Hello, and welcome back! Thanks a lot if you've read chapter 1 and are now back for more. I was really nervous after making the first chapter, so I hope that didn't affect my writing too much. Please feel free to leave any comments, ideas, criticism, etc. and also feel free to PM me, I can check my messages very often. Hope you enjoy this chapter, here we go...

Disclaimer: The Divergent trilogy is the wonderful intellectual property of Veronica Roth. I make no claim to it as my own.

Chapter 2: Fitting In.

All around me is laughter and shouting. I run among the Dauntless as we leave the Hub and head towards the train track. I had a feeling this would happen and I feel a knot in my stomach. The train comes around the corner, accompanied by the sound of its horn. Everyone around me is starting to jog along the platform so I do the same. When the train gets closer they speed up and throw themselves into the train or grab the handle and pull themselves in. My long legs are allowing me to keep up easily. I glance over my shoulder and see a doorway getting closer. Just as it passes, I grab the handle and jump up, clumsily swinging my body into the train car, throwing my weight onto several people when I am inside. I mumble an apology but no one seems to care.

"Hey there, you made it," a voice behind me says. I turn around and see an Amity girl crouching on the floor against the wall.

"Yeah," I say, looking away. I've never been comfortable talking to others.

"My name is Laura, nice to meet you." she smiles happily, persistent to keep a conversation going.

"Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Alex," I reply. It feels odd to tell her my name. I am worried she will associate me with Jenine Matthews.

Laura carriers on, not seeming to recognize the name. "This is pretty crazy right? What do you think they'll have in store for our initiation?"

I am slightly annoyed my her bubbly attitude. "I don't know. I suspect we'll be getting off the train at some point,"

"Oh no, I didn't think about that. You Erudite are always one step ahead."

I frown, knowing I am nothing like the Erudite she is thinking of. "You're not very talkative are you? Sorry if I'm coming across as rude, friendship was kind of a big thing in Amity."

"Look," I say tersely. "I just left my family, possibly never to see them again. I don't see what there is to be so cheerful about is all."

She looks down, hurt, and I immediately regret my words, knowing she has done the same. We are silent for a while.

"Hey, you two. Initiates. We're jumping off after this bend, so get ready," a Dauntless member behind us says. He has rings pierced through both his eyebrows.

Laura leans out of the door looking ahead. "Looks like we have to jump onto that building," she tells me, pointing. I look and see Dauntless members further ahead leaping over a large gap and rolling when they land on the building. "Well, this should be fun. See you down there," Laura says before leaping out herself. I admire her courage, then with one more glance at the gap, I jump out the train.

I land on my feet, staggering forward to keep my balance. Laura is on the ground, holding her ankle.

"You okay?" I ask her.

She nods. "I think I landed badly, I'm okay though, thanks."

Then I notice that everyone is gathered at the edge of the building closest to the track. Trepidation fills me as I walk towards them to see what they're looking at. When I get to the edge, I look down and feel numb. Two bodies are lying close to each other, their limbs at wrong angles; a Candor boy and an Erudite girl, both dead. I recognize the girl; I think her name was Melissa. I back away from the edge feeling sick.

Laura looks at me from the ground, wandering what's wrong.

"They didn't make the jump," I tell her. "They're dead." Her face goes pale.

"Someone always falls," I hear a Dauntless telling their friend who's nodding.

"Listen up!" a voice calls from the other end of the roof. I welcome the distraction. The voice belongs to a man who looks older than most of the other Dauntless.

"My name is Max! I am one of the leaders of Dauntless! Below this ledge is the entrance to our compound. If you can't muster the courage to jump off, you don't belong here. Initiates, come to the front."

I walk forward with Laura and several others to stand before Max.

"Is there water at the bottom?" A Candor girl asks. Several Dauntless members snicker behind us.

"Who knows?" Max replies, raising his eyebrows. "Now, who's going first?"

