[Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent or any of the italicized words that are below this page break! Divergent belongs to Veronica Roth.]
This is not your typical "What if Four and Tris switched places?" fan fic.
One/Tris POV
I wake to the pounding of my apartment door from my dreamless sleep.
"TRIS! I mean ONE! WAKE UP! YOU'RE HOSTING!" Uriah? Oh.. today's the Choosing ceremony. Guess who's hosting it this year? Dauntless. And now, guess who's talking to the five factions and some idiotic 16 year olds? Me. Yipee.
"I'm up! Now leave or I'll kick your ass." I yell as I get out of bed. I hear feet walking away from my door. Thank god. I walk over to my connected bathroom and take a shower, while brushing my teeth. (Does anyone take a shower while brushing their teeth? I do..) I shampoo and condition my hair, then rinse it out. I step out of my shower, and dry off. I wrap a towel around myself, and go over to my walk-in dresser. I've never really understood why guys look at me so much. I'm not pretty, after my self confidence was lowered.. a lot. I select a black skin-tight tank top, tight skinny jeans, matching bra and underwear (The word panties makes me uncomfortable..) and a leather jacket. I put them on and walk back into my bathroom. I pull my hair in a sleek ponytail, then apply eyeliner, mascara, foundation, and deep red lipstick. Have to make a good impression, right? I deem myself ready after applying deodorant, and put on my black combat boots. I step out of my apartment door, whilst locking it. As I walk over to the cafeteria to get breakfast, I spot Uriah, Shauna, Zeke, and Peter sitting at our usual table, and I walk over there.
"Hi." I say while grabbing blueberry muffin.
"Hey Tris," Shauna says cheerfully. "Are you ready for the Choosing Ceremony?"
"Ready as I'll ever be." I say as I sigh.
"What do you want to be named as to the initiates?" Peter asks.
"One. As usual. That's what I'm as to strangers and 16 year olds."
"So you're going to be Trissy to us?" Uriah asks, stealing a bite of Zeke's Dauntless cake.
"Hey! You're going to be doing that to Mar soon, so quit it" Zeke smacks Uriah's hand away.
"Uri's got a crush? Amazing! Are you even ready to train initiates?" I ask
"Yeah." Zeke and Peter say at the same time.
"I'm really excited, you know? I get to scare them." Peter laughs.
"Haha. Very funny." I say as I get up. "Oh, gotta go now. Bye. See you all later."
"Bye Tris."
Tobias POV
"Are you ready?" My mother, Evelyn, says, cutting my hair.
"I hope so." I say quietly.
"I know you and Callie will make the right choice." She says, turning off the clippers. She bends down to clean up the stray hairs. "Go ahead, eat breakfast. I don't need help. You and Cal will need the energy."
I gulp, does she know what I'm going to pick? Yesterday, I took my aptitude test. I didn't pick the knife or the cheese. I laid flat to the ground when the dog was about to attack me. I ran after the dog and tackled it when it went after the little girl. My administer, Tori, said I was Divergent, and I was not allowed, under any circumstances, to tell anyone my test result. I got Abnegation, and Dauntless, and Erudite. The Erudite had been attacking my faction with lies, and also Andrew Prior, the leader of Abnegation, stating that Andrew had abused his only daughter, Beatrice Prior, who transferred to Dauntless two years ago. I walk downstairs to go to the dinner table.
"Hi Tobias." Callie says, making scrambled eggs.
"Hi Cal."
"Are you nervous? I know I am. I'm scared" She says, plating the eggs and placing two pieces of bread on four plates. "I just don't know to leave, or to stay."
"Yeah.."
"Like, I don't want our parents to be attacked if we leave. Like Mr. Prior."
Callie is really selfless. Yesterday, she gave her bus seat to a Candor man without hesitation or a second's thought, like I did. I don't have her instincts. Then, she came home late, helping an old woman carry her groceries.
My father, Marcus, walks in. "Hi kids."
"Good morning, father." Callie and I say.
