Author's Note: My dear, beautiful, loyal followers. I have failed you. I have waited 2 whole years to continue this story. My life has been... less than perfect these last 24 months but I am so glad to be back in the arms of a kind and supporting community that I fell in love with so long ago. Please know, I fully intend to finish this story. Thank you as always for sticking with me.

-Elise (daisydot227)

Disclaimer: I am a sad high school student with no creativity. Veronica Roth is not. So yeah, these are her characters. And setting. Pretty much.

Chapter 15: The Compound

Tris's POV:

"There you are," Tobias said as he pulled me on to the train. I smiled as I dusted myself off and turned to look at the world that passed quickly by. I stared out at the dark night sky and Tobias came over and stood next to me, his skin just barely brushing against mine.

"It's quite beautiful, isn't it?" he asked me quietly.

"It is," I responded not tearing my gaze from the view. He let out a small breath.

"I heard that a long time ago there were places where you couldn't even see the stars. The sky was tainted with smog and light pollution so you couldn't see anything," he continued.

"That must have been awful," I whispered solemnly. "Terrible, really."

Tobias nodded slowly in agreement. "Not very Dauntless of me, is it?"

I looked at him in confusion. "What?"

"That's not very Dauntless of me. Talking about stars, I mean."

"I… I don't know."

His mouth curved in to a small smile. "I don't think I belong in Dauntless. There are some parts of me that… that fit in with them, but sometimes I feel like I prefer the virtues of other factions better."

"Then why did you choose Dauntless?"

"You just met the reason tonight. To get away from him. It was the farthest away I could get from my father," Tobias answered bitterly. "Not a very brave reason to choose it."

I didn't say anything in response, I just stood there until Tobias told me we were almost there.

"Almost at the compound?" I asked in disbelief. "Why, there's nothing here but the tops of buildings."

Tobias smiled wickedly, the passing lights casting a malicious glow upon his face. "That's part of the fun."

"Aren't you scared of heights?" I yelled over the roaring wind as Tobias opened the door to the train wider.

"Don't remind me, not as we're about to jump!"

"Jump?" I shouted. "Are you crazy?"

"Come on!" Tobias laughed taking my hand. "You've jumped off a moving train before, what makes it different this time?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that we're up hundreds of feet in the air?"

He grinned. "One…"

"Tobias don't you dare-"

"Two…" he poised himself in a position that looked like he was about to spring.

"Don't you say three! Don't you dare say three!" I threatened.

"Three," he finished and I jumped with him off the train, and time stood still as I hung suspended over thin air just before my feet hit the concrete rooftop and the impact sent shockwaves up my legs. I collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.

"I hate you," I wheezed. "I really, really hate you."

"You think I enjoy it more? It's fun seeing you scramble like that. You might want to get yourself together, the difficult part is coming up."

"The difficult part? What was that, the warm up?" I growled, getting to my feet. Tobias looked a little paler, and I could see a tinge of fear behind his eyes.

It's the fact that we're up high, I concluded. I took his hand and let him lead me to a large pit that descended in to darkness.

"So now what?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips. "We have to climb down?"

Tobias looked at me, an apologetic look on his face. He looked truly scared. "Not… not climb. Jump."

"Jump? Again? That's suicide!"

"It's Dauntless initiation," he informed me.

"Then Dauntless initiation is suicide," I retorted. "I'm not jumping."

"You want to get in to Dauntless? You have to jump."

I wrung my hands, pacing back and forth. "Can't we go in the front entrance?"

"And get caught? Jump."

"We're going to be killed otherwise," I argued.

Tobias looked at me sternly. "Tris. Jump."

I sighed, and I knew I was defeated. "Fine."

I peered down in to the darkness. I turned around to face Tobias and put my arms out, falling backwards. I hurtled downwards, the starry sky and Tobias's figure shrinking quickly as I fell. My arms and legs flailed helplessly and my hair whipped around my face. My stomach felt light and I didn't know when I was going to hit the ground.

