Mother's Daughter - Divergent

Chapter Four

A few more people choose their faction and then the ceremony comes to a close for this year. I take the band-aid from one of the Dauntless and cover up my wound. 

All of a sudden the Dauntless roar and make their way out of the ceremony first. As I leave, I look over my right shoulder and over to the Erudite. My mother looks at me and I see that she has no empathy. She has turned cold because she has been betrayed. I betrayed her. 

"C'mon initiate, we haven't got all day!" I hear someone shout from beside me.

***

My breathing laboured, I stand on the train tracks the Dauntless climbed. To which I followed them. I push my blond hair away from my eyes and in front of me stands Tobias. He smiles.

"You should take deep calm breaths. Would you like me to demonstrate?" He asks. I smile at him.

"As selfless as that is Mr Eaton, I will pass on your offer." He nods his head to my response and we stand next to each other right by the train tracks. Suddenly, I hear the trains horn sound and the train makes its way around the corner. The Dauntless begin to scream 'whoo!' and 'yay!'

"What are we supposed to do now? Like, how do we get on that thing?" He asks and I look at him all confused. But when I blink, I can tell he is serious and has no idea.

"The Dauntless jump on and off of moving trains. Follow me." And he does. We start running beside the moving train just like any of the other Dauntless. 

Tobias jumps on first from behind me, making me a little anxious. At this point, everyone is on the train, except for me. When I look over my left shoulder, I see that Tobias is half-in/half-out of the train cart and has his hand out. I slow down the pace of my running and quickly grab his hand and he pulls me in.

When he pulls me in, he gently sets me down on the floor against the wall. I nod my head to thank him and then he sits beside me whilst I control my breathing. This time, I allow him to demonstrate some deep breathes, which does end up helping and calming me. 

"Thanks for the help Mr.-" He cuts me off before I can finish.

"Call me Tobias." Okay, I'll call you by that. That's something I wouldn't be able to do back at home- at Erudite. 

"Thanks for the help, Tobias." He smiles and so do I.

Moments go by and I stare out the windows of the cart from the floor. I see the sun just rising completely and casting over Chicago. Here on the train, it feels new. It is new.

"I feel like I recognise you. Aren't you the daughter of the Erudite representative, Jeanine?" Tobias asks me. In a way, I feel like its nice to be notable.

"Yes, I'm Jen Matthews. But please, I'd prefer if you didn't mention that to anyone." He nods. I'm not entirely sure I want to remembered as Jeanine's daughter. Especially with the way she is towards the Abnegation.

"I'm guessing you know my father so, please don't tell anyone either." I nod back. I respect that.

***

"Hey! Get ready you two!" One of the Dauntless demand. Me and Tobias rise to our feet instantly.

I look out the train door and see old factories and warehouses that make up the Dauntless compound, so I have read. I don't know if it has settled in yet that this is my new home, my new faction and it is not Erudite. 

All of a sudden the Dauntless one by one begins jumping off of the train down onto the building. You have got to be kidding me. Dauntless are crazy.

"Tobias, we have to jump." I say. He looks out the door at the same sight I am witnessing and he soon turns pale. 

"Don't worry, run up and just jump, it will be fine. Do you want me to do the honours?" He shakes his head and the next thing I know he is running up and jumping out of the train. Luckily, he lands on the roof. 

The train is moving fast so I hurry up with my decision. I stand at the other side of the cart. One. Two. Three. I jump. 

My body collides with solid ground and gravel. Pain courses through my shoulder as I pick off the gravel pieces from my Erudite coat. I'll assess the wound properly when I have the time. Right now, I'm more curious about how Tobias is and why we are stood on top of this roof. 

Tobias is stood at the other end of the roof so I casually run over there. 

When I get there, I remove the gravel from my blond hair too and brush it away from my face. Tobias is stood a few feet away from me and he is sorting out his grey Abnegation slacks that are torn and ultimately ruined.

"Those of you that made it on the train have made one step into Dauntless." Max says.

"My name is Max and I'm one of the leaders here. If you want to officially enter Dauntless, you will need to Jump from this building." Jump from a building? We have only just jumped!

My mind trails off. If I jump from this building, will there be something at the bottom to stop me from dying? There is so much risk, should I take these risks?

Looking over at Tobias, he is stood caring for his wound whilst everyone else twidles with their thumbs, even the Dauntless-born. I take a deep breath.

"I'll go first." I didn't even properly consider what I am about to do, I just signed up for it. Great. 

Max first gives me a look of surprise but he soon nods and steps down from the ledge. Walking through everyone, Tobias whispers 'good luck' inside my ear. It makes me feel powerful and I have no idea why exactly.

Being cautious, I step up onto the ledge and easily maintain my balance. When I take a look down I see a hole that seems to be completely back inside. What if this turns out to cause my death? But if I don't do this, the Dauntless will see it as an act of cowardice.

I jump, falling freely against the wind.