Chapter twenty-six: Lyra's Ocean

It was morning time for Shiro, Keith, and the others as they were going to find the quintessence crystal pieces and the samurai.

But as right now, they were stuck on the fork of the road. "Ok, not exactly my favourite place to get loss!" Lance said.

"Well, what else are we supposed to do!" Keith said. "We spent all that time looking for Stats!"

It has been a day since Stats had decided to run away from the group after he felt being rejected by everyone around him. But luckily for him, Shiro, Keith, and the others found him and took him back with them.

Since then, the bonds between Stats and Shiro, Keith, and the others had grow stronger.

"Stats!" Stats said.

"What is it, Stats!" Shiro said.

Stats pointed to the signs on the fork of the road, Written on them were Lyra and Jarre.

"Stats!"

"Looks like there are two locations!" Shiro said.

"Hey, you're right, Lyra is the closest to where we gonna go!" Lance said.

Then Keith trying to turned away, "Hey, Keith, Where are you going!" Hunk said.

"I think we should go and look for the quintessence crystal shards!" Keith said.

"Why go that way!" Hunk said.

"I just think...Jarre is the best way to go!"

But Hunk didn't believe him, Instead.

"Nooooooo!" Keith cried out as his nails scraped against the ground.

"Nnnggghhh! Come on!" Hunk grumbled as he continued dragging him by separate feet with Pidge.

"I don't wanna!"

"You said you would help us on the journey, remember?" Pidge grunted as she pulled him inch by inch.

"I said the quintessence crystal shards will be in Jarre, not in Lyra!"

This is the annoyance the two found themselves in for the last fifteen minutes.

Months ago, the quintessence crystal came back to Altea through the body of Shiro who came in this world through a portal from Earth, where he met Keith, a half-daemon and a Altean named Romelle.

They went on a journey through the world of Altea to find the Samurai, a mystic group of Guardians who maintain the world between Human and Daemon, along the way, they met a Larval named Stats, a renegade man named Lance who pretend to be a monk and has ice powers in his right hand, there's also Hunk and Pidge, two deamon explorer, one human and one Kitsune and the mighty deamon lion, known as Kiaion.

And during this journey, they discovered that Adam, Shiro's boyfriend has been with the galra empire, In fact, he joined them in their conquest of the planet. he also led the attack of the deamon explorer village alongside Sendak.

It was also in that moment, where Shiro shattered the quintessence crystal into pieces to prevent the empire from taking it and now they must collect the pieces before Haggar from finding the rest.

Almost immediately upon realizing he was actually going to Lyra, Keith looked as if he had a massive heart attack, bolting back to the other way after the path was chosen. Unfortunately for him, arguing and begging proved ineffective when you were dealing with a two deamon explorers. For whatever reason, reasons that became obvious but Keith had no interest in the slightest to join them on their voyage through the ocean in the middle of the sea to some place he's never been to before.

Since then Keith found himself being dragged forcefully throughout the dirt as he sunk his front fingers as deeply as he could get them into the ground, refusing to budge an inch and forcing them to spend the last fifteen minutes dragging Keith through the land that they technically started half an hour ago!

"Keith come on, you're acting childish." Pidge grumbled.

"Oh, really? Maybe we should see how you react if someone threatened to toss you into a volcano!" Keith hissed back. "I'd like to see you willingly go along with it!"

"Ok, now you're just exaggerating. Nothing bad is going to happen, the seas are totally safe!" No matter how calmly she spoke, it did nothing to erase Keith's fears. "You can swim, can't you?"

"Of course I can, Pidge, it was one of the basic necessities that were taught to all children", Keith said

"Come on, Keith, just think about it." He looked back as Shiro gave him a comforting look. "We're going to the land of Lyra! Vast open seas, plenty of fresh air!"

"Really... you're going to try that..." Keith spoke completely unamused. "Duh, ok, why don't we sing songs on the boat while we're at it?"

"Yeah!" Lance said.

"For the love of..." If it wasn't for the fact they were the only thing keeping Keith along the ground, he would've happily facepalmed with one of his hands.

Shiro himself was starting to get annoyed with the situation. Every minute they wasted was another minute something else could be happening and another opportunity for the Galra to launch an attack or from Haggar, there was no telling what they could try to pull off next!

