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It was dark, and the violent churn of waves alongside the downpour of a rainstorm was the perfect time to hunt, both siren and fisherman.Lance was alone that night. He was scouting for better hunting areas, due to the decrease in fish over the months.He was hungry a lot, and he had started preying on larger animals like sharks and seals, and even dared to hunt in the daytime.But that brought along dangers. He preferred hunting at night.Night was always the most fun and comfortable time for him.He could swim closer to the surface without being spotted, even with his fairly bioluminescent scales.But, even in his most safe and trusted time range, he still wasn't prepared for what was about to happen. Keith had decided to join his friends in a fishing trip, even though he was ishy on the idea. After all, he worked with Altea Aquarium and Rescue, but he decided he could come for study purposes. It was a chance, too, to hang out with his friends. Pidge, and Hunk. Allura, Romelle, and Coran. And of course his brother Shiro.It was hard to function with how hard the rain was beating down on them, but they managed.Shiro and Hunk were yelling orders, the net filled with fish beginning to be being pulled up from the water."Get ready!" Shiro yelled, getting close to the side of the boat to help guide the net over the side, onto the deck.The net was lifted out of the water, but what was strange was the loud hissing that was coming from the net."What's in there?!" Pidge yelled, coming over."I don't know! Let's open the net up and find out!"Little did they know that would be a grave mistake.The net opened, a pile of fish spilling out onto the boat's deck. Inside the pile, there was something moving that was much, much larger."What the hell?" Hunk said, bracing himself.Whatever it was, it was dangerous."A shark?" Allura asked. The hissing ceased to stop."Try to push some of the fish away with the pole spear," Pidge suggested to Shiro, tossing the spear to him.Shiro inched closer to the heap of fish. Slowly, he inched the pole into the pile and attempted moving some of the fish away.There was an earsplitting shriek, and whatever was in the pile leapt out.It all happened so quickly.Shiro screamed out in pain, flying backward by the force of a blow delivered by the unknown creature."SHIRO!" Keith yelled.Everyone was now in a panic trying to figure out where the creature went."Where is it!" "I don't know!"There was a sudden movement, and the creature, quick as a flash, was seen crawling down into the tube of the fish hold.Keith quickly shut the lid to the hold after it, where he heard one last furious hiss."SHIRO!"Shiro was laying down on the deck, and Keith could barely believe what he saw.Shiro's arm was missing.Missing.Gone. And oh. There was so much blood. Keith had fallen to his knees by his brother's side, where he tried to hold a cloth to the wound to put pressure on it."Go call for help!" Keith screamed, and Pidge ran off. "Hunk, make sure that thing can't get out!"Keith pulled Shiro off to the side, where he examined the older male's wounds further. Alongside the missing arm, there was a large scratch across the bridge of Shiro's nose. "Shiro, you gotta stay with me," Keith said. "Stay with me." Shiro was already beginning to look faint, most likely due to the blood lost in such a short period of time."Stay with me," Keith repeated again, waiting for someone to assist him in carrying Shiro inside the living quarters.Sure enough, Allura came running out, and together they lifted Shiro up and carried him inside.Inside, they placed him on a table, where they did the best to apply pressure to the wounds and stop the bleeding."Did you manage to see what the creature was?" Coran asked, but the responses were only shakes of heads."I only saw a flash of a tail. Whatever that thing was, it was incredibly strong."Coran nodded, brows furrowed in thought.Keith was about to ask what the man was thinking, but Pidge came back in, avoiding looking at Shiro's arm. "We called for help. Someone is coming.""Good. All we can do is wait. Is that thing still on the boat?""Yes," Keith interjected. "I trapped it in the fish hold.""Good," Coran said. "We don't want it escaping."Keith agreed silently, before sitting down next to Shiro's side.Hunk came in after a few minutes, explaining that the creature had no way to escape it's temporary prison.It was nerve racking to wait, especially as your brother's life visibly slips away in front of your eyes.Keith was fiddling with his knife impatiently when a sound came from the outer deck.The others had lifted their heads toward the unidentified noise as well, and Pidge murmured,"What the hell?"Getting up, the others followed Keith slowly out to inspect the source of the sound.Out on deck, the sound levels increased, and Keith realized, somewhere in the back of his mind, that it sounded like singing.It was.... mesmerizing.It obviously was coming from where the creature was trapped, but no warning thoughts seemed to cross Keith's mind as he carefully proceeded forward, hands moving to unlock the lid to the hold.Keith almost flipped the lock up, but flinched away when a spotlight came over their boat and around seven men boarded the vessel from a military helicopter. Help had arrived.But....But there was something off about the men who came aboard.They were carrying military riffles, which didn't seem at all necessary."What did you catch tonight, huh?"Keith's eyes widened. He blinked. "W-What?""Where is it?""It's our catch," Pidge said with narrowed eyes, "And it should not concern you. My friend is dying. That is what is important!"The man pointed a gun at Pidge, but she didn't flinch. In fact, she looked even more ticked off than before. "Want to retry that? Let me ask you again. Where is it."Pidge and Keith exchanged glances, and after a moment of silent conversation, Keith nodded his head toward the fish hold, containing whatever hurt Shiro."In there."The man signaled to two other men, who walked over to the tank."Careful," The man who seemed to be in charge said.They opened the lid before raising the gun.With a popping sound of a dart being fired, there was one last shrill whimper before silence.The sound itself made a shiver pass through Keith's spine."Go collect it. We are taking it, alongside their friend."Keith's heart dropped, wearing a confused and shocked expression. "What? No!"The man smirked, resting a hand on Keith's shoulder."Listen, kid. This day never happened alright?"They put the creature in a container and lifted it out of the tank. Keith and everyone else that was outside was forced to face the wall, hands raised.Hunk had to hold Keith down to prevent him from attacking the men."NO, NO NO NO NO..." Keith screamed, voice cracking. "LET ME GO. LET. ME. GO."But Hunk didn't. He just cried, repeating he was sorry over and over.They helicopter ascended into the air, and Keith fell to his knees. "No..."
Shiro was gone.
Two men walked down a dimly lit hallway."There have been countless reports in the past months of strange, ocean activity. For example, around three weeks ago, a fisherman reported thinking they saw some strange creature while out in the early morning. There was also some carcasses of sharks and squid along the shores of California, with unfamiliar bite marks all over them." The man paused, pushing open another door."Then, five days ago one of our research vessels picked up some strange frequencies coming from just outside the bay."The admiral, Zarkon grunted. "And you are positive this is what you think it is that has been causing this?"The two stopped at the door where the creature was being contained."Why don't you take a look for yourself?" Lance woke up groggily, but he wasn't in the depths of the ocean. Instead, he was in a small, cramped tank with disgustingly stale water. He immediately went to try to turn upward, but found he couldn't, hitting his head on the tank's lid. The hiss the siren let out startled the men guarding the tank.Lance didn't understand human speech yet, but it seemed they were pleased to see he was awake."Ah!" A man said, who was standing off to the side of the room. "He is awake."Lance let out a deep snarl, baring his sharp teeth and attempting to break the glass with his tail."Feisty, I see," They said with a grin. It made the merman want to claw the man's face off."He is quite extraordinary," The taller man said, then looked over to two people in white clothing. "Bring the sedative."The other man hesitated. "I feel that it isn't the best idea to proceed so quickly...""I don't care. I want to start as soon as possible.""V...Very well."Three workers made their way to the side of the tank after the lead man's command, and they proceeded to insert a liquid into a tube that mixed into the tank's water.Lance spat out a menacing hiss, watching as the strange substance dissolved and made the water contaminated. Another thump to the glass with his tail, but Lance realized that his eyesight was blurring in and out, actions less coordinated.Whatever they put into the water, it wasn't good.It reminded him of staying in and breathing in octopus ink for too long."Give him another half a dosage. We want to make sure that he doesn't pull any moves when we go to open the lid."Another dose of the sedative was almost enough to knock Lance out, his mind struggling to grip onto consciousness."He's a fighter, I'll give him that."Lance couldn't tell what was happening until suddenly the lid was lifting and they were throwing thin ropes to tie him down. Lance did the best he could to ward them off, but his struggles were deemed useless. There were too many people for Lance to fight off.The humans held Lance down, securing him. He couldn't see straight, nor could he turn backwards, but knew they were going to do something bad.He was right.A needle was stuck into the back of his neck, and Lance keened in pain, a high pitched sound that would set most creatures on edge.It wasn't common for a siren to get hurt or wail like Lance was doing now, and when such events happen, many animals become angry or distressed. But the humans seemed to be unphased, continuing with their work.Lance swore he would kill them.They finally pulled the needle out, and as they were getting ready to take the ropes off and close the lid to the tank again, Lance whipped around and bit the first hand he could sink his teeth into.The scream that followed and the iron taste of blood in Lance's mouth was enough to please Lance greatly.He didn't let go.The soft human skin tore under the siren's teeth, and Lance snapped his head to the right, then to the left, digging deeper and deeper. Back and forth, back and fourth.It was like killing a fish.Lance's teeth tore through the arm, all the way down to the to the bone, all the while the man let out the most pain filled shriek.Lance wouldn't have let go if it wasn't for the tranquilizer someone finally managed to stick into Lance's neck.The merman finally released, snarling, but as he turned to attack the new enemy, his vision speckled, his head spinning.It was enough time for him to be shoved down and for the lid to be slammed shut. And then everything went black.
It was Wednesday.Keith walked into the Balmeran Bar, where his friends sat waiting, all wearing grim faces.It was no ordinary occasion.Pidge sat with her feet propped up on the table, drinking a light Stigl beer. Grapefruit."Hey," Keith said in greeting, but there was no joyful remarks.It looked incredibly strange looking at Shiro's normal spot, only to find it empty."Hi, Keith." Allura smiled her sweet smile, though her eyes were dark.Everyone knew what happened.They were all there to witness it."So are we gonna talk about it?" Pidge asked, voice on edge.Nobody knew how to start.Until Keith spoke."They took Shiro hostage."Keith curled and uncurled his hands in a fist."Why? Why didn't they help us? Hell, they made us put our hands up like some prisoners!"Allura looked down. "I think they were trying to hide any evidence of anything ever happening."Hunk frowned. "But why? Why was it so important? I mean, it was a whole ass SEAL team that came out to us. In a bigass military helicopter!""Not to mention," Pidge interjected, "I checked in with the coastal guard, and they literally have no record of the evac.""They made it seem like it never happened..." Hunk said."Lets not forget the catch. The thing that caused all this in the first place." Allura said, taking a sip of her Hugo cocktail.There was a brief moment of silence."I think," Pidge speculated, "That they took Shiro, like Allura said, to hide evidence. To hide evidence of the attack, or more importantly, to hide what that... that fucking creature is."Everyone nodded."They did demand to see the catch, then proceeded to take it. Not to mention, they seemed prepared for it. They had tranquilizer dart guns. They obviously knew what the thing was."The thought of the strange animal made Keith's mind jump back to the singing.The melody.Even now, it felt soothing to think about, and he could still feel the faint echo of it playing in his head."Keith?""Huh?" Keith nearly shook his head, tuning back to reality."Nothing," Allura said, though there was doubt in her voice."You just seemed like you had something to share."Keith shook his head, bringing his hand up to rub his temple."Its... I feel like I'm delusional.""What's wrong?" Romelle asked, concerned."Whatever it is, you can share it," Allura encouraged lightly."I...." Keith paused. Breathed in. "I thought I heard something? A song? I don't know..."Hunk's eyes widened. "I thought I was the only one who heard it!"Everyone voiced their agreement, and Keith ran a hand through his hair."So do you think..."Pidge finished his sentence."A siren?"It was silent for a good few moments as they tried to process the thought."I mean, it could be possible," Allura said slowly. "There are tales of such things. Where do you think those sorts of stories originated from?""But... How on Earth are we supposed to believe that it is even real?"Allura looked down."It could be anything, but I feel like it seems reasonable to say it was, in fact, a siren or a similar creature. My mother used to tell me stories about them. I never believed them... But now I'm not so sure what to believe anymore.""It's hard to even grasp the idea," Keith admitted."Sirens." Pidge chuckled, taking a large swig of her beer. "Who would have thought?"