Suddenly, I smacked against hard nylon rope and the net snapped against my skin rather painfully. I could see the circle of night sky high above me and Tobias's face peering down. I rolled off the net and felt my feet hit hard ground. I took a few steps to get my balance and stumbled over to the wall, feeling the blood rush away from my head.

A moment later, the dark shape of Tobias fell in to the net and bounced around before climbing off and walking over to me.

"Was that so bad?" he asked jokingly although his shaky voice gave away his unease.

I peered around the dark room, waiting for my eyes to adjust.

"This way," Tobias instructed, grabbing my hand and pulling me down a hallway. I held my hand out and let my fingers brush against the wall as Tobias led me along, showing me first to a large cavern.

"This," he whispered, "is the Pit."

"So I can see," I responded. Tobias nudged my shoulder and pulled me farther along.

"Come on," he told me. "We have to disguise you before you can be seen."

Tobias showed me to the dormitories where he swiftly knocked on a door, and it cracked open a tiny bit.

"Four?" asked a girl's voice. The door opened wider revealing a tall girl with short cut hair and thick eyeliner.

"Hey Christina," Tobias greeted her nervously. "This is Tris."

"Hey, Stiff," Christina said to me, giving me a once-over before turning to Tobias. "What did you bring her here for?"

"I wanted to show her around Dauntless," he admitted. Christina pursed her lips.

"You think that's a good idea? Dressed like she is, you won't make it chasm before someone sees you."

"That's why I need your help," Tobias said. "You know, give her clothes, do her hair. Whatever it is you girls do. Just don't change her… too much."

Christina sighed. "Fine. But it's better if you get the whole gang together. She won't attract as much attention if she's in a group."

Tobias nodded and half-smiled at me before moving off. Christina went back inside, leaving the door open but came back when she realized I wasn't following her.

"Well, Stiff," she said. "Don't just stand there. Come on."

I followed her in to her messy room. There were black clothes strewn everywhere, and from what I could see of the bathroom, inside there wasn't much better. Large posters were plastered on the wall spelling out messages that would be grounds for expulsion in Abnegation.

I stood in the center of the room feeling very much out of place in my plain grey clothes. Christina rooted through her dresser, tossing more clothes on the floor as loud music blared in my ears.

She turned around, gazing at me with a fierce expression. She held up a black shirt that looked like it showed way too much skin for my comfort before tossing it aside.

"Nope. You don't have a big enough chest for that shirt," Christina snapped before tossing it away.

"I apologize," I said shakily. "I feel I've said something to offend you. You don't appear to like me much."

Christina slowly turned around before grabbing a remote from on top of the dresser and turned down the music.

"No," she responded slowly, placing the remote back and letting her hand drop down uselessly. "You haven't done anything wrong. Nothing you could help anyways. It's just that I'm rather fond of Four, not in that way, mind you, but that he's my friend. I don't want him getting hurt, much less killed, and I guess I took my anger out on you."

"Really, I love Tobi- Four and I never wanted him to get hurt either. If I was in your shoes I would hate me too. But honestly, the last thing I would ever dream of is doing something to get him hurt."

Christina smiled tearily, and I saw through her tough exterior. She gripped a black shirt and sighed.

"Fuck. This is pansycake shit. Come on, let's get you Dauntlessed-up."

She proceeded to squeeze me in to insanely tight skinny jeans and a black v-neck shirt. She then came at me with eyeliner and red lipstick.

"You're ready," Christina said, looking me over. I smiled weakly, feeling out of place in these darker than normal clothes.

"I feel like a clown." I protested.

"Come on, you've got to look tougher than that! If you don't act the part no amount of black clothes and make up can save you," Christina told me.

"Sorry."

"Don't say sorry, dammit. Stop acting like a bitch."

"I'm not a bitch. Take it back," I challenged, taking a step forward. Christina only smiled.

"I knew there was a reason he liked you. You're more Dauntless than you seem."

I smiled too and she slung her arm around me as we headed to the door.

"I think we're going to be friends," Christina said. "Come on, let's go meet the crew."

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