Someone's shoulder knocks into you as the initiates jog, feet slapping against the concrete ground, towards the Pit. You break out into the daylight and turn towards the slippery stairs, ignoring the yells and shouts from the Pit below.

Finally, you reach the glass ceiling.

It's like a wall of black, packed with Dauntless, cheering and yelling, clustered around a series of screens.

Marlene is in the fear landscape, thrashing around. You can't tell what she's facing, but her eyes are wide as she whips around and around. A worm of fear crawls into your belly, but you shove it back. You can do it. You can do this. You will your heartbeat to still.

The middle screen shows Marlene's heartbeat, and, as you watch, it lowers. The screen flashes green and the crowd erupts with cheers, grabbing each other and laughing.

Across the room, in front of another screen, the Dauntless leaders watch her progress with narrowed eyes. You slide in, sitting in a chair next to Peter and Tris, who is standing. 

The lights lift in the room, revealing Marlene, eyes streaked with tears. Eric walks over, shaking off her simulation daze, and congratulate her for finishing. 

Then Eric sticks Drew with the needle, and the torture of waiting begins. 

"Y/N."

The word echoes through your mind, and you blink your eyes open to the lights of the simulation room. You walk to the front of the room. Eric stands in front of you with the needle, filled with swishing orange liquid. He plunges it into your neck, and you stare straight ahead, bracing yourself, heart racing. 

Then: "Ready?" Eric asks, and everything goes black.

***

Scales. Scales everywhere.

There's a hiss by your ear, and you jump back with a yell.

The snakes are back, coiling in angry ropes around the door to the warehouse. Another, eyes cold and dead, coils around the lightbulb overhead. He's going to shatter it, and then you'll be in the dark, and-

You whip around just in time to see a snake shrieking towards you, fangs bared.

You have to calm down. You have to calm down.

You jump and roll out of the way, and something clamps down on your hand. You scream, pulling back, but the snake is already crawling up your arm, cold scales on your skin...

You have to calm down. You have to calm down...

You suck in a breath, the air cloying and poisonous in your lungs, and think of initiation, the moments you felt strong, on top of the world. (Which one did you think of?)

A scream rips from your lungs, and the snakes disappear. Ropes whip around your skin, but you keep your eyes closed, replaying the moment. You are strong.

Fire. You are strong.

Spiders. You are strong.

Kidnapping, acid, fire, and now you know why you won't ever be sent back to Factionless, because you never belonged there, because you are strong.

Your skin feels like it's on fire, but you still don't open your eyes. You will never go back, because you are Dauntless, and you are strong.

The shout builds in your ears until you explode into a familiar place.

The concrete walls of the factionless compound close in around you, the sky visible through a gap in the ceiling, and you look over to see Emory. You realize, almost with a stab of guilt, that you are glad the Dauntless can't see your fear.

"Hey," he says, smiling. "Welcome back, Y/N."

You falter. "I'm not back. I said I wasn't coming back."

"But you are," he says, looking confused.

"No," you say, looking down at the ground. "I'm not. This is a simulation, Emory, and I'm in Dauntless."

The moment the word leaves your lips, the scene around you shifts, and melts away into cheering, the DAUNTLESS graffiti logo staring you in the face on the dirty concrete walls. You sink to your knees, breathing heavily, and elation fills your chest. You did it!

"I did it!" You shout, jumping up and pumping a fist in the air. "I did it!"

Every muscle in your body relaxes, and the Dauntless leaders file into the room. Tobias smiles at you. 

"Congratulations, Y/N," Eric says, nodding to you approvingly. "You've completed your final evaluation. Well done."

You dip your head, laughing a breathless laugh. "Thanks."

He tilts his head, looking down at you. "One more thing before  you go to the welcoming banquet," he says, holding up a syringe filled with orange-brown liquid. "A tracking device. Just in case you go missing."

You nod, dipping your head down. A soft cold dabs at your neck as Eric swabs it with the wipe, and you can hear your breath in your throat.

The needle jabs into your skin. You suck in a breath and squeeze your eyes shut, and the, just like that, it's over. Eric's fingers press a bandaid into your skin, and then he straightens.

"The banquet is in two hours,"  he says, nodding to you. "Your ranking among the other initiates, Dauntless-born included, will be announced then. Good luck."

The simulations resume, and once they finish, the chattering crowd of Dauntless files out of the room. A vendor offers you a bag of steaming mini hot-dogs.