I look around. No one seems at all eager to jump off the ledge, even the Dauntless-born. I step forward before I realize I made the decision to. I belong here. The test said so.

Max steps aside and I take his place leaning over the edge. Wind whips at my hair, and I see a large hole in the ground at the bottom but I can't see into the hole. I'm sure this is just some tactic to scare new initiates. You'll land safely at the bottom, just jump! I tell myself.

So I do.

All I hear is the wind howling in my ears as the ground rapidly comes up below me. Then I am through the hole and in the darkness, not able to see anything. Suddenly, I slam into something hard and I think I hit the ground, and now I am dead. But then it gives way slightly and pushes me back into the air before I come to rest on the net. I look up and see the top halves of everyone's bodies peeking over the roof of the building. It's a long way up. Adrenaline is pumping through me, and I've never felt so alive. I just jumped off a building! I can't help myself: I laugh.

I grab at the hands reaching towards me and pull myself out of the net. When my feet hit the ground, the world spins around me for a second.

"What's your name?" a young women asks me.

I think for a bit and she seems to take my silence for hesitation.

"Think about it," she tells me. "You don't get to pick again." A faint smile is on her face.

I look down at her. She's very small and I am suddenly aware of the distance between us and my height makes me feel clumsy and awkward. I back up and say, "I'm Alex," but it still doesn't seem right.

"Alex, okay." She looks at me as if she isn't convinced. "Make the announcement, Four," she says to the young man over her shoulder.

"Of course, Six," he replies grinning. Then he shouts at the group gathered around the net, "First jumper – Alex!"

The crowd cheer and I feel overwhelmed as some pat my back and shout my name. I follow the woman who greeted me – Six? – and she looks over her shoulder and says, "Welcome to Dauntless, Alex."

Soon, all the initiates have jumped and they're talking to each other, some of them having congratulated me for jumping first.

"Listen up!" Shouts Four. "All Dauntless-born initiates, follow Uriah and Lynn, you shouldn't need a tour! The rest of you, transfers, gather round."

We do as he says and I look around seeing only five others. Four raises his eyebrows at Six as if realizing this too.

"Okay, firstly, welcome to Dauntless. My name is Four, this is Six." He looks at us as if daring one of us to question-

"Is everyone round here named after numbers?" The Candor girl who questioned Max asks, grinning.

I see Six trying to cover a grin. "Yes, that's correct. Once you are members you'll be able to choose your number. We're into the thousands now." Four says sarcastically.

"Anyway," Six continues. "We're about to head into the Pit, which is the centre of life here at Dauntless. You'll learn to love it."

"The Pit? What kind of name is that?" The Candor girl butts in again, and I can tell she's gone too far. Sure enough a look of irritation flashes on Four's face as he walks up to her.

"What's you name?" he asks her calmly.

"Georgina," she replies, still looking smug.

"Well, Georgina, if I wanted to put up with Candor smart-mouths, I would have joined their faction," he hisses. "The first lesson you will learn from me is to keep your mouth shut. Got it?"

She nods, finally subdued.

"Okay, this way, everyone," Four and Six lead us down the hallway.

I hear Six say quietly to Four, "Those Candor are all the same, eh?"

We reach a set of double doors which Four pushes open and we walk into the Pit. We walk down one of the many narrow walkways cut into the wall of the Pit. I see shops lining the outside edges of the Pit and people, Dauntless members, are everywhere. We walk to the right side of the Pit, which is darker than the rest of the room. There's an iron barrier ahead of us and I can hear fast moving water. We reach the railing and I look down to see a huge drop to a river below us.

"This is the chasm!" Six yells to be heard over the roar of the water. "It reminds us that there is a fine line between bravery and idiocy! A daredevil jump off this ledge will end your life. It has happened before and it will happen again. You've been warned!" She is smiling, despite her grim words, the same faint smile when she told me to choose my name.

