Flight of the Free
Summary: Violet Lina Lidell has lived a life of hell and no one seems to know about it. She hides behind a plastered fake smile, hidden from the world, living with her father. The day of her choosing ceremony, Violet is freed from her home but is thrown into a world of violence and a new environment. It's here that Violet will have to figure out who to trust and who will help her of her past.
Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent material. All characters from the Divergent story belong to Veronica Roth.
Warning: Material in the story will be rated M. Anyone of a lower age should not read the material featured in this story. You have been warned. Mentions of Sexual Assault, Sex, Violence, and possible trigger warnings.
Chapter 1: A New Life
Tomorrow will finally the day, the day I get to choose what my life will be like from now on. I can tell you, my life has not been an easy one. It doesn't help that I grew up in Amity, the faction of happy go lucky people who smile on a day-to-day basis. I don't have any issue with being happy overall, but for me, I don't see the reason of being happy about picking fruit and vegetables all year long while wearing these awful colors of yellow and red. What a gaudy choice of colors, too bright for my tastes. However, growing up in Amity wasn't what made my life hard, though some of the tasks they ask us to do weren't what I would call an example of fun or something to be happy about.
I'll give a recap of my life growing up. The countless hours out in the field to pick apples for our annual harvest festival (which I can mention happens on a monthly basis), the ache of my back and the sweat stained shirts that were washed every other day, the smell of the blooming flowers that I never got the chance to pick since they were "sacred" to our surrounding area. But these things, this isn't what made me dislike this place so much; it was my own father. I'll start out by saying that I was 12 when it started and as time passed, it got worse for me. It started when my brother chose to join Dauntless, leaving myself, my mother, and my father behind.
Out of the two kids, my brother was my dad's favorite, you could tell. He always talked about him, how happy and how great of a person he was. So, you can imagine that it came to my parents as a big surprise when my brother's hand went over the bowl for Dauntless. For me, I could see he wasn't happy in Amity, he always sought out to find the Dauntless group, smiling whenever he saw them run free and wild. He always admired them from afar, often telling me he wished he could be like them, happy and energetic.
I think he left because I told him to follow his heart, not what other people expected him to do. I knew the only reason why my brother would even consider staying would be because of me; he knew he was beloved by my father and knew that I was an accident in father's eyes. He saw the emotional abuse that I had gone through over the years, often being ridiculed for being a weak girl and the child he never wanted in the first place. I often heard my brother talking to my father, especially after an argument that happened between the two of us, often trying to calm him down and see reason behind his uncalled outburst. After he left, however, all hell broke loose in the house.
I try not to think about what my life had been like these past 4 years but unfortunately, memories still plague my mind in my dreams, often ending with me not sleeping at night. Today, however, was going to mark the end of my suffering that I had to endure all these years. Tomorrow I would finally be free.
Free, it's a word that I find hard to believe for myself but I was so close to it. Tomorrow was my choosing ceremony. The day I would find out who I was going to be for the rest of my life, a chance to start something new. I'm not going to lie, when I saw that my aptitude test score was Dauntless, I knew that I could finally be free from everything I had ever known in my faction, a way out from him. I ran home in a happy mood, knowing full well I wasn't going to stay here much longer. Even when I sat down to eat dinner, I was in a good mood.
It was a quiet evening like most of the time, my mother's cooking was simple yet tastefully done. It was when dinner was at its peak that my father spoke up.
"So Violet, how did your test go?"
I wasn't prepared for him to ask any questions about my test but I knew that if I didn't say something, I would face bad punishments on my last day here.
"It went fine."
"Fine huh. What were your results?"
I was smart enough to hold back any insult that I thought of in the moment. However, dropping my attitude would be a different result.
"You know I'm not allowed to tell you the results I got from my test. I got a faction, that's all you need to know."
