Frustrated, Lance growled deep in the back of his throat when he was, oh so rudely, interrupted by Keith shouting into the comms.
'Seriously', Lance wondered, 'what is his problem?'
Unfortunately, Lance couldn't verbally vent his annoyance, as he could make no sound at all. Even as he 'growled' earlier, no sound escaped his throat. Apparently, during the crash he had injured his vocal cords when a large piece of shrapnel flew across his throat. He gingerly traced the jagged cut on his neck, blood trickling down the side and flowing onto his armor, staining the white plate a dusky red. Lance sighed, taking a deep breath, using the moment to calm himself and his frustrations.
First things first, he needed to stop the bleeding. Luckily every Lion was equipped with the standard Altean first aid equipment. Standing up to retrieve the bandages, Lance's foot slipped on a puddle of his sweat. That's when he noticed the intense heat, even though his temperature regulated armor. He could feel the disgusting trails of sweat dripping down the side of his face, and every other part of his body, collecting on the floor of the cockpit. He moved his hand to wipe away the sweat threatening to slip into his eyes, only to have it bonk against the side of his helmet.
'Right, my helmet's on and the visor's down' he remembered that with the helmet fully covering his face, there was no way to access it unless he deactivated it via the control panel. Worried that the atmosphere wouldn't be human-friendly, Lance refrained from removing his helmet, even if the sweat was giving his cleanliness instincts the hebejebes.
Even in the helmet, Lance's breath became breathy pants. 'Okay,' pant pant, 'I need to know where I landed and to figure out why the temperature regulator broke', pant, 'and hope that I can fix it.
Temporarily forgetting about getting the bandages, Lance turned and patted the dashboard. 'I'll be right back, Blue.' He lovingly thought before meandering over to the emergency exit. As the Lions were offline they couldn't open their mouths which was a function reserved for the Lions themselves, the Paladins could only leave through an emergency hatch located in the ceiling just behind the pilot seat. Lance quickly scaled the ladder and opened the hatch with a flick of his wrist. He peeked out and was instantly blasted with a wave of supered heated, hot air. He gasped at the sudden rise in temperature, sweat rolling down his face in sheets, pooling at the bottom of his helmet. 'Ugh, gross' Lance whined in his head before he quickly scanned the area, trying to get a better gauge of where he was.
Lance gurgled, 'Not good, so very noooot good.'
Blue was currently draped over the rim of an active volcano, her forelimbs dangling towards the magma. Dark forest green lava bubbled and boiled in the crater, slowly rising, as smoke plumed out in dark ominous waves. Suddenly, with a rumble the rocks under Blue gave way a little and Blue shifted forward towards the green hot lava, causing Lance to shriek. Well, his mouth opened and his arms flailed, but no sound escaped his lips. Quickly, before Blue could shift again, Lance scampered up and bolted out of the hatch. He sprinted across Blue's back. Blue shifted again, slipping and sliding forward emitting a sharp screech of metal scrapping rock. Lance stumbled a bit, but regained his balance, before urging his legs on faster, pouring on the fastest spurt of speed in his life.
Heart thumping in his chest and lungs begging for air, even if the helmet regulated oxygen it wasn't much if disconnected from the pump. Lance was almost to the edge of the crater, a few steps from relative safety, when Blue tumbled forward, completely dislodged from her perch, rocks cascading in a shower around the Lion. Lance screamed, throat straining to produce noise before launching himself off of his Lion's armor and slamming into the rock ledge of the crater.
He clawed at the black stone, gloved hands struggling to find any purchase. He could feel himself slipping, the fabric tearing, exposing his coco brown fingers straining to grab onto the slick volcanic rocks as debris rained down, suddenly Lance's chipped nails dug into a crack along the dried, molten rock and he was able to haul himself up. Once, he secured a more stable position for himself, and wasn't about to fall, he whipped his head behind him, only to see the fleeting image of Blue cascading down the inner side of the volcano.
'BLUE!' He screamed mentally.
He visibly cringed as he saw Blue crash into a protrusion of rock, denting the already smoke stained metal, before ricocheting off and rolling the rest of the way down the side of the crater. Lance whimpered as he saw his beloved Blue slip into the lava pooled at the bottom of the volcano, a small splash erupting from where she fell in, droplets of green lava raining down in a shower.
'No, no, no, no! Blue.' Lance sobbed, tears prickling at the back of his eyes. He took a shaky breath, eyes trained on the spot in the dark green lava below where Blue had fallen, lava bubbles popping and spurting to mark her imprisonment. Lance swallowed back his whine, closing his eyes to keep his tears at bay. A watery laugh with no sound escaped as he thought of a joke. 'Love ya Blue, but not enough to take a lava bath with you'. Even that terrible joke did little to alleviate his grief.
