Chapter Text
Disclaimer:
If we could live in this wonderful world and own these amazing characters, we would. But we can't. So we don't. We only own Valkyrie Mathews, Zenith Thompson, and their non-canon friends and situations. No copyright infringement intended, everything else, especially everything identifiable, belongs to Veronica Roth.
ERIC POV
As far as days went, in some ways this one was fairly normal. It was the end of the summer of the year 2270 in the once great city of Chicago. The sun was out and there wasn't a single cloud smudging the perfect blue sky as far as the eye could see. It was warm, but not too hot. The peak of the dry season had just passed, and it had rained the night before, leaving the grass and weeds around the city a vibrant and rich green carpet.
In other ways, however, this day was anything but normal. A large group was gathering outside the central hub of the city, a miss-match of vibrant colours. The orange, yellow, and reds of the Amity faction, as always laughing and singing among themselves, hugging sporadically. The varying shades of blue marking the Erudite apart from the mixed black and white of the Candor as they either debated passionately or chatted amicably. Huddled together, the grey blob that was Abnegation tried to go unnoticed, but stood out like a sore thumb anyway, silent and subdued. However, one thing all of the people had in common, regardless of faction, was immediately noticeable in the air surrounding them. An excited apprehension was obvious to any who paid attention to their surroundings. Understandable. After all, today was a very important day.
Today was this year's choosing ceremony.
And another day that is a complete waste of my time.
Eric leapt out of the train car without hesitation, landing elegantly and effortlessly as always. This was the third choosing ceremony he had attended, The first being his own at the age of sixteen where he had transferred from Erudite to Dauntless, and the other two being as a leader and representative of Dauntless. Every year since his choosing had been the same. The first person called always invariably chose their birth faction. About five people later, the first transfer would happen, and as always, shocked gasps would fill the room. Then another, and another. By the end he would have a posse of about ten or twelve of the little brats to take back to Dauntless, and about fifteen to twenty Dauntless-born brats also. He was confident that this year would be no different. It was, to be honest, starting to bore him.
Well, more boring than last year. At least I had Tris to torture last year.
His assumptions were all but blown out of the water as he was halted from his deliberate pace towards the hub by someone tapping on his shoulder.
He hesitated only a moment to compose his glare before turning around.
Standing before him was a young woman from Erudite. Well, that was what he assumed from her attire. She was a little under six foot he guessed, being her height measured about to his chin. She had light blonde, wavy hair to her waist and was of a medium build, curved but not too curvy.
Nicely proportioned, now that he thought about it.
Her face wasn't too bad to look at either, with full lips and a slim, but not too narrow nose. Her most striking feature though, was her eyes. Deep pools of hazely green, framed with long eyelashes that dusted her cheeks when she blinked. They had to be accentuated by mascara.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, a warning flag went up. She looked familiar somehow.
As he was giving her the once over, he faintly heard her mutter something under her breath.
“Take a picture why don't you. It'll last longer. Who am I kidding, at this rate he's not going to stop staring.”
“Excuse me?” Eric scowled, and was immediately rewarded by those enchanting green orbs darting to meet his own steely blue ones.
“Never mind. You are Eric, one of the five Dauntless leaders, right?” The girl quickly changed the subject.
“Yes. What the hell do you want?” Eric rolled his eyes.
“Ooh touchy. But if blunt is the tone of the day, I might as well get straight to the point.” She replied, a smile hinting at the corners of her mouth. “I need a favour. You are the only one who can do it.”
Eric gave her a level stare for a moment or two. He eventually concluded that this girl seemed to be serious.
“OK, you have piqued my interest. Shoot.” He replied, eyebrow raised casually.
“Good. I need you to smuggle some weapons through the choosing ceremony for me.” She replied getting straight to the point as promised.
“And why, pray tell, would I do that?” Eric asked, not showing his surprise at her answer. “Coming to think of it, what do you need weapons for anyway?” He added.
“I'm transferring to Dauntless. I don't want to leave them behind.” She answered simply. “And you strike me as the type who would do it if you had the right sort of incentive.”
“What could you possibly offer me?” Eric asked, an amused expression taking over his face.
“I'll teach you how to wield them.” She replied with ease.
“Kid, I dunno if you have noticed or not, but I am more than one of the more lethal Dauntless. I am a highly trained combat specialist. I sincerely doubt there is anything you could teach me. I know how to wield almost any weapon” he bragged unashamedly.
“As you said, ALMOST. I know for a fact that you can't wield what I have. Neither can anyone else in Dauntless to my knowledge.”
Eric simply raised an eyebrow before answering.,
“What type of weapons are we talking then? Some new Erudite concoction?”
The girl sighed and rolled her eyes. Eric narrowed his eyes at her.
She is cute but her nerve is beginning to wear my patience thin.
“It's easier if I show you.” She turned and walked a few paces before looking back at him. “Coming or not?”
