Sea, Stars and Silence

- 3. mer but with toes -

Previously:

Giving him a thumbs up, Lance took a deep breath. If Keith timed it wrongly, he would be shark food. Lance looked towards Keith, who gave him an encouraging nod, which did little to alleviate the fear and his clammy sweaty hands.

Lance jumped into the shark's line of view and waved his arms about. "NA NA NA NA POO POO! YOU CAN'T CATCH ME, SLOWPOKE! "

~🐚~

Yelling frantically, Lance began to swim away as fast as he could. Come on, Keith! Don't let me die! Lance screamed as a deep rumbling sound reverberated through the water. He took another breath and prepared to use a siren song. A thump distracted Lance and when he looked at the boulder, he could see a cloud of sand and a silhouette as Keith swam down, hugging Lance again. I thought I had lost you. Thank goodness you're safe. Keith thought, wanting to remain in Lance's tight embrace forever. Keith unwillingly peeled himself off the slightly taller boy, floating next to him. Lance smiled. "We make a good team."

Keith grinned back, feeling exhilarated as adrenaline pumped through his veins. He put his hand up for a high five, and Lance in his excitement smacked Keith in his face. Keith clutched his face with his hands, looking at Lance with a look of utter betrayal, though his eyes glistened with mischief.

Lance stared at the merboy, taking in every inch of his beauty. Until Keith whacked him in the nose. "OWW! KEITH!" He squealed, covering his nose with his slender hands, Keith shaking with laughter and swimming away. Lance frantically swam after Keith, whooping and hollering death threats.

A dark shadow loomed over the two. Lance and Keith tensed up, not willing to go through another encounter with a shark. "Keith! It's a boat!" Lance cheered, watching the boat with fascination. Two voices could be heard arguing above the water and two wooden paddles punctuated the water, moving the small wooden dinghy along. What is that doing in the middle of the ocean? Lance swam closer, and Keith followed suit, unsure and hesitant.

"Hunk! Did you eat all the sandwiches?"

"Pidge! No! I did NOT eat the sandwiches!"

"Hunk! Catch the compass, its rolling off!"

"It fell in."

"Oh great."

A shiny round object fell into the water, glinting as it reflected off the sunlight. Keith grabbed it and shook it a little. Lance watched as the needle spun around and around, before coming to point in one direction. Lance's eyes shone as he prepared to keep it, but then he heard a big splash and screaming.

The humans had fallen into the water. There was a smaller one and a bigger one. Keith glanced to his side and noticed that Lance had disappeared. Lance was trying to lift the bigger one onto the boat. Giving him a push, Keith and Lance managed to push the guy onto the wooden boat. Keith flicked his tail and shot towards the smaller one, who kicked and screamed in panic. One of the kicks connected to his face and Keith winced, before pushing her up onto the boat as well. Those things should be illegal! Keith grumpily thought, glaring daggers at Pidge's feet.

The two humans huddled on the boat, screaming and shouting. The oars had snapped and the pieces floated away. Shivering and unhappy, Pidge sighed. "Great. We've lost our sandwiches, our compass, and our oars. Just great." Hunk sneezed in response, shivering from the cold. "Why are we out here again?" He groaned. Pidge sighed, squeezing water out of her jacket. "We were looking for Matt.

"What's a Matt?" Lance asked, popping up beside the boat and looking at the humans. Ear-splitting screams punctured the air and hands whacked him frantically.

"WHAT IS THIS? OH MY QUIZNAK GET OFF THE BOAT! DON'T SINK US!" Hunk screamed, edging away from Lance and capsizing the boat again.

The humans fell in in a swirl of bubbles, kicking and flailing as they sank towards the bottom. With some effort and a whole lot of grunting, they pushed everyone back onto the boat. "Ooh beans! Can I touch them?" Lance squealed, excitedly poking at Hunk's feet. Keith was already observing the feet with much suspicion. How could he trust something that caused him so much pain?

"IS THAT A MERMAID?" Hunk screeched, waving his arms in front of his face. He shook Pidge, eyes wide as he gaped at Lance and Keith poking around their feet.

"To be fair, we are merpeople. We aren't female, though. And of course we are! What else could we be?" Lance says, huffing and crossing his arms indignantly.

The humans screamed even more. "They can TALK!" Pidge screamed, hiding behind Hunk in fright. Hunk pointed one shaky finger at Keith and Lance. "WHAT DO MERMAIDS EAT? DO THEY EAT HUMANS? PLEASE DON'T EAT US!"

"We don't eat humans. We like seaweed much better. Sheesh, are all of you always so paranoid?" Lance sighed. "Oh. Sorry about that. Uhh... We kinda lost our oars and a compass. Could you get it for us?" The bigger one, Hunk, asked, scratching the back of his head. Keith dove down, eyes darting around as he looked for the pair of missing oars. He surfaced and shook his head.

"Um... Your oars are gone. The compass is with Keith over there. You know, the quiet emo red-tailed one? That's Keith. I'm Lance, the devilishly handsome and charming one."

"Bummer. Looks like we're gonna have to wait for a rescue boat to come by." Pidge sighed, putting her head in her hands. "Or what if we pulled your boat to shore? You're literally in the middle of the ocean without proper equipment in a small creaky boat." Lance shrugs, ocean blue eyes studying the flimsy device.

"Yeah. Whatever floats your boat, Lance. Is Keith coming too?" Hunk asked, staring at the two merboys curiously.

Keith nodded, a small smile on his face, grabbing hold of the boat. Lance held the other side of the creaky boat, ready to go . "Onwards, my noble steeds!" Pidge cried, a teasing glint in her eye. When Keith gave her the stink eye, she sighed. "Don't you have any sense of humor? I was kidding. Let's go." Lance and Keith propelled themselves through the water, leaving Hunk and Pidge clinging onto the boat for dear life.

~🐚~