A/N: I completely rewrote the first four chapters of this story. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent.
Azalea
It's time.
There haven't been many switches this year. One of the Dauntless kids, a boy with long black hair, chose to join Abnegation. While the rest of his old faction looked at him like he was a traitor, I thought that what he did was really, really brave. I wish I had the kind of bravery required to turn my back on everything I know and live the life I wish I could live.
Twenty more people to go.
I turn the choices over in my head. My aptitude test was strange. An attractive Dauntless guy with long blonde hair and multiple tattoos administered it, and afterwards told me that the results were inconclusive. I was then instructed to go back to my faction and act like everything was normal – like I didn't have the potential to be either Candor or Erudite or Dauntless.
Ten more.
Ever since then, I've had to re-evaluate my entire existence as everything I thought I knew flew out of the window. The test was supposed to tell me what and who I'm supposed to be. I'm not supposed to choose for myself. Or am I…?
Five.
Dangerous. That was what Frank, the aptitude test guy, said that my 'condition' was. Dangerous. I've heard the word used, of course, but I've never heard it used in regards to me. Dangerous. It sends a flutter of excitement to the pit of my stomach.
Four.
Everyone around me always tries to hide the fact that I don't really live up to my faction name. I'm not that nice. At all. I'm blunt and direct and selfish and don't care much for the peaceful farming life my faction promotes. Maybe that's why my test chose every faction besides the two that represent peace and selflessness. The only two that my family would be okay with me choosing.
Three.
The boy who walks up next is wearing Erudite blue and when he slices his hand, the drop of blood that falls into the Dauntless bowl sizzles on the hot coals, reminding me of a snake's hiss. Cheers erupt from the Dauntless and he is received with grins and claps on the back. Good for him.
Two.
I look around at the sea of red surrounding me. They're clapping politely, as is custom, but their faces are strained and it's obvious to everyone and their mother that they disapprove. Indignation rises within me. They have nothing to disapprove of; it's that boy's life, not theirs. They have no say in what he chooses to do.
One.
As my sister rises from her seat and slices her hand over the Abnegation bowl, I'm struck with an epiphany. I am so tired of being told how to live and who to be. That "proper young women" do what they're told and avoid confrontation. That I have to get married and pop out a few kids in order to have a fulfilling life. That "no, Azalea, you most certainly cannot be friends with the likes of them." I am more than what my faction expects me to be.
I am more than what my faction expects me to be.
Zero.
It's time.
Rising from my seat, I hold my head high as I walk up to the stage. I am calm, I am confident. Slicing my hand isn't as bad as I always thought it would be – merely a flash of pain and then a welling of deep red liquid in my palm. I turn and look at the five factions beyond the silver bowls before me. Five bowls, five factions, five completely different lives I could lead.
A small drop of blood sizzles onto the coals in the bowl and I grin, reveling in the cheers and hollers of the Dauntless. I walk into the crowd of my new faction with a smirk on my face, not once looking back at the sea of disappointed faces I'm leaving behind.
Tris
"She won't last half a day here."
I turn and glare at Eric while Tobias simply sighs beside me, knowing that a fight is about to break out. It's not my fault, honest. Eric just gets on my last nerve; every punch thrown his way, he definitely has coming.
"And what makes you say that?" I ask in a falsely sweet voice. He smirks, that damn smirk that he and Tobias both share. It's cocky as hell and screams I know everything, defer to my expertise on all things because I'm the best! I'm pretty sure it's a product of their eternal rivalry. If it annoys me on Tobias, you can only imagine how pissed I get at seeing it on Eric's irritating face.
"Well," he says in a mocking voice. "Just look at her, Stiff." He indicates the screen that we're watching the ceremony on. "She's a twig. And she's from Amity. If she's anything like the Amity I've met, the others will eat her alive."
My eyes narrow at his cocky tone. "First of all, she is not that twiggy. She probably has some strong muscles from farming every day. Second, wanna bet? Amity's not that different from Abnegation, and wasn't it a girl from Abnegation who got the top spot last year? I mean, I should know; it was me."
His eyes narrow in return. "What are the terms of the bet?"
"Tris," Tobias says, placing a hand on my arm. "Don't. You know what happened last time you two bet on something."
