Welcome all to my first Divergent fanfiction (original novel by Veronica Roth.) This story is rated T for moderate violence, language, and sexual themes. Please review; I'd love to read your feedback.

Chapter 4: Burn

Nina managed to avoid a run-in with Eric for the rest of the afternoon. She watched him intensely from the corner of her eye at all times in fear that he would keep true to his word to "make her life a living hell" as he'd so thoughtfully put it. Luckily, he didn't seem to seek her out at all. Any instructions she received in her training came exclusively from Four.

While Nina changed into fresh clothing after her much needed shower, Maddie lounged on the top bunk, one forearm crossed over her eyes to block out the harsh fluorescent light in the dormitory.

Nina playfully wriggled Maddie's pinky toe. "Hey princess, you coming to dinner or not?"

"Mmm," Maddie lifted her forearm to look at Nina. "Actually, I was wondering if you could just bring me something? I'm not feeling very well."

"Sure, no problem." Nina assessed Maddie with mild concern as she slipped a shirt over her head. "What's wrong?"

Maddie shrugged. "I'm not sure. I'm just… really lightheaded."

Nina frowned. "You're probably just worn out from training. Take a nap while everyone's at dinner, yea? I'll wake you up when I get back."

Maddie smiled weakly and gave Nina a thumbs up.

Nina sat with Amir at dinner. Clark and his cronies had taken to sitting at a different table in light of last night's catastrophe. Nina noticed with pleasure that Clark blanched every time Eric looked at him, and that Eric had been especially hard on him today in the training room, constantly critiquing his physical prowess and combat stances.

Amir tore a piece of cornbread in half and knit his brows together. "I wonder why Maddie isn't feeling well. She was doing fine after lunch but she looked pale after training. I hope she's ok."

Nina nodded and waved her hand. "She'll be fine; she just needs some rest." She playfully wriggled her eyebrows. "You seem awfully concerned, my friend. Maybe you should go play doctor with her." She winked playfully.

Amir scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Nina, don't go there."

Nina faked incredulousness. "What? What did I do?" She mimicked an expression of angelic innocence.

"I know what's on your filthy mind," Amir accused.

Nina threw her head back in laughter and tossed her bread at him. "Whatever, lover boy." Amir caught the bun and bit into it with a cheeky smile.

"So, have you thought at all about what kind of weapon you want to choose during Stage 1? I'm thinking of choosing a knife. Seems cool," Amir pretended to slash Nina, who playfully recoiled and fake-stabbed back.

Nina hadn't given much thought to what type of weapon she'd like to specialize in. She imagined herself spinning with a dagger and fiercely stabbing an opponent, and grinned darkly and nodded. "Yea, a knife does sound cool," she cocked pensively for a moment. "That or nunchucks!"

When they finished dinner, Nina wrapped a piece of chocolate cake in a napkin for Maddie. Amir insisted that he also bring her a burger. Nina smirked as they left the dining area. "All a girl needs is chocolate, lover boy. Trust me, she'll eat the cake first."

Amir and Nina visited the tattoo parlour to waste time after dinner. They didn't want to get tattoos yet without Maddie, so they merely scanned the photo albums of the various tattoo artists and admired their ink work. Amir flipped through a book with images of piercings, then gazed at himself thoughtfully in the mirror. He ran his finger lightly over his eyebrow, turning his face side to side as he scrutinized himself. Nina nudged his hip and whispered, "You know, Maddie has a thing for guys with facial piercings…" Amir grinned and plopped down in the piercer's chair without hesitation.

A woman with dark skin and coiled dreads cleaned Amir's nose with a cotton swab. "What about you, hun," she asked Nina. "Getting a piercing as well, or a tattoo?"

Nina shrugged thoughtfully. "Hmm. Maybe." She hopped onto the counter and kicked her feet.

The woman winked, "You're not too scared, are ya'?"

"No, I'm not," snapped Nina, her posture stiffening.

"Meow. I'm only teasing. Lighten up, kitty cat."

"She gets a little defensive sometimes," Amir fake whispered.

Nina furrowed her eyebrows. "I do not!" Amir and the piercer chortled and Nina caved in, sticking her tongue out. "Ok, ok, you're right. I'm Nina by the way."

"And I'm Sonya. Make sure you come back to get a tattoo or piercing sometime, ok?"

