Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Twilight or Divergent. Those rights are reserved for Stephanie Myer and Veronica Roth. I do own the original characters created for the storyline. Please support the official release.
Writer's Notes: Welcome to Dauntless Beginnings! I hope you all enjoy!
The world is a big place. But that didn't stop humans from destroying the once magnificent planet. Wars broke out. Violence, a never-ending merry-go-round that seemed to cause chaos and harm. The nuclear fallout came on fast, and hard. No one had time to prepare.
With the world ended, the population dwindled. People turned on people, until one day, they decided that it was enough. They needed to be civilized. They needed normalcy. There had to be a new beginning. That beginning, led to the factions.
[Seattle: 2467]
{Voice Over}
No one really knows what started the war. Historical texts have been ruined throughout the years. But we're told that people hated people. That everyone was living in a chaotic place with no organization. No structure. Our founders came up with a way for harmony and peace. They call it the factions. Seattle is a large city. Tall buildings that show the years of ruin, but also the budding change of society. The factions are split into five sections. The center of Seattle is home to Candor. They serve as the judicial faction. The wave the black and white colors on their dress and their buildings. They are smart and elite, but they believe in what is right and wrong. To always tell the truth. North of Candor is Erudite. The intelligent. They wear Erudite blue and have the largest science center in the city and perhaps the only science center in the city. They are the wizards, as some of us call them. They invent and create things that go beyond anyone's imagination. To the West of Candor is Abnegation. They are the humble caretakers of the city wearing all grey because grey is a mute color and doesn't draw attention to oneself. They believe in they before we, and are the civil servants so to speak. They are also the decision makers. Because they have no vanity or selfishness, they make the decisions that help run our city. To the South of Candor is Amity. Peace and harmony is their slogan and a mixture of yellow and oranges fill their dress. They don't believe in violence. They are the backbone of the city. They have the farmlands that harvest what the city needs for survival. They put in a lot of hard work and are generally never thanked for it, but they don't seem to mind since everyone in Amity is so kind. Then there is Dauntless to the East. The darkness. Black is the only color that describes Dauntless. They are the fearless…the brave. They are the police force. They uphold the law the Candor has put in place, and they are the ones that are brave enough to go beyond the wall. There are dangers that lurk outside the wall that surrounds our home, Seattle. No on else is permitted because of the dangers. If you don't fit into a faction, then you are factionless. You are nothing to the city and hold no value. Abnegation helps feed the factionless, because that is the right thing to do. Anyone else, including Amity, steers clear of the factionless. But where do I fit into all of this? Bella. Just Bella. It's time to find out.
{End Voice Over}
[The Choosing Ceremony]
Everyone gathered in Candor proper. The large marble stage was bright, white and empty besides the five bowls representing the factions that were sitting on pedestals, waiting for the ceremony to begin.
"What do you think this year?" Lukas Storm leaned over towards Bella, the orphan girl, as he looked around the auditorium.
Bella's blue eyes glanced around uninterested. "Doesn't matter Lukas, we're staying Dauntless." She said and slid down in her chair lazily.
Lukas smirked a little. His green eyes dazzled when he did. His hair was a little longer than normal, a dark auburn to his ears in a slight curl. His jaw was square and despite not being blue eyed, blond hair, he was a regular looking prince charming. With tattoos. "Well, it's competition."
Bella snorted. "No. It's not." She flipped her dark hair over her shoulder a little. It was long, past her shoulders at the moment and she had small streaks of purple throughout.
"People are surprising." Lukas said with a nudge. "What if I moved to Erudite?"
Bella raised a brow as she looked over at her friend. "You are too stupid for Erudite."
"I could surprise you." Lukas said with a grin. "You could be in Abnegation," He joked.
"Fat chance." Bella said and then a woman got up on the stage, wearing the bright blue of Erudite. Her blonde hair was greying and it stopped short at her shoulders.
"Good morning everyone. I am Jeanine Matthews, Erudite's faction head. Today you are choosing your faction. Your aptitude test is a guideline for which faction you should pick and it is encouraged to pick the faction on your aptitude test, but it is not required. Choose wisely because you don't get to pick again. Faction before blood. When you hear your name, come to the stage, use the ceremonial knife and cut your palm and choose your faction bowl." She said and then nodded to a woman dressed in grey.
"We will start with Erudite." The woman said, her voice smaller than Jeanine's but she was still loud enough for everyone to hear.
