Thank you again to bahrfamily for her excellent job as Beta and for being willing to re do this chapter multiple times as I found plot problems with it!
Chapter 3 Welcome to Dauntless
When we have all landed and been pulled from the net Max stands in front of the group. "I'm Max. I'm one of the leaders here in Dauntless. I'm the leader over training. If you have any problems, you talk to your trainer. They'll bring anything to my attention that I need to know." He jerks his thumb towards another man, who I would judge to be about five years older than us. "This is Harrison. He's one of your trainers."
Harrison smiles at us and flicks a blonde ponytail off his shoulder.
Max gestures over his other shoulder at a woman with skin the color of the coffee and creamer my math teacher used to drink. Her hair is long and a darker brown than mine, so it is almost black. The lock next to her face comes to her chin and is dyed a bright blue. The rest of her hair hangs in a braid to the bottom of her shoulder blades, "And this is Jazz. She is your other trainer." She smiles at us, her hands resting on her belly where her baby is making an appearance.
I had never thought about being pregnant in Dauntless before. I wonder how long she can jump on and off a train, and how she will travel when she no longer can.
Max moves so he is at the front of the group and interrupts my thoughts. "We'll separate in a few minutes, but for now everyone stay together."
We follow a tunnel made of stone which seems to head down to the bowels of the earth. The lighting is spaced far enough apart that, at times, the only thing you can see is the faint hope of light again. Suddenly there is a pair of doors in front of us. "Ahead of us," Jazz speaks up, her voice light, reminding me of the music I heard once when we volunteered at Amity, "is the Pit. The Pit is the heart and soul of Dauntless."
At that, Jazz and Harrison each push on a door and the Pit is in front of us. The Pit is the only appropriate thing to call it, because we are indeed in the bowels of the earth. There is no other way to describe it. The Pit looks to have been carved out of solid rock. Several stories up is a glass ceiling. It is the only source of natural light in the whole place. Through it you can see the building above it. The only other sources of lights are the blue lights scattered around the Pit. There are ramps without rails carved into the walls. There are rooms carved into the walls at different levels. It is an underground city. I would have to guess that this huge expanse holds most of what you will ever need in Dauntless.
While we transfers look around with our mouths gaping at everything carved into the Pit, the Dauntless born look slightly bored.
"What do you think?" Leeann leans in and whispers to me.
"This is incredible," I whisper back.
"Nothing like this in Abnegation?" There is a hint of a smile in her voice.
I shake my head. "Nothing close to this in Abnegation."
Jazz continues like she never stopped. "What you need, you will find here in the Pit." She leads us on to the sound of roaring water.
"This," Harrison takes over, yelling to be heard over the churning water, "is the Chasm. There are not many railings in Dauntless. So the fact that there is one here should warn you. Even in Dauntless there is a line between bravery and stupidity. Every year people choose to test that line here at the Chasm. They never win." He pauses and levels a steady gaze on each of us in turn. It lingers a little longer on each transfer then it does on the Dauntless born. It is as if he is trying to brand this warning into us. "Consider this your warning."
We stare, speechless, at the water. To our left, the water is almost calm. There is nothing but the drop to worry about. It is to the right side that you really have to worry. The water smashes and boils around the rocks. Rushing and crashing into everything as it goes. The white foam and the water splash high against the rocks. In the short time we stand here, we see water reach the railing. Crossing that barrier looks very stupid. I shudder, unable to come up with a reason why someone would do that.
I look over and see Leeann's eyes focused on me. I assume, since she grew up with this, she's looking for my reaction. "Amazing!" I mouth to her, awestruck.
She grins at me.
"Ok, Dauntless born!" Max claps his hands, "Time to get to work! Grab a transfer, give them the rest of the tour, get them some clothes, show them the dorms, each of you claim a bed, and meet your trainers in the training room in two hours."
Leeann literally grabs my arm. Then she grabs ahold of one of the Erudite girls with her other hand. The girl has short blonde hair with light brown woven into it. Her eyes are the shade of blue you see in a spring sky. "Angie," she turns to another Dauntless-born girl who is a little on the tall side with dark brown hair and blue eyes. "I say we grab these two."
Angie looks both of us over and nods. "Let's start with clothes. The one in gray could take a while."
"Her name's Hana," Leeann informs her. She turns to the Erudite girl. "I'm Leeann."
"Bekah," she disengages her arm from Leeann and holds out her hand. I watch with envy at the ease with which she shakes her hand. I see again why Leeann said mine needs work.
"And I'm Angie. Ok, introductions are over," Angie smiles. "Let's go shopping."
I quickly learn shopping in Dauntless is nothing like picking up clothes in Abnegation. I know it shouldn't surprise me, but I had never had the imagination to figure out how they did it. I've noticed the kids in school dressed in the same color, but different styles, forever. I just never realized exactly how much effort it takes to do that.
And I do mean effort.
