Ocean Blue

Chapter 6

(Have yet another Pidge because I drew way too many, holy cow)

"-eith!"

Keith felt something wet splashing his face, and his nose twitched. "Hrgh?"

"Keith, wake up! We have a problem!"

At "problem," Keith's eyes shot open. The gentle rocking and swaying of the boat had turned into rough ups-and-downs, and rain was beginning to spatter his face.

"Did you steer us into the storm?!"

"No," Allura said quietly, "I steered us to the island. The storm was already there."

Keith grabbed lengths of rope, tying Allura and Hunk to the mast. "Pidge, get into the storage space. You're too small to stay on deck."

He tied himself to the tiller, taking sails down; no use in them getting torn. He could do this. A blast of wind slammed into him, so hard that it knocked him into the tiller, pushing the breath right out of him. He pulled the tiller to the side as the boat threatened to capsize. Water pushed into his mouth as a wave crashed over the boat.

"We're gonna die!" Hunk moaned.

Keith didn't have the time to answer him. He was too busy keeping them from capsizing. Another wave pushed him back, nearly knocking him overboard. He stayed on the boat only because of the rope lashing his wrists to the tiller.

Keith spit out a bit of water, brushing his wet bangs off of his face. His wet hair and clothes were plastered to his skin, and he struggled to see through the rain that was now falling in sheets. He could barely make out the dark shape of the island ahead.

He heard a thumping noise and cursed. The storm had probably torn ships that had been caught in it to pieces, and it sounded like that wreckage was slamming into his boat.

Another giant wave washed over the boat, and a bit of sharp wreckage severed his tie with the ship. One more wave crashed over the boat before he could re-lash himself and swept him overboard.

A piece of wreckage slammed into his head, and he lost sense of where he was. The water woke him up again, and he struggled through the waves. Allura had untied herself, and was being clutched firmly by Hunk, who was still tied down. She threw the net out, and Keith grabbed onto it, letting her drag him back aboard. He panted, wishing that he could lie on the deck.

But he couldn't. He struggled up, dragging himself back to the tiller. "Allura, tie yourself back down!"

He re-tied himself back to the tiller. The waves continued to overtake them, but the storm started to abate, and the little boat limped into harbor. Keith untied himself, exhausted, and managed to pull his cramped hands off of the tiller.

"We- we need to get the boat beached. We don't want it to float away."

He stumbled when he jumped out onto the shore and fell to his knees. Pidge jumped out after him and crouched next to him.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded. "Just- tired." He pushed himself back up, the back of his head where he'd been hit throbbing painfully. And why was the ground moving like the ocean? Oh- it was coming towards him now.

Allura approached Pidge as she lunged to catch Keith. Hunk was busy hauling the boat in, pulling on the lines with his massive strength. "Is he alright?"

"Just exhausted, I think. And he's got a pretty good lump on the back of his head."

Allura sighed. "I wish I could've let him sleep longer."

Pidge hauled him away from the beach, struggling towards a copse of trees where she was sure there would be more shelter. Allura followed and pointed her out to a giant tree that had been hollowed out by lightning. "There. We can keep out of the rain, at least."