#divergent au

[velidewrites]

Breaking Point

Six months after Catrin Berdara is presumed dead, Gwyneth abandons the Erudites in search for answers. Knowing there is only one faction with the ability to take her over the spiked fence that shields their world from the truth, she does not hesitate to spill her blood over the burning coals at the Choosing Ceremony. But to be taken over the Fence, Gwyneth must first pass Initiation—and, unfortunately for her, one of the Dauntless squad leaders seems hell-bent on making her life all the more difficult.

Pairing: Azriel x Gwyneth Berdara

Tags: Divergent AU

Notes: I was going to post this yesterday when I realised Divergent was released exactly 10 years ago today! If you were as obsessed with this series as me, welcome to the chaos. This fic was inspired by me seeing a tiktok of the knife throwing scene and thought oh yeah this is Gwynriel at its peak.

This is baby's very first Gwynriel and my humble contribution for @gwynrielweeksofficial! Thank you to @azrielshadowssing @ablogofsapphicpanic @octobers-veryown for being such patient betas and to @damedechance for being so brilliant and coming up with this title for me.

Before you proceed, please be advised of the TW for past SA.

Read on AO3 or continue to Chapter 1 below!

Gwyneth Berdara was risking her life, and it was the most exhilarating thing in the world.

Her sister’s ice-cold hand on her mouth had snapped her awake, and it had only been thanks to her quick “Shush!” that Gwyneth managed to stifle the scream in her throat. It had not been the first time Catrin woke her up in the dead of the night—still, their routine had never quite made either of them loose the reins on her instincts.

Catrin’s eyes had glinted like onyx as she’d quickly prompted Gwyneth to get up and get dressed. The nights were shorter during the summer, which made the next few hours all the more precious. The truck had already been waiting, parked two blocks west—only two minutes on foot if they kept a fast pace.

Gwyneth could see the urgency painted on her sister’s features, yet it had nothing on the excitement that had her leg bouncing near the doorway to their dorm. It had lit up her entire face like moonlight, all the dark heaviness of the risk they were taking skittering away at the sight. It was contagious enough that Gwyneth, too, had found herself smiling—a smile that lingered even as they’d made their way down the pristine white hallways of the Academy.

Frankly, she had never quite figured out who in Campus Security Catrin had managed to bribe. The only thing either of them had was each other, a fact that Catrin often joked would make them the perfect fit for Abnegation once they turned twenty-one. Gwyneth could see her sister there—could see her spilling her blood on the smooth, grey stones and devoting her life in the service of others. Not Gwyneth, though. She had always thought herself too selfish—too selfish to abandon the Academy and all the knowledge it contained. At heart, after all, Gwyneth was—and always had been—an Erudite.

It was only one of their differences. From the day Gwyneth and Catrin were born, people had a hard time believing the two of them were twins. Catrin’s eyes were darker than the depths of the ocean the city bordered, her hair a similar black and her skin pale as milk. Gwyneth’s eyes were the sort of teal their ocean never saw, not even now, when the sun blazed right above it every day. She enjoyed the way it reflected in coppery brown waves, though, and the way it brought out the freckles on her face.

But as Gwyneth moved carefully behind Catrin, her every step falling right into her sister’s quiet shadow, she forgot about everything that divided them. In this—the excitement of the rebellion, the danger of the risk—in this, they were the same.

The drive to Amity had been almost entirely silent save for the crunchy gravel of the road as they exited the city. Even so, she could make out Catrin’s grin in the shadows of the cargo bed, could hear the gentle tapping of her still-bouncing leg.

If anyone in the Erudites found out about their nightly escapades, Gwyneth and Catrin would be dead—or worse, subjected to whatever classified research the Erudite leadership was undergoing at the headquarters. Only the most brilliant of the Academy students were allowed to apply for their stewardship—to watch and observe. To learn, the way the customs of their factions demanded.

Gwyneth had no interest in aiming for the top floors of the HQ. There, she would have likely been guarded—supervised—every hour of every day. Catrin, if she would be allowed to see her beyond Visiting Days at all, would no longer be a constant in her life, their monthly drives to the farmlands beyond the Fence only a distant memory. It was why Gwyneth sometimes doubted herself. An Erudite without ambition, after all, was like a Dauntless without courage, an Abnegation without people to serve. Useless.

Studying alongside the most illustrious of her faction was perhaps the greatest ambition of all, but Gwyneth was happy to remain at the Academy, to learn and contribute in whatever ways she could, all while retaining the little pieces of herself she still owned. To think such thoughts was to betray the Erudite virtues, constantly in pursuit of wisdom and intelligence. It was a fear that lingered somewhere deep in her chest every night she and Catrin ventured out to the unknown.

She tried to dwindle it, though, as she now danced around the bonfire near Sector Five’s stables. One of the Amity girls, dressed in yellows and oranges as dictated by the Amity fashion, had grabbed her by the hand and dragged her into her circle of friends, her laughter rising over the crackling flames. Sometimes, Gwyneth wondered what it would be like to be a part of that—part of the Peaceful, the Kind.

She couldn’t imagine a life free of worry, a life dedicated to preserving what remained of their destroyed world’s nature without questioning its past. And while the joy on the Amity girl’s face felt true, Gwyneth couldn’t help but feel like right now, she was living a lie.

“Have you seen my sister?” she shouted over the fire, the music a small guitar band had begun playing a few minutes ago. She had not seen Catrin since the Solstice celebrations started—since all of Sector Five had gathered to honour the end of the longest day of the year.

The girl shook her head, the fire dancing in her brown eyes. “I’m sure she’s with Clare,” she replied with a smile. Then, she winked, “I’d avoid the stables, if I were you.”

Gwyneth blinked. “Clare?”

The smile quickly faded from the girl’s pretty face. “Oh,” she said, her shoulders deflating slightly as she halted mid-dance. “You didn’t know?”

She must’ve had the surprise written all over her face, and Gwyneth schooled her features back into that light, free-of-any-worry-in-the-world expression she knew would help her avoid suspicion. “Oh, Clare! Of course,” she lied. “Sorry. It’s been a long night.”

The girl waved a hand. “I get it. The way they keep you under watch back in the city is ridiculous to me.” She angled her head, that brown gaze studying her with mild curiosity. “How old are you, again?” she asked.

“I’ll be twenty-one in a few months.”

She clasped her hands together, her whole face lighting up at Gwyneth’s answer. “Ah, you haven't Chosen yet!” she exclaimed. “You always have a place here—we’d welcome you with open arms.”

“I doubt my results will sort me into Amity,” Gwyneth said truthfully.

The corner of her mouth twitched. “Well,” the girl said, leaning conspiratorially over her shoulder, “I know we’re all supposed to follow the Aptitude Test’s recommendations, of course.” She tilted her chin towards the dancing group before them—to the truck still parked in the distance. “Something tells me, though, that you’ve never been one to follow the rules, anyway.”

Gwyneth followed her gaze—but words died on her tongue before she managed to answer.

There she was—Catrin, sitting with her back resting against one of the truck’s large wheels, her arms wrapped tightly around her knees. Alone.

“Excuse me,” she said to the girl, and moved towards her sister without so much as a goodbye. It wasn’t as she, or any of her Amity friends, would ever take offense—they simply returned to their dancing, the band’s song slowly fading into the distance as Gwyneth kept on walking.

Catrin’s eyes were fixed on the fire even as Gwyneth took her seat on the cold ground beside her.

“Where’s Clare?” she asked, unable to keep the hurt from her voice. There had never been any secrets between them—whatever there was to face in this world, they had always faced it together.

But Catrin simply smiled, her gaze sad, somehow, as she said quietly, “Look at them, Gwyneth. Look at all the dancing—the singing. They’re all smiling.” Finally, Catrin peeled her gaze off the scene to meet her own. “Do you think it’s real?”

There was something in her sister’s tone that made Gwyneth pause—something so unbearably raw it made Gwyneth shelve all her questions in the back of her mind and consider.

She looked towards the celebrating crowds. “I think they believe it is.”

Catrin rasped a laugh. ���Yeah. I think so, too.”

Gwyneth placed a hand over her sister’s. As gently as she could, she asked, “Why do you ask, Catrin?”

Her gaze dropped to her feet. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Clare,” she said, and it wasn’t lost on Gwyneth how she’d avoided her question in favour of another. “Dating outside our own factions is forbidden, and I suppose…” Her throat bobbed. “I supposed I didn’t want to burden you with the secret.”

She was so unlike the Catrin from a few hours ago that Gwyneth felt her own throat burning, all the excitement they’d shared earlier fading into the night along with the bonfire smoke.

The question nearly forced itself onto Gwyneth’s lips—what changed?—but instead, she managed, “You could never burden me, Catrin.” Then, “I didn’t mean to pry. If she makes you happy, then that is all I need to know.”

Slowly, Catrin turned to face her again. “She makes me happy,” she whispered. “Very much.”

Gwyneth smiled. “Good.” She squeezed Catrin’s hand. “No secrets, remember?”

Perhaps it was the smoke carried by the summer breeze, or the late hour catching up with Catrin at last, but Gwyneth could’ve  sworn she saw silver gleam in her sister’s eyes as she said, “Yeah. No secrets.”

***

Catrin’s funeral took place midday, and it rained the entire time.

Erudites had never been too spiritual in nature, and saw death simply as the time for the mind to finally rest. As such, there were no celebrations of the life she had lived like the ones held in Amity—no formal burials with lengthy speeches from Candor’s government officials, either. It was, perhaps, the one thing where Erudites and Abnegations found common ground—in the lack of spectacle surrounding their funerals. In Abnegation, death was only a tragedy because it meant an end to one’s servitude.

Gwyneth watched as her sister’s casket was covered by a deep-blue sheet, the colour slowly darkening as it soaked up the pouring rain. The entire Academy had gathered to watch it being lowered into the city’s foundations—to symbolise the collective knowledge upon which it was built, if nothing else. One of the Erudite representatives then murmured a few words about the tragedy Catrin’s death was, and the new, stricter regulations the labs would be implementing to prevent anything like this from happening ever again.

Gwyneth had not been invited to say a few words. The Erudite virtues did not speak of emotional attachment, of the importance of sentiment. Catrin’s pursuit of knowledge may have ended, but Gwyneth’s…Gwyneth’s had only just begun.

She was not permitted to look upon her twin’s face for the final time, either. The stone casket seemed impenetrable from where she stood, one lone student in the sea of blue umbrellas and Academy uniforms. It was not like Gwyneth would have asked to see her, either. Whatever spirit of rebellion had lived inside her before, it died today—watching its counterpart disappear beneath the ground.

As the plates of the burial site began closing in on each other, though, ready to swallow Catrin for the rest of time, something shifted—like a spark in the air, charging the weather with lightning. Gwyneth’s shoulders tensed as she braced herself for impact.

And then, someone screamed.

All one hundred—perhaps more—Erudite heads snapped towards the sound, some of the faces immediately twisting in a grimace, some in curiosity. Gwyneth’s eyes, though, only widened in shock, her mouth parting slightly as she realised who the voice belonged to—who had just lunged onto the stage, her orange dress muddy and torn.

Clare Beddor’s tears blended into the rain as she reached for the Erudite representative, her expression so wild and pained that Gwyneth felt it in her own already shredded heart. Even through the hauling rain, through the thunder booming somewhere in the distance, she could hear Clare’s words as clear as the day she had last seen her lover. Could hear the accusation that would get her reunited with Catrin at last.

“MURDERERS!” Clare yelled, the crowd gasping in unison. “You’re all murderers!”

Everything happened so quickly after that.

Someone had grabbed Clare from behind—one of the junior HQ researchers, a Dauntless transfer if his large, muscular frame was any indication—and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back with the kind of force that should’ve hauled her off the stage. But Clare kept on fighting, kept on kicking and screaming and digging her nails into the man’s forearms, leaving long, bloodied streaks splitting his tattoos. Still, the man did not let go.

Only when the rain began to leave the taste of salt in Gwyneth’s mouth did she realise she was crying, too. She watched as Clare was dragged off the stage and shoved into a sleek, black car—Candor, Gwyneth noted immediately—which appeared seemingly out of nowhere. She watched as it drove off, too, as the Erudite representative apologised for the intrusion and once again reiterated the tragedy of the incident before ordering all of Catrin’s fellow students to return to their daily obligations.

But Clare’s words lingered even as the crowd dissipated, echoing between the glass Erudite buildings before settling right in Gwyneth’s chest. 

Murderers. Murderers. Murderers.

When the rhythm of her heart started to beat alongside the syllables, alongside the truth Gwyneth had thought no one else believed in, that rebellion inside her reignited—blazed, like the fire she had danced to in Amity two weeks ago.

She wasn’t insane. She was not paranoid, and Clare all but confirmed it.

Catrin Berdara had been murdered. When and how—it did not matter.

The only question that mattered was why.

And Gwyneth was going to find the answer.

***

SIX MONTHS LATER

Compared to her old Academy dorm, Gwyneth’s apartment at the Erudite Headquarters felt ridiculously empty.

Truthfully, she had not exactly put any effort into decorating it in the past two months. The walls remained white and untainted by the vibrant prints and watercolour paintings she and Catrin used to sneak into the Academy from Amity. The entire space was simply occupied by her bed, wardrobe, and desk. The latter, at least, was filled with enough books to let the average visitor know someone was, in fact, living in this place.

Gwyneth had shoved one of those books into her bag before leaving, along with some crumpled papers containing notes she could hardly remember writing last night. It must have been well past three in the morning when she’d finally finished, but when it came to her supervisor, Gwyneth always prioritised being sleep deprived over unprepared.

Not that anyone had ever acknowledged her efforts, though. Her supervisor just so happened to be the Erudite representative, the faction’s very leader and the main voice advising their Candor-comprised government. It was a great privilege, Gwyn had always told the other graduates, making sure to dip her head an inch and blush slightly as she lied: I was certain it was a mistake, but Merrill was really impressed with my dissertation, it seems.

Gwyneth’s Academy dissertation just so happened to align perfectly with the Erudite’s research—a coincidence, and, of course, a great privilege. Gwyn had been planning to teach at the Academy post-graduation—that much, at least, was the truth—but when the HQ had made her an offer, she simply could not refuse.

She was the envy of other HQ graduate researchers, which was definitely one downside in the grand scheme of things. Gwyneth had been prepared for the attention, but the amount of eyes turned towards her in every lab, every hallway, was certainly making things…difficult.

After all, no one at HQ could ever suspect why Gwyneth Berdara, a previous history major, had suddenly taken up interest in genetics—why her dissertation, initially on the history of the Erudite faction, had suddenly shifted focus onto Aptitude Tests in the final two months of her studies at the Academy. No one could quite figure how, exactly, she had managed to produce a report worthy of the attention of the Head Erudite herself.

That part, Gwyneth did not have to lie about, either. She was an Erudite. She studied—she sought the knowledge and acquired it.

Getting to the HQ was the easiest part of her plan. Getting out of it, however, was going to prove a lot more…difficult.

There was one other thing cluttering her desk, its silver gleam drawing her eye before she finally made her way to leave. Gwyneth picked up the lighter, the metal cold against her skin, and pushed the small lever down with her thumb.

The flame came to life in Gwyneth’s hand, and she watched as it danced playfully in the air. All of her belongings, all the Amity posters and photos she had taken over the years—they were memories too painful to bring along for her final act of rebellion. The lighter, though, was the one thing of her own she’d allowed herself—she had purchased it on her first day at the HQ despite the voice of reason protesting in her mind.

“I’m almost there, Catrin,” she whispered to the little bonfire in her palm. “I’m almost there.”

With that, the lighter disappeared in the folds of her lab coat, and Gwyneth did not spare another look at the empty apartment as she made her way out.

Lost in her thoughts, Gwyneth hadn’t even realised she’d already made it to her supervisor’s office.

“You’re late,” Merril said in her usual manner of greeting.

 “I’m sorry. I’ve been preparing for tomorrow,” she replied, closing the door carefully behind her.

