Prologue: One Year before Divergent timeline

Voices, as well as the sounds of metal clashing together, echoed through the room as men in black vests and matching pants hurried to finish the last preparations before the initiates were to arrive for their first day at the Dauntless. The men rushed over to the area of the room where there was a massive hole in the roof, the sunlight from above shining through and illuminating that part of the room.

A woman with dark brown hair tied up in a high ponytail stood with an electric data-pad in hand, using her free one to flip through the "pages" as she mentally went over everything that was to be done for the day. She was quite calm despite the chaos that continued around her; it was just another year of training the new slew of Dauntless initiates—her fourth year as a leader and her third as a trainer. However, Isabelle wasn't supposed to train this year, but for some reason the other trainer—Lauren—couldn't abide unbeknownst to the woman.

She turned to watch the men before glancing down at the onyx watch on her wrist. "The initiates will be here any moment now and the net isn't even set up yet! Let's go! Move it!" The woman watched with concerned eyes as the men hurried to finish setting up the room. She sighed heavily as her long fingers rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. This year the crew was running slow and the woman could feel her anxiety grow with each passing second that the net was not in place. She bit her lower lip anxiously at the thought of not being prepared by the time the initiates were to arrive, careful not to bite down on her lip piercing.

"Has the pressures of being a Dauntless leader and trainer finally caught up to the cool and collected Isabelle?" A voice called out to her.

The woman, Isabelle, turned to see a man with cropped, dark blonde hair, neck tattoos, and a piercing on his brow approach her, his struts seething with confidence—and arrogance. She rolled her eyes playfully at the other leader, "I haven't lost my cool yet, Eric," she eyed him cautiously, "sorry to disappoint you."

"It's still early in the day," he retorted as he finally stood in front of Isabelle, towering over her. She didn't notice, or at least she didn't let him on to notice. "I just received a call from our guys at the ceremony, the initiates have just boarded the train—they should be here in ten minutes."

"Have you word of how many there are this year?"

"Thirty-four all together, but I don't know how many are Dauntless born or transfers yet."

Isabelle nodded as she registered what he had said, "that's three more from last year. That could either be a good thing or a bad one."

Eric scoffed, turning is attention away from the brunette as he watched the men finally finish up setting the net in place, "Technically last year we had the same amount, but one initiate fell from the train and two others refused to take the jump… it all depends if they all make it this year or not."

Isabelle raised her arms up as she twisted her torso, cracking her back in the process. "To be completely honest I'd like for there to be a smaller amount of initiates—just once. I hate wasting all of this time and energy I put into training kids who don't even make it into the faction," she cocked an eyebrow at the man, "it's tedious."

"It's worse for those who were born into the faction yet cannot even sustain their status."

"I won't argue with you on that." Her hazel eyes glanced up into Eric's blue ones, glistening with curiosity, "Has Max decided if you are to train the initiates this year or is his mind still unsure on the matter?"

The man shook his head. "I just came from a brief meeting with him; I'll be training this year."

"Is that why you left so early this morning? You woke me up you know."

Eric couldn't help but smirk, remembering seeing her form shifting in bed earlier that morning so that their covers masked the light from her eyes as he got ready. "He wants me to train the Dauntless born with Karen, but he also wishes that I stop by the transfers every once in a while to ensure that they are being trained properly."

Isabelle scoffed, tearing her eyes away from the Dauntless leader in disbelief at his words. "I train the initiates just as well as you, just as well as the other instructors. I don't know why Max has little faith in me and my skills as a leader."

"I never said that he did," Eric said, defending Max, "you said it yourself earlier: we have more initiates this year than last, so Max wants me to ensure that they are all being trained with equal attention if needed." Eric was about to say something else when he froze in place suddenly. Isabelle watched as Eric touched the small earpiece in his left ear, turning his head away to fully concentrate on the voice on the other end. After a moment he touched it again before looking back at the woman. "The initiates are nearly here; it's about time I make it to the roof to welcome them from their journey. I'll be sure to send them down to you when I'm finished with them."

"Don't be too rough with them, Eric. We need at least a few to make it to me and Four or else I'll have nothing to do for the next couple of weeks." The smile she gave the other leader was cheeky, causing one side of his lips to curl up in an amused smirk.

"No promises." He crossed in front of Isabelle to pass her in order to make his exit. As he did so, one of Eric's hands gently brushed across Isabelle's clothed stomach, his fingers leaving a trail of warmth as he did so. The woman's smile only broadened, but she quickly tried to conceal it in hopes that he did not see. But he did, he always did.

"Until later," she called out over her shoulder only to hear him chuckle in response. Once he was gone, Isabelle made some last preparations, making sure the net was secure and things of the ilk.

Four entered the room, the sound of his shoes echoed and bounced against the walls as he strode over to the woman. "Is everything in place?"

"Yes. I just finished making sure everything was ready for our initiates when they arrived—which should be any moment now."

"Yeah, Eric informed me as we passed each other in the hall; he's headed up to the roof as we speak."

