Keith tried to escape, he really did. Because he was scared. 

He had gone to academy for years- the human courses and all that? It taught him two things.

Humans were different. Not only physically but mentally and emotionally,their society ran way different than the Council liked things. 

Also? They were dangerous. Hunters were out there every day, and Keith knew they were espcially in this area.. Adam and Shiro had made sure he had known. Even if hey were harmless ones..who knew what they could do?

And a net..a fishers net..hunters.. 

He flailed some more, using his scrawny arms to try and break the net. He was took weak. He turned on the deep purple illuminest in his eyes to try and see what he had gotten himself into.

The light showed how tightly he was coiled in the net, along with the rock behind him which he was attached to mostly. He groaned, the hunter who this net belonged to could be here any minute now. He tried harder. 

And them he heard a splash, and looking up, sure enough a lanky human began to swim down towards the net after a few minutes of floating. Keith panicked. There was no way to escape now.

He counted the seconds it took for the human to spot him. 1....3...4..5

The humans eyes widened as it stared at Keith. Keith knew his eyes were just as wide, but couldn't control his appearance at the moment. He was beyond scared..much worse than terrified. 

The human scanned Keith with his deep ocean blue eyes, almost searching for something, anything that made sense. Keith wasn't stupid, he knew humans hadn't spotted sirens after the peace treaty between the races was broken, and that this would be completely strange to the human who happened to spot him. 

Another thing Keith had finally messed up. He was worthless in his world, and now he was spotted- putting his entire race in danger. 

He didn't know what to think of himself. He was ashamed, angry, scared. But it all turned into impulsive action. No feelings. No thoughts. 

He tried to shake himself free, flailing and twisting again. The human watched curiously before their eyes widened. The human came towards Keith and started reaching towards him. 

The hand looked so inviting. Warm, secure. The human could help Keith escape. If he just...

But he couldn't, he couldn't risk it. He flinched backwards hitting his head against the rock before he began to twist and squirm again. He could make it out. 

The human furrowed his brows before looking up to the surface, with one last glance at Keith he swam upwards and away.

Keith felt relief rush over him as he began clawing at the net again. It took a few minutes, but with much pressure and his teeth, he found a weak spot near his tail. He bent down to claw and bite at it before it finally broke free. He tore at it to create a whole large enough for him to swim through. 

He swam home full of relief and fear. 

He had escaped probably the most dangerous thing ever in all siren history. 

He'd been spotted.

~~~~~~~~~~

Adam and Shiro bombarded him when he arrived home. 

"I'm so sorry Keith! I didn't mean what I said."

"We didn't mean to be so rude, but you shouldn't have ran off." 

"Yes, where were you?"

"Are you okay? What happened to you?" 

They gasped at his appearance- his tail and gills scratched, illuminesct dim, and his fin was bent. 

They rushed over. "Keith speak to us. What happened??" Adam asked grabbing Keith by the shoulders. 

Keith spoke. "It was a mistake, I'm sorry, I was upset and reckless-" he was on the verge of tears, and started breathing faster.

"Keith." Shiro's voice was light and sweet. "Just tell us what happened so we can help." 

Keith looked him in the eyes, before controlling his breathing. "I was swimming blind, just trying to escape and I came across dark waters and- well, I came across a net." 

Both men's eyes widened as Keith continued. "I got caught in it. I tried to escape, I really did, but not in enough time..."

"You didn't...you weren't.." Adam had gone pale and Shiro was frozen. 

Keith looked them in the eyes. "I was spotted." 

It was silent. Adam turned around and rubbed his hands through his hair, his fins twitching and illuminesct glowing a violent red.

Shiro was staring at his hands, taking deep breaths before looking up at Keith. "It's...well it's not okay but.." 

"Who was it?" Adam asked abruptly.

"What.." Keith asked quietly. 

Adam gritted his teeth and took a deep breath. "Who. Was it? That spotted you?" 

Keith shook his head. "I don't know much, brown hair, tan, freckles..I was trying to escape." 

Adam groaned and slammed his fist on the big rock, a weak part chipping off. Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down it'll be fine." 

"How??" Adam spun on him. "He ran off and got spotted! Seen Takashi! Do you realize what that means? We're in danger! All or us!" 

Shiro opened his mouth to speak, but Keith interrupted, anger fueling through him. "Maybe if you hadn't called me useless this wouldn't have happened."

Adams hand twitched. "So it's my fault?? My fault that you can't keep your anger under control and stay put? Instead of running off into the dark waters??" 

"Maybe if you hadn't kept me cooped up in this cave all day every day I wouldn't even want to. A little trip here and there to the surface wouldn't hurt! I know other sirens do it often. And don't get me started on anger issues, doesn't that hit too close to home?" He spat, the fire in his eyes burning. 

Adam shook his head. He swam away into the back of the cave. 

Shiro sighed. "You two...I don't even know what to do. But that's a different situation. Right now we need to-"

"Go to Atlantis? Unless somehow the Council already knows?" Keith asked disgusted. 

"No. We need to find the human that spotted you."

"What why?" 

"So you can gain their trust, have them keep your secret. Our secret. To keep it contained. The council doesn't need to know." 

Keith stared at him. Was he serious?  "There's multiple risks, Shiro. I could get spotted again, or they might not trust me or-"

Shiro laughed. "And when have risks ever stopped you?" 

And so it was settled, Keith would go up to the surface everyday to try and figure out the humans schedule in those parts. Once he did that, was the hard part- getting the human to trust him. 

"How do I do that?" Keith asked after he had been looking out for the human for two weeks. He had finally spotted him, a few miles away from where the incident had first occured with the net, and for a few days had seen him in the same place.

"Find a way." Adam said. Keith and Adam had apologized to each other under Shiros supervision and command,but they were still upset. 

Keith glared at him as Shiro spoke. "Simple, tell him the truth."

"What?" Keith and Adam blurted out at the same time.

"Like...everyting? Isn't that too risky?" Adam asked. 

"No. It'll be more realistic. And we haven't heard anything from the Council that theres been a breech..so im guessing this human is trustworthy in keeping you a secret Keith."

"Or he thought he was hallucinating." Keith reasoned. Shiro frowned. "I've got you this far haven't I?" 

Keith nodded and started planning to meet with the human again. 

