Olia yanked back on the hand controls. The Clunker shrieked in protest at the abrupt change, but sped backward.

"Don't see me, don't see me," Olia whispered.

Fighters poured out of cruisers and started heading towards the Clunker, blasters already firing.

"Aaaaaand they saw me."

Olia spun the Clunker around and took off. The Clunker might have been poor in appearance and smooth rides, but it was fast. Olia just hoped it would be fast enough. Just in case, she weaved and dipped in an attempt to avoid the blasts.

The laser blasts dwindled and stopped soon enough, but Olia thought it was almost too soon, considering how persistent the Galra could be. She turned the ship so she could see back through the remaining side ports.

It was the red lion who had left Keith in Olia's care. She had taken on the fleet, single-pawed.


When Red roared and veered off from the fight, Pidge was hoping it was to lead them to Keith. Instead, she flew behind the planet's moon.

"What is-"

Shiro's question was cut off as Red flew back into view with an entire fleet of Galra behind her.

Lance groaned. "We can't take much more of this."

Shiro scowled at his hands, then said, "Allura, we need a wormhole back to Olkarion."

"What?!" the other paladins exclaimed.

"Lance is right," Shiro said. "We can't keep this up much longer. The lions are already damaged."

"But, Keith is-" Pidge started.

"He's in Red," Shiro said. "He has to be, if she's up here. Just, maybe not in the cockpit."

Pidge looked at Red in the midst of the Galra fleet. Unlike with the previous fleet, she was merely dodging. The Galra were doing more damage as they tried to shoot Red, but only managed to hit each other. Her head whipped around, and she was roaring. It was like she was searching, not fighting. And her roars. They sounded… upset.

Pidge shook her head. It was just her imagination.

It had to be.

There was a flash of light, then a wormhole opened over Green's head. Pidge and the other paladins turned their lions to Red to see what she would do.

Red gave one more roar, then sped past the other lions and into the wormhole. The others were quick to follow, and Allura closed the wormhole behind them before any Galra could get through.


"Well, so much for that," Olia whispered, although it was impossible for the Galra to actually hear her.

Olia had been hoping to hitch a ride with the lions. While she didn't have a clue as to who they were, they certainly had to be better company than the Galra. And, they could produce wormholes! If Olia convinced them to join the rebels, just think of what they could do for the cause!

But, as Olia watched her dreams vanished through the wormhole, she had to admit that she was on her own for this one. Again.

At least the Galra seemed to have forgotten about the little Clunker, floating silently in an asteroid field located near to where the battle had taken place. Olia decided to take advantage of this and started up the Clunker and flew away as quietly as she could manage.


The flight to the Castle of Lions was uneventful and silent. Pidge was glad to see no sign of the Galra around -maybe they had at least fulfilled their main objective- but the feelings were overshadowed by her concerns for Keith.

Red docked in her hanger like they were returning from any old mission. Pidge kept telling herself it was good. If something was wrong, Red would be going crazy by then. Keith was probably just knocked out, and would soon be ranting at them for abandoning the fight for his sake.

Pidge didn't really believe herself.

Pidge was out of her seat before Green had fully settled. Green's mouth opened, and Pidge was outside, stumbling as Green's head had still been a few feet off the floor. She caught her balance and raced across the hanger.

She joined the other paladins, Allura, and Coran all headed for Red's hanger, then sped up and reached the hanger before anyone else. She skidded to a stop at the entrance, panting.

Red was crouched with her mouth open, perfectly still. Waiting.

Pidge felt a hand on her shoulder, then Shiro said, "He's fine."

Pidge didn't respond. She was afraid to think of what they might find. Unable to take it any longer, Pidge broke away from the others. She dashed up Red's mouth ramp and burst into the cockpit. She froze, tears starting to well up.

Empty.

Feet clattered into Red, then halted abruptly.

"Keith?" Shiro said.

Pidge heard footsteps as the others began searching Red for signs of Keith. She didn't move, only listened to the others slowly fall silent.

"He isn't here," Hunk said.

"No," Pidge said, voice low and raspy from emotion.

"Pidge?" Shiro asked.

"Not again!" Pidge cried. A flood of tears streamed down her face as she pounded a fist on the pilot seat.

I've lost another brother.


"Where are you from, pup?" Olia asked the unconscious Keith after a couple hours of flying.

