The first thing I notice – other than the fact that we are on a rooftop – is the sun overhead us. Choosing ceremony had ended within two hours, making the time now somewhere around lunch. Even just exiting the train, I can already feel the heat burning through my clothes. As a previous Amity, one would assume that I love the sun. In some ways, I do, but not when it's the highest. I quint at the sun, mentally cursing like it would somehow hear me and disappear.
I glance around me, noting the initiates who're picking themselves up, brushing down their suits and black attire. Four Erudite and three Candor, so eight transfers. There were ten Dauntless-born, which made eighteen initiates in total.
"Initiates!" A voice booms from one end of the roof. I turn to gather at voice, along with everyone else. A man stands at the edge of the building. Blonde hair shaved short at the sides, muscular, hard eyes. I would be a fool to not acknowledge his attractiveness. Are all Dauntless this handsome? "I'm Eric, one of the five leaders of Dauntless." I inwardly cringe. Great. "Below me is the entrance to Dauntless. To enter, you'll have to jump." It takes me a moment to process his words. Belatedly, I realise that behind him was a giant gaping hole. An initiate gulps nervously beside me, I try not to roll my eyes. As sadistic as Eric may be, I highly doubt he would kill us on the first day. "Someone's gotta go first. So, who's it gonna be? Transfer, preferably." At that, he lifts his head from the ground, a smirk on his lips. Eric eyes each transfer menacingly, daring them to step forward. Most of the transfers hunch and look towards the ground in response, trying to make themselves seem smaller – as if we weren't the only ones on the roof. When his eyes land on me, he gives me a once over blinks twice, bewildered. Huh.
I hold my gaze on him, quirking an eyebrow. A moment passes and I wait for him to spit out a snarky remark, only because he seems like the type that would. Nothing. "I will." I speak up, stepping forward. Eric's eyes harden as he nods gruffly, stepping aside to give me space. I don't break eye contact as I move to the ledge, the initiates around me scampering away to make room. Chickens. Taking my place beside the leader, my eyes are still trained on his, just slightly strained up. Slate blue. Eric towers over me, he wasn't particularly a giant, but I wasn't tall either. I'm eye level to his collarbone. Not that it's supposed to matter.
I don't look away, for I didn't want to look down. For some reason, looking at a psychopath was much easier than a black hole, it doesn't help with the fact that the psychopath is unfortunately hot. My world shifts as I lean forward, the force of gravity pulling me down towards the hole. I squeeze my eyes close after Eric's face disappears from my view, my stomach lurching violently at the shift of the weight. I do my best to not think about how I was like Humpty Dumpty, falling to his grave. The scream that was in my throat couldn't force itself out, lodge at the tip of my tongue.Never have I ever felt so heavy, the wind howling as the speed of the fall increases, air resistance doing little to help me. Forcing myself to think happy thoughts – which weren't much at the moment – I tense my arms beside me, to keep them from flailing like a juvenile bird as I dive on my chest.
Then I collide with something hard and elastic, the impact causing me to bounce off the ground only to fall back again. My eyes fly open and I groan, rubbing my face that took their fair share of the impact. As the net stabilises, it tilts to one side, making me roll into a strong pair of sun-kissed arms. The man places me onto my feet, which results in me stumbling slightly before he steadies me again by the shoulders. I look up towards him, a 'thank you' on my tongue. His handsome face is amused, and I immediately flush red. Was there something on my face? My hand goes to my cheeks, feeling for net imprints.
"Eric pushed you?" He asks. I sigh in relief and shake my head. Compared to Eric, this man was lean. Though, there's nothing lean about him, considering that his biceps were two-thirds the size of my face. He wears a plain black tee complete with slacks. "So you volunteered first?" He pries, unconvinced. Snapping out of my ogling session, a smile spreads across my face and I shrug. I don't tell him that I volunteered to escape the heat, deciding to give him the benefit of doubt. "Well then… Name?"
"Anna."
He turns away and shouts, "First Jumper, Anna!" Cheers fill the air, and I realise that we weren't alone. Turning back to me, his voice noticeably softer, "Welcome to Dauntless."
Thanking him, I climb down the platform. It's an open cavern, filled with a unusually large crowd of Dauntless. Either they loved watching initiates fall awkwardly ten stories up, or they just had nothing better to do, I couldn't decide. As I reach the last step down, a girlish scream echoes around the cavern. Another initiate. I move to stand awkwardly in front of the net, some of the members coming up to congratulate me on being the first jumper.
Jace's the third to land. After he's hauled off the net, he practically skips to me. "Hey Anna! Anna!" He shouts over the cheering, as if I wasn't already looking at him the moment he fell from the sky. "See that guy over there?" Jace points at the scrawny Candor boy, the second jumper. I follow his hand at the boy and eye the boy warily, he seems pretty shaken up.
