Disclaimer: (last one) I don't own any of the characters, but I own the story and world

A/N: I'm so glad you guys like it! Thank you so much for the comments!

Chapter 5: Risk

Shiro hadn't stopped looking at Keith with worry, but then again, it was probably an older brother thing. Keith was drinking water from a pouch through a straw, having gotten annoyed with water bottles for some reason. It was also easier to carry more in his bag, which he had been lugging everywhere for the past couple weeks. He got dehydrated so fast, sometimes the water wasn't enough.

His appetite changed. All seafood. He couldn't drink anything caffeinated or carbonated; it always had to be water. He even caught him drinking salt water one time. "I'm surprised you haven't tried dolphin, with all the experiments you've been doing."

Keith shrugged. He looked both distracted and zoned out. His eyes were set on the beach where they were headed to. "I don't know, it just doesn't sound appetizing."

"But shark does?"

"Shark is good." It was his favorite dish. He didn't know what it was about shark, but the taste was just so…good. He didn't know how to describe it.

"You can't eat just shark the rest of your life."

A challenge to his comment was on the tip of his tongue. "I eat other types of fish. I like crab and shrimp."

"Those…aren't fish…"

"And salmon and codfish and stingrays and catfish…" Keith continued naming off whatever aquatic animal he could think of, even if they weren't fish. And half of them he hadn't even tried, especially the freshwater ones.

Shiro chuckled. "I was just joking Keith, I didn't mean literally."

"Oh." How was he supposed to know? Shiro asked a question and Keith started answering it. Were questions jokes now? How was he supposed to tell the difference?

Shiro forgot Keith had a hard time telling when someone was jesting or not, and had to remind himself every so often. He was used to playful banter with Matt and Pidge after being gone so long from home. He needed to remember that. "Did you want to stop by Syberg's again?" He suggested, knowing he needed to derail Keith's thoughts before he got lost in them. "They have a gumbo special today."

"I'm not that hungry." His eyes were focused on the beach as they got closer. He could smell the saltwater calling to him. "I'm just going to go for a swim."

"Well, you need to be back before noon. Matt want's to head out to the edge of the shelf to study some more dolphins."

"Right, right." Matt had begged him to come along, and since he would get to see what he wanted to study with the dolphins, he conceded, his curiosity peaked. "I'll be back before noon." They finally got to the beach, but they didn't head directly for the water. There were a couple of caves nearby people would picnic in while swimming in the shallow waters. They were private and easy to get to from the outer side.

Luckily no one was out today, everyone being at either school or work. He got to the first one and climbed in without touching the water. Shiro followed close behind, holding a couple of towels and setting them further in the back of the cave so they wouldn't get wet. Keith set down his bag and walked up to the water, wading in up to his waist. "See you when you get back. Head straight home." Shiro called, catching Keith's shorts when he threw them to him.

Keith dunked all the way in, letting the water cool and wake him up. He poked his head out to say goodbye.

Red scales littered his face and traced down his collar to his shoulders. His ears were elongated and webbed, turning slightly red at the tips. Glowing purple eyes with slits looked back at Shiro, who didn't look surprised at his transformation. "Yeah, I know."

"And don't forget to stay underwater until you get back under the cover of the cave." Shiro lectured.

"Yeah, yeah." He submerged himself underwater and disappeared, already gone.

He stuck as close to the bottom as he could, trying to cover his obvious appearance from any prying eyes. His eyes could see further in the waters than above it, more than his human eyes ever could. Spotting someone from afar was relatively easy.

And his nose was better too. He thought of werewolves in fiction(were they fiction? Now that he knew all this?) and was surprised at how intense his senses were. He could smell metal and blood. With that knowledge, he guessed why mermaids were never seen. They had the perfect senses to avoid them from sight.

Except for the one they had caught. Was it on purpose? The captain and some of the crew were more excited at their find than surprised. The scientists—along with Keith and Shiro—had not expected this. Maybe that was why the captain was easily swayed to let them join their expedition. And it was smart that they didn't say anything if they actually knew what they were going to find. None of them would have stepped on that boat if they claimed to be looking for mermaids.

How they caught her was beyond them. They set nets down into the water—almost all around them—and waited till Samuel and Matt started dropping their sonar equipment and cameras in. They were in the deepest part of the Gulf, Sigsbee Deep. They finally had better equipment to travel as deep without creating light that would scare off aquatic life. It had some sort of cloaking device Pidge had developed, even with some type of gas that emitted to confuse fish into thinking it wasn't something foreign from the surface.

Maybe that's why they were able to catch the mermaid. The cameras spotted something Samuel and Matt couldn't identify, and it was because the mermaid couldn't smell the metal. It had changed its scent. Instead, it was curious and followed the cameras towards the nets directed from the captain.

