Fandom Divergent: Faction Before Blood // RP Thread

[WanderLust.]

Blair Avalon // Female // Age 16 // Dauntless Born Initiate // Divergent
Interacting With: Ghost Aviator


Blair had kept her mouth shut when Ghost had chosen to ridicule her outfit. She hadn’t felt the need to defend herself against someone who had worn a trench coat to a potential kidnapping. But she was thankful for her choice in fashion now as she paced into Washington Park. Her black boots made it easier to trek through the overgrown thicket of the forest “paths,” if you could even call them that. It seemed these routes were more often used by animals than people. She had to consciously remind herself to breath, she had been holding her breath in fear that the quietest snap of a twig under a misplaced foot would give away her position. As she neared her designated meeting spot with Obadiah, the hairs on the back of her neck began to prickle, a dangerous cocktail of adrenaline and anxiety pumping through her veins. He would be here soon, very soon. He may have been looming nearby at this very moment for all she knew.

How many times had she had conversations with Mr. Parks? Eaten at his dinner table? Slept in his house? Yet this time was so poignantly different, so much more was on the line and she had grown to understand that while Christian’s father may have seemed like a stand up man, he had more secrets to keep than an ancient, cursed tomb. Normally, Blair would’ve wanted to lean her back against the massive tree that stood so close by. But she was well aware that Ghost needed a high vantage point, she needed to be close enough to the tree to provide her accomplice with a clear line of sight while still being far enough away that any rustling in the trees wouldn’t provoke Obadiah’s suspicion. As she paced around in approximately a 6 foot radius, she heard the sound of relaxed and heavy footsteps, her breath caught in her chest as she froze. Before she could turn to greet her guest, his familiar deep and leathery voice cut through the air, “Blair, always a pleasure.”

“Mr. Parks!” Blair whirled around, a pleasant but subtle smile painted on her lips as she forced herself to remain composed. An unwelcome heat made its presence known on her cheeks as she flushed with nerves. “I’m glad you could make it.” Her voice took on that sweet and charming bell like ring, a voice that said ‘I’m just the sweet girl next door, you can trust me.’ and trust her he did. “I can always make time for a future Parks.” He grinned. A future Parks. The words stung, Obadiah hinting at a future that Blair so desperately wanted but knew she could never have. Christians prognosis had been bleak at best, death had pretty much been promised and her time with the love of her life was dwindling by the day. She should’ve been with Chris right now, not out on these stupid schemes with Ghost. She should’ve been savoring every last second she could get with Christian before… before… get it together, Blair.

She swallowed thickly, dragging her mind back to reality as she tried to think of something to say, and that was when she smelled it. The scent of some sort of artificial sweetness was dancing through the air, an attempt to mimic some sort of fruit perhaps? The more she smelled of it, the more familiar it seemed. When her brain was finally able to match the smell with a memory, she wasn’t sure how she managed not to let her eyes roll towards the sky as she mentally screamed at Ghost. He was vaping at a time like this?! What sort of an idiot was he? Not ten minutes ago he had been preaching about the seriousness and importance of this mission yet here he was, getting high in a tree. She could kill him! That was, if Obadiah didn’t kill the both of them first. “I believe you had something to tell me, my dear?” The blonde girl quickly snapped her attention back towards Parks, banishing all thoughts of Christian and Ghost from her mind. Focus, come on Blair. “Yes actually… Gosh, I don’t even know where to begin.”

*********************

The last three minutes replayed in Blair’s mind on a dizzying loop. Ghost and Obadiah had been grappling for control of the gun as Blair had stood there frozen in place. She hadn’t frozen out of fear, in reality, she had been trying to harness whatever supernatural telekinetic powers she possessed to pull the gun towards Ghost. But the more she tried to bend these new skills to her will, the more they seemed to falter, which only added to her frustration. When she had finally gotten control of the gun she had only a split second to decide what to do with it. She had originally planned on tossing the weapon to Ghost, but when Parks had lunged for her those ocean eyes of hers had gone wide with shock and before she knew what she was doing the pink dart had buried itself into her opponents skin.

Of course, for the majority of that little skirmish both Blair and Ghost had been running on adrenaline. Now, as Blair and her partner struggled to carry Obadiah’s unconscious body back towards the car she was sourly reminded of her lack of physical strength. How much had she been relying on Christian to do all the literal heavy lifting? Ghosts arms were laced under Obadiah’s shoulders as Blair struggled with his lower half. His legs were surprisingly muscular and unfortunately heavy. She couldn’t believe that their exhausted huffs and puffs of exertion didn’t draw any attention from potential passers by. As the pair struggled with the dead weight of Obadiah’s body, Blair grimaced when she heard a solid THUNK as Ghost dropped the upper half of their captives body. She glared daggers at him, her voice laced annoyance as she sighed “Let’s hope that doesn’t bruise…” she huffed.

Ghost made some excuse about how he had been stuck with the heavier side, but Blair wasn’t entirely paying attention. Her limbs were aching, the old bruises acquainting themselves with the new ones in beautifully violent blossoms of blue and purple on her skin. She absent mindedly began pulling her long blonde hair out of her face, putting it into a loose braid so that it wouldn’t bother her for the remainder of their mission. When she finally let her eyes land back on Ghost, he had managed to get the doors to the Valor opened, now for the fun part. Blair dreaded having to pick up the legs of their captive again, but she didn’t have a choice. With a disdainful look, she bent down to pick up his legs and help Ghost get him into the trunk. Their movements were clumsy, and Parks would wake up with more than a few cuts and bruises from his time spent unconscious. With one final grunt, they were able to roll him over securely in the trunk and Blair let her arms rest on her knees as she struggled to catch her breath. “I think… when this is over…” she panted in between her words, “maybe you and I should work on lifting weights.” She wiped her brow of any sweat before heading towards the front of the car.

Blair cocked an eyebrow at Ghost when she realized they were both heading for the drivers side door and folded her arms as she stood in his way, daring Ghost to explain why he should be the driver and her the passenger. “I did not just go through all of that to die in a car accident, Ghost. Passenger seat.” She pointed a finger towards the other side of the car in a mannerism that did not resemble that of an initiate speaking to her instructor. But she wasn’t going to budge on this one. Blair’s older brothers had taught her how to drive when they had high jacked multiple speeders from around the dauntless complex. She may not have been as skilled as an erudite chauffeur, but she was a hell of a lot better than Ghost. As she slid into the drivers seat, she settled her gaze on Ghost expectantly as he rather unhappily got into the passenger seat. He returned her gaze and for a moment, oceans mixed with amber honey in a fiery blaze. “Seat belt.” Blair finally said, breaking the silence as an exasperated Ghost jerked the seat belt into position disdainfully. It only then occurred to her that the third passenger, the one in the trunk to be exact, would be royally screwed if they ended up in a situation in which their seat belts were needed. All the more reason she should be the one driving and not Ghost. Without another word, Blair maneuvered the steering wheel in a singular fluid movement, and the beat up old valor took off silently in the direction of Fable Morvo.​

 

[WanderLust.]

Maverick Maddox // Male// 18// Dauntless Born // Instructor
Interacting With: Aubrey Nerdy.

Maverick had always found it easy to disappear in a sea of black clothing. He had spent so much of his life hiding away from those that knew him while remaining just under their noses. Blending into the shadows came back to him as easy as breathing. He knew, as Caspian's brother and next of kin, he should've been up towards the front. He should've been mingling with distant relatives and acquaintances, accepting their condolences as he shed tears of his own. But Maverick was numb, and had decided he wanted to stay invisible for a while longer. He remained hidden in a back corner, away from any prying eyes. He had managed to pull together a decent outfit, a black suit and tie that he had found in Caspian's closet. It pained Maverick how well the suit fit him, he had always lived in his brothers shadow... was he now condemned to live the rest of his existence as only a shadow of the great Caspian Maddox? The lesser brother? The lesser man? He hadn't realized how tightly he had been clenching his hands until his nails nearly drew blood from his palms. With a hiss of breath, Maverick forced himself to flex his hands, relaxing his grip as he searched the crowd of mourners for a familiar face.

Most of the guests at his brothers funeral seemed to be friends of Caspian, people Maverick had never met before, a constant reminder of just how much of his brother's life he had missed while he was hiding from his sins. A few higher ranking dauntless members had made an appearance, but Maverick stayed the hell away from them. He didn't need them asking him any questions about Caspian's death, or about the fire and how Maverick had miraculously survived. He didn't have any acceptable answers to give anyone right now, so he simply shoved his hands in his pockets, steering clear of the casket where Caspian's body laid. He had already said his goodbyes to Caspian when the ambulance had arrived. How long had he spent with his brothers body, accepting his death alone on the floor of their apartment before he had worked up the courage to call the authorities. Maverick was convinced that most of his grieving had already been done, he didn't need to see Caspian's body now that the undertaker had made it look all shiny and new again. It was just a corpse in that casket, nothing more and nothing less. Caspian was gone, and Maverick had come to accept that, all that was left now was the guilt... and the anger.

He had been standing with his back propped against the wall, scanning through the faces of all those who claimed to love Caspian. It wasn't until he caught a flash of blonde hair out of the corner of his hair the Maverick even dared to look up. He didn't want his lack of tears to raise any unwarranted suspicions. He refused to grieve in a way that was acceptable to others merely to keep up appearances. His brother was dead, and he would handle that however he damn pleased. The sight of Aubrey Stark, however, was a welcome distraction. The initiate was one of a few that he had seen today, and he couldn't help but wonder where her older sister was. Charlie and Caspian had been close hadn't they? Maverick assumed that the medic was either on her way, or was already here and he just hadn't seen her amongst the sea of faces. Regardless, he left his perch on the back wall and made his way over to the weepy eyed blonde who was sitting down in one of the chairs closest towards the aisle. He moved silently, and when he finally sat down next to Aubrey he didn't utter a word. He didn't feel the need to break the silence. They both knew why they were here and they both understood and appreciated the shitty circumstances that had prompted such a gathering. No need to point it out.

Still, Aubrey's presence was oddly comforting. She was one of the few familiar faces here. He fondly remembered Aubrey running around with him and Caspian when they had been children. The Stark family and the Maddox family had been quite close, more than a few times Maverick's parents had invited Charlie and Aubrey over for dinner. She was someone who knew Caspian, she had been present for all the years that Maverick had missed. A pang of sadness blossomed in his chest as he realized there was a very real chance Aubrey knew Caspian better than Maverick did. Maverick had only become reacquainted with his brother a couple of weeks ago, but Aubrey and Charlie had been there through it all. "He was ... He was good, wasn't he?" It was an honest question, one that he hoped Aubrey had the answer to. Aubrey looked up at him with teary eyes, and for a moment Maverick thought perhaps he shouldn't have said anything at all. "I mean... he was a good person?" Maverick hoped the answer was yes, but as Aubrey stared at him he quite honestly had no idea how she would answer. He silently shoved his hands in his pockets and was reminded that he still had Caspian's phone. The beat up cellphone was still in his pocket despite the fact that Maverick hadn't been able to bring himself to go through it. What good would it do to know the secrets of the dead?​

 

[Sanctuaryforall1]

Thorn

Mood: Concerned

Location: Aubrey's House

Interactions: Aubrey

Caspian was dead and Charlie was a suspect. The idea that such an event could happen and that Charlie of all people could possibly be to blame didn’t sit right with Thorn. Charlie was sweet, she was kind, she was gentle and loving. Yes, she may be Dauntless but Thorn couldn’t see her murdering someone in cold blood. No matter how many people might believe she has some level of guilt Thorn knew he would never be convinced. He silently prayed that others would feel the same and see the young medic for the person she was rather than whoever the authorities were making her out to be. Charlie wasn’t some murderous monster, no, she was a thoughtful and brave young woman who had clearly been through a hard time and was still doing her best to come out stronger on the other side of it.

As Thorn thought about the scene, he had witnessed in the café his blood roared in his ears with worry. He had been told to leave but he should have stayed, he should have made sure Charlie was treated fairly. Sure, there wasn’t much he could really do but he could have been her witness, he could have provided a distraction for her to get away. In her weakened state though he knew deep down she wouldn’t have gotten far even if he had provided a distraction. She had been so shaky since seeing his fear simulation, her panic attack having taken a lot out of her. Thus, another reason he didn’t believe she would ever do such a thing.

The young freckled boys mind returned to the crime that had been committed and instantly his heart ached for all those who held Caspian dear. He was certain that by now Mav would have found out and Thorn had no Earthly idea how the instructor would react to his brother’s death. Caspian was a legend among the young members of Dauntless. So many initiates and aspiring initiates looked up to him.

One face, in particular, stuck out in Thorn’s mind as he remembered those who thought highly of Caspian. “Aubrey.” He gasped softly and realized that she might be dealing with this loss all alone. He might not be able to be at Charlie’s side to comfort her right now but Thorn knew he could certainly be there for Aubrey, even if they weren’t that close. No one should have to deal with their loss alone and if Thorn had anything to do with it, he would make sure Aubrey had someone there with her.

Rushing through the streets of the Dauntless compound Thorn did his best to remember where exactly Aubrey lived. He had been there a time or two for a few get-togethers though he knew he hadn’t really fit in. The two of them were at such different ends of the spectrum but none of that mattered right now, all Thorn cared about was making sure the young blonde was supported at a time like this. As he made his way quickly down the street, he passed a small vendor selling little bouquets of flowers and quickly grabbed two before handing the vendor some money. “Thanks.” He nodded as he turned and rushed off again.

A few minutes later Thorn was ascending the steps to the front door of Aubrey’s house, a bit out of breath and with the two bouquets of flowers missing a few petals from the rush. For a moment the young man hesitated, not wanting to appear intrusive by just showing up. Taking a breath, he shook his head and reminded himself that he was here for Aubrey because he couldn’t be sure that Charlie had made her way home yet or that Finn was around. If she didn’t need him here, he would leave, but he had to be sure first. With that, the young man reached up and knocked on the door. “Hey…Aubrey?” He called just loud enough that she would hopefully hear. “I…uh…It’s Thorn.” He added as he realized she might not recognize his voice. “I wanted to…well…I heard what happened and I wanted to check in on you. Do you need anything? Is there anything I can do?” He asked through the door, not knowing if she was even there to hear him.

Nerdy.

code by Stardust Galaxy

 

[Aviator]

Ghost // Male // Age 18 // Training Instructor // Erudite to Dauntless
​

The journey back to the car—with one-seventy pounds of dead weight hanging between Blair and Ghost, the July sun beating down on them, and each hornet sting throbbing in time with his pulse—was a harrowing one. Several times he and Blair would hear the crunch of grass or lighthearted chatter of approaching passerby, a silent agreement would pass between them, and with Parks’s body in tow they flattened themselves down into the nearest gully or pressed themselves up against a thick tree trunk. Ghost’s heart hammered so hard during these intervals that it was a small miracle the joggers and dog-walkers didn’t hear it and were immediately alerted to his and Blair’s illegal shenanigans. He marveled at how easy this trek through the woods had been the first time around in comparison, when the sum of his discomforts was the weight of the tranquilizer gun smacking between his shoulder blades with every other step.
When Ghost and Blair arrived at the Valor, their faces were flushed and damp with exertion, chests straining for breath amid the soupy humidity. Ghost’s lips were parched and his saliva hot and sticky, and he kicked himself for forgetting to pack cold drinks amid their heist equipment. It was a small comfort that Blair appeared equally winded. For some reason, this surprised Ghost, just as having beaten her during their rooftop duel yesterday morning surprised him. He wasn’t sure when or why he had come to think of her as invincible, whether it was a result of her having been born and raised in Dauntless where girls were taught to exude toughness, or her mystifying ability to move things with her mind. But apparently that ability doesn’t extend to moving people, Ghost thought sourly, as he slammed the trunk closed with Parks’s ridiculously heavy body inside.
Blair spoke, her words coming in gradual, labored puffs of breath as she proposed they lift weights together sometime in the future. Was she joking with him? Or she was just absently reassuring herself that there would still be a future in store for them after this heist was over, other than the inside of a prison cell. The corners of Ghost’s mouth lifted into a pirate’s smile, and he side-eyed her speculatively. “Blair Avalon,” he said slowly, “do I detect an invitation to go on a date? And here, if I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought you despised me.” Within a heartbeat, Blair’s expression transformed into one of murderous intent, and Ghost prepared to leap out of the way of an incoming blow but none was forthcoming.
Instead of replying, Blair abruptly whirled around, her long hair flaring out and nearly whipping Ghost across the face. She stalked around the side of the car. He let out a wordless cry of protest when he saw she was going for the driver’s-side door and lunged after her. Blair swung back toward him and planted her feet, immovable. She challenged him to give her one good reason why he should be driving after he’d nearly veered into a lamppost the first time. Her tone was a bowstring drawing back a poison-tipped arrow, yet Ghost answered anyway, despite knowing the question was largely rhetorical. “Well,” he replied, straightening his lapels self-importantly, “I would say that I’m the older, more responsible one, but I think we both know that’s only half true. For the record, I am a very mature fifteen-year-old.” Nonetheless, without further argument, he acquiesced and rounded the hood of the car, sliding into the passenger seat. If Blair wanted to drive, that suited him just fine. When Ghost closed the door behind himself, he already had one hand closed on his vape pen.
“But I get to pick the music,” he declared, flicking on the radio before Blair could fight him. Jazz music skipped to country and then to a jiggy hip-hop remix about vandalizing neighborhoods and collecting illicit payments. Hip-hop wasn’t usually Ghost’s genre of choice, but somehow classical music seemed incongruous when he and Blair had an enemy tied up in the back of a stolen car. As Blair finished adjusting the seat and mirrors and pulled out of the ravine in which they’d been parked, Ghost clicked his tongue in mock reproach. “I’m an expert shot, a criminal mastermind, one hell of a cardsharp, and a snappy dresser, yet here you are criticizing me for not being a world-class chauffeur, too. You’re a picky girl.” He raised the vape to his lips and took a drag, the end of the cylinder lighting up white-blue in the windshield. Blair cut a glance to him and immediately protested, leaning over the gear shift to make a snatch for the pen. Ghost transferred it to his right hand and held it out of her reach as the car took a dangerous swerve. “Better focus on your driving. If you actually crash when I almost crashed, you’ll prove that I was the superior driver all along.”
With a growl of resignation, Blair gave up trying to wrest the vape from him. Ghost released the breath that he’d been holding. She’d been grabbing a lot of things but the vape wasn’t one of them, and while Ghost wasn’t entirely against the contact, his neck and shoulder were still sore from the antagonistic encounters with both the hornet and Obadiah Parks. Blair skirted around the pond and then took a left, heading for the location in which they’d split up from Fable Morvo. Seeing as Parks’s bodyguard hadn’t come running at the first sounds of a struggle, either Fable had successfully taken him out, or he was busy arranging the arrest of a suspicious young woman with fake bloodstains that were really just water. Ghost had to hand it to the Abnegation girl; he knew that, as an initiate, he wouldn’t have stood half a chance against a professional bodyguard in a fight, even with the element of surprise on his side. And if he were being completely honest, his present self probably wouldn’t have fared much better.
He took another hit of cannabis until a film formed around his senses, pleasantly blurring the world. Ghost’s thoughts grew conspicuously loud in his head, jockeying for his attention. “Which would you rather be, a werewolf or a unicorn?” he suddenly blurted out, looking over at Blair to gauge her reaction. In profile, her nose formed a gentle slope, and her eyebrow was a shade darker than her champagne hair. She was irrefutably pretty. That eyebrow scrunched with a small scowl as Blair responded a werewolf, obviously. “Why’s that?” Ghost asked, returning the vape pen to his pocket. She hesitated before answering. Then, with visible reluctance, as if she were afraid that Ghost might ridicule her, Blair finally spoke. Because werewolves have no control over their powers. And because they have multiple identities living in one body—not that she expected Ghost to understand that, she added hastily.
“No, that makes perfect sense,” he said, sobering. He turned his gaze away from her and had started pensively staring out the window when she unexpectedly turned the question back on him. “What?” he asked, caught off guard. Blair snorted at his absentminded reply, but instead of feeling self-conscious, Ghost felt absurdly flattered that she had taken enough interest in his thoughts to return the question. “A unicorn—obviously.” He imitated the decisive authority of her answer. “Because, for starters, the unicorn is the purest of all creatures. No one would dare kill it, because the perpetrator would be forever cursed with a fate worse than death. If that’s not a good safeguard against predation, then I don’t know what is.” Ghost gave a significant pause and ran a hand down his leather coat and double-breasted silk shirt. “Plus, if I were a werewolf, my clothes would be torn to shreds every time I shift into wolf form. That’s a massive financial liability.” He smiled wickedly. “And an equally massive inconvenience when I shift back.”
Ghost watched Blair attentively and saw the exact moment when she registered the joke, her eyes swelling with such shock it was almost horror. He cackled with laughter while Blair shook her head, as if thinking that boys were deeply disgusting. She eased the Valor to a stop, and Ghost glanced back out the windshield in surprise to see Fable Morvo. Her pomegranate ringlets hung forward and obscured her face as she looked down at the limp, black-clad body of a burly man at her feet. Alarm fired through Ghost, and he surveyed up and down the path, scanning for potential witnesses, but there was no one within a half-mile radius. While he and Blair had been busy subduing Obadiah Parks, Fable must have caused some kind of commotion or scene to clear people out of this part of the park. Somehow, Ghost didn’t want to know and desperately wanted to know what had happened both at once.
Fable continued staring at the body; she didn’t seem to notice Blair and Ghost’s arrival. Exchanging a worried look with his accomplice, Ghost unbuckled his seatbelt, swung the door open, and climbed out of the car. A warm breeze flattened the fabric of his shirt against the small of his back, where sweat made it stick. The decrepit vehicle’s air conditioner was busted, and despite its interior being stiflingly hot, he and Blair didn’t dare drive with the windows down for fear of Parks suddenly waking up and screaming for help. “Hey, Fable, looks like you did a great job!” Ghost called as he approached. “Now why don’t you hop in the backseat while I put the finishing touch on Stapes, and then we’ll get the hell out of here.” He crouched over Obadiah’s downed bodyguard and produced a small syringe filled with memory serum. Ghost jabbed it into the man’s neck and depressed the plunger, barely eliciting a stir from Stapes. Fable had gotten him good, indeed. “By the way, I never doubted you for a second,” Ghost said encouragingly, craning his neck up at Fable. She wasn’t a tall girl, but in that moment she stood so strong and bright, it was like staring into the sun.
Fable immediately called him out on his bullshit. She glowered down at him menacingly, daring him to deny it. “Oh yeah, it absolutely was,” Ghost agreed cheerily, remembering the cold certainty he’d felt while sitting in the tree that Fable would be the weakest link who ruined the plan and got them all arrested. “One hundred percent. But look at it this way: Now that I’m impressed with your ability, I’ll give you bigger responsibilities in the future and expect you to handle them with equal success. And then should you fail, I’ll be really disappointed. So don’t mess up.” He said this all with a sunny smile as he finished dragging Stapes behind some dense shrubbery, where the unconscious body was less likely to be seen by the casual observer. Ghost bounced easily to his feet. Memory serum wasn’t an exact science, but the memory they wanted to erase from Stapes’s brain was brief and recent enough that Ghost didn’t doubt the serum would do its job. If anything, it might take a little too much from the man’s memory, so Ghost had lowered the dose marginally; it would be equally suspicious if Stapes woke up and suddenly forgot a critical part of his identity or duties.
Without waiting to see if Fable would follow, he turned and headed back to where Blair was cautiously watching the exchange from behind the windshield of the Valor. Ghost reclaimed the passenger seat, unconcerned about Fable sitting in the seat immediately in front of Parks. He and Blair had already searched their captive for weapons and disarmed him, so even if he woke up and somehow managed to break free of his bonds, however improbable, Fable was in no imminent danger of being shot or stabbed. “Six Thirty-Seven Little Hammer Lane,” Ghost told Blair. When she looked at him questioningly, he elaborated, “It’s a unit of an abandoned rowhouse in Baneberry—a neighborhood mostly taken over by Factionless—and it’s also where we’re going to interrogate your future father-in-law. No one will interrupt us there.” Blair shot Ghost a lethal look and opened her mouth to retort, but just then Fable opened the door to the backseat and clambered inside. Rather than drag a near stranger into their private conflict, Blair guided the car back onto the asphalt and then peeled off for the seedier side of the city again, the Valor fleeing back in the direction it had come from like a rat scurrying for the shelter of a sewer.

 

[Nerdy.]

Charlotte "Charlie" Stark || 20 || Medic || Dauntlessborn

Charlotte took a moment to breathe before responding to Bloom. Her voice quivered like the wind, and it took all of her self-control to not openly sob at how her day had turned out. Nothing seemed to go right for her, not now, not ever. It would not have surprised her if her father had turned up and taken her out back to beat her up, or worse, but thankfully that was not an addition to her day, instead, she held the phone close to her ear, pressing it so close that it warmed her temple, and tried to speak sensibly. "I'm up Gorse lane, but I'm on my way to you." She glanced behind her and sucked in a breath as her mind played tricks on her, showing every shadow to be Noah and Harrison following her, or Caspian's corpse, or Jeremy... "Please don't hang up, I think I'm safe but I wouldn't mind the security." She finished, and heard as Bloom insisted that she would stay on her phone and would make her way to Charlie so that they could meet half way, Charlie breathed a sigh of relief and quickened her pace. She couldn't help but think this must be a simulation, everything that was happening was surely something she feared, but she could think clearly, she could remember exactly how she got here today and knew deep down that this was no dream and no simulation. This was reality, as shitty and terrifying as reality could be. She knew that soon enough she would need to console herself and go to Caspian's funeral, she wouldn't have missed it for the world, but she was too scared, too shocked and too broken to do that. She thought back to how nice it had been to go to the cafe with Thorn, and how that date had ended so poorly, and only gotten worse. She wished she could be b ack there now, or even that Thorn would be here now, the sturdy young man had always been a sense of security for Charlie, even through their 4 year age gap. Charlie had never felt shy or awkward to hang out and enjoy the presence of those that were Aubrey's age, as she herself had not grown up with friends in Dauntless her own age, besides Caspian, Harper and Phillip. So Thorn had always been close to her, and they'd always gotten along swell, so Charlie wished he had stayed with her after the cafe, but knew that it was good that he had left, he shouldn't have had to deal with the stuff she was dealing with. He shouldn't even be dealing with the things he was dealing with, but Charlie knew that she had no power to change that.

Charlie finally saw Blooms dark hair from a distance, and felt her heart skip in anticipation for seeing her, only to drop as she noticed that Bloom was not alone. Charlie froze, her mouth drying as she tried to think of what she could do, her eyes scanned the boy quickly and it was easy to tell who it was, Jake. But she was not in the mood for Jake's delightful personality, although she usually found it adorable and sweet, if not a little obnoxious, she knew that her body, mind and emotions were so near empty that she could break down at the slightest touch, and she doubted that Jake had the ability to be gentle, with words or physique. However, she would not push him away or be rude, she just needed another plan to stop herself from breaking down quickly. Bloom rushed over to Charlie, and asked her what was wrong, obviously noting the red eyes and distraught look, not to mention Charlie had started to shiver as if she were cold, the shock of everything having seeped into her body and now coming out like she was cold and scared. Charlie could see Jake was right beside Bloom, also looking concerned, dear thing, and Charlie couldn't think of another way to talk to Bloom alone without doing something she almost never did. Charlie bit her lip and wrapped her arms around the female, obviously giving her a fright, as Bloom knew Charlie well enough to know that she never did that. Bloom adapted quickly and hugged Charlie back, as Charlie whispered quietly to her in order to try and give her some information quietly. "I can't talk with Jake here, but I will tell you later... I might be in some trouble." She said, her voice soft and quiet, and watching as Bloom nodded, her hands wrapped around Charlie lovingly and a gentle pat on her back informed Charlie that Bloom had heard her and understood. Charlie stepped back and tried to smile at Jake before resigning to not smile, her body unable to do that in the moment. "Caspian's dead. His... his funeral is beginning soon. Would you come with me Bloom? I don't think I can go alone, you know how much Caspian meant to me, I... I need you." She said softly, and watched as Bloom's eyes showed a range of emotions at all the information. Jake's too.

Charlie looked at Jake. "I'm sorry Jake I didn't mean to steal Bloom off of you, I wouldn't have called her if I'd known she had company." Charlie would have invited Jake were it anything other than Caspian's funeral that she was about to attend. But she knew that the boys energy would only cause her to break down more than she already was. He was a lovely boy and someone she thought had good potential, but right now, Charlie needed Blooms quiet and gentle support, rather than Jake's boyish and puppy like joy. She turned to Bloom. "I need to go and get some things, and get ready, I can meet you at the ceremony." She declared, and watched as Bloom agreed to her terms, though she could tell Bloom was worried and didn't want to watch Charlie leave at all, nor did she want her to go without having told her what had happened. But Charlie knew that Bloom would be patient and would speak with her later; she waved goodbye to the two and turned around, suppressing a sob in her throat she began the walk to Caspian's apartment. It wasn't a long walk, or maybe it was, Charlie's mind was not on her surroundings and she arrived at the apartment almost as if she had teleported there. She was aware that both Maverick and Ghost lived at the apartment, but she had a gut feeling that neither would be there, and when she tried her key in the lock, it opened and she was greeted with dark silence. She mustered a weak "hello" but was only met with more silence, which showed that her thoughts had been correct. She turned a light on and immediately she felt a tear trickle down her cheek as the empty apartment greeted her, and not Caspian. She walked through numbly like a Ghost, unaware of the tears that streaked down her face, and softly opened Caspian's door. It had obviously been searched and used for investigation, as there was tape and a strangely clean mess in the room, but Charlie wasn't so worried, nor was she able to be, her mind so numb at this point as to not work. Her fingerprints would be all over this room anyway, she had lived her for a couple days when her father had been beating her so bad. She went to the wardrobe, ducking under some tape that had been erected there, and rifled through the clothes in order to find the things she was looking for. Eventually she found the two items she desired. One was a black leather jacket with a beautiful fiery phoenix on the back, almost a perfect replica of the tattoos that both Charlie and Caspian shared, the other item of clothing was a soft dark grey sweater that Caspian had always given Charlie when she was cold. It was way too large for her and had holes and ripped hems, but it smelled like Caspian and Charlie loved it. She took both the items from the wardrobe and exited the room and the apartment. Making her way to the ceremony.

