LYANNA

TWELVE

Lyanna stood up and patted Eric's shoulder teasingly, giving him a small smile and wink, "I would've gladly held your hand, he was the one that needed a small push, if I hadn't all but grabbed his hand, we wouldn't have him here on the roof with us." she told him, exaggerating a bit things so that the Leader's son wouldn't be so embarrassed.

Eric looked at her and raised a brow, almost challenging her, even if he knew that most things that came out of Lyanna's mouth were Candor things, true things, nothing but true things. Although he suspected that soon enough that would change given the Faction they chose.

"How Candor of you Lyanna." he teases her but smiles in true appreciation, Lyanna smiles back at him and before looking around for the girl that she'd quickly decided was her best friend, finding her talking to the two girls that they'd mentioned in the train to Malachai.

"Come on Eaton, you're are still alive." Zeke grunted as he pulled Tobias up onto his feet, helping the man stable on his feet, not missing how he winced in clear pain and fixed his loose Abnegation shirt.

Zeke wasn't the only one, Eric and Lyanna also noticed it, but like before, they didn't mention anything. Everyone was leaving something behind if they were changing Factions, if it was their Test result or not, if it was their free-will choice or not and it was also their choice to share with someone else the reason behind the change.

"Welcome to Dauntless!" Amar shouts, startling everyone that wasn't paying attention to him. "Where you either face your fears and try not to die in the process, or you leave a coward. We've got a record low of faction transfers this year, unsurprisingly."

The Dauntless around the roof punch the air and whoop, bearing the fact that no one wants to join them as a banner of pride, Zeke and Shauna included, although Eric, Tobias and Lyanna did transfer.

"The only way to get into the Dauntless compound from this rooftop is to jump off this ledge," Amar says, opening his arms wide to indicate the empty space around him. He tilts back on his heels and waves his arms around, like he's about to fall, then catches himself and grins.

Everyone, even the Dauntlessborns held their breaths, indicating that they truly had no idea how the Initiates entered the Dauntless Compound for the first time, and slightly fearing for their Leader, even if they knew that he was skilled at what he did.

"Jumping, again?" Tobias muttered under his breath, his face contorting into one that Lyanna and Eric had seen on Tobias's father's face several times during Council meetings. The face of pure annoyance and displeasure, or as every other Faction called it Leader Eaton's grumpy face, considering as he was seen wearing it most of the time.

The trio with him could only look at his face for a moment before they looked away, they couldn't bear to look at th look on his face without starting to laugh, every faction mocked the Leader Eaton's grumpy face and it had become a habit for them to laugh whenever he made it, so seeing Tobias make it was hilarious for them.

"As usual, I offer the opportunity to go first to our initiates, Dauntless-born or not." He hops down from the ledge and gestures to it, eyebrows raised. Everyone with eyes on their face had to agree unanimously that Amar was quite easy on the eyes, he was three years older than the current initiates and that made him quite relatable to some of them.

The cluster of young Dauntless on the roof, exchanged looks. No one really wanted to go first, no one dared, not even the oh so brave Dauntless-born's. Amar couldn't blame them, it had taken his group of initiates to gather the courage and have someone step up to go first.

Until Zeke clears his throat and starts making his way forward towards Amar and the ledge, putting on a facade and saying in a cocky tone "I volunteer as tribute to be your willing sacrifice." His voice was steady, which was shocking considering the fact that everyone knew that no one knew what was at the bottom of the ledge, if there was anything to catch them or what that thing was.

"Go, Zeke!" one of the girls shouts, a Dauntless-born no doubt by the cheer and belief in her tone.

"I've got to hand it to him, he's got balls of steel to offer to be the first." Lyanna confessed to the two boys that were standing beside her watching as their new friend walked to his possible death.

Zeke hops onto the ledge but misjudges the jump and tips forward right away, losing his balance. He yells something unintelligible and disappears. Lyanna instantly gasps, covering her mouth with one hand, but Zeke's Dauntless friends, Shauna included, burst into laughter. I don't think that was the dramatic, heroic moment he had in mind.

Amar, grinning, gestures to the ledge again. The Dauntless-borns line up behind it, but at the front of the line are the Amity transfer twins, wicked smiles on their lips, almost as if they had been waiting for this moment their whole lives.

Tobias is the first one to step forward, surprisingly, followed by Eric while Lyanna stood in her spot looking at the location where everyone was lining behind to jump down through. Her mind was racing and she knew that she had to do it, especially if Tobias was already walking in that direction, but at the same time, the fact that everyone was doing it so willingly and without a question made her question everyone's mental state in that moment.

She shook her head and lowly cursed as she knew that she shouldn't be questioning things, she wasn't in Erudite to question things or to seek knowledge about things, she was in Dauntless where was was about to be initiated into the way of life of becoming a walkingkilling machine that protected the city.

"Does Judge Jnr. not want to jump?" Malachai's voice taunted, making Lyanna exhale as she felt the creepy presence behind her. "Is she too scared to jump off a ledge?" he continued, his voice arrogant and mean, silently telling Lyanna that this was his revenge, or possibly the begin of, for her humiliating him on the train.

 Amar looked at his watch and cues each jumper at thirty-second intervals and the line was shrinking, dissolving. Tobias seemed to be too focused on the thought of having to jump to notice Malachai antagonising Lyanna and Eric seemed to be thinking of either the past or the future judging by the look on his face.

"I'm taking in the view, it's a pretty one. I'm also waiting till there is no one up here so I can push you off this roof and spare Dauntless one more pigheaded arsehole." Lyanna replied, turning her head to the side and gave a sweet yet fake smile, her eyes never leaving the line.

She watched as Tobias stepped onto the ledge, shaking like the last leaf on the treebranch on a rainstorm, but he did jump, making Lyanna's heart swell with pride for him.

Eric was next, he didn't shake like Tobias did, but he did appear to mutter something under his breath before looking up to the sky, saying a prayer perhaps. An ilogical thing for an Erudite thing for and Erudite-born to do, but there was a reason he was a transfer.

"Come on you two, we don't have all eternity." Amar called for them, looking suspiciously at the two of them, although the suspicious look changed to recognition when he saw Lyanna walk closer to him making him nod his head at her in a polite manner.

Lyanna returned the gesture and stepped onto the ledge, breathing in as slow as she could so that she could get as much air in her lungs as she could. But before she could jump on her own accord, or signal her brain to make her limbs jump, she felt two hands touch her back briefly, almost as if it was a figment of her immagination before a brute force forced her off the ledge with air stuck in her throat preventing her from screaming.