They knew what they were doing.

Keith had to be careful. Luckily he knew more about technology, being human, that he could avoid it.

What if he ran into another mermaid? He nearly paused his swimming to think about it. That mermaid was terrifying. It was so strong, it nearly pulled the boat over as they dragged it up. But they had been prepared(Keith was now convinced they had planned this from the beginning) and secured heavy metal barrels, with loads of metal objects he hadn't gotten the chance to see, to one side of the ship to keep it from toppling over. When they pulled it up and onto the deck, all havoc broke loose.

The thing had torn through the nets with the strength of its powerful jaws and sharp teeth. Its claws had slashed through a couple of crew members, and its tail was whipping around and trashing the deck, even putting a couple of dents in the metal railings. If Shiro hadn't skewered that thing, he might have lost his arm.

Had the other crew members changed like him? The ones that got hurt? He was the only one bitten, so maybe that was why. Or they were hiding it like him.

When Keith showed Shiro, Matt, and Pidge what happened, they made him swear to secrecy and stay away from the GHS. Not like he wouldn't have, but they seemed pretty paranoid.

Keith stopped swimming when he came to the edge of the Texas/Louisiana shelf, right at the edge of East Breaks. The water turned to darkness the further down it went, opposite of what someone would see over a cliff. But with his glowing eyes and sharp sense of smell, he might be able to explore without worry. He was tempted. This was the first time he got this far out. He was beginning to swim faster. He peeked over the edge, seriously thinking about swimming down.

When the watch on his wrist started beeping. He looked at the high advanced watch and saw he had been out there for almost an hour. He didn't realize it had been that long. If he wanted to make it back in time, he would need to head back.

But the peak…

He would be back later. Besides, they were heading out further anyway, even if he wouldn't be allowed to dive deeper than this. He could go exploring tomorrow.

—

Keith was hauled up in the cabin curled up and hugging his legs as the boat sped fast towards the edge of the Texas/Louisiana shelf. He was pushed into a corner so he could be a little more stable as the boat jumped and rocked on the waved. They hadn't taken a fishing vessel like before, they didn't need much equipment to haul. Matt had a small laptop hooked to a sonar microphone and that was about it, Pidge was busy playing a downloaded version of Killbit Phantasm 1 on her computer, Shiro was driving the boat, and Keith was just…sitting there.

Pidge finally got tired of hearing Keith groan every time the boat jumped a wave and glared at him. "How does a mermaid get seasick?"

"Shut up Pidge." Keith forced out, sounding like he was out of breath from almost vomiting.

"Actually, it's quite possible for fish to get seasick." Said Matt, making his way into the cabin. "If they lose eye contact with water movement and vibrations, they get disoriented."

Pidge stared at him. "Nerd."

"Hey! So are you!"

She straightened her glasses. "I'm a geek. There's a difference."

"Would you two shut up…" Mumbled Keith, never bringing his face out of his crossed arms and legs.

"Why don't you just go outside? Maybe seeing the water will help."

"It makes it worse…"

"Well, we're almost there."

The boat began to slow and Keith was counting his blessings. Pidge and Matt went to the deck, but he waited till it came to a complete stop before he moved. The boat rocked a little, but it wasn't as bad as jumping waves, and he wobbled to the deck trying his best to hold in his lunch. He really shouldn't have eaten before getting on a boat. Mermaid or not, he had always gotten sick on boats. Unfortunately, that didn't change with his biology.

"So I have a couple of things to hook up to you before you go out." Pidge had grabbed what looked like a collar and an earpiece and walked over to put it on him.

He jolted away a little. he didn't like things touching his neck. It was why never wore jewelry. The only textures he could tolerate were clothes and gloves. The gloves more than clothes.

And he was already in a bad mood because he wouldn't be able to wear his gloves with webbed hands. What if he touched something with bad texture? It wouldn't help his aversion to overstimulation.

He would need to find another way to fix that. Cutting the inside of the fingers was a little pointless.

Pidge gave him an even look. "If we want to record anything you'll have to wear this." He growled in defeat, letting her put it on. "Now the earpiece."

"I don't know if it'll fit."

"What? Why wouldn't it?"

"My ears change."

"Uuughhh! Fine! Get in the water and then put it on."

Keith contended and headed to the back of the boat, holding the sides as best he could. It might not have been such a good idea because he shifted more than if he had been in the middle letting his legs seesaw with the boat. He pushed the little door—which was a little pointless because he could just hop over it—and climbed over to the water, careful not to touch it just yet. "Pidge, don't look."

"Eyes have been covered since you started moving."