"Can't let them go to waste," he jokes, smiling at you and slapping you on the back so hard you almost fall forward. "Welcome to Dauntless!"

You smile as he melts into the crowd, eating your hot-dogs and watching as the Dauntless pour onto the glass roof above you or back down into the Pit below.

You watch the rest of the simulations, digging into the bag to find the last mini-hot-dog, then jump to your feet with the rest of the Dauntless at the last one. Everyone is yelling, and you open your mouth and let out a roar, too. It dissolves into laughs, and you can't stop laughing, beaming and laughing. You are Dauntless. You're officially Dauntless now. No more worrying about Factionless, or feeling like you don't belong- no, you're one of the factions now, the warrior faction.

The Dauntless break into a jog as they finish the stairs, landing with a whoop. You jump off the last couple stairs and land beside the running Dauntless, pushing your way through the black-clad bodies towards the dining room for the banquet.

All around you, as you shove through, are black banners draped all over the balconies, the tables  heaped  high with every kind of food imaginable. You smell savory meats and hear the hiss of chestnuts roasting in chefs' pans, and there's an entire table, just full of cake and muffins and pie. 

You giggle, your mouthwatering, as  you and the other initiates are herded towards the front of the room.

"What job are you going to pick?" Tris asks, bouncing on her feet.

"I'm thinking I might want a job like Four's," Christina says. "Training initiates. Scaring the living daylights out of them. You know, fun stuff. What about you?"

"This is going to be impossible," Will groans in another conversation, and you hear Peter,  Molly, and Drew clustered together, talking in somber tones.

A microphones shrieks, and you clap your hands over your ears. Eric stands on one of the tables, tapping the mic with his finger. 

"We aren't big on speeches here," he says, spreading his arms. "Eloquence is for the Erudite. So I'm going to keep this short. It's  a new year, and we have a new pack of initiates, and a slightly smaller new pack of new members. We offer them congratulations."

At the word "congratulations", the room erupts, not into applause, but into the pounding of fists on tabletops. The noise vibrates in your chest, filling you with strength, and the initiates all grin at each other.

"We believe in bravery," Eric yells. "We believe in taking action. We believe in freedom from fear and in acquiring the skills to force the bad from our world so the good can prosper and thrive. We welcome you!"

A smile presses its way onto your face, and you pound your fist against the wall and whoop with the rest of the Dauntless.

"Tomorrow,  in their first act as members, our top ten initiates will choose their professions, in order of how they are ranked. Tonight, they will keep the time-honored tradition of choosing their partner for Dauntless Ball. The rankings will appear on the screen behind me."

Just as he finished, the air ripples with the shifting rankings, and you hold your breath. The number one is a picture of Tris, with her name.

1. Tris

2. Uriah

3. Lynn

4. Marlene

5. Y/N

6.  Peter

7. Will

8. Christina

You don't know 9 and 10, but a gasp rips out of you at the last two numbers. 11  and 12, Molly and Drew. Cut. Factionless.

Peter's mouth is open is a silent gasp, eyes gaping  and blank. "I did everything to prevent this," he hisses, shaking his head angrily. "I tried to stop it."

Molly grips the edge of the table closest to her, as though praying it'll keep her there.  Drew squeezes his eyes shut, and I can see a silent tear breaking down his face.

Tris high-fives the Dauntless-born and laughs with them, grabbing a bottle of something and  taking a swig, and Will and Christina kiss, laughing together.

Uriah swings an arm around your shoulders, pulling you back into reality.

"Y/N!" he shouts, pushing a cake into your hands. "You're in! You're Dauntless, baby! How does it feel?"

But you don't get a chance to answer, because Eric clears his throat. "Initiates! Ask your choice to Dauntless ball now. You'll want to know before you finish dinner."

You turn back towards everyone, looking at all the guys of Dauntless.

There's Uriah, arm around your shoulders as he jokes with the other new members of Dauntless.

There's Eric, former Erudite, slouching back down to sprawl into his chair.

There's Peter, watching as Molly and Drew are taken away to the trains.

There's Four, smiling at the initiates as he takes a sip of a soda.

Who will you choose?

Advance to 129.

Author's Note:

Heyyy, everybody! Finals week is almost over, and you can expect Dauntless Ball choices in the next installment. Yay! Now that we're almost done with the Dauntless branch, what faction would you like to see done next? Do you have any ideas you'd like to see in any of them?

Looking forward to finishing Dauntless over Christmas break, so look forward to the big finale! Thank you all so much for reading, and I'll see you soon! :) 

- DS Chickadee