chapter one,
the transfers have no idea what's waiting for them

WITH a click of her tongue, she pushed the gun to the left side, pressing the slide release as her finger was pushing the release button clockwise—tick! With a swift move forwards, the slide came off, putting it on the table as she flipped the gun upside down, the recoil spring bouncing on the table, creating a small, high-pitched sound just for a few seconds. Then, her finger removed the locking block and spring guide neatly on the table.

Wave felt at ease in her own haven. The weaponry was her safe zone – she supervised it and kept it all under control. Not a single gun will pass her eye as she checked the lists carefully and she went on with scolding if someone returned a gun without properly cleaning it. Guns weren't a game. It was an implement of strife and peace. If you don't know how to properly use it or respect it, which side are you going to choose?

The distant footsteps sounded heavy – only leaders walk like this. A frown formed on her lips as she took an oiled brush and put it through the barrel of the gun. Soon the door opened, without knocking, with a royal motive, and Eric entered the room.

Eric was the visual of an Erudite. In her opinion, he did too much on himself to look sterner. As a transfer from Erudite, he already had that cocky look on his face, but with the tattoos and the piercings, he didn't look like a real Dauntless. He looked like someone desperately wanting to fit it. It didn't suit him.

"Disrupting my peace and not even knocking? Don't forget where you are, Eric," Wave reminded, not raising her eyes to look at him.

The man chuckled and leaned to the wall beside him with his side. He was aware of her skills with the guns and what her job meant to her. It wasn't wise to get on her bad side, he knew that, but he had the right to go wherever he wanted to.

"I see you're not in your best mood," he pointed out and she finally raised her head to meet his stare.

"Get to the business, Eric. It's unlikely of you to chatter this much." The woman stated as she put the brush away and quickly assembled the gun, demonstrating the set of skills she had.

It was unlikely for him to have any type of small talk as he was known to be walking around like a grumpy cat, but he was talking with Wave. And that changed some things. "Have you spoken with George?"

"The better question would be, do you think he would speak with me about anything?" Wave corrected him. Her father didn't really indulge in speaking with her a lot after he has denied her leadership not once, but three times already.

Eric chuckled, mockingly: "You're expected to help to train the transfers. There are more than the last year."

"What, Four finally locked himself in the IT and doesn't want to come out?" Wave scoffed and slightly shook her head. "I already have a handful with our initiates. They are fucking stupid for someone who grew up here. I don't have time or any wish to deal with transfers."

"Then make some time." He simply suggested.

Wave placed the cleaned gun on the table and used a cloth to wipe her hands clean: "Don't piss me off, Eric. I'm not the only mentor in this faction."

"On my side, I want to see you deal with Four again. Would scatter the transfers left and right fast," he grinned like an idiot and she threw the cloth at him with force, but he caught it.

The woman stood up, placed the gun in its place and cleaned the table off the equipment, grabbing her jacket and walking towards the exit where he was standing. "I'll supervise the shooting and the fighting. The rest I'm not participating in."

"That's the Wave I know."

The two of them were standing too close, but she used it as a weapon against him since whenever she came to him closer than he expected, his back slightly straightened up. "You know shit, Eric. If for this one I'm not getting your vote on the leadership. I'll show you my knife skills."

"Fair enough." He shrugged.

Wave clasped the jacket over her shoulder and gave him a side eye before she walked out of the weaponry.

"Oh, and Wave?" His voice stopped her.

Turning around, she tilted her head, urging him to speak.

"Four doesn't know yet."

"Of course, he fucking doesn't." She grumbled and shook her head, walking away.

♖ ♖ ♖

"CARE to explain why Eric has to deliver me the news and not my own father?" These were the first words she said as she opened the door to the apartment where her parents lived at. Her own little sanctuary was positioned at the other end of the building complex, giving her much-needed privacy.

