Disclaimer: The characters belong to Veronica Roth.
TRIS POV
A scream echoed off the cavern walls as a boy of age 16 fell through the hole and landed hard on the net. He struggled to get up so Christina and I ran forward to help.
"What's your name?" I asked him.
"What faction are you from?" Christina added on.
"I'm Adam, and I'm originally from Amity."
"First jumper, Adam from Amity! Welcome to Dauntless, Adam." In the end we had 18 transfers and 12 originally from Dauntless. Christina and I showed the Dauntless-born to their new dorms while Tobias and Will showed the transfers the chasm, Pit, training room, and dorms. Uriah broke his leg performing a dare presented by Tobias, so he was unavailable to show the initiates around.
I stood in front of the bathroom mirror. I was about to give a speech to the entire faction. I don't know if I can do this. I had put on a black strapless dress that ended a couple inches above my knees. Blue metallic eyeliner that matched my eye color was outlining my eyes. I had on black combat boots to tie everything off. I heard the bell go off signaling the dinner with the initiates. I reached up and touched the birds flying free on my collarbone, and ran out of the apartment.
"Dauntless men and women, please welcome the new initiates to our faction. Also, please give a warm welcome to Tris Prior!" The cheers that followed echoed off the Pit walls were astonishing. The initiates ran through the door and went to their own table. I entered the Pit and the clapping reluctantly ceased. I took a deep breath and wiped my palms on my dress. I was terrified. What if I forget to say something? What if my vision goes blurry and I can't read off the paper? Guess I'm going to have to prevent that. I folded the paper and put it behind my back. I glanced over to the table where Tobias was sitting. He gave me a small reassuring nod.
"Ok…..well, I'm not sure what I want to say. I remember being in your position 1 year ago. I'm not going to lie. Training was hell. You will be bruised, shattered and terrified. But, if you truly belong here, you WILL get through it. In the end, it doesn't matter what faction you come from. All that matters is you understand that Dauntless isn't all about using your strength or proving you brave. Use your knowledge from home to train. If you are selfless then you are brave for giving yourself up. If you are kind, you have the strength to change this world. If you are honest, you are brave for telling the truth no matter how much trouble it might be worth. If you are intelligent, you have strength beyond any other. And finally, if you are from Dauntless, well, you are brave enough to stay." Clapping resounded throughout the cavernous space. I walked over to a table where Tobias, Christina, Will, and Uriah were sitting. They all congratulated me on the speech.
"When you put the real speech away, we were all so worried about you. We thought you had lost your mind or something." Uriah said.
"She already has lost her mind, if you didn't already know." Christina snorted.
The dinner was over fairly quickly, as everyone was exhausted. As Tobias and I walked back to the apartment, we recounted the events of the day. We both changed into pajamas and climbed into bed asleep before our heads hit the pillow.
Christina and I were going to get new tattoos. We were walking along the chasm talking when she suddenly slipped. They were repairing the fence, so she flew down into the churning water screaming. I jolted awake and ran down the hall to her apartment. I found her sleeping peacefully, but I still couldn't get the image out of my head of her falling to her death no matter how hard I tried.