His look right then had said it all, I pushed a button I know I shouldn't have pushed but I couldn't help it. I was not going to tell him I ended up with Dauntless as my faction, he'd break me before I'd get to choose my new life.
"I don't appreciate your smart remark Violet. You know I want the best for you and I was curious to what you got."
'Curious, more like controlling and trying to make me stay here is more like it' I thought.
"I'm sorry father, the test was fine but really I don't want to share my results. It's against the rules and I'd rather not break them."
The look in his eye simmered down and I knew he accepted my answer. I was hoping he'd leave me alone the rest of the night. After that, all went quiet yet again and eventually, I went to bed, praying for a decent night of sleep.
I woke up this morning with a fresh attitude, a smile seeming to have graced my face and wouldn't leave.
I'm finally leaving, I'm leaving him. I'm leaving all the pain and sadness I've had to endure from that man. I look around my room, skipping over the countless meaningless items scattered about my desk and floor. The tattered clothes that spilled from my closet, the trash the piled in the corner of the room. I look at my desk, seeing if there was anything of value on it and there, I spotted something.
I find myself pausing my attention to a pendant I got from my brother about two years ago when I secretly went to go visit him. My father never knew about the visit to him.
I had spotted him walking around Amity days prior to when I approached him from afar and followed him to where he was staying. No one seemed to recognize my own brother, but I knew it was him immediately.
There was a lone cabin on the outskirts of Amity that not many people knew about, and it was there that I saw him go into the house. I decided I wanted to see him again, to have some sort of happiness, even for a short little while. I knocked on the door and there, as the door opened, was the surprised and slightly angry look of my brother.
I didn't care if he was angry with me, I had missed him. So, I did the only sensible thing I could in the moment, I hugged him tight, crying softly. The look of anger had disappeared and there he went, comforting me, shushing my cries until I had nothing left in my system. We stayed like that for what seemed like forever until he pulled back and gave me a smile. I wanted to ask him so many questions but before I could, his face became scared and concerned. I was there for only two minutes before my brother told me to leave, it wasn't safe for me there.
I was so heartbroken, and I had hoped we could talk but the look on his face told me I really needed to leave. I turned to leave, saddened by the harsh ending of our conversation, but before I could, he grabbed my elbow, forcing me to look at him.
"Here, I've been meaning to send this to you, but I wasn't sure how dad would react. I know I can't explain myself right now but please know; I missed my little sister. I've missed you Violet and I'm so glad you found me here. I wish we got to talk more but it's not safe here for you, especially since you're not armed. I hope you forgive me for leaving you. I just hope when you go to your choosing ceremony, maybe you can come join my faction. We always need more soldiers and I want to hear what's happened. Get home safe… Vi. I love you."
During his speech, he handed me that box which contained that pendant, a single black diamond in the shape of a heart. I looked at that box in my hand and before he disappeared back into the cabin, I spoke up.
"I love you too Cal… so much. You'll see me in about two years in Dauntless and I'll tell you everything that's happened. Stay safe."
Before I turned back to see if he had any reaction to what I said, I slipped away, back to my family home, running upstairs until I knew it was safe.
The memory brings some tears to my eyes before I shake it off and stand up from my bed. I walk over to the pendant and clasp it onto my neck like I did every day, secretly stuffing the necklace in my shirt so my father wouldn't see it. I grab a brush off my disorganized desk and brush out my waves in my hair, cursing as the hairbrush pulled on a few knots I had developed in the night.
After my hair has been tamed, I move quietly from my room to the bathroom next door. Inside, I turn myself towards the small mirror located on my right and stare at someone who doesn't look like me. There are bags under both my eyes, previously from these last two weeks of little to no sleep. My hair that I had just brushed came off as poofy but somewhat reasonable to look at. There was a shine to my green eyes that I hadn't seen in years and there seemed to be some color that returned towards my face.
I reach my hand out to touch my cheek when I jump back when I hear my father yell for me downstairs.
