The blonde man steps up next to Max near the edge of the building and turns to us. It takes a few moments for everyone to quiet down, but I think that's expected.
"Listen up! My name is Eric!" His voice is loud and commanding. "I am one of your leaders. Several stories below is the members' entrance to the Dauntless compound! If you cannot muster the will to jump off, you do not belong here."
Everyone around me looks worried. But I mean, come on. They're not trying to get us to all jump to our deaths on day 1.
"More jumping?" I hear Christina mutter behind me. I try to hold in my grin.
"Initiates first!" Max calls out. He and Eric look out at the crowd expectantly. No one is volunteering.
"Is there water at the bottom?" one boy asks. Eric just shrugs in response.
Before I can stop myself, my feet are moving forward. "I'll go!"
My mother wouldn't tell me what was awaiting me at the bottom, but I have to trust that if there was something to worry about, she would have warned me. I step up to the ledge and look down. It's a long drop – I'd estimate 7 or 8 stories. It's too far for me to see anything below the giant hole I'm supposed to jump into.
"Today, initiate!" I hear Eric call out behind me.
Be brave, Tris. Be brave.
I take a deep breath and jump off.
Objectively, it's not a long drop. It still somehow feels like forever. But I know it's not long until I hit something at the bottom – a net! – and all my muscles contract at the sudden impact.
I release the breath I didn't realize I had been holding the entire time. A laugh falls out involuntarily. I just jumped off a building!
The net moves under me and I'm rolling to the edge. As I'm about to fall, a hand reaches out to steady me. I look up and meet dark blue eyes.
"A transfer?!" I hear from the small crowd surrounding the net.
The dark blue eyes belong to a boy. His face is almost completely expressionless, but his eyes are full of curiosity. He grabs me by my shoulders to lift me from the net. I mutter a hushed "thanks" as my feet hit the ground.
"What's your name?" he asks me. I'm frozen, but I don't know why. I prepared for this. When I don't answer, a small smile appears on his face. "You can pick a new one," he offers. "But make sure it's good. You don't get to change it again."
"Tris." I finally remember how to speak. "My name is Tris."
"Make the announcement, Four," says a girl standing next to him. She's smiling widely at me.
I was not prepared for the next part. He grabs my arm and holds it in the air while he turns me towards the crowd. "First Jumper – Tris!" His voice booms now, much louder than moments before. All the onlookers cheer, and his hand touches my back to guide me towards them.
"Welcome to Dauntless," he says as I move through the people. Someone else has jumped. They scream the entire way down, and I grin as I watch him – Four – reach out and help Christina off the net.
As soon as her feet are on the ground, she hurries over to stand next to me, and we wait for everyone else to jump.
Once everyone is back on solid ground, Four and the girl that had been next to him when I landed lead us all down a passage way. Where the hallway forks, they bring us to a stop.
"This is where we part ways," the girl announces. "Dauntless born can follow me. I don't think you guys need a tour."
Our group splits. Most of the initiates had been Dauntless born, leaving 9 transfers standing with Four. With a smaller group, it's easier to observe everyone. No one here looks familiar, which means I'm the only Abnegation transfer. It's not surprising. Abnegation and Amity rarely transfer to Dauntless – our ways of life are just so drastically different.
"I typically work in the control room," Four announces. "But over the next several weeks, I'll be your instructor. My name is Four."
Christina lets out a scoff. His reaction is instantaneous and he's glaring at her, but Christina doesn't back down.
"Four?" she asks incredulously, laughing a little. "Like the number?"
"Yes," he responds shortly.
"What happened to one through three?" A smirk makes its way to my lips, but I quickly hide it as Four steps towards her.
His eyes narrow and he just stares at her for a minute. The sudden stillness is eerie.
"What's your name?" he asks quietly.
For some reason, his quiet voice seems to disturb her more than anything else he's done so far. Her voice comes out in a squeak. "Christina."
"Well, Christina, the first lesson you get to learn is to keep your mouth shut."
She nods quickly, and before I can blink, he's turned and leading us down a hallway. "This is the Pit," he calls behind him.
He's explaining what it is, but I'm not really paying attention. I'm already too awed by the view in front of me. The "Pit" is aptly named. We've entered a massive cavern in the ground. It seems to be the center of the social life here at Dauntless, as there are members of all ages milling around, laughing, running, joking, and doing generally whatever they want. The walkways are natural formations of the rock – uneven and nonuniform – with no railings to keep you from falling off.
I can't wait to climb these walls.