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Lance was losing track of the days spent locked in the small enclosure. Back in the ocean, he could tell the difference between night and day through the brightness and currents of the water. Here, he had to study the human's schedules, but even then he had no clue what time of day it was. Lance started to instead track their routines, figuring out when they came in for a daily dose of some sort of torturous experiment, feeding time, and when it seemed okay to fully slip into sleep. The humans were strange creatures. Rude, for sure. Stupid, but yet, somehow smart enough to know how to completely knock him out if needed. It was unfair, really. In the water, Lance would be dominant among them. The limbs they obtained had no visible fins or webbing to assist them in the water, so he could only guess they weren't good at swimming. It could explain, too, why so little people survived wrecks out at sea.And the more he thought about it, the more it made him miss the ocean. He longed for the refreshing feel of a current, wished for the lazy afternoons spent drifting around with whales or the excitement of meeting up with his family after long periods of time.The water in the tank was stale. There was no current, not a single sound of a fish moving, with the exception of himself. The silence was deafening, and it reminded him that he was alone in the tank. That loneliness grew with each passing day, and sometimes he would let out a small, sorrowful croon, but never were there any sea creatures to reply to his heart-wrenching call. And, the realization began to dawn on him that he might die in this tank, far from the comfort of the sea. Keith had been spending extra time at Altea Aquarium ever since Shiro went missing. It helped him cope, and he felt it was necessary to keep his mind focused on something else instead of dwelling on horrible thoughts while Pidge, Coran, and Allura searched around on any possible traces of where Shiro might have disappeared to. It was hard not being around his brother. Shiro was someone who he looked up to, and without the older male around, things felt out of place. Keith had even noticed it with several of the common visitors when the aquarium and sanctuary open up for visitors. Shiro was a spark of life to the aquarium, and many people loved seeing and talking to him. With his absence, it was a lot more quiet. Those who enjoyed seeing Shiro interact with the dolphins were bummed to find he wasn't working at the moment.Keith remembered one of the days a few days after Shiro's disappearance, a small boy came up to Keith, asking if Shiro would be putting on a show that day. They hadn't done a show since the incident. Why? Black, one of the dolphins, was incredibly unresponsive to basically everyone, which caused a big disturbance to the other dolphins. "No," Keith had replied, throat tight. "He... won't be back for a while." "Why?" The boy had asked, eyes sad. "He... is somewhere else right now. He will come back though, I promise." He will come back, Keith had whispered to himself after, as if to reassure himself. No matter what it takes, I will find him.It was late, 11 PM, a Saturday, and Keith was sitting at the edge of the dolphin's pool, Red nudging at his feet, making curious and hopeful clicking noises. Allura had been up on a ladder putting some items away in a shelf, but had stopped to come over and sit down beside Keith. "Hi, Keith," she murmured, trying to catch his gaze. "Hey," he replied, not sharing eye contact. "How are you holding up?" She asked, deciding to watch Blue as the female dolphin swam around Yellow. Keith didn't reply in words, instead shrugging his shoulders at the question. She sighed. "I'm sorry about Shiro, Keith. We all miss him, and want to get him back just as badly as you do. It's different without him around, isn't it?" Keith huffed at that, but the white haired female wasn't finished. "You are acting different, too. You're more distant to the rest of us, and it's increased over the five days since Shiro's been gone." She paused, before continuing. "That's one reason I'm checking in on you now. You need to talk to someone, Keith. It is never good to bottle up your feelings, because if you keep doing it, at some point, you're going to explode. It doesn't have to be me if you don't want to talk to me about it, but we are all together with this. We were all there, and can all mostly understand how you feel." She tagged on, "I can definitely understand. Do remember how I lost my father and my mother." Keith let a breath out. "I'm sorry," Keith looked over at her. "I just... can't believe he's gone." "Neither can I," Allura admitted sadly. Her eyes followed Blue, who was swimming over to the dark colored dolphin who was underneath the platform of the staircase on the opposite side of the pool. "It's strange," she said in a slow and thoughtful tone. "Black is really having a hard time coping to Shiro's absence. It's like he knows Shiro is gone and isn't gonna be back for a while, if ever." Keith watched the dark dolphin. It was true. Black was incredibly bonded to Shiro, just like Red was to Keith. Since Shiro hadn't returned in nearly over a week, Black had grown depressed. He wouldn't eat, wouldn't socialize with the others. "Yeah," Keith agreed softly. Keith got up and went around to where Black was. He got down on his knees and gently whistled and patted the water, trying to get Black to come up.After a few unsuccessful minutes, Keith stuck his feet in the water again, watching Allura interact with Blue. He barely noticed the dolphin under him had moved out of hiding, coming up until he poked his head out of the water and rested if on Keith's lap. The dark hair boy was shocked at the sudden appearance, and felt pain in his chest when the older dolphin let out a low whine of a sound. It caught Allura's attention, and she let out a hum of approval. "He's finally come up...." Keith nodded, stroking the dolphin. Allura tilted her head, eyes sad. "Maybe Black knows that you're related. I mean, he hasn't come up for days, besides occasionally going up for air." She smiled. "They are incredibly smart creatures, Keith. Some people say that they know when people and other animals are upset. They obviously can feel emotion, don't you think? Remember when White passed away?" Keith nodded, remembering the oldest dolphin who had passed not too incredibly long ago. All the dolphins had fallen into a state of grief upon the loss, similar to how Black was acting now. It made Keith upset, thinking back to Shiro. And, with great surprise, he felt his eyes welling up with tears that threatened to spill. "Keith," Allura said sympathetically. "We will get Shiro back, no matter what. Ever since I met Shiro, I could tell he was strong. He will be okay." She then tacked on, "You will too." Keith nodded, feeling if he were to speak, his words might betray him. "Go home," Allura said, which caused Keith to look up. "Wh-What?" "Go home, Keith. Everyone else is gone except for us. You need to rest and take care of yourself. I can close up." Keith looked at the dolphins, then back to Allura. "But what about-" "Go. Home." Allura instructed. "I'm fine." Keith let out a long sigh. Looked around. "Okay." He finally caved. "Fine, i'll go. See you tomorrow." "Not before 10! Relax! Take a break!" Keith chuckled, grabbing his stuff. "Fine, fine." Allura practically shoved Keith out the door, and there he got in the car and left, making his way back home. Bright lights. Shiro woke to bright lights shining in his face. His senses were disoriented, thoughts fuzzy, but he took a chance to look around. Wherever he was, it looked like some sort of hospital room, with curtains around the hospital bed he was laying in. He tried calling out to someone, to ask where he was and where his friends were, but no sound left his lips. He remembered the boat, and that creature. He remembered the flash of luminescent scaling, and the faint glow of its eyes as it passed his face. He looked over to his arm. It was gone, wrapped with bandages. He could tell the scar on his nose was there because he could feel a strip of bandage across his nose.Someone came in to the room, and he tried saying something. They gave him a glance, checked his vitals. "Wh'rr am I..." He asked, voice slurring. No response. She took a needle and injected it into the tube connected to the IV. "Wh...aa?" Nothing. In less than ten seconds, he was already a victim of the sedative. He was fading. Fading. Fading. And then that fading turned to the darkness of slumber. Keith was beginning to get more and more nightmares. He was afraid to fall asleep at night, scared he would experience the night on the boat. He didn't want to see his brother in pain, only to be taken away. He didn't want to hear that song again. Those thoughts haunted him, which was the reason he stayed so late at the aquarium. Allura could tell he was struggling, but she didn't pressure him after their long talk. She knew that when and if he wanted to talk, he would. People cope in different ways. Pidge worked non-stop, trying to find any trace of Shiro. She asked around town, and asked Shiro's old friends. But there was nothing."I don't understand it," Hunk was saying, angrily munching on a french fry. "How do they just vanish like nothing happened? I mean there must be something we could pick up on!" Pidge, Hunk, Allura, and Keith were at breakfast at their favorite diner, Sal's. "I asked around, nobody has seen anything strange, like any vehicles screaming 'SEAL team.'" "It's been... eight days since Shiro went missing," Allura noted sadly. "It was a Monday. I don't think they would make another appearance after trying so hard to stay in the dark." Keith sipped his milkshake grudgingly. "I hate police. The navy." "What about your mom?" Hunk asked. "She's an exception. She's here to keep us safe, not to go take us away in sketchy helicopters." "Since your mom is the deputy," Said Allura, "Why can't we ask her for assistance?" Keith raised a brow. "And get her worried about Shiro? She's already stressing about enough; we don't need another person in on what really happened. It's too much explaining anyways, and truthfully, I don't think it's a good idea to get the cops involved." "I have to agree," Pidge interjected. "If this was a military thing, I don't think it's a good idea to bring our own small town cops into it. And we definitely don't want to draw attention to ourselves." Keith nodded, sighing. Pidge paused. "Wait." "What am I waiting for?" Hunk asked, seeing how Pidge's eyes lit up with an idea. "Hunk, you said something earlier about... 'picking up' on something." "Yeah," the bigger male said, reaching for another french fry. "And?" "I think I know a possible way to try to find out where Shiro is. It might take some work..." "Just spit it out," Keith groaned, growing impatient. "What if we tried to... I don't know... try to track the S.O.S's response from when we sent it out? We could find some coordinates of some sort of ship, helicopter, base... something. Then we might be able to use that as a way to navigate and find out where Shiro may be located." "Pidge you're brilliant!" Allura chimed. "It could take some time," Pidge warned, but there was a smile on her face. "But I think it could work."They left the restaurant soon after, Pidge and Hunk insisting on getting started right away. They went to the boat with the equipment needed, and the two geeks got to work. Keith walked back home and was greeted by his half husky half wolfdog, Cosmo. "Hey buddy!" Keith said with a smile as the dog jumped around him. "Yeah I know, I know! I'm home!" Keith kicked off his shoes and flopped onto his bed, where he pulled out his iPad. The dark haired boy went to Google, and began typing.
Real mermaid sightings
He began scrolling through countless videos, but nothing remotely similar came up. He went to the web.
