Al POV

The Pit is full of energy and people after dinner. I notice a menacing looking man with a shaved-head and neck tattoos chasing after a toddler who trips and falls precariously close to the edge of the chasm. A set of purple and blue-haired parents swing their giggling kindergartener over the side of a path ten feet above the pit floor. An older woman with so many piercings in her left ear that you no longer see flesh drags a middle-schooler by the arm toward a side hallway. I overhear her saying, "How many times do I have to tell you not to use your little brother for target practice?".

"Well that's not a phrase I would have ever heard in Abnegation", Tris says quietly.

Will chuckles from his spot next to Tris and nudges her with his elbow, "I'll add it to your list, Tris."

"What list?"

"The Tris list."

"What the hell is the Tris list?"

"Only all of the adorable moments our little Tris has as she sheds her grey cocoon to become a fierce black butterfly!" Christina chimes in with a grin.

"You're kidding. You just made that up," Tris says with eyes wide.

"Oh no, there is definitely a list. Its growing quite long. Might be as tall as you some day soon," I add in with a smirk. All three of us burst out laughing as Tris just growls something under her breath and quickens her steps. She leaves us behind laughing at how cute she is.

I sober as my thoughts turn to the recently released rankings for Stage One. Tris and I are both in danger of becoming factionless tomorrow. Well, I'm in more danger than she is. If I'm cut, I hope she is too. Is that so wrong of me? I'd like her to be with me, if I have to leave Dauntless. But I know the chances of that happening are slim. Would they really cut the first jumper? Are even the lowest ranked Dauntless-born better than she is? I can only hope.

A voice calling out to Tris startles me from these thoughts. "Tris! What up?" comes from a guy standing in front of the tattoo parlor. A tall, muscular guy with a big grin on his face attempts to wave while holding an armful of snacks and drinks. The pretty girl next to him is catching what falls out of his arms with an affectionate smile on her face. Dauntless-borns. I recognize both from Capture the Flag. They were on the other team with my friends. I don't know their names, but they seem to be familiar with Tris. Oh yeah, they were sitting with her on the train after their team won. That guy got paint all over Tris. Then the dumbass squeezed a paintball into his own mouth. I remember watching them.

"Hi, Uriah. Hi, Marlene" Tris greets them both with a wide smile as the rest of our group catches up to her. Uriah, huh? I've heard of him. He's some big shot amongst the Dauntless-borns. Seems more like a clown to me.

"Hi Tris. I haven't seen you since capture the flag!" the pretty girl, Marlene, says then nods a hello to the rest of us.

"What are you guys up to? We're just waiting for Lynn then going to hang out at my brother's place. It's a bit of a party to celebrate the end of stage one" Uriah cheerfully states. "Plus, it's the first time we're getting to hang out with Zeke and his friends since they became members!"

Christina throws her hands on her hips and incredulously asks, "Why couldn't you hang out with them before now? Is there some rule that you aren't allowed to hang out with members until you become one?"

Marlene laughs at Christina as she replies, "Of course its not a rule! That's ridiculous. They just got tired of Uriah asking initiation questions every chance he got, so they banned him."

"And then punished you and Lynn for Uriah's bad behavior?" Tris asks with a smirk.

"Exactly! He's never been able to keep his trap shut" says a rather frightening looking girl with a shaved head as she exits the tattoo parlor. Her nose is red from what looks like a new nose ring.

"I can too! I'm great at keeping secrets – aren't I, Lynn?" Uriah looks pointedly at her as she looks down scowling. Interesting. What secrets could she be hiding? Probably nothing like mine.

"They just should have answered my questions. I mean, come on! Zeke is my brother for God's sake! And Shauna is YOUR sister! Don't they want us to do well? Or would they rather we be factionless?" Uriah cries out.

Will then butts into the conversation, "Wait a minute, the transfers don't get inside information, so why should the Dauntless-born?"

Both Uriah and scary-looking Lynn stare at Will with looks of shock on their faces. Marlene just rolls her eyes at us all and opens a bag of chips.

"Why shouldn't we have an advantage? We've been Dauntless our whole lives! We don't have to prove that we belong. YOU do" Lynn snaps back at Will.

Tris has been shifting nervously from foot to foot since Will's comment. As she sees Christina about to retort and probably wanting to avoid a full-blown argument, she jumps in with a random question. "Marlene, what are you eating?" Must have been the first thing that popped into her mind. She's so sweet that she wants us all to get along. I doubt that will ever happen though.

