A storm usually brought good things; new things hunt, new people to meet. Lance didn't care about any of that, only the thoughts of more treasures.

When Lance and his family were traveling, they passed by a shipwreck once. It was a few kilometers from where they stayed for the night, so of course, Lance went when his family was asleep. Most things in the ship were soiled or rusted, except for a couple rings and some silver coins.

Human fashion was always so appealing to Lance; the jewelry, the clothing. He imagined what it would be like a wear shirts and pants, but the material felt thick and heavy, making him afraid it would get caught on his scales. He once found a shirt, a tank top and he put it on, but it looked weird on him. The speckled scales on his shoulders cut into the material and his skin was overly sensitized by it.

"Save the clothes for when you become a human." He always told himself.

For when he became human... If he wished upon a star, would his dream come true? Would he become a human and meet his own Prince Eric? Or princess? Who knows.

The distant rumble of thunder snapped him out of a song, and his head turned towards the thunderclouds. A gentle breeze blew towards him, and he could smell the rain coming. He stayed in his alcove a while longer, casting his gaze towards the shore.

From the dim lights provided minimal vision to the beach, but his eyes could make out a silhouette of a person.

Lance's heart fluttered in his chest. Was a human listening to his song? He watched as the human stood and looked out to sea, before turning and making the trek back to land. A human, listening to his song. Maybe if he got closer to the shore and sang, he could get a closer look at the-

"Hey, Lance." His gaze was torn away from the retreating human, to the mermaid who was propped up on the rock by her elbows, her fingers tracing figures into Lance's tail.

"Nyma! Uh, what are you doing here?" He took one final glance towards the shore, his eyes scanning for a figure, but he could no longer see it.

"I heard you singing, and I was so enraptured by the sound of your voice, I just had to come."

Lance sighed and looked at her. Her soft yellow skin glowed in what was left of the moonlight, her flaxen blonde hair falling over her chest. Her pale blue tail glimmered in the water and she looked up at Lance admiringly.

"Siren to siren, you know our tricks don't work on each other." Lance dove into the water and Nyma followed, giggling softly.

"Lance, I'm offended, are you saying that I don't have a good ear for music?" She pretended mock offense, holding her hand to her chest.

Lance narrowed his gaze at her. "Now, now, Nyma, you won't find another siren's voice that can compare to mine."

Nyma chuckled amusingly. "Oh really?" She crossed her arms against her chest, bringing her fingers to play with her hair mindlessly. "How so?" She asked.

Lance ventured closer to Nyma, his fingers crossing over her hips. "I guess you could say I perform some oral magic." He shrugged slightly and looked at Nyma with a teasing glint and she swallowed it whole, bringing her hands to his chest.

"Oh my, Lance. What ever are you implying?" She batted her eyes and their tails started to curl around each other.

Lance ran his webbed fingers through her hair, leaning close to her neck. "That maybe, we should head back to my cave."

—

"So when is the storm getting here?" Hunk asked.

Pidge was scribbling into a parchment made from banana leaves with a stolen pencil from Lance. She looked between Blue and her own pet seahorse, Rover.

"Blue says it's a good thirty kilometers away and Rover determined that the wind speed is-"

"In English, Pidge." Lance crossed his arms over his chest and she glared at him, sighing in defeat.

"The storm will probably be here in a few hours." Pidge turned back to Rover, running her finger under its snout gently.

"You think my cave won't be affected?" Lance asked, wrapping an arm around Blue as she clicked at him.

"Your cave will be fine, Lance. It's not the first time that a storm has passed over this cove." Hunk commented, taking a bite of a seaweed chip.

Lance rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yeah, well, I'm just worried. You never know what a storm may bring."

Pidge snorted. "What, are you hoping for another shipwreck?"

Lance pretended to be occupied with the dark cobalt colored webbing between his fingers. "I don't know what you're talking about." He hummed busily.

Pidge snickered and Hunk shook his head. "Just because this storm is coming, doesn't mean you're going to stay out and witness it." Hunk pointed a finger at him. "The underwater currents of a storm are not as dangerous as the waves of the storm, but you should still stay indoors."

Pidge rolled up her seaweed parchment, turning to the two. "I'm gonna go tell the pod about the storm. Lance, Hunk isn't scolding you, but you should listen what he has to say." Pidge pointed her pencil at him, which Lance immediately noticed with a gasp and she tucked it into her hair.

"Hey, that's-"

"Lance!" Lance pointed to Pidge's retreating figure and Hunk smacked his hand. "Don't change the subject."

Lance huffed and crossed his arms, his gills fluttering angrily. "You guys always steal my things." He mumbled.

"You have like, a load of pencils, I don't know why you're whining." Hunk popped another chip into his mouth.

"That was the golden glitter one! It was my favorite!" Lance pouted.

