Five years earlier…
"Raise and shine, initiates!" Four's voice boomed through the living quarters. "I want you down at the Pit in two minutes."
Isabelle's eyes shot open as she sat up in her bed. She had almost forgotten where she was until her eyes scanned around the room to see the rows of other kids her age starting to wake up. Without thinking, she got out of her covers and slipped on the training uniform that was provided for her the night before. After getting ready in the bathroom, Isabelle tied her hair into a slightly loose bun as she met up with two other transfers that she had befriended the day before at dinner, Mattie and Nikki—both Candor transfers.
Mattie was pretty with her light brown hair styled in an angular bob cut with bangs that were cut straight across her forehead. Her green eyes illuminated under the florescent lights above and she stood an impressive six foot one, only an inch taller than Four himself. The other girl wasn't as tall, but was still two inches taller than Isabelle. Nikki had shoulder length strawberry blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. The light freckles on her nose and cheeks seemed to dance every time she smiled, which was a lot. Both of them had very light skin compared to Isabelle's olive toned complexion.
"What kind of bull is this… we don't even get breakfast?" Nikki asked as the trio sauntered down the corridor as they tried to remember which ones led to the Pit. All of them seemed so familiar, but they followed a transfer from Erudite with dark skin who seemed to know where he was going. Isabelle recognized him.
"They probably want to kick our ass first before they put some grub in our stomachs—you know, make us earn it." Mattie responded as she pushed some hair out of her face.
Isabelle furrowed her brows, "they wouldn't do that to us. I mean, Dauntless are intimidating during initiation, but they aren't mean. Right?"
"They have do have to separate the weak from the strong."
"Mattie's right," Nikki agreed, "they'll be evaluating us on every single thing we do for the next couple of weeks. Nothing is off limits."
"Yeah, and I heard that there was a rule change," Mattie added as they turned a corner.
"What do you mean?"
"I heard that the Dauntless made a new rule. I overheard two leaders discussing the fact that if you don't make the cut, they're kicking you out."
"From Dauntless?" Isabelle asked.
Mattie nodded, "yeah. If you don't make the cut, you become factionless."
Nikki squealed in horror. "No! They would tell us if they changed the rule to something that extreme. Wouldn't they?"
"Dauntless is just trying this rule out right now, but there's word that they want all the factions to do the same. You know, weed out those who don't belong."
Isabelle shook her head, her mind racing with all of the information Mattie was supplying her with. "I don't think it has anything to do with seeing who belongs in the faction and who doesn't. According to our laws, this new rule is just in the beta phase of testing, and can remain in that phase for years before becoming official. Dauntless is simply trying this rule out in a trial-and-error fashion to see if it's of any benefit. There's a certain quota that each faction must meet, so this rule change may help them reach it; it's just a matter of statistics."
Both Mattie and Nikki looked at each other, their eyes wide and brows arched in surprise at the words that gushed from Isabelle's mouth. Then there was a burst of laughter as Mattie grabbed hold of Nikki's arm, trying her best not to fall over. The brunette huffed and watched with furrowed brows as the two former Candors struggled to breath after having their little giggle fit.
"Wow, Is," Nikki exhaled as she wiped a stray tear from her eye, "you actually sounded like an Erudite for a moment. According to our laws," she teased lightly as she started to laugh again.
"It's just a matter of statistics," Mattie chaffed playfully, tugging at Isabelle's jacket, causing the other girl to smile in amusement with her new friends and their lively jests.
"Oh shut it," Isabelle laughed.
The trio grew silent as they finally entered the Pit. It was much quieter than the night before, there was no music or fighting going on as well, since the only people that lingered in the large space were initiates and instructors. There were other members of Dauntless there as well, but they stood on the ledges that overlooked the Pit to watch the initiates start their training. Isabelle and her two friends learned later on that it was a tradition in Dauntless to watch the initiates on the first day, but only some had the luxury of actually having time to enjoy the spectacle.
