The paladins of Voltron were in midst of an ambush. There was a distress call from the planet nearby and turned out to be followers of Zarkon or a rebellion against Voltron. All they knew were that they were serious. They had blasters and bombs and skilled men. It was about 11 against 5. They could handle it, but it might take awhile. As soon as they landed the castle got hit. Nothing major, but something that definitely made the castle shake. When they exited the castle they were welcomed with blasts from guns and retreated back into the castle, hiding behind the doors and bayards in hand. Once they had their weapons Lance and Hunk covered for them while Shiro, Keith and Pidge went charging onto the planet. Pidge stung two people with her bayard and Keith and Shiro were handling their own problem. Lance and Hunk came out of hiding, shooting from close distance and covering their companions backs.
There was now only three against the five. Pidge took a hit to the left side of her rib cage and was holding it to stop the blood.
"Get them back to the castle!" Shiro commanded. Pidge snapped her neck at him.
"But-mm!" She cringed at the pain in their side. Hunk got to her side and was covering any blasts or attacks to safely get her back into the castle and possibly into a healing pod. Hunk and Pidge entered the castle, Hunk carrying her bridal style. Coran rushed to their side once they entered the control room.
"What happened?" He asked worried laced into his British accent.
"I'm-" Pidge tried answering, but was reminded of the pain in her side that she couldn't stretch the muscle.
"They got hit by one of the men out there." Hunk answered.
Coran nodded and brought them to the medical wing. He analysed the injury and took off Pidges helmet before getting her into the healing pod immediately, she was already losing enough blood. He sent the scans to Allura in the control room. A halo graphic screen popped up in front of the princess. She looked at it and realised there was something not quite right. It seemed Pidge was sliced with a blade that consisted of a poison that varied of different types. It was called Bullstiric. It ranged from numbing pain to hallucinations, fear, pressure and rarely, healing. It was a common plant on most planets, the most common of the plants was the dream dust. A hard fruit that could be crushed into purple powder and put a person into a deep sleep, if inhaled. They could dream of their best fantasies or live their nightmares. It ranged from the person's inner emotions and passion. Allura turned on the communicators to the paladins.
"Paladins beware of a powder-like substance. Whatever you do, do not inhale it!" She warned.
Keith was in a bit of a situation when he heard the message but he understood. 'Don't inhale the powder.' He reminded himself. He was struggling to win the fight when a blue blast past right next to his head. He turned around to thank Lance, but when he did a fighter already had him in a choke hold with a cloth speckled with purple powder. Lances eyes fluttered shut and his body went limp in his attacker's arms. Keith's eyes widened in realisation.
"Lance!" He ran towards Lance in a hurry and slashed the guy off of Lance, catching Shiro's attention. Shiro finished his guy with a punch right into the jaw and rushed to Lances side. Keith cradled Lance's head in his lap, hands on the sides of Lance's head, shaking it lightly.
"Wake up, wake up, wake up." Keith kept mumbling. Shiro looked at Keith and saw his expression. Keith was worried, worse, terrified. He and Keith had no idea what the powder would do. They would have to get lance into the castle to find out what to do. Shiro's eyebrows scrunched.
"We have to get him into the castle." Shiro tried slipping his hands under Lance's body, but Keith stopped him. Keith looked at Shiro with a dark expression.
"I'll do it." He said through clenched teeth. Shiro nodded. Keith gently lifted Lance's head and put his left palm under it and his right hand under Lances knee's. He lifted Lance with a grunt and started walking hastily to the castle. Shiro trying to keep up with him. They made their way through the castle into the control room.
"Bring him to a healing pod!" Allura commanded. Keith didn't need to be told twice. He and the other paladins including princess Allura and Coran went to the medical wing. Coran opened the pod, Keith propped Lance's body into the pod and before he left him he took off Lance's helmet. Keith took a step away, quite a few actually. Coran shut the pod. Keith took off his helmet and looked at the princess.
"Now what?"
"We wait." She replied calmly. Keith's eyebrows furrowed.
"For how long!?"
"At least for the night. That way we monitor and analyse his body and mental stability." Keith let out an angered puff and stormed out of the room.
"Keith!" Hunk tried but Shiro put a human hand on his shoulder.
"He needs time." He turned to Coran "How's Pidge?"
"She should be coming out any tic-" He was cut off with a 'swoosh' of a healing pod and out stumbled Pidge. Allura was quickly at her side.
"Are you feeling alright?" The princess asked.