Nina nodded and asked which of the tattoo albums was hers. She flipped through images of Sonya's artwork as Amir received his eyebrow piercing and found herself genuinely admiring Sonya' artistic style. "You're a really great artist, Sonya. How long have you been drawing?"

Sonya grinned as she snapped off her gloves and threw them in a nearby bin. "Thanks. I've been drawing about 10 years I guess. Got hired at this parlour a few years back and have been loving it ever since. How about you – you an artist?"

Nina nodded. "Yea, I love art. My father's a painted so I guess he got me into it. Drawing is definitely my favorite medium though."

Their conversation got suddenly interrupted as a customer came in and requested to see Sonya. Amir and Nina said their goodbyes and promised to come back and Sonya wished them farewell, saying "Bye, kitty cat!" as she winked at Nina.

When Nina and Amir arrived at the dormitory, they found Maddie pacing by the doorway. Amir instantly froze. "What's wrong, Maddie?"

Maddie guiltily glanced at Nina then looked back at Amir. "Four came by while you guys were at dinner…" She paused and bit her bottom lip. "He put the daily rankings up."

Nina dropped the chocolate cake into Maddie's hand and stormed up to the scoreboard. Her eyes skimmed over the thirteen rankings.

1. Q

2. Amir

3. Gregory

4. Alessandra

5. Maddie

6. Sebastian

7. Miles

8. Lana

9. Clark

10. Pamela

11. Nina

12. Jackson

13. Tae

Fury and humiliation washed over Nina as she collapsed face-down onto her bottom bunk. The only people she'd ranked better than were a boy whose name she couldn't place a face to and that whiny girl Tae. If her ranking didn't improve significantly, she risk being kicked out and made Factionless. She'd worked so hard today and nothing had come out of it. It wasn't fair to be ranked against other Initiates who were naturally bigger or stronger than her. Hatred ripped through her as she recalled Eric's words: "I can make your life miserable here." Was this his doing? Was this his revenge on her for giving him attitude last night?

Maddie tentatively approached and sat on the bottom bunk beside Nina, who rolled away with shame. "Nina…" said Maddie carefully. "It's only day one. You still have time to improve."

Nina tried to bite back spiteful words but failed. "Easy for you to say. You're ranked well." She huffed and blinked tears of anger away from her eyes. Crying when angry was what she considered one of her worst traits. She slammed her fist angrily against the pillow. "I suck. I don't belong here."

Maddie began to hum a traditional Amity tune that Nina adored. Nina closed her eyes, and Maddie began to sing.

"There is an ancient bird they say

With plumes of golden fiery rays

And it will die, and it will die.

But from the ashes where it rest

Arise flames of scorching caress

And it will rise, and it will rise.

The phoenix will ever rebirth

Eternal soul of sun and earth

And it will fly, and it will fly."

Nina's deep breaths slowed and her pulse relaxed. Her heart felt heavy with nostalgia. With her eyes closed, she could almost imagine the voice being that of her mother, who used to always sing this lullaby to her when she tucked Nina in as a child. "I wish you would sing more often. You have such a lovely voice."

Maddie lay her hand on Nina's shoulder. "Marina, listen to me. You are one of the strongest, fiercest people I know. No one said this was gonna be easy. But you're the last person I expect to give up, because I know you belongin Dauntless. This is your home. You just need to fight for it."

Nina meditated on Maddie's words as the tears dried on her face. Every fiber of her being yearned to be Dauntless. She had embraced the Dauntless lifestyle ever since childhood, much to the chagrin of her parents and mentors. There had never been a trace of doubt in Nina's mind that this was where she truly belonged. She could choose to complain about her poor ranking, or she could choose to do something about it.

Nina rolled over and wrapped her arms around her friend to express her gratitude. "Maddie, what would I ever do without you? You keep me grounded." She exhaled and broke eye contact with Maddie, ashamed. "Also... I'm sorry for snapping at you. I know it's not your fault."

Maddie laughed and kissed Nina's forehead, accepting her apology. Amir sat beside the two girls. "Nina, you're a tough cookie. Your ranking will go up. You just have to work hard."

Nina nodded thoughtfully. Maddie reached over and gently nudged Amir's face, angling it away so she could admire his new piercing. "Oh, nice eyebrow ring. I like it!"

Nina winked at Amir and mouthed "Told ya' so!"

