Somewhere far away from the town of Elmore there was a beach, a beautiful beach with many types of stranded shells and clams, beautiful soft white sand and the crystal clean water made it a marvellous sight, but unfortunately the beach couldn't be shared for all. There were two colony's that split the beach into two sides, the west and the east side to be exact, both colony's had forgotten why they were enemy's to begin with, but their rulers assured them, that it had been this way for more than a century and that it will always be.

What made the whole situation weirder is that these colonys, were inhabited fully by various types of fish… and they had legs. The fish types ranged from Paedocypris all the way to blue marlins on both colony's, however the rulers often had to banish lots of the bigger fish for assaulting the other residents, mostly the smaller ones, with that, there was a lot of danger outside the colonies. Yet even if it was a suicide trip, exploring wasn't all too forbidden, at least not to adults.
But that didn't stop the young ones from getting out, one young female goldfish in particular was swimming at the forbidden zone, but not to far of from her colony and she wasn't alone.

A male, yet also small, clownfish accompanied the girl while telling jokes. "What do you call a goldfish that one a football game? A GOAL fish, HAhahHAHhaha" "AHAHHAHAHAH, Oh gosh, these jokes are sooooo lame, but for some reason they are funny!" The little goldfish answered her striped friend, while whipping a small tear from her face. Then the clownfish spoke again "Want to hear another joke Rose?" 'Nah, I heard enough for today Amethyst." Rose answered him.

He gave her a disappointing frown and said "Aww, you don't know how to have FUN! Don't you remember that song I taught you?" "Well, in that song you never said anything about bad puns." She answered him with her fins crossed. "Listen, I'm the clownfish, so I know what's fun and what isn't." He told her. "Just because you are a clownfish, doesn't make you automatically funny, that isn't how nature wo-" "I said I know!" he shouted at her before she could finish her sentence.

She just shrugged it off and said "Ok, whatever." She had gotten used to him trying to make himself look funny, that she didn't even bother to argue, at least not too much.
They swam a few more seconds and came across a part of the see floor that deepened a lot, a few meters to be exact. This deep part had a lot of junk in it, but mostly metal and wooden objects.

An excited smile formed on Roses face but Amethyst was thinking differently. "Umm, ok. I think we should head back home…" Amethyst said with a whimper. "What?! You have got to be kidding! I bet no one else has ever come this far!" she said full of excitement. "You are not a chicken, are you?" Rose said teasingly.
Amethyst's answer was simply "No!"But the teasing continued…. "Now you are the one who is ruining all the fun." Said Rose. "What's so fun about getting killed?" Answered Amethyst with a slight crack in his voice. "Oh, come on, just look at this place!" She said while throwing her fins on were the deep part was. "Who in their right mind would live there?!" She asked him. "Oh, I don't know…maybe…KILLER CANNIBALISM FISH?!" He shouted at her loudly causing her to close her ear canals.

Rose decided to play a little prank on him. "Amethyst, if killer fish actually live here, then we are screwed." "Huh?! Why?!" He shouted again. "Come closer, I'm going to whisper it to you." She said in a quiet tone. Amethyst quickly got closer to her, positioning his left ear right into her face. "Can you hear me?" She said very quietly. Amethyst answered "Yes." "Good, the reason why we are dead is because…..." She paused a little but then took a breath and said "YOU KEEP SHOUTING" as loud as her voice would allow, causing amethyst ear to buzz heavily.

The little clown fish grabbed his ear and said to her in a whimper "…. You didn't have to be so loud…." Rose grinned and said "I was just having fun." She said innocently. "So, are you coming?" She asked him. Amethyst knew that if he didn't come, she would mock him for a lifetime. So, he gave up and nodded in defeat. Roses grin got wider and said "Good, lets get moving. We don't want some killer fish to eat us." She those last few words mockingly. "You are going to remind me of this for the rest of our lives aren't you?" He asked her in annoyance. "Yeah, probably." She simply answered him. The two fishes now were heading to the deep part, not knowing that it would change their life's forever.

