Once all the initiates jumped, pushed, and screamed their way into the pit, Eric passed us off to two other Dauntless members who introduced themselves as Four and Lauren. Before he vanished into the dark hallways and left us with our trainers, he made one final speech. "By making it down here, you're only one step into Dauntless initiation. You're going to have to continue proving yourself in the three stages of initiation or you'll be cut from the faction."
Christina piped up, as only a Candor could, her face pale. "Cut? What do you mean, cut?"
Eric trained his cold glare on her and replied matter-of-factly, "Not everyone that's here is Dauntless material." He didn't look at me, thankfully. He did look pointedly at a stocky Candor girl built like a tank who was last to jump down. "The process eliminates those who don't belong here. If you're true Dauntless, you won't give a shit that you might not make it."
He turned on his heel and stalked into the shadows. "You chose us, now we get to choose you," his voice echoed down the hall. For the third time in not so many minutes, we were struck silent.
The trainers took over fairly quickly once Eric had stalked far enough down the corridor. The initiates who were Dauntless-born left to work with Lauren, leaving the transfers from other factions - five Candor, three Erudite, and myself from Abnegation - with the imposing Four.
Christina couldn't hold back from commenting on Four's name as soon as he introduced himself officially - which honestly, I wanted to do the same - and got a stern talking to. After getting shown where the dorms were, Four brought us to the Pit and let us loose to eat dinner.
The amount of people crowding around, shouting, and laughing together was amazing. Never was mealtime like this in Abnegation and again a rush of joy flooded through me. Christina tugged me through groups of pierced and tattoo'd faction members, intent on finding a seat. I just wanted to keep staring, though the smell of food was starting to get to me.
"Look, there's a spot," she pointed. I started to lead us over there, but she balked suddenly. "Actually, no way. That's Four. No way am I sitting next to our instructor on day one," Christina said insistently, shaking her head quickly.
"Now, that's not very Dauntless of you," a voice said from behind us. One of the other transfers - I think his name was Will - had been following us in our quest for a table to sit at. "We're supposed to embrace the culture of our new factions, Candor," he added matter-of-factly.
I had to agree with him, though I also wasn't too keen on sitting next to the guy who was going to decide whether I was good enough for Dauntless. Christina seemed to be bolstered by Will's comment and she sat down confidently next to him. "Don't call me Candor, Erudite," she retorted smoothly. "Or are you incapable of not classifying everything you see?"
He seemed to be unphased by her remarks. "Alright then, have it your way, Miss I-don't-know-your-name," Will replied casually, suddenly all pleasant smiles. Christina introduced both of us and I nodded along mutely. With Christina's big mouth, I barely had to say anything at all for the next few minutes as the empty table slowly filled up with transfer initiates.
Four grew more and more displeased as the minutes ticked by, until he finally turned to glare imposingly at Christina and Will. They were locked in a debate about something in Candor's initiation process, which Four interrupted with sharply. "Stop talking about your old factions," he snapped.
"You're Dauntless, now," another voice remarked from behind me. Eric. "Regardless of where you came from," he added with a smirk. "The Stiff - ah, Tris - being first jumper should have shown you that."
My face flared up again in a flush. An hour into Dauntless and one of the leaders knew my name specifically. I wanted to look straight at my food and pretend I wasn't hearing this, but that was rather against the point of the whole incident. So I gave a thumbs up to my fellow initiates and added quietly, "Yay for death-defying jumping."
Peter, the Candor boy from earlier, rolled his eyes and scoffed. I almost shut down then and tried to shrink away, let the others forget I was there, but I wasn't allowed the opportunity. "Yeah, roll your eyes, jackass. Pretend you didn't scream like a terrified child when you jumped," Eric growled.
Alright, now I was totally red in the face and embarrassed. I had to knock that Abnegation trait out of my life before it totally ruined my image. Terrifying, icy-glared Eric defending my first jumper honor was something I would not be able to depend on here for long.
The rest of the initiates resumed a hushed conversation when Eric stepped away from behind me to talk with Four. My eyes turned to him now, looking over his confident stance and steel-grey eyes. God, I didn't care what he was saying to Four, but once again I was hit with a lightness in my head and fluttering in my stomach. Dauntless to the core, that's what he was. I wanted that. I wasn't going to let anything stop me from getting that.
When he turned and walked away, he met my eyes, finally causing me to break my stare and look to the half-finished hamburger still in my hands. I'd stopped blushing by then and a new wave of heat rushed over my face.
"Why are you blushing so much, Tris?" Christina asked me, her eyebrow raised in amusement. "See something you like?"
I shook my head violently and quickly took a bite of my hamburger. "Just not used to people knowing who I am," I lied through a full mouth. "Former Abnegation." Thank God I wasn't in Candor.
She didn't look convinced.
Neither was I.
After dinner wrapped up, I fully expected the evening to pass on with relatively less excitement. However, that wasn't to be the case as the rowdiness of the dining hall was broken by the sound of someone yelling what sounded like a war cry. It echoed off the walls, not losing steam until the noise had dulled to a low murmur.
Christina and I looked at each other. Was this yet another part of our training? Or did this just happen every night in Dauntless? "My poor ears," Molly complained in a voice loud enough that more than four people "shhh'd" her.
Standing on a ledge overlooking the dining room was a dark skinned man, probably older than Four or Eric, but younger than my father. He snapped his mouth shut and let the last echo of the war cry peter out. Then, he spoke in a loud and commanding voice. "Today we have gained many initiates who strive to bring pride to the warrior faction," he began. "However, so also have we experienced loss. The loss of a true Dauntless, someone who was not afraid of the consequences of their actions."
From behind the man stepped a now-familiar face. Eric stood rigidly next to the other leader and continued seamlessly from where he had stopped. "Initiate Allison Hayden showed us that bravery can be found within ourselves in ordinary actions. We should all aspire to show the same relentless bravery in everything we do," he shouted with the same intonation and emphasis as the first leader and the one who followed afterwards.
The rest of the speech was lost on me as two more tattooed and aggressive Dauntless leaders stepped to the ledge. Clearly this was not the first time an initiate had died during training. A bad taste filled my mouth and I looked away from the ledge. They were not commending her death. This was not a eulogy. This was a cry for ferocity and ruthlessness for it's own sake.
"To Allison the brave!" All four bellowed, and the crowd howled back in response. I clenched my jaw tight and glared at the leaders on the ledge. I locked my eyes onto Eric, standing rigidly and staring angrily ahead. How could someone call himself a leader and care so little about the people he leads? I refused to believe it. This was not bravery. Exalting an accident was not courage.
I could not wait to leave this pit, this mob of people idolizing the actions of a terrified girl. I would not feel brave, looking down on these people as they chanted my name. As soon as the chanting turned to incoherent noise, I pushed my way out and back to the dorms.
A/N: Hello again, my dear readers! I realized I had forgotten to give credit to my dear friend Miki who has helped me to brainstorm basically everything that's happened so far in this story. So, THANKS MIKI!
I felt that it was important to include the funeral for Rita's sister (who was unnamed in the books) to showcase just how little Dauntless is affected by death. Yes, they basically ignored it and skipped right to "who want's to jump down into the unknown?" without any care at all, but I wanted to re-enforce that feeling. Also, more chances for dramatic speeches on bravery by Eric, right? Right?