Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent material. All characters from the Divergent story belong to Veronica Roth.

Warning: Material in the story will be rated M. Anyone of a lower age should not read the material featured in this story. You have been warned. Mentions of Sexual Assault, Sex, Violence, and possible trigger warnings.

Chapter 2: From Farm Life to Cave life

Second jumper was Marella and the look on her face as she landed on the net was amusing to say the least. Once she got up, she walked over to me.

"That was crazy… and fun. I wanna go again. Can we?" she asks.

Tris looks at her like she's a bit nuts but says we can go after initiation was over.

"Also Vi, I can't believe you threw your shirt at Eric. You should have seen his face right after you jumped. He looked taken off guard and smiled a bit before he turned his attention back on us. What made you do that?" Ella, as she had chosen to take a nickname, asked.

Tris looks at us over hearing that bit of information before she starts to laugh.

"Wait. You're telling me Amity here threw her shirt at Eric before she jumped. Now I wish I got to see that. I swear, that man has a stick lodged up his ass at least 24/7. I wonder how he felt to be threatened by the happiest of factions."

I scoff before I answer.

"I wouldn't say the happiest. Most people are stoned out of their mind during the days and at night, it gets ten times worse. I often found articles of clothing on my front lawn from others getting… a bit to handsy during the night. Honestly, I'm surprised our faction functions as well as it has."

"I can agree with your there. However, Eric has been known to hate Amity and the idea of someone from your faction sticking it to him, God that's hysterical. Next time, please get it on recording," says Tris.

I smile at her words but find myself to feel a bit scared due to the fact that Eric seems to dislike Amity. He did seem a bit amused when I first walked up first to jump but maybe it's because he didn't expect me to do it. I make a promise to myself to stay off his radar for the time being and watch as others from the roof continue to fall onto the net.

It takes everyone else around 40 minutes to get down from the roof. Afterwards, the leaders from the roof make their way down as well. The landing of each of them sounded throughout the room and the last person to get off the net is Eric.

He jumps off the net and I see in his hand the shirt I had thrown at him. I stare at the shirt, cursing myself silently as he makes his way over to stand in front of our entire group. It's here that he starts his next speech.

"Welcome to Dauntless. It seems we already have an interesting group so far. As I said earlier, I will be one of the transfer trainers, you'll meet the other one later. Now, those of you who are transfers, follow me. The rest of you, follow Lauren." He says before he walks away, shirt still in his hand.

I walk next to Ella and find myself both horrified that he has my shirt and mystified by the surroundings that grace my eyesight. The place is cold and somewhat dark, so some surroundings are hard to see. I feel Ella grab my hand and find myself squeezing hers, somewhat in a reassuring way.

Eric doesn't say anything until we arrive in what seems to be a massive underground chasm of stores and dauntless born, roaming around the center freely, with no judgement to be seen. There's a hint of smoke in the air and the noise that surrounds us fills my ears. I feel the atmosphere change as Eric begins to speak again.

"This is the heart of Dauntless. Welcome to the Pit."

I hear someone snicker behind me and Eric comes walking over to him, barely an inch from his face before he asks what's so funny.

"N…n…nothing sir. There wasn't anything funny at all. I think I had something in my throat but I cleared it out."

The look Eric gives him sends a shiver down my spine and I try to force my eyes away from him but before long, he's next to my ear, whispering something to me.

"When I'm done showing everyone around, you will follow me. I have to deal with you too," he hisses before he backs away again.

I decide to look him in the eyes as he steps away, and I know I've made a huge mistake. Up close, his eyes are a blue grey color. He has the smallest hint of freckles on his nose and his teeth are white and perfectly straight. He has an array of piercings on his face, 4 in his ears, one on the nose, three on one eyebrow and a snakebite piercing on his bottom lip. It takes me only a few moments to realize how attractive he really is, and it takes me a few more before I nod quickly, turning my gaze onto the floor, cheeks glowing hot pink at this point.

My heart rate thumps against my chest and Eric moves away from me. I find myself releasing a breath I didn't know I was holding in, my body somewhat trembling after that encounter. Ella turns to me, her eyes asking me if I'm okay. I give her a slight nod as to not worry her, but I know that I'm completely the opposite.

