When Lance woke up, the first thing he could feel was the sense of dangling. He was floating, his wrists cuffed above his head as his feet hung aimlessly below him. He seemed to be chained to some wall, abandoned in a silent room.
He groaned at the pain coming from his side and croaked out, "H-Hello?" He was alone, trapped in some cell. Panic enveloped him and he tugged on the chains.
Blood was dried along the side of his face and neck, most likely from a heavy gash along his skull.
It was a struggle to remember how he ended up here, only recalling waking up this morning with Keith beside him.
"Ah, you're awake," A voice spoke from the darkness. Jumping at the sound, Lance inhaled sharply.
"Who's there?"
"Calm yourself, Blue Paladin," A Coeihn emerged from the corner of the room, their arms crossed and smile wicked. Lance recognizes him instantly.
"R...Rashra?"
"Greetings," he bows ever so slightly, almost mockingly.
"You… speak English?" Lance blinked blearily. "Wha- how?" he is looking around, unable to remember much. He woke up, then…. Guards. Guards took him to the fight. He fought Rashra. Did he lose?
"What happened? Where are we?" he croaked out. He scanned the room, feeling that it seemed kind of familiar.
"Aboard a Galra ship," Rashra leans against the wall casually, looking at his nails. "Did you know you have quite a price on top of your head? Would make any person rich for the rest of their lives,"
"Galra… How did we end up-?"
"They came to pick you up," Rashra smiles, rather enjoying Lance's dumbfounded confusion. "I told them you were within the city."
"...H-How are you involved with the Galra?" Lance shakes his head, not understanding.
"I wasn't involved with them at first," Rashra tells him, "But they knew my employers."
Lance's head is too fuzzy for all these confusing reveals and leadless words, "I don't- what the hell is going on, Rashra? Where is Keith?!"
"Impatient," the Coeihn frowns, "You should be grateful I'm the one in here and not the Traveks. They wouldn't be as calm as I am. You would most likely already be dead- though I'm considering the idea." he pushes up Lance's glasses for him, smiling, "But I need you alive."
Lance shakes his head to knock his hand away, "Why are you doing this, Rashra? Why are you helping the Traveks?! Aren't they your mortal enemy or something?"
"That would insinuate I'm on some sort of team or something. I don't fight for either side, being that I'm not fully part of either- though the Traveks do hold more power." he shrugs.
"What do you mean?"
"I myself am only half Coeihn, though my genetics fall more to their appearance," he motions to himself as if he's disgusted. "My other half was much more promising, following the Travek bloodline,"
"You're half Travek…?"
"Now you're catching on," Rashra gave him a clap
"The Traveks… Y-You worked for them?" When Rashra does nothing but nod, Lance guesses, "You were a spy for them," Lance was beginning to follow this whole story, "You've been lying to your own King- your own people-" Lance accused him. "How could you do that?!"
"Coeihns are too soft of a race," Rashra grumbles, "Traveks are stronger, faster- far superior.
"The Coeihns only wanted peace!"
"A fools dream. War brings power, profit-"
"It brings death! Tragedy! You lose everything during a war!"
"Only the weak do, and we have no place for those who can't survive on their own," Rashra turns away from him. "Such as yourself. How did such a weak creature like you become a paladin of Voltron?" Rashra inquires, honestly curious.
Flinching at his stare, Lance frowns, "I-I'm strong."
"Hardly," Rashra scoffs, "You've been nothing but protected since the moment you arrived. First by the fifth champion and that horrid translator, then the King, then by your so-called equivalent. It seems to be a trend that all three of those groups are connected in someway," he sighs. "Even that stupid child got in the way when I hired those three idiots."
"Three…" Lance's mind wandered. Rashra's words could have meant anything, but Lance felt he knew what he was talking about. And it made his chest churn with anger, "You were the one who hired those Coeihns,' Lance murmured, "The ones who tried to have me killed,"
"They were close too. I simply hadn't accounted for Dravla's retched daughter to be caught up in it," Rashra sighs, shaking his head in disappointment.
"You… That was you!" Lance attempts to kick ad him and Rashra steps back. "People died because of you!"
"I believe the correct term is that people died because of you," Rashra corrects and Lance cuts off. "You were the one who shot one of them, after all."
"S...Shut up," Lance tells him, "I never- I never meant to-"
"Oh, but you did. You killed a Coeihn in cold blood." Rashra narrows his eyes, "Yet somehow, you can manage to do that, but you still can't win against the 5 champions on your own."