Strange ocean creature activity reports
There were a couple articles that Keith thought could be valid, but knew there was no real chance that anything particular would show up. If anything, the government probably would try to conceal the truth from the outside world. Keith took his stylist out and went to his drawing programs. There, he sketched some random figures of possible matches to the blur he had seen on the boat.He stayed up a long time drawing. It helped, to say the least. It helped his mind stay occupied, and when he finally was tired enough to go to bed, his mind felt cleared.He knew that Pidge and Hunk would figure out what they had to do in order to get a lead on Shiro. One thing he knew about the two was that when put together, they could literally do anything if they put their minds together. It was almost scary in a way, but overwhelmingly useful. Especially now, given their situation. So Keith rested. Because inside, he felt the slightest shimmer of hope.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
"What's the progress?" Admiral Zarkon came striding through the doors to the lab. "It's health levels are decreasing, I'm afraid," spoke the scientist standing near the tank, clipboard in hand. "And what do you propose we do about it, Axca?" She looked up, completely unphased by the Admiral's cold stare. "Increasing the amount we feed it for starters. We also should change the water out more frequently. But more importantly, we need to stop taking so many blood draws. It is weakening the poor thing." The Admiral walked forward, before leaning close to her face. "And who, might I ask, will do that? It's good that it is weakened. He doesn't fight as much." Axca barely flinched, even at the close proximity. If anything she met his glare. "You will end up killing it if we continue at the rate we are at now. It needs proper care, just like any other person." The man pointed a finger at her. "But this thing is not a person." "He still is a living being with a mind and soul!" There was a half sneer. Axca was getting angry. "Maybe it's because you're too selfish or something, but as long as we keep it alive, we need him to be in the best condition possible. Or maybe you're forgetting the purpose of our studies?" "I hope you know who you're talking to," Zarkon warned. Axca folded her arms. "I'm pretty sure I do. You don't even have to find someone else to do the tasks I mentioned. I can stay extra hours to make sure he gets what he needs to survive. You don't have to do anything."There was a tense moment of silence, and Axca could almost read Zarkon's mind, trying to decide whether or not to agree and listen to a mere 20 year old's lectures about the right way to handle a foreign creature. His rejection was clear on his face, but the moment he opened his mouth to disagree, a sound cut him short. The sound, it seemed, of a person singing. But not a person. No. The sound was too silky, too languid for a human voice. The siren was awake, it's piercing blue gaze fixed on the man, and it's tranquil voice drifted through the room.Zarkon immediately turned from the conversation attention directed toward the sound. He found himself slowly walking toward the tank, captivated by the melody. Axca stood still, watching as the man drew close to the glass, utterly transfixed by the song. It was questionable on why she wasn't affected, or why the creature started singing at that particular moment. But those were questions to be answered later.Zarkon placed his hand on the glass, and the merman's lull faded away, replaced by a soft hiss and the baring of teeth. The man seemed to have to nearly physically pull his mind back to reality, because when he turned back toward the female, his eyes were glazed in a dazed state. "Very well," he said slowly. "You will see to it that the fish gets what you think he needs. But do know, if you get killed like that other doctor, it will be your fault." "I am aware." "Good." He nodded. Blinked again, then straightened his posture before walking toward the door. "I am counting on you," was all he said as he left.Axca stood in place for a moment, processing. What just happened...? She turned back to the tank, where the siren floated in the water, eyes alert but somewhat quizzical. She walked over to the tank. "You helped me," she said. "You changed his mind." She laughed, bringing a hand to her forehead in realization. "No, wait. You didn't help me. You helped yourself by making him agree to better treatment." She turned back to him. "You're smart creatures, aren't you?" Looking into his blue eyes, she could see a dark sadness, a longing, drifting around his gaze, but she could also see how knowledgeable he was. "Definitely smart," she murmured. "I do wonder if you know what I'm saying." If he did understand, there was no movement to signal he did. It was reasonable, in Axca's opinion. Why share the fact that he might be able to understand human speech, nevertheless speak it? It would put him in even more danger than he was already in.The blue haired girl walked over and pulled out two freshly caught fish from the cooler. "I can only guess you're hungry. If the studies are correct, and it is true that you were the one going around eating away at sharks and deep sea squids, then you must be famished." Axca went around to the back, where she stepped up on the metal steps and lifted the lid. Unlike other scientists, she didn't bother poisoning the water with the nullifier. Because, unlike other scientists, she was the one who fed him most frequently, and was never the one performing tests. She was the one who took care of him, which in result created some form of trust. The siren knew that if he wanted to get fed, or have the water changed, or even just to be left alone, she was the one who did the work. It was a "dont bite the hand that feeds" situation between them. Therefore, when Axca fully lifted the lid, the merman did not attack, instead stayed sitting at the bottom of the tank.Though those facts were true, it didn't mean he was overly enthusiastic to be in her presence. He still let out a steady hiss, a warning sign that was just white noise to her now. "Here you go," The girl grunted, plopping the two fish into the water. "It probably tastes horrible compared to what you eat out at sea, but it's the best they're willing to do." She closed the lid again, and only then did the siren begin to eat. Axca packed her things, ready to finally head home for the night. "I will schedule a water change for tomorrow or Thursday. I'll also go change the next blood draw to happen Monday instead. You deserve a break from that. They can work with what they have." The siren barely spared her a glance, but there was, she noticed, a flick of the tail. To test the theory, she said and enunciated, "Goodbye, fish-face." There was a thump on the glass, and it was then that Axca knew he understood. "Anything?" Keith had stopped by to visit Pidge and Hunk as they worked on locating Shiro before going over to the Aquarium. "Sort of," Pidge said, busy doing god knows what. "I managed to pick up the feed we shared with the SEAL Team and we tried tracking the signal down. It was hard, let me tell you, but I found that the receptor was on a boat called the Daibazaal. But, when I went to go look the boat up, there was no record of it existing. It... isn't a real ship. So that's sort of where I'm stuck, trying to find another way." "Have you tried finding the coordinates of the delivery and the outgoing message?" "That's where we were going next with it." Hunk came in, a bowl of chips in his hand. "Hey Keith," Hunk greeted as he sat down. "Hey Hunk," Keith replied, then looked back to Pidge. "Let me know if anything comes up, okay?" She flashed him a thumbs up. "Sure thing."Keith left the boat. They had a lead. This was good. Keith just had to keep telling himself that."Keith!" Romelle was sitting at the table in the lounge room, checking her phone, but looked up when the dark haired male appeared. "Why aren't you at the tide pools yet?" Keith asked, checking the time. The aquarium would be opening soon. The blonde girl shrugged. "It's a Wednesday, nobody is here right when we open." "Okay, fair point," Keith said slowly. "Did you need me for something then?" "Allura wanted me to tell you that you are off work today. She said that she would handle the dolphins fine. The only thing she asked of you was to check on Black and see if he would come out for you again."Keith stood there for a second, comprehending what he heard. "Wait wait wait-- Allura told me I'm off today? Why!" Romelle gave him a deadpan expression. "Keith, you've been working your ass off the past few days. You've been here since sunrise till sunset, and even then you refuse to go home." Okay, point taken. Keith let out a groan. "She's gonna be in trouble when I get back." Romelle smiled. "I will pass it on. Now go see Black, I'm going to the tide pools." "See you."Like the previous night, Black was back under the platform, unresponsive to anything, even the gentle nudges Blue gave him. Keith slowly made his way over to the edge and put his feet in the water. "Hey Black..." He tried, gently patting the water. Nothing. Keith sighed. "I know I'm not Shiro. And I don't want to replace him. He can't be replaced. But you need to eat something. Of course, there was no signs of movement. Keith covered his face with his hands and let out a groan. Red came over, letting out a small whistle. "Yeah, you understand me." She let out a series of clicks, before swimming down below his feet. "No luck?" Keith nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of a voice from behind, only to realize it was Allura. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you! Romelle told me that you were here. She made sure to pass on the message that you were mad at me." Keith looked back toward the pool. "He hasn't come up again?" Allura asked. Keith shook his head. "Well, since he isn't being responsive today I think it's best that you take that day off. You need it Keith." "But--" "Go do something. Go to the beach with Cosmo. Go shop around town. Do something to get your mind off things." "Is sleeping an option?" Allura frowned in disapproval. "Definitely not. You need to get outside Keith, not stay in a dark room. It's just going to make you more miserable, believe me." "Fine," Keith grunted. "Whatever. I'll go. Just call me if you need anything, okay?" "I have Romelle, Coran, and many of the other staff members to help me out. I will be fine, Keith." The raven haired boy was at a loss, and found himself giving in. Keith waved, then walked out of the dolphin area and down the stairs that lead to the parking lot.Now what? He wasn't sure what to do now. It was too early to go back to the boat; he practically just left it anyways, and going back would just bother Hunk and Pidge. With a frustrated sigh, Keith decided on listening to Allura's advice and take Cosmo to the beach. It would be fun, and Cosmo loves the water. Yeah. Good plan. It was a repetitive cycle, Shiro realized. He would wake up, most often with a nurse by his side already, only to again fall back into a dreamless slumber. This nurse was someone he didn't recognize. This place was a place he didn't recognize, and all of it seemed too sketchy to be a real hospital. Currently he was wondering how he was awake for such a long period of time. It was definitely longer than most times he woke, groggy and unable to process any information. So what was different this time? He opened his eye after a second, not hearing any normal shuffling of the nurse who always was there when he woke. Shiro realized he was alone. Wait. No. He could hear footsteps, and some people talking. Shiro peered to the end of the bed where the curtain entrance was. There, instead of the classic hospital wall or other neighboring curtain, was a guard with a gun, standing near a wall. And that confirmed Shiro's speculation. He was not in a hospital.Shiro was getting ready to get up, but the sound of the curtain ruffling made him immediately freeze up again. Something told him it was better not to show any signs of activity. The curtain was pulled open, the nurse sharing a quick exchange of words with someone else before walking in.Shiro, through halfway closed eyes, watched her come over. Her phone buzzed. It was loose in her back pocket, and the sight sparked something in Shiro's head. He might be able to call for help. It wasn't pleasant waking up to a tube being thrusted into his tank. Lance let out a startled snarl, gills flairing. The tube made an awful sucking sound, and before long, Lance realized that the water in his tank was draining. Lance let out another alarmed hiss, thrashing around. "Can someone shut that fucking fish up?" "Those sounds are sort of chilling..." "AXCA!" "I'm on it! Jesus!"The blue