A sudden rumble caused him to open his eyes again. The lava in the crater was rapidly bubbling and the heat intensified. In horror, Lance realized that it was going to erupt! Panic seized him and he cowered against the rock wall, muscles frozen stiff, before scrambling as fast as possible over the lip in the crater, to the mountain slope on the other side. Another rumble sent him skidding down the side of the mountain. His heart pounded a staccato beat in his chest as his lungs gasped for air, muscles yearning and screaming for the chance to stop. Lance sprinted onward, slipping and sliding as he lost traction on loose gravel. Another rumble shook the ground, heavier than before, causing Lance to stumble, scrambling to stay upright and on his feet.
Lance almost regained his footing when the heel of his boot caught the edge of a porous rock and he tumbled forward. Instinctively he curled, performing a sloppy somersault, before landing back on his feet. It would do him no good if he fell now, not with an active volcano spewing smoke and ash behind him. Fear filled his eyes and he knew that if he fell now he might never get up again. A booming roar accompanied by a terrifying rumble of the earth quaking caused Lance's legs to skid out from underneath him.
He landed ungracefully onto his side, knocking the air out of his lungs with a great big whoosh. Luckily his armor mostly protected him, but as the quake grew Lance tumbled down the mountainside, bashing into sharp rocks, over and over. All Lance knew was that he could see a flash of silver sky before slamming into black volcanic rock, as he tumbled. Pain was all that Lance could register the moment his body rolled to a stop at the base of the volcano. Dizzily sitting up, Lance felt his stomach gurgling with displeasure.
Lance groaned silently, 'Great, now know I how it feels to be like Hunk.'
He sat there a couple of moments, attempting to catch his breath. He opened his eyes and stared unblinkingly at the cloudy grey sky. Suddenly, he saw a flaming stone blasting across the sky, leaving behind a trail of blazing light.
'A comet!' He gasped silently in awe. Celestial bodies never failed to impress him, hell he even went to the Galaxy Garrison for them. Then he saw another one.
'Wait...How the quiznack can I see them?
The sky was covered with thick grey clouds, not a stripe of sky to be seen, yet Lance had clearly seen a flying meteor. Then an enormous rumble that even jousted his bones sounded and he glanced up, alarmed.
'Oh. Just some flaming rocks.' Lance relaxed minutely, before his eyes widened comically wide. 'They WEREN'T comets, oh nonononono, they were frickin FLAMING rocks!' The meteors were erupting with increasing frequency from the volcano. Lance saw rivers of green lava leaking from between cracks in the volcano, spilling over the edge of the crater, raging like a flood towards him. Lance leapt to his feet, his body screaming in protest, blue armor stained to an almost unrecognizable gray color. Then he booked it as fast as he could caper. Head spinning without proper oxygen, lungs rattling with lack of air.
His whole body felt as if it was being stabbed with pins and needles in almost every muscle. But he didn't dare stop, stopping would mean certain death, and he was too young to die! Vaguely in the distance, Lance could make out a tall, luscious purple forest rippling in the wind. Sprinting turned into a harsh affair as Lance felt debilitating vibrations in the ground as the flaming meteors slammed into the soil all around him, threatening to squash him. It felt like a giant game of 'Hey Mother Nature! Let's kill Lance for fun!'
As the the lava flowed faster and faster, creeping up on him, Lance used his jet pack intermittently to stay ahead of it. The forest steadily grew before him, becoming a gigantic presence looming over him. With one final push, Lance propelled himself headlong into the trees, only to notice the gorge, stretching out before his fleeing feet.
Seriously! He must be dense not to have noticed the freaking mile long chasm sooner. Lance skidded to a stop a few inches away from the sheer cliff side drop. His arms frantically pinwheeling, barely able to keep him from toppling over the edge. For a terrifying moment, Lance thought he was about to fall into the dark abyss below. But he was able to regain his balance when he forced himself to squat, lowering his center of gravity and using one hand to rest on the edge of the rock, helping maintain that balance. He stole a glance backward and gawked at the approaching lava.
'Shit, shit, Quiznacking SHIT!' Lance thought.
If he jumped then he might not make it across the gorge, It was 30 feet across. 'But if he stayed…' He pushed the thought out of his head. 'Focus Lance, no need to elaborate on that.' Hearing the viscous slither of popping lava Lance decides to screw it and launches himself across the gap, his jet pack blasting to the max.
