Chapter Seventeen:
Pidge was a little surprised that Shinji actually did show up.
He stood nervously at the doorway, watching as the Paladins stretched. Or, perhaps more accurately, as Lance contorted his body in almost impossible ways and the others looked on in a mixture of awe and disgust in how flexible he was.
"You guys watch me do this, like, every day." Lance pointed out, while in a full split and his nose brushing against the mat, arms stretched out in front of him. "Don't know why it still weirds you out."
"Because we're still trying to figure out if you actually have, you know, necessary body parts. Like joints." Hunk said.
"And bones." Keith added. "I'm pretty sure only some of those creepy puppets on strings can do what you're doing right now."
"Lance is a noodle, and there is nothing we can do about it." Pidge said, adjusting the headband keeping back their bangs.
"Hey, do yoga with me and you, too, can achieve noodledom." Lance said, moving his legs behind him and easily shifting into a push-up position.
"Not going to lie, noodledom looks seriously painful." Hunk said.
"It isn't." Lance said, moving so that he was now just supporting his entire weight on his hands, tucking his legs up, knees in line with his shoulders. "And with the flexibility and calm mind, comes balance and grace."
"Really, Lance?" Shiro said, arching an eyebrow as a small smirk grew on his face. "So where was that grace and balance a month ago when you tripped over that downed drone and face-planted, breaking your nose?"
Lance frowned at Shiro before sticking out his tongue, then put his feet back onto the mat and stood up.
"Well, technically," Lance said, now stretching out his arms. "That doesn't count. I didn't know it was there. And I was trying to avoid getting shot, thank you very much."
"You got shot, too." Hunk pointed out.
"Ugh, it was just a graze! Didn't even need a healing pod!" Lance insisted.
At this point, Pidge happened to glance at the door, then did a double-take when they realized Shinji was actually there.
"Oh, hey, Shinji." Pidge said.
Shiro turned and looked over at Shinji, a bit surprised to see him there.
"Uh…" Shinji said. "Pidge invited me."
"He can be our sixth person today, since Allura is busy." Pidge said. "Sorry, Shiro, I forgot to tell you."
"That's fine." Shiro said, giving his brother a smile. "Come on in and get warmed up."
Shinji did so, though still looked a bit hesitant.
"Pidge says that you need a challenge, Takashi." Shinji said.
"Did they now?" Shiro said, now arching a brow at Pidge, who laughed.
"Yes, and you know it." Pidge said. "Allura's the one who can and has thrown you across the room before, and you still beat her the last three times you sparred."
"And Allura does not go easy on us. You especially." Hunk said.
Shinji grinned suddenly and mischievously.
"It sounds like you haven't had a worthy opponent in a long time, Takashi." Shinji said. "Problem for you is, neither have I."
"That's a lot of talk." Shiro said, returning Shinji's grin. "Let's see you put your money where your mouth is."
"Gladly, Onii-San." Shinji said.
"One piece of advice, Shinji, before you two go all ninja on each other." Lance said from the mat, where he was once again in a pretzel-like position. "Avoid the metal arm. It hurts like a quiznak when you hit it."
"Still don't think you're using that word right." Keith said.
"Shut your quiznak, Keith."
A few ticks later, Shinji and Shiro stood across from each other. Then, silently, slowly, Shinji lowered himself into a bow, Shiro following suit before both fell into stances.
Pidge, Lance, Keith and Hunk watched silently from the side, wondering which brother would make the first move.
Shinji ended up moving first, rising up onto his foot to send a kick towards Shiro's left shoulder, which was dodged by Shiro dropping to the ground, sending out his own leg towards Shinji's, which he neatly avoided, ready to keep going once Shiro had stood up again.
The movements started initially slow, but soon became blurs of kicks, blocks, dodges, chops and punches.
But the movements were still discernable enough that the four Paladins noticed something important, a difference in their leader's fighting style.
"It's not a fight for survival." Keith muttered. "See how Shiro's stance has changed?"
"His muscles are more relaxed." Hunk pointed out. "You can see that there's less tension in his back, neck and shoulders."
"It's almost like they're dancing instead of dueling." Lance said. "It's both beautiful and intimidating."
