Chapter 2
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Back at the castle Shiro was trying to keep himself busy while he waited for the group to return from their supply run by working out in their exercise room. Shirtless he was repeatedly punching a hanging bag- something he was mostly incapable of before receiving alien assistance in the form of his synthetic arm. It was a deep secret of his that his muscles were becoming increasingly problematic but now that seemed like a fading dream. It really did feel good to be able to work his body but even so, it wasn't helping to distract from the various questions flooding his mind.
There was an uneasy feeling forming deep inside him that he couldn't shake for the life of him. He wasn't sure if it had to do with all the whispering and sneaking around going on or if it was something else just beyond his comprehension but it was really starting to get to him. For several days the others had been actively avoiding him and he'd hardly seen Keith for more than a few minutes at a time. That was never usually a good sign. Not only that, but their little storage-closet meeting that morning was just too much.
Shiro's fist made contact with the bag several more times before stopping. He'd been going on punching while lost in his thought that he'd worn himself out, now struggling to catch his breath. He hated being avoided and kept out of the loop. When he wasn't involved chaos tended to occur and that wasn't something they needed. So Shiro decided to get to the bottom of it, taking a quick shower before wandering off in search of answers. He checked Pidge's room, the kitchen and a few other placed with no luck before stepping out onto the bridge. There he saw Coran, laying underneath one of the electrical consoles.
"Hey, Coran." Shiro said, announcing his presence. Coran looked up briefly and smiled.
"Hello! Can I help you with something?"
Shiro opened his mouth to speak but hesitated. Coran was a good guy… honest but a bit of an oddball. Surely he knew what was going on but Shiro had to wonder if he would even be able to decipher any bizarre response the man could give him. His mind was like a jumbled encyclopedia, after all. So, instead of asking his question he shrugged his shoulders.
"Just taking a walk."
"I see! Walking is good for the body and the mind!"
"Aha… yeah." Shiro cleared his throat and looked around. "Actually I was looking for one of the guys. You seen them around?"
"I'm afraid they haven't made it back yet." Shiro found that to be a tad odd…
"Really? It's been a while already…. I thought for sure they'd be back by now."
The worry on Shiro's face was obvious and Coran sprung to his feet to pat the young man on the shoulder.
"Oh I wouldn't worry about that. You know how those three can be."
"Yeah." That's what worried Shiro. "Can we contact them? Just to make sure they're staying out of trouble, I mean."
"Hmm… No can do, I'm afraid." Coran responded, looking back to his open console. "We seem to be picking up a bit of interference from a magnetic storm around the planet they flew off to. I'm trying to boost the signal so we have clear contact!"
Knowing that they were out of contact and out of reach did nothing to ease Shiro's anxiety. He couldn't explain it but he had the worst feeling about it. What if they were attacked and in need of help? What if one of them was hurt? He had half a mind to jump in the black lion and go chasing after them but another pat from Coran brought his attention back.
"Hey now, there's no need to worry. I'm sure they're doing just fine down there. They're resourceful boys, you know. I'm sure they'll be back on their way soon and the second I can get them on the radio you'll be the first to know."
"Yeah…. Thanks, Coran." Coran had a gentle way about him and his reassurance eased at least some of Shiro's worry. He smiled for the older man and turned back towards the door.
"Well, I'll leave you to your work. Let me know if you need some help."
"Will do! Though if you still need someone to talk to, I'm pretty sure Pidge is in the sitting room."
"Thanks!" With that, Shiro left for the sitting room and Coran went back to his work. After a few moments however he stopped and looked up.
"Hold up now… I feel like I'm forgetting something…" He thought about it for a about a minute before shrugging it off and continued with his task. In the sitting room, Pidge was sitting in front of a box labeled "party" looking through the various odds and ends they'd accumulated over the past few months. They had streamers, paper chain links and various decorations they'd made using objects they'd collected from alien worlds they'd visited. They so rarely had a chance to throw a party and celebrate so it was easy to forget what supplies they had. Pidge was looking around, trying to mentally decide where everything should go before looking up at the ceiling. I was at least 12 feet high…
"Hey Allura, do you think we could put some of these streamers on the ceiling?"
"I don't see why not!" Allura said, happily working on a banner for the party. "This is a happy occasion so we should go all out as you say?"
"Right!" Pidge smiled excitedly. "We've got plenty of supplies here so we can deck this place out top to bottom for the big day!"