Eric followed her over to a bench near the railway tracks. He watched as the girl glanced around carefully before extracting a long bundle of something wrapped in cloth. She held it carefully in her arms as if cradling a baby or a valuable treasure.
“Here” She said, unwrapping the bundle gently before turning to show him the contents.
Inside were what appeared to be two twin katanas. Each was composed of a beautifully sculpted stainless steel hilt and hand guard, with the hand holds wrapped in thick leather for the purpose of adding extra grip, and a long, highly polished and clearly well maintained black wooden scabbard inset with a silver wing-like symbol on either side.
Eric stepped forward and carefully freed one of the blades from its sheath, gazing reverently at the newly exposed perfectly machined blade, his face, he imagined, showing complete and utter awe. There was no hiding his emotions any more. He had only read about swords of this calibre in his history texts as a kid, and never in his life had he thought he would get to hold one.
“What's to stop me from just keeping them” Eric asked, getting straight to the point.
“They are useless to you if you can't wield them. Sure they would make a nice wall decoration but people like you and I can't resist. A weapon is a weapon. It should be used as such. If you can't wield them, why own them?” She replied.
Eric sighed, somewhat peeved that she seemed to know him so well, but also a little....thrilled?
“What is your name, Initiate?” he asked.
“At the moment, Amirina. But that will change later today.”
“Well Amirina, You've convinced me.” He reached out and took the bundled swords, hiding them back in their place under the bench. “However, I am not stupid enough to take a strange bundle with me into the choosing ceremony. It would draw too much attention and this seems like something that calls for discretion. I will grab them on the way out.” He looked at his watch. “We better get going, the ceremony starts soon.”
No sooner than the words were out of his mouth than a voice called Amirina's name from the direction of the hub. They both turned in response.
“Amirina! Hurry up, you are going make me late! That cannot happen! Today is important and I can't have you making me look careless!”
Eric startled a little as he instantly recognised the figure of Jeanine Mathews looking in their direction, clearly exasperated. He turned to look at the girl beside him curiously.
Her face had completely transformed in a fraction of a second from cocky and confident, dare he say it, Dauntless, to calm and polite, nearly Abnegation-like.
“Of course not mother, sorry to distress you.” She replied, almost sickeningly sweet.
She was quickly rewarded with a triumphant smile from Jeanine.
“What are you doing talking to Eric anyway? You should not be wasting his time, he has a Faction to run.”
“Of course, I was just asking him about the dauntless patrols and if I could possibly get some data off of him for my initiation project.” She replied again too sweetly for Eric's liking. “I was thinking about analysing their routes and comparing it to trouble spots, to see if the patrols are effective or if they could be improved.”
Definitely not transferring to Candor then, Eric thought.
Jeanine looked slightly surprised at this development.
“I though you were interested in serums?”
“I am, but I thought that since you are the leading expert on them it would make sense for me to do something different, you know, add to our family reputation instead of being limited by it.” The girl smiled.
Jeanine appeared to buy it without much thought.
“Sounds like a wise choice. However, I am still curious, why ask Eric? Max or Harrison might have been more agreeable.” Jeanine asked as if she had forgotten his presence.
“Eric seems to be helpful enough to me.” Amirina replied, acting somewhat confused.
“Of course. You aren't half bad on the eyes. I'm sure he has some ideas of how you will repay the favour of which you ask.” Jeanine raised an eyebrow.
“Isn't half bad my arse” Eric muttered, looking pointedly at Amirina. Jeanine narrowed her eyes at him.
“Well it's a good job I will be out of his reach when I choose Erudite today then isn't it?” Amirina added quickly.
“Yes, I suppose it is.” Jeanine scoffed. “Finish up quickly, the ceremony starts soon.” And with that Jeanine turned and strode into the hub.
Amirina's face changed and once again the cocky, confident, and somewhat intense girl stood before him. Before she could speak, Eric did.
“That's quite a mask you've got there. You are almost frighteningly good at putting it on and taking it off.”
“I learn quickly. Do we have a deal concerning my swords, or not?” She almost snapped at him.
Eric raised an eyebrow, narrowing his eyes.
Not liking her mother is one thing, but talking to me like that will not do.
Amirina had he decency to look a little ashamed of herself but did not back down.
Eric gave up after a minute or two of trying to stare her down, as for some odd reason it wasn't working.
Must be having an off day.
“Yes, I will help you. Now lets go, It's time for you to choose.”
“One moment, I just have to get ready” and with that Amirina ducked inside the hub and immediately headed for the ladies room. Eric mentally noted to himself that at least she didn't need a friend to go to the bathroom.
Not that I would mind going with her.
His signature smirk took over his face at the thought as he walked into the main auditorium in the hub. It stayed there when even as he took his seat among the other Dauntless leaders at the back of the section.