"So," Maddy grins. "Time to get ourselves tattoos."
"What?"
"Ya know, get rid of our old lives, become true Dauntless, ya know?"
"No." I have never thought of adding ink to my body before. Half of me wants to keep my skin the way it is: pure and original, but another half of me yearns to be like a real Dauntless: tattooed and pierced, with dyed hair.
"Whatever, like it or not, you're coming with us anyway."
The four of us walk to the tattoo parlour, where we see Hector standing there, waiting for us.
"How did you know we were going to be here?" Rose asks.
"It's obvious. Which initiate wouldn't like to be tattooed the first day possible?"
"Meh. Do you have tattoos already?"
"Nope."
"What?! But you've been in Dauntless all your life! How can you not –"
"Think about it, genius, you never know if you might want to transfer," I say, rolling my eyes. "How would it look like if a Stiff showed up with piercings all over his/her face, dyed purple hair and tattoos all over his/her arms?"
"I'd love to see that," Rose says. "Actually, I would."
"Let's split up," Hector suggests. "We can go to each room, and after we're done we can come out and show each other, and hopefully I will see some true Dauntless people instead of the chickens I see in front of me right now," he adds with a cheesy grin.
"HEY!"
Five factions, each linking with each other, going vertically down my back. The Dauntless flames being cupped by Abnegation hands. The Candor scales balancing the Erudite's eye. And the Amity tree at the bottom, being the base of everything else.
"Are you sure you want this tattoo?" Tori says. "You know, if anyone sees it, they would think you're Divergent. That would put your life at stake."
"I won't show my back to anyone," I assure her. "And anyway, I'm not getting this tattoo just because I'm divergent – it's also because I want these five values forever with me. I know I'm Dauntless, but I don't want to only be brave. I want to be brave, and selfless, and smart, and honest, and kind."
"You sound just like someone I know," Tori smiles.
"Who?"
"It doesn't matter. But as time goes along, you should be able to figure it out with your Erudite brain."
I wonder who it is…
I end up getting not only the factions on my back, but also a wring of fire around my right wrist, and the word COURAGE written in flame-like writing across my left arm. It was agonizing, but I stood through the pain.
After I thank Tori and leave, I decide to dye my hair. I go to the hair salon, and ask for a streak of my hair to be dyed emerald green, to match my eyes. I leave my hair the same length, but I get side bangs that cover my left eye, but can be swept aside.
I decide not to get a piercing. The cold metal balls look far too ominous to go on my skin.
I meet my friends back outside the tattoo parlour. I am the last one to arrive, seeing as the tattoos on my back took so long.
"What did you get?" they ask eagerly.
I don't show them the five faction symbols on my back. I just show them my arms, then my haircut.
Rose dyed a streak of her hair red and another streak purple. She got a tattoo of a flower on the back of her right hand. She also got a piercing on her nose.
Maddy dyed the tips of her hair blonde (she had brown hair before), and got a tattoo of flames on her back.
Xavier has flames on his back, too, but won't show us for some reason. He didn't dye his hair or have a piercing.
Hector got a tattoo of a sword across his arm, and the Dauntless symbol on the back of his neck.
"Now I can call you all Dauntless," Hector grins.
"Geez," we say.