"What big day?" Shiro asked, suddenly standing behind her. Pidge squeaked like a space mouse in surprise and quickly replaced the items in the box and covered it before looking back at her companion. Shiro did not look amused by her antics and crossed his arms as he gave her the look the others had dubbed "the dad face." Across the room, Allura was also trying to hide what she was doing and it didn't go unnoticed.
"Oh hi there, Shiro! Didn't hear you come in! How ya doing?"
"Pidge…" Shiro tapped his foot. "What are you doing in here?"
"Nothing! Not a thing!"
"Nothing, huh?" Shiro leaned over to see behind her but she moved at the same time, keeping the view of the box locked. This only proved to annoy Shiro more.
"What are you hiding from me?"
"Hiding? What makes you think I'm hiding anything?"
"Because you're acting suspiciously."
"Suspicious? Me? Allura, am I suspicious?"
"O-of course not!" Allura defended, unsuccessfully. Shiro was quickly losing his patience. Everyone was up to something and if those two were in on it then it definitely wasn't good. Before he could call them out on it, however, the door opened and in ran a frantic Coran.
"Red alert, red alert! Shiro's coming this way to hide the… party…" Shiro turned to face him and Coran stopped talking for a few seconds before turning his head. "Oh, well I guess he's already here. Nevermind."
"Party, huh?" Shiro looked back at Pidge, sighing heavily. "That's what you've all been hiding from me? That you want to throw some kind of party? Why hide that?"
"Well, you see…" Allura decided that the gig was up and that it was time to come clear. So she pulled the banner from behind her back and unfolded it. Shiro's anger quickly changed to surprise as he read the big letters reading 'happy birthday Shiro'. So much had happened during their time in space that it was easy to lose track of time. Apparently, Shiro had gone and forgotten his own birthday was coming up.
"You guys… were doing this for me?"
"We were." Allura said softly with a nod. "It was Keith's idea. Since you weren't able to celebrate it last year he wanted to surprise you with this party. He was adamant about keeping it a secret… I'm deeply sorry if we've upset you."
Shiro could only shake his head. He had gotten all mad at the others and especially Keith but now he felt guilty about it. He knew that when Keith set his mind to something nothing could stop him and his sudden seriousness finally made sense.
"You're not mad…?" Pidge asked, concerned by Shiro's silence. Finally Shiro looked up and smiled, shaking his head.
"No, I'm not mad. I just feel kinda bad now, just assuming you were all up to no good."
"Well to be honest, that's not an unfair assumption." Pidge said, relaxing. But I guess the secret's out now."
"…Maybe not." Shiro smiled and put a finger up to his lips. "You all worked so hard so I'll just pretend that I didn't find out about this. That way you guys can still throw your party and I'll act surprised! That way none of you will get heat for letting the party slip, okay?"
Pidge and Allura agreed and watched Shiro make his leave past an even more confused Coran.
"Wait, let me get this right… Now the one we were keeping the secret knows the secret and we're keeping secret that he knows the secret from the ones who wanted to make this secret in the first place?"
"Yeah I guess so." Pidge said, getting back to her work. Allura returned to her banner, giggling as she did so.
"Goodness…" Coran sighed, shaking his head. "I'll never understand your peculiar earth customs…"
While the others went back to their party planning and repairs, Shiro returned to his room, feeling lighter and happier than he had in days. He plopped down onto his bed and smiled up at the ceiling. What a nice thing they were all doing for him! It really made him feel special that they'd go to all this to make him feel appreciated on his birthday. While it was a nice sentiment to throw him a surprise party he didn't feel disappointed that it wouldn't really be a surprise. He just couldn't wait to see the accomplished smile on Keith's face… There was still something inside him that felt uneasy but it was far less noticeable. So, Shiro closed his eyes and sighed, deciding to take a nap while he waited for the others to return.
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Meanwhile on the planet, two of the Paladins were in a bit of a position. Upon capture the boys were led into an underground tunnel system, their weapons confiscated and thrown carelessly into a room atop a pile of accumulated belongings that were no doubt taken from other unsuspecting travelers who were dumb enough to land on the stink planet. It was to their benefit that none of the creatures recognized their bayards to be weapons as that could have been problematic. Once inside the boys were shoved into a stone cell and locked in. They could have fought against their seemingly primitive captors but as Paladins they hoped to find a diplomatic solution to their problem. ….That worked for about forty minutes before Lance started shouting at the ferrets, demanding that they let them go while Hunk was sat on the floor, looking disgruntled but otherwise calm.
