This beauty was done by wolfpainters. Still on tumblr.

xXx

Keith accepted the fact that Lance was gone after about fifteen minutes of staring in the direction in which he'd disappeared. The current seemed to be taking him in the correct direction so far, so he wasn't about to complain about that, but he was pretty uncomfortable with the idea of not knowing where Lance was or how to get his attention.

As the sun rose higher, he crossed his arms and stared across the open expanse of the waves, wondering what to do if Lance wasn't back by the time the current died out. Would he just start rowing? How much farther would the current take him? How much longer would Lance take? What if Lance came back and couldn't find him? What if Lance didn't come back at all and he couldn't find the ship without the fishes' help?

The more he thought, the more he worried. It didn't take long for him to realize that he just needed to stop thinking about it and hope for the best.

He took a sip of water from one of the waterskins, partially to ease his mind and partially to quench his thirst. He still had enough supplies to last him for a couple weeks, if he was stingy, and...

And he was alone. In a small boat. In the middle of the ocean. With no land in sight. At the mercy of the waves and wind. With the late morning sun possibly burning him.

"Alright, then. Time to think of something else," Keith said aloud quietly.

Were there other mermaids? Lance hadn't mentioned any, but that didn't mean they didn't exist. What would they be like? Were their tails all blue like Lance's to blend in, or did they all have their own unique color? What was their society like? Did they just act like underwater humans, or did they have their own customs and traditions? Were they all as inquisitive of humans as Lance, or were they more reserved? Were they close to their relatives? What was their societal structure like?

He chuckled to himself. Maybe he should think of something a little less far-fetched. Something more practical.

How was he planning on saving the crew? That was a good question. He could stop at a port and hire some men to help, but he didn't have any money. He'd have to promise that, one, he'd somehow get enough money to pay them, and two, they'd live long enough to get paid, and he wasn't sure he could guarantee either. And without men, he certainly couldn't make a full-scale attack. Unless Lance had lots of deep-running connections in the mermaid world, that option was out of the picture.

He could sneak on board and save them, assuming the lookout didn't see his boat from a distance. If Lance came back and was still planning on helping, he could serve as a distraction of some sort. Any sailor in his right mind would be drawn irresistibly to look at such a strange creature as a mermaid, even if it was barely within view. Then Keith could get on board unnoticed, free the crew, and get them onto the waiting boat. That seemed like his best bet, but he couldn't be sure that there wouldn't be more lookouts that hadn't been distracted by Lance to spot him from afar and tell the others.

What if he was captured before he could free the crew? Then they'd all be prisoners, and no closer to getting anywhere.

He paled slightly as another thought occurred to him: What if the crew was gone by the time he got to the ship? Sure, the pirates were heading for their main port, but that didn't mean they wouldn't stop somewhere else along the way to acquire more rations and get rid of a few extra mouths to feed. What then? He might not be able to find them, and then--

No. He couldn't think like that. He had to think positively. He couldn't afford to lose hope. His crew was counting on him.

Wow. His crew. That sounded strange. They had always been his fellow crew. But now... now he was responsible for them. That was a lot on his shoulders, and it was just dawning on him that he might not be cut out for this suddenly enormous task. He was no great leader. People didn't instinctively follow him like they did Shiro, and he was in no way an excellent strategist. His plans were limited to 'Do this, don't do this, and don't mess up.' How could he be expected to lead them? How did he think he was going to go against a whole crew of pirates to save a group that might not even be able to work together without their leader?

He glanced at the sun. It seemed to have passed its peak, but that didn't mean that it was getting any cooler any time soon. He ate a piece of the dried fish and took a sip of water. "Where are you, Lance?" he asked the open air and gentle waves.

"Sorry I took so long, I got caught up with my abuelita. She kept trying to give me more food." Keith whipped his head around to see the mermaid swimming alongside the boat, floating comfortably on his back and windmilling his arms lazily.

"Y-you're back!" he stuttered with surprise.

"Yeah, and I would've been back sooner, but..." he shrugged. "Insistent abuelitas, and on top of that, a colossal squid needed a touch of assistance."

Keith rubbed his forehead with disbelief, trying to understand what Lance was saying. "So you're still helping me, then?"

Lance looked incredulous. "Of course I'm still helping you. You're fascinating! And this is the most fun I've had in ages."

Keith nodded appreciatively. "Good." He paused, then blinked. "Uh... when does the current stop?" he asked.

Lance rolled to his belly, then to his back again as he swam, apparently already bored. "In a bit. I don't really know distances, but it'll be a while."

"Fair enough, I suppose." Keith took a sip of water. "So... who's this 'abuelita' you mentioned?"

"She's my... grandmother, I think your word is. She's fun, but she's also a touch crazy." He laughed. "Every time she sees me, she insists that I haven't eaten anything I last saw her and that I have to eat more. It's really hard to say no, so I usually end up eating until I want to throw up. But her food is amazing, so I suppose that's good."

