Keith unstuck his tongue from the roof of his mouth and forced himself to take in a breath of stale air.
A groggy sense of feeling was already seeping back into his limbs, which had probably been resting in the same uncomfortable position for awhile now if the stiffness meant anything.
Resisting the urge to groan, Keith peeled his eyelids open and peered out from beneath the canopy of bangs plastered to his forehead.
Well, this was... different.
Something red and glowing was directly in front of his face, taking up the span of vision.
Keith blinked a few times to fend back his eyes' sensitivity before slowly placing his hand against the ground.
Pushing himself up was surprisingly easier than he had thought, most of the pain from before having faded to a slight ache.
The sight before his eyes was no less as strange.
His surroundings were shrouded in darkness, the only visible light being stationed directly before him in the form of a small glowing rectangular platform. There was another just ahead of it, and another ahead of that, the pattern continuing on until Keith could determine a whole line of little platforms trailing forward as far as he could see into the cryptic blackness.
Keith bit back a groan as he pushed himself up on his knees, his hands spread out on the floor ahead to stabilize his wobbly pose.
He narrowed his eyes, straining to obtain a more focused image. But it was just so… dark.
He could hardly see anything of the room, save the hand-sized gaps of flooring illuminated between and around the little platforms.
The floor was super shiny, reflecting the red tinge as clearly as if it were liquid.
The Castle's lighting was tealish, and from what he had seen of Galra ships, they favored purple. He'd never seen this deep blood red except…
In the Red Lion.
But this wasn't the Red Lion.
It was too big, too dark. There was no lull of her systems nor purr of her presence in his mind. She wasn't here.
Keith stared into the radiance lazily inking against the floor before dropping his gaze down to inspect his midsection.
There was a strange pressure there, and though he couldn't quite see well enough to tell if something had changed, he was pretty sure the wound had healed.
It wasn't inflaming his side anymore at the least.
Had he been rescued?
Keith glanced around again, shoulders tensing.
He didn't remember being rescued. And this… this certainly wasn't the Castle.
And though place didn't look like the inside of a Galra ship, capture wasn't out of the picture. In fact, capture had seemed imminent if he was remembering correctly.
Galra fighters had been literally circling above his head. And he had been injured and freezing and alone with his stupid thoughts and pathetic blubbering and he was going to die there without his team or Red because they were all going to…
Keith's hands shot up to clutch either sides of his head, his fingers combing frantically through his hair.
Panicking wasn't good. Panic wasn't going to help him in this situation. He needed to focus. Patience yielded focus. He needed patience.
Keith hastily brought his breathing back under control, feeling as his heartbeat followed suit, its erratic beating steading into a calmer pulse. Moments later and he was slowly rising from his place on the floor, cringing as he straightened his aching legs.
The wound apparently wasn't the only thing missing.
His paladin armor was gone too, leaving only his black undersuit. He hadn't noticed that before.
That meant he was without his bayard.
Keith instinctively felt around for his knife.
No knife.
No bayard.
He was unarmed.
Keith stiffened once again, trying to force down the sudden lump caught in his throat.
He always had a weapon on hand. He was always armed. You could never know what was going to happen. No one could predict what you were going to come up against. You had to be ready.
And you can't panic, he reminded himself.
This was unknown territory and he needed to be fully aware; he still had his eyes and ears and fists, and, shuttering his eyes, Keith sucked in a breath.
Patience yields focus. Patience yields focus. Patience yields focus.
Keith raised his head again, and took several steps forward along the line of platforms. His eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting. He could now make out a wall to his right barely six feet from the platforms. Whatever material they were made from was even darker than the floor and not nearly as reflective. He could only guess that another ran parallel on the opposite side of the room.
A few more strides and Keith was directly in front of the right wall, reaching one hand out to press and slide against its surface as he turned back and continued on.
The surface was sleek and cold to the touch, and Keith could feel subtle vibrations against his palm as he walked.
That was good.
If anyone or anything approached him in the dark, at least he would have some sort of warning beforehand.
And who knew? Perhaps he'd run into a door or something that led… somewhere else, hopefully.
He didn't like it here.
Keith kept his other hand clenched into a fist by his side.
There was something off about the place; the least he could do was be ready for what was lurking about, whatever it was.
The glowing path beside him gleamed, almost bleeding against the floor.
Landing unnoticed had proven surprisingly easy to accomplish, something that, although great for the mission itself, did nothing to ease Shiro's fears as he raced across the gravelly terrain, a fierce determination flashing in his eyes.
They had managed to land the Yellow Lion in a secluded area a mile or so away from the crash sight, the safest distance possible if they wanted to avoid detection. But Shiro couldn't help but be wary, especially considering the readouts the Castle's scanners had provided.
The Galra weren't wasting any time. And a mile or so was just too far.
It was a miracle the Castle had been able to evade capture with as little damage as it did. The fact that the teledav was still functional was more than any of them could have hoped for.
But they couldn't count on their good fortune forever, and if the last few vargas had meant anything, their luck was stretching dangerously thin. They couldn't afford another head-on confrontation.
If they had any hope of rescuing Keith, this last-minute, makeshift mission needed to go smoother than planned.
