dissident ｡ nct

7.3 ｡

—Part 7.3—
The Compound

"There is a difference between bravery and idiocy."
—Omniscient—

The sounds of voices boomed around the cavern, bouncing around the walls echoing throughout the halls. The crowd roared as the last jumper landed, bouncing on the net that had caught the rest. A deep voice cut through the air, a voice so distinct and filled with authority the room fell still. The attention fell on him and the other three males around him.

"Welcome to Dauntless. Now that you've all proven yourselves worthy of this faction, we can get started," projected the male, the command in his voice prevalent, "My name is Jaehyun, and this is Johnny. We are the head mentors that oversee everyone's training."

Johnny nods his head in acknowledgement before continuing, "we will be monitoring all of your training, but we will be mainly training the Dauntless borns. So, all Dauntless borns please follow us."

"I assume you all know your way around the compound," Jaehyun added, eliciting some laughs from the crowd, "so we'll just escort you to the pit to meet your family."

As the two mentors left the podium, the crowd dwindled down into a smaller size. The transfers looked up to the podium for guidance, the last two mentors watching as the black and red were drained away.

The taller male cleared his throat, "since all of you are the newbies here, we'll be giving you the general tour of the building," he looked towards the other male mentor beside him, "both of us are mentors as well, but we were assigned to train transfers like you all."

"I'm Renjun, by the way, and he's Haechan, which you should all already know," added the other, staring at Haechan with a stern look, "it wouldn't be fair that they don't know our names, Haechan-shi."

Haechan rolled his eyes, as Renjun held in a laugh, "anyways, let's get this tour going before we let it slip into dinner."

The two males jumped off the stage, the sound of their feet landing echoing around them.

"First off, we'll show you the pit," voiced Renjun, "it's the heart of dauntless where everything goes on."

"sounds anything but lively if it's named that," announced an erudite boy, the attention turning towards him.

"What's your name transfer?" Asked Renjun.

"Park Jisung, sir."

The two males glared at him, "know your place, glasses," retorted Haechan, "if I wanted to hear erudite psychobabble, I would've picked that faction."

Renjun sent the boy a stern look, "I suggest you keep your mouth shut, initiate," added the raven-haired male, pressing a couple buttons on the wall, "we here in dauntless enjoy punishing those who disrespect us."

The erudite boy paled, nodding vigorously, hiding behind an amity transfer as the pit came into view.

The pit definitely fits its name. It was a large cavern surrounded by jagged rocks like they had entered the centre of a mountain. Nothing about it seemed like a building in the middle of Seoul, except for the glass skylight that let in the sun, the sunset causing the cavern to glow a warm orange.

All the transfers let in a breath, the sight in front of them nothing they expected. The two mentors held in a laugh as they watched them gaze dumbfoundedly, "everything you would ever want is located here, from tattoos and piercings to just hanging out with your fellow initiates. All of it happens here," voiced Haechan, "but I'll leave you guys to explore that on your own time."

The mentors lead them to narrow paths along the wall as they made their way to the next location, the lights hanging near their feet, no railing in sight.

"Where we are going is called the Chasm, you'll hear it in a second," declared Renjun, "as you can see, we don't believe in railings, and unless you have an early death wish, watch where you're going."

Haechan let out a chuckle, "especially you, flower."

An abnegation girl let out a cough, shying away from the tanned male's gaze.

Renjun's face morphed into one of confusion, "flower? What are you on about?"

"You know who you are," he mentioned, projecting over the sound of running water.

The sound of rushing water came from the large waterfall that flanked the whole right side, a sudden drop of the path allowing the transfers to view the rocky rapids below. No one dared to approach it, except one.

The only other abnegation transfer looked down, a small laugh bubbling out of her mouth, "not that scary, I've seen worse."

Haechan cleared his throat, motioning for the girl to get back with the rest, "anyways, this chasm reminds us that there is a difference between bravery and idiocy. An idiot would jump into the cavern head first thinking they're saving someone, or I dare say, themselves."

Renjun hummed in agreement, "It has happened, and it will happen again. You've all been warned."

The air around the group grew cold, the reality of their choice sinking in. To some, this new sense of danger brought them excitement, but to others, it brought more fear into their bones.

Renjun scanned the room, sensing the increasing amount of tension. He glanced at Haechan giving him a nod, signalling that they should return back.

"That's it for the tour. The compound isn't that hard to navigate, so you'll pick it up eventually," Haechan interrupted, bringing the attention back to him and Renjun, "we'll bring you back to the pit to meet more of the Dauntless recruits."

As they made their way back, the impending weight of what they would have to go through laid heavy on all their shoulders. It was only the beginning, and the pressure was already as high as can be.