Who doesn't love a good fantasy AU? That is where that brings us today, with this, the fantasy AU that I have been planning for... awhile now, actually. For those of you who are waiting for the sequel to maroon, don't worry, that's coming soon too. But in the meantime, I hope everyone enjoys this! I know I've had a lot of fun planning it- there's definitely some cool concepts that I have in store (or at least, I hope they're cool).

That said, thanks for reading!

under the pale moonlight

chapter one

under the full moon

"Hunk, are you sure those mushrooms you were talking about are this way?"

"Like I keep telling you," Hunk said, and he huffed a bit at the hint of exasperation in his tone, "-it's just a little bit farther."

Hoisting his lantern over his head, Lance squinted. All these trees just looked the same to him. He didn't see how Hunk was able to tell them apart. Maybe he couldn't, and they actually were lost, just like he thought they were.

"Yeah, but you've been telling me that for like, the past ten minutes now!" Lance pointed out. "I still say we took a wrong turn."

"Trust me, we're going the right way." Hunk promised.

Lance just grumbled. He didn't see why they had to harvest these stupid mushrooms by the light of the full moon anyways. Hunk had given him some kind of explanation, but frankly, he'd kind of tuned it all out. It had all been a bunch of magical mumbo-jumbo anyways. For all he knew, Hunk could have been making like, half of it up.

"All I'm saying is that maybe we should double back, retrace our steps." Lance said. "Maybe retrace them all the way back to the village, meet a few girls instead? Anything that's not trooping around in a dark forest in the middle of the night. Aren't you supposed to be scared of this stuff?"

"Lance, I know these woods like the back of my hand." Hunk assured him. "These woods aren't scary."

Groaning, Lance hung his head. Look, he loved Hunk and all, but there were better things to be doing tonight than trying to find some supposedly magical mushrooms.

"What do these things even do anyways?" Lance asked.

Hunk looked back at him, and even with only the faint light of his lantern to guide him, he could still make out Hunk's squint. "Lance, I already told you what they do."

"Okay, but let's pretend I wasn't listening." Lance told him.

Hunk groaned. "If you brew the caps, they make a potent fever cure."

"But only if you pick them under the light of the full moon?" Lance finished.

"Right." Hunk told him. "Or well, they'll have that effect anyways, regardless of the full moon or not. The full moon just makes the effect even more potent."

"So... moonlight makes them better?" Lance asked. "Right. Got it. Still, did we really have to pick this full moon? They've got the harvest festival and everything tonight!"

"The harvest festival goes on for three days, Lance." Hunk pointed out. "And the first day is always the slowest. Trust me, you're not going to miss much."

"Well yeah, but there will be other full moons, Hunk!" Lance protested.

"Yeah, but not for another month." Hunk told him. "And by then, the frost will have set in, and all of the mushrooms will be dead. Plus, once the pass closes for the winter, we'll have no way to get medicine. I don't want to take that chance."

Lance groaned, hanging his head. He hated to admit it, but Hunk had a point. He and his family were the closest thing their village had to a permanent healer, so if they weren't able to stock up on the supplies they needed before the winter freeze, that could spell trouble if people started to get sick.

"Fine," Lance grumbled, "-let's just get those mushrooms and go home already."

"Hey, who knows?" Hunk shrugged. "Maybe we'll be able to get back in time for the bonfire."

"Yeah, I guess." Lance said.

Holding the lantern out in front of him, he navigated the dark forest with Hunk. It wasn't so bad, he guessed. The full moon shone through the gaps in the canopy, helping to light their way. And as much as it felt like they had been wandering around in circles for the past several minutes, he trusted that Hunk actually did know where he was going.

At least, he hoped.

"It's just up ahead." Hunk finally told, after what felt like hours.

He lead them both into a clearing, the light of the full moon brightly illuminating the area. Grateful, Lance lowered his lantern, setting it aside on a nearby rock.

"So where are these mushrooms of yours?" Lance asked.