"What about him?"
Jace opens his mouth to respond before bursting into laughter. My brows furrow, confuse as to why a falling Candor is so funny. "Eric." Chuckle. "Threw" More chuckles. "Him off the building!" Jace grips his stomach and bends over, like the information was the funniest thing he's heard in his whole life.
I give him a moment to calm down, glancing back to the boy to find him glaring at us. "What's so funny about that?" I ask.
"You should've seen his face!" The Dauntless-born takes a deep breath and tries to sober up. "After you fell, there was no sound. No screams, no yelps, yeah? So like, Eric asked who wanted to go next, and all of us, reasonably, thought that either you were dead or still falling." Jace eyes flash briefly at a female initiate falling, the Dauntless roar and whoop like they didn't just see the exact thing happening a minute ago. "As expected, no one came forward. You could see the vein in Eric's forehead popping as the time ticked on. I was waiting for him to snap, cause Eric always snaps. And he did! He marched over to the nearest initiate, Mr. Candor over there, grabbed his collar, and dragged him to the hole." At this point, my mouth is puckered like I swallowed something sour. "The Candor was screaming bloody murder the whole way, saying how he didn't want to die." He finishes, amuse.
I turn to the Candor, flashing him a look of sympathy. "Right." I reply pathetically, having no idea what to say. Jace rolls his eyes playfully and turns back to the raining initiates. We fall into a comfortable silence, well, as silent as the Dauntless can be.
By the time all the initiates have screamed, land, and rolled off the net, my legs ache and my ears burn. The man who caught the initiates gestures for us to gather, a Dauntless woman trailing behind him. "Initiates, listen up!" He shouts, the chatter among us quickly dies off. "Dauntless-born, Lauren will be your instructor." The woman behind him waves briefly before turning around, striding off towards the exit.
"I'll see you later, yeah?" Jace says beside me. I nod as he waves, skipping to his friends and the rest of the Dauntless-born, immediately striking up new conversation. He reminds me of Sabre, always full of energy and cheery, all he needed was deadly skills to match.
After the last of the Dauntless-born exits, the man turns to address us. "My name's Four." He pauses briefly, as if expecting something to happen. The scrawny Candor boy beside me opens his mouth, but it quickly shuts as Four's eyes narrow. Four was an odd name, but I wasn't too bothered about it, mainly because I didn't care. "I normally work in the control room, but for this month of initiation, I am your instructor." Four pauses to take a breath, like he was annoyed he was here. "Now, I'm going to give you a tour around Dauntless. If you dohappen to have a remark, do yourself a favour and keep your mouth shut." He snaps at the end.
My nose flares in amusement as Four turns to where the Dauntless-born had went, not waiting to see if the transfers understood. I decide that I like him.
The tour around Dauntless was brief. Four showed us the Pit, chasm, training room and dining hall. I suppose he didn't need to show us everything else, only what is needed for us to survive initiation. By the time we reach the dormitory, the only Candor girl looks as pale as a sheet. I guess no one told her that Dauntless doesn't do railings. Four tells us that we'll be sharing the dorm, boys and girls alike. I watch in amusement as the faces of the three girls fall in horror, while the boys exchange lewd smirks. Four quirks an eyebrow at me, seeing that I seem too calm about the news. I shrug my shoulders, giving him a tight lipped smile. He doesn't say anything about it.
"How will we change?" A Erudite girl squeaks meekly.
"With your hands." Four replies monotonously. I bit back a laugh and look at the ceiling, lips pursed. I'm forever grateful for the good relationship between Max and my mother, her access to information has saved me a heart attack.
"And the showers?" The bulky Erudite boy asks, eyes glowing at the obvious answer.
Four glares him down, crossing his arms across his chest. "You would know the answer if you just walk inside." The initiates rush into the dorm, most of them heading to check the open bathroom. I'm the only one who knows the answer, allowing me to have first pick of the bunks. I pick the one nearest the door.
"I would think you would be the one getting the worst end of culture shock." Four says beside me. I lift my head from the chest I opened.
"My mom's an ambassador to Dauntless, I have a few ideas on what everything's like." I say.
If the information shocked Four, he sure didn't show it. "Nice that you came prepared." He replies. Before I can respond, the initiates re-enter the bunks. The Candor girl's pale face had contorted to a sickly green. "There are a set of clothes in the chests, just to help you get started. I would suggest visiting the Pit, there are shops where you can find clothing and other necessities. Some points have been given to you, these replenish by the end of the week, based on your ranks. Training's-"
"Rank?" Another Erudite girl blurts out. Aren't there ranks in Erudite initiation as well...?