She turned briefly in her seat to look at Keith laying in the bed just behind the pilot seat. She was fairly certain he was human, but they were very far from the planet Earth. And last she knew, the humans' planet was still free of Galra control.

If he was human, Olia also knew the rebels wouldn't be pleased to find more humans caught up in Galra clutches.

Maybe he had been part of a group of slaves being transported on was the ship that had crashed, and he had somehow survived. Maybe he had escaped to the planet long before, and Olia had simply never noticed.

Since his armor wasn't something Galra slaves wore, but it also wasn't anything the rebels used, she was inclined to believe it was something like the latter.

"Well, when you wake up, I am sure you will have a very interesting story to tell," Olia said, turning back to her flying. She continued to talk, even though Keith couldn't seem to hear her. "For now, I am taking you to MB29 on Kraydah's moon. It's a medical base, because unfortunately, I ran out of medical supplies a few phoebs back. Never got around to re-supplying. Not the smartest idea but, while I have been called a lot of things, smart wasn't one of them."

Olia went on talking, mainly about how she had been planet hopping for the last four decades in search of wreckages to salvage from. The planet she had found Keith on, which was called Bel-Rath, held plenty of old wrecks from years past hidden under the forest's dense foliage.

After a couple hours, Olia was interrupted by a muffled yell. Her head whipped around to see Keith straining against the harness and tugging at the breathing mask Olia hadn't removed.

"Woah, woah! Hold on there!" Olia yelped, quickly stopping the Clunker and leaping out of the pilot seat. She pressed her fore-paws against Keith's shoulders in an effort to hold him still. "Steady, before you hurt yourself!"

Keith either didn't hear her, or was too panicked to listen. He continued pulling at the mask until Olia removed it, then moved his hands to the straps across his body. His eyes were clenched shut, and he started making moaning sounds.

Olia hastily unstrapped Keith. She was afraid he would roll off the bed, but the boy calmed down as soon as he was released. His breathing steadied and his arms dropped to his sides.

"That's better, pup," Olia said soothingly, fore-paws raised in case Keith started thrashing again.

"Who're you callin' 'pup?'" Keith mumbled.

"Ah, he's awake!" Olia exclaimed dramatically. "And the pup's you."

Keith's eyelids cracked open. "I'm not a dog."

Olia cocked her head, not sure what a "dog" was. "So, what are you?" she asked, just to clarify.

"Human…?" For some reason, the word came out sounding like a question. Keith's eyes had opened fully now, and he stared at Olia with a confused frown.

"Ah, good. My name's Olia Dustpaw of the Sandlopers. Caneen from planet Cana." Olia stuck out a fore-paw for Keith to shake.

Keith didn't take the paw, though. His expression was slowly becoming more confused and horrified.

Olia yanked her paw back, mentally kicking herself. Not all races greeted each other with paw shakes! And wouldn't it be her "lucky" day if humans were one of the few who were offended by the gesture.

"Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Where am I?!" Keith blurted out.

"Oh, you're on my ship," Olia said, realizing she probably should have started with that. "I found you injured and thought I should get you some medical attention."

"This isn't right, this isn't right," Keith muttered. His eyes darted around the ship.

"It's okay," Olia said as Keith became more and more agitated. "The Galra can't get you here."

Keith's gaze fixed on Olia. "What's Galra? That giant red and white beast?"

"The lion? I thought it was your friend."

"I-I don't know." Keith struggled to sit up, despite Olia's protests. Once he was up on his elbows, he didn't try to go any further. "I woke up and it was over me."

"Do you remember how you got to the planet?" Olia asked gently.

"I don't know! I can't remember anything! Not you, or where I was, or what I was doing, or where I was going, or, or…"

"It's okay," Olia said. "Just calm down and start at the beginning. What's your name?"

Keith's eyes filled with panic. "I just told you that I don't remember!"

"But I meant…" Olia trailed off as she realized what Keith was trying to tell her. "You mean you don't even know what your name is?"

"No!"


A/N: The scene in Red at the Castle was inspired by the season two finale. There will be deja vu moments in this series, and it is on purpose.

I imagine that when aliens could interact to often, their birth planet (or origin planet of their race) would be included. Her last name and all that will be explained eventually.

And yes! 1,000 views!