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Chapter 8: A Triple Threat
'Maybe it really is time to consider it.' His mournful thoughts filled his mind. 'Maybe she really does deserve so much better than me.'
The negative thoughts, heavy with depression, had begun to physically weigh his head down, and he lowered his gaze to the fractured image of his knees beneath the waves. This was a thought process that had been in the back of his mind for a long time. In fact, it had manifested itself the very day he had realized his infatuation with the lead emotion within Riley's mind. But he had tried his absolute hardest to keep the thought repressed. He hated how selfish it made him feel, to put his own needs over Joy's by refusing to acknowledge his inadequacies. But it was just too painful to consider. He simply couldn't handle the thought of living his life without Joy by his side.
He had briefly managed to contain these tortured considerations with his idea to prove his commitment to Joy and their relationship. Just as the penguins that had been on his mind all day, he convinced himself that if he could just focus on gathering the shiny pebbles, taking the extra time and effort to do grand things for Joy, then he could negate all of his physical failings. But with this outing, where he had failed at every chance to show his worth, the painful thoughts of what Joy deserved had easily resurfaced. It was now all he could think about. And when he tried to silence them, telling himself that he was good enough for her, he felt guilty.
"No one deserves a partner so terrible at everything, too cowardly to even make up for his shortcomings..." His mind repeated endlessly. "Especially not someone as perfect as Joy. She deserves nothing short of prince charming, not the lowly pauper with a foolish, unobtainable crush."
Fear breathed a sigh into the waters surface, watching it echo as tiny ripples quickly overtaken by the tide. Beneath the water, he could see small fish swimming past his legs and stomach, curious of his strikingly lavender color. Their tiny bodies shined with glimmering rainbow scales just like a particular aquatic species present in a book Riley had loved as a child. As they circled around, pecking at his bathing suit here and there in an attempt to taste, they began to lose interest and swam away, one by one. When only two remained; a rather shiny specimen and another whose scales had been shed to a slim few still retaining the rainbow sheen, they swam up close to one another, swimming in a tight circle almost as if dancing together. Then, in perfect unison, the last two fish left together, swimming side by side, close enough to waft a fin gently over the others body, setting out for the deeper ocean.
Fear lowered his thick eyebrows into a half hearted scowl. "Show offs..." He growled.
As he raised his gaze back to the sunlit shore, he innocently wondered what Joy must be doing. While he hoped she didn't plan to stay out in the deep waters for too long without him, he also didn't want to be demanding in rushing her back to the shallow waters with him. Curiosity overtaking his body, Fear leaned onto a hand planted firmly in the muddy sand and turned to face the horizon where the water turned a deep, radiant blue.
It didn't take any time at all to spot her golden figure glowing against the cerulean background of sea and sky. But there was also something else that caught his attention just as quickly, resulting in a sharp gasp of worry. It couldn't be, could it? Surely he must be mistaken!
Out in the deep waters where the waves rolled by as lazy humps of blue, Joy gently floated in the cool seawater. As each wave past, she only barely had to flap an arm or kick a foot to rise and fall with the hump, her own buoyancy taking care of the rest. The near effortless drifting relaxed the energetic emotion, allowing her some much needed time to think.
She had been so excited the day before, when Fear had finally worked up the courage to ask her out on a date. Even though he hadn't actually called it one. But it felt to Joy like a sign that he was finally beginning to loosen up. She had been so desperate to just explain all of the feelings she had for Fear, but had previously been too terrified to say anything. Fear was so skittish, so jumpy; and if he became overexcited, his first instinct was always to bail. And with this outing and how many times she had let her excitement get the better of her and cloud her judgement, forcing Fear into things he could never do... She was sure if she tried to admit any of these bottled feelings that Fear would flee in an instant. Joy couldn't even consider that happening. The thought of losing him was one thought she couldn't face.
Joy, drifting up with the next rolling wave, felt a shuddering sigh escape her lips. Her mind was working at triple capacity, trying it's hardest to think of any way she could still salvage some mutual enjoyment from this journey. If she could just end the outing on a positive note, then this adventure would not have been made in vain. She slowly spun around and shifted her gaze to the endless horizon, lost in her thoughts.
