The castle was huge, but Keith often forgot how big exactly until Coran would send them off to a section he'd never been into before. Today's adventure consisted searching in the 'lower chamber' as he called it, although from what Keith saw from the various crates, and trunks it seemed more equivalent to the basement.
Why Coran didn't just call it that he would never understand. Keith sighed as he finished searching another crate and shut it.
"Are you certain Coran said those spare parts were down here, Pidge?" he asked aloud.
Pidge stepped down from the shelf she'd been checking out. "That's what he told me, although he did say he wasn't certain."
"Terrific," Keith said as he dusted his hands. "We've been down here for an hour now. Maybe it's time to give up."
Pidge looked reluctant. "Let's search a bit more, besides maybe Green and Red have found something."
Keith sighed. "I guess that's possible..wait." He glanced around with a frown. "Where are Red and Green?"
Pidge frowned as she glanced around. "Last I check they were exploring some crates."
Growls suddenly came from behind them along with the the sound of scratching. Keith with a half amused grin, raised his hand and pointed ahead.
"Sounds like they're over there and getting into trouble," he declared.
Pidge gave a chuckle as she took the lead to the back. "Like that doesn't happen every day." She gestured for Keith to follow. "Come on, maybe they found those parts."
The two teens walked quietly as they traced the growls of their lions until they reached the back and paused. Red and Green were growling and scratching at something, but it wasn't a crate.
It was a pair of large chamber doors, with an ornate pattern carved into the frame around the door. Keith half expected to see a lock, but to his surprise there was no hint of it. There was only a pair of golden handles, which Red was currently trying to chew on while Green was joyfully scratching at the door.
Pidge raised an eyebrow. "So, what do you think this place leads to?"
Keith shrugged. "Another part of the basement?"
"With those highly decorative doors, I doubt it," Pidge said as she approached and moved Red away to turn the handle. "Let's check it out."
"Shouldn't we ask Coran first?" Keith asked skeptically.
Pidge smirked. "Yeah, but it wouldn't be as fun."
Keith shook his head as Pidge opened and pushed the doors aside. Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. "Keith, you better see this."
Keith raised an eyebrow as he looked over Pidge's head and was struck with the same reaction.
It was a white chamber, big enough to fit a small army. The walls seem to almost shimmer from the bright orb of light that hung above. Yet, what caught both of Pidge and Keith's attention was the crystal clear pool placed in the middle of the chamber.
Keith and Pidge continued to stare stunned as Green scampered inside to poke her paw into the water, while Red snarled and stuck close to Keith.
"So," Pidge said slowly as she turned back to Keith. "Who wants to tell Lance?"
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"All right, Girl," Lance said as he tossed the ball. "See if you can catch this one!"
He tossed the ball high up in the air. Blue growled playfully before leaping high, snatching the ball in her jaws and performing a backflip as she landed back on the ground.
Lance laughed as Blue raced over to his lap. "Ha! Bet Yellow can't be that, Hunk."
Hunk rolled his eyes from his chair as Yellow watched him take the ball. "Oh, please, my lion can do that with her tail tied behind her back."
Yellow glanced up looking concerned.
"No, Yellow, we're not doing that, it's just tough talk," Hunk said to reassure her.
Coran glanced up from his report with a raised eyebrow. "You know, somehow I don't think Shiro would count a 'ball catching competition' as the proper training he assigned to you for today."
"Hey, this is totally training," Lance said as he threw the ball for Blue again. "We're testing out the Lions' agility. What if we got attacked inside the castle again?"
"Besides," Hunk said as he took his own ball for Yellow to chase. "We did the other stuff Shiro asked us to do. What else are we supposed to do while he and Allura are stuck in that meeting?"
Lance glanced to his watch. "On that note, it's been three hours. How much longer are they going to be?"
"This isn't just any meeting," Coran said as he leaned over the couch. "This is a diplomatic meeting of convincing the Yishlons of forming an alliance with us."
Hunk shrugged. "So? It didn't take this long to form alliances with other planets."
"Yes," Coran said with a nod, "but the Yishions in particular are quite.." He twirled his mustache as he thought of the right word. "Difficult to please and they are very strict on manners-"
"They're a bunch of snobs aren't they?" Lance replied as Blue brought the ball back to throw.
"Oh, no, not all of them," Coran replied. "The villagers are quite charming..but the nobles of the planet who we have to deal with." He coughed into his hand. "Well..yes, they're a bit of an annoyance."
"Yay," Hunk said with an unenthusiastic fist in the air.
The door the opened as Pidge and Keith entered the room with their lions.