"Y-yeah, much better than before." She turned to look at the rest of the team, but only found Hunk and Shiro. In her peripheral vision, she saw that another healing pod was being used. She turned their gaze to the pod and let out a shocked gasp and ran, as best as she could, to Lance.
"What happened?" She asked.
"He was attacked with a certain powder-like poison called Bullstiric. It is used for many things and it grows very different types of powder. The most common one is a purple substance that puts you into a deep sleep and makes you dream based on your passion and emotions." Coran answered.
"What?" Hunk asked really confused. He couldn't understand why a powder that would put you in a deep sleep would be used. Allura sighed. And walked over to a computer to bring up a holographic picture of a plant that looked like a dragon fruit, but the colours were different. Instead of purple, the base colour was orange and the tips of the blunt spikes were purple.
"This is the Bullstiric plant. It contains a dry and solid filling that could be crushed to powder for uses of different things." She pointed to the purple tips. "The people of the planet the fruit is planted on can tell what fruit it would be based on the colour of the ends. The tips of the plant are purple meaning the plant is used for dream dust." She pressed a button and other look a likes of the fruit popped up on the hologram. There was now five squares, pictures of the fruit. All had the base colour of orange but the tips were different. One was sky blue, another grass green, pink, purple and black. Allura pointed at the one with sky blue tips.
"This type of Bullstiric causes hallucinations. Like the dream dust, the hallucinations are based on your passion and emotions. They can be good or bad." She pointed at the one with green grass tips. "This one causes pressure. It burns through the skin of where it is applied. If is used around the throat, it would feel like someone's choking you." She pointed at the one with pink tips. "The pink Bullstiric causes fear. Your worst nightmare could flash through your eyes for a second and you would be a trembling mess. It could alternate your perspective of reality and make everything the opposite of good. Or could just be an endless emotion." Allura pointed at the last one she hasn't explained, the one with black tips. "And this one is a healing remedy. You could boil or suck on the leaves of the fruit and it would heal any injuries or unhealthy condition. It, like the others, could be crushed and used as a powder." She turned to look at the paladins. All trying to digest the information they just heard.
"The dream dust is what's causing Lance to sleep?" Pidge asked.
"Correct." Coran rubbed his moustache between his thumb and index finger.
"So he's in a coma?" Hunk asks.
"A comb a?" Allura repeated, unsurely.
"It's a state of someone who is unconscious and doesn't wake up like a normal person of sleeping." Shiro answers.
"Well, no." Coran stopped twisting his moustache.
"What!?" They all asked simultaneously.
"He can hear us. It just depends if he wants to or not. He sleeps like a usual human. He just sleeps for a long time and wakes up when... Well, that decision is on him."
"There's no way we can have him wake up?" Hunk exclaimed.
"We need to monitor his sleep and then we will have our answer. Worrying will do no good for Lances health and of our own." Allura pulled down the hologram.
"You want us to go on like nothing happened, with our lives, while Lance is dreaming of god knows what?" Pidge asked through clenched teeth still by the pod. Allura was taken back but answered after a pause.
"Unfortunately, yes."
"My life contained a smiling, happy Lance." Pidge said, voice trembling. She let their cladded hands slide off the glass and walked out of the room. Allura felt guilt with the pain Pidge was feeling.
"Don't worry princess she'll be alright." Shiro assured her.
"I'll go talk to her." Hunk said and left the room, he entered an empty hallway. Ah, yes she was small but fast. He walked down the hallway towards Pidge's tech room. He knocked. No response.
"Pidge?" He knocked again. No response. He took a step, about to walk to their room, the doors opened and he took a step back. Hunk cautiously walked into the room.
"Pidge you in here?" He heard a sniffle and they called out.
"Uh, yeah, I'm here." He followed the voice and found her in her normal clothes with her head in her arm on the table, glasses on her head.
"Oh, Pidge." He walked towards her and put a hand on their back.
"It's-it's just, he's our best friend Hunk and we're just supposed to act like nothing happened." She lifted her head to look up at Hunk.
"What!? No! No one is asking you to act like nothing happened. We just have to be patient and wait. Okay?" She wiped a stray tear and smiled.
"Yeah okay. Thanks, Hunk." He lightly smacked her on the back.
"Anytime man. Come on, I'm sure everyone's wondering if you're okay. And I want to get out of this suit." He chuckled a little.
"Where's Keith? When I got out of the pod he wasn't there." Pidge asked.
"Don't know. Right after he put Lance in the pod he stormed off." Pidge looked up at the big man.