Lance inhales sharply, his breathing coming out ragged, "W-What?"
"I know that you never beat Dravla within the arena the day you attempted for citizenship. He allowed you to win. You are without honor, blue paladin,"
Lance narrows his eyes, watching Rashra's moves carefully as he strolled across the room. "Me?" he growled, "Have you listened to yourself since coming in here? You've betrayed your people, hurt innocent lives! You even tried to- to force Keith into some unwanted equivalency! Your sick!"
"As if an off worlder has any right to talk about equivalency. You couldn't even work up the courage to claim your pure! You have no bond with him!
"We aren't like Coeihns you idiot! We don't have an equivalent bond!" Lance tugged against his chains at his wrists furiously
Rashra pauses, curious, "You don't? Hmmm…." he taps his chin, "How odd. That almost makes things complicated. But I'm a patient man to these things." he sneers, "Breaking him is but a matter of time,"
"Him? You mean-" Lance gasps in horror, "You touch Keith and I swear I'll kill you! Keith would never go with someone like you! He would never-!"
The punch Lance received to his face was unexpected, striking his jaw with enough force that Lance could taste blood in his mouth. Spitting it out at the side, Lance lifted his head to glare at Rashra in defiance.
"I'm quite sick of others taking what should belong to me," Rashra grips Lance's chin tightly, lifting it to glare at him. Lance grunts, narrowing his eyes back. "First the King, then that witch Tellru, now you."
Not even sure what he means, Lance grumbles, "What the hell are you talking about now?"
"I used to follow in the Coeihns ways, you know. I believed that once you find a possible equivalent match, one you find suitable, they shall be yours and yours alone." his grip tightened enough that Lance feared his jaw might crack under the pressure. "I found one, the perfect one. They were weaker than most, but oh, their beautiful was immeasurable," he tilts his head to the side.
Lance leans back a little, disgusted when Rashra sighs dreamily.
A second later, his voice drops an octave, to something darker, "Than, they were taken. Won over by the future King of the Kingdom, Manson."
Lance blinks cautiously at this deranged man, slowly saying, "M-Manson? Then, you're talking about... Kac'ela? You wanted Manson's equivalent to be yours?"
"Of course Kac'ela would choose Manson- most would be a fool not to. The power you would receive, the wealth-"
Lance didn't feel that was quite right. Tellru and Dravla talked so fondly of Kac'ela. He sounded like the kind of person who wouldn't be with someone for political power- or any kind of power- he sounded like someone who loved Manson honestly and truthfully.
"Manson swept them away from me, putting him out of my reach. Of course, at that time, Kac'ela was not the only one on my radar. I even looked to Dravla. He was strong, the fifth champion- the perfect equivalent to match me."
Lance quietly muttered, "Gross" under his lips, listening to Rashra with a sour expression.
"Then Tellru came into the picture. Once again, the equivalent I wished to be mine was taken. By weak and incapable scum!"
Lance wanted to punch him for saying such a thing about Tellru and Manson, but held back. "So you ended up not getting what you wanted. Boo hoo for you,"
"It was a shame…" Rashra agreed. "For them."
A chill was running up his spine when Rashra smiled.
"Perhaps Kac'ela would still be alive today if he had just chosen correctly."
"Wait…" Lance feels his chest tightening. "...What?" Rashra doesn't answer immediately, so Lance pushes on, "What do you mean by that Rashra? What did you do?"
Rashra was mumbling, caught in his memories, "It wasn't easy sneaking those Travek's into the castle, but was there any doubt I couldn't? But the way that bomb went off within the royal bedroom… It was quite a sight. It was just a shame that King hadn't been in there with his Equivalent when it went off." he boasts himself, "No one even suspected that their own head of the royal guard would be responsible for such a feat. The whole Kingdom was in an uproar after his death. It was quite a shame for him to go. He was so beautiful," Rashra tsks. "But he made his choice when he agreed to be Manson's Equivalent instead of mine. The fool even managed to live on after Kac'ela's passing. Of course, Dravla is a much harder person to get rid of than I first anticipated. No matter how much I try, he manages to evade my attempts. Even managed to foil my attempts to get rid of you"
So that was how it went, was it?
The reason for all this suffering...
"It was because of you…" Lance can feel his stomach twisting as Rashra talks. "King Manson's equivalent died because of you... Harri lost his father... because of you!"