The Head Erudite looked up from her computer, its blue holo reflecting in her stare. “There is no preparing for the Aptitude Test. You know this, Gwyneth.”

“Emotionally preparing, I suppose,” she corrected herself, her response met with a deep sigh.

“I assume you have the notes I assigned you,” Merril said, not entirely a question. Everything was an order with her—an order that would never be satisfied no matter what Gwyneth did.

Still, she nodded, taking the papers out of her bag to place them on Merrill’s desk, the professor’s eyes already scanning over the writing. She couldn’t help but hold her breath as she waited, silently watching as Merrill took in the results of last week’s experiments, then finally, finally, nodded.

“Take these to Lab Six,” she instructed, Gwyneth’s shoulders sagging with relief. As far as Merrill’s compliments went, this one was the best she could have asked for. “Make the necessary preparations for next month.”

Already on her way out—Merrill did not appreciate anyone wasting her time—Gwyneth stopped.

“Next month?” she asked, turning over her shoulder. With the Choosing Ceremony scheduled for the last day of January, who knew what the next month would bring.

Clearly, Merrill thought Gwyneth was here to stay.

She raised a white eyebrow in scrutiny. “Is there a problem?” she asked.

In exactly a week from now, Gwyneth would finally do what she’d spent the last six months meticulously planning. Merrill said there was no preparing for the Aptitude Tests, but Gwyneth had not spent all those sleepless nights studying, all those days smiling and pretending Catrin’s death hadn’t affected her at all, only to let someone else decide her fate.

No. Gwyneth Berdara had figured out how to cheat.

Tomorrow, the Aptitude Test would sort her into the one faction with the ability to bring her one step closer to the truth behind her sister’s murder.

Next week, she would no longer be Gwyneth Berdara, Erudite.

She would be Dauntless.

“No,” she said to Merrill with a sweet smile. “No problem at all.”

***

It had been over twenty-four hours since Gwyneth had last slept, and she was seriously starting to worry she might just pass out in the chair if her name was not called out next.

As dazed as the lack of sleep was making her, Gwyneth knew that once she exited that room, she would thank herself for persevering. No one under the age of twenty-one was supposed to know this, but being Merrill’s protegé came with its benefits—all carefully researched and planned for six months ago.

The test would begin by having a simulation serum being injected into her neck, setting off a range of scenarios eventually leading to Gwyneth being matched to one of the five factions: Erudites, Abnegation, Dauntless, Candor, or Amity, all based on the choices she’d be making throughout. Fifteen weeks—Gwyneth had spent fifteen weeks studying the simulation patterns and the reaction of the brain every scenario it presented. The Aptitude Test’s results were meant to serve as a guide for the Choosing Ceremony, and if one did not wish to end up factionless–-end up an exile to society—following the Test’s recommendations was the only true choice.

Gwyneth knew—had always known—she was an Erudite, if the last few months were any indication for her to ground her confidence in. Her Test results today, though, would recommend a different faction entirely.

Her research suggested there were side effects to the serum. Sustained deprivation of sleep, Gwyneth found, would catalyse a heightened neural state—high enough for her to remain in full cognitive control of the simulation. She would recognise the patterns effortlessly—would know where to go and what to say for the test administrator to proclaim her as a Dauntless the moment she woke up. In theory.

A few hours into the tests, there weren’t many people left. From the colour of their clothes, Gwyneth noted two from Abnegation and one from Candor, his black tie and formal attire making her shift in her own seat. She could hardly register the light tapping of her foot against the linoleum floor, consumed entirely by the silence of the hallway. Waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

The Tests were being held at the Academy, and it made her all the more uneasy. These halls, the cafeteria they now sat in, this entire building—the Academy was so familiar Gwyneth had nearly forgotten what had driven her out of there. She half-expected Catrin to come out of the East Elevator leading right up to her old lab, to give her a small wave as she called out her name.

“Gwyneth Berdara?”

Gwyneth jumped in her seat.

The Candor boy snorted.

The test administrator—a woman that could not have been more than a few years older than Gwyneth—gave him a look. The Candor cleared his throat immediately, his eyes falling back into that blank, emotionless stare. It was then that Gwyneth realised the woman was from Candor, too.

She arched an eyebrow as she looked at Gwyneth again, her ice-blue eyes settling on her own. “Gwyneth Berdara, yes?”

Gwyneth nodded.

“Good. Come on in.”

The hallway, as Gwyneth already knew, hosted a row of ten rooms, and the woman led her to the one at the far left. The teaching classroom had been transformed into an empty space with nothing but a reclined chair that made her feel as though she was about to walk into her dentist’s appointment, the walls now covered in floor-to-ceiling mirrors.

Even though Gwyneth knew what to expect, she couldn’t help but swallow the tightness in her throat. She had volunteered to set those rooms up herself before—the administrator herself was a volunteer, too. Most of the Candor worked for the government—their inclination towards truth and justice made them the only objective candidates. According to their manifesto, at least.

This woman, though—she seemed nothing like the Candor Gwyneth had met before, perhaps save for the stern look in her gaze and the way she carried herself. As if nothing could bend her will.

There was something about her face that seemed familiar, and Gwyneth could not shake the feeling that she had seen her before. Her features seemed sharper than those faded images in her memory, her hair a lighter shade of golden brown, straighter and tied into a sleek, braided bun. No matter how hard she focused, though, Gwyneth couldn’t quite place her.

“Take a seat,” she instructed before Gwyneth could try searching her mind again. “My name is Nesta Archeron. I’ll be your test administrator today.”

The name did not seem familiar, and, frustrated, Gwyneth slipped into the chair, the leather cracked at the armrests. As though whoever had come in before her did not take the simulations well.

Great.

After an uncomfortably long pause, Gwyneth looked up to meet the administrator’s stare. Was the test not supposed to start already?

“Well?” Nesta asked, her arms crossed over the sleek, black jacket padded lightly at the shoulders. She might have been the only Candor Gwyneth had ever seen that did not seem stiff in their clothes.

She blinked in confusion. “Well…what?” she asked.

“Most people want to know if it hurts,” Nesta pointed out.

Oh. “I already know it doesn’t hurt,” Gwyneth told her. “My research focuses on Aptitude Tests,” she explained, her cheeks flushing slightly as she realised she might have fallen into the Erudite trap of sounding too pretentious.

“Your research,” Nesta repeated, a shadow of a smile playing in the corner of her mouth. “That is, perhaps, the most Erudite thing I’ve ever heard.”

Gwyneth huffed. “I thought the simulation was meant to decide my faction, not you.”

To her surprise, Nesta snorted. “I think I might like you, Gwyneth Berdara,” she said. Then, “Why do I know your name?” she asked, her golden brows knitting.

Gwyneth could see the exact second realisation dawned on Nesta’s face.

“You were Catrin Berdara’s sister.” She shook her head, her hair catching some of the white, artificial light at the ceiling. “I am so sorry. Horrible tragedy.”

“Yes,” Gwyneth said, unable to keep the tinge of bitterness from her tone. “Tragedy.”

Nesta’s eyes narrowed. “You know, in Candor, our most prized virtue is the truth. During Initiation, we spend weeks training how to detect lies.” She tilted her head to the side. “Why do I feel like you’re lying to me, Gwyn?”

“It’s Gwyneth.”

“Gwyneth,” Nesta corrected, that strange amusement returning into her face. “I have two sisters, you know. The youngest had her test earlier today.”

“How did she do?”

“You research our tests, don’t you? You know the results are not to be discussed—not even amongst family.” Nesta smiled. “I know, though—from the moment she was born, out and screaming her rage right into the world.” She snorted. “Feyre is going to choose Dauntless, because that’s who she always has been.”

“You sound excited for her,” Gwyneth started carefully.

“I am.”

“Won’t you miss her in Candor?”

“My sisters and I were born in Abnegation,” Nesta explained. “Four years ago, I chose Candor. Two years ago, Elain had left for Amity. Grey had never quite suited her, anyway,” she added. Gwyneth was not entirely sure she’d ever heard a Candor joke before. Then, Nesta said, “In a week from now, Feyre is going to leave, too. I’m sure of it.”

Gwyneth hummed. “Your parents must miss you very much.”

“Our parents are dead, I’m afraid.”

“Oh,” she faltered, her cheeks heating yet again. “So are mine.”

Nesta shrugged matter-of-factly, the gesture enough to keep Gwyneth from asking. “Then you know,” she said, her gaze dropping to whatever notes Gwyneth’s profile contained on the datapad. “I see you study under Merrill Dorset,” Nesta observed. “The Aptitude Test research makes a lot more sense now.” She shook her head, as though in disbelief. “Thanks to her, we no longer have sixteen year olds do these tests. Ridiculous—to make someone with such a young mind decide on the rest of their life.” She looked at Gwyneth again. “You must be very excited to work under her.”

Gwyneth shrugged. “It has its benefits.”

“I’m sure it does,” Nesta said—and if she weren’t Candor, Gwyneth might have thought it a lie. “Is that how you know not to be afraid?” she asked, pressing one of the electrodes to Gwyneth’s head.

Gwyneth scoffed. “Merrill has nothing to do with it,” she told Nesta, flinching slightly at the cold touch as Nesta attached yet another electrode to her head. “I’ve figured it out all on my own.”

The words escaped her without warning—and if Nesta were an Erudite, she would have been fully within her rights to drag her straight to Merrill’s office and filed for Gwyneth’s expulsion.

Instead, a smile—a true smile bloomed on Nesta’s face as she pressed the syringe to Gwyneth’s neck, the clear serum swirling lazily inside. “Perhaps not an Erudite, then.”

The word blurred into nothingness as Gwyneth slipped into the simulation at last.

***

Gwyneth woke up to the sound of screaming, muffled only by a thick wall of concrete and windows sealed shut by dark, bloodied wood.

She did not recognise her surroundings, and from the blurriness of the corners of her vision, she knew she was not supposed to. Even the words of the crying crowds outside had no meaning at all. The emotion they carried was clear, though—fear.

Gwyneth grounded herself in the sounds—became one with the simulation, aware of every pattern presented before her, every entrance or exit she could find her way to. There was a door behind her that had not been barricaded—only an iron handle stood between her and the screams. Turning towards it, she wondered why those people did not simply open the door.

“You’re late,” a childlike voice now spoke behind her. “He’s getting away,” it said.

Gwyneth whirled back to the sound—and found no one at all.

The setting before her had changed, though. There was a staircase now, tall and made entirely of concrete, too. A table blocked the way up, though, small and built from some light type of wood Gwyneth had never cared to study at the Academy.

“Who?” she asked carefully.

“Have you changed your mind already?” the voice spoke again from somewhere behind her back. “You’re our last hope, you know.”

Gwyneth turned again—once again facing nothing but the iron door and the screams behind. She was not supposed to see this child, whoever it was. So instead, she asked, “What’s happening outside?”

“You have a choice here,” the voice continued as though she hadn’t spoken at all. “Go up, and finish what you came here to do. You cannot proceed without this,” it then said, and when Gwyneth turned towards the staircase again, the table was no longer empty.

Atop a clean, ivory cloth laid a gun—a pistol, its silver glinting subtly beneath the streaks of sunlight pouring in through the cracks between the bloodied wood. Gwyneth sucked in a breath.

“You may decide to go back. Rejoin the others, if you wish. The choice is entirely up to you.”

The choice seemed entirely clear to Gwyneth. Turn back to the people—Abnegation. Amity, perhaps. The gun, however…

“I thought you hired me,” she told the voice.

It giggled—a shrill, eerie sound that seemed to carry all the way upstairs. “I cannot decide your fate for you,” it said, as if scolding her.

Gwyneth looked back towards the door again—then to the gun. What if this was a test, and the true display of courage would have been to save the people outside from whatever horrors had befallen them?

No—there were no underlying motives in these tests. Her choices, Gwyneth had learned, were plain and simple, the way the faction members’ lives had been designed to be. If she wanted to be classified as a Dauntless, the gun was her only viable option.

So Gwyneth picked it up—wrapped her hand around the cool metal, letting it slip down to the polished hilt.

“Go now,” the voice urged. “Go!”

Gwyneth did not waste any more time.

She started running, every step light as she made her way upstairs, the echo of the people’s cries following her all the way up to the sixth floor. She felt no weariness, no strain in her muscles or stiffness in her joints, the blend of the serum and twenty-four hours without sleep clearly taking effect.

The stairs seemed to end here, though. There was only one door at the very top of the building, made of the same dark, blood-stained wood the windows had been. Gwyneth reached for the doorknob—iron, too, she realised—and the door clicked open as she turned it to her left.

“Are you the one?” someone asked her—a new voice, male and hoarse coming somewhere from the back of the room.

“What?” Gwyneth asked, and the room lit up with the question.

She had to stifle a scream of her own as she saw him. The man stood at the very end of the narrow hallway, his back pressed toward the wall and a gun steady in his hands.

“Are you the one they sent after me?” he repeated, his voice rougher now, like gravel against her skin.

“No,” Gwyneth lied, fighting to keep her voice from trembling as her own pistol slipped down an inch in her clammy grip. “I’m on your side,” she told him.

“Liar,” he seethed, “I’ll give you one more chance. Tell the truth, and I will go—you and your people will never see me, never hear of me again. Peace,” he said. “So, what will it be?”

Gwyn opened her mouth—and the man smiled, revealing a perfect set of bloody, iron teeth.

Her mind raced, chasing every possibility that seemed to escape her the wider the man grinned. He must have been the reason for the carnage outside, all the pain and death that would have awaited her had she chosen to open the door. Perhaps the simulation would have made her tend for the wounded, or forced her to become one of them. Either way, there was no turning back.

She understood now—she had to kill that man. His promise of peace, while appealing to an Amity or maybe even an Erudite, was a lie. That left her with two choices.

Tell the truth—Candor.

Keep on lying—Dauntless.

So Gwyneth tightened her grip on her gun and told him, “I’m not here to kill you.”

The man’s smile became a long, vicious snarl. “Wrong answer,” he said, and pointed his own pistol at her.

“Leave her alone!” someone screamed then, a voice—a familiar voice, one she had met in this simulation before. The child materialised before her, a small girl that could not have been older than five—and lunged for the murderer aiming at Gwyneth.

All Gwyneth could see, though, was Clare Beddor’s face as she ran for the Erudites that killed her sister. The same Erudites that prized knowledge above all else, only to put an end to it whenever someone reached too far.

What had Catrin found out that day? How bad must it have been to merit an order for her execution.

Whatever truth the answers held, though, Gwyneth had already failed. But, perhaps, she could do this—could save this child, so ready and eager to sacrifice its life for those who could not have done the same.

For Catrin.

As if reading her thoughts, the man pointed his gun at the little girl.

“NO!” Gwyneth screamed, and jumped in front of the child the moment the gun fired.

***

The word still lingered on her tongue as Gwyneth shot upright with a scream.

“Sit up,” Nesta ordered, her hand steady on Gwyneth’s back. “Drink,” she added, a cold glass suddenly pressed to her trembling lips.

She obeyed, the water dripping down her chin as she gulped, the glass shaking alongside her sweaty palms.

“The whole thing,” Nesta nodded, and only when Gwyneth emptied the glass did she finally seem satisfied enough to let her speak.

“Well?” Gwyneth asked, wiping the salt on her forehead with the back of her hand. “ Not an Erudite, I’m assuming?”

Nesta’s lips pressed into a thin line, her skin somewhat pale as she quickly entered something into her datapad. “Not exactly.”

“What—what is that supposed to mean?”

Nesta met her gaze, her blue eyes wary. “Gwyn—Gwyneth, your results were inconclusive.” She sighed. “Is that something you have seen in your research, or do you need me to explain it to you?”

Gwyneth ignored the jab. “Inconclusive?” She frowned. “That is not possible.” She tried so hard—so hard to be matched to the Dauntless. She was prepared to shoot—to prove she wasn’t afraid, to prove she didn’t hesitate. If she only hadn’t let her emotions get the better of her—

“Of course not,” Nesta said, something like mockery creeping into her tone. “In theory. How many times have your theories been proven wrong, Gwyneth?”