Pidge momentarily took their eyes off of Shiro to study his opponent, and realization washed over them.
"He's mirroring Shinji." Pidge said. "He didn't start that way, but he's mirroring Shinji's fighting style."
"Never seen him do that before." Keith said.
"It's gone past five minutes." Hunk observed, glancing at the stopwatch in his hand. "Shiro's never gone past five minutes, even with Allura. Not without there being a clear sign of who's winning."
"Should we stop them?" Keith asked.
"No way. They're both having too much fun." Lance said.
Unfortunately, the match came to a draw when Allura entered the room a few minutes later and called the spar to an end, apologizing and explaining that she needed to confer with Shiro over some aspect of their plan.
However, neither seemed too upset in how the spar ended, both seeming rather pleased with their own skill with a distinct respect for the other's skill as well.
"We're going to need a rematch." Shiro said as he quickly gulped down some water from where he and Shinji sat on the floor, both a little exhausted but still very happy.
"Technically, we'll need a few more, if we're calling this one a draw." Shinji retorted with a grin. "Unless you want to just concede defeat now."
"Never." Shiro said, reaching out with his left hand and affectionately tousling Shinji's hair, making the younger boy's grin grow some more. Shiro then pushed himself up off the floor. "Alright, I'll be back in a few ticks. Hunk, Lance, I want you two to go next while I'm gone."
"Got it, boss!" Lance said, giving Shiro a salute as he and Allura left. The door closed and the other four Paladins all instantly turned to Shinji, who looked a little surprised and uncomfortable at the four pairs of eyes suddenly on him.
"Uh, what?" Shinji said, brow furrowing.
"Dude, that was seriously cool!" Hunk said.
"We've never seen someone have a draw with Shiro without there being explosions involved!" Lance said, who was literally bouncing with excitement. "You've seriously got to teach us all that, man!"
Shinji gave a small smile as he pushed himself up off the ground.
"I'm surprised Takashi hasn't already taught you all of those moves." Shinji said. "I think he's holding out on you guys."
"From the looks of it, Shiro was learning as he was watching you." Keith said.
Shinji's smile disappeared into a confused frown.
"What are you talking about?" He asked.
"After those first few moves, Shiro started mimicking you and your fighting stance and moves." Keith explained. "He changed his fighting style to match yours."
Shinji shook his head some as he said,
"No. No, he didn't. Takashi has always fought like that. We learned from the same sensei, same dojos, and we're same belt level. Our sparring styles have always been similar."
The five teens stared at each other in confusion, until Pidge's eyes widened with an, "Oh!"
"Pidge? What's wrong?" Hunk asked.
"We've got it backwards." Pidge said. "Shiro's fighting style didn't change to match Shinji's just now. It reverted to match his own from before he was a Galra prisoner. He changed his fighting style sometime between Kerberos and now. But now that he's faced an opponent who fights like him—or like he used to—he remembers and muscle memory kicks in."
"Are you saying that Shiro may have had one of his flashbacks without the, you know, flashback?" Lance asked brow furrowing. Pidge shrugged.
"Only explanation I have." They said.
"Well, uh, that was convenient." Hunk said.
To the surprise of the Paladins, Shinji left the room without a word.
"What was that about?" Lance said, staring at the doors as they slid shut.
"Should we go after him?" Keith asked.
"I'll go." Pidge said. "I invited him, so I should go after him."
They took off, calling after Shinji, making him pause before he turned down the hall.
"What?" Shinji demanded as Pidge jogged up to him.
"Why did you leave just now?" Pidge asked. "I thought you were enjoying yourself."
"Why do you care?" Shinji asked sharply, eyes blazing.
"Uh, 'cause I invited you and people usually don't go from really happy to storming out without saying anything like that without something being wrong." Pidge said.
"Something is wrong." Shinji snapped, gesturing widely. "This whole thing is wrong! Aliens and evil emperors and robot lion spaceships… It shouldn't exist. And yet it does, and now everything in the entire universe is so screwed up beyond recognition. Absolutely nothing is the same anymore! Not one single thing!"
