Chapter Text
"So, let me get this straight, we're swimming all the way out here based on a rumor?" Hunk demands from his friend. "Don't you think that's a bad idea?"
"You worry to much, Hunk! Only a few fish have been out here, so we're bound to find all sorts of treasure!" Lance comes to a halt when Hunk swims in front of him and blocks his path.
"Did you ever stop to wonder why only a handful of fish come out here? What if there's sharks! " His face pales. "What would Shiro and Allura do to us if they found out we're out here!? That'd be even worse than sharks!"
"Hunk," Lance places a hand on his shoulder. "Relax, man. We'll be in and out before anyone knows we're gone, and, I'm not saying there are any, but if there are sharks, we'll be half way back to Altea before they even know we were here." He swims around Hunk.
Hunk floats there for a moment before swimming after Lance."Pidge knows were out here!"
Lance scoffs. "Yeah, but Pidge is good at keeping secrets. Besides, she like when I bring her stuff."
"Then why don't you bring her along on your adventures?"
"Because, Pidge isn't strong enough if there's something I need help lifting."Lance stops and looks back at Hunk. "Plus, she's the baby, they'd notice if she was gone a lot sooner than us."
Hunk's shoulders slump and he sighs in defeat. "Sure, man. If you say so."
Lance and Hunk soon come to their destination. Lance excitedly leans over a rock to examine the sunken ship. He lets out a groan when he feels Hunk shaking beside him.
"Oh c'mon, it's not that scary," He huffed.
"I don't know, Lance." Hunk says as he sinks down. His eyes peeking over the rock. "What if it's haunted by ghost pirates?"
Lance rolls his eyes. "Pirates aren't real, Hunk."
"Yes. Yes they are, don't you remember what they did to Shiro's arm?" Hunk glances at Lance nervously.
"You still believe in that silly old fish tale? Man, he just told us that so we wouldn't get to close to ships." The leaner mermaid states. "He probably lost his arm to a shark, or something." Lance hoists himself over the rock. "You can stay there if you're too scared." He swims off, leaving his friend to stay hidden in the rocks.
Hunk begins to chew on his lower lip. He presses his forehead to the rock before pushing himself away from it and swimming after Lance. He chooses to ignore the smug look he gets from the other mermaid and follows him into the ship.
They swim around, in search of anything remotely interesting. Lance picks up a long tube-like object and wipes away the algae that had grown on the lenses. He holds it up to his eye and faces Hunk, surprised to see how far away he was. He lowers the item and raises an eyebrow in confusion to find that Hunk was within arm's reach. He repeats the action a few more times before stuffing the item in his pouch.
Hunk watches Lance pick up and examine random items before placing them in his pouch. "What exactly are we looking for?" He asks. He picks up what he recognizes to be a necklace made of pearls. "You think Shay would like this?"
"Anything we can find!" Lance answers his first question before examining the pearl necklace. "You could give her a rock and she'd love it. Because it came from you." Lance coos teasingly and pinches his friends cheeks.
Hunk's cheeks turn red, both from embarrassment and Lance's pinching. He slaps his hands away. "Quit it."
Lance laughs and releases his cheeks before returning to his search.He rummages through a bunch of coins. He had plenty of coins, and didn't feel like he needed any more. He finds a small ornate box and shakes it next to his ear. There was something inside it. He tries to pry it open, only to discover that it's locked. Lance feels a small crank on the side of the box and he turns it.Watching in amazement as a small compartment on the top of the box opened. Some creature that looked similar to a sea gull begins to spin around as he turns the crank. He can hear very faint music coming from the box.
Hunk looks up as a shadow is suddenly cast over the ship, plunging them in darkness. He swallows hard when he sees something large swim by. He swims over to Lance as he places the box in his pouch. Hunk reaches out to touch his shoulder.
"Lance, I think we should go." He says, a hint of fear in his voice.