A good distance away where the water was still shallow, Fear had sprung up from where he was sitting. His resting anxiety level had evolved into terror, and he waved his hands high above his head, shouting a chorus of warnings and exclamations in a desperate attempt to catch Joy's attention. But the waves crashing all around him and the pressure powered ocean wind that blew by with a roar made him incredibly hard to hear. Not to mention that the golden emotions thoughts were elsewhere. In her own little world, the sounds of the world beyond fell silent.
In fact, Joy had actually begun to slowly paddle herself further into the deep waters, almost as an underwater form of pacing to try and help power her mental processes. As she blindly approached the perceived threat that her colleague was attempting to warn her of, she was finally brought out of her trance by a sudden motion in the water. Turning her focus back to the physical word around her, she watched as three triangular fins broke the surface of the dark blue waters just ahead of her. Before she could react, they had closed in on her, all three creatures circling around her golden form with only their fins visible as a warning flag.
Fear clawed at the sides of his face in horror and frustration. He had been unable to alert Joy to the underwater threat in time for her to flee. Fear decided she only had one other option; to fight. But judging by the size of their bulky, curved fins menacingly circling her form, these creatures were far bigger than any emotion. And three against one? Joy wouldn't stand a chance.
The horrifying thought of Joy's safety being at risk suddenly drowned out all other worries in the lavender creatures mind. His own safety had taken a back seat to hers; he had to rescue her no matter the danger. He plowed back into the shallow waters and began swimming at full speed towards his glowing companion, still trying to attract her attention with shouts ultimately drowned out by the crashing waves. But with his odd proportions and fighting against the current, he was progressing slowly. He only hoped he could make it in time.
Meanwhile, Joy studied the three fins circling her with a child-like curiosity, spinning with them almost as if hypnotized by their perfectly synced motions. In the sun, they seemed to shimmer in a pastel pink color, covered in specks of moisture that glistened like glitter. Still unaware of her slow approaching 'savior', Joy had rejected any thoughts of dread that manifested during the creatures sudden approach. Instead, she twirled with the three unseen beasts, dancing and giggling her unmistakable bubbling laugh.
The three fins came to a halt, turning to face the emotion centered between them. From out of the dark sapphire waters emerged three strange faces, long and pointed with a downy coat of fur, long bristled whiskers, and a huge mouth full of sharp, cone shaped fangs.
"You're right! It is her!" One of the creatures squeaked excitedly, gesturing to the emotion with it's long snout and wiggling its tiny ears.
"I told you." Another one chirped, swimming closer to the first. "I'd know her anywhere!"
"She's so shiny in person..." The third beast marveled, swimming all around Joy from behind to join its brethren grouped in front of her. "And so soft looking."
Joy, mildly bewildered but ultimately flattered by the creatures fascination with her, offered out a golden hand, using the other to continue to support her treading water.
"Hi, there!" She smiled, the strange aquatic animals responding in awe. "I'm Joy! Who are you guys?"
Suddenly sporting a wide smile of sharp teeth, the center creature lifted two huge webbed paws similar to the flippers of a seal but coated in a dense pink fur. It took Joy's petite hands in it's grasp, shaking her hand as best it could with such stubby wrists and arms.
"It really really is you, Joy!" It giggled excitedly. "We've always wanted to meet you in person! You were the part of Riley who would play with us for hours, at every pool and aquarium!"
Joy's brow instantly dropped down in deep thought, engulfed by her own memories of the past. Realization suddenly struck her, and she nearly lept out of the water with excitement.
"I remember you!" She smiled brightly. "You're the Pink Dolph-otters! Riley made you guys up after her first trip to the aquarium when she was barely 2! What have you guys been up to? I haven't seen you in years!"
"Oh, we've been around." The creature on the left nodded. "Riley doesn't really play with us anymore, but she tends to remember us on occasion."
"Especially when she draws." The right one added. "And knowing she remembers us is all we really need."