"Hey! Hey, listen here you little furry punks! We aren't the kind of people you wanna mess with, okay? It'll be real bad for you if you don't let us out of here!" The guards ignored his yelling, perhaps unable to understand his language and that only annoyed Lance more, pounding on the bars. "Hey! I'm giving you one more warning! If you don't let us outta here you'll be sorry!" One of the guards finally turned to face him and huffed, gesturing for Lance to step away from the door. Lance wasn't about to behave himself and reached through the bars hoping to grab the creature's seemingly harmless staff. That's when the guard screeched angrily at him. When Lance grabbed it the creature pressed a button which created an electrical current, shocking the Paladin. Lance yelped and fell back shuddering as he held his now-burnt hand.
"What.. the heck.! You're gonna regret that!"
"Geez, Lance, give it a rest will ya?" Hunk said, sighing heavily. "All you're doing is making them angry and giving me a headache at the same time."
"How can I give it a rest, huh? We're being held hostage by a bunch of… of… overgrown pets!"
"Yeah… it's kinda sad. If Keith found out he'dl never let us live this down…" Hunk sighed again, looking far less concerned about their situation than Lance.
"That does suck. But hey, at least down here we can't smell that icky plant thing."
"Who cares? I'd gladly take a bath in stinky plants than be stuck here."
"I'll remember that." While Hunk appeared to be relaxing he was actually making some interesting observations. "Hey Lance, I've been thinking."
"About what?" Lance said, taking a handkerchief and wrapping stinging hand.
"Well, this place seems kinda strange to me. Coran mentioned that the life here wasn't very technologically advanced and the state of this cell would confirm that. It's crudely constructed but efficient… Being underground means it's reinforced but not a place we'd wanna try to burrow out of, you know?"
"Yeah, what's your point?"
"Well, they've got some pretty advanced weaponry. You think they're scavengers, sneaking off with anything they find?"
"Yeah, that's why you should get up off your butt and help me get out of here, ya know, before they take apart our only way OFF this planet."
"What the heck do you think I'm doing, huh?" Hunk scowled at Lance.
"Honestly I don't have a clue. Looks like you're about ready to take a nap."
"Hey look here!" Hunk said, now fully glaring at Lance. "I'm thinking, okay? We can't just come off all half-cocked like you ALWAYS do because unless you forgot, we're outnumbered and outgunned!"
"Oh, EX-CUSE me!" Lance spat back, stomping over towards his friend, gathering at least some attention from the guards who had been ignoring them up until this point. "If you have any good ideas for once then lets hear it!"
"You know what, that's it!" Hunk couldn't take the attitude and lashed out at Lance, the two rolling around in the cell. The guards hissed and screeched at them but neither boy was willing to give in.
"Just you wait, I'll get us out of here and make you eat your words!" Lance yelled, pulling Hunk's hair.
"Yeah right! If you get us out of here I'll happily eat the next stink plant I see!" Hunk spat back.
While the guards were distracted by the fight, someone managed to slip into the corridor and threw a familiar yellow plant in their direction. Upon impact with the guard's head the plant exploded into a plume of pungent spores. The guard screeched and scratched at its face at the irritating smell as another plant came flying in, hitting the second guard. Lance and Hunk stopped wrestling and covered their faces to protect against the smell which caused the ferret creatures to collapse. Seconds later Keith came into view, holding a bag of the putrid plants.
"Keith!" They said in unison. Hunk looked at the bag and gave Lance a sideways glance.
"Uh, you know I was kidding about eating one of those, right?"
"Yeah, lets just forget about me preferring to bathe in them as well, deal?"
"Deal."
The boys jumped up and moved to the door as Keith was rummaging for the keys.
"Man it's good that you found us, Keith! We need to get outta here."
" Agreed. But…really guys?" Keith said with an amused smirk. "You seriously got kidnapped by some cuddly ferrets? That's kinda sad."
"Ugh! We know, we know! Just hurry up!" Lance knew this was coming but he still wasn't happy about it. The door clicked open and the Paladins rushed out, hearing some strange sort of alarm going off. They needed to retrace their steps through the tunnels to find their bayards so Keith ran in front to counter any attackers they should run into. When they reached the storage room the group collectively rammed the door until it opened, quickly retrieving their weapons. Keith and Lance started to leave but Hunk hesitated, looking a the pile of belongings.