Shiro hardly took notice of the rocky black cliffs speckled with demolished fighters and Galra scrap as he ran. Not that it really mattered; he had already seen the battle take place, as it went from bad to absolute hell.
Things were going to be different this time around. They had one shot at this, and he wasn't going to waste it. The Galra were never going to touch any member of his team ever again if he could help it.
Shiro didn't wait for the Galra soldier to react before tackling him to the ground with a vengeful growl.
The soldier, the only actual flesh-and-blood Galra Shiro had seen so far, yelped in surprise from beneath him. Fear flashed in the galran's yellow eyes as he struggled to free himself, claws scrambling against Shiro's armor plating.
But Shiro had him pinned to the ground with his knees, lip curled in utter disgust and robotic hand below his throat. The galra wasn't going anywhere.
"Where is he?!" Shiro hissed behind clenched teeth.
The galra met his gaze with a crazed snarl and launched a fist toward Shiro's nose.
Shiro easily dodged the blow, anger surging within.
Too many.
Too many lives ruined and destroyed reflected back at him from those yellow eyes.
Shiro leaned more of his body weight into his knees, pressing the galran into the dark soil. His hand powered up.
The soldier glared up at him in defiance, showing his fangs in a bitter scowl.
"Shiro!"
Shiro barely managed to jerk out of the way of several lasers fired most likely by the drones rapidly encroaching on the disturbance in their midst.
Five of them, he counted as he glanced up, were stationed in close proximity to the Red Lion.
Too close for comfort.
Shiro brought his human fist down on the galra soldier's face and leapt for cover.
Hunk's bayard sounded from across the way, a steady stream of fire that cut into the line of drones as easily as a knife through butter.
Another cluster of drones pushed forward somewhere off to the left, charging in in attempt to flank the large attacker.
Shiro broke cover and launched himself toward the nearest one, hand impaling the metal chest and latching on as he swung around in time to knock another two back with the body.
Hunk made easy work of the rest, allowing for Shiro to turn his attention to where it was needed.
The Red Lion.
The particle barrier was down, as were probably most of the ship's systems, if the lack of lighting in the Lion's eyes was any hint.
There was also an assortment of dents and scrapes marring her frame, but, thankfully, he didn't spot any major breaches to her hull.
The crash must have been hard though, if the rubble and trail of debris was anything to go by.
Shiro sucked in a deep breath, his robotic hand clenching by his side as his thoughts became grim. Please be okay, Keith, he silently begged.
He couldn't lose anyone else.
Turning back to face the incoming enemies, his jaw tightened, anger surging up within his mind along with mixed-matched memories of his time as their captive and the hell he had to live through.
He wasn't going to let them take anyone else. The universe couldn't afford that. He couldn't afford that.
Shiro rushed forward, his hand activating with a sinister hiss and purple glow. He plowed his way through the drones, his mind set on keeping them away from the Lion and the member of his team within it, because… he refused to lose anyone else to them.
Somewhere behind him, the sound of Hunk's bayard echoed throughout the mountainous landscape, giving a truly battlefield feel to the misty air as the two continued to down the troopers.
It was barely a minute before the ground around the Red Lion was further littered with robotic limbs and bodies.
Shiro finished off the last of the drones with a swipe of his hand, his expression grim.
Hunk made his way over, his smoking cannon morphing back into its smaller bayard form as he approached.
"So, I guess that's the last of them, right?" The Yellow Paladin glanced nervously at the surrounding cliffs and pointed formations as he spoke, nearly jumping when a stray pebble fell from the slope of a gravely pile disturbed in the chaos.
Shiro felt a surge of guilt swell within him.
It was no wonder Hunk was skittish. They had just barely escaped an attack on the Castle, and here they were now, with only one active Lion and without backup.
The heavy fog and rugged landscape had provided the perfect position for their ambush. And at the moment they were standing in a ravine, flanked by two ominous mounts of black rock. Anyone could be watching or waiting for the right moment to attack.
They had to hurry up.
Shiro frowned, shaking his head while his gaze swept over the destroyed drones and fighters. It came to rest on the small purple cruiser at the far side of the gorge, still prepped for operation.
It had been too easy.
"I'm pretty sure the Galra would have more than just one unit of troops sent to retrieve a Lion," he said. "We have to hurry; reinforcements are probably on their way right now."
Hunk let out a whine of distress and glanced upward as if he expected to see the looming fleet of ships right then and there.
"I'm sorry, man, but this really sucks!"
Shiro nodded solemnly and gestured towards the Red Lion. "The sooner we get Keith the better."
He just hoped they weren't too late.
Despite being one of the smaller Lions, Red's massive paws towered high above their heads.
Shiro craned his neck to peer over the upturned mounds of earth, his eyes widening as Red Lion's unresponsive frame came into view. He felt Hunk shift besides him, equally as put off by the sight.
Embedded in all that dirt and rock, the Red Lion looked so… lifeless.
"I hope Keith's okay," Hunk murmured.
Shiro felt his mouth press into a thin line. "Me too," he whispered.
A/N: It took me waaaaayyyy too long to get this chapter out. For that I apologize. *bows head*
Shout out to my friends for reading this over for me. (And for convincing me to finally post it) Thank you!
And thank you for all the reviews/favs/follows, dear readers! Let me know what ya'll think of this chapter!