"He put Lance in the pod?"
"Yeah, why?" Hunks eyebrows scrunched up.
"Well, how would you feel if you were the one to put Lance in the healing pod. It must be even harder for Keith with, you know being Keith."
"Yeah, I see what you mean." The doors opened for the pair and they started down the hallway. An airy silence falling between the two.
With Lance gone that's all it was. Silence. So quiet and dull. They couldn't imagine what it would be like without him, but here they were. Living that unwanted fantasy. Their steps echoing through the empty hallway. Hunk had to get his gear off and so he gave Pidge a little wave and walked off to take apart his armour. Pidge kept walking. She couldn't stop thinking about Lance and Keith. What was Lance dreaming about? What if he was in pain, so much pain he'd be numb. And Keith. What about Keith? He wasn't really one to show emotion, besides anger, but he definitely opened up after flying into space. But no one knows what's his story is. When they met Keith he lived alone in a shack in the middle of the desert. He got kicked out of the garrison.
The trio, Pidge, Lance and Hunk, all had a family they left to go to the school. Well, Pidge didn't really leave her family. She left their mum to find her brother and father. She lost two very important people in her life. Now one of her closest friends is asleep and no one knows when he will wake up. She walked towards the training deck and heard grunts and clashing of metal against metal. She kept walking towards the room until she was in the open doorway.
There he was. Keith fighting against a training bot. Beads of sweat rolling down his neck and forehead. The bot was intense and quick moving, but Keith was strong and agile. He was moving a lot and the bot followed. He was stuck, using his bayard as a shield and the bots weapon against it. His bayard shaking, he was struggling. Pidge was about to step in and call off the simulation when Keith pushed his bayard, did a 360 turn with his bayard in hand and slashed the bot. The wounded bot hit the ground and vanished. Keith was huffing, staring at the spot the bot vanished, he was just wearing his black shirt, tights and gloves.
"Keith." Pidge walked into the training room. Keith turned around surprised by the sudden appearance. His eyebrows scrunched up, trying to catch his breath.
"Oh, Pidge. Are you feeling good? Does it hurt?"
"Nope, all patched up. How are you holding up?" If it was possible his eyebrows had no space in between.
"What?"
"Oh, come on. Hunk told me you stormed out of the medical wing after you put Lance in the healing pod."
"Yeah, I did. So what?" He turned away from Pidge, his back facing her.
"And how do you feel about that?" Keith snorted.
"What are you? My therapist? Training simulation, level 6." A bot appeared in front of Keith a few feet away and Pidge sighed.
"No, I'm not, but I'm your friend. You storm out of the medical wing and come straight to the training deck. To me, it seems like your trying to vent." Keith charged at the bot and the two bodies, human and mechanic, moved in a flash. Keith stayed silent, so Pidge continued.
"I just think it would be much better to do something else than bottling up everything. And... not doing anything." Keith paused and turned to face Pidge, he threw his hands in the air.
"What do you suppose I do then!?" The bot kicked Keiths back, throwing him to the floor. Pidges eyes widened and ran to Keith.
"Stop training." She shouted and the bot vanished. She looked down at the mullet boy and put a hand out. He turned over on his back, lying on the ground for a few seconds. He got up in a sitting position and took the hand in front of him. She tried with all her might to pick Keith up, he had to use his own strength, of course and pushed off the ground.
"To go check on him." Pidge continued once Keith was standing on his feet. Her eyes were soft and understanding. She had no idea what Keith's feelings were exactly but she knew he cared. Much more than he let on. She stared at Keith for a while before he nodded slightly and she left him in the training room. Keith stood there with his bayard and was thinking about why and what he was going to check on Lance for. He knew he cared, apparently Pidge did too if she came to him but he didn't know what to do. He was angry. He couldn't get to Lance in time. He blames himself for not saving him, for not having his back like Lance had his. They bickered and fought a lot but they always had each other's back. He decided. Keith left the training room and put his bayard away. Keith speed walked towards the medical wing to Lance's pod. When he arrived the room was empty all except Lance's body in the healing pod. He entered the room and to Lance's pod. Keith starred at the pod. Lance's tanned skin was clear as ever. He smiled at the reasons why. All the facial masks and beauty habits the boy had. His hair laid on top of his hair a few brown curls around his face and his eyes closed. Lance's eyes were always beautiful. A sweet blue that reminded Keith of the ocean. Oh, how he wished for those eyes to be open. Keith took a deep breath and crossed his arms.
"Hey, Lance."