~~~~~~~

Lance watched the sea, the waves rippling identically. And, he didnt feel anything. The usual excitment and love that burned in his chest when he was at sea was gone. It had been, ever since he had spotted that creature, and nearly lost his job. Keeping his discovery a secret had been eating him alive, and he had gone hysterical almost, flinching every sound if a splash or any ripple, anything too loud in the water. He was waiting for the creature to come back. 

Nearly a month had passed now, and he was weighing the possibility that he had imagined the whole thing. But something at the back of his head told him he hadn't. 

Now, with the new anxious tension at the back of his shoulders, and racing through his mind, he scanned the waves back and forth. Waiting for something, anything. 

"Heh, I guess coming that close to being fired really inspired you huh?" Matt commented on Lances new energy.

Lance hummed in response. 

"I think theres some trout over there." Matt said pointing to a sunny area where the water was churning slightly. 

Lance turned to see it before he heard a shallow splash behind him. His ears twitched and he spun around. He saw a red tail. 

He quickly stumbled to the edge of the boat and leaned over. The creature was there- breaths shallow and gills pulsing. The deep violet eyes were the same, with a cool fire burning in them. 

Lance gasped. He heard Matt call for him but he ignored him. Then the creature spoke. 

"Meet me tonight when no one is around." It said quickly.

"What?" Lance whisper shouted. "You can talk??" 

The creature rolled its eyes before diving back into the water. 

Matt came up behind Lance, placing a sturdy hand on Lances shaking shoulders. "Everything okay buddy? Who were you talking to?" 

"No one, nothing nothing. I'm fine sorry." He said quickly, shoving past Matt and steering the boat towards the trout, Matt shrugged it off and went after him. 

The day seemed to pass sluggishly, multiple thoughts and concerns running through Lances mind. He was sure he was going insane. 

Finally, his shift was over, and he went to his car. He drove a little down the road, and waited another hour until he knew Dayak and the others were all gone. 

It was nearly 9:30, and the sky was pitch black when he headed back to the house. He used his key to get in and grab a flashlight before he walked down to the coast. The water was getting slightly warmer as he slipped off his shoes and put his feet in the water. He cut on the flashlight, and let the white light see for him.

Minutes passed, and almost an hour flew by. He furrowed his eyebrows. Maybe he really had hallucinated the whole thing? Or maybe the creature came a little earlier..but he hadnt emphasized a time, and he said when no one else was around..

Just as he was beginning to head back to the house, he heard the familiar shallow dip and splash. Turning around he saw the creature, near a shaped rock, scrawny pale arms shining in the night sky, hair tousled from the sea breeze. 

Lance looked around before heading over to the creature. He stood there watching the creature, tail still in the water, eyes searching. "Oh come on." It grinned. "I won't bite." 

He sat in the rocks crevice, as the creature stared him up and down. 

"Are you going to say something or just sit there and stare at me?" Lance asked. 

The creature blinked. "Um yes. Sorry." His voice was rough and husky yet smooth at the same time. 

"I- well." He paused. " You haven't told anyone about me have you?" 

Lance shook his head. "I didn't want to expose whatever you were- our world couldn't handle it anyway, we would destroy your whole race in a few years..." Lance sighed. "I also thought I was hallucinating most of the time." 

Maybe I still am..he thought, why was it so easy to talk to this creature?

"Well I'm Keith." It said. 