"Look, you're still in the adjustment period." Pidge said. "Trust me, we still are adjusting, too. It takes some time and it's hard to accept sometimes. And that's okay."
"No, Pidge. It's not okay." Shinji said, glaring down at them. "It's really not. Stop trying to pretend it is. Just because you've accepted it doesn't mean I should."
With that, he turned and stormed away, leaving Pidge alone in silence.
Which, Pidge thought as they watched him leave, was becoming too common of an occurrence.
"Oh. Em. Gee." Lance said, unable to hide his smile as Keith entered the hanger. "You look like a kid playing dress up!"
"Shut up, Lance." Keith snapped, adjusting the Galran armor that was starting to slide off his shoulders.
"I'm serious! You're drowning in that uniform and it's so McFreaking adorable." Lance said.
Keith let out a low warning growl. Lance held up his hands defensively.
"Hey, taking a moment to remind you that part of making sure this grand plan works is to get you riled up enough to get you turning purple." Lance pointed out.
"Yeah, I'm a still a little worried that it's not going to work." Hunk said.
"Hunk is right." Allura said with a frown. "Keith has never purposefully tried to shift into his Galra form before, or even pass as a full-blood Galra."
"It'll either work or we'll make a hasty retreat." Shiro said. "But the fact that none of Zarkon's soldiers have seen Keith during one of his shifts can potentially be beneficial, and this is the best test of it."
"I've not really ever tried to hold the shift before, either." Keith pointed out with a frown.
"But the angrier you get, the longer it holds." Pidge said, double-checking their tool bag.
"Which leads to my next concern," Hunk said. "How exactly are we going to do that? And everyone still be friends by the time this mission is over?"
"Hey, I set a fabulous example of how to do that." Lance said, folding his arms over his chest.
"No, you were just annoying rather than actually making me mad." Keith said.
"Queue no one being surprised." Pidge said, closing up their bag again. "Not with the way you two go at it somedays."
"Alright, fine." Lance said. "Tell us, Keith, what grinds your gears enough to go Galra?"
"Verbal and or physical attacks on any one of you." Keith said without hesitation.
"Yeah, no, not doing that." Shiro said just as quickly. "Next."
"I've got an idea." Tali said from the crate she and Lani sat on in the corner of the hanger. She suddenly grinned wickedly, hopping off the crate and striding forward to stand in front of Keith. "Hey, Keith. I forgot to tell you something that happened while you were gone."
"What?" Keith asked suspiciously.
Tali's smile grew before she said the words that made Keith go very pale before very purple.
"The Patterson-Gimlin film has finally been disproven."
"WHAT?!" Was Keith's outraged reply
"What is the Patterson-Gimlin film?" Lani asked in a side whisper as the others joined her, deciding to stay out of the cross-fire.
"Basically, these two guys caught Bigfoot on tape, but a lot of people think it's fake." Pidge said. "It's the second most reviewed footage in history. But no one has been able to prove or disprove that it is a real Bigfoot in the film."
"IT CAN'T HAVE BEEN A WOOKIE COSTUME, GEORGE LUCAS DIDN'T START WRITING STAR WARS UNTIL 1973, AND THE FOOTAGE WAS RECORDED IN 1966! AND THE ORIGINAL CHEWBACCA DESIGNS LOOK ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LIKE THE SASQUATCH IN THE FOOTAGE! EVERYONE KNOWS THAT EXCEPT FOR THESE SO-CALLED EXPERTS WHO CAN'T EVEN KEEP TRACK OF BASIC HISTORY!"
"Oh dear, he is rather… passionate…" Allura said, biting her lip some.
"And that is why he is the Red Paladin." Coran said.
"Well, considering that we know know other galaxies totally exist and so do aliens, technically a galaxy far, far away can also exist, and apparently some aliens have encountered other humans before." Hunk said. "So if we take into account that one-shot comic where Han Solo and Chewbacca crash on Earth, Han is killed by Native Americans, leaving the seemingly immortal Chewbacca alone to roam the American forests, thus establishing the Sasquatch legend. So, it could very well be—"
"DON'T YOU FINISH THAT TRAITOROUS SENTENCE, HUNK!" Keith yelled, his eyes completely yellow now and ears flat against his skull, sharp teeth exposed as he growled.
