Shiro used to enjoy sleeping with his blissful dreams. However, that was a year ago, before he had gotten captured by the Galra, before he was made a slave, and before he was called 'The Champion'.
What use to be nights full of dreams were now nightmares. Sometimes, he would be lucky and sleep would bring nothing either way, but tonight wasn't one of them. He tossed and turned in his bed as he was forced to rewatch one of the hundred horrible memories he had.
Tonight's was when the guards dragged him off to be beaten for daring to speak up because he and the other slaves were starving. He was shoved into the back of the dark room. The rotten stink of dried blood and vomit that clung to the walls made him sick to his stomach.
Two of the guards held him down like he was a wild animal. He could hear the other guards laughing and jeering at him as they readied their punches. Shiro glared, but all he could do was shut his eyes and await another night of pain. Hopefully, the guards were in a good mood and it would be over quick.
A hand gripped his chin and forced him to raised his head. Shiro knew it was about to start.
That was when the nightmare took an unexpected turn.
A mighty roar echoed throughout the cell. Shiro jumped at the same time as the guards did. He opened his eyes. Another roar came. In an eyeblink a black lioness jumped down from the ceiling and pinned one of the guards to the floor.
The guards watched horrified as the lioness raised her huge paw and struck the guard in the face.
Shiro winced expecting blood, but none came. To his amazement, the guard disintegrated into a sliver glittery powder, almost like star dust.
The lioness turned her head and bared her teeth at them. The guards holding him dropped him like a stone. The guards barely took a terrified step back as the Lioness pounced upon them.
Shiro scrambled back into the corner of the room. He watched every guard be struck and turned into the same odd stardust as before. The guards opened their mouths to scream, and Shiro was prepared to cover his ears, but no sound came. It was as if the whole room had suddenly become soundproof.
One by one the guards vanished and fell until there was nothing left in the room, but Shiro and the lioness. The creature approached him and Shiro didn't move. He was too tired to outrun her. He didn't have a chance. This was it.
Shiro hugged his knees to his chest, and accepted his fate of turning into stardust. However, the lioness didn't attack. He felt a warm nose pressed against his hair, and she gave him a gentle lick.
Gradually, Shiro raised his head and stared directly into the lioness's eyes. They were kind and warm; it oddly calmed his heart that had been beating a mile minute. There was something familiar about them. He remained still as the lioness shifted and wrapped her large body around him like he was a cub she was protecting.
It was then Shiro realized he was no longer in his slave uniform, but his regular clothes. The dark room had also vanished. There was no sign of the cell, or the fear that had always lingered.
The area around him was still dark, but then a flicker of light above him caught his eye. The lioness nudged him to look up with her nose. Shiro reluctantly complied, but was glad he did so. The sky was full of twinkling stars, constellations, and planets.
It was the kind of sky that made him fall in love with space when he was a child and staring up at it with his grandfather. He had forgotten how beautiful space could be. Shiro found himself leaning against the lioness like a pillow and the purr she gave indicated she encouraged it. Shiro ran his fingers through her fur. She was so warmth, the kind of comfort he craved during his time as a Galra prisoner.
"Thank you," Shiro whispered as he leaned back and continued to watch the sky above. The lioness gave a nod as she nuzzled Shiro's cheek. Somehow, he knew she was saying "No thanks are needed."
Eventually, Shiro woke up, and to his amazement his heart wasn't racing like it had done for the last year whenever he had a nightmare.
He felt calm, and renewed. Shiro had almost forgotten what this feeling was like.
He ran his hand through his hair as he sat up. "That was a strange dream," he muttered and decided it was time to get dress.
0808080808080808080808080808080
Shiro found the rest of the team exactly where he expected them to be, in the dining room eating breakfast. Keith was already sitting at the table next to Pidge, although he looked rather sullen.
Wonder what's eating him? Shiro thought as he entered. I'll have to ask him about it later.
He spotted Coran giving Allura a plate of their own breakfast, and he offered a wave to Shiro.
"Morning, I got a fresh batch a full nutritional breakfast all ready!" Coran said as he proudly pointed
.In other words you managed to beat Hunk in making it this morning,Shiro thought. The two had been getting into a bit of a friendly competition on who could cook the best meals. Although, Shiro had to admit he did prefer Hunk's style of cooking to Coran's.
Still, he gave an appreciative smile and nodded. "Thanks," he said as he went forward to dig up a plate and a hot cup of tea.
Hunk and Lance then entered with Lance making a beeline for the table and Hunk eyeing the breakfast.
"I got dibs on lunch, Coran," Hunk stated as he scooped up a plate for him and Lance.
Shiro gave a chuckle as he went to sit next to Pidge. "You guys sleep well?" Shiro asked.
Lance stretched out his muscles as Hunk passed the plate to him. "Yeah, like a baby, but man I had this weird dream last night."
Pidge smirked. "Was it the dream when you're in the middle of a test and you're not wearing pants?"
"No, although I did have that the other night," Lance said he picked up a spork to poke at his breakfast. "I was on this beach, happily sunny myself and getting a nice tan when suddenly this blue lioness showed up."
Shiro paused in sipping his tea and immediately looked up. He couldn't help but noticed the others had the same reaction.
"Really, Lance?" Coran said with a glimmer of excitement in his eyes as if this was the best news he'd ever heard.
