Initiate [ERIC/JAI]

4

Waking up to the sound of a pan banging against a metal railing wasn't the best experience. The noise nearly gave me an instant headache. My bed had been cold all night and I'd struggled to sleep, it was my first ever night away from Candor. My eyes open slowly, everything around me blurry. When my vision comes back, I see Four at the bottom of the stairs. He was the cause of the loud banging.

"Everyone in the pit in five minutes." I dragged myself out of bed and threw my clothes on quicker than ever before. I sprayed deodorant under my arms and went to the sink to brush my teeth. I was planning to only shower if I knew nobody was around here, that would be just too embarrassing. Apollo and I walked to the pit together. We made general chit-chat about our first day in training and what we thought it was going to be like.

When we arrived in the pit, Four and Eric were sat on a large slab of concrete talking to eachother. The other transfers followed in behind us. "There's two stages of training. Physical and mental, you'll be facing physical first. You'll be pushed to the breaking point of your bodies, same with mental- we'll get to see how well you respond to your fears." Four instructs. "We'll be ranking you throughout the training process, you'll train separately from the Dauntless born but ranked together. These ranks will determine what jobs you get at the end of training." He continues. Eric stands.

"The ranks will also tell us who's getting cut." My eyebrows raise, I look to Apollo. "At the end of each stage of training, those with the lowest ranks will be kicked out. You'll live factionless for the rest of your life." I look around at the transfers and everyone's faces have dropped.

This was crazy, picking a faction to then not even get in..

"Time to start your training." Eric chuckles and the both leaders turn and start walking away, we all follow close behind them. They lead us to a large open spaced room with fighting rings and different obstacles. There also looked to be knife throwing targets which I knew I was terrible at. "Five laps, go." Eric raised his hand in the direction we were to run. I looked to everyone else, shrugged my shoulders and started running. By the third lap, my legs started to strain. I wasn't used to running, I had no where to do it at Candor. I manage to keep myself going and finally finish my fifth lap.

"You'll be ranked on everything you do here at Dauntless including your first fight, first fight will be first and second jumper. Get in the ring and show us what you've got." Eric stares directly at me, I swallow hard. The only fight I'd ever been in ended in me getting beaten badly, and that was against my father.

I walk to the ring and eye up my opponent, he was a young looking lad. He had a built frame however. He looked as though he'd knock me out with one punch. "Fight." Eric called out. In a matter of seconds I was pinned down onto the floor and I couldn't remember how it happened. I looked to the side to see Eric laughing. My blood boiled, I pushed the guy off of me and got to my feet.

"Don't you dare laugh at me." I growl facing Eric, his face expressionless.

His face suddenly changed and a smile appeared, that's when I felt a fist connect to the back of my head, colliding with my skull.

And, I was knocked out.

                                                                                                *

Waking up in the emergency room wasn't what I'd planned would happen after my first fight, I'd thought I was stronger. My eyes peeled open to reveal Apollo sat in a chair beside me. His eyes were fixed on me. It took me a minute to figure out what he was looking at until I followed the path of his gaze, my arms. They were left bare, displaying all of my bruises and scars. Upon realising, I pulled the bed cover over me and his eyes darted to my own,

"How- how did you get those?" He stuttered. I didn't like lying.

"I was just in a fight, must've hurt more than I thought." I smiled at him and raised in the bed, my back aching, causing me to wince. "Shit, that hurts." I sigh and let my back fall back onto the bed.

"It may have hurt but I know it didn't hurt that much. I saw them on you yesterday. Who did that to you Cassia?" I looked off to the side, focusing on the door to the room we were in. The door had a small window at the top, around head height. There was someone stood there, behind the glass. "Cassia?" Apollo tried to regain my attention.

"Who's that at the door?" I question, Apollo gets up from his seat and walks towards the door. As he does, the person walks away. "They're gone." Apollo opens the door and peers out, coming back in when realising I was right about them walking away. My eyes were still fixed on the door and my eyebrows furrowed. Why was someone watching me? Making sure I'm okay?

Apollo sits back in the seat next to me, not long after a bell dings in the room. Apollo then sighs and looks apologetic towards me.

"It's dinner time, I'll get you something while I'm there." He smiles and I nod at him. I was happy that he was going, as much as he was my best friend right now. "Don't go anywhere!" He tapped me on the shoulder and I smiled at him, waving him goodbye as he left the room. I rose from the bed, throwing my legs over the side and slowly standing up. My body was aching, I must've hit the floor hard. I pull the grey gown over my head and pull a top and jeans out from a drawer next to the bed, changing slowly into them. I couldn't stay in one place, I had to get out and do something even if it was only going for a walk. Walking over to the door, I take a deep breath and pull it open.

My feet took me through many different corridors, none of them I recognised as it wasn't on our little tour of Dauntless. As I turned a corner, I recognised the opening at the end of the path. There sat the bridge that dawned the dreaded chasm of Dauntless, at least I knew where I was now, My feet carried me forward, onto the metal bridge. I gazed up to the top of the room, the ceiling high and made of glass, enabling me to look up to the clouds in the sky. I then cast my gaze down, the dark abyss below me. I gulp. Why would anyone ever jump down?

I felt my legs buckle underneath me and I clutch the side of the bridge with a railing, holding myself slightly up. The pain was unbearable, that much so a tear escaped my eye. I clutched the railing with all my strength and pulled myself up to stand, my legs weak.

"You don't look too good." I hear a dark voice behind me, still clutching the railing. I turn around slowly. Eric was the last person I expected to see. "Are you okay?" He asked me, his eyes confused and eyebrows low.

"I'll be fine." I take a deep breath and let go of the railing, standing proudly on my own. "I can manage, I'll get myself back to the emergency room." I chuckle and start turning back the way I came. I hear a slight chuckle from behind me, obviously coming from Eric.

"You know, I thought you were going to fall into the chasm there. Then I saw you grab that railing and pull yourself back up. Why'd you pull yourself back up?" He questions and I furrow my eyebrows. "Why not just stay down and pace yourself?" He then questions again.

I turn my head but not my body.

"I've been through worse." I start walking away. "There was no time to pace myself before, so why now." I state and continue my journey back to the emergency ward, leaving Eric on the other side of the bridge however I could still feel his eyes on me.