Hunk held up his hands and wisely decided that now was a great time to hide behind Shiro.
"The Patterson-Gimlin film is the most solid proof of the existence of the Sasquatch, and so many have tried to disprove it and failed." Keith said, turning back to Tali. "This is another failure. The theory doesn't hold up and I can't believe that there are actual idiots out there who—"
"Okay, Keith." Shiro said, stepping over and carefully putting his hand on Keith's shoulder to get his attention. "How about we go now and while we're gone, you can do a draft of a strongly worded e-mail to these, er, so-called experts for when we get back?"
Keith said nothing as he started to head towards the ship, grumbling and snarling as he went.
"That armor is still falling off of him." Lance commented in a low voice.
"The lack of height should not be an issue over a communication device." Coran said. "Well, with luck and a good positioning of the visual conveyance lens."
"If all goes well, we'll be back in a few hours." Shiro said. "If it doesn't… Uh, then wish us a lot of luck."
The podship full of Paladins dropped out of the wormhole, which Allura would re-open in three hours' time. As they were concerned about any communication transmissions being caught by the Galra, everyone's timing would have to be precise.
They had unanimously decided it was best to let Keith pilot the ship, both because he had done so before and because of the role he played in the plan. The plan was to let Keith do all the talking while the others stayed out of sight and hoped for the best.
So, as they approached the planet, Keith took a deep breath, adjusted the helmet covering the majority of his face once more, then opened the communication channel.
"Podship Delta Six-Zero-Seven Alpha to Marth base to request landing rights."
Another Galra appeared on the screen in front of Keith, looking a little irritable and confused.
"State your business." The Galra demanded.
"I have been sent personally by a Druid of the Inner Circle to acquire water from the Taiocoma Falls." Keith responded.
"Very good." The Galra said, nodding, but his voice sounding like it was the opposite. "Which Druid is it?"
Keith stiffened, as did the others, who exchanged nervous looks.
They hadn't expected that.
"What do we do?" Lance mouthed to Shiro.
"May I ask for what purpose, sir?" Keith asked, trying to keep his voice even and calm.
The Galra on the other end of the communication link made a disgruntled noise.
"Ignorant cadets." The Galra said with a snarl. "Fresh from the Academy, I see. Let them sharpen their claws on a milk run. Bah! Foolishness and a sign of weakness. Listen here, cub, I do not know how you managed to make it into the guard of the Druid Inner Circle, as you clearly have forgotten all of your basic procedural training. My purpose in asking is to simply keep track of who sent your orders and keep a basic record of all comings and goings on this planet. I do not know how it is done with the Inner Circle, but you are in my territory, and you will make my job much easier. Name, cub, now!"
Keith momentarily froze, glancing over at Shiro at the right time as the Black Paladin's eyes momentarily widened, then he whispered one word,
"Haggar."
"Haggar." Keith repeated, louder.
Keith wasn't sure if he should enjoy the horrified look on the Galra's face as he straightened and looked panicked.
"My apologies." He said. "I was not—If I had known… Please, forgive my insolence and do not mention this incident to the Witch. You have your landing rights. You do not need to report your leaving. Vrepit sa."
"Vrepit sa." Keith responded, and the video link closed.
Keith let out a breath and slumped back in the seat, taking off his helmet as the others got out of their hiding places.
"That was a close one." Pidge said.
"Too close." Shiro said grimly.
"Which one is Haggar again?" Hunk asked.
"The one you refer to as the 'Scary Lady'." Shiro said, shuddering slightly.
"Wait." Lance said, his eyes widening. "She literally has 'hag' in her name? No wonder she's evil, who the heck does that to a kid? That's like super-villain backstory material. I'd grow up to be a scary witch, too, if I got a name like that."
"Isn't Scar from 'The Lion King' actually named garbage or something?" Pidge said. "And Mufasa means 'king'? So two lions named their sons 'king' and 'garbage' respectively and didn't expect one would try to kill the other to gain power?"
"Well, the main character, who is a lion, has a name that translates to 'lion', too, so…" Hunk said. He cut himself off and shook his head. "We need a movie night."