Four was pacing around as he mentally went through what he was going to say and what was to be done for the day. Isabelle saw that he was joined by Eric, the first leader that they had all met the other day when they had to complete their first task in order to make it into the Dauntless compound, quite literally. Eric, at this time in his life, had not yet acquired his arm tattoos. As Isabelle and her friends made their way into the small crowd of their fellow initiates, she found herself staring at the leader with the eyebrow piercing and neck tattoos—the tattoos that all the leaders in Dauntless had—she couldn't help but notice that both his name and his face seemed so familiar to her, but Isabelle couldn't place it.
The last of the initiates arrived just in time as Four did not hesitate to begin. "There are three stages of training. The first is physical—we will push you until your body cannot take it anymore and you will learn and master the art of combat. The second is mental and if you think that the we won't try to break you, you are wrong. You will eventually face your fears and learn to conquer them, that is if you can handle it. The final stage is the mental stage in which you will have to prove yourself worthy of being called Dauntless. You will be trained separately from the Dauntless born but you will be ranked together. After initiation, the ranking you get will determine what job you will be assigned to which include but are not limited to leadership, guarding the fence, member of the city's security department, tattoo artist, entertainment, or weapon's maker. If you do not make it into the top five of your class you will most likely end up a guard."
"The rankings," Eric chimed in nonchalantly from his seat on a block of stone, "will also determine who gets cut."
Isabelle shot a glance over to her two friends who were looking in her direction as well, afraid of what was going to come out of the leader's mouths next.
"Sir?" a small boy with dark eyes said.
Eric smirked as he stood from his seat, striding over towards the initiates. "At the end of each stage, the lowest ranking initiates will be leaving us."
"How many people are getting cut?"
"This year there are thirty-two initiates, including both Dauntless born and transfers. Usually we only accept ten of you, but this year we are increasing the number to fifteen due to a significantly large decrease in our task force. So the magic number is seventeen—six cut in the first two stages and five cut in the final stage." Eric said with a sly grin on his lips, mischievousness glistening in his sparkling blue eyes. The color reminded Isabelle of the Erudite's faction color—a color she was all too familiar with.
"If we're cut," the same boy inquired, "what would we do?"
"Well, you can't really go back to your families since you left them to join us… so you'd be factionless."
Once again Isabelle looked over at her friends as some of the initiates started to ask questions— why weren't they told, when was this rule made, who decided this… questions of that sort. Mattie gave her brunette friend a sympathetic I-told-you-so look before they returned their attention to their instructors as Four settled everyone down.
"Why, does it matter?" Eric asked as he cocked his pierced brow. "Is the fear of possibly being cut causing you to second guess your decision on choosing Dauntless? If it is, then all I have to say is that you don't belong here. End of discussion."
"But that's not up to us," Four reassured, glaring at Eric. "It all depends on how badly you want to be here." He paused for a moment to look down at his watch. "All right initiates, time for a jog. I want you all to run to the training facility and do as many laps as you can inside. The last three people to run the most laps will be receiving the highest amounts of points. How many points you get depends on how many laps you complete. The first seven to give up will receive floor washing duties for a week and the lowest score possible—also depending on how many laps you complete. Am I clear, initiates?" Four roared.
"Yes, sir!" The group responded in unison as they moved together, one giant mob making their way towards the warehouse-like building where their training was to take place.
The first five laps were fine, Isabelle noted. It didn't seem like much of a challenged when Four requested it, but after she hit her eighth lap, Isabelle was dreading this entire task altogether. Nikki and Mattie ran by her side; they both seemed to be doing better than her, especially Nikki who didn't even appear winded by the assignment; Isabelle couldn't even see her sweat while she felt like she was sweating buckets. That didn't stop Isabelle from keeping up with her Candor counterparts.
As the girls hit their tenth lap, the first three people had given up. The trio decided that it wasn't the end of the world if they didn't end up making the top three, but they were trying their best not to be the first seven to give up. Sticking together and making it through to the end of initiation without falling behind in the rankings was at the top of their priorities.