While Nina and Amir chatted, Nina slipped on her sneakers and pulled her hair into a ponytail. She stood and stretched a bit to loosen her muscles. "I'm gonna go train."

Maddie's eyes widened. "Are you sure? It's already getting late and we have to wake up early."

Nina's eyes lit up passionately and she lowered her voice. "I need to do this. I need to prove that I belong in Dauntless."

The halls were quiet and the cavern lights were dim. Nina moved stealthily and hoped to find the training door unlocked. Just as she was about to round the corner, she heard hushed voices ahead. She crouched and listened intently.

"Jeanine has reason to believe that the Abnegation are illegally housing the Divergent and plotting to overthrow the current system. We can't let that happen," the voice was Max's. "As long as Eaton is in power, he's a threat."

"He is such a piece of shit," Nina's eyes widened when she heard Eric respond. She peeked around the corner and saw his muscular frame pacing in front of Max. "But what can we do to stop him? We can't allow the Divergent to –"

The two men continued down the hall away from her, preventing her from further eavesdropping. Nina rose when she was sure the men were gone, and moved silently towards the training room. She jiggled the door handle and was glad to find it had been left unlocked. She slipped inside and quietly eased the door closed behind her.

Nina jogged in place to warm up. Her pulse raced as she processed what she had overheard. 'Why would the Abnegation possibly want to overthrow the government?' The Abnegation were inherently selfless and good; she couldn't imagine a faction least likely to be corrupt. 'And what is Divergent, anyways?' Nina couldn't remember having ever heard the term in any of her classes. Max made it seem like the Divergent were a group of terrorists, intent on ruining the factions. 'If that's so, why haven't we been taught about them?'

A pit of uneasiness grew in Nina's stomach as she realized the gravity of what she had just overheard. Erudite and Dauntless were… secretly working together to oust Marcus Eaton? And now Nina knew about it. She wondered what would happen to her if one of the leaders found out what she'd learned. Would she get kicked out? Killed? She shivered at the thought. She couldn't tell anyone, not even Maddie. She couldn't risk getting her anyone else in trouble. She had better just forget she had even heard anything at all.

Nina began to practice the kicks they'd been taught today on a punching bag. Her muscles were in agony but she forced herself to push past the pain and forced her anger and fears and worries into each kick.

"You're gonna pull a hamstring if you keep kicking that way."

Nina spun around in shock, her pulse instantly quickening. Eric was leaning against the wall behind her, his muscular arms crossed over his broad chest. She choked back her nerves and mimicked Eric's stance. "How long have you been watching me?" Nina was jittery. Did he know what she'd found out?

"Long enough to know that you suck at kickboxing," he stated smugly.

"Fuck, Eric, what is your problem?" spat Nina, glaring intensely at Eric. "Do you just go around being an asshole to everyone, or did I win some sort of 'Hey Let's Be A Jerk To Nina' contest I didn't know about?"

"You keep talking like that to me, I might be tempted to wash your mouth out with soap," he threatened.

Nina blanched, until she noticed that the right side of Eric's mouth twitched with the hint of a laugh. 'Oh, he thinks I'm funny, does he?' She sighed. "What do you want, Eric?"

The smile Nina thought she'd seen on his face vanished. "You're not supposed to be here after hours, you know that."

Nina shrugged apathetically. "The door was unlocked... Are you going to kick me out or can I stay? I promise I won't…" she took a look around the scarce room, noticing that most of the training equipment had been locked up for the night, "make a mess, or whatever."

Eric didn't answer. He approached Nina and nodded towards the punching bag. "Show me your front kick again."

Nina sighed and complied. The moment her foot extended, Eric shoved against her lower back. Nina immediately fell out of balance and stumbled. "What the hell, Eric?!"

"You're not displacing your body weight correctly. You need to distribute your mass evenly by tightening the muscles at the core of your body. Try again."

Nina narrowed her eyes cautiously at Eric. She practiced her kick again, this time following Eric's advice. Her kick immediately felt stronger, and the tight, painful pull on her hamstrings disappeared. She smiled and kicked again, pleased with the improvement. Her eyes sought Eric's, subconsciously desiring his approval. He simply nodded, an unreadable expression on his face, and said "Be on time tomorrow morning. Or else."

"Nina, wake up, come on!"

Nina opened one eye and saw that Maddie was staring down at her, a frown tugging her lips downwards.

"We gotta go get breakfast before training," Maddie continued, tugging on Nina's arm.

