19 「Arus Beach」

The fledgling Voltron Legendary Defenders held several more spars between the lions and the fox, it appeared that the Paladins were getting a hold of the massive machine's capabilities and relating it to their own. It didn't take them long before the Lions began to help their Paladin's by introducing the function of a sword, shield and laser hand. It was clear that they were gaining skills at time went on.

Meanwhile, it didn't seem as if Nemoi revealed any of his special tricks or if the black fox even had some. Otherwise he was a walking armament, full of parlor tricks and simple strategies coupled with childish and guerilla tactics.

It seemed the more he played with them, the harder it was to trick them. However no matter what kind of attack he used to play, they were always a heavy hit. If the didn't follow his scheme, it was likely they'd feel the full blunt of his power.

So they had no choice but to run away from the missiles, or block them with the shield, and then parry his tackle. His strategy was repetitive, but his goal wasn't to actually beat them. If one tries things over and over again, they'll eventually get a different result in a battle. If they always were victorious by using the same strategy over and over again, eventually they'll be defeated. That was one of the things he was trying to do, he was attempting to get them to come up with a plan to take him down.

The more they processed, the faster they did. The more they fought, the harder they punched. Around the sixth spar, they were able to defeat him within moments. They used the yellow lion's bayard which summoned a shoulder mounted laser cannon in order to destroy his volleys of missiles.

He had attempted to pounce on them from behind when they were distracted, but they had already switched over to that of a sword. The fox found itself planted on the ground, limping on all fours.

Within a couple of heavy sword slashes and shield bashes, the Fox was nearly crippled and Nemoi had surrendered. The battle left the surrounding area between the Arusian Village and the Castle of Lions a mess.

Massive paw prints, everywhere. Trees on their sides, ruins crushed to dust, it was no man's land. The aqueducts which lead away from the castle were in ruins. It was as if they had waged a war and no one really won, despite there being no reason to defend ruins no one inhabited.

Hours later, after the spar, Nemoi stood on the beach that was overlooked by the Castle of Lions. His eyes was focused on the sun which was only a couple hours from ling in the horizon. He wore a simple pair of grey boardwalk shorts with neon green braided draw straps, and a black muscle shirt.

The sand wasn't all that hot where he stood due to the shadow which covered the section of the beach in which he stood. However, the sand was also not cold. It was warm, perfect temperature. He wiggled his toes as he closed his eyes.

The sound of chatter could be heard as another group of figures came to join him. It was like watching a bar graph lined from low to high in height coming towards him. It was Pidge, Shiro, Keith and Lance.

"Right now I could die for some ribs right about now..." Hunk said with his arms out wide in a stretch, his stomach loudly complaining. He had a banana yellow colored bandana around his head, orange and yellow shorts, and a pair of homemade flops.

"You're always hungry," Pidge retorted with a single point of her finger, as if chastising his stomach. "That and you've already puked like seven times!"

Lance snickered quietly, "Your poor lion."

"It's your fault anyways, Lance!" Keith said as he laughed at him, "You're the one that made us fall and roll this many times!" He held up his hands, all fingers spread above his head.

"Hey, stop playing the blame game over there you two." Shiro scoffed and shook his head. "The whole reason for the spars was to gage and improve our current abilities, and that's just what it did."

"You're right," Pidge agreed as she held her arms crossed behind her head. "I feel a bit.. Closer to you guys now."

"We can see that, Katie." Shiro snickered as he reached over with his organic arm, lightly booping her on the nose with two fingers. "Should put your arms down though."

Pidge was dressed in a dark green pair of swim shorts and a black surfguard shirt, that had green sleeves, that matched her shorts. Her clothes still hid a fair amount of her femininity, but it still stole his eyes.

Shiro as always was dressed in a pair of black swim trunks lined with white elastic material. He wore his typical full sleeve shirt on top however with his cybernetic. It was rather apparent he didn't know if it was waterproof, though it likely was.

The most that can be said about the other was that Keith wore red and Lance wore blue. They all seemed to follow the color code of their lions, as they did even prior to gaining them.

Living in this reality, Nemoi began to think it was a strange coincidence, or that they were literally existences built for one another.

He enjoyed her near-androgynous body type, her boyish haircut that was nearly the same as her brother's. She had a slender almost rectangular frame, her arms were toned. She was clearly trained by the Garrison. Yet no matter how many times he had his eyes trail down, they always went right back up to her face. Those brown eyes of her's entrapped his very soul, it made his chest tighten up.

Her shirt wasn't entirely skintight, but it clung decently against her skin. It revealed developing curves, a light bust and other soft, tender, features of the torso.

He lightly bit at the inside of his lips until suddenly he heard his name being shouted. He had been spotted, not that he was hanging out anywhere out of sight.

"Hey Nemoi! So, this is where you went! We all thought you went back up to the Galra ship." Shiro spoke up, as he was the first to notice the white haired Altean.

Pidge who had felt eyes on her the entire time, narrowed her sights on Nemoi. She looked him up and down, it appeared he had a similar fashion sense? Though at the same time, it wasn't as if she had brought along a swimsuit in the first place.