haired human climbed the stairs to the top of tank and placed a hand on the edge. It was a daring move, especially since the lid was opened, but Lance just let out an irritated growl. "Hey, hey! It's okay! We are just changing out your water!" Lance snarled even though he understood most of those words. She rolled her eyes and leaned forward and spoke harshly. "Shut up, they might sedate you if you don't calm down."Something about that stilled Lance. Though it wasn't entirely clear what all those words meant, the word 'sedate' always was followed by being put to sleep. Lance let out one more scratchy snarl, but the overall noise died down slightly, and he circled in the compact space he had. "Good work, Axca." Someone sounded impressed. She just nodded, but Lance could sense frustration radiating off her.The water, as Axca had said, was finally refilled, and it felt much fresher then what he was originally in. After most of the scientists and workers left, the only ones around were those who were in deep concentration with their studies, Axca came back over to the tank and sat down. She had a tendency to do this, Lance had observed over the past couple of days. She would just sit, and either pull out a weird glowing devise, a book or clipboard, or even just talk to him. He wasn't sure whether it was just to try to gain trust and allow him to become more comfortable with her presence, but either way, it could be soothing at some points if he wasn't in an overly sour mood. It kept him company, to say the least. It allowed him to learn more about people and speech, too, since she would often speak aloud about things. But even though there was a small sliver of trust in their strange interactions, Lance was still quizzical about her true intentions. That's why he knew he couldn't trust her completely. Especially, since she worked here, with the people who treated him like an object rather than a living being. He had to remain on guard, even as she sat down and pulled a book out. Lance sank lower to get a better look at what she was looking at, finding it to be a book full of images. There was images of beaches, the ocean, the land.Lance realized she was showing him things. Page by page they looked at the pictures, and Lance let out a few subconscious clicks of interest from time to time.Axca had felt the the siren's eyes from behind her as she looked at the images, and with a small smile, she flipped the page, and the faintest sound was heard from the creature. It proved her theories. He was a curious creature. Curious, but painstakingly lonely. It wasn't surprising to often notice his sad gaze directed on her from the reflection on her phone every now and then when she sat down. She wanted him to be free. He didn't deserve to be locked up like this. No, he deserved to be free, out of human contact like he originally was. He wasn't meant to be discovered, and that's why she was trying hard to figure out a way to help him. Anything to get him home, even if it meant putting herself in danger during the process.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
"KEITH!"It was Thursday morning, and Keith was woken up by the sound of pounding on his door. "KEITH OPEN UP!" Pidge. What was she doing here? Keith groggily got up, blinking rapidly as he left his room and into the bright morning light of his living room. "Coming!" He grumbled, sleepily walking toward the front door and opening it. "Wha...?" Pidge was standing at the door, her dog, a bull terrier, Bae-Bae, at her side. "Jesus, Keith. How much sleep have you had?" He shrugged. "Very little." "You look terrible." "Thank you." Keith yawned, before rubbing his eyes. "So uhhh... what are you doing here?" "Well you're lucky for starters. When you didn't show up at normal time Allura decided to give you another day of break." "Wait-" Keith blinked, then pulled out his phone and checked his phone. 11:30 AM. He groaned. "It's 11?" "Yeah," She laughed. "Jeez, you really needed that sleep." "Yeah," Keith replied, putting a hand to his forehead. "I guess I did." "Come on," she said, barging through into the room and straight to the kitchen. "Go get ready. I'll make you some food." "Shouldn't you be at the aquarium?" "Nope. I'm off today, remember?" Right. God. Keith rubbed his temples. "Okay, yeah. I'll do that." Pidge laughed at him. "You sure you can manage?" "Yeah, yeah." Pidge grinned, before turning on the coffee maker and searched his cabinets and fridge for something worthy of making.Keith came out of his room a few minutes later before sitting down at the counter on the high chairs. "Thanks," He said gratefully as Pidge set down his coffee and an omelette. "I didn't think that a toddler could cook." Pidge shot him a glare but replied. "Maybe I can't. Maybe it's poisoned." Keith, without breaking eye-contact, took a rather large bite of the omelette. "Good." She rolled her eyes, walking out of the kitchen. "You're insane." "Same goes for you."Pidge was rummaging through the baskets and shelves near the door, finally finding Cosmo's leash. "I was thinking we could take Bae-Bae and Cosmo to the beach. It's a really nice day out, anyways." "Don't you have to work on trying to track Shiro down?" "Keith, I was up nearly all night doing that. I've been working my ass off-- so has Hunk. I need a break. Hunk is working on it right now, but there still isn't much progress." "Okay," Keith sighed. "Yeah. We can go to the beach. Why not." "Great, let's go." "Right now?" "Now."They left the condo, Keith locking the door behind them, before walking down the steps toward the beach, which was less than a quarter mile away. Keith took a deep breath of the fresh air as a faint breeze came through, ruffling his clothes. The sun was shining bright above them, warm against his skin. The clouds were lazily drifting by, and it honestly seemed like the most perfect day. It was nice. Relaxing. "You're right," Keith agreed with Pidge after a moment. "Yeah, I'm always right, but what am I right about right now?" "You said inside it was a nice day out," He clarified. "I agree." "Oh. Yeah." "The dogs seem to be enjoying it." They were trotting in front, obviously happy. "Mhm." Keith smiled to himself. "Thanks for doing this." She gave him a puzzled look. "Doing what?" "Spending time with me. Trying to get me to socialize." "Keith," she replied, voice softer than normal. "I didn't come here just because just felt bad for you or something. I came because you're my friend and I like spending time with you. It's been forever since we've done something like this." Keith looked away, slightly guilty. "Yeah. I suppose so." She slugged him in the shoulder. "You need some time to relax. Stop worrying for once. We will get Shiro back, but it isn't helping anyone if you're too tired to function." "Okay. Fair point." She smiled at him. "Good. You're learning something. Now that we assessed that, how about a race? Whoever reaches the beach first wins, loser buys ice cream for both of us." "Deal." Acxa locked her car and walked into the base, two guards stepping aside to allow her access to the facility. She walked down the dim lit hallways, ready to start the day. She brought a bag of various items from outside, like books, plants, and other small toys and objects for the siren to look at. She wanted to see how quickly he learned, and to entertain him at least a little bit. She could only imagine how boring it was being cramped in the simple, bare glass tank. But as she drew close to the lab, the distinct, pale shriek of the creature coming from the room was enough to get Acxa transitioning into a run. Bursting through the doors, Acxa looked wildly around at what was happening. Several scientists were gathered around the tank, and the merman was being held upside down, tail out of the water in the hands of two scientists. The siren was screaming in anger, spitting and hissing, thrashing in the hold of the invaders. "STOP!" Acxa screamed, dropping all her stuff and running over. "What are you doing?! Stop!!!" There was no movement to stop the procedure, and one scientist simply turned to her and said, "We were asked to take a sample of the fin's tissue." Acxa put her hands to her head, wanting to desperately object. But she knew this was just another experiment, and as long as she was here, she had to go along with what was happening. So she had a cover-up. "Why didn't you wait until I was here?!" "You were late. We wanted to get started as soon as possible." "What, two minutes is late? Please." "I'm sorry," they replied, though there was no sign of any remorse in their words. Acxa muttered something under her breath, and came over to the tank, placing a hand against the glass. "I'm sorry," she whispered to the poor creature. "I wish this didn't have to happen." The siren met her gaze, blue eyes glinting. He let out a slow croon but it faded into a ragged growl, gills fluttering.They finally finished the procedure, letting go of the tail and releasing the restraints on the siren's neck, tail, and arms. The lid was quickly slammed shut before the siren could whip around and attack the scientists. "Jesus," one of the scientists hissed as the creature hurled itself against the lid. "That thing is vile." "It's vile because we treat it terribly," Acxa muttered. They glared at her but stalked off, over to the other scientists. Acxa looked back at the merman, who was furiously pacing in the small space he had. "I know," she said, glancing over to make sure nobody was looking. "Everyone here sucks, I agree." "That's not a very nice thing to say." Oh, okay, so there was someone there. Acxa turned with folded arms to the sound of the voice, who turned out to be one of her friends, Ezor. "Oh, hi." "Hey," she said with a smile. Acxa blinked. "Did you need something?" "Oh!" She said, surprised at the blue haired girl's bluntness. "I was wondering if you wanted to go get a coffee with Zethrid, Narti, and I during our break?" Acxa considered, then shrugged. "I'm here till late, it will be good getting some caffeine in my system." "So that's a yes?" "Yeah." "Great!" The girl jumped, and skipped away, long, sunset shaded ponytail swinging back and forth as she went back over to Zethrid.Acxa let out a huff of amusement. She knew Ezor and the other two for a long time, ever since they trained at the academy. Putting them, including herself, together was an odd mixture, since they all are so different in ethnicity and personality.Ezor, of course, was always known to be upbeat, playful, outgoing, and a bit childish in Acxa's opinion. She can often be competitive, but is normally super sweet and friendly. Hawaiian heritage. Fairly tall, probably around 5'6, and extremely athletic and nimble, which was her advantage in the academy.Zethrid, on the other hand? Quite the opposite. She matches Ezor's outgoing personality and her competitive nature, but has always been on the less friendly and gentle side. She's more of a wild card-- stubborn, ambitious, and incredibly strong. She was feared a lot at the academy for her rather destructive attitude and muscular build, which, in all honesty, was pretty funny. She's black, nearing 5'9 in height, and, as mentioned, has an incredibly strong build.Narti was always an interesting person to be around. Because she's mute, it was hard to determine whether or not she would get into the academy, but her scoring was so incredibly high they just had to take her. She's incredibly smart, sweet, but strong if she needs to be. And, even if she's mute, people listen to her thoughts and ideas. She's just that sort of person to get anyone's attention. Around 5'7 in height, she also is fairly strong and muscular. Due to Muslim heritage, she most frequently wears a head scarf. Acxa worried at first that the academy wouldn't like the fact that she was Muslim, but they were indifferent. There were only a few people who got on her case about it. It didn't matter what people thought, at least not to her. And that was something everyone admired in her. Her courage. It helped her get through the academy, and be where she was today.And Acxa? Well... she always considered herself to be more of a loner. She never sought out friendships, but so happened to end up being friends with the three. Her mother is Russian, her father from the U.S. Around 5'5, but nearly Ezor's height.It was an interesting friendship, but it was nice sometimes to have someone to talk to. Because everyone should have a friend, even the loneliness of people.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
It was a familiar sound now. Shiro heard it in his sleep and when he woke.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
It never stopped. In his head he had come up with a plan to steal the nurse's phone and text Keith.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
If only he wasn't so tired all the time...