Keith sat forward in his seat, realizing this was the perfect opportunity to ask all the questions he'd come up with. "So you still talk to your family?" he asked.

Lance's expression said 'What are you talking about?' as he replied, "Yeah, of course. We're all really close. My parents, my siblings, my cousins, my grandparents, all of us. Most of us don't live together, but we visit each other all the time." He grinned up at Keith. "I don't really have one set place where I live. I'm more of a drifter; I just can't find it in my heart to stop looking for new places and experiences."

Keith nodded understandingly. "You have wanderlust." Any decent sailor had some level of wanderlust, and Keith was certainly no exception.

Lance thought about the term for a moment. "Yeah, that sounds right. Wanderlust. I like the sound of that."

"Tell me about your family," Keith requested. "What're they like?"

"Well, my mom is really strict. She barely let me leave the kiin for the longest time." The word he said sounded like 'keen.' He chuckled. "I probably would still be there, cooped up doing dishes with Veronica if it weren't for my dad."

"What do you mean, 'leave the kiin'?" Keith asked.

"Oh, a kiin is like a place where you live. Like..." Lance pursed his lips in thought. "...an abode. But with more of a... sense of attachment, I guess."

"Like a home?"

Lance tilted his head. "I don't know that word, but maybe."

"So... your dad?" Keith prompted.

"Right, right. Well, my dad knew I couldn't stand being stuck there, so he decided that it was time to let me go and live my own life. So I've been wandering around ever since, just doing whatever happens to be there to be done. Of course, I visit home all the time so see them, but they get when I go a while without saying hi." He smiled softly, and his gaze became unfocused as he reminisced about his kin.

Keith eagerly continued asking questions. "Are there a lot of mermaids? Other than just your family?"

Lance shrugged. "Probably, but different groups usually stay kinda far apart. It's just easier that way. Fewer disagreements. I've met some other groups, but our different lifestyles didn't really... mix well." He grinned sheepishly. "I think I might have seriously insulted their leader."

Keith laughed. "That wouldn't surprise me."

Lance stuck his tongue out at him. "You should try dealing with them. It's a pain. Almost any normal action, like wiping your nose or scratching your head or even sneezing is an insult unless you say the right things, so naturally, they thought I was some kind of uncultured flekah when I didn't do things exactly right."

"What's that? A... flekah?"

"Put simply, an idiot. You do know what that an idiot, don't you?"

"Yeah, I know what that is," Keith chuckled.

"Any other questions before the current tapers out? Because it's about to," Lance warned.

"Are all your tails blue? Or does it depend on the mermaid?"

Lance moved to the back of the boat. "It depends. Colors usually run in the family, but it really only makes them slightly more common. My family has a lot of green tails, but it's not really a majority. My mom's is this gorgeous shade of green, and my dad's is a purplish red, same as my brother Luis. But my sister has a deep, brilliant blue tail, much more beautiful than mine. It's gorgeous."

Keith leaned toward him, looking at his tail as it moved steadily up and down. "Your tail is beautiful, too," he said, hoping he wasn't crossing any boundaries.

Lance waved him off, then started pushing the boat again. "It's not that great. It's pretty mediocre by mermaid standards."

"By human standards, it's spectacular." Lance blushed, and Keith continued. "The light catches it just right no matter what you do, and it just sparkles and..." He shrugged. "You should just be more proud of it, is all."

Lance smiled bashfully. "Thanks." They both accepted the silence that fell over the two of them, comfortable with simply one another's company.

A decent part of the afternoon passed that way. Then, as afternoon moved on to evening, there was a small splash, and the boat slowed again. Keith turned and saw Lance speaking underwater with a particularly large tuna, slowly growing farther as the boat drifted away. He crossed his arms as he waited (somewhat impatiently) for the conversation of clicks and squeaks to be over.

Lance nodded his thanks to the fish and surfaced, ignoring the water dripping from his hair into his eyes. He swam back over to Keith, grinning. The fish darted to the front of the boat and stopped about ten feet away, seeming to be waiting for something.

When the mermaid didn't say anything, Keith lifted his hands and leaned forward eagerly. "Well?"

Lance lifted his chin proudly, beaming up at Keith. "We have a lead."

xXx

"So it's hopeless, then. We can't get out. That's it."

"Allura, you're not listening to me. I said we can't get out on our own."

"So what are you saying, Pidge? That someone is going to just swoop in and save us?"

"Anything is possible. They could run into a Battalion ship."

"But if their previous actions have anything to say, the Battalion would sink the ship without a second thought."

"Coran, do me a favor and shut up."

"All right."

"Look, I'm not saying that's the only thing that could happen. And there's always the off chance that we can escape on our own. But the point is we have to be patient and hold out hope that we can get away."

"I hope you're right."

"Hunk--" Pidge stopped and sighed. "I hope so too."