And despite his better judgement, he knew they needed Keith, not for the faint of heart. If he didn't have Keith with him, who knows what would have happened since Keith was the strongest member here, close to Shiro and Lance.

With time being of the essence, as well as the untimely embarrassment this was causing for Shiro and the others along the way, Shiro found himself left with little choice.

He had to use the secret weapon.

"You know what? You're right. You don't have to come with us at all." Shiro announced with a smile, dropping Keith's foot. Both him and Hunk, Lance, Kiaion, Stats, and Pidge looked back to him in disbelief at that.

"I... don't?" Keith said as he wanted nothing more than to believe everything he was hearing. The only problem was who he was hearing it from.

"Nope. Not at all. Come on, guys." Hunk looked back between the two of them as Shiro dragged him along. He knew he was up to something, he just had no idea what.

Something was wrong here. Shiro never let Keith have his way, at least not as much of the way as Keith wanted it except that he never let him do anything alone.

But now, he was offering to let Keith have his way for once in every way he wanted, going off and telling him how he would leave without him too. What on the world was he planning?

"Ok, I'll bite, what are you doing?" Keith demanded to know as he got up and caught up to them.

"Oh, nothing, nothing." Shiro's mouth and his facial expression was telling Keith two different things. "I figured if you're going to be like this the entire way to Lyra we might as well let you stay here."

"Y-Yeah, you should!" Keith smiled proudly.

"Yup, this is all your call." Shiro nodded back. "You're the one in charge, do you get to decide when you want!"

"Mhhm!" Keith nodded crossing his arms. "It's about time you people will listening to me!"

"And we most certainly did." Shiro said "But we are now here!" he then shown the seaside town to Keith.

It was at that time Keith finally realized what Shiro was doing. He couldn't believe someone like him would stoop so low either. "...You didn't..."

"didn't what? I didn't do anything, You let it happen!" Shiro said as he pointed to Lyra, the town that was close to the ocean along with the evilness behind those Shiro's eyes, Keith just knew it.

"Yeah!" Lance joined in. "I totally agree with you, Shiro!" He looked semi-worriedly to Shiro. "If we got lost at sea, we might be gone for months on end!"

Neither of them cared about the twitching brow of death Keith was glaring at them with. Keith has never felt more hatred and contempt for anyone in his life than he does at this very moment.

"Why do you tell me this! You basically, you're threatening me by saying I either have to go with you!" Keith stated bluntly.

"Threatening? No, I would never threaten anyone. I'm just pointing out the obvious, Keith!" Shiro said.

Realizing that he had no choice in the matter, "...I really really hate you."

"I know."

Lyra Cantina, the greatest establishment in the history of all kind.

Whenever one had troubles or woes to deal with, the average person turned to their favorite beverage down at one of these places. The present one located right off the cliffside of a dock yard, Shiro, Keith, and the others made their way through the doors as they continued their search for a place to stay for the night.

They couldn't just go with any run of the mill kind of place either, while the cantinas tended to attract customers of all shapes and lifestyles, they could be a danger to anyone else who was a outside!

If there was ever a time one needed to find a moment of peace, or those looking for mercenaries or allies of any alignment, the cantina was the solution to all of life's greatest problems. It was also home to a dozen or so cutthroats half the time but thankfully, as the evening light was still over their world, they had little to fear for the time. .. hopefully.

Peaceful or not there were still plenty of ruffians to go around. From humans and daemons just having a good time and refreshing drinks with each other, to other brigandes and thieves matching wits and cards against each other in a manly game of Go Fish. While there wasn't anything to too ominous or worrying about the partygoers, nevertheless, the group remained cautious as they examined the great house of fun.

"This is so cool!" Lance squealed at the sight of the awesome-looking place. How could he not be excited to be in the same room as dozens of other shipwrights and captains, regardless of who was hitting each other after losing a card game! "Lyra is just like I imagined it! Everyone here looks just like a pirate."

"Focus, Lance!" Hunk clicked her fingers to grab his attention. "We're not to find a sea captain."

"No pirates?" Lance said

"No pirates." Hunk called back.

