Daunting Fires (Completed)

2- Tour

Cheering. Lots of it. The Dauntless give me one-armed hugs, pats on the back, catching me off guard. I smile and sit in a seat.

I look back to my mom and Kirone. My mom smiles and nods while Kirone waves with a sad expression on his face. I turn away quickly and sigh.

"I'm Cecelia", a blonde girl with straight, short hair says next to me. I shake her hand and smile. I'm suddenly surprised. Cecelia is wearing gray clothing. The abnegation aren't very touchy, nor do they say "I" much.

"I'm Xedalia."

"Erudite, huh?" She scans my blue dress and leggings. I nod.

"Abnegation", I raise my eyebrows and sheepishly smile. She laughs and her blue eyes sparkle.

"I'm finally free", she says.

~-----~-----~-----~-----~-----~-----~----

The choosing ceremony ends and the Dauntless race outside. Running feels amazing. The wind blows through my hair, bewildering me. It's mid-spring, and the sky is streaked with white fluffy clouds.

We run to metal posts that hold train tracks up above us. Dauntless members climb the posts, yelling joyfully. Once at the top, I see Cecelia laughing, and I join in. I catch my breath.

"Oh. My. God!" Her eyes are wide with excitement.

The train rushes by, and we can see people jumping into the cars of it. Cecelia and I run, a bit frightened, yet still eager. I run and grab the handle by the entrance of the car. I swing myself 90 degrees and into the train car, smiling with adrenaline. Cecelia is medium height, taller than be by maybe half a foot, so it's easier for her to grab the handle. she swings into the car and knocks me over. We giggle hysterically before two hands reach out to me and Cecelia. We get up and look at a strangely gorgeous guy. His green eyes and dark hair make him look like a mutation, but definitely not an ugly one.

"Jared", he says, smirking? Slightly smiling? Either way. Wowza.

"I'm Xedalia." I smile, shaking his hand. "This is Cecelia." He shakes her hand.

"You're from Erudite?" I ask. Jared wears blue clothes. He nods. "I've never seen you around." Wouldn't mind to stare at you from erudite either.

He shrugs and says, "You have now." I nod and smile.

I look out the train through the open door and see people springing to the roofs of buildings. Our car is nearly at a roof's middle. People from our car start jumping out. We hear a high-pitched scream, and see the dark hair of a girl falling to the ground, missing the roof by inches. Oh shit. I slightly tremble and Cecelia says, "Let's go at the same time!" I nod, unsure. "1,2...3!" We squeal, rolling on the rocks of the roof. I'm on my ass, laughing in pain. Jared joins us shortly after, dusting himself off, smiling. We walk near the edge of the roof where two Dauntless men stand.

One has dark skin, dark hair, and dark, glistening eyes. He has a tattoo on his neck, the same design from the tattoo on his right hand. The other man is blonde, has gray eyes, two piercings at his eyebrow, and a tattoo on both sides of his neck. The same design trails at his forearms. His hair is shaved off the sides of his head.

Hot. Very hot.

I look away. Are all the guys like that here? Do they all look-

"I'm Max", the dark man says. "This is Eric. We are both leaders of Dauntless. This along with the train process are part of your initiation." What does he mean "this"?

"You each have to jump over this ledge into that hole in the ground." Eric has a smirk playing at his lips. We all look down at the mysterious darkness below. I'm unsure of how many stories tall the building is. Too many, for sure.

There is silence as everyone looks uncomfortable.

"Well, who's first?" Eric asks impatiently. Jared rolls his eyes and goes to the ledge. He stands on it and positions himself to fall into the darkness. He takes a deep breath and jumps. Just like that. He doesn't even scream.

Do the initiates on the other buildings have to do the same thing?

Cecelia and I look at each other in shock. Then, Eric yells for someone to "hurry the heck up". I want to get it over with, like Jared. Surely, there's something at the bottom. We can't all die by jumping into this dark hole. There'd be no new members of Dauntless. But what if this is a stupidity test. "Be brave", Kirone told me this morning.

I step on the ledge. I'm scared that Eric or Max are going to whine if I take my time. I jump after a deep breath.

I try to scream but I can't even. The air is knocked out of my lungs. I'm so close to the bottom now that my eyes widen. Am I a goner?

And two seconds after that thought, I fall into a net.

"I...what?" I'm breathing heavy. I giggle in relief. A muscular looking guy asks for my name.

"You can change it. But after you've decided, that's it."

I rack my brain for something my mom would like. "Dalia." She used to call me Dalia when we talked about Dad. She said the name as though she would say "sweetheart". I nod my head. "Dalia."

"Second jumper is Dalia!" There's whistling and hoots from the room around me. "I'm Four", the muscular boy says as he helps me out of the net. Where's one, two, and three? I almost say it aloud. I feel guilty for thinking so rudely.

Four has dark blue eyes, just like the color of azurite. He has light brown hair that looks healthy. He's got muscular arms and a built chest. He has something that trails to the back of his neck, which is most likely a tattoo. Then I realize he's glaring at me expectantly. Have I been staring? I turn bright red and walk towards Jared.

"Dauntless was definitely your aptitude test result", I say, trying to make my face look normal again.

"Definitely?" He looks down at me questioningly.

"You just jumped over the ledge of a building. Without screaming." I shake my head, impressed.

"You didn't scream, either", he reminds me.

"Oh, believe me when I say I tried." He chuckles. I shrug.

I look around us. Citizens of Dauntless surround us, looking up at the gaping hole on the outdoor ground.

Someone flies down from the sky into the net. She has red, short hair and dark blue eyes. She was Dauntless born, obvious because of her nose piercing. She gets out of the net herself when Four pulls the net down to help. She smiles when hoots get louder.

"Trix." She stretches like she didn't just jump off a building.

"Third jumper, Trix!" Four's voice echoes. Clapping and whistling follows.

Trix comes over to Jared and I, smiling. "Probably just heard who I am. You two?"

"I'm Xe- I'm Dalia. This is-" I'm unsure if he changed his name.

"Still Jared." He smiles and Trix shakes our hands.

"Dalia and Still Jared. Got it." I smirk. She's definitely a party girl.

Cecelia screams as she flies down. She doesn't scream in fear, much more of excitement. She winks at me when Four lifts her out of the net. I shake my head and smile disapprovingly.

"Seventh jumper, Cece!" Four looks amused as he says her new name. It fits her personality. Joyful, cheery.

When there are no more jumpers, Four splits the Dauntless born from the transfers.

"Cya guys later, hopefully." Trix waves as she goes with the Dauntless born.

"The transfers get a tour of the Dauntless compound", Four says as he leads us away.

I've read in a text book about how big this place was. Ugh.