Seven Years Ago
On an island nation, called Altea, thievery was a severe issue, what with all the imports and exports that went through to port. It was such an issue, that Princess Allura, leader of Altea, had her own private force of "thieves" that would hide out amongst the Galra, a ruthless band of pirates that would constantly attack ships treading the waters around Altea. The private force was called "The Blade of Mamora," a ragtag group of ex-Galra that had abandoned their illegal ways and became a part of Allura's army to get a better life for themselves that were each marked with the same symbol to represent their status as the Princess's selection of defenders.
Keith, an 11-year-old prodigy of the Blade of Mamora, was a part of that crew under the watch and protection of Takashi Shirogane, a 19-year-old servant of Allura. The last ships of before the stormy season were due to be coming in throughout the month; Altea, unfortunately, was always victim to a stormy season that would prevent any and all vessels from even approaching and/or leaving the island. Any resources and goods that could be brought to the island Keith was currently on his way to help with some of the last scouting missions before all the boats had to be locked up for the next three months.
That day was an absolute bore; there were no pirates which meant no action whatsoever. That is, until storm clouds began to roll in and the sea became rough. Storm season seemed to have come early that year and would be more aggressive than ever. The rains were merciless and the winds became so strong that they tore the sails on the boat. The crew was running about, struggling to get the ship back under control. Keith followed Shiro closely, listening to each order and doing his best to keep up. Within a matter of minutes, the storm was vicious and had struck the hull, splitting it into two. The two boys got separated upon the split. The side of the boat Keith had been on tipped over and the boy fell into the sea. Keith hit the water with such an impact that he became unconscious. He sunk deeper and deeper into the ocean as the storm raged on.
They say that the most unexplored part of the world is the the ocean, and it is said that great things can come from unexpected places. A young group of merpeople ventured toward the surface to see what the sky looked like during a storm. Led by young Lance, an adventurous 10-year-old merman and son of his village's leader, he and two of his friends went on the adventure of a lifetime.
"Are you sure about this, Lance? We're not really supposed to be doing this… What if our parents find out?!" Hunk, the oldest at 12, fretted as they swam towards the surface.
Pidge looked at Hunk with a raised eyebrow. "Honestly, you can't spend your life scared of everything." The 7-year-old was clever, but allowed herself to be dragged along since the other children didn't nearly peak her interests.
Lance smirked. "She's right, you know. You can't always be such a guppy!" He stuck his tongue out and jetted ahead of the others, giggling up a storm. Lance stopped in his tracks as he saw something drifting in the water. "What's that…" Swimming closer, Lance nearly screamed. "It's a person from the Sky Land!"
"What?!" The other two said in unison.
"He needs help!" Lance rushed to grab Keith, with Hunk and Pidge in tow.
The three of them got a hold of the thief boy and began swimming towards the closest land body. Hunk was stressing the entire way about whether or not they should be doing this, and wasn't it against the laws to interact with the Sky people. It was, but that could be put aside to save a life; at least it could be in Lance's eyes. The young mermen and mermaid pulled the boy all the way to the Altean shore before retreating to the ocean. Before leaving though, Lance took note of the mark on the boy and eventually carved the symbol into a pearl to assure he'd always be reminded of the day he saved the boy from the sky.
Minutes later, Keith's lungs contracted and forced the water out of them in a coughing fit. The boy slowly sat up with a groan, holding his head. Shiro, as well as a few other crew members, had survived and made it back to shore. The teen was sprinting across the shore, looking for his young ward. The relief in his eyes as he saw Keith was immense; he pulled the boy into an embrace, holding him tightly.
"Are you okay? You could have gotten killed!" Shiro yelled at the boy in a concerned tone, but Keith was too weak to answer and just held on tightly to the older male. Gently, Shiro picked him up, and as they walked toward the pier and town, Keith could have sworn he saw a blue fin just above the water as something dove down.