"Arrr..." He moaned drooping his arms.

"None of these people look qualified to sail a ship." Shiro said.

"Obviously!" Keith said.

Rolling his eyes, Shiro made his way over to the server across the counter. Even the staff here alone had a rugged look to them, the pink woman in front of her having surprisingly large muscles for a person who wiped and served tables all day. And there was something rather unsettling about this one having a fishing hook tattooed against her bulging left arm in a cantina full of people.

"Uhhh hello? " He smiled nervously as the server gave a small glare back. "Heh...do you have a place to stay!"

The server silently pointed to a table in the corner where two people were arm wrestling. The big green competition lost within in a second.

"I won. Drinks all around. Put it on my friend here's tab." The victor said, happily, kicking his feet up the table.

Shiro and the others walked over to the table and saw at the table. He was well-build with tousled burgundy hair held back with a black headband, he wore blue coat and white shirt with a red bandana around his neck. With his dark brown pants, leather holsters, and spurs on the ends of his boots, he looked like a mix between a pirate and a cowboy put into one.

"Uh, hiiii. We were told you had a place to stay?"

"Indeed!" The man planted his feet on the table without a second thought, posing before the gang as heroically as he could. "I am the one, the only, Sea Hawk!"

"Sea Hawk? That's the coolest name ever!" Lance cheered pumping his fist.

"Yes! The one and the same! He who hunted the seven wonders of the seas, he who battled the mighty Kraken when only a board of his ship remained, and he who saw the dreaded terrors of the deep and councurred them all! I am the Legendary Sea Hawk!"

"I..." Shiro didn't know what to make of this.

With just a few short lines and a couple words of dialogue Sea Hawk somehow became more full of himself than Lance was capable of.

"Look Captain, sir? I was wondering-" Shiro said, taking a seat.

"Please, just call me Captain Sea Hawk." He insisted, leaning in his bench again.

"Sorry. Captain Sea Hawk, we just looking for a place to stay!" Shiro said.

"Hahaha," he laughed again, "apply for the position? I am the one and only Sea Hawk. I'm offer only."

"Offer only?" Keith pulled over one of the over chairs as she sat in it backwards. "Okay. Just because "Sea" is in your name, doesn't tell us anything about your ACTUAL qualifications, the only thing we know you're just a hack."

"A hack? A hack?!" He choked. "I once ran the 50-klick Galebreath Gauntlet in less than 20 klicks. I maneuvered the straits of Serpentine with nary a chip in the paint of my bow. My shanties are considered so desirable, that sirens fling THEMSELVES into the sea at the sound of them. And because I can tell you're wondering, my hair is... naturally shiny."

"It is shiny! You're hired!" Lance decided, earning a quick slap in the arm from Hunk.

"Ow!"

What were they supposed to say to this? What was the most appropriate response? None of them were thinking the same thing and were nowhere near considering how the other felt about this mysteriously brash and prideful man.

Shiro didn't know how to respond to someone of his caliber, especially dealing with Lance who obvious swindle people with his monk setups, but with Lance on the other hand was in too much awe at the man's greatness. He was just one detail away from practically being a superhero, having all the right and cool things to say, dressing like he was donning a hero's costume. All he needed now was a superpower and the awesomeness would be complete!

"Whoa, there, kids. What makes you think you can afford me?" Sea Hawk asked.

"I assure you, Captain Sea Hawk, money is no object." Shiro said, smiled, albeit it was a little forced.

Sea Hawk reached into his pocket and pulled out a paper before handing it to Shiro.

"Behold my fee." he said.

Taking it with a bit of queasiness, the group

leaned over as Shiro opened the folded paper tab. Revealing it's contents before them, Shiro, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge were devastated at the sight of the unreasonable demand of money. Out of the four, Keith was the only one who didn't drop his jaw at the sight, finding himself actually surprised as he let out a whistle.

"Money might be an object". Shiro said nervously before standing up abruptly, and finally having enough of the irritation presented to him, "Money might be an object. You know what, fine. We'll just find ANOTHER place!"

"Good luck with that. You won't find another soul who knows the treacherous place of Lyra since crawling with Galra and they love you in their prison!" As fast as he turned them away he quickly reeled them back in with the announcement.