Keith still felt a little self-conscious. He changed so fast that it was hard to get everything off in time. One time, he left his shorts on—

"Keith! Get in!"

"Uuughhh." He pulled his shorts and shirt off as quickly as possible, then slid in. After dunking himself he came right up hacking for breath. "Pidge! This thing is covering my gills!"

"Oh my gawd."

"Pidge, maybe you can adjust it for him." Suggested Shiro.

"We might be able to get recordings another way." Said Matt. "Maybe we can hook it up to the communications device instead."

"Fine, give me that." Pidge snatched it away after Keith enthusiastically took it off. "Give me a second." She grabbed her computer and the two communication devices and started typing away. Then she pulled apart the collar and took out some chip looking thing, and finagled it onto the earpiece. She wrapped it in electrical tape and connected it to her computer. "There, that should work." She handed it to him.

Keith was right, it was a little harder to fit in his ear than he thought. Pidge held up the electrical tape but he glared at her. "I'm not taping it to my ear." Matt and Shiro chuckled and he finally got it on. It was a little uncomfortable, but it fit. His earhole was almost lower than it was as a human. "If it falls off, it's not my fault."

"You'll be buying a new one."

"Make one that fits next time."

"I didn't know it wouldn't! A heads up would have been nice!"

"Okay you two, let's get on with the mission."

Matt chuckled. "Mission. I guess it kind of is."

Shiro shook his head. "Sometimes I think Pidge and Keith are related instead." Both parties pouted. "Okay, let's go over what we're doing again."

Keith sighed. "I'm going to swim with the dolphins and the whales to try and talk to them, so we can record their sounds to later translate to English."

Matt looked like he wanted to squeal. "Can you believe this? We could be the first ones to communicate with animals! It was totally worth it to get bitten."

"Then it should have been you."

"Are you ready Keith?" Asked Shiro.

He really wasn't. This would be the first time actually talking to them. They only came up with the idea because Keith was able to understand their songs when he was in the ocean. Matt figured if he could understand them, then he could talk to them. But Keith had never tried making those weird trills and chirps. He knew he couldn't talk normally underwater, but practically screaming so high pitched it could break glass? He would have to try it first.

Keith went underwater and started making all the weird sounds he could. Trilling, clicking, whistling, making some kind of weird sound that sounded like squeaking doors, sending a high pitched pulse through the currents of the water.

"What are you doing?" Asked Pidge over the earpiece.

"Trying to learn to talk in mermaid." He said, only it came out in muffled sounds. He broke the surface and repeated himself.

"What were you saying?" Asked Matt. Keith shrugged. "Maybe go find dolphins and listen to how they communicate. You should be able to figure it out from there."

Keith nodded and finally took off into the ocean.

Dolphins were surprisingly hard to find. Matt told him this was a good location where they would swim, and satellites that followed them said they were here. He tried sniffing the waters to see what he could find, but he didn't recognize any of the smells. So instead, he let out a shrill.

Something responded back. It didn't quite sound like a dolphin, from what he remembered, and it sounded like it asked 'who are you?' or 'what are you?' Anyway, it was confused by his call.

So he headed in that direction, hoping to find whatever it was.

He sent out another trill, hoping it sounded kind of intelligible. The response was still confusion, but he was able to follow it. It sounded a bit musical, maybe a whale. He didn't know any creatures that could sound like that.

But…He hadn't known mermaids existed either. And weren't they known for sounding beautiful and hypnotizing humans with their songs? What if it was another mermaid? Would they know he was human(partially)? What would they do if they knew? Would they be friendly? Or attack him?

His anxiety started to slow him down as the thoughts came to him. He could distinguish smells pretty easily, even if he didn't know what they were. He could even tell the different kinds of sharks or fish by the slightest change in scent. They would know. He knew it. There was no way they wouldn't.

Should he keep going? Maybe they wouldn't be as hostile. He wished he had brought his knife.

Something large came into view as it was winning closer. It was bigger than any mermaid, and he immediately recognized it. "A blue whale."

"Yes, that's what Land Walkers call me." He heard in response. He must have said it right since they understood him. "A red Mer, pretty rare."

"I was hoping I could ask a few questions." He started swimming beside it since it didn't stop.

"I don't know where the Mer shoal is if you were wondering."

Mer shoal? Were they called Mers? Made sense, he guessed. "No, just basic questions." He debated on telling the whale what he was. "I was actually helping some humans try to interpret whale and dolphin sounds so we could communicate."

"Humans? Land Walkers? Why would you go near them? Mers hate them."

"Uhh, they aren't so bad."

"Never trust a Land Walker."

Well, that answered his question. "What else do you know about Mers?"

"But, you're a Mer."