"Let's focus on the mission at hand for right now." Shiro suggested as Keith landed the podship. With that, Pidge brought up the map on their tablet for holographic display.
"Well, it's a two mile hike, but it doesn't look too bad." Pidge said. "Just a few small hills."
"Lead the way, Guardian Spirit of the Forest." Lance said, making a dramatic sweeping gesture and a bow towards the door.
The journey started out well. While Pidge focused on the map, Hunk focused on a radar that scanned the nearby area, ensuring that they didn't encounter any Galra or drones.
"Uh oh." Hunk said suddenly, stopping dead so that Keith walked into his back.
"Uh oh? What's 'uh oh'?" Lance asked as he quickly grabbed Keith's shoulders to keep him upright, as the oversized Galra armor had put him off balance.
"Something big is headed our way, from that direction." Hunk said, pointing.
"Bayards out." Shiro ordered, almost unnecessarily, the sounds of the bayards shifting and Shiro's hand activating almost unheard as they all suddenly picked up on the sounds of something large and heavy heading their way.
"That can't be a Galra, or even a couple of them." Lance said over the noise.
"But it's not metallic or mechanical sounding either." Keith said.
Suddenly, Pidge's eyes widened.
"Guys, were we counting wild animals when Coran and Allura said this place was unpopulated?" They asked.
The answer came suddenly as a large animal came barreling through, huffing and snorting. It was like a wooly mammoth, but longer, and with a thin, pointed mouth instead of a long trunk, full of sharp teeth with claws on its eight feet, and a long, barbed tail. It pawed at the ground angrily before getting up onto its rear legs and roaring, coming crashing to the ground while trying to take a swipe at Lance, which he managed to duck just in time.
"We don't want to hurt it!" Shiro called.
"I don't think it feels the same about us!" Hunk said, his eyes wide.
"We just need to scare it off." Keith said as he ducked, then swiped at the beast with his sword, making sure to keep a few inches of air between the blade and the monster. "We don't need the Galra here to find a carcass full of laser fire."
"What got it mad at us in the first place?" Pidge yelled as they dodged another leg.
"We're fresh meat and he's hungry?" Lance suggested, blasting at the ground beside the monster, making it quickly scuttle backwards with roars as it tried to avoid the lasers.
"We could just be in its territory." Shiro called out.
"Maybe there's babies nearby?" Hunk suggested as he and Lance continued to shot at the ground, carefully trying to send the monster back into the woods.
The monster roared and swung out its tail, hitting Pidge, sending them flying and hitting the ground, rolling some.
"Okay, bad move, dude." Lance said with a snarl at the monster, purposefully aiming at the monster's foot just a little closer than before, this time the monster getting a little scorched. Not enough to cause a wound, but enough to know exactly what he was up against.
The monster roared at the four standing Paladins before trampling off back into the forest.
"Pidge! You alright?" Shiro asked as he and the others ran over to Pidge, who was pushing themselves up into a sitting position.
"Yeah." Pidge said with a grunt. "Armor and helmet took most of it."
"Need a hand up?" Shiro asked, offering Pidge his hand. They accepted it and allowed him to help them to their feet.
However, they didn't even get to stand before stabs of pain went up their right leg.
"Ah!" Pidge cried out, sinking to the ground again, eyes squeezed shut.
"What's wrong? What hurts?" Hunk asked, he and Shiro instantly on the ground beside them while Lance dug out some water and the first aid kit.
"Ankle." Pidge said through gritted teeth. "Right leg."
Shiro gently took Pidge's hand as Hunk carefully felt Pidge's ankle. Pidge hissed in pain a little.
"Well, it doesn't feel broken. You probably just twisted it." Hunk said reassuringly. "But there's no way you should try to walk on it the rest of the way there and back."
"Alright, so, Pidgey-back-rides." Lance said with a grin, distributing the water packets. "I call first!"