----

Charlie sat near the front of the room, but not so near the front as to be easily seen by everyone. She wore her black dress that she'd been wearing all day, but now had a specific black leather jacket on that Caspian had given to Alice so long ago. It was too big for Charlie, so big that she was able to wear it over the grey sweater as well, but she felt some comfort in wearing it, even if it reminded her of the fact that both Alice and Caspian were now dead. Bloom sat beside her, but neither spoke, they listened and grieved, but there were no words that could express exactly what any one person was feeling. She wanted to go see Caspian, she regretted the last time she had, yes he had been drunk and trying to touch her, but she shouldn't have gone away from him, maybe if she had stayed he would still be alive, or maybe she would be dead with him. She inwardly scolded herself for her selfishness at leaving him there when he was so drunkenly incapacitated. It was her fault, that much was true in her mind, even if she hadn't killed him herself like the investigators were saying. Her face pale and her skin cold, she sat there numbly until the ceremony had finished, almost watching it through a haze of disbelief. If Bloom spoke to her, the medic didn't hear, and if she heard, she couldn't discern any words from the mumbles. Her eyes had wept as much as possible before the ceremony had begun, so the medic had not dropped a single tear in the funeral, but her eyes showed the history of crying that today had brought out. Her face tired and forlorn, she finally arose once people were leaving, drinking, eating and talking, and slowly walked to Caspian's casket. She stopped before she could see his face, and felt her heart jump into her throat. She wavered on the spot, as if she would faint or fall over, and she was numbly aware that Bloom stabilized her, having walked up with her. Charlie steadied herself, and walked forward, Caspian's face coming into view inside the casket, pale and very assuredly dead. Charlie let out an almost incomprehensible moan of sorrow, so quiet that she herself did not hear it, as she walked as close as possible, her hand reaching out to hover over Caspian's features. She resisted touching him, unsure that she wanted to feel his cold skin, his eyes closed and his hear finely combed, makeup placed on him so that he looked alive, Charlie wished he could just wake up, joke around and join her for the day. But no, that was not to be.

Just like they had not meant to be. Her visions of marrying Caspian as a youngster, of raising a family with him, someone who could likely protect her from Jeremy... Charlie had had to let those dreams go when she had seen Caspian's love for Alice, and reciprocation that Alice had back. Charlie had not loved Caspian like Alice had, but she had loved him in her own way, deeply and purely. He may have taken her innocence from her, but she had forgiven him. Then in the end, Alice had died, and although Charlie had never felt any relief that Caspian was single, she had wondered if there had been any chance of the two rekindling their relationship, but it was clear that after his relationship with Alice, Caspian had realized who it was that he loved, and what he liked, and it had not been Charlie. But that was okay, or at least that's what Charlie told herself, she was his best friend, and he called her family. She took off the leather jacket, gently laying it over Caspian's body, like a blanket, and leaned forward to kiss him softly on the forehead, one last time. Her heart wrenched at this feeling and she had to move away quickly as her body became too light and faint to be trusted. Bloom took command and led Charlie back to a chair, helping her sit down and making sure she was okay. Charlie again hardly said a word and hardly acknowledged her best friends presence. Shock had fully wrought her like a train wreck, and now she sat there morose and frozen in time. It wasn't until Bloom had repeated her name a number of times that Charlie looked up at the man who stood in front of her. Or rather it was a number of people, Charlie saw that it was Asher, Phillip, Jacob and Oscar, with their respective partners and children. They came to check how she was, everyone who was close to Charlie having known how close she was to Caspian. Charlie managed to smile a weak smile of gratefulness at their concern, and she wished them her condolences as well. Once they had all left, Phillip having stayed a little longer to chat with Bloom and try to chat with Charlie, another person came over and sat beside Charlie. "I don't mean to intrude now, Miss Stark, but there is the matter of Caspian's will." Charlie looked at him mutely. "It is instated entirely to you." Charlie blinked in surprise. "What?" She asked dumbly, and listened as the man repeated himself. He gave her a piece of paper and Charlie looked at it, reading it herself to see that it was indeed Caspian's official will, and that she was, indeed, the only person named to get any inheritance of his, life insurance and possessions. Of course Aubrey and Sasha were labeled too, but it was entitled to Charlie herself.

It was at this point that Charlie became too dizzy to even keep herself upright, and she sank against the chair, her head falling into her hands which were now only able to catch it by her elbows on her knees. Again she was briefly aware of Bloom's presence, but the medic was so shocked and upset to truly respond to anything she might say.

Interacting with: Bloom Sanctuaryforall1 & Jake kiwifrosty

Aubrey Amber Stark || 16 || Initiate || Dauntlessborn

Aubrey had spent the majority of the day after simulations in her room trying to come to terms with the fact that Caspian was dead. She had never imagined that someone like Caspian could die, he was so mighty and so strong and so immmovable, her role model and inspiration, her mentor and her adoration. There was nothing that Caspian didn't embody for Aubrey, he even had a high ranking position in Dauntless, although Aubrey had always aspired for higher, she had admired Caspian's position nonetheless, and had thought that one day it would be fun to be a Dauntless trainer just like he was. She had been sad when he had disappeared from training, but never in her life had she supposed that he would die. The world needed Caspian in it, that's how Aubrey saw it anyway, and now the world, for the moment, was no more. She screamed in pain as she began to throw some of her own possessions against the wall in anger, some things bouncing off, some shattering. Damn life and it's ways of ruining things. Aubrey couldn't handle the emotions, reaching into her side desk for her stash of throwing knives and darts, she began to aggressively throw them into her wall, each one making a solid thunk and leaving a large slice in the walls. Of course Aubrey knew this was an immature way of dealing with this but the pain was too much to bear and this wasn't really hurting anyone. The only time she stopped was when her mother came in, and Aubrey watched as Sasha looked at the wall littered in knives, darts and holes, and said nothing, simply telling Aubrey that Caspian's funeral was soon, and Sasha had to leave now, so Aubrey could come now or later. Aubrey told her mother that she would go later, and Sasha left without another word. Aubrey went back to throwing her knives, eventually stopping when as she had finished another round of throwing the knives, she realized she could hear a voice at the door. Hoping it to be Finn, she rushed to answer it, only to stop as she heard the voice introduce itself as Thorn.

Aubrey wasn't upset that it was Thorn who had come checking on her, but her heart ached for the fact that Finn hadn't, however, Aubrey stiffened her back and walked up to the door, opening it and seeing Thorn holding two bouquet's. "Hi Thorn." She said quietly, watching as he repeated what he had already said in order that Aubrey heard the entirety of it. He had come to check on her? Knowing that she would be upset by this. Aubrey felt a small stab of pain at the idea that it was evident that she would be weakened and hurt at Caspian's death, but she simply ignored it, this wasn't the weakness that she avoided, this would make her stronger somehow. Aubrey nodded at Thorn's words, and when he offered the bouquet she accepted, bringing it to her nose and smelling it, breathing in a bit too much and sneezing. She giggled slightly at the sneeze, sniffling as her nose began to run. She invited Thorn inside, and searched for a vase to hold the two bouquet's, eventually using some jars as she was unsure where her mother kept the vases. Thorn wasn't very vocal, and Aubrey wasn't either, an unusual time for Aubrey, who was usually a chatterbox and never shut up. She wondered about Thorn's offer, and knew there was only one thing she wanted him to do. "You could come to the funeral with me? I don't want to go alone." She said, watching as Thorn readily agreed. Aubrey smiled slightly at that, a small genuine but sad smile that was unusual on her usually joyful features. "I'll just put a jacket on." She said, and went to her room, eventually returning with a long black jacket that fell to her knees. She exited the house with Thorn, and walked beside him. Eventually, Aubrey couldn't bear the emptiness she felt, and she stepped closer, linking her arm through Thorn's, not brave enough to just hold his hand like she would with Finn. They didn't speak much, Thorn asked where Charlie was, and Aubrey answered that she didn't know, Charlie had simply rang her about Caspian's death, and hadn't been home, she assumed she'd gone straight to the funeral.

Aubrey felt inclined to speak, hating the silence that sat in the air between them. "Did you know Charlie and Caspian used to date? When their initiation started, they dated for a while, apparently it didn't work out because they never ended up together after initiation, but I always hoped that she would marry him, I always wanted him to be my brother. He kinda already was anyway, he trained me like family, but it wasn't the same, you know?" She began to ramble, "Now Caspian won't ever get to even go to Charlie's wedding when she gets married, or if, I guess, do people even care about wedding's anymore? I mean I don't even remember the last wedding I went to, but maybe Charlie will get married, apparently she has some sort of boyfriend, mom said that they're coming for dinner tomorrow night and Finn and I were..." Aubrey gritted her teeth shut as she realized how much she just said. "Sh*t, I wasn't meant to say that, apparently it's a secret. Plus... Finn isn't even responding to my calls so he can't even help me catch.. I mean.. find..." Aubrey began to awkwardly stutter as she tried to catch her tongue mid conversation, having never really trained in keeping her mouth shut, she was naturally not very good at it. Thorn seemed concerned though, and Aubrey realized that if Finn wasn't going to be at the dinner tomorrow night, then maybe she could count on Thorn? Aubrey looked at Thorn with intention and stopped walking. "You care for Charlie right? I mean who doesn't... but what if I told you..." Aubrey began to whisper, leaning closer to Thorn. "What if I told you that someone is hurting her? Apparently... I got told that it was her lover. And as luck would have it, he's coming for dinner tomorrow night, I have orders to alert leadership about this, but originally I was going to have Finn back me up so if things went south we could protect Charlie. But you care for Charlie just as much as Finn does right? You could come, do you want to come? We can save Charlie together." Aubrey watched as Thorn heard her and his face changed in many emotions as he listened to her, she wasn't sure if he would say yes, and she was definitely sure that she shouldn't have told him, but it was too late now. They continued walking as THorn continued to think about it. But Aubrey was almost certain that he would say yes, even if he needed to ask a lot of questions to get there, she could see the protective instinct in his eyes. They continued walking to the funeral, and each step closer Aubrey got chattier and chattier, until they actually got there, and then as if a switch had been flicked, she went silent.

---

Aubrey had sat nearer the back than the front, not daring to be anywhere near Caspian's corpse. The idea of seeing him, not alive, was sickening and Aubrey felt like throwing up what little food she had in her stomach just thinking about it. Instead, she sat far enough away to only barely see the casket itself, and she sat with Thorn. The blonde girl was dead silent, and her hand had finally braved its way into holding Thorn's hand, regardless of whether that was something he was comfortable with or not. Aubrey had never been shy about physical touch or friendly intimacy, unlike Charlie, so she wasn't shy or awkward about doing something like that. Usually it would be with Finn, but given the fact he wasn't with her, she had no worried about doing it with Thorn. The funeral was like a weird party that nobody wanted to be at, it had drinks and food and people doing speeches and saying things, but instead of a party boy to soak in all the praise and fun, Caspian lay dead and unmoving, gone to the world. Aubrey hated it, and she hoped that it would end soon so she could leave. However, she was saved from her hatred as a body moved to sit beside her, and she glanced quickly, heart beat increasing, only to calm down as she noticed that it was Maverick. Aubrey sighed in relief as the older boy sat beside her and gave a level of comfort she hadn't known was possible. She had been close friends with Maverick when they were little, and when he had disappeared she had almost become his substitute for Caspian, a younger sibling for him to dote on, train and scold. Aubrey had missed Maverick deeply when he had left, but he had come back an entirely different person, and she struggled to relate to him now, almost seeming like a child in his eyes, which caused her pain. They had been equals once, yet now it seemed like they weren't. However, at this moment, his presence gave her a huge sense of comfort.

His words surprised her, and the realization hit her that Maverick had missed such a huge portion of his brothers life. She didn't know at first how to process, and then answer, Mavericks question. Her hand squeezed Thorn's as she let go in order to rub her legs for comfort. "He was the best person." Aubrey quietly said in reply, knowing no other way of describing Caspian's person to Maverick. "He trained me almost every weekend, he was like my older brother, he spoiled me stupid and always looked out for Charlie and me." She added, deciding that if Maverick wanted to ask about him that he wanted to know about him. "I don't think I will ever respect someone as much as I respected him." She finished, unable to continue talking about him without the urge to cry. She clamped her jaw shut, breathing sharply through her nose as she stared at the back wall, wishing this funeral would be over and she could forget about it. Her eyes scanned over to the bar and her desire for a drink began to spike, it wasn't unusual to drink or get drunk at a funeral, Dauntless was funny like that. "I need a drink." She said, and moved off of the chair to go over and get something. She ended up ordering three drinks, one for her, Mav and Thorn. But she wasn't sure they would want it. She carried them back, sitting down beside the boys and offering them. "If you don't want them, I do." She said, already beginning to drink the one she held, hoping each sip would send her away from this living nightmare.

Interacting with: Thorn Sanctuaryforall1 & Maverick WanderLust.

Christian "Chris" Parks || 16 || Initiate || Dauntlessborn

Christian had become quite bored over the time he had spent this day, sure it had been good fun to go zip-lining with people, but he had to admit that what his mind was really on was his girlfriend; Blair. She was so missing from his life right this moment, he knew she was struggling with Ajax, and he knew she struggled with her Divergency, no wonder he only added to her struggles with his imminent death. His mind wondered to Ghost, as he walked back home from the sweaty self-training he had just done, Ghost had given him drugs to begin with, and then had kept them from him only to give him a dose so large that he had become deathly addicted? Christian shook his head, confused, that was so convoluded and complicated that he couldn't wrap his head around it, and wished he could just be done with Ghost. Unfortunately the short white bastard's presence was all too common in the tall Dauntless boy's life, being a trainer and an initiate, both had to interact with each other on a daily basis, sometimes much too close for comfort. Christian knew that he wanted to hurt Ghost, badly, but also knew he would likely get kicked out of Dauntless if he did. Christian sighed, rubbing his dark blonde hair as he entered his house, making a bee-line to his shower and having a cold, relaxing rinse. While there, once he had finished his thoughtful shower, he noticed that all of his family, minus his father (and mother, of course) had congressed in the lounge, all dressed in black - not unusual - and as if they were about to go. Even his nieces were there, and Christian gave a gentle but weak smile as they ran up to him and gave him tight hugs, climbing up him like the tree they believed him to be. "What's going on?" Christian asked, confused about the family reunion that he hadn't been invited to. It was soon made clear to him what had happened, Caspian had died and his funeral was today. Chris was surprised that a funeral would happen so quickly when most people hadn't even heard of his death. Christian himself didn't know Caspian well, he really only knew him through his older siblings and through Aubrey, but after some convincing from Terra and Felicia, Christian agreed to go. Before they left for the funeral though, Christian having dressed in an all black suit that fit him a bit too tight, Terra gave him his prescribed medication. "Oh I don't..." He tried to tell her that he wasn't always taking that anymore, but they were in a hurry and he simply took it to be obedient and quiet. He dreaded the numbness it would bring about, the emptiness and the lack of all feeling.

---

Christian sat, his blue eyes unusually grey as they stared at the droning people who spoke of Caspian. Although he sat there with his family near the front, he admitted that he wasn't really listening to the people or the event in general, nor was he thinking of much, in fact, after a few minutes, 15 at the most, Christian had slowly slipped back into the old ways of his Anger restricting medication. He felt little to nothing, no sadness, or rage, or love, or anything. He sat there quiet and obedient, terribly bored and wishing he could just leave. He didn't know Caspian well personally, he only came for his family, they asked him, and he would leave when it was done. He had noticed others at the funeral, Thorn, Charlie, Bloom, Aubrey and of course Maverick, but he had no desire to go talk to them or interact. As the service wrapped up he followed his siblings like a robot, not saying or doing anything except shadowing them. It wasn't until Asher told him he could leave that he realized that it was over and he could, indeed, leave. He said no words to anyone, but left, his mind an empty tomb of a place, as the old medications that so often used to live in his body caused him to reminisce these feelings physically again. He occasionally thought of Blair now, but he was not concerned, she told him to stay out of what she was doing, so that's exactly what he was doing. In fact, to stay to her wishes, he decided to take a very different route, one that avoided Blair's house entirely. This route was not one that Christian traveled often, but the Parks boy had been down most streets of Dauntless, so he wasn't surprised at all when he looked up to recognize Shayla's apartment above him, and lo and behold Shay stood there looking down at him. He said no words, but waited, and soon enough the girl waved him up.

Christian knocked on her door and waited for her to open up, she did, and he entered her neat apartment, immediately feeling a simple warmth in his body. The outside air had been warm but held that little bit of wind on it, this room was warm, and yet cozy, it made Christian feel almost sleepy. "Hi Shay." He said softly, his voice dead and uninterested. He wasn't aware of his change of voice, but it was almost always evident to those that knew him, especially those that had known him recently, since he had transferred to using Lull (not that anyone knew the specifics), his personality had changed from this grey and dead person to a genuine character. Now though, it was as if that had all gone, and it was back to the same old grey Christian that Indira had always loved. Christian sat down on Shay's couch, immediately sneezing as the cat hair that sat around her house caused him to have an allergic reaction, he was allergic to cats; badly enough that he reacted fairly quickly, but it was a mild allergy, similar to hay-fever, and he had never let that stop him from doing things with people who had cats. In fact he rather liked cats, and would have his own if he had not been allergic. He sighed, as he leaned back on the couch and looked up at the ceiling. Shay asked him what he was doing here, and he shrugged. "Caspian's funeral. Family dragged me to it." He said with another shrug, not that the funeral had been unpleasant but just a little boring. He was sure that it was very sad, most people had been crying or making a scene of themselves, but Christian didn't have any capacity to care right now, which was one of the reasons he and Shay got along. He had never noticed before that Shay's friends had all stopped hanging out with her, nor had he noticed that he was the one exception, and he was not even very close to her. But he didn't care, Shay was Shay and he felt comfort in the presence of people he knew.

Interacting with: Shayla Sanctuaryforall1

Cassidy "Cassie" Wickham || 16 || Initiate || Erudite Transfer

Cas was not quick enough to resist Randi's friendly way of inviting her in, and she simply had to adapt quickly, walking into the infirmary and passing Maverick - who was walking out - as she did. Randi seemed almost upset that Maverick was going, and Cas had a sinking feeling that she had just walked in on something intimate and had interrupted it. She didn't care about people's relationships, but she didn't want to make enemies or make unnecessary mistakes. Yet if Randi was annoyed at Cas, she had yet to make that clear, as the attractive blonde was quick to offer her help. Cas spoke little, on the one hand it was because she wasn't sure quite how to respond to Randi through all of this, but also her lack of speech could be boiled down to the intense migraine that was happening in her body. It had started as an intense headache, with a slight aura and trouble with... well... everything. Now? Cas was struggling to comprehend Randi through the noise in her head, and her body was wanting her to shut down, to pass out. Cas took a few deep breaths, and shakily smiled at Randi. "I just need some pain meds, I have a migraine." She managed to say without stuttering or mumbling, and inwardly praised herself for that. She glanced at Randi through the pain in her body, and noticed that the blonde had been in here for a legitimate reason also, as it looked like she had taken a rather large wound from something, recently. Cas was deathly curious, but her own ailments were more important in the moment that those of Brandish Rose. Not because she felt no sympathy or empathy, instead it was merely because as the time ticked Cas was having less and less control on herself. If Griffon had been here and they had been alone, this would be when she would curl up in his arms and let him rock her, while the pain meds set in. Since he wasn't here, Cas electd that an unhealthy dose of pain meds would do the trick.

As if by a miracle, Randi produced the exact pain meds that Cas needed, having looked over by Charlie's supplies. Cas barely managed to get out a thank you as she took a triple dose of the recommended intake. She knew that by doing so she would likely have other symptoms that were unpleasant. But given that because of her faulty genetics she felt pain on a level unrealized by most others, she felt the risk was worth it, and would rather unpleasant symptoms than painful ones. As she sat down on the same bed that not two minutes ago Randi had been sitting on, she was mutely aware of Randi wanting to look at her arm. Cas tried to resist her, but when she saw that Randi was quite insistent on looking at the cut, she decided to let her do so, and watched her with perceptive brown eyes. Every touch around the cut was like another knife plunging into her arm, and Cas struggled not to screech at each touch that Randi made, this was only heightened as Randi decided to go full medic on her and begin cleaning it with alcohol wipes. At this, Cas screamed for a split second, before grabbing the wipes from Randi with a shaky hand. "S-Sorry.... that really stung... can you please just use water? I'll have it sanitized later when the pain meds kick in." She tried to explain lightly, hoping that Randi wouldn't ask too many questions. It wasn't like her condition was a secret, similar to Griffon's, but she didn't like to scream about what was wrong with her, just like she felt it silly to boast about what was right about her. So instead, she sat there, and tried to focus on the pain in her head and body, and the thumping sounds her head and heart made, as Randi helpfully cleaned the wound - which wasn't particularly bad, but realistically quite painful - and then bandaged it up gently. Once she was done, Cas managed to smile, as the pain relief finally began to kick in and her boy was able to do the things she wanted it to. "Thank you." Cas said, as Randi apparently decided to sit on the bed with her.

The girls sat in silence for a bit, and Cas was surprised at the fact that Randi was so decidedly nice and helpful. Out of all the people in the initiation, Randi would not have been the person she'd assume to have any Amity or Abnegation qualities, as she would have pegged her as a bonifide Dauntless. Could she be Divergent? Like me? Cas thought to herself, eventually deciding that it was safer to believe that nobody but her was. The statistics would have her believe that only one or two people per initiation would be Divergent, but it was never certain how many were able to hide it. She had managed to get through initiation so far without anyone noticing, thanks to her own research, her upbringing and the kindness of her aptitude test taker. No, it was safer to assume that Randi was just being a team player here. Cas was just about to muster the strength and bravery to ask Randi what she was doing in the infirmary, when Randi beat her to the chase, and asked her how she got her cut. "Zip-lining. First time, didn't dodge a window very well." Cas replied, and watched as Randi did a knowing nod. Remembering that it was indeed glass that had sliced her arm, Cas knew that there could very well be glass still inside it, but she wouldn't have anyone get it out without either putting herself to sleep (which wasn't going to happen) or fully numbing her arm. She would have to talk to Griffon or Charlie later about it. "And you? I assume you don't just come to the infirmary to hang out with instructors. You look like you've had a fun time yourself." She teased lightly, trying a bit of sarcasm, unsure if Randi was the type to bite or not. From what she had seen and observed, Randi was quite a player, she liked sarcasm, fun, games and flirting. Cas could enjoy that and mimic it wonderfully, and if she had to admit it, she enjoyed it.

Interacting with: Randi Sanctuaryforall1

 

[Sanctuaryforall1]

Randi

Mood: Curious

Location: Infirmary

Interactions: Cas

At some point when Randi’s attention turned to Cassie, Mav managed to slip out the door. Randi didn’t mind though since she had already taken up the majority of his day and she knew that no matter how unpleasant it was Mav still had his brother’s service to deal with. She wished she could be there to support him but for now, Cassie needed a hand and Randi was just the girl for the job. She had patched Freight up enough times to tend to most common injuries. Cas coming in was actually probably a blessing in disguise because being alone with Mav was giving Randi crazy thoughts that her mind and heart did not agree with.

“Migraine?” Randi double-checked that she had heard Cassie right about the cause of one of her reasons for being in the infirmary. Turning to the medicine cabinet the blonde pulled it open and began sorting through bottles, taking some out and pushing others to the side as she looked for a specific name. Finally, her eyes settled on a bottle of pills with a blue label and she pulled them out before pouring the recommended amount into the lid and offering them to Cassie. “Here ya go.” She said with a smile as she played nurse. “This is Maxalt.” She informed the dark-haired beauty. “They are a brand of Rizatriptan, a type of triptan, that should block the pain pathways to your brain.” She assured her, making sure that she knew exactly what she was taking and why just in case it caused some sort of side effect that would require a real hospital. It wasn’t likely but it was certainly possible so she wanted Cassie to have all the information available to her. “And here is some water to take them with.” She added as she pulled one out of the mini-fridge and placed it beside her patient.

Her movements weren’t as swift as normal due to her own wound but she made do. Mav’s handy work on her bandages certainly helped but she knew she still looked like the star of a slasher film with her shirt soaked in blood. Cas’s arm had her attention though as she leaned against the counter and examined it from afar. It would definitely need tending to but Randi didn’t want to intrude further without Cas’s consent. When Cas gave her the go-ahead to clean the wound Randi nodded and already had the supplies stacked behind her. “Thank god because this looks like it could be hella nasty if it doesn’t heal upright and while you’ll look like a total bad ass your arm might be messed up internally as well.” She sighed with total honesty as she stepped over to examine the arm up close.

Randi went to work gently cleaning the wound but stopped when Cassie screeched and took the wipe from her. “Shit! Are you okay?” She asked with concern in her jade gaze. “Yeah, sure, whatever you need.” The platinum blonde agreed, not wanting to make the injured girl's pain worse. Carefully the young initiate went back to work gently cleaning the wound with water until she felt it was safe to bandage. “Make sure you get it looked at for real, as much as that may suck.” She instructed and nodded down to her gut to show that she truly understood how annoying and painful getting injuries inspected could be.

Carefully Randi pushed herself up onto the table with Cassie, needing to sit down as her body still processed all the blood loss from the past twenty-four hours. “Need something to lay your head on?” She offered to Cassie as she untied her flannel from around her waist. It wasn’t nearly as bloody as her shirt and the blood on it had dried and could be hidden. It wasn’t much but it was all she had to offer at the moment. “So…what the hell happened?” She inquired rather bluntly in her usual Randi charm. “I mean, what happened to mess your arm up like that?” She clarified.

Listening to Cassie’s brief explanation the blonde nodded her head in understanding. “Dodging windows is a skill that comes in time.” She replied with a playfully teasing tone to her voice. “And once you master that you move on to dodging birds.” She added on with a chuckle that caused her to wince in pain. Upon hearing Cassie turn the question on her she smiled and laughed, doing her best not to use her stomach in the process, as she shook her head. “Oh boy, that’s a long story that I don’t think either of us has the time for right now.” She admitted knowing that Cassie probably didn’t really want to hear all the details of Randi’s chaotic twenty-four hours. “Long story short though, I got in a bar fight and took a knife for a friend.” She replied honestly yet briefly. “And don’t you come to the infirmary to pick up hotties? I thought everyone was doing it these days?” She added jokingly with a teasing wink.

Nerdy.

code by Stardust Galaxy

Fable

Mood: Hollow

Location: Street

Interactions: Ghost and Blair

Fable looked down at Stapes limp form on the ground as she waited for Ghost and Blair to arrive. Her mind was lost in the events of the day including those that took place mere moments ago. Another version of her might have hesitated in taking on someone like Stapes, so why didn’t she? She already knew why, because at this point it was the only thing keeping her going. She hadn’t been on this mission long but she had already killed for it, for Ghost and Blair, so what was the harm in risking even more than murder. Her multi-colored eyes traveled over Stapes's limp body and she could still remember how he had been so willing to try and help her.

She had come stumbling out of an alleyway with tears streaming down her cheeks. Stapes was across the street and she made sure he saw her and her beaten form. The wounds she acquired from her fight with Dante certainly did the trick as she held her unwrapped and bloody hand against her side to make it look like she was holding a wound. She called out in a broken voice for help, stumbling, looking weak and like a damsel in distress. “Help me! Please!” She begged Stapes who was already rushing across the street towards her. The blood and bruises were all sold by the genuine look of pain on her face, the emotional flood gates she dared to open in order to make her act convincing. She for the first time since it happened allowed herself to feel the true pain of Dante’s death at her hands and it made her performance golden.

In an instant Stapes was in front of her on the empty street, the crowds having been lured away by a well-placed set of traffic cones that Fable had relocated several minutes ago to make it look like the road was shut down. The cones were out of sight of Stapes so they wouldn’t be seen but would stop foot traffic as well as regular traffic for a bit. Soon Stapes was standing before her, placing his hand gently on her to help keep her steady as he asked questions about what happened and who did this to her. Fable whimpered in pain and cried as she told him she was attacked and begged him not to leave her because she was afraid. While he looked like he wanted to charge off to find the man that did this to her Fable’s words seemed to keep him in his place as he gave her a nod.

She moved like she was losing her balance and Stapes jumped into action to catch her. He wrapped his arms under hers to try and catch her and in that instant Fable while making it seem like she was trying to grab onto him to steady herself, plunged the needle with the sedative into his neck. Stapes reeled back and clutched his neck where she had pumped the sedative into him, his eyes wide as his brain tried to fight the chemicals until a heartbeat later, he was on his knees then on the ground. Fable had jumped backwards in case he had struck out at her and was glad she did because as he went down, he swung out and missed her by inches.

The memories of the interaction and how it went down as well as the feelings she had felt were snapped away when she heard the approach of none other than Ghost. She didn’t know how long she had been standing there reliving the past but it was clearly long enough that Ghost felt the need to praise her which felt off. She nodded when he told her to get in the back seat and as she walked away she heard the young man claim that he never doubted her. Looking over at him she straightened up a bit and held her chin a bit higher as she shook her head, “Haven’t you had enough lies today?” She replied knowing that he most certainly doubted her like anyone else would have. “You had no faith in me, just admit it.” She challenged. His response was met with an eye roll as he stated that he would give her larger tasks that she better not fail in the future. She watched for a second as Ghost loaded Stapes into the car and looked around to make sure no one was watching them. Finally, the young redhead turned and walked over to the car, carefully getting into the front seat with a glance towards Ghost and Parks in the back.

Aviator WanderLust.

code by Stardust Galaxy

Thorn

Mood: Sorrowful

Location: Funeral

Interactions: Aubrey & Mav

Thorn hadn’t expected Aubrey to ask him to go to the funeral with her. Honestly, he half expected Finn to be with her now seeing as the two of them were so close. He understood her not wanting to go alone and agreed to accompany her so that she could have someone to support her at such a difficult time. He knew she wasn’t a fragile doll but loss could shake even the strongest of people and Thorn didn’t mind being a pillar to keep her from crumbling if her emotions became too heavy. He was surprised as they walked down the street that she looped arms with him but went with it naturally. Anything to make Aubrey feel better at a time like this was okay with him so long as it didn’t cause her any harm.

Listening to her ramble on and apparently regret it caused Thorn’s heart to ache for the girl. “Hey, hey, it’s okay.” He assured her as she fumbled with her words and clearly began to regret saying so much. “I had heard that they were close, I didn’t know how close though.” He replied as he backtracked to the start of the conversation. “I’m glad he could be someone for you to look up to, it sounds like he meant a great deal to you and you to him.” He added as he looked over at Aubrey with compassionate eyes.

