Author's Note:
So, just a reminder, Eric and Four are now 19 years old. Eric will NOT be speaking for quite some time, but, as I've said previously, he will have thoughts in italics. And I wanted to say thank you to Sasha and Vex for the reviews:) I love reviews! So, yeah, fave/follow/review, but at least review and let me know what you think:)
One year, ten months and four days later...
"Cordelia! Hurry up, already! We're going to be late!"
"Coming Mother!"
Cordelia turned sixteen only two days ago, barely in time for the Aptitude test. The dark-haired Candor slams her bedroom door behind her, before zooming down the stairs. She will miss this place, and her family. Her Aptitude test resulted in Dauntless, and she made her parents aware of the fact that she would be choosing the warrior faction at the ceremony, today. This came as no surprise to Cordelia's parents.
"Cord-! Finally, let's go!" Cordelia's mother ushers her husband and daughter through the door, before they walk briskly towards the elevators.
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Eric watches his movements carefully in the bathroom mirror, gliding the razor over the stubble which has grown over the past couple of days. He finishes up, and pats his face with a soft, grey towel, rechecking his appearance in the glass one last time, before heading into his kitchenette and starting a pot of coffee. As the young leader spoons the dark grounds into a filter, there is a knock on his door.
Eric sighs, setting the scoop, and the filter, back on the counter before moving to open the door, stepping back to allow the brown-haired intelligence officer entry into his apartment.
He sits on a high stool at the breakfast bar, grabbing a small pad of yellow paper, and a green ink pen.
"The initiates will be arriving within the hour," Four begins, taking the only other stool, and leaning over on his elbow propped up on the counter. Eric continues to stare at him, just listening.
"Still not gonna give the welcome speech today?" the former Abnegation inquires, knowing the answer before he asked. Eric hasn't spoken a word since the doctor explained that the wound the former Erudite received to his head, had damaged the superior longitudinal fasciculus in the left hemosphere of his brain, rendering Eric with a permanent stutter.
The blue-eyed man scratched the pen across the surface of the pad, ripping off the used piece of paper, and sliding it to Four. The brown-haired man snatched the paper up, his honey-brown orbs scanning the word written there: Duh.
Four sighed, running his fingers through his mussy, brown locks, before standing and nodding towards the door.
"Let's get to the roof, then. I guess I got, again," Four said, as he walked out the door, Eric following, silently, behind him.
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"Dauntless!"
The middle section of the Hub erupted into cheers, as the Candor girl made her way over to sit with her new faction, grinning at the warm welcome.
An older-looking member stood, offering her his seat, and she took it offering a smile in gratitude, as he turned to leave and patted her on the shoulder.
Cordelia didn't have the opportunity to sit there long, however, as her's was the next to last name on the list. "Come on!" a girl to right grabbed her arm, hauling her out of the seat, and pulling the dark-haired girl along, until she had made sure that she would keep up.
Cordelia wasn't a runner; Candor wasn't a very active faction. But the amber-eyed girl decided that she liked running, as they sprinted down the steps, and out the door. The Dauntless whooped and hollered the whole way, laughing and racing to the elevated train tracks. The blue-haired girl who had pulled Cordelia from her seat, pushed her towards the beam in front of her, as she started to climb, the Candor girl following right behind her.
They reached the top, and the Dauntless-born girl reached down to help pull the transfer up onto the platform, just as the train made an appearance, as it sped down the tracks towards them. "Come on, we have to jump!" the blue-haired girl exclaimed, as she began to run down the length of the platform.
The train whizzed by, sweeping Cordelia's hair in her face, as she ran alongside the massive, metal machine. She watched as the blue-haired girl leaped off the platform, grabbing a bar on the outside of the door, and pulled herself in to the car.
Cordelia pushed herself to move her legs faster, her lungs burning, as she followed suit and jumped, grabbing the handle, and swinging her body inside. She stumbled forward a bit, but caught herself before she fell, as a grin lit up her face. She had just jumped on a moving train.
The dark-haired girl exhaled deeply, blowing a piece of hair out of her mouth, and sat down against the metal interior as she came down from her adrenaline high. The blue-haired girl slid down beside her, holding out her hand.
Cordelia took the offered hand, and shook it firmly. "Cordelia," she said, still breathing heavily. The blue-haired girl smiled, flashing two rows of blinding, white teeth.
"I'm Sassy," she says, leaning back against the wall, as she pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket, followed by a small book of matches. She placed one of the cigarettes between her lips, striking a match and holding it to the end of the small roll of tobacco, inhaling as she did so, causing the end to glow as the dried, cut leaves began to burn.
"Is that your real name?" Cordelia asks, raising an eyebrow. She'd never heard a name like that before, though, the word had been used to describe her character several times back at Candor.
"Yeah," the blue-haired girl answers her, with a smirk, before punching Cordelia lightly in the shoulder. Both of the girls laugh, and Cordelia is pleased that she has already made a friend.