The next place he leads us to is called the Chasm – a breathtaking waterfall. Several of us make our way to the edge to look down, but I notice Four stays back near the wall. He lives here so he's seen this a million times – he's just letting all the new initiates take a look. He gives out a warning to not jump – that several Dauntless have done so, either due to a dare or alcohol, and they did not survive.
We finally arrive at what appears to be a dining hall. Immediately upon our arrival, all the occupants stand, clapping loudly and cheering.
I am finally home.
Christina and I wander around the dining hall looking for empty seats. We finally find an opening next to Four. I give her a hesitant glance, but she shrugs. There's no room anywhere else, so we might as well.
As we sit down, I realize this is the first challenge my mother didn't prepare me for – Dauntless food. The centers of the tables are filled with platters of food I've never seen before. I'm not sure what to do. I don't know what any of this is.
I recognize the rolls – at least bread I'm familiar with – and grab one. For now, I settle for that and eat it quietly. I feel myself being watched and notice Four staring at me from the corner of my eye. I turn to him and meet his eyes, daring him to say something.
Something akin to a smirk graces his lips, and he points to the plate filled with round piece of meat between slices of some kind of bread.
"It's beef," he says quietly, leaning close to me. "Put some of that red sauce there on it."
Shit, am I that obvious? I'm failing already. I glance around quickly, but none of the others heard him.
Hesitantly, I reach forward and grab the meat, pouring some of the red sauce on it as he instructed. It feels like it takes forever for me to take a bit, but my eyes widen in surprise once I do.
This tastes amazing. Damn Abnegation for not allowing this. As I'm devouring my beef, the blonde man – Eric – appears at our table. He drops into the seat across from Four, eyes going back and forth between him and us.
"Are you going to introduce me to your new friends, Four?" he asks, nodding towards me and Christina.
"Tris and Christina," he replies shortly, indicating to each of us with his fork as he introduced us. For whatever reason, Eric's eyes lock onto me. I feel the urge to squirm in my seat, but I won't let him phase me.
"Transfers," he observes. And then, directed specifically at me, "You're tiny. Let's see how long you last."
I want to argue with him. I want to insist that I'll be the best damn initiate they have. But I know that I can't. I can't stand out, so I say nothing and move my eyes back to my food in front of me, ignoring him. He probably reads it as nervousness, but I'll take it.
Keeping my eyes averted, I listen to their conversation. Eric is telling Four that Max is looking for him, but Four doesn't seem concerned. He says something about not being interested in a job. The way Eric's tone changes indicates some kind of stress about Four being offered the job, but he accepts what Four said and seems almost relieved. Without so much as a goodbye, he stands back up and leaves.
"You have interesting friends," I say suddenly before I can hold it in.
He says nothing until I look back up at him. The look on his face indicates "friend" is not a word he would use to describe Eric.
"We were initiates together," he explains. "He transferred from Erudite."
That's interesting. I perk up. "So, were you a transfer too?"
I didn't expect the way his face hardened at my question. "Why do you both think you can talk to me?" he asks coldly.
"It must be because you're so approachable," I say flatly. "Like a bed of nails."
Christina lets out a scoff. One of the boys sitting across from us – another transfer initiate – snorts water out of his nose.
He's staring at me, but I'm staring back. It's like the aptitude test – looking away is an act of submission. I'm Dauntless now. I cannot show submission.
He finally breaks his gaze when someone down the table calls his name. He blinks at the interruption, but before turning to said person, his voice is quiet as he just says "Careful Tris."
It takes me a moment to turn back to Christina, but when I do, her and the two boys across from us are staring at me.
"What?" I ask defensively.
"I'm developing a theory," she muses, shoving another bite of food into her mouth.
"Which is?" I push, trying to draw it out of her.
"That you have a death wish."
All four of us laugh.
As dinner comes to an end, Eric begins rounding up the transfers. I didn't even notice where Four had disappeared to. He leads us to a dormitory where there are ten beds.
He goes on to explain the living situation while we're initiates. Some people seem scandalized about same sex dorms, but that is something I expected. He tells us our schedule, and then I all but roll my eyes as several other initiates break out in scandalized whispers as Eric explains the ranking system.
There are 20 initiates total – 9 of us are transfers. Of that 20, only 10 will make it into Dauntless. 50/50 odds aren't the best, but I'll take it.
I find it nearly impossible to fall asleep the first night. Although I knew what the sleeping arrangements would be, the paranoia my mother instilled in me does not pair well with sleeping in a room with 8 strangers. I've always had my own room and I'm afraid to close my eyes here.
And then, of course, there's the boy that is crying. Once my eyes have adjusted to the dark, I see the boy that had introduced himself to Christina and I as Al. I'm embarrassed for him – nothing bad has even happened yet. Why is he crying?