"Yes, ranks. I'll explain more tomorrow. Training's from eight to six every day at the training room starting tomorrow, you're free to do whatever after that." Four glances on the clock on a wall. "I would suggest heading to the mess hall now, after you change your clothes of course, it's well past lunch hour." With that, Four exits the room quickly, leaving the initiates in silence.
Grabbing the clothes from the trunk and turning to face the wall, I begin stripping off my shirt. Four was right, it's well past lunch hour, and I'm famished. "Wait, what are you doing?" My head tilts to the sound, it's the scrawny Candor boy.
"Changing." I state.
"In front of all of us?"
"Would you rather I stand behind a pillar?"
"Well urm-"
"Drop it, Mark." A different voice enters, another Candor male. "I'm sure she's done far worse than stripping. I heard Amity likes it all out in the open." I bit back the remark of 'Says the Candor', quickly replacing the brown pants with black ones. I dig out the photo of my dogs and I from my bra, straightening the edges where it became slightly crumpled. The photo is damp from my perspiration, but it isn't damaged too bad. Slipping it under my pillow to keep it hidden, I straighten out my clothes and folded the Amity ones. Beside my trunk was a basket, I assume it's for laundry. Four didn't say anything about the clothes we came in, meaning that we were probably allowed to keep them. Dumping the bright clothes into the basket, I turn and head towards the door, ignoring the stares on my back.
Even being in the early afternoon, the mess hall is crowded with Dauntless. Climbing down the stairs into the hall, I did a cursory examination of the place. Jace and his friends were huddled together with the rest of the Dauntless born, talking loudly and laughing. I contemplate joining them as I reach for a tray at the buffet line. The food left wasn't much, only a few pieces of chicken, steak and sides. I pick up a few chicken wings and an apple, since dinner was going to be in four hours. Grabbing a bottle of water at the end, I turn to look for a seat. A few tables of Dauntless were eyeing me, some even as bold as to point my direction before whispering amongst each other. I tense my back, deciding to eat at one of the empty tables by myself. Keeping my head held high, I move swiftly to the other end of the mess hall.
"Anna!" Dammit. Jace's waving at me, gesturing for me to join him. If there were Dauntless that didn't notice my presence earlier, they sure did now. I grit my teeth in embarrassment and turn to the Dauntless-born, plastering a fake smile on my lips. I wave away at Jace and point at the empty table I'm heading towards. The brunette frowns at me, face scrunching in confusion.
I continue down to the table, letting out a breath when I reach it without any more interruptions. Slumping into the bench, I pick up my fork and probe the soggy chicken, Dauntless could use a few tips from Amity. "You know, for an Amity, you sure don't act like one." A tray of half eaten food is placed across me, Jace slides into the bench.
"Maybe that's why I transferred." I say dryly, bringing up a chicken to my mouth. The chicken's sweet; not as bad as I thought.
"So, where are the other transfers?" He changes the subject.
I shrug in response, I didn't care about any of them. "Either acting like Stiffs while changing, or getting lost while finding the mess hall."
"You're mean." Skylar laughs, placing her tray next to mine. "I like it." Zack slides across her, nodding his head in greeting.
"They gave you a hard time?" Jace asks, picking up on my distaste.
"They tried to?" The reply sounds more like a question, I wasn't so sure myself.
Skylar huffs, rolling her eyes. "Transfers, always so hostile among each other. It's getting old pretty quick."
"I am hostile," I state blatantly. "and a transfer."
"You are." She replies, shoving a spoonful of mash potatoes in her mouth. "Yeah, well, you're a different kind of hostile. It's kinda funny." I grimace, I suppose it's a compliment. I think.
The rest of lunch passes by quickly. At one point, the rest of the transfers had trickled in. We watch as their faces fall at the lack of food left, sniggering when one of the girls tried charming one of the boys to hand over some steak. Didn't work. The girl was trying to sway the bulky Erudite; he wasn't amused.
With my tray empty, I tell them that I'll be heading back to my dorms for a nap, due to the lack of things to do. Skylar asks if I want to go shopping at the Pit after dinner, saying how I need more clothes. As much as I am tired from the excessive amount of human interaction, I begrudgingly agree; she has a point.
Heading back to my dorm alone, I finally allow my shoulders to relax. My head pounds slightly from the events of today, it's hard to believe that it was merely eight hours ago when I was still back in Amity. Arriving at the dorms, I slip out of my red tennis shoes, suddenly registering how stupid I must've looked with them. I pull off the pants and slip under the thin blankets, sleep immediately engulfing me.
