The last name was finally called, and they had chosen their faction. Altogether ten people had deferred to Dauntless, fifteen to Erudite, five to Abnegation and twelve to Amity and ten to Candor. Jamison looked around the room and wondered who would make it and who would give up. Jamison had noticed that he had been the only one to have defected out of Abnegation.
Jamison felt movement next to him and the red-haired guy looked at Jamison with a smile "Now it is time to have fun, try and keep up." He laughed and he joined in with the group of Dauntless leaving the ceremony through the double doors, shouting, laughing and a few cheers. Jamison had stood up and took one last look at a very angry looking Marcus, noticing that he was staring at him. Jamison grinned, flipped him the bird and joined the rest of his new faction, going through the double doors and running down the stairs.
Jamison had just reached the last of the double doors and felt the sunlight on his face. He wanted to stop to take it all in, still on a high from finally leaving, however he didn't want to be left behind. Jamison was still running with the group, others still behind him and he continued to run until he reached the train tracks. He watched the other members climbing the tracks with ease and knew he had to climb them, otherwise he would be factionless. Jamison began the climb, following what the others around him were doing. He was getting out of breath; his muscles were burning, and he was only two-thirds of a way up. The worst happened when he lost his grip but as soon as he did someone grabbed his arm and allowed Jamison to get his balance. "Careful there, you don't want to be falling off." Jamison smiled at the blue haired man "Thanks." He managed to climb the rest of the way and the same guy that helped him when he slipped, helped pull him onto the tracks.
"Thanks for saving my ass back there." Jamison smiled. "Hey, don't sweat it, Dauntless help each other, name's Lewis." Jamison was about to speak when he heard the train approaching. "Now you'll find this fun." He laughed. Jamison saw people starting to run when the train was level with the platform and swung themselves in. He had seen it plenty of times before and doubted he would be able to do that. His muscles still hurt in his arms from the climb, and his legs still felt like jelly. "Come on!" Lewis shouting excitedly and began running. I followed behind him and watched as Lewis grabbed onto the rail and swung himself in. He then appeared leaning on the rail and holding his hand out to help. Jamison went to grab the rail and almost didn't make it, however felt and arm grab him, enabling him to get one hand on the rail and swing in. He was not graceful with his landing as he landed onto of a body.
"Sorry." Jamison replied and quickly got up. "Hey no worries, man." The person said as he stood up. Jamison recognised him as the red-haired man from the ceremony. "Hey, stiff you made it." The man said smiling. Jamison hated being called a stiff, he wasn't one yet however he didn't want to start a fight with anyone when he knew he wouldn't stand a chance just yet. The man must've seen the look on Jamison's face and his smile faulted. "Didn't mean any offence, I didn't catch your name earlier." The guy smiled. "I'm Alex and I see you've already met Lewis." Alex had extended his hand out. Jamison looked at the pierced man and took his hand. "Jamison." He whispered. "I'll be honest with you as I think we'll be great friends; you cannot go around Dauntless with a name like that. Now is your time to choose a new name for yourself." Jamison thought for a moment and smiled. "Jamie." He felt someone slap him on the back. "Welcome to Dauntless Jamie." Lewis replied.
Jamie saw two more people approach Alex and Lewis. "See you've made a new friend." A lady with neon pink hair, shaved at one side spoke. "I'm Alice. I'm the one that keeps these bozos in check." She laughed. A man with long black hair was stood next to her, he was the tallest in the group. "Cameron." He spoke, his voice deep. "And this my friends is Jamie." Alex replied happily and excited. Jamie noticed that the group had various tattoos and piercings and hoped he could get some once he was in Dauntless. "I'm so excited to see you as a full-fledged Dauntless." Alice said excitedly. "Piercings, tattoos, new clothes, new hair, it'll be so exciting to see your transformation." She giggled. "He's not a doll Alice." Cameron replied. "I know that you dork." "No, it's okay." Jamie replied. "It'll be nice to finally loose the stiff look." He smiled. "Spoken like a true Dauntless." Alex replied.
They noticed that the train had started to slow down, and Jamie looked out the door. "Okay, now the fun part, jumping." Alice laughed. "Grab my hand as it's your first time and on three we jump." They stood by the doors and when they could see the roof Alice spoke, "One…two…three." With that they both leaped, still holding hands. Jamison felt the ground beneath his knees, and he must've dragged Alice down with him and she was on her front, still laughing. "How was that?" She grinned at him. "Pretty cool." Jamison beamed. He heard other people land and looked behind him noticing it was his new friends that he met.
Jamison walked towards a man stood on the edge of the roof, it was the same man from the aptitude test. This time he had a black vest on and combat trousers. He looked bored and unimpressed with the group standing in front of him. Jamison made eye contact with the man and the man looked disgusted with what he saw. Even the slight breeze from the wind didn't disturb the man's slicked back brown hair, it was almost like even the wind feared him. Jamison didn't have time to look at who the other transfers were when the man cleared his throat and spoke.
"Welcome to Dauntless, I am one of the leaders Eric. Your first test is to show how brave you are. If you cannot do this, then you do not belong here." There was silence all around and you could cut the tension with a knife. "Who is going to be the first person to jump off from where I am stood?" Jamie noticed people shuffle next to him, but no one moved. Eric then barked "If no one decides to jump I will start throwing each one of you off the side of the building." Jamison felt someone shove him from behind and Eric looked at Jamie, Eric's eyebrows were raised in surprise. Jamie walked up to the ledge and looked down. He never got the chance to go up high before, so he never knew how scared he was of heights until the moment. Eric spoke lowly to him. "I haven't got all day stiff. You have a choice, you jump, I push you or you step down like a coward and become factionless." Jamison took a deep breath, closed his eyes and jumped.
