Instincts - MCYT/Hermitcraft Divergent AU

Chapter 7 - Pearl

"Follow me," the brunet ordered, turning and striding away, down a hallway of roughly carved stone. Pearl moved to follow him, falling into step between Scott and the blond Dauntless-born. Scott glanced at her and raised an eyebrow.

"You are the definition of prideful," she hissed at him.

"I know."

"You were literally just trying to impress those boys."

"Maybe I was." Pearl was about to say more, but they were interrupted by Martyn, who had moved to walk on the other side of Scott.

"Pearl, Scott, it's good to see you again!"

"You too, Martyn!" Pearl grinned at him. Martyn, a year older than Scott and Pearl, had been close with them and the others in their year. It was good to see his face.

"I'm really not surprised you were the first jumper," Martyn teased Scott lightly. "You have a habit of doing seemingly stupid things." Scott smirked, looking far too pleased with himself.

They were approaching the end of the hallway, so Martyn pulled away, moving to the front to stand with the brunet.

"For those of you who don't know us, my name is Joey, and this is Martyn," the brunet began. "We are going to be your mentors for the next few weeks. We'll explain more later, but for now, Dauntless-borns, come with me. I hope you don't need a tour of the place." He waved his hand as he walked off, and the three Dauntless-borns followed him.

"The rest of you, follow me." Martyn turned on his heel and pushed the doors open. Pearl felt her jaw drop.

"Welcome to the Pit." Martyn smiled at their awestruck faces. "The Pit" was a large- well, pit made of dark stone. The walls were roughly cut, and the walkways had no railings as they stretched up the walls, all the way up to the glass building that topped it. Orange sunlight shone through, signaling that the sun was setting. Blue lanterns hung from ledges, their light growing stronger as the natural lights faded. At the far side of the Pit, a metal barrier rose. Martyn led the way over to it. As they approached, the rumble of fast-moving water reached them. Pearl strained her ears, trying to figure out where it was. Then she reached the barrier and looked down. Scott pressed against her, his eyes wide. White water slammed against the bottom of the barrier, crashing over rocks.

"This is the chasm," Martyn yelled over the roar. "It is here to remind us that there is a fine line between bravery and idiocy. A daredevil jump off this ledge will end your life. It has happened before and will happen again. You have been warned." He stepped back and beckoned for them to follow him. He led them down another tunnel, this one much larger than the last. At the end, the tunnel opened up into a massive eating hall. Voices reached them as they approached, laughing and chattering. The Abnegation boy looked slightly overwhelmed as they walked in and the members stood up, cheering and clapping and stomping for them. Pearl grinned.

"Let's find some empty seats," she muttered to Scott, who nodded. Eventually, they found some, sitting with Martyn on the edge of the dining hall. The smaller Amity transfer sat at the same table, a little ways away. More than once during the meal, Pearl caught the boy's eyes on Scott. She ignored him, though, more focused on catching up with Martyn, who had transferred last year. It was good to talk to him again.

~~~

After dinner, Technoblade reappeared, with another man with him, and led the initiates to yet another dark, small tunnel, lit at sparse intervals with blue lanterns. Pearl, who had horrid night vision, found herself walking as closely to Scott as possible so that she wouldn't trip over the uneven ground. It helped. A little. They stopped at the end of the hall, which was blocked by a door.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Philza, and I am one of the leaders of Dauntless. Technoblade and I will be overseeing your training."

"This is where you will be sleeping these next few weeks. Normally, we split the Dauntless-borns and the transfers up, but as there are only nine of you, this year you will all be sharing this dorm," Technoblade told them. "Some ground rules. You are to be in the training room every morning at eight o'clock. Training is from eight to six, with a break for lunch. After six, what you do is your own business. You will also get some time off between each stage of initiation." Pearl opened her mouth to ask a question, then quickly shut it. She was slowly learning, but it would take a while for old habits to drop. Better to get a jump on it now.

"Yes, Miss Moon?" Pearl jumped, startled by both the fact that Phil had noticed her and that he already knew her name.

"How many stages are there?" She asked.

"Three. Your mentors will explain more tomorrow." Pearl nodded quickly, not wanting to interrupt anymore.

"Now, onto your training. Usually, in the first stage, the Dauntless-borns and the transfers are kept separate. However, since there are so few of you, you will be training together, with a few exceptions. The Dauntless-borns are better than you, on account of growing up here, but you will still be ranked together."

"Ranked?" Scott asked nervously.

"Yes, Mr. Smajor. Ranked. Your rankings serve two purposes- usually. First, they determine the order you will be selecting your positions after initiation. And second, in normal years, only the top ten initiates become members. Whether or not we lower that number for this year remains to be seen." There was a moment of silence after Philza's words. Pearl closed her eyes, her stomach roiling.

"What- what happens if we're cut?" The smaller Amity transfer was the first to speak.

"You become factionless." Technoblade's voice was cold and matter-of-fact.

And suddenly Pearl's odds, as the only female transfer, as one of the smallest initiates, just dropped.

Phil clapped his hands together.

"I'm sure you're all exhausted and ready to get some sleep, so off you go!" He opened the door, allowing the initiates to file in. The room was long and narrow, with a high ceiling. Two doors at the end of the room led to bathrooms. Bunk beds were carved into the walls, edged by drawers, with a bit of standing space in front and a curtain to draw for privacy to change or sleep. The other initiates quickly paired up, and Pearl found herself on the bottom bunk to the left of the door. Scott was on the top bunk. Across from them, the pretty blonde Dauntless-born was settled on the top bunk, her Abnegation buddy on the bottom. To Pearl's left, the Amity transfers. Across from them, the other two Dauntless-borns. The Erudite transfer had the set next to the Amity transfers to himself. As they settled in for the night, footsteps sounded on the other side of the door, and Martyn pushed it open. Pearl leaned forward, watching the blond as the others that had closed their curtains quickly pulled them open. Martyn waited until everyone was focused on him before he spoke.

"Transfers, I will meet you in the breakfast hall tomorrow at seven fifty. Dauntless-borns, you should know where the training rooms are. Joey will meet you there. I'll see you in the morning." With that, he turned and walked out. Pearl drew her curtain to change into the clothes provided, dropping her white tunic into an empty drawer. She kept her silky leggings and black tennis shoes, though. One of the perks of being Candor-born was that she could keep some of her old clothes. The black ones, at least. She pulled a black tank top on, called goodnight to Scott, and climbed into bed. The curtain blocked most of the light of the lanterns — which wouldn't go out for another ten minutes — so Pearl was left in semidarkness once she turned off the inner light. Which allowed her to go over her day in her head, a habit her parents had ingrained into her.

She'd only paid attention to her faction mates, her fellow Candor-borns, during the Choosing Ceremony. Hypno had gone first, the fourth dependant to choose, and they had chosen to remain in Candor. Then came Scott and Pearl, four dependents apart. Grian had gone after Pearl, also choosing to stay in Candor. Then came Bdubs, xB, and TFC. Pearl and Scott were the only ones to transfer. Then came the train ride- an absolute rush, in Pearl's opinion, and the jump. Pearl had jumped second to last, only before the smaller Amity transfer. Then the tour, dinner, catching up with Martyn, and the stomach-wrenching information that Pearl refused to dwell on because she didn't want to be sick.

The lights clicked off, the final initiates called their goodnights, and the dorm was quiet.