"What do you mean!"

"Well I heard rumors!" He questioned in a joking manner. "That about a reincarnated samurai traveling around with a group of teenagers, I'm sure that will really bring them here!"

Grimacing at the sleazy bargaining, Keith whispered over to Shiro's ear as he stretched out his hand. "Just give me two minutes with this guy and I can get him to agree to anything." While Shiro was a little curious in how effective he could be against his seeming counterpart, he couldn't abide to possible torture of any kind, not even to his enemies. He smiled as he came up with another idea, planting Keith in the chair in front of him and pushing him to the table.

"Okay, well, here's the deal. We go one round, winner takes all. You win, we leave you alone. if we win, you take us to your place. At no cost." Shiro said. Perking up at this, Keith smirked as he set his elbow firmly on the table.

"Sounds good to me. Unless, of course, your afraid of bring beaten by a half-daemon."

What kind of fair bet was this? Either he won and got everything he demanded and then some and took them in or he lost and took them in free of charge. It all came down to a simple game of arm-wrestling against the mysterious boy that sat before him, grinning like a predator that just cornered it's prey. For all he knew he might've been capable of throwing him out the building in one toss, it would explain why they're so desperate to settle this in a match of strength!

But, his pride was at stake! As a captain of the nefarious seas of Altea as no man or woman has ever or will ever best him in a game of arm-wrestling! He's taken on creatures that would make little children wet themselves, he's scaled the coasts of the most hazardous terrain. He, was Captain Sea Hawk! And he would never allow his dignity to fall to the likes of these troublemakers!

"That's a terrible deal. But I am undefeated at arm wrestling. Let me show you how it's done, boy!" With a yank of his hand and a firm grip in the boy's, the match had begun!

As Lance, Shiro, and Hunk looked over him with cheer, Keith had to admit- for a guy that was clearly full of himself, he wasn't slouching and skimming on the details either. He had a great amount of strength in that showboating arm of his, forcing him to focus intently on him own defense until he felt him give way.

"Go Keith, put him in the dirt." Hunk cheered.

"This is so dumb" Pidge muttered behind Shiro and the others.

"Ha! Is this the best you've got? I once beat a Tyrosaur with biceps the size of my head in an arm-wrestling match that lasted two weeks." Sea Hawk said as he was impressed with the half-daemon boy but that all bragging distracted him for a second, giving Keith enough time to use his strength and slam his hand on the table.

"Huh?" No, it couldn't be! He refused to believe it regardless of it being right in front of him!

"Hah!" Keith grinned, folding his arms behind him as he leaned back in his chair. "How's that for a boy?

"Haha! Yeah!" Pidge and Hunk said as they are behind Keith, congratulated him, Lance high-fiving him as Shiro patted him back. With all that had happened up till now, Sea Hawk didn't know what to say. He was beaten, for the first time, not just to a young man but to a child at that! He couldn't allow his credibility to be at stake, not after all his glorious wins!

"W-Well, truth be told, I let you win so as to, ahem, boost your confidence." He revealed.

Sea Hawk jumped over the table and grabbed Shiro, who was annoyed by him and his over-the-top confidant. "Come on, kids, with me! Forward to adventure!"

This was definitely going to be the strangest day so far of Shiro's life but never the less as least he was going to spend it with Keith and their friends.

Elsewhere, in Zarkon's Central Command lives a dark room surrounded by a strange glowing liquid and in the center was Haggar who was still recovering from Shiro's attack.

"High priestess!" said one of the Druids, coming in the room. "I brought him, like you said!"

"Good!" she said as she stand up to see Adam, who has been leading the lower moons, While nothing of Adam's appearance said otherwise, yesterday had been a dark turn for the young man who was normal and human.

"So, Sendak said that you want to see me!" Adam said.

"Shiro is in Lyra!", She spoke, examining the image displayed with Adam at her side.

While Adam was unaware of Haggar's condition, her underhanded tactics and ruse was the proof that she displayed, shows that she was recovering slowly.

"And you're asking me this why!" Adam said.

"I'm giving you one more chance to bring him to him!" Haggar said.