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
"Bring it here, Cosmo!" Keith had just thrown a frisbee, the wolf-dog taking a flying leap to catch the disk. Bae-Bae- was trotting behind the dog, obviously knowing he didn't stand a chance against the larger dog. "Bae-Bae! Come!" Cosmo came galloping back, sand flying behind him every stride he took. "Cosmo should be a model." Pidge joked, obviously staring at the same image of the dog running across the beach. "He wouldn't sit still long enough," Keith grinned, taking the frisbee from the dog's mouth as he came trotting up. "Bae-Bae no! These chips are mine!" "All Bae-Bae wants to fetch is food." "No joking," Pidge huffed as she threw a chip, the dog chasing after it like a rodent. Cosmo flopped over, tired from so many runs with the frisbee. "You done, bud?" Keith asked, patting the dog's side. "Hunk texted me. Said he needed help with something." Pidge put her phone down after checking the text, looking at Keith. "Should we go over then?" "Sure," Pidge shrugged. "If you're ready to leave. He can wait if you want to stay longer." Keith eyed Cosmo. "I think we should go now. Cosmo is obviously done running around now. Any more exercise and he might not want to walk home." "Alright, then we can go." Keith nodded, getting up and folding the towel they were sitting on, putting it in his bag alongside the water bottle and bowl for Cosmo. The dogs could sense their were ready to leave, because they were both stretching and coming over.Clipping on the leashes, the two walked up the beach to the stairs, where they reached the boardwalk, a few runners and visitors walking around. It wasn't long before a young girl and her friends came up to them and asked, "Excuse me, can I take a picture of your dog? He's so pretty!" Keith smiled. "Sure, go ahead. You can pet him too, he's super friendly." They did so, coming forward and scratching Cosmo's neck, which soon turned into an all out bellyrub, the girls cooing and sweet talking the wolf-dog. "What's his name?" One of them asked, looking up at Keith. "Cosmo. He's a wolf-dog husky mix." "He's sooo gorgeous~!!!" Keith just smiled, exchanging a shrug with Pidge as the girls, probably in seventh grade, continued to pamper the dog."Thank you so much!" They said after they finished, ready to leave. "No problem! Cosmo appreciates it!" When they got up and started to walk away, Pidge said, "And they didn't even pay attention to Bae-Bae." Keith just laughed, bending over to pet the smaller dog. "Well some just don't appreciate him enough." "Come on," Pidge chuckled. "Let's go." And they were off, back toward the boat where Hunk sat waiting. It was late when Acxa returned. There was no scientists around, just Acxa and Lance. The girl walked over to the tank, the siren letting out a hesitant croon in greeting. "Hey there," Acxa greeted. "I brought you some things." Instead of sitting down where she normally did, she went up the few metal steps to the platform at the top of the tank, where she raised it to be level with the lid, which was quickly removed. The siren turned curiously around eyeing the surface though not coming up to the top. Acxa took out a fish, tossing it into the tank. "There you go," she sighed. The siren tentatively ate the fish that one by one were dropped into the tank. As he finished the last one and looked up again, he saw that she was very slowly placing her bare feet in the water. She spoke. "If you don't trust me, you would have the perfect opportunity to kill me right here and now. I'm unarmed, and am in a vulnerable position." But he did nothing. She leaned forward and placed a hand in the water, closing her eyes.It was a move of complete and utter trust, Lance realized. She was right; he had the perfect chance to kill her. But he didn't want to, and it wasn't just because she was the one who fed him. She was putting her trust in him, even though he could kill her easily. And Lance was pondering his trust in her, too.There was, after a moment, a few sniffles. "I don't know what to do," she admitted, tears threatening to spill. "I want to save you but I don't know how..." Those tears were gradually pouring down her cheeks, and she felt at a loss. "You don't deserve this," she choked out. "You should be free. Not here." She curled in on herself, burying her face in her legs, though her hand was still draped in the water. "He's telling me that the scientists want to do an x-ray scan of you. I have no idea how the radiation will affect you. And if they end up finding more of your kind..." She didn't want to admit that he might be killed in order for them to preform a biopsy.Her fragile state was alarming for Lance, and the sounds she was making definitely indicated she was upset, if the stench of despair coming from her wasn't enough to prove it. Lance let out a questionable call, but she didn't reply. He, by instinct, was very uneasy when it came to upset creatures, and the fact that he couldn't exactly curl around her was frustrating. He swam in a circle, before turning up toward her.It happened before he really thought about what he was doing.Slowly he moved upward, before hesitantly reaching up and lightly touching his fingers to her own, as if he was saying "I'm here. It's okay." The sniffling came to a shuddering halt and she peeked over at the siren. He let out another comforting croon, almost a purr, before taking his hand away and swimming back to the safety of the bottom of the tank. And Acxa just stared, a mixture of crestfallen, awestruck, and remorseful emotions flooding through her.He trusted her, she realized. Even after all the humans did to him, he still decided to trust her. And maybe through that trust, he could trust her enough to listen to what she told him to do when it was time for him to escape."Hold on, just a little while longer," Axca said as she was leaving. "I'll figure something out." And there she went home, mind buzzing with conflicted thoughts and emotions.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
There was the instant sound of typing as Keith and Pidge entered the boat the following morning, and in seeing Hunk, Pidge plopped down and immediately got to work. Keith wasn't entirely sure what to do, so he decided to go out on deck and survey what had been done again. There was still faint blood stains on the deck, something Keith couldn't bear to wash away. If it was the last piece of evidence they had, he'd use it. There were gashes in the floor, as well, where sharp claws tore in effort to crawl and fight. It was obvious, Keith knew, that this creature was no normal creature. Whether it be a new species or actually, truthfully a siren or mermaid, Keith wasn't sure. But he would find out. He knew he would. Keith turned away from the damage to look out across the bay, where ships sailed lazily by in the morning sun.It was Friday. 11 days since Shiro's disappearance, and still no luck on finding him. Keith, unfortunately, was starting to fear the worst. He couldn't fathom what Shiro could be going through, nor did he want to. He was scared for his brother. So utterly scared they might be too late to save him. "Hi there," Acxa greeted the merman. There were a few scientists lingering around, but since there was no major testing going on and mostly analyzing some things they already had, the siren was ignored for the most part. Acxa came over an got the bucket of fish from the fridge, before making her way back over, up the metal stairs, and to the platform. She opened the lid, already being greeted by those mysterious, luminous orbs of eyes. "Hungry?" She dropped a fish into the tank, allowing the siren to grab it before tearing at the pathetic excuse for a meal hungrily. "I wish we could add more variety to your diet," Acxa thought out loud, throwing another pale fish into the tank. There was the sound of footsteps, and Acxa saw Narti coming up the stairs of the platform. On a small notepad she wrote
Do you need me to get anything in particular for the siren? I'm going to head down to the marketplace to see what sea food they have today.
Acxa hummed in thought, looking down into the water where the siren had shrunk down, a low, warning growl vibrating through the water. "Ill come down and tell you in a moment, I'm going to try something out, but need you to go away. He doesn't trust anyone. He still struggles trusting me, even." Narti nodded and turned to walk down the steps. Acxa tapped the water with her hand, trying to gain the merman's attention. His gaze blinked up at her, and that signalled she had his attention. Making sure nobody was watching at the moment from down below, Acxa made a biting motion, pretending to eat an invisible food item. The siren angled his body toward her more, and waved his tail. Acxa pointed to him, before making the same eating motion. Another nod. Acxa, with her hands, made a motion similar to that of a jellyfish.
Do you eat jellyfish?
The siren nodded, swimming closer. He made a gesture of tearing, and she could only guess he was saying he doesn't eat the stingers. She nodded, before continuing. "How about crab?" She asked, trying to make a shuffling motion with her hands. That was unclear, and she laughed, pulling out her phone and searching a picture. The merman rose up to the surface more, intrigued by such a device. Seeing the photo, he nodded again. "Alright," she noted, before searching up a photo of various fish types, clams, oysters, scallops, lobster, all in which the siren nodded to. For experiment, she pulled up a photo of a shark. A nod. Well, that could confirm it was a siren who had been leaving trails of shark carcasses washed up on the beach and found by fishermen. It wouldn't be a surprise, too, if it was this specific siren's doing. Acxa thought for a moment, before searching a photo of a dolphin before showing it to the waiting siren. There was a hiss at that one, and a violent shaking of his head. Acxa put her phone away, humming in thought. "I'll be back," she told him, before putting the lid back on and making her way down the steps toward where Narti sat waiting. "Okay, I actually managed to get information out of him. I think he's willing to communicate with us if it's for his own sake." Acxa listed off the various food items, and then said goodbye to Narti. Acxa had to wait until they were fully alone to try something out. For now, she knew she had to sit and wait.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep
Shiro was awake again. He was disoriented, but somehow was able to fight through the familiar feeling better than before. He opened his eye a crack, and saw the lady who always came to check on him by his side, checking something over on a clip board. Shiro took a slowing breath as he saw the phone in her back pocket. He knew he had to be careful if he wanted to succeed in his plan. As if the Gods heard his prayers, there was a voice calling out, and the lady's head turned. "Coming, Lieutenant." As she turned, Shiro saw his chance. It was slow, his movements, but he somehow managed to reach out without making a sound and slip the phone out of her pocket as she strided out, unaware of what had just been taken from her. Shiro knew she would be back any moment, but he looked down at the phone. He was lucky. Because of his lingering plan to steal her phone, he managed to memorize her thumb movements and most of the numbers she hit. So....0-3-1-9
IPhone Unlocked
Bingo.Shiro would have celebrated in that moment for getting it on his first go, but he had to hurry. Speeding to messages, Shiro quickly typed in Keith's number, a number he knew all too well. "Keith I swear to God," Pidge was saying. "If you fall in I am not going to feel bad, you know." The dark haired male was balancing on the rail of the boat, bored. "Relax, it's fine." "Just wait until a wake in the water throws you off balance." Keith huffed, sitting down on the railing. "What's the progress?" Keith asked, leaning backward to look at Pidge. "You sound like an impatient toddler," Pidge chided, though it was teasing. "Hunk's working on a bug right now. It's hard, Keith. It takes time." "We don't have time," Keith grumbled. "Keith, we are working as fast as we can, okay? I'm sure Hunk will figure something out. Come on, let's go check in with him." Keith got up and together the two made their way down the steep stairs into the living space where Hunk was working. "Pidge, perfect timing. I wanted your help with something. I think I've almost got it." "Sure," The shorter female came over, plopping down in her seat. Keith looked at them for a moment, and was about to go back out when there was a buzz.
Bzzz.
Bzzz.
Bzzz.
The source of the buzzing was Keith's phone, sitting on the small kitchen space counter. "Keith?" "Yeah, yeah. It's probably Allura or Romelle." Keith walked over to it and checked, but brows furrowed.
