Tinn
Legacy Name: Tinn

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"Excuse me, Mister!" a little boy squeaked.

"Can I help you young sir?" replied a smartly dressed Tutani sporting a rather out of place Safari style hat. "Are you here to pick out a fish of your very own?"

Startled, the boy's eyes widened as he slowly backed up speechless. "N..n..NO!" he yelled, running to hide behind his older sister.

"Sorry Mr. Tinn," she began, looking down at the boy with disdain. "He doesn't like fish very much."

"Doesn't like fish?" chortled the Tutani as he continued feeding the animals. "Why would anyone dislike such glorious creatures?"

"Because they're super scary!" said the boy, tearing off in the other direction. Tinn's face began to form a small frown.

"...Sorry again," started the girl as she turned to see where her little brother had gone. "But where do you keep the small animals? He's finally turned 6 and he wants to get a non-scary pet."

"A non-scary pet?! Fish aren't scary at all!" scoffed Tinn.

"Yeah, right, I know. Actually, I'll just find them myself. Thanks anyway Mr. Tinn!" quickly said the the girl, as she too tore away, leaving Tinn to his own devices. Heartbroken, the Tutani slumped into a chair. He wasn't always a fish lover! Why couldn't they understand that the fish just wanted to be friends?

It all began when Tinn was a young calf, and his family decided to move away from BaleenBay, which was prime real estate exclusive to Tutanis. Tinn's codfather had become very ill, and his family had stepped up to take care of him. So the family packed up and relocated to the suburbs of TunaTown, in order to be closer to his home. At first, Tinn loved his new home next to a beautiful coral reef. But his troubles soon started when he began to explore his new community. Growing up in BaleenBay, Tinn had only been exposed to other Tutanis who were generally slow, slumbering, respectful creatures. Now there were fish EVERYWHERE. Big fish, little fish, red fish and even blue fish. No matter where Tinn swam, it was likely that there would be a swarm of fish in his personal bubble. Unlike the Tutanis in BaleenBay, these fish were small, quick, always in a rush, and most importantly, everywhere! Poor Tinn would never see the fish screaming "excuse me"; he would only see a splash of color dashing away.



Unbelievably frightened by these small creatures, Tinn retreated into his new home, cringing wih fear anytime someone mentioned a fish. He missed classes for he could not leave his home; he was even unable to look out his window for there would inevidably be fish using the street outside. Desperate for a solution to overcome his fear he sought the advice of a wise flounder named Flynn. Seeing that Tinn badly needed help, Flynn decided to use his years of wisdom to try to help Tinn overcome his fears.

Flynn tried everything! He asked Tinn to tell him what he saw in squid ink blots; he examined Tinn to see if he had memories of a past life as a crustacean (for that may be the reason he was so crabby); he even tried blaming it all on sex like Squidmund Freud! But it was of no use at all, Tinn could not be helped. Until one day, Flynn thought of a brilliant idea! Rather then finding out the root of Tinn's fears, he wondered what would happen if Tinn could be shown that the fish were actually friendly! Flynn the Flounder gave Tinn his first pet; a beautiful orange fish named Coral. At first, Tinn was extremely fearful of the creature, until he realized how calm and sweet Coral actually was. Soon, Flynn gave Tinn an aquarium, and Tinn would add a fish a week so that he could overcome his fear. After a few months, Tinn decided to let his new friends free, and venture back out into the world. He decided to open his very own pet store, to teach everyone what he learned from Flynn about taking care of animals.

The sound of a throat being cleared stirred Tinn out of his thoughts; it was the little boy and his sister.

"I'm sorry for running away earlier." the boy blurted out, after some prompting from his sister. Before Tinn could reply, he started again. "My Mommy won't let me get a hamster, but I'm too scared to get a fish," he sighed sadly.

"Well," Tinn started, "what if I could tell you a story about a how a little boy, just like you, got over his fear of fish?"

The boy looked up.

"It all began when he was a young calf..."