Meanwhile Two Barracuda's were sleeping tiddly on a broken wooden box in the deep floor, until they started hearing some annoying sounds. "Ugh, for the love of Neptune my head, from where are those sounds coming from?" Asked one of the Barracudas. Upon hearing this the other one answered "I don't know, but it seems they are coming from up there" He pointed at the high ground. "Aurgh, I don't see any-" Before he could say anything else he spotted two little fishes arguing with each other, but in his eyes, he saw two swimming pieces of meat.

He licked he snout and said "Look Franklin, food!" It took Franklin a moment to realize it but when he did, he said. "What are we waiting for? LETS-" He dashed of their shelter but he didn't go far because his companion, held him back. "No, you moron! Did you forget that little fishes are fast? We need a sneak attack!" He said while trying to keep his voice as silent, yet as hearable as possible. Franklin sighed and said "Yeah, you are right. So, what we do Carl?" "Why should I think of something? Don't you have an idea?" Said Carl. "Man, what are you talking about? You are the one who makes the plans not me!" Franklin answered. "Ugh, this is why your mother abandon you"

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, just listen…"

Rose and Amethyst were swimming in the deep floor now, with barely any light at all but it was enough to see. Suddenly, Amethyst heard a whisper. "EEEEK, what was that sound!?" He shrieked quietly with a panicked tone. "What sound? There's nothing wrong, we are fine!" She thought that Amethyst was getting paranoid. "But- I swear! I heard something, Rose of course ignored him, or at least that was until she heard a whisper too. Rose's eyes widened and she froze for a moment, then she said with an fearful tone on her voice "Uh- its the air maybe?" "Rose…. WE are underwater! How can it be air? I knew we shouldn't have come here…" he said to her while holding his head in frustration and with an upset tone on his voice.

Rose was about to say something, until she heard this:

"Hey, I think they know we are here Carl."

This time both of them froze.

"No shrimp man! Why do you always have to whisper to me every time we are hunting?" Said the frustrated predator. "You know what? Lets just get it over with!" Carl continued, then both he and his mate dashed off of their hiding spot going into the open. "All right you little pieces of meat. Its ti-" A voice was heard from behind them.
"We are over here!" Said the little clownfish. The goldfish smacked his head after he spoke Carl answer was simply "Oh." He then turned himself to face his meal. "As I was saying-"

Suddenly something, or someone crushed him from his right side. And that someone was Franklin. Rose and Amethyst looked at each other in confusion. Carl growled angrily at Franklin, but decided not to scold him, since there was something more important for him to focus on. "Anyway, we are gonna eat you know" Rose and Amethyst fearfully backed up against the wall.

"Ok, you take the clown, and I'll take the girl." Carl spoke preparing to attack. "Why do you get the girl? I wanna eat her! And why does one of us get to only eat one? We could share!" Whined Franklin. Carl looked at him angerliy, but knew that there was no going out of it and decided to bargain with him first before dessert. Carl pointed at them and said "You two stay where you are at. One move and I'll catch you myself." Amethyst shakily said "Well, we can't go anywhere anyways. You guys got us cornered."

Carl was bluffing. Although Franklin could be very annoying and idiotic, he was a great hunter and a fast swimmer. He needed his help, especially for smaller fish like them.
Rose and Amethyst didn't have much of a choice. They just stay there quietly. Amethyst had lost his mind over what was happening, he could barely even take a breath. Rose on the other hand, although still pretty terrified, was trying to think of a plan to save Amethyst and herself, since Amethyst was to scared to think of something.

It took them about three minutes to come to an agreement. "Ok, I take the girls head, one fin from the boys and his lower half, and you the boys head, the girl's fin and her lower half. Is that ok?" Said Carl trying desperately not to lose his cool. Then Franklin answered "Yeah, seems fair to me."
"Can we eat them now?" Asked Carl. "Yeah sure!" Said Franklin excitedly. And then they turned themselves to face their food.

