Hey, thanks so much for the support I've gotten, I really appreciate it. I'm sorry it took me so long to update, I'm a terrible person… I hope you still enjoy this.–DJ

Choosing Day Jade's POV

I've always been a wild child, ever since I could remember. Playing too rough with the neighborhood boys or sneaking out of my house (at the age of twelve) late at night to visit Cat. You see I did not always know that I was not like the others in my faction. The night that I did find out, the night I discovered my true nature, was one I could never forget.

Jade's Flashback

I had snuck off into the night to see Cat. On my way back to my house, I decided to take a short cut through an area where the factionless lived. I passed an abandoned building that looked to be over a hundred years old. Its exterior consisted of corroded brown bricks and rusted pipes. A faint yellow light seeped out of the cracked windows and noise could clearly be heard from within the building. What I heard was cheering. Naturally, curiosity got the best of me and my interest was piqued. I went to investigate further and what I found was unbelievable, nothing I've ever seen before.

There was an enormous crowd surrounding two individuals who were engaged in an intense fighting match. The crowd was pumped and the fighters were bloody and battered but that didn't stop them. The crowd continued to cheer and the fighters continued to brawl until one was knocked over by the other. The crowd erupted into even louder cheers, the victor, raising his arms bowed down and then proceeded to speak.

" Hello, thank you all for coming to witness my final match, I want to inform you all that I will be retiring and will become a trainer for anyone who wishes to learn my style of fighting. Thank you for your immense support. Goodnight." With that, he walked away from the center and towards the opening of the building where I was. Our eyes met for split second but I knew immediately that I wanted to know what he was willing to teach. I wanted to fight the way he did.

He walked passed me and gave me a slight nod. Before he could get more than 10 feet from me, I sputtered out "Can you teach me? You know… how to fight. The way you do?"

He chuckled" I didn't realize that I would get a student so soon. What's your name?"

"I'm Jade, Jade West." He outstretched his hand and I shook it in return.

"Nice to meet you Jade, I'm Andre Harris. So what brings you here at such a time?"

"I kind of snuck out to see my friend and the short cut I took lead me through here."

"You snuck out? What kind of stiff are you?" He laughed whole heartedly, but quickly stopped when he realized that I wasn't smiling at all. "Relax I'm only kidding; besides you're clearly not a stiff if fighting interests you. And about your question from earlier, I would be honored to have you as my first student. Your training begins today, right after school. Don't be late and don't worry about getting proper clothes I have some you can borrow now that I'm retired and all." He flashed me a wide smile with a wink, and walked away.

I learned a lot from Andre in a short amount of time and when I first started, I was only twelve. What can I say? I catch on quickly, I'm what he called "A natural born fighter". We would train every day and he treated me like he would anyone else. With respect, regardless of my age, gender, or faction. He never made it easy, and he never gave me any slack. I had to put in one-hundred and ten percent. We would not train if I was not completely focused. That's the kind of teacher Andre was and that's the kind of person I wanted to be like. The factionless do not usually speak about where they originally came from but we all knew where Andre was from even if he never gave any verification. Without a doubt, he was born Dauntless.

My parents had approached me once to talk about my physical changes. They noticed how muscular I had gotten and just thought it was caused by puberty, so that was a great cover for my parents. When they asked about visible bruises I made up some story about falling or something, and they just let it go. Cat on the other hand wasn't convinced. She knew I was doing something to make my body toned and rock hard. "Puberty doesn't give you muscles like that." She would say, but she still didn't know what I was up to.

When I was thirteen, I had my first real match. Andre had paired me with one of his male students who was two years older than me and about a foot taller too.

"You can do this Jade, I know you can. I paired you with him because he is the only kid I know who has the slightest chance of giving you a challenge. Do your best and don't forget, technique over brute force. He's bigger than you, that's obvious. But don't let that bring you down. Use his height and weight to your advantage." He looked me straight in the eyes and tapped my head gear for good luck.

"Thanks Andre, I will. I can do this! I know I can!"

That's the exact same attitude I used to win all my fights, especially that one. As the years progressed, I got bigger, stronger, and smarter. I was undefeated and everyone wanted to take me down, which meant I got hit much harder and took home a few bruises. One night after my most brutal fight, I walked all the way to Cat's house because I didn't want my parents to see my bruises. She took one look at me and almost started crying. The only reason why she didn't was because she was angrier with me than she was sad that I got hurt.

"What have you done!" She whisper yelled, trying not to wake her family.

"Nothing I'm fine ok, I just wanted to see you."

"Don't you dare lie to me or I won't let you into my house!" She decreased the size of the opening.

"Wait, ok. I'm sorry let me in and I'll tell you everything." She stepped aside and let me in.

That night she finally found out about what I have been doing all this time. I told her everything. I told her about Andre, everyone I have fought, where I fought, and how long it's been going on for. After that, the tears came pouring out.

"Jade*sniffle* you can't *sniffle* do this anymore!" *sniffle, Sniffle* please you're getting hurt! What if something horrible happens to you? I can't lose my best friend!"

Looking at how distraught she was, I didn't want to quit, but I knew I had to. "Cat, I'm sorry, I won't do it anymore. I'll quit."

It wasn't too hard to quit; I was 15 at the time, which meant I'd be leaving soon anyway. No more fights, no more Andre, and sadly, no more cat.

Present Jade's POV

Sitting here in this auditorium waiting to choose my faction, it's no surprise that I already know where I want to be. Dauntless is where I belong, wild, courageous, and strong. There is no faction that is a better match for me. It is also the faction that is completely wrong for Cat. We won't be together, we can't.

"Catarina Valentine" The speaker calls her to the stage to choose her faction. I glance at her. Her face is expressionless. Yet her eyes tell me that even though we will be apart it's going to be ok. She's telling me not to worry and I automatically feel better.

She walks up to the bowl. I know which one she's going to choose, Amity. That's where her bubbly personality belongs. Along with all the other happy go lucky inhabitants. She'll be safe there and that's all that…. "ohhhhhh" a gasp is uttered from the crowd and I look to see where Cat has placed her hand. It's over the lit coals. My head hurts, I'm nauseous. I don't know what to say. Cat looks at me one final time. Her eyes tell me nothing, I can't read her. Her blood drips into the bowl, mixing in with the heated coal. My heart hurts, this is not good. I want to yell "Cat, you made a mistake!" but I can't my lips are shut tight, my mouth dry. I try to keep myself from bursting into tears. Cat is gone, she left the building. Even if I wanted to say something now, it's too late.

Cat, what have you done?