I take a deep breath as I walk into the Hub with my family, along with the other families from the other factions. We walk over to the Abnegation sector, and sit down. We all wait until the Dauntless walk, I mean, run in.
"I love you, no matter what you choose." My mother whispers and smiles to me. Does she know?
The three Dauntless leaders come in, two male and a female. The male leaders go over to their sector while the female goes to the podium. She's gorgeous.
(Italics are from Divergent's words! Not mine!)
"Welcome. Welcome to the Choosing Ceremony. Welcome to the day where your children now decide on their fate, and future. This is the day where we honor our ancestors, who tell us that every one of us, has the decision and honor to choose what will be ahead of them." The Dauntless leader says.
"Our independents are now sixteen. Each one of them will stand before these bowls, and decide what faction they will be in. Many decades ago, our ancestors realized that it is not political ideology, religious beliefs, race, or nationalism that is to blame for a warring world. Rather, they determined that it was the fault of human personality - of humankind's inclination toward evil, in whatever form it is in. They are divided into factions, that sought to eradicate those qualities they believed responsible for the world's disarray."
I have absolutely have no idea what to choose.
"Those who have blamed anger and aggression formed Amity."
The Amity beamed at each other. I can never be happy every single day. No matter where I see them, they are always smiling and laughing. No matter what.
"Those who have blamed stupidity and ignorance became the Erudite."
Ruling Erudite out of my choices was the only easy part, since they are attacking my faction.
"Those who blamed duplicity created Candor."
Candor was never my favorite.
"Those who blamed selfishness made Abnegation."
I do blame selfishness.
"And those who blamed cowardice were the Dauntless."
I'm not selfless enough. I don't have the instincts like Callie has, even after 16 years of trying.
"Working together, these five factions have lived in peace for many years, each contributing to a different sector of society. Abnegation has fulfilled our need for selfless leaders in the government; Candor has provided us with trustworthy and sound leaders in law; Erudite has supplied us with intelligent teachers and researches; Amity has given us understanding counselors and caretakers; and Dauntless provides us with protection from threats both within and without. But the reach of each faction is not limited to these areas. We give one another far more than can be adequately summarized. In our factions, we find meaning, we find purpose, we find life.
"Apart from them, we cannot survive. Therefore, this day marks a happy occasion - the day on which we receive our new initiates, who will work with us toward a better society and a better world."
There is a round of applause, the loudest from Dauntless. Of course.
"Faction before blood." One says. Everyone repeats it. She begins to call out the first names.
"Leanne Zeppher." She walks from the Candor section, takes the knife from One, cuts her hand, and places it over the Candor glass.
"Candor." One says. I zone out until she says the first Dauntless.
"Edward Venye." One says.
Edward walks over, cuts his palm and drips his blood over the Dauntless bowl.
"Dauntless." There is a mutter of disgust from the Erudite. There are several transfers and borns who decided on Dauntless.
"Callie Eaton." One calls after several chooses. I grab Callie's hand, and squeeze it as she rises. I let go. She walks over to One, and One hands the knife to her. She cuts open her hand, and slowly puts her hand over a bowl. I can't see which though.
"Candor." A cry of disgust starts to arise from the Abnegation. How can I be good for Abnegation, when Callie isn't? I glance over to my father, and see that he is upset.
"Excuse me." One says. "QUIET!" In an instant, everyone becomes quiet.
"Tobias Eaton." I get up slowly, and look over to my parents for the last time. I walk over to the podium and take the knife that One is holding out for me. A new knife for a new person for a different future. I cut my hand, unsure of myself. One is mumbling hurry up, her lips are barely moving. I let the blood pool in my hand and once it is enough for it to drip down, I hold it over the Dauntless bowl.
"Dauntless." One calls out. There is cheering from the Dauntless. I can't look over to my parents, and see the disappointment. One hands me a bandage. I take it and put it on as I walk over to the Dauntless. Then, I look over to my parents. My father is staring at me. And my mother looks..
Proud?
Some of the Dauntless walk over to me and place their hand on my back, walking me over to the seats.