The girls ran at a slower, but steadier pace than some of the other initiates which was the main reason why their numbers started to dwindle with every lap that they made while the trio remained pretty constant throughout their run. Even though they were running at an unhurried pace, the girls had managed to keep their breathing under control though Isabelle seemed to have a harder time than her friends.
Two more people stopped when the girls had finished their twelfth lap. Only two more people to kick it and then Isabelle couldn't care less if she were to pass out from the fatigue. It was the thought of having the lowest possible score on the first day that was driving her to continue her laps.
"Pick up the pace girls," Four's voice boomed from the observation deck just above them. "You know who I'm talking about."
Mattie glared up at their instructor as the trio did as they were told, increasing their speed. Isabelle cursed in her head as she wiped the sweat from her brows and above her lip, wiping it on her pant leg. If they were to have kept the original pace that they were running at, Isabelle would've guaranteed that she wouldn't be in the first seven to give up, but now that Four had ruined her plan, she was started to doubt her endurance.
Her heart was pounding like rabid drums inside of her chest as her lungs burned from lack of oxygen. Her legs felt unsteady with each step she took, afraid that at any moment her knees would give out from underneath her, hindering her ability to get up once she had stopped her momentum. As long as she continued to run, even at a slower pace than her friends, she knew she wouldn't give in to the desire to just quit while she was ahead. If she were to stop, Isabelle knew it'd all be over.
Mattie and Nikki started to run a bit faster than Isabelle had wanted, so she allowed them to take the lead in front of her, falling just slightly behind them. One more initiates had given up, the boy who spoke up earlier that morning, leaving only one more person to surrender to the fatigue and exhaustion of the excessive running that the initiates had to endure.
As if on cue, Isabelle lost her balance due to exhaustion and fell face first onto the hard cement floor. Mattie and Nikki didn't even notice as they continued to run, but Isabelle's fall had caught the attention of both leaders above. The room seemed to be spinning around as Isabelle looked up, her equilibrium completely lost for a few moments as she blinked profusely, trying to figure out what had happened. In a confused daze, the girl looked up to see both Eric and Four staring down at her and mumbling to each other.
"That looked like it hurt," Eric taunted, "what's the matter initiate, can't get up?"
Isabelle thought for a second before she answered, "I can, sir."
"Then do it. Unless you want to wash the floors…"
Isabelle took a deep breath as she tried to regain herself, closing her eyes in concentration on the task at hand as she tried to get up, but she found it hard to do so as her mind was still racing; her head now throbbed in confusion from the fall.
Eric sighed loud enough for the girl to hear down on the floor. "If you're not up by the count of three you are automatically done, initiate. One…"
The brunette groaned—this was a bad way to start off training.
"Two…"
It took Isabelle all of her strength to pushed herself off of the floor, groggily getting to her feet. She took another deep breath as she forced her legs to move, starting off in a light jog before continuing the pace she had before her unfortunate fall. Mattie and Nikki had managed to overlap Isabelle, but slowed down a bit as they caught up to her.
"Oh god, Is you're bleeding!" Nikki exclaimed as she pointed to Isabelle's forehead.
Isabelle gently touched the skin and felt hot liquid cover the tips of her fingers. Pulling them away, she saw that her fingers had been stained in red. Isabelle didn't even remember being cut.
"Are you alright? We didn't know you went down until Eric opened his big mouth," Mattie stated, panting slightly, finally showing signs of fatigue.
Nodding at her friend, she thought it was best to just try and focus on the running as she wiped her head with the sleeve of her training jacket. She kept pressure on the cut until it eventually stopped. The girl's managed another three laps before the last person finally gave up on running.
Smiling gratefully, Isabelle did one more lap before she decided that enough was enough. As soon as she was done, Four called out to her and commanded that she go to the infirmary to have the cut on her forehead checked up on before heading to breakfast. Nodding fervently, Isabelle wasted no time making her way into the infirmary while her friends continued to run.