Scanning the area, Hunk frowned. "They should be right... ah, here they are!" He said, shuffling over to a patch where thick blue and white mushrooms grew. "I told you I knew where I was going."

"Yeah, yeah, let's just gather them all up and get out of here." Lance yawned. "How many do you need?"

"Well we shouldn't take all of them." Hunk said, stooping down by the mushroom patch. "Maybe about like half."

"Half. Got it." Lance said, making his way over towards him.

Crouching down by the patch, he watched as Hunk set aside the basket that he had brought with him, carefully pulling up the mushrooms by their roots and placing them inside. He frowned, lightly poking one of the mushrooms, before he mimicked the method Hunk used for digging them up. Ripping them out of the ground seemed like it would be a lot faster, but Hunk was the expert on medicinal plants, not him.

"So... if the caps can get rid of fevers, what do the stems do?" Lance asked, peering at them.

"Oh, nothing. They just taste good." Hunk told him. Catching his squint, he frowned. "What?"

Lance just hung his head, fighting the urge to groan. Right. He should have known. Not only was Hunk an expert on medicinal plants, he was also an expert on edible ones too. And while he wasn't exactly complaining about being best friends with one of the best cooks in the village, sometimes he wished it didn't lead to outings like this one.

But then, life didn't exactly get very exciting around here. Sure, their tiny village was on the border of one of the most prosperous kingdoms in the land, but that was still a full day's ride away- and that was through the mountains. Once the pass closed during the winter, it would take a full month's journey just to get around them.

The harvest festival was about the most exciting thing that happened around here. And he was missing it.

Sure, there were the occasional adventurers who dared to try and breech the deep forest that lay on the borders of their village, opposite the mountains- but none of them ever came back. There was a reason that they all grew up being told to stay out of that section of the forest. The woods that dotted the path toward the mountains were fine, but anything beyond that? If they went in, they might never come back.

And he didn't want excitement that badly.

Still, he wouldn't mind having just a little more excitement in his life than just picking mushrooms with his best friend under the cover of darkness.

"Hm?" Hunk frowned, gazing up towards the sky. "Oh hey, Lance, check it out. Shooting stars!"

Blinking, Lance gazed skyward. It took a second, but Hunk was right- there really were shooting stars. Some of them almost looked like they were passing right in front of the full moon, before darting off past the mountains. He wasn't usually much of one for stargazing, but he had to admit, it was kind of nice.

"You think maybe it's some kind of omen?" Lance asked, once the last of the shooting stars had fizzled out, disappearing beyond the horizon. "Who knows? Maybe I'll meet a cute girl a the harvest festival or something."

"Right, right." Hunk nodded. "And she'll take a shine to you, and together you'll have like, twenty babies."

Glaring at his friend, Lance huffed. "Hey, you never know! It could happen!"

Hunk squinted at him. "I mean... I was joking about the twenty babies part, but-"

"I didn't mean that." Lance rolled his eyes. "I just meant that you know... maybe I could meet someone this year. Luis met his wife at the harvest festival."

"Hm, true." Hunk admitted. "Too bad Veronica can't make it back for this year's festival."

Lance rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it. All this because the crown princess decided to just run away."

"I feel so bad for the queen." Hunk said. "First her husband and son vanish into thin air, and now her daughter runs away? That has to be rough."

He knew what Hunk was referring to- you'd be hard pressed to find someone who didn't. King Samuel Holt had taken his son and the captain of the royal guard out on an expedition meant only to last a few days, and had just vanished.

"Yeah, but it's not like there's anything we can do about it." Lance said. "Come on, let's just finish collecting these mushrooms and get back to the village. The bonfire, remember?"

It wasn't that he didn't feel bad about it, he did. The crown princess was what, fourteen? But they weren't even technically a part of the Garrison kingdom. Way here out on the fringes of no man's land, their village didn't belong to any country. Nobody ever came here, unless it was for trade or for the festival.

Or because they were a foolish adventurer with a death wish. That too.