"Lance." He said dipping his foot in the cool water. "So..". Lance didn't know where to start. He chose his words carefully. It still didn't come out too good. "What exactly are you?"

"A siren."

He laughed. "Like those things that sing sailors into the water before killing them?" He asked, eyebrows raised. 

Keith narrowed his eyes. "Um no." He bit his lip. "Not at all." 

"So..how...what.." Lance didn't know what to ask first or how to ask it. His thoughts were all over the place in his head. He looked up at the sky, the stars peeking through the dark folds of the night sky.

Keith was watching it too, his mouth hanging slightly open and his eyes wide, the stars reflecting themselves in the deep violet. 

"You don't come up here often do you?" Lance asked. 

Keith shook his head, before looking back at Lance.

 He cleared his throat. "Sorry I guess I should just explain everything huh?" 

Lance nodded gratefully. 

"Well." Keith started. "I don't know much about our history, other than that we used to work with humans, but that was a long long long time ago. There was this original group that founded our world. The Council. They live in Atlantis, which in this world..is somewhere around..Seattle I think? Anyway, that's the main city for everything. The Council is there, major jobs, and the Academy. Sirens have to go there from..in human years probably around 6 to about 24. We learn the history of our world, and life skills and such. It's shitty and I hate it. The Council is overrated along with the rest of that high and mighty world. Everyone thinks they're better than everyone else because their purposes are so great and they can get better jobs out there and they're smarter and-"

"Woah woah. Slow down." Lance felt a headache start. "Um, first of all. How do you know english? And all this about the human world?" 

"Oh. We have books from the old world, when we were all working together- and it gets updated every decade by our sirens that go to the surface. We learn English as our major language. Something about the Council thinks it's a superior language or something.."

"Oh wow." Lance said. He felt his brain splitting to let in all that he was learning. "So..continue?" 

Keith nodded. "Pretty much, there's this whole system. Kind of invisible though, no one says it aloud but depending on your purpose it depends on how well you do in life. The purpose is what a siren is born for, why they are here. What they're for. During the sirens monsoon year, about 23 in human years, is when they find their purpose. It's supposed to be super cool or something.." He muttered. 

"I'm guessing..you haven't gotten yours?" Lance tried cautiously. 

"No. Actually, that's why you found me. I ran away from home after fighting with Adam and Shiro about the fact that I hadn't gotten my purpose yet. My monsoon year just passed." He said angrily. 

"Is that why you have all this hatred for you world?" 

"If that's what you want to call it.." Keith looked him in the eye. "Yes." 

"So whose Shiro and Adam?" Lance asked trying to line up his questions so he wouldn't forget to ask something.

"Well Shiro adopted me, Adams his boyfriend." 

"What happened to your real parents?" 

"You tell me. Shiro knows but won't tell me." 

"Do Shiro and Adam have good purposes?" 

"Well, Shiro does. He has leadership, and he got it early. During a security breech, he got his class to safety. And apparently that's where he met my parents, at the ceremony where he was awarded for his bravery. As for Adam, another secret they keep from me." 

Lance but his lip. It seemed as if Keith had ran from a harsh life, and he was obviously hurt. 

"So.." Keith said. He seemed to be calculating something by the way his eyes were moving. "I told you about Atlantis, the Council, Purposes, Shiro and Adam.." 

"Is that all?" 

"For now yes." 

Lance chuckled, leaning back against the rock. "You're so mysterious." 

"Not enough, I told you this stuff so willingly, you already know almost everything about my world. And we just met." 

"Well maybe we should get to know each other even more." Lance suggested. 

"Why would we do that?" 

"I don't know..we could become friends." 

"But why?"

"Because friends are good. And we're already this far in deep right? I mean, I hold a valuable secret of yours, that could shake your whole world if I let it spill." 

Keith shrugged. "You haven't yet. I trust you." 

"But about that... I don't do well with secrets." 

Keith cocked am eyebrow, "But yes you do, you kept this one for a while."

"It was so hard though. I need to tell someone." 

"Tell me." 

Lance narrowed his eyes. "You lil.."

"Seriously though, who do you want to tell? Are they trustworthy?" 

"Very, he's the most trustworthy guy you'll ever meet." 

Keith chuckled, "Tell me about him." 

And so Lance let Keith know all about Hunk, an eye for an eye right? Their childhood together, Hunks dreams and his lifestyle now. 

Keith sighed a long sigh after Lance was done, and twirled his finger through the water. 

"Fine." He said. 

"Oh thank you so much!" Lance said bending over to give Keith a hug. Keith flinched back. 

"Sorry too soon?" 

"Way too soon." 

"Sorry." Lance bit his lip. "But uh Keith..something else.."

"What?" 

"Well if I tell one friend...I have to tell the others ya know..I can't just.."

Keith sighed. "I understand." He bit his lip. 

"How many?"