"Violet, get your ass down here NOW! You're going to be late and if you're late, you'll regret it."
I hated him so much but not even he could ruin this day. I take off from the bathroom and rush downstairs. There, I see my mom staring at me while my dad storms over to me and grabs my arm.
I flinch from the contact from him, and I see a slight smirk form on his face before he addresses me.
"There's my little girl. Now here's how today will go. You will get to the choosing ceremony, you will sit down and stay silent the entire time and when they call your name, you WILL pick Amity. Is that clear?"
I don't say anything but nod, knowing full well I'm not going to give into his demands but his grip on my arm tightens, causing me to groan from pain.
"I said, Is that Clear? Answer me."
"Yes sir, I understand."
He smirks once more before he releases my arm, clearly satisfied with my answer.
"Good. Now get going to the ceremony. Your mother and I are right behind you."
I nod before I take off running from the house, letting the morning breeze hit my face. My arm slightly aches from where he grabbed me, but I ignore the pain for the future of what's to come.
I see some people from the school that I don't really talk to. They're your normal Hippy and happy go lucky Amity people, something that I never fit into. I see the endless amounts of red and yellow gathering up to ride our trucks to get to Abnegation where the ceremony was being held. Hence, why the early start in the morning.
I climb into a truck with other members of Amity and all I can see are their bright faces. Someone pulls out a guitar and to my dismay, they start strumming it which then leads to everyone, excluding myself, singing off key. I can only pray that the ride from here to Abnegation is a short one.
As I continue to stare out of the side of the back of the truck, I see Abnegation come into view and my heart rate picks up speed. I can see where the ceremony is being held, a place called the Hub. I stare at how large the building is, never seeing anything like this in Amity. I look up in awe, captivated by the building structure and the warm feeling I got from it.
It takes another 20 minutes until we're in front of the hub and my fascination with the building grows tenfold. Yeah, you don't see buildings like this in Amity.
I can already see that we're the last ones to arrive due to how far out Amity is from all other factions. The sea of red and yellow from the trucks that have arrived begin to swarm into the Hub and not wanting to be left behind, I get out from the truck and follow closely behind them. I can already hear the audience from the other factions already seated and I pray that I don't have to sit down next to my family. I find myself to be in luck as it seems they're separating the 16-year-olds from everyone else, and my heart rate seems to stabilize at a normal rate.
I manage to find room next to someone from Abnegation who politely let me pass and a Candor who was an ass and tried to trip me. I sent him a glare but sat down, waiting for the ceremony to start.
It feels like it's forever until the head of Abnegation, Marcus Eaton, begins his boring speech. He goes on talking about the importance of choice and to choose wisely as it will be faction before blood. Just when I think the ceremony is drowning on, they start the name calling, someone named Bridget Zolt. She wore Candor clothing and seemed a bit to snobby for my taste. They pass the knife to her and she slices her hand open, quickly scanning the bowls until she hovers over the bowl of glass for Candor.
"Candor"
So, she decided to stay with her faction.
The room comes alive and she wraps up her hand before she proudly walks back towards her seat, a smile forming on her face.
It's then that the ceremony begins to pick up speed and soon enough, I hear my name being called.
"Violet Lidell"
I stand up, slightly nauseous of what I know is to come. I begin walking towards the stage, my heart pounding against my chest. I take the steps up towards the stage one at a time, hoping not to fall. I stand in front of Eaton where he hands me the knife and says to me it's time to choose.
I quietly walk over to the five bowls and slash my hand open with the knife. I stare at both the Dauntless and Amity bowls and take a quick glance behind me. I'm hoping not to see my parents, but I can spot them easily in the crowd. My mom's hair was pulled into a high messy bun with a red dress that draped below her knees. My father wore a slightly stained yellow shirt. My mother flashes me a smile, thinking I'm picking Amity.
