Shiro looked into Keith's eyes and he saw instantly that he understood. His expression was grim and serious. Shiro was encouraged by the fact that Keith began crossing out the bad fish that he had drawn and he almost chuckled when he crossed out Zarkon. His movements were deliberate and purposeful. Keith was asking him a question. He watched Keith make the little drawn Shiro smile and Shiro sighed.

He had an answer of course - why couldn't he get away and be happy? He simply wasn't strong enough. He couldn't defeat Zarkon and he wasn't smart enough to find a way out other than killing him. So he was trapped in this endless loop of fighting and surviving. Shiro leaned his head on one hand, heavy-hearted and he re-drew his arms in a pose that showed off his muscles. He then edited Zarkon to have particularly huge muscles and sharper, longer teeth. He also pointed to his prosthetic tail fin and flapped it gently. He wasn't able to swim as fast anymore either. He couldn't outswim any of Zarkon's creations, so he had had to improve his defensive techniques more recently. It always felt like it wasn't enough.

He looked at Keith, then looked up at the moon. It was just a small sliver in the sky, soon to disappear. His next fight wouldn't be far away now.