As the conversation continued Thorn’s interest and concern grew at the mention that someone was hurting Charlie. After what Thorn had witnessed earlier in the day when Charlie had been giving him his simulation, he knew someone must have hurt her badly and hated it. He wasn’t aware if it was in the past or still happening and hadn’t been able to ask for fear that it would make things worse. Now he was finding out that it could possibly be her secret boyfriend and Thorn knew he needed to help no matter what. “I’m in.” He stated. Thorn wasn’t sure what he would do to the bastard that hurt Charlie when he met him but he prayed he would not lose sight of his morals though a more primal part of him wanted to rip the monster limb from limb. Thorn hated having thoughts like that, he hated the idea of acting violently. He had only ever truly done so once and that was when his father had dared to harm his mother in front of him. Thorn had left his father with a broken nose and arm that night and it haunted him ever since, the feeling that he had that kind of rage pent up within him. He didn’t regret protecting his mother, but he did hate that he had given into the violence. “We’ll save her together.” He assured Aubrey as they continued down the path.

--

The funeral was a solemn event as many were but in true Dauntless fashion, there was of course drinks and food with those who knew Caspian telling their fondest stories of him during their speeches. Thorn remained quiet but attentive, wanting to be respectful to the man who they were there to honor. When Aubrey placed her hand in his he didn’t even consider pulling away because he knew she was doing what she needed. He gave her an assuring squeeze but nothing more, allowing her to squeeze his hand as hard as she needed when things became difficult to handle.

When Maverick showed up at the funeral Thorn thought about giving the instructor his condolences but knew right now Mav and Aubrey needed each other more. Making eye contact with the older man Thorn gave him a nod of respect that voiced his sorrow as he stayed quiet and listened to Aubrey talk about Caspian. It was truly amazing the love she had for him, that he meant so much to her and to so many people. Thorn wished he had known him better but also knew that Caspian, like many other Dauntless, would have thought him odd and lesser because of his beliefs. That didn’t really matter to Thorn but it did tend to affect the relations he held with other members of his faction.

As Aubrey rose to go get a drink Thorn looked over at Mav and asked, “Need anything?” The offer wasn’t just limited to the bar but truly open to anything the young man might need right now. Those around him were hurting and it was his job to try to help them wherever he could. When Aubrey returned with three drinks Thorn looked at his and politely took it to sip on. He didn’t plan to get drunk knowing that this was the way Aubrey was choosing to handle her pain and being ready to take care of her if needed as the evening went on. “Thanks, do you need me to grab you some food?” He asked politely.

Nerdy. WanderLust.

code by Stardust Galaxy

 

[Aviator]

Ghost // Male // Age 18 // Training Instructor // Erudite to Dauntless
​

The buildings in this part of the city reminded Ghost of decades-old dominos, their once glossy surfaces now cracked and stained with age, squeezed next to each other as though one tip was all it would take for them to fall. Blair pulled the Valor up to a small, single-story residence with a broken window that had been taped up in the wake of a break-in some time ago, the tape peeling and having lost most of its stickiness. While Blair and Fable fumbled with their captive, Ghost extracted a set of lockpicks from the duffel bag slung over his shoulder and knelt at the front door. Half a minute later, the lock yielded in his hands with a mechanical click! and the door swung inward on creaky hinges. I’ve still got it, Ghost thought proudly, even though in the prime of his criminal career he could have disabled a basic button lock in seconds. “After you, ladies.” He gestured inside the rowhouse with a chivalrous sweep of his arm, a cocky grin pulling at one corner of his mouth. In equal measure he enjoyed showing off his nefarious skillset but was also aware that in doing so he was prompting many questions about how he might have acquired it.
A storm of dust motes swirled up when the door of the abandoned apartment was opened, catching the early-evening sunlight slanting through the broken window. The interior was sparse; anything of value, even small, had already been taken. All that remained was a coffee table wobbling on three legs and a filthy mirror with a spiderweb of cracks, both of which would cost more money to repair than they’d fetch selling. For all that it was worth, Ghost flipped the measly button lock on the front door behind Blair and Fable as they entered with Parks’s limp body hanging between them, his chin lolling against his chest. Ghost swept through the apartment with the brisk, undaunted resolve of a tropical storm. His footsteps stirred the fine layer of dust that had accumulated on the floor, leaving faint tracks in his wake. Better clean those up before we leave, he noted. “In here.” He led the way into a bedroom branching off from a short hallway. There was a slash in the twin-sized mattress, stuffing pouring out of the open wound, but the desk and chair were surprisingly sturdy and intact. “Cheap, unbroken furniture,” Ghost said pleasantly. He ran a finger through the film of dust on the desk and examined it. “Living in the lap of luxury, aren’t we?”
Blair and Fable both appeared to be straining under Parks’s weight, Blair’s arms trembling as the Dauntless leader sagged and she readjusted her grip. She remarked how Ghost, as the only male among them, should be doing the heavy lifting. He winked in response. “Consider it a training exercise,” he quipped. “Unlike you two, I already paid my dues. Set him down there.” Ghost pointed at the heavy leg of the desk. When lowering Parks, Fable seemed to lose her grip and he smacked against the floor with a dull, sickening thud that made Ghost wince. “Please don’t damage the merchandise in unexplainable fashions.” He took off the duffel bag, set it on the floor, and crouched before it, removing a stout jar. When he turned back around, it was to find Blair and Fable staring between him and the duffel bag with furrowed brows. “What? It’s my literal bag of tricks. Every master thief has one.” Despite his flippant response, Ghost felt a nervous, anticipatory energy sing through his body. He wanted to pace, to manipulate a deck of cards in his hands. Instead he wetted his lips and ran a hand through his hair. “This is it.” He met Blair’s eyes, unsure whether he was hoping to find reassurance or that she would talk him out of this insane idea, even though it was already too late for that.
When there’s no going back, the only way out is forward. Swallowing, Ghost gathered his resolve and reminded himself that he had been the one to uncover Blair Avalon as Divergent, threatened Alex Young to his face and lived, swindled several thousand dollars away from two cardsharps, and (sort of) held his own in a duel against Harper Day. Right now, his adversary was tied up, unconscious, and three times his age. The fact that Obadiah Parks was also the leader of Dauntless only raised the stakes, but Ghost was a veteran gambler. He had this in the bag. Giving Blair a small, tight nod, he crossed the room and checked that Parks’s bonds had been securely fastened to the desk. Then he removed the gag from the man’s mouth and held the jar of smelling salts under his nose.
A muscle in Park’s face twitched and he stirred. The man opened his eyes, blinking in bewilderment at Ghost’s unfamiliar face and the shabby dwelling. Sensing that his hands were bound, Parks bucked violently, thrashing like a pinned bull. “The fuck are you?” Parks craned his head to see past Ghost, and his eyes narrowed on Blair. “You,” he seethed. “Release me right now, and I’ll think about letting you live with the factionless rather than have you executed on the spot, you backstabbing bitch.”
The desk rattled and scraped against the floor in response to Parks’s struggles. The thing was formidable in size and structure, but Ghost was taking no chances. “None of that,” he commanded softly, a pistol leaping into his hand. He pressed the barrel against Parks’s temple. Rage trembled inside Ghost’s body. “Talk to her that way again, and you will die on this floor where no one will find you.” With a glare of black loathing, Parks fell silent.
“We have a few questions to ask you,” Ghost continued, methodically extracting a syringe and vial of transparent liquid from the duffel bag. With deft motions, he transferred the contents of one to the other. “Be on your best behavior, and you’ll see your family for dinner tonight, Mister Parks.”
Parks’s mouth fell open and his eyes widened on the clear fluid. “Is that…?”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Ghost answered snappily. Parks did not flinch as the needle was inserted into his neck; he just stared at Ghost in alternating disbelief and fury. Ghost wondered whether he should have felt a vague sense of kinship for this man, who had transferred from Erudite and risen through the ranks of Dauntless over the course of several decades to eventually assume command of the faction. At one time, Parks was everything Ghost had ever aspired to be: successful, wealthy, admired by many. Parks was a self-made man like Ghost’s own father. And like Ghost’s father, who had profited from swindling families out of their life savings, Obadiah Parks seemed to have no compunctions about sentencing half a class of sixteen-year-olds to a life of poverty and failure every year when they were too young to even decide what they wanted from the world. Ghost felt only coldness toward the faction leader. He came to the conclusion that he didn’t want success anymore. Now all he wanted was power, and he’d take it for himself if he had to.
His lips turned up in a humorless smile. “How are you feeling, Mister Parks? Chatty? Not yet? Give it a minute, you will.”
Parks’s chest rapidly rose and fell in impotent rage. “Not as bad as you’re going to feel when my men find you and rip your balls off, you cheeky bastard.”
“I take much pride in my cheek, indeed. So long as your men don’t touch that, we’re good.”
“You insufferable creep.”
“I’m glad we understand each other.” Ghost stared at Obadiah Parks curiously, a twinkle in his dark eyes. “You’re not a very typical example of a former Erudite, Mister Parks. If we put politics aside and forgive the fact that you just insulted one of my friends, I can’t help but feel that I’d like you on a personal level. Under different circumstances, of course,” he amended quickly, acknowledging the fact that he still had a pistol trained on his unruly captive. Seeing as Parks wasn’t posing much of a threat, Ghost holstered his Wicked Sister.
“Now,” he said, adopting a more businesslike tone. “What can you tell me about Divergents?” Ghost was sure to keep his questions broad and general and make no assumptions, aware that if he used even one word with a slightly incorrect meaning or implication, Parks was obligated to respond to that and not to the deeper meaning of his question. The truth serum was very literal like that.
Parks snorted in derision. “Is this what you brought me out here for? Is this a goddamn joke? I’ll tell you—” His bravado dropped away like a coat he wore against the weather as the truth serum kicked in, eliciting a small whimper of pain from him. Parks’s eyes flared in horror and he suddenly clamped his lips into a flat line, as if he never intended to speak again. Sweat broke out on his forehead. Ghost had never been dosed with truth serum himself, but suddenly he was intensely curious as to how it worked, and what kind of pain Parks was experiencing. Not curious enough to take it myself, of course, he thought grimly. Plus the stuff was astronomically expensive, and Ghost had only bought enough for a one-time use, which he had already administered to Parks.
When Parks could no longer withstand it, he finally said, like an oyster yielding up the meat within, “They’re not—real!” The answers sounded like they were being physically torn out of him; Ghost grudgingly admired the resistance the other man had put up. “Everyone makes such a hullabaloo over them, and for nothing! All my life, I’ve seen not a damn thing that would lead me to believe that Divergents are any more real than Santa Claus or bigfoot.” A thought seemed to occur to Parks, and his shoulders fell with a sigh. “Don’t tell me those wackjob Divergent hunters hired you kids and put you up to this.” There was no more condescension in Parks’s voice. His expression softened, and his gaze flashed between Ghost, Blair, and Fable with what looked like pity.
Anger ignited in Ghost’s chest again. He wasn’t sure whether it was from being pitied by a bruised and battered captive at his mercy, or due to the fact that, if Parks really did know nothing about Divergents, then he, Blair, and Fable had all risked their lives and gone to so much effort for nothing. Ghost was used to being derided by the Dauntless-born, both initiates and adults alike out to make him feel like a fool, and most of the time he didn’t let it bother him. He wasn’t any weaker than them because he didn’t fit in; if anything, the ability to see issues from more than one perspective made him stronger. But Ghost was pointedly aware that he had been the one to organize this operation, that he’d promised Blair that Obadiah would have answers for them, and he’d failed her trust miserably. As her disappointed gaze bored into him from behind, his face curdled with shame.
Too prideful to admit defeat, Ghost persisted, “That’s a very good point you mention, Mister Parks. Can you tell us anything you know about Divergent hunters, please? Any names, specifically?”
“Other than the fact that they’re a bunch of deluded pricks chasing ghosts? They claim that they’re protecting the faction system from dissolution, but really what they’re doing is fearmongering that threatens to split up families, and for nothing! I only personally know one guy who’s mixed up in that shit: Jiao-long Young. You might recognize him as the leader of Erudite.”
Frustration rose in Ghost. Parks was telling him nothing that he didn’t already know. From behind him, he heard either Blair or Fable gasp in surprise and remembered that he had never told Blair about the job that Young had put him up to.
“If I had my way, all those buffoons would be thrown in cells and never see the light of day again. They inhibit my ability to effectively govern the Dauntless. Say.” Parks’s eyes slitted suspiciously at his interrogators. “If you kids aren’t running with one of those Divergent hunters, then are you working for that group of factionless revolutionaries? Although—I hate to say it on account of how much of a raging dick you are—you look too well groomed to be associated with them.”
Just when he’d thought there was no hope, Ghost felt a lightbulb flick on in his head. He seized upon the idea. “What was that about factionless revolutionaries, Mister Parks? Explain, please.”
Parks looked incredulous. “What, you’re not aware of the FFM? The Factionless Future Movement? And yet you’re fed up on this nonsense about Divergents?” The truth serum must have been seeking a more candid answer, because Parks suddenly flinched. “If you want to rectify a real societal problem, you should research the FFM. For years they’ve been spewing all kinds of bullshit propaganda about how the factions are obsolete and corrupt at their core, how it’s time to get rid of them. But due to a lack of funds and manpower, they never really accomplish anything, aside from occasionally graffiting government buildings or stealing from local businesses.”
Ghost had been tiring of the man’s self-righteous preaching about societal evils, but now his eyes expanded hungrily. “Can you tell us anything more about this movement?”
“Other than what I’ve already mentioned? I’m afraid I already have too many problems on my plate as faction leader to devote much time and energy into going after them.”
Ghost glanced over his shoulder at Blair, where she was standing beside Fable and watching warily, and raised one eyebrow at her. “Do you have any burning questions that you’d like answered? Perhaps some embarrassing stories from Christian’s childhood? If so, ask them now, or forever hold your peace.”
“Wait,” Parks blurted, and Ghost snapped back toward him. “Know that I’m offering this information up of my own free will and because of my genuine desire to see the Divergent hunters rooted out and punished.” His eyes burned with defiant pride. “But within the past few months, there have been some… mysterious happenings that have resulted in the disappearances of multiple Dauntless individuals. I can’t speak on behalf of other factions, but among the neighborhoods outside the compound there’ve been rumors of trucks coming in the middle of the night and toting off random, unsuspecting victims who are never seen again.” Parks punctuated this statement with a dramatic sigh and rolled his eyes. “I don’t know how much of it is true and how much is urban legend that people start to get a stir. But if it really is happening, it sounds like the kind of mischief that could be connected to Divergent hunters.”
An insidious thought, a bad idea disguised as something clever, seeped through Ghost like a sweet drink, all the alcohol smothered by the taste of sugar. What with his secret connection to Young, if the Erudite leader really did have something to do with the abductions, Ghost was sure he could find out. One way or another. He would have to ingratiate himself to Young, move up through the ranks of his underground system, and get himself hired to one of these teams that manned the trucks. That, or he’d have to set some bait and wait for Young to pounce. “Thank you, Mister Parks. You’ve been most helpful.” He threw a dirty look over his shoulder at where Blair and Fable were standing close together, apparently conspiring. “I wish I could say the same of my accomplices who seem content to let me do all the work. If you have nothing to ask, then…” Ghost tilted his head significantly toward the duffel bag where the memory serum awaited, not wanting to mention their next step aloud for fear that Parks would violently object.

 

[Sanctuaryforall1]

Shayla

Mood: Tired

Location: Apartment

Interactions: Chris

As her icy blue gaze watched the world pass by below her she noticed a familiar figure walking down the street. He hadn’t spotted her yet but Shalya knew Christian Parks from a mile away, his straw blonde hair always somehow perfectly catching the light no matter what angle he stood at. After a moment it seemed that the spaced-out young man registered where he was and looked up, his eyes meeting hers. She hesitated for a heartbeat about what to do next but beings though he was coming from the direction of the funeral she assumed he had been in attendance. Shayla knew of Caspian’s passing from a brief text sent by her father. With a sigh, the young ebony-haired woman raised her hand slightly to wave Chris up before disappearing into her apartment once again to answer the door.

He only needed to knock once before she had the latches undone and the door swung open to allow him in. There were no smiles or hugs or truly affectionate greetings, just her stepping aside to let him in while giving him a nod. “Hi, Chris.” She said as she closed the door and locked it behind her. Her voice sounded more tired than uninterested, the day having been long and the night before restless as she ended up with a mind-splitting headache that none of her medications could cure. Much like Chris, Shayla was not the girl she had once been. Back when she was younger she was more lively, more social, excited about life and the world. But now all her love and laughter had faded, the light within her smothered, the only sign of it ever existing coming in the form of the love she showed Lev.

As she walked over towards the chair opposite the couch Shayla scooped Lev up into her arms and sat down. For a moment the two sat in silence, Chris sneezing from his allergies, Shayla running her hand along Lev’s neck. “What are you doing here Chris?” She asked finally, perhaps sounding blunt but she didn’t really care. As she listened to his answer, she nodded her head in understanding. Her parents had attended the funeral too but like many other, she cut out of her life they didn’t expect her to come. For a heartbeat, she considered asking how Aubrey was holding up but restrained herself. Aubrey hated her at this point and Shay didn’t blame the blonde one bit. When Shay cut everyone out of her life to save them pain in the long run, that included Aubrey despite the two of them being best friends. She acted so cold to her out of the blue, told Aubrey that she could never truly be her friend, broke the bridge between them so badly that she was sure it could never be reformed. She did it all to save Aubrey from the pain she was likely feeling right now for Caspian. She didn’t want others to feel that way for her in the end. She wanted her death to be quietly tragic so no one truly got hurt.

“I heard.” She replied simply as she draped her legs over the arm of the chair. “Was he sick?” She asked out of casual curiosity. She didn’t know Caspian and his family as well as her father did. She lacked the same connections the rest of her family held with members of the Dauntless community. If Caspian had been sick she never heard but that wasn’t really surprising. Out of everyone from her past, the only two people she still spoke to semi-regularly outside of initiate training were her father and well…Chris. She and the Parks boy had never been overly close so he never recognized when she iced everyone out, somehow he managed to slip past. It probably came from the fact that the two of them were never extremely close but rather they had a natural comfort around each other that Shay couldn’t really bring herself to end. She knew that when she passed it might surprise Chris but she didn’t feel deep down that it would hurt him the way it hurt others.

Nerdy.

code by Stardust Galaxy

Bloom

Mood: Concerned

Location: Testing Center / Funeral

Interactions: Jake and Charlie

The shaking of Charlie’s voice and breath broke Bloom’s heart into a trillion pieces as she held the phone against her ear. The moment Charlie mentioned her location the brunet instructor made a mental note of the street and the way Charlie was coming so that if anything happened, she could get there as fast as she could. When the young medic begged her not to hang up Bloom held the phone so she could be heard as clearly as possible. “I’m not going anywhere, Char.” She assured her friend. “I will be on the phone with you until you are standing right in front of me, understand.” She added and glanced over at Jake who was asking questions, his words quick and curious. “In fact, I’ll meet you halfway. How about that?” She offered but was already on her way out the door. She motioned towards the young man to join if he liked and had no doubt that he would follow since his curiosity had been hooked. “And don’t worry, I’m bringing some form of backup just in case.” She informed Charlie as she and Jake departed the training center.

Within a few minutes, Bloom was cutting across the street as she spotted the dark-haired figure of Charlie. She rushed towards her friend and while with most people Bloom might have tried to hug them, she knew better than to do so with Charlie. Something in Charlie’s face told Bloom that she wished she had come alone but at the time Bloom hadn’t been able to discern what she was walking into with Charlie and had silently welcomed the backup in whatever form it came in. The sweet medic looked terribly shaken and distraught but before Bloom could say or do anything Charlie’s arms were suddenly around her and pulling her into a hug. In a heartbeat, the brunet knew that this had to be serious if Charlie was willing to hug her. Not wanting to make the situation seem suspicious Bloom hugged Charlie back, not tight but comfortably so that Charlie could break away whenever she needed. Hearing her best friend’s words Bloom nodded and whispered, “I’m sorry, as soon as we are alone you can tell me everything.” Her words were sincere and assuring as she gave her a loving pat on the back and pulled away from the hug.

The next words that rang through the air hit Bloom like a train. Caspian was dead. “Dead?” She asked and watched as Charlie nodded. Hearing her friend's request Bloom didn’t hesitate in agreeing to attend the funeral with her. “Yeah, of course. Whatever you need right now.” She promised as she did her best to process the information and request in the privacy of her own head. As Charlie departed a moment or two later Bloom turned to Jake and gave a solemn nod, “Sorry but I have to go.” She told him, knowing she needed to ready herself for the funeral so that she could support Charlie through it and through everything else the young woman would face tonight.

With that Bloom departed and swiftly made her way back to her apartment. She didn’t do too much to get ready but she did change a few articles of clothing. Black was already a common color in Dauntless so many people wore it on the daily. Bloom usually carried herself with a spark of color, today it had been a crimson red leather jacket over top her bar tank and jeans from the night before. Trading the red jacket for a black women’s cut cargo jacket lined with a dark gray hood Bloom then decided to take a moment in front of the mirror. She let her hair down from the ponytail it had been in, the scarlet underside being hidden beneath her natural brunet shade as she quickly brushed it out. Wanting to get back to Charlie as quickly as she could she tossed her hairbrush onto her bed and raced through her apartment and out the door.

--

Being there to support Charlie in her hour of need was the most important job Bloom felt she could ever have. It was easy to be with friends during the good times when they were laughing and smiling, but being there to see the hard times was painful and yet Bloom knew there was nowhere else she would rather be. She did not touch Charlie during the ceremony, she knew her friend far too well to even try. But she did show her support in other ways, she stayed by Charlie every minute, listened in silence as speeches were given, and offered Charlie her scarf to hold if she needed to squeeze something because the emotions were just too strong. Bloom had known Caspian but not to the degree of some people here. They had been friends but never like family, not like Charlie. He had been a nice guy from what Bloom had seen and yet she had always had her reservations about him, not that she made them known. Still, it was a tragic loss that Bloom felt along with all the others sitting and standing in the room today. “Need anything?” She whispered to Charlie as the service began to come to an end. Her words seemed to have been lost in the wind as Charlie didn’t show any sign of registering them. That was okay, Bloom had experienced great loss and knew that in the days that followed it was easy to become unfocused on the rest of the world as the emotions swirled within. She became increasingly worried however when Charlie almost passed out as they approached the casket. Bloom managed to catch her, feeling guilty about touching her without permission but still happy she had kept her friend from hitting the ground. As the young grieving medic stabilized herself on her feet, she and Bloom approached the husk that was Caspian’s remains. Bloom looked at him and did her best to hold back tears as she heard the pained moan rip itself from her best friend’s throat. Seeing Charlie in such pain was torturous for Bloom but she knew it was nothing compared to what Charlie was feeling right now.

When Charlie almost passed out again after placing her jacket over Caspian and kissing his cold forehead Bloom once again dared to place her gentle hands on her friend in order to lead her to her seat. She didn’t like having to do such a thing but she did so in order to make sure Charlie didn’t plummet to the ground and hurt herself in her grief. Once again when she went to ask her how she was and if she needed anything Bloom was met with silence. The brunet didn’t take it personally but instead sat and calmly repeated, “Charlie?” that she got her to look up.

As their friends gathered around to offer their condolences Bloom made the mistake of getting briefly distracted by Phillip and looked away from Charlie. By the time she looked back a strange man was beside Charlie and handing her a piece of paper. She knew by the look on her best friend's face that something wasn’t right and was on her way over when she saw Charlie open the slip of paper and read. Instantly Bloom could see the whites of the medic’s eyes as she sank against the chair and towards the ground. “Charlie!” Bloom called out as she caught her friend before she fully left the seat. “Charlie, wake up! Charlie please!” Bloom gasped and pressed her finger to the girl’s slender neck to check her pulse.

Nerdy. kiwifrosty

code by Stardust Galaxy

Vex

Mood: Clear Minded

Location: Streets

Interactions: Mentions Theo

As the white-hot liquid dripped against the small mark on the back of her brainstem, just along her hairline, Vex felt her mind clear of everything. She had no real thoughts that were her own, her personality was gone, everything was just…blank. She was vaguely aware of a voice in the distance uttering words and as each word was spoken her mind became less crowded. All subconscious thoughts and feelings that did not align with her programing were purged from her brain as though they had never been. What she was left with was all that she had been created to do, all that had been put in her head by someone else. The process only took perhaps two minutes in reality but within Vex’s mind, it took hours as her entire self was purged and reformed into the weapon her creator designed her to be. Any suppressed thoughts of pain, freedom, guilt, and self were washed away like waste, and what remained was everything that made her worthy of the money that had been funneled into her creation.

Blinking her eyes Vex sighed as though she had been holding her breath. The painful pokers that had been jammed into her mind were gone and she felt clear and focused, her purpose clear within her mind. Looking over at Theo the young woman gave him a wordless nod as she picked up her jacket and threw it back over her shoulders. The mark on the back of her neck was once again hidden by her hair and if anyone did see it they would likely think it was some interesting tattoo and nothing more. “Wait ten minutes after I leave to make your way out.” She told the young man. “Walk casually and like you know where you are going.” She added before turning to depart on her own. The last thing she wanted was someone knowing the two of them had any sort of relationship beyond being initiates at the same time.

As she left the run-down building Vex made her way through the streets of the Dauntless compound. She passed people but kept to herself, not in a standoffish way but rather to look like she was on her way somewhere casually. As she passed by some of the finer buildings in the compound, she noticed a procession that was no doubt in honor of Caspian, likely for his funeral. As she stepped out of the way to let them pass, she looked solemn like many of those around her, but on the inside, she was smirking as she witnessed those who mourned her prey. Oh, if they only knew how easily he went down and the circumstances that led to it. It was unfortunately not her job to ruin the young man’s reputation, only to take his life, so those around him would never know he died because he thought he would get lucky with a random girl who showed up at his door. So many people were gathered to mourn his passing and as Vex stood off to the side she pretended to be one of them as she looked on with sad eyes that hid the taste of victory that still danced through her soul.

code by Stardust Galaxy

 

[WanderLust.]

Blair Avalon // Female // Age 16 // Dauntless Born Initiate // Divergent
Interacting With: Ghost Aviator Fable Sanctuaryforall1

“Release me right now, and I’ll think about letting you live with the factionless rather than have you executed on the spot, you backstabbing bitch.” The words bit into Blair's chest. She had to plant her feet firmly into the ground to avoid the instinctual flinch her body wanted to make. She folded her arms across her chest, refusing to let her chin fall despite the fact that every gaze from Parks stung like acetone. She was convinced that his comments didn't deserve a response, was content to stand there and let the fact that parks was tied up do her speaking for her. She almost didn't believe her ears when the familiar, low toned voice of her instructor cut Parks off sharply. It was foreign for her, to have Ghost on her team instead of against her. For so long she had seen the dark haired male as a threat, someone to be avoided, the target of her dirty looks, and yet here he was, verbally placing himself between Blair and Parks. For a moment, just a moment, her aqua orbs caught Ghost's attention, a silent thank you was written on her face, but other than that she remained unfazed by the interaction. Her facial features carefully constructed so as not to betray any of her own emotions or secrets. It was bad enough that Parks knew she had been involved in the kidnapping scheme, better for him to not know her true motivations... her true investment in this.

Ghost continued the line of questioning, and neither Blair nor Fable seemed to mind him taking the lead. Ghost was obviously more experienced than either initiates in this high strung life of crime and misdirection. Blair watched though, her eyes like a hawks as she observed Parks for any sign that he might be lying. Could she really trust this truth serum? She had no idea where Ghost had gotten it from... perhaps this was just Parks' way of convincing them the serum had worked so he could string together his own story of lies hoping they'd be gullible enough to believe him. A forced, deep breath reminded Blair that she had to trust Ghost. If her instructor seemed to think the serum was working then so be it. She would listen to everything Parks could tell her and commit it to memory. Every drop of information he spilled would be of value to Blair somehow. But as the interrogation drew on Blair found her shoulders slumping, her lips turning down into a concerned frown at the astonishingly little amount of information Obadiah had to offer them. So little... he knew so little about the divergents, and the disappointment washed over her like an inky black wave.

The only thing their captive seemed to know about people like Blair was that people were supposedly abducting suspected divergents, though Blair didn't entirely see how this was helpful to them, it still sent a chill through her veins. For a moment she allowed her thoughts to run, had Dante gotten away with his plan and ousted Blair... would a truck have shown up and spirited Blair away in the middle of the night? But where was it taking these people? and why? She had hoped that at the very least, Parks would be able to give her some insight about why she was suddenly able to move things with her mind, if it was somehow linked to her divergency, but he didn't seem to know anything about supernatural abilities. So perhaps, Blair was just a freak amongst freaks, not even normal amongst her own kind. She hadn't realized that she'd be inching closer to Fable during the entire conversation. Though both of them had remained silent, they seemed to have gravitated towards each other... for comfort? Safety? Blair didn't know, but by the time she was pulled back into the conversation her ears were ringing and her mind was dizzy.

Ghost was asking her if she had anything she needed to ask Parks, at the mention of Christian her heart dropped into her stomach. She cut a sharp look to Ghost, as if accentuating the sharp pain that cut through her at the thought of her boyfriend. Blair's arms were still folded tightly across her chest, a distinctly defensive position. She still didn't dare say anything, afraid that the sound of her voice might break whatever trance Obadiah had fallen into to make him tell the truth. It was only when Ghost began eyeing his bag that Blair began to move. Her black boots thudded lightly across the creaky, dusty wood floor as she made her way over towards the duffel bag, bending her knees to rummage through its contents. The sharp and poignant clang of glass let her know that the memory serum was in there, and her nimble fingers wrapped around it, pulling it out along with another syringe. The liquid sloshed in the bottle and Blair found her stomach turning at the thought of someone ever using any sort of truth or memory serum on her. Such a betrayal of her own mind... she wondered if her divergency would protect her from those things the same way it protected her from the simulations.

