Well, look who updated. I'm literally the worst procrastinator ever. I could have had this up like weeks ago but I spent 95 percent of my time watching Yuna Kim, who is a figure skater by the way, and 5 percent of my time doing homework. Yay. I don't even know if this is good. I proof read only once, so...Hehe.
Enjoy!
We enter the cafeteria, and immediately, hundreds of Dauntless stand, grinning and shouting. Their applaud thunders throughout the whole room. Their words are incomprehensible, but it emits congratulation and victory for another year of tributes. The transfers around me nudge each other, smiling and laughing; I can't help but let a small grin peek through.
Tobias leads us to the middle of the cafeteria, where all the tables are. While they applaud for us, the initiates, settles down, the volume still fills my ears. No matter what, the Dauntless will never quiet down. But there is a kind of beauty in their chaos.
Somehow, I end up at an empty table, sitting a few feet away from Christina and an Erudite transfer called Will, although I am too far for their words to reach my ears in distinguishable sounds. Tobias has also found a place at the table, seated in front of me. I mostly ignore him.
I sigh, thankful for a little time to myself. Initiation has barely started and I'm already dead on my feet. Even worse, I have no idea what's on my plate. It's a dark brown circle of what seems to be meat wedged between two pieces of soft bread. I turn it upside down and around, even taking away the bread from the meat to inspect it closer. I bite my lip. Hmm.
I startle when a hand touches my own, pausing my inspection. My eyes follow the hand of the person up the arm and shoulders, until I'm looking up at Tobias.
"It's beef. Put this on," he instructs, handing me a tube filled with a thick, red sauce.
"You've never had a hamburger before?" Is that what it's called? I turn towards Christina and Will, who have suddenly joined this conversation.
Before I can explain, Tobias has started talking, "Stiffs eat plain food." Christina scrunches up her eyebrows.
"Why?"
"Self-indulgence is considered unneccessary." I say. Christina nods slowly in understanding. Then she smirks.
"No wonder you left."
"Yeah," I say, rolling my eyes a bit. "It was because of the food." As I turn back toward my plate, I notice Tobias's mouth curves up almost imperceptibly.
A hush falls over the room, and I look up as people start murmuring to each other. Strutting confidently into the cafeteria is a man who looks about the same age as Tobias, but definitely more...Dauntless. His face holds so many piercings that almost all I see is the glint of metal under the cafeteria light. I notice, immediately, that he is different. The Dauntless members that I have seen are all loud and rambunctious, but mostly friendly. This man has a coldness in his glare that sends shivers up my spine. The people around me regard him with respect, but when I look at Tobias, the dislike is undeniable.
"Who's that?" Christina asks. I sigh inwardly; she just can't keep her mouth shut. Tobias, it seems, shares the same exasperation that I have and rolls his eyes.
"That's Eric. He's a Dauntless Leader."
"But he's so young!" Christina explains.
"Age doesn't matter here," Tobias retorts.
Eric, to my surprise, walks over to our table, and I wonder why until I notice his gaze is fixated on Tobias only. Are they friends? Tobias's face hardens into a glare when he notices Eric strutting toward us, and I put my head down nervously as Eric sweeps his gaze over our table. When he reaches us, he clears his throat loudly. By now, everyone has already lost interest in their leader and has returned to their loud conversations. And for some reason, Eric has decided to talk to me.
Of course.
"Ooh, a Stiff. We haven't had one of those in a while," he shoots Tobias a pointed look, as if sharing an inside joke. "We'll see how long you last." I don't reply, moving a stack of light green veggies around my plate with a fork. It's better to ignore him than to respond. Besides, he doesn't seem like the person that want to make friends, especially with a Stiff. Definitely not. There is a silence for several seconds, in which Eric waits for me to speak and I continue to stay mute. Then, he directs his attention back to Tobias, although I hear a kind of annoyed disappointment in his tone of voice.
"Care to introduce me, Four?" I dart my eyes forward, shooting Tobias a confused glance, but he confronts Eric steadily, not even sparing me or Christina a single look. Four?
Then, after I return my eyes to my plate that still has a half-eaten hamburger, I hear him say, "This is Nameless and Christina." I feel Eric's gaze burn through the curtain of hair that has fallen into my face, and I can't help looking up.
He watches me with an amused sneer, as if laughing at me.
"Nameless, huh? I guess your parents were really Stiff," he muses. I don't say a word.
"She chose not to reveal her name," replies Tobias flatly.
"Whatever you say, Tobias," Eric jeers. Eric pats Tobias on the shoulder a little to roughly to be friendly. I watch as he stands and joins another table filled with a few other men dressed in black. Tobias huffs in exasperation. I look up hesitantly at him.
"Are you two friends?"
"I thought I would only get smart-mouthed Candor. Now you?" he says sharply. I redden and mumble an apology.
"Why Four?" I ask before I can stop myself. I mentally curse myself; now he's going to kill me.
"What?" Tobias asks, surprised, though I can tell by the way he regards me that he is annoyed.
"Why'd Eric call you Four?" I say. Tobias stares into my eyes, his gaze intense, but I don't look away. It's after a long minute passes and I'm sure he will not reply when I divert my attention back to my plate. Then he speaks, sharp and steady.
"It's my nickname."
Dinner ends, and we are instructed to follow Eric. He leads us out of the cafeteria and through multiple hallway, finally stopping in a room with several bunk beds, along with bathrooms and showers so exposed that there is almost no privacy.
Eric clears his throat and starts talking. He explains that our training begins at eight o'clock each day and lasts until six, that there is a lunch break at twelve, and that after six, we can do whatever we want.
"Got it?" he asks. We all nod silently. Then, he goes on to explain initiation. "During initiation, you will be ranked. Although you will train separately from the Dauntless born, you will all be ranked together."
Murmurs of confusions arise from the group, and an Erudite girl finally voices our thoughts.
"But why are we ranked?" Eric smiles, his stretched skin pulling at his lip ring, and it looks as if he cannot wait to tell us.
"Not everyone gets into Dauntless," says Eric. My heart plunges to my stomach as everyone starts muttering amongst themselves in confusion, and my breath hitches. Suddenly, I feel very queasy. "There are twenty-one of you; 9 transfers, 11 Dauntless born. Only ten of you will make it." There is about a second of silence.
Then, Molly, a Candor transfer shrieks, "What?"
And now, everybody is shouting.
"Why would you do this?"
"I never signed up for this!"
"If I had known, I wouldn't be here!"
"What happens if you get cut?" asks Christina, hesitantly, although I'm sure everybody knows the answer. And yet, we are all desperately awaiting an answer that is, with any luck, not what we expected.
But it seems that luck is not on our side.
"You leave the Dauntless Compound and live factionless." Eric smirks, seemingly enjoying our desperate protests. Christina sends me a distraught look, but I stare straight at Eric, accepting his challenge. I have already made up my mind.
I will pass initiation.
Well, there it is. Yes, I know I put a lot of direct-ish quotes from the actual book, but those quotes are too good to be wasted! I promise I will start "straying" from the book as this Fanfic progresses. I hope y'all liked it!
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-Cindy:)