She had to give her that one. “Many.”

“You have chosen the gun, effectively closing both paths that would have taken the simulation towards Amity—or Abnegation, for that matter.” Nesta looked at her datapad again. “That gave us Dauntless. Then, you lied to the man—then lied again, even when given a second chance and promised peace—that rules out Candor. You’re definitely not Amity, that’s for sure.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “You were smart enough not to believe him, displaying equal aptitude for both Erudite and Dauntless. But then you saved the girl,” she said. “Threw your body over her own. Abnegation again.”

Nesta set her notes on the chair’s armrest, leaning in closer—close enough for the distance between them to close almost entirely as she said, her voice barely above a whisper, “Gwyneth, people like you are called Divergent. And they are very, very dangerous.” Those icy eyes searched her own. “Tell me, Gwyneth, what does our society do with dangerous people?”

Gwyneth stopped breathing entirely.

Nesta nodded. “You, of all people, should know this.”

“You know,” Gwyneth breathed. “You know what my sister researched.”

It had been Gwyneth’s theory from the day she had found a stash of notes in Catrin’s bed—shoved deep into the mattress, nearly lost to the world after death. Notes containing Catrin’s own research, all of them detailing the hypotheses of her Genetics thesis. Catrin had been studying the factionless—had been seeking to understand why, no matter how hard they tried, they did not belong to any of the factions. She had nearly found the answer.

But Catrin’s notes ended abruptly, the final entry dated two weeks before her death. The night the two of them had last ventured out to the Amity farmlands. The night Catrin had promised her no more secrets.

“And look where that research got her,” Nesta said quietly. “Gwyneth, you cannot share this information with anyone. Under no circumstances can you reveal your test results. Do you understand me?” she asked, her tone inviting no protest.

Gwyneth swallowed. Hard. “I do.”

Nesta straightened. “I’m going to put your aptitude down for Erudite, and we’ll forget about this whole thing.”

She picked the datapad up again.

“No,” Gwyneth said then.

Half-turning over her shoulder, Nesta’s brows rose. “No?”

“Dauntless,” Gwyneth blurted out, her final attempt at salvaging six-months of pain and preparation. “Please. They will look—Merrill will look at my test results. She cannot know why I didn’t come back.”

“Gwyneth,” Nesta started slowly. “Whatever you think you’ll find at the Dauntless—”

“It’s not what I’ll find there,” she interrupted. “It’s where the Dauntless can take me.”

Understanding settled into Nesta’s beautiful features. “Going beyond the Fence is strictly forbidden,” she told her.

Gwyneth offered a tense shrug. “It seems to me like I’m already on the forbidden list.”

Nesta shook her head. “To live the life of a Dauntless is to die,” she warned her. “Not many Transfers survive their Initiation. Consider what you’re about to do, Gwyneth Berdara.”

Gwyneth was done considering. It was finally time to act.

“If it was your sister,” she started, looking Nesta right in the eye, “either of your sisters. What would you have done?”

Something like surprise sparked in Nesta’s gaze, and for a moment—for a short, beautiful moment, Gwyneth had hope.

But then, Nesta told her, “You are asking a Candor to lie.”

Gwyneth knew she had lost.

She’d forgotten—she’d forgotten that, in this world, factions came above all else. No matter what Nesta thought of her, no matter what she would have done for her own sisters in Gwyneth’s position—the primary Candor virtue was to never tell a lie.

Dishonesty is rampant. Dishonesty is temporary. Dishonesty makes evil possible.

The doctrine was practically written on Nesta’s face, her features practically writhing in conflict.

So Gwyneth braced herself—braced herself for the administrator’s next words, no doubt announcing her imminent arrest and exile following the betrayal of her faction, of conspiring against her own. Perhaps they would tackle her the way they had Clare Beddor—perhaps they would drag her down to her casket beneath the city’s foundations themselves.

But then Nesta’s datapad flashed red—and Gwyneth watched as her results disappeared, wiped from the digital memory forever.

“When you get to the Dauntless,” Nesta began, her voice tight, “Find a man named Cassian. I need you to pass on a message.” Her throat bobbed. “Tell him,” she asked, “Tell him I was right.”

Gwyneth could only stare.

“Go now,” Nesta ordered, jerking her chin towards the exit. “And try to survive.”

For Catrin—for her sister, Gwyneth always would.

“Thank you,” she breathed. “Thank you, Nesta.”

She did not remember the walk back to her empty room at HQ. The last thing Gwyneth truly recalled was the cold bowl of her toilet as she leaned over it and retched her guts out.

The Choosing Ceremony was held exactly a week later at the Hub, the very centerpiece of the city. Gwyneth had queued in her dedicated blue line of twenty-one year old Erudites all morning, unable to occupy herself with anything else but waiting.

She could trust Nesta. Couldn’t she? When had she ever met a Candor with the ability to tell a lie, or worse, keep the truth from reaching the rest of the world? One word to the wrong person, and Gwyneth would be dead before even entering the building.

She had entered it, though, the Hub so much larger than she had remembered it. She and Catrin had once visited it during a school trip, when they were so young they could hardly understand the power it would one day hold over them. The power it held over everyone else. 

The Ceremony had started about thirty minutes ago, and after a few brief speeches from the Candor government about the grandiose of this very moment, people’s names had begun being called out one by one. Gwyneth watched as those with an A last name made their choices, her gaze slipping occasionally to the sector at the far right, where the Dauntless would shout out their excitement each time a new Initiate’s blood was spilled over the hot, burning coals.

It was a sick display of devotion—Gwyneth had always considered it as such. Still, she was in no position to argue, not when her only other choice was to embark on a self-imposed exile. Or, apparently, submitting herself to the authorities for being an illegal outlier she had no idea even existed.

Slowly, she slid her gaze over the five white bowls, each the size of the large, sizzling cauldron she’d remembered from her childhood’s fantasy stories, their contents symbolising the five factions. Grey stones for Abnegation, plain and unassuming the way their lives were supposed to be; the hot coals for Dauntless; glass for Candor, clear as the truth; soil for Amity, like the farms they cared for; and, finally, water for Erudites, its flow representative of  the ever-changing nature of knowledge.

Somewhere behind those bowls sat Merrill, no doubt expecting to see Gwyneth stain the water red. Perhaps, in another life, Gwyneth would have done just that—would have returned to the Academy, studying history the way she had always wanted, sneaking out to Amity every Summer Solstice to celebrate Catrin the way Amity celebrated the sun.

That life, though…it would not have been enough for Gwyneth. Not when she had seen the rage in Catrin’s lover’s eyes, not when she felt it in her own heart every time she felt the weight of her lighter tucked into her lab coat. Honouring Catrin would have never been enough.

Gwyneth wanted answers. Gwyneth wanted revenge.

“Gwyneth Berdara,” the announcer’s voice boomed over the hall, some of the Erudites’ quiet gasps disrupting the space. Some of them, no doubt, had already forgotten the tragedy from six months ago, Gwyneth’s family name serving as an uncomfortable reminder.

Gwyneth did not look back at them as she walked down towards the five bowls at the hall’s centre. Her eyes were only on the knife laid out before her the way the gun in her simulation had been—waiting patiently to find its way into her hand.

Gwyneth took one, steadying breath before picking it up at last. Then, she flipped it over to the sharp edge and sliced through her palm.

The quiet hiss snuck its way past her teeth as her skin split open, and she realised with a tinge of embarrassment that she may have cut too deep. Within seconds, her blood would begin spilling nowhere but the floor. Perhaps it was exactly the place where the Divergent belonged—unable to be defined despite so many choices laid ahead of them.

Gwyneth allowed herself one look at the water before looking up to meet Merrill’s gaze.

She held it even as she outstretched her hand over the burning coals and opened her palm, her blood sizzling over the fire.

There was only a second of silence when the entire hall held its breath.

And then, the Dauntless erupted with a roaring cheer.

Taglist (let me know if you'd like to be added!): @azrielshadowssing @damedechance @talons-and-teeth @octobers-veryown @foreverinelysian @sunshinebingo @aldbooks @climbthemountain2020 @trashforazriel @bibliophiliaxvignette

#divergent au #first hunger games!feysand now divergent!gwynriel gosh i wonder what's next 👀 #gwynrielweeks2024 #gwynriel #pro gwynriel #gwyn x azriel #gwynriel fic #gwynriel fanfic #gwynriel fanficiton #gwyneth berdara #pro gwyneth berdara #gwyn acotar #gwyn acosf #azriel shadowsinger #azriel acotar #azriel acosf #acotar #a court of thorns and roses #my writing

[skzhua]

MASTERLIST

pairing: trainer!hwang hyunjin x female!reader (feat. han jisung)

genre: divergent!au, love triangle, fluff, angst, dystopian, slow burn.

word count: 16,170

warnings: swearing, fighting, mention of death, drugs, drinking, suggestive. (proofread-ish)

summary: hyunjin is a confusing man. one day he confides to you with such passion, the next he ignores you. meanwhile, you have to figure out who you are and what you want.

a/n: the story is similar to divergent but very different at the same time. some things don't match with the original universe. tell me if you would be interested in a sequel!

"Wake up." you groaned as you shook your brother awake.

He let out a whine, slowly getting aware of his surroundings. With a yawn, he finally opened his eyes and gave you a disgusted look. You were dressed formally from head to toe. Even your hair that was usually in a messy bun was properly styled into a slicked back ponytail.

"What's happening?"

You rolled your eyes before throwing a pile of clothes at him. "Today's our aptitude test, remember?"

He frowned for a moment while inspecting the attire. "Right..." he sighed.

Walking downstairs, you met with your parents as they prepared breakfast. Kissing both their cheeks, you sat down and watched them cook.

You loved your parents for sure, there was no denying that. However, being in the Candor faction meant they were unapologetically truthful in their remarks. This was a great strength in political terms but as far as you were concerned, it made your childhood rough, especially since you became a teenager. Nonetheless, you loved them. Sometimes.

"Did you wake Felix up?"

You nodded your head. "He'll be coming down in a bit, that is if he doesn't fall back asleep."

"I'm up." the said-boy spat out at you as he came down the stairs.

Stealing a toast from your father's grasp like it was nothing, he sent you another one of his annoying grins. One that said "Aha, I'm the favourite." He was undeniably the favourite but it didn't mean he had to be this pretentious about it. His spot was earned when your older brother left the family to join the Erudite faction. It was a rough day for you and your family but Minho was even worse than Felix in terms of showing off being the golden child.

"I can make some more, Felix." your mother smiled warmly at your brother.

You huffed. "You didn't even bother offering me one."

"Y/N, don't be like this."

"I'm only saying that it wouldn't hurt showing a bit of love to your other child."

She sighed before sliding a bowl of cereals your way. She sure tried to make an effort at times but she couldn't lie to you. She loved Felix more. You looked at the meal with an unfazed look and pushed it back to it. Why were you still trying at this point?

"I know it can be a stressful day but I have no doubt this will be a new beginning. I sure do hope you will get Candor but as long as Abnegation is not an option, I'll respect your choice."

Your father's words being obviously directed to your twin brother, you let out yet another groan and went to the front door, ready to leave. As your family continued on with their chat, you leaned against the doorframe to wait. A few "good luck"s and "do good"s types of comments later, Felix finally joined you to head out.

Just as you were about to step out, your mother stopped you by calling out your name. "Good luck to you too." she smiled.

Although you knew she could only tell the truth, you still doubted her. With a quick nod of the head, you walked out.

It was a woman who was in charge of your test. While the room was threatening with its white walls, the intimidating tools and the chair that stood in the middle, you were far from being stressed. If anything, you had been waiting for this moment your whole life. An opportunity to get away from your annoying brother and your parents who were constantly disappointed in you? Yeah, you knew you were definitely not a Candor.

"You can sit." the woman said, grabbing your attention and you did as told.

Totally unbothered to say another word to you, she began to prepare the material for the test. The screen next to her was pitch black for now and she seemed to be mixing some sort of serum. You were about to ask her what it was but she turned around in a swift manner and held the said-serum in front of you.

"Drink this."

Doubtful, you took the vial from her hand and drank it down. Coughing at the taste, you almost choked.

And as you got over it, your whereabouts had totally changed. The test had started.

You were taken aback when you saw your reflection from across the room. Looking around, there was nothing else but that. What were you supposed to do now? Unsure, you walked towards the reflection. Only, seconds later, another you turned into an infinite number of yourself. Mirrors everywhere. Just to be sage, you walked backwards until you hit something. Two pillars with bowls on top were what you had bumped into: one with a knife and another with cheese.

"Choose!" you heard from your left.

Jumping in surprise, you came face to face with yourself but not quite yourself. Although it wasn't exactly another person, it felt somehow reassuring to have a presence with you.

"Choose..." you repeated in a whisper. "Which one is the right one?"

The other you refused to speak.

"Can't you tell me?"

"Choose."

You frowned. This was sure not helping. And luckily for you, you would have to make the choice as the pillars were replaced by a dog. You usually adored animals but this one wasn't exactly what you'd describe as friendly. Quite the opposite, it was barking at you nonstop. Growling with his back arched up, he was coming dangerously close to you. You knew it was a matter of seconds before it'd attack you. Stepping backwards, you held your hands up in defense, waiting for it to charge. Before you could even prepare yourself mentally, it lunged at you at full speed. Heartbeat racing, you closed your eyes. As if time had stopped, your mind was filled with reasonings, one being the most logical.

This was a simulation. There was no dog.

Your eyes slowly opening, the dog was sitting at your feet, looking up at you with its puppy eyes. You mentally gave yourself a tap on the shoulder but the pride didn't last long. A young girl staring at you and the dog appeared nearby. This caused the animal to go wild again, growling and barking at the girl. As it started to chase after, you jumped at it before thinking and tackled it down.

You gasped for air and sat straight up on the chair. You weren't fully back to reality when the woman in charge of your test spoke in a hurried voice.

"Go home, now."

You stare at her in confusion, not moving the slightest bit which was definitely putting her to the edge. She took you by the arm to get you off the chair and led you to the door.

"Tell your family I sent you home early because you reacted poorly to the serum."

"Wait." you stopped her. "What happened? Why are you telling me this? What were my results?"

She froze in place before clearing her throat. "It was Candor." she paused. "But it was also Amity, Abnegation, Dauntless, Erudite-"

"Woah, what are you saying?" you cut her off, confusion growing in you.

"You can't tell anyone, not even your family. This type of results puts you in grave danger."

Your brain was running at a thousand miles per hour as you were trying to make sense in what she was saying.

"So what do I chose at the ceremony tomorrow?"

She grunted in frustration. "Anything but I put Erudite as your result."

"How is it possible that I don't have a clear result?"

She had visibly caught on your desperation and curiosity as her eyes got softer. "It's called Divergent. It's extremely rare but possible and you will get eliminated if someone ever finds out."

"So..?"

"Stay on the low and don't tell anybody."

Felix seemed to be floating on a cloud. Skipping as you were heading to the choosing ceremony, he was grinning like a child while singing happy tunes.

"Lix, can you shut it?" you asked in the nicest way possible.

He walked closer to you and leaned down in order for his mouth to be right next your ear. "No."

"Let your brother have his fun. After all, it is an important day for you two." your mother said in his defense.

"Sure is important. Proof is that you truly were worried when I came home sick from the test yesterday." you smiled at her in a sarcastic way.

"Y/N Lee." you father said in a warning tone.

"Sorry."

You weren't anywhere close to feeling sorry. Still, you followed them as you finally arrived at the ceremony. The room was filled with people your age who were accompanied by their parents. It was interesting and nearly awkward to see all of the factions together in one place as this was a rare occasion.

You soon found your seats and waited for everyone to settle. Once the place was full, a man you presumed to be the host stood in front of the bowls that were displayed for you to make your choice. He started to go on about the factions, the importance of today's choice, and so on. Frankly, you weren't listening and Felix wasn't either apparently.