It seems like a good thing Angie decided we should start with clothes. I never thought getting a few outfits could take so much time. After half an hour, Bekah is completely outfitted, and we still can't agree on anything, not so much as a pair of socks, for me. Angie takes Bekah and leaves Leeann and I arguing about a shirt. She walks purposefully around the store with Bekah and piles Bekah's arms full of clothing. "Bekah's finished. Have her try on these." She shoves the pile of clothes at Leeann. "Weed out the impossible ones. I'm going to take Bekah to the dorm so we can try to get four beds close to each other."
Leeann nods. "Good idea."
I shake my head. It sounds like a bad idea to me. Right now I miss the identical outfits of Abnegation. I would be finished, too, if Dauntless all wore the same clothes.
Leeann flips through the clothing and grins at me. "It looks like she picked up one of everything for you. We better get started."
By the time Angie and Bekah get back, I've tried on more outfits than I knew existed, and we've discarded most of them as not working for me. I have to try on the best outfits again to get Bekah's and Angie's input on them. A full hour has passed before we have enough outfits that everyone agrees on for me.
Before today I had never worn anything except the same style of clothes in different sizes. I had no idea of all the options and how different I could look between them. I walk out of the store in my favorite outfit. I'm starting to feel like I fit in. The black pants are more form fitting than the gray Abnegation pants I started in. The shirt turns out to be a compromise. Not short sleeved or sleeveless like Angie and Leeann wanted, not long sleeved like I wanted. The sleeves stop right above my elbows. The neck isn't anywhere close to the base of my neck like I wanted. It skims my collar bone. Bekah picked out the shirt.
"Ok," Leeann takes charge again. "Let's go by the dorms so you can show us our beds. Then we'll show them the rest of Dauntless and head to the training room so we can meet up with the rest of the group."
"Remember how to get there?" Angie challenges Bekah.
Bekah nods and takes the lead. She weaves through a couple of hallways and stops in front of a door marked girls. "We're in here." She opens the door. There are five sets of bunk beds lined up against the wall. Bekah points to the back two sets of bunks. "Believe it or not, we were the first ones here. We grabbed these. I want a lower bunk."
"I do too." Angie jumps in.
"Fine," Leeann says she climbs to the top bunk. "Hana and I will take the top two."
Exactly two hours after we started, as directed, we find ourselves in the training room. It is a large room with a large circle is painted in the center of the floor. Three walls have punching bags spaced evenly throughout them.
"Welcome to one of the training rooms," Harrison starts when the last of us walks in. "We meet in here or the room next door at eight each morning. We work until six each night with a break for lunch."
"There are four aspects we grade in training," Jazz takes over. "There is the Physical preparedness which includes weapons and fighting. There is the emotional preparedness which has a new aspect this year that we will talk to you about when we get there.
"The third stage of training is mental. We use the fear landscape, where you take what you learned in the emotional stage and apply it to the fears." Harrison explains.
"But throughout the whole training we will be looking at camaraderie. How do you fit in with the rest of the initiates and Dauntless members on a daily bases? We have to know that you will have the back of everyone here." Jazz's eyes roam over all of us.
Harrison checks his watch. "It's dinner time. After you eat you are free for the rest of the day. Training will start tomorrow at eight sharp. Let's eat." With this direction we head together out of the room and to the cafeteria.
We walk into the cafeteria in a group. When we enter, suddenly all of Dauntless is up on their feet. Fists pound the air and tables. Wild yells burst forth. Names of the Dauntless born are yelled with pride. I take in the whole scene. To me, this chaos is as incredible as the Pit and the Chasm. I've never seen or heard so much commotion, especially not in celebration of any person or even group of people.
Back home in Abnegation, Natalie and the rest of those who chose Abnegation today are dressed in gray. It took them minutes, not hours, to receive and change into their clothing. The girls have dutifully pulled their hair back into tight buns. They are well on their way to losing their identity. Abnegation waits for them tonight, and in their first act of service, they will wait on others. After they are presented, quietly and without any fanfare, to those Abnegation members who didn't go to the Hub, they will gather the food that has been collected for the factionless for the last week. With their sponsors, not trainers, they will go out into the factionless sector and feed those that they can find until their supplies run out.
Even though I have known forever, I think, that that would never be the way my Choosing Day ended, I have never pictured anything else. I lacked the imagination to think what the other factions might be doing. I look around the cafeteria. I must start smiling an Abnegation smile, because Leeann pulls me close and yells in my ear. "It's okay to really smile."
I must look puzzled because she continues, "When Dauntless smile, we really smile. It's even okay to show your teeth."
I feel my smile widen, and my teeth show as I laugh. The sound of my own laughter is odd to me. I'm not sure how long it has been since I really laughed out loud, or if I ever even have before.
"Better."
It starts to quiet down. The Dauntless start to sit down as the initiates are led to a table. I sit down between Leeann and Bekah. My eyes wander around the cavern we eat in as I attempt to take it all in. Suddenly, there he is again. He smiles broader than any of the Dauntless. He's not looking at me, but he is looking near me. I don't try to figure out who he is looking at. Instead, I quickly look at the table to see what there is to eat, to keep from accidently catching his eye. It's bad enough that I keep finding him everywhere I look. He does not need to realize that I do.