The headed back towards where Fable and Ghost still stood, unsure if Fable had found it in herself to ask Obadiah anything. Blair returned silently, giving Parks a large breadth of room as she walked around his chair, not daring to get too close as she stood beside Ghost. If looks could kill, Blair would've been on the floor lifeless. Obadiah stared at her with betrayal and rage burning in his eyes. Blair almost wanted to crawl inside her own skin to avoid that stare that sent shame buzzing through her. But instead, she merely matched his gaze, returning it with all the anger and defiance that she could muster. "He deserves better than you." Obadiah didn't have to say the name for Blair to know who he was talking about. Her chest practically caving in from the silent ache that burned through her. "He does." Was all Blair could muster in response. Although her words were cold, sharp. "He deserves better than you, too." Blair spat, actually spat, at his feet. Whatever self loathing had been there before was replaced with an icy, quiet calm as Blair handed the memory serum and syringe to Ghost, never once taking her eyes off of Obadiah.​

 

[WanderLust.]

Maverick Maddox // Male// 18// Dauntless Born // Instructor
Interacting With: Aubrey Nerdy. and Randi Sanctuaryforall1

Maverick sat in silence. He gave Aubrey’s response to his questions about Caspian little response. If anything, she was met with a curt, thankful nod. Maverick kept tight to himself when Aubrey excused herself, not particularly interested in striking up a conversation with her companion, Thorn. The boy was another initiate, Mav was familiar with him, but not familiar enough to want to discuss his older brother’s death in front of him. The two males sat in a stiff silence until Aubrey returned, Maverick gratefully accepting the glass of amber liquid. At first, he pressed the cold glass of the cup to his forehead, which was aching terribly. Perhaps the alcohol would help. He swirled the glass around, staring at its contents uninterested for a moment, before tilting its head back and swallowing the heavy flavored bourbon. It stung as it slipped down his throat, and Maverick reveled in the subtle buzzing, numbing sensation that briefly ran through him.

He didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to share his grief with these strangers. Apart from Aubrey, he hardly knew anybody here. Too many initiates were lingering close by, too many friends of Caspian attempting to console his forgotten brother. Maverick felt claustrophobic, ready to crawl right out of his own skin and into a comfortable, dark abyss where the forming crowd would simply leave him alone. His heart was pounding, Caspian’s hand-me-down suit scraping against Maverick’s skin, his breath coming in shallow and shallower until, before he knew it, Maverick was standing. His feet were moving, and he wasn’t sure if they even had a destination in mind. He heard Aubrey’s voice behind him, perhaps she was coming after him, perhaps she just wanted to know where he was going, but either way, he was gone before she received any answers. Maverick bumped into many mourners on his way out, their annoyed murmurings enough to tell Maverick they didn’t even have any idea who he was. Good.

He needed air, and as he pushed out of the heavy doors, he began gulping it down, his breathing jagged and harsh. He didn’t know where he was going, but he was going there fast. As he walked, he began unbuttoning his suit, his dress shoes thundering against the floor. His nimble fingers slid to the knot of his tie which he feverishly began loosening as if the thing were a noose around his neck. His throat burned, and he wasn’t sure if it was from the alcohol or from tears threatening to spill from his grey eyes. What was happening to him? The last time he had felt like this he had wound up in the fighting pits, nearly beating a man to death. Who knows? Perhaps Maverick might’ve killed the pour soul if he hadn’t run into…

His body collided with a much smaller frame, and although his senses were a bit blurred at the current moment, his natural reflexes served him well. In a flurry of movements, Maverick stumbled over his own feet, his limbs quickly becoming tangled with another set as both his hands reached out, one to wrap around the waist of whoever he had crashed into, the other to brace himself against the cold stone wall. A flash of blonde hair and a stumble of breaths later Maverick found himself staring into a very familiar set of stormy green blue eyes. His chest still heaved despite the fact that he was holding her tightly against his body. “Randi…” he breathed, practically a whisper. A light in the darkness, a tether to the earth, an island in the storm, Maverick clung to Randi as if he were holding onto her for dear life, his eyes never once leaving hers as he attempted to force himself back to reality and steady his breathing. With a few quick steps, he had the blonde standing upright again, giving her a foot of space as he ran a hand through his dark hair, momentarily composing himself. “I’m so sorry… I don’t know where I was going.” His eyes flicked both ways as if he were keeping an eye out for unwelcomed spectators. After last night with Randi, he had to be careful about how often he let his gaze fall on her, how close his fingertips brushed to her skin. He blinked once, twice, banning those thoughts from his head as he swallowed thickly. “How are you…?”​

 

[Nerdy.]

Charlotte "Charlie" Stark || 20 || Medic || Dauntlessborn

Charlotte wasn't sure how long the world around her had been non-existent from her. In fact, Charlie wasn't sure about anything. The shock of being accused of her bestfriends murder - not to mention the shock of his death at all - and having to go to his funeral when she had seen him not 12 hours earlier, had finally reached its bitter end in the form of her semi-conscious body that had stooped too far off her chair and now cradled her on the ground like a rag doll. Her dark, almost black hair did not feel comforting to the cold feel of her cheek, but instead felt like fingertips, Caspians. She could hear nothing except her own heartbeat, or that's what she assumed it was, maybe it was the drums of the music, or something completely different like a stampede. Somewhere far away Bloom was calling her name, but Charlie couldn't understand why Bloom would call her from so far away, she didn't have the strength to even sit up, let alone go all the way over to Bloom, but she did believe in responding to those who called her, so she sat up. That is what she tried to do, but instead her body failed to follow her directions, and she lay motionless on the ground. That's when she realized the full extremity of her paralysis, and the fear of what that might mean made her begin to panic. Charlie had never been grateful of panic, but now she was happy that her panic was used in a fruitful manner, as the adrenaline of the fear fueled her body and she slowly, shakily, began to remove herself off of the cold concrete floor. As she did so, the sounds of the room around her slowly came back to her ears, and Bloom's voice moved from far away to right near her, and she turned, big sad eyes staring up into Blooms. There was an unspoken memory in those eyes, one that only Bloom remembered, and Charlie closed her eyes, reminding herself that some things were better off forgotten. Bloom seemed to understand, and gracefully sat on the floor with her, now that Charlie was up enough to be safe, Bloom had fallen silent and they sat in silent contemplation. Charlie, multiple times through the ceremony, had tried to speak to Bloom, had tried to speak at all, but had been unable. However, the silent contemplation that the two had spent at the end of the ceremony caused Charlie to regain most of her composure. 'Thank you, Bloom... Thank you." She said, her voice quiet, hoarse, but no longer shaking and weak.

Charlie, with Bloom hesitantly beside her, stood up. The letter, Caspian's will, she held close to her chest, and eventually folded it up, slipping it into her handbag. Bloom was beautifully loving, and Charlie smiled at her friend as she made sure Charlie was okay, and asked if she needed anything. "It's okay." Charlie said softly, as she glanced back at the casket, watching as they placed the lid on to the casket, and some of the stronger Dauntless males began to take it away. Charlie swallowed softly. "I think I need to go do this part alone." She said, eyes glancing back to Bloom as the former Amity girl showed her concern clearly in her face. Charlie gave her a small smile, the pale - yet now steady - medic knew that right now she was unlikely to be believed, but she tried anyhow. "I can't say I'm okay, but I will be. I just need to say... need to finish this." She said, biting her lip and biting back a sob. Bloom seemed to understand, catching Charlie's slip up, there was much Charlie wanted to say to Caspian that she hadn't got the chance to, and now, she never would. Bloom finally relented, but asked if Charlie would at least grab a bite to eat and a quick drink of water. Charlie, knowing that if she didn't do this that Bloom would follow her, decided it was smarter to go with Bloom's plan. So the two of them walked over to where there was still some food and beverages for people to partake in. Charlie, not feeling up to eating much, simply grabbed a small muffin and a pear, then a small bottle of apple juice. After eating the muffin in front of Bloom to assure her she would, Charlie placed the pear and the bottle - she had drank some - into her bag and then nodded to her friend. "I'll come talk to you afterward, about everything else." She said, wanting to follow the men out to Caspian's grave.

---

Charlie had followed the men from a distance close enough that they knew that she was there but far enough that they didn't speak to her. As they walked in the outdoors, Charlie dawdled more and more as she picked small wildflowers that were by the sidewalks, and held them together in her hands. She hummed to herself, to try and keep the fear and sadness from giving her the shock it had done before. Instead, she was in an almost peaceful sadness, but she knew that eventually that facade would break and she would need to have a break down at some point. Alone though. Now that Caspian was gone, she wasn't sure who she could trust to break down around, she certainly didn't feel comfortable doing that with Ghost, he was too confident and judgemental, Aubrey deserved a stronger sister, and Bloom had spent enough time with Charlie today to have to baby sit her. No. Alone it would be. However she was alone now, as the men finished placing the casket in the ground and covered it in dirt. They glanced at her now and again, but otherwise they stayed eerily silent and worked in an almost respectful silence. When they had finished, there was just a mound of dirt where Caspian's body lay under. Charlie knew that they would eventually come back and it would be smoothed out and a headstone erected by it, but she didn't need that stuff, it was enough to know that this was where he was. As the men walked past her, one came by, he didn't say much, but offered his condolences, and he asked if she wished one of them to stick around. Charlie's heart warmed, and she smiled up at him. She might have accepted his invitation, had a flicker of two bodies nearby not alerted her to the presence of her sister, and... was that Thorn? Charlie blinked, and looked back up at the man. "Thank you, but my family is over there." She pointed, and the man looked, nodded, then gave his condolences again and left. Charlie walked up to the mound of dirt and kneeled down beside it, her knees sinking into the soft grass, uncaring that she would get grass stains from it. She held the wildflowers tightly in her hands and took a great sigh before speaking to Caspian.

"Caspian... I don't know what to say to you, I wish... I had stayed with you yesterday, and I'm sorry I deserted you, I'm sorry that someone... someone... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." She broke into a soft sob, her hand dropping so that it leaned on the dirt, scrunching up, and taking a deep breath. "I know that I didn't k... do this... I... I just have so much I need to tell you. Caspian... I know that you can't hear me, but I will never forgive myself for the things you don't know. Maybe it is best that you didn't, but I am sorry. I..." Charlie's voice faltered at this point, and instead of continuing,, she sat there in what seemed like silence to anyone nearby. Although no sound came from the gentle medic, her lips moved as if in prayer, silent speech. Charlie may have had much to say to her bestfriend, but even so, many of it was too private to say aloud, and she had almost lost the will to speak at all. She sat there for a long time, eventually she laid the flowers atop the mound, and stood up, her knees green from the grass and her body sore from the position. "Goodbye Caspian. I love you." She bit her lip, not wanting to apologize anymore than she already had. He knew. She turned around, and walked away from him. Her last goodbye. Aubrey and Thorn stood nearby, and she headed towards them, feeling guilty for having abandoned Aubrey. The poor girl was whiter than she had ever seen her, her hair almost looked droopy, and her eyes almost grey. Thorn looked concerned for both females, and Charlie was glad to see him, feeling comforted once again by his presence.

"I'm sorry Aubrey, I know that Caspian meant the world to you. But... I... no... He... wanted you to have these." Aubrey looked confused, but as Charlie dug into her purse, Aubrey's eyes widened in surprise as Caspian's beautiful daggers came into view, and the blonde Dauntless girl almost gobbled them up as soon as she saw them. She didn't say anything, and Charlie understood, there wasn't anything that could be said that would even mean anything. Charlie watched as Aubrey looked over the daggers, cradling them almost like a child, and hugging them dangerously close to her chest and neck. Charlie, on the other hand, fondled the beautiful necklace that Thorn had made her, enjoying the cool metal on her skin. She looked up at the sky, watching as it darkened. "It's getting late. We should all be heading home." She said softly. She got no answer from the two teenagers, but knew that meant they agreed, or had no argument for the opposite side. Therefore she began to walk towards the compound, before hesitating at the crossroads towards where the dorms were and where her house was. "I think you should stay in the dorms tonight, the both of you." She turned to them, and the look she gave them was firm enough that they didn't answer back. She worried for Aubrey's impulsive nature in this painful state she was in. As for Thorn, she worried for him based on his fear sim and the bruises she saw too often on him. "I'll be staying at Bloom's tonight anyway. Don't worry>" She added. Thus, they continued their trek into the compound, and Charlie bid them goodnight at the dorms. Thorn offered to walk her to Bloom's. Charlie gently walked just outside of the dorms with Thorn. "I would love that Thorn, but I would prefer that you watch over Aubrey for me, this is the hardest day for her since our father's death. She could really use a friend." Charlie said, and watched as Thorn struggled to come to terms that he could either walk Charlie home or do her request to look after Aubrey. Eventually he relented, and she bid him a heartfelt goodnight.

Charlie made her way to Bloom's apartment, stopping off beforehand to clean up the infirmary. It was much messier than she had expected it, given that most of the day had been uneventful. But there were plenty of signs to show that there had been a number of people in the infirmary at one point or another. She didn't mind the silence as she tidied up, her mind was strangely silent as well, and she worked quickly. Soon enough she was finished, and she made her way to Bloom's place. She hadn't told the woman that she would come and stay, but she knew Bloom well enough to know that there was always an offer to stay there, in fact Bloom had offered Charlie a place to stay long ago. She walked up to the door, and knocked gently on the door. Bloom was there in a moment, and there was an evident look of relief on her face. She invited Charlie in, and quickly set the kettle on, making them both a cup of tea, and offering Charlie a blanket so that she was warm on the couch. They huddled together, close enough to be almost touching, but there was just enough separation that neither touched the other. They talked about nothing for a few moments, sipping at their very hot tea, eventually though there was a silence, and Charlie knew it was her turn to open up to Bloom.
"They think I killed Caspian."

The shock that blossomed on Bloom's face was not surprising, not just shock, but disbelief, anger, and a fair amount of compassion. Charlie just sipped at her tea, before going on. "They confronted me while I was at lunch with Thorn, and took me to interrogate me. I'm not sure they believed me... They have enough evidence to only have me as a suspect, but not enough evidence to incarcerate me... yet..." Charlie blew on her tea softly, and stared into the dark water. "I don't know why, but someone killed my best friend, then made it look like I did it." She talked almost so quietly that one wouldn't be able to hear her, but thankfully she and Bloom sat so closely on the couch that Bloom could hear every word. "I... I don't have anyone to vie for me, because I was alone that evening, it's almost as if... as if someone knew that. But..." She took a deep breath and swalllowed some more tea. "But... I had bumped into Noah, so... so he knows I wasn't anywhere near Caspian. So I went to talk to him." Charlie then relayed how that interaction had gone. Eventually the two sat in mostly silence again. "Can I stay..." She didn't even need to finish before Bloom assured her she could. "Thank you." She said with sincerity.

Interacting with: Bloom and Thorn Sanctuaryforall1

Aubrey Amber Stark || 16 || Initiate || Dauntlessborn

Aubrey wasn't happy when Maverick left, but she also watched him leave with an almost numb apathy. When Thorn mentioned food though, Aubrey's attention was quickly switched to him and she nodded, before quickly shaking her head. "Uh, I mean, we can go get some together. You don't need to get it for me. I'm fine." She said it with her usual confidence, but both teens knew that nobody at this moment was fine. Death was so final, and when it was someone you loved, then you didn't want to admit it. Aubrey had always used distraction, alcohol and even worse to cope with anything that hurt. So now was no different in her brain, except that Finn wasn't with her right now, and Thorn was. An odd substitute, but one she wasn't complaining about, she just didn't know Thorn very well. She doubted he was as much of a party animal as Finn, but strangely enough she was always drawn to those who were a little different than herself anyway, so she wasn't complaining exactly, just found it an odd turn of events. Thorn agreed to her terms, and Aubrey sauntered off with him to the food bar, her eyes eyeing the actual bar though, and her fingers rubbed against the glass of her now empty alcohol beverage. Oh how the idea of getting so drunk as to forget everything was terribly tempting right now. Her hands twitched, and she stepped towards the bar, when Thorn asked her a question, and she had to shake herself back into reality, turning back to Thorn with an oblivious face, obviously confused to his question, and having not heard it, she didn't answer. It almost seemed like Thorn was going to chuckle at her, but laughing at a funeral, at least this one, seemed weird, so instead he had this small goofy smile that she couldn't help but return. She took the plate he handed her, and began to pile food on to her plate. She didn't even care about what food it was, eating was another distracting habit she had, and Aubrey could eat a lot. Having a fast metabolism and a vigorous training regime, she was never the type to pile on the weight, but developed muscle easily.

She and Thorn migrated further away from the Bar than she would have liked, near some couches right at the end of the room, quite far from the ceremony actually. But Aubrey wasn't complaining, in fact, all Aubrey was doing was stuffing her face full of food, specifically a huge and quite messy cheese-burger. The drone of whoever was speaking fell under the sound of the music, here at the back you couldn't really hear the front, as the speakers that played the music was nearer to the back. There wasn't much to talk about, Aubrey had been willing to talk about Caspian to Maverick, since she had been spoilt with such a friendship... no... family with Caspian, whereas that had been taken away from Maverick... Or had it? Aubrey still didn't know how and why Maverick was back, he hadn't told her, and he didn't hang out with her like he used to when they were little. He hung out with Poppy, Randi, even Bella, the pathetic thing, and yet her, someone he had spent so much time with as kids.... Why not her? She thought about it as she made her way through a large garlic cheese roll. Was it because he felt she had taken his place? As Caspian's younger sibling? If he thought that, then why didn't he come back. He had obviously stayed in Dauntless!? Or had he run away and then come back at initiation? Aubrey shook her head, super confused.

The funeral droned on like a boring party, and Aubrey felt herself feeling less and less attached to the real world. Caspian was dead, how was it that she was beginning to forget that notion? The reminder made her feel a huge lump in her throat. But that wasn't the worst part, it was the person that she watched from the back. Thorn followed her gaze, and the two watched as Caspian's lithe and very shaky frame walked up to the casket with Bloom. She seemed to be struggling, in fact, Aubrey almost jumped up when Charlie wavered and had to be stabilized from Bloom's hand. "Oh poor Charlie." Aubrey said, but made no move to go up to her. Although she loved her sister to the moon and back, and would have fought off the entire Dauntless army for her, Aubrey wasn't so good at the touchy feely stuff, and she knew Charlie well enough to know that Charlie didn't like to burden anyone, and a hug would only freak her out more.. for some reason. Was that because of the person abusing her? Aubrey's fist tightened around the pear she ate, and the juices began to drip down her fingers, causing her to change attention back to her food and she let out a disappointed chuckle, shaking the pear juices off of her hand, before wiping it on her legs. She then finished it, and eyeing a trash can a little bit from her and Thorn, she aimed, nudged Thorn, then threw the pear. The pear looked like it would go over, but managed to hit the rim, wobbling for a bit and then landing in the trash can. "Hah! Your turn." She said. Then began to challenge Thorn to a food throwing competition, almost ignoring the ceremony entirely.

The two managed to laugh a little, though it was still mixed in with the mournful sighs and sadness, but still, Aubrey managed to smile at Thorn for a few minutes at least, before they resorted to looking back to see where Charlie was. That was when she noticed the commotion that had arrived around Charlie. Or... What she assumed was Charlie, given that her older sister was no longer in her eyesight. "Thorn..." She almost didn't need to bother saying his name, as the boy leaped up with her, and they started to make their way over to where Charlie was. But as they were on their way, they could see Charlie getting up with Bloom. they slowed down, not wanting to crowd Charlie, and sort of watched from afar. "She wants to follow them. She probably wants to see where he gets buried. We... we should follow her. You know, make sure she's okay." She suggested, and Thorn nodded, the concern evident in his eyes. Aubrey nodded along with him, and when Charlie left the ceremony and the compound, they followed her from afar, having to stop often when she picked the wildflowers. When one of the men went to Charlie, Aubrey curled her fist. "Is that her boyfriend? I'm gonna kill him! He.. Oh.. he's just... nevermind." Aubrey's cheek's flared red in embarrassment as the man simply offered his condolences, and then left. She waved at Charlie as she looked back, but didn't go forward. "I think we should wait, she probably... wants to talk to him." SHe said, and Charlie did exactly as Aubrey surmised she would. Then came back to them. That was when Aubrey got the shock of the... 'present' that Caspian had given to her with his will, his beloved knives. She had used them only once or twice and they were so beautifully crafted. She went quiet, but simply nodded along to everything that Charlie said, not really caring but just looking and cradling the beautiful knives. Already her mind was trying to remember Caspian's names for them, would she want to call them by those names? Or should she name them herself? What would he have wanted? Would she be able to try them out tonight? She was never going to give them up. He had trained her this way. Soon enough they were back at the dorms, and Aubrey clambered up into her bunkbed, sighing as she noticed that FInn was still missing. She missed him, and she worried about him. She hadn't seen him at the funeral, but he might have been there, the fact that he was not responding to her messages made her wonder if there was a huge family tragedy... Maybe someone had died... but that was unlikely. Surely they would tell her? She huffed as she ran her finger along the blade of the knife.

When Thorn sauntered back into the room, Aubrey stuck her head over the edge of her bed, and eyed him up. "It's not bedtime yet, want to play a game?" She asked, and patted her bed. Aubrey explained the game, throw the knife at the ceiling, and if you fail to make it stick in and it falls down, you have to dodge it, or catch it. 10 points if it stuck in the ceiling. 5 if you caught it. 0 if you did neither, and -1 point for each cut. She waited apprehensively for Thorn to answer.

Interacting with: Thorn Sanctuaryforall1

 

[Aviator]

Ghost // Male // Age 18 // Training Instructor // Erudite to Dauntless
​

Cold understanding flowed through Ghost’s limbs as he listened to Blair and Parks’s curt exchange. Blair’s azure gaze was fixed on her boots, her shoulders sinking in silent admission to an accusation from the man who could have been her future father-in-law, in another timeline. And maybe her relationship with Christian could still be salvaged in this one. After all, Parks wouldn’t have any recollection of anything that had transpired over the past few hours whatsoever. But on the off chance that he didn’t forget the kidnapping and interrogation, Blair, Ghost, and Fable would all face much bigger problems than parental disapproval of a romantic courtship.
But Ghost recognized the way that Blair drooped like a wilted flower. The same sickening sense of guilt crawled up his own throat whenever he reflected too deeply on his relationship with Charlie, if it could even be called that. Instead of buying her trinkets or candies, Ghost bestowed on her gifts of violence; his first act of loyalty to her was to break into her abusive father’s house and threaten him with death. While Ghost was all for vigilantes correcting the wrongs to which the law turned a blind eye, something seemed fundamentally wrong with the fact that his and Charlie’s relationship had been forged in blood. It seemed like a curse, reminding Ghost that most of his life had been spent fighting for survival, for dominance, and a grim portent that he would never be able to fully escape the path of violence and skulduggery which he had carved out for himself.
It wasn’t so much that Ghost felt that Charlie was too good for him; rather, he believed that he didn’t deserve to be happy at all, with anyone, when he would likely just corrupt them as he had been corrupted. He looked at Blair and wondered if she regarded her Divergent status with a similar logic. As if it were a barrier that eternally kept her from getting what she wanted, from making any meaningful connections with others. Sure, her alien nature came with gifts that defied reality itself, but at what cost?
Ghost tensed when a cool, featherlight pressure brushed the back of his hand, nudging him out of his thoughts. He looked over to see Blair pressing the syringe into his hand plunger first, mindful to keep from impaling him on the sinister tip, where a single bead of liquid frothed. Without another word or glance, Blair turned on her heel and stalked away from Parks, her movements as lithe and deadly as a panther’s. Ghost absently stared down at the syringe in his hand, briefly trying to remember the landslide of events that had led him to this very moment. He felt strangely disconnected from his surroundings, from time itself, as if the world were tilting beneath his feet and he was sliding uncontrollably down its bottomless slope.
“And don’t even get me started on you, young man.” Parks tilted his head back with impudence. Despite his seated position on the floor, he managed to look down his nose at Ghost, his gaze sharp and calculating, as if Ghost were a haunch of roast meat he was prepared to carve. It certainly wasn’t the look of a captive prepared to bribe and beg for his life. Ghost suppressed a shiver. “You represent all the worst parts of Dauntless, the unprincipled hellions who think it’s their right to do whatever they damn please because they have a faction to call home. You stupid kids could be burning in hell and still have something arrogant to say to the devil,” he scoffed.
Someone watching Ghost closely would have seen the moment that the red tinge in his irises swallowed up all the brown, turning them into flecks of tempered copper. It was the same way he had looked during his conversation with Alex Young, when the pampered Erudite prince had threatened to pay Randi a future visit, should Ghost not uphold his end of the bargain he’d made with the elder Young. “Don’t tempt me to send you there ahead of myself, Parks. You may be used to the Dauntless bowing and scraping at your feet, but none of us here are Dauntless.” With an Abnegation runaway and a girl who could move things with her mind watching, the lost heir of Erudite plunged the syringe into Parks’s neck.
For all of his big talk, Parks let out an audible sputter as the syringe punched through one of his veins. The man was too breathless to maintain his stream of taunts as Ghost carefully packed away the empty memory and truth serum syringes into a plastic bag for later disposal, either of which would turn into damning pieces of evidence if the authorities got ahold of them. “He’ll lose consciousness while the memory serum is doing its magic,” he informed Blair and Fable as he worked. “Maybe for an hour or so he’ll be out. We have until then to deliver him to the outskirts of Dauntless territory—close enough that he’ll have no reason to suspect he was ever in the Factionless badlands, but not so close that we run into people who would recognize us.” Ghost looked up at Blair and Fable for a response. “Does that sound like a plan to—?”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve witnessed someone put under the influence of memory serum,” Parks intoned from his corner on the floor. Ghost spun around to face him, eyes wide with alarm. “From what I recall, it’s supposed to kick in pretty immediately. Within seconds, which is highly convenient, though it takes some time to finish the job.” Parks lifted his chin in smug defiance and made a tsking sound of admonishment. “The fact that I’m still talking to you kiddie crooks does not bode well for your serum. Please don’t tell me you were dumb enough to buy this stuff off a Factionless dealer?” Three pairs of eyes assaulted Ghost all at once. He felt his mouth go dry under their scrutiny. Parks chuckled. “They’ve been ripping off people who think they can circumvent the system for years. Anyone who wants real serum has to go through the government. How unfortunate for you.”
His mind racing for alternate ideas, Ghost briefly considered putting a bullet through Parks’s head. They no longer had any use for him, a charge of murder on top of treason was essentially meaningless, and it would shut the smug bastard up. But either this possibility hadn’t occurred to Parks, or he knew that Blair would never sanction his death, because it would hurt Christian too much. Parks was an ignorant man in some ways, but it took someone with considerable cunning to rule Dauntless for nearly a decade. With unspoken agreement, Ghost, Blair, and Fable all migrated from the bedroom and back into the dilapidated living room to plot their next moves.
Ghost was so frustrated at himself that he could have screamed. He had been irredeemably foolish for taking the memory serum at face value and assuming it would work. While the lull that the Factionless produced was legitimate, lull was a recreational narcotic that had been invented on the streets and served no higher physiological purpose. Hell, Ghost ought to have considered himself lucky that the truth serum had worked. Or had it? he thought in a sudden shock of panic. Was there a possibility that Parks had faked the whole interrogation and did in fact know some classified secrets about Divergents? Of course there was. But how likely of a possibility was it?
The roaring of blood in his ears all but drowned out the two feminine voices hissing at him in fearful outrage. “Fine, then. We do as he says,” Ghost blurted at last. Both initiates blinked at him in confusion. “No, I’m not saying we try to negotiate with him,” he said in answer to Fable’s exasperated question. “I’ll throw myself off the top of the compound before I kiss that man’s pompous ass, and for what? Fifty years in prison instead of life?” One corner of Ghost’s mouth pulled up in disdain at the idea. “No, think it through; Parks himself gave us the answer to our dilemma. Any takers?” Not even a minute ago, Ghost had felt as edgy as a cat backed into a corner. And now bits of mischievous, untamable chaos began creeping back into his eyes. “Why, we break into a government-sponsored lab and take some of the good stuff with our own hands, of course.”
His suggestion was met with a storm of furious whispers. It took several tries for Ghost to find a break in Blair and Fable’s muted uproar long enough to say, “Look, do either of you have any better ideas?” He paused, genuinely curious. When none were forthcoming, he continued, “We cannot let Parks walk out of here with his memory. That’s just not an option. Maybe if we had some form of leverage over him to ensure his silence, but we don’t. So he either doesn’t walk out of here at all, or we find some serum that actually works. But I propose that we take a trip to Erudite, where this stuff is manufactured in bulk.”
Blair, ever the pragmatist, interjected that there was no way of knowing whether any one lab in particular was a manufacturer of memory serum, and even if they did, how exactly did Ghost plan to steal some, anyway?
He responded before she even finished asking the question. “Because I’ve broken into Chicago Chemical Company before,” he answered simply. Ghost’s lips twitched into a cutting smile. “Shit’s worth a fortune, and serum smugglers are given a handsome cut. How do you ladies suppose the Factionless got ahold of a formula to replicate in the first place?” Ah, the benefits of growing up on the streets where the main form of currency was narcotics. At Ghost’s urging, Blair and Fable gathered around more closely. So long as Parks retained his memory, it wouldn’t do to have him overhearing their strategies. “Here’s the new plan: Fable and I will drive to Chicago Chemical while you, Blair, stay behind and babysit Parks. Just make sure he behaves and doesn’t try to get free of his bonds. As for you, Fable, you’ll play dress-up as a security guard at the factory and make sure that my infiltration goes smoothly. If we’re not back in three hours, Blair, then it’s safe to assume the worst, and how you play your cards from there is your choice. But let’s not count on that!” Ghost exclaimed, his voice containing a note of crazed optimism. “Does everyone understand their role?”

 

[Nerdy.]