I try not to stare at Eric as he shows us around Dauntless a little bit. I perked up at hearing about the tattoo parlor and think to go there soon. It isn't long until Eric stops in front of two metals doors and swings them wide open. Inside, there are beds lined up close to one another and I think I know where this is going.

"This is where you will all be staying during initiation. Boys and Girls, we don't discriminate. I suggest you turn in after you all have dinner. Tomorrow, the real work begins. Dinner will be served in about an hour. Make yourselves at home," he says before he turns away from the door. Before he leaves, I see his eyes fall on me and I know I'll have to follow him.

He leaves the room and I find myself not wanting to move. Ella comes over to talk with me.

"What was that about? Is this about earlier? Do you have to follow him or something? I can tell him you're not feeling well if that will make you feel better." She says politely.

I smile a bit before answering her.

"I appreciate it Ella, but he wants to talk with me, and I don't think skipping out on it is the best decision to do for myself. I'll be back here before dinner and I'll tell you what happens. Deal?"

She nods and watches as I walk out the doors that Eric just went through. I'm not sure where to find him but I'm guessing he's not far off. I find myself traveling down a hallway near the dorms when I feel a hand encircle my waist. I tense up and look at Eric whose eyes are blazing with anger. I find myself panicking a little when his grip tightens. He tells me to follow him quickly and releases my waist, giving me time to breathe before I walk behind him. It's not long until we stop in front of another door and Eric quickly swipes a card into a card input device next to the door before I'm pushed into the room.

I looked around and see that we're in some sort of meeting room and am met with the sound of the door locking. I find myself tense up again, scared at what might happen in the next moment. I don't have to wait long.

"Alright, listen up Amity because I'm only going to say this once. I don't appreciate anyone showing any disrespect around here, especially if it's someone that used to work and frolic in the fields. I am your trainer, and you WILL treat me with respect. You want to pass initiation, you will find that you'll pass easier without trying to piss me off," he says.

I can't even look him in the eyes, so I nod, staring at the floor. It seems he doesn't like that because the next moment, he grabs my chin and forces me to look at him. I freeze under his gaze, seemingly trapped in a spell.

"You will look at an outranking officer when they're talking to you. Do you understand me, Amity?" his eyes glaring into my own.

It takes me a minute to recover, my mind screaming at me to answer before I get into more trouble. His eyes reminded me of my father's: cold, dark, ruthless. It takes me moment before I nod again and speak up.

"Yes sir, I understand."

I refuse to cry in front of him, to give him that satisfaction like I had done with my father. I think he senses the discomfort I'm facing and releases my chin, as though my skin burned him. He takes another look in my eyes and turns to leave the room. Before so, he turns to look at me.

"Also, here's your shirt back Amity. It gets chilly in the dorms. Wouldn't want to get sick down here now would you." He says, handing me back my shirt I had thrown at him earlier.

I try to act indifferent towards the shirt but find myself smiling a little at the gesture. I reach to grab my shirt and slightly brush my fingers against his own. I see him stiffen before he releases the shirt, his gaze dropping to the floor before he looks back at me.

"Get some sleep tonight Amity because I can assure you, tomorrow is nothing like anything you experienced in Amity. You're going to need all the energy you can spare. Now get out of here, you've wasted enough of my time."

He unlocks the door and I bolt out of the room, running back to the dorm doors before catching my breath. I look over my shoulder to see if Eric was following me but saw that no one else was there. I stare down at the shirt Eric had given me, confused as to why he gave it back to me.

It is cold down here but it's nothing like Amity winters. Maybe he just doesn't want the Amity girl to get frostbite down in these caves. However, he'll never know that I've been through a lot worse than frigid air.

I take another breath and enter the dorms, watching as everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at me. I didn't like everyone's eyes on me, so I shuffle down the steps into the dorms and am meet with Ella, a look a concern splashed across her face.

"Are you okay Violet? You were gone for like 15 minutes? Did you get kicked out? Are you going to have to be factionless now? What…." Ella starts questioning before I interrupt her before she gets any crazy ideas.

"I'm okay Ella. I've just found myself on Eric's radar. He basically gave me a warning about not stepping on his toes during initiation. I guess I got myself in trouble with one of the leaders of Dauntless," I say, trying to summarize what our talk had been about.