Snudging your arm continuously, he whisper-yelled your name a couple of times before you decided to finally snap a "what?" at him.

"I'm nervous."

You perked up an eyebrow. "You? Nervous?"

He nodded. "You know, I'm going to miss you."

You laughed sarcastically but his face remained the same, his worry was still plastered all over his face.  With a sigh, you rubbed his hand. "I'll miss you too. You might get on my nerves but you were a good brother."

You exchanged smiles but it was soon interrupted by Felix's name being called. He took a deep breath before walking down to choosing point. You watched his back while he was making a small cut un his hand. You had no idea what he was choosing or what were his results to the test. You wanted to think he was going to pick Candor to stay with your parents but he was obviously not going to. Felix was simply not fitting in Candor.

"Erudite." the man announced after Felix's blood came in contact with the water.

You stared at him blankly, watching him head towards the Erudite group. You would have expected him to go with Abnegation, he has always been a kind soul despite being the snob brother he was to you. You started to wonder whether he made the choice himself or he picked Erudite to not be on your parent's wrong side. Anyway, this wasn't important to you anymore. It was your time to choose.

After hearing your name, you walked to the same spot where Felix was standing seconds ago. You hissed as you sliced part of your palm with the knife. And then, you froze. As it came down on you that you had no idea what you were supposed to belong to, every muscle in your body tensed up. You had to think fast, everyone was watching you. Looking at each bowl one by one, you gulped. What now?

After what seemed to be hours, your hand lifted above a bowl and you hear a sizzle as your blood dropped.

"Dauntless."

The faction in question cheered while you went to sit with them with a shy face. Why did you even choose Dauntless? You weren't built to be physically fighting. You weren't as cunning as they were. Sure, you had an attitude but that was it.

The rest of the ceremony went by rather quickly as you had totally zoned out after your turn. You could stay like this for long, however. The moment your new faction left the place, you were told to run and follow.

Your cardio was never in its best state, this was only a confirmation of it. You were among the people running behind. Still, you didn't let this discourage you and you persisted on joining the others.

Coming face to face with a metal pole that led to the train rails, you watched everyone climb up. Taking a second to check your proper and formal attire, you doubted a little. Nonetheless, you followed their moves and climbed up, not daring to look down.

Next thing you had to do was jump in the train coming whilst it was functioning. The speed was almost too fast for you to keep up but you managed. Grunting and panting, you put your body against the wall and slid down in exhaustion. That's when you noticed a boy in front of you was staring. You almost called him out for it but were interrupted when you heard people getting agitated. Glancing outside, they were jumping from the wagons to the rooftop of a building. You cursed at yourself, already having enough of it for your first day. Again, you shut yourself up and followed. You would lie if you said you weren't proud of yourself.

"Hmph." you heard grunting behind you.

The same boy from earlier. He was the same age as you for sure but he looked much younger, as if he wasn't supposed to be there. Most importantly, he looked vulnerable. It made you question yourself why he even chose Dauntless.

You walked to him, offering your hand which he took with no hesitation. With a grateful smile, he stood up before you walked side by side to join the others.

"Han Jisung." the boy spoke up.

You extended your hand again for him to shake. "Lee Y/N."

"Nice to meet you." he smiled, a bit too enthusiastically in your opinion.

"Likewise."

"Alright, initiates!" a man, presumably one of the trainers, called out. As everyone gathered around him, he led you to the edge of the building. "My name is Changbin, I will be going through your initiation with you. You chose Dauntless, I hope you have an idea what you got yourself into."

You hated the look in his eyes, menacing and yet, obscure. You couldn't tell a single thing past his façade.

"So, who's willing to come down first?" he asked, scanning the group. "Nobody?"

You and Jisung exchanged looks, his much more nervous than yours. You took a deep breath and made your way through the crowd to come forward.

"What are you doing?" you heard Jisung whisper-yell at you.

"First jumper, uh?" Changbin snickered.

You ignored him and stepped onto the wall, not forgetting to look down. There was a hole, wide enough for a whole building to fit. It was so deep, you couldn't see the end of it. Taking a deep breath, you shut your mind off from any distressing thoughts and jumped. You could feel you heart pound so loudly and yet, it felt liberating. You were in the air, falling slowly and feeling nothing around you.

As you reached the end merely seconds later, your body was met with a net. Waking up from your daze, you began to make your way to edge so you could get off. Still, you were struggling.

"Here, take my hand." a soft voice spoke.

Your eyes moved to where it came from and you spotted what you could describe as the most beautiful man you've ever seen. Mysterious but soft, his features were completing one another perfectly. He was breathtaking.

"What's your name?" he asked once he helped you get off.

"Y/N."

"Hm." he hummed, taking a moment to look at you closely. "First jumper: Y/N." he announced loudly.

It made you realize a whole other crowd was there, watching the new initiates arriving. You joined them and waited patiently for the next person to come. You were relieved to see Jisung coming safe and sound, although slightly shaken up. He rushed to your sides as soon as his feet touched the ground.

"This was not fun." he breathed out, making you chuckle.

"It's only the beginning."

"Believe me, I know that." he rolled his eyes.

"Why did you choose Dauntless, anyway?"

He gulped. "It was my test results, but I think I should have stayed with my parents in Amity. What about you?"

"I don't know, it looked fun to me."

His eyes widened. "How can you describe this as fun? It's a death wish."

"What was that?" the pretty man said, interrupting your friend.

Jisung froze in place as the man made his way to him in a slow and imposing way. The guy was tall to begin with but you felt smaller than a mouse in his presence. If you thought Changbin was intimidating, this was nothing compared to that.

"That's what I thought." he sighed before stepping away from the two of you. "Welcome initiates. My name is Hyunjin and I will be in charge of your training with Changbin here with me to keep a look on you all. A few times during your initiation, Chan will come take a look to see how things are going for you. For those who don't know him, he is the faction's leader. Now, I'm not someone who teaches softly. It will be harsh, demanding, but you knew that once you chose us.

"The initiation process is long and tiring but I believe you'll be doing just fine. The first step is physical training. You will learn to fight and defend yourselves in ways you can't even imagine as of right now.

"The second step is psychological endurance. I will go more in depth once we get there but it will be the hardest part of the process. Only the toughest ones among you will make it through.

"Finally, your abilities will be shown to the faction leaders which will then determine your role among the faction. For exemple, I was made a trainer and Changbin is one of the co-leaders."

"Because you rejected to offer to be one, they asked me." Changbin commented but Hyunjin brushed it off.

"For tonight, a party will be held for your arrival. Tomorrow morning, your training will begin. Follow me, I'll show you where you'll stay."

The whole group did as told and you walked through a couple of hallways, all darker than the ones before. Water was dripping and the lighting was dimmed so much, you could barely see.

In the end, you arrived in a one-room place where the toilets were exposed for everyone to see. Beds were arranged messily and you could tell the conditions were not going to be the best for the next year.

Hyunjin, after answering a few questions, left you all to get changed before coming to the cafeteria. He instructed for you to go burn your old factions' clothing as you were no longer going to need them. It kind of broke your heart to official put terms with your past life, but you had to do it.

As you dropped your old attire in the burner, you thought of Felix for a second. How was he doing in Erudite? Did Minho find him and help him? Was he adapting well?

And your parents? How were they handling being separated from their favourite child?

"Are you going to pick at your fries all evening?"

Jisung speaking brought you out of your thoughts. You didn't even remember getting your food and sitting with him. Right in front of you were two other guys who Jisung had seemed to befriend.

"Sorry." you replied. "I was just thinking."

He sighed. "Same. I'm thinking about my parents. I hope they know I'll be alright."

"Will you, though?" one of the two boys asked jokingly.

"Jeongin, come on." the other said. "We'll be done with this initiation thing before we know it. Plus, Jisung is braver than you; he jumped right after missy here."

"Thanks, Seungmin." Jisung smiled.

"Where were you before?" you asked, curious about where these new friends came from.

"Abnegation." Seungmin smiled proudly. "And Jeongin was in Erudite."

"Amity." Jisung informed, though you already knew that. "Can I just say, you look nothing like a Candor."

You furrowed your eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?"

Jeongin scoffed. "You're kidding? You're supposed to be truthful and say what comes in your mind but you're awfully quiet."

You jumped when a tray a food was dropped on the table. Hyunjin, in all his glory, sat next to you as he sent a glare to Jeongin before speaking.

"Knowing when to shut your mouth is actually a good trait for Dauntless, which is your faction now. So no talk about the other factions, got it?"

You all nodded nervously, afraid he'd take out any of you in a second. Nonetheless, you could see there was something mysterious about him. Whether it was the presence or lack of darkness, what was in his eyes: you were pulled by it.

"Are you a Dauntless born?" you bluntly asked.

Your new friends' eyes widened at your boldness. Either you were about to get beaten or killed, both bad scenarios.

Hyunjin finished his bite slowly, jaw clenching, before he turned to look at you in the eye. "What tells you you can speak to me?"

You blinked once, unsure on what to answer. "Well, I just thought-"

"You thought wrong. I'm only here for the training, not to make friends."

And just like that, he stood up and took his tray before walking away, far enough for you to lose sight of him. You huffed at yourself. Odd, you thought.

"Did he come here only to leave two seconds later?" Seungmin said in confusion.

Jisung shrugged. "Let's not question it."

Dinner continued normally after that. As instructed, none of you mentioned their faction again. Instead, you went on with learning more about each other. Jeongin is the middle child, making him the forgotten one by his parents. He is a lively guy but can be rude at times. He never means any harm, though. Seungmin is the younger sibling of an older sister. He likes making jokes and fun of people, in an affectionate way of course. And Jisung, you were starting to know him pretty well. He is a shy boy at first but can be noisy when comfortable.

"I have to thank you, Y/N. I don't think I would have been able to go through all what happened if it wasn't for you." Jisung smiled gratefully.

"Thanks for sticking around too." you smiled back.

The moment was interrupted when a loud whistle was heard. On a table stood Hyunjin, Changbin, and another unknown man. Once they caught everyone's attention, they asked you all to shut it.

"Initiates." Changbin started, loud enough for the whole group to hear. "I hope you had a blast tonight. Unfortunately, it has to come to an end. Before we send you back to the dormitory, the faction leader has a few things he'd like to tell you."

He gestured to the man next to him to speak in his turn. He wasn't that much taller than Changbin. What stood out from him to you really was his blonde hair. His aura was intimidating but nothing remotely closed to Hyunjin's. For him, you could see he had a soft side.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Christopher, or Chan. Whatever you prefer. I am Dauntless' leader for a 5th year now. Welcome to the faction. I won't lie, the process of initiation will be hard and rough. Now, I am strict with newcomers, but I'm also someone who won't take disrespect lightly. Although you are trained to fight, I strongly believe we should all be respectful among us. I'll be watching you throughout the process, which starts tomorrow. Good luck, and welcome again."

Hyunjin was quick to dismiss you all to your room – though you wouldn't go as far as to call it that – and instructed you all to get up in time the morning after. As he finished speaking, he gave you a glare that lasted too long to your liking before leaving as well. Was it a glare or a simple stare? You weren't exactly sure in all honesty.

You did wake up in time, all thanks to Jeongin. The poor boy had frantically ran around while almost screaming as he couldn't find his pants. In the end, he had simply left them with Seungmin's belongings the previous night.

Still a bit sleepy, you looked around to check where you had left your own things. Strangely enough, they were nowhere to be found. Only then, Jisung appeared with a pile of your clothes and laid them on your bed before sitting on the thin mattress.

"I assumed you'd want to stay in bed a bit longer so I prepared your things in advance." he shyly admitted.

"I appreciate it, thanks." you nodded your head.

You rapidly ran to a corner, making sure no one could see you naked, and joined your new friends so you could head to the training room together. On the way there, you couldn't help but look at your surroundings once more. It was still surreal that you were in a new faction, one so different. You started to wonder if you had made the right choice. Maybe you should have gone in Erudite with your brothers. Then, again, you didn't have the best relationship with them anyway.

There was no room to have such thoughts, you were in Dauntless and that was it. Even more so now that you were standing in front of a seemingly exhausted Hyunjin next to an equally tired Changbin. Maybe they continued the party after you left.

"First day and you're all here. Good." Hyunjin nodded to himself after counting everybody. "Alright, so today is going to be hard for you. It's the beginning and you aren't used to it yet so don't expect yourself to be absolutely great. I don't expect any better than that anyway."

You noted how low he was speaking of the group. Sure, you were all beginners but it was no reason to slander you like this.

"Each week, you will be ranked from strongest to weakest. This is in no way my decision, it is a new reform by the factions leaders. The strongest one are going to be assigned higher positions and the weakest ones are unfortunately not going to make it to the faction."

"Wait, what?" you spoke up, making Jisung grab your wrist as a warning.

Hyunjin's eyebrow perked up as he walked to where you stood. "Y/N."

"Won't make it as in..?" you trailed of for him to finish.

"As in they won't be kept in the faction, they'll become factionless."

You scoffed. "This is ridiculous."

His eyes darkened. "Again, this is not my choice. If it was me, I wouldn't do such a thing, I'm not as cruel as you believe me to be."

"I never said you-"

"Dagger throwing. We're starting with that today." he cut you off.

Jisung's grasp on you loosened, but it didn't mean he was going to let you be just like this. He moved his head to your ear and whispered.

"You really have a death wish, don't you?"

You snickered. "Maybe."

He rolled his eyes at you, unimpressed at how you weren't taking this seriously. Jisung wanted you to stay, he knew and saw the potential in you. Plus, it did help that you were so nice to him.

"The goal is to throw it exactly where you want it to land." Hyunjin informed after you all positioned yourself in front of a target in the shape of a person. "I'll tell you a body part and you have to throw it at the exact spot. Let's start easy with the heart."

He did it once as an example before letting you try for yourselves. Easy... For him, yes, but you weren't sure if you could throw it far enough. Despite your extreme lack of assurance, you mimicked the motion he did and try your best to throw the dagger with enough strength. Visibly, this was not your strongest point. You did reach the target, but it landed on where the hip would be. Discouraged a bit, you still tried again. Lower stomach this time; improvement.

"Holy shit, look!" Jisung nudged you as he pointed to his own target.

As you saw that his dagger had landed on the chest, you high-fived him, not forgetting to slip in a small "good job". If Jisung was capable, that means it wasn't impossible. So you attempted it again. Stomach again; consistent at least.

"Y/N." you heard from behind you, a little too close to your liking.

"Yeah?" you said, turning around to come face to face with Hyunjin.

Damn, you had forgotten how pretty he is. Up close, you could see even the pores of his skin, a skin so smooth it made you mad. How was he able to keep it so clean in an environment like this? And his eyes, so obscure you could drown in them and yet, their slender shape brought a balance between beauty and fright.

"Your throw is good but you need to put more power into it." he commented before taking your forearm and bringing it further back to where you'd usually start. "Try again. Same method, but you gain momentum."

You let out a breath you didn't acknowledge you were holding back and looked back at your target. As he told you, you did the same move and you hit it. Right where he was asking you to hit, the heart. Just where Jisung had threw his own dagger as well. You squealed in pride, earning a smug huff from Hyunjin. As if he was saying "I told you so".

"I can see why he's the one teaching us." Seungmin said, impressed. "Good job, Y/N."

Next up was physical fighting. To start with, you were going to use punching bags as you would eventually move up to fighting each other. For this part, Changbin was the one to show you a few techniques. Meanwhile, Hyunjin sat in a corner as he observed the scene. To give you an idea on the aura he was projecting, he looked like a mafia boss watching his henchmen do his work.

"We'll start with that for today and add a couple of moves tomorrow. Go." Changbin finished instructing.

Jeongin was the first one to hit his own punching bag, meanwhile you decided to look around instead. By watching the others, you might be able to understand quicker how to position your body. Physical strength wasn't something you had to start with and it wouldn't hurt to not dare too much on your first attempt.

"Are you okay?" Jisung asked you, taking a small break.

