I went up to one of my brothers, Highlight. He was one of the smarter fish, but still had betta instincts that made his thinking useless. He was a dark colored betta, and he for some reason looked like a female betta - probably because he was so timid, he let the others bite off his fins little by little.
Anyway, when I went up to him, he started cowering under the shadows of the leaves. I tried to approach him slower, making me look less of a threat. It probably wouldn't have worked, anyway, as he started to suspiciously back off. Now, the reason that I chose him to talk about things of being the most aggressive is because I knew that he wouldn't blab his mouth off in public, as he's so shy. Plus, he's also a smart geek like me, but doesn't use it.
I flared my gills at him, then settled down. He gazed at me wearily. "So...how's it going?" I asked him, unsure of how to start a conversation with a weakling.
He waited a moment before he answered. "Fine...why?" He said in a voice that held suspicion.
"Well, I was wondering..." What was I getting myself into? "Okay, let's just cut to the chase..."
"Oh no, not that chase!" He exclaimed, hiding away. "I don't want to ever endure that kind of torture again!"
"No, not that kind of chase!" I said. "The other meaning!" He stopped, turned around, and slowly came back.
He was silent for a while. "Well...which chase is it? Cause I do not want to be bitten on the tail again - that already happened to me three times today!" He shuddered, and pointedly curled his tail inward, as if to protect it from passing, biting fish. "Okay, just tell me what you want to know, and I'll answer you - that is, if you're not here to bite me?" He backed off a bit.
I made sure I looked the least threatening I could. "Well, have you ever wondered...if there was ever another way to change our code of honor?" I swam down towards the bottom of the tank, where the leaves provided us shelter from any eavesdropping fish.
Highlight looked at me strangely. "Bro, what are you talking - or even thinking - about?"
"Well, have you ever thought of a different way to show our leadership? Instead of biting everyone? Couldn't we change it to a test of who's the smartest, and can confront Bettas the best way, instead of going through what those vicious fish go through? I tell you...for such cute fish, we are quite violent." I tried to explain it to him the best I could.
His eyes seemed to light up. I could already tell that he was open to the idea."Hhmmm...that would be indeed an interesting feat to see...but ARE YOU CRAZY?!" He started getting hysterical. "We can't do that! That would be violating our Betta Code of Honor! And out of all of the bettas to be saying this -" He flared his gills roughly. "- It is you! Why, can't you be satisfied with being titled as The Most Aggressive?" His expression showed a hint of envy. Hhmm...maybe he wasn't as open as I thought he was.
"No, that is not entirely - exactly - what I want." Now, how was I going to break this to him? "Listen. It isn't as enjoyable being really aggressive as you think." He made a big eye roll at me. "How do you think I would feel, looking at all of your pained faces after I harass you? It just saddens me that this is how we deal with things. I know that we're much more smarter than this, Highlight, I just know that there has to be another way!"
Highlight seemed thoughtful. "True, true. I would actually prefer that decision better than being bitten." He looked painfully at his tail. "But...we can't. Our ancestors created this rule, and established it into our instincts! True, we may like that idea better, but you never take that instinct out of us Bettas." He backed away into the shadows. "Trust me, you can't change that. You can't change the minds of the others. You can't make the gods obey your command. Believe me, I've tried." He fully submerged himself into the shadows, out of my sight.