After One was finished with the last person, who chose Amity, the Dauntless leaders begin to run out of the door, along with the other Dauntless members, laughing, yelling, and shouting. The initiates begin to run after them.
"What the hell is happening?!" an Erudite boy shouts as we begin to run down the stairs. I just simply shake my head and continue running.
We finally get down, and the Dauntless begin to spread across the street, blocking all pedestrians. (This is the part where the Dauntless begin to climb up the… thing) I begin to climb up the poles to get to the train tracks. I finally get up, and hear a train horn. The Dauntless ahead of me begin to run.
"Come on!"
I begin to run as fast as I can. I decide on the last train, and grab on to the handle, twist myself, and someone pulls me in.
"Thank you." I gasp out.
"No problem," I see that the speaker is an Erudite boy. He has shaggy brown hair and celery green eyes. "I'm Will." He holds out his hand.
"Tobias." I say, taking Will's hand and shaking it. I notice that the train is picking up speed. I pull him down and he looks confused.
"Fast train means wind," I explain. "Wind means falling out. Get down."
He understands quickly, and sits down. The ones standing begin to fall on each other, but laughing.
An older man, maybe 18, comes out of his corner.
"Get ready." he says, and goes toward the door.
"They're jumping!" Will says. I quickly get out of my sitting position and look out of the door. I see people jumping out of the train and landing or rolling on the roof. Some other transfers are already out of the train and jumping.
"Come on!" Will says. "Or else we're going to be factionless!"
I take a deep breath, and back up to the train. I run as fast as I can and I land on my side. I see that Will had jumped out too, and landed on his butt. I see that I ripped my cloth jacket and examine my ripped skin, but it's not bleeding.
"Ooh! Scandalous! A Stiff's flashing some skin!" An Erudite calls out. I hear laughter.
"Listen up! My name's Max! I am one of the three leaders of your new chosen faction." An older man shouts, around 40. He hops onto the ledge of a building, as if we didn't just jump off a moving train that was going 30 miles an hour.
"Several stories below us, is the Dauntless compound. In order to get in, you have to jump. The initiates will have the privilege to jump off first." I finally notice that the older members are with us.
"Is there water at the bottom or something?" Will asks
"Who knows?"
"Who wants to jump off first?" No one steps up. I slowly walk over and people are looking at me like I'm crazy. Max jumps off the ledge towards us. I step on to the ledge, and look down. It's dark, and I can't see anything below.
I take off my jacket. I hear cat calls and wolf whistles. I take a deep breath, since I'm about to face a fear of mine.
I don't think, I just bend my knees and jump.
I land on a hard object. I try to breathe, gasping for air that was knocked out for me. I realize that I was caught on net. I begin to laugh hysterically, half relieved. I see a few hands stretched out for me, so I grab the nearest one. I begin to roll off, and I would of fallen flat on my face if she hadn't caught me.
"She" is the woman's hand that I had grabbed. I realize, that she was the Dauntless leader that had spoken the speech at the Choosing Ceremony. She has blueish-grey eyes, and long blonde hair. She also has full lips, a small nose, small ears. Absolutely stunning.
"What, did you get pushed or something?" I realize that she was talking to me. I notice that she has a deep voice, deeper than the average female.
"N-no. I jumped off. Thank you." She doesn't say anything.
"Can't believe it. The Stiff was first to jump off?" A man says.
"There's a reason why Stiff left, Zeke," she says. "What's your name?"
"To-" I begin, but I hesitate.
"Think about it," she says, smiling a little. "You don't get to pick again."
A new name? I can be remade here.
"Tobias. My name's Tobias."
"Tobias. Make the announcement, One." Zeke says, grinning.
"First jumper, Tobias!" the woman, One, shouts. A Dauntless-born falls down, and on to the net. Everyone is laughing by now.
One puts her hand on my shoulder, and says, "Welcome to Dauntless."
Thank you for reading! I can't guarantee that I will update weekly.
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- divergentoverblood