Chapter Six: Katy

I am vaguely aware of the Dauntless as they cheer at the announcement, but my attention is mostly on Tobias, or Four apparently. He looks similar to how he did a few years ago, but his posture is more confident, he doesn't look down when he speaks, and he has some muscle. I look at the Dauntless around him,and he looks nothing like them. Their hands look like they are made for punching, but his hands look more delicate. They take up space and seem as sturdy as a stone wall, while Tobias takes up virtually no space compared to them and looks like he is meant to be fast rather than strong. How in the world did he survive initiation with features so much different from the other Dauntless? How am I going to survive initiation. I am drawn back from my despairing thoughts when I notice the other initiates following Lauren and Tobias. As we walk down a narrow tunnel, I silently laugh as I remember Christina's comment that the Dauntless just seem to pop out of the ground. If only she'd known at the time how close to the truth she was. The stone walls and sloped ceiling add a chill to the air. I breathe in slowly as my hands start to shake. Unlike my brother I have always loved heights because of the power I feel and because I love feeling the wind on my face when I'm outside. The Dauntless compound is like the exact opposite of that. I hate not being able to see the sunlight and feel natural wind on my cheeks. You can't think of that, this is your new home, and you can either make the best of it or be miserable. I slowly calm down as we continue to walk in the dark hallway. I feel my shoulder brush someone and I notice that I am walking next to Christina and Tris. Suddenly the person in front of Tris stops and she knocks her nose into him. I stifle a laugh but I can't keep a small grin off of my face.

"This is where we divide," Lauren says. "The Dauntless-born initiates are with me. I assume you don't need a tour of the place." She says with a smirk. The Dauntless-born initiates follow her and my attention is immediately drawn to how small our group is without them. There are only ten transfers that have made it to this stage of initiation and the official initiation hasn't even begun! I glance around and am surprised to see only three Erudite transfers and five Candor transfers. Tris and I are the only ones from Abnegation, though we probably set a record for most transfers from Abnegation to Dauntless in one Choosing Ceremony. I'm also surprised to see no transfers from Amity, while they are not known for transferring to Dauntless, usually at least one does. Thinking back on it now I could have sworn I saw someone wearing Amity colors hopping on the train. I guess I either imagined it, or they got seperated from us somewhere along the way.

My attention snaps toward Tobias when he starts speaking. "Most of the time I work in the control room, but for the next few weeks, I am your instructor," he says. "My name is Four."

Christina asks, "Four? Like the number?"
"Yes," Tobias says, "Is there a problem?" The look on his face makes me want to laugh. I recognize that face from years spent annoying him with my constant questions and comments.

"No"

"Good. We're about to go into the Pit, which you will someday learn to love. It-"

"The Pit? Clever name." As soon as the words are out of Christina's mouth I try to shoot her a warning glance, but it is too late.

After hearing that, Tobias takes a long strides and stands in front of her staring. All of the transfers stand so silently that all you can hear is the sound of our breathing echoing against the concrete walls. For a second my brother kind of reminds me of Marcus. Marcus used silence as an intimidation tactic, and I can tell by the look on Tobias's face that his silence serves a similar purpose. I shake my head, Tobias would kill me if he knew that I was comparing him to our father.

"What's your name?" He asks in a calm, quiet voice.

"Christina," she manages to gasp out.

"Well, Christina, if I wanted to put up with Candor smart-mouths, I would have joined their faction," he says with a hiss. "The first lesson you will learn from me is to keep your mouth shut. Got that?"

Christina simply nods and then we move on. After that display part of me feels like asking a question or making a smart-alec comment, but I decide it would probably be best to avoid familiarity with Tobias at all costs.

"What a jerk," Christina says under her breath.

"I guess he doesn't like to be laughed at," Tris replies.

"Maybe he is trying to make sure that everyone knows that he is not a pushover. If he let you get away with whatever you wanted to say, then soon no one would listen to him and he would lose his control over us," I say, maybe a tad bit defensively, but they are insulting my brother when his response, at least in my eyes was reasonable.