Cassidy "Cassie" Wickham || 16 || Initiate || Erudite Transfer

Cassidy began to laugh, genuinely, as she enjoyed the presence that Randi brought to this interaction. She was usually quite distant on the inside, warding herself against those who meant to hurt her, making sure she didn't slip up, didn't bring about any type of failure. But she felt her inner boundaries slipping towards Randi's charming and sunny personality, she liked her. That wasn't to say that Cas had completely removed any boundaries, far from that, if Randi were to attack her now, although Cassidy would be at a disadvantage (or would she? Cas had noted the serious blood and sensitivity around Randi's middle), she would at least be "ready" for it. "You know, I hadn't thought the infirmary to be such a spawning point for attractive people, but I've been proven wrong! It seems like the place to go!" She leaned towards Randi in a friendly manner, with just a hint of flirt within her voice, she didn't lean forward long, not sure about how the blonde haired girl would take it, and also not feeling so comfortable with someone to do that. The only person she let her guard down completely with, was Griffon. Lainey, and maybe Fable, came as close seconds. But Cassidy found herself hoping that Randi wouldn't disappear, and that she could become friends with her as well. They sat on the bed together, occasionally talking about next to nothing, joking, teasing, flirting. The two were obviously recovering from their own forms of pain and injury, and Cassidy found herself admiring Randi, while also questioning her. The fact that Randi would save a friend, take a knife for them, sounded like a Dauntless thing to do, but it also sounded like Abnegation.. or maybe Amity? It was just so... selfless and compassionate. Cassidy had never found herself going that way, if anything, she preferred practicality, and it was more likely that she would become more of a burden by being hurt, than anyone else. Maybe that was an ultimately selfish and disgusting thing to think, but that was the good thing about thinking, nobody else heard you.

Cassidy sighed a large sigh of relief, leaning back on her elbows, as the pain medication, and the triple dose she had taken, finally began to numb her body, starting from the middle, and ranging outwards, her arm going more numb than sore, and finally her migraine becoming a soft, yet still evident hum in the background. Of course other senses were dulled by the medication, Cassidy knew her reactions, her ability to sense things around her, and her overall focus would be compromised by the medication, but she had taken a gamble that Randi was someone she could trust, for now. She hoped forever. "Ah..." She said aloud, and quickly followed through with a sentence when Randi raised a questioning eyebrow. "Pain meds finally kicked in." Cassidy said, pointing to her head and moving it around a bit, testing the waters. "Tell you what though, I think I've had my fair share of time in a doctor's office, did you want to come and... Do something? I know I could use something to drink, just to give me something to feel now that I've numbed up from the meds!" She laughed, popping off of the bed that they had been sitting on and wincing only slightly as her head complained at the movement, but the wince disappeared quickly, she didn't want to appear weak, and she didn't want Randi to dote on her anymore. Doting was a privilege, that was for sure, and Cas liked it, but only to a point. There was always a point where doting became something undesirable, and scary. But Randi, if she had noticed, didn't say anything, and simply joined her on the floor. "You going to be okay with that injury? If you'd rather stay..." She left the sentence hanging, but she needn't have asked, because Randi seemed eager as ever to go and do something, though the two knew that neither of them would be winning any fights, or anything, in the state they were in. "So, know any swanky bars? I gotta admit the bars here are much different than the ones in Erudite, that's for sure." She said, and began to follow Randi as they walked out of the infirmary.

Cassidy thought back upon her time in Erudite, it had been an interesting time filled with uncertainty and fear, but also she relished Erudite, she loved it, and she knew down in her heart that she would have risen up in the initiation like a bullet. But she loved her brother more than she loved anything else in this world, and due to his amnesia, and his unwillingness to go to Erudite, they had chosen Dauntless. But how would life have been in Erudite? Cas could remember the big house they had lived in, it had been a stark difference from their home in the factionless streets, and also a stark difference to Dauntless rooms and dorms. In Erudite, her aunt had a large house with many rooms for many things, an entire floor that was just a library and science area, a laboratory, a large aquarium, her own private room, they had a spa and even a private pool. She had access to almost anything she wanted, got invited to all the fancy parties, got to learn any skill by the best of the best, such as ballet. Ballet had been where she had met Lainey, and she was grateful that Lainey had seen a kindred spirit in her. Ballet was one of those things that you needed to be in since you were very little, to have any success. Cassidy, on the other hand, had only gone when she was around 10. A late bloomer, but given her training from her pre-erudite days, she had adapted quickly. Her pre-faction days had also prepared her, unknowingly, for Dauntless initiation. But the social life of Dauntless, Cassidy had to admit that she was a bit naive about it. It was very different to Erudite, and she was still adjusting to the rowdy and drunk behaviours. Erudites never got drunk around other people. But here, you couldn't walk five steps without a drunk person stumbling into you...

As if she had been reading a script, Cassidy let out an inaudible yelp, and moved aside quickly as a large, presumably drunk, man stumbled and ran straight into Randi. Cassidy caught herself, as she was about to yell at the man, as she recognized the dark rough hair of the man she had seen not that long ago. Maverick had somehow made his way back to them, as if he were looking for Randi. Cassidy watched as the two clung to each other, obviously because they had fallen, but Cassidy chewed on the inside of her cheek as she let her eyes drift from one person to the other. Was there something here? Whether or not either admitted it, Cas could've bet hard money that there was. She wanted to crack a joke, but she caught herself again, her eyes scanning over the boy, er... man, in front of her. His eyes looked red, although she doubted it was from tears, maybe stress? Sadness? Pain? His body was tense, she could see the veins in his neck and fist. His clothing was a bit more formal and morose than usual. Cassidy frowned, if she didn't know better she would have presumed he was at a funeral... but that couldn't be it, right? She hadn't heard of anyone dying recently. But the gloomy vibe in the air made her bit her tongue, and she simply stood there, waiting for the two to finish their interaction, so that she wasn't interrupting. Cassidy simply leaned against the wall with her shoulder, letting the cool wall seep into her skin and ground her to reality, as she gazed at the handsome two before her, she could feel the medication she had taken slowly numbing her body even more. If she wasn't used to such overdoses, she would have struggled to keep her body moving, and her mind alert, and her wit untamed. But she had learned how to take meds without letting them affect your whole body and mind, so she was able to either suffer through the pain with amazing focus, or sacrifice some focus and reflexes for some relief. It was a strategic choice she had to make on many occasions. So now, she simply waited for her turn to speak, trying not to be awkward. She offered little more than a small wave to Maverick, and a simple smile.

Interacting with: Randi Sanctuaryforall1 and Maverick WanderLust.

Griffon Mordo || 17 16 || Initiate || Abnegation Transfer

It seemed as if Scotty had finished with their conversation, and had decided to go off on her own. Griffon didn't mind, he was more than happy to enjoy the solace of the almost empty Dormitory rooms. It was odd that so many initiates were not forced to sleep here, he assumed that Dauntless would be quite strict, having been brought up by Abnegation, he sort of assumed everywhere was as strict as they. Not to say that he disliked the strict formality of Abnegation, he had enjoyed wearing the same things as everyone else, he had enjoyed the selfless acts he had been able to give to people, he enjoyed church and prayer and volunteering. What he hadn't enjoyed was any time that people acted selfishly. Such as Fable's... his own adopted... parrents. He had seen them and been abhorred at how they had treated such a beautiful flower that was Fable Mordo. Griffon had always loved her fiery hair and mismatched eyes, and yet for some reason her family had found these biological aspects to be some type of rebellion. Griffon had never stood for it, in fact he had stepped in before when they had been "bullying" Fable. Of course, he had hoped that they would stop, but he couldn't hurt them if he didn't know what they were doing, so he had just tried to keep Fable in his sight as much as possible without being creepy or overbearing. He did miss Abnegation, he missed his school friends that hadn't transferred here, he missed his orderly, simple, home. He even missed going to church and the grey, warm clothes that they would wear. But Dauntless was good also, if not a bit excited. Dauntless had excitement in almost every aspect, it had intrigue and just begged to be rebellious, with a lot of healthy, or unhealthy, fear mixed in.

Griffon put down his journal, having been flicking through some of the entries he had kept in Abnegation. He had a journal, or diary, for every year since meeting Cassidy again. Now he had about 6 that he could flick through, mostly with neat writing, but occasionally with an odd sketch if he, or Cassidy, or Fable, had been feeling artistic. Sometimes he would be surprised by things he read, such as when he read that he had fallen asleep in church after a long day volunteering, and had been woken up by the preacher himself calling him out for it. Griffon cringed at the memory, he had been very embarrassed and felt sorry for his parents whom he had disappointed by doing so. But at the same time it had been funny as well, or at least that's what Fable had said. He hadn't got in trouble, instead he had just offered to clean up the chairs and help with dishes after the church volunteer lunch. He sighed, sitting on the edge of his bed as he looked around, he wondered what Cassidy had decided not to mention, he knew sometimes she kept information from him for their own safety, and sometimes for his own wellbeing, so he trusted her, but he occasionally wished that she would tell him everything. She hadn't originally told him about Luke, their baby brother who had died, until Griffon had remembered something about him. Griffon's heart tore a little at the thought, he couldn't even call it a memory, since he had no recollection of the incident, but Cassidy had informed him that it was on that day that they had decided to run from their factionless parents, and on that very same day had been separated by the car accident. Griffon shivered, he had experienced the car accident only a few days prior in one of his fear simulations, and it had been terrifying, he was sure that Cassidy must have felt the same, but from her own memory no less, Griffon thought back on them as mere dreams.

Griffon was just about to hop up and look for Cassidy when he heard people coming into the dormitory. He decided to remain standing, ready to help if need be, and watched as Aubrey and Thorn entered the Dorm. It looked like they were accompanied by someone else, but as soon as they arrived that other person walked away. Griffon was feeling like a gentleman, and seeing as the two who entered seemed like they were happy to be in each other's company, Griffon decided to see if the other was in need of some help, or company, or even just to check if it was Cassidy or not. He nodded at Aubrey and Thorn as he left, and hurried after the figure of Charlie walking off. He managed to catch up to her right as she entered the infirmary. "Charlie, I didn't mean to follow you exactly, but I just wanted to make sure you were okay to be out alone, would you like help with the infirmary? I quite enjoy cleaning." He said, careful not to frighten her. She jumped anyway, but soon smiled and thanked him for his help. They quickly finished, and Griffon noted that it seemed someone, or some people, had been hurt, he wondered if Cassidy was one of them, as he hadn't seen her for a while. Charlie dismissed him kindly, but Griffon asked if she wouldn't mind if he walked her home. She told him that she wasn't going home, yet she allowed him to walk with her. Charlie seemed like a lovely girl, she reminded him of one of the Abnegation teachers, she had also been very kind. Griffon walked Charlie to an apartment complex, and then wished her goodnight, deciding he should probably make his way back to the dorms.

---

Griffon scratched at his head as he looked around, blinking in confusion at the lights of the street lamp that haloed around him. How he always managed to get so lost was a conundrum to him, and many others. He knew that it was not smart to be walking around the complex alone, but he had awful sense of direction, and difficulty remembering things as it were. He sat down on a park bench, and looked at the sky, wondering whether it would rain or be clear the next day, and wondering whether they would get to go outside or would stay inside. He had to admit that being inside all the time wasn't his favourite, even in Abnegation he had always preferred any job or volunteering work that involved being outside rather than in. Oh well, he decided he would just have to find his way back, even if it took him a few hours. He stood up, and began his little jog back to the dorms.
Even as directionless as he was, he did manage to get back inside the compound, but this time he was in the training center. He wasn't even sure if he was meant to be, as most of the lights were off and the door had been mostly clicked shut. He had just thought the dorms had been shut clumsily. But here he was, and he decided he may as well do some training. Yet, even as he began to warm up his body, he recalled what Cassidy had always said. Don't train without me. We need each other. He nodded at her, even as she spoke purely in his mind. That was true, he couldn't sweat, and if he hurt himself, he wouldn't be able to tell, so he should wait for her. While he waited, he went back to trying to find the dorms.

Interacting with: Nobody

 

[WanderLust.]

Lainey Covington // Female // Age 16 // Erudite Transfer
Interacting With: Christian Nerdy. and Shayla Sanctuaryforall1

Despite having accepted a majority of the dauntless culture, Lainey still tended to stick out like a sore thumb amongst her fellow initiates. Her time in erudite had allowed her to master the ability to always seem incredibly well polished, no matter what physical or mental turmoil was boiling beneath her facade. But, for as well as the girl had adjusted to dauntless life, she still couldn't bring herself to sleep in those ghastly dorms. She couldn't sleep next to some perfect stranger, a mouth breather no doubt joining the symphony of snoring that kept Lainey awake at night. No, she functioned much better in the private residence she had used her families money to secure. And, while it wasn't perfect by any means, it was astronomically better than those barracks that claimed to be dorms. So Lainey found herself with a roommate, a cat and an unexpected visitor as her nimble fingers worked her key through the barricade of bolts and locks that Shayla insisted on.

Lainey was dressed in black leggings and a tight fitting black sports bra that showed off a generous amount of cleavage, perhaps not the most practical choice for training, but it certainly earned her some attention. She sauntered a few steps into the apartment, setting her keys down on the counter before her eyes surveyed the room. A mischievous smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she set her sights on the blonde male seated across from Shayla, Christian Parks. A beautiful specimen of a man, Lainey was not blind to his attractive features. Broad shoulders, towering height, muscles coiled beneath his skin, beautiful eyes that were enough to make any girl weak at the knees. Admittedly, Chris was exactly the type of male Lainey would've pursued had she not sworn off dating and relationships during initiation. He could too easily become a distraction, but that didn't mean she couldn't play with him. "Christian Parks...." she mused as she neared the pair seated in the living room. "What a pleasant surprise." She practically purred.

"You didn't tell me we were expecting company." She sighed as she side eyed Shayla. The two had a strained relationship at best, though Shayla was perhaps one of the only people in dauntless who had witnessed Lainey's vulnerability first hand. Shayla was perhaps the only one that could spot what Lainey was currently doing for the defense mechanism it was. Her head suddenly tilted, as if she had only just remembered the reason why it was safe to play with Christian. He was taken. "Where's blondie?" a perfectly arched eyebrow raised at him. Of course, Blair Avalon, Christian's long standing girlfriend, and the security assurance that Chris would never actually entertain any of Lainey's advances. Let her blow off some steam knowing fully well that there wouldn't be any consequences to her flirtations. Despite her rather bold statements, Lainey was careful to keep her distance from Parks, lest her games be misconstrued for more than what they actually were.

"Did Blairbear leave you all alone today?" Lainey made a fake pouting face. A sharp comment from Shayla was enough to momentarily stall Lainey's line of questioning and Lainey's facial features morphed into mock innocence. "What? I was just asking...." she trailed off as she headed towards the kitchen to make herself a smoothie. She popped a few berries and a banana into the blender with some milk, the perfect fruity way to end the day. The sound of the blender buzzing cut through the strained silence in the room, all the while Lainey kept her eyes on the pinkish drink, pouring some into a cup for herself before taking a sip and smiling. "Don't worry Christian, I'm only teasing." She winked playfully, a genuine, reassuring smile on her lips. She didn't want him to dislike her, but she didn't want to allow him to get too close either. A boy as kind and handsome as Christian Parks was too dangerous to be allowed to penetrate her life too deeply. Every social interaction Lainey made was a calculated chess move in her grand scheme. She would never allow anyone to get too close, all the while keeping them just near enough to keep an eye on. She finished pouring the smoothie into two more cups before bringing them back to Shayla and Christian, offering them each a cup before sitting down herself a safe, comfortable distance from the two of them. "So, what have you two been up to?" ​

 

[Nerdy.]

Christian "Chris" Parks || 16 || Initiate || Dauntlessborn

Christian and Shayla managed to comfortably sit in her apartment doing next to nothing, and saying even less. There was this aura, this atmosphere of safety and security however, maybe it was from Christian, or Shayla, or a mix of the both. However, Christian wasn't upset by the lack of interaction. Every now and then he would sneeze and occasionally whatever Shayla was doing around the apartment would make some noise, but by and by there was no real words spoken or even things to be said. This was a gloomy day, funerals were usually jollier than Caspian's had been, that - and - Christian as of recent wasn't usually on the drugs he now was feeling the effect from. In fact, "feeling" was the wrong word to use at the moment, as Christian was in a state where there was only an absence of feeling. His grey blue eyes gazed around the apartment, his large hand gently pet the cat, a stupid decision really - given his allergy. Shayla had given him a glass of water and he flicked through a magazine that lay on the table. It was a fashion magazine, one in which his sisters were very often shown on most of the pages. They were very popular fashion models, alongside being many other things - investigators, soldiers, politicians... Christian wasn't even sure what they did for the majority of their time, but he knew that in some way or another they were being very productive and successful. He looked over their pictures with unfeeling eyes, and was able to appreciate their work in a minimal way. He had always felt an urge to live up to the rest of his family, but had also felt like a thorn inside of it. Most of his family was very successful. His dad had been a leader in Dauntless for longer than he could know. Jacob owned and ran one of the most popular bars in Dauntless. Oscar was a head chef for most of the food in the Dauntless compound. Felicia and Terra had made themselves important in almost every aspect of Dauntless life. Even Asher, who had been something of a disappointment to his family, had retained a job in Jacob's bar and was a soldier. Phillip was likely going to be a trainer next year, and was a soldier... Christian knew that it was in his genes that he would stay in Dauntless and be a member. He had never doubted that, even when his aptitude test had come back as Candor, that had never swayed him from his path to Dauntless.

Christian had just put down the magazine, and was wondering about if he should leave and give Shayla some space, when the door opened, and another, beautiful girl, walked in. Christian looked up at her from where he sat on the couch, his carefree grey eyes almost lazily flowing over her. Of course he wasn't meaning to stare, or in any way desire her, but she was a gorgeous girl. She said his name and Christian could have almost shivered at the way she did, had he not been so drugged up, instead he just followed her with his eyes as she walked in. "Lainey, it's nice to see you." He said. He had not known that Shayla had a roommate, and for some reason the idea was confusing to him, having not seen Shayla hanging out with anyone besides himself. But he wasn't against the idea in anyway, just surprised. When she asked where Blondie was, Christian sat there confused, actually thinking she was referring to him, and not knowing how to answer the question, as the silence ranged on however, he understood her to be meaning Blair. "I don't know." He said honestly, an answer that should have destroyed him, but instead caused him to just shrug, glancing down at his phone, no calls or messages on it, and then back up at Lainey. When she said her next words, even the drugs he was on couldn't stop Christian from reacting to them. Blair... she had left him today. Not just today, she'd left him yesterday as well. He had no idea what she was doing, and she'd made him promise to leave her alone to do what "had to be done", but Christian hated it. He hated leaving her, or having her leave him. He was supposed to be by her side, didn't she want him to be by her side? Was she... with someone else? Was she letting Ajax hurt her in some cruel insecure way? Was she fighting back? Was she training by herself? Whatever the answer was, Christian hated it, and he felt the anger boil within him, but soon it subsided and left him again with this empty apathy. Blair was gone, at least for the moment. He would see her later, probably.

Christian nodded at Lainey's admittance to simple teasing. He didn't mind, if that's what she desired to do then he wouldn't complain. Plus, there were worse things than being playfully teased by a beautiful girl such as herself. She wasn't Blair, that's for certain, Christian's love for Blair would never be ripped away. She reminded him only slightly of Indira, the way she spoke was so... calculated and properly thought out. There was nothing wrong with that, and Christian hadn't hated being with Indira, there were many things that Indira did that eventually led to him breaking up with her, one of them being trying to kill Blair. But Lainey did remind him of her. He accepted the smoothie from her, and delighted in the cold flowing juices that went down his throat as he drank it. He heard Lainey's question, and put down his smoothie, which he had already drank half of, and leaned back on the couch. "After simulations? Zip-lining and then Caspian's funeral." Christian replied simply, and saw as Lainey looked surprised. She likely wouldn't have been informed about the funeral, given her being a transfer and all that. "Caspian was a very popular person in Dauntless. So it was a big funeral." Christian said. He picked up his smoothie as he allowed Shayla to speak, wondering what it is she had been getting up to today. He was aware that she didn't really do much with other people, him being one of the few he could name, but he was curious what it was she did in her spare time.

Interacting with: Shayla Sanctuaryforall1 and Lainey WanderLust.

 

[Sanctuaryforall1]

Fable

Mood: Cautious

Location: Factionless Territory

Interactions: Ghost and Blair

Fable wished she had been able to focus better on the questioning of Parks. She heard most of the interrogation, the spitting of insults and condescending words, but each time she felt she had grounded herself she ended up only slipping away. It was a feeling, a phantom wetness on her hands and face like she could still sense Dante’s blood splattering against her. It caused the young redhead to continuously glance down at her hands and casually rub them against her jeans as though the slight red staining on them would disappear. She wasn’t even totally sure if the bloodstains on her hands were really even there or if she was being hypersensitive. As Parks spoke about the Factionless Future Movement and how people had been disappearing from Dauntless Fable did her best to hold onto the words as though they would pull her from the torments her mind was trying to feed her. It works a bit but still, she wiped at her pants and ran her sleeve along her head, trying to rid herself of blood that wasn’t even there anymore.

Dante’s blood wasn’t the first she had ever spilled but he was the first life she had truly taken. Any bloodshed before that was in self-defense, in an effort to keep herself alive as she faced the greatest monsters she had ever known…her parents. She had the scars of their cruelty all across her back and engrained in her soul and finally, she had gotten the courage to take some of their blood in return. Yes, she had fought back. She had held scissors to her mother’s throat hard enough for a steady line of blood to form. She had smacked her father across the face with the same belt he had torn her to pieces with most of her life, leaving him with a scar that would never fade. But she had never killed before today and any thoughts she had ever had of killing a person had never involved killing a friend.

The young redhead was pulled from her thoughts as she felt someone brush against her. Apparently, in her fidgeting, she had drawn closer to Blair and by the looks of it Blair drew closer to her. The physical distraction wasn’t unwelcome and Fable found that Blair being there helped her hands to stop rubbing and the phantom blood to disappear. When asked if either of them had questions for Parks Fable could think of nothing. She hadn’t been fully aware of the entire situation until the last few hours and was still gathering information as best she could. She didn’t want to waste time asking questions that held no real meaning so instead, she listened. When Parks dared to tell Blair that Chris deserved better than her Fable rose up from where she had been leaning, fully ready to slam her palm into Parks nose. She paused however when the blonde before her responded with venom in her tone and spat at the man held captive before them. The fiery-haired girl felt a spark of pride at Blair’s response, a symbol of the blonde’s strength.

Not long after that Ghost had injected Parks with the serum and they began to discuss the next step in their plan. All came crashing down on them however when Parks voice rang out and they knew something was wrong. Moving with Ghost she began to race through her mind for any sort of suggestion or idea that might work for fixing this situation. Seeing no one else had an idea she stated the first suggestion that came to mind even though she knew it was bad. She was sure that if she suggested a bad idea it would give Ghost the kick in the butt he needed to actually come up with a semi-survivable solution. It seemed that her gamble was fruitful seeing as Ghost had been so horrified by her lame suggestion that he quickly hatched a totally different mad man of a plan that involved breaking into a chemical lab and stealing some real serum. It seemed like a far too risky plan until the instructor confessed to having broken into the Chicago Chemical Company before. Weighing the risks in her mind Fable knew she should hear out his plan and so she gave him a quick and simple nod to indicate she was all ears. The idea was insane but Fable knew that she personally couldn’t come up with anything better and so once again she nodded and sighed, “Security guard, got it.” Quickly she grabbed her jacket off the table and followed Ghost out the door a moment later.

The two were careful getting into the car without attracting suspicion and as soon as Fable was in the passenger seat she buckled up and started to undo her hair and redo it in a low bun. She had seen female security guards before and almost all of them sported the same low bun style to keep their hair out of their way while on the job. As her fingers worked behind her head she glanced over at Ghost who was driving towards the factory. “Is there a locker room I need to sneak into for a uniform or am I taking out a guard that will hopefully fit?” She asked wanting to know how to best keep the plan moving slowly.

After receiving the answer to her question the two sat in silence for a while as they drove. With the silence came more thoughts, more reflections on the events of the day. One thought, in particular, kept pecking at Fable’s mind the longer she found herself alone with Ghost. She couldn’t help but remember the name Dante had called him. It was one Fable knew well and had learned to associate with pain and fear, yet she couldn’t help but feel her curiosity grow as she sat in the car beside Ghost. “Hey,” She began and paused for a moment as though thinking through her question. “why did Dante call you Mister Jacobi?” She asked finally, her eyes narrowed. “What does that name mean to you?”

Aviator WanderLust.

code by Stardust Galaxy

 

[Aviator]

Ghost // Male // Age 18 // Training Instructor // Erudite to Dauntless​

Summer had barely begun, and already the city was like a spent lover—sticky and fragrant. Ghost was reminded of this fact as a hot wind swept down the narrow street and cut through his hair, bringing with it the smell of cigarettes and a nearby barbecue. It would have been a lovely evening for a stroll in the park with Charlie, as had become their intermittent habit since the end of Phase One of initiation. Or possibly a skate, though it had been ages since Ghost had last used his inlines. He suddenly wondered whether Charlie could skate, and the fact that he wouldn’t be finding out tonight made him feel strangely empty.
Unlike Blair, Fable didn’t try to contest who would drive. She went to the Valor’s passenger-side door without complaint, and it occurred to Ghost that she still had yet to witness his driving skills—or lack thereof. “Oh dear,” he said as he climbed into the driver’s seat, “I hope you weren’t expecting me to be a responsible driver.” Ghost’s cannabis pen suddenly appeared in his hand, and with Fable watching, he took a long breath until his throat grew warm and itchy and a cough sputtered from him when he could take no more. The smoke that he exhaled formed a dense, swirling cloud. “Because, my lady, you are about to be sorely disappointed.” His voice sounded as rough as a calloused palm, and his fingertips tingled numbly as he extended the pen to Fable. “Want a hit? I find that it helps immensely before a heist.”
Ghost adjusted the mirrors and seat to his preference and pulled the Valor away from the curb more smoothly than he expected. This time he didn’t think through and then rethink his every tap of a pedal or turn of the wheel before committing to it. The entire world was an arm’s length away, and Ghost felt as if he were viewing it as a great chess player sees the board: clearly and from a distance. He nodded at Fable’s question, appreciative that she had the foresight to be asking something legitimate. “Since we still have a functioning tranquilizer with us, we’ll just take out an existing guard and you’ll wear their clothes. That’ll give us access to any keycards they might be carrying, plus not having to visit the locker room means one less place which we could be caught infiltrating.” Ghost swung the Valor around the corner with a little too much enthusiasm, causing Fable to sway to the left. Ghost admittedly was a little unsure which way was up at the given moment, and couldn’t say whether he remained upright throughout the turn or had just recovered faster than her. “A proper thief considers all of the possibilities,” he said sagely.
A minute of silence had elapsed between them as Ghost racked his memory for how to get to Chicago Chemical Company. Every other time in the past he’d either navigated the streets on foot or crossed rooftops. Suddenly Fable spoke, and there was a strange note in her voice that made Ghost cut a glance toward her. From the searching way she was gazing back at him, the slight forward cant of her body as she sat rigid in her seat, he knew her question was not an idle one. Ghost did and said enough things with no motive other than plain curiosity to know what that looked like. His hands tightened almost imperceptibly on the steering wheel as he contemplated several different ways to answer. “Oh, honey,” he said at last, after convincing himself that an outright denial would only look suspicious, “if you think I’m high enough to start spilling secrets, you’re dead wrong. You’ll need to beat me in a gamble for that, and when the chips are down, I don’t lose. Otherwise my lips are sealed.” Ghost’s tone was affable, even playful, but his words couldn’t have been any more serious if he tried.
Fable watched him with silent, intense frustration, as if having discovered that the jigsaw puzzle she was working on was missing a piece. More than just one, probably, Ghost corrected himself proudly. He perceived the prolonged heat of her glare even without taking his eyes off the road in front of him. “I’ve been told I look particularly dashing in profile,” Ghost finally said, maliciously wanting to spite her further. Who the hell was she to ask him personal questions? What right did she think she had to his truths? “Can you confirm this?”
Before Ghost had transferred to Dauntless and adopted a pseudonym, he was used to someone occasionally recognizing his surname and either spitting at his feet or offering their condolences on account of his parents’ deaths. He wasn’t sure which reaction he despised more: the prejudice or the pity. Most of his adolescence had been shrouded in an aura of scandalous mystique, as if he were a minor celebrity who was newly released from rehab—which, ironically enough, wasn’t very far from the truth at all. Ghost hadn’t tested for Dauntless, and while the faction’s swashbuckling bravado had indeed piqued his interest, it hadn’t been his primary reason for transferring. More than anything, he had wanted the chance to be reborn. To prove himself without his parents’ dark legacy hanging over his head like a thundercloud. To succeed or fail on his own merit and no one else’s. It was for that reason that he was so willing to use his own life as a gambling chip. He didn’t care so much if he lost as he did that his decision to play had been made independently and voluntarily, not because he’d been forced to play or was expected to. In Ghost’s book, the worst decisions were the ones you deferred to others out of fear of choosing wrong.