We follow our instructors out of the Pit, and into the cafeteria for lunch. When we walk in, the Dauntless stand and applaud us. They shout and stamp their feet, filling the room with noise. I grab some food – hamburgers – and, for the first time, follow the others to a table. I look around properly at the other initiates for the first time. There's Laura from the train. She has a fairly small build, with long blonde hair. She kind of makes me think of our instructor, Six. There are two Candor, the girl who kept speaking up is Georgina. She seems nice enough, for a Candor, and the boy is called Rory. He isn't as tall as me, but he is much stockier, looking at each of us intimidatingly. There's only one other Erudite, Simon, who is the smallest of our group and he looks like a typical Erudite, thin, glasses, weak. The last initiate is Amity, like Laura, called Thomas. Laura doesn't seem to know him. Thomas keeps glancing at the group and I feel uneasy whenever his gaze falls on me. I don't talk much to the others during lunch. My habit of being alone must be hard to break.

Soon, lunch is over and Four and Six walk over to our table.

"If you follow us, we'll take you to your dormitory." Six informs us.

We all leave the cafeteria and head back through the Pit and out into another hallway. We stop outside a door.

"This is the training room," Four tells us. "You will be here at 8am every day, unless otherwise notified. Training is from 8am until 6pm with a break for lunch."

He leads us further down the hall, opens another door and ushers us all inside. We are inside a long room with beds on either side of the room.

"As you can see," Six says. "We didn't expect such a low number of transfers, although I understand two people didn't make the jump off the train." We all look down. I am thinking just how easily it could have been me at the bottom of the building, my body broken.

"That's the way things are here, initiates," Four speaks up, looking us all in the eye. "People fail the initiation. More of you will yet. If you can't deal with that, you may as well leave now." We are all still.

"This is your dorm, you'll all be sleeping here together so better get used to it quick." Six carries on.

"Girls or boys?" Laura asks.

Girls and boys," Six says, grinning.

A couple of the others mutter under their breath. I've always lived in my own room, only really interacting with my family at meal times. This is going to be uncomfortable. Six is right though; I'll just have to get used to it.

"Okay, you're free to do whatever you want for the rest of the day," Six tells us. "Feel free to explore the compound, ask anyone for directions if you get lost. No one is to leave the compound unless they are with a Dauntless member. I'd recommend you take an early night, you've already been through a lot and tomorrow, you're training begins."

She and Four turn and leave us alone in the dorm, everyone feeling shaken.

P/B

I am sitting on the bed I claimed at the end of the room. The beds near mine are unoccupied, everyone choosing to cluster near the door. Laura walks to me and sits on the edge of the bed next to mine.

"Hey, how are you holding up?" She asks me, genuine concern in her eyes.

"I'm fine. It's all a bit overwhelming, you know?" Again, I'm aware that I'm talking to a girl, something I've basically never done before. She's just another person, I tell myself. Then I realize that I've basically never held a conversation with anyone before though.

"Yeah, that's for sure. I can hardly believe I'm here. Hey, what do you think the training will be?" She is always looking at my eyes, not allowing me to look away.

"Some kind of fitness no doubt." I answer. I know that the majority of Dauntless members guard the fence, make patrols and police the city. I'm sure fitness is important.

"They'll probably have us jumping off trains again and climbing buildings." She looks down at her hands, breaking eye contact for the first time.

"I wouldn't mind that. I climbed around a lot as a kid." I tell her.

She looks up at me again, incredulously, "Seriously? I'm surprised they let you do that in Erudite."

"Well, no one really knew what I was up to," I smile slightly.

"I can tell you'll fit in well here. I don't know if I will though. I've never climbed or done anything too energetic in my life." She looks at me, worriedly.

"I'm sure you'll do fine." I tell her. "We can help each other out."

Her eyes go bright. "Really? That would be awesome, thanks!" she glances over her shoulder. "So, the others were thinking of exploring a bit. You want to come?"

I look away. Curiosity makes me really want to look around my new home, but my stomach clenches at the idea of having to be around others again.