Bella and Lukas stayed in Dauntless, it wasn't a hard choice. They were born and raised in Dauntless and it was rare for someone Dauntless born, to transfer out. Bella lay on the train rails as they waited for the train to come rushing by. People were still saying goodbye to their faction, a small window of time that was allowed so that people could adjust to their new factions easier. Bella didn't change factions, so she was bored as she waited for the new transfers. She stared up at the blue sky thinking about how she waited for this moment to come for what felt like a long time. She was 18 now like everyone else that was at the choosing ceremony. Dauntless was her home. She was raised for this, and she couldn't think of another faction that she would go to. Her aptitude results were strange, but Tori told her that sometimes that happens and she manually entered Dauntless for her. Bella couldn't shake the thought of why her results would be so weird. In any case, she was Dauntless, born and bred. She felt the vibrations of the rails as the train got closer. She stayed like she was, waiting for the moment to spring into action.
"She's just laying on the rails?" Someone said as they nervously watched for the train.
Lukas crossed his arms, smirking as he watched Bella. "Don't worry stiff, she'll make it." He said, talking to the girl that had climbed up with another girl from Candor to make it in time for the train.
When the train closed in, Bella rolled to the side as it rushed past her on the rails and she kipped up and sprinted, catching the bar on the side of the train car and opened the door since she was the first one on the train car. She turned and leaned against the doorway as she watched the others run to chase the train. Lukas hopped up with little effort and high fived Bella and turned and watched other Dauntless born make it onto the train with ease. The transfers were being challenged right now, but it wasn't surprising that the Abnegation girl was having a harder time.
Bella glanced at her watch and then over her shoulder at where the train would disappear over a bridge and the Abnegation girl would be left behind. She sighed and then she pushed past Lukas and reached out and grabbed the girls hand and hefted her onto the train with little effort again.
"Thanks," the girl panted.
Bella rolled her eyes and then walked across the train car and waited until she saw the Dauntless buildings coming into view. She opened the train car at the front and then she lept off, tucking and rolling as she hit the roof of the building. Everyone else was making the jump off the train. She didn't look back as she sauntered over to the meeting spot for Dauntless recruits.
Lukas nudged Bella with his elbow. "The stiff made it off the train."
"Cool."
"You could have let her fail." Lukas said.
"She's the first stiff to join Dauntless. I'm curious to see her fail harder in the trials." Bella said and stretched her arm. "Do you want to jump first or should we let the others figure it out?"
Lukas smirked. "You know we're not even supposed to know all of this."
"Yeah well, I'm sneaky and I learned the ins and outs before the choosing." Bella said and looked up at Lukas. He was taller than her by a good foot.
Eric Coulter, Dauntless leader and trainer was fierce. His blonde hair was sculped back on his head, the sides of his head shaved short with it being longer on top. His brow was pierced and dark ink ran down his neck and disappeared under his shirt. His arms were large, but the dark Dauntless leadership jacket covered his toned muscles. His face was passive, not making an expression that would give away what his next thought would be.
"Listen up, there is one way into Dauntless. That is to jump." Eric spoke, his voice holding a deep rasp. His stone colored eyes studied the recruits in front of him. A mix of factions that transferred over but he was surprised to see grey in the crowd.
"Is there something at the bottom, to like…catch us?" An Erudite boy asked nervously.
Eric raised his pierced brow. "I guess you'll, like, have to find out." He mocked the boy. "Any takers?"
There was silence, and Bella waited for someone to step up before she would take the leap.
"I'll do it," the Abnegation girl raised her hand. Her hair was a dark brown and it was loose from it's bun typical of Abnegation and Bella could tell it was long. Her eyes looked hazel from this far, but Bella was pretty sure they were greenish.
"Alright stiff, get up here." Eric said, surprised that someone from Abnegation would volunteer let alone even transfer to Dauntless of all factions.
The girl stepped forward, shrugging off her grey coat and stepped up on the ledge with Eric's assist. The girl didn't hesitate at all as she fell forward silently and disappeared.
Eric nodded, impressed with the guts of the girl and looked around the crowd. "Alright. Who's next?"
Bella stretched as she waited in the pit for everyone to gather. She changed into the recruit gear that was issued and was waiting for Eric to make his appearance to tell them what the gameplan was. There was a large board in front of them with 33 spots on it, but from 24 down, was in all red, and Bella found that curious.
