Tidepool (A Klance Surfer AU)

Song from the Sea (Chapter 3)

I'm back! I saw that I hadn't updated this in a couple of days, so here you go! Don't forget, I'd love to hear any comments/ideas as the story develops! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy! (Oh yeah, I also combined two chapters because they were kind of short...)

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Blinding sunlight woke Lance. He jolted, rolling onto his stomach and coughing up saltwater onto the sand beside him.

His memories were fuzzy, but nonetheless flooded back. That's when he heard it. It started as a hum, a deep melodic sound, that immediately entranced him as the ocean did.

"Child of the sea, come home to me," it sang, as if it came from the water itself. "Boy of adventure, may you feet have wings, so you come home to the sea."

Then it was drowned out by a wave and went silent. Lance stood there for a few minutes, pondering the words, before the water at his feet snapped him out of his trance.

He gazed around the secluded shore, not too far from the mainland. Sea arches separated the cove from the rest of the tourist infested coastland.

Lance spotted his board lodged in the sand further down the beach, and tangled on it was a shell on a string. The shell was decorated like a compass, the arrow constantly pointing towards the middle of the water. On the back, engraved in elegant letters was: "Child of the Water".

Lance slipped over his neck, before grabbing his board and hastily paddling back towards the main beach. He paused and gave one last look at the sun setting over the water before racing home.

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Keith watched the tan teen dazedly paddle for shore after hearing Keith's song. He knew the boy was different, and now he had proof.

No human would ever hear his song and live to tell the tale. Not to mention the strange sensations in the waters earlier. They always acted weird when that surfer was nearby.

Today, the ocean was angry when he screamed. Keith didn't tell anyone else about him though. He was worried he'd put the boy in danger, and knew he needed to stay away. Yet, he always found himself drawn to him, though Keith would never admit it.

A real live Oceania, one whose emotions influenced the waters that were his home. They haven't been heard of in centuries, and one amongst humans was thought to be impossible.

"Keith!"

Keith whirled around in an instant, dagger in hand. He relaxed once he spotted his friend, Shiro, and sheathed his weapon. Shiro's black tail and scales that dotted his left arm contrasted with Keith's red scales. Shiro's right arm was a robotic prosthetic, received from when he was a Galra prisoner.

The Galra tribe ravaged most underwater kingdoms, spreading and conquering like a plague. They've yet to rule the Voltron tribe, but that doesn't mean they never would.

"What are you doing out here?" Shiro demanded. "You know that with the Galra spotted nearby, Princess Allura insists that no one leaves the village."

"I know," Keith sighed.

"Humans are just as dangerous too," Shiro continued.

"I know," Keith repeated, having heard this monologue plenty of times. "They just... interest me."

"Plenty of our fellow mer have gone missing after getting too close to Altea and it's human inhabitants. They belong on land, and us in the water," Shiro countered, grabbing Keith's arm. "Now come on, we need to prepare defenses in case the Galra attack again."

What if that human, the Oceania, could help our desperate cause? Keith wondered as the swam deeper into the sea, away from the boy.