CONVERGENT - [Divergent] ADOPTED

Chapter Eight

[ELLIE]

The first stop was called a 'Pit,' at first we were confused, why on earth was it called a Pit? We soon ate our words. It was, well, like a pit. We were on a higher ledge, looking down on it, it went as far as the eye could see, there were shops of all kinds, made and carved out into the stone walls that reached for the glass ceiling way above. There were lots of people in black milling around, looking like ants from up here. Poor, Trudi. She isn't very fond of heights, despite that fact, she loved being on her roof, so I guess she's gotten used to it. 

"Woah," I whispered in awe of the sight before me. It was quite incredible really.

"Alright, moving on, we're going to the chasm next," Ajax was already walking off before he even finished talking. 

We went into a jog to catch up. I'm going to be very fit living here.

We didn't have to walk very far, really. We could hear the roar of water rushing before we were anywhere near it. It only got louder as we got closer.

"This is the chasm, it is very symbolic here in Dauntless, it shows that there's a thin line between courage and idiocy. Fall from here, you're dead. Every year we have someone that turns up at the bottom, either because of an accident, or suicidal tendencies. I'd keep your distance."

Suicidal tendencies? Why would there be any need or want to kill yourself? 

Before I could any more on the matter, Ajax was taking us somewhere else.

"Lunch room!" one of the Candor boys cried out with glee. "Why didn't we start here?" he added, almost sarcastically. It isn't often you meet a sarcastic Candor.

"I'll collect you guys later, to take you to your dorm. For now, eat and greet," Ajax walked off before I could ask how long we'd have. But I suppose he'll just get us when he wants to.

We stepped into the large, loud lunch room and as we did, all the Dauntless members in the area stood and welcomed us in a very Dauntless fashion. The only thing I could hear was the excited woops and hoots, whistles and laughs. Metal cups were bashed rhythmically against the tables. The pounding of their feet vibrated through the floor and the walls. Their energy become a living thing.

I wasn't worried about anything at that moment. Their embrace was heart-warming. I truly felt like a part of the family.

We were home.

I nudged Trudi, nodding to a nearly empty table, I motioned the same with Kori. They nodded and we sat, Kori on the other side, Trudi sitting next to me. The platters in front of us were brimming with food, of all kinds. Bread rolls, a dozen different meats, salad, some kind of dessert, drinks. My eyes widened. Wow... that's a lot of food.

Kori was already piling food onto her plate, not looking like we were most probably were.

"Um," I started hesitantly. "How much are we allowed to take?"

Kori, who was in the process of grabbing a patty of some kind, paused, holding it in mid-air. She blinked, putting the patty on her bread-roll. "Uh, whatever you want."

This was a very new concept to me. "How much I want? Are you sure?"

"Uh, yeah. Why, are there limits in Abnegation?"

Trudi and I nodded. "Yeah," she answered. "Only take as much you need to survive. Do not indulge." 

It was Kori's turn to go into shock. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," I said, slowly. "To indulge in the desires of the body and the mind is selfish."

"Wow, and here I was, thinking all you did was help people. You guys really are selfless, huh?"

"Yeah," Trudi nodded. "We believed that to be incorruptible, is to live thinking only of others. To live that way, all day, every day. Never think of yourself, so you never have a desire to think of yourself."   

"Wow..." Kori's eyes were wide, almost with disbelief.

I tried to decide what would be appropriate as my first meal in Dauntless. In the end, I decided to copy Kori's meal of choice. She called it a hamburger. I think I've heard of them before, but I'd never paid attention to the food I wasn't allowed to eat. We were joined by two Dauntless-born initiates, Brianna and Rhea.

"We saw that we're the only girls this year, besides from the Amity girl, so we thought we'd introduce ourselves," Brianna had a kind smile, but I saw the muscles under her shirt that clung to her arms, I found myself not wanting to mess with her.

Rhea was a little more...distant. Detached, but Brianna must either be used to it, or ignores it. They both had tanned skin and beautiful dark hair. Rhea's was short, just lightly brushing her shoulders with strips of colour through it, she had a nose ring and I could see a few tattoos.

Brianna's was long and tied back in a messy pony tail, she had a tattoo that peeked out from her shirt, up the side of her neck and had about four earrings in one earlobe, the other had many more, but they weren't all taken up with piercings.

They sat and ate with us, telling us who was who in the Dauntless-born.

"The 'leader' of their group over there," Brianna pointed over at Xand and the other Dauntless-born that were on the train with him. "Is Xand, he's highly respected and a natural leader. His guys are Liam, the big guy. Jason, the blond-haired one. Jordan is the one with the dark skin. Travis is the happy one, always joking and stuff."

"And the other group?" Kori asked.

"Hunter, Ryder, Nola and Victor, nothing special, I doubt they'll get through initiation. Ryder maybe, but not those three. Or well, they could surprise me, but I seriously doubt it. Alright, your turn."

Kori swallowed her bite of food. "That there, is Robin," he looked rather ordinary, with light brown hair and light skin. "Dean is the one next to him, they're close. Everyone knew they'd pick Dauntless, they're actually pretty cool. Always standing up for the people who deserve it, like bully victims and stuff like that. And ... Eli, I can't see anywhere. But, same goes, everyone knew he'd come to Dauntless, but for completely different reasons, he was the bully that picked on people. Very violent and used his candidness as insults and purposeful meanness."  

"Too bad we don't have someone from Erudite to introduce those three," Trudi spoke up after we mulled over the information given to us.

"Where's the Amity girl though, where'd she go?" I asked.

"No idea," Kori looked around the lunch room.

"Did any Dauntless-born transfer?" I asked Brianna.

"Uh, yeah, five of them. Two to Candor, two to Erudite and one to Abnegation, actually. But we always expected her to, either Abnegation or Amity." 

"So how many initiates do we have?" Trudi asked. "Eleven transfers, and eleven Dauntless-born? So 22 altogether."

"Yea," Brianna took a large bite of her sandwich. "Better work hard, transfers. Seven get cut by the end of initiation."

The three of us paused in shock. "What?" Kori managed to ask, although she still was filled with disbelief.

"Don't worry, Candor. Just work hard, there are a few weak links, you might be okay," Brianna looked at Trudi and I. "You guys might need to work a little harder though. This is a very different place from Abnegation, stiffs. Although, you keep up with your bravery that you showed jumping first, you'll be fine."

"What do you mean? So if we're in the last seven, we're what? Factionless?"

"Yea," Brianna nodded, seeming not at all worried. "Don't look so worried, I overheard Max talking to the other leaders. They decided to let more in, because there's so many of us, this year. Usually only ten get in. So fifteen is a huge difference."

A/N: Hey guys!! Whatcha think?

Love lots,

~wolf-gabby23 <3