This is my very first fanfiction, set in the universe of Divergent. I do not own the universe but the characters (so far) are all mine. I might have some cameo appearances of some of the "real" characters at some point.

The story is set at about the beginnig of Divergent, I will write it in a way that it could happen parallel to the actual storyline.

Enjoy, and please let me know what you think of it :D

Chapter One

She woke from a loud rattling noise outside her window. The night was still pitch black and the headlights of the train speeding past where the only specks of light visible. Its iron wheels screeched as they took a turn too fast and the house shook with silent vibrations. Echo just sat there, staring outside at the dim lights in the distance as they danced through the night and wished herself to be with them. Suspended in darkness, with the wind in her hair and the taste of freedom on her tongue. Then the train was gone and the house lay silent again.

Calling the old shack she lived in a house was somewhat of an exaggeration. The building had been sitting on its spot by the rails for decades now, time and weather having worn it down to its current state. There were several holes in the roof and the parts that were still covered threatened to crash down on their heads any minute. The windows lacked insulation and the cold found its way past the stained glass every night. Its walls were paperthin, you could hear everything and everything could be heard. There was hardly any privacy.

But what else could be expected from a safehouse. At least it provided them with shelter and a place to sleep. It was common knowledge that there were many factionless people out there far less fortunate than herself. She really shouldn't be complaining.

But somewhere in the back of her mind was still that little voice, the voice that would grow and push and expand in moments like these and scream at her what the hell she had been thinking, all those years ago. And every single time she forced it back down, locked it away where it could not bother her anymore. The past was the past. You could either mope around, drowning in self pity or make the best of what you had. And Echo wasn't one to mope.

When she woke again, the longing feeling of last night had passed, as it usually did. All around her the day had already begun. People were bustling about, getting their cots in order and handing food around. Her own stomach growled as well so she quickly untangled her legs from the bedsheet and threw on a sweatshirt, the cold of the night having not yet completely surrendered to the first rays of sun that fell in through the windows. Her naked feet grazed the cold stone floor as she made her way through what was the closest thing to a family she had now. Some of them smiled at her when she approached but most of them didn't. Her quick tongue and creative mind where not only what had gotten her into this mess to begin with, but they also took care that her punishment wouldn't be one too easily borne. No matter. She didn't need more friends than she had. Admittedly, that sum amounted to exactly one person, but still.

Echo sat down against the wall, next to a middle-aged woman with streaks of grey in her dark brown hair. Without so much as looking at her the woman handed her a tin filled with mashed potatoes that looked like someone had dropped them on the floor and just scooped them back up into the tin. She grimaced but pulled a wooden spoon out of her pocket and brought the yellow pulp to her lips. It tasted just as bad as it looked and Echo's frown deepend. But nonetheless, it was food and food was the only thing that would quiet down her stomach that was already starting to feel like it was about to feed off itself.

Before she was able to grab another spoonfull to soothe the hungry monster, someone ripped the tin from her grip and sunk their own spoon inside. Echo frowned at her friend who dropped down next to her, deeply absorbed in the mashed potatoes and not paying her any attention. Her short, red hair was dishevelled, apparently she had only gotten out of bed as well.

"You ever heard of sharing?", Echo asked sarcastically, her eyebrows raised.

Acacia just grinned and shoved another spoonfull of potatoes into her mouth before handing the now almost empty tin to the man next to her who scowled at her but kept quiet.

"You ever heard of waking your best friend up for breakfast so she won't starve... Verity?", Acacia retorted, using the name she had been given by her former faction.

A dark shadow passed over Echo's eyes.

"I just woke up myself, not my fault you can't get your lazy ass out of bed! And don't ever call me that again! " Her gaze was fixed on Acacia's, a challenging gleam in them.

Her friend just stared back, not rising to the challenge. She was well aware that it was generally better to ignore Echo when she was in one of her "I'm-here-wanna-fight" moods - it never led to anything. Echo was good with her words as well as with her fists so it was better to steer clear of arguments when they were about... well, nothing.

"Listen, before you implode or something, I have something to tell you: I was just talking to old Greg over there when a messenger from Abnegation stopped by. Apparently there's gonna be a transfer sometime this week. Not sure what faction, the guy wouldn't tell me. But what's more important, there's a rumour going around that whoever it is, he's...", her voice dropped to a barely audible whisper, "divergent!" Her eyes had turned wide with awe.

Echo just furrowed her brows, reaching for another tin the brown-haired woman passed to her. This one was filled with the same contets as the last one but it's colour was a sickening green. She had to swallow several times to get it down.

"Acacia, I know you believe in that stuff but... I don't know, it just doesn't seem real! How could one possibly have an aptitude for more than one faction?" She shot her a doutbful glance.

Now it was Acacia's turn to stare at her friend angrily.

"Divergence is not just a myth, you know. It's more than likely that some people don't just fit in one specific category. I mean, one can be smart and still belong to Dauntless, right?" Her voice broke a little at the mention of her old faction but Echo pretended not to notice. Factionless was factionless. They were all in the same boat here, there was no place for pity.

"It's not that simple and you know it. Sure you can have traits that belong to a different faction but the faction system is about what you believe in. One can be smart in Dauntless, but why did they choose Dauntless? Because they value bravery above everything else. Not intelligence. They migh be smarter than the rest of their peers but when it comes down to it, when push comes to shove a real Dauntless is going to act courageously. Not wisely. And you have to choose. You can't just be a little bit of both. That's not the way the world works."

Acacia had shrunk in on herself a little, knotting her hands that were sticky with sweat. Echo watched her out of the corner of her eye. She had known her words would hurt her friend and she had said them anyway. It's what's best for her, she told herself. She needs to stop hanging onto childish fantasies or she will never be able to let go of her old life.

When her aptitude test results had not read Dauntless, Acacia had been torn between staying with her family and choosing a life of studies in Erudite. Not wanting to disappoint her older brothers she had let her blood fall on the coals, just as they had done years before. And this simple act that had made their lives glorious and desireable in the eyes of their younger sister had destroyed hers.

A week into initiation their instructor had ordered them to climb a rope that was dangling over the chasm in order to test their bravery. Acacia had refused, the act had seemed so foolish and unnecessary to her. And only minutes later she had found herself factionless, cut off from the life she knew and cherished and from the brothers she was to never see again.

The only thing that kept her going was the indestructible belief that there was a reason for all that happening to here, a reason why she didn't choose Erudite and wouldn't fit in with Dauntless: Divergence. Deep down she felt she knew she was divergent – different, special, worth something. But the harsh truth was she was not. She was ordinary and worthless, just like every other factionless. They were the scum of the city, the dirt the factions would sweep under the carpet so no one would see and no one would know. Out of sight, out of mind. That was the way it was and had always been.

More than a year had passed since then but Acacia still had not accustomed to her life as a factionless the way Echo had. Yes, the food was terrible and she would despise it til the day she died. But nonetheless, Echo had spent over a quarter of her life this way, always hungry, always cold. The memories she still carried with her from Candor had started to fade, started to meld into darkness. The scents and sounds and pictures she had had of her old home had been erased, replaced by those of her new life.

Oh, what a foolish little girl you were, Echo now thought to herself. Taking all that for granted. You could have had so much more but you blew it all. You thought what you were doing was Dauntless, but instead it was just stupid.

The part of her that was Echo, the brave, resilient, new her she had discovered in the last five years as a factionless didn't care, didn't let herself feel guilt, wouldn't want to live any other way. But for the Verity in her, the young, impatient Candor girl born with a mind so hateful of honesty she couldn't get away from it fast enough, it would always stay a stupid, stupid mistake that she would regret all her life.