Hunk blinked, and Lance inwardly groaned, realizing that he had forgotten. "Oh, right, yeah. We should still be able to make it."

"Great." Lance said. "Because the bonfire is the best part of the first night and I am not going to miss it for a bunch of fever reducing mushrooms."

By the time they made it back to the village, it was already bustling with activity, its usual dark paths all lit up with lanterns. Lance doused his own, its added light no longer needed, already feeling a spring to his step. Hunk was right- the first day of the harvest festival was typically the slowest. It was mostly just locals, and a few people from the surrounding villages that had arrived early for the festivities, mostly stall keepers and traders.

But even at its slowest, the harvest festival was still more activity than the village typically saw. It was impossible not to get excited.

"So what's the plan, Hunk?" Lance asked. "Maybe head to the village square? Oh, or maybe we swing by the tavern, pick up some of Miss Lia's signature goodies?"

"Well first, I was planning on bringing these back home." Hunk said, lifting his basket to indicate the mushrooms. "After that... yeah, heading over to the tavern sounds nice."

Lance frowned. He wanted to get into the festivities as soon as possible, but he guessed Hunk had a point. Hauling a basket full of mushrooms around the festival didn't exactly sound like his idea of fun.

"I mean... you can go on ahead, if you want." Hunk told him. "You don't have to wait for me."

Lance scoffed. "And what, abandon my best friend? I don't think so."

"Aw, Lance!" Hunk beamed. "Thanks, buddy! Don't worry, I'll finish this up quick so we can go and enjoy the festival."

"Besides," Lance said, swinging his lantern, "-I don't want to carry this around the whole festival either."

"Lance, I don't think you should be swinging that around." Hunk warned. "You could hit someone."

Lance just rolled his eyes, continuing to swing his lantern. "Oh come on, I'm not going to-"

"Ow!"

Lance froze, his words dying in his mouth. Slowly peeking behind him, he made out a small cloaked figure, their hands pressed against their forehead where he could just barely make out a bruise that was already starting to form- a very lantern-shaped bruise.

"...hit anyone." Lance dumbly finished.

"Yeah, well you just did!" The person he'd struck snapped, amber eyes glaring up at him. They had dropped their hands from their forehead, crossing them in front of their chest with a pretty fearsome glower, when one took into account their small size. "So watch it!"

Lance opened his mouth to say something, before he snapped it shut. Whoever this was, he didn't recognize them, which meant he had likely beaned someone who had come for the harvest festival on the head. And judging from the way they were dressed, he was willing to bet anything that they were of noble descent.

Great job Lance, he thought to himself, that's definitely going to give them a great impression of the village.

"I am so sorry." Lance said, once he managed to find his words again. "Will you be alright? Do you need a healer? Hunk?"

"I can take a look at it." Hunk said. "That is, if you want me to, uh..."

Sensing that he was fishing for a name, the traveler frowned. "Pidge. Pidge Gunderson."

Gunderson? Were there even any noble families with that name? He didn't think so. Maybe they weren't noble, then- maybe they were just merchant class with a predilection for fine fabrics. Because that was exactly what gave them away- the fabric. They looked sort of like they were trying to hide it, given how otherwise plain their choice in clothing was, but there was no way that anyone could fool his eye.

Still, they looked a little young to be traveling on their own. There was no way they were older than thirteen, Lance thought, looking them up and down. They barely even reached his shoulders!

"Pidge." Hunk finished. "I'm Hunk, that's Lance. Do you want me to take a look at your uh-?"

"My forehead?" Pidge finished, huffing slightly. "I'll be fine. It doesn't even hurt anymore. Just... be more careful, maybe."

"Still, it'll probably bruise." Hunk told them. "I've got an ointment that can help with that."

"Hunk and his family are the local experts on medicinal plants." Lance provided. "But I'd say no to the ointment if I were you. It reeks."

Hunk just frowned. "Oh come on, Lance, it doesn't smell that bad."

