《︎𝘈𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘎𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘯》︎
I'm pulled out of my sleeping trance by Four banging on a railing and flipping on the lights. Yep, definitely feel right at home. We sit up and look at him. "I want everyone in The Pit. Two minutes." He turns and leaves.
He really thinks that I'll be ready in two minutes? He's hilarious. I stuff my face in my pillow and groan. "Need an extra push, Ghost?" I hear Peter above me. I shrug my shoulders, keeping my face pressed in the pillow. Next thing I know I feel my bed tilt making me splat onto the concrete ground.
"Ow!" I exclaim. I look up to Peter.
He drops my bed. "You're welcome." He smiles smugly before turning to change his shirt. I slowly stand and change my clothes as well. We all then head to the pit to meet Four.
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"There are two stages of training. The first is physical. Push your bodies to the breaking point and you'll master the methods of combat. The second is mental. Again, breaking point. You'll face your worst fears and conquer them unless they get you first. You'll be trained separately from the Dauntless-born, but you'll be ranked together. After initiations, rankings will determine what jobs you move into. Leadership, guarding the fence, or keeping the Factionless from killing each other." Four looks to Eric.
"The rankings will also determine who gets cut."
"Cut?" Christina asks.
"At the end of each stage of training, the lowest-ranking Initiates will be leaving us." Eric explained.
"To do what?" A brown haired boy asks.
"There's no going home to your families, so you'd live factionless." He shrugs.
"Why didn't we know that?" The same boy asks.
Eric shrugs. "It's a new rule."
"That would've been nice to know." I mumble.
"Why? Would you have chosen differently?" Eric questions me. He must have super sonic hearing or something. "I mean, if that's the case, you might as well get out now. If you're really one of us, it won't matter to you that you might fail. Now you chose us. Now we get to choose you."
********************************************
I growl as I continue to miss the target. I lower the gun in my hands. I glance over at Tris, the ex abnegation girl, who was also failing miserably at this.
"Statistically speaking, the both of you should have hit the target at least once by now. Even by accident." An ex erudite boy says.
"That was very encouraging..." I give him a questioning look.
He snickers to himself before holding a hand out. "Will." He smiles, giving his name. "You're welcome..."
I nod. "Aria."
"This is bad. I can't even shoot a non moving target." Tris mumbles.
"You'll get the hang of it eventually." Will reassures her.
"Unless you get cut before you're given the chance to prove yourself." I add. They turn and give me a look of disbelief. "Too Candor?" I ask. They nod.
The leaders blow a whistle. We drop our guns and head towards them. "We're Dauntless remember? Get a filter." Peter bumps my shoulder as he quotes me. I roll my eyes and don't bother responding. The leaders lead us to our next step of training. I am so tired of running. I can see Max and a few others up ahead, we slow down.
"Hey. What have you got?" Four asks.
"Factionless. Not doing anything." I look out to see all the unfortunate beings. I hope I don't join them.
"Check it out, stiff. That's gonna be your new family. Go say "Hi." Peter teases Tris.
Jerk.
********************************************
"First jumper!" I whip my head up, turning my attention away from my training. "In the ring. Last jumper! Time to fight." Tris and Molly get in the ring. This should be good.
"How long do we fight for?" Molly asks
"Till one of you can't continue." Eric says
"Or one of you concedes." Four adds.
"According to the old rules. New rules, no one concedes." Eric says smugly.
Four licks his teeth and turns to him."You really want to lose 'em on their first fight?"
"A brave man never surrenders."
"Lucky for you, those weren't the rules when we fought." Four says. I hold back a laugh.
Eric rolls his eyes. "You'll be scored on this, so fight hard." They get in their stances. "Go!"
Molly looks determined. Tris looks... terrified. They prance around the platform, no one's made a move. Tris ends up off the mat, looking to everyone but Molly.
"Don't be scared, stiff!" Peter says. He leans over to me and whispers. "Who do you think will win? Be honest."
I shiver, feeling his breath down my neck. "Molly. Tris is too intimidated. It's making her look and act weak." I answer honestly.
He nods. We turn our attention back to the fight. Tris throws a punch but misses. Molly throws a punch and hits her right in the jaw. Tris holds her face, Molly continues to knock her down. Tris ends up on the floor. Eric looks to Molly and nods. She punches Tris one last time.
I wince. "Told ya." I whisper to Peter.
"Oh I'm sorry want a reward?" He asks smugly.
I roll my eyes. "Not from you."
I walk over and give Tris a hand. "I was rooting for ya, Tris." I grunt as I lead her to a bench.
"No you weren't. I heard you and Peter." She muttered, her words laced with hatred.
