There were countless things Keith had never expected to happen, some of them being him ending up in space and becoming a Paladin of Voltron along with the others, finding out he was half alien, losing Shiro once again, or joining the Blades of Marmora in order to find out more about his mother. He did not expect to be a part of a weird family consisting of his fellow teammates and the two Alteans, nor could he have ever predicted the feelings of closure he was beginning to develop towards a certain overly-confident Cuban. But something that he certainly did not expect or ever want was to receive an alarmed call from his friends telling him to return immediately to the castle-ship for urgent matters.
Seeing the anxiousness in the eyes of Princess Allura, along with the grim expression on Shiro's face, Keith wasted no time by asking more questions, quickly informing Kolivan of his need to depart as soon as possible and making his way towards the coordinates that he had received. Something was wrong, he noticed, pushing to go faster. He was tired after a recent mission, but his senses were alert, going over millions of possibilities regarding what could have happened and trying not to think of the worst. Still, his gut feeling was telling him that something was terribly wrong.
His thoughts had only been further confirmed when he stepped out into the shuttle bay, to be greeted only by Shiro, who looked tired, a frown etched onto his face.
"Shiro, what happened?" Keith asked, already dreading the answer.
"I'll explain to you once we arrive to where the others are," The Black Paladin stated, a sigh leaving his lips as he guided Keith through the castle's halls.
If it wasn't for the grim atmosphere hanging over the two, Keith would have felt melancholic about walking through the bluish-lighted hallways after what seemed like forever. Thinking about seeing his teammates in person, he allowed a silver of happiness to worm its way into his heart despite knowing that the situation seemed to be nothing close to a joyous one. It wasn't until him and Shiro stepped into the Lounge that it dawned upon Keith how stupid he had been to even hope something wasn't wrong, when in fact everything was.
The atmosphere was heavy when the two entered, a sense of despair mixed in with one of determination, and if it wasn't for the fact that Keith had become overly aware of his presence, he wouldn't have noticed that Lance was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is Lance?" He asked as soon as the door slid shut behind him and Shiro. At the question, no one seemed to look Keith in the eyes, all of them lowering their heads sadly. When he received nothing as an answer, the former Red Paladin pressed on, his fists clenching and heart hammering wildly inside his chest: "I said WHERE IS LANCE?" Keith was emphasizing every word, growing more and more frantic and frustrated with each second that passed.
"He's gone," Pidge whispered to herself.
"What?" The black haired boy urged, having not heard what the girl muttered.
"HE'S GONE!" She exclaimed furiously, wiping at the tears that were threatening to escape her eyes.
Keith felt as if someone had just pulled the rug from under his feet, rendering him to fall face-first into the floor.
"What do you mean by gone?" He found himself asking, his voice so small that it sounded alien to his own ears. He was still glued in the same place from when he had entered the room, face not betraying any of his thoughts, except for the clenched fists on either side of his body, their knuckles turning alarmingly white.
Shiro sighed dejectedly, resting a hand on Keith's shoulder and guiding him further inside the room.
"How about you take a seat and we'll tell you everything?" The Black Paladin smiled in what was supposed to be a comforting way, though Keith had noticed, it didn't even reach his eyes.
Glaring at the floor, the former Red Paladin nodded his head, choosing to lean against one of the walls instead of sitting next to the other members, his arms crossed over his chest and ready to listen to whatever they had to say. He needed to know what happened while he was away and what Pidge meant by Lance being 'gone', and he needed to know it fast.