'Four' the Future

Four was woken up by X's excited screaming, "GET UP FOUR GET UP FOUR!! WE'RE GONNA LEARN THE WAYS OF THE WATER!! That sounds like a movie, oh well! I CANNOT WAIT!!!" Four grumbled and shifted onto his side in the hammock. "Come on..." X urged, nudging Four's side. "I don't wanna...." Four mumbled. X rolled his eyes and starrted to yank on Four's arm. "Alright- Alright! I'm coming." Four yawned, getting out of the hammock, stumbling a bit.

They walked out of their little hut that was suspended above the water, and walked along the leather-strung path also above the water. They came apon a large circular room where a bunch of 4's sat in a ring formation, eating. Four spotted Jonas amongst them, and waved to him. Jonas excused himself from his meal and came up to Four. "Good morning, my freinds. How was your sleep?" He asked. "My back hurts..." Four murmured, "It was great! Did everyone build the huts themselves?" X asked, practically jumping up and down. "The 5's built the huts. Each number has a job here. It's different from where you come from." Jonas responded. "We do have some x's here. They gather food other than meat, like plants and kelp." X's smile only brightened, "Awesome!!!" He beamed. Jonas smiled, "I can tell you are very excited." X nodded. 

((SHUT UP I know I screwed up 4x's eyes from what I've done before SHH))

"Let's just get this over with." Four grumbled, mostly to himself. One of Jonas' kids came up to X andd told him to follow them. Four started to as well but Jonas stopped him. "Why can't I do what he's doing?" Four asked, trying to hide the anger in his voice. "You're going to come with me into open water. I will teach you how to swim." Jonas replied calmly. Four felt his face flush up in embarssasment. "Fine..." He muttered. 

Theo, Jonas' only daughter, began leading X to a place near the shore where not many Waterlings went. "So, what's up with you?" The asked randomly. "What?" X replied, "Sorry! I didn't mean that in a harsh way. I just meant.. like, you're friend can't swim but you can, so what do you need help with?" Theo clarified quickly, sitting down in the sand a few feet away from the water, X doing the same. "Oh. Umm... Well, I can't hold my breath long enough to do anything underwater. I've always wanted to go underwater and search for seashells to gift Four but I can never stay under long enough." X explained. Theo nodded, "A lot of our young ones have the same issue." She responded. "Wait- Is his name just Four?" "Yeah. Like mine is just X. We don't really have creative names." X chuckled. Theo smiled brightly, "No worries! Now. I will teach you how to hold your breath longer. How long can you hold it currently?" Theo asked, curling her tail around her legs. "Umm..." X trailed off thinking, "Not very long. Maybe like... 20 seconds?" X finished. "That's alright. We all start somewhere." Theo reassured. She scooted closer to X. "We will practice breathing exercises."

Four stood on shore staring at the small foam raft that Jonas had provided him. "Come on, I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." Jonas reassured for a third time. Four took a deep breath and stepped onto the raft. He got down on his hands and knees and laid down. "See? That wasn't so bad." Jonas said, beginning to push the raft away from shore. "Easy for you to say! I don't wanna be here..." Four whimpered. "Once you learn these skills you can go home easily!" Jonas affirmed, waving a hand around. "Why can't you just take me back, you know the skills!" "I don't know where you live. And I cannot go somewhere that water doesn't flow." Four looked skeptically at Jonas after he finished talking. "Water flows in the grasslands, dude. Well, maybe not right in the grasslands, but pretty close!" Four bickered. After a bit of badgering, Jonas stopped pushing the raft and went underwater. Four was left alone. "Uh... Jonas..?" He worried, looking around nervously. After a few minutes, Jonas came back up with a very pretty looking shell. "I thought you left!" Four hissed, unable to keep his fear and anger under control. "First, I need to know what level swimmer you are. So, you have to retrieve this shell." Jonas announced, holding up the shell. "Oh you've got to be kidding me." Four sighed angerily. "I can't swim at all!! I'll drown!" Four growled. Jonas didn't respond. Four sighed heavily and shifted towards the edge of the raft. He nodded to Jonas, letting him know that he was ready. Jonas then threw the shell into the air, and it landed in the water, immediately sinking down. Four inhaled deeply and held it, forcing himself off the raft. The water rushed up around him, and he looked around for the shell. Surprisingly, he could see easily underwater. He spotted the shell below him, still sinking. Four flailed his limbs around, trying to get himself to the shell as quickly as he could. Since he was already sinking, he managed to grab the shell. He held it tightly in one hand and tried to use the other to swim up. It wasn't working at all. He felt his chest tighten as he started losing his oxygen. He held it in and tried to get back up, but he was failing. As he felt the last bit of oxygen leave, Jonas grabbed him and brought him back to the surface. Jonas helped him onto the raft and let Four breathe. "Shit...." Four wheezed, sorta melting into the raft in dissapointment. "Well I'll be honest. I've seen worse." Jonas commented. Four ignored him. "You seem to be able to hold your breath pretty long, but you start panicking." "Yeah, duh." Four scoffed. "When you panic underwater, you'll have trouble holding your breath for longer periods of time." Jonas stated. Four looked up at him. "Really?" Jonas nodded. Four tried to find the right words, "W-well I can't help it! I don't like water! It's kinda like I malfunction underwater." Four sighed, putting his hands over his face. Jonas swam closer, "That's ok. That's why I'm helping you." He said. "But why? Why are you helping me?" Four exclaimed. "Because," Jonas started, "You may try to be scary, and threatening to others, but that doesn't hide the fact that you just want to protect your 'friend' from harm." Four went quiet. "How...." "I can see through emotions, trust me. I've got three kids and two of 'em are just like you." Jonas chuckled. Four sat up, "Alright. How do I prevent myself from panicking?"