"Lance." He flinched at the sound of his name, his gills pressing against his temples. "Go and stay home. We all know how Mama gets when you're not home before a storm."

Lance looked away, his fingers tapping on his arm until he sighed. "Alright, fine. I guess I'll go back home." He mumbled. Hunk flashed him a smile and ruffled Lance's hair. He scoffed and pushed Hunk's hand away.

"We do it for your own good." The two said at the same time, Lance saying it in a more mocking tone. Hunk chuckled and started heading out towards the deeper sea.

"Hey, where are you going?" Lance asked, perking as he saw Hunk headed out.

"Ahiri's supposed to be coming home today, I'll guide her towards the treasure cave, if you don't mind."

"Oh, your manta ray." Hunk nodded and Lance followed behind him.

The large, yellow tinged manta ray visited every week and after every storm. A storm brings about new things and although Lance's cave was safe from the storm, it wasn't safe from the treasure eating microscopic life.

This visit was fortunately before the storm and she could remain safely within the cave. With Ahiri around, she will be able to eat the microbes and keep Lance's cave clean. Not to mention, she gives great hugs.

"Do you mind if I tag along?"

Hunk looked back at Lance, past him and back at Lance. "If you want." He shrugged.

Lance considered going home, but the storm wasn't going to be for another couple hours and it's a fun being home with his annoying family.

"Yeah, wait up!" Lance called.

As they swam, they talked about random things; about Ahiri, about traveling around coves, Lance's siren skill and that lead to Lance's promiscuity. Lance steered the conversation to Hunk's love life, since they didn't hear much about that.

Shay was a mermaid from not so neighboring cove that Hunk ended up rescuing. Hunk was traveling from his parental home cove with Ahiri and he found her trapped within a fishing net. She nearly blew Hunk away with her sonic scream, but after backing away significantly and reassuring her, he was able to save her.

It was kind of like a 'love at first sight' sort of thing, at least it was in Lance's opinion. Hunk didn't really believe that since they were strangers after all. It wasn't until after they had coincidental bump ins later that they started to pursue a relationship. Pidge says that it's all in Lance's head and that the human fairy tales are just that, tales. Conversations like these always ended with Lance being a puffer fish.

"When are you going to settle down?"

Lance looked at Hunk incredulously. "Me? Settle down?" Lance chortled. "Do you know who I am? I'm a siren, Hunk, a siren. Do you know how long it takes for a siren to 'settle down'?" He made quotes with his fingers to emphasize.

"Well, what about Nyma? She seems interested." Lance groaned. "What, don't think I didn't notice you two in my extra room making that music." He nudged Lance with his elbow.

"Nyma, she's just... as promiscuous as me, if not more. She's a gypsy, always traveling around, showing her face everywhere." Lance waved Hunk's elbow away. "You really think she would want to settle down?"

Hunk hummed. "You know, you're right. The house would be full of singing contests."

"And clearly, I would I would win them all." Lance beamed and Hunk laughed, starting to throw back a comment when the two were squished down by a large mass. They were pressed against the sand and they slowly sunk in, the two laughing at the sensation of fluttering flabs of wings on top of them.

"Ahiri! Welcome back, girl!" Hunk patted her roughly, but lovingly on her underside, beckoning her get off.

"I love the hugs but god, are you heavy." Lance heaved, patting Ahiri weakly.

The ray gave a soft coo as it got off the two of them, swimming around them. After a couple more pats, the three started heading to Lance's treasure cave.

"But going back to our conversation, Lance." Hunk turned to the boy who was now munching on the seaweed chips. "You settling down, what's your type?"

Lance snorted. "My type? I don't even know what my type is. It probably doesn't exist?" Lance shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't have a rush to find my other half or whatever."

"You aren't, by chance, waiting for your human other half?" The raised eyebrow cast no judgment on Lance, but he still felt the shame that came with the question.

Was he? His human Prince or Princess Eric. When his wish upon a star comes true, will it be temporary or permanent? Will he still have his powers as as siren or will those disappear? Legs?

Lance's silence made Hunk clear his throat, catching his attention.

"What? Who, what, when, where, how and why would I find a human as my other half?" He laughed half-heartedly, but his laugh died off slowly as he chomped down on a chip. "I'm not allowed to go near shore, since what happened years ago." He rubbed his arms. "Honestly, I'm kind of afraid to meet one. Y'know, a human?"

"Are you afraid of their reaction, or what they'll do?" Hunk questioned.

It was a good question, actually, because his question stumped him. What was he afraid of?

"I'm afraid that they're only going to like me based off my appearance. Mama says that that for such a 'handsome boy' like me to get such an amazing talent is a blessing. Yeah, it's cool to have this singing talent but... it's a lure, it's just magic. People like me because of my talents and my looks and nobody likes me for..." Lance sighed. "Nobody likes me for me." He sat on a smoothed out stone near his treasure cave.