Rashra's gaze remains unchanged, indifferent to Lance's understanding of the situation. "I gave him the opportunity to choose me, and he still decided to go to that pathetic excuse for a King,"
"You no good-" Lance lifted his foot, shocking them both when he managed to catch Rashra by the chin with his heel. Stumbling back, Rashra held his chin in shock.
Lance roared at him, "All this time-! Dravla has had to go through assassination attempts- he's had to fear for his life and the lives of his family for years! King Manson lost the love of his life! You are nothing but a murderer, Rashra! No person would ever be the equivalent of you!"
Slowly, Rashra rises to his feet, his eyes dark with rage. "You really shouldn't have done that,"
Lance doesn't even flinch when Rashra's fist connects with his jaw again. He wasn't going to give this creep the satisfaction of that.
"Do your worse," he spit at him. "You can act all mighty- but what I say is true. No one would ever be with scum like you." Taking a few more punches to the face, and even a kick to the stomach, Rashra backed away from the panting blue paladin. "...T-That all?" he forces a smirk
Rashra narrows his eyes, "Truly, a shame about you, Paladin." he seethes, "Your skin and blue eyes make you quite a prize- but your voice and expressions- a very intolerable nuisance,"
"At least I'm not ugly like you," another punch to the face, but to Lance, it was worth it.
"You know…" Rashra growls out, "There is very few who catch my eye, and I am even surprised with myself that the human, Keith I believe you said his name was, has captivated me so." There is a dark look in his eyes as he says this, gauging Lance for a reaction, "How lucky am I that you have yet to claim him. The satisfaction of doing so, then showing you the results, will be quite pleasing,"
Lance tries to kick him again, "Don't you dare…!"
"Hold your tongue," Rashra swipes his hand out, slapping Lance across the face. Biting off a cry of pain, Lance grunts at him. "I gave the Galra what they wanted. I've caught them their paladins, and in exchange, they allow me the time I wish to have my way with the three of my choosing."
Lance huffs a few times, puzzled, "Three?"
"The Red paladin, Dravla, and a young teacher with black hair. Quite the looker, so I couldn't help myself," Rashra's lips curl to something twisted. "I've requested them personally. While I don't know about humans, Coeihns have this natural instinct to connect on a very deep level when they are mated. They may already be equivalents to someone, but it only takes one time with another to grow a similar bond."
Lance's blood ran cold, "You wouldn't dare,"
"They are already waiting for me," Rashra is turning for the door, "This is where we go our separate ways, blue paladin. Oh, but just so you don't feel left out, I heard there were a few Galra who thought you quite fetching…"
Lance choked, "Excuse me? Don't-" he frantically pulls on his bindings, "Rashra!" he calls for him, "Don't you dare touch any of them! Rashra!" he cries fall to deaf ears as the door is closed, leaving him to his lonely cell. "Rashra!"
0000-0000
If Lance were here, Keith thought to himself, he'd probably sing a little tune to lift their depressing spirits. Probably a silly song too, like that song he is always humming when they go to take a bath.
Something about coconuts or something.
"I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts~ There they are standing in a row~ Big ones, Smalls ones, some as big as your head~ You give 'em a twist, a flick of your wrist-"
Missing Lance, and caught in the memory, recalling how Lance would twirl in the water, uncaring and wonderful, Keith doesn't even realize he is humming said song, tapping his finger to his leg.
"I don't think I've ever heard you hum before," Dravla tells him with a little smile.
Tensing, Keith clears his throat, "I was just- I was thinking of Lance. He is always singing that song. It's super catchy- Annoyingly catchy," he insists.
"Right," Dravla snorts. "I'm not judging."
'You look like you are," Keith narrows his eyes. Dravla makes an innocent face.
"I'm not," he grins.
Keith grumbles at him, glancing down to Dravla's wound, "How is your leg?" he asks
"Kind of numb," Dravla tilts his head back and sighs, "...You think the King is alright?"
"I don't know. How do you think Lance is…?"
Dravla shrugged, "We can only hope for the best at this point." he stretches his arms over his head, "How is our 'oh so great escape plan' working out?"
"Would be great if we could figure out a way to get out of this cell," Keith admits. He had tried to put his hand to the panel, hoping his Galra genetics would allow him to open it, but it didn't seem to work.
They must have learned after a while that not every Galra could be trusted within their ranks.
"I'm not sure I could be much help anyway," Dravla sighs at him. When Dizzen spoke, Dravla says something back.
