Venus Eaton is desperate to escape the abuse of her previous faction although she is unaware and unprepared of the ordeals of Dauntless initiation. She is a stranger to her own brother until he accuses her of murdering their mother, and finds out th...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
VENUS
A SHAKY sigh escapes my lips as I glance up at the structure, my lips pressed together. I hear Kathleen shuffle beside me.
"Should I go instead?" She says. "You're hurt, you won't be able to climb-"
"What makes you think that?" I give her a harsh look before placing one foot on one of the navy metal rungs. Up close, they are actually scratched and partly brown with rust, and I wonder if they'll hold my weight.
With a shrug, I push my entire weight onto the single bar, resting myself against the verticle ones that run up to the very top. They are too steep to climb, so I reach across. My fingers skin the main Viking ship structure. If I get inside, I can climb up the crossbars which will be a lot easier.
"Hurry up, initiate." Eric grumbles behind me, and I clench my teeth. I had forgotten he was following me until now, so I hurriedly cling to the edge of the ship as I pull myself into the belly of it. I let out a gasp of pain as I push my self up. Suprise washes over me as the ship rocks a little and I fall backward into a seat.
"Get up."
"You were quick?"I say to him. I'm sitting on a seat in one of the rows, although at his voice I quickly scramble to my feet. The ship rocks again, and I grip onto his arm to stop myself from falling again.
"It's okay." He says, although his voice is just as emotionless as it was before. I look down, before glancing across at the criss-cross rungs on the other side.
"We can't keep them waiting," I say, and smile a little before I walk away from him toward the rungs. After a moment he follows me, and I try my best to ignore the swing of the ship, using the seats for support until my hands clutch the cold metal.
"I'll climb," I explain. "You can wait down here until I'm done."
"What's the point in that? If you fall, I won't be there to help you." He snaps, and I roll my eyes as I place one foot on the metal. "I'm your leader. I do whatever I want." I let out a sigh. He thinks he can do whatever he wants, literally anything.
"Fine, then." He probably wouldn't help me if I fell, so bringing him along wouldn't do any harm anyway.
I begin climbing. The rungs are positioned in a slant, so it's easy for me to climb. Another step and a gust of wind presses against the side of my face.
I shake my head to move my hair from my sight, but it doesn't and the second step I take misses the bar completely. In fact, I'm pretty sure I just misstepped until I hear a bar thump against the ground. The ship trembles again and I let out a shriek, waiting for my body to plummet although... it doesn't.
Eric's large hand clamps around one of my hips, and I feel his palm squeezing my bare skin. My breath hitches in my throat, I would've scrambled away if I could but up here, the only way is down. I focus on my trembling fingers as he pushes me forward, regaining my balance.