"I mean…" Think fast, what could he say to dissuade them to his true identity? "I'm a loner, I don't have a…shoal."

"So you're a migrating Mer? You don't look like one."

"I…was born alone, I never got to know Mers. Are you saying it's because I'm not covered in scales?" The one they found was. It had a pretty pink shine until they killed it…

"Yes. Two-colored Mers usually stay in shoals."

"…Two-colored?"

"It's what you are. The parts not covered in scales makes you look partially Land Walker. Why don't you know this?" He could hear the suspicion growing more defensive.

"I-I said I was born alone…"

"Abandoned?"

"Yes…I have a brother though. We just…never met any other Mers."

"You're not going deep enough. You shouldn't stay near the surface, that's how Land Walkers find you. The Mers have migrated to the deepest parts to avoid them."

"Are they scared or something?"

"Aren't you? A Mer out of water is basically dead."

"Wow you guys are talking so much, this is awesome!" He heard Pidge through his earpiece.

"Who was that? That sounded like a Land Walker. But how?"

"I-uh-I…"

"Who are you? Tell me. Or I'll eat you." Keith gulped. Could they eat mermaids-Mers? Uh, maybe he should swim away while he had the chance. "Are you associated with Land Walkers?"

"I…" He turned to swim away, but the current started to change and shift, spinning him right back over to the whale.

"You can't even swim properly."

"Fine, I'll tell you, but you have to promise to let me go."

"I'm the one with the advantage, you have no room to negotiate."

Keith shuddered. These Whales were as intelligent as humans. Were all animals like this? "I-I was born human. A mermaid bit me and I turned into this."

The whale was silent for a minute, and he could feel its eyes boring into him. "I thought that was just legends."

"…What?"

"It's been almost four hundred years since Mers and Land Walkers interacted. There were stories about humans turning into Mers while drowning."

"Are you mad at me?"

"You're the one that's misfortunate. Land Walkers don't take mercy on their own, let alone a half-breed."

The words stung. It was a derogatory word some kids used to call mixed heritage. He already had that problem being half Korean. "What do I do?"

"I don't know."

"Should I talk to Mers?"

"That's up to you. However, under no circumstances should you tell them what you are. The consequences could be fatal."

Keith agreed. He hadn't planned on telling them anyway. He even planned on avoiding them. As long as he didn't go all the way to the bottom of the Gulf, he should be safe.

He needed to keep his impulses in check. "Am I free to go?"

He could hear a jumble of grunts that sounded like chuckling. "You have a lot to learn about the ocean. For one, Blues can't eat Mers."

Keith glared at the Whale(or Blue, was it?). "Then can you point me in the direction of dolphins? We were wanting to speak to them too."

"Dolphins don't interact much with Mers. They don't go as deep where the Mers live, and since Mers are the top predator, they don't want to be prey."

Well, that was promising. "Thank you for your help."

The whale chimed back to him, in a simple melodic note that didn't have a perfect translation, but he knew what it meant. He replicated the sound, then left.

—

"Was that a whale? That didn't sound like a dolphin." Said, Matt, as Keith climbed up on the back and sat with his tail still in the water. Pidge was down below just in case.

"Yeah." He splashed some water on himself to keep him wet.

"That was amazing! Could you understand them?"

"Yeah."

"Well, what did they say?"

"I don't know, Mers are like apex predators, he squeezed more information out of me than I did it." he paused. "Oh, and dolphins don't go near Mers." Matt pouted.

"Mers?"

Keith looked up at Shiro, splashing himself again. "That's what they call them. And whales call themselves Blues. Well, I'm sure just the blue ones do."

Matt gave a pondering look. "Interesting."

Shiro chuckled. "Well, it wasn't a complete waste. We learned how to communicate with whales."

"Are you decent!"

"I haven't gotten back in the boat." He didn't make any effort to move. "But I want to stay here for a sec."

Shiro gave him a look. "Yes, Pidge, you can come out."

Pidge scrambled up to the deck with a goofy smile on her face. "The recording worked! You can translate it as we play it over. This is so awesome!"

"So we're headed back then?" Keith asked, not ready to go yet.

"Yeah, we should study what we have right now." Matt started packing up his equipment. "We'll come back another day for dolphins."

"Take me to the edge of the shelf. I think I'll do a little more exploring."

The three non-Mers looked at each other, then shrugged. "Want to keep the earpiece in?" Asked Pidge.

He thought about it. Would it be useful? He wasn't planning on talking to anything else. But what if he could talk to other creatures like sharks or fish? They would have more to study.

But what if he ran into a Mer? Should he think about avoiding them like the whale said? He wasn't fond of finding one anyway, but he could always watch them from afar. "Yeah."

Not much to say except I hope you guys liked it!