"Pfft," Lance turns around to face Hunk. "If you're scared you can wait--" His voice catches in his throat when he sees a large eye staring at them. "Outside...." He grabs Hunk by the wrist and hightails it just as the large feeding tentacle of a giant squid comes crashing through.
The two mermaids swim through the ship as it begins to crumble from the squids rampage. They swim through a hole in the hull, narrowly avoiding being grabbed by the squid. Lance scans the area and finds a cave and pulls Hunk to it. As expected, the squid follows them inside, crashing into the pillars and breaking them as the mermaids weave around them with ease. With the squid stalled by the pillars Lance and Hunk swim the to a dead end.
"Lance, he's gonna get us!" Hunk shrieks.
"No he's not! Look!" Lance points upward. A light shines through the top of the cave. "That hole is too small for him to get through!"
"Yeah, but it's too small for me too!" Hunk begins to hyperventilate. "Oh, man, we're gonna die! We're gonna be squid food!"
Lance turns around and grabs Hunk by the shoulders. "Hunk! Listen to me! I won't let anything happen to you. Trust me." He gives him his signature smile.
Hunk takes a deep breath and calms down some. "Alright. I trust you."
"Good, now you go first and if you get stuck, I'll push you."
Hunk looks at Lance with hesitation before doing as instructed. Just as Lance predicted, Hunk gets stuck halfway through. He swims up and begins to push with all his might. From the corner of his eye he can see the squids feeding tentacles, which meant the squid was not far behind. He can feel Hunk begin to move upward as he pushes him, and eventually he breaks through the hole just as the squid charges at Lance.
The squid's feeding tentacle begins to wrap around Lance's tail fin, just as the mermaid shoots upward and out of it's reach. The squid goes to follow, it's two feeding tentacles poking out of the hole and blindly grabbing for the two mermaids. Unknown to the squid the two were swimming as fast as they could to safety.
They come to a stop and look back. In the distance they can see the squid still grabbing around for them. Lance grins with triumph. His plan had worked. He can't help but let out a cry of victory just before Hunk pulls him into a tight hug.
"We're alive!" Hunk cheers as he squeezes Lance. "You saved us! Oh my gosh, I thought we were as good as dead!" He releases Lance when he lets out a squeak. "How did you know that would work!?"
Lance gives Hunk a sheepish grin. "I figured there was a fifty fifty chance, so I took it." He swims off before Hunk could say anything. "C'mon! Let's go home!"
"Finally you're back!" A younger mermaid swims over to Lance and Hunk when they return. "I was getting tired of waiting."
"Oh gee, I'm sorry Pidge!" Lance says in mock concern. "I guess almost being eaten by a giant squid made us a little slow today!"
Pidge's eyes widen behind her glasses when she hears this. "You actually saw a giant squid? Lucky! I wish I was there to see it.."
"No. No you don't." Hunk says as the three swim towards Pidge's bedroom.
They swim through the window and Lance pours the contents of his pouch onto the floor. He rubs at his tail fin, pulling a loose scale free while Pidge rummages through the pile. She lets out a small 'oh' in wonder as she examines the tube. She holds the small end to her eye and lets out a startled gasp when Hunk and Lance appear incredibly close. She lowers it, only to repeat the process.
"Fascinating..." She swims to her window and looks out of the tube at the scenery. "I can see things up to a mile away!"
"What? But when I looked in it, Hunk looked like he was miles away!" Lance protests as he fiddles with the box some more.
"Well, maybe you were using it wrong," Pidge swims back over and sets herself on the ground.
"Do you know what it is?" Hunk asks.
"It's a flingteport." Pidge says matter-of-factually while adjusting her glasses. "Humans use them to see things from a distance." She watches as Lance tries to pry open the box in his hands. "Hang on, don't break it." She swims to her bed and pulls out a sharp flat tool before returning to the floor. "Hand it over."
Lance hands her the box and watches as she jams the knife in the seam and begin to wiggle it up and down until the box opens. The trio almost butt heads with one another as they peer inside the box. Inside the box was all sorts of human jewelry. Lance reaches in and pulls out a necklace. The pendant was hanging open. He carefully opens it and finds the fade picture of a woman.