Jamie heard himself gasp before he felt something bouncy beneath him. It clicked that it was a net and he let out a laugh. He felt hands grab him to help him off the net. "What's your name?" Someone spoke. Jamie couldn't see the person that asked very well as it was dark, and his eyes were still adjusting to the darkness in the room. "Jamie." He replied. "First jumper Jamie." And everyone around him cheered. Jamie made his way to the back of the room and heard a "Woohoo!" It was the next jumper and he heard Alex's name called out. Alex was laughing as he approached Jamie "I want to do that again." He grinned. "No thanks, that was too high." Jamie replied. Alex laughed. "We'll get you out of that fear."
Alex and Jamie spoke amongst themselves, and were shortly joined by Alice, Lewis and Cameron. The last jumper had jumped, and they were followed by Eric. He saw Eric shrug the hands off him and when he was off the net he walked off through a dimly lit corridor. A voice spoke up when the room was cleared out about from the initiates. "Welcome to Dauntless. I am Lauren and this is Four." A female voice spoke up. In the light you could tell this woman was well built and had her hair tied up. Jamie heard someone whisper "What sort of name is Four?" Four had chosen to ignore the comment and said "Dauntlessborn follow Lauren, unless you need a tour of the place. Everyone else follow me." Alex looked over to Jamie. "I'll catch you later." And he took off to be with Alice, Cameron and Lewis.
Four led us through the corridor and it started to get lighter, the music was getting louder and there were more people about. Four spoke up. "We are approaching the heart of Dauntless. Here is where all the shops, restaurants, clubs and bars are." The group of initiates entered the massive cavern, and it was busy. Children were running along paths with no rails and no fear in the world. There were people shopping and a few looking our way. Jamie noticed a few eyes on me, with people whispering after they looked at me. Jamie knew the rumour about someone from Abnegation deflecting to Dauntless but going by the stares and whispers he wandered if it was true at all. to Four continued on and the group approached a set of double doors. He opened the door, and we stepped inside. There were ten beds all in a circle, so there would be no privacy. One of the females gasped. "Oh, it gets better." Four beamed and turned around to face us, his eyes were lit up. Jamie's heart leaped out of my chest. He hadn't had the chance to really study Four when until now. He looked the split image of Tobias however, his features were sharper, and he looked more in shape. Four made eye contact with Jamie and a look of realisation was on his face however it was gone within a second. Four turned around and led the group to the bathroom. The showers were shared however the toilets offered privacy. "Least the stiff can hide in here." An erudite man laughed. There was laughter from everyone else. Jamie didn't reply however the thought of struggling to make friends here crossed his mind. Four then turned the attention back to him. Four announced "You have five minutes to get dressed into your new clothes." The group made their way to the beds, set out in a circle.
Jamison picked a bed by the dorm door in case he had to escape for any reason. Jamison looked at the clothes on the bed and while facing the wall began to undress. He knew that the other's would see his scars however if he hid in the toilet to change then it would show that he was still a stiff on the inside. Jamie hated being called a stiff when he was part of abnegation however knew now that he would have to get used to it as he was no longer apart of that faction. Jamie heard someone wolf whistle when he had his shirt off and was about to pull on his new black vest. "How'd you get those scars?" One of the other transfers shouted laughing. "Did one of the factionless hurt you while you were feeding them?" Another one laughed. Jamie did his best to ignore it and concentrated on getting dressed, changing his underwear, trousers and socks and pulling his boots on. Jamie noticed that the clothes were loose and was grateful that they were provided with a belt. There were other insults thrown his way however Jamie did his best to block them out, someone he was used to with the way Marcus use to verbally abuse him.
He had just gotten dressed when four walked into the room. "There is a tradition that is followed when initiates from outside of Dauntless join us. Follow me and bring your old faction clothes." Jamie picked up the stiff grey clothes and shoes, following Four. Four stopped turned around and gave me a quick glance while he slightly chewed on his lower lip, something Tobias would do while in Abnegation and deep in thought. Four didn't say anything while he opened the door and inside looked like a boiler room with flames burning in it. "You will throw your old clothes into the flames and commit to being Dauntless, forget about your old factions, you are not them anymore." Jamie went to the fire furthest away and threw his clothes in it. He whispered lowly "Fuck you, Marcus."
Four had led the group into the mess hall and told them to find a table and eat. Jamie noticed Alex waving at him telling Jamie to join their table. He approached the group and was smiling. Sat next to him was Lewis, Cameron and Alice were sitting opposite him.
"I hope you don't mind but we got you some food. We know that you probably ate really boring food and to save yourself the embarrassment of standing in the line and gawking at the different food, we chose for you instead." Alex beamed. Jamie looked at the plate in front of him and didn't recognise any of it. Alice laughed, "Wow you must've had really boring food in Abnegation. This is a beef burger and chips. I dread to think what you had to eat." Jamie smiled and hesitated before taking a bite. It tasted quite nice. "Wow this is good." Jamie said between mouthfuls, they were all laughing. The group chatted with each other and asked Jamie a bunch of questions of what it was like living in Dauntless.
There was a siren that sounded, and the mess all went quiet, with everyone looking up to where the leaders were standing. A tall, muscular, dark-skinned man was stood at the edge of the railing, standing next to him was Eric, a woman with blonde hair cut short with next to Eric and an older man was stood next to the woman. "For those that don't know me I am Max, the main leader of Dauntless. To my right is our newest leader Eric, followed by Sam and Harrison. Today we celebrate new initiates to Dauntless and welcome back some old faces. Today you made the decision to join us. Forget about your old factions, this is your home now. Faction before blood." "Faction before blood." Was echoed throughout the mess hall when suddenly we were lifted into the air by our fellow Dauntless while everyone cheered.
Jamie had finally felt at home.