"Hey guys, should we really just leave these here? What if-"
"Forget it, Hunk, we don't have time!" Hunk gave the items one last look before following the others around a few corners and finally upwards and out of the tunnel. Lance took in a sudden breath, hugging his arms as the cool air hit him. During their capture it had started to rain and it was easily ten degrees colder than before. The rain also made the ground slick and as the team ran through the woods towards the ship their shoes kept sinking into the soft ground. Keith could hear reinforcements approaching and looked back, seeing that his team was moving much slower than he was. He powered up his bayard and hurried them along.
"You guys take the lead! I'll hold them off while you start up the ship."
"Thanks, man!"
"Don't fall behind!" They called back as they passed Keith, disappearing into the brush. Two guards were standing watch over the ship, as expected, but Lance and Hunk were able to get the drop on them, knocking them unconscious before running aboard. Lance happily plopped down in the pilot's seat proclaiming "Shotgun!" as he fired up the main console. Hunk saw that some of their supplies had been unloaded so he hurried to reload them, dumping crates on top of each other in the engine room since it was closest.
"Ship's just about ready!" Lance called as Hunk made his way to the cockpit.
"That's good but where's Keith?" Both of them scanned the woods ahead of them hoping to see him emerge from the bushes but there was no sign of him anywhere.
"Should we go back for him?" Almost on cue Keith finally broke through the tree line, making a frantic dash for the ship. Hunk and Lance shouted for him to hurry as right behind him were a dozen furry attackers, each wielding dangerous unknown tech. Keith was going as fast as he could but suddenly he felt something slip from his pocket which caused him to stop. Looking down he saw the crystal dagger, Shiro's present, laying in the mud. There was no way he was leaving it behind so he ran back to it, much to the displeasure of his teammates. In a swift movement he fired some warning shots at the incoming enemies as he slid to a stop, scooping up the treasure before making another run for the ship. He thought that was a smooth move!
Unfortunately, this delay allowed his enemies to close the distance and one was wielding a strange crossbow looking weapon. He took aim at Keith and pulled the trigger, the sound of it causing Keith to turn back, catching a sharp projectile in the abdomen. The pain hit him suddenly and the force of the hit put him into a spin before he faceplated into the freezing mud.
His teammates called out to him, shouting as loudly as they could but Keith could hardly hear them. He grunted and tried to push himself back to his feet, gripping the shaft of whatever had gone into him but touching it even slightly caused pain to shoot through his whole body, sending him back down to the ground. He tried to suppress a scream of pain but couldn't, practically curling in on himself. The wave of pain passed after a moment, leaving him feeling strangely numb- he barely noticed the rain pounding down around him, soaking him through his clothes. His vision was swimming as he struggled again to get to his feet, the slick mud making his movements difficult.
As he looked up and saw the bleary image of the ship he thought he saw it moving. Were the others going to take off and leave him behind? Some part of Keith thought he deserved that. If he hadn't gone back for his stupid birthday present then he would have made it onto the ship no problem. They should leave him behind he thought, les they all get captured again or worse. He closed his eyes, lowering his head onto the ground, letting out a shaky breath.
"Keith!" The next thing Keith knew he was being lifted up off the ground, his arm being slung over slender shoulders. Keith opened his eyes again and saw Lance's worried face.
"Hang in there, man, I got you!"
"Lance…"
From the open hatch, Hunk was laying down cover fire for them but as soon as the three were safely on board the door closed quickly. Lance helped Keith inside and helped him to sit , getting him a nearby towel to clean himself off as before returning to the pilot's seat, initializing the launch with Hunk's help. The ferret creature opened fire on the ship but their weapons were hardly making a dent. Soon, the ship lifted off and Lance let out a delighted laugh.
"Woo-hoo! See ya later, furry little punks! We are OUTTA here!" The ship climbed up high and fast, making the group feel safe at last but before they could breech the atmosphere, some part of the ship let out a strange noise, much like a whimper. Everyone exchanged terrified glances as the ship stalled. Yells of glee were immediately replaced with screams of absolute terror as the ship started to fall.
"Lance, what did you do?!" Hunk yelled, gripping his seat for dear life.
"I didn't do anything, I swear! Those things musta messed with something on the ship!"
"Well if we don't find it fast, we're gonna be pancakes!"
