Nothing could have prepared Tris for her first hours as a Dauntless initiate. The ride to the compound went well. The part where she had to jump off a moving train didn't go so well. She waited until all the others had gotten off the train and then, when she had no other choice, jumped as well.
She landed hard but she was grateful she was mostly in one piece. She had scraped her elbow and ripped her dress but no permanent damage.
Then she saw someone that she hadn't seen for a long time. But it wasn't Tobias, it was Eric. He was waiting for them on the edge of the building. Since she was the last one to jump off the train, she was the last one to join the group.
Eric was saying something about welcoming them to dauntless but first they had to complete the initiation and it was important to do well since they would be cutting people. This took Tris aback because she had thought that you just pick the faction, but apparently the faction had to pick you too. She started to feel nervous, especially because she was the last one to jump from the train and Eric saw that. Also, her past with him probably didn't give her any bonus points.
Now he was asking for volunteers to jump off the building. What? Did she hear him right? No one moved; no one said anything. Tris decided that this would be a good time to start being brave. She needed to make sure that she could make it through orientation and not get cut. She didn't want to end up factionless. If he was asking them to do this, it couldn't be super dangerous, could it? Then again, this was Eric that was asking.
Tris stepped in front. "I'll do it." She said in a small voice.
"Well, if it isn't the Stiff. This should be good. Go ahead." Eric was taunting her. She knew that he remembered her. He wanted her to fail, to change her mind and run to the back of the line.
Tris stood up on the edge and took a breath.
"We don't have all day, Stiff."
She tried to look down but all she could see was black. It was now or never. So she jumped.
She felt exhilarated, like jumping into ice-cold water. Her fear melted away and before she knew it, a net caught her. And then she saw a hand being held out for her. She took the hand and stood up, and then she saw that the hand belonged to none other than Tobias Eaton.
For a minute, she was in shock. She didn't think she would see him this soon. She was definitely not prepared for this. There was a glimmer of recognition in his eyes but then it went away.
"Name?" He barked.
Tris was disoriented. What was he asking her? "What?"
"What is your name?" he said impatiently.
"It's Tris." She said like it was obvious. She thought she saw a little smile start on his face. But as soon as she saw it, it vanished.
"First Jumper: Tris." He bellowed and a few people surrounding them started cheering and then she was led away from Tobias to wait for the others. She looked back at him but he was already focused on the next jumper. It took a while but every single one of the initiates jumped. Some of them weren't as graceful or as silent as Tris but they all made it.
It became apparent that Eric and Tobias were in charge of initiation. Tris had to wonder how a team like that was born. It didn't seem like they liked each other at all, much less could work together. But here it was, Eric was explaining the initiation process, starting with physical combat training then going to fear simulation training and then finally a simulation test.
Great, more simulations, Tris thought. She wasn't looking forward to that. Not that she couldn't do them, they just that they made her feel uncomfortable. But they didn't make her as uncomfortable as it felt to be in the room with Tobias right now, acting the way he was acting. So, he just wanted to pretend they didn't know each other? Did she surprise him by showing up today? She didn't know what she was expecting when she saw him for the first time after so long, but it definitely wasn't this.