* * *​

The infiltration went smoothly until it didn’t, which simultaneously surprised Ghost and entirely did not surprise him. He and Fable parked the car several blocks away and scaled a nearby building, so that they were out of sight as they waited for a shift change with the tranquilizer rifle in hand. When one happened, Ghost downed an approaching guard with a swift pink dart. Inconveniently but not devastatingly, the man whom they’d downed was about Ghost’s height, if somewhat more filled out in the torso and limbs than him. The uniform was noticeably big on Fable, but with the belt cinched to its tightest notch, was still wearable. “Pretend as if you’re the spokeswoman for the latest miracle fad diet,” Ghost had advised her, only half jokingly. “You just haven’t had the time or money to get a whole new wardrobe yet.”
The keycard that they’d filched from the downed security guard granted the holder access to the security systems surrounding the laboratory’s inner chambers and vaults. Fable disabled the cameras and alarms inside the rotunda in which completed serums were stored until transportation, while Ghost worked on unlocking a glass panel in the circular roof. Then he shimmied down the long length of cable extending from a grappling hook and into the storage chamber. The skin between Ghost’s shoulder blades prickled as he lowered himself to the floor, holding his breath in anticipation of a cacophony of shrieking alarms. But no one came running as he appreciatively surveyed the shelves lining the inside of the vault, all of which held vials of different shapes and sizes and colors. Ghost hadn’t previously considered that he might not be able to recognize the memory serum on sight and was grateful to find that most of the shelves were labeled with strips of tape.
Honestly, he didn’t know what he would have done if Fable’s keycard hadn’t disabled the security cameras, or if the locks on the roof had been reinforced with something more high tech in the two years since he’d last broken into this place. After years of handling firearms, Ghost’s hearing did not have the necessary acuity for safecracking, and Chicago Chemical Company was a governmental institution in Erudite territory. And Young was the leader of Erudite, which made it an indirect property of his. If any security cameras captured Ghost’s face, Young would be able to identify the thief immediately. Rather than intimidate him, the high stakes appealed to Ghost. Revisiting an establishment that he’d broken into before brought him a perverse sense of nostalgia. It felt like laying claim to a place, like mastering it. We know each other’s secrets, the laboratory’s cold, sterile vaults seemed to whisper in the voice of an old friend.
Theoretically, one vial of memory serum should have been more than enough to wipe Parks’s memory of today’s nefarious events, but theoretically, the stuff that Ghost had bought from the factionless should have gotten the job done, too. He took not one vial, but three, cramming them into his already mostly-full coat pockets. You never knew when an illegal supply of memory serum might come in handy, and if Ghost found no use for it—which he truly doubted would be the case—he could always fence the vials for a small fortune.
He was all but ready to flee the scene of the crime when there came the soft, unmistakable tread of footsteps, muffled by the metal of a door across the room. It was not the door that Fable was posted on the opposite side of.
The unhurried footsteps crescendoed.
Panic crackled inside of Ghost, galvanizing him into action. Moving on the outside edges of his boots to keep them from slapping, he toed across the floor to where the length of cable stretched down from the gaping panel on the domed roof. He willed his hands not to shake as he unlatched the cable and reeled it back in with speed that would have ordinarily been startling, but in this moment was agonizingly slow. The doorknob jiggled menacingly. Ghost threw himself behind a long work table. The ceiling vaulted a hundred feet up, higher than anyone would accidentally glimpse. But if someone were scanning the room with intent, they would notice that one of the panels was peeled back, and instead of casting a dim reflection of the rotunda’s interior like the rest of the glass, this one revealed bare sky.
Ghost held his breath as he gathered his feet underneath him, prepared to leap up from his hiding place and bolt at a moment’s notice. He wasn’t sure where exactly he would run to—because being seen had never been part of the plan—but he would do what he had to in order to avoid capture.
The door opened with a sigh, and boots thumped softly against the tiled floor. A shadow stretched sinisterly across the floor, as if reaching for Ghost’s hiding place. His heart thundered so hard that it was a small wonder it didn’t crack his sternum. He listened carefully, and just as the footfalls came up on the right side of the table he was hiding behind, Ghost scurried around its opposite edge, moving minimally so his clothes wouldn’t rustle or his shoes squeak.
The footsteps stopped in front of the very shelf that Ghost had been standing at a minute before. A few vials had been missing from their holders prior to his arrival, and he’d made sure the ones he’d taken were dispersed relatively evenly among the rows so as to not stand out. Crouched behind the table, Ghost bit down on the inside of his cheek hard, his fingers curled into claws in his lap. Endless seconds passed. At last, when the boots stepped away from the shelf and retreated across the floor in the direction they’d come from, a cool spasm of relief went through Ghost. He straightened the tiniest bit from his hiding place, craning his neck past the table just enough that he could glimpse the oblivious security guard who had very nearly caught an intruder.
Only it wasn’t a security guard. Ghost wouldn’t have recognized a nobody security guard in a faction that no longer had any claim on him. Unlike Fable, this imposter girl hadn’t even bothered to change out of her Dauntless blacks. Unaware that she was being observed, Anika Vex disappeared from the vault and shut the door behind her, leaving Ghost to battle with curiosity so intense it was almost painful. On one hand, he was sure that his eyes were deceiving him and needed to ascertain that the young woman who’d sauntered out of the vault wasn’t a Dauntless initiate, just someone who looked a lot like her. On the other… He had seen stranger things before, and he hadn’t survived Baneberry and then Dauntless by second-guessing his intuition.
Escape was so close—directly above his head, if he chose to take it. Ghost would just have to aim his grappling hook and then trust the forces of physics to sweep him out of the vault. But if he left now, he would never know the truth, and there was no currency more valuable than information. When he was certain that the woman had gone, Ghost emerged from his hiding place but then stood indecisively, listening to the rattle of the air conditioner disrupt the quiet.
He made a choice, an independent and voluntary one of his own accord, knowing that he would never forgive himself if he succumbed to fear now. He prowled across the room in pursuit of Vex.

 

[Sanctuaryforall1]

Randi

Mood: Determined

Location: Street

Interactions: Cas and Mav

Randi hadn’t spent much one on one time with Cas before now and the dark-haired girl was certainly making her regret missing out for so long. Cas was funny and clever and undeniably attractive, all characteristics Randi found she enjoyed. Before just a few minutes ago the most interaction the two girls had had was during training due to the fact that Poppy and Blair usually held Randi’s attention and Randi had noticed Cas tended to stick around Griffon, Lainey, and sometimes Fable. The platinum-haired firecracker really enjoyed that Cas was so willing to flirt and joke back with her, it was casual and fun. “What can I say? I know how to find what I like.” She playfully flirted back with a shameless wink. The conversations and jokes that followed helped Randi to focus on thoughts other than her worry for what Mav might be doing right now and if he was alright or being reckless again. She understood doing things recklessly, hell that was 99% of how she lived her life, but right now with Mav acting the way he had…it worried her a bit. The last thing she wanted was for her childhood friend to end up in a ditch somewhere and after what she witnessed earlier, she knew it could happen if he did get into a fight that was too much to handle. Cas helped her to keep her mind off of such thoughts as they teased each other and participated in some light and casual flirting, Randi’s specialty.

When Cas exhaled a sigh of relief Randi looked over at her with an arched eyebrow and a curious glint in her eye. She was glad to hear that the pain meds were finally kicking in and helping to soothe the hurt Cas had been dealing with since before their paths crossed in the infirmary. Upon hearing Cas’s offer to go off and do something Randi smiled and nodded her head. “Hell yeah!” The blonde initiate agreed as she hopped off the bed, wincing at the movement and the pain it caused her knife wound. She took a brief second to recover and didn’t care that Cas saw her check her bandages to make sure she didn’t pull any stitches. Giving the dark-haired girl a nod that she was all good and ready to go a heartbeat later Randi was picking her flannel up off the bed and heading towards the door. “We could always go to the bar I work at?” She suggested with a slight skip in her step. “It’s called The Dancing Cobra Club and they are known for having a KILLER shot selection.” The young dauntless-born girl suggested as she held the door open behind her for Cas. “I can get us in without having to pay a cover fee since I’m one of the entertainers.”

As the two of them walked towards the club Randi babbled on about her place of employment and how great it could be working there but also the drawbacks. Being a fire dancer was a thrilling job that tended to rake in a lot of tips that she could then use to spoil her friends. The job did however tend to lead to creeps thinking she was there for more than just dancing but they tended to learn pretty quickly that her flames could do more than just look pretty. Most of the time however it didn’t tend to get that far since she had friends like Paris, the head of security, looking out for her. Paris was a big guy who could quite literally throw two men at once with little effort, one of the main reasons he was the head of the club's security. Everyone who worked at the club was part of Paris’s family and the man made sure they knew that. When Randi had been sick a few months ago the big teddy bear of a man showed up at her door with homemade soup that she had to constantly keep Freight from stealing. After a few minutes of babbling on and on about the club and the people who worked there, Randi found herself suddenly running into a very solid figure in the center of the sidewalk. She braced herself for an impact that was suddenly lessened by a pair of strong arms keeping her safe.

Turning her head to see who she had run into she froze for a moment as she found herself gazing up into the sparkling greyish-blue eyes of Maverick. “Mav?” She breathed out finally as her eyes remained glued to his. He looked to be a mess with his tie hanging loosely around his neck, the smell of alcohol on his breath, and tears threatening to spill down his cheeks. She noticed that he was still holding her tightly as if he was afraid to let her go because she might disappear. Before she could register much else something within the young man seemed to shift and suddenly, they were both upright, her wound throbbing in slight irritation from the collision, and Mav was taking a step away from her. No matter how hard he tried to hide it she could tell he was currently struggling, his emotions and his grief eating away at him. She would not let him go off on his own right now and when he said he didn’t know where he was going, she took that as her opportunity. “Good, you don’t know where you were going which means you are free to come with Cas and me.” She blurted out before glancing over at Cas to try and wordlessly get the girl to understand that Randi needed to do this, she needed to keep Mav close to make sure he would get through the rest of the day. The funeral must have been hell on the young man and Randi could see it all over him, he was in pain, and she needed to help. “I’m doing better.” She replied in answer to his question. “Thanks to you.” She added with a smile that she hoped would possibly help break through the torment within him. “Cas and I were just heading to a club, and I think you should come with us. It will be fun, and I will cover everything.” She insisted and looked at Cas to make sure she knew the offer was extended to her as well. She didn’t want the girl to think she needed to leave now that Mav was here because Randi had been genuinely looking forward to hanging out with her as well. Her jade green gaze then returned to Mav as she gave him a look that clearly stated she would not be taking no as an answer in this matter. It was a look he knew well from their years running around as kids together, a look that always meant she was going to be getting her way whether he liked it or not. It looked charming on her now.

Nerdy. WanderLust.

code by Stardust Galaxy

Thorn

Mood: Compassionate

Location: Streets/Dorms

Interactions: Aubrey & Charlie

The rest of the funeral went by slowly but not because Thorn was bored, no, it was because he was on alert for any signs that Aubrey or Charlie needed him. He was much closer to Charlie than he was to Aubrey but from what he had gathered Charlie already had her support system there with her and Thorn wouldn’t have ever thought to abandon Aubrey at a time like this. They might not know each other well, they might not be much more than acquaintances, but Thorn still cared about Aubrey and wanted her to have someone there to make the day easier if possible. He indulged her at every turn, being quiet when he could tell she needed time with her thoughts and feelings, making small talk when she needed it, playing a game that involved throwing food at a trash can which Aubrey dominated him in. Whatever she needed he was there to give her even when it came to following Charlie after the ceremony after she fell. He had to admit that he almost rushed over to Charlie when she hit the ground but stopped himself because he knew the crowd would only make things worse and she had Bloom there to help her.

It took no convincing for Thorn to go along with Aubrey’s idea to follow Charlie as the ceremony ended. Each step they took the young man found himself hyper-aware of both Charlie and Aubrey, his half-blind gaze casually shifting from the dark-haired girl ahead of them to the blonde at his side. “It's nice that even now she can take time to appreciate the beauty of the world around her.” He mentioned softly as he watched Charlie pick a few wildflowers. “Not that it means everything is okay, but…ya know…it means she isn’t completely shut down.” He said trying to word his feelings on the matter as best he could. When the strange man approached Charlie, Thorn noticed Aubrey tense up and heard her words. Deep down apart of him agreed with her, felt that if this was the man who was hurting Charlie that he would support Aubrey and her thirst for vengeance. But a larger part of Thorn, the part of him that hated the violence and bloodshed so casually glorified in this faction focused more so on how he could get Charlie away from that man if he was the one Aubrey feared him to be. A deep breath left the freckled boy's lips as the man went on his way after expressing his condolences and have a word with the kind medic.

When Charlie approached the pair a few moments later Thorn could see the weight of all that was happening weighing heavily on her. He did his best to convey all he wanted to tell her in a compassionate gaze as she drew near, knowing that this moment wasn’t about him but rather the two sisters who had loved Caspian so much and were in great pain because of it. He was just grateful that he could be here in whatever way they needed to help them through this day and the days to come. Silently he watched as Charlie presented Aubrey with the beautifully crafted daggers. Being a weaponsmith himself he could tell that whoever forged those blades took great pride in their work and was glad that the daggers now held so much meaning to the blonde beside him. As she cradled them close to her heart Thorn noticed Charlie messing with the necklace, he gave her and hoped that it was providing her some measure of support in its own little way.

Moments later the small group was traversing back to the compound and Charlie was advising them to stay in the dorms for the night. He could understand her requesting Aubrey to stay in the dorms due to the shock and sorrow of the day and though it might sound odd Thorn was pretty sure he knew why Charlie was recommending he stay as well. She had seen behind the curtain today, Charlie was a wonderfully clever girl and Thorn knew she was piecing together all that she had seen in his fear simulation as well as on his body while he was under the effects of the serum. Hearing the medic state that she would be staying with Bloom made Thorn feel a bit more at ease. “I could escort you there if you would like then return to the dorms?” He offered and felt less at ease when she turned down the request. Charlie asking him to stay with Aubrey and look out for her wasn’t unreasonable and if it was what she truly wanted in this moment he would do it, but he still hated the idea of her going the rest of the way alone. “As you wish.” He replied after a moment with a nod that was met by a farewell from the older Stark girl.

Making his way into the dorm area Thorn looked around trying to spot Aubrey with his good eye among the bunks. He finally spotted her blonde head poking out from atop a bunk, her eyes scanning him as if trying to assess a situation he was unaware of. When she suddenly requested he play a game with her the young man gave a small and sweet smile before agreeing to play. Swiftly he hopped up into the bed with her, making sure to respectfully give her space so she wouldn’t be uncomfortable. “Did you come up with this game?” He asked as she finished telling him the rules. “Yeah, of course, I’ll play. Just…make sure not to get hurt, I don’t think I’d be able to patch you up as well as Charlie could.” He warned with a half-smile to show he meant the comment lightheartedly. In truth, he was actually very skilled at patching up wounds of all sorts after having to act as a medic for himself and when he was younger, for his mother as well. Now his father tended to reserve the beatings for him, a burden Thorn would bear every hour of every day if it meant keeping his mother safe.

Nerdy.

code by Stardust Galaxy

Bloom

Mood: Concerned

Location: Home

Interactions: Charlie

The funeral took more out of her than she realized but when Charlie came knocking on her door there was no way in hell Bloom would ever think to turn her best friend away. She knew whatever she was feeling, no matter how tired or sorrowful, Charlie was feeling ten times worse. She let the sweet brunette in without hesitation and instantly went to make them each a cup of tea. Her selection wasn’t as well-stocked as normal but she knew a calming Earl Grey would do the trick for the situation at hand. After making the tea for the two of them Bloom settled on the couch beside Charlie and sipped at the steaming liquid, allowing her friend to control the conversation as she saw fit.

“They think I killed Caspian.” The words had Bloom frozen in time from the moment she heard them. Suddenly she was the scared fifteen-year-old girl in a barn loft again. She could still hear the sound of her father's dying scream as he was thrown from the top of the barn to the world below. She was aware of how cold she was in her ripped clothes and the feeling of her hand wrapping around a tool behind her. Suddenly she was swinging, her hand holding on tightly to the gardening tool she grabbed and not sure what would happen next. The boy before her let out a muted scream as the weeding fork cut through his throat, the prongs dug so deep within that they came out the other side. Bloom watched as Sage Auburn choked on his own words and blood as she held the tool tightly in place, too afraid to let go and face what would happen if she did. Through the shock, she managed to yank the tool from the boy's throat and she gasped a silent cry of shock as his hands flew up as blood poured from his neck. She hadn’t wanted this, she never would have thought herself capable of it until now. Sage had been so kind, so sweet, he had promised her the world but when given the chance he tried to take everything from her and in the process, he killed her father. It all happened in a blur and now in the course of five minutes the boy she thought loved her had tried to force himself on her, killed her father, tried to kill her, and was now bleeding out before her very eyes. Bloom dropped her make-shift weapon and watched as he crumpled to the ground before her, still struggling for air and choking on his own blood.

The vision of her past vanished as Charlie’s voice once again rang through the memories and brought Bloom back to the present. Bloom knew she herself was a murderer but she knew with all her heart that Charlie wasn’t. The fact that anyone believed that could be the case, the fact that any evidence pointed that way seemed like a scam to the bartender. If it looked like it could be Charlie then she knew it couldn’t be, not only that, but she knew Charlie well enough to know that the young medic wasn’t capable of casually murdering someone she cared about. No matter how much proof and accusations piled up Bloom would never bring herself to believe such a thing. “I know you didn’t do it.” Bloom said firmly.

Had her whereabouts been less known the night of the murder Bloom would have been willing to testify that Charlie was with her if Noah’s claim fell through. Unfortunately, Bloom had been at the bar like she was countless nights before that, doing her job with dozens of witnesses to pin her to the place. She prayed to anyone listening that Noah’s testimony would be enough. She knew in cases like this those in charge would look for the easiest target to blame and she wanted more than anything to get Charlie out of the crossfire.

Hearing Charlie’s request to stay the night Bloom smiled and nodded her head. “Of course, let me get the spare bed made up.” She replied with a kind smile as she placed her mug on the table beside her and walked towards the spare bedroom. Opening the closet she pulled out some sheets and began to dress the bed. “Charlie…did they mention any proof they had linking you to the crime?” She inquired so she could try and help her friend in any way possible.

Nerdy.

code by Stardust Galaxy

 

[WanderLust.]

Maverick Maddox // Male// 18// Dauntless Born // Instructor
Interacting With: Randi Sanctuaryforall1 and Cas Nerdy.

Maverick's eyes remained locked on the blonde in front of him for an inordinate amount of time. It was only when he heard the sound of another female clearing her throat the he swallowed thickly, a heat burning at his cheeks as he slowly began to register that him and Randi were not alone. "Cassie!" he immediately stiffened, his instructor demeanor slowly returning as he realized he was among the company of yet another initiate. "It's good to see you." He attempted to straighten his disheveled clothing for a moment, running nervous fingers through his hair. For some reason, Maverick often forgot his place as an instructor, he often felt more at home with the initiates than he did with any of the other instructors. Randi had always been cunning, so much so perhaps that he often found himself wondering if she possessed an aptitude for erudite, however he had never said so out loud. When she began spinning his words to construe an infallible theory that he should come with her and Cassie to a nearby club, he couldn't help the faintest hint of a smile that began tugging at his lips.

Granted, he knew he should've said no, politely refused the offer, but he wanted to go with her. He wanted to dance and drink with Randi, forget his responsibilities and inhibitions. Damn the rules about instructors and initiates fraternizing, he wanted to forget about it all for just one night and enjoy the company of the beautiful girl who had been dangling just out of his reach for longer than he could stand. Besides, it wasn't like Randi was going to give him much of a choice anyways. "Alright Sparky.... one dance." he conceded as he slowly tucked his hands into the pockets of his pants, turning towards the direction of the nearest club as he feet began following a route he had quite almost memorized. "But only because I feel bad about nearly tackling you." There was a sudden playfulness in his voice that surprised even Maverick himself. Randi brought something out in him that had long since been forgotten, a carelessness that had died with his parents in that house fire all this years ago. A lazy grin remained painted on his lips as the trio meandered towards the clubs and bars of the dauntless compound. He wasn't quite sure which club Randi had been planning on going to, so he made sure to stay just a few steps behind her, silently following her lead.

Maverick felt comfortable in the dim light and the low thrumming base that pulsed through his chest. The music pulsing through the air was enough to quiet the thoughts that had been pestering him since that morning. It was like a drug, coursing through his veins until he found his worries and cares dissipating into the air. He remained a half step behind Randi, his hand instinctively resting on her lower back in a protective fashion, as if he were guiding her through the crowd of writhing bodies. This was a common scene in dauntless, the drunken patrons grinding their bodies against each other in the dark as music pounded from unseen speakers. "This place hasn't changed a bit." Maverick grinned, his voice just loud enough to be heard over the dull roar of the techno beat playing in the background. He could immediately sense the hungry eyes on Randi and Cassie, the gazes from both men and women that would've liked to be their dance partners for the night. For some reason Maverick prickled at the thought. Randi and Cassie were both beautiful girls, it wasn't surprising that they would have so many admirers, yet for every pair of eyes that landed on Randi he found himself slowly edging closer towards her.

Eventually, Maverick's fingers slowly began to lace with Randi's as she led him through throngs of people to ensure they didn't get separated. It was only when they were collectively surrounded by strangers that Maverick was able to work up the courage that had been lacking since Caspian's death. He leaned in close to the blonde, his breath tickling her neck as he murmured "I believe you promised me a dance." A playful grin tugged at his lips. In one fluid motion he had spun Randi around so that she was facing him, his hands resting lightly on her waist as her hips began to sway to the steady rhythm of the music. Half of him was screaming not to do it, the get out while he still had the restraint, that he knew better than to get involved with an initiate. But he couldn't help it, his body was moving without his own permission, and he didn't care. He had surrendered to his instincts, finally letting himself chase the one thing that had been making him feel alive these past few days, Randi.

​

 

[Sanctuaryforall1]

Vex

Mood: Curious

Location: Erudite Lab

Interactions: Ghost

Her day had been long but rather fruitful all things considered. Two murders in the past 24 hours, a proper tune-up, and now those who pulled her strings had sent her on a sabotage mission for them. This was far more appealing to her than simply lazing about the initiate quarters or pretending to care about the next crazy party. She was a machine, a tool, a weapon, her purpose was to get jobs done and get them done right. Anything Dr. Munro and his associates requested of her would be done and so far it had all been done perfectly. She had infiltrated the Dauntless initiation, done well enough but not to the point that it would create suspicion, she had made people trust her to gain intel, killed those suspected of being Divergent, and slaughtered Caspian while making it look as though Charlie was to blame. All in all these missions along with many others showed Dr. Munro and his associates that the money spent to make her had been money well spent.

As she moved through the halls of the lab, she remained undetected. She was like a ghost, a wraith making her way soundlessly through the long corridors with no one the wiser. Her eyes scanned the world around her and along with her other senses, she was on absolute high alert. She watched as several guards passed her hiding place without noticing her and couldn’t help but smirk at the thought that she could kill them before they ever knew she was there. Of course, this mission didn’t require death and would likely go smoother without it, so the young beauty left her dark thoughts as just that and resumed her journey through the halls.

This lab was built like many of the other Erudite labs which meant the security and cameras were easy to predict and avoid. Within a few minutes of entering through the loading dock of the building, Vex found herself standing in front of the door that blocked her from the object of her mission. Taking a key card she swiped from an unsuspecting guard the well-trained young woman slid it across the access panel and entered the room. Instantly she could tell something was up, she was not alone, someone else had broken in and by the looks of the panel on the ceiling it was clear just how they had done it. Moving casually across the room to the cabinet that held the serums she knew there was a strong chance that the culprit was still within the room as well. She paused at the cabinet and worked swiftly while listening carefully. There. There it was. The slightest intake of breath that was almost so soft that most others would miss it but Vex was a hunter and knew how to listen for her prey. She smirked and finished her business of sabotaging several batches of serum while making it seem as though she was oblivious to being watched.

Once the job was done the young woman turned, not bothering to cast her glance around the room because she had an idea of how this would go down and didn’t want to attract attention in such a high-risk area. She figured that anyone in here wouldn’t go off and blab about someone else being in the lab as well, especially when they were hiding which meant they more than likely weren’t meant to be there either. She also was willing to wager that like many others the curiosity would get the better of them and she would be able to draw them out by simply leaving. So, with her knowledge of human behavior in mind Vex left the vault and began to make her way towards the less populated shipping stock rooms.

Making several turns and practicing evasive maneuvering that was far below her actual skill level Vex prowled the halls and finally entered a room that led to the shipping docks. By doing this she would make it seem as though she were heading towards her escape route when in reality, she was waiting inside to see who followed her. With little effort and practically no noise Vex managed to make her way up the side of one of the stock shelves and into the rafters above so that she could get a good look at the fool who followed her. If she deemed it necessary, she would execute the threat and dispose of the body but for now, she just wanted to see if the other intruder had actually followed her.

Several heartbeats passed before the doorknob moved the slightest bit before turning fully. Carefully the door opened and a familiar face complete with a dark beard and eyes to match poked into the room. Ghost was clearly scanning to see if it was safe enough to enter and like a lioness hiding in the tall grass Vex remained hidden in the darkness above, her body unmoving. She watched as he quietly entered the room and closed the door behind him, his eyes scanning his surroundings with great practice. Interesting. She thought as a small smirk pulled at her lips. “My my my, aren’t you far from home?” She purred as she descended gracefully from the shadows of the world above, using one of the bars of the rafter to control her fall as she landed behind him just as he whipped around to face her. “No one told me Ghost’s haunted these halls.” She added with a slight glimmer in her eye, curious to see what would happen and how he would react. If he wanted to fight she was more than ready but truthfully she saw no real point seeing as neither of them was supposed to be here and yet here they were.

Aviator

code by Stardust Galaxy

Shayla

Mood: Tired

Location: Apartment

Interactions: Chris & Lainey

The situation had become crowded which only led to Shayla acting more grumbly than normal. She liked her space, she liked keeping people at a distance, both of which were difficult to do when she had a roommate like Lainey who was such a flirt and a social butterfly. When the pretty brunette appeared Shayla simply looked more intently at her sketchbook, her pencil flicking as she plotted yet another tattoo design. The ebony-haired beauty didn’t shy away from making others well aware of her lack of interest in them. She didn’t often have to do it with Chris since Chris was well…Chris, but Lainey could be a whole other story and it didn’t help that their relationship was partially built on knowing each other’s secrets…or at least to a certain degree. Shayla knew about Lainey’s issues with sleeping and what could happen and Lainey knew that Shayla was sick though she had never bothered to mention the fact that she was actually dying.

When her roommate started pestering Chris with questions Shayla glanced over at the girl before looking back at her drawing, “He didn’t come here to be interrogated by you.” She informed her sharply as she scanned the bone structure of the triceratops she was currently adjusting line work on. The words seemed to make Lainey settle down for a moment but like always the flirtatious girl managed to start chatting again.

Despite how Shayla acted she didn’t truly despise her roommate as much as it seemed. She felt herself needing to hyper-focus on the poorer character qualities of the girl so that she wouldn’t risk wanting to grow close to her. This was the same reason Shayla tended to only show her harsher side to Lainey, to encourage the girl not to pursue any sort of real friendship with her. Honestly, if things were different Shayla believed she might actually be good friends with the young woman but alas the fates were not that kind, and like practically everyone else in her life Shayla had to be an ice-cold bitch to make sure she wouldn’t hurt Lainey later.

When the smoothie was offered to her Shayla took it with a slight nod and quietly sipped it before placing it on the table beside her. She listened to the question and glanced over at Chris to hear his answer as she continued her work. His day sounded interesting at first, but the sorrow of the day couldn’t be missed as he mentioned the funeral he and many others had attended. “I imagine it was.” She said simply as she kept working and occasionally put her pencil down to pet Lev as the cat made his rounds to the three people in the room. “Men like him deserve to be remembered.” She added as she thought back to all the great things she had heard about him. As far as we know. She added cynically to herself as she found herself not entirely convinced that this darling son of Dauntless was as perfect as many said he was since people seldom were.

Realizing the room had gone quiet again Shayla glanced up from her work and noticed Chris and Lainey looking at her. She realized they were expecting her to talk and a soft sigh escaped her lips. Fine. She grumbled internally and lowered her sketchpad into the footrest before her. “After simulations, I had a few appointments booked at the parlor. I had two consultations and one neck tattoo that I only got the linework done on today because the girl was exhausted from the pain.” Shayla explained.