"You just say that because you've grown up around all that stuff, Hunk." Lance told him. "You're used to it! But trust me, the stuff absolutely stinks."

Unexpectedly, Pidge snorted. "Some ointment would be nice. I'd rather not have a huge bruise in the middle of my forehead."

Lance frowned, before shrugging his shoulders. That was a fair point, he was willing to admit- he'd rather avoid having a huge bruise right there too. It wouldn't completely ruin his good looks, but it probably wouldn't do them any favors.

"Right, so," Hunk said, shifting his basket of mushrooms a bit so that he could carry it easier, "-do you want to come back to my place? That's kind of where we were headed anyways."

Pidge hesitated. "Actually, I was trying to maybe find an inn?"

Lance snorted. "Yeah, that's not going to be something you'll find around here."

"Lance, buddy, be nice. Pidge here is clearly not from around these parts." Hunk shot him a look. "But he is right. There isn't exactly an inn around here."

Pidge frowned, their brows knotting together. "Then where do all the people coming for the festival stay?"

"Rent rooms from the townsfolk, mostly." Lance shrugged. "There might be space above the tavern still, if you don't mind dealing with the sounds of rowdy drunkards."

"I'd offer you our spare room, but we've already got one of the festival merchants staying there." Hunk apologized. "And there's never any space at Lance's place."

Lance snorted. That was one way of putting it. His family was one of the biggest in the whole village- between him, his four older siblings, his eldest brother's wife and their two kids, and his parents, there was barely any space for family, nevermind travelers. Even with Veronica having left to go work for the royal guard, there still wasn't a whole lot of space available.

Pidge winced. "What's the alternative?"

"Camping." Lance said with a shrug. Somehow he got the feeling they weren't going to be wild about that answer.

"No," Pidge said quickly, "-no camping. Where's this tavern again?"

"I can show you the way, if you want." Lance said. He couldn't even blame them. He wasn't exactly wild about being one with nature either. "Hunk, buddy, how about you grab that ointment and meet us there?"

"Can do." Hunk said. "Hopefully Miss Lia saved a room or two."

"Please, you know she's picky about who she lets room at the tavern." Lance rolled his eyes. "She's bound to have at least a few rooms that are still open."

"Mm, yeah, true." Hunk admitted. "Welp, I'll take these mushrooms back home and grab that ointment."

"Take this too." Lance told him, shoving the lantern in his direction. Pidge squinted at it, ducking half a step back as if they were afraid they'd swing it in their face again.

"Gee, thanks." Hunk said dryly, accepting the lantern.

"You're welcome." Lance chirped. Hunk just shook his head, giving a quick farewell before he headed down the branching path that lead towards his family home. He watched him until he couldn't see him any longer, and then turned back to Pidge. "Come on. I promise you won't be disappointed by anything at Miss Lia's tavern."

In response, Pidge's stomach growled. They flushed, before giving him a weak smile. "I think I might just take you up on that offer."

Chuckling, Lance motioned for them to follow, heading down the lantern lit path. Sometimes he wished it could always be like this- it could get pretty dark around here at night, especially when the moon wasn't out. But realistically, he knew it was just a waste of oil, and that aside from the harvest festival, not a lot of people ventured out after dark. Heck, he'd been afraid to until he was like, twelve, when he realized that all those scary stories Marco had told him were just made up.

Like there were really any yellow-eyed monsters out there who ate children. Please. Even Hunk didn't believe in those stories.

"So... what brings you to the village, Pidge?" Lance asked. "Here for the festival?"

"Something like that." Pidge said.

Arching a brow, he glanced down towards them. That seemed... vague.

He brushed it off. It wasn't like a kid this small was going to do something stupid like try and go into the deep forest. They were probably just a runaway or something, like the princess was. At that thought, he paused, glancing down at them- before quickly dismissing the possibility.

Nah. Whoever this kid was, he didn't think they were a princess. He'd heard that Princess Katherine Holt had long, flowing hair, but Pidge? Their hair was shortly cropped, and besides that, they worse glasses- which yeah, the princess' missing brother, Matthew Holt had, but his sister didn't.