Lance stares at the woman in the photo a moment longer then closes the pendant. He begins examining his other finds. Pidge picks up something flat and round. It was made out of wood.
"This, this is very similar to our knights shields, so I assume that small humans would use these to defend themselves." She explains as Lance's face pales.
Lance lets out a panicked yell and begins to shove everything back in his pouch. "Shiro's going to kill me!" He shouts, snatching the shield away from Pidge. "I forgot my training again!" He shoves his pouch in Hunk's arms. "Take this to our hideaway! I gotta go!" And with that he hurries out of the room.
Lance slams into the wall as he speeds into the room with the other trainee's. He shakes his head and hears the the others laugh at him. Looking up he's met with a disappointed look from Shiro.
"I'm glad you actually decided to show up today." Shiro says as the younger mermaid straightens up. "Too bad class is over." The laughter from the other trainees gain his attention. They quiet down when he shoots them a look. He congratulates them for a hard days work and tells them to go home before turning back to Lance. "What's your excuse this time?"
"I was just, y'know, goofing off and I lost track of the time." Lance explains.
Shiro lets out a heavy sigh. "Lance, how do you expect to be a knight if you don't even show up for training?" He places his hand on Lance's shoulder. "Listen, you may not be able to graduate with your class this year. But if you start taking this seriously, you'll be able to graduate next year. I can help you."
"...I don't know if I want to be a knight anymore, Shiro." Lance pulls away and swims over to the window. "There's something more for me out there. I can feel it." He turns back to Shiro. A look of determination in his blue eyes. "I want to explore Shiro! I want to see the human world! I want to know what it's like up there, to lay out on the sand in the sun!"
Shiro watches as Lance swims around the room, going on about the human world. "They have so many wonderful inventions! They have boxes that can play music!"
"Lance,"
"They have something called 'fire' and it burns when you touch it, but I don't know why!"
"Lance,"
"I'd face ten giant squids if it meant I could spend just one day in the human world!"
"Lance!" Shiro grabs him by the arm. "Lance, stop it! Please." He makes Lance look at him. "Pidge's family. Her father and her brother, they wanted to see it too. I, wanted to see it. So we went to the surface, and--" He trails off, releasing Lance and rubs his left arm. His hand brushes over where his arm became nothing more than a nub. "The human world is dangerous for us, Lance. I was lucky, I was able to get away. But Sam and Matt--" Shiro trails off again and grips Lance's shoulder once more. "Please, promise me you'll never go up there."
Lance looks at Shiro and pulls away. "I can't promise you that," He turns away. "I'm sorry." He swims off.
Lance lies flat on his back in his hideaway, his eyes closed. Lazily turning the crank on the music box as he thinks about what Shiro had said. When he opens his eyes finds that Pidge and Hunk were hovering over him.
"You okay?" Hunk asks. He was obviously concerned.
"Yeah, you look a little blue," Pidge adds. "I mean, aside from your tail fin."
"Shiro says the human world is dangerous, and that I shouldn't go up there." Lance explains. He turns over and sets the music box down. "But that can't be right." He swims out of the hideaway. "It just can't be."
Pidge follows after him, dragging Hunk behind her. "You've been going up to shore for years, right? Watching from a distance as humans walk on the beach, right?"
"Yeah." Lance answers."But it's not enough."
The three come to a halt when the can just barely make out the outline of a ship above the waves in the distance. Lance's eyes light up, and Pidge can see this. She grabs him by the wrist.
"Lance, no. It's dangerous."
"Don't be such a stick in the sand," Lance says, jerking his arm away and swimming towards the ship. "I just want to take a closer look."
"Lance!" Pidge calls out and swims after him.
Hunk glances nervously behind him. "Guys? I don't think we should--" He falls silent when he sees they're to far ahead to hear him. "Shiro's going to kill us."