It was a small victory for Luke and the other Dauntless born trainers to see the Dauntless born initiates beating out majority of the transfers; though of course he expected no less. The first stage of initiation was often monopolized by Dauntless born. It coincided with their upbringing and came with the territory where it did not for transfers. They were at a disadvantage here; but it wouldn’t necessarily last for long. Mind games and fear landscapes were a whole different fight that one couldn’t completely be prepared for, Dauntless born or not. After the first stage the playing field would even more and those who began their lives in Dauntless would no longer have the expected advantage they probably thought they would carry with them through initiation.
Not that Luke truthfully cared all that much about the fate of his initiates. He would help them along the way as much as he could and instill all of his knowledge into each and every one of them if they’d take it, but there wasn’t too much more he could do for them. Nor did he care to waste much more time on it than that. He’d like for them to succeed but it was their own fault if they didn’t, not his.Â
The trainer had been wandering a little aimlessly down the paths of Dauntless when he heard the shots echoing from the shooting range. He stepped within the facility and observed absently as Rylie lined up her shots. She was definitely strong in her trade, now, a transfer that deserved her position in Dauntless. He smiled a little, watching the bullets hit home on the long range targets with seeming ease.Â
"You having trouble teaching your initiates how to do that?"Â Luke called out, striding forward a few steps as she finished up a couple rounds.Â
"You having trouble teaching your initiates how to do that?"
Rylie had well and truly still been in her own world even after she finished firing the last round, and so she had not realized that she was no longer alone in the shooting range until Luke's voice called out from behind her, effectively pulling her out of her focus. She had figured that she might be joined at some point by one of the initiates looking to practice their weapons skills, especially now that they were all aware of how well - or how dismally - they were doing when it came to their initiation. She supposed most would be taking every opportunity now to get ahead of their fellow initiates and either climb up the ranks or secure their spots at the top. Rylie was surprised to hear the Dauntless-born trainer behind her instead, but if she was being honest she was glad she didn't have to deal with another cocky, smart-mouthed or whining, panicked initiate for awhile longer.Â
"The trouble isn't in the instruction." She called back,flicking the safety on the rifle and lowering it onto the bench before she stepped out of the firing point. Her gaze settled on Luke, eyebrow raised slightly at his little jab but a wry smile playing on her lips. "It's that I might as well be giving a gun to a goddamn lamp post and teaching it how to shoot."  She made her way back over to the armory, picking up another magazine clip. It was never much of a surprise to see the top rankings dominated by the Dauntless-born initiates, at least in the first stage of initiation - the fear landscapes and mental tests that they were faced with later tended to help even out the playing field a little more. But until then, the advantages of having grown up in the faction were clearly reflected in the results, and the first stage of initiation tended to be the most frustrating - for both transfers and their trainers.
"I suppose they're not all completely hopeless, though. I do believe I saw a few names up there at the top along with your initiates?"Â Rylie had suspected that some of her initiates would be able to hold their own against the Dauntless-born and she hadn't been too surprised to see a few names at least above the line and even near the top of the rankings. She moved back towards the firing point and picked up the rifle again, re-loading it in a few swift and expert motions.