Hunk ushered Ahiri to go in, going to sit next to Lance. "Hey," He nudged him softly. "I like you for you, and so does Pidge."

Lance shrugged him off slightly. "Well yeah, but it's not like I'm going to settle down with you two." He mumbled.

"That's besides the point, Lance." Hunk sighed. "What I'm saying, is that we don't care if you're some super hot merboy or the worst siren who has eaten a thousand sailors, we like you for who you are. Your personality."

Lance sniffled, looking up at him. "Really?" He asked, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand.

Hunk smiled and wrapped a big arm around his shoulder. "Really."

Lance leaned into the hug and Hunk rubbed his shoulder. "But you meant that I'm super hot, right?"

Hunk deadpanned and gave a little squeeze that made Lance call for mercy. The two of them laughed and were taken down by Ahiri. At first, Lance thought it was another hug, but the sound of her coo was deeper than the last time.

"The storm is here." Hunk mumbled, patting the ray.

"She held us down from the current, right? I didn't know we spent so much time out here." Lance looked out from under Ahiri and he could see the flashes of lightning up above.

"It's not that the we spent a lot of time out, the storm got here earlier than expected." Hunk cursed under his breath, Ahiri pressing down on them as another turbulent current rolled through.

"We've got to get back home. Get Ahiri into the cave and I'll warn everyone at home." Lance told Hunk.

"What? Ahiri can take us to the caves."

"I know but then she's got to get back on her own. There's no cave big enough for her at home."

Hunk sighed. "Will you be able to make it home?"

Lance flashed him a thumbs up. "I'm a fast swimmer, don't worry." He felt the pressure lessen from on top of him and he slipped out from under Ahiri. "I'll see you at home!" Lance called and started the darted home.

The swim home wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. The underwater currents were strong, and they would blow him back occasionally, but he didn't let that stop him. He could hear the muffled, distant rumbling of thunder in the skies up above. His eyes glanced upwards at a flash of lightning, and he halted.

There was a figure of a body floating on the surface. His eyesight struggled to focus in the on and off flashes and his horizontal travels turned vertical.

Was that a human? He swam quickly towards the figure and when he was able to focus and touch it wasn't human at all. When he surfaced, he realized that it was a sea lion, and it barked at him nervously.

"W-What, what are you doing out here, idiot? Can't you tell the storm is here?" Lance shouted at him over the thundering skies and the loud waves. The sea lion barked weakly, looking down into the water again. "You're hurt?" Lance dove into the water, his eyes scanning the flippers. It's hind flippers were stuck in a six-pack plastic ring.

Lance groaned and went back to the surface. Closing hand into a fist and placing it over his lips, he blew through his hand and a bubble came out the other end of his fist. He took the bubble with his other hand and pushed it onto the sea lion's head, the bubble making an oxygen enriched air bubble for it to breath underwater. With that, Lance dragged it underwater.

"Stay here, don't move." He reached for his shoulder, but forgot that he didn't have his bag with him. He wasn't expecting to do any adventuring today, so didn't have anything to cut the plastic with.

With a huff, he started scanning the seafloor for anything sharp. He found a sharp piece of stone and went back up to the sea lion. It was a little farther than where he had left it, but that was only because of the underwater currents.

"Don't move, I'm going to cut the plastic, okay?" His heart pounded in his chest. Usually, he was excited about storms, but this time, he was too riled up, more than usual.

His hands shook, and he could feel deep down in his gut that something was going to happen. Something bad. He shook the idea out of his head and took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

"Come on Lance, you need to get home." He reminded himself.

Lance a slow breath and gently tugged at the plastic on its flippers. The sea lion flinched and Lance shushed it comfortingly. He tugged on it again, bringing the sharp end into the plastic carefully. If he was able to make a small cut into the plastic, he could tear the rest with his fingers.

It took him several tries, but he managed to make a small tear into the plastic and pulled it apart, letting the sea lion free. As soon as it came off, the sea lion went straight up to the surface, Lance following behind it, popping the bubble.

"Now go home!" Lance shouted over the waters. The sea lion barked thankfully and Lance watched as it quickly swam away. Lance sighed softly and dove back under, deciding to cut the rest of the plastic rings so nobody else would get stuck. He let the plastic and the stone go, hearing a loud rumble in the skies.

Lance looked up and in another flash of light, he found himself in the middle of an underwater vortex.

Lance was trapped. He didn't know what to do or to escape it, the current eventually pushing him to the surface. The sight scared him - this was how ships sank? In violent and turbulent waters? He never really thought about how they happened, until then. The skies were dark and he couldn't even tell where the shore was.

Lance turned and he saw a huge wall of black water coming towards him. Unable to escape the wave, it crashed into his chest and pushed him under, throwing him spinning into the vortex. He couldn't breathe and for once in his entire life, he felt like he was suffocating.

Then, everything went black.