Now were the little fishes scared like never before. Rose couldn't come up with a bright plan on time so she did the thing girls can do best at this situation. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed as loud as she could. Amethyst covered his ears and so did the Barracudas. After she stopped screaming she grabbed Amethysts fin and swam away as fast as she could. But the Barracudas was quickly catching up. Franklin kept munching towards them, trying to catch them. Rose tried to swim quicker, but before she could even try, she felt a terrible pain in her tail causing her to let out a pain cry.

She looked back and to her horror, she saw Franklin managed to bite a piece of her tail off. Since her tail was in pain she couldn't swim very fast. She tried with all her might, but failed when Franklin grabbed her leg with his fin and teeth and to pull her down. She didn't know what to do to save herself, but she knew how to save Amethyst. She grabbed Carl's tail said. "GO! I'll hold them off!" Amethyst didn't know how to react, should he leave his best friend to possibly die? Or to try his best to help her? Because the odds where very against him he decided to swim away while calling for help in a semi girlish way.

"Gosh darnit! Let go!" Carl said angerliy and kicked Rose in the face. She yelped and let him go. Frank was now on top of her, pinning her to the ground. "I guess we just have to share our dinner Frank, don't complain." Said Carl to Franklin in a very slimy voice. "Yeah, I guess I'm making an acceptation this time" He said in between his teeth while still biting on Rose. Rose couldn't move. All she could do was cry at this point. Carl said to her "Tell you what, I'm gonna try to make this quick" after that he chuckled slightly.
He opened his nasty mouth wide open, she could smell a variety of gross smells, and the thought that she was going to die made her swell up with uncontrollable panic.
She closed her eyes and waited for her fate.

Carl was about to bite until he felt something sharp cutting quickly through his lower half. "AGGGGGHHH-" He then felt something heavily punch him in the chest. He tried to cough but the attacker wouldn't give him a break because he punched him in the face, knocking him out.

Franklin couldn't identify the intruder that well, because he was swimming and attacking too fast, but once he put down Carl, he quickly swam In front of Franklin and Rose.
The intruder in fact was a relatively large fish, almost as large as the barracudas, but with different colouring. While the barracudas had a black and dark blue look in to them, this fish was brown with light blue spots into his body. From what both Rose and Franklin could put together they both assumed it was a suckerfish. "Let this fish go, or you are going to end up like your friend down there." He said as he pointed his fin at the now cold Carl on the bottom floor. Franklin opened his jaw letting Rose free, but before he left he said "He is actually my cousin, but… whatever." Then in what appeared to be only a fraction of a second, he disappeared from sight.

Rose got closer to the suckerfish and said to him "Th-Thank you so much I- I- You are not another outsider, right?" She said as fear began to take over her again. The fish noticed her discomfort and decided to put on a friendlier face and said "Don't worry, I'm not like them. Sure, I look big and scary but I belong to the colony, just like you."
After hearing that, she felt a wave of relief throughout her body.

"Phew, nice! I can't thank you enough…err…What's your name?" She asked. "My name is Benjamin but my friends and family just call me Ben." He answered "Ben huh? Nice nam-OUCH!" She was so amazed by Ben that she forgot that her tail and leg was injured. Ben quickly caught her before she could sink down into the bottom, not that it would hurt her more but he simply didn't want her to. Then he asked with a lot of concern "Are you hurt badly? Do you need help?" She was now sobbing from the pain, but had enough energy to speak. "I'm afraid I can't swim properly." "Well, my house isn't too far away from here. I could take you there." He said to her.

Before she could say something else, he picked her up and then swam as fast as he could to his house.

Rose was now sleeping on a bed with Ben right beside her. She passed out while they where on their way, probably from exhaustion, so she didn't know what exactly happened. Her tale was covered in bandages and began to heal from the bite. Ben stared at her but not in a creepy way, more like a confused way. He didn't really recognize her, there weren't any goldfish at his colony, at least as far as he knew, so he was pretty curios. On the other hand, he admired at how cute she was. The little female fishes, little in size that is, were mostly the most popular pair for males, not that the bigger female fish were unwanted, they were just less preferred in comparison.