I wave him off. Only part of our apartment got burned down; it wasn't as big of a deal as he always tries to make it out to be. "I bet that Amity girl there gets in third or higher at the end of this year's training. If she does, you have to do whatever I tell you to for a week."
Eric smirks. "And if I win then I get to do the same to you?"
Oh. I hadn't thought of that.
"Absolutely not," Tobias says, his eyes furious. I shoot him an annoyed glance.
"No sexual favors or anything that involves the removing of clothes in public or otherwise," I say.
"Deal."
We shake hands, and I pray that the Amity girl doesn't screw this up for me. I really don't want to be Eric's slave for a week.
You better not let me down, Amity.
Azalea
"So what's your name, Mama?"
His voice is almost drowned out in the cacophony of the train. I look over at the only other person in the train car – a pretty Dauntless boy with dark skin and mischievous eyes – and snort.
"It's definitely not 'Mama,'" I say, raising an eyebrow at him. "Isn't it polite to offer your own name before asking for someone else's?"
The boy stares at me for a moment before chuckling and shaking his head. "Oh man, Tris is going to love you. Alright, no need to be so sassy; my name is Uriah. Happy?"
I beam at him, the ultimate picture of happiness. "Thrilled. I'm Azalea."
His dark eyebrows furrow. "Like the flower? Don't you think that's a little, I dunno, pretty for Dauntless?"
I frown. That was something I hadn't thought of. I couldn't go into a faction of warriors as a flower. I'd get pummeled my first night.
"I guess," I say, not really sure what to do. He shrugs.
"Don't worry," he assures me, "you can be whoever you want to be. It's almost like getting reborn, you know? You can come up with a whole new identity and no one – except for me, of course – will be the wiser."
I nod, enthralled. Shedding my old identity, becoming who I've always wanted to be? It sounds amazing. "Did you transfer?" I ask curiously; he speaks as if he knows the feeling.
He shakes his head. "Been Dauntless my whole life. I like to observe people, though; the more you see, the more you learn, Mama."
I huff at his ridiculous nickname for me. It seems to have stuck. He'd better not call me that in public.
I close my eyes, content to let the sounds and motion of the train relax me, and before I know it a hand is shaking me awake.
"Time to go, Mama."
Groggily standing and stumbling to the door of the train car, I groan at the sight before me. "Let me guess; we have to jump?"
Uriah grins and claps me on the shoulder. "You'll be fine. Just make sure not to lock your knees as you land; wouldn't want such a pretty flower to get its delicate petals injured, yeah?"
Red fills my vision and he laughs as he dodges my swipe. Too quickly, he leans in and kisses my cheek, whispering "stay feisty, Mama" before swan diving out of the train.
"That little- "
Before I have time to think, I jump after him, fully intent on giving him a piece of my mind. As I land on the roof of the building – knees bent, like Uriah said – I roll a few times before coming to a complete stop. "Whoa," I say, putting a hand to my head as the world spins a bit. A brown hand reaches out and I take it, glaring at the person it's attached to.
"What?" Uriah asks innocently as the rest of the initiates land on the roof with us. I shake my head, silently vowing to get him later for the stunt he pulled earlier.
Once all of the other initiates are either safely on the rooftop or splattered onto the concrete way down below, Uriah and two girls on either side of him stand on the ledge of the roof. "So," he says, surveying the twenty-or-so of us. "You lot have chosen Dauntless. Congratulations; step one of your journey is complete."
"Step one?" A girl in Candor white asks, confusion marring her pretty features.
"You're not deaf. That's a good sign," one of the girls beside Uriah sneers, causing everyone to laugh and the Candor girl to blush fiercely.
"You heard me correct," Uriah says. "Step one is that you have to choose Dauntless. Step two?" He adopts a wicked grin, one that promises mischief. "Step two is that you have to prove that you belong here. Starting now."
I'm the closest to the ledge, and I peer over it curiously, trying to see if any of the initiates really did go splat down there. I don't see any gore, but I do see a dark hole. What in the world…?
"Amity!" Uriah yells, and since there are no other Amity transfers, I know he's talking to me. "Since you're so interested in the entrance to Dauntless, why don't you be the first to jump?"