I can see my father staring at me intensely from the crowd of people and I know that if I continue to look at him, I will make a choice that isn't my own. I turn back, my shoulders square back and I form my hand into fist before proudly moving my hand over the hot coals, watching as one drip of blood hits the coal with a sizzle. I take a deep breathe and I hear silence all around me as Marcus Eaton announces my new faction.
"Dauntless"
I didn't have time to think about my choice afterwards, but I know in the end, I made the correct one. I walked over to where most of the Dauntless were, seeing the surprise on their faces before they all erupted into screams and welcomes to me. I manage to find a seat and before I know it, the ceremony concluded and the Dauntless begin to run out of the building.
Before I leave, I look around to see if I can find my mom, knowing I've broken her heart but I only see the hatred and anger of my father's eyes on me before I decide to bolt out of the door.
I manage to keep good pace with most of the Dauntless born, mainly because I ran a lot in Amity, and I see we're coming up on a tall pillar that connects to something but I'm unsure as to what. It's here that I watch the Dauntless scale up the pillar in record time, no ounce of fatigue or tiredness showing on their faces.
Not wanting to fall behind, I start climbing upwards, my arm from earlier giving me slight trouble. However, I manage to get on top of the platform before most of the others transfers that followed us. As I watch the others begin to climb, I start to hear cheers form around me and I focus my eyes on the Dauntless around me, wondering what's coming next.
It's here that I see the Dauntless begin to run forward and as to not waste any time, I do the same. I turn back and realize that the Dauntless are hoping onto a moving train and I stare at the others to learn how to get on.
One Dauntless born that ended up near the front of the train comes up on a door, pressing a side button of the door to the car of the train. They reach into what seems like door handles and fling themselves inside. The train flies by me and I push myself into a sprint before I manage to race to a door located in front of me, it's door already unlocked. I reach my hand out to the handle and grasp it with both hands. After that, I swing my body inside like I had seen, and I can see that I've made it safely inside the train.
I sit down, the adrenaline from earlier wearing off a bit and try and catch my breath. I don't notice someone sits next to me until I hear them talk.
"Wow, what a rush. That was crazy. I can't believe I just did that. The Dauntless sure know how to start off an initiation, am I right?"
I look over and I see what seems to be a very bubbly girl from Candor.
"Oh, I'm really sorry. Let me introduce myself, my name is Marella, Marella Cross. Nice to meet you," she says, sticking her hand up to me.
I take her hand before I respond with a slight smile.
"My name's Violet Lidell. Nice to meet you too."
"I can't believe we just did all that for initiation, I thought the Dauntless were crazy, but I never figured them to be suicidal. Then again, that was the most fun I've ever had in my life."
I smile at her words, seeing how excited she was to have experienced something such as that.
"Same here. Then again, when you live in Amity for as long as I did, anything with running and jumping into something like that would be one of the funniest things to do there."
"Oh yeah, you're the Amity girl that shocked everyone at the Hub. That was incredible by the way. I thought you looked so fearless up there."
Violet turned towards Marella.
"Really. I thought I looked like a whole shaking mess. I'm surprised my blood dripped into the Dauntless bowl and not everywhere on the floor."
"No, you were totally composed. Besides, you weren't as bad as half the people who went up there. I felt so bad for that one Abnegation guy. One drop of his blood into the bowl and the dude almost fainted. Now that was a whole shaking mess," she snorted.
I laugh at that and continue to talk with Marella for another 20 minutes, learning about her family and how she had grown up in Candor, when I hear shouts coming from outside.
"What do you think is going on outside the train?" Marella asks.
"I'm not sure but I'm gonna go check."
"Wait, I'm coming with you!"
With that, we pick ourselves off the floor of the train and when we look outside, we see Dauntless starting to jump onto roofs.
"I guess this is our next stop here Ella. Might want to get ready."
"On 3?" she asks.
I can tell she's a bit nervous, so I smile at her and nod.
"Okay, 1…2….3!"