Nerdy. WanderLust.

code by Stardust Galaxy

 

[Aviator]

Ghost // Male // Age 18 // Training Instructor // Erudite to Dauntless
​

Ghost wasn’t an idiot all of the time; just half of it, and this wasn’t his first time following someone, either. He allowed the length of almost a whole hallway to pass between Anika and him as he slunk through the laboratory in her wake, darting between shelves laden with vials and the occasional stack of crates, never lingering out in the open for more than a heartbeat on the chance that she happened to glance back. This regimen of running, crouching, and then rapidly springing to his feet again exercised muscles that Ghost hadn’t used in some time, and after a few hallways he was fighting the urge to keep from gasping for breath. It didn’t help that the last time he had snuck through an illegally-entered building had been two years ago, when he’d been four inches shorter and relatively toned from daily battles for survival on the streets. Ever since he’d graduated from Dauntless initiation and was no longer forced to exercise, Ghost had grown lazy and content with a sedentary life of playing cards and reading books.
Up ahead, Anika rounded another corner. As Ghost followed the familiar path, his mental map of the laboratory’s layout rose up, unbidden. She was heading to the shipping docks. Did she have secret transportation there, waiting to whisk her away from the scene of whatever illegal business she’d conducted at the lab? Or were the docks the goal of her mission, whatever it was? Maybe sabotaging a shipment of serums? Lost in thought as he was, Ghost’s hip carelessly bumped the metal dolly he was hiding behind, causing it to sway dangerously. But the crate pinning it to the floor was too heavy, and a puff of relief left his body when the dolly stilled.
Ghost turned a corner just in time to catch Anika vanishing into a room, not bothering to even close the door behind herself. It continued to creak slowly open after her passing in foreboding invitation; no light spilled into the corridor. A shiver of anticipation went through Ghost. What if it turns out that after all this it’s not even her, and my dumb ass went on a wild goose chase after some random delinquent? he thought sardonically, knowing that was exactly the kind of feat of stupidity he’d fall prey to. After all, Ghost had spoken to Anika only once or twice, and neither interaction had been particularly meaningful. The probability that he’d mistaken someone else for her was higher than he liked to admit.
As silently as if he were stepping across clouds, he advanced toward the door and withdrew his cell phone from a pocket. He pressed his back to the space of wall just outside the door frame and angled his cell phone in an attempt to reflect the interior of the room beyond. But unlike the starkly lit hallway, the room was mostly dark inside, and Ghost found himself squinting in frustration at impassive black glass. Deciding that he hadn’t come all this way only to turn back now, he sighed in resignation, steeled himself, and leaned out from the wall just enough to poke his head around the door. As he did, he fumbled with the stopper on one of the three vials of memory serum. Just in case, because he and Blair and Fable only needed to reserve one for Parks.
A cursory scan of the room revealed shadowy corners and dust-covered surfaces. The room looked as if it had been previously used as an office but hadn’t seen human contact in some time, with a long desk and high-backed chairs dominating its center. Ghost peered through the semi-darkness to find other doors that Anika could have possibly exited through and drew a sharp breath when he realized that there were none. Which meant that Anika—or whomever he had followed—was still here.
As if on cue, there was a flutter of movement overhead, chased by the jarring slap of feet hitting the floor behind him. Ghost instinctively dove to the side, and when he came up on his knees there were knives in both of his hands; the office was too small for firearms to be of much use and too dim for proper aim. Dressed all in black, silhouetted against the light of the hallway, Anika Vex looked rather like a demon, raised from the dead, trading for souls on the other side. When she raised her head and smiled at him, her teeth were flashing blades. It was the sort of slasher smile that, once seen, cannot ever be forgotten; the sort of smile that Cain had been wearing when he’d lunged at Ghost with lethal enthusiasm. It was not an expression that Ghost had ever expected to cross the face of the mild-mannered initiate before him.
Still, he was only mildly surprised, not shocked; Anika sneaking around unsupervised in the city’s biggest chemical factory was the first clue that she was more than what she seemed. When Ghost responded to her question, his composure was intact. “You’re assuming that I consider Dauntless my home, which I don’t,” he answered conversationally. He came to his feet and shrugged, nonchalant. “Clearly I’m not the only one keeping secrets, which clears my conscience a little. Now how about you clear yours and tell me what a Dauntless initiate is doing here?”
Ghost’s suggestion was met with a chuckle of mirthless laughter. Not that he’d expected a serious answer, of course. The fact that Anika had managed to infiltrate the factory presumably on her own meant that she was at least somewhat clever; Ghost had no doubt that she could hold her own in a fight. He had no power over her—yet. “So what’ll it be?” Ghost asked, his mind racing. He had little confidence in his martial abilities and didn’t want it to come down to a fight. As a last resort, he would shout for security if Anika attacked, forcing her to flee, but that could easily backfire in both of their captures. But he had no idea of Anika’s agenda here and was banking on the fact that Anika didn’t know his, either. Unless of course Anika had already had a run-in with Fable, who was posing as a security guard in the wings by the main vault. “I don’t know what you’re doing here. You can believe me or not, I don’t really care. And I’m fairly certain you don’t know what I’m doing here, either. Hopefully what we don’t know won’t kill either of us. Shall we call it a truce, then, and each go on our merry way?” Ghost watched his new rival as still as a coiled snake, waiting for her to make the first move.
Anika pinned him with her gaze. Within those bottomless wells, he saw dark calculations occurring. Finally, raising the corner of one lip in a sneer as if Ghost would have been a tasty morsel but wasn’t worth the trouble of killing, Anika nodded her consent to his proposal. Ghost’s shoulders dipped in relief; he hadn’t realized they’d been tensed in the first place. He used the small motion to disguise the shift of his hand toward his coat. “That’s a relief. You've got a pretty face, Miss Vex, and it’d be a shame for me to have to damage it,” he quipped. Another spasm of emotion crossed her face when he said her name, but this time it was more of a cringe than a sneer. She looked as if she were on the verge of saying something, but with an air of resolution, Ghost dramatically sheathed his knives and held up the flats of his palms, revealing that he was holding no weapons. “Well, since our business seems to be done here, I’d better be on my way. I’m going to brush past you now. It’s a small office, and you’re inconveniently standing between the door and me, Miss Vex. Please don’t startle, because I will happily repay any backstabbing with interest.”
Ghost turned to the side and made a show of giving Anika as wide a berth as the narrow confines between the desk and walls would allow, his empty palms still extended. Anika turned in time with him, her eyes a storm of distrust and contained wrath. Ghost stared back into them. While he wasn’t looking where he was going, his foot snagged on the leg of one of the office chairs. Ghost folded forward and stumbled, and then, pivoting like a dagger on its point, he turned and swiped low with the syringe of memory serum concealed behind the back of one hand. He buried the sharp tip in the delicate flesh behind Anika’s knee.
An elbow cracked across his back with such force that Ghost forgot how to breathe. Pain lanced through his lungs with each feeble sputter of his chest, and he collapsed to the floor in genuine inability to stand this time. Sensing the follow-up blow more than seeing it, he tucked his arms in and summoned the strength to roll across the carpet once, twice, and heard the impact of a kick landing on the expanse of floor where he’d been laying a fraction of a second ago. The backs of his eyeballs were throbbing when Ghost shoved to his feet, and he very nearly careened into the door frame instead of into the hallway. A hand reached for him through the half-light and he whirled, unwilling to take his chances with Anika in a fight when one blow had almost stunned him. He threw a small, tied-off wax bag onto the floor, which exploded upon contact. A blizzard of red powdery particles swirled into the air, swallowing the doorway in their midst, obscuring every direction leading away from it.
Ghost bolted, running heedlessly with no thought for stealth, consumed by an animal impulse to escape. Botched attempts to go on jogs with Charlie had revealed him to be a notoriously bad runner, but he didn’t need to outrun Vex. He just needed to outrun the time that it would take for the memory serum to kick in, which induced brief unconsciousness in the recipient during reconstruction of the memory. The sound of his madly scrambling feet all but drowned out the choking coughs behind him. Ghost glanced over his shoulder, just for an instant, and only Anika’s dark outline was visible through the red mist that he’d unleashed, an old magician’s trick. She turned left, then right, then spun all the way around, unable to locate her quarry by sight and unable to hear him over her own coughing.
Entering that office, Ghost had been aware of the possibility of a face-to-face encounter when it was vital that no one witness his appearance at Chicago Chemical Company, because if that information trickled back to Jiao-long Young, his life was essentially over. Ghost had never intended on leaving Anika with that condemning knowledge, truce or not. As a gambler, he would never accept a draw, not when a way to win was within sight, even if he had to cheat his way there. And he hadn’t stolen those vials of memory serum just to collect dust on a shelf, as they had been doing. It was too bad that he had been unable to find out Anika’s business at the factory, but she wouldn’t remember their encounter in the future. Going forward, Ghost was in a position to keep an eye on her without arousing her suspicions.
He’d stolen the serum and done what he had to at the factory. All that remained was finding Fable and escaping, and then they would reconvene with Blair.

 

[WanderLust.]

Blair Avalon // Female // Age 16 // Dauntless Born Initiate // Divergent
Interacting With: Ghost Aviator (Christian frequently mentioned Nerdy. )

Blair tried not to visibly prickle at the thought of being left alone with Parks. As Ghost and Fable began making their way out of the dusty, abandoned apartment compound, Blair forced herself to keep her delicate features composed. The interaction was not shrouded with wary goodbyes or meaningful last glances, the entire operation had been dependent on their ability to trust each other, despite their rather skewed relationship. So as the pair left wordlessly, Blair continued to prowl a safe distance away from Parks, never straying close enough that she might fall within arms reach, but never roaming far enough that she lost sight of him. She knew that if Parks were to escape, the odds of Blair being able to subdue him back into captivity on her own were low. Thankfully, he was already tied to the chair with Ghost's expert knotting skills. All Blair had to do was ensure he didn't escape. As her black boots thudded against the dusty floor she tried to convince herself that Ghost and Fable would not be long, that she could handle this on her own. I'm dauntless. I am dauntless. She tried to silently scream at herself. The low, raspy voice of Parks cut through the air in a way that almost hurt Blair's ears as she snapped to attention, her focus not wavering for a second as her icy eyes fixated on him.

"So was it all a game to you then? Christian.... He was your pawn to get to me....?" Despite his sharply edged words, his lips were molded into a deadly grin, as though he found Blair entertaining. She had to keep herself from not visibly baring her teeth at him like a feral dog. Christian's name did not belong in Obadiah's mouth. He didn't deserve a son like Christian, and he was foolish if he thought that Blair didn't recognize the caliber of man that she had fallen in love with. She was not stupid enough to believe that she actually deserved a partner like Christian, Parks could not seriously believe that his own son had been reduced to something as minimal as a pawn in Blair's scheming. In reality, Blair's entire reality seemed to revolve around the blonde boy and his well being, but she didn't reveal that to Parks. It would only be giving him more ammo to use against her. So instead, Blair remained silent, resolving to conceal any reactions Park might seek to edge out of her. Cold as ice and unbreakable as stone, she folded her arms, her blue gaze not wavering for a second as she arched an eyebrow at her captive. "How do you think he would feel if he knew what you were doing? Well... I guess what he feels doesn't really matter to you, does it girl?"

The words sliced through Blair like serrated steel, a dagger under her skin cutting too close to home. She wanted to snarl at him as her blood began to boil. Her lips just barely beginning to part, to begin forming the vicious words that had been whispering in her mind when she felt an unwelcome pressure pushing against her temples. Whatever Blair had been about to say got swallowed up in her throat as she immediately turned away from Parks, choking on her own breath as she closed her eyes. Not now... not here. And yet the feeling began to prickle through her body like bile rising in her throat. She let out a groan as she hugger her arms tighter to herself, trying to swallow the power that insisted on making itself known to her. "What's wrong, Blair? Don't like facing the truth do we...?" His voice trailed on and Blair felt herself inching closer and closer to snapping as she took another step away from Parks, still forcing herself not to look at him for fear that she would lose whatever control she had left. "Shut up." The only warning she could think of as her thoughts began swirling faster and faster, like leaves in the wind moving too fast for her to catch. "If only my son knew the truth about you, Blair... do you think he'd still love you....?" She was dancing on the edge now, a breath away from tumbling over. "Parks-" her final wording, more of a prayer than anything, but his voice cut her off once again. "Do you think he even loves you now....?"

All hell broke loose. In the time it took Blair to process what had just happened, Parks had already gotten too far. The blonde had flinched hard at the sound of wood shattering beneath too much weight. Had that been the chair? Or the rickety old floor? As she had started to whip her head towards the noise she felt like she had walked directly into a cement wall, doubling over as pain split through her head. It was nauseating. And although she was vaguely aware of Parks working his way out of his restraints now that he had managed to tip over the chair, Blair could not move. It was as if her boots had been soldered to the ground, the very earth itself swaying as she desperately tried to regain her bearings. She let out a labored gasp as panic gripped her. He was escaping and she could hardly stand up right. The whole plan was going to shit because she had lost control.

Reality warped and Blair felt herself slipping into that unfamiliar, in between, world where she could attempt to manipulate the matter around her. But, before she was able to focus that unrelenting power on any one thing, any singular thought, pain blossomed in the back of her head and she was tumbling towards the ground. A shriek of pain ripped through her throat as she was pinned under Parks' weight. Dizzy… she was so dizzy that she could hardly even pin point where she was supposed to be hitting or kicking. Her movements became a panicked thrashing of limbs as she struggled against him to no avail. Obadiah’s thick fingers clasped around her throat and a strangled sob was all that Blair could choke out as her hands feebly latched onto his wrists. Tears pricked at her eyes as she beat against his arms uselessly. Blair’s only advantage over Obadiah had been her wits and her speed, but this position was all about weight and strength, both of which Obadiah Parks outmatched her in.

She tried not to let those dark thoughts seep in as she began to question whether or not these would be her last moments. For the second time today Blair began wondering whether or not she would live to see tomorrow, or if the last thing she would see would be the sickening, satisfied smile of Obadiah Parks as he quite literally choked the life out of her. She didn’t want to die. Whatever time Christian had left… she wanted to be around to spend it with him. She had promised to stay with him tonight. Maybe she never should’ve left him… she certainly wouldn’t be in this situation if she hadn’t. And as the world began to grow dark around her, her vision fading from sheer lack of oxygen, her last thoughts were of Christian. She couldn’t leave him, not like this. So with everything Blair had left, she searched frantically for some sort of way out. Her eyes darted around, hoping to discover something in the few moments she had left, but all she saw were rusty pipes running above her… a sprinkler system she guessed, intended to put out any fires caused by careless tenants ages ago. If only she could strike a match … trigger it somehow. If there were ever a time for her newfound powers to bend to her will this would be it.

Blair thrashed against Parks one more time before her blue eyes focused on the pipes above her. To her satisfaction, she heard the metal groaning as water began to rush through the ancient pipes. However, where Blair had only meant to use the water as a distraction, her telekinetic skills were much more violent. Groaning turned to screeching as metal separated from metal. Obadiah’s exasperated look upwards was the last thing she registered before a piece of the metal piping broke free. The rusty tube came spiraling downwards, colliding against her attackers head with a painful clang. There was a muttered curse from Obadiah as his fingers finally released Blair’s trachea. She gasped for breath, hungrily swallowing as much air as she could get, her chest heaving, her lungs on fire. But she soon found herself choking again as water came crashing down on both of them, soaking Blair to the bone and stirring up a significant amount of dust from the old flooring. Blair found herself slipping from consciousness as the water cascaded around her like rain. Her vision once again blurring… and then she was falling… her eyelids flickering shut as her head lulled so the side. Cold… she was so cold.​

 

[Aviator]

Ghost // Male // Age 18 // Training Instructor // Erudite to Dauntless​

Ghost was a remarkably slow runner. Either Anika was an equally remarkably slow runner for not being able to catch up to him when she’d originally been just footsteps behind, or the memory serum had done its job and incapacitated her, because he made it back to the storage room without interception. From there it was a straight shot with his grappling hook to the domed roof from which he had entered. Getting down was the harder part, which Ghost managed with only two incidents of almost falling to his death from hundreds of feet in the air. With his feet on solid ground and his heart in his throat from the near miss, he wanted nothing more than to take a minute to catch his breath and get his bearings, but he knew that it was only a matter of time until a security guard with more legitimacy than Fable noticed Anika’s unconscious body slumped in the hall with a firestorm of red dust scattered around her.
Surely enough, just as Ghost finished sending Fable the text to go on break and leave her post, the entire glass-paned front of the laboratory flashed an angry red. The caterwauling wail of an alarm followed half a heartbeat later. This next part—escaping the lab without drawing attention—was all on Fable now. Ghost had done his part, albeit following Anika, jeopardizing the whole operation, and triggering the alarm had not been part of the plan. Dearly hoping that the alarm would not lock all of the laboratories’ doors from both inside and out, Ghost hastily backed away before anyone saw him lurking just outside and questioned his intentions. They wouldn’t do that, though, right? he wondered as he retreated at a brisk walk. Running from the scene of a crime would broadcast his nefarious purpose, especially when he couldn’t run with much actual speed. Nonetheless, just walking quickly made something in his lower back wrench with pain where Anika had elbow-dropped him, and Ghost quickly discovered that twisting his pelvis to either side was agonizing. He was hot and tired and the slightest bit hungry. Ghost wanted nothing more than to take a shower and then kick his feet up for a nap. But he, Fable, and Blair would have to deal with Obadiah Parks first, and pray that this serum worked.
He immediately regretted wishing for a shower. When he and Fable rolled up to the shabby tenements on Little Hammer Lane in a blue Roewolfe—Ghost had given the Valor a thorough cleansing of evidence while he waited for Fable and decided to switch to a new car in the event that they had been seen in the stolen Valor—water was spraying from the broken window of the unit they had left Blair in. More water was seeping out from under the crack in the bottom of the front door, forming puddles on the sidewalk and street. Several concerned neighbors were watching from porches or windows, likely more concerned that the water in their own units would malfunction next rather than concerned for the safety of the inhabitants of this one. With a feeling of foreboding, Ghost told Fable to wait for him, exited the Roewolfe with one hand on a knife, and started toward the house. He met none of the neighbors’ watching eyes, sure that at least some of them were aware of the fact that this residence had been abandoned for years and Ghost’s business here was not the legal sort.
The dented wood of the door tremored beneath his hand as he reached for it. There was a gentle susurrus of water lapping against it, and Ghost warily stepped as far aside as he could before opening it. Rust-tinged water immediately spilled down the cracked walkway and through the weedy front yard. Fear snapped inside of Ghost at that instant. He abandoned caution and sloshed inside the house heedlessly, the water closing around his ankles and slowing him down like furiously grabbing hands. The water itself was only a few inches high and posed little threat, but the thought of why and where it might have originated from chilled Ghost’s blood. Brown pipes with jagged ends protruded from the living room ceiling like splintered bones, answering one of his questions, but the house was silent, devoid of any signs of human life. A cold sheen of sweat broke out on Ghost’s face. Was it possible that Parks had somehow escaped his bonds and kidnapped Blair in retaliation?
He stepped over a fallen chair, heading toward the dilapidated bedroom where they had interrogated Parks. The translucent water was so murky that Ghost didn’t recognize Parks’s facedown body until he nearly tripped over it. Despite the fact that Ghost had become enraged enough to brandish a gun at Parks at one point during their conversation, he found himself lunging for the half-submerged figure and flipping him over so that his nose and mouth were above the shallow waterline. One second stretched into eternity as Ghost pressed fingers to the Dauntless leader’s neck. When he detected the faintest of flutters, his limbs went rubbery with relief, and the only knowledge that kept him from sinking to his knees were the stains that the dirty water would have made in his pants.
Ghost wasn’t sure how Parks had managed to free himself, but he knew that if the veteran fighter awoke unrestrained, he could quite possibly take on all three of his captors at once. But at the same time, he couldn’t load a hog-tied man into the trunk of a car with multiple witnesses looking on, so all he could do at the moment was to ensure that Parks remained unconscious. Time to see if this shit actually works, Ghost thought with false cheer as he removed the second of the three vials of memory serum that he had stolen from Chicago Chemical Company. Knowing that the police might arrive at any minute to investigate the massive leakage, Ghost worked quickly and emptied the contents of the syringe into Parks’s neck. Then he hooked his hands under the man’s armpits and dragged him through the water, across the floor, and to the doorway. Parks’s white shirt was plastered to his chest and rendered translucent. When Ghost pulled him across the threshold and he thumped to the ground, he let out a groggy moan.
Please don’t wake the hell up. Not now, Ghost prayed desperately. Seeing a cluster of neighbors huddled together and collectively scowling at the scene, Ghost called out in an audible voice, “Hang in there, Dad! We’ll get you to the hospital in no time at all.” He piled Parks’s sprawling tangle of limbs into the backseat and answered Fable’s barrage of questions as succinctly as possible, knowing that there was still one more person he had to retrieve before they could make their getaway.
Blair’s necklace of bruises indicated that she hadn’t gone down without a fight. Sparks of self-loathing popped inside of Ghost’s chest. He stooped down to pick up her unconscious form, thinking that he should have known better than to leave a conflicted seventeen-year-old with uncontrollable telekinetic powers alone with a black-belt martial artist who also happened to be her boyfriend’s father and in a position to feed on her insecurities. Why hadn’t he seen that something like this would happen? Blair’s usually sun-kissed skin was pale, her eyelids a disconcerting shade of blue. She looked as frail as an icicle on a warm morning, her neck bonelessly swooning over the crook of his arm. Ghost’s injured back cracked in a place where he didn’t think backs were supposed to crack as he hefted Blair’s weight and stood, but he was unable to think of his own pain with a girl who had almost been a casualty of his own shenanigans in his arms. Neither of them would be able to visit the infirmary without raising a slew of incriminating questions they couldn’t answer. Whatever wounds they had incurred from today, they would just have to treat on their own and suffer through.
“It wasn’t all for nothing, Blair,” Ghost whispered as he exited the flooded tenement, her wet curtain of hair swinging with his steps. “I won’t let them make you just another victim. I promise.”

* * *​

Ghost awoke stiff and shivering on the floor of his bedroom. His apartment was located in the aboveground sectors of the compound—a luxury which his and Caspian’s rent definitely reflected—and pale golden light trickled through the slats of the blinds drawn across a narrow window. A layer of gauze veiled his senses as he shook off a black-and-white striped blanket and poked his head up from his pillow. He wanted nothing more than to turn over and doze for another hour, but he knew that when he felt that itch in the back of his throat, that insatiable craving, it would be impossible to go back to sleep until he’d had a hit of lull.
Feeling weird about undressing in front of a guest—even an unconscious one—Ghost had awoken fully clothed in his outfit from the previous day, and an automatic glance at his wristwatch revealed that it was 8:20. In the morning?! Ghost did a swift double take, his mind resisting the knowledge that thirteen hours had passed him by while he’d been slumbering. So much could happen in thirteen hours. Parks could have woken up with his memory intact after all and issued arrest warrants for Blair and him both. Fable could have blabbed everything she knew about their secret operations to the leadership panel. Blair could have woken up and—
The hellscape of unpleasant possibilities running through Ghost’s head lurched to a stop. Peacock eyes blinked down at him from where Blair was tucked snugly in his bed, a patchwork quilt drawn up to her chest. She paused with an oatmeal raisin cookie raised halfway to her mouth, freezing like a bird caught mid-flight. On the bedside table next to her had been a whole plate of them, now whittled down to just one, along with half a glass of caramel milk. An awkward silence hung in the air between them for a full second as both of them struggled to comprehend yesterday’s events and the strange fact that Blair was currently sitting upright in Ghost’s bed. Ghost found his voice first. “Isn’t it delicious?” He pointed at the milk. “People are always going at each other about whether chocolate or strawberry milk is better. Or plain, if you’re a psychopath. What they’re failing to realize is that caramel milk is superior to both, but that’s only because most people haven’t had the good fortune to try it before. And now you’re one of the lucky few.” Ghost propped himself up on one elbow and tried on a playful smile. “The cookies are Caspian’s. Just don’t tell him I broke into his stash, okay? Because you’d be complicit for eating them.”
Lacing his hands behind his head, Ghost slowly arched his back and stretched, working out the kinks from spending a whole night on the floor. When he looked back at Blair, he noticed that the bruises on her neck had darkened to a deep sangria, and her hair was a nest of yellow snarls. “My my, don’t you look like Cinderella after the clock struck twelve,” he quipped, gathering his feet under him to stand. “Did you sleep well, at least? Not every woman gets such easy access to my bed, you know. Lucky few, indeed.” Ghost threw her a shameless wink. He folded his blanket quickly and tossed it on the foot of the bed, thinking that he had less than forty minutes to get ready for instruction and would have to put off shaving again, when he remembered that there was no training today. In honor of Jeremy Daniels’s birthday all training activities had been canceled and a faction-wide celebration was being thrown for the egocentric bastard. As one of the man’s most pernicious enemies—whether Daniels knew it or not—Ghost supposed he was morally obligated to attend the event, at the end of which he would be leaving with Charlie for dinner at her mother’s house.
A stab of guilt cut through him when he checked his phone, saw an unread text from Charlie, and remembered that he was supposed to have met up with her sometime last night. He hadn’t anticipated falling asleep at seven in the evening. “Will you be attending Jeremy Daniels’s party this afternoon?” he asked Blair idly. “Starts at twelve. D’you think I should wear a suit or a button-down and sl—?” Ghost broke off in horror, his jaw slackening at the sight of a spiral-bound book with a blank purple cover. It sat open on the bed, revealing a sketch of the dashboard of a car, and beyond the windshield were marine animals swimming through an ocean. It was a book that he’d kept buried beneath the false bottom of a drawer for as long as he’d been living in the apartment with Caspian. “Wh-what have you got there?” he asked, refusing to believe his eyes.

 

[Nerdy.]

Charlotte "Charlie" Stark || 20 || Medic || Dauntlessborn

Charlie had gone through the entire interrogation with Bloom that night as she helped the medic get the bed ready, then the two of them had stayed up later than usual, Bloom listened to Charlie as she shared stories about Caspian that she hadn't shared in a while, and the two girls were able to forget for just a moment how crappy the world was at the moment. There was a moment where Charlie broke down, it wasn't even from any words either girl had said, but Bloom had known exactly why it was, and had simply sat there, making gentle soothing noises, even lighting a gentle lavendar candle to help her calm down. Eventually Charlie was barely awake enough to talk, and Bloom went to her own room. Charlie sunk into her sheets and almost immediately went asleep. Her mind empty and tired, her eyes red and itchy. But unfortunately the night had planned other things for her, and it took the day she had as a field day, causing a ruckus of a nightmare within her dreams.

Charlie felt the warm sun on her face as she stood in the Amity fields, she was watching a number of the young children run through the daisies. She placed a hand on her pregnant belly and looked down, a warm smile on her lips and a gentle hum in her heart. The world was serene, loud with the sound of laughing, warm with the weather, the scent of daisies stuck within her nose and tickled her senses. She giggled as the baby kicked, and she looked back up to continue watching the children. One little boy in particular ran up to her, and she bent down, enveloping him in her arms, before he ran off to join the others. She turned to Caspian, leaning into his strong and steady chest, as his hands wrapped around her waist, holding her protectively, and she leaned up, receiving his gentle kiss with love. But that love faded quickly, Charlie ripped away from him with a scream as Caspian had morphed into Ghost. "What's wrong?" He asked, shocked at her behaviour. Charlie rubbed her eyes, sure that she must be wrong, but no, Ghost was definitely beside her, had she been daydreaming of a different life with Caspian? Ew. Ghost made a "tsk" sound as he continued loading a gun that he had in his hand. "What are you doing?" Charlie wanted to ask, but her voice seemed muted for some reason. In fact, that reason was due to a cloth that had been shoved in her mouth. She began to scream against it, realizing that she was bound hand and foot, and couldn't move. She struggled, until she heard the sound of the gun being cocked. Her head whisked back, but instead of her Ghost standing in front of her, Jeremy stood there, tall, proud, and definitely pointing a gun straight at her face. She froze, pale and terrified, her heart racing like a stampede of gazelles. "So, my sweet sweet Charlotte, you have been cheating on me, with two men? You know what that means don't you, my darling." Charlie whimpered as Jeremy slammed the gun into her jaw, knocked her to the ground, the pain radiated numbly around her face. She shied away as her father's footsteps came closer. "You've been a very naughty girl." Charlie again tried to scream as Jeremy picked her up by the collar of her shirt, and lifted her off of her feet, dangling her above the city complex, the sound of traffic below causing Charlie to grab at his arms. "Oh, so now you want to touch me? Please, be my guest." Jeremy said, and as if by some magic, his clothes began, from top to bottom, to magically disintegrate off of him, but as they did so, his face also disappeared, and instead there was Caspian, except... he was dead. Pale, colourless, lifeless, blue eyes glazed over and gone. Charlie screamed again, and began kicking at him, hoping he would let go, but his grip was tight, around her neck, and she was choking. He had needles plastered over his skin, and he turned his head. "How could you Charlie? I thought you loved me. I loved you." Charlie would have began to weep if her vision were not blurred and her throat not constricted so. Caspian seemed to freeze, and eventually Charlie squirmed out of his grasp, and began to fall, falling and falling down into the Dauntless traffic below. The last thing she saw, was Caspian's form falling, and an unknown person killing him.

----

Charlie awoke with a scream. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself, but it had been definitely loud enough to wake up Bloom. Charlie was still too shocked to be able to cry, so instead the medic simply shivered in the sheets and blankets, not cold, just shocked. She watched as Bloom came rushing into the room. Charlie tried to smile weakly. "Sorry, I... it was a nightmare." She said apologetically, feeling guilty for waking the girl up. Bloom shushed her, and sat with her, asking if she was okay, if she wanted to talk about it. Charlie shook her head, "No, I would rather just forget it." She said softly, and the only female friend Charlie had ever had nodded in understanding. Charlie glanced at the clock, reading the early time of 2 am. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you so early. I..." Charlie hardly got through her sentence before Bloom told her to quit worrying, and assured her that she would stay in her tonight, and that Charlie could wake her as often as she needed. Charlie smiled. "Hopefully no more than I already have. Thank you Bloom." Charlie lay back down on the bed, and patted for Bloom to join her. Although Charlie was usually a very private person and didn't find things like this comforting, the nightmare had only fueled her trauma, and she had struggled to stop her own body from shivering out of shock. Bloom wordlessly got into the bed, and the two girls, untouching, slept soundly next to each other, besides some restless movement and murmurings from Charlie's successive nightmares. However, with another presence that she trusted being with her, Charlie found herself able to mostly sleep that night. The two girls still awoke early, they rose and Bloom allowed Charlie to borrow some clothes, giving the girl some space to have a hot shower and get changed while she made them some hot drinks and a bit of breakfast. Charlie enjoyed the hot shower immensely, staying a little longer than she knew she should have, and enjoying some of the exotic shampoo's and conditioners that Bloom had, but also just relishing the hot water on her skin. When she was finished, she got changed into some of Bloom's clothes, she wore some high waisted jeans, with a black and white checkered button up tucked into them, and a denim jacket over top. She let her hair stay down to dry, naturally beginning to curl and bounce past her shoulders, and slipped on her basic black dauntless boots. She felt much more equipped for her day now that she was dressed, clean and presentable.

She girlishly twirled as she entered Bloom's dining room, and they both had a laugh, before Bloom complimented Charlie on her ability to pull anything off. Charlie blushed sweetly and simply returned the compliment. "It's only because you have such fine taste in clothes, and hair products." She said, smelling her hair and sighing afterwards, the scent of green apple and overall sweetness coming from it. She sat down at the table, and checked her phone as Bloom served up a simple breakfast of eggs on toast. Charlie usually wouldn't have gone to so much effort to eat, but she was sure Bloom was just making sure that she did in fact eat. Charlie felt her heart sigh as she noticed that Ghost had still not replied to her texts, nor had he called her at all. She had forgotten that they were meant to see each other yesterday, but in the end Caspian's funeral had taken so much out of her, she was somewhat greatful to not have to make conversation. But... Ghost hadn't been at the funeral. "Bloom, I didn't see Ghost at the funeral, did you? He was his best friend." Charlie ate her food while she waited for Bloom to answer, and was surprised when Bloom answered that she hadn't seen him. That was... strange. She knew Ghost wasn't the type to be overly sentimental, but a death of a bestfriend was something to be present at. Charlie felt guilt at her recollection of what she had told Ghost about Caspian, regretting it now. Surely that wasn't the last thing Ghost had heard to do with Caspian before... his death... She hoped not. Caspian deserved better than something he had done years ago. No matter how horrible that had been. Charlie sighed as she ate, the recollection that yesterday had been real and not a nightmare making her struggle to finish her food. They didn't say too much during breakfast but once they were finished Charlie insisted that she be allowed to clean up while Bloom got herself ready. "No training today, how odd, not sure what to do with myself today. I'll probably spend some time at home. How about you?" Charlie said, when Bloom was finally out of her bedroom. The two girls headed towards the door as they talked. It was Jeremy's birthday today, and he was throwing a huge celebration, and although that was something Charlie hated, there was one thing to be grateful for.
At least this time he wouldn't come back to her and her moms for his birthday "gifts'

Interacting with: Bloom Sanctuaryforall1

Aubrey Amber Stark || 16 || Initiate || Dauntlessborn

Aubrey and Thorn had spent the rest of the evening goofing around and playing games. Aubrey found herself easily relaxing in the Dauntless boys presence, even though she'd never really taken the time to know him very well. He had always been Charlie's friend, when she had always been Finn's. But since Finn had decided to up and leave her, Thorn had been a nice distraction for a while. Thus she said goodnight to him and was able to sleep, her hands stroking the sheathed blades of the daggers as she thought about all that Caspian had been to her. She slept almost soundly, a few nightmares and some restlessness, but on the whole, when she awoke the next morning, she found herself feeling more awake than she had in a while. Plus, no hangover, which was nice. She grinned, rolling over to immediately tell Finn about the daggers she had from Caspian, her blonde hair cascading over the edge of the bunk bed only to reveal an empty and well made bed that had obviously not been slept in. She sighed, lying there for a while until her head began to spin with the blood rush going to her head. She sat up, groaning as she held her head from the blood rush, before swinging her feet over the edge and leaping off of the top bunk, landing squarely on the floor. She yawned, stretching her arms as she tried to remember what was happening today, there wasn't any training, she could tell because it was already later in the morning, but she did recall there was something interesting happening today. Ah. Yes, it was Jeremy Daniels birthday and his infamous faction wide party. Aubrey had always loved the parties, though admittedly she hadn't been to very many, given that neither Charlie nor Sasha ever went, and even Caspian had usually said it was a waste of time. The only times she had gone was when she had snuck out and joined in the fray. But this time it was heavily encouraged for them to go, and Aubrey knew she deeply wanted to. She wanted a run first though, before getting ready for the day. So she quickly stripped down into some short shorts and a sports bra, tying her long hair up into a high ponytail and tying on some shoes. Once she was finished she noticed that Finn had left his earphones on his pillow, and she looked at them, before deciding to use them, plugging them into her phone and then placing it in her pocket as she put the earphones into her ears and started her run.