"I'm glad you're okay and you're not kicked out at least, I already made a friend and I'd rather not lose you to something as stupid as throwing a shirt at a leader. Speaking of which, that's the shirt you threw at him earlier, when did you get that back?" she says, staring at the offending piece of material that was chucked earlier at one of our leaders.

I freeze, forgetting Eric had given it back to me and saying it gets cold in the dorms. I find myself fishing for a white lie to tell her, not wanting her to know he seemed worried about me freezing in the dorms.

"Eric just gave it back to me. He said he had no use for something as stupid as Amity fashion and said I can either take it back or he'd throw it out. I choose to take it seeing as it's my only connection to Amity now," I said, hoping she didn't pick up on the lie I placed in there. To my luck, it seems she doesn't.

"God, he's such an ass. I mean, Amity doesn't have the best of clothing choices but it's not stupid. I feel Abnegation fits that bill more. Amity fashion just doesn't show off the curves that you clearly have."

I find myself blushing, seemingly caught off guard from her statement. I wasn't used to compliments on how nice I looked so I instead thank her for her kind words.

"It's not an issue. You have a figure that most guys would drool over, and most girls would die for. How have you never noticed that? Did you guys own a mirror?"

"We did own a mirror, it's just that… I've never looked at myself in that sort of light. No one wanted to talk with me because I was the weird shy type of girl that hated picking fruits and vegetables while everyone gushed how pretty the plants looked that year. I was the odd ball of Amity and I found myself being okay with that. Besides, if boys even did show an interest, I never returned it. I knew I wasn't suited for Amity at a fairly young age, and I would never want to put a person through that if I left. I just strived on being alone rather than grouping up with others."

She looks at me, taking in my words before she responds.

"You know what that calls for. A wardrobe makeover!"

I look at her, trying not to roll my eyes. I felt as though I didn't need to change my looks and before I could tell her I appreciate the thought but no thanks, she looks at me smiling, so hopeful that I'll say yes to the wardrobe makeover, I find myself saying I'll allow it after initiation is over with.

"You won't regret it. I have just the dress that would go beautifully with your eyes. They're so beautiful. I wish I had your eye color."

"They're just green, I don't see what the big deal with having green eyes is but I appreciate the compliment nonetheless."

"It's never an issue but seriously, you're pretty. You should start to take notice of that."

I try and decipher what she means by that and see that she's looking around the room. I follow her eyes and see that a lot of the guys in the room have their eyes set on me. Some with a curious sort of look but others with an almost ravenous and predatory look to them. I try not to shiver at those who are looking at me like that.

I turn my head back to Ella and whisper in her ear.

"How long have they been staring at me like that?"

"Since initiation started. I didn't think to tell you because I thought you were ignoring them. Don't worry, I'll make sure I stay near you as much as possible. I don't want anything to happen to you."

I look at her, baffled that she would offer such a thing but then find myself smiling, a true genuine smile that I hadn't felt in over 2 years, as though it never left. I reach over and grabbed her, pulling her into a tight hug.

"I appreciate it Ella. Same goes to you too. I don't want anything happening to you either. If something happens, please let me know."

I feel her nod against my shoulder and find myself closing my eyes, feeling the comfort of safety and friendly arms from a valued friend, my first real friend.


I'm not sure how long the hug lasted but the next thing I know, we're headed off to get dinner for the night. I make sure to keep Ella close, glaring at anyone that may come near her. I keep her talking, asking her more about her family life back in Candor. Apparently, she has three other siblings back in Candor, all of them younger than her, making her the oldest. She talked about how she didn't fit with the true Candor stereotype, mainly because she didn't feel as though she could be honest all the time.

"I'm pretty sure for their initiation, they shoot everyone up with truth serum and have them reveal all their biggest secrets to all of Candor. Honestly speaking, I'd like to keep a few of my secrets rather than have everyone know about them. You know what I mean?"

I look at her, laughing a bit due to the disgusted look on her face before I answer.

