Charles Beckendorf tells us to just call him by his surname. Then he leads Percy and me back to the train and we jump off after a few minutes of traveling.
We enter the extremely tall Hancock building and get into an elevator with some other dauntless. Someone presses button 100.
It turns out Beckendorf is actually seventeen (same as Tori and Amar) - Clarisse asked him to sneak out and join their team.
"She's a dirty cheat," I say with venom.
"True, but she's smart and very brave. The two can make a formidable enemy; you don't want Clarisse on your bad side." he says.
"Too late for that," Percy tells him.
Beckendorf laughs, a deep, rich sound.
Suddenly there's a ping and the doors open. We pile out to find a ladder leading up to open sky, which is getting lighter by the minute. We climb the ladder, Percy last just behind me.
A zip wire is set up that disappears down through the buildings. The marsh is visible in the early morning light, and I wonder what it was like when it was filled with water.
The dauntless are already lined up and one by one get into a sling and whoosh down the wire.
Normally I'm not bothered about heights. Being in some fabric and attached to a wire with only a rope knot and a pulley, a hundred floors up is different. I get into the sling headfirst, putting on my bravest face. I look back at Percy; he looks about as worried as I feel. Our eyes meet and can feel my cheeks heating up. I turn back to look at the weakly lit zip-line.
"Ready?" Beckendorf asks.
"As I'll ever be," I reply with a trace of humour.
"Three, two, one, GO!" He says and pushes my sling forward - not that I needed that extra speed.
I'm already racing down the zip-line at what feels like a thousand miles and hour. I can't open my mouth to scream or laugh without getting a mouthful of the wind that buffets my face and hair.
That said, I'm loving every second of this top-speed journey. My eyes are watering and I can barely see, but the glimpses of the just-awoken city are beautiful.
I throw my arms wide as if I'm flying. This is madness, suicidal even, but I love it.
Then I realise the wire is levelling out, however my speed barely slows. I can see the group of people in black in the distance. They're cheering and punching the air but I can barely hear them. I try to cry out with joy again, but the wind stops me.
I'm starting to slow down now: soaring parallel to the ground and toward the group of dauntless who've already taken this journey.
Finally I'm going slow enough to brush my hair that's fallen into my face away; my loose ponytail came out on the way down. The people below me crowd together underneath me and create a net of arms. They grab each other's hands as I turn to undo my clasp that's keeping me from falling.
If I am to drop, I have to completely trust these people.
I hit the net of limbs fairly hard - twenty feet is still quite a drop, even after the zip-line, but they still manage to lower me to the ground carefully.
"Well?" One girl asks. "What'd ya think?"
"Do we get a second go?" I say with a wide smile. As I look around the group, I notice how windswept we all look. I can still feel the exhilaration in me, but it's fading.
Then a terrified scream fills the air. I look up to that Percy is coming down the wire at about a hundred miles and hour. He slows to a stop, a huge grin on his face. I join the ever-growing arm net to break his fall.
Percy's head lands right by mine (I'm one of the shorter people in the group) and his hair brushes my chin. He looks at me upside down and says, "That was so awesome."
I can only nod in agreement. When he's back on his feet, we all join together again to catch Beckendorf. Somehow, perhaps it was coincidence, or just meant to be, my hands find Percy's. Our eyes meet just as Beckendorf drops into the circle.
After a short train-ride back to the compound, Percy and I flop into our bunks with the rest of our fellow initiates who are already asleep - we'll get our rankings at the end of the day, so I want as much sleep as possible.
***
My hands are shaking. I don't really know why I'm so nervous - it's just the ranks. But then again, the lowest four rankers (transfers and Dauntless-borns) get cut. I hope Percy stays in. I hope we both do.
All the transfers stand in the training room in a semi-circle around the covered blackboard. Tori enters the room and uncovers the rankings.
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Blue Cake (Percabeth fanfic) (Percy Jackson fanfiction)
FanfictionAnnabeth Chase transferred from Erudite to Dauntless, and now she faces a new life that's tough but free. A boy from Candor is the only one who seems to care about her, and the Dauntless born bullies aren't making social life easy. Dare she tell any...