"Everybody up!" Cordelia turns her head towards the mocha-skinned woman who spoke, as all of the other initiates stand to their feet, crowding by the doors.
Sassy grabs her hand, grinning from ear to ear, as the teenagers begin jumping out of the train. Cordelia's eyes go wide, with shock, when she realizes that they are leaping onto a roof that is at least seven stories from the ground. "Are they trying to kill us?" she asks the blue-haired girl, incredulously.
The other girl just rolls her eyes, and giggles, as she pulls the amber-eyed girl back away from the door. "Just tuck you legs in before you land, and roll. Jump on three, okay?"
Cordelia swallows nervously, but she nods her head in agreement, as Sassy begins the countdown. "...2...3! Jump!" They run to edge of the car, together, jumping at the last second, before they are flying through the air, Cordelia holding back a scream. She does as her new friend instructed, and tucks her legs underneath herself, before rolling across the roof.
She comes to a stop, sprawled out on her back, and laughs. "I know, right?" Sassy relates, bending down to help up the Candor girl.
"Initiates! Listen up!" The girls turn to find a slender, but muscular, man with brown hair, and honey-brown eyes, standing on the opposite side of the roof. The initiates crowd around him, Sassy and Cordelia pushing their way to the front, giggling.
Eric glares at the giggling girls, and when they notice his harsh expression, their smiles disappear, giving way to intimidated demeanors. Eric nods in their direction, satisfied with their compliance, as he returns his features to a blank expression as he scans the initiates.
Cordelia swallows thickly, fear bubbling in her stomach, as she quickly returns her attention to the brown-haired man, Sassy following suit.
"My name's Four; don't ask. Today you have chosen Dauntless as your permanent place of residence. You have passed the first test by not dying between the Hub and the roof that you now stand on," Four explains, clasping his hands together behind his back, as he paces in front of the initiates. "But, you aren't done, yet. You still have to pass two stages of training, and a final test, before you can become a full-fledged member of Dauntless. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, though, there's another small test," Four smiles, ceasing his pacing, as he gestures behind him.
"What, you want us to jump?" a boy from Amity inquires, in shock. The brown-haired man, smirks, mischieviously.
"Yep," he replies, moving to the side to stand by the young Dauntless leader. "And somebody's gotta go first. Who's it gonna be?"
A silence falls over the initiates at this revelation, no one among them fond of the idea.
"Is there water at the bottom, or something?" Cordelia asks, raising her hand a bit, and stepping forward. Surely, they wouldn't send all of their initiates to their deaths by having them commit suicide.
The dark-haired girl watches as Four and the blonde-haired man beside him exchange a glance. "I guess you'll find out, huh?" he replies, vaguely, as Cordelia steps forward determinedly. She peaks over the edge, to see a large hole between the roof that the initiates occupy, and the building across from it. It's so dark, she can't tell if there is anything at the bottom or not, but she knows there must be.
She steps up onto the ledge, turning her head back around to wave at Sassy, and then she throws herself off of the roof. The wind pulls up from under Cordelia, as her body slices through the air, before she lands on something soft, and bounces up in the air a few times.
It was a net.
The Candor girl laughs to herself, as she moves to climb down before another initiate has the opportunity to land on top of her, and hands reach up to help her to the ground.
"Thank you," she tells the red-headed woman, with a smile. "What's your name?"
The red-headed woman laughs a bit. "Usually, I ask you that question, first. My name is Lauryn, I train the Dauntless-born initiates," she states, with a grin, placing her hands on her hips. "So, you can change your name if you want, but I need to tell these idiots something," she says, gesturing to a group of Dauntless standing around.
Cordelia has to think about that for a moment, but it doesn't take her very long to decide.
"My name's Lia," the amber-eyed girl declares, enjoying the way the shortened name feels rolling off her tongue, lightly. Lauryn turns around to address the Dauntless standing around the dimly lit room.
"First jumper, Lia!" she hollers, as the mob of black-clad persons begins cheering her name, patting her on the back as she moves to stand with them. It isn't long before Sassy joins her, along with all but one of the rest of the initiates.
Lauryn introduces herself to everyone else, explaining that she will be training the Dauntless-born, and that the transfer's instructors will be joining them, shortly. No sooner had the words left the red-headed woman's mouth, before another black-clad body fell from above, landing silently in the net. The young, blonde leader hopped over the side, needing no help, and moved to stand beside Lauryn, icy-blue eyes looking over his transfers.
"What's your name, then?" Lia asks, looking to the blonde-haired man expectantly. He shares her gaze for a moment, before exaggeratingly rolling his head to the side, raising an eyebrow at Lauryn.
"This is Eric, he's one of your leaders," the red-head explains, as the rest of the transfers share confused looks. Lia found the lack of response to be odd; she wondered what his problem was.
"Can't you speak?" Lia asks, scoffing, and crossing her arms over her chest. "Do you think you're better than a bunch of transfers, so you can't even answer our questions? Aren't you supposed to be training us?"