My stomach falls. "Jump?" You have got to be kidding me.
He nods, crossing his arms and raising his eyebrow at me in a challenging way. Remembering how he kissed my cheek earlier, I roll my eyes and step up onto the ledge, peering down at the hole below. Any ire I feel at Uriah fades as I'm faced with the prospect of imminent death. I take a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart.
"What happens if I miss the hole?" I call back to Uriah. His nonchalant response doesn't scare me as much as it probably should.
"You die."
I close my eyes and jump.
The wind rushes past me, and for a moment I'm suspended in time and space. I feel so free, so alive, that it takes my breath away. In this moment, I am weightless; I am invincible.
Something catches me, breaking me out of my trance. I bounce a few times before a hand enters my vision and I take it, stumbling out of the giant net, catching myself by gripping onto strong, muscled biceps.
"Whoa," I say breathlessly, giggling a bit. "That was something."
Realizing that I'm still gripping the arms that helped me out, I let go and look at the person attached to them. He's handsome, I realize with a start. Tall and attractive with short, dirty blonde hair and an eyebrow piercing. His face is slack, almost blank as he stares at me with storm cloud grey eyes. His eyes are mesmerizing.
Suddenly, the slack expression on his face disappears and he adopts an assertive and commanding demeanor. "What's your name, Amity?" he asks in a voice that's low and husky.
Don't say Azalea, do not say Azalea, do not let him think you are a delicate flower.
"Az," I reply, my mind not coming up with anything else.
He looks me over once more – grey eyes roving up and down my body, causing my cheeks to heat up of their own accord – before saying "hm" and walking away without saying another word. I tilt my head as I watch him go because, well, dat ass.
"I knew there was something I liked about you," a blonde girl says, skipping up to me. She's an inch or two shorter than me, with form-fitting black pants and a black off-the-shoulder top that shows off her tattoo. Ravens? Crows? "I'm Six. Welcome to Dauntless."
I take the hand she offers and shake it. "Thanks."
The guy standing next to her offers his hand too. He's tall and muscular, like the other guy that helped me out of the net. Come to think of it, Uriah was unnaturally tall and beefy as well. I understand that all Dauntless need to be fit and everything, but what are they feeding these boys down here!?
"I'm Four. This is Christina – "he nods to a petite girl with light brown skin who waves and smiles prettily – "and Will." A tall boy with curly brown hair nods. "And you obviously already met Eric."
He says the name with a tangible amount of disdain and I think of the boy with the cold grey eyes. Eric. Hm.
"I'm Az," I introduce myself.
Four grabs my hand and lifts it high in the air. He's so much taller than me that I have to stand on my tiptoes, lest he pull my arm right out of its socket.
"First jumper: Az!"
Cheers erupt from the other Dauntless in the room and I grin.
The girl called Six opens her mouth to speak but is interrupted by yelling, and the next initiate, the Erudite boy who joined before me at the ceremony, falls onto the net in a tangle of limbs. Four helps him out.
"What's your name, Erudite?"
"Aaron," the boy responds.
When all of the initiates have jumped, Uriah follows suit. He gives me a wink before standing behind Six, Four, Will and Christina.
"Dauntless born, go with Will and Christina," Four commands. Twelve black-wearing, tattoo-bearing teenagers follow them down a hallway to the left, leaving the remaining ten transfers, including me, in the room. Four turns back to us once they're gone. "Six and I are going to be your mentors and your trainers. Note that I definitely did not say friends. We are not here to baby you. The both of us were ranked #1 in our training, so you better know right here and now that neither of us will tolerate disrespect in any way, shape or form. Is that clear?"
Nine heads nod warily. The tenth, mine, nods enthusiastically. His straightforward and candid way of speaking appeals to me, as it reminds me that I'm not in Amity any more – here, people are free to speak their minds. I'm free to speak my mind, and it feels so, so good.
"Thank you, Four. Now that that's settled, we're gonna show you guys around, give you a tour, eat dinner, and then you better get some sleep. You'll be kicking yourselves tomorrow if you don't," Six tells us with a smirk.
I think I'll like it here just fine.
Did ya enjoy? Let me know in a review!