Besides, he was pretty sure Pidge was a boy anyways. So much for meeting a cute girl.

The tavern was just a short walk away, and was already bustling with activity when they got there. It was busy enough that it took him a second to even find Miss Lia, before he picked out her head of pitch black hair out of the crowd. She had been bent over- probably the only reason he hadn't been able to find her, seeing as she was actually pretty tall.

Heck, she was probably hands down the tallest woman in the village.

She spotted him, quirking a brow. She crossed the room, her gaze briefly flickering down towards Pidge. "Replacing Hunk?"

"Please, you know there's no replacement for Hunk." Lance grinned, placing a hand on Pidge's head, who fumed at the contact, which he ignored. "This is Pidge. He's looking for a place to stay."

Miss Lia hummed, casting an assessing gaze towards Pidge. He couldn't exactly tell, what with the cloak and all, but he was pretty sure the kid had broken out into a cold sweat- which yeah, couldn't say he blamed him. Miss Lia could be pretty intimidating- maybe it was the intense gaze, or the way she seemed to loom even when she wasn't trying.

Or maybe it was the knife at her hip. That too.

"Sure," Miss Lia said finally, "-I have room."

Pidge let out a deep breath, his shoulders slumping. "Thanks. How much-?"

"It's free." Miss Lia said, a bit curt. "Comes with breakfast and dinner."

"I think he'll take you up on that dinner." Lance said, recalling the way Pidge's stomach had growled earlier.

Her gaze darting down towards Pidge, she waited until he nodded before she turned on her heel, assessing the state of the tavern within an instant. Looking back towards them, she wordlessly held up a finger, before she disappeared back into the throng of people. There were a few cries of protest as a few patrons were forcibly relocated, but when she came back, she had produced an empty table and two chairs for them.

"Actually, Hunk's going to be joining us soon." Lance added.

Miss Lia huffed slightly, before yanking a chair out from under the closest drunkard, shoving it under their table instead. "Table for three."

"Great, thanks." Lance told her, already taking a seat. "Think Hunk and I could get some grub too? I don't know about Hunk, but he's had me trooping around in the woods all evening looking for mushrooms, so I'm starving."

"I saw you leave the village." Miss Lia cooly observed. "You were only gone for an hour."

"And it was a very long hour!" Lance protested.

Miss Lia simply huffed, shrugging her shoulders. "Fine. But you have to pay."

With that, she disappeared back into the throng of people. Lance grumbled, folding his arms in front of him. Why did she always make him pay? She never made Hunk pay!

Pidge, who had been watching the entire scene play out like he was frozen to the ground, shook off his daze. Hastily taking one of the three seats, he nervously glanced towards Lance, speaking in hushed tones. "Is she always like this?"

"Yup." Lance said, leaning back in his chair. "She came here... what, five years ago? We think she's from the east. Or maybe somewhere up north. Somewhere intense like that."

Pidge eyed her as she forcibly removed the aforementioned drunkard by dragging him by the collar, dumping him outside of the tavern on his rear. "Intense."

"Makes great food though." Lance observed. "Way more exotic stuff than you think you'd find in a dead end village like this."

"Dead end?" Pidge asked, arching his brows.

"We're on the border of no man's land." Lance told him. "Can't get more dead end than that."

Before the topic had a chance to go any further, Hunk joined them, slightly out of breath as he pulled out the last remaining chair. "Hey, sorry for the wait. Got the ointment."

"It's fine." Pidge was quick to assure him. "We just got here."

"So, were you able to get a room?" Hunk asked.

"One room, and three meals for the each of us." Lance reported, crinkling his nose as he watched Hunk dig out the ointment. "Are you really going to crack that open here?"

Pidge just shrugged, lowering his hood- but only after nervously glancing around the room, like he expected someone to spot him and raise a fuss. "I don't mind."