Lance tried his best to maintin some power to fire the thrusters which bought them some time while Hunk rushed around checking systems left and right. He finally noticed that one of the consoles had been tampered with and wires linked up to the system controlling the thrusters were cut. Knowing they didn't have much time he tried to reattach them quickly. But that wasn't their only problem. An indicator light on Lance's console kicked on and was blinking at him.
"Uh, Hunk? This thing says we're losing power!"
"What? Can't be! The main power is linked to the converters in the engine room!"
"Shoot! Do you think they swiped one of our power converters?"
"Maybe! But we do have a spare so you can just head back to engineering and-"
"And what?! I'm currently trying to fly a falling ship!"
"Well I'm trying to keep us in the air, moron!"
"WHY ARE WE ALWAYS YELLING?!"
"BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA DIE!"
"Hunk!" They were just barely able to hear Keith's voice over the communication system from the engine room in the back of the ship over their arguing. Glancing back Lance saw that he'd somehow gotten up out of his seat and made his way back there without them noticing. His voice sounded strained and it, like the long range communicator, was picking up interference.
"Keith, what're you doing? Didn't you get hurt?"
"I'm fine!" Keith lied, struggling to even stay on his feet with the shooting pain. Still, they needed an extra hand and he wasn't about to let them all die. " Hunk, where's the spare converter?"
"It's, uh…" Hunk had to think about where he saw it last as he was packing in supplies before.
"Hunk! There's no time!"
"I know, I know! It's uh in the corner! Behind a crate of…. Blueish purple fruit-thingies!" Keith acknowledged and carefully made his way across the room, finding it difficult to move what with the sudden loss of gravity during their freefalls and the seconds of gravity when the engines kicked back on. When he got there he all but shoved the crates aside until he saw their spare wedged behind a much heavier crate. Trying to push it aside was too difficult so he reached for it, trying not to let anything come into contact with his wound in the meantime.
His fingers brushed against it, almost able to grab it but when the engines kicked on once more it thrust him right into the crate, forcing the foreign object further into him. Keith let out a breathless yell, his vision temporarily going black as the pain washed over him again and again.
"Keith, did you find it? Keith? Hey Keith!"
"Keith, hurry!"
They were calling for him, counting on him… Despite the pain, despite the risks, Keith forced his body to move, reaching again for the converter, this time taking it firmly in his hand. It was a slim glowing disk and as he scanned the room he managed to see where it went through his blurry vision: an open and empty slot on the far wall console. Biting his lip Keith move again, using the periods of weightlessness to propel himself over to the console quickly. It was difficult to fit it into the tight slot as his body was shaking but when he got it in he was relieved. For a second or two.
"Hunk it's jammed! It wont go in!" He tried over and over to push it in but he just didn't have the strength to force it.
"Guys, I can see the trees!" Lance yelled!
"Oh man, this is it! If I knew I was gonna die today I would have swiped a donut on the way out of the castle!" Hunk had finished repairing the controls but there just wasn't any time for him to run back and help. They were really starting to panic now. But Keith was not willing to give up. So, taking a deep breath Keith floated away from the wall and let out a loud yell as he slammed his foot against the disk, forcing it in all the way.
The ship's systems kicked back on immediately, giving Lance only had a fraction of a second to react. He fired the thrusters on maximum power just seconds before they hit the tops of the trees, the ship creaking loudly at the sudden action before they were propelled upward again, through the clouds and finally back out into space. They had finally made it off the planet but the final burst proved to be too much for the engines to handle. With a pitiful sputter they shut down along with the gravitational systems and a few others, leaving the ship floating just outside of the plant's atmosphere.
Still, they were alive and that was a big relief. Hunk floated around freely, his fingers tingling from handling the hot wires and Lance sunk down in his seat after prying his fingers away from the controls, grateful that he'd at least buckled up.
"Oh… my… god… We almost just died…." Lance whimpered. "I think I'm gonna cry."
"Go ahead. I think I'm about to throw up…" Hunk said, already holding a hand over his mouth. Lance let out a jittery chuckle.
"Ahahaha… please don't." After catching his breath, Lance reached out and pressed the com button.
"H-hey, nice job back there. You really saved our butts, you know?" Strangely there was no response on the other end so Lance tried again. "Keith? Hey, you okay back there? Keith? Keith?!"
Lance kept calling for him but Keith didn't respond. He could hardly hear the worried calls as he floated around the room curled into a tight ball as several droplets of blood floated all around him.
