Chapter 28 – Death

"Scanners are picking up…nothing. They're not there, Lance," Caden reported, settling back in his lion. "We heading to the next one?"

"I will," Lance told him. "You head back to the castle. I'll check out the last one."

"Roger that."

He made a wormhole back to Daria, which Caden flew through. Caden had worked tirelessly to create software to scan the entire planet for life, then narrowed it down to human qualifications. After two hours of endless work between both of them, they'd come to the conclusion that the paladins weren't there.

His green paladin was pretty awesome.

He made a wormhole to the last one, a rainy-forest planet called Sempsa. If they weren't on this planet, they weren't anywhere in the known universe. He'd wanted Caden to go back to the castle because it would either be a tearful reunion, or crushing disappointment. He made himself lightheaded by hoping so much for the first, so much that he'd worn his normal clothes instead of the Black Paladin uniform. They could think what they wanted later, but hugs were more comfy in his jacket.

He set up the scanner, blowing air through his lips. "Okay, okay, okay. This is it. No more scary decisions or freaky aliens you gotta deal with. Just—" He squinted at the planet. On the forest half, nearly smack in the middle, he could see a tiny but distinct black circle. "What the—" He piloted the Black Lion down to the surface.

He took his bayard. Just in case.

Upon examination, he could see the grass and surrounding trees had fallen, like an explosion had gone off in the area. A pretty small explosion, but explosion nonetheless...maybe. He was pretty clueless. It could've been something else, Caden would've been able to tell.

"What happened here?" He wondered aloud. Caden had said the planet was uninhabited as far as intelligent life went, and this was pretty recent. "They were here," he decided. His stomach did a couple turns, but he forced himself to keep his head on straight. "Okay, okay. Which way—"

He heard a growl behind him and froze.

Turning slowly, he saw a huge, hairy, Bigfoot-like creature looming not twenty feet away. It slobbered drool all over the forest floor. "You look hungry," Lance said, "so I guess we have that in common?"

The creature screeched and lunged forward. Lance grabbed his bayard and shot a couple rounds, but they didn't penetrate the creature's fur. Just in time, he changed to his broadsword and sliced along the chest. It jerked back, stunned, and he went in for the kill. It went down for good.

Lance breathed heavily, leaning on a tree. "There's got to be more of you," he said to himself between breaths. He turned around. "So where—"

A bright red glint on the forest floor caught his eye.

Accompanied by the creature's groans, Lance slowly walked over to examine it. When he got closer, he knew what it was. "Keith's jacket." He ran to it, picking it up off the ground. "Keith?" He called. Nothing but wind. "Keith?!"

The jacket was wet. He touched the soaking inside, and his fingers came back red. His eyes widened, and he dropped it on the ground. "Keith! Keith, this isn't funny."

The creature moaned behind him, and Lance fell on his knees.

"No. No! You have to—please, don't—don't leave me here—Keith! Shiro! Pidge! Hunk! Allura—Coran…no, please…please."

He collapsed on the ground and cried.

n

An hour passed, then two. His cries were silent now, his shoulders barely moving. He couldn't hear the creature struggling to live behind him. He hugged the jacket to his chest, getting sticky blood all over his shirt. Every now and then he'd sniffle, and hug himself harder.

He was alone.

He sniffed, and looked forward. "C'mon, Lance. Shiro wouldn't want you to stay here. He'd want you to get up. You have to—have to."

Between layers and layers of exhaustion, that worked as motivation. He stood and mindlessly took his bayard back to the Black Lion. He hissed at the creature when he passed it, just in case, for good measure. He felt like he was high, or drunk. Or both. It was numbing, and better than thinking.

He stood at the foot of the Black Lion, staring up at its eyes. "It's just you and me now," he whispered, voice hoarse. The eyes glowed yellow, and Lance stepped inside. "They're actually gone."

Silent tears streamed down his face as he sat at the cockpit. As the lion silently turned on, his coms lit up. "Lance? Lance, are you there? We could really use some backup."

He sniffed and touched the button. "Talk to me, Ari."

"We got a call from Olkarion. They're under attack. We're holding them off, but I don't know for how long."

"I'll be right there." His voice cracked.

"Roger." She paused. "Did—did you find them?"

He shook his head, then remembered he couldn't see her. "I was too late," he whispered. "I—I couldn't save them."

She didn't say anything on consolation, which he appreciated. After another deep breath, he took the Black Lion to the air. "No rest for the wicked, right?"

n

Back at the castle, the paladins had the audacity to leave him alone. He guessed Ari had told them what had gone one, and they'd correctly assumed he needed some space.

Sleep was out of the question.

All night long, he passed level after level with his sword, criticizing each cut, every step. Keith would've laughed at his footwork. He tried hard not to think of what he'd lost, while simultaneously trying to remember all the good times he'd had with them, so he could move on. It was a bad place to be.

At what seemed like four in the morning, he sat against the wall and passed out, black static filling his dreams.