias. I allow a smile to start at the thought of my name. "Think about it. You don't get to pick again."

"Tris." She says in a voice that shows the decision is final. Like her journey here.

"Tris. Make the announcement, Four."

"First jumper—Tris!" I shout to the crowd that I know is forming behind me. They cheer and shout, a traditional Dauntless greeting, just as a second person drops into the net. I turn in time to see the black and white clothes of Candor drop into the net, pulling screams with her. As a whole, the crowd laughs. Crowd mentality.

I place my hand on Tris' back, "Welcome to Dauntless." Welcome to Hell.

End note: Yay, Tris! Look at this chapter, over fifteen hundred words! For those of you wondering about the traditional length of my chapters, I plan on following Veronica Roth. If her chapter is 20 pages long, (God help me if they are) I will make it twenty pages. If they are two, I will match that. You get the pattern ;)

For now, tell me what you think! Reviews, favorites, and follows make my day!

~WriteForeverForLife~