The sounds of the train coming down the tracks echoed through the room as well as making the building shake slightly as the massive amount of energy passing by at high speeds. The initiates have arrived. With the arrival of the train, a few other trainers had entered the room, all of them chatting amongst themselves, one of them being a friend of Isabelle—Mattie.

Isabelle was quiet for a moment as she turned to look at those who had entered, but her mind kept wandering to a seemingly important matter that was brought to her attention when she was asked to speak with Max a few days ago. "Hey Four, do you know why I was asked to step in for Lauren? Is she alright? There's nothing wrong, I hope."

"She was prepping for the initiates at the end of last week when she injured her leg, so she talked to Max and requested that you take her position to train the transfers with me. Why, is this a problem for you?" His tone was anything but harsh.

The woman shook her head, "just curious is all." She paused for a moment, wondering if it was right to tell him the reason behind her curiosity. She decided it didn't hurt to tell. "I was actually supposed to go to the Erudite compound in order to speak with some of the leaders there; we were going to discuss the problems that we've all been facing, but that got cut short since Max asked me to fill in for Lauren."

"You were supposed to go to Erudite?"

Isabelle nodded, "yeah, he wanted me to go since I was familiar with the area and the culture."

"He could've asked Eric."

"He could've, and he was thinking about it, but after much debate he figured I'd be the better choice since I'm a little less aggressive when it comes to formal communication and interactions."

Four smirked, "Max made the right choice on that one."

It wasn't long before both Four and Isabelle could hear the booming voice of Eric above. She turned her head to look at Four with an amused smile on her lips, laughing quietly to herself. He simply shook his head at the other leader's boldness.

"Who should take the lead this year, Four?"

"I did the talking last year" he replied wiping his eye with his thumb, "so you can have the honors this time."

Just as they finished discussing smaller details about the day, the first jumper had leaped from the rooftop, landing on the net and bouncing high into the air before he crashed back down. It was a boy with flaming red hair of fire with matching freckles on his young face and arms. Both Four and Isabelle pushed down on the net and the boy rolled off in a fluid motion.

"What's your name, initiate?" She asked as he stood on his feet, his blue eyes scanning the area around him before glancing up at the many heads that appeared from over the rooftop to stare down at him from above. "Come on, I don't have all day. You can choose a new name or keep the one you have, it doesn't matter to us."

"Ryan." The boy finally spoke. His voice wasn't as meek as Isabelle thought it would be.

"Welcome, Ryan!" Isabelle exclaimed loudly as the other trainers behind her replied by saying the same in unison. She pointed over at the other end of the room near the trainers, "just stand over there until the others have jumped." She turned to look at the red haired trainer, Karen, as she made note of the boy's name.

Ryan nodded as he did as instructed, standing a few feet away from the woman as another initiate jumped. One by one, the initiates jumped, some taking longer than others. A few of the youngling's changed their name, not that any of the Dauntless leaders knew, but it did make them feel a bit cooler in front of their peers and trainers. Once it seemed that the last of the initiates had jumped, Isabelle asked for Karen to count the names of those who had taken the leap.

"Thirty-four, ma'am."

The brunette nodded with a satisfied smile as she turned to face the initiates. "Welcome to Dauntless. I'm glad to see that every single initiate made the jump. It's not the first time, but it's still good news to hear none-the-less. Shows us that none of you are cowards…so far." The woman took a moment and allowed her eyes to scan the room at all the news faces, trying to get a sense of who they were at first glance. She saw a mixture of colors, letting her know that this year she had a mix of initiates from all factions.

Just as she examined the initiates, they did the same to her. She was the shortest leader there, standing at about five foot seven inches. The leader's ears were stretched as she had them pierced with black tappers, as well as having the cartilage on her left ear pierced. She also had a black stud on the skin underneath her bottom lip. Her long brunette hair was tied up in a high ponytail, exposing her neck. Wearing a black tank top, her shoulders and the upper portion of her chest were also visible and the initiates couldn't take their eyes off of the block-like tattoos that adorned her neck—the tattoos that all the leaders in Dauntless possessed. Each of Isabelle's wrists were also wrapped in a single black band. The dauntless born didn't seem to pay any particular attention to the leader as the transfers did; they were utterly stunned by the elegant, yet intimidating leader.

"Dauntless born go with Karen, Morgan, and Chandler while the rest of you transfers stay with me. Off you go." The kids wearing black clothing followed the red-haired woman as she and the other trainers led the group away for their own orientation. Once they were gone, Isabelle turned back to the group of her own initiates.

"I've been a leader here at Dauntless for four years, but I am also a delegate for my people and I am sent to other factions regularly in order to discuss matters of security, as well as to help maintain the relationship we have with the other four factions. But for the next couple of weeks I will be an instructor during your training, alongside Four, Mattie, and Dionne. My name is Isabelle; you can call me that or if you prefer to use my nickname Is, that is also acceptable… or even ma'am if you're so inclined to do so; but I'm warning you right now: I will not be called Belle, Bella, or Izzy, so don't even think about referring to me by any of those names."

"Why?" one initiate asked. It was a girl with black hair. "What'll happen?"

"What's your name, initiate?"

"Clara."

"Step forward Clara." The initiate's name dripped from the instructor's name like venom.