The two of them look at me suddenly as if they forgot I was there, which is not too surprising, even by Abnegation standards I am easy to forget. Tris says that it's because I'm so quiet. Christina seems to be opening her mouth to reply, but then Tobias pushes open a set of double doors and I am distracted by the sight in front of me. I feel my mouth become slightly ajar as I look at the cavernous space. My neck cranes upward as I look up at the different levels and stories. A glint of light catches my eye and I look up to see glass making up the ceiling of the pit with a building on top of it. I appreciate being able to see the sunlight and now living here doesn't seem so horrible. Unlike Abnegation I am surrounded by noise as people talk, yell, and run. Everything in Abnegation was quiet and orderly, this is the exact opposite. At this I break into a grin and start to quietly laugh.

"If you follow me," says Tobias, breaking my trance, "I'll show you the chasm."

As Tobias turns around I notice colorful ink peeking out of the collar of his shirt. I stare, dumbfounded for a second. My brother got a tattoo? I'm surprised, I thought my brother chose Dauntless out of necessity not because he felt like Dauntless was where he belonged. As we walk forward, I see the first barrier and then I hear the rush of water over rocks. I look closer and see that the path suddenly ends and drops suddenly into a river.

"The chasm reminds us that there is a fine line between bravery and idiocy!" Tobias yells. "A daredevil jump off this ledge will end your life. It has happened before and it will happen again. You've been warned."

"This is incredible," says Christina to Tris and me.

I nod my head while Tris says, "Incredible is the word."

We head towards a hole in the wall. I look over Tris's head and see that inside it is a dining hall full of people. As we enter the room the people inside stop eating, stand up, and start clapping,screaming, and stomping their feet. At first I want to look downward and let my hair cover my face, but I force myself to continue looking straight. Now that I'm in Dauntless I can't give any indication that I am a weak, little girl from Abnegation. If any of the other initiates see any sign that they can walk over me, then they will. Eventually the noise doesn't make me feel self-conscious and I allow myself a tiny smile as I follow Christina and Tris to an empty table.

When we sit down at the table I am careful to make sure that Tris and Christina are sitting between me and Tobias. No sense in making it seem like I put blood before faction when joining Dauntless. I look at the center of the table, where there is meat surrounded by circular pieces of bread. Do you cut it or pick it up with your hands? What kind of meat is it anyway? I try to inconspicuously look around when I notice that Tris seems just as confused as I am.

Tobias looks at us and with a slight smirk says, "It's beef. Put this on it." He passes Tris a small bowl with a substance that looks like bright red blood inside of it.

Christina looks at both of us with incredulous eyes and turns her head back and forth, making it look like she is shaking her head violently while saying, "You guys have never seen a hamburger before?"

"No," Tris says. "Is that what it's called?"

"Stiffs eat plain food," Tobias says.

'Why?" Christina asks.

"Extravagance is considered self-indulgent and unnecessary." Tris and I say. Except she says it nonchalantly, while I say it like it's a fact that has been beaten into my head since birth, and it basically has.

Christina smirks and says, "No wonder you left."

"Yeah," Tris says, rolling her eyes. "It was just because of the food."

"Really Tris, you left because of the food too? I thought it was just me!" I exclaim, a little bit sarcastically. Ok, maybe extremely sarcastically, but that's beside the point.

At that Tris laughs a little and I look over and see that Christina is trying to look at us sternly and that the corners of Tobias's mouth are turned up just slightly.

Suddenly the cafeteria doors open, and the chatter around us stops. I glance at the door and notice a young man, about Tobias's age, walking in. He has several piercings on his face and has long black hair. As he walks, his eyes scan the crowd in a cold, calculating way. I frown, I wouldn't expect to find cold, calculating gazes in Dauntless.

"Who's that?" whispers Christina.

"His name is Eric," says Tobias. "He's a Dauntless leader."
"Seriously? But he's so young."
Tobias looks at her and says, "Age doesn't matter here."

I'm about to ask Tobias what Eric's looking for, but then Eric starts heading toward our table. I let out a shaky breath that I didn't realize that I had been holding, and turn my attention down toward my hamburger was it? As Eric plops down next to Tobias, I glance up at him from the corner of my eye.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce me?" he asks nodding towards Christina, Tris, and me.

