Four and Tris - If things were different (no war)

1

I close my eyes and jump. The wind rushing past me pulling hair from my neat, plain bun my mother had brushed it into this morning. A knot ties in my stomach as the falling sensation strengthens. The only thought running through my mind is that I've made it. I've made it out of Abnegation. I knew I couldn't live that way, the same thing day in day out. I'm too selfish, and I don't think that's a bad thing. 

The next thing I know I'm bouncing on a net that has caught me and the exhilaration finally kicks in, causing me to lose my breath for a little while. I lay in the net looking up at the space I had just fallen through, and I laugh. The net gets pulled by a man and I crawl towards where he's lowering it for me. I don't get the chance to properly see him and before I know it I'm in his arms as he lifts me out of the net. 

A young man stands before me, he's taller than me and lot more muscular. His face is stern and his eyebrows lowered, but I can't help but feel there's much more behind the wall he's put up to guard himself. I feel his eyes just staring at me, working me out and I begin to feel intimidated. I can only hope this isn't something I'll have to get used to. 

"What's your name?" He finally says, in a low voice throwing me off guard. I think of Beatrice and I hear Abnegation. Beatrice belongs there, and that isn't who I am. I'm Dauntless now, and I need something to separate the old me from the new. I cough to clear my throat and ensure my voice will come across as confident as possible. 

"Tris," I say. Hearing it out loud confirmed it for me, I like the name Tris. I have an urge to ask his name as I feel like I'm at a disadvantage, but for now, I know I need to contain my curious side. He nods to a woman behind him. She holds a clip board in her hand and mumbles my name under her breath, I'm assuming as she writes it down. The man lifts his arm, tightening his triceps as he does so, and points to an area behind a thick, white painted line on the floor.

"Stand there." He says as he hears the screams of the next initiate falling. I do as I'm told and I feel embarrassed for wanting to know so much about him. By the time all of us have fallen into that net, I doubt he'll even remember who I am. The next to fall was a girl from Candor, I had already met her on the train. I'm almost certain her name is Christina but it was hard to hear through the loudness of the train and the wind hurling through the open carriage doors. She smiles at me and rolls her eyes, I'm guessing she finds the man unusually cold as well. 

I'm not sure how much time had passed but after what felt like ages, we were all safely on the ground again, some of the last jumpers still flustered from the fall. The man turns to face us all, with the same emotionless look on his face. He raises his head a little to look at us, and his shoulder broaden in the process. 

"My name's Four, I will be your leader throughout your initiation. You listen to me, not your friends, and you do as I say. Understood? Follow me." We all shake our heads and I feel myself slowly begin to regret my decision to be Dauntless. I have a problem doing as I'm told if I don't agree with it, but that isn't even my biggest concern right now. I thought our initiation was over, after all we have just jumped on and off a moving train, and then jumped from an unbelievably high building with no knowledge whatsoever what's at the bottom to catch us. Is there even room for this to get any harder?

"Four? That's an odd name." Christina whispers to me but I'm sure he heard. Maybe he was a transfer too, and on the spot that's all he could think of. I'm sure if I had more time I could think of a fiercer name than Tris, but I'm glad I didn't have more time. This was my instinct. There's so much I want to know about him and I don't why. Everyone else is reasonably open and I think that's what's drawing me to Four, I always want to know what people are hiding, and for him, that's everything. Even his name.

Once we've been shown around everywhere, Christina and I lay on two beds next to each other. We have about half an hour before we need to go to the incinerator to dispose of all our old faction's clothes. This is when it hit me how real my life is. I've left my family behind and this is my life now.