Hello!

This is a one-shot that I needed to write in my English advanced course and because I didn't want this work to gather dust I decided to publish it. Let me know what you think about and feel free to share whatever thoughts you have on this work! :D

I apologize in advance for any inaccuracies in terms of plot and characters. Unfortunately I haven't read the Four prequel, and it's been a long time since the actual trilogy, so I can't tell whether this depiction of him is accurate. If not, don't shy away from telling me.

- Ashla

Today is the day of the initiates' arrival.

Normally I work in the control room but not this year. This year I was tasked to receive them and survey the transfers' training and now here I stand, waiting at the net with another one of the Dauntless members, Lauren.

She impatiently taps her left foot, resting the knuckles of her left hand on her chin. "Is it just me" she huffs "or do the initiates take an awful lot of time this year?"

I shrug my shoulders, but I manage a slight smile. "Perhaps it's Max's sweet-talking."

Lauren snorts, "I wouldn't put it past him."

Her reply ends any sort of discussion for the duration of the moment while I start surveying the surrounding room, remembering my arrival at the Dauntless compound two years ago. The dark concrete walls swallowing much of the sunlight streaming in from the hole above a platform with a net bound to columns still look the same and so do the tunnels carved into the room, connecting the other parts of the compound with this entrance.

Upon my first arrival they seemed ominous and uncertain, just like the future awaiting me. The discovery of new paths, untrodden and unfamiliar, but also a lining of hope that things might be better. That things might be good—a new beginning. That was back then. Back then when I was still Tobias. It feels more like a lifetime ago.

My thoughts are interrupted by a figure landing on top of the net. "Four, it's the first initiate."

Thanks for the heads-up, I think, but I don't reply. Lunging forward, I offer my outstretched hand to the grey-clothed figure—an Abnegation transfer. The others, who have gathered around the net, are also lending a hand to her.

She grasps mine mindlessly and without even looking at the face the hand belongs to. I pull her out of the net, preventing her to fall face-first, and let go of her as soon as she has her feet steadily on the ground again.

It is now that she finally looks at me and I, in turn, gaze at her as well. "Thank you" she says.

I don't answer, looking at this transfer from Abnegation instead. She has a small face with big grey-blue eyes, a slender nose, and narrow lips. She looks pale in her grey Abnegation clothes, but surprisingly she is wearing tight-fitting clothes—Abnegation don't want to draw attention to their physique because that would be self-indulgent. But she is no Abnegation anymore. Their virtues are no longer of relevance to her. And neither are they relevant to me. I am Dauntless.

I wonder, as slight panic seizes me, if she knows who I am. With her being sixteen, she would certainly be old enough to do so. She must have been fourteen at the time. I search for a sign of recognition in her eyes, a wordless question, but I can't find anything.

I heave an internal sigh of relieve.

The girl surveys her surroundings or so she tries because her eyes can't have adapted to the dim light around us.

"Can't believe it." Lauren's voice sounds amused from behind me. "A Stiff, the first to jump? Unheard of."

As I look at her, I think of my own transferring and I reply, "There is a reason why she left them, Lauren." And some reasons are out of necessity, rather than choice. Instead of dwelling on these thoughts I ask for her name.

"Um …" She hesitates.

I watch her, intrigued. Her hesitation makes me wonder if she has the same desire to leave her old life behind, the same way I did two years ago—and at the same time feels terrified at the prospect.

The corners of my mouth lift into an encouraging smile. "Think about it. You don't get to pick again."

She seems to contemplate her options before announcing, "Tris."

"Tris" Lauren repeats. "Make the announcement, Four."

I look over my shoulder to the other members of my faction. "First jumper—Tris!"

They are starting to cheer, pumping their fists, and grinning at the newcomer.

Then I see—or rather, I hear—the next initiate fall into the net. I turn around to look at the dark-haired girl with black-and-white clothing—a Candor.

Some others are laughing in the background, but I move to put my hand on Tris' back, leading her to the other members. "Welcome to Dauntless" I say.