Eric began to breathe heavily through his nose, as he glared daggers at the Candor girl. He crossed the distance separating them, swiftly, never breaking eye contact, and entered her personal space, stopping only inches in front of her. He continued to glare down at the girl, as he raised two of his fingers, first pointing to his eyes, then pointing to Lia, before backing up, slowly.
"Watch it, Candor! I got my eyes on you..."
Lia gulped nervously, she should learn to hold her tongue; she isn't at Candor, anymore. Four entered the room then, and Lia gratefully moved her gaze to the man with the honey-brown orbs.
"Alright, transfers! Follow me, and keep up!" Four ordered, as he turned and began to jog through the door. The transfers complied quickly, and followed him through the corridors.
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"Who does she think she is, talking to me, like that?! What the hell did I do to her? Fucking Candor bitch..."
"Don't sweat it, Eric," Lauryn directs her words, gently, at the youngest Dauntless leader, who is still fuming. He clenches, and unclenches his fists, several times, as he attempts to calm himself down, fighting against the urge to hit something. "They'll figure out you don't talk to anyone, soon enough."
Eric's gaze softens considerably as he meets the red-head's eyes, slightly surprised at the hurt evident in her voice. He raises a pierced eyebrow, awaiting an elaboration. She smiles at him softly, but he can still see the pain in her green eyes.
"Ya' know, sometimes I wish you'd have just let me die," Lauryn admits, sorrowfully, brushing a strand of red hair behind her ear.
Eric swallows thickly, a pained grimace plastered on his face, as he shakes his head slowly.
"Don't say shit like that, Lauryn..."
"Nobody would judge you, ya' know," the red-headed woman informs him, quietly. "Especially if you let me tell everyone about how you saved my life."
Eric stares into her eyes intensely, squinting a bit, and blinking rapidly, as his eyes begin to twitch. Lauryn notices when his lips part slightly, raising hope inside of her, that maybe he'll say something. Eric shut his mouth abruptly, moving his gaze to the floor, as he let out a deep sigh. He shook his head, dejectedly, as he spun around and walked away.
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Lia changed into her new dark-colored clothing, not the least bit uncomfortable about the fact that there were males present. Her sixteen years in Candor apparently helped to prepare her, the way they lay everything out in the open, never hiding anything. Once she had changed, she sat on the edge of her cot, waiting for the others to finish up.
A few of the transfers were just lacing up their new, black combat boots when Four and Eric appeared in the doorway.
"Everybody in the cafeteria in two minutes, unless you want all the food to be gone when you get there," Four announces, before he and Eric turn to head that way, the majority of the initiates following behind them, instantly.
They jog into the caffeteria, briskly, before spreading out to different tables. Lia sat at a table with the Amity boy who spoke on the roof earlier, and two transfers from Erudite. She leaned over the table, grabbing a roll and a piece of baked chicken, placing the food on her plate. "I'm Lia," she says, nudging the Amity boy seated next to her, as she takes a bite of the roll.
"I'm Marc," he replies, grinning goofily, with a mouth full of chicken. Lia laughs at him, and he joins her, spewing a bit of chewed up poultry out of his mouth in the process.
"Ew!" Lia squeaks, before laughing at the silly Amity boy. "Marc, you're so weird!" Marc took a sip of water from his glass, giggling a bit, and blushing.
"So, you're from Amity, huh? I thought Amity opposed violence," Lia stated, following her question with another bite of her roll. Marc shrugged his shoulders, tossing his head to move the lengthy, ginger locks out of his eyes. "I never really fit in there," he explains, simply, chewing his food thoughtfully.
"So, why'd a Candor like yourself join the ranks, huh?" Marc inquired, scooting forward a bit on the bench he was seated on. Lia didn't hesitate to answer.
"I was bored," she remarks, swallowing the food in her mouth. "I figured I'd either join Dauntless or Erudite, and when I got Dauntless on my test, I made up my mind."
"You seem like you must've fit in really well, at Candor," the freckled boy suggests with a grin. Lia elbows Marc in the side, before grinning, as well, when the former Amity boy feigns injury.
Everyone at the table looks up when Four places both his hands, roughly, at the end of the table, right where Lia is sitting. He glares down at her, for a moment, before his expression softens a bit.
"Lia?" he says, calmly, his voice even. "I heard about what happened, at the net. I would not suggest doing that, again." Four keeps his voice low, but firm, willing the Candor girl to obey.
"Why? That guy is so full of himself, he can't be bothered to speak to an initiate! As a matter of fact, he made a point to specifically not speak to me," Lia asserts, crossing her arms over her chest, as she holds the other man's gaze.
Four clenches his jaw, his nostrils flaring, as he leans forward, menacingly. "Keep your mouth shut about things you don't understand, initiate," he responded, his voice low, and dark, before he stood up straight, and walked away.
Lia watched as Four retreated, before turning back around and sharing a confused look with Marc. "Well, that was odd," she stated, quietly, before giving her food attention, once more.