"Uh, did Zarkon order you to do this!" Adam asked as a matter of fatally.

"And who is going to tell him? You?" she turned around and asked him, "you know as well as I, the man has quintessence crystal shards around his neck and if we get those pieces we'll become the most powerful threat in the known land!"

Adam closed his eyes and sighed in annoyance. "Fine, About time you start treating me like a commander anyway. I'll get those crystal shards!"

But as he turned to leave, the door briefly opened as another thought occurred to the dark witch. "Not so fast. You won't be going alone. You'll be joined by Commander Morvok"

Adam watched as a figure appeared from the darkened hallway, being met by a short, like really short galra man, dressed in red and black armor.

"Hello!" He said, happily.

"Oh, kay, who is this!" Adam said

"Morvok will see that you are...kept in line." Haggar answered.

"Ugh. Okay, whatever. You're at least giving me a vehicle, right?" Adam groans angrily.

"Something like that".

When Adam asked for a vehicle, he wasn't expecting a broken down boat in the middle of the ocean, after his successful mission with the lower moons, Adam had finally gain his first full-fledged mission, the first one he felt fully prepared for and was ready for the unexpected compared to last time. he wasn't going to let anyone get the better of him again, especially Shiro or Keith.

"You enjoying yourself there?" A voice spoke up from behind her. Looking back, he snapped out of his thoughts as he smiled back to the other Commander, one specifically assigned to assist her by Haggar.

"Oh, hey Commander Morvok." He greeted as Morvok leaned on the ship's rail next to him.

"Oh, I just love boats, don't you?" he commented "Wind in your hair, ocean on every side, miles and miles from the nearest dry land, watery death awaiting at the slightest mishap."

"Wait, that could actually happen!" Adam gaps as he surprise by Morvok's commentary, though it didn't ruin his fun.

"Yes, but our boats are 100% save!" Morvok added.

"I hope so! whatever it Haggar is planning, it better not be!" Adam said. "so when are going to!"

"What do you mean? We're already on our way, aren't we?" Morvok said, nervously.

"Morvok, are we going the right way!" Adam said.

"Well... okay we're not going the right way!" Morvok said.

"What... why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Adam said.

"Oh, because Haggar told me to follow your directions all the way through. She even joked about how she would "demote me" if I spoke once out of line too!" There was something about the way he said that with a clear smile on his face that made it a little unsettling.

It was nice to find a new friend in another Commander, possibly someone else he could trust while trying to piece together what was going on around here... even if a little clumsy.

As he took his attention away from Morvok, Adam saw his team goofing off with a weird ball and stick, staring at them.

"What are you looking at?" Adam asked "Get back to doing boat things."

"Welcome aboard the Dragon's Daughter Three!" Sea Hawk announced several minutes after they set off.

These were the moments he cherished the most. Excitement, adventure, and entertainment! The three E's, at least according to him! Out here a man like him could be anything he wanted to be! He could be vigilant, he could be a coward, he could be a notorious thug, he could be a righteous hero! Out here away from the rest of civilization among the populace where their laws and legislations ruled the land was nothing for a man like him.

Here, he was a man who was free, along with his new temporary crew that consisted of Shiro, Keith, Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Stats, and Kiaion!

If only if Keith clung to the deck. He was sure his face was as green as the leaves on a tree right now. How could everyone actually enjoy rowing and floating along like this? And Stats seemed to especially be enjoying the ride. Playfully batting at water bugs and dipping his face into the water.

"Do I even wanna ask what happened to the first two?" Keith said with a moan.

"Tragically, they went down in flames." He mourned.

"How did that happen?" Lance asked, eyes alight with stars for the fourth time since meeting this man. Whatever reasoning Sea Hawk had had to be a glorious tale of heroism and terror!

"I set them on fire. ADVENTURE!" Sea Hawk shouted. At that statement, Shiro and Hunk was beginning to get worried.

"Are we sure about this guy?" Hunk said.

"Don't worry he's only one time!" Shiro stated.

Keith sighed as the boat lurched and he cupped a hand over his mouth.

"Stats! You shouldn't you're not supposed to do that", Pidge said "No playing in the water". She pulled Stats back into the boat.

