Alina

"He collapsed." said Tris in disbelief. "But Briar has got to have one of the most stable nervous systems I have ever seen! He never even gets frightened, and if he does, he never shows it."

"It has something to do with Alina." said Sandry sadly. "I know it does."

Tris scowled, not wanting to say what was running through her mind in case she sounded like she cared for him too much.

"Why don't we ask him, I'm sure he'd tell us." said Daja.

"Daja, you're so naive. Do you really believe that Briar, Mr. Tough Guy would actually admit to a weakness?" said Tris bitterly. Daja rolled her eyes. Tris often exagerated. Briar only put on a show, and if you knew him well enough you could break it. It was the same with iron. It looked tough, but if you put a lot of pressure on it, and/or heated it, it would melt or bend.

"Have you tried?" asked Daja.

"No..." said Tris.

"Then how would you know? You can't know until you try." said Daja snidely.

"Lets try, then." said Sandry trying to get the other girls' focus away from their bickering. The girls nodded and closed their eyes.

Briar? called Sandry in her mind.

Yeah? answered Briar calmly.

Do you know Alina? asked Tris.

The link broke. The girls furrowed their brows. That had been strange. Why had he just broken off like that?

"That's strange..." muttered Sandry.

"Maybe he's just irritated at us for pestering him." hinted Tris. Something was making her dislike to talk about the newcomer. She knew it wasn't rational, that was for certain. It would have been so much nicer if it had rained. Sure, nice days were okay but... they just weren't the same. Besides, she reasoned, storms watered plants.

"We've hardly been pestering him if we've only asked once." said Daja, rolling her eyes. "Maybe we should just go up to him and ask?"

"All of us?" asked Tris.

"Well... Yeah." replied Daja.

"But what if he feels like we're ganging up on him?" asked Tris.

"If you're so concerned, why don't you just go!" said Daja exasperatedly.

"I"m not concerned!" snapped Tris. She got up in a huff, her skirts whirling about her as she headed to ask Briar.

Sandry sighed, they liked to fight with each other too much.

Briar looked up into the sky. It was so nice. Or, rather, it had been until the girls had contacted him. Not that the sky had anything to do with that, but it was the only thing he could blame it on. He heard Tris's familiar clomp up the stairs. He sat up straight, ready to dart down any moment.

"Don't you move, Briar Moss!" snapped Tris from the attic door. Briar froze at the edge of the roof.

"Me? Move? What do you think I am? A shirker?" said Briar innocently.

"That's exactly what I think you are, now sit down." grumbled Tris.

"Why does it matter to you whether I'm here or not while you watch the clouds?" muttered Briar. Tris rolled her eyes.

"Because I want to interrogate you, if you really want to know." she said.

"About what?" asked Briar hesitantly. Her hand gripped his arm with her painful grasp.

"Why are you so afraid of her?" she whispered curiously.

"I'm not-" he started, then she gripped his arm tighter. "I don't know." he cried. He had not known how tightly she could squeeze. She let go.

"You don't?" she asked. Briar shook his head.

"I don't. But it hurts to think about her." he admitted. "I remembered something about a promise." he confessed, "But I don't know what that has got to do with her."

"Maybe you used to know her?" said Tris.

"Not likely. When I was a street rat, a noble wouldn't talk to me if it killed them. I can tell she's a noble. Have you seen the emblem on her sleeve? It's the symbol of one of the high houses... somewhere. I can't remember!" growled Briar. His head shot up. He hadn't realized he was actually telling someone this. "Don't tell them! Not Sandry, not Daja! Not Alina, either! Nor Rosethorn or any of the teachers or Dedicates! No one!" he emphasized, a panic in his eyes.

"I won't." said Tris, knowing what it was like to keep a secret.

"Promise?" asked Briar.

"I promise." said Tris.
Author's Note

No, this is not going to be Briar/Tris... I think. We'll see what it leads to. I'm sorry if I haven't been putting very much Daja in, she isn't exactly my favorite character. Sorry if I make her out to be a meanie, too. She isn't. Just a bit grouchy, methinks.