Soulmates

Chapter 2: The Choice

A/N: The first half of this story is somewhat cannon timeline, but I rearranged a few things to fit the different story I’m telling. Enjoy!

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“Caleb Prior.”

Marcus Eaton, head leader of the Abnegation Council and host of this year’s Choosing Ceremony calls Beatrice’s brother. Caleb steps forward. He is confident, sure of his choice. He will choose Erudite, and no one will be surprised. Caleb has always been brilliant and curious. His left forearm sports bold blue writing that says, “Pass me a clean test tube.” Caleb never had to question his future.

Beatrice watches her brother walk to the front of the room, slice his hand, and drip his blood into the Erudite bowl. She could follow him. One of her soulmarks is blue, after all, and she’s a good student. But she knows she wouldn’t be happy in Erudite. 

“Beatrice Prior,” Marcus calls.

She steps forward and takes her place in the middle of the choosing bowls. Marcus hands her a clean knife, and it shakes as she slices into her palm. For a moment she lets the blood collect in her hand as she looks at the bowls. Dismissing the earth of Amity and the glass of Candor, Beatrice concentrates on the stones of Abnegation and the words “What’s your name?” She briefly considers the water of Erudite. She looks into the glowing coals of Dauntless and thinks of the other mark, “Welcome to Dauntless.”

Beatrice thrusts her hand over the bowl and lets her blood drip.

It sizzles.

“Dauntless!” announces Marcus, causing the group of rowdy, black-clad Dauntless to erupt in cheers. Beatrice lets out a shaky breath and moves to join them.

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Dauntless initiation begins the minute the Choosing Ceremony ends. Beatrice finds herself tested as soon as they leave, when the Dauntless run to the train station, climb the elevated platform, and jump onto the moving train. She makes it onto the train then tries desperately to catch her breath as they roll through the city.

“Welcome to Dauntless!” says a sarcastic voice. Beatrice’s head snaps up at the sound of her soulmark words, but the speaker is a Candor girl. “What’s your name?” the Candor asks.

Beatrice shakes her head hearing her other words. Thankfully her marks aren’t the black and white of Candor. “I’m Beatrice,” she says to the Candor girl.

“Christina,” says the Candor.

“I’m Will,” says an Erudite boy. Beatrice is relieved that he doesn’t speak her soulmark words. Not that he’s bad looking or anything, but in her nervous state she doesn’t know what she would do if he did say it.

“Did you just say…” Christina sounds completely freaked out, and Beatrice turns to see her new friend go pale.

“Oh my god,” says the Erudite boy, Will.

Beatrice and the other initiates in the train car look back and forth between the two as they stare at one another. After a minute, Will lifts his shirt to reveal the black and white words, “Did you just say…” on his ribcage.

Everyone turns to stare at Christina, and the girl lifts her shirt a little to reveal the blue words on her ribcage. “I’m Will,” it says.

The two soulmates stare at one another for a few minutes. “I’m Christina,” the Candor girl says, offering her hand.

“I’m Will,” the boy replies, “but you know that already.”

“I’ve known that all my life,” Christina replies, and they laugh nervously.

A big Candor boy standing near the open door of the train car interrupts the meeting. “Um, guys? Everyone’s jumping onto a roof up there.”

The initiates clamber to look out the door, and sure enough, people near the front of the train are jumping out. Beatrice and the other initiates in their car back up to get a running start, then leap out of the train when they reach the roof.

Beatrice lands hard, tumbling forward onto her knees on the gravel. She jumps to her feet, brushing off sand and pebbles. The group appears to be assembling at the far end of the roof where the most Dauntless man Beatrice has ever seen stands on the roof ledge. He’s large, both in height and in his muscular frame. His blonde hair is shaved on the sides and longer on top, slicked back with some kind of hair product. Elaborate tattoos cover the forearms exposed by his skin-tight black t-shirt, and creep up his neck, as well. He has multiple piercings in his ears and face, and the tight shirt fails to hide the rings in his nipples. Tris blushes. She’s never seen a man shirtless before, not even her father or Caleb, yet this man’s shirt does nothing to hide his form.

“Welcome to Dauntless,” the man calls, his grey eyes locking with Beatrice’s blue-grey. “My name is Eric, and I am one of the leaders of Dauntless. The entrance to the compound is several stories that way.” He points off the building into the void. “Now, who’s first?”

First? They expect us to jump? Beatrice panics internally. An Erudite transfer asks Eric what’s down there, but he just rolls his eyes and refuses to answer.

A surge of bravery bubbles up in Beatrice and she steps toward the intimidating leader. “Me,” she says.

Both of Eric’s brows raise in shock. Taking that as a challenge, Beatrice steps forward, yanking off her shapeless grey tunic and leaving her in just her loose-fitting grey pants and matching t-shirt.

“Yeah, Stiff, take it off,” jeers a Candor boy. “Never mind, put it back on.”

The boy and his little group of friends laugh, and Beatrice wads up her Abnegation tunic and throws it at him. She steps up onto the ledge beside Eric. “Today, Initiate,” he growls, clearly pissed about something.

She looks down into the hole and jumps. For a minute all she feels is a rush of wind and the freedom of falling. Then she hits a net and bounces a little. A laugh bubbles up, and she takes a second to catch her breath as relief washes over her. One side of the net dips, causing her to roll that direction. Hands reach out for her, and she grabs the nearest one. It’s large, warm, and strong. Beatrice gets her feet under her and looks up at the man who pulled her from the net. 

“What’s your name?” he asks. Beatrice startles at the too-familiar phrase.

“Um,” she stammers. The man’s eyes get big before he shakes his head at her.

“Is it a hard one?” he asks. “You can change it, but you only get to pick once, so make it good.”

“Tris,” she says, choosing a childhood nickname infinitely better than the Abnegation grandmotherly name her parents gave her. “My name is Tris.”

“Call it, Lauren,” says the man, practically pushing her at a Dauntless woman with long blonde hair.

“First jumper, Tris!” Lauren calls. From the darkness around her, Tris hears the stomping and cheering of her new faction.