Under the Sea

Chapter 2 Rewrite

Keith didn't know how long he'd been in the stupid, stuffy tank. He knew it hadn't been long, not even a day, but it felt like it. He hated it already. He'd gotten used to the normal sounds of the crew, all of them coming to the deck to do their duties after Lotor had left. To where? Keith didn't know. He was busy playing with the necklace around his neck and trying to look for a non-galran crew member to sing at when the loud shouts started, and Keith glanced at what they were looking at. He gasped, eyes widening. Coming towards the ship fast was another, larger ship. It looked more modern,bigger, with huge, billowing sails and, probably, bigger cannons. Keith watched the chaos around him, the ship getting ready to fire. He was watching a large Galran yell at a smaller one, when the attention focused on his left and he saw Lotor coming back from where he'd gone, already glaring at the other ship.

Keith watched as Lotor gave his orders, for a good fifteen minutes until the Galran's gaze focused on him. He saw the man go to order the tank below deck, but froze, standing straight. Keith followed his gaze, and his eyes widened as he saw the Jolly Roger flag raise. It was a flag that Keith hadn't seen before, meaning that the Blade had never encountered this group before. But they were undoubtedly pirates, with the lion on the flag. It wasn't long until the pirates were a little to close for comfort, somehow managing to slow and pull up right beside the ship Keith was on in maybe 10 minutes. Lotor had been busy making sure his men were armed, and ready to fight.

A plank was put across the two ships, and three people came onto Lotor's ship. The first was obviously the captain, donning the fancy captain's hat, coat, and everything. He had light brown, beautiful skin, darker hair, and a glint in his dark blue eyes, walking smuggly onto Lotor's ship. Following him were members of his crew, a shorter girl with cropped, light hair under some cloth (Keith was sure it was called a bandana), and dressed mostly in green. The final person was the largest, brown skin darker that the first's, roundish, and tall. He looked nervous, fiddling his hands as he walked behind the girl in green. He had fabric wrapped around his head (probably another bandana), and he had a large broadsword strapped to his side. It seemed like he was the only one carrying an actual weapon.

Keith watched as the first man sauntered up to Lotor, and raised a hand in greeting. They were far away enough that Keith strained to hear, only managing to get a few words. He felt a shiver go down his spine when he heard the word 'merman' come up, realizing that they were talking about him. Lotor seemed to become more and more agitated as Lance spoke, realizing that the man had the upper hand, with a bigger ship and seemingly more men.

Then, Keith saw Lotor wrapped his hand around the handle of the sword at his side, and his eyes widened when he realized what dirty trick the man was about to pull. He tried to shout a warning, frantically grabbing the edge of his tank to yank his head above the water.

"Sword!" He shrieked, and the captain's two companions looked at him in confusion. The captain, however, thankfully seemed to understand, and took a few needed steps back just as Lotor swung his sword. The man had barely moved fast enough, though, and the sword sliced a small cut through the captain's coat, making him pout.

The captain raised a hand high in the air, and his companions immediately reached for weapons, the smaller of the two obviously holding something concealed. The man shouted one, clear word that rang through the air before his hand lowered. "Charge!"

Keith wasn't exactly how all the other pirates swarmed the ship. They all couldn't fit across that plank. But swarm it they did. In seconds, there was a battle, shouts and screams and weapons flying through the air. Keith yelped as someone was pushed against his tank in a struggle, the other person putting all their weight on it... And then there was a blast of water of some sort, from another side, and Keith's tank went down. Thankfully, it somehow didn't shatter, but there were large, dangerous cracks where it fell and where the blast came from. Keith wasn't even in the tank, the water taking him with it to the middle of the deck, the battle surrounding him.

He tried to drag himself to the side of the deck, to go back into the ocean, to go home, but let out a loud yelp when his tail was stepped on, making him stop and look back. It was Lotor, who was seething with anger.   "If I don't get a tail to sell," he hissed. "No one does!"

Keith struggled, trying to shove the man away and managing a few good scratches on him, one very obvious on the man's face, but Lotor pinned his arms down and yanked the necklace from around Keith's neck, only letting go when it was secure in his pocket. Keith tried to grab him, tried to get the necklace back, but Lotor stood, far out of Keith's reach. He looked even taller when Keith was on the ground like he was. Lotor grinned a terrible, sadistic grin down at Keith a few drops of crimson flowing from the scratch Keith left on the man's face. "Can't go back to the water now, can you?"

Keith glared at him, and lunged his body as far as it could go to get Lotor's legs, but he missed, landing hard on the deck. Lotor just laughed, and turned, dodging stuggles around him to hide below deck. Keith dragged himself after Lotor, desperate for his necklace, his main mean of escape- that one thing was something he had to protect. Suddenly, there were boots standing infront of him, and large hands grabbed Keith by the waist , and he was hefted onto a large shoulder with a yelp.

"Got him!" The person- man who'd grabbed shouted, and he started running, probably towards the plank connecting the two ships.

 It was confirmed when below him, the man's feet were walking on a small peice of wood, and below that, the blue waves of the ocean. His home in it's depths. Keith struggled, but soon, too soon, they were on a deck again, and Keith shut his eyes, refusing to cry, or to open them again anytime soon. He was helpless. And his necklace was gone. Keith was put on the floor of the deck, his back pushed against wood, and he cracked an eye open,despite his not wanting to open it, to see that he was leaned against the mast. He squeezed his eyes shut tight, leaning back against the mast to breathe. There was still shouting from Lotor's ship, but less now, and quieter not that he was on another ship. 

Keith didn't know how long it was before there were footsteps of people running along the deck, more shouting; this time of the crew making their leave. It was even longer before most of the shouts stopped, only the occasional one of orders being given and carried out, and he felt the wind on his face, which wasn't good. Come sunset.... Keith didn't want to think of it.

There were more footsteps, coming towards Keith, sounding close, and he tensed.

"Good afternoon," A cocky voice said, and Keith opened his eyes, sucking in a breath. It was the captain, and quiznak, he was really pretty up close. He was glad he had warned him so he didn't die. "You must be our new merman. Welcome to the Boat of Lions."