a/n: hey there, rookie here. so it's my first time writing vld fic. or rather, vld drabble. anyways, this is the first thing i've published on here since 2015, so yay for getting out of the depressive writing slump!
ever since the vld s3 trailer leak, i've seen a lot of theories on tumblr on how [SPOILER!] lance becomes the pilot of the red lion. my fave one so far has been that keith is going to be in danger somehow and lance will have to pilot red to go save him. i wanted to play around with that symbolism of that, so this is more of a study than an actual plotline and whatnot.
for the actual fic: minor klance implied, but it's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it type of thing. anyways, enjoy!
*BLUE EYES*
Red has never liked being cooped up.
She is a warrior, meant to fly and fight. Not pace around her hangar like a lazy house cat.
Especially when her paladin is in danger.
Memories of her previous paladin flash through her mind. He had burned so bright, like her Keith. He had died at so young when she couldn't protect him. She shudders to think of Keith going through that same fate, a whimper low in her throat.
She wants to fly out of this cursed hangar right now and save her cub from the evil forces, but without a pilot, how would she fight them off to save Keith? No, she would only be captured again, and she refuses to be chained up again in those wretched Galra ships. So she paces and whimpers and curses Keith for going in the Black Lion who couldn't protect him like she would have.
And that is when the Human walks through the hangar doors, the accents of blue on his armor giving away his identity. He walks up to her with a determined look on his face. She dimly remembers Keith going over that face in his memory countless times as the Human reaches up and touches her jaw.
She growls at the touch. The fire has never loved the unquenchable ocean; why should it start now?
The Human gazes at her with eyes of ocean, deep and swirling blue. "I know I'm not Keith." he says, and she can almost detect a small quiver in it. "I know I'll never live up to him, either. But Keith's in trouble. And we need to save him."
Keith is in trouble, she agrees in the Human's mind. Protect my cub. I need to protect my cub.
The Human squeezes his eyes shut and seals away the ocean for a moment. Then, he opens them and the blue is blazing and Red remembers that blue isn't always ocean; it can be fire too, burning hot and dangerous.
"Blue is too far away for me to get, and Keith doesn't have that much time." His voice is strong, confident. "So please. We need to help him. Let me pilot you. For Keith."
And at the last statement, he places his forehead against her metal jaw, a moment of weakness.
She knows this weakness though. She has felt it countless times, feels it racing in her system right now as. She knows how much this Human means to Keith, how much Keith means to this Human.
She will not let another cub die on her watch.
Red opens her jaw to let Lance in, a protective purr echoing around them.
They will save Keith. Together.
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you can find me on tumblr on my main -kwanteeco or my writing blog -thebluepaladln