"I get what you mean. I don't think I'd want to do that sort of initiation either. Amity's initiation is based on where you'll best work. So, they have everyone do a long test to see what piques your interest and with those, they put you in a few areas that you might excel in. Depending on where you excel, they'll offer you that as your job for the rest of your life. Some people move around but most stay where they were put. I can't imagine myself as a farmer girl or even as a daycare watcher. I just never fit in per say."

"I don't blame you. I'd want to get out of there as fast as I could if I were you too. Sounds kinda boring if you ask me," Ella says.

I find myself nodding, chuckling at her answer. It's not long after that I hear the sound of a metal door opening, flooding us with music, shouts, and laughter. I look around and find we're in what I believe is the cafeteria. There's food smeared on the walls, there's several people standing on tables and everyone looks over as they see that the transfer group has joined them. It quiets down for what seems like forever until we hear cheering coming from everyone around us. I smile as I see that there's an empty table with food on it, presumably for us. Our group walks over, finding our little groups to hang out with. Ella and I end up on the end of the transfer group and I don't mind honestly.

On our table, there's sandwiches with meat on them. I'm not sure what exactly they're called but I know that they're from a cow. I don't consider myself vegetarian. Many Amity folks are but I never went that route because of my mother. She insisted that if I wanted to live a vegetarian lifestyle, she'd support me, but she would constantly make sure that it was my decision to make and not hers. She often cooked with meat and I found that meat was tasty, so I never thought about going vegetarian. That doesn't mean I judged anyone who was.

Ella and I sit down, reaching for a few plates for us and begin to dive into the food. I grab one of the sandwiches, making Ella stare as though I grew two heads. I laugh before I speak up.

"What, never seen someone from Amity eat meat?"

She realizes she was staring at me and apologizes to me.

"I'm sorry, I've just… I didn't think you guys ate meat. I thought all Amity people were supposed to eat plants and whatever you guys grow out there. No judgement but it's not something I was expecting."

"It's fine. My mom used to cook with meat a lot and I never told her to stop including meat in our dishes, so she continued. Meat just has that certain flavor that fruits and vegetables can never give you. I enjoy it."

She stares at me for another minute or so before she starts her questioning again.

"So, what was your family life like? Do you have any siblings? How old are they?"

It takes me a minute to realize what she's asking. I choose not to answer the first question, knowing that it will bring up painful memories that I'm trying to forget.

"I have an older brother. He transferred here to Dauntless 4 years ago. His name is Calvin. He actually gave me this necklace two years ago when I spotted him in Amity. I haven't seen him since."

I reach under my shirt and show her the necklace my brother got me. She stares at it for a moment before she looks back at me.

"That's so sweet. Do you think you'll see him here during initiation? I'm sure he misses you a lot."

"I'm hoping to see him. I didn't get along with my father very much and my mom wasn't around a whole lot, so for a while it was Calvin and I until he transferred to Dauntless. I'm hoping to see him here. I've really missed him."

"I can imagine. I'm sorry to hear about your parents. So is your brother cute?"

"Ew gross. Why would you ask me that? This is my brother we're talking about." I say, laughing a bit.

"Come on, you're super pretty. I can imagine your brother is cute too. You guys more than likely have good genes."

"I'm not sure honestly. I haven't seen him in 2 years. I know he passed his initiation class because he was wearing Dauntless clothes while he was walking around Amity. Other than that, I'm not sure what he looks like now."

"Fair enough, I guess. Just let me know if you spot him. I want to make a good impression."

I nod before turning back to my food, eating the sandwich which I found out was a hamburger from Ella. It's not long until someone else sits besides us and I notice it's Tris. It appears she's brought some other people along to sit with us and I find myself staring. Tris is the first one to speak

"How's it going there Vi? I see that you're not vegetarian. I'm glad to see that. You'll need to extra protein for the work cut out for you guys."

Before I get a chance to speak, someone from the group of people she came with speaks out next.

"Holy shit Tris, I thought you were kidding when you said we had another Amity initiate this year. This was the first jumper from her group?"

Before Tris answers, I reply.

"Yes I'm the first jumper for this year. What about it?"

The person who spoke replies to me.

"And she has a bit of an attitude. Man, I can see why you weren't going to make it in Amity. You're a firecracker. I'm Uriah, by the way. Tris mentioned something about an Amity initiate being first jumper. Nice to meet you." He says, reaching out his hand.