Lance just groaned, crinkling his nose further as Hunk uncapped the ointment. Sure enough, it stunk just as badly as he remembered, but somehow Pidge managed to keep a straight face as Hunk applied it to his forehead.

"There," Hunk said, fixing the cap back on the ointment jar, "-that should do it."

Pidge offered him a faint smile. "Thanks."

"Hey, it's the least I can do since Lance is the one who bonked you on the head with a lantern." Hunk told him.

"Hey, I said I was sorry!" Lance protested.

"Nobody's saying you didn't." Hunk said. "Just that maybe you should be a little more careful in the future. What if Pidge had been taller? You could have broken his nose."

Pidge grumbled a bit in response, but otherwise finally seemed to relax. He set down the bag he had brought with him, pushing it with his feet so that it was securely under the table, and out of the way of anyone who might have less than savory designs on it. He didn't have the heart to tell him that nobody would dare to steal anything within the confines of Miss Lia's tavern- she didn't take to it too kindly. That knife wasn't just for show.

(It was also why it was always Miss Lia, and never just Lia.)

"So, you here for the harvest festival?" Hunk asked.

Lance just rolled his eyes. "I already asked him that. Didn't give me a clear answer."

"I mean, I didn't come here for the festival." Pidge admitted. "But I should be staying here for a few days, so I guess I might as well check it out while I'm here."

Lance frowned. That was way more information than he had gotten out of him. What was it about Hunk that just made people open up around him?

"Hey, that's great!" Hunk beamed. "You should come with us later tonight. Most of the major events aren't until tomorrow or the day after, but there's a bonfire tonight you could come check out."

"Kinda stinks that the full moon is tonight, and not tomorrow." Lance remarked. "Rachel was fuming about it earlier. Says we should have moved the festival up just so she could have her procession under the full moon. Like we can just move the harvest festival up."

"Oh yeah, she's playing the role of the moon maiden this year, isn't she?" Hunk asked.

Pidge blinked. "The moon maiden?"

Hunk nodded. "You know, like the legend!"

A look of understanding dawned across Pidge's face at his words. He seemed almost kind of excited at the subject. "You mean the one from the prophecy?"

"That's the one!" Hunk said. "Guess you know your stuff."

Pidge just grinned, adjusting his glasses. "I've been known to dabble in folklore. That's what brings me here, actually."

"Wait, hold on," Lance cut in, "-what prophecy?"

Hunk stared blankly at him from across the table. "Lance, both of your sisters have played the moon maiden. How can you not know about the prophecy?"

Lance frowned. He hated to admit it, but that was a fair point- it was just that he sort of had the tendency to drown that kind of thing out. It wasn't as if he was completely unfamiliar with the legend surrounding the moon maiden, it was just that he had always thought it was just some silly old story. I mean, come on- did anyone really expect him to believe that there were people living on the moon?

Or had been anyways. Apparently, all the magical moon people were dead now or something. Not to mention that they had all stopped actually living on the moon a long time before that happened.

"I'm a man of action, Hunk." Lance told him. "I don't need prophecies. Besides, all that stuff's fake anyways."

"Actually, my research leads me to believe it's all real." Pidge interjected, adjusting his glasses. "The moon maiden, the prophecy... even the Galra."

"Okay, so you're crazy. Got it." Lance said, pushing his chair back. He wasn't about to waste his precious festival time on the ramblings of some crazy runaway noble kid.

Pidge glared at him, a surprising amount of ferocity in those big eyes of his. "I'm not crazy. The Galra are the reason that the king's expedition disappeared."

Lance just snorted. "Right, and Emperor Zarkon lives under my bed. Come on Hunk, let's see if they've got that bonfire set up."

"That is not a name for you to use so casually."

He nearly jumped at the sound of Miss Lia's voice, pivoting on his heel to face her. When the heck had she even gotten behind him?

"I was just-"

"Just leaving." Miss Lia cut him off, staring down at him coldly. "These are ill-omened times. You are better off not rushing fate by speaking ill-omened names."