"You seem to forget that I'm not the only leader." Her father was a muscular man and the two of them didn't share any type of similarities. Many times she thought that she wasn't his child as they were like night and day and she doesn't remember much from her childhood, but it wasn't her station to question this. Dauntless didn't talk about their soapy family memories. She was glad she had parents, a brother, labelled as a traitor, and a roof over her head.

"The only leader that didn't vote for his own daughter not once, but three times," she reminded, being stingy. It really put her in a horrible light as her own father didn't want her to be a leader.

The man closed his eyes, sighing, "The job is not for you."

"Not for a woman at all," she mumbled, closing the door.

"That's not the case," he immediately disagreed.

"There hasn't been a woman leader at all. You can all try to tell me that there aren't any worthy ones, but we all know how it is." Wave was being stingy, whiny and whatnot. It wasn't the qualities of a Dauntless, but she couldn't help it.

George sighed again, "Let me guess, you're not happy with the new job I assigned you for?" He chuckled, "If you are this whiny about a new job, how would you deal with leadership?"

"By the way I see it," she leaned back on the door behind her, not planning to get inside properly as she didn't intend to stay here. "With the transfers, I'll have less time to do my actual job. Am I getting replaced? And—don't bullshit me."

It seems that Wave has only inherited the same glare he was now giving her: "There's no one as good as you to be a weaponologist. You know that well."

It wasn't every day her father gave her compliments. So that made her shut up and gulp down her whines, showing him that she appreciates his words. "There are a few mentors free of their duties. Why get me to the transfers?"

George clearly was dissatisfied with the number of questions he was receiving, but he complied. "Eric is too stern for that job and you are stern enough... There are also far more females between the transfers, they might feel—safer."

Wave snorted out, rolling her eyes – was she just a shit show that women can fight too? "Right... Then Eric will take half of the training sessions with the Dauntless."

"That's not—"

"I am not asking. If you want a powerful female shit show, Eric takes the Dauntless." The sarcasm was dripping on the floor as the tension between the relatives was only growing. If it was her brother saying those words, demanding for this, George would never think twice.

Her brother was considered a traitor. He chose the Erudite faction instead of Dauntless. Worst of all, George always went about how his son will make a great leader and during the ceremony where they chose their life paths, he was betrayed. By his own son. By his own glory. Wave knew she could never replace Joshua and that her father would've wished for her to leave and for his son to stay. But she wasn't the traitor. She was here and he chose to ignore it.

"Okay," George complied, letting out a sigh. "Just please do not do anything reckless during the training."

The woman blew a raspberry, moving away from the door as she heard the way someone was making their way over here. As the door opened, she was met with the soft gaze of her mother, who looked worn out as always. She worked as a medic and Dauntless had a tendency to get stupid injuries left and right, leaving her with a lot of work.

"Wave," her mother smiled instantly, seeing her daughter with whom she only shared the similarity of bleached hair. "Staying for dinner?"

"Gotta work, I'll come on Sunday," Wave said, giving her a soft smile. Her mother was a real angel, but she was living in her shell, afraid to say anything. She came from an abusive family and while George has never raised his hands against her, she tended to stick to the shadows and to the popular beliefs in this family – what George believed in, she believed as well.

"You work too much," her mother slightly whined. She looked older than she actually was, but it was the stress that was bringing her down.

"I'm fine, mom. Gonna see you later," she kissed her mother's cheek and waved an abrupt goodbye to her father, leaving and closing the door behind her.

Wave was used to being the disappointment of the family, always trying her best to fit in and do right, but she always was the second choice. She worked her ass off in becoming the weaponologist and she could safely say she was the best in the faction. It did feel like the leaders want to push her away from it not because they found better, but because they were working on something—something related to the Erudite faction. Those were already snooping too much and everyone knew that a rebellion was growing.

Erudites wanted power. They hated the Abnegation faction. And Dauntless had all the manpower they needed. Only Wave won't participate in this game. She won't let it.

sunny speaks!

the first chapter is short as an introduction! What do you think about Wave already? What's the first look?