Word count- 835 words
Warnings- Panic attack (?), gore, blood, character death.
Genre- Angst.
Additional notes- Apologies for the rather abrupt ending. I didn't mean to. Thank you for your favourites and your reviews. They mean a lot to me.
Status- End of a two chapter ficlet.
golden wheat and dusky skies, part 2
Keith was pissed.
Lance hadn't answered them in 10 minutes after he was yelling something incomprehensible over the comms, the only things the team had gotten out of it was that he was in the base.
Pidge had gone with him in the wheat fields, traipsing through the dirt and yellow-gold reeds (which were almost taller than them), jumping her way through with their jetpack.
They had wandered a long, long way from the start point.
"Lance is being an ass today." Pidge muttered, kicking some small rocks out of their way. "I mean," They continued, flailing their hands around in anger. "Come on! He was late to training again, he was rude to you multiple times, and he just blatantly ignored Shiro's orders to not go in the base!"
"'I'm blue! Blue is obviously better than red!'" Keith quipped, making air quotations as he mimicked Lance and swiped some wheat out of the way.
Hunk's voice crackled over the comms. "Hey, uh, guys? How far are you from the base? We still have Lance's location, we're about 2 minutes from the Galra stronghold."
Pidge responded. "About a minute away. See you in a bit."
A minute quickly passed, with Keith jumping up high in the air using his jetpack and pulling Pidge with him (who obviously screamed).
They landed in front of the base, quickly dismantling a few droids before the alarms went off. Shiro and Hunk quickly came to their aid, and they all ran into the base looking for the irresponsible Lance Sanchez, fighting off any soldiers they could.
The halls were lit with a dim purple light, like all galra bases and ships they had been on so far. Mechanical humming and the blaring alarms echoed through the passages and the vents, and Keith shivered.
Running up stairs, Pidge quickly sliced through a group of rogue galran soldier droids, motioning for the team to follow.
Hunk shot another few droids, the bullet tearing through the metal and it crumpled, the droid dropping like a marionette with its strings chopped in half. Shiro charged a galran soldier, knocking the galra out cold.
"Alright, I think that's the last one on this floor... wait." Shiro hesitated.
Hazy smoke was drifting from an open door, the corrupted scent burning and wafting, shapes in the grey vapour dissolving and reforming with ease.
Hunk frowned, and stepped over to the door. He glanced inside, and suddenly, he stumbled backwards, hitting the wall, letting out a scream.
Tears started rolling down his face, splotchy spots blossoming under his eyes, and he fell to the ground, holding his mouth, trying not to vomit.
Pidge quickly rushed to his aid, grabbing him and shaking him, yelling, "Hunk! Hunk! What's wrong! Hunk!"
Hunk was outright sobbing now, with Pidge and Shiro not looking in the smoky room yet. Keith quietly treaded over to the open door and peeked inside, and nearly started screaming right then and there.
The mangled corpse of some Galra was spattered on the floor, skin and guts and lungs strewn along the floor, purplish blood staining the floor and walls.
However, that wasn't what has shocked and scarred him to the core.
Lance.
Lance.
Lance.
Lance, the blue paladin.
He was usually so.. immaculate. Gorgeous. Almost untouchable, joking and happy but serious when need be. Logical and fearless when his friends were in danger. Lovely in every way, despite the fact that he could be annoying and rude sometimes.
His sparkling blue eyes.
His tanned, clear skin.
All of it was gone, replaced by a husk, a charred body with metal shards sticking out of it, resembling a pincushion. Red blood seeped out of wounds and his mouth, dripping over the ocean blue of his armour, staining the white and mixing until red was drowning the blue.
His eyes were glassy.
His skin was dirty.
This wasn't Lance.
His face felt wet, Keith realized, his hand brushing ever his cheek. Wet with tears, he noted, still shell shocked.
Pidge stood behind him, looking resolute and empty. Their eyes looked so, so far away, and it looked like nothing could reach them. Not now.
Shiro kneeled on the ground, the stench of blood obviously ensnaring him and sending him into the deep parts of his mind, the trauma and the pain coming back to haunt him, and he looked like a mess.
Hunk had passed out, but he was still crying, the translucent tears tracking their way down. Even as he was dressed in a colour known to embody happiness, he looked anything but.
Keith gently hugged Shiro, the aforementioned man startling. His face screwed up, and tears freely beginning to flow, sobs wrenching their way out of his mouth, wracking his frame with tremors.
Lance's glassy, bloody eyes stared back at them, and Keith let his fear and terror and utterly crushing sadness flow.
They cried for another family member they had all lost.