Nina grumbled and looked at her black wristwatch. It blinked the numbers 7:12 AM at her. "Ugh, let me sleep a bit more…" she whined. "I'll skip breakfast and see you at the training room at 8:00."

Maddie rolled her eyes and huffed. "Fine, but it's not my fault if you're late - and you can't expect me to be your personal alarm clock every morning!"

Nina shooed her away and quickly fell back asleep.

Nina awoke with a start to an empty room. She quickly looked down at her sports watch, which read 8:09 AM. "Fuuuuuck," she groaned aloud as she frantically threw on her sneakers and clothing, and raced out the door. When she arrived at the training room, she peeked her head through the open doorway. The group was convened in an arch facing the arena, where Four was reading out the list of the day's fighting assignments. Eric stood off to the side in the shadows. Nina tiptoed in fugitively, hoping to avoid getting points deducted from her final score for tardiness.

Suddenly, Nina's eyes met Eric's cold ones. Her breath hitched in her throat, expecting an angry outburst from him. Instead, he quirked up his pierced eyebrow and looked away casually. Confused, Nina slipped into the group unnoticed by anyone other than Amir and Maddie, who looked at her pointedly. Nina tried to concentrate on Four's words, but her eyes kept drifting to Eric, and she ended up missing who she'd gotten paired with. She glanced at Tae, hoping she'd been matched with the thin girl.

When Four finished announcing the day's line-up, Eric stepped onto the platform and cracked his knuckles. "Initiates. You will fight as long as it takes. You will not back down and you will not show mercy. The fight ends when someone loses consciousness or concedes. Conceding will cost you points in your ranking." The authority in Eric's curt voice sent an unexpected shiver of pleasure down Nina's spine. She frowned. 'Get over it, Nina. He's bad news.'

Nina stretched as the first fighters stepped into the arena. The two fighters, Sebastian and Miles, were ranked fairly evenly, if Nina could recall correctly. She leaned in to observe attentively. She could potentially fight either of them in the next week so she wanted to learn their strengths and weaknesses.

Sebastian and Miles circled one another apprehensively. "What are you waiting for, Initiates?" barked Eric. "Fight!"

The fight lasted only a few minutes, and ended when Miles conceded, his hand clutching his broken thumb. Sebastian had been faster, more confident, and more aggressive with his attacks.

Nina's name was called next and she entered the arena. Her stomach flipped when a boy named Q stepped up. Q, a transfer Initiate from Abnegation, had announced his one-lettered name on the day they'd arrived at Dauntless, and he hadn't spoken a word since. He always sat quietly and seemed to be constantly observing everyone around him. He was over a foot taller than Nina and his dark arms were as thick as her thighs.

Nina gulped as she uneasily gauged her opponent. Suddenly Q's fist shot out, clocking Nina in the cheek. Her head snapped back. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Q's fist fly to her face once more. She ducked and then kicked him in the shin, causing him to stumble back. Q's eyes narrowed and he kicked Nina in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She briefly doubled over in pain but forced herself to stand strong. Q's large fist approached her temple but she quickly snapped her forearm up and deflected the strike; her arm instantly ached, and she knew she'd be sporting a large bruise on it later. She then swung her arm forward and landed a solid punch on Q's chin, causing him to recoil.

Q launched himself at Nina, who gasped in pain as her back was slammed to the ground. Q reared up and slammed his elbow against her face, a loud crack reverberating. Her sight went momentarily black with pain. Her nose felt like it had been set on fire. Nina shoved her knee against Q's stomach and tried to roll him off her. She grabbed Q's finger and pulled back, causing him to roar. She momentarily was able to off-balance Q, but he quickly regained control and pinned Nina down. She felt blood running down her nasal cavity to her throat, and she struggled to breath. A trickle of blood ran into her left eye, blinding her, and Nina blindly reached up, feeling for Q's neck. Her fingers enclosed Q's throat and she squeezed with as much strength as she could muster. Her pulse drummed loudly in her ears, and she faintly heard Maddie crying out her name.

Q spoke for the first time since they'd arrived at Dauntless. "Just concede, little girl." Nina retaliated by launching a forceful punch to Q's ribcage. Then his fist cracked against her already broken nose, and Nina lost consciousness.

