Hope you guys don't hate me! I meant to update yesterday but I just didn't seem to find time to. Anyways here is the second chapter! Please let me know what you think and any suggestions on what you'd like to see happen! I'm all ears and take a lot of consideration into what my readers would like to see. Thank you!
"Minerva Williams"
Minerva took a deep breath as she walked down the steps towards the five large bowls set in the middle of The Hub. Just yesterday she took the aptitude test to find confirmation in what she already knew what was true. She belonged in Dauntless. Afterwards she had to sit through a grueling dinner at which her parents were giving her advice on how to make her way through Erudite initiation, little did they know, that she had no intention on coming back. As her parents only daughter, she knew what she was about to do would shame her family's name, but she had to think of herself before them, she wasn't Abnegation.
She stepped up in front of the bowls. This year, the bowls were set with Dauntless right next to Erudite. It was like they were testing her one more time. Minerva grabbed the knife so many before her had used, and sliced her left hand. Staring at her clenched hand she then turned her attention to the bowls. Taking one last deep breath she her hand out, and turned it quickly over the burning coals. She heard a few gasps behind her from the rest of the Erudite faction, and even more as Marcus Eaton called out, "Dauntless".
Turning, she walked to the far side where the Dauntless were seated. Not once did she look in the direction of her parents, but she did see a glimpse of the shocked look on Jeanine Matthews face, but it was quickly erased and replaced with one that portrayed no emotion once so ever.
After the ceremony, the Dauntless were the first to file out the door and take the stairs to exit. Along side her, Minerva saw that there were 5 transfers from Candor, 3 from Amity, only 1 from Abnegation, and 2 (including Minerva) from Erudite. Though there was another dressed in blue from head to toe in a sea of black, Minerva didn't recognize him.
Once outside, the Dauntless broke out into a run down the street. Minerva found an adrenaline rush as she ran with them, a smile crept onto her face as she kept up with them. She mentally thanked her parents for believing that a healthy, fit, body made for a healthy mind. Once they climbed onto the raised railroad tracks (that rose a hundred feet above street level) they had to jump onto the moving train. Minerva wasn't surprised by this, and was the first transfer to make it onto the train. Once on, she saw that one was left behind on the tracks, someone refused to run and make it onto the train, it was a Candor. She then slid down the inside of the train and waited to get to wherever they were going.
Fifteen minutes later, Minerva heard up ahead, "They're jumping!", she stood up and looked out of the train; sure enough, the Dauntless were jumping off the train an onto a nearby roof. Estimating the correct time to jump by how fast the train was going and determining how much force she would have to put behind her leap, Minerva stood back from the edge, counted to ten, and flew off the train. Her legs ran through the sky, and she managed to land on the roof, the force of the impact made her come to one knee. Getting up she dusted off the blue slacks she wore. Her chest rose up and down with the adrenaline rush. Behind her the train rushed by, with the other Erudite transfer on it, staring below, and an Amity transfer that didn't make the jump. No one seemed to notice, they were all caught up in the moment, not even Minerva turned to see either one of them; now all that was left were nine transfers in total.
Walking to the opposite side of the roof, where the rest of the initiates were gathered, she saw a familiar face standing on the ledge. Max; one of Dauntless' leaders whom Minerva met briefly not four days ago.
"Listen up! My name is Max! I am one of the leaders of your new faction!" shouts Max, he gets the undivided attention he wanted, "Several stories below us is the members' entrance to our compound. If you can't muster the will to jump off, you don't belong here. Our initiates have the privilege of going first." He concludes before stepping off the ledge, the Dauntless members follow suit and step aside, leaving the way clear for the first person. Around me, the other transfers are looking nervous.
While everyone else was trying to look inconspicuous, Minerva decided to act. She stepped out from behind a tall Candor transfer and walked up to Max.
"Minerva Williams," Max looked shocked, "I have to admit, this is a surprise," he admitted before motioning to a huge hole in the middle of a lower building's roof, "By all means".