I grab his hand, feeling a little less tense and offer him a small apology.

"I'm Violet. You can call me Vi if you want to. I'm sorry about that, people keep thinking that just because I'm from Amity, I won't fit into Dauntless. I refuse to show them that they're right because they're not. It's nice to meet you though."

Tris then takes this moment to introduce everyone else.

"This one right here is Will."

"Hi Vi, nice to meet you."

I wave before Tris continues

"This is Christina. Careful, she used to be Candor, so she's a bit brutally honest."

"Hey, it's not my fault you ask for my opinion all the time. Anyways, nice to meet you Vi. I'm sure we'll get along great."

She goes around, introducing me to Shanna, Marlene, Zeke, and Lynn. I found Zeke to be super outgoing, he even got me to laugh a bit to the utter disgust of everyone else.

"Did you hear that guys? I made her laugh. Am I great or what?"

"Or what," commented Lynn.

I laughed a little at Lynn's reply and I got a bit of a smirk out of her for it. I found myself liking Tris' friends and felt comfortable with them. I watched at how loud they were, carefree and oblivious to everything else around them, hoping that one day I'd be like that. I guess I looked at the group with longing because Tris bumps my shoulder.

"What's going on in that head of yours? You doing okay?"

Before I reply, I hear a chorus of cups slamming onto the tables. The sound deafening everything else around me and I wondered what was happening next. I get the answer to my question a moment later, when I see that Eric has entered the mess hall with the two others from the roof. I find my gaze on him, staring as he walks throughout the room, looking for something. I'm not entirely sure what he's doing but the next moment I know, he's standing on a table, forcing everyone's attention on him.

"Initiates. As I said earlier, my name is Eric. Anyone that decides to show any attempt at disrespect will be severely punished. Tomorrow is where you will begin your ranks to stay here. Only the top 15 will make it into Dauntless and you'll want to make sure your number 15 or above."

The silence is deafening around me, no one says anything until I hear one of the other initiates speak up.

"Ranks? I thought we already made it into Dauntless. What do you mean that only the top 15 make it in," someone from Erudite asks.

"It means only 15 of you, combined from both the transfers and from Dauntless, will get to stay. Those who don't pass initiation will leave and become factionless."

My blood feels as though it's frozen. The thought of becoming factionless never crossed my mind when entering Dauntless. There's a lot of murmurs amongst the transfers and another one of us speaks out.

"WHAT? How is that even fair? If I had known…"

Eric cuts her off before she can finish.

"If you had known about it, would you have picked differently? We here at Dauntless look for the bravest, the smartest, the most fearless people to make our faction work. You chose us, now we get to choose you. Be thankful because this year we raised the ranks from 10 people to 15 people. Count yourselves lucky unlike others from previous initiations. Anyone else have an issue at how we're running things here?"

The room is silent, not even a peep from the Dauntless born. He looks around the room until his eyes land on mine. I don't think to say anything, instead I opt to keep my mouth shut. His eyes still gaze into mine as he says,

"Guess no one else wants to object. Now for my last announcement, your other Dauntless leaders are here, Max and Calvin. You will respect them as much as you do with me. Any disrespect shown to them will be handled by me, is that clear?"

I nod before I find myself to be frozen as I hear the name Calvin. I didn't get a good look earlier on the roof of the two leaders, but I find myself breaking my gaze from Eric's strong gaze to the person on his left. He's not looking in my direction and I'm uncertain if this Calvin guy is my brother. It's not until Eric finishes his speech, that Calvin moves his head, facing the transfer group.

It's here that I lock eyes with him and I know in a split second, my brother is one of the leaders here in Dauntless.


I feel his gaze on me as I turn away, trying not to panic. I know he saw me because his eyes grew wide, probably surprised to see me here. I try not to look to alarmed but seeing my brother after two years puts me on edge. I've missed him a lot and there's nothing I want to do more than wanting to run towards him and give him a hug, boundaries be damned.

I can't though and I know that. I'm just glad to see that he's doing okay and that he's safe. It's not long after Eric ends his speech that the transfers begin to finish dinner and head back to the dorms. I'm one of the last to finish, same with Ella. Before I leave, I turn to see if I could catch another glimpse of my brother, but he seems to have disappeared. Instead, I find Eric staring at me, his stare unreadable. I'm not unsettled by the way he's staring at me but I'm not sure as to why he is. I dump my trash into a food bin and head out with Ella.

