Cold of the Sea

Chapter Two: Confusion

Keith coughed as he woke up, hacking out the water he had swallowed. His eyes opened sluggishly, before observing what was around him. He was on a beach, sand all over him and he was soaked with seawater. A forest stretched out in front of him, just past the grainy sand.

It looked to be early morning, and Keith wasn't too positive what was going on. Water lopped up on his lower half, drenching his legs again and again. He pushed himself up with shaking arms into a sitting position. He noticed his shoes and clothes, folded and sat further up the beach, far enough away to not get wet.

Keith was beyond confused. This was not where he'd run into the ocean, it was not where he'd dropped his clothes, and he, for sure, had not folded his clothes. He actually didn't really know where he was, he guessed somewhere near town, but then again he had been out in the ocean all night and could have drifted really far out; at least he guessed so.

He scooted his way out of reach of the water, near his stuff. That was when he noticed his hair band around his wrist. He was positive that had fallen out of his hair and had been lost to the sea, but yet it was here. On his wrist.

What the hell...

Keith was beyond confused, how did this happen? Shaking his head, he ran a hand through his hair; sand fell out like a waterfall. The teen's mind was in disarray, he had no idea what to think about this occurrence. He decided to sit for a while to air dry, then get his clothes on, and find his way home.

It took some time 'till he felt dry enough to put his clothes on comfortably, but he was soon making his was, albeit disgruntled, to the looming trees.

Unfortunately, Keith had no sense of direction and it took him nearly three hours to even begin to find a familiar place. Of course, there were a few choices he could have made to get home sooner, but Keith, being Keith, had just simply ran in blind. Curse his impulsiveness.

Once he found a stretch of woods he knew, it didn't take him long at all to get back into town. He was happy he had fully dried by the time he sauntered down the streets of his town. His hair was stiff and nasty from prolonged exposure to seawater and he was positive he was a bit sunburned on his back and face.

Well, he at least had some semblance of normalcy, he was clothed and mostly dry. Hey, if it wasn't for his clothes being on the beach, he would have walked out of those woods in nothing but his underwear. He was lucky his clothes had been put ashore with him.

He passed a few people on his way, promptly ignoring all their greetings. He wasn't in the mood to speak to people, his mind was far too occupied wondering how everything had happened this morning.

It took him some time to get to his home, but when he was there he felt beyond relieved. That, of course, was until he tried to open the front door. It was locked. His hand flew to his back pocket, only remembering after he had his hand on his ass, that he hadn't grabbed his keys or his phone the night before.

He groaned angrily, regretting all his decisions from last night. He trudged to his garage, hoping the connecting door from inside the garage was still unlocked. He typed in the passcode to the garage door and made sure to lock it behind him. He slipped past Shiro's car and to the door. His hand hesitantly grabbed the handle and he twisted. It was unlocked.

Thank the lords. He thought, rejoicing in the unlocked way in.

"Keith?" Shiro's voice called at the sound of him entering, the older sounding excessively worried.

"Yeah, I'm home Shiro." Keith answered.

"Where were you? I tried calling you last night and when you didn't answer I guessed you were asleep, but when I came home this morning, you weren't here. I've been worrying ever since." Shiro explained as he speed walked to find Keith kicking off his shoes.

"Sorry, I fell asleep and woke up really early. I was bored and didn't know what to do so I went for a quick swim." Keith gave an excuse, as lying had become dangerously easy for him.

"Don't scare me like that again." Shiro frowned, giving his little brother a hug.

"I won't, I won't." Keith essentially pouted as he froze up and pushed away from Shiro.

Shiro sighed and looked at Keith in the eyes, Keith, in turn, avoided eye contact.

"Shiro, is that Keith?" A feminine voice inquired from the living room.

"Yeah, he's here and fine."

"We were so worried, Keith, are you alright?" Allura made her way to Keith, examining his face in one quick glance.

"I'm okay, I was just out for a swim. I didn't think it would be such a big problem." Keith frowned, looking tense.

"It's not a problem, we were just worried." Shiro interjected.

"Well, I know how to take care of myself. You don't have to worry." Keith basically snarled, stomping his way up the stairs and to his room.

---

Most of the day passed and Keith was still befuddled by the circumstances of his morning. How had his clothing been folded and left with him, placed safely out of risk of being touched by water? Unless someone had pulled him out of the water and correctly assumed that the clothes were his.

But then again, that explanation was rather invalid. Who would save him, but not stay with him until he woke up? And why had he washed up so far away from the main beach where his clothes had been? The entire thing was preposterous, and it hurt Keith's head to think about.

It was late by now, and he was somewhat surprised by the fact that Shiro had not called him down to dinner yet. He thought back to the time before he had fallen asleep in the water, hoping for any string he could grasp at. The weird feeling of being watched, he used to feel that often, before he stopped swimming in the ocean too much, was thrown aside, it was normal for him.

He did remember the faint feeling of clawed fingers brushing up against his side as his mind completely slipped from reality. Then again, that could have just been his imagination. Thinking about this frustrated him. He was positive it wasn't good for his mental health. So, he resolved to visit the beach again tonight. If something was out there, he hoped it'd show itself.