fearless

Chapter 119: Speeches and Advice

"Any volunteers to go first?" I ask sharply. They all look taken aback, but a Dauntless Born steps forward. Her hair is long and light brown, her skin pale against the black clothes that she wears. She sort of reminds me of a future Hannah, when she's older. I smile as I hop off the ledge, then help the girl up.

"Thanks." She whispers quietly.

"You're welcome." I say, then turn to watch her jump, even with the rest of the initiates. She takes a breath in and looks up, before stepping off of the ledge. The girl gasps as she falls, but doesn't scream or say a word.

I see the net shake at the bottom and I know that the girl is out, so I send the next person, an Erudite boy, down.

It's like this for a while, and then they're all gone, meaning that it's my turn to jump. I smile as I approach the ledge, then look down. My stomach twists with a small bit of fear, but then it's just joy and butterflies when I think of Ty, and how he's waiting for me at the bottom of the net.

I step off without a second's thought, and feel my breath knocked out of my body by the wind, which doesn't seem to make sense. My body collides with the hard ropes of the net, and then I bounce back up again, emerging from the hole.

I bounce up and down a few times, then firmly land in the net. I look up at the sky through the hole, feeling my body sway back and forth. I release a breath as I look at the clouds rolling through the sky, and then feel my body rolling out of the net.

Strong hands grip my small arms, and I smile when I see the face of the person that's pulled me out. Ty grins at me, pulling me close to his body when he actually retrieves me from the net. In the distance, I hear voices. "Transfers, go with Cynthia, Dauntless Borns go with Hunter." It's Uriah.

Ty smiles at me, letting go of me when Uriah clears his throat. "Watch your PDA, guys. It's never good to show it around the initiates since one of them usually always has a crush on one of us or hates us and is out to kill us." Uriah says.

Ty and I nod, then separate. I feel a chill overtake my body when Ty and I part, already missing his touch, the warmth that he seems to give me. I sigh, then kick around a few pebbles that lay scattered on the ground.

"You guys, meet me at the Dining Hall balcony in an hour and a half. That's where we'll give the speeches to the initiates about what it means to join Dauntless, but until then, you guys are free to do what you want." Uriah shrugs. I nod, then take Ty's hand when Uriah walks away, into the darkness.

"What do you want to do?" Ty asks me, whispering.

"I don't know, I was just thinking about the same thing." I say to him and he shoots me a small smile.

"Oh my gosh, Four, look who I found!" I hear Zeke's voice from behind us and I release Ty's hand, sighing. I turn and see Zeke and my father standing there and staring at us. "What are you two doing here at the net?"

"Initiation. Uriah's making us oversee both the Dauntless Borns and the Transfers." Ty says, looking at Zeke, who smiles. Zeke then slaps my father in the chest.

"Boy, don't you remember those days, Four? Oh those were the days, back when we scared the shit out of them day after day, oh that was great!" Both my father and Zeke begin laughing, then nearly double over.