At this I lift my head up, I need my every action to show that I am no longer Abnegation.

Tobias says," This is Tris, Christina, and Katy."

"Ooh, some Stiffs," says Eric, smirking at Tris and me. "We'll see how long you last."

I simply stare at him, my eyes cold and full of disdain. I look down at his tapping knuckles, they are bruised right over the knuckle. I wonder what or who he's been punching to get bruises that dark.

"What have you been doing lately, Four?" he asks.

Nothing really." Four responds. Lifting a shoulder in an attempt to look casual.

I wonder why Eric's trying to make it look like they're friends. Everything from Eric's posture to the way he just sat down next to Tobias makes it look like he is comfortable around Tobias, but Tobias's muscles are tense and ready for action. His posture looks relaxed, but it's too rigid.

"Max tells me he keeps trying to meet with you, and you don't show up. He requested that I find out what's going on with you," Eric says.

I frown. Those sentences sounded way too formal for a Dauntless member, much less a leader. What Dauntless says requested? Maybe he was a faction transfer? But if he's a transfer, where did he transfer from?

Tobias stares at Eric at a few seconds before saying, "Tell him that I am satisfied with the position I currently hold."

"So he wants to give you a job."
"So it would seem."
"And you aren't interested?"

"I haven't been interested for two years," says Tobias with finality.

"Well," says Eric. "Let's hope he gets the point, then."

He stands up and hits Tobias on the shoulder, a little too hard to be considered friendly and walks away. As he walks away, my eyes follow him. There is something off about him, I just don't know what it is.

"Are you two . . . friends?" asks Tris.

"We were in the same initiate class" he says. "He transferred from Erudite."

Ahh, that explains the way he talks. Even though he might have been a Dauntless at heart, Erudite left its impression.

"Were you a transfer too?"
I tense up slightly and casually glance over to look at Tobias. How will he answer this? How do I want him to answer this? Do I want him to admit that he did transfer? Tris is clever, she might figure out that we are related on her own, and even if he claims he didn't transfer, he doesn't exactly look or act like a typical Dauntless. I'm pulled out of my head when I hear Tobias respond, "I thought I would only have trouble with the Candor asking too many questions. Now I've got Stiffs, too?" He responds in a cool tone.

"It must be because you're so approachable. You know. Like a bed of nails," responds Triss in a monotone voice. My muscles relax and I turn my head down to cover my grin.

I glance back at Tris and Tobias and see that they are staring each other down. I wait for him to snap at her but all he says is, "Careful, Tris"

Someone at another table calls out to Tobias and Tris turns toward Christina and me, looking a bit shaken.

"What?" Tris asks.

`For a second I'm confused and think that she is talking to me but then Christina says, "I'm developing a theory."

"And it is?"

Christina picks up her hamburger and says,"That you have a death wish."

After we eat dinner, Tobias leaves and we are following Eric. I fight to keep a frown off my face and end up just glaring at him instead. I can't exactly explain why I don't like him besides that fact that he called me a stiff, which everyone does, and the fact that he acted a bit weird around Tobias he has done nothing to warrant my dislike. There is just something about him that sets off warning bells in my head. He leads us down a number of hallways without telling us where we're going. I wonder why if Eric is so important he is helping out with the initiates. It must be because some of us are going to be the future members of Dauntless. Hopefully it's just for tonight.

The end of each hallway has a lamp but the area between is pitch black, so you really have to concentrate to avoid falling or walking into someone. Everyone is silent as we walk, so all you can hear is everyone's uneven breathing.

Suddenly Eric stops and stands in front of a wooden door and we fill in around him.

"For those of you who don't know my name is Eric. I am one of the five leaders of the Dauntless. We take the initiation process very seriously here, so I volunteered to oversee most of your training."

At this I groan internally, at least I hope it was only internally. Not only does a Dauntless leader have to oversee our training, but the fact that it has to be Eric is almost enough to make me nauseous.

"Some ground rules," he continues. "You have to ge in the training room by Eight o'clock every day. Training takes place every day from eight to six, with a break for lunch. You are free to do whatever you like after six. You will also get some time off between each stage of initiation."

