Chapter 20

GRAY'S MOUTH HUNG OPEN IN DISBELIEF. Takiza was real?

Impossible! Gray didn't know what was going to happen next, but he

wouldn't have missed this for all the tuna in the Big Blue! Takiza, if this

was really Takiza—it couldn't be!—wasn't running from Thrash. Exactly

the opposite! He was preening, right in front of the giant tiger shark!

Takiza's huge, delicate fins were bright red and white, fluttering like

greenie in the tide. How could this fish even swim with fins that looked so

fragile—as if they could be ripped from its tiny body by a strong current?

They were so frilly!

For some reason Gray remembered one of Miss Lamprey's lessons

about the landshark world. There was an animal called a peacock that

supposedly strutted around in ritual dances, showing off its bright, long

feathers. This fish, whatever it was, was definitely the ocean version of that

animal.

Thrash took one look and roared with laughter. "Did you hear this

flipper? He thinks he's Takiza! Looks like a piece of greenie I got stuck

between my teeth!" Gray chuckled at the comment. It was kind of funny.

"You have the manners of a blob fish, and you smell like algae on the

seashore!" This caused Thrash to have another fit of laughter. Gray too,

truth be told. And the funny, ruffled fish wasn't done. "You will leave this

area now. Be on your way, and perhaps I won't give you the beating you so

richly deserve!"

Gray was sure the female turtle and her hatchlings were safely hidden in

the kelp and wouldn't be found. But there was absolutely nothing he could

say to stop Thrash from sending this crazy fish to the Sparkle Blue. That

jelly had already drifted away with the current.

"How is it that tigers are always such unthinking brutes?" Takiza asked.

"If your elders would spend more time learning how to be vital dwellers of

the Big Blue, instead of muscle-headed bullies, the seven seas would be

much more harmonious."

Thrash nodded, as if taking the fish's words seriously, moving closer

and closer. "Wow, you're right. I should give that some thought. The next

time I'm at a meeting with the elders, I'll be sure and bring that to their—"

Quicker than a sea snake, the tiger lunged at Takiza and his teeth smashed

together onto the fish. "Ha!" exclaimed Thrash proudly, "how do you like

me now, Takiza?" The tiger began doing a little shimmy that made Gray

chuckle. But then—

"Whether you are dumber or slower is a question to baffle the wisest in

the Big Blue." The frilly fish was now hovering over Thrash's head, but

directly between his eyes where the tiger couldn't see him.

"Wazzit?! Where is he? Where?"

Gray couldn't help but snort in surprise. "Right over your head!" Thrash

moved one way and then the other, but the odd fish moved perfectly with

him! It was the most amazing display of swimming ever. "Still there," Gray

told the tiger.

"Are you yanking my tail?" asked Thrash.

"I'm not," Gray told him. "He's right over your head."

Thrash quickly barrel-rolled, trying to get a look. Still, without seeming

to put forth any effort at all, the fish that called himself Takiza stayed

between Thrash's eyes, just over his head! Gray's mouth opened in

disbelief. It was impossible!

"He can't be still there!" yelled Thrash. "And if you're joking with me,

pup—"

Gray could only shake his head and gesture with a fin as Takiza swam

slightly away so that he came into Thrash's view, but upside down, so that

he was eye to eye with the tiger. Or rather Tazika, being much smaller,

stared into one of Thrash's much larger eyes.

"Is it your first day with those clumsy fins?" asked the fish calmly. "I've

seen starfish missing legs swim better than you do." Thrash's mouth opened

in shock as Takiza continued, "And to have poor eyesight as well? It seems

you have received none of Ramtail's gifts. Are you sure you're a tiger shark

at all?"

Then the little fish caught Thrash by the tip of his tail with its frilly fins

and somehow swung him in circles! And fast! It was unbelievable! All the

tiger could do was let out a high-pitched scream as he was whipped through

the water. The little fish then threw Thrash into the distance, several body

lengths away. "A wise dweller knows when he's outclassed. I give you the

chance to exhibit wisdom and leave this instant."

Thrash got his fins underneath him. "I don't know what just happened,

but you're going to be chowder! You hear me? Chowder!"

Gray was pretty sure that asking Thrash if he needed any help fighting

the little fish would get him bitten, so he stayed quiet. The frilly sea

peacock didn't, however. "Unfortunately I do," he answered. "Your voice is

like the baying of an injured sea cow and hurts my ears."

Thrash was so angry he couldn't even respond in words. He trembled

with rage and shouted an unintelligible "Gonnakillyerraggh!" before

charging. The laughably small fish stayed where it was until the tiger

opened his mouth to swallow him whole.

And then…something happened.

Gray wasn't really sure what, it happened so fast. He caught just the

briefest flash of the colorful fish zipping forward and snapping a ruffled fin

into Thrash's flank. The tiger grew quiet, still moving, but not swimming—

his enraged features frozen.

Then, he started to sink!

Gray swam over to him, concerned. "Thrash! Thrash?" he yelled. "You

okay?" But the tiger didn't answer.

"The oaf will be fine after a few moments," said the little fish, now

hovering in front of Gray's left eye. "I am a practitioner of the noble art of

Shar-kata, a peaceful form of self-defense, which does not send anyone to

the Sparkle Blue so lightly." Gray struggled to keep Thrash from sinking,

but it wasn't easy to remain underneath him.

"Who are you? Really?" Gray asked, amazed.

"Excellent! You have manners enough to ask for an introduction," the

fish told him. "I am a Siamese fighting fish, or betta." His frilly fins caught

the tide and expanded to their full length. "My given name is Takiza

Jaelynn Betta vam Delacrest Waveland ka Boom Boom." The fish gave

Gray a flowery nod. "You may call me Takiza for short."

For a minute Gray didn't know what to do. He looked at Thrash, who

stirred and mumbled, "Ma, is that you? Don't wanna go to class." Gray let

the tiger settle into the sand and greenie.

"You're actually Takiza? You're real?"

Takiza moved his fins in another flourish. "I am."

"You know, I should eat you for doing this to my friend," Gray told the

betta.

"You may try. But is he really your friend?"

"What? Of course he's my friend," Gray sputtered.

"He is an evil shark," Takiza said matter-of-factly. "Perhaps you should

find better friends. Now, may I ask a question of you?"

"I guess so."

"Do you know yourself?" The little betta cocked his head and waited

for an answer.

"I don't understand."

"Inside you, I see a shark who swims with one fin in the light and the

other in darkness. Peace or anger? Only you can decide the current you

shall swim, so which will it be?"

Gray couldn't for the life of him figure out what the betta was talking

about. "What does that even mean?"

"If you do not know the answer then that is the answer for now." The

betta shook his delicate fins and swam off. "Perhaps we shall speak again."

And with that Takiza disappeared into the Big Blue.

Thrash twitched, sending a cloud of sand blooming off the seabed.

"Huh? What happened?" He swam up to Gray. "Where is that little piece of

krill?"

"Umm, you scared him off," Gray answered. He was pretty sure the

tiger wouldn't want the exact truth. Thrash seemed dazed, as though he

didn't remember everything.

"I sure showed him, didn't I?"

Gray nodded. "Yeah, that was…something, all right."

After Thrash gathered his senses, the two of them swam back to the

shiver homewaters. Gray was dead tired when he got to the resting area, but

couldn't sleep a wink.

All he could think about was Takiza Jaelynn Betta vam Delacrest

Waveland ka Boom Boom.