you’re on squat #140/150, racking an extra 10lbs on your back because, well, challenge. The burn running through your trembling legs threatens to cook you from the inside and your elbows are dripping sweat. Ten more. Just. Ten more.
I have a new strategy for smashing it through that last epically brutal leg without compromising the rep. I take a deep breath, put on the most hardcore badass face and growl “I. Am. Dauntless.” Each time my legs try to tell me they’re over it.
Close my eyes and transport me to those dank caves, teeming with warriors, fighters, and protectors. I’m the newest transfer from Erudite, and I know I belong here with them. Running. Climbing. Fighting. And this is my training. Uriah! Here I come!
This week, I’m a dauntless transfer. Next week, maybe I’m training next to Danny North to fight the gods, or I’m on my way to Prof X’s mansion, The Winchester Impala, to join Nick Fury, or – and these are the best weeks – I’m an Auror training for a few years on the TARDIS.