Pidge leaned over to Keith and whispered, Stats loves the water, but he should be afraid of it!"

Keith glared at Pidge. This was no time for a zoology lesson as he was trying to not think about the water.

"Do you know why his kind cannot go into the water!" Pidge asked.

"No, not particularly". Keith managed to say through his fingers.

"Well, I'll tell you anyway". Pidge said. "Larvals? They're apparently...Delicious".

"Gross", Keith muttered.

"Deep-sea fisherman use them to catch giant fish, stuff like that. you know his name would have been called bait. Get it? That's my dad's sense of humor" Pidge laughed. "But that's why we have to be extra careful about him not getting in the water".

"Okay," Keith said. "No Larval in the water. Got it". The boat lurched again, and he cupped both hands over his mouth.

"Hey, you doing all right?" Pidge asked

Keith didn't answer---He was afraid of what might happen if he took his hands from his mouth.

"Now, you'll of course be expected to earn your keep by helping out around the ship!" Sea Hawk said, "But never fear I will teach you everything you need to know...in shanty form!"

"Oh—!" He started, but then noticed Lance doing something to his mainsail line.

"What are you doing?" he asked Lance.

"Oh. I noticed your mainsail wasn't secured, so I fixed it." Lance answered.

"Tying proper knots is a task that takes years to master... You did these just now?!"

"Yes!" Lance answered happily.

"Sea Hawk is impressed with my knots! This is the best day of my life!" Lance thought.

"Excellent work." Sea Hawk smiled and nodded. "Even if it is just beginner's luck..."

"Come on, fatso, we'll sing a shanty duet and I'll show you how to climb the ratlines..."

He was about to sing again, when Hunk suddenly escape his graph and teleported to the top of the mast.

"Wait, how did she—?"

"I unfurled the jib." Shiro announced, smiling down at Sea Hawk.

Sea Hawk was not impressed, but he seemed a little surprised. "By yourself?" He sputtering "Not even a sailor as experienced as...me could do that."

"Oh, so what you're saying is" Shiro said, in mock realization and smugly. "I'm better at this than you are?" Suddenly, Hunk appeared next to us with Kiaion.

"And the name is Hunk". He corrected.

Sea Hawk stood back up, "Well, you are a strangely overqualified crew. ...What do you even need old Sea Hawk for?"

But Shiro knows the answer as he holding his hand out, "Your map?" Sea Hawk rustles his shirt as he digs for the map and hands it to Shiro who turned give it to Hunk. "Can we here in the moment here? more sailing, less shanty-ing".

Sea Hawk smiled, "Of course, Shion! I'll make you're welcome more pleasant, Specially for my allies!"

"What was that!" Hunk said.

"Nothing!" Sea Hawk said.

"Oh, by the way, My name is Shiro!" Shiro shouts angrily.

But Sea Hawk cutting him off by singing.

''Oooooooh! I'm Sea Hawk, I am, I am

If you're looking for adventure, then I am your man

If you want to ride / On the waves of deepest blue

Through perilous winds / Then I got you

Some say I'm a hero / Some say I'm a man!

What I know for sure is / I'm Sea Hawk, I am, I am!''

After the Shanty ends, time passes in earlier in the day with Sea Hawk steering the ship, but something was off, especially with Hunk who notice the crooked shaggy rocks. Broken ships and debris scattered all around them. Torn apart sails that look like they've been here for years.

"Uh, guys!" Hunk said, nervously, as he went to Lance and Pidge but they too busy with arm wrestling to do anything.

"Hey, Kiaion!" Hunk called as Kiaion heard his please and him up to the Crow's Nest where Shiro was.

"Shiro!"

"What is it, Hunk" Shiro said.

"Were those rocks there before!" Hunk point out as he directed his attention to the ships.

"No, something's wrong..." Shiro muttered checking over the map from the Crow's Nest. "According to the map, we're way off-course."

Shiro hopped on Kiaion from the Crow's Next, they reappeared next to the rest of the crew as they were finishing their next match, the victor being Lance once again.

"Ha! That's three in a row!" He cheered.

"Ghhh best 4 out of 7!" Sea Hawk grumbled with demand.