"Was thinking about it." Nemoi shrugged slightly, "But it's been a while since I've been on a beach. That and I was actually hunting earlier." He pointed out as he then pointed towards the makeshift grill built over a bonfire lined with rocks just far enough from the water's edge. The way it was built was clearly up to Earth safety standards, at least in the united states.

Right beside the bonfire seemed to be a sloppily, but thoroughly gutted, pile of sorted meats on a metal table. It was clear it had been taken from within the castle since it shared the Altean architecture.

It stained the white metallic surface red, with bloody juices. Though it was clear the meat had already been washed and cleaned, only partially drained. "There were some strange creatures and some familiar ones, but since Hunk is here... Who's ready for an authentic Arusian Barbeque?!"

Hunk blinked several times as everyone around him seemed the cheer. He had been volunteered to cook, not that he minded. He enjoyed cooking food, and enjoyed eating it even more. Now he had spices and meats to experiment with which he had never used before.

Though Lance seemed to be a bit out of it, his cheer half-hearted.

Looking over at him, Nemoi raised a brow slightly. "Thinking about the Princess?"

Suddenly Lance snapped to attention, "What? Psh, no." He tried to deny it, and yet his face had gone up like a flare. That or he ate an invisible ghost pepper and was burning up on the inside. "Why would I be thinking about that... Pretty, mean, alien lady?"

"Lance? Did you just call me a mean alien lady?!" With that most of the Paladin team ran off in all different directions across the beach hearing the booming voice of Princess Allura.

She and Coran were walking along the same path that they had taken to the beach. However they were still dressed in their normal day to day casual, though formal, clothes. "Who said you guys can take a break?"

"We shouldn't press too hard Allura, they might crack snackle pop into a million tiny little needles." The gestures he made were relatively hilarious. Making the small gesture with his index and thumb, and making a popping sound with his mouth as he made an exploding wave-like motion with his arms and legs.

Nemoi just stood there and stared at Coran. "You... Haven't changed at all Uncle."

Shiro walked over and placed a hand on Nemoi's shoulder, with a friendly warning. "Whatever you do, don't talk about the Paladin's Lunch."

Nemoi knew exactly what he was talking about, even though he hadn't been present for it. Grinning slightly, he looked over at Coran with his head tilted to the side. "What's the Paladin's Lunch?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Crossing his arms, closing his eyes and looking away, Coran had closed himself off temporarily because of the simple question.

A small snicker left Nemoi's lips as Allura simply shook her head.

Hunk was the first to the meat and began working on the grill. He was clearly getting it on with the slaughtered forest critters. However since Nemoi didn't bring any bowls or anything with him, it was going to have to be a dry rub made from spices and herbs ground down with a Mortars & Pestles into a paste.

Nemoi excused himself, quietly backing away from the group as he looked over to see Pidge sitting near the water. Her legs curled up to her chest, and toes meeting the ends of the waves that washed up onto the sand.

A small smile appeared over his lips, relaxed, he remained composed as he made his way over to her. However as he was half way there, it was clear that there were tears going down the sides of her face.

He'd immediately go deadpan, damn near emotionless in expression, as he continued to close in on her. As he stood beside her seated form, he reached down slightly and placed a hand on the top of her head.

She turned and looked up at him, her toes digging into the wet sand beneath her feet. She felt as if she was being sucked in, yet easily she could remove her feet from the forces beneath.

"Were you able to decrypt the information I had given you?"

Pidge nodded in response to the inquiry. "According to official reports, my brother is dead." She responded as she looked up at him still. Her heart sounded as if it was about to break out of her chest cavity. He could feel it through just the hand he had on top of her head. "It seems my dad is working on Galra tech, research, for a project."

He nodded slightly. "Your father is needed, he'll be safe. However, I very much doubt your brother is dead. So you should enjoy yourself while this short time lasts. You never know when an enemy will drop down on top of you." Nemoi found himself combing his hand through her hair, though it gave little immediately comfort, she leaned into his hand a bit.

A quivering smile spotted across her lips. Her puffy reddened eyes stared off into the distance. The nearby mountain range complimented the landscape, separating the massive body of water from the sky above.

"Do you know how to swim" Nemoi asked suddenly, which made her take her head way from his hand, raising a brow and look up at him.

"Of course I know how to swim, my brother taught me how." She seemed proud of the fake that her brother had taught her how to swim. She had pride in family and even more strength behind it.

"Hm... I could have taught you." Nemoi huffed as he looked away, slightly disappointed. Though he generally thought that the majority of humanity probably knew how to swim, even if they were landlocked. One of the main things people did during the summer, at least from what he remembered, was swim in pools.

"If only you were awake," Pidge laughed quietly to herself as she knew that wouldn't really be funny at all. He probably wouldn't be around her like he was now, if that was the case. At least not that openly, and she probably wouldn't have accepted the idea of fancying him easily if he was that much further in age.

"I'd probably go right back to sleep afterward," Nemoi winked at her, messing up her hair a bit as he knelt down beside her. "I guess we can watch the sunset while the others scarf down the food?"

Pidge paused at the proposal and then slowly nodded. She watched as he sat down, his legs crossed in front of him, and his arms down at his sides. After a few moments, she just leaned over to the side, letting her shoulder meet his arm and her head meet his shoulder. Her eyes just closed as she felt the warmth of the sun as it was beginning to set.

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