Rose slowly opened her eyes being greeted by Ben's eyes. He didn't want to be seen as a freak so he quickly said "Oh! You are awake!" Rose stood up from the bed and looked around the room. "… Are we at your house?" She asked weakly. Ben didn't waste a second and replied to her immediately. "Yeah, this is my bedroom, I hope you are comfortable." Rose gave him a smile with her eyes half closed "Oh, believe me, I am." "Say, what were you doing out there? Don't you know that, that deep floor is forbidden? Most of the banished fishes live there! You were lucky I was there." Ben exclaimed with a surprisingly worried tone.

Rose should've had explained why, but she asked him the same question back. "What were you doing there? If that place is forbidden what gives you the right to roam around there?" Ben saw that coming from the moment he asked her. "Well, you do have a point, but you forget that i'm clearly the bigger fish between us, and I can take care of myself, at least more than you can." He exclaimed. Rose's smile transformed into an irritated frown. He was right however, if he wasn't there she would have been devoured by the barracudas.

She gave up playing hard to convince so she just explained to him what she was doing there. "Well, if it wasn't for your friend I wouldn't have known!" He said in an enthusiastic voice. "Wait, did he tell you about me?" Ben paused for a moment, and then answered. "Ehm, not exactly. I was just swimming around the deep floor until I heard him scream aaaah! Barracudas! They are eating my frieeeeend! AAAAAAAAHHH! So, I decided to come help you." Rose chuckled slightly after hearing Ben trying to copy Amethyst. "Oh, Amethyst." She said to herself. "Still, without him, I wouldn't have met you today Ben." He let out a small laugh too and said "Yeah, no kidding."

Both of them continued talking and laughing for a while. They enjoyed each other's company a lot, for no specific reason, they just did. "Hey Rose, if you are planning to go there again-" "I know, I know I should forget about it." Rose interrupted him letting out a disappointed sigh. "No, I was just gonna say that I should come with you, to protect you from predators." Ben continued. Rose blushed at his request and said "Aw, that's so sweet of you!" Ben blushed as well at her comment and was about to speak out his next words, until she gave him a kiss on his cheek. Before, he was just a little red but now he looked like a tomato from the blushing. He hadn't thought how beautiful she was until he seen her in the light. Her shiny scales were the shade of red and orange.

The noise of the front door opening broke the silence, alarming Rose a little. "Benjamin Are you home? I need help with the boxes." A voice said from the hall of the house.

"Ah, yeah dad, I'll be right there." Ben had forgotten that today his dad bought a new furniture for their house, and that he needed help, to his credit tho, he wasn't that young anymore.

"Sorry Rose, I have to go help my dad, I'll be right back!"

"Oh, that's ok, don't forget to tell him about me, I'd love to meet him!"

"All right, see ya later!" Said Ben as he exited the room.

"Dad! There's something important I have to tell you!" Ben spoke. His father laid down a box that he had been carrying, turned around to face him and said "Is it more important than the furniture?" In a mood. His father, which his name is Nathan, was like Ben, a brown suckerfish with light blue spots on his body. He was only a bit bigger then him. "Dad, we have a guest!" "Listen son, its ok if you want to hang out with your buds, but you should always ask me before inviting them in our house."
"No, this guest isn't one of my pals, it's a girl!" Ben said enthusiastically.

His father's expression changed from an unamused one to a happy one. "Oh, why didn't you say so? So, what's her name?" "Her name is Rose, she is a goldfish! I found her injured and brought her here." "Goldfish? Injured? What happened?" Ben was of course not going to tell the truth to his father. "I don't know I just found her laying on the ground."

Then his father continued with the questions.

"Aha, so umm, she's a goldfish, right?"

"Yep!"

Ben's father had something in mind that would shatter Ben's friendship.

…There weren't any goldfish in their colony…