"It's a cheesy chip. Want some?"

Tris hesitates but looks at the snack curiously. "Uh, ok." She takes the chip Marlene hands her and tentatively takes a bite. "Wow, that's delicious!" she exclaims with big eyes and a bright smile. So adorable.

"What, like you've never had a chip before?" Lynn scoffs. Little does she know. Its been rather eye-opening to see an Abnegation set free to try new things.

"No, I haven't, snacks like these are considered self-indulgent in Abnegation."

"Ugh, Stiffs" Lynn states in disgust and rolls her eyes.

Tris ignores her and happily takes the bag Marlene is holding out to her.

"Another for the Tris list!" Will smirks.

"The Tris List?" Uriah asks.

"Yeah, Dauntless is a treasure trove of new experiences for Tris. So we, as her friends, felt that they should be documented." Will looks rather smug as he says this, though I think it was Christina who started the list. He was just the one who actually wrote it all down.

"You only did that so you could laugh at me some more", Tris grumbles as she eats another chip. Yes, that's probably true, but I think of it more as documenting a baby bird's first flight. Slowly stretching its newborn wings, hopping around a little and flapping within the safety of its nest, taking a deep breath as it prepares for flight, and then off out of the nest in a first brave soar into the sky. Tris is so delicate like the baby bird but brave, too. How did she become so brave? I wish I even had a tenth of the bravery she has.

"What's on the list?" Uriah asks curiously as he cocks his head to the side. He looks like he's trying to decide whether to support us in our efforts or to denounce us in order to protect Tris. Why would Tris need protection from us? She's our friend; he isn't.

"Well, " Christina starts to explain until she's rudely cut off by Lynn, "Aren't we supposed to be somewhere? Anywhere is better than hearing about a Stiff's life discoveries." Well isn't she just pleasant?

"Oh yeah! We've got to get to Zeke's. And it's the PERFECT place to add to The Tris List!" Uriah exclaims with a Cheshire cat grin. Huh, decision made then.

While Tris looks at him uncertainly and then over to Christina, Uriah grabs her arm. "Its going to be awesome! Let's go." Uriah starts dragging a somewhat reluctant Tris across the Pit. I immediately follow as I don't like seeing him with a hand on Tris. Who is he to manhandle her through Dauntless?

Marlene and Lynn hurry past me to catch up with them as Christina and Will join me.

"Well things just got interesting. Our first Dauntless gathering!" Christina exclaims excitedly.

I grunt in frustration and say, "Its not like they want us there. They seem to only care about Tris." I see them share a look out of the corner of my eye and know that they are reluctant to acknowledge my point. I'm not going to let Tris out of my sight. Who knows what trick they could be playing on her?

"At least we get to see inside a Dauntless apartment. I wonder if they have windows" remarks Will as his eyes take in the long, dark hallway our group has started to walk down.

"Windows? Why wouldn't they have windows?" Christina asks.

Will looks are her incredulously while responding, "We're underground Christina. Haven't you noticed that we've been living like trolls for the last few weeks?" He gestures to the cavern-like atmosphere and forbidding looking stairway we are about to climb. I hurry my steps so as not to lose sight of the others.

"Well, its unhealthy not to have at least a little bit of fresh air. There HAVE to be windows in the apartments. Its unhygienic otherwise and just plain wrong!" Christina complains. "Al, back me up here. Don't you think so?" she demands.

I feel them both looking over to me, but I can't stop staring at the scene in front of us. We've emerged into another dim stone hallway where Tris is chatting happily with Marlene. Lynn is trying to grab a can of soda from Uriah who keeps dodging out of the way and holding it above her head. His taunts, Lynn's growls, and the combined giggles of Tris and Marlene reach our ears.

"I don't think we should be going with them. Let's grab Tris and get those tattoos we wanted "l state. I don't like this. I don't like this at all. My jaw clenches as Marlene links arms with Tris and whispers into her ear. Tris' laughter rings out in the hallway before she claps a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound. Tris isn't one of them! She's one of us! We have to get her away from them.

Will and Christina share another look before turning back to me. "Let's just try it out. If we don't like it, then we'll leave. No big deal. Besides, I want to see if Will is right about the windows" Christina says as we turn into yet another dark hallway within the maze of Dauntless. Trolls indeed.