Ah yes, the Dauntless, always brave and apparently always on a schedule. I roll my eyes at that thought and hope that Eric didn't see. It seems that he did since he glares at me and for a second I think he is about to explode at me, but he then continues speaking, "You are only permitted to leave the compound when accompanied by a Dauntless. Behind the door is the room where you will be sleeping for the next few weeks. You will notice that there are twelve beds and only ten of you. We anticipated that a higher proportion of you would make it this far."

"But we started with thirteen," complains Christina. I grimace. In order to fit in with the Dauntless and avoid getting in trouble she needs to learn when to listen and when's the time to talk.

"There is always at least one transfer who doesn't make it to the compound," Eric says nonchalantly as he picks at his cuticles. He shrugs, "Anyway, in the first stage of initiation, we keep transfers and Dauntless-born initiates separate, but that doesn't mean you are evaluated separately. At the end of initiation, your rankings will be determined in comparison with the Dauntless-born initiates."

That sounds complicated, how do you compare two groups of people and keep them seperate? And what Dauntless has to deal with figuring out that whole system. Maybe it's Eric he seems to understand it. I tune back in to what he is saying, "And they are better than you are already. So I expect-"

"Rankings?" asks the mousy looking girl from Erudite. "Why are we ranked?"

Eric's face breaks into a smile, but there is no warmth in his smile, instead there is only menace. The blue light only adds to the effect making his smile look sharp.

"Your ranking serves two purposes," he says. "The first is that it determines the order in which you will select a job after initiation. There are only a few desirable positions available."

Butterflies flap in my stomach as I wait for the second purpose. Based on his smile it's something he supports, and anything Eric supports I am now adamantly against.

"The second purpose is that only the top ten initiates are made members," he says, the smugness in his voice very evident. I slowly let out my breath and try to slow my heart rate. Why should I be surprised? I was planning on being in the top ten anyway so this shouldn't affect me, I should have nothing to worry about.

Everyone is standing still and you feel the fear in the room as everyone absorbs this, then Christina suddenly speaks everyone's mind aloud, "What?"

"There are eleven Dauntless-Born initiates, and ten of you. Four initiates will be cut at the end of stage one. THe remainder will be cut after the final test."

"What do we do if we're cut?" Peter asks.

That question makes me want to laugh, if you don't pass initiation you're factionless, you leave the Dauntless compound to roam the streets by yourself.

Eric soon states the obvious answer by saying," You leave the Dauntless compound," Eric says boredly, " and live factionless."

The result is immediate, everyone gets tenser, some look close to tears. The mousy girl from Erudite is crying. I look around and see that the only other person that seems even remotely calm is Tris. If anything she seems determined, and for that I'm glad. While I want to pass initiation which means that some of the people around me will almost definitely get cut, I hope that Tris can pass with me.

"But that's . . . not fair!" A Candor girl, Molly I think, says. "If we had known-"

"Are you saying that if you had known this before the Choosing Ceremony, you wouldn't have chosen Dauntless?" Eric snaps and I'm surprised by the sudden emotion in his voice. Up til now everything that he has said has been indifferent. "Because if that's the case, you should get out now. If you are really one of us, it won't matter to you that you might fail. And if it does, you are a coward."

While I want to be against anything that Eric supports, I understand his comment against Molly. If people would have made a different choice if they had known that they weren't guaranteed a spot in Dauntless, then they don't belong. Especially not in Dauntless where risk taking seems to be part of their motto.

Eric pushes the door to the dormitory open.

"You chose us. Now we have to choose you."

That night I try to fall asleep, but it's not easy. My brain refuses to shut off and several emotions are swirling through me. I'm terrified that I might fail Dauntless initiation, scared that someone might find out that I'm divergent, though I know from Marcus that it's not always obvious that someone is divergent, and exhilarated that the day I have waited years for is finally here. It doesn't help that in the lower bunk in the bed next to mine I can hear someone crying, I suppose homesickness might be a problem for some of the other initiates. At least in that respect I have an advantage, choosing Dauntless is like coming home for me. I eventually focus on taking slow, even breaths and fall asleep.