"Want me to love you in moderation, Do I look moderate to you?" Aubrey hummed along to the song as she ran, running at an easy pace to the music, rather than stress-fully like she usually did. She hadn't made a decision to run anywhere in particular, but she knew that she needed to go home at some point to grab her dress for the party, and then for the family dinner... Aubrey sighed as she recalled that. It was a good thing she had Caspian's daggers, if she needed to confront Charlie's new boyfriend, she needed to have weapons on her, and she wasn't meant to be carrying guns, but they couldn't take these off of her. She stroked the handles of the daggers that were strapped to her sides in their sheaths, and felt a small smile on her lips as she recalled always asking Caspian if she could have them. She probably was insensitive once and asked if she could have them when he died, she'd never suspected he actually would die though. "You got me looking for validation" The words from the song resonated within Aubrey's head. She'd always looked for validation from those above her, or her peers. Henry, Charlie, Sasha, Caspian, Maverick, Finn, Harper, Christian, Julian, Jeremy, Obadiah, Phillip, Felicia, Terra, Blair, Shay. That last name caused Aubrey to scowl on impulse. Her ex-best friend had been attending initiation, but she had avoided her entire existence, since Shay had once done the same to her. Aubrey and Shay had been as close as girls could be, and Aubrey had even chosen to hang out with Shay sometimes over Finn, but that all changed when Shay suddenly... for lack of a better word, broke up with her. "Then bow your head in the house of God, Little girl, who do you think you are? You think you need it, you think you want love, You wouldn't want it if you knew what it was." Aubrey began to sing the lyrics under her breath as she ran with a spirited anger. Shay had deserted her, she didn't need her love. Henry had died, she couldn't have his love. Finn had left her, she didn't need him. Caspian was dead, she couldn't have his love. Love hurt, so what was the point? Aubrey found herself agreeing with Florence + The Machine as she felt her feet slamming on the concrete ground outside of the Dauntless complex, uncaring of the brisk wind that whisked at her cheeks. As the run came to an end, she heard the song also came to an end, and was surprised at how fast she had been able to run to her mums place. "I don't see the worth, And I'm still trying to figure out if it Always, always, always has to hurt." Aubrey pulled the earphones out of her ears as she entered her childhood home, and headed to her bedroom, after taking a long glass of water.

It didn't take her long to choose a red dress that hung in her wardrobe, it was a bit sexy, slutty, elegant and easy to move in. She slipped it in a backpack, along with some sturdy but sexy heels and enough bobby pins to do something with her hair if she wanted to. She then raided her refrigerator and pantry, placing some food in and then exited the house, locking the door behind her and running back towards the dauntless compound. She almost put the earphones back in her ear, but she couldn't be bothered changing the playlist, and she was certain that this one would hurt her too much right now. You're so weak. She chastised herself, if a playlist could hurt her, how far she had fallen from the strong, independent and indestructible Aubrey that she had always been. She shook her head and simply ran without music. She cleared her mind of the useless things within it, and just ran. It didn't take her long to get back, but she took a few extra laps for good measure, and then eventually, sweaty and satisfied, she entered back into the dorms. She grabbed a towel and dropped her backpack, phone and daggers under the bed before quickly entering the showers. She showered quickly, well... as quickly as you can when you're washing terribly long hair. It took her even longer to stand there and dry the hair, first with a towel and then with a ratchet hair dryer that sparked when you turned it on. She finally felt convinced that it was dry enough and wrapped herself in her towel as she walked back to her bed. Her hair swayed down to below her hips and half of it still clung to her towel as it hadn't fully dried. Aubrey didn't care too much, already having a plan to put it up into a certain style that Charlie had taught her. She hung her red dress on the bed, looking at it, she wasn't sure when the party started, but she didn't really want to wear this the whole day until the party and the family dinner. So instead she changed into high waisted button up shorts and a white sleeveless singlet that tucked into them. She then sat down on her bunk and began to long process of brushing her hair. The dorms by this point was bustling with a lot more sound and people in and out of the dorms, getting ready, hanging out, talking. Aubrey felt a little stab in her heart as she realized that without Finn she really didn't have many people to talk to. She bit her lip, then winced as a rather ugly knot made itself apparent as she tried to brush her hair. It was at this point that she heard a familiar voice, a comforting voice, offer to help her brush her hair. She let her eyes glance upwards, her heart skipping as she washed over Christian Parks muscular and shirtless torso, before looking up at those gentle blue eyes and similarly wet blonde hair that fell over his eyes. She nodded, patting the bed beside her, and he jumped up to join her, and she sighed a sigh of relief as he began to brush her hair. At least she could rely on Christian to always be there, even if he didn't know it, she relied on his strength sometimes, not often, but sometimes. She was curious though. "Where's Blair? She's been awfully absent recently." Aubrey said, realizing she hadn't seen the blonde girl much, and when she had she had been as invisible as possible.

Interacting with: Christian (myself), otherwise open for interaction.

Christian "Chris" Parks || 16 || Initiate || Dauntlessborn

Christian hadn't stayed too late at Shay and Lainey's apartment, not only would it have been rude to do so, but he had other responsibilities and people that were waiting for him. One being his family, especially his sisters, and the other had been Blair; So Christian had hoped, as the end of the day had neared, Christian had waited up until early in the morning, waylaying any drug taking, pacing in the living room, standing outside of the house, even going on brisk runs, only to collapse at home from exhaustion, and lack of taking lull; Along with the awful side effects of his old drug, he fell sick enough that Phillip and Asher had to carry him to his bedroom. It probably didn't help that Christian had spent hours at Shay's with the cat, as his breathing was clogged through his nose, and his throat racked with pain from the need to take some lull. Phillip stayed up with him from the early hours of the morning, eventually relenting when Christian wasn't improving, and giving him some of the drug. As soon as Christian took it, he slept soundly, solidly and completely. When he awoke, he was left alone in his room, his clothes were soaked to his skin with sweat, and he smelt sickeningly sweet. He got out of bed, looking quickly to his phone to check the time and whether Blair had replied to him, he had been waiting up for her, and he knew his family well enough to know that they would have let her in had she come to the house. But there were no calls, no texts, no voicemails or messages of any kind from Blair. There were some in the family chat asking about where their father had been, but Christian skipped over that one, and sighed, placing his phone on the desk. A bubble of anger came up and he slammed his fist down on his bed, the blankets and mattresses cushioning the impact. Where was she? Was she hurt? Dead? Gone? He knew she wasn't cheating on him, he trusted her enough for that, but he knew she was doing things that he wouldn't agree of, because she refused to tell him. They knew each other well enough to trust each other without necessarily talking about it. Even though Christian wished she would, he had always been a very honest boy, and he spoke his mind, but Blair was being so secretive recently, and he felt deserted by her. He shook his head, choosing not to text her or call her, he imagined that she would eventually get into touch with him if she wanted to, if she was finished what she was doing that was so important, and he would just hope that she was okay, he had no way of finding out, given that he had no idea where she had gone or who she had been with.

He showered for a little while, his body still fighting three things at once, his natural temper, his emotion reducing drugs, and lull. Although the most recent one, lull, was winning, the others always had an effect on him. His temper right now was right on the edge of being angry, and he leaned against the ceramic walls of the shower as the cold water bounced over his skin, the emotion reducing drugs still kept his head rather fuzzy and he knew he was coming out of it but he hated the nausea it caused, which frequently made him want to throw up, and of course the sweet lull had finally reduced the painful and bloody scratch in his throat, and the pain within his body. After showering, he did throw up, a mixture of mostly blood and something he had recently eaten, along with some cat hair of all things. He felt much better afterwards, however, and quickly threw his clothes in a basket, and slipped on some cargo shorts. He was sure there was something important today, and he checked his phone again, sad that there still was nothing from Blair. He scrolled through the family chat, and noticed some of them talking about his dad, and how he had stayed out later than usual and no one was sure where he was. Christian didn't think much of it, and instead he looked at the most recent messages, and there it was. Jeremy Daniels party. Christian recalled that information as he read it, and he remembered how he was excited to take Blair to a fancy and fun party like that, but she wasn't even here now, so how would he know if she would be there later? Putting his phone in his pocket, he made his way downstairs in time to grab some breakfast with his brothers, and then made his way to the dorms. He hoped that Blair had at least gone there to sleep. He considered going to her house, but she had specifically asked him not to do anything about Ajax, and Christian knew that if he were to go to her house, he would beat Ajax to death, or close to it. He could never do that to Blair's family , so he knew it was safer to simply go to the dorms and hope that she had gone there too.
She had not.
Christian sighed as he looked around, leaning on the large door frame as he watched the initiates get ready for the day. Some of them seemed to be getting ready for training, so Christian politely informed them that it was Jeremy Daniels birthday and there was no training but a celebration. This was met by some confusion, but also some excitement. He nodded as they thanked him, and looked for a familiar face, finally resting on the face of Aubrey, who sat on the top of her bunk brushing her long blonde hair with occasional winces and groans from the knots. Christian chuckled, and made his way over, intending to help her if she desired that, he had enough experience with brushing girls hair, his sisters, but also Indira, Blair and even Aubrey herself when they had been dating a long time ago. "You want some help with that?" Christian asked, surprising Aubrey. As soon as she accepted his invitation to do so, he jumped up on the bed with her, the entire bunk swaying slightly and making a loud groan as if upset with the weight, and he took the brush off of her. She turned, cross legged, facing away from him, and he began to gently brush her hair. He hadn't done this in a while, to anyone, but it was nice, therapeutic, and Christian found himself not thinking so much about Blair.

But Aubrey just had to bring her up. Christian loved his girlfriend like nobody else could, but he was also a tad upset, and worried, and trying not to be angry. So when Aubrey asked him about her, he stopped brushing her hair for a second to bite his lip and remind himself that he trusted Blair and that she would be, had to be, fine. "I'm not sure actually, she was doing something yesterday that I wasn't involved in, and then with the funeral and everything I lost track of her." Aubrey seemed surprised at this, Christian assumed that she had asked only half genuine. "And Finn? I haven't seen him since yesterday's sims." Aubrey shrugged, her petite yet muscular shoulders jostling the hair that brushed over them. She replied that she wasn't sure either, and that Finn had stopped talking to her for some reason. She went quiet after that, and the two sat in comfortable silence as Christian finished brushing her hair. "Do you want me to do it up?" He asked, and she seemed to think about it for a while, eventually asking him if he knew how to do a certain hairstyle. Christian actually managed to laugh, and shook his head, "no, but I can at least braid it so you can do it yourself." He offered, and got a resounding yes from Aubrey, who was enjoying a break from having to brush and style her rapunzel like hair. He began to braid the hair, not to tightly but also not too loose. They continued to talk, but both of them now respected the mystery involving their significant others. Aubrey didn't mention Blair and Christian didn't mention Finn. Instead they talked about Jeremy's party, their sims, doing some training sometime, even talked about Indira and Jackson who were dating now, and Caspian's funeral. Once he had finished, Aubrey turned around and ordered him to stay where he was. She was going to style his hair. He shook his head and laughed, but she insisted, so he let her do her thing. He had to admit that he liked the combing feeling of her playing with his hair, and as she did so all he could imagine was that being Blair's fingers, but she wasn't here right now. Aubrey let him look at Caspian's daggers as she did his hair, and Christian was surprised that Caspian would gift such expensive things to Aubrey, though he was happy for her. "They're very cool, they look quite expensive. You could get them engraved if you wanted, you know, Thorn might be able to do it." As Christian said this, he noticed the Dauntless boy in the dorms, and waved, unable to move due to Aubrey's iron grip on his hair, he simply waved Thorn over. "Thorn, you have the skills to engrave metal don't you? Would you be able to engrave these?" Christian asked, having taken Aubrey's silence as permission to ask Thorn.

Interacting with: Aubrey (me), Thorn Sanctuaryforall1

Cassidy "Cassie" Wickham || 16 || Initiate || Erudite Transfer

The night had been interesting for Cassidy, she had followed Randi and Maverick to the bar, but it had been fairly obvious that Maverick only had eyes for Randi. Cas was usually quite happy to let other girls have the attention of boys, but she found herself almost upset at the fact that Randi had been taken away from her. She was not going to show that, nor was she going to intrude, so as the two danced, Cas melted into the background and left the bar, after swiping a colourful looking cocktail from a drunk. She sipped at it, dropping it in a trashcan as soon as she passed one, and eventually she found her way out of the bar and made a complicated round so that nobody, should they be following her for any reason, would be able to follow her well without showing themselves. As she walked, and consequently kept an eye out for Griffon, she thought about her parents, and how she was glad, and hopeful, that she would never see them again. She had a fear, that she would, and there had been once during a party at Dauntless, or whilst going through a bar, that Cassidy had been almost certain that she had seen their mother. It couldn't have been possible however, as not only was her mom not in any faction, but her mom was originally from Erudite and not Dauntless. So it must have been her wild imagination and fear of her parents that caused her to see such a thing, yet it did make her continue to keep an eye out, no matter where she went. She continued along the corridors of Dauntless, almost certain that she would find Griffon in one of them, and she was correct, as she found him looking around a little lost, and his big goofy smile simply warmed her heart. "Lost again are we Grif?" She walked over to him, and looped arms with him as they walked, she led him, even as he protected her. "I... need your help, to patch up my arm. I couldn't do it before, but I know you can do it." She said, and Griffon nodded, as he held onto her tighter and they made their way to the infirmary. Griffon locked up the doors, even though that was probably not allowed, Griffon said he had already walked the medic away so he knew she wouldn't be coming back. They sat inside, using as little light as they could, getting the supplies they needed, the numbing agents they could find and enough bandages, they sat together on the bed and Griffon went to work on Cassidy's arm, as she bit down on a soft pillow to stop herself from screaming or gasping in pain. Although Griffon struggled with memory, Cas trusted him to always patch her up and to understand the pain her body put her through, just as she knew he trusted her to check over him to see if he had injuries that needed tending to. They had always done this, even if Griffon couldn't remember, but doing any action that was familiar always helped him to regain that confidence. Eventually when they were finished they made their way to the dorms, it was late by this point, and they snuck into their beds whilst everyone else was already asleep.

In the morning, Cas and Griff awoke at almost the exact same time, again it was something that they did almost instinctively, no knowledge of how or why. Cassidy was surprised however, by the amount of empty beds in the room, it was surprising to her that so many people were allowed to sleep elsewhere in Dauntless, and she wondered if that had always been the case. She was fairly sure that in Erudite they would have been boarding in an apartment complex with separate rooms but in the same area. Amity was sure to have a communal living area that they would have been in, heck maybe even a barn. She had no clue about Candor, and Abnegation probably just adopted those who transferred. But Dauntless was chaotic, and Cas had to admit she sort of loved it. Cas looked at Griffon and signed to him, as she could see that he hadn't put his hearing aids in. "Do you want to come out with me? Or will you be okay here?" Griffon signed back that he was happy to stay here. Cas was grateful, to know that he would be safe with others around. She didn't necessarily trust everyone in here, but she knew there were enough good people here to keep her brother safe. She got dressed into a simple black jumpsuit and put on some black slip on boots, before making her way out of the dorms, and towards Lainey's apartment. Well, Lainey and Shay.
Cas and Lainey had grown up together in Erudite, meeting in ballet and becoming dance partners, this had cemented a friendship that Cassidy had never before experienced. Lainey was someone she felt comfortable to be with and not have to change personalities and watch what she said or did, they both sort of just got each other. If anyone in this world Cassidy were to trust, over her own family (minus her parents) it would have been Lainey. They had both talked about staying in Erudite and going through initiation as kids, but both girls eventually - for their different reasons - chose to go to Dauntless, and each had been individually surprised and excited that their friend would be joining them. Lainey had been the one that had given Cassidy the nickname "Classy" as a joke when they had been ballet partners, and eventually Cassidy had prided herself in genuinely being classy, so now the name fit her rather well. However, when they had transferred, Lainey had tried to convince Cassidy to find an apartment with her, but Cassidy had been unable to do so, as she had Griffon that she needed to be with. Lainey knew there was something going on between Cas and Griffon, but either she respect Cas enough not to ask so many prying questions, or she had already come to a conclusion that she liked. Cassidy wasn't sure if she would lie to Lainey or whether she would plead the fifth and simply be silent, or tell the truth. However, now when she wanted Lainey, she generally had to go to Shay's apartment. Shay was a girl that Lainey had found that lived in an apartment by herself near enough to all the training that it would be convenient. That was where Cassidy was headed now.

Cassidy let herself into the apartment complex easily, there was always a way, but she had to wait for Lainey to open the door, which she rapt upon a few dozen times before either Lainey or Shay opened it. "Lainey, I don't have a thing to wear to this party today, please tell me you've scouted the right shops to go to, or have a spare dress that'll show everything off nicely." Cassidy declared as she walked into the apartment, flashing a grin at Lainey. She let herself into the kitchen, brewing a dark cup of coffee for herself as she knew that she would have a worse migraine if she didn't drink a coffee in the morning, it probably... definitely... wasn't good for her, but hey, she was addicted. She was very respectful of Shay's equipment and use, but as far as she could tell Shay didn't really seem to be the kind to dive super deep into friendships, and had let Lainey have a fairly large run of the mill in this apartment. Cas wasn't upset at all by this, in fact, she enjoyed the refreshing quiet and the escape from all the others in the initiation. She felt like Lainey was an equal, and given that Shay had let her stay here, Shay was pretty damn close too. Cassidy took her steaming cup of coffee and looked out at the people down below from the balcony. "Hmm, great spot for some people watching." She
said, referring back to when she and Lainey would sit around and make judgement on people with no knowledge of who they were or what they were doing. Maybe they had been a bit b*tchy every now and then, but Cassidy and Lainey were a team, and so at least they would be b*tches together. Cassidy sighed with a deep warm breath as the coffee warmed her body. She winced as she moved her arm to pull the curtain, reminding herself that although Griffon was amazing, he couldn't heal her body, only patch it up. "You still have some of those expensive pain meds?" Cassidy asked, turning to listen to Lainey's answer, before going to where she directed in the kitchen and taking the ones she knew would work. If there was going to be a party today, Cas didn't want to have a headache, didn't want to feel sick, didn't want to faint, and definitely didn't want to have her arm bleeding out. After taking the meds, she sat down on the couch. "So, what's the answer my dear? Do we shop for dresses or did you manage to bring any from home? I need something to wear; Oh, I also need something to cover this." Cassidy pointed at the patch that Griffon had sewed up and was currently covered by a bandage.

Interacting with: Griffon (me) Shay Sanctuaryforall1 Lainey WanderLust.

Griffon Mordo || 17 16 || Initiate || Abnegation Transfer

Griffon had been glad to see Cas again, and it had only increased when she had shown him that she had hurt herself and was in need of patching up. Of course he asked her exactly what had happened as he did so, sterilizing, cleaning and then sewing up the wound. When he heard about the zip-line, he nodded his head, having heard that was a familiar attraction in this place, but only having remembered that as the words exited Cassidy's mouth. He finished up nicely and the two of them had cleaned themselves up, had cleaned the infirmary and made sure to turn all the lights off but to keep the door unlocked, as it was meant to stay accessible if there were any emergency's. Charlie had even left a direct pager to herself if anything were to happen. Griffon felt a huge amount of respect to the medic, she had patched him up enough times and had been nice enough to listen to his questions and help him with his amnesia, plus she was unusually researched into odd medical conditions such as his own and Cassidy's and so had many things that were applicable for them. So he would have been very upset if he had left a mess in the room. However, they had not, and they made their way back to the dorms and went to sleep.
In the morning, Griffon awoke to Cassidy's movement, and when he turned to her he watched as she signed to him, asking if he wanted to be with her today or if he was fine. Looking around, Griffon looked first for Fable, but as he noted her disappearance (which unsettled him greatly) he did see that both Thorn and Chet remained in the dorms. "I'll be fine." He replied back in sign, and she smiled warmly at him, before dressing and leaving. Griffon didn't do that nearly as fast, instead, he searched within his belongings for a specific journal, a dream journal, and began to write down some very brief things that he remembered from his dream. He had seen a little boy, and wasn't sure if it was Luke, their little brother, so he tried to describe him, and even draw him, so he could as Cas later. He had also seen glimpses of his father's back, and his mothers hair. It hadn't been a very interesting dream, and certain elements were obviously false, like zombies, or being a zombie, but other ones were realistic, and Griffon needed to write them down so he could ask Cas about them later. Once he was finished writing them down, he continued sketching for a while, before remembering as he watched others get up, that he was also meant to get up, and that he had wanted to go see whether Thorn and Chet were free today. He had no idea what was happening, he assumed they were doing simulations, but nobody seemed to be in a rush, even though it wasn't particularly early in the morning.

Griffon got up and firstly went to the bathroom, he always started off his day by checking his body for any injuries, or anything unusual, but thankfully his body looked fine. He never considered that it would look egotistical or strange to anyone else, a half naked boy checking himself in the mirrors, but he had always done this, either alone or with the help of Cassidy or Fable, but since neither was here he did it himself. Once finished however, he got dressed into some black slacks, a white shirt and a black vest over top. He borrowed Cassidy's brush to brush down his longer brown hair, wondering whether it was time to get it cut or not, and then ran a little bit of water through it with his fingers. Once finished, and having made sure his journal and pen were tucked neatly into his vest pocket, he made his way over to where Chet and Thorn were, or at least made his way into their general vicinity. He hadn't anything in mind to do, so he admittedly wasn't concentrating so much and found himself unintentionally kicking some one who had been bending over to tie their shoes. "I am so sorry.." He had tried to apologise, as the very small girl with dark skin, dark eyes and dark hair began to yell at him, telling him to watch where he was going and calling him names. Griffon blushed, realising he had done more harm than he had meant to. "I really am sorry, is there anything I can do?" He offered his help, wanting to make up for his mistake. The girl huffed, "As if there were anything someone like you could do." She said snidely, as another boy, not much bigger than her, rocked up to Griffon. Without a word, his fist rocketed forward, slamming into Griffon's jaw. Griffon simply stepped back from the impact, not a wince or a word or any defense. The boy, blonde and small, began to curse and nurse his fist, having directly hit Griffon's jaw. Griffon was very confused, by the entire thing, and simply stood there. It wasn't until Chet came, and began to do what he did best, talking and causing everyone to calm down. Both the girl and boy watched Chet with suspicious eyes and Eventually the girl rolled her eyes, and she and the boy walked away, with only a few evil eyes at Griffon and Chet. He watched them leave, eventually coming to the conclusion that if they had wanted help they would have asked. He nodded towards his bed as he looked at Chet. "I just need my hearing aids."

He went to get his hearing aids and returned quickly to where Chet was. "Good morning. Hope you had a better start to the morning than they did, I am sorry I walked into her, I wish I could make it up to her." He said genuinely, and looked at Chet. He was surprised when Chet asked him about his jaw, and only then did he remember that only moments ago Jackson (the name of the small blonde boy) had socked him in the jaw with his fist. "Oh, I mean, I didn't feel it, so I'm sure it's fine. He wasn't very big so I'm not sure it did any damage, I can still talk fine and there doesn't appear to be any bleeding. He really didn't need to punch me though." He said, as he looked around the room. "Is Thorn around? I am a bit confused about what is happening today, I thought we would have training, but usually training starts earlier than now, and nobody seems to be in a rush." He finally saw Thorn who was near Aubrey and Christian, and he motioned Chet to follow him as they walked nearby, waiting for Thorn to finish his conversation with them. Once he had, Griffon nodded politely at the two, he didn't know either of them well, only by name. "Thorn, good morning, I hope it isn't a bother, but have we forgotten about training? I am a bit confused about what is happening today? Plus, half of the initiates aren't here, are only some people doing simulations today?" Griffon only came to that conclusion as he spoke, having noted that at least half of the beds seemed empty and unslept on, he simply watched Thorn and Chet, wondering whom would answer first or whether they would answer at the same time, he knew that he could trust those two to tell him what was going on when he forgot.

Interacting with: Cassidy, Jackson, Indira (me), Chet spyder Thorn Sanctuaryforall1

 

[WanderLust.]

Blair Avalon // Female // Age 16 // Dauntless Born Initiate // Divergent
Interacting With: Ghost Aviator

Blair had awoken that morning in an unfamiliar bedroom. It had taken her a few minutes to get her bearings, only letting herself actually breath when she was able to pinpoint the source of the soft snoring. Ghost lay on the floor, and she in a relatively comfortable bed. The last thing she had remembered was rain... no, not rain. The pipes had shattered, Parks... Before she could spiral into an anxious episode of wondering what had happened to Parks after she had supposedly lost consciousness her stomach rumbled loudly. A puzzled expression crossed her face. When was the last time she had eaten? The second obnoxious rumble of her stomach led her to believe it had been far too long. A quick survey of the room and her eyes went wide. It was too good to be true... a plate full of cookies looking more like a trap than anything else. Her mouth damn near watered at the aroma. She cast a quick, mildly mistrusting look at Ghost's sleeping form. Would he actually try to poison her after all this? She quickly decided she didn't really care anymore as she leaned over and reached for one of the soft cookies.

The second Blair leaned over her body ached in protest and she let out a soft groan of pain. She supposed she had taken quite the beating yesterday from Parks. She just hoped that he hadn't left any marks that she would have to later explain to Christian. Still, she found herself wondering if she should take something for the pain. With a casual shrug, she silently pulled open one of the drawers in the night stand next to her, fumbling through it in the hopes of finding some generic over the counter pain killer. She had no luck with the first drawer, and so she went for the second one. It was hard for her to see in the dim light. Mostly she was just feeling around for something that felt like a pill bottle. More often than not she was met with what felt to be pencils and jewelry. She found the latch entirely on accident, the wood bottom of the drawer moving away as she tugged at it, her fingers grazing something hidden beneath. She managed to wrap her fingers around it and pull out what she assumed was a book hiding in the under compartment of the drawer. She immediately cocked an eyebrow at the purple spiral bound book, taking another look at Ghost to ensure he was still sleeping.

She finally reached for one of the cookies before she dared to open the book. Her tastebuds exploding with memories of her mother baking fresh cookies. Oatmeal raisin had always been her favorite, and for some reason, as she chewed, she found herself questioning who had made them. Ghost didn't particularly strike her as a chef... nor the nurturing type. So the source of the cookies still perplexed her. Nevertheless, her curiosity got the best of her and soon she was flipping through the pages of what appeared to be a sketchbook. The drawings inside were surreal, to say the least. Nothing she could've ever come up with in her wildest dreams. She traced her fingers lightly over the pencil marks, wondering what other secret skills Ghost was hiding. It was only when she turned to a page illustrating what looked to be a car driving underwater that she began to hear her host stirring. As the dark haired boy peeked up over the bed, Blair stared back at him like a deer caught in the headlights. Her mouth half full of cookie as she chewed silently. It was Ghost he broke the silence first, his speech regarding the caramel milk so odd that Blair wondered if he had rehearsed it. She only began breathing again when he mentioned that the cookies were Caspian's. "Unbelievable, and here I thought I was the kind of girl who deserved homemade cookies." She huffed, the tiniest hint of a smile playing at her lips.

Blair rolled her eyes at his follow up comment. She was sure she looked like hell right now, he didn't have to remind her. "If I'm Cinderella then you must be my fairy god mother." She smiled wryly, her eyes drifting to the cookies and milk he had left her, before cocking an eyebrow at him. It had been an oddly sweet gesture, not what she would've expected from Ghost, but she was grateful nonetheless. Still, his comment did at least prompt her to run her fingers through her hair, attempting to tease out some of the snarls. Blair didn't even look up from the book when Ghost finally realized what her attention was so immersed with. Although, she did answer his previous question casually. "Suits too formal... you look better in button ups anyways." Her voice was so carelessly nonchalant as she silently shut the book and handed it back to Ghost, a tinge of guilt pulsing through her as he stared at it. She really hadn't meant to snoop or anything.... "You're really good." She sounded somewhat surprised. "An artist, a magician, a thief... quite the renaissance man." She trailed off as she tossed the blankets off of her, standing shakily to her feet as her body adjusted to being vertical once again. She stumbled as her ankles grew weak, stretching out her hand to brace herself against the wall. Ghost took an uncertain step closer, concern written all over him, but before he could speak Blair's voice cut through the air. "I'm fine." Short, quick and to the point as she gathered her balance once again and brushed passed Ghost on her way towards the bedroom door.

Her breathing was somewhat shaky as she forced herself to push through the remnants of pain that still lingered in her limbs. Walk it off. She told herself angrily, not wanting to seem any weaker in front of Ghost than she already had. She had never been in the apartment before, so she quickly looked around in an attempt to familiarize herself with the area. Mostly, she was concentrating on finding the kitchen, though Ghost was hot on her trail, not seeming to like the idea of her roaming about the apartment freely. Her tank top was rumpled from sleep, leaving part of her midriff exposed as she swallowed deeply, pacing around in her bare feet looking for a sink. Ghost was right, the caramel milk had been delicious, but it hadn't satiated the thirteen hour parch that currently dried her throat. She needed water. Finally making her way towards what looked to be the kitchen, she pulled her hair to the side, tilting her head under the faucet as she turned it on and began swallowing thirstily. When she finally pulled away, her eyes met Ghost's honey amber gaze again. He was staring back at her with an expression that was too hard to read, and the blondes fingers immediately reached for her cheek, fingertips brushing the soft skin as her brow furrowed. "What? Is there something on my face?" she tried to fight the embarrassed heat that was rising in her cheeks as Ghost stared.

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