Unknown Caller
Keith looked over to Pidge, sharing a glance, before answering, putting his phone on speaker."Hello?"There was heavy breathing, but then a voice, somewhat muffled."Keith...?"Keith's eyes widened. "Shiro, is that you?!" "Yes, it is me," the other end of the line confirmed. Keith felt a flood of relief, but then dread. "Shiro, where are you?" "I don't know." Shiro's voice was a mere whisper, and Keith didn't fail to recognize the fear in his voice. "Some military base. I've been in and out of consciousness for a while, and I finally managed to take the nurse's phone." "What nurse? What-?" Keith was confused and frantic, desperate for answers. "Keith, I have to go. Track this number. Find me." Shiro said. "Shiro wait-!" But Shiro hung up.There was silence for a long time, everyone processing the new information.It was Pidge who spoke up. "We know he's alive, at least." She took a deep breath in, before looking up to Keith. "Keith, hand me your phone, I need to see the number and track where the call came from." Keith was quick to do so, then putting his hands on his heads. "Oh my God," He said breathlessly. There was a mixture of emotions. Joy, fear, anxiety, relief... Hunk noticed that Keith seemed to be struggling, because he got up, and with his traditional bear like embrace, pulled Keith in for a hug. It helped, Keith realized. No, it actually helped a lot. The wild emotions spinning around in his head slowed down, and he took a deep breath in. Everything would be okay. They could track the phone and find out where Shiro is located. Shiro is alive. It was then that Keith broke down, gripping Hunk hard as the unwelcomed tears began to flow. "We'll get him, Keith." Hunk reassured. "Everything will be alright." Acxa tapped her pencil busily against her clipboard in thought. Narti had arrived from her shopping trip a while ago, and it was clear the Siren was very pleased to have some diversity in it's food. The female had been writing down some of her reports on his behavior when there was a high pitched sound, similar to that of a dolphin squeal. Acxa grinned and looked over at the tank, where the Siren was staring at her. "What?" She asked, turning to face him. "What do you want?" Blue eyes darted to her clipboard, and he sunk down to the spot Acxa normally sat against the tank. Another whine. "You want to see what I'm doing...?" Acxa guessed, holding the clipboard up. The merman's hands pressed against the glass. With a snort, Acxa walked over, plopping down, leaning against the tank. "You won't be able to understand this," Acxa said. "But it's about you. How you act, what you eat, that sort of thing."They sat there for a while, enjoying each other's company. There were a few times where someone would come in or come over to ask Acxa something, and the Siren instinctively hissed and backed away from Acxa. He still was a wild animal, Acxa knew that. He was still mistrustful, even toward her. But that's why working on building up that trust was important."Acxa." The blue haired girl looked up to see a scientist walking up to her. "How is the progress?" "I've been recording it on this," She said, and handed him the clipboard in her hand. "I'm done writing right now, so you can look at it for the time being. His health is getting better, given we are changing up his food." "Good, I will tell Admiral Zarkon of our progress. He wants to do the blood and DNA extraction as soon as possible. You know he isn't happy that you insisted it be on Monday." "I know," Acxa looked down. The scientist took the clipboard, eyes moving to the siren. "Maybe a scale extraction could happen too." Acxa wanted to object, but knew better. So she stayed quiet. "Keep doing whatever you're doing. He's healing." Acxa nodded. "I'm trying." "Good." With that, the scientist turned and walked out the doors, leaving Acxa in a silent room.A scale extraction. Who knew how dangerous that could be, for the Siren and scientists alike? Acxa shuddered remembering how violent the Siren was, sending that one poor scientist to the hospital after practically ripping off her whole hand. Not only that, but there was the problem of making sure the spot wouldn't get infected after they took one of the scales. They knew nothing about the creature- who knew what sort of medicines would work?Acxa turned, looking at the merman, who was finally lowering his guard again.They shared a glance, and for once, they both shared the same emotion.Helplessness.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was a process of non-stop pacing for Keith as Pidge worked on tracking the phone down. He knew Pidge was probably about ready to lecture him, but he couldn't find it in him to stop moving. "Got it," Pidge said finally with a rather smug grin. Alongside the glowing dot of a location, Pidge pulled up the ID of the person who owned the phone. "Honerva H. Zarkon, though is known as simply Honerva," Pidge read. "She's some sort of nurse. Has some really high fucking military clearance." "I'm not surprised, that team that took Shiro away was definitely military. My best guess is that he's at some base." Hunk mused, munching on his chips. "So how the hell do we break Shiro out of a military base?" Pidge asked, slumping in her chair. "We should check out this woman first, see what she knows," Keith suggested, a plan already forming in his head. "Are you purposing we go and knock on her door and ask to give us our friend back? Because I don't think that'll work." The shorter girl said sarcastically. "No, we don't necessarily need to even talk to her." "So breaking into her house or something?" "Precisely." "Great. I love it." Hunk groaned, bringing a hand to drag down his face. "Guys you do know this is illegal right?" "The military kidnapped my brother," Keith snapped. "I don't give a shit about illegal." "I'm just wondering if there's a better way to go about this," Hunk sighed. "Well if we don't find anything that can give us a clue in her house, we can go and knock on her door when she's home." Hunk looked uncertain. "Are you guys sure you want to do this? We could go to jail, you know." "They should be in jail themselves for taking Shiro without a word." "Keith, call Allura and Romelle. They should know what's going on." "On it."The group discussed their plan, and throughout the following two days, analyzed this Honerva's schedule, and planned their break in. Pidge had managed to put a tracker in the nurse's car, so they knew her route, and knew exactly how to get into the base. Now all they had to do was wait until she left her house that Sunday morning. Sure enough, she came walking out, carrying her usual briefcase, before getting in the car and driving off. "The bird has left the building," Pidge announced slyly, and then together the group got out and carefully made their way around to the back of the house, to prevent being seen out front. "The bathroom window is slightly cracked open, do you think you can get in?" Hunk announced, turning to Pidge. "You bet." She cranked the window the rest of the way open, before jumping and pulling herself through the space. There was silence for a few minutes, before the back sliding door opened, and she grinned. "Come on."There wasn't anything too out of the ordinary in the house. Family photos, trophies, badges, awards, but nothing of suspicion. "She really likes science," Hunk commented, browsing some catalogs on the coffee table. "Find anything else?" A cat meowed. Keith hadn't realized it was sitting on the couch until it personally announced it's presence. A black, orange, and grey calico, with a purple collar. It's name tag said "KOVA." "Kova, huh?" "Guys, I found a computer!" Romelle's voice called from another room. Keith gave the cat a scratch on the head before coming over, everyone looking as Pidge sat down on the desk. "This probably has some stuff on it." She opened it up, and it went to the password screen. "Shit, I don't have my decoder with me," Pidge grumbled. "Any ideas?" Keith was on top of it. "Try Kova... and maybe the date of her promotion?" It was on an award in the living room. "Okay..." Pidge typed the possible combo in, but the "Failed password" appeared. "It was worth a shot," Keith shrugged. Pidge tried something else, involving the name of Honerva's son's name. Again, failed password. She continued, overriding the 3 attempt security system with ease. At least she knew how to do that manually. "You could try the day she got married?" "Guys," Hunk interrupted their process. "Uh, I think people are coming." "What?" "People are coming!" He repeated. "Look!" Sure enough, outside was a dark van, and four men stepped out, in sharp outfits screaming that they were of high rank. "Oh shit," Pidge said, closing the computer. "We've gotta go. Come on!"They all rushed out, careful not to be seen through the windows.One by one each person ran out the sliding glass door, but Pidge didn't follow. No, she closed it behind them, locking it. Right as the front door opened she sprinted to the bathroom, and a few seconds passed before she was out, having jumped out the window she came in. They peeked through the windows. The men were rummaging around, looking for something. The group sat in utter silence, daring not to make a single noise. Sure enough, the men found the computer. They put it in a case and then left, without a single word. "What the hell was that?" Pidge hissed, looking at the others. Nobody knew."We should follow them," Keith said as they all went back to the car. "And what, get caught? No way," Hunk said, frowning. "What Keith is proposing isn't a terrible idea," Allura spoke up. "We can then locate specifically where the base is located. Maybe Pidge can tap into their security footage too, so we can figure out what we are dealing with." Silence passed between them, but then there was nods of approval. "I'm going to go back to the aquarium," Romelle said. "I'll inform Coran of what is happening." "And ill get my car and come back here. It's a good idea to keep track of what's happening on this end," Hunk said, looking at the house. "Sounds like a plan." Keith turned the ignition on, and they headed back to regroup and get their things. Restless. That's what Lance was. Restless, irritable, cramped, unhappy, terrified, and longing for the ocean. He was getting bored of the slick cut edges of his tank. The simplicity irked him- he wanted the jagged, bumpy bottom of the ocean floor, where nothing was perfectly flat. There was nothing to amuse him here. He was like a dolphin at a marine animal park- going insane because of the boring, perfectly clean environment he was in. There were no fish to watch swim by, no current, not even the gentle brush of sand. Just an eerie silence. He knew he had to get out of here. By that scientist's imput and overhearing conversation, he knew that the humans were planning on doing another draw of his blood and something else that didn't sound good, by the way that girl Acxa reacted. So Lance made a plan. He knew he had to get out somehow. And he was fairly sure he knew how. Acxa was dreading the following day once she left for the night. The blood draw would happen, but alongside that, Zarkon insisted they take other tests as well. That included, but wasn't limited to, a full body x-ray. Who knew what the radiation could do to him, and not only that, having him outside of water seemed extremely dangerous. But when she came into the lab that day, it was strange to see the siren fairly limp looking in the tank. She came over and tapped on it, trying to earn some sort of a response. The fish's eyes were glazed over. Second pair of eyelids. Huh. It looked weak in the tank- dying. "Ah Jesus Christ, what's wrong with it?" A scientist came over, a scowl deep on their face. "I don't know." Acxa admitted. "I just found him like this." "Well, make sure it survives by tomorrow, we need it alive for the tests. Who knows, it could be better this way. Maybe it'll be weak enough for us not to need to use any sedative."Acxa tried to interact with the merman, sitting where she normally did and scrolling through her phone to trying to feed him. Nothing worked. He was unresponsive. She didn't know what he was up to, whether it was some sort of form of faking dead or whether he was truly sick. Either way, she hoped that something would work itself out.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