Holding up a hand, Hunk glanced up towards her. "Uh, am I kicked out too?"

Miss Lia spared him a glance. "No. You are fine, Hunk."

Hunk heaved a sigh of relief, and he couldn't help but glare at him. How come he got kicked out and Hunk got to stay? He was starting to get the sneaking suspicion that Miss Lia was playing favorites.

"Uh, am I...?" Pidge began weakly, all but wilting as Miss Lia turned her sharp gaze on him. He didn't blame him- there was just something in those deep violet eyes that was downright intimidating.

"You can stay." Miss Lia said. "But I would advise that you tread with caution."

With that, she disappeared back into the throng of patrons. Glancing back down at the table, Lance noticed that somehow, she had even managed to leave Pidge's dinner behind all without them actually noticing. There was even a basket of freshly baked bread for Hunk, and yet somehow, nothing at all for him. It was almost like she knew.

One day he was going to figure out how she did that. It was downright creepy.

"Right." Lance said. "Guess I'm leaving. Hunk, you coming?"

"Uh..." Hunk trailed off, hesitantly glancing towards Pidge.

Pidge just shrugged. "It's fine. I probably won't be going anywhere until after the harvest festival anyways."

"Right, got it." Hunk said, picking up the basket of goodies and getting to his feet. "You can still come swing by the bonfire later if you want."

Pidge just gave him a weak smile. "I'll think about it. Thanks."

Lance just huffed, but said nothing- at least not until after they had left the tavern. "Did you seriously just invite him to join us at the bonfire?"

Hunk shrugged. "Why not? He seems nice."

"He seems crazy." Lance rolled his eyes. "I mean come on, the Galra? Those are just stories. There's no way they actually exist."

Hunk just shuffled on his feet. "I mean... something has to be causing those adventurers to never come back, right? Maybe... maybe there are Galra out there."

"Oh please." Lance huffed. "If there actually were Galra, someone would have seen them by now. They're like seven foot tall purple monsters, right? Sounds like the kind of thing that would stand out."

"True, but..." Hunk trailed off.

"But nothing." Lance said curtly. "Come on. Let's go snag a space in the village square and dig into some of those goodies. I'm starved."

Hunk moved to shield the basket from him. "No way. Miss Lia gave these goodies to me. You find your own."

"Wha- Hunk!"

Turned out, the bonfire wasn't ready yet, and wouldn't be for another hour or so. Grumbling, Lance sunk back onto the nearest bench with Hunk, prepared to wait.

He didn't remain there for long- he'd forgotten Luis was helping to build the bonfire this year. He had barely been sitting for five minutes before he caught sight of him and dragged him off to help, leaving Hunk alone with his basket of goodies.

Not that he stayed alone for long- after polishing off one of Miss Lia's signature spiced rolls, Hunk came to join them, offering a hand. It made the work at least a little more bearable, but as it was, he still grumbled his way through it.

At least it would get done faster this way, he guessed.

At some point, the village square started to fill up. There were a lot of familiar faces in the crowd- most of them locals, either from this village or one of the smaller, neighboring villages. A few of them were traders who passed through here regularly, but there were other faces he was less familiar with- and one of them... one of them was Pidge.

He fought the urge to groan.

"Aw, c'mon," Hunk said, "-I don't think he's so bad."

"He was trying to convince us the king's expedition was kidnapped by the Galra." Lance pointed out. "Remember that?"

Sure, it was still a better theory than the captain of the royal guard selling them out to an enemy kingdom in exchange for a noble title or a land deed- or whatever nonsense people were trying to say about Captain Shirogane lately. He'd kind of stopped paying attention to it all- the guy had practically been his hero since he had gotten the chance to go with Veronica to the capital three years ago.

He'd heard of the Captain before then, of course he had. Who hadn't? He was the youngest captain of the royal guard ever. But living in such a remote village meant that he didn't exactly get a chance to put faces to names, and Captain Shirogane was absolutely something that had to be seen to be believed. He was just lucky that he'd been taking part in a tournament while he was there, because the sight had been unforgettable.

