Chapter 12

After the altercation between Iris and David, nothing else too out of the ordinary happened. I heard Iris apologize to Ally, and I saw that David had exiled himself to the back of the group. That's how things worked here; people fought, one won, another lost, and then we moved on.

Banks pointed out some other areas, and everyone listened obediently. It was rather boring, and I was glad when we eventually reached the intersection where the two groups would divide.

"This is where we split up, so all dauntless-born initiates just follow me," I said as I took my group down to where they'd be sharing a dorm.

Altogether, I had seven dauntless-born initiates to look after; two girls, Iris and Shiloh, and five boys, Wayne, Felix, David, Zane, and Tyler. I didn't have a clue how many Banks had though. Once we reached the room, I waited for them to settle into their chosen beds before I continued my speech.

"Most of you know me already," I gave a quick nod to Wayne, Iris and Felix. "But for those of you who don't, my name is Sage, and most of the time I work–"

"Wait, Sage? As in, Sage the Monster Stronghold?" One of the initiates interrupted.

I frowned at the title, but I tried to stay composed.

"Yes, the Monster," I said stiffly. "As I was saying, I normally work as a fighter in the Cage, but for these next few weeks, I'm going to be your instructor."

"Dude, why?" The same kid spoke up again; he was getting on my nerves. "Did they fire you or something? Oh! Or did you lose a fight?"

This last bit he said with a sneer, and it was that little action that made me forget my original plan. Suddenly, I didn't see him as a kid I needed to protect, I saw him as my prey. My face went slack, and I slowly walked towards him. Out of my peripheral vision, I spotted Wayne and Felix nudging the others; alerting them to the scene.

"What's your name," I said slowly, when I was no more than a few inches away from him.

"Zane," he answered too-quickly.

"Well, Zane, since you're so curious. Do you know just how I got that nickname, Monster?" I asked quietly, letting venom color my words. "Do you know how many people I fucked up to get that title? Take a guess, go on, pick a number."

He didn't answer, but as he clenched his jaw and raised his chin up at me, I could see he was trying hard to hide the fact that he was intimidated. My candor eyes, free from the haze of alcohol, easily spotted the tell-tale signs; the vein in his forehead was pulsing fast, the smallest sheen of sweat had appeared on his upper lip, and his breathing had clearly hitched.

"Don't want to play?" I asked, pretending to be hurt. "But I thought you were curious?"

Zane shook his head sharply, but as I saw the fear in his eyes, I couldn't help but feel bad. I let out a loud breath, and then walked back to the front of the room. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Felix frown, and then hand a folded up bill to Wayne. I wondered who'd bet on what?

"This isn't a joke guys, I expect you to take this and me seriously. Now, if you don't think you can do that, then be prepared for a living hell these next few weeks," I paused, waiting to see if anyone else wanted to interject with some smart-assed remark. No one did. "You've all been raised with dauntless standards, however, this by no means is any sort of guarantee that you'll be staying here."

Everyone in the group nodded at my words; finally realizing just how serious the whole situation was. Even Wayne and Felix, who were normally always smiling or joking around, seemed somber.

"I'm not your enemy, but I'm certainly not here to baby you or be your new best-friend. Now I can't guarantee you a spot in this faction, but what I can promise is that if you listen to what I say, and do what I ask, you'll at least have better odds. For now the only rules I expect you to follow are that there will be absolutely no fighting outside of the ring, and there will be no interruptions while I speak," I said; giving a pointed look at David and Zane.

I began to turn around to leave, but then paused just before I was beyond the threshold. "And just as a helpful tip for anyone else that thinks they're above my rules, if you piss me off, be prepared to sleep with one eye open."

That being said, I left and made my way down to the cafeteria. I wasn't hungry, but I needed to talk to Dan, and that's usually where he was if he wasn't working. Pushing past the double doors, I scanned the area and frowned a little when I saw that it still wasn't even halfway full. I was still disoriented; my body was used to my old schedule of fighting, fighting, and more fighting.

I gave a loud sigh, grabbed a muffin, and then settled myself near one of the farthest tables at the back of the room. As I sat and waited; I watched while one-by-one, dauntless members, my own dauntless-born, followed by the transfers, began to trickle in. When all the initiates had taken a seat, the dauntless that were in the room stood, applauded, and stomped their feet; the usual welcome they gave.

Without really knowing why, I found myself searching through the faces of the people around me. I spotted Iris, who sat with the other dauntless-born, excluding David and Wayne. I knew why David wasn't there, but I couldn't help but feel puzzled about Wayne's absence.