You observed the sweat dripping on his face before nodding. "Are you okay?"

"This is hard but, I mean, it's our first time. I'll get the hang of it eventually, hopefully."

The worry in his eyes didn't go unnoticed by you but you presumed he wouldn't want to talk about it. You were quick to start attacking your own bag, going soft at first as you focused mostly on your moves.

The first month passed by so fast, you were barely getting used to your new lifestyle. Jisung was the one to wake you up every morning since your habit of sleeping in didn't leave you yet. He was also the one you got along with the most, unsurprisingly. You had your little routine every day : waking up, leaving for training, helping each other, joking around and complaining during your lunch break, training again, eating dinner with Seungmin and Jeongin, and finishing the day by hanging out at the rooftop of the main building.

"Let's do something else." you prompted as soon as you sat down in front of Jisung.

Cheeks already full of his meal, he almost choked at your sudden appearance. "What?" he asked once he finished his bite.

"Tonight, I want to explore more of this place."

Jeongin scoffed. "It's already a maze and you want to get lost even more? Count me out."

You rolled your eyes. "I wasn't suggesting it to you, anyway."

"Right, you're asking the scaredy cat instead." Seungmin sneered, earning a nudge from Jisung.

The latter cleared his throat before responding to you. "Maybe not tonight?"

"Please, Jisung! I like the rooftop but we see so many things from up there that we haven't even had the chance to discover yet."

"Because we will eventually during our training when accompanied by our trainers. That us much safer."

You pouted. "That's more boring, though. We'll have to follow their lead and we won't be free to see for ourselves."

Seungmin shook his head. "As if you follow their rules, anyway. Have you seen Hyunjin's death stare this morning? I thought he was about to boot you off to the factionless."

You deadpanned at him. "Thank me, you would've gotten shot with an arrow if it wasn't for me."

Looking at your wound on your shoulder, Jisung frowned. "That is another reason why you shouldn't explore tonight, this hasn't had the time to heal."

You shrugged. "I feel fine, and I saved Seungmin. Today is a good day."

"Good?" Jeongin scoffed out.

"Fine, you guys. Be lame but I'm going out tonight."

Stubborn should have been your middle name, there wasn't a better word to describe you. Jisung both adored and hated that about you. Every comment you made always put you through the most dangerous situations, especially with the trainers.

"You're gonna follow her, aren't you?" Jeongin said to Jisung as soon as you left the table.

"I'm tempted to but I shouldn't. She knows to defend herself so I can't say I need protect her. Plus, it would put me in trouble as well."

And so, just as you told your friends, you were off to go on your own, wandering the Dauntless grounds. It took everything in Jisung to not get up as well when he saw you leave.

You discreetly made your way up to the rooftop. As you already knew how to get there, you determined it would be a good start before going any further. Going there was easy : avoiding trainers and other people of the faction, making as little noise as you could, and getting to the rooftop without getting caught. You were used to it by now.

What you did not anticipate, however, was finding Hyunjin sitting exactly where you would be usually with Jisung, staring at the stars. Maybe your friends were right, you should have stayed at the dormitory tonight. You were starting to climb back down but Hyunjin's senses had definitely acknowledged your presence.

"Sneaking out again?" he said nonchalantly, not even bothering to look at you.

You stopped on your tracks and gulped. You didn't know if you were supposed to answer or act as if you hadn't heard to go on with leaving. You didn't have to think about that too much, though. Hyunjin finally took a look at you before nodding his head to the spot next to him. You still did not budge, too stunned from what was happening.

"Am I speaking to a wall, or...?"

Finally, you hurried to sit next to him, at a reasonable distance of course. Satisfied, he exhaled loudly before looking back at the sky.

"You do know I should ban you and your friend for coming here at night, right?" he spoke, his voice softer than usual.

"Why haven't you?"

"You're the two best of the group, it would be a terrible mistake doing so."

You snorted in disbelief. "Jisung, yes, but I'm far from being even good. I'm almost at the bottom."

He stared at you again, making you want to shit in your pants because, damn, the man was terrifying when looking at you. "You might not be physically the best, but you have the attitude and the character to survive."

It might have been the first time he complimented your behaviour. Heck, this was the first time ever he informed you it was a good attribute. If anything, you thought he despised you for being this way.

"Sure, you are a lot to handle." he continued. "But it gives me a challenge every day."

"Thank you?"

You seriously had no idea on how to respond to his comments. Other than your usual banters during training, this was the longest the both of you had ever talked.

"Don't let this go to your head, it doesn't mean I will go softer on you."

"I never-"

"You haven't treated this yet?" he said, cutting you off.

Turning his whole body to your direction, he pulled your arm closer to analyze the wound on your shoulder. You caught on he was referring to your very much infected shoulder but it didn't even hurt you that much.

"It's not hurting, I'll be okay."

Without speaking any more, he took you by the arm – your good one – and dragged you behind him as he walked to the stairs that led back inside. You didn't question him although you were a bit concerned on where he was taking you.

After a bit, you arrived in front of a door and Hyunjin took a key out of his pocket. Unlocking it, he turned the doorknob and revealed a room as big as the dormitory. One wall was solely windows and in the middle was a door leading to a balcony. A bed was messily standing in the corner while another corner was arranged to be some sort of bathroom.

"Make yourself comfortable, I'll go get the first-aid kit."

You were about to protest but he was quick to leave you on your own. So you did as told and sat on his bed, patiently waiting for him. In the meantime, you didn't miss out on observing how his room was. Rather than clumsy, it was nicely put together. He had a rack for his clothes that he had sorted by colors and styles next to couch that was very well-maintained considering the environment you were in. A few paintings were stored by the wall, almost as if he hadn't had the time to find a place for them.

"You really should have treated it right away, it goes real deep." Hyunjin almost nagged at you while sitting next to you.

"Well, the guy who did this must hate me a lot." you joked.

"I could've made it worse."

Without a warning, he pressed a cloth dripping with alcohol against your shoulder causing you to screech a little, squirming at the pain.

"Stop moving."

"Switch places with me and I'll tell you to stay still." you spat at him.

He rolled his eyes but continued to clean out your injury nonetheless. He finally removed the cloth and went on with wrapping your shoulder with gauze.

"Pretty." you let yourself slip out in a whisper.

Frowning at you, Hyunjin huffed. "What did you say?"

"Nothing." you hurried to reply, blushing in the process.

He didn't push it further and finished wrapping you up quickly. He told you to wait while he put his things back to his so-called bathroom and was quick to sit back with you.

"If you want to see the rest of the Dauntless grounds, I can take you."

Your eyes immediately got brighter. "Really?"

He chuckled, though not so much in a funny way. "I'm joking, you're not going unless we have training planned to be done outside. Today's my first and only warning about this."

You groaned. "You're such a fun killer." You stood up and walked to his door. "Fine, I won't do it again. But can I-"

"Rooftop is fine, yeah. Now leave."

Just as he had told you, Hyunjin planned a training game outdoors only a few weeks after your interaction. You didn't dare to tell your friends about it, scared Hyunjin would make your life a nightmare for it. Although he had shown himself to be more humane than you originally thought, he hadn't dropped his cold behaviour just yet. You were determined to find what he was hiding behind it. If you managed to see a glimpse of it, you were convinced you could see it all.

"Are we even on the same team?" Jeongin asked while you were all getting your weapons ready on the moving train.

"We don't know that." Seungmin answered. "I think they're made on the spot."

"It only adds to the fun, if you want my opinion." you cheered but Jisung was definitely not thinking the same.

"Y/N, are you kidding? It stresses me out. What if I'm all alone and you guys are together? Are you going to shoot me?"

You laughed at him. "You'll be fine, and yes, I will definitely shoot you."

"I hate you."

"I love you too."

Jisung smiled awkwardly at that, and it didn't go unnoticed by his two other friends. You two were not strangers to jokes of that sort but Jisung almost wished you wouldn't say it for sarcastic purposes. He liked you, you were his safe home ever since he changed factions.

"Okay, people!" Changbin said, too loud to your liking. "Hyunnie and I are going to be team captains."

"Don't call me that." Hyunjin said in disgust but the older guy totally ignored him.

"The game is Capture-the-flag which should be known by all of you. Each team protects a flag and the first to steal the other's wins. Hyunjin, why don't you start with picking your teammates?"

The man in question shook his head. "You do the honours, Binnie."

"Alright." he said in a chuckle. "Squirrel guy, you're with me."

Jisung, confused, pointed at himself and looked at you for confirmation. After finally understanding he was first picked, he smiled widely and joined Changbin's side.

"Y/N." Hyunjin said with no hesitation, surprising everyone.

"Going with the weak ones?" Changbin joked.

"I like a challenge."

It reminded you of what he told you that night. A challenge, uh. Whether it was to mock you or tease you, you liked the sound of it but just a little bit.

Jeongin and Seungmin were picked to go on Changbin's team so Jisung had no uncertainties about being alone anymore. His main worry consisted of you being stuck with the detached trainer. He didn't like Hyunjin, not a single thing about him reassured him.

Just before the game started, he sent you a smile with a wink as support and comfort to which you blushed a little. Nonetheless, your teams spread apart through the woods and abandoned buildings. Having been assigned as a seeker for the other team's flag, you lost no time in moving away from your teammates. You kept yourself on the low, bending down as you walked around carefully, making sure you weren't making too much noise.

"That's your first instinct? Walking towards the opposite team without even knowing where they are hiding their flag?" you heard someone scoff at you.

You couldn't even see properly as it was nighttime, you could even less determine where the sound was coming from. Your heartrate began to rise as the stress of not knowing who was speaking to you took over you. Discreetly, you crouched down even more and attempted to hide behind a torn down wall. Even then, it wasn't as subtle as you had hoped it to be. In a matter of seconds, someone grabbed your arm and pulled you close to them. With no hesitation, you stepped hard on their foot and punch them on the pelvic area.

"Fuck, Y/N!" you heard the man groan. And somehow, you only then came to the realization this was Hyunjin.

"I'm so so-"

"Whatever." he shut you up in a raspy voice. "If anything, this shows me you have been practicing combat fight."

You acquiesced even though he probably couldn't see you. "Need help?"

He finally straightened his posture, trying not to show too much his pain. "No, you've done enough. Now, why were you going straight to them instead of trying to find the flag?"

You frowned in confusion. "Can't I find it when I get there?"

"They could've hid it anywhere. Come with me." he ordered you around as he began to walk away.

You didn't move a single muscle and stood still. There was no way you were going to be treated this way by him.

"Y/N!" he called for you.

And it was what it took for you to give in and follow him. He was heading the opposite way to where you were originally walking to. For a moment, you started to doubt yourself for trusting his instinct this easily. That was until you spotted a tower that stood high in sky.

"What are we doing here?" you finally spoke after walking in silence.

"Higher grounds are what you need to look out for if you were to search for something or analyze a place before taking any action. You can see everything from up there." he explained while tossing branches away that were blocking the access to the ladder. "We'll go up until we are high enough to see what's happening on their side."

He immediately hopped on the ladder, climbing it with no difficulty whatsoever. You watched him, baffled and nervous. Heights were not a fear of yours, but climbing what seemed to being an unstable ladder in the middle of the night was nothing close to reassuring. You stuck with watching Hyunjin go higher, looking around from time to time in case someone was to suddenly appear.

"Y/N!" he yelled from where he was the moment he understood you weren't behind him. "What are you doing?"

"Someone's got to stay on the lookout, no?" you answered, embarrassed.

With a heavy sigh, he began to climb down. Luckily, he hadn't gone too far so it took only a minute to come back on the ground. Once he was facing you, Hyunjin crossed his arms in front of his torso as he stared down at you. You were reminded, once again, of his tall figure as you were feeling so small.

"I thought you weren't afraid of heights."

"I'm not." you confirmed.

"Why weren't you climbing, then?"

You gulped and started to search for your words. Never were you this nervous in front of him. Was it because of the ladder or because of the proximity between the two of you? Either way, you weren't capable of letting a single sound out of your mouth.

He sighed again but loosened his posture. "Go before me, I'll be behind you in case anything happens."

You blinked slowly, not fully understanding what he said. Still, you walked to the ladder and started to make your way up. The bars weren't as fragile as you expected them to be, which was a good sign. As you were getting higher, you grew more confident. Perhaps, maybe a little too much.

In a swift and rapid motion, your foot had to slip. Thus, one of your hands let go of the bar and you were barely hanging there. Hyunjin was quick to join you and grab you by the waist, bringing you close enough to the bar so you could get a good grip on it again. Even if you were already secure again, he didn't let go of you just yet.

"Thanks." you murmured.

He cleared his throat as he let go of your body. "Be more careful, this could have cost your life."

Ignoring the feeling in the pit of your stomach, you continued to go up until you reached a platform. Slightly out of breath, you sat down to the side to leave a place for Hyunjin to sit as well. He copied your motion and began to detach his equipment from his suit. You looked at him curiously until he pulled out an electronic telescope, holding it out to you.

"What?" you asked obliviously.

He rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Really?"

Catching on what he was expecting from you, you took it and placed it on your eyes. You could easily zoom in and out and analyze the field. Not so far from your own spot, the building across had one room on a high floor that was filled with people chatting. You recognized, with no doubt, Seungmin's face as he was in charge with a couple of other people of protecting the flag.

"Got it. Can we go, now?" you asked, giving him back the telescope.

Hyunjin, however, was not focused one bit on what you were saying. His eyes were looking up the sky, taking a moment to observe each individual star that were on display. He was full of amazement, eyes glistening from the little amount of light the moon provided. You already thought he was pretty, but he was more than that at that point. He was ethereal, breathtaking.

"And to think there is a whole world to discover while we're here..." he spoke lowly, mostly to himself.

"What do you mean?"

His eyes tore away from the stars and went to you while he let a breath out. "Do you really not know what I mean?" Clueless, you shook your head which made him chuckle, but in a sad manner. "Y/N, do you know how the factions were formed?"

You nodded confidently. "It was created to prevent another war from breaking out, to keep everybody where they belong."

He chuckled again with a hint of discouragement this time. "I doubt you believe what they told you in those classes."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"This city, the factions, the rules... It's all keeping us out from what is happening outside."

You huffed. "But beyond the walls is-"

"Whatever they want us to believe."

A siren interrupted your talk, informing all the players that the game was nearing its end, meaning there wasn't much time left for you to steal the flag.

Hyunjin stood up on his feet and pulled out a wire with pulleys, not forgetting to attach them securely to the structure. Without saying a thing, he brought your body close to his as he firmly held onto you.

"Ready?"

"For what?"

He shrugged. "I guess you are."

Next thing you know, you were hanging in the air by a thread while Hyunjin was jumping down on the side of the tower's structure. You allowed yourself to yelp ever slightly causing Hyunjin to complain about it.

"Just get a good hold of me and you'll be fine."

"Easy for you to say."

"We're almost there, stop squirming around."

When you finally reached the ground, Hyunjin detached himself from the wires and the two of you ran towards the building where the flag was kept. He went in first, shooting every single players of the opposite side with no guilt whatsoever. Although these darts were only simulating the pain of real bullets, you felt bad for the poor initiates getting taken down by Hyunjin.

Too distracted by the show in front of you, you received a hard push behind your head, falling on the floor automatically. You spun around to stop whoever was attacking you only for your heart to drop.

Jisung was on top of you, breathing heavily, his weapon ready to slash you.

This was a game, you had to remind yourself of that. But the sight of him ready to hurt you simply broke you. A tear slipped out of his eye against his will, falling directly onto your face.

"Y/N, I-"

He couldn't finish his sentence, and fell on you as he groaned in pain. Hyunjin stood behind with his gun pointed to Jisung. Quickly, he helped you get away from underneath your friend. As he was leading you upstairs, you looked back at Jisung with sadness. It took a harsh tug from Hyunjin for you to come back to your senses and walk up the stairs.

And there, you won the game.