On our way back to the dorms, I whisper in her ear.

"I saw my brother. He's one of the leaders of Dauntless now."

She stares at me before she shouts back,

"GOD DAMN! I was right about those good genes. Your brother is hot. Like extremely hot."

I laugh at her outburst and tell her to quiet down before I tell her that he saw me too.

"Do you think he recognized you? I mean, you said it's been a couple of years."

"Yeah, he looked shell shocked when he spotted me, so I know for sure he saw me. I was hoping I'd see him again before we headed out for bed, but I didn't see him. I hope it has nothing to do with me."

"I'm sure you're thinking about this way too much. He's a leader of Dauntless. He more than likely got called in for a meeting of some sort and slipped out after you saw him. I can't blame the guy though."

I take a moment to hear what she's saying before my insecurities burst out, calming myself down.

"Yeah, I guess your right. I just miss my brother is all."

"I don't blame you. I mean, if I were dating him and he disappeared on me like that, I'd miss him too."

"Gross Ella," I say, laughing.

I get a laugh out of her, making me smile. It's not long before we're in front of the dorm room doors again, listening to people inside.

"I guess it's time to call it a night," Ella says, stretching her arms above her head.

"I agree, it's been a long day. I'm just hoping we can find beds near one another."

"Oh, don't worry, I asked another one of my friends from Candor, who you haven't meet yet, if he could save us two beds next to one another. He left the cafeteria early, so I'm guessing he had first choice on the beds."

"Nice job. I guess we should head inside before someone tries to steal the beds from us."

"I agree."

We both head into the dorms and I see that there are in fact, two beds next to one another that haven't been touched yet. I see Ella race towards another person from Candor and engulf them into a giant hug. I walk myself over, seeing what's going on.

"You owe me big time for this Ella. I already had to threaten 3 different people away from these beds that you requested. They wouldn't take no for an answer," the guy from Candor says.

"I'm sorry Elliot, we wanted to finish dinner first and you always eat fast. I appreciate you doing this for me."

"I know, I'm awesome. Now, care to explain to me why you wanted two beds? Are you trying to be greedy and make yourself more comfortable in here," Elliot asks.

"Oh, I'm sorry. No, I wanted two beds because I wanted to sleep next to Vi. You remember her, don't you? She was our first jumper today, the one from Amity?"

Elliot moves his eyes towards me, offering a slight smile before turning back to Ella.

"Yes, I remember her. I see you've already made a friend which is nice to see. I'm glad."

He turns towards me as I walk towards him. He sticks his hand out at me before I gently take it in my hand.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Elliot. I've known Ella for years so if you ever want to hear any embarrassing stories about her, please allow me to tell you them," he says.

I smirk as I watch Ella pout before I turn my attention back to Elliot.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Violet, or Vi for short. I will definitely take you up on that story time offer later."

I see that Ella's pout becomes larger and I find myself laughing before I let go of Elliot's hand.

"I'm gonna get ready for bed tonight guys. I heard tomorrow's going to be a doozy."

"I heard that as well. I'm hoping it's not anything to strenuous but after jumping off a train and off the top of a roof, I think that's not going to happen," Ella says.

"I agree. It was nice meeting you Elliot. We should hang out sometime."

I see a smile flash across his face before he agrees with that statement. I see that his bed is on the right of Ella's bed, mine being on the left of Ella's.

I didn't pack anything from Amity besides my necklace and the shirt Eric gave back to me earlier. I know that I'll have to take Ella up on her idea of wardrobe makeover, which is still something I'd rather not be doing. Instead, I grab my Amity shirt and throw it back on, feeling comfortable in the familiarity of the fabric and the smell of home. It takes me a bit of time to get comfortable in the room. By the time I do, the lights are already off and most people seeming to have fallen asleep only a little while ago.

I lay my head down, my arm under the stale pillow that the bed provided us and my body under the itchy material that they call a blanket. It takes me a minute to start to feel sleepy but eventually, sleep overtakes me.