Nina opened her eyes and discovered that she was facing the dark floor of the cavern. It was moving quickly under her like rushing water, which disoriented her. She squeezed her eyes shut and resisted the urge to vomit. She was draped over somebody's muscular shoulder, her head softly bouncing with each step the person took. "Ugh, stop moving," she slurred out.

"Nina, shut up." The brusque voice was Eric's. Nina complied, only because talking somehow hurt her throat; she felt parched. She was suddenly dropped onto a cot with a thin mattress.

Someone wiped a damp towel over her face to remove the blood and fingers pried her eyes open. She sluggishly pushed the hand away and shut her eyes again. Her eyes were forced open and a bright light was beamed into each of her eyes. Nina grumbled but kept her eyes narrowly open. Someone's hand appeared in front of her face. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Nina squinted and tried to concentrate. The hand kept morphing; she wasn't sure how many hands the person was holding up. Nina did not want to let on how badly she was disoriented, and refused to answer the question seriously. "52. This is stupid."

The person chuckled. Nina's vision slowly adjusted until she could see a blurry man treating her. "I think you have a mild concussion. And a broken nose. I'm gonna have to snap it back in place. Ready?"

Nina shrugged. Flames of pain radiated across her face as her nose was manually re-adjusted. She choked back the yelp that rose in her chest.

"You should stay here and rest. I need to monitor you in case you have a concussion."

Nina jumped down from the cot and tipped forward. She grasped the edge of the cot to balance herself. "I'm fine. I want to watch the rest of the fights."

The man tutted and he gently pushed Nina back towards the cot. Nina shrugged her arm away. "I'm ok, really."

The man rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever. Eric, keep an eye on her today. Bring her back if her symptoms get worse." Eric, who had been intently watching without Nina's knowledge, nodded and motioned for Nina to go ahead.

Nina exited the medical facility and tried to concentrate on taking steady steps, using the wall for balance.

"You're going the wrong way," stated Eric dryly from behind her.

"Oh." Nina turned and tried to ignore the resulting blur. She focused on each step she took, making sure not to trip. The cavern floor seemed to lurch beneath her.

"Can you walk any faster?" asked Eric tersely.

"Can you stop being such an asshole?" shot back Nina, pouting her lips. Eric rolled his eyes and she was suddenly scooped into his arms. Eric's pace immediately sped up.

Nina lolled her throbbing head against Eric's chest. "I guess this is ok. You should carry me everywhere. I'd never have to walk again." Nina liked whatever soap he used; it left him with a musky, evergreen scent that reminded her of sitting by a campfire on a cool autumn night.

Eric chuckled darkly, "Don't expect this treatment often, your highness. Anyways, you still owe me."

Nina's eyes shot open and she glared inquisitively at Eric, whose face was still somewhat of a blur. "What are you talking about?"

"I warned you not to be late this morning. You should have had three points immediately docked from your final score, but I let you sneak in anyways. Now you owe me three times over."

She bit her bottom lip as she contemplated his proposal. "Fair enough. What do I owe you?"

Eric set Nina onto her feet outside of the entrance to the training room. "You have to clean my apartment this week."

Nina scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Really, Eric? I'm not complaining, but that's not a very impressive punishment. I expected way better from you."

Eric glared at Nina. His jaw shifted tightly. "I'm not done yet. You also have to choose the chain as your weapon of specialization during weapons week."

Nina threw her hands up into the air. "No way! I was going to choose the knife!" She pouted and crossed her arms. "Who the fuck even uses a chain anyways? That's, like, barbaric!"

Eric coldly appraised Nina. "Everyone chooses the knife. It's boring and predictable. Using a knife on an opponent will give you minimal advantage against them, especially given your size and stature, and especially if you're faced with someone larger and stronger than you. You'll be better with a chain. You're dexterous and a quick thinker, you need to rely on that and use it to your advantage." Nina blushed at the unexpected compliment. "Anyways, I'm currently the only person at Dauntless that knows how to use a chain. I need a practice partner."

A dark image of Eric fiercely attacking an opponent with a chain flashed before Nina's eyes and she felt incomprehensible hunger rip through her. She pushed the thought to the recesses of her mind and stubbornly crossed her arms. "Fine. What's the third task I owe you?"

Eric smirked and spoke huskily. "I'll let you know when I think of it."

With that, Eric turned away and entered the training room. Nina let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. She took a moment to compose herself before following him in.

Thank you all so much for your continued support. I genuinely take your reviews to heart and use your feedback to improve my writing.