The girl did as told. Isabelle sauntered over to the black haired beauty, noticing her now trembling form with each step that she took. Isabelle stood close to the girl, with only a few inches separating the two. Clara was shorter than the instructor by a few inches, so Isabelle took the opportunity to tower over her prey in hopes to intimidate her more that she already had. "Last year I had an initiate who had trouble understanding my simple request, a boy named Rocket. Long story short, we found his body at the bottom of the Chasm with no explanation to what happened to him." Isabelle's eyes glanced over the initiates before returning to Clara. "Does that answer your question?"

The girl nodded.

"Good," the instructor smirked, "now if you'll all follow me." Isabelle didn't even give the new initiates time to respond before she turned on her heel and started to make her way out of the room. The recruits followed as their leader lead them down a staircase illuminated by the red lights above with Four and the other two instructors following close behind. Out of the staircase, Isabelle then led the group down the stone corridors that were lined at the ceiling with wires and blue lights, although they did not give off much light in the dimness of the passages, the sounds of footsteps echoing through each hall.

As the group approached an area of open light, loud, ear-rattling music overwhelmed any other sounds that bounced off the stone walls of Dauntless, as did the sounds of people yelling, talking, and laughing in delight. The initiates all gathered by the edge of the pathway to overlook the scene as they watched a large group of people dancing towards the father end of the gigantic room while another, equally large, group of people stood in a circle as they watched two men who were engaged in a fist fight.

"This is the Pit, the center of life here at Dauntless. You'll find that when you have time to spare most of it will be spent here. Shops, bars, nightclubs, and the tattoo parlor can be found in some of the narrow passages here in the Pit; when you become a member of Dauntless you will receive a certain amount of points each month in which you can spend at said shops. Now if you'd continue to follow me, I'll take you to your living quarters."

After leading the group of kids down two other passages, Isabelle introduced them to the large room furnished with beds and a bathroom for all of them to use. Of course they were shocked to see that the girls and boys had to share both the restrooms and the sleeping area, which was met to equal amounts of groans and whistling.

"That's enough," Isabelle roared over the bustle of the group, "if you're feeling uncomfortable about the situation, here's a tip: shower in your underwear—I know it's not that helpful, but it's better than showering completely nude. Now change into the clothes provided for you and wash up. Once you've all changed, you'll dump your old clothes into the furnace before making your way into the dining hall for dinner. After you get some food in your stomach, you are to report back here for a good nights sleep—we start training tomorrow at eight o'clock sharp. Understood?"

The group replied in unison. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good, now get going. I expect you all at dinner in less than five minutes. Let's go!"

While the initiates all shuffled to do as they were told, Isabelle turned to Four as they departed from the room, making their own way to the dining hall. The woman turned to face her colleague, "how'd I do?"

"I thought you were pretty efficient, especially with that bit with the black haired initiate."

Isabelle beamed with delight as they turned a corner, "right? I wanted to intimidate at least one of them before we got to the gritty part of training. Think it worked?"

"Like a charm," he replied.

The initiates made it to dinner on time, Isabelle noticed, taking seats wherever they could as they started to mingle amongst themselves. Four sat by himself at a table before a few newbies gained enough courage to sit at his table. Isabelle took a seat across from her friends at another table, Mattie and Nikki—a well-liked tattoo artist who worked alongside Tori at the parlor. The group sat and talked for a moment, filling their plates with food and their metal cups with drink as the Dauntless leader Max made an appearance to give his annual speech to the initiates, which received a roaring applause from all of Dauntless.

Isabelle started to eat when Eric came along, sitting besides the brunette woman as he took a cup and drank from it. The other two women were engaged in their own chat while Eric and Isabelle spoke to one another. Their private conversation was intimate as one leader would lean in close to the other as they whispered. Isabelle's hands found themselves on Eric's thigh to keep her steady while Eric's hand lingered by her waist as his fingers lightly grazed her sides. Their eyes never drifted away as they spoke, keeping all attention on each other. Some of the initiates noticed.

"They seem a little close, don't they?" a boy with curly blond hair inquired, taking a bite of his steak ferverously.

"Well it only makes sense that they are," a skinny girl with dark skin replied as she picked at her food.

"And why do you say that?" the boy asked.

"They were both Erudites before transferring into Dauntless. Eric trained Isabelle two years after he became a leader here, before he was ordered to train the Dauntless born when it came time for initiation."

The red-haired boy, Ryan, cocked an eyebrow at the girl who seemed to know a lot more than she let on. "How do you know that?"

"I'm originally an Erudite, too. My siblings Navea and Warsan were friends with Isabelle back before they took part in the choosing ceremony. My sister chose to stay with my family and remain an Erudite while Warsan decided to become Dauntless with Isabelle. When we visited my brother he told us about the leaders and how Eric was training them along with Four and some others."

The group of kids turned to look at the two former Erudites who continued to talk with each other. As if on cue, the brunette woman turned her attention away from the man before her to glance over at the initiates who immediately averted her stare from the female leader's burning eyes. As they ate their food, the kids could hear Isabelle laughing at her own table a few feet away.