The Damaged

Chapter Three

My body slams into the net, lifting airborne for a moment but settling into a cradle. I look up through the huge hole, seeing the place where I once stood look even smaller now.

"This way" a voice calls from the side, their hand stretched out for me to grab. With a last look of the blue sky, I put my fingers through the holes of the net and pull myself to where the voice sounded. Whoever it is takes my hand and helps me down, misjudging the drop because I almost fall over the wooden platform.

"Thank you" I stand straight again, looking over to find Max; the leader from the Ceremony. The one who handed me the blade.

"A Stiff being the first jumper? Were you pushed?" He laughed, other Dauntless below chuckle along.

"No, I volunteered" my eyes linger back up, not noticing a smile stuck on my face.

"There's always a first for everything. What's your name, initiate?"

"Amalia" the smile settles to a grin, the adrenaline from falling and smacking into the net is physically calming down, but lingers through my body.

"First jumper, Amalia!" Max shouts into the room. The crowd claps and cheers, his hand falls on my shoulder. "Welcome to Dauntless."

One by one we watch the other initiates of Dauntless-born and transfers fall through the hole into the large net. There's some screams, some shouts. Some people fall into the wooden platform, I wince hearing the echoing contact.

When Tobias falls last, I feel a small ache to check on him. But it'd be better not to seem too attached- for now anyways.

"Another Stiff" Max claps his back with a smile, causing Tobias to flinch. "Nice to see you made it this far. Go join your fellow initiates. Amar will be down in a second, I'm sure."

Now with him closer, I see how white his face is. A few snickers escape the Candor transfers.

"That was surprisingly fun" Mia chimes, closer to him than I am. She jumped second to last. "I'm Mia, you okay?"

"It looks like he's trying not to throw up" one of the Candor boys smirks.

"Just let it happen, man," another Candor boy joins in, "we'd love a show."

Tobias looks into their direction, I'm behind them. "Shut up" he snaps.

I've seen Tobias angry before, but never using a tone that way. Abnegation never raise their voices, especially in public.

His eyes meet mine, mine unintentionally widened from the new side of my best friend I'm seeing. But as his face softens into a more subtle look, so does mine.

Everyone around who was mocking him surprisingly stays quiet, it's not everyday a Stiff makes orders.

Not long after, the man from the ledge falls into the net and lifts himself out. He looks excited, ready for whatever adventure comes next. He steps on the ground and walks not far from where we're all gathered.

"My name is Amar," he introduces, "I'm your initiation instructor. I grew up here, and three years ago, I passed initiation with flying colors, which means I get to be in charge of the newcomers for as long as I want. Lucky you."

We somehow all formed into a semicircle around him, I stand between Tobias and Mia; among the other transfers while the Dauntless-born stand on the other side.

"Dauntless-borns and transfers do most physical training separately, so that the Dauntless-borns don't break the transfers in half right away—" At this, the Dauntless-borns on the other side of the semicircle grin. "But we're trying something different this year. The Dauntless leaders and I want to see if knowing your fears before you begin training will better prepare you for the rest of initiation. So before we even let you into the dining hall to have dinner, we're going to do some self-discovery. Follow me."