Three weeks in itself isn't long. Three weeks without Jisung felt like an eternity. While fighting during the game, he had hit his head so hard that the pain of the dart was all it took to completely knock him out. And out was he... He had barely reacted to your voice when you were visiting him, which was every day. The more time passed, the more concerned you were getting. Seungmin and Jeongin stopped by from time to time but not nearly as much as you.

"He'll be alright." Jeongin tried to reassure you.

Your gaze was still on your friend's limp body while you shook your head no. "Weeks worth of coma caused by a simple hit on the head is very worrisome, Innie."

"You know Jisung, he's a fighter."

"Sure."

Giving up, the younger boy decided it was better to leave you alone. At the door, Hyunjin observed the scene from afar, mainly focusing on you. While your physical abilities were improving, he was afraid it wasn't the case for your mental state. As Jeongin gave him a simple nod while leaving the room, he decided to try to talk you out of staying there all night, again.

"There's a party tonight."

"So I've heard." you responded rather harshly.

"You should go."

"No."

Hyunjin sat right across from you. "He won't magically wake up if you sit there all night."

You decided to look at him, daggers in the eyes. "You should be glad I'm still talking to you, you're part as to why he's still like this."

"The darts stimulate pain, they don't affect the body in any way." he explained for what seemed to be the hundredth time to him.

"How can you be sure of that?"

"They were designed for that."

You hummed. "Maybe they want us to believe that." you replied, taking his words from that night at the tower.

You saw his jaw clench before he stood up. "I'm sorry he's not awake yet but I sure hope you learn how to stop being a coward."

Slamming the door behind him, Hyunjin was fuming. Not because you spoke to him in a rude manner, more because he felt like you had shut yourself down completely from him. Just as he was starting to understand you, your way of being.

"You think he'll cut you off for that?"

Jisung's voice took you back in immediately and you sighed in relief when you noticed his eyes slowly opening. You didn't hesitate to throw yourself into his arms, even if it was hurting him a bit. After breaking apart, you didn't forget to punch his arm to which he fake-cried.

"You asshole! You scared the shit out of me!"

Still wincing, he rubbed the spot where you had just hit him. "I didn't know you loved me this much, should I be honoured?" This earned another push from you and he understood this was his sign to stop messing around.

"I missed you." you pouted.

"I know." he chuckled. "How long was I out?"

"Three weeks."

His eyes widened, even bigger than usual. "Almost a whole month?" he whispered to himself and then looked at you with fear. "Am I... you know... at the bottom?" he dared to ask.

But your smile was enough for him to feel relieved. "I made sure Hyunjin kept you up since it was partially his fault."

"The darts don't even-"

"Nuh, uh." you shushed him. "Thank me instead."

"Thank you my beloved Y/N."

"My pleasure." you said with a proud smile.

A comfortable silence set in. However, Jisung still had one thing that bugged him. And in all honesty, it still bugged you as well. It was as if none of you dared to bring it up first. So, Jisung gathered all of his courage and broke the ice.

"I didn't mean to hurt you."

You smiled weakly. "I know."

"But..." he encouraged you to go on.

"But it terrified me." you admitted.

He took both of your hands, holding them together with his. "I swear I didn't even recognize you from behind. And I'm sorry I stayed on you too long, I was in shock with myself. I... I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I actually hurt you."

You brought him in an embrace, holding him close. "I know you didn't mean it. We're good, don't worry."

He exhaled in relief before hugging you back. You were the only one he fully trusted, he would never allow himself to do something like this ever again, he would make sure of it.

"I heard Hyunjin talk about some sort of party?"

You nodded. "To congratulate us for making it to the next phase."

"Already? Wow... But I missed out on some stuff."

"You were at the top three, they know you're well-qualified."

After making sure Jisung was stable enough to participate at the said-party, it took you no more than a couple of minutes to get ready and join the crowd in the basement. Music was playing loudly but it didn't stop the other initiates to take notice of a very much awake Jisung. You let him go with his other friends to catch up and went by yourself to get a drink. Now you were in the mood to celebrate.

Chan was present to see how things were progressing apparently, but you believed it was because this was an opportunity for him to let it loose for once. From what you've heard, this man never took a break. He was being pretty relax in the company of Changbin and Seungmin. If your friend was going to befriend the leader of the faction, you surely were happy to be on his good side.

"Want me to introduce him to you?"

You jumped up when you noticed Hyunjin next to you. For a second, you forgot to breathe. Both because he scared you and because of how goddam good he looked. This evening was full of people dressed in rather classier attires so it made sense he was going to choose an outfit accordingly. Still, it didn't prevent you from being speechless of the sight of him. His dark locks weren't tied anymore and they fell perfectly on the sides of his face. He still had his combat boots but they were completing the look of his black jeans and his loose buttoned shirt. It might have been the first time you saw him wearing any kind of jewellery.

"So?"

You shook yourself off your thoughts and shook your head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Chan is a young good-looking guy, I can understand why he'd catch your attention."

You furrowed your eyebrows. "Are you saying I am interested in him?"

"Why wouldn't you be?"

Taking a sip of the alcoholic drink he had, you couldn't stop yourself from checking him out once more. His Adam's apple bopped up as he swallowed, showing off all of his veins. Was he doing this purposely?

"He's the leader."

He let out a laugh. "It doesn't mean he's off limit."

"Sir, I'm 21 years old and he's, what, 30?"

"26, actually."

"Almost had it."

You exchanged a laughter, weirdly enough. Although your previous altercation was, well, unpleasant, you felt rather at ease with him. Their was this silent agreement to not bring it up or start one of your regular quarrels.

"I was looking at him because I was wondering why Seungmin was with them."

"Ah." Hyunjin simply said, drinking more of the alcohol afterwards. "And why do you think they're all together?"

"No clue."

He laughed again. "Does it matter why?"

"I'm just curious."

"I've noticed."

You gasped in surprise, although sarcastic. "Our trainer Hyunjin noticing me? I must be dreaming!"

"Hwang Hyunjin." he revealed. "That's my full name if that helps your very convincing statement."

"Hwang." you repeated. "Are you, by any chance, related to a Yeji? She's a Candor and her last name is Hwang."

He gave you a smirk and drank again. You were growing annoyed at his constant sipping, especially since he was now using it to stall.

"My cousin." he informed.

"What a small world."

He scoffed. "I told you, there is one much bigger to discover."

"And here you go again with your nonsense."

"Me? Y/N, the only one between us who is full of nonsense is you."

You glared at him, taking it very personally. "Pardon me?"

He put his glass on the counter for a refill, as well as yours. You didn't notice you had finished it. "You're hard to read, it's frustrating."

"Okay, creep."

While you found yourself to be hilarious, he was definitely not of the same opinion. He drank again and set his glass aside to come closer to you, as if he wasn't close enough already. "I can see through everyone, but you, you confuse me."

You felt your breath hitch. "You aren't easy to decipher either."

"I know, but I do it purposely. You don't."

Looking over his shoulder, you caught a glimpse of Jisung making his way through to crowd towards you. You weren't necessarily happy he was coming to your rescue but you were glad at the same time. Knowing him, however, you felt like something bad was about to happen.

"Hyunjin." he said, putting his hand on the man's shoulder. "Can I steal Y/N from you for a second?"

Hyunjin glanced at Jisung's hand with what resembled anger but he said nothing, leaving with his drink to go elsewhere. You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding and chugged down your own beverage before asking for another refill.

"Woah, there." Jisung said as he pushed your drink away from your mouth.

You pouted. "One more."

"I think you need to sit down."

Leading you to a corner that was quieter, he sat down with you on a couch without forgetting to bring you a bottle of water. Growing worried, he patted your bag while you drank the liquid.

"What happened back there?"

You shrugged. "I don't know." You looked around for a moment and spotted the tattoo section. "Oh, should I get one?"

"Okay, the night is over for you."

He helped you up while you argued you were fine. You were right in some way, you weren't totally drunk. Because of your talk with Hyunjin, however, the confusion got the best of you which only worsened your state.

Walking among the sea of people, Jisung was still holding onto you firmly to not lose you. You were almost at the exit. Only, there had to be someone to stop the two of you. Standing next to the hallway that led to the dormitory, Hyunjin looked at you curiously.

"Is she okay?" he asked your friend.

"She would have been better if it wasn't for you."

Baffled by Jisung's claims, he scoffed. "I didn't do anything."

"You refilled her drink, did you drug her?"

Hyunjin stepped closer to Jisung, towering him. "You really think I would do something like this?"

You put your hand in front of the two men, pushing them away from one another. "Guys, no one drugged anybody."

"I would've cut you out of the group if it wasn't for her. Instead of accusing me of something I didn't do, focus on your attitude or I will definitely boot you out."

"Hyunjin." you tried to catch his attention but nothing.

"I will respect you the day you stop harassing my friend."

"Harassing?"

You knew by then there was nothing you could do that would calm either of them. As they continued to bicker, you stepped away in fear it would get physical eventually. And as predicted, Jisung was the first to throw the punch. He received the same before he took Hyunjin by the collar, pushing him up against the wall. Soon later, the attention of the whole group was on them, including Chan's.

You were more than relieved when he rushed to take Jisung away from the trainer, who had then been tackled on the floor. Both of their clothes were stained with blood as their wounds were fresh. While Jisung was taken away by Chan and Changbin to wherever, Hyunjin sat up, wincing at the pain.

While you were dying to be by Jisung's side to check on him, especially since he had just woken up from a coma, getting dragged away by the faction's leader meant he was off-limit for now. So, you rushed to Hyunjin's side and helped him up before you took him away from everyone. You tried to remember where his room was but it went blank in your mind.

"Uh, where is your room?" you asked shyly, a bit uncomfortable to be asking him anything while he was this injured.

"Fourth level, end of the hallway."

You decided that the elevator was more appropriate than the stairs. Once you reached his level, he took out his key for you to open his room. You got him to lay in his bed and then went to look for his first-aid kit.

"First cabinet, last shelf." he indicated in a weak voice as he noticed you were struggling to find it.

"Got it."

You made yourself comfortable next to him, close to his face as it was where it had the most damage. The once-perfect skin he has was painted with blood and cuts all over. While you understood why Jisung did so, you still couldn't believe he who caused this. Ignoring the thought, you focused on applying alcohol directly onto the wounds and he winced and grunted in pain. You whispered an apology, feeling truly bad for making him suffer even more. You were quick to move on and start wrapping him up with bandages, not forgetting to clean the spots where some blood had dried up.

You felt his eyes on you but acted as if you didn't see that. But at some point, it became too intense to ignore.

"What?" you said, still cleaning his forehead.

"I'll tell them to keep Jisung."

You finally stared back at him. "He attacked you."

"And I did push too far with you earlier, I have to admit."

"You don't have to defend him."

You were following the blood stain to remove it but soon realized it wasn't just on his forehead or his jaw. One was coming form his cheek all the way down past his neck. As he seemed to understand that as well, he began to unbutton his shirt.

"No." you said right away, grabbing his hand to stop him.

"I can do it myself if you don't want to..."

Even his voice had some discomfort in it. Nonetheless, you encouraged him to go on and, hesitantly, he slowly unbuttoned all the way down and removed his shirt entirely. You had an idea that he was toned because of how physical he had to be on a daily basis. Despite knowing that, you were left breathless by the view. Toned, yes, but his muscles were standing out so much even if his figure was quite slender. What you hadn't imagined he would have were the dozens of scars all over his torso.

Without thinking, your hand moved to go over each one of them, touching them so slightly that he could barely feel it. "Wow."

Hyunjin's face get redder and redder, not because he was bleeding out. "The... uh... You can- I-"

You blinked a couple of times before your concentration was back on getting rid of the stains on his skin. You did it rather fast, mostly because you were embarrassed by your own actions. Who would touch their superior like this?

He thanked you before taking a random shirt that was laying on his bed and put it on. While you were packing the kit up to put it back in its place, he closed his eyes while breathing in and out. While he still felt horrible, your presence made it ten times better. Even if you were only standing a few feet away, doing nothing.

"Can I ask a question?" you said as soon as you came back.

"You asked one now."

You huffed, stunned he was being annoying despite his physical status. "Right... Uh, I don't want to seem noisy but..."

"The scars?" he finished for you, opening his eyes.

"Yes."

He thought for a moment, probably debating whether he should tell you or not. After a couple of seconds, he finally spoke up. "Being a Dauntless born has its downsides, let's say."

This wasn't good enough of an answer for you. Sure, you now learned his birth faction but this didn't tell you how he got these marks. A bit frustrated with that, you jumped on the other side of his bed, legs crossed.

"Can I see them again?"

He stared at you, bewildered. "Wh-what?"

"Can I?"

He would've said no, and he knew that's what he should've said. But something bigger than him was telling him to trust you. It was a part of his life that was so personal and sensitive to bring up for him. But he took off his shirt again as you did the same as earlier, inspect one scar after the other. You are pretty, he noted. The crease created between your brows was adorable, you were too focused to take notice you were doing that.

"Was it your parents?"

"Something like that."

Your eyes moved up to meet his. "Your trainers?"

His simple heavy breath told plenty to you. Determining you weren't going to push it more, you simply nodded and continued to look at his imperfections. As much as they were many, they added so much beauty to him, more than he had to begin with.

"I think I should go now." you whispered.

"Yeah."

And alone he was again, only seconds after being this intimate with you.

Jeongin couldn't help but pace the floor as he was waiting for his turn to do the first psychological test. Although these were only practices, the idea of having to face his fears distressed him. Having enough of it, you stood up to grab him by the shoulders to stop him.

"Innie, breathe."

The youngest shook his head vigorously. "You saw how Jisung was when he came out of there."

"Jisung is naturally a scaredy cat. This is made especially for dealing appropriately with fears and yours aren't so bad. You'll do great."

Almost on cue, Seungmin came out of the room with his face deprived from all its colour. Lifelessly, he sat next to you before leaning on you.

"Sure, I'll do great." Jeongin huffed out, gesturing to Seungmin as if he had proven his point.

It didn't take long for his name to get called and, a minute later, yours. When you stepped inside, the seat placed in the middle reminded you of the setup for your aptitude test. For once since a few weeks, the image of your brother popped in your mind, very vividly. How was Felix doing? Was it as hard to adapt as it had been for you? Was he well-surrounded? Did he find Minho? He must have. You would question things if he hadn't.

"Mrs. Lee." Hyunjin said as he motioned for you to take a seat.

"Using last names all of the sudden, Hwang?"

He gave you a stern look. "Please, sit while I prepare everything."

Unwilling to listen to him, you still did as told. The sooner you were going to be over with all this, the better.

"My last one was Han and he didn't react very well. I assure you, this is normal as it is your first time. Now, I can see everything you will see through this monitor here. If I notice any sign of panic, I will unplug you right away. Questions?"

You stared at him blankly, unbothered by his instructions and warnings. "Nope, all good."

He let out an elongated sigh. "Y/N, can you be a bit more cooperative?"

"Just give me the shot."

Despite his discontent with your attitude, he gave you the shot which transported your mind to a whole new environment. The first of your fears was the void. Evidently, you were in nowhere in particular. Just floating. All of the sudden, you started to perceive a light from afar. As this must be your next fear to face, you tried to reach it.

Until you realized you were not able to move forward. Or move at any direction for that matter. You felt your heart beat faster as panic slowly crept on you. Of course you knew this was the purpose of this test but you couldn't help it. That was until your mind began to reason itself in its own. This isn't real, you told yourself. With that in mind, you calmed down a little and observed your surrounding. Surely, there was a solution to your issue. Instead of imagining yourself in the void, you changed it into water. Now you could swim.

Congratulating yourself mentally, you swam towards the light, getting closer by the second. Reaching it, you could make out that it wasn't just light, it was an exit. Going up to the surface, you were surprised to arrive at what seemed to be a field of flowers. Confused, you assumed something else would come along. That is only if you could get out of the hole. The exit had shrunk significantly, making it nearly impossible to get away. Your second fear: getting stuck without being able to set yourself free. Once again, the panic attack came back. Only this time, you could feel it was worse than earlier. Trying every position possible, you still couldn't move by an inch. Growing discouraged, your breaths were more uneven, heavier...