"Sage! Do my eyes beseech me?" Dan laughed as he plopped down next to me. "You're eating, like, real food."

I rolled my eyes, and then pushed my untouched muffin towards him.

"It's more of a prop really," I admitted.

Dan shook his head and pushed it back. "No thanks."

"Woah, do my eyes beseech me?" I grinned; using his own words against him. "Danny Gallows refusing food? Why I never."

"Shut up, I know your real motives," he snickered, patting his flat stomach. "I know there's a ton of new female-initiates this year. You're just trying to fatten me up so that you won't have to compete against my sexiness huh?"

"You've found me out," I pretended to confess as I threw my hands up in mock surrender.

"Knew it, I mean, I am quite the catch."

I playfully punched his arm, and then decided he was right; I should eat. I'd hatched a plan a few days ago, one that might help me find Banks's weakness, and I'd need my strength. I took a big bite, and then chewed thoughtfully.

I was about to consider stealing one of Dan's burgers when Grace joined us, followed shortly after by Finn and his boys. Marko came in last, plopping down next to Grace and jostling her on purpose; as teasing as he always was when she was around. Everyone was there, and so I decided I was feeling too lazy to get back up.

When Jude arrived he was accompanied by Wayne, and it wasn't long before he quickly gave them the rundown of what had happened in the room. Everyone had a good laugh at Zane's expense, and I was surprised to see that I wasn't the only one who he'd rubbed the wrong way.

"Everyone else really likes him, but he seems sort of two-faced to me," Wayne said through a mouthful of fries. "Anyway, I'm glad you put him in his place. That was better than any comedy I've ever seen."

As we sat, talking and eating, I was again about to get up to attempt to get more food when something caught my eye; someone new was walking into the cafeteria. I meant only to take a quick glance, but as I identified the girl, I found myself unable to look away. Even without her long and flowy amity dress, I'd recognize her anywhere; Ally.

She'd joined Iris and some of the other dauntless-born at their table, and this surprised me; normally the groups were much more segregated in the beginning. She sat close to Iris, but after a while I saw that she was laughing and making conversation with Zane. Of all the people she had to befriend, why him? As I continued to watch, I felt some unknown emotion darken my mood.

"What did that muffin ever do to you?" Dan asked.

"Huh?" I replied, and as I looked down at my hands, I realized I'd torn it into little bits and pieces.

Dan raised a brow, and then quickly followed my gaze to the table I'd been watching. At first he only seemed to grow more confused, but then when his eyes finally landed on Ally, a sly sort of smile spread across his features.

"She's cute," he noted. "I haven't seen her before. Is she a transfer?"

"I suppose," I said; feigning nonchalance. "Yeah, she's from amity, her name is Ally."

"Ally," Dan repeated, nodding to himself.

"Wait, Ally like, first-jumper Ally?" Biff cut in as he leaned to take peek at her too. "I've been hearing her name the whole day, in the halls and even at the bar."

"Me too," Finn agreed, "it's not often that a first-jumper is a girl, much less one from amity."

"I bet someone pushed her in," Jude commented with an eye-roll.

"Nope, she jumped all by herself," Wayne immediately defended. "I haven't really talked to her very much, but she seems cool."

"Cool for a banjo-strumming amity airhead? Or cool as in, dauntless-standards cool?" Marko mused, ignoring the look Grace threw at him.

"Not all amity play the banjo you idiot," she huffed.

"Oh? Then what did you play?" He quipped back; flashing her a sardonic smile.

"… Guitar, but that's not the point," Grace admitted after a pause. "She made it this far, and she jumped first, so clearly she must belong here."

I nodded, and as the whole table began to strike up an argument as to who they thought would do best during initiation, I couldn't help but focus all of my attention on Ally. She was grinning at something Zane had said, and it burned my curiosity to know just what had put that smile on her lips. It wasn't until I felt a hand touch my shoulder that I jerked back into a proper sitting position.

"She's pretty," Grace said, leaning across from me to nod in Ally's direction.

"Dan already made a note of that," I answered; neither confirming nor denying her statement.

"She's going to have a tough time here though."

"Why do you think that?" I demanded, unintentionally sounding more alarmed than I should've been. I dropped my head again, suddenly very interested in the muffin crumbs on the table. "I mean, you said so yourself, she made it here on her own. Obviously she's tougher than she looks."

