"For a Dauntless leader, physical endurance is crucial," Veronica explains as we exit the elevator into the twelfth floor. "There is a reason why leader-in-training is offered to members ranking from first to fifth during stage one of their initiations."
"Which is the best rank to pass this phase?" I ask.
"We'd like it if you'd rank anywhere from a one to a three from stage one of Dauntless initiation," Veronica. "Since you ranked a third for stage one, you're in luck."
"Probably because I had a certain person personally train me for stage one," I say.
"I wouldn't give Eric all the credit," she says. "It also probably has to with the fact that you were the first jumper. Most of the first jumpers tend to score high in initiation. It takes a strong and mental will to jump down that hole first."
That's interesting. That it takes strong and physical will to jump first. I never thought of it like that before. I jumped because no one else was willing to.
We stop before a metal door and Veronica presses her finger on a small screen beside it.
"Veronica Winters. Dauntless leader. Access granted," says a monotone electronic voice. The door slides open and we enter the private training room. Unlike the training rooms down in the compound, this is small in size and looks state of the art.
In one area there is a large target; the optional weapons being a rifle, handgun, and knife. There is a sparring platform on a corner and south of me is a complicated obstacle course.
An obstacle course. Something that we didn't have back in initiation.
In the room with us is a bronzed-skin woman with black hair. Both her ears are pierced at a along the earlobes.
"Tris, this is Simone," Veronica introduces. "Usually she's part of technical support, fixing the wiring of cameras but she has offered to provide training to leaders-in-training."
She shakes my hand and smiles at me. "Nice to meet you, Tris."
She's never questioned my abilities due to my faction of origin. That's a plus.
"Well, I'll leave you two to it." Veronica turns her heel and exits the room.
Simone turns to face me. "The level of training is set higher then what is expected for the initiates. To give you an idea, none of the initiates would pass stage one if this was their training."
I nod. "That's what I was told when I first started training."
"This training phase is five days long," she explains. "Today and tomorrow you'll learn about shooting and piercing targets. Two days of hand-to-hand physical combat and one day of going through the obstacle course."
Just one day of the obstacle course. Probably because it wouldn't take long how to do it.
"So, I should say that you shouldn't recommend training of this difficulty for the future initiates," Simone continues. "The recent Dauntless leader has already raised the bar of success as it is."
And so he did.
She leads me to the ring of targets and hands me the rifle. "Have you remembered how to shoot a firearm during initiation?"
"Yeah," I answer. "I know how to hold one."
"From what I learned, they don't use moving targets," she says. "In reality, when firing a gun, most targets are not still."
So, I'll be shooting moving targets. This will not be easy but I will not fail. I passed initiation, so I should pass this rigorous leadership training too.
"Makes sense," I say.
"Your objective is to shoot all seven targets when they are moving," she says.
I nod as I position myself, holding my rifle the way I was instructed to during initiation. Simone presses a button and the targets begin moving. i squint my eyes and move my rifle along with the moving targets as I begin shooting.
I missed the first try but I was able to shoot target number two. I reposition myself and shoot the third time but the target took a surprise turn and missed again.
"Don't worry," she says. "This takes some time."
I nod as I look back to the rotating and moving targets. I position myself again, this time paying close attention to how they move and when they move.
Once I had my eye on a particular target, I shoot.
That was my second successful shot.
"Any update on these regulations for when we send the Dauntless back to the factionless sector?" Eric asks me after lunch.
"I reviewed and edited them three times," I tell him. I remove the file from the drawer and handed it to him. "I'm sure it would pass the test."
Eric opens the folder and I watch to see what his reaction would be. His eyes rove over the document and he nods, appearing satisfied.
"This is a lot better and less convoluted then the previous regulations." Eric closes the folder. "If anything happens, we'll take care of it."
"We did promise the Abnegation councilmembers that we'll refine the regulations," I say. "They will be happy that it will be off limits to interfere with charity work."
"I admit, they will be less likely to pull them out the next time," says Eric. "I will fax this to Max, Veronica, Ross, and Jackie. See what they say."
If Eric says it was good enough, I'm hoping that the others will see it as good enough as well.
The physical training for leadership is different compared to the difficulty level and the methodology of it. No initiate would pass if this was expected of them.
I perfected in the rifle segment of the target practice. It prepared me for when I shot with the handgun, though when I threw the knives, it took me three tries until I was able to hit the targets right in the center.
Next was the obstacle course. That was a challenge. I had to crawl under security lasers and make sure that I didn't get burned before climbing a net to get to a set of bars without falling through. Afterwards I had to jump through hoop before swinging across to the other time over hot tar without falling in.
The first try was okay. I was able to crawl under the security lasers without them touching my clothes, though I could feel the heat radiate towards me.
My knees felt sore from crawling on the ground when I climbed the net to the first set of bars. I breathed evenly, hoping that that I didn't lose my balance. Luckily I didn't.
When I got to the bars however, that was another story. I put my hand on one bar and put my foot on the other, but somehow my fingers slipped and I fell through the bars.
"It wouldn't be unusual to fail the first time," Simone told me. "It's only natural to correct your mistakes after the first time."