Until you reminded yourself that none of this was real. And so, you took a deep breath, closed your eyes, and pushed yourself up. Just like that, you out, safe and sound. It didn't last long as an army of bees came flying right towards you. Logically, you began to run from it. The field of flowers had no place where you could hide of capture them. How the hell were you going to get away now? Right, this is all in your mind. Stopping on your tracks, you closed your eyes and imagined butterflies instead of bees. It was only a few seconds later that the buzzing stopped. Slowly opening your eyes, you were greeted by field full of butterflies flying around.

Having being unplugged, you were pulled back to reality in an instant as you gasped for air. Hyunjin was still looking at the monitor, deep in thoughts.

"What the hell?"

"Shhh." he told you off.

You crossed your arms, rather unhappy that he interrupted your test for whatever stupid reason he had. He was playing back your test over and over again, you began to think he was simply obsessed with how smart you were.

"You're different."

"I'd say I'm logical, but sure."

Hyunjin grunted out of frustration. "Stop that. None of the things you did were Dauntless-like behaviours."

You frowned. "And that means..?"

"You're divergent, aren't you?"

Your body froze. There was no way he would know. How could he? Only from a test like this?

"I don't know what that is."

He huffed a chuckle. "Don't lie to me."

"I swear I have no clue what divergent means."

He scrutinized your face in search of any sign you weren't telling the truth. However, you were good at this game and you were not going to let him win.

"Alright. What were your results?" he ended up asking.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"The aptitude test, what did you get?"

"Erudite." you answered in a second.

"No, what were they really?"

"Erudite."

He bit his bottom lip, getting visibly impatient with you. "You're lying."

"For fuck's sake! It's Erudite, I'm telling you."

His gaze stayed on you for a bit, too long to your liking. In the end, he dismissed you without questioning any more. You were glad he did but at the same time, you were getting worried as if he was about to tell on you to Chan. He had the power to do that, after all.

"Told you, it's traumatizing." Jeongin said as soon as he spotted you.

You smiled and nodded in agreement, hiding any other expression. "Yeah, you were right."

Jisung laughed uncontrollably while you were almost to the point of crying. You didn't even remember what made you laugh so hard but his laugh itself was plenty to make you cackle nonstop. Ever since the incident at the party, you two had been getting along incredibly well. Chan decided to keep him in under the condition he behaved, and he did. Most importantly, his attitude was more positive than ever. He showed himself as confident and proud, and also very funny. A side of him you had yet not discovered. Until now.

"Y/N?" he said after you had gotten over your laughter.

"Jisung?"

"I like you."

You sneered. "I know."

"No, uh... I meant it as in, I think I have feelings for you."

You thanked the universe that it was night so he could barely see your reaction. A blushing mess you were. You certainly didn't expect a normal night out on the rooftop to turn into a confession, even less from Han Jisung. Did you like him too? Maybe?

"Ji, I-"

"Guys." a voice you, now, recognized so easily interrupted you.

Jisung would've punched Hyunjin right there and there for ruining the moment but he had rules to follow. As the older man nodded his head to the staircase, he understood this was his cue to leave. Only him.

"We'll talk about it later?" he told you before going.

Only you and Hyunjin now. The subject of what happened after the party still had no been brought up, even less the discussion that happened during your test. It was killing you inside that both these topics had not been cleared out, especially the last one considering its gravity.

He was the first to speak, asking you to come to his room. You didn't protest and you headed to the said-place in complete silence. It was better like this, you couldn't see yourself do some small talk while fully knowing there was an elephant in the room that wasn't being addressed.

After he closed the door, he walked right up to his balcony, implying that you had to do the same. Leaning on the metal bars, he finally took a look at you. You straightened your back, starting to feel intimidated.

"You lied, didn't you?"

There was something about his room that made things seem simpler than what they were. Unconsciously, you acquiesced without a doubt but quickly panicked.

"I lied that it was Erudite." you tried to justify, thinking you could save yourself by stating another faction. "It was actually-"

"Divergent." he finished for you. "You are all of the factions, not just one."

"Hyunjin, please don't tell Chan."

He cocked his head to the side. "Why would I tell him? What would it change, anyway?"

"I was told that it can... that I'm not wanted." you kept it simple.

He turned around to observe the view, completely ignoring your answer. Unsure of what to do next, you walked up next to him, mimicking his actions. It stayed like this for a while, until he spoke again.

"That's why I couldn't read you. You are brutally honest but so gentle at the same time. You think of others before yourself. You think of stuff so clever that the test doesn't even work on you, and you dare to do whatever you decide to do even if you don't know what will happen."

You weren't sure if you had to say something to that but him talking again answered that doubt real quick.

"You can't do your test like you did today in front of the faction leaders or they will know."

"Why?"

He chuckled. "You turned nothing into water, bees into butterflies. You slipped out of a hole that was supposed to be impossible to get out of. Y/N, these are not ways a Dauntless would think."

"Alright, sure. How am I supposed to confront my fears, then?"

He hesitated, not knowing if his plan was good or not. You weren't the first Divergent he helped but your personality and mind was stronger than what he had dealt with before. You were a tricky case.

"Meet me at the test room tomorrow morning. I'll show you an example."

"I'll be there."

"Good."

You both focused back on the view. That was settled at least but it didn't mean the awkwardness was totally gone. You thought of ways to bring up the weird tension you had, none seemed appropriate. Was it better if you simply straight up tell him you want to know more about his past? Or should you start with bringing up the way you felt when touching his skin? You weren't sure if you even wanted to bring it up anymore. Maybe you should leave now.

Seeing you turn on your heels to reach his front door, the only thing that Hyunjin could think of was how much he would regret not holding you back.

"Try again." Hyunjin instructed after seeing you now controlling the bees instead of doing what you were supposed to.

"If you told me what to do, we would have been done with it by now." you argued.

"You have to find it out by yourself, try again."

You groaned, getting sick of going through the same fear over and over again. Not only because you were actually getting scared but also because it was repetitive. In Hyunjin's opinion, you weren't thinking like a Dauntless just yet. Restarting for the nth time, you started out by waiting for the point pf light to get bigger instead of trying to go after it. Once you were able to reach it, you tried climbing out of it but got stuck. As you did on a previous attempt, you grabbed a stick nearby and dug the hole to make it larger, letting yourself free.

Now, the bees. This was the bit you couldn't figure out. You tried befriending them but they stung you anyway. You tried getting them sucked in the flowers. You even tried to eat them. At that point, you were desperate for Hyunjin's help but he still refused to give you any guidance.

"Y/N, think for a second. What do you when a bee lands on you?"

You assumed he was growing annoyed himself as he finally gave you some sort of hint. Obviously, the right way to respond in this situation was to stay calm. He couldn't believe you didn't figure it out.

"Onto the next fear." he sighed.

The setting morphed into an empty room where there was nothing. Well, almost nothing. In front of you, there were your brothers standing next to each other and they both had something in their grasp that horrified you. They were holding guns point at you. You haven't been aware any of your fears involved your family. Maybe the change of faction did have an effect on you.

"Who are they?" Hyunjin asked.

Even though you were shaking quite a lot, you answered nonetheless. "Minho and Felix. My brothers."

You had to have a reasoning according to your bravery, not any other aspect. With that in mind, you grabbed both guns and twisted them around to unarm your brother before aiming at their heads in your turn. You immediately shot them, not wanting to deal with the internal heartache you had.

Gasping for air, you were back in the test room with Hyunjin, tears streaming down your face.

"How are you holding up?"

There was all the care in the world in his simple question. You would have answered truthfully but what you were experiencing at the moment was overwhelming.

"Good, I'm all set for the final test. Wait for the light, dig a hole, stay calm and shoot. Easy-peasy. Thank you, Hwang."

Storming out of the room, there was one place you had in mind that could truly ease your thoughts and emotions.

Home.

Obviously, you didn't have a home in itself per say. Still, you really needed the reassurance of seeing them well and alive. Beyond the fact you were aware mixing with other factions was not allowed unless there was a legal necessity, you really didn't care.

You had never seen the Erudite area up so close, even less their main headquarters. You recalled Minho mentioning he was hoping to obtain a position there for work so this was your best chance to find him. Unsurprisingly, people around were staring at you weirdly as you definitely didn't fit in. You felt self-conscious for an instant but tried to shake the feeling off as you were arriving at the front desk. The woman glanced up at you before working on her computer again.

"Name, reason for visit?"

You smiled awkwardly as you were not sure what you were supposed to say. She waited for you to talk but since no words were coming out from your part, she was quick to dismiss you.

You would have left if you weren't so desperate. "No, ma'am. I'm actually meeting up with someone named Lee Minho."

"I see... Name?"

She started to type and you lowkey panicked. That was until your spotted Felix from afar, by some sort of miracle. Sighing in relief, you called him out and the moment he spotted you, he ran towards you.

"Y/N, what the fuck are you doing here?" he almost yelled, earning a stern glare from the receptionist. "This is my sister, she's with me."

The woman nodded reluctantly but let the two of you go. Felix brought you up to his office to not bring so much attention to you. You were happy to see he had settled just fine in his new home, from what it looked like.

"I'll call Minho over. He's been asking a lot about you." your twin chuckled before sending a message to your sibling. It took you aback that Minho was even aware you existed. Your childhood relationship was never good. "What are you doing here?"

You laughed sheepishly and cleared your throat. "It hasn't been the easiest adapting and..." you trailed off.

"Hey, it's okay." he tried to reassure you. "To be honest, it's been hell for me as well."

You sensed that something was off, a feeling you would usually never have towards him. Felix was a bright and ambitious person who always had no difficulty in fitting in.

"Did you come here because of mom and dad?"

He avoided your stare and fiddled with his rings, visibly distressed by your question. To his luck, a knock was heard from the door. Not bothering to wait for someone to open it for him, Minho walked in and his eyes fell upon you immediately.

"I thought Lix was joking." he laughed incredulously while coming up to hug you. "And I thought he lied about you going to Dauntless. Who would have thought?"

"I'm not so weak anymore." you rolled your eyes, breaking away from him.

Even if it felt weird to be the three of you together again, it was plenty to calm you down from the experience you've had. Minho had matured, physically but in personality too.

"What can we do for you?" he questioned after you were done with your little reunion.

"I'm just having some issues with adapting, that's all. And I missed you two."

The older man snorted. "Sure."

You deadpanned at him. "I'm serious. The initiation there has been killing me inside. We've started the psychological trials and things have been hard."

Felix now had his full attention on you. "I've heard about it. Some don't make it past this phase."

"Yeah, it's hardcore. I had a test this morning."

Minho caught onto what you were avoiding to say explicitly. "One of your fears is us?"

"Not you exactly. More the action you make."

Your twin exhaled loudly. "Wow, okay. Are you sure you want to go on with all this?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Come here with us."

You scoffed. "No thank you. You, yourself, don't want to be here."

Once again, Felix looked away shamefully and didn't dare to speak any more. To diffuse the atmosphere, Minho changed topics and informed you about how it was for him when he entered Erudite. Not that it wasn't interesting but your situation was too different from his. Not a single thing he mentioned was relevant to how it was going for you.

"But I have to say, Felix joining in was a huge relief."

"It wasn't my first choice." the younger man said, taking the opportunity to finally admit it. "My results were Abnegation."

The two of you exchanged looks with sympathy. "It's okay." you smiled.

Minho huffed. "You lied, wow. I'm both impressed and confused."

"Come on, Min. Mom and dad would have never approved of this."

"I know that but after you change factions, they have no say in what you do with your life. I'm certain they weren't thrilled when you chose Dauntless."

He did make a good point. But for Felix, it was too late. The main thing about Abnegation is selflessness, and it was that very characteristic that cost him to not pursue his real calling. You felt a lot for him, even more so because yourself weren't sure if you made the right choice.

"You can't stay for much longer, people will question things." Minho reminded you. "If someone asked, you were called for a new technology testing and that it's confidential."

You agreed for them to walk you out just to be certain you were safe until that point. What you didn't expect was to see Jisung standing right in front of the building, anxiously looking around. After parting ways with your brothers, you ran up to him.

"Jisung?"

The moment he spotted you, you could see the relief he felt. "Don't scare me like that! Hyunjin told me you ran away and sent me to find you."

You questioned yourself as to why the trainer didn't come himself if he was the one concerned. Besides that, you were touched Jisung had taken upon himself to search for you.

"I needed to figure some stuff out with my brothers."

You walked back to the training building just it was time for dinner. However, you weren't so hungry. You insisted for Jisung go eat without you even if he tried to convince you to tag along, having other plans in mind. The weather was perfect to enjoy the fresh air, meaning the rooftop was a good place to relax.

You don't know how long you stayed there, there were too many thoughts in your heads that even the quiet sound of the wind was bothering you. Before you knew it, it was nighttime. Somehow, you weren't tired nor did you felt like you had to go back inside.

The noises were become more bothersome when you heard someone coming up. Now used to it, you replaced yourself more comfortably to leave the place next to you free. Hyunjin's tall figure came into your view and he made his way to sit with you.

"You didn't eat."

"Not hungry." you responded nonchalantly.

"Jisung told me you went to visit your brothers. How did it go?"

You looked at him suspiciously. "Aren't you going to nag at me for breaking rules again?"

"Sweetheart, I gave up doing that a while ago."

Your heart tightened from his words. Still, you pretended it wasn't. "It went well. It definitely helped with... Well, you know."

Silence set in once again. None of you spoke as you were too preoccupied your own thoughts. Hyunjin was having a crisis on whether he should confide in you or not. His own experience was something he believed to be horrifying. If you knew about it, maybe you'd be reassured. Settling on that, he still had no idea on how he'd bring up the subject. He still tried.

"My biggest fear is loneliness. I know it can be surprising considering that I am most of the time alone. Chan and Changbin are like brothers to me, you can't find better people." He paused for a second, thinking about how he was going to continue his mini-monologue. "I don't have siblings, nor do I have parents. They died when I was a baby still. This guy took custody of me and he was a trainer. I think he didn't know how to raise a child. I was the rebellious kind so I can't blame for getting mad at me so often but he marked me for life."

You understood he was referring to his scars, most likely punishments he had received in the past. Taking his forearm to stop him for telling you furthermore. Unbeknownst to him, small tears fell off his eyes. You rubbed his skin with your thumb as to say you were grateful that he trusted you to tell you something so personal. You both looked back at the sky, simply enjoying the company of the other. You couldn't comprehend how exactly you started feeling so safe with him. One thing for sure was that you had a mutual understanding of each other. Without saying it, you sensed his thoughts and he sensed yours. But there was one thought he had been having in mind for a while.

"What was your answer to Han?" he broke the silence.

"I haven't answered yet. I think I'll tell him that I need time."

"What is stopping you? You get along quite well." he commented but you didn't think this was a good reason to say yes.

"First of all, I don't think I see him like this. And second of all, well... I mean, there's you."

His gaze shifted from the scenery to you. You didn't see through him so well, he was a mix of so many emotions. His eyes were both hopeful and ashamed. Full of lust and full of pain. You couldn't pinpoint his exact reaction and it drove you crazy.

"I can't tell you that it's right." he finally replied. "But yes, there is me I suppose."

You had unconsciously stepped closer to him, so much that you could feel the warmth his body emitted. And again, the lighting from the moon hit his features so perfectly that you could see every single one of them. His eyes shined, his cheekbones as well, and his lips were so pink, it was almost like they were inviting you to be kissed. Gradually, your hands moved up to land on his upper arms. As for him, his own were positioning themselves to lay on the space between your jaw and your neck. You could see his face getting dangerously close to yours and it only intensified the electricity that was traveling all over your body. Just as your lips were about to touch, he stopped but didn't pull back.

"Are you sure?" he said lowly.

"Yes."