By the time I wake, it's almost dinner time. I look around to see that none of the other bunks seem different when I arrived, meaning that they must've been out at the Pit. Shrugging on my pants and retying my hair, I walk back to the dining hall, my head still pounding.
The dining hall is brimming with people as I enter. I scan the room and sigh when I realise that there weren't any empty tables. Piling on some stir-fried vegetables and a roasted chicken thigh, I move to sit beside Skylar. The transfers were a few tables down from me, all eating quietly in awkward silence. Four's at the end of that table, shovelling food with a vengeance. I think about whether I should join him, but ultimately decide against it.Having two conversations doesn't makes us friends. The Dauntless-born chatter loudly amongst themselves, laughing at chucking food at each other. This time, Skylar and Jace don't make an effort to talk to me, both deeply engage in hearing a story about a patrol member freaking out over a drifting plastic bag. I'm grateful, finally allowed time to myself without needing to converse. I don't dislike them, but I don't like socialising, dogs were much easier to be with.
My mind drifts to my dogs, wondering how they are coping when my parents arrived home without me. Perhaps they were fine, since Johanna will now be keeping them at her office, to take their minds off things. I worry my lip as I think about how my dogs will react as the days go by. They have never been separated from me for more than a day, ever since they came out of their incubation pods. Belgian Malinois and German Shepherds are breeds who often face separation anxiety. They are, after all, breeds prized for their unrelenting loyalty.
It's the deafening sound of hundreds of banging cups that pulls me out of my thoughts. Looking around confused, Jace nudges me and points ahead. There on the balcony stands Max, head leader of Dauntless. Flaking him is Eric and another female leader, all three of them have block tattoos that go down their necks, disappearing underneath their collar.
The cups die down when Max lifts up a hand. "Initiates! You have chosen the warrior faction, and we welcome you." I zone out of his speech, no doubt it's the same one he says every year. Max drones on about the meaning of becoming Dauntless member, I feel like I should be paying attention, but I can't muster the will to. The transfers in front of me are beaming, eyes full of excitement, while Jace and the rest of the Dauntless-born are clinging onto every word he says, their posture speaks pure reverence for the head Dauntless.
I turn back to Max, he's reciting the Faction manifesto, accentuating his voice to dramatize what everyone learned since primary school. Beside him, Eric stares straight at me. I'm suddenly struck with how he looks similar to the man at the fence. Short hair, muscular build, sleeveless vest. My eyebrows furrow as I quint. There was no way. Why would Eric be at the fence? The young leader's gaze is unwavering, as if he's staring straight into my soul. My heart picks up, I break eye contact. I turn back to my food the moment Max's speech finishes. Something churns uncomfortably inside me. I don't want to associate myself with Eric, he screams bad news. I pray that the man at the fence was just someone who looked like him. Dauntless is full with muscular men, right?
Skylar brings me to the Pit, pointing out various stores and the items they sell. She talks animatedly, waving her hands as she points at various outfits. I can't relate with her, especially when it came to clothes. Is this what a girl is supposed to be like? Back in Amity, I had identical sets of clothes: red pleated knee length skirts and mustard shirts mostly. I never saw the reason to waste time picking and choosing what to wear each day, it was and still is: impractical. Nonetheless, I still nod and grin at the bordering insane, Dauntless girl. She tries to shove skirts and various blouses at me, but I tell her that I'm still in training, making these clothes more of a liability than anything. She pouts and agrees, telling me that I'm safe till the physical stage is over, which is in two weeks. Finally having a say in my own clothes, I pick out a few plain tank tops, V-neck t-shirts and multiple pairs of plain capris leggings.
"You're boring" Skylar moans, waving around some intricately designed capris, this one has cut outs at the calves. Seeing that they weren't too far-fetched, I trade some of the plain ones for it. I also pick out a new pair of black tennis shoes, complete with a white outlining, as well as some sports bra and underwear. The cashier docks more than half of my points, eyeing the simple clothes in mild disappointment. Skylar seizes the moment to complain about my choice in clothing, having found someone to relate with; I roll my eyes.
By the time I arrive back to the dorms, my hands burn with protest with the bags of clothes and basic necessities I'm holding. I'm left with a quarter of points, should be enough to last through the week. Most of the transfers are already in the dorm, sitting on each other's bunks and talking excitedly. I put my clothes away and grab some items for a shower, already tired.
I shower by myself, the water lukewarm. As I reach my bed with my hair dried, my eyes are already half-closed. I don't remember if anyone came up to speak to me, if they did, I probably ignored them. I was out like a light the moment I pull the covers over me.
A/N
Slightly longer chapter today. Anna's pretty different here in Dauntless, its quite amusing.