"No! No more arm-wrestling!" Shiro stated slamming his hands on the table.

"Aw typical..." Lance groaned internally. "I start having fun and you have to ruin it."

"Just forget about your fun for a second! Hunk and I spotted a ship graveyard over in the distance and we're heading straight for it. Is anyone worried about this?" Shiro said.

Ah!" The rest of the crew sprang to Shiro's feet as Hunk let out a scream. "What was that?!"

"Ah ha! We're here!" His hair glistened as Sea Hawk stood upon the makeshift table with one foot. "We're here!"

"Here For What?" Shiro shouted.

"Ahh!" The group screamed in unison as they were tossed several feet around the ship in all directions.

The boat was suddenly flung in the air as the crew found themselves flung several yards into the air, feeling and seeing a massive fin smack into the right of their ship. With haste in his veins and pride in his heart, Sea Hawk quickly stepped up to the rails of the ship again, staring down the terrifying abomination that swam around them.

"The Serpent of the Sea! I knew he'd be lurking in these waters!" As he continued to mumble whatever idiocies he had to say, Hunk felt the urge to throw up alongside Keith.

"Wait, you brought us here on purpose?!" Shiro said, agitated.

"You see, I don't just provide sea transport." Sea Hawk said as he pulls Lance and Pidge to his sides. "I give you a tale to tell your friends! Come on, crew. We're in for a harrowing ADVENTURE!"

The serpent of the Sea roared as it came up out of the waters and stared down at the crew, as if they were its next target.

"First form: Aquarius" Shiro called as he then running towards the serpent, jumping off the ship and falling right to the monster. He struck the monster's teeth with her sword and they both fell back into the water where they continue their battle.

"Is that... normal, for him?" Sea Hawk asked, unable to take his eyes off the sight as the two disappeared into the water.

"Yeah. It takes some getting used to." Lance commented.

"So your friend... doesn't need help?" Sea Hawk asked slightly disappointed.

"Nope! I think he's just fine." Lance answered chipperly, unaware of the captain's dismay.

Suddenly Shiro emerged from the water. "Got it. Wait, no." He said before being pulled back under the water.

As for Hunk, who was shaking in anger, turned to Sea Hawk. "Let me get this straight. You steered us into a giant sea serpent just so you could, what, show off?!"

"That was the plan, until your friend there STOLE my THUNDER!" Sea Hawk shouted at the water.

"Unbelievable. We're got a guy who seasick and other one ran off the ship to fight a monster! and all you care about is whether we're impressed with you?! Seriously." Hunk said, angrily.

"Well, if you put it like that it sounds like-" Sea Hawk.

"Okay." Shiro say from the water, "Now I got it. We're all good."

"Shiro--! Get in the boat!" Hunk said, agitated.

The sun was settled down and Adam and the other were at the bottom of the boat thinking about plans on their next attack on Shiro and his friends.

Just then, they had stopped for no apparent, Adam went to the top of the ship and looked down at the bottom deck, where Rokuro and Morvok were waiting. The ship itself was hidden among the rocks and mist almost half a mile out from Lyra itself, the ideal location to spy upon the land.

"it's my contact, he's nearby!" Morvok stated as he handed him a brass spyglass.

Looking through it himself, the Ocean was empty and quiet, It was a contact out here, will be hard for them to find them here.

He had to admit. For a planet of water like this, the water was sparkling like the sun.

"What are your orders, Commander?" Rokuro asked as he stood at attention with Wakun and Rose. Looking back to the mist itself, Adam took a few seconds to come up with a plan.

He wanted to try and align with any people he could have connections to Shiro or to Keith, if they had any. "Are you double sure your contact will come!" Adam said.

"I'm sure!" Morvok explain. "My contact did said he will come in the dead of night! So we must wait!"

"All hands on deck!" Adam yelled. "Prepare for anything!"

"Oo, impressive command yell!" Morvok said.

Later on the night after the monster attack, when everything is cool down, the group retreated to the bottom of the boat to rest for the next day and eat some dinner. all the while now, Keith was staring at his dagger.

This one simple object he stared at into his hands. Each and everyday he would think about how this object that helped him in many battles and yet it still holds many mysteries like why his father gave this to him from the moment that he died.