With that, we both launch ourselves from the train onto the coming roof. I don't see where Marella lands, but I find myself flipping in the air. I watch as the world turns around me until I'm staring at the sky again, somehow landing into a sitting position on one knee while the other is tucked under me. It takes me a minute until I find Marella again, flat on her back laughing.
"Oh my god, that was crazy. I take back what I said on the train. They are suicidal."
I laugh as I offer her a helping hand which she gladly takes. I can still see a bit of people jumping from the train and instead of listening to the murmurs around me, I see a group of 3 men standing on a ledge and find myself walking over to where they stand on the edge of the roof. Unafraid, fearless.
"Everyone gather around and shut up."
The voices stop and people begin walking towards where I stand, my eyes still focused on the 3 individuals who stand there, their presence noted for sure. It's not until almost everyone is silent and still that one of them starts to speak.
"I'm Eric. I'm one of the leaders here. I will also be training the transfers who feel they have what it takes to best our Dauntless born here. If you want into Dauntless, you're gonna have to jump."
My blood freezes at the idea of jumping off a building and apparently, I'm not the only one to think so.
"Why are we jumping off a building, we just jumped onto a moving train and then jumped off onto these roofs. Aren't there any stairs here?" One person questions. I look back and I see a flash of Erudite clothes before my attention is drawn back to Eric.
"If you don't want to jump, that's fine. But if you don't jump, you're factionless, end of story. So, if you want to find the stairs, they're right over there but put one foot on them, you're out. Do I make myself clear?"
I find myself frozen after hearing how he ended his sentence. It made me think of my father… No don't go there, he's not here. I find myself taking a deep breath before Eric continues.
"Now, since no one seems to want to be factionless, do I have any volunteers to jump? And no, the Dauntless born cannot jump first. So, who's it gonna be?"
I find the silence around me deafening and before I have any time to think about it, I start moving towards Eric and the other two, who I'm guessing are other leaders, and see a look a surprise flash across Eric's face before it turns back into a cold hard stare.
"Oh, I see we have a volunteer. Little Miss Amity coming to start us off huh? Let' see if you have what it takes, jump."
I find my face flashing red before my embarrassment turned into an annoyed look. I gathered my loose shirt, thankful that I wore a tank top underneath for bed and strip the awful fabric from my body. I see Eric take a quick glimpse of me and before I think, I chuck the shirt towards him and jump straight down into Dauntless.
I feel the wind in my hair, and I feel rather than hear the laughter that has bubbled within my chest. It last only for a few seconds until my body collides with a net. I bounce up a bit until my body comes to a complete halt, safe within the net. I stay there for a few seconds until I feel someone pulling the rope down from one side. I quickly let my body roll to that side until I feel a hand on my side, hoisting me down from the net, waiting for the next arrival to plummet into it.
I look at who grabbed me from the rope and am surprised to see a female there, not much older than me. I see her Raven tattoos picking from her shoulder and I see a flash of surprise form on her face before I see a quick smile.
"Well I'll be damned. Looks like first jumper is from Amity. No idea how that happened but I must say, that was quite an entrance. What's your name?"
I stare at awe at her, my name catching in my mouth and not coming out the way I wanted it to. I think she knows that I'm a bit nervous and throws me a bone.
"Is it something embarrassing. I promise not to laugh if it is. If you'd like, you can change your name here. Just know, if you want a new name, that will be what you're know as from now on."
I stare at her, thinking if I should get a new name. I had been through so much in Amity and felt as though I never belonged. However, I liked my name because it was the name my mom gave me, her favorite flower. I found myself clearing my throat before I spoke to her.
"I'm Violet or Vi for short if you'd like"
I see a smile spread on her face and she turns towards the others that are around us and yells out my name.
"First Jumper, Vi."
She turns back at me, a smile on her face as she holds out her hand. I take it and as I do, she formally introduces herself to me.
"Tris. Welcome to Dauntless."