Minerva took a deep breath before stepping onto the ledge of the building. She looked down at the hole before turning around and stepping back off the ledge. She heard some snickers, as other initiates thought she had lost her nerve, Max looked at her expectantly. Her pulse was racing, but she still turned and with a starting run, lunged off the roof and down towards the gaping hole.
Minerva didn't know what she would encounter when she landed, she didn't even know if she would survive, but she did know that it was her own choice to jump off that building, that nothing but her own sheer will made her do it, and that made her laugh as she hit the enormous net that was placed below the hole. She bounced a couple of times before finally being able to role off to the end where she was helped down by a tanned man. His arms dropped when I was settled on the safe ground.
"What is your name?" He asked
Minerva opened her mouth to speak before shutting it again.
"Think about it" he says, "You don't get to pick again."
Then a thought occurred to her, and she smiled, "Athena."
"First jumper - Athena!" Four announces.
From the shadows, more Dauntless member materialize, cheering as the appear in the light from above.
The next to jump was a Candor girl. She came to stand beside me once she was off the net and said, "I thought I was going to pee my pants". The truth of course, she was Candor after all. Athena laughed aloud, "I'm Jessie," The girl introduced herself with her hand outstretched, "Athena." The former named Minerva replied.
After all the initiates were all on the ground, the man that helped Athena off the net, and a girl, addressed them.
"This is where we divide," The girl started, "Dauntless born with me".
And with that the group split and Athena found herself with Jessie and seven other transfers. The man now addressed them as a newly divided group.
"Most of the time I work in the control room, but for the next few weeks, I am your instructor," he says, "my name is Four."
An odd name, Athena thought, as Four lead them out of the members' entrance. He showed them around Dauntless, even a spot called The Chasm, where apparently initiates before have ended their lives. Lastly they were shown to the initiate dormitory for transfers, the Abnegation transfer had a somewhat horrified look on her face.
"You have 45 minutes to get settled in and changed, then meet in the dining hall, just go through the hole in wall of the Pit. Oh, and change," he said before exiting.
Everyone scrambled for clothing, before going and trying to claim a bed. Athena found herself on a bed right next to Jessie, whom she found was fast friends with, the smartass Candor had a wit that Athena found impressive. On the other side of Athena was the transfer from Abnegation, a girl named Rox. By Jessie was another Candor, a boy named Shaw.
Athena looked down at the clothes she grabbed consisted of a tight crop top that stopped just below her rib cage and pants made of a non-restricting material, and while the athletic shoes fit her feet snuggly, everything else fit like it was a size too small, showing off every curve of her body. There was a jacket left that she was able to snag, a black hoodie with long sleeves. She wasn't use to showing so much skin, so she zipped up the front all the way up. She then joined the rest of the transfer initiates in throwing their old faction clothing into a garbage shoot, never to see them again. Than afterwards, newly dressed in black, they headed down to dining hall.
They were met with the loud noise of the Dauntless gathering. They all looked around to find seating along the numerous benches. Athena nudged Jessie when she saw an opening by Four, their new instructor. She shrugged and the two walked over, followed by Rox, Shaw, and the two Amity transfers Sky and Bobbie. Athena sat across from Four, while Jessie sat beside him. Shaw and Rox sat on either side of Athena, Sky and Bobbie sat by Jessie.
They casually talked about their new surroundings, Sky and Bobbie had never eaten meat before, and stared bewildered at the hamburgers in front of them, and were lightly teased by Jessie and Shaw. Athena realized in that moment, that she had never smiled so much in her life, her new friends brought diversity to her life that Erudite never did provide.
Athena looked around her at the rest of the room, people of all ages - well up to around age 55 - were laughing an enjoying their dinner. Then through the hole steps another familiar face to Athena, Eric. The man who helped finalize her decision to leave Erudite and choose Dauntless. He scanned the room, and his eyes suddenly met her own, she quickly looked down at her food. But before she knew it, the empty spot beside Four was suddenly filled. Athena looked up and saw Eric sitting down.