"Ah, there you two are," Coran said with a grin. "Any luck finding those spare parts?"
"No," Keith said slowly as he leaned against the couch and exchanged a glance with Pidge, "but we found..something."
Pidge coughed as she approached the older Altean. "Coran, why didn't you tell us we had a swimming pool in the basement?"
The ball dropped from Lance's hand and rolled aimlessly on the floor as he whirled around in his seat. "Wait, what?!"
"We found this huge pool in the basement," Keith explained as he extended his arms for emphasis. "I swear, it makes the pool at the Garrison look like a pond."
Hunk's jaw dropped and looked to Coran. "Why didn't you ever tell us this?"
Coran grasped his chin in thought and then suddenly snapped his fingers.
"Oh, yes, the water bathing chamber," he declared with a chuckle. "I completely forgot about that place!"
"How do you forget you have a swimming pool?!" Lance exclaimed. "Dude, I've been dying to have a swim for months?!"
"Well, being frozen for ten thousand years can do some weird things to your memory," Coran explained. "Besides, i t's not a 'swimming' pool. It's a bathing area that was privately used as a place of relaxation and play for the royal family."
Hunk raised an eyebrow. "Minus the royal part, you just described what a swimming pool is."
Coran grasped his chin. "Hmm...I suppose I did, didn't I?"
Lance leaped to his feet as Blue climbed up to his shoulder. "Well, what are we standing around for? Let's go for a swim!"
"Now, hold on!" Coran said as he raised a hand. "While I am certain Princess Allura won't mind you lot using it, it's best we wait for both her and Shiro to return to properly ask for permission." He folded his arms. "Not to mention to inspect the water and make certain it's clean to use. It has been ten thousand years since the pool has been used."
"It looked pretty clean to me," Pidge said frankly. "I'm seen glass more cloudy than that."
"Nevertheless," Coran continued with a stern tone. "We need to be certain-"
A sharp beep from his tablet cut him off. Without wasting a beat, Coran lifted the tablet and hit the button. Allura's face appeared on the small screen, and judging from the lines under her eyes she was very tired.
Coran raised an eyebrow. "Oh, dear, I know that look," he stated as the others stared over his shoulder. "Is something the matter, Princess?"
Allura sighed. "Nothing urgent, but Coran would you please join me? I am requiring some back up to ease tensions."
"Ease tensions?" Hunk asked. "You and Shiro in trouble?"
Allura shook her head. "No, but the leader invited Shiro to play a game and Shiro won."
"Oookay," Pidge asked. "What's so wrong about that?"
Allura sighed. "I forgot to tell Shiro that when Yishions challenge off worlders, it's considered rude for the off worlders to win."
Keith folded his arm as he frown. "That..makes no sense what so ever. How is it rude if he challenged Shiro?"
"I'm in full agreement with you there, but that is the tradition. To the Yishions it is a sign of trust," Allura continued. "I've tried to explained it was a simple mistake, but we're having a difficult time to move past it-"
"SIR! For the last time, I said I was sorry!" Shiro's voice echoed from the background of the video screen.
"Sorry does not grant me the time I lost playing you!" a male voice shouted back.
"THEN WHY ON EARTH DID YOU CHALLENGE ME IN THE FIRST PLACE?!" Shiro argued back
Allura's eyes twitched slightly. "Coran, if you wouldn't mind-"
"Say, no more, Princess," Coran said with a nod. "I'll be there to join you shortly."
"Thank you," Allura said before she signed off and the screen went blank.
"Right then," Coran said as he set the tablet aside. "Wish me luck. Hopefully, we will have this sorted out in a few tics."
"But what about the pool?" Lance said with his eyes full of hope.
"As I said that will be discuss once the Princess and Shiro have returned," Coran said as he exited the room. "Till then, you all just stay put, and keep out of trouble."
The young paladins quietly watched Coran leave and shut the door behind him. In perfect unison, all the lions in the room turned their heads towards their paladins and had their full attention.
Lance clapped his hands and turned around to the others. "Right...sssooo, where is this swimming pool exactly?"
Keith sighed. He knew this was what was going to happen and Red gave a growl in agreement. "Lance, Coran said we had to wait."
Lance rolled his eyes. "Dude, it has been months since I got to swim in something! I have been dying here."
Hunk raised a hand. "Actually, you did take a swim on Diakron Seven?"
"That was slime and it took me three days to wash all of that off! It doesn't count!" Lance said with a shiver.
"I'm with Lance," Pidge voiced with her arms folded. "I think Coran is being too paranoid. The water looked fine to me, and we've earned it."
Hunk have a soft uneasy chuckle. "I can't deny that a regular old swim would feel good."
