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Feeding time.
One of the most favored times of all, and possibly the most dangerous.
Now, for us bettas, we are voracious eaters sometimes. And when we get hungry, we get hungry. Sometimes, the bigger guys eat all the food. Sometime, the tinier ones get eaten. And most definitely sometimes, the bullies will bite you.
This happened to me. Even though I was given the honor as the most aggressive, there are still bullies out there. Halford and his buddies were taking up all the food. Again. And I saw my other siblings cowering in fear. So I've decided to show them all about not fearing the big guys. So I swam up to the surface, and joined them on eating.
Ripfin, a deadly red Betta that was one of Halford's buddies, immediately stopped feeding and swam on over to me menacingly. He flared his gills as wide as they could go, and growled (well, as good as a growl as a Betta would to another Betta, anyway). "What're you doing here? How dare you show your puny little face into the light of our legacy!" He started circling me.
I snorted bubbles. "Legacy? You're just dominating feeding time."
He suddenly fumbled for words. "You-you..." He stopped flaring immediately. "I'll get you back." And he swam off to polish off his half eaten brine shrimp.
I heaved a sigh, and turned around to eat some food behind of me. My mistake. Immediately, as soon as my back was turned, Ripfin bolted towards me and bit my tail fin. I whipped around, and started chasing him, and all to soon realizing that my owner was watching me, I stopped. Ripfin turned around, and chased me into a corner.
I smiled as I saw my owner move and take out a net from a drawer.
Ripfin was not amused. "How dare you stop chasing me! They gave you the Most Aggressive title? Ha! More like Most Puny title!" He gave out a wicked laugh, and then his laughter turned to shrieks of bubbles as a net tore through the water, and snatched him right up.
Before he was put into another tank, I heard him say, "I'll get you for this! I swear I'll get you! Just wait 'till I bite your little -" Thankfully, I never got to hear the end of that sentence. He was dropped into a tiny aquarium next to ours, and I could see him cursing at me at the top of his lungs. Eventually, he got quiet. That was a relief.
I saw Halford and his buddies move towards me, and my heart skipped a beat as I saw my other, smaller siblings move in. I suddenly felt happy, and a plan formed into my mind. I lured the gang away from the surface, and confronted them myself.
I sneered, and flared my gills. "What do you want?"
Halford and his buddies all flared their gills and fins together, making them all look like one ugly, giant monster of a fish. "You took Ripfin. YOU TOOK RIPFIN!" Halford roared. "And to just think that I was going to spare your puny little life!"
"Now hold on, Halford. I didn't take Ripfin. I was just simply being smart, something you and the gang have never achieved of doing!" Once I said that, I knew that I had spoken too freely in front of these stupid bulky fish.
Halford swam forward, so close that he was millimeters from my face. "If you ever say that again, I swear I'll rip your puny little head off."
I laughed halfheartedly. "I'd like to see you try that!"
Halford roared, and sprang forward. So did his buddies. I dodged out of the way, and as soon as I did that, they cornered me. How they ever did that, I will never know. Halford swam forward, mouth gaping open, ready to tear.
I backed up, fins burning. If they want a fight, oh, I'll give them a good one - one that they'll never forget! Even if I die, hopefully my other siblings will be reminded of my bravery.
I braced myself as Halfore slithered forward...and suddenly, he was gone. I blinked, confused. Suddenly, the aquarium became a war field. I looked around, and saw one of my siblings, Tweakgill, glance past. And that's when it hit me. My other siblings were fighting for me. I shuddered as a piece of a shredded fin floated past, not sure whether it was Halford's, or someone else's.
My owner looked bewildered for a moment, then she banged the table. The sudden jolt of it made us flinch, and Halford and his buddies regrouped. "Until next time, ol nemesis." And they took shelter under some Amazon Sword plants. I let out a huff of surprise, and turned towards my siblings that had saved me. I cringed at the ragged fins on all of my allies, still surprised at their defense to my side.
Vorum swam forward. "You know, we are all thanking you for giving us some food, at least." She grinned - in that ugly, charming Betta way. "And you know, maybe we were overreacting at the Conspiracy Alert thing."
My heart lifted. "So, does that you believe in my belief?" I asked hopefully.
She shook her head, body wiggling. "Just because we saved you, and think more about your belief doesn't mean we believe in it."
My tail drooped in defeat.
"Yet." Just the sound of that one word suddenly filled me up with hope.
