-Conrad's POV-
We walked in a straight line, our espressions solemn. Today was the day we find out who's safe for another day. We all knew we had done as much as we could, but was it enough. We enterd the pit, I saw Piper-Leigh in the crowd and gestured for the others to follow me to her. Please. Please let us both be able to stay. I prayed to myself. We were the first ones there, there were some Dauntless members present and even they looked nervous. Everyone was silent, the air was heavy. I looked to Piper-Leigh and Johanna. They were holding hands tightly, looking at Four and Six, who were stood in front of the Chasm rail. A large blackboard inbetween them. Slowly, more and more grim-faced intiates trickled in. Ready to learn their fate. I turned to the girls.
"Ready?" I whispered. They turned and nodded. We went back to silence until finally, the last people arrived, I felt Piper-Leigh tuck her hand in mine. My cheeks felt hot, but then Four started to speak, a welcome distraction.
"Intiates, theese past few days have been the hardest days a trainer could ever expereince. Ranking you based on your fights alone was impossible, which is why Six and I agreed to rank you based on your overall appearance for this stage. This method has proved itself more affective then the old way, which is why we will be adopting it permanantly. Now with out futher ado, Six, the ranks please"
Six flipped over the blackboard, I drew a deep breath and read the list.
1. Camden
2. Elodie
3. Everett
4. Johanna
5. Piper-Leigh
6. Valentina
7. Corey
8. Althea
9. Rebel
10. Conrad
11. Jem
12. Imara
13. Alex
14. Sophie
15. Rueben
16. Dustin
Tenth place? That's fine, I got to the next stage so did Elodie, Piper-Leigh, Johanna, Althea, Rebel, Camden and- oh, oh no. Jem. He was just below me. Number eleven. That means he's faction less now, right? But, Four told us only four people get cut at the end of stage one and there are sixteen of us, he techincally wasn't in the bottom four. What was going to happen to him? I rushed over to him, we all cluthed him protectively as Four cleared his throat to silence the crowds whisperes and mutters.
"Now, as you know, we only ever let the top ten into each stage, however, as a rule only cut four people from the first stage, we consulted with leaders and they agreed this rule shall not be bent, so for this year and this year only we will be letting the top twelve through to stage two" He finshed. He looked at the crowd expectantly. A moment of silence washed over us, then a giant cheer surged through the pit, resonating off of the walls.
-Jem's POV-
This was brilliant, I couldn't believe that I almost lost out, but they let an old rule stay and place, I just got in by the skin of my teeth. Everyone around me was going wild, hugging cheering. I turned to Elodie.
"How lucky am I?" I breathed ecstatically
"You are one lucky ducky!" She said excitedly. I cupped her face in my hands and pecked her on the lips. We were both blushing as I let her go. I blushed even more as I realised all our friends had been watching us and were now all wearing identical smirks. My throat felt dry.
"Um" Was all I could imagine.
"Um, its about damn time" Piper-Leigh said. Everyone laughed- even Elodie and I. Today was definatley a good day. The next part however, was not great. Four silenced us once again, this time announcing that stage two started by the showing the newly factionless out of the compound. And so we did, Four and Six up front, Alex, Sophie, Rueben and Dustin just after them and the rest of us behind them. We all marched in silence, the only sound filling the air was our boots hitting the uneven ground. Eventually, we got back to the very door we came through the day that we chose Dauntless. It had felt like decades ago, when really, it was weeks. Four and Six stopped and parted, letting them through. Four wrenched open the large iron door, the light from the sun that shone through was so bright. I had alomost forgotten what the sun looked like it was so dark down here. Four gestured forward and the ex-intiates walked through it. Six stepped next to Four, so they were blocking the doorway.
"Be brave" they said. and then, the door was closed. Then, we were being lead back to the dorm. I couldn't believe it was over that quickly. I didn't know what I was expecting really. Elodie and I held hands all the journey back. That night, I lay down on my back thinking that here was where it got really tough. And I had to be ready.