#catali

Larsky is a Stonekrovn/Fielder mix and his halv is a Horned Lark! First (and only) born son of the jaws of an uncommonly aggressive mouth. Always scrawny, Larsky was pushed hard and trained harder by his father. His mother, Lily, passed during his childhood. Larsky ran away shortly after reaching adulthood, wandering further north and straight into a herd of Northerners, Catali's herd...

Catali is a melanistic Northerner with a Snowy Owl halv! His life having been predominately uneventful so far, Catali leapt at the feeling of excitement that came from the warning of a "dangerous stranger" wandering their territory. Young and bold, he snuck away to see if he could catch a glimpse of the stranger. The stranger found him first. But despite the warnings, the stranger, a young buck close to his age(as far as he could tell), wasn't hostile towards him. Just curious. The two became fast friends in secret and when the patriarch finally learned of this and made to properly banish the stranger, Catali chose to warn him, and without hesitation decided to flee with his new friend. And as they traveled they became more than friends. Somewhere along the way the pair heard of a great gathering of deer and decided to attend, it isn't as if they had anything better to do...

Yukahn is a Coastian with a Chimney Swift halv! Second born son to the reigning Queen of his herd, Yukahn struggled to find his place in the world. Anxious but proud, he tried for years to gain his mother's favor and love, but was never truly able. Eventually shunned from his herd, Yukahn was forced to strike out on his own. Remembering the Gathering that some of their newer herd members had mentioned, he set out east hoping to find it. And he was lucky enough to do so. It was refreshing to be among a crowd that didn't look down on him simply for not being his brother. He laughed, he ate, he sparred. He felt lighter than he had in years. While sparring he challenged an odd, lanky stag with what appeared to be fangs like a wolves'. Something clicked between them and they became mutually obsessed with beating the other and they sparred long after they lost their audience. All except for one at least, a handsome dark stag that seemed to be his new rival's mate. Once exhausted, Yukahn was surprised to receive an invitation to hang out with the pair. They rested and talked and they found they had quite a bit in common. And Yukahn was smitten with both of them. As the gathering came to an end, the three decided to travel together, quite content.

Blue sat in the back of the paladin’s mind, soothing the racing thoughts of happiness that flowed through him. 

He could hear Keith laugh through the comms, “hey, you might just turn into a mermaid with all that excitement.” This comment received a laugh from most everyone except for Allura who reminded them that they needed to be serious about this mission as it was one of the most important they would go on. The people of the planet were extremely smart asides from being one of the most beautiful species Lance had ever seen. Shiro also made the point that if they did not gain this alliance they would be at a severe disadvantage with the lack of the technology they Catalis had to offer.

“I can’t help it,” Lance smiled dreamily, “being in water is like home to me,” he explained softly as they neared the planet. 

Finding a landing spot for the lions proved to be more difficult than any of them had expected. However, they found a piece of land that had no structures on it and decided to land their lions there. By this time Lance had wasted no time at all running out of his lion. 

Allura had said something along the line of the air being safe to breathe, so naturally lance moved his hands to take his helmet off, however, he reluctantly removed his hands from the button that released the metal encasing his head. He couldn’t breathe underwater, He was like the Catali people. He stared out at the water, it glimmered in the sun that was high above the planet. The saphire blue water was cleaner than any he had ever seen. He wished he could feel it on his skin.

Hunk moved by his side, “maybe we can talk Shiro and Allura into letting us have a nice swim before we leave,” he suggested, receiving a laugh from Lance. He even knew the chances of that happening were slim to none.

“Nah, this is just fine, buddy,” the Cuban responded, “being this close to home is good enough for me,” he smiled as he dove right into the water. His teammates followed suit.

Swimming down to the civilization made the merpeople of the Catali species proved more difficult than any of the paladins had anticipated. However, the water was as beautiful underneath as it was from the dry land. The coral reefs were bright and full of color. Upon further investigation it seemed the Catali people made their homes in the coral. The decorative ways they lived made Lance smile.

His smile turned to a face of amazement as they neared the royal palace of Queen Katarina of the Catali people. Lance did find it fitting that the queen of a beautiful race lived in a palace as exquisite as they were. 

The merpeople resembled humans much more than any other species they had come across. They had similar skin tones and bodily structures to the waist as people on earth. However, their tails were what stunned Lance. They were all different. The most beautiful was that of the queen. Hers was colored a dazzling deep plum that ombred into a turquoise color brighter than any he had ever seen. 

“Wow...” Lance gasped almost, earning an eye-roll from Keith, who roughly assumed flirting towards the queen would make its appearance. Only, Keith was wrong, seeing how awestruck the blue paladin had become with the tail of the queen who had also taken notice. 

“Do you wish to know what this is all like?” The queen asked Lance, swimming towards him slowly. Taking notice of his longing, his sadness. It almost sang to her. 

Lance could only nod while his teammates looked worriedly at him. Then he found the words to go with his head movement, “I’ve grown up by the water, I’ve missed it so much,” he murmured loud enough for those close to him to hear.

Queen Katarina smiled lovingly at the boy, her hands glowing with a bright white light. “I can give you what you long for, for a short time,” she smiled, Lance only stared at her hands as Shiro swam forward, wanting to put a stop to Lance’s foolishness.

“Queen Katarina, what exactly are you proposing Lance do?” he asked, suddenly wanting to protect his teammate from the unknown power held the by queen.

“I only want to make him happy, seeing as how mezmerised he has become with this world. If he can experience this and appreciate it, I will be more inclined to agree to the alliance,” she explained turning herself to Shiro.

“Well, Lance, this is up to you,” he reluctantly gave up his power to say no for Lance. He didn’t want to see this alliance fail because of his own protective instinct. He half expected Lance to say no, seeing the obvious danger of trusting a species they had no knowledge of.

However, Lance said yes. A bright smile on his face, one he hadn’t had grace his features in months since leaving earth. 

“Your wish is my command, young paladin,” Katarina smiled as the bright white glow consumed her hands and then Lance.

When the white light consumed Lance the entire team worried, Pidge moved forward but was stopped by Hunk, “He’ll be fine, this is what he wanted,” he smiled down at the green paladin.

After fifteen seconds the light died down and Lance was floating in the water as he was before, only his legs were replaced with a long tail. Scales of bright blue, white, and black ombred his tail. It’s beauty rivals the stars in the galaxy. His eyes stayed glued to them as he learned to breath again. 

“Lance! Your legs!” Keith said awestruck by the magic the queen possessed. “Will he turn to normal?” he asked, not wanting to admit it but being worried he wouldn’t be able to leave the planet now.

The queen smiled and nodded, “this spell only lasts a short while, I felt it was only right to give something for your services to the galaxy. I’m sure your turn for happiness will come in due time young paladin,” she answered, putting her webbed hand on Keith’s shoulder.

The smile on Lances face when he realized what had just happened brought its own joy to the hearts of his teammates. 

“Guys,” Lance looked up, his voice traveling through the water like it would in air, “I’m a mermaid, oh my gosh,” he bursted with joy, his tail fluttering as he moved about, going in circles. “This is the best day of my life!” he yelled happily.

Keith looked at the other paladins, “let’s not tell him that this is a temporary change,” he pleaded, “let him enjoy this.”