"Going to introduce me Four?" He asked Four
Four sighed before listing off names, "This is Jessie, Sky, Bobbie, Rox, Athena," Eric looked pointedly at me with a raised eyebrow, "and Shaw. The other transfers are somewhere else around here. Everyone, meet Eric, he is one of the leaders here at Dauntless, the youngest yet."
After a few moments of awkward silence, Eric turned to Four, "Max was asking about you, still offering you a leadership position."
"And I have always told him no, my answer isn't any different now." Four said, sounding exasperated.
"Well," Eric said standing, "Let's hope Max will finally get the point." And with that he clapped Four on the shoulder in a less than friendly manner before walking up to the leader table where Max sat along with three other men.
After dinner, and amazing chocolate cake for dessert, the initiates headed out to the Pit where they met Eric.
"Tomorrow your training starts. Initiation is separated into three parts, Physical, Emotional, and Mental. You'll be scored based on your results and ranked accordingly, those ranked in the bottom two by the end of stage 1 will be leaving the compound. And in the end, those with the highest ranking will get the best jobs."
Everyone started whispering loudly about how unfair this all was, and wondering why they weren't told before.
"So what? If you were told before would you have chosen differently? If you are really one of us, it won't matter to you that you might fail. And if it does, you are a coward." He turns to leave, but just before he turns around, " You chose us, now we get to choose you."
Everyone left to trudge off to the dormitory. The exciting mood of being somewhere wore off, and reality was starting to set in.
That night everyone seemed to have a hard time sleeping. Morning came swiftly, and before anyone knew it, Four came in making a whole lot of racket, "Get up! Get up! Get up! Morning initiates! Today begins your first day of training. Breakfast is in 15 minutes, don't be late!" Finishing his noisy announcement he left us to grow and roll out of bed.
Throwing her hair up into a messy bun, Athena put on the clothes she wore the night before. And together the transfer initiates walked to breakfast. Today the gossip started. The three other transfers that kept to themselves last night during dinner, again secluded themselves today. All three were from Candor, and both Jessie and Shaw had no problem in voicing their opinions about the trio. "I've never liked them", "They've always been stuck up", "They were such bullies", "Always kicked those who were already down".
Turns out their opinions were rightly said. Their taunts started during gun practice. Though they had never picked up a gun before either, they had no problem in pointing out how horrible the Amity transfers and Rox were at shooting.
Athena held the gun up, tilted her head, took a deep breath, and fired. Her fifth shot nearly hit the target. Frustrated she stood up straight and studied the target, then picking up the gun she weighed the heaviness in her hand.
"What are you doing?"
Athena jumped in surprise; behind her stood Eric looking expectantly.
"Jeez, you can't just pop out of nowhere like that." She calmed down, "I'm trying to figure out how to hit the middle of the target" She gave him a "duh" look.
"You're being too Erudite about it." He said, "Pick up the gun," he instructed, when she did he continued, "Now get into position," she readied her stance, he kicked her foot farther from the other, "feet always shoulder width apart, give you more balance," he instructed, she lifted the gun and aimed, "take a deep breath," he said in her ear, now suddenly close, "and fire". She did so and hit almost the center of the target, "Now, focus on where you just hit and try again," he said, "How is that going to help me?" she asked, "It's just a little trick I picked up" he responded, so she did as he said, and hit directly in the center. She gasped, shocked, and smiled at Eric brightly, "thanks" she said, noticing warmth in his cold grey eyes, even when there was no smile to be found on his face. He simply walked away.
After hours of shooting practice, the initiates were able to take a break to have lunch. Jessie commented on Athena's "personal trainer". "He seemed to really help you huh Athena" She said playfully. Athena rolled her eyes, "He just gave me some really helpful advice, that's all", Jessie gave her a "yeah sure that was all" look, but said no more.
Just like last time I have much more written! So there will probably be another update tomorrow! Please review! I love seeing you guys' comments!