His Promise [Riren/Ereri Fanfic]

Chapter 15: Hell Night

The Beta Kai pledges trudged through the woods blindfolded. More than half of them were wet and freezing, having being forced to march directly through a frigid stream. With the blindfolds on, time and direction had lost all meaning. They walked, forbidden from speaking, for what seemed like hours. The entire week had been like this; pulled from their beds in the middle of the night, blindfolded and forced to complete tasks that were nearly impossible. None of the pledges had gotten more than two hours of continuous sleep in the last 6 days. At least they hadn't lost anyone since the first forced march. Now they walked through the woods close enough for them to touch eachother's shoulders, back, or fingertips. The foremost thought on every pledge's mind was an exhausted refrain that they just had to survive.

Without warning Gunn's familiar voice echoed through the woods.

"Halt, pigs!"

The pledges stopped on a dime, none of the 15 of them moving a muscle.

"Push back your blindfolds and stand in your formation."

"Yes, sir!"

The pledges pushed back their blindfolds and saw the archery field in front of them, the light dimmer than before. They shuffled into position, a universal feeling of dread seeping through them.

"Stay silent, you will not greet your Master tonight."

The pledges stared wide eyed as Levi's form detached from the shadows and strode toward them, flanked by the other Recruitment Assistants. He spoke in his usual calm, authoritative tone. His face was solemn and his eyes were like flint, neither gave anything away.

"For the past 12 weeks you have all worked hard in this program. You have accomplished great things. But this brotherhood is not built solely on great deeds, it is a bond of trust between individuals who have chosen one another. ARO has chosen you. We have put our trust in you to be the future of our Fraternity. Now you must choose us. If you cannot abandon yourselves and put full trust in the men who wear these letters and those who wish to wear these letters, your journey ends at this moment."

Nobody moved a muscle. Levi nodded his approval.

"So be it. Take another look at the archery field and put your blindfolds back on. You have all been judged proficient with your archery. Tonight, half of you will be given a steel tipped arrow. The other half of you will take up your station in front of the target and return with the arrow after it strikes the target. We will rotate until you have all been in both positions. I do not need to remind you of what is at stake. You will not know who is downfield from you. You must exhibit complete trust. One more thing, if you little shits try to speak to eachother, you're done. Commence!"

Levi retreated to the side of the field, trying not to laugh as the shaking pledges were put into position one by one. The pledges firing arrows were given a steel tipped arrow to feel which was then quickly replaced by a rubber one. When they loosed, a brother who stood down range would fire an actual arrow simultaneously into the target which was then handed to the other pledge. Some other brothers stood just out of sight shrieking and moaning anytime a pledge loosed an arrow. Most of the Fraternity had turned out tonight to either view or participate in the final challenge.

Despite their terror, most of the pledges did reasonably well. A few collapsed or panicked, but followed through after being cheered on by the brothers. Nobody ended up getting cut. After the Archery was completed, the pledges were led into a small dark clearing on the other side of the shack and lined up in a circle, facing outward with their backs to each other. When commanded, they dropped their blindfolds to reveal the entire Fraternity clustered around them wearing robes with the hoods pulled down over their faces. The only light was the winking of 15 candles they held in front of them.

The brothers chanted in unison,

"With the passing of the candle, we ignite the flame of your everlasting brotherhood. You came here tonight as a pledge. You leave here our brother."

One by one the hooded figures passed their candle to the neophyte in front of them and stepped back, melting into the crowd. The second row held dark green hooded sweatshirts with the golden greek letters "Alpha Rho Omega" emblazoned across the front. The back was printed with their pledgenames.

After a few beats of stunned silence, all hell broke loose. All of the exhaustion and emotion that the pledges had been holding back broke through their dams. The shouts of joy rang through the quiet forest.

•°☆°•

A/N: Hello lovelies! Thank you for tolerating my obsession with Greek Life. This chapter brought up so many memories for me. I know it was short, but I figured after all the build up, it would be nice for this aspect of the story to have some closure. Buckle your seatbelts now, cause things are about to go sideways. Please vote and comment!

♡DiLo