"Actually," Keith said. Everyone turned to look at him at that point, but Pidge was pretty sure that they were the only one who saw the quick mischievous gleam in Keith's eye. At that, Pidge suddenly and unexplainably felt dread. "Tactically speaking, Shiro would be the best person to carry Pidge. In case we face that monster again or we meet another one. Since Lance and Hunk need both hands for their bayards and might not be able to do that to the best extent while protecting Pidge at the same time. And this Galra armor is already throwing off my balance so…"
Pidge felt all the blood drain from their face.
No. They knew exactly what Keith was doing. Yeah, sure it was totally sound logic, but still.
But Keith was also the only one who knew about their crush on Shiro.
And apparently, suggesting that Shiro give an injured Pidge a ride on his back like they were a five year old was his attempt to wingman.
And, of course, Shiro agreed with Keith's tactics nine times out of ten.
Pidge had silently hoped that this was one of those one out of ten times.
But it wasn't, so that is how Pidge ended up on Shiro's back, trying very hard not to turn red and silently planning Keith's murder.
"You alright?" Shiro asked, glancing over his shoulder at them as he walked. "I'm not going to drop you, you know."
"Y-Yeah, I'm good. Thanks. Sorry." Pidge said, relaxing their arms around his neck and shoulders some.
Keith glanced over his shoulder and Pidge saw him smirk before he turned his head again.
Yes, Pidge decided, Keith was going to pay dearly for this.
Perhaps he knew that.
But he would never know how.
And, more importantly, he would never know when.
When they got a short distance from the base, they set up camp, Hunk and Pidge sitting on the forest floor surrounded by equipment. Lance and Keith disappeared for a short period of time, returning with a serial number and a cloned signature code for Scout. Once Scout was prepared, all five got closer to the base to prepare for the switch
This was the part of the plan where things got a bit tricky.
"Let's go over the plan one more time." Shiro whispered as they observed the triangular robot. "Lance, you find a safe, out of range location to turn into a sniper's nest. Keith, you'll go with him to guard his back. Hunk will direct Scout to come up behind the other droid. When Hunk gives the signal, Lance will shoot the bot and Pidge will activate Scout before the other bot can be hit."
"Remind me again how the Galra won't figure it out?" Keith mumbled.
"Panorama shot which will automatically crop to exactly what the other bot is currently seeing, and hold it just long enough for Shiro to retrieve the busted bot." Pidge said.
"Then we get the heck out of dodge." Hunk added.
"Alright," Lance said, starting to carefully move back out of the hiding spot. "I'll let you know when I've found the perfect spot."
It didn't take too long after that for Lance to report in, saying that he was in position.
Hunk and Pidge quickly got to work while Shiro got into his own position.
"Hold… Hold…" Hunk muttered, eyes focused on Scout as the little droid hovered in the air. "Pidge, you ready?"
"On your mark." Pidge responded.
"Lance?" Hunk asked.
"Target on sight and ready." Lance responded.
"Shiro?"
"Ready and awaiting your signal." Shiro responded, his voice a little lower than the rest.
"Alright then." Hunk said, taking a deep breath. "Three… Two… One… Go."
Everything happened in a blur.
The moment before Lance's laser-bolt struck the surveillance droid, Pidge activated Scout, who promptly seized the other droid's frequency. The picture of the empty area held for exactly fifteen ticks, just enough time to Shiro to run, snatch up the droid, and silently return.
"Pidge? How'd we do?" Hunk asked, looking down at Pidge, biting his lip.
"Missions successful." Pidge reported, looking up at Hunk with a grin. "Let's get out of here and let Scout do their job."
"And get you into a healing pod." Shiro said as he started to help Hunk pack up the last of the equipment, stashing the now-fried droid in a bag.
"It's not that bad, Shiro," Pidge groaned, silently accepting him helping them onto his back. "Hunk, you're team medic. Tell him it's not that bad. And that I could probably walk back now. My ankle's feeling better."
Hunk scoffed as he slung the bag over his shoulder.
"Yeah, no. I've heard that from you before, although that's usually about sleep. Anyways, not risking it, Pidge." Hunk said as they started walking. "You're not walking until we get back to the Castle, at least. And get a second opinion from Coran, too."
Pidge groaned and pouted, resting their chin on Shiro's shoulder.
Though they had to admit, they were starting to enjoy this 'Pidgey-back ride' a lot more now.