"Other than that, we just hang out here in Imagination Land." The first Dolphin Otter combination released Joy's hand from its flippers. "You'd be surprised how many imaginary friends still roam around down here. We don't really have any work anymore, so we spend our time just enjoying what Riley's creative imagination is up to now. When we heard they were installing a beach, we knew it would be the perfect place for us, as well as a few other aquatic friends here and there."
"What brings an emotion like you to these parts of the mind?" One questioned with a curious tilt of its head.
"Oh! I'm here with Fear. He and I sort of... Wanted to enjoy a day off." Joy blushed. "We've just been exploring all the additions they've added around here."
The imaginary animal on the right lifted its face up higher with a gleam in its eye. "Another emotion is here?" It squeaked. "Where is he? I want to see!"
"Yeah! He's right over..."
As Joy turned to face the shore and shallow waters, she finally noticed Fear's frenzied display. Passing the point where he could no longer stand, he splashed and struggled wildly, still fighting his way forward in a panic. His eyes were shut tight as his flailing limbs continued to spray salty sea water in every direction, and he coughed and sputtered from the water that had entered his throat. Still, he pressed on, determined to save Joy from the threatening monsters of the depths.
Joy could tell Fear was terrified, and his horrified, frenzied swimming was putting him in unnecessary danger. "Fear!" She shouted, trying to free him from his panic. "Fear! It's okay! They're friends!"
Joy's voice cut through all the sounds of splashing and sputtering the lanky emotion had generated, and his eyes instantly snapped open. His thrashing slowed, and he raised his head to see that the mysterious fins he had interpreted as a threat belonged not to any shark or sea monster, but to soft, harmless animals invented in Riley's past. Joy was never in any danger after all.
As he came to a stop, desperately gasping for air, he could feel his mind begin to numb. What he thought was a noble attempt to save his distressed colleague that would earn him a thousand pebbles was merely his own cowardly mind overreacting again, thoroughly embarrassing him in front of Joy. As the realization set in, he could feel the embarrassment manifest itself as a heated blush on his entire face. All at once, he was hit with the fatigue, the exhaustion, the relief, and the shame of his panicked actions. His mind numbed further. Slowly, his chalky irises rolled back, and he slipped into unconsciousness, quickly sinking deep below the surface.
"Fear!" Joy shouted, paddling over as fast as she could.
Knowing that Joy simply wasn't fast enough to make it to the fallen figure in time, the three Dolph-Otters sprang out of the water, leaping over Joy's head and diving into the brine in search of the unconscious creature. As Joy frantically continued towards the shore, she saw the three of them lift his limp body above the waves with their snouts, and they carefully began to push him towards the shallow waters. Joy followed just behind, her chest tight with worry for her cowardly comrade, watching the swells of the ocean coat his sides in a crust of sea salt. To her horror, he didn't appear to move at all.
As the group made it to the shallows, the three aquatic mammals pushed the limp emotion onto the sandy shore, the waves still washing over his fingers and ankles. Joy charged up the sand ahead, lifting Fear beneath his arms and moving him a few steps further inland. Riley had never taken a swim lesson high enough to learn CPR, so Joy was at a loss for what to do. She could, however, remember the recovery position she had briefly been taught in health class. So Joy rolled Fear onto his side with his arms draped in front of him.
Though he was still warm to the touch, it was clear that he had stopped breathing, his body automatically shutting down that system when the lungs received nothing but water. Joy wracked her brain for a solution to the problem, but simply didn't know what to do. Panicked, se leaned down to him, carefully yet forcefully slapping at Fear's back just between his shoulder blades.
"Fear!" She yelped. "Come on, Fear! Get up!"
Thankfully, all the fallen creature had required was a restart to his breathing. And the swift knocks behind his lungs were just the thing to bring the system back to life. He weakly coughed, each breath bringing with it an ounce of sea water, until finally his lungs were clear and he began a shaky but steady breathing pattern, weakly moaning as his consciousness prepared to return.
Joy breathed a huge sigh of relief, relaxing her tensed muscles and moving her hand to gently stroke Fear's upper arm.
"Oh my goodness, Fear..." She gasped, adrenaline still flowing through her veins. "Don't scare me like that... I don't know what I'd do without you."
Had Fear been fully conscious, he most likely would've blushed at the statement.