Keith sighed as he tucked his hands into his pockets. "Fine, knock yourselves out. I'm heading to my room."
However, to his and Red's annoyance, Lance caught his arm. "No way! You're coming with us!"
Keith raised an eyebrow. "Why exactly?"
"Because we need to embrace this as a potential team bonding experience!" Lance exclaimed as Blue lifted one of her paws in agreement.
Keith stared doubtfully and then it clicked. "You just want to make certain I don't go call Shiro and blab on you."
Lance huffed. "Fine, maybe a bit of that too, but come on don't be such a stick in the mud."
"Yeah, Keith, it's just a swim," Pidge said as she started to drag Keith along with Lance. "Relax, it will be fun."
Maybe for you guys, since you can actually swim, Keith thought darkly, but found unable to escape his captors hold on him.
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No one had any swimsuits on hand, and if there were spare Altean swimsuits they had no sweet clue where to find them. So, in the end, Hunk and Lance decided to dive in shorts from clothing they had bought from a market a few days ago. Pidge stuck with with an extra shirt and pants she usually saved for dirty work on the lions for swimming.
Keith had removed his precious red jacket and shoes, and that was about it. He quietly let his legs hang over the sides and let his feet wade in the water as he watched the others and Red sat in his lap for a nap.
Lance sprang his head out of the water with Blue doing the same in perfect sync.
"THIS is what I needed," Lance exclaimed as he lay on his back and let Blue paddle around him. "Best therapy ever."
Pidge laughed as she swam up to the edge to join where Green had been watching her and scratched under her chin. "I don't think I've seen you this relax in a while."
"That's because Lance is secretly a merman and practically lives in the water," Hunk teased as he stood near Keith with towels in his hands. "When we were kids, his mother had to bribe him to get him out of the pool."
Keith gave a small chuckle. "I can easily imagine that."
"You mock," Lance said as he flipped back around. "But all that pool time has made me one of the best swimmers you guys will ever know."
Hunk gave a smirk. "Swimmer yes," he said as he dramatically tossed the towels to the side. "But you know what I'm the best yet."
Lance sharply turned and eyes widened. "Hunk, no!"
"CANNONBALL!" Hunk cried as he jumped up, curled into a ball and dived into the water causing a huge splash.
Keith shielded himself with his arm as Red dove behind him for cover from the water. Yellow roared in encouragement as Green tried to catch the water droplets that fell. Pidge and Lance both laughed as they were splashed by the water.
"No fair!" Pidge called out as she shook off the water. "I'm so getting you for that!"
Hunk sprang out of the water grinning with pride. "That my friends is how you do a proper canonball."
"And it's very well done," Lance replied as Blue climbed up to his shoulders. "But after that spectacle, I feel the need to show you how to do a proper dive."
Pidge scoffed. "Oh, please, I bet I could beat you in that. I was the top of my swimming class."
"Ooh, sounds like we have a challenge here," Hunk teased.
"And it's one I'm not going to lose," Lance declared as he climbed out of the pool and Blue hopped back onto dry land and gave herself a shake.
Red growl as the water droplets almost hit her.
Pidge climbed out and patted Green as she looked over to Keith. "You joining us on this, Keith?" she asked.
Keith glanced to the pool and shook his head. "No, thanks," he said as he rose to his feet and shook off the water. "Truthfully, I think I got wet enough for one day. I'm going to head back to my room."
Lance blinked in shock. "Really? But you've barely gotten your pinky toes wet."
Keith shrugged. "Swimming just isn't my thing," he said and pointed to Red who hissed at the pool. "And I'm thinking Red doesn't care for it either. So, I'm done."
"Aw, come on, Keith," Pidge said as moved up to him. "You should at least get your head under the water. It's fun. Loosen up a bit."
Keith shook his head. "I got my own way of loosening up," he said as he began to walk away. "I'm going to read for awhile and then some sword practice."
"Suit, yourself," Lance said with a shrug.
However, for Pidge it wasn't good enough. She grinned as she silently crept up behind Keith, and then swiftly shoved him.
Keith yelped in shock as he fell and landed into the pool. Hunk and Lance shield their faces as he splash of water hit them. Red roared in alarm as she stared into the pool.
Pidge laughed gleefully as Hunk narrowed his eyes and swam to the edge. "Pidge, not cool. Keith didn't want to swim."
"Oh, come on," she said as she continued to smirk. "I use to do that to Matt all the time."
Hunk kept his frown. "Sure, but Keith isn't Matt. He's-"
"Guys," Lance cut in and pointed to where Keith landed. "He hasn't come up yet."
