Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
When the ceremony was finally over, Dauntless were the first to leave, heading straight for the stairs.
Annie thought that only Abnegation used the stairs in the Hub, but clearly Dauntless did as well. However, instead of walking calmly like the Abnegations surely did, they hurtled down them at top speed. The Dauntless moved like a wave; an unstoppable force of power, loud laughs and shouts crashing against the walls like water onto sand.
She grinned, having no trouble keeping up with the Dauntless born; all that running around she did in Amity was proving to be useful. She stuck in the middle of the group, following the Dauntless born as they sprinted towards the train tracks. Annie had seen the Dauntless hop effortlessly on and off the trains before and had often wondered what it would be like, now she could find out.
First though, they had to climb the pillars that supported the raised train tracks. Annie grinned as she found handholds to heft herself up with - this was much more her style than farming. Once she reached the top, she held a hand out for an Erudite boy who was struggling to heft himself onto the platform. He nodded in thanks and they both headed over to where the initiates were lining up next to the tracks.
The ground rumbled and shook, signalling the approaching train. Its lights flickered on and off as it soared towards them, getting closer with every blink. The Dauntless born began to run, so Annie followed them, preparing herself to grab onto the train door handle and haul herself inside.
Speeding up and throwing herself at the side of the train, Annie somehow managed to grab the handle and swing herself inside, rolling a couple of times before stopping. She laughed in disbelief, sitting up and looking around the cart. It was filled entirely with initiates who were Dauntless born, all of them looking amazed that she had managed to get inside.
"That was pretty good for a first time," a boy with bronze coloured skin spoke up, sweeping his eyes over her with an impressed glance.
"Thanks," she smiled in return, a little out of breath from the running.
"Uriah Pedrad," the boy said, holding his hand out for her to shake.
She took it firmly, smiling once again in greeting, "Annie Dawes."
"Nice to meet you Annie, it's not that often we get Amity transfers," he said, looking questioningly at her.
Annie shrugged, "I never fit in at Amity, I was too..." She paused as she tried to think of the right word, "bold, for them." She finished.
Uriah nodded in understanding, "I think you'll do good here," he said with a smile, flashing his brilliant white teeth at her.
"Thanks," she grinned appreciatively.
Uriah responded with a nod then turned to the Dauntless born next to him and started up a conversation, leaving Annie to her thoughts.
The sun was setting, she could only see the occasional glimpse of it through decayed buildings, or a brief reflection through a broken window. The weather today had been calm and still, but now, racing a hundred miles per hour through the sky, the wind began to pick up. Annie shivered a little as the chill bit at her bones, but she was reluctant to move from her spot - it was comforting watching the world blur by.
The Dauntless began to stand up, their eyes locked on a building that was approaching.
Uriah held a hand out for Annie, yanking her to her feet. "Time to jump," he smirked, jerking his head towards the open door.
Annie watched as the Dauntless eyed up the space between them and the rooftop calculatingly. She almost didn't believe that they were going to jump, until the first person hurled themselves out of the cart. After the first person had jumped, the rest were quick to follow, until Annie and Uriah were some of the last people in there.
"Come on," Uriah said, gesturing for her to follow him.
They lined themselves up with the door, taking a few steps backwards to get a run up. Annie glanced nervously at Uriah, who looked completely unfazed. She decided that if he wasn't scared, she didn't have to be either.
Acting before she lost her courage, Annie took one more step back before she sprinted forward and threw herself out of the train. For a few seconds she was flying trough the air, nothing around her except open space, it was a freeing feeling.
Then she was called back to reality when she landed with a heavy thump on the roof. She stood up, brushing away the gravel that had accumulated on her clothes when she hit the ground. A thud sounded next to her as a figure stumbled across the roof, Annie glanced up to Uriah, who was grinning proudly at the fact he had remained on his feet.
She strolled over to him and the two of them wandered to the opposite edge of the roof, where a man with piercings on his face and tattoos that disappeared beneath his collar stood. The man was very attractive, but he was intimidating, glaring at any initiates who looked at him in the wrong way.
When everyone, well the ones who had made the jump, was gathered around him, he began to speak.
"Alright, listen up! I'm Eric, one of the leaders of your new faction!" He shouts to be heard over the wind, "If you want to enter Dauntless this is the way in, and if you don't have the guts to jump, then you clearly don't belong in Dauntless." He states bluntly, not seeming to care about the severity of his statement.
"Is there water or something at the bottom?" An Erudite boy asks.
"I guess you'll find out," Eric replied, "Or not." He shrugged.
"We just jumped, now they want us to jump again," A Candor girl mutters to the Abnegation girl beside her.
No one looks too eager to jump from the ledge. Annie thinks she could do it, just as long as she sees someone else doing it first - then she'll know it's safe.
"Someone's got to go first, who's it gonna be?" Eric asks impatiently, prompting someone to volunteer while looking over them all.
It doesn't look like anyone is going to step forward until an abnegation girl walks towards the front of the crowd.
She stepped onto the ledge and looked down, there didn't seem to be any signs of fear on her face and Annie admired her bravery.
The girl slowly unbuttoned her shirt and took it off, an Candor boy crudely called "Yeah, Stiff, take it off!" at her.
"Put it back on," he trailed afterwards. The girl sent him a glare and chucked the heavy fabric in his face before jumping off the building.
After hearing no screams of agony, Annie decides it's safe to jump, so she walks up to the edge of the building. Uriah gives her an encouraging pat on the shoulder before she leaves, which she responded to by shooting a small smile at him over her shoulder.
She glanced at Eric briefly to find him staring intently at her. Annie raised an eyebrow at him before stepping onto the ledge, pushing off with her right foot, she leapt into the air. Gravity takes it effect immediately, pulling her down towards the concrete at unimaginable speeds. She laughs at the feeling in her stomach, like it's being dragged upwards, before she passed through the hole into darkness.
She isn't sure what to expect at the bottom, but she wasn't expecting to land only to bounce back up again. Annie's fingers slipped through fabric when she tried to balance herself and she realised that the thing she landed on was a net.
Several hands reach out to help her, she grabbed the closest pair and allows herself to be pulled to the ground.
Annie's legs were shaking from the adrenaline and she couldn't hold the grin off her face. She looked up at the person who helped her, it's a woman with long brown hair and warm eyes.
The lady smiled slightly at Annie's obvious joy, "What's your name?" She asked.
Annie thought about changing her name, she had the chance, but she liked her own one as it was, so she simply said, "Annie."
"Second jumper - Annie!" The lady called out and cheers erupted from somewhere in the darkness.
I kept accidentally changing from present tense to past tense without realising smh.