"I don't know, I'm kind of tired," I tell her.

She's not having any of it. "Oh, come on, it'll be good to look around. Take our minds off things, you know?" She looks at me pointedly.

I find myself thinking of my parents again, alone in our apartment, probably having spoken to my aunt and suffered her scrutiny over my betrayal. Then an image of the two bodies on the pavement flashes in front of me again. I flinch. "You're right. I'll come with you." I tell her.

We both walk over to the others who are still chatting away endlessly. How can they always have so much to say?

"You know considering that you jumped first, I'd have thought you'd look a bit happier." Simon greets me. "How come I don't recognize you? We must have passed in Erudite headquarters before."

"I mostly keep to myself," I answer.

Thomas sneers. "I can't believe some loner know-it-all jumped first," he is glaring at me. "I suppose you calculated all the risks and possibilities though, right?"

I don't look at him. He's just jealous, I tell myself. So why don't I feel like he has something to be jealous of?

We all head back to the Pit and explore the shops around the edge. All the clothing stores seem to sell black clothing, black shoes. It's a big change after living around people always wearing blue. We pass a tattoo parlour.

"Maybe we should all get a tattoo. Put our old factions behind us, you know?" Georgina speaks up. They all go in, and I reluctantly follow them. Inside, there are pictures covering every wall, most of them some variation on the Dauntless flames.

"How can I help you guys?" The women at the counter asks. I suddenly recognize her as the women who administered my test. Tori.

She spots me at the back. "Hey there, glad you decided to join Dauntless." She says to me. "Alex, right?" I nod. "I heard the first jumper is called Alex. Good job."

"Thanks," I reply nervously.

The others all decide on a tattoo and they take turns sitting in the chair, grimacing at the pain. While they're all distracted, I leave the shop.

I walk across the Pit to where we stood at the chasm. The water is still roaring below me, and the occasional splash hits my shoes.

"Hope you're not giving up already," A voice behind me says.

I turn around and see Six walking towards me, a smile on her face.

"Where are all you're friends?"

I point at the tattoo parlour and she nods. "They're hardly my friends. I just wanted a bit of quiet anyway," I tell her.

"I can understand that. It's a lot to handle at first. You'll get used to it though. I did."

"You were a transfer?" I am surprised. She seems to fit right in here.

"Yep. Don't ask me where I came from. I won't answer. You'll need to learn that too now you're here. You've left you're old faction. Try to mix with the others a bit, it'll help you to move on." she says kindly.

I nod, and turn back to the chasm. She leaves me alone.

After a while, I head back to the dorm, where everyone's sitting in one corner.

"Hey! You missed dinner, number one," Rory says to me. I didn't realize I was gone for so long.

"I guess I lost track of time." I head towards my bed on the other side of the room.

"So, where'd you run off too?" Laura is following me. I am starting to wander why she is always talking to me.

"Just wanted to be alone." I answer bluntly.

"Hey, you can't keep to yourself the whole time. Try to make some friends." she says, reminding me of Six's words. I don't bother telling Laura that I've never had a friend, so how would I know how to make one?

"I'm gonna turn in. See you tomorrow," I tell her, turning away from her. From the corner of my eye I see a hurt expression flash over her face briefly before she gets up and leaves me.

That night, I hardly sleep, constantly thinking of the parents I left behind and the line I've been walking, unknowingly, between making it here, and getting chucked out, or getting killed.

It feels like no time has passed before the lights flash on and I am squinting when I hear Four's voice.

"Everyone get up! You've got ten minutes to get to the training room. Come on, move it! It's time to see what you're made of."

Okay, firstly, let me tell you I'm not too happy with this chapter. I feel like I need to rush the story, so that I can get to the good bits I've got in mind, but at the same time, I don't want it to seem rushed. Let me know what you think. Should I be taking my time, explaining things and all that stuff? Once again, thanks for reading, and look out for chapter 3! See ya!

~Crysics~