Grace nodded slowly, her eyes filled with that all-too-familiar look that said she was worried. I'd gotten that look a lot this past year, so it was easy for me to recognize it.

"I wasn't really talking about her physical strength when I said that. What I mean is," she paused and looked around the table; at our friends, at the other tables filled with citizens of our faction. "What I mean is that it's going to be tough mentally. I still remember our first weeks here, I was so shocked and upset at all the violence, there were honestly times I wasn't sure I could go on. There were nights I wouldn't sleep at all."

"I remember," I admitted; shuddering a little as I recalled her screams in the night.

"I know you do," she smiled warmly. "Really, it's you and Dan that managed to keep me strong enough to stay," she looked at Ally again. "I just worry that she won't have the same luck as me. You know? That she won't have the same kind of support group to rely on."

I snuck a glance at Ally, and though the sight of her and Zane had me bristling with that same unknown emotion, I also felt relief when I saw who else surrounded her.

"She'll be fine. See, already she's sitting with Iris, and the other dauntless-born."

Grace frowned then. "That's great now, in the daytime, but Sage think about what could happen when they're not there. What she should really be doing is trying to make at least one friend among the transfers."

"That's not a problem either," I said; the words tumbling out on their own. "I know one, or I guess technically, two of the transfers," I searched and then nodded my head in the direction where Vera and her friend Jade sat. "I've known Vera since I can remember, she's a sweet girl, and Jade -hmm- well I don't really know her, but if she's friends with Vera then she can't be all bad."

Grace didn't seem convinced, but as she was about to open her mouth to say something, she was cut off by the sound of cups being banged on metal tables. I looked around, and then immediately began to bang my own cup, sloshing a little of the water out as I did so. The guys began shouting excitedly, and even Grace let out one of her famous ear-splitting whistles. This was a time for celebration.

Max appeared and ordered the initiates to stand. I watched as they did, and couldn't help but grin when Biff and Dan randomly picked up Wayne and held him high over the crowd. Finn, Jude and I began to hoot and pump our fists, and it was a wonder Max didn't come over to personally knock some sense into us. Honestly, Wayne didn't just have one brother, he had five.

Once everyone had settled down, Max continued with his usual speech.

"We believe in ordinary acts of bravery…" he began.

I didn't continue to listen though, because every word that came out of his mouth was like a slap to me. His lies, they were painful to hear. Dauntless ideals had been steadily changing, becoming more about brutality than honor, and it irritated me to hear the blasphemy that came from the man we had to consider a leader.

"… and don't disappoint us," Max finished. I snapped my head up, once again alert. Since I didn't feel like delving into any further conversation regarding Ally, I excused myself; claiming that I was tired, which wasn't actually a lie, but not the real reason I wanted to leave.

As I usually did when I was bored, I began to wander the halls. A part of me still itched to go to the bar and maybe sneak a drink or two, but I didn't dare test Banks's boundaries. I had yet to find a real weakness, and so until then, I was still technically a slave to his every whim.

I was just turning another corner when I spotted a figure. I squinted a little, and when I saw that it was the earlier initiate I'd been gazing at, Ally, I couldn't stop a shy smile from spreading over my face.

Should I talk to her? No, better not...

But Banks isn't here. And even if he is, what does it matter? I'm only being polite and introducing myself. Yes, that's what it is, common courtesy.

I was just about to take a step when I saw another figure, distinctly male, walk over and join her. I froze, and as I listened closely, my ears caught the familiar cadence of the new person; it was Zane. They spoke in an animated fashion, and when I heard him chuckle, I actually had to clench my fists and close my eyes to keep from bolting over to where they stood. Would it be too terrible for me to finish the little argument that had started in the dorm?

No, that was silly. These emotions, they were totally illogical; I didn't know her, not really, and Zane, he was just some smart-assed kid who shouldn't be capable of pissing me off the way he did. Besides, maybe I was just misreading the whole scenario, friends could laugh with each other.

I'd just about calmed myself back down to what could be considered normal, when I opened my eyes. The new sight in front of me completely threw a wrench in my previously acquired peace. Zane had his arm draped over Ally's shoulders in a way that couldn't possibly be misconstrued as a simple friendship.

I watched as they began to walk away, disappearing into the darkness of the tunnels. But rather than give into my instincts, I sucked in a breath, turned, and left to my room. I had to keep my mind on the important things at hand; training the initiates, figuring out what Banks had in store, saving my family, and avenging Randi's death. Until then, nothing else mattered.

Not even the girl that reminded me of poetry, moonlight, and peace.