"I didn't say anything that wasn't true. If you're gonna make it here you need to grow a pair." I toss an ice pack to her before walking off.
"Listen up." Eric calls out. We head towards him, he's stood beside a board. "Know what this board is?" No one answers. "It's your life. We grade you every day. If you're still in the red by the end of the first stage, you're out." I look to the chart. I'm twenty one. Just above the red.
"All right. You're done for the day. You can head off and do your own thing for now." Four calls out. I'm gonna take a shower. I made my way to our room. I feel a tug on my shoulder. I take a look and see Peter. Of course.
"Congrats, you made it Ghost." He cheers, I'm positive he's being sarcastic.
"Barely." I mumble.
"I'm surprised too. I figured they'd just look over you like everyone else does." Yep, sarcasm.
"Haha. Good one." I roll my eyes and head back to our room.
********************************************
Being able to wash away all the oil and sweat on my skin felt amazing. Even though I constantly feel like I'm being watched. The only ones in the room are Will, Christina, Al, and Tris. They seem trustable. I definitely don't think they'll be looking.
"I'm never gonna make it." Tris sighs.
"Yes, you are." Christina says.
"I'm the weakest one here."
"Then you'll be most improved." She tries to reassure her.
"You're Candor. You're not supposed to lie." Tris groans.
"I was Candor. And I'm not lying."
"If they cut me, I think my parents would take me back." Al pipes in. I peak around the only wall separating us.
"Doesn't work like that. Even if they wanted to, their faction wouldn't allow it." I shrug.
"Please go back to showering, I'm uncomfortable." Will covers his eyes. I roll my eyes and go back to the water.
"Even if my parents would take me back, I wouldn't belong there anymore." Tris mumbled.
"This is getting depressing." Christina laughs. "You know what we should do? Get tattoos."
"Yes! That would be awesome." Will cheers. I hear movement. Christina pops in making me slap my hands over my parts.
"Dude!" I screech.
She snorts. "Nothing I haven't seen before. You're more than welcome to join us, Aria."
I nod. "I'll be down in a bit, Chris." She nods her eyes trailing to my neck.
"Are those-"
"It's from training." I reassured her. She nods and they head out.
I try to finish up my shower in peace. I hear footsteps making me panic a bit. I quickly rinse off and run to grab a towel.
"Rub a dub dub. Someone's been using the tub." You've gotta be kidding me. I quickly wrap the towel around myself, right as Peter walks into the bathroom. "Woah! Looks like I missed the show." He jokes, looking me up and down. I look down and keep a death grip on my towel. "Gotta say Ghost, I love the outfit. It's very you."
"Is this you f-flirting?" Of course I had to start stuttering now.
"If that helps you sleep at night." He smirks.
"C-Can you go? Please. I need to change." I dart my eyes around the room, avoiding his gaze."
"In that case, I think I'll stick around." He leans against the wall.
"Peter!" I whine. "I'm supposed to be invisible. Nothing to see here, remember?"
"No there's plenty to see. Your towel is open." He point to my legs making me fumble. "Ha! Made you look." He teases. I roll my eyes and glare at him. "You're cute when you're frustrated."
"I didn't ask for your opinion, you goblin." I spit. He's really starting to get on my nerves, must be why my face is so red.
"Oh is that so?" he quirks a brow at me. I keep a serious look on my face praying he'll just leave me alone already. He nods and walks away. I sigh in relief and walk towards my bed.
Oh no. My clothes.
"Looking for these?" I look up and see Peter in the hall holding my clothes up.
"Real mature." I sigh.
"You won't be needing these. You're invisible, remember?" He shrugs before walking down the hall.
"Peter! Please don't!" I yell. "I'll do anything!"
He stops dead in his tracks and heads back my way. "Anything?" I hesitantly nod. He nods and throws the clothes back at me. He starts to walk off.
"Are you not going to-"
"I'm saving it for later." He winks. "Get some clothes on. You're being very immodest right now." And with that he finally leaves.
Save it for later?
********************************************
I finally find the rest of my friends. They've all picked their tattoos. I decided to browse, I don't plan on getting one though. I'm pulled aside and led into another room by Tori.
"Tori, what are you doing?" I exclaim.
She shushes me. "You made a mistake choosing Dauntless. They'll find out about you..."
"What are you talking about? Who will?"
"The people you're a threat to." She whispers. I expressed to her that I didn't understand. "Society. If you don't fit into a category, they can't control you."
"I don't get it. I'm Dauntless. I chose Dauntless." I exclaim. She quickly gets up and leaves. What the heck just happened? Am I in danger?