He wished he could move like that. But sword fighting had never exactly been his forte- that was more of Veronica's thing. He was better with a bow and arrow.

Not as good as Hunk, but still- he wasn't a bad shot.

"I don't know, maybe he's on to something." Hunk shrugged. "I mean... the Galra are supposed to use like, weird magic or something right?"

Lance just rolled his eyes, unable to believe they were even talking about this. "Those are the druids. I'm pretty sure they aren't regular Galra."

"Yeah, but they're still Galra, right?" Hunk asked. "And the king's expedition did sort of vanish without a trace."

He grunted, helping Hunk fix another log in place. That much was true. They had found their camp- right down to their packs and their horses. Everything was right where it should be- nothing looked like it had been disturbed.

It was just... no one was there. Not the king, not the crown prince, and not Captain Shirogane. They were just gone.

"Still, there's no way." Lance said. "Weren't they checking something out in the Lion's Forest? That's like on the other end of the kingdom. How would the Galra have even gotten that far?"

"Mm, true." Hunk admitted. "Honestly, I'd rather it not be true myself. I mean... the Galra were terrifying enough when I thought they were fictional. I don't think I could handle it if they were actually real."

"Don't worry, Hunk." Lance joked, patting him on the shoulder. "If the Galra ever show up here, I'm sure Miss Lia's glare would scare them all away."

Hunk cracked a smile at that. "Okay, yeah, that's fair."

They worked in silence for awhile after that, Lance keeping an eye on Pidge. He was hovering by the edge of the village square, watching them put together the bonfire. At one point, their eyes met, and the kid jerked his head away.

He winced. Maybe he had gone a little too far calling him crazy. This whole Galra thing did seem kind of important to him. He probably should apologize.

It didn't mean he didn't think he wasn't crazy- he did. He just shouldn't have been so blunt about it. But he'd worry about it after the bonfire.

Finally, the last log was set in place, and everyone stepped back to observe their work. Luis circled around it, studying it carefully, before he declared that it was ready to be lit.

In spite of himself, Lance grinned. Looked like his night was back on the right path.

Or at least, it was.

It wasn't like he hadn't noticed the slight commotion coming from the edge of the village. He'd just been opting to ignore it. But the closer it started to come towards them, the harder that got- and soon enough, the buzz had picked up. By the time he had sneaked back to the basket of Miss Lia's goodies to steal a spiced roll, it was in full buzz.

Someone had come back.

At first, he didn't get all the fuss. He just thought someone had come back from like... being away or something. Maybe Veronica had been able to make it after all?

He was halfway through the roll when he realized that wasn't what they meant. And by that time, the person in question had come all but staggering into the village square, impossible to miss even if he hadn't been paying attention. They looked... worn out, for lack of a better word- ragged, exhausted.

Definitely exhausted, since they stumbled forward by one step, and almost immediately fell over. And if he knew Hunk...

Yep, there he went. Half inhaling the rest of the roll, Lance scrambled to catch up with him. For a big guy, he could be pretty fast when he wanted to!

Up close, it only became more obvious just how ragged this person was. The dark cloak they wore was torn, nearly slashed to pieces towards the bottom. As Hunk carefully rolled him over, it became apparent that his clothes weren't much better off- they barely looked better than prison rags. There was a deep scar across the bridge of his nose, and equally deep bags underneath his eyes, like he hadn't slept since who knew when.

Then his cloak fell back, and all at once, everyone who had gathered around the stranger backed away.

But Lance wasn't looking at his right arm- which wasn't to say that he didn't notice that it was purple, fuzzy, and clawed, it was just that to him, it wasn't nearly the most important element. No, to him, what mattered most was the face- even with the white tuft of hair, he still knew it. There was no way he was about to forget someone who had made such an impression on him anytime soon.

He opened his mouth, about to let the man's name slip out of it, but Pidge proved faster.

"Shiro?"