Infallible

Chapter 1

The wind blew energetically, mirroring the way Auraelia felt. Heart pounding and ears pulsing with the bustle of hollering voices and running feet, she followed the members of her new faction out of the Hub, where the Choosing Ceremony had just taken place.

She smiled as she saw the train approaching. Having watched the Dauntless board the train many times through the years, she was only slightly nervous. Nothing, however, could spoil her elation at this moment. She was free.

Auraelia was among the first to follow the Dauntless members on to the train. She grabbed the handle and easily swung her tiny self up in to the car. Years of climbing (and falling out of) Amity trees had come in handy. She watched as the city slowly shrunk, disappearing from view. Turning, she brushed shoulders with a girl dressed in blue...Erudite.

"Hi." The girl smiled, holding out her hand. "I'm Deidra."

"Rae."

Auraelia was a little surprised at her unplanned response. Rae is what her mother used to call her, back when she was alive. Before she died, leaving Auraelia in the wake of her father's hostility. Her father was the one to break the news of her mother's death. She had been in bad health for some time. One afternoon, she collapsed while working beyond the fence in the outer Amity fields. She never woke up, and he didn't deliver the news delicately.

Shaken from her thoughts by a small laugh, she looked over at Deidra.

"I wonder if the cake is as good as the rumors say." She giggled.

"I hope so," replied Rae. "That's basically the only reason I chose this faction." She winked, and they laughed together.

***

"Here we go! Time to jump!" They heard someone shout, about a half hour later. Rae and Deidra turned to the door of the train car just in time to see two members of Dauntless take a running leap and sail out the door, one after the other. They looked at each other in shock.

"Shit." Said Rae.

"Yeah... together then?" Asked Deidra as the two other initiates besides themselves threw themselves from the train. Rae nodded in agreement, grabbing hold of Deidra's outstretched hand. They steadied themselves, and as Rae yelled, "Ready? GO!" they leaped.

There was a moment of weightlessness as they flew through the air, and then a jolting crash as they landed on the gravel rooftop.

"Owww, damn!" Deidra groaned. They got to their feet, laughing slightly and trying to catch their breath.

"Initiates! Front and center." They heard a deep voice carry over the din of the initiates' chatter. The initiates turned, and gathered toward the two Dauntless members that were standing on the ledge of the rooftop. One was a woman with many piercings, and long brown dreadlocks. The other was a tall man with tattoos covering his impressively muscular forearms, and traveling up the sides of his neck. Rae studied his pierced face a moment, taken aback at how good looking he was despite the icy cold stare in his blue eyes. Blue eyes that happened to be glaring straight at her. She realized she must look like an idiot gawking at him like that. She quickly averted her gaze as he continued,

"My name is Eric, this is Lauren. I am one of the 4 leaders of this faction, and I will also be keeping an eye on your training during initiation." His eyes swept the crowd of initiates, as though he was sizing them up.

"This here, is the initiates entrance to the Dauntless compound." He said, gesturing over the ledge. "Who's first?" He was looking around expectantly, and added, "I don't have all day."

He turned his back slightly, and Rae felt a dull pressure on her back as an Erudite boy standing behind her shoved her forward. She glared back at him as she steadied herself, just barely managing not to fall. She looked up to see Eric's smirking face towering above her small frame.