"Jesus Keith, they're going to know you're following them if you keep driving so close to them," Pidge complained, eyeing the dark car ahead of them. "Well we don't want to lose track of them," Keith replied. "I don't think the military will take kindly to snooping, especially if they recognize us from the boat." Keith let out a frustrated sigh, then slowed down. He probably should follow Pidge's advice.They drove some ways up into the mountains, passing turnoffs into hiking areas and so on. "Wanna go hiking?" Keith pointed at one of the turnoffs. "Fuck no." Keith grinned, turning into the center. "Wait, what are you doing? We are supposed to follow them!" Keith parked and sat back into his seat. "At this point they'll know we are following them. You have the location on your phone, so from here on out we should probably stay off radar." Pidge seemed to consider what Keith was proposing. She nodded, before poking his cheek. "Geez, Keith, I didn't think you could actually be rational about something." "Oh, fuck off," Keith snorted, slapping her hand away.After 15 minutes of waiting, Keith finally turned on the ignition and they drove off, Pidge telling where to turn. They found themselves deep within the national forest, then came to a turnoff that had a sign that said: Do not enter. Military access only Pidge flipped the sign off as they deliberately passed it, traveling down the wide gravel road. "Oh fuck, look at this," Pidge hissed as they reached a clearing. There was a fairly large strip of land, probably used for helicopters. Then, a tall fence surrounding a large facility. Both roads lead to the fence that had a guard station and some sort of electronic device, probably used for scanning someone's ID. Keith proceeded slowly, looking around at the area. "So this is a Military Research Facility. No wonder," Pidge huffed, but then narrowed her eyes.Some people were pointing at their car. Then they picked up a jog toward the two. "Keith," she said. "Keith, we need to go." "Shit," Keith said, pulling the stick to reverse. "Shit shit shit-" "Go, Keith!" The men were running now, carrying what looked to be AK 47s in their hands. "Keith they've got guns." Keith spun the car around, and they sped off, Pidge screaming "go, go, go!" The men stopped once they were well on their way out of the area, but Keith didn't slow down until they were farther away from the base."Dude," Pidge breathed, throwing her head back against the seat. "That was fucking intense." Keith was quiet for a few minutes. Pidge looked at him with a questionable stare. "You're not actually thinking about going back there, are you?" "What choice do we have?" He replied honestly. "But not by car this time. We can all regroup and go back later once it gets dark. Then you can tap into the security and we can try finding a way in. By the looks of it, they don't have a lot of security along the fences. We could probably scope things out there." Pidge started laughing. She laughed, then completely stopped and turned back to Keith. "You want to go break in to some military base and assume it'll all work out fine? Do you realize how many fucking cameras they probably have in that building?" "That's why I'm relying on your technical skills. Your our tech wizard, if anyone can hack a system it's you." "Jesus, you're crazy," Pidge quipped, but she sounded as if she was giving in. "Fine, but this is just because I want to get Shiro back." "Believe me, I do too." "Then let's fucking do it."It took a while to make the plan with the team, needless to say getting everyone to agree. Hunk was going to stay parked at Honerva's to see if she got back from her shift at around 6:00, as usual. Keith, Allura, and Pidge planned to go back and investigate the facility on foot, and if possible, find a way in. The only problem was, getting past the guards, finding Shiro in the massive building, and making it back out without being caught."I don't see how this will work out, exactly," Romelle admitted. "Even if you do manage to get to Shiro, he will probably be unconscious, assuming Honerva comes home from work as per usual. She's the one who administers the drug to keep him asleep. That'll mean that you will have to drag Shiro back to the car. And I hate to say it, but looping the security camera feed might not work efficiently, considering there are too many workers moving about and probably a skilled person watching the footage. They'll catch on easily." "She's right," Hunk agreed. "I know Shiro is important, but we don't want to risk getting ourselves in trouble, or injuring Shiro further by trying to get him out. Do remember he is missing an arm now, which means he will still probably be healing." "At a minimum," Allura said, "We should check the area out more thoroughly. Even if we can't get to Shiro today, we still might be able to locate his general location and map out the facility. Then we can plan more efficiently how to get him out of there." "We don't have that sort of time," Keith fretted. "Every second wasted is probably bringing Shiro closer to death." "Well, even then, let's at least stick to the base plan. The one we made originally," Pidge said. "Romelle will stay here to watch the animals with Coran. Hunk, you will go wait at Honerva's house and alert us if anything comes up. Keith, Allura and I will go to the military base and scope out the premises. Sound good?" Everyone nodded. The plan was formed. "So it's just been floating like that the whole day?" Admiral Zarkon was pacing back and fourth in front of the tank. "Yes sir," Acxa replied. "He's shown no signs of activity. His breathing is shallow and he isn't eating." "Well, it will just have to deal with it. I've waited long enough. Start preparing for the tests-" "But-" "-Unless I need someone else to take your place," the Admiral finished his sentence, eyes shooting daggers of warning at Acxa. A breath in. "N-No sir. I will start the test preparations." "Good. Ezor?" The jubilant female bounced over. "Yes, Admiral?" "I want you to oversee that Acxa does everything correctly." "Yes sir." The Admiral left, and Ezor gave Acxa an expectant stare. A 'spill bitch' sort of stare. A 'what the fuck did you do now' stare. Acxa rolled her eyes. "What?" She wasn't going to buy into the look yet. "What did you do to piss him off?" "I disagree about running a bunch of tests on a creature that seems to be in no condition to have things taken from him. We don't know how his immune system works, how he fights off infection, and if taking a scale ends up hurting him, we might not have any right way to treat him." Ezor narrowed her eyes, watching as Acxa continued preparing and sterilizing the syringes and equipment needed."Why do you care?"Acxa quite literally stopped in her tracks at that question. Why did she care? "Because," she said slowly, starting from where she so suddenly stopped. "This creature is alive, and is more human than fish. I hate putting it in this pain. And," she added, just to clarify that she was still trustworthy, "He's valuable. We have no idea how to find any more of his kind again. We need it alive, and in good health too." Ezor seemed suspicious still, but satisfied with the answer. She picked up one of the tools to sterilize it. "I agree with you on some parts," Ezor admitted. "But given our positions in all this, we should probably just keep our mouths shut and do what we are told. We know too much to be let off the hook if we decide all this isn't for us." Acxa nodded absentmindedly, setting the pair of tweezers she held in her hand down. "I guess it's time." Lance didn't flinch when the lid to the container opened. He stayed perfectly still, despite the fearful hammering in his chest. A wire rope was looped around his wrist. He couldn't fight it yet. Lance waited. He waited until he could sense the air easing, the humans thinking that the job would be easy. But the moment he felt the prick of a needle sinking into his skin, he whipped around, letting out a deafening screech. Claws hit home on the scientist's neck. There was a scream, and his sharp nails dug into the flesh of their shoulder. With brute strength, he thrashed backward, pulling the body into the water, which soon turned the water a crude scarlet red. Lance continued hissing, the water sloshing around in the tank as other scientists tried to assist, desperate to try to get the already dead scientist out of the tank, and regain control of Lance. But it was too late. Without warning, the lights cut out.It was a total blackout.There was shouts of panic, demanding the lights be turned back on. But the dark didn't bother Lance the slightest. He was attuned to the deep sea, used to little to no light source. He pulled himself from the tank, trying to stifle his anguished cry as his tail sloughed off in return for human legs.He knew it would work. His mama told stories of the traitors who went on land, growing human limbs and disappearing forever.All hell broke loose. He took down two other guards in a heartbeat before a red light of an alarm went off, sending a jarring sound through the room. Everyone was fleeing, and out of the frenzy of anger, Lance didn't really know where he was headed until he collided into another body. His initial response was a guttural snarl... but then he realized who was staring back at him. The blue haired girl. Acxa. Fear was laced within her eyes, and through the dim light, he knew she recognized who he was. She choked on her words, sputtering between a 'no' and a 'how?' Lance... didn't like this feeling. He didn't like the look in her eyes, or the way she tensed up. A crash of sound of something falling averted his gaze, his eyes turning back to feral slits. With one last glance at her, he slinked off, leaving her shaking on the ground.He had to get out of here. Pidge was waiting by the fence as Allura and Keith went in. She didn't know how long her power outage trick would last, but she hoped it was just long enough for them to get in and get out. The sirens were still active though, to Pidge's confusion. An alarm rang out, lights not connected to the main system spinning red from different spots along the building. Something was wrong. This shouldn't happen. Someone must have hit a entirely separate alarm system button. "Keith!" Pidge tried through the walkie talkies they carried. "What the hell is happening?" It was hard to hear Keith, but he responded. "I don't know, but something bad. I'm seeing some dead bodies around, I don't think the alarm was tripped because of us." "Great, fuck, just what you need. To be slaughtered by something in the facility. Ab-so-lut-ely splendid." "Cut the sarcasm and make sure I'm headed in the right direction." "You are," Pidge said, looking at the tracker. "Turn left up ahead." "Got it."Keith and Allura made their way through the red lit hallway, keeping an eye out for any signs of movement. Occasionally they'd pass a dead body. "Jesus, what is going on here?" "Don't care, let's find Shiro."The two turned into the room Shiro was being held. The man was already up, sluggishly tearing off his IV. At the sound of their entry he turned in fright, but his face immediately melted into one of relief seeing Keith and Allura. The shorter male ran up and hugged Shiro, before explaining the plan. "We need to go, now." Keith pressed after he finished his 30 second breakdown of the situation. "I couldn't agree more," rasped Shiro, and together they made it toward the door.They just had to come back the way they came.Easier said than done. There was a pale shriek from behind them. Turning around, someone in a Military vest butted another person with their gun. The victim let out an inhumane sounding snarl, trying to lunge at the man, only to get knocked back again. Keith didn't know what came over him. By the looks of the fight the odds weren't good, and this strange person needed help. Keith, without warning, came running up punching the man square in the jaw. He continued by breaking the man's arm, slamming him to the ground in the process. He leaned down and picked up the gun, taking out the magazine. Allura was blinking, looking as if she was trying to process what she had just witnessed. Keith looked back to the mystery person. They sat, crouched on the ground, blood splattered over a tattered uniform. A uniform that had an ID that read 'Honerva H. Z."Honerva H. Zarkon.
Holy shit.
"Keith," Shiro said, face slightly pained. "That's it." "What?" "That's it. That's the Siren."
...what?
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Of course, Keith should've recognized it sooner. The way it moved, the way it's eyes were glowing slightly in the darkness of the hallway- everything about it screamed not human.But despite all that, despite all the trouble the Siren caused them, Keith saw something looking into it's eyes. Fear. Although it was probably still the one who killed the guards and scientists Keith and Allura had passed, that was out of self defense, right? And considering the situation, they sort of brought it on him, didn't they? It was their fault he got trapped in the first place."Keith, we need to g-" Shiro began, but Keith cut him short."What are we going to do? We can't just leave it here," he stayed put. "It's technically ours after all, and they fucking stole it from us. If we leave it, they'll probably just continue to preform experiments on it.""You're right," Allura said slowly. "And as an Aquarium and Rescue worker, we shouldn't let them find out about this species. They'll probably start tearing up the ocean looking for more.""We'll take it," Shiro sighed. Keith was surprised, considering he lost an arm because of the thing, but nodded.Keith turned to the creature, and with his hands motioned a "come with me" signal. It's eyes flashed between the three, but nodded ever so slightly.Good. It understood.They ran down the corridors, alarms resounding in their ears. All the while the Siren followed, letting out an occasional spitting hiss if he heard another voice. Keith nearly collided with the door once they reached it, and he let it swing open.They finally made it out. Keith felt a sense of relief as he felt the open night air, but it didn't last long.There was the harsh crack of a gun being fired. Once. Twice.Keith saw the Siren go down, bullets finding purchase in the Siren's left shoulder, then in the leg. It let out a wail that split into the air, and Keith was fearful that they might fire another round.But no- Allura was already firing back with her own gun, growling a string of curses as she picked them off, one by one."God fucking-" Allura said, "Let's go, now!"Keith ran over and threw the Siren's arm over his shoulder and began trudging toward the hole cut in the fence. Allura stayed to make sure nobody else was on their tail, before she finally turned and helped everyone back to the car."Took you guys long enough," Pidge was saying as she saw the group approaching. "Who's this?" "The Siren. We can explain later, right now we need to fucking drive."The shorter girl hesitated only for a second before giving a curt nod and helping them into the car. The Siren was breathing shallow, letting out an occasional keen of pain. It's teeth were gritted - sharp - and it's eyes were shut tight. Keith didn't know exactly what to do, but for now he prayed to God that it wouldn't attack them.To much of a surprise, there wasn't anyone pursuing them. If anyone knew about the escape, they were probably dead, thanks to Allura.Once they were well back into town, Pidge turned back around, pointing at the three expectantly."Okay, care to explain?" It felt like the whole world sighed in relief the moment the team finally pulled into the back of the aquarium. Romelle and Coran were waiting, already informed of the situation. They helped the team safely inside and to the living room that also served as a place for staff to hang out. Technically it was the living room, considering Coran and Allura lived in the building, but that's besides the point.There was crying. Lots of crying to go around, everyone happy that Shiro was finally home.But they couldn't dilly dally, considering Shiro was currently still missing an arm and they had a Siren who was losing blood from two bullet wounds.Hunk and Pidge took Shiro to check out his arm. The others laid the Siren down on the couch, bringing out medical supplies for the wounds. Keith was honestly thankful the moment the Siren passed out. He knew it would've been much harder to get it done, considering it was just as much animal as it was human, with the ability to kill and tear off limbs if necessary. Even though the Siren was out cold, Keith had insisted that they do everything in a friendlier environment, considering the clinic might be a little imposing