Eric finally made his arrival, another man with him. Bella knew the man as Four. He was mysterious and she didn't remember whether he was Dauntless born or a transfer since she was younger at the time. But Four was stoic, quiet, and he was a hard trainer from what she was told. She knew that Eric was a firecracker ready to be set off, and that he was typically a cruel and angry type of person. Bella could relate.
"Alright. This is Dauntless. We are the soldiers and we train like soldiers. There is no room for people who can't keep up. If your name is in the red at the end of round one, four months from now, then you're cut."
"Cut? What does that mean?" Another Erudite boy asked.
"Well, if you're kicked out of Dauntless, then you're factionless. You can't go home."
"We weren't told this before…"A girl said.
Eric snorted. "You think this is a game? That you can just choose Dauntless on a whim? For years you pick your factions and this time, we're going to pick you. If you can't make the cut, then you don't belong. We only want the best. Any other stupid questions?" He asked and then it was silent. "Alright. You'll be split up into groups. This is Four, he'll take the transfers and I'll take the Dauntless born. You'll be assigned a sleeping quarters together as one, but when you train, you will be training separately. This is just a little friendly competition between Four and I. To see who is the best. But all main events will be done as a whole." He said, smirking a little as he glanced at Four, who wasn't amused. "Split up. Starting now, you're being graded on everything. Don't be in the red." He said and then the group split. There were only 13 transfers, so the Dauntless born group was the larger group.
Bella was excited to start her training. She knew she was the best and she didn't need a scoreboard to tell her that.
"Alright. Square up. Pick a partner, I don't care who, you're going to spar until someone is knocked out. That will determine your spot on the board." Eric said as he looked down at his palm pilot at the recruit names and watched as everyone paired up. His eyes were on Bella this year. She was an orphan. Grew up in Dauntless on her own instead of being traveled out to Abnegation where all the orphans ended up. She was orphaned at twelve, and she was determined to be her own person. She was a survivor and from what he knew about the girl, she was not remorseful. She was cold and calculated and he was willing to bet she would be in the top ten on the board.
Bella paired up against Uriah, and they didn't take time to fly at each other in flurry of hand to hand combat. Bella was fast with her feet and her hands, and her skills were unrivaled, especially against Uriah, who was just okay at hand-to-hand. He was a wrestler, and she knew that. She was good at fading into the shadows and just watching people. That is why she had an advantage, because she studied everyone's weaknesses and she used that to her advantage.
When Uriah hit the mat unconscious, Bella stretched her arms and cracked her neck from side to side.
Eric didn't make a face, he just tapped on his palm pilot as he watched the other Dauntless born prove themselves for the top ten spots, and Bella just finished her spar with Uriah in under a minute. It wasn't the fastest, but it was impressive to say the least.
When the spars were all over, Eric looked at his watch. "Alright, regroup with the transfers. Let's see what everyone scored." He said, his voice booming in the training room.
Four seemed to be a bit disappointed with his group, but he had a few that showed promise.
"Where do you think you're gonna place?" Lukas asked Bella, nudging her slightly like he always did.
Bella smirked a little. "Top four at least." She was confident in that measurement. She watched Four and Eric look over the results and compare and then Eric nodded and then the board shifted and changed in front of them.
1. Lukas Storm
2. Edward Cullen
3. Harlow Winsit
4. Bella
5. Jasper Whitlock
6. Peter Hayes
7. Demetri Lewis
8. Mike
9. Drew
10. Noah Pierce
11. Uriah Jones
12. Rob
13. Christina
14. Marlene
15. Will
16. Molly
17. Myra
18. Lynn
19. Nikki
20. Meg
21. Sarah Stevens
22. James
23. Jack
24. Kimmy
25. Ethan
26. Alison
27. Nick
28. Danny
29. Al
30. Tris
31. Paulina
32. Jimmy
33. Elaine
Bella smiled and looked at Lukas. "Number one. Impressive."
"Hmm. I could have sworn Edward had his takedown first." Lukas said, crossing his arms.
"Don't question number one. Be number one," Bella said and slapped her friend on the back.
Lukas and Bella grew up together and were best friends in this shithole. When Bella was orphaned at 12, Lukas the only one that took an interest. They trained together, studied together to become the best of Dauntless. Bella's biggest support was Lukas, and Lukas' biggest support, was Bella. Together, they would make it far in Dauntless, because they were raised in this lifestyle. They were prepared for this moment.