"Yeah, and at first I thought she wanted to eat me, but instead she wanted me to take a swim with her," Lance said as he dug his spork into his breakfast goo. "I mean it was a fun dream, but was just bizarre, you know?"
"Huh," Pidge said as she adjusted her glasses. "Strange enough, I head a dream like that too." She leaned back into her chair. "I was in this forest and then this green lioness appeared and wanted me to ride her back."
Shiro couldn't help but notice both Allura and Coran were rather gleeful about this while the others continued to blink in confusion.
Hunk slowly raised a hand. "Not to add to the creep factor here, but…I dreamt last night I climbed a mountain, and I almost fell off, but this yellow lioness caught me."
Keith looked ready to bend this spork in half and turned to Shiro. "Did you have a dream too?" he asked.
Shiro went quiet. They were well aware about his repeated nightmares, and they always offered comfort when he spoke about them, but Shiro didn't like to bother the group with them unless he had no choice.
"Kind of, in a way," Shiro said as he rubbed his neck. "It started as one of my memories when I was a prisoner, but then this black lioness came out of nowhere." He gave a little smile. "It was a nice change, to say the least."
Pidge leaned forward to give his shoulder a squeeze.
"So, in other words," Lance said, no doubt sensing Shiro's wished to change the subject, "we ALL had a dream with a lioness appearing in it?"
"It would appear so," Allura said with a grin.
Hunk took a deep breath as he pulled up a chair. "Um…okay, Coran, please tell us this is like a normal Paladin thing. Otherwise this is getting really freaky."
"It most certainly is," Coran said with utter delight. "When a Paladin and their lion's bond becomes strong enough, the lions gain the ability to enter their Paladins' dreams and strengthen it even further."
The Paladins' eyes widened, especially Shiro's.
So, last night, that was Black? No wonder those eyes felt familiar. She stopped me from having a nightmare.
"This is truly wonderful," Allura said as she clapped her hands.
"Hey, wait," Lance said as he grasped his chin and gave a smirk. "Seems to me Keith hasn't said a word about having a dream."
Keith averted his gaze from Lance. He chewed in silence and tried to ignore every pair of eyes upon him.
"Well, Keith?" Allura asked, edgarly.
"Well, what?" Keith asked with a pout.
"Did you have a dream about your lion?"
Keith paused. "Yes, I did." He continued to poke at his breakfast as everyone stared at him.
"Well? Aren't you going to tell us?" Pidge asked, leaning forward with her voice full of curiosity.
"No, I'm not."
"Come on, Man! We told you ours!" Hunk replied as he folded his arms. "It's only fair!"
"It's not like I asked you guys to," Keith argued.
"Come on, Keith," Shiro said, encouragingly. "This is a good way for us to bond as a team." He had to admit, Shiro did wonder what kind of dream Keith would have with his lion.
Keith sighed as he stabbed his food and leaned back. "Okay, fine, but don't laugh."
"Ookay, now I'm intrigued."
"Lance," Allura said with a warning look and turned back to Keith. "Go on, I'm certain it's nothing to be embarrassed about."
Keith looked doubtful, but sighed. "Fine, okay so I was standing in darkness and then suddenly this huge bon fire appeared out of nowhere." He folded his arms. "Had to be as big as a house."
"Did you roast marshmallows?"
"Hunk," Allura warned.
"Sorry, I couldn't resist."
"Anyway," Keith said with a sigh and turned his head away from them. "There I was, minding my own business watching this fire and this red lioness appeared out of nowhere."
"And did you ride her?" Pidge asked.
Keith gave a sour expression like he had sucked a lemon. "No."
"Saved you from some fire monster or something?" Lance asked.
"No, didn't do that either," Keith said with an eye twitch.
The group exchanged baffled looks.
"What happened, Keith?" Shiro asked.
Keith turned his head away from the group. "She picked me up by the back my shirt and carried me off."
The group went silent.
"And once we were away from the fire," Keith continued as he fiddled with his fingers. "She dropped me, pinned me with one of her massive paws..and started to lick my hair….and she wouldn't stop."
The silence continued until Pidge coughed. "You mean.." he said slowly, "Red decided to groom you?"
Keith growled and gave a nod. "Apparently…yes."
Lance covered his mouth, but it was useless as the laughter busted free. He slammed the table as he laughed and grinned. "Ha ha! Man, I wish I had a way to see that!"
"You said you wouldn't laugh!" Keith snapped.
"I made no such promises," Lance said as he wiped a tear from his eye.
Hunk and Pidge were also struggling not to snicker. "It is really funny, not going to lie," Pidge replied and looked to Coran. "Don't suppose Alteans had way to record dreams, because I would so pay to see that!"
Coran twirled his mustache. "Actually, we do. It's a bit cumbersome to set up but-"
"NO ONE IS SEEING ANYTHING!" Keith snapped with a blush.
"That's enough," Allura stated in a firm tone and then turned to Keith with a smile. "You have nothing to be embarrassed about, Keith. It simply shows that Red thinks of you like she would her own cub."
"Yeah, because Keith is apparently just a giant kitten," Lance teased. "Granted, can't blame Red for assuming that with that mullet of yours-"
"Can it, Lance," Keith growled as he blushed.
The others laughed and Shiro couldn't resist joining in on it.
The following night, Shiro wasn't certain what to expect, but to his hope no nightmares came.
Black was there to greet him, and together they sat in silence as they watched the stars above. No words or promises were said, but Shiro had a feeling it would be all good dreams from here on out.