The teens froze and stared in horror. Red fidgeted as she kept pacing back and forth on the edge of the pool.
"Keith can swim, right?" Hunk said and looked fearfully to Lance. "Right?"
Lance cursed as he ran and dived into the water with Blue and Red diving seconds in after him.
Pidge and Hunk held their breath and only dared to breathe when Lance emerged with Keith in his arms. Red and Blue tucked their heads under Keith's arms as he coughed and gasped for air.
"Take it easy, man," Lance said as he steered them towards the edge. "We got ya."
"Thanks," Keith gasped as he clung to Lance.
Hunk scrambled out of the pool and instantly turned around to pull Keith out. "You okay?"
"I..I think so," Keith said as he sat back and coughed.
Red mewed as she wrapped her tail around him. Blue shook the water off as she waited for Lance to climb out and got him a towel.
"Keith..I..I'm so sorry," Pidge stammered. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US YOU COULDN'T SWIM?!"
Keith leaned on his knees and didn't seem to mind Yellow and Green moving in closer to inspect him. "It just...didn't come up."
"Not come up?!" Pidge exclaimed. "We're at a pool-"
"Sorry, Pidge, but we'll have to save that for later," Lance said as he dried himself off and kneeled to Keith. "We need to get Keith upstairs and get the medical scanners to check him over."
Keith shook his head as he rubbed his throat. "Don't bother, I'm fine, really-"
"No way," Lance cut in sharply with a firm tone as he pulled Keith to his feet. "You could have leftover water in your lungs, which could literally kill you." He shook a finger. "It's not uncommon for people to suffocate on land after almost drowning in water."
Keith blinked surprised. "How do you know that?"
"Lance has lifeguard training," Hunk replied. "He knows what he's talking about here. Not to mention, it would make me feel better. You almost drowned!"
"What's this about drowning?"
The group turned around to see both Shiro and Black standing near the doorway. His foot was tapping, his arms were folded and his eyebrow was raised. These were the classic Shiro signs of him being not happy.
"Shiro…," Pidge said slowly. "You're back early."
"Allura and Coran managed to cool things down, so I wasn't needed anymore," he said as he stepped forward and looked Keith over. "So, what happened?"
The group winced. They were so busted.
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Shiro finished reading over the scan report and sighed in relief. "According to the scanners, you should be fine," he said as he sat on the medical bed next to Keith. "But we're keeping a close eye on you for the next 24 hours to be sure."
Keith nodded as he wrapped his arm around Red. She hadn't dared to leave his side for a second as Shiro and the others checked him over. Red even refused to leave Keith alone to get dressed in dry clothes.
She's going to be clingy the next few days, Keith thought. Although, he strangely didn't mind that. It was comforting to feel her next to him.
"So, we're all okay, then?" Hunk asked.
Shiro sighed. "I didn't say that." He narrowed his eyes. "I understand you guys were excited to find that pool, but you should have waited for Allura, Coran and I before you decided to go into it."
Lance rolled his eyes. "Shiro, we're not little kids. We can take care of ourselves."
"I know, but you went swimming before we had a chance to make certain it was clean," Shiro explained as he folded his arms.
"It looked fine to me," Pidge said softly.
"Perhaps, but for all we know there could be organisms in there that may not be harmful to Alteans, but are for humans," Shiro stated firmly. "We're still learning about the castle, it was built for Alteans not us."
Lance winced and raised a finger. "Okay, that's a fair point."
"And...Keith did almost drown," Hunk muttered softly and Yellow growled in agreement.
Pidge winced at the comment and reached over to scratch Green's ears.
Lance rubbed his neck. "I'm sorry, Shiro and..I should take most of the blame here. I was the most desperate to swim in the pool."
"Naw, dude, it was all us," Hunk said sadly. "We're really sorry, Shiro."
Shiro gave a half smile. "I know you are, and thus I'm making you guys do an extra hour of drill practice for the next three days. Understood?"
"Yeah," the group said in unison along with their lions.
"Sssooo, can we go now?" Lance asked.
"Yes," Shiro said.
Pidge sighed and rose, but suddenly found herself blocked by Black.
"Except you, Pidge," Shiro explained, "and Keith too. I'm not quite down with you two yet."
Hunk patted Pidge's shoulder before he exited the room with Lance, Yellow and Blue. Pidge sat back down and let Green settle into her lap.
"Okay, Pidge," Shiro said gently. "I believe you got something to say to Keith."
Pidge removed her glasses and looked up. "Keith...I'm so sorry. It was just a joke! Matt and I use to play a game of it when we were kids. I swear, that last thing I would want to do is-"
"I know, Pidge," Keith said as he raised a hand. "It's okay, you didn't mean any harm."