The second time was better. I was able to cross the bars without falling before proceeding to the rest of the obstacle course without any trouble. When I got to the final set of bars and took a deep breath before grasping them with my hands to swing across to the other side.
I didn't fall in the tar fortunately.
As for hand-to-hand combat, the first day was spent testing my knowledge on fighting methods, using a dummy. Simone knew every method in the book, but I remember her eyes widening in surprise when I was able to punch the dummy in the labeled vital areas.
Fortunately, she didn't guess where I learned my moves from. I guess she thought that I learned them myself and didn't have someone teach me. Like Eric.
For day two and the final day of the physical training, the goal was to match up in terms of skill. It was no lie that I passed that one.
The dependents went back to school in January after vacation and winter was the same as last month: cold and dry. Eventually January blurred into February and everything began thawing out.
Another holiday I was introduced was Valentines' Day. The holiday of lovers they call it here. I woke up on Valentines' Day to see that Eric baked me a giant heart-shaped cookie covered in red frosting. He even decided to put my first full name on the cookie with white icing. There was even a card in which he wrote Love is infinite. They say flowers represent love but how could they if a flower withers? and attached was a necklace.
"I thought a cookie would be better than giving you a box of chocolate and flowers," he said.
"You make me not want to eat it," I tell him.
"You can," he says. "Just don't eat it too fast."
I don't intend too, especially if it had my name on it.
I knew that Valentines' Day wouldn't be happy for people like Marlene, who lost Uriah before Christmas. It still feels odd without him. It's like we're expecting him to sit down with us and say something funny to relieve the tension of day.
Unfortunately, not everything will remain the same.
The end of February brought heavy rain and March arrived with warm temperatures and green grass. This will also be the month when Jackie will step down and I will take her place. Another thing coming up is Eric's nineteenth birthday. He doesn't look nineteen. He looks like he could be in his twenties, as does Tobias. They say that stress ages the person, though with Tobias it probably had to do with living under an abusive father before escaping to Dauntless.
"What a long day," huffs Lynn during lunch. "I could crash."
"I thought you liked your job," says Will. "You said it was better than patrolling the fence."
"Of course you wouldn't understand." Lynn stabs her string bean with her fork. "You never have been taught diplomacy and relations with other factions if you're working on computers all day."
"Well, not all day," Will defends.
"So, excited to become a Dauntless leader?" Shauna asks me. "You will replace one of them this month."
"I'm not one to brag," I say. "The job has responsibility attached to it."
"Someone is still a Stiff somewhat," Lynn mumbles under her breath.
Tobias glares at her before turning to me. "I wonder if they will have you oversee initiation this year. Max told me two years ago that they let the youngest leader take control of it."
I register some hope in his voice. He probably wishes that this year, he wouldn't be in the same room as Eric when it comes to training the new arrivals.
"One will have to wait and see," says Eric. "It's still too early yet."
Indeed it is.
Today is the day. It weighs more significance then the initiation ceremony. Instead of anticipating the rankings determining my place in Dauntless, I will take someone's place among the Dauntless leaders.
I'd be the second person to become a leader at a young age, though my seventeenth birthday isn't until May, though Eric became seventeen right after his appointment of Dauntless leader.
I change into clean clothes and eat a quick breakfast of plain oatmeal before heading out the door. One part of me is ready and willing to do this. The other half of me just wants to go back to the apartment and curl up in bed. To avoid being appointed as a Dauntless leader.
But this can't be avoided and I'm no coward. I just hope that I don't pass out when I get to the conference room.
I stand in the elevator with five other Dauntless on their way to work; Peter being one of them. Ever since that threat I made towards him outside the dining hall, he has neither spoken to me nor paid me any eye contact, like he's afraid.
I'm glad I sent him a clear message that day.
The elevator door opened to the tenth floor of the Pire and I was among the two people that exited the elevator. My palms began to sweat and my heart began to race as I approached the conference room where they were waiting for me.
I take a deep breath before knocking on the door and about seconds later, it opened. Inside, the Dauntless leaders sit around in a panel facing me. It's not intimidating as it used to feel, since I'll become one of them in a few hours.
"Good morning, Tris," says Max.
"Good morning," I manage to say. "This concludes the training phase?"
"Exactly," says Veronica. "You have to pass each area that we tested you on to get to this point."
"And you have," says Eric. He pulls up a document from a folder and places it on the table with a pen. "When you sign this, the training phase commences and your position will go in effect twenty-four hours after you signed this."
I sit down and look at the document.
I, Tris Prior, will join in the ranks as a Dauntless leader. I will uphold the values and rules of Dauntless. I agree to the teachings of my faction and hope to engrain them in future Dauntless members. Any misdeeds I commit will reflect on my image, and therefore, be avoided.
At the bottom, there is a line where I sign, affirming that I agree to ascending to a Dauntless leader. There is also a line for my predecessor to sign as well.
I wait a minute before sealing my fate with a signature.
When she signs it, agreeing to hand over her position to me, I feel like I passed another initiation.
I'm no longer Beatrice from Abnegation. I'm no longer the initiate who others thought would get cut due to my faction of origin. I'm not just a ordinary Dauntless member.
I'm Tris Prior, one of the Dauntless leaders.
To be continued…
Thanks for reading.