"Hey Keith, what are you do-IIIIHHH!" Shiro jumped as was in front of him. Both he and Keith nearly had a heart attack as Keith stopped the swing just inches away from the tip of his nose.

"Oh, what do you want, Shiro?" Keith grumbled, turning around as he continued his own personal thought.

"I was wondering that you were ok! Pidge told me about your motion sickness!" Shiro sighed briefly before walking over to his right side.

"I'm fine." He replied without skipping a swing. Shiro watched for a bit as Keith continued to swing his dagger, staring at it like so mysterious to him.

"That dagger, someone gave it to you!" Shiro said.

"I...well you are right someone did give it to me but that was a long time ago!" Keith said. Honestly, given Keith's personality, Shiro wouldn't be surprised if that truly was the reason. even though Keith is a fighter, there was no doubt in his mind. "Was that all you came here for?"

"No, actually. I just wanted to know if you wanted to talk." Shiro said.

"About what?" Keith said.

"Well... anything, really." Shiro said.

Keith took a short break from the dagger as she turned to his at this. "What do you mean?"

"I mean about you." He clarified. "Keith, you've been with us for awhile now and we barely know a thing about you."

"What, of course you do, you know I'm a half- Daemon and I hold a mythic dagger!" He mumbled.

"And I really want to know what your life was like, like your parents are like!, you know the basic stuff!"

"My parents are dead!" Keith said as it was the the obvious question.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Shiro said.

Just then, Sea Hawk arrived, carrying massive trays of seafood for the others to eat. Even if they were hard enough to carry! "Now, this is a proper meal for guests and crew!"

"Uh...Thanks!" Shiro said.

"No problem!" Sea Hawk said. "A proper meal for a hard and lighting crew!" he called out as s

he slowly approached from behind Shiro who was confuse at first. Why a sea captain took in a group of strangers but for the obvious reason he just wanted to show up.

It was a bit annoying when he thought about it in the long run.

After all, he was wanting to fight off a sea beast the captain lead them to for the sake of pride, and what happens next?

At Sea Hawk removed the plates's covering, revealing burnout fishes, one for each of them and each of them were horrible and smell funny.

Keith gagged, "Okay that's even worse than looking at the water!"

"Or it will make it better! In shanty! he said as he tries to sing another song but Shiro places a hand over Sea Hawk's mouth.

"Please, no more shantys!" Shiro said.

After eating, Keith went back to the top of the ship, "Keith!" Shiro called out as he slowly approached from behind him.

"Hey, you doing okay?" He asked.

"Trying to bomb it up that horrible dinner!" Keith said, being used to the sarcastic attitude by this point, Shiro simply smiled at this. If he was well enough to joke around then he was doing all right. "What do you want?"

"What do you think? I came to check on you after-"

"I meant your question!" Keith restated a little peeved.

"What!" Shiro said.

"I'm sorry, I have a bit of a temper!" Keith said.

"Oh!" Shiro said, "it's okay to have a little bit of temper, if I was you I would be pretty ticked off specially dealing with a crazy guy we just met!"

"I don't worry about once we leave the ocean and Sea Hawk we'll be fine!" Keith said.

"Anyway what was the question...Ooooh that!" The realization grew upon his face as he remembered the details. "The one about your family!"

"Do I have to spell it out for you? What question do you want to ask me?" Keith said.

"I means I already knew now your parents are dead but what were they like!" Shiro asked.

"Oh that question do I have to know that my family is dead, end of discussion!" Keith said.

"Land Hooooo~!" Sea Hawk exclaimed as the ship came up to the coast, or more importantly the mist.

"What land!" Shiro said "I don't see any!"

Looking around the scenery, Keith and Shiro gazed around them.

"Is something wrong?" Shiro asked seeing the strange look Keith was giving off. he waited a few seconds for any sort of reply until Keith finally turned to him.

"It's way too quiet around here." he stated.

"Sea Hawk! what's going on!" Shiro asked him

"I'm so sorry about this!" Sea Hawk said as he was holding a paddle?

"What!" both said and soon Sea Hawk knock them out with the Paddle. Resulting them to fall to the ground unconscious along with their friends.