to something that just came out of the confines of a lab.The dark haired male pressed a thick piece of towel against the shoulder wound to stop the bleeding the best he could, while Allura focused on the leg. They proceeded to take the bullets out, which was tricky, but it was successful nevertheless. Then, after Coran and Romelle's help with the stitches, they finished and let the creature be. It would twitch occasionally, or let out a hollow sounding cry, but it didn't wake. Allura had grabbed an extra shirt from the gift shop and swim trunks to let the Siren change into, considering the clothing it was currently wearing was drenched with blood. After about 20 minutes or so of waiting, Keith finally leaned over and shook it awake. Lance woke with horrible throbbing in his head. He groaned, his whole body hurting. He expected to be in the tank, but no, he was breathing normal air.His eyes snapped open, and he sat up in a panic, realizing he was laying on a couch in a place he didn't recognise.Right, he was brought here by-"Oh, your awake."The black haired male who he ran into back at the military base was sitting in the chair across from him.Lance looked frantically around. He wanted to say something, but his vocabulary and vocal chords weren't adjusted to speech yet.Although part of him felt a growing sense of security, he still wanted to take precautions, which meant also limiting how much he spoke.The male continued anyways."This is the lounge. We are at an Aquarium right now. A place that helps sick and injured animals to recover before releasing them back to the wild, or keeping them if we know they can't survive going back out there."Lance observed the black haired boy, relaxing seeing that he was in a vulnerable position. It set Lance at ease at least, knowing that he wasn't being threatened. For now.Lance cleared his throat, which felt excessively dry."wa...ter...?" He tried his best to sound out the words. It would take some time.The other's eyes widened, surprised, but he nodded. "O-Oh! Okay, hold on."The guy came back holding a glass of water, handing it to Lance. At first he flinched, but then took it and sipped it, eyes not leaving the human. "What's your name?" Lance hesitated, debating on whether to tell them. He wasn't anything like the other humans. He wasn't wearing those white coats or weird uniforms. But, he took precautions, so he simply looked away and didn't reply.The male took a deep breath."Okay, well... I'm Keith."Lance nodded, sipping his water again. It tasted weird. He shifted, then flinched at the pain it caused. He looked down to see the leg injury had... something keeping the wound shut?This said 'Keith' obviously caught on to Lance's confusion."You passed out when we arrived, so we went ahead and cleaned up your injuries before stitching them up. It'll help them heal faster."Lance set the cup down and letting out a shaky breath.Keith hesitated, before pulling the clothes that Allura had given him."If you don't mind changing, I brought you spare clothing. There's blood all over the outfit you're wearing right now."Lance took the new clothing and sniffed it. It was better than the clothing he was currently wearing, that was for certain. He began to pull his clothes off, but an exclamation of the human startled him."Woah woah-!" Keith stammered, covering his eyes. "Uh- never mind. I'll look away."Lance hesitated uneasy, before continuing, slipping on the shirt."Ok." He said, dropping the bloody clothes on the floor."Good," Keith said, putting the outfit into the laundry basket near his feet. "Um.. you have blood on your face as well. Do you mind wiping it off?"Lance tried to wipe it with his hands, but that just smeared it further.Keith chucked softly. "No, no, let me just-" He picked up a towel and dipped it in water. "May I?"Lance shrunk back, lip upturned in the beginning of a snarl, but stopped when the boy flinched back ever so slightly in unease and fear. Something completely opposite to any of the scientists back at the lab.Something about the boy told him he was okay. That he was safe.With much hesitation, Lance nodded his head. Keith eased himself closer and slowly lifted his hand up again to begin wiping off some of the blood from Lance's face. Lance watched Keith's facial expressions for a moment. They darted around, going from sympathetic, to curious, to worry. They just wouldn't pick one emotion.Lance closed his eyes, liking the feeling of the lukewarm water on his dry skin. He realized, inwardly, that freshwater didn't make him change. Strange."Okay..." Keith said once he was finished. "You can stay on the couch here for the night.""You... stay?" Lance asked, hoping Keith would understand his broken English. "Yeah, i'll stay," Keith replied.Lance let out a hum, before settling back down on the couch.He wasn't entirely sure why he trusted this human. Maybe, it was because he shared similarities to Acxa. Or maybe he was just too tired to have his guard up. He'd have to figure it out when he woke up. He felt the pull of exhaustion, and he finally gave in. Keith stayed in the lounge all night, keeping an eye on the Siren. Pidge and Allura had come in a few times to check on him, but he refused to move. Hunk brought him some snacks at one point, and Coran brought a blanket. "How's he doing?" Pidge flopped over on the love-seat Keith currently occupied. Keith let out a large yawn, before replying. "He's okay. Probably too exhausted to do anything right now.""Let's hope he stays that way," Pidge frowned, and Keith's mind immediately flashed back to Shiro, and all the red-"You alright?" Pidge asked. "Yeah. I'm just really fucking tired.""You don't have to stay up the whole night, y'know. He's not going to move, I don't think."Keith sighed, then situated himself more comfortably. "Okay. Fine.""Good. I'll come check in later for you.""Thanks, Pidge," Keith yawned. The shorter female got up, and before she left the room, turned to him."Now go to sleep knowing that we are now criminals.""What the fuck.""Goodnight!" She cackled leaving the room and retreating to the kitchen, like the gremlin she was.All Keith could do was shake his head with a small, fond smile on his face, before finally closing his eyes, letting sleep capture him.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The sky yielded just a small sliver of light when Keith awoke that morning. The clock against the wall ticked to 5:32am, and Keith drowsily blinked away his tiredness.It took a moment for Keith to comprehend why he was sleeping on a chair, or why he wasn't at home. But then his memory came reeling back to him, and he sat up with a start, eyes instantly darting to the couch.The Siren was gone, and the door to the room was open. In an instant Keith was up, tripping and fumbling out of his blankets. He ran outside, barely paying attention to the cold concrete on his feet or the crisp, cold morning air. His eyes searched rapidly around, until they came to a stop on the dolphin pool.The dark haired male walked cautiously forward, looking over the side of the pool into the murky water. It was too dark to see anything much, but the loud chatter of sounds below the surface was further proving his speculations about where the Siren went.With quick feet, Keith ran inside the building, down the steps to the underwater viewing area. His eyes searched the dull waters, looking, searching...A hazy silhouette was the first thing he saw- something that was most definitely not a dolphin. An eerie glow seemed to emit from it, but as soon as it appeared it faded from view.Keith's eyes scanned the tank, trying to find the Siren, before he suddenly had no reason to.In a mere instant the Siren had jump scared him, coming from the side wall of the tank. Keith tripped backward in surprise, falling to the ground as the Siren's tail slammed hard against the glass. It's teeth were bared, eyes sharp, fins flared, claws scraping against glass as if trying to get to the intruder on the other side. It was as equally terrifying as it was magnificent, and Keith couldn't for the life of him seem to be able to look away.As the Siren's cold, blue eyes fixated on Keith, it relaxed slightly, recognition evident on its face. It's fins relaxed, flattening back down. With an almost disapproving flick of the tail, the Siren growled, before swimming away from the glass.Keith recovered from his initial shock with a small snort of amusement, finding the fish's actions almost sassy. He gritted his teeth as he stood up from where he tumbled. A voice resonated from behind him. "What happened, you fall on your ass?"Pidge, of course it was Pidge. She was always up early."Yeah," Keith wiped his hands on his pants. "The Siren is in the dolphin's tank. Jump scared me, that's all.""Wait." Pidge's eyes went wide. "The Siren is in the tank?!""Y-yeah."Pidge ran to the glass, before turning and running hurriedly up the stairs."Keith, we don't know what that thing will do to the dolphins! We know nothing about him. What happened to you watching him?!""Well I'm sorry that you specifically told me I didn't have to stay up all night!"Keith pursued Pidge up the steps to the deck. She was standing, peering over the side of the tank, trying to catch a glimpse of the creature.Keith ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't think this would happen.""It's fine," Pidge said quietly. "Sorry for blaming you- you needed rest after all. You always stay up later than anyone, and I can imagine how tired it makes you."Keith shrugged, before kneeling at the edge of the pool, splashing his hand in the water to try to lure Siren or dolphin over to himself. There was no response for several moments, and right as he was giving up, Pidge spoke."Keith.""Hmm?""Keith, look."He stood from where he was crouched, eyes following where Pidge was pointing to.In the center of the pool, two figures lingered. It was painstakingly obvious that it was Blue and the Siren. Keith frowned. "Shit, should I call her over here?"Pidge shook her head quickly, speaking in a whisper. "No... no. Let's just watch from a distance. We don't want to spook them."The Siren and the dolphin circled each other, a series of whistles and clicks resounding between them. No signs of aggression was evident, in fact, it was quite the opposite. After a few more uncertain seconds of rapid squeaking and chatter, Blue began swimming playfully around the Siren. Odd echoed cooing could be heard, obviously coming from the Siren. Keith smiled and sat at the edge of the pool, his movements finally catching Blue's attention. She let out a boisterous keen of sound, before swimming over. The Siren kept its distance, however. Keith figured it was the creature's mistrust toward mankind. He couldn't blame him, considering the conditions he came from.For now, just knowing the Siren was in a safe place was enough for Keith.~~~The human named Keith left the side of the pool after a while of interacting with the dolphin called "Blue."She was cheerful and caring, Lance was quickly growing accustomed to her presence.She understood him, and he understood her. It was an instant connection, really.Throughout the day, Lance was also exposed to the other dolphins in the pool. Their personality traits differed from one another, each dolphin having it's own shine. Blue was arguably his favorite though.It was late afternoon when Lance was finally reaching a level of drowsiness he could no longer ignore. He was still in pain from his injuries, and although his healing was faster in the water, it didn't mean it would happen overnight. A day or two at the least, with proper care. The past few days had been stressful for him, and the whole turn of events had left him incredibly disoriented. He hadn't the clue where he was, nor was he in any shape to try to swim back to the shoal.Blue had caught onto his tiredness a while ago. Insistent chirps and whines begged for him to rest, but he was too afraid to let his guard down.More whistles, reassuring and calming. Lance wondered if Blue had ever been a mother; she sure had the nurturing nature of one.Lance finally gave in after a while more of pestering. He trusted Blue's judgement about the safety, and he knew she would keep him safe if anything were to happen. Lance swam around the tank once, scowling. He desperately wanted some sort of nook or cave he could wedge into for maximum security and privacy, but alas, all he had was the pale white bottom of the tank. With a displeased whine directed to Blue, he settled down, tail curling protectively around himself. Blue observed, continuing her harmonies and clicks that soon soothed him into sleep.Keith had been watching from afar downstairs through the glass, eating a small snack. Allura had closed the aquarium for the day, providing a claim that there had simply been a dilemma that was getting resolved. She was currently feeding the small rays and bottom dweller sharks in the touch tank with Romelle. "Blue seems attached," Allura mused, spying Keith watching through the glass."She's caring," Keith agreed. "I can't say I'm too surprised.""Black seems to be getting better, too." Shiro had gone out earlier to visit the dolphin, and it had instantly lifted all the dolphin's spirits."Yeah."Romelle was shaking the excess water off her hands when she spoke."What's on your mind, Keith?"A small shrug, then, "Do you think the Siren will warm up to us?""It's stuck in the tank... I don't think he has much of a choice, don't you think?""Yeah. But will it come back out of the water?" "Who knows. We at least know he can morph between forms, so even if we had to forcefully drag him out, we know he'd be okay on land." Keith breathed out a laugh, looking over his shoulder at the blonde female. "I'd be worried for our sake if we had to do that. You have no idea what sort of shit that thing could do. People were completely torn apart like they got mauled by a lion or something."Romelle looked taken aback. "I nearly forgot about that aspect. He just looks so peaceful right now."Keith turned back around, looking at the siren as it slept, and how Blue swam close by, letting out series of clicks and sounds of a language humans would never be able to fully understand.The sight was almost sentimental, something special Keith felt he was invading as he viewed from behind the glass. Even if this creature had vitally wounded Shiro and caused so much havoc, Keith couldn't find it in him to hate him.Because deep inside, Keith felt a pang of sympathy. He knew the Siren was just frightened, and was doing what he could to survive.Nobody could blame that.