"Keith! Watch out!" Lance shouted, dashing across the village square and tackling the paladin to the ground and away from the startled shopkeeper.
"Lance? What the hell are you doing?" Keith shoved Lance off of him, groaning. He sat up, looking around to see multiple pairs of glowing eyes approaching them.
Lance grabbed Keith's hand, pulling him up, dashing through the streets of the massive village.
Keith stumbled after the taller paladin, willing his feet to find solid ground and get good momentum. Guess they didn't, because his toe hit a solid rock, causing him to face plant on the stone.
Lance was yanked down with him, the sound of pursuit getting closer. They could hear the yips and cheers when the two came into view, the Blue Paladin surging to his feet, his bayard in hand.
Keith sat back on his heels, rubbing his swelling nose, mumbling curses under his breath.
When Lance noticed that Keith wasn't going to help, he stowed away his Bayard, slinging the red paladin over his shoulder. He turned on his heels and bolted back to the castle, ignoring Keith's protest.
"Put me down! I can run! I'm slowing you down!" Keith yelled, hitting Lance's back with his fists. He saw that the Galra were gaining on them. He activated his bayard, swinging the sword at any who tried to pounce on Lance's heels.
Once they made it in the doors, he slammed his fist into the lock, shutting it quickly. An arm made it through, more hands grabbing the slight opening and prying the doors apart.
Keith and Lance watched in terror as they backed against the wall, holding their bayards out.
"Shiro? Pidge? Hunk? We need your help!" Lance called, firing his bayard at the arms that were pushing into the small elevator room.
Keith was swinging his sword at anything within reach, slamming the heel of his foot into the "close doors" button, flinching at the sickening sound of screams and wet severed limbs hitting the floor.
The two stood in silence as the elevator raised them to the main floor hallway, panting breathlessly and walking stiffly to the control room, their faces pale.
"Hey Lance! Keith! What's...?" Hunk trailed off, looking up from his work. He shook Pidge's shoulder, making her look up at the two.
"What the quiznak?!" Pidge shouted, toppling backwards over the chair.
"What happened to you two?! We told you to find Quavne!" Allura asked, staying back from them and pinching her nose. "You stink!"
Lance licked his dry lips, looking down at his armor, touching the purple blood and ooze that was slowly dripping down his chest. "Well..."
"It was the Galra." Keith cut in, looking at his hands, unable to meet the other's eyes. "They chased us through the village. We got stuck in the elevator."
Lance looked over at Keith, putting a hand on the paladins' shoulder. "Hey, it's okay, Keith. You're safe."
"They were my kind!" He pushed Lance's hand away, backing up.
"They were trying to kill you!" Lance shouted back, stepping closer. "Would you want to be a toy of the empire? Dead?"
Keith clenched his trembling fists, pushing Lance out of the way, running down the hallway.
"Keith!" Shiro shouted, making a move to go after him. Allura stopped him, whispering softly. He looked unhappy, his brows furrowed and lips pressed to a thin line.
-----
Keith shut the room to his door, applying the lock. He walked into his bathroom, running the shower that Allura and Coran developed for their human paladins. He didn't bother undressing when he stepped in, talking to himself in anger, scrubbing at his chest plate.
Once he finished cleaning his armor, he stripped down, running his fingers through his wet hair, scrubbing in the shampoo. He squirt some body wash into his palm, rubbing his callused hands together then down his body, finding an odd colored scratch mark.
He sighed loudly, almost too pissed off to worry. He rinsed himself off, then put in conditioner, getting some facial cleanser stuff he took from Lance's room, rubbing his face roughly.
When he was all done, he shut the water off and stood in front of the mirror, rubbing his hair with a towel. "That's the fourth chase this Phoeb..." He muttered, slipping a shirt on over his head, sighing.
He made his way to the dinning hall, waving to Pidge at the table, who was stuffing food goo onto plates.
She froze, looking around, then back at Keith. "Don't tell anyone." She hissed, grabbing the plates and bolting down the hallway. Guess those little fluff balls need to eat too.
Keith sighed, leaning against the counter, his arms crossed and brows furrowed in thought.
He can't stay at the castle, the red paladin needs to be seen. He can't go out, he might be captured. He can't be captured, because Voltron would fall apart. Unless Allura pilots Red...
"Keith?" A voice asked, starling him from his thoughts. Keith looked up, seeing Hunk standing in front of him, wringing his hands nervously.
"I wanted to check on you, you kinda blew up earlier." Hunk stepped closer after a moment, opening his arms to a hug.
Keith bit his cheek, walking forward into Hunk's arms, hugging him tightly. "I'm okay. Just... scared." He mumbled, feeling Hunk's arms wrap around his back.
He was safe.
Author's Note:
I'm sorry for no updates in over a month! School has me running around like crazy, and I got my license too! I'll try to keep the story going, thank you for reading💕!