"While that's true, that doesn't make it okay," Shiro said. I know you did it with Matt, but that's different. You knew for certain he could swim, but you didn't with Keith. Plus, he clearly said 'No' and you should have respected that."
Pidge gave a nod.
"However," Shiro said as both he and Black turned their gaze to Keith. "Both of you made mistakes here."
Keith blinked in confusion along with Red. "What do you mean?"
Shiro patted his shoulder. "I know it embarrses you to admit you can't swim," he said, "but we're a team. We got to be honest with our strengths and weaknesses. You should have just told them from the start."
"Wait, Shiro," Pidge said as he placed her glasses back on. "It's not Keith's fault at all. I should have-"
Keith shook his head. "No, Shiro's right. I should have just straight up explained it to you guys." He sighed. "I just...don't like admitting I can't do something."
"Well, with swimming we're going to change that," Shiro said with a grin. "I know just how to do it."
Keith winced and sighed. "Let me guess, you're going to teach me how to swim."
"Yes, but I'm not going to be the teacher," Shiro said. "And Pidge you're going to learn something here too."
Keith frowned and then it suddenly struck him what Shiro was saying. "Wait..you're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"
Shiro said nothing as he merely gave a grin and Black growled in approval.
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"So, how long do you think we will be banned from that pool?" Lance asked as Blue poked her head out of Lance's hood and poked him for pats.
"Don't know," Hunk said as he stretched out on Lance's bed and Yellow joined him. "But I can't exactly blame Shiro if we're banned for like a month."
"I know," Lance said sadly as he complied to Blue's demand and stroked her ears. "But it sucks that I FINALLY found a possible place to swim and it got ruined so fast."
"Might not be as ruined as you thought," Keith said as he entered with Red, along with PIdge and Green.
Hunk immediately sat up and looked at them with a frown. "How did it go?" he asked.
"Shiro isn't out right banning us," Pidge said as she took a seat next to Lance. "But he's made it clear we got to tell him when we're in the pool from now on."
Lance's shoulders relaxed slightly. "Well, that's not so bad." The pool may not be the same as swimming in the ocean back home, but Lance was happy with what he could find.
"With that said, we're forbidden from going in until Coran does a scan on it and us to make certain we didn't take in anything harmful," Pidge said as Green started to poke Yellow on the bed to play.
"How long will that take?" Lance said.
"A few days," Keith said as he sat directly in front of Lance. "Although, Shiro imagines Allura is going to give us a good lecture too."
"Yeah, saw that one coming a mile away," Lance said as he rubbed his neck.
Keith then fidgeted and chewed his bottom lip as Red climbed into his lap.
"Listen, Lance, I know I'm not the best at saying this sometimes," he said as he looked up. "But thanks for saving me."
Lance paused, slightly surprised by the sudden gratitude and gave a shrug. "It's no biggie."
"No, it is," Keith said as he slumped over Red to looked at him directly. "I owe you."
Lance gave him a hard look and smirked as Blue purred happily. "Ooh, the great Keith owes me a favor, I like the sound of that."
"Lance," Hunk warned, but Lance quieted him with his hand.
"But as much as I wish I could take advantage of that," Lance replied and turned his head away from him. "You can thank me back by learning how to swim. I would appreciate not having a repeat performance of that."
Keith and Pidge exchanged a look and coughed. "Funny you should mention that," Keith replied and ran a hand through his hair. "I've been ordered by Shiro to take swimming lessons from you."
Lance's eyes widened and he turned to look back at him. "Really?"
"Yeah," Pidge replied, "and on that note I've been ordered to learn how to be a lifeguard from you too."
"Oh, can I get in on this?" Hunk asked as he raised a hand. "Frankly, it's something I've been meaning you to teach me for a long time."
Lance looked to them and slowly a wide cheesy grin spread across his face. "Well, no way I can say no to that." He snapped his fingers and pointed at them. "Alright, as soon as the pool is free again, you three are going to be students of Professor Fabulous Lance!"
"Do we HAVE to call you 'Professor'?" Pidge asked with a sour expression.
"Yes, yes, you do," Shiro said as he poked his head into the room. "If anything, that will make certain you don't forget it easily."
"I was afraid you say that," Keith muttered under his breath and wonder if maybe drowning would have been better.
Author's Note: For those wondering, yes, it is possible for someone to die on land after almost drowning. It's called 'Dry Drowning' kids/safety/outdoor/dry-drowning/
Also, I do plan on writing a follow up to this, I'm just brainstorming ideas for the actual swimming lessons.