And your mouths clashed together. All of the tension that had built up until then exploded, so much it was nearly impossible to handle. But it was addicting. Soon, you realized staying outside probably wasn't a good idea. A bit in a rush, you headed back inside to go in his room.

Pushing you back inside, he careful led you both to his bed before carefully laying you down on your back. Moving down to kiss your neck, he left a trail of sloppy kisses on your jaw while his hands rubbed against your skin as they travelled down to grab onto your thighs. He squeezed them, hard enough to make you gasp but light enough to not hurt you.

"You've been driving me crazy." he said in-between kisses.

"You too."

He went on to grope your ass, causing to moan louder than you would've liked to. As for him, he grinned at the sound, visibly satisfied.

"Poor Jisung will never get to hear this."

You weren't totally there, your mind had too much to unpack there that you could answer. The kissing only continued, intensified. Panting heavily, you didn't know you could hold your breath for this long. Before you knew it, you were undressing each other while the moon still shined as brightly as ever.

You didn't understand the world you lived in. One thing was clear to you, Hyunjin was going to be by your side on your journey of discovering it all. There might not be in place for you in this city, but you had a place with him. You could settle for that.

taglist: @lenilla15 | @muddy-waters | @nanaspalette | @nattisbored | @popcatx0 | @vanblack95 | @aestheticsluut | @thanxxskz | @minhoino | @taetertotsv | @luvscrazy | @lethallyprotected | @foxinnie8 | @jisuperboard | @jihanlovic | @soobin-chois | @jinxwhore28 | @purplelandsworld | @yeojoongiee | @smugrogerina | @jaehyunicecream | @urmomlikeslinotoo | @syprosight | @thesassy-mia | @chaotic-world-of-the-j | @heartsforlevi | @miyakoa | @seungincore | @skzsilentcryy

Copyright © 2023 skzhua. All rights reserved.

#stray kids #stray kids x reader #stray kids fanfic #hwang hyunjin x reader #stray kids scenarios #stray kids imagines #stray kids hyunjin #hwang hyunjin #hwang hyunjin scenarios #divergent au #stray kids divergent au #hwang hyunjin divergent au #hwang hyunjin fanfic #skz x reader #skz scenarios

[glittercake]

E | 10k | nwa | tags cap!sam/modern!bucky; massage therapy; erotic massages; pining & flirting | summary:

Bucky drapes the towel over him and smiles. “Hm. Any pain from this morning’s fight? You looked pretty roughed up.”

And the answer is no, but for some goddamn reason, Sam says, “Quads and hamstrings are killing me.” which is a fat fucking lie. His quads and hamstrings are fine as a fiddle. He has great legs, strong legs, comes from a family of heavy-legged men.

But what he doesn’t have is Bucky’s hands on his thighs.

READ HERE

#sambucky #winterfalcon #divergent au #samantha writes

[weisscoldglare]

Au were weiss becomed the winter maiden instead of her sister Winter.

So weiss is Blake's over protective magic girlfriend

def wanna read that AU

#weiss schnee #blake bellodona #rwby #checkmating #blake x weiss #monochrome rwby #weiss x blake #still drawing from memory #when will i just pull up a reference sheet #coldglareshares #idunno #divergent au

[itsladyliv]

This is The Art of Seclusion series on AO3 by @asirensrage 💗

#divergent fanfiction #eric x oc #divergent au #fic: the art of seclusion #fic: a study in intimacy #oc: amelia elswood #sarah bolger my beloved!!! #basically a lot of prompts for eric and amelia #everyday i wake up and think about THAT ending #divergentedit #myedit #Youtube

[jupitersrising]

The Foxes Divergent Factions + explanations

Long post under the cut

Review of Divergent Factions:

Abnegation: the selfless

Amity: the peaceful

Candor: the honest

Dauntless: the brave

Erudite: the intellectual

Neil Josten: He was born in Dauntless, but Mary ran away to Abnegation because nobody actually pays attention to them. Depending on where Neil is in his journey, he'd either choose dauntless (if his dad wasn't there) or amity.

Andrew Minyard: He grew up in Candor and followed Aaron to Erudite. But if Aaron weren't a factor he'd probably choose Dauntless because that faction seems to have the most freedom of them all.

Aaron Minyard: Grew up in Abnegation (which both helps push Tilda's abusive behavior and develops his volatile habits when he has the ability to choose what he wants to do. I could make an entire post just about this) and chose Erudite for obvious reasons.

Kevin Day: Grew up in Dauntless (you can't tell me that the Moriyama's would be anywhere else) and ran away to Erudite.

Nicky Hemmick: He grew up in Candor (which helped fuel self-hatred since yk...his parents are horrible), but his parents worked closely with volunteers in Abnegation so he was fairly close to Aaron. But, he chose Amity because he thought it might be the one place—if any place like that existed—that would accept him.

Dan Wilds: I'm gonna be honest...I have no idea where Dan grew up. I feel like it could be Dauntless, but at the same time it just doesn't work. Amity seems too...nice of a place for her origins. Idk. At the same time I could see her choosing Abnegation because she wants to help people (much like her adoptive father figure David Wymack) or I could see her going to Erudite learn/argue to help other people.

Matt Boyd: He grew up in Erudite (since his Dad is a doctor or someone of high society) but his Mom is from Dauntless making him a child that shouldn't exist (people of two different factions aren't supposed to be in relationships). When he got to choose he went to Abnegation.

Renee Walker: This one is pretty obvious...she grew up in Dauntless and chose (or was adopted or was forced to) Amity.

Allison Reynolds: She grew up in Erudite and left to Candor to reveal all her parents' secrets without facing retribution.

Seth Gordon: Grew up in Dauntless (could also see him growing up in Candor, but I feel like he's the type who would stay with what he knew) and stayed in Dauntless.

#aftg #all for the game #divergent au #erudite #amity #candor #dauntless #abnegation #neil josten #andrew minyard #matt boyd #dan wilds #nicky hemmick #aaron minyard #kevin day #allison reynolds #renee walker #seth gordon

[razzle-zazzle]

the divergent au is funny to me because if cole ever sees the ninja again they're going to see him accompanied by a) pythor, one of their worst enemies b) morro, another one of their enemies and c) zane's long lost brother. it would be so much chaos

The best part is that this happens when they're invited to Vania's coronation after Cole's group goes through the events of MoM. So Cole is Too Tired for all of this and Pythor's Too Old for all this bickering and nobody's happy with anyone. Vania is trying so so hard to keep the two groups from running into each other when she first finds out the ninja were invited and It Does Not Work.

Chaos ensues.

#ask zaz #ninjago #divergent au #jay & nya when they see echo: ECHO????? #echo: do i know you? #meanwhile zane is uh. hm. well. THAT's a revelation #(and it's not long after his ice emperor trauma too :[) #also morro and lloyd DO need to be separated but that's okay bc they're avoiding each other just fine on their own #meanwhile pythor's just trying to enjoy his vacation he's too old for all this fighting #he's too busy grumbling about how he just HAD to be thrown down an endless shaft bc fsm forbid he get a decent vacation to fight anyway #meanwhile cole has regained some of his vigor through his travels but isn't quite ready to talk to the other ninja again just yet

[hoodie-buck]

crossfire

rated: t | words: 35.9k | chapters: 4 | read on ao3 |completed!

here it is y’all, the divergent au i’ve been teasing for the past few weeks. hope y’all enjoy reading it as much as i did writing it 💙🥳

summary:

—They say the war was terrible, that they were lucky to be in the city, the rest of the world destroyed.  The founders built a wall to keep them safe, diving them into five groups—factions—to keep the peace. The smart ones, the ones who valued knowledge and logic were in Erudite. They knew everything. Amity farmed the land. They’re all about kindness and harmony, always happy. Candor valued honesty and order. They told the truth, even when you wish they wouldn’t. And then there was Dauntless. They were the protectors, the soldiers and police. Evan always thought they were amazing. Brave, fearless, and free. Evan’s faction was Abnegation. Everyone else called them ‘stiffs.’ They lead a simple life, selfless, dedicated to helping others. They even fed the Factionless, the ones who don’t fit in anywhere. Because they were public servants, they were trusted to run the government. Evan’s father worked alongside their leader, Ramon. It all worked. Everyone knew where they belonged. Everyone except for Evan.—

—or—

the divergent au no one asked for, but that i wrote as a self indulgent birthday fic anyway 🥳

-tagging squad below, lmk if you wanna be added or removed <3-

@buddiextarlos @fearlessdiaz @mansikkaomenabanaani @confetti-cupcake @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @chimneymistergayhan @loveyourownsmiilee @corgiqueen14 @justsmilestuffhappens @prettyboyandthekid @honestlydarkprincess @zainclaw @djdangerlove @eddiessluttytanktop @love-buddie @bifirefighters @mr-and-mr-diaz @blaidddrwg1982 @buddierights @crazyfangirlallert @imsupposedtobewritting @ekstasisandangst @panicatthediaz @princessbb @jacksadventuresinwriting

#buddie #buddie fic #evan 'buck' buckley #eddie diaz #maddie buckley #911 fox #divergent au #self indulgent birthday wip 🥳 #buckley siblings #hen wilson #chimney han #ravi panikkar #lena bosko #athena grant #different first meeting #getting together #hurt/comfort #angst #angst with a happy ending #idiots in love #tenderness #bravery #the buckley parents are awful people #the diaz’ aren’t much better here #kels bday fest 🥳

[multimadstoner]

I'm open to any requests I'm in a bit of a writing block so some new ideas might jog it!

#eric coulter imagine #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson smut #divergent #billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove fluff #stranger things #stranger things au #divergent au

[stonedregulus]

skin of my teeth snippet

“You’re being too hard on them,” Harry mumbles as Ron comes to stand next to him.

“Am not,” Ron says.

Harry raises an eyebrow but doesn’t look away from one of the initiates flinging a knife at the target. It bounces off and clatters onto the floor.

“I just want them to be prepared,” Ron huffs, crossing his arms as he leans back against the wall.

“I think there’s a better way,” Harry shrugs.

Ron turns to face him. Harry glances at the camera in the corner of the room.

“George told me-”

“This is not the place to talk about this,” Harry cuts him off.

Ron glances at the camera, then turns to stare at the initiates again, “I’m just saying they need to be prepared is all.”

#wip #fic: skin of my teeth #somt #ollie is writing #divergent au #harry potter #ron weasley

[skzhua]

I think I might be able to finish how does he know in the next 24 hours max. Here's a very small glimpse of it. It is at 10k words for now but I might surpass 15k.

pairing: trainer!hwang hyunjin x female!reader (feat. han jisung)

genre: divergent!au, love triangle, fluff, angst, dystopian, slow burn.

other works in progress

"Erudite." the man announced after Felix's blood came in contact with the water.

You stared at him blankly, watching him head towards the Erudite group. You would have expected him to go with Abnegation, he has always been a kind soul despite being the snob brother he was to you. You started to wonder whether he made the choice himself or he picked Erudite to not be on your parent's wrong side. Anyway, this wasn't important to you anymore. It was your time to choose.

After hearing your name, you walked to the same spot where Felix was standing seconds ago. You hissed as you sliced part of your palm with the knife. And then, you froze. As it came down on you that you had no idea what you were supposed to belong to, every muscle in your body tensed up. You had to thhink fast, everyone was watching you. Looking at each bowl one by one, you gulped. What now?

After what seemed to be hours, your hand lifted above a bowl and you hear a sizzle as your blood dropped.

"Dauntless."

Copyright © 2023 skzhua. All rights reserved.

#stray kids #stray kids x reader #stray kids fanfic #stray kids fanfic preview #fanfic preview #hwang hyunjin x reader #stray kids hyunjin #hwang hyunjin #divergent au #stray kids divergent au #hwang hyunjin fanfic

[lunaschild2016]

Chapters: 70/? Fandom: Divergent Series - Veronica Roth, Divergent (Movies) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Eric (Divergent)/Original Character(s), Four/Tris Prior, Marlene/Uriah Pedrad, Zeke Pedrad/Shauna, Andrew Prior/Natalie Prior, Christina (Divergent)/Will (Divergent)/Original Character(s) Characters: Original Female Character(s), Eric (Divergent), Tris Prior, Four | Tobias Eaton, Original Male Character(s), Peter Hayes (Divergent), Will (Divergent), Lynn (Divergent), Uriah Pedrad, Marlene (Divergent), Amar (Divergent), Evelyn Johnson-Eaton, Natalie Prior, Andrew Prior, Zeke Pedrad, Shauna (Divergent), Marcus Eaton, Jeanine Matthews Summary:

He was ruthless, cunning, and completely committed to protecting his city; but her arrival to Dauntless called everything he ever thought he believed into question. She was haunted by a past she vowed to make amends for and resolved to sacrifice her very life it meant she could protect her family, faction and city. Duty and following orders were no longer enough and they both found more than they ever hoped for. They both found something worth fighting for. Eric/OC AU M (Language, Sexual Content, Romance, Fluff, Angst, Tragedy)

#fanfiction #divergent fanfiction #divergent au #eric coulter fanfiction #eric x oc #eric coulter #kat prior #tris prior #four eaton #romance #smut #angst #tragedy #jai courtney #chloe moretz #shailene woodley #theo james #liam hemsworth #aaron taylor johnson #miles teller

[q-ueen-potato]

On another 'What Dystopia I can turn into a AU' here I with DIVERGENT AU

#one piece #one piece au #Divergent Au

[madsifly]

the urge to go on hiatus for an inconsiderable amount of time while i finish the masterpiece i’m writing someone stop me pls

#marauders fandom #jegulus #jegulus fic #wolfstar #ff: horizons #divergent au #marylily #dorlene #marauders fic #madsifly #i need sleep #someone help #someone sedate me

[teetlezhere]

#rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #tmnt #riseofthetmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #save rottmnt #saverottmnt #rottmnt au #rottmnt movie #mama shen au #peepaw leo #time napped au #future leo #poll #divergent au

[keithbutgay]

Voltron Divergent AU featuring

Lance McClain: Abnegation born, currently in Dauntless. Had always looked up to Shiro, an Abnegation leader, never knowing he was actually born Dauntless. Deep down, Lance had always known Abnegation was never for him. In his own words, his ego was too big for all that. He doesn't feel quite right in Dauntless, either, but he guesses it's too late now.

Keith Kogane: Dauntless born, currently in Dauntless. Keith is always at the top of the rankings, and wants desperately to get a job as a trainer for Dauntless fighters. Despite not generally being a great student, he's an excellent fighter. He doesn't understand why the cute Stiff keeps glaring at him, but he supposes it's a funny enough situation, so he might as well taunt him back. His brother Shiro was the only person he trusted and felt safe with, but he's gone now. The wounds are still fresh, even after all these years.

Takashi Shirogane: Dauntless born, currently in Abnegation. Was actually very high up in his faction before he betrayed Dauntless to be with his boyfriend, Adam. He goes by Shiro in Abnegation, but previously was more well-known as Takashi. He regrets his choice of faction, and wishes he had stayed in Dauntless with Keith. He is able to visit his brother, but it will unfortunately be a long time before he is healed enough for that.

Pidge Holt: Abnegation born, currently in Erudite along with their brother Matt and good friend Hunk. Pidge didn't want to leave their childhood best friend Lance, but ultimately they parted ways, but not without a vow to keep in contact no matter what. A hacked computer and a special code made this possible, and they could not be more thankful that it wasn't really goodbye. As a trans person, they are glad that they can just be Pidge here. Apart from their family and Lance, no one in Abnegation really understood and they were constantly faced with transphobia. They're very happy that Erudite is different.

Hunk Garrett: Amity born, currently in Erudite. Became fast friends with Pidge, and from what he knows about Lance he feels that they could become close as well. He didn't really know anyone when he first came to Erudite, and he is glad that he's found people that care about him and accept him. He never regretted his decision to leave Amity for Erudite, even though he's struggling in quite a few classes.

#should I write this? yes or no #voltron legendary defender #divergent #klance #agender pidge #keith #pidge #lance #hunk #shiro #divergent au #alternate universe