"What did he say?" Keith asks.
"He is wondering if it is even possible to escape."
Keith looks Dizzen directly in his eyes when he says, "There is always a way,"
Dravla translates for him, and the Coeihn teacher's eyes widen, nodding sheepishly to Keith, finding his determination admiring.
Dravla smiles, "We just gotta figure out how to get out of here-"
"Shh," Keith shushes him, hearing the sound of footsteps, "Someone's coming,"
Jumping to his feet, Keith readied himself as someone came into view.
"Hello~" they peeked their head a little closer, grinning at them through the cell bars.
"Rashra," Dravla realize, venom dripping from his words, "You traitor. How dare you show your face to me! How could you do this!"
"It's quite simple," Rashra is reaching towards his belt, "I give the Galra info, capture a paladin or two for them, and they give me what I want. Childs play," he says casually enough to make Keith's blood boil.
"Where is Lance?" he demands.
"Elsewhere," Rashra clicked some strange device attached to his belt. A moment later, the bars of the cell disappeared, giving Rashra enough time to step in before reactivating. Keith held his breath, eyeing the device.
Perhaps he's just found his way out of this hellhole. He just had to get it from Rashra somehow.
"If you touched so much as one hair on Lance's head, I swear-"
"You'll do what? You've already lost," Rashra snorts, "The Galra have him now. What happens to him is up to them. You three, however, have a slightly different role to play,"
Keith isn't sure he wants to know what he means by that, but asks anyway, "What are you talking about?"
"I've been a very patient man," he says in a pitying and dramatic tone, "Lonely, scaling the tower of power alone. I require- companionship. Something to fill my free time with,"
"Get a hobby then," Dravla grunts.
"I think I'll seek out an Equivalent instead," Rashra's lips curl, "I've already spotted three very worthy candidates," he looks them over like a beast seeking out its prey. Keith can't help but step away from him in shock.
The poor Coeihn Dizzen is obvious to what Rashra had just insinuated since he did not understand the human language. Keith tugged on his sleeve to pull him back, knowing no one deserved just a sick fate.
"Never," he spits at Rashra's feet. "Dravla already has an equivalent anyway. You aren't even a spec in the air compared to Tellru,"
"Second Keith on that one," Dravla smirks proudly.
"I didn't come here to get your permission," Rashra yawns, examining his nail in a bored manner as if he expected this reaction but it would not falter from his goals.
"You-" Dravla's face contorts to utter disgust, "Have you no shame?" he whispers, his voice livid. "As a Coeihn, how could you not value and honor our most treasured bond? An equivalent is never something you force! It is something both agree to on equal terms! How- How could you?!" he roars, managing to stumble to his feet, leaning against the wall for support.
"Dravla, Dravla," Rashra tsks at him, "Of course I treasure it, but once the deed is done, it isn't exactly forced anymore,"
"You shut your dirty mouth!" Dravla barks, "I would never do anything like that with you! I'd rather die!"
"Once we mate, you won't have such thoughts anymore, whether you like it or not. You are right, Dravla, the equivalent bond is the most sacred thing, and connects us all at a cellular level." he reaches forward, gripping Dravla's chin to look into his eyes, "When I'm done, your own body will force you to love me," he sneers. "You can't fight it. You can't fight equivalency."
Dravla slaps his hand away, leaning back against the wall in terror. "You sick scum…" he shakes his head in horror. Keith had never seen Dravla so revolting or shaken to something. In this moment, Rashra was terrifying to his Coeihn friend.
Of course, he would be. To Dravla's people, Equivalency was the most sacred thing. Love was cherished, never squandered or tossed around aimlessly. Rashra went against that very principle.
When Rashra reaches for Dravla again, Keith throws his shoe at him. "Don't you touch him!"
Rubbing the back of his head where Keith hit, completely shocked, Rashra moves towards him, almost in awe of him, "You were always so feisty," he tells Keith, licking his lips, "Perhaps, I should start with you instead~?" Before Keith can stop him, Rashra is reaching out, snagging his wrists. Keith tries to pull back, stumbling back at Rashra's unexpected muscle.
Pushed to the ground, Rashra's strength too great to fight off, Keith's arms were pinned at his side, his legs held down by Rashra's. The entire cell erupted into screams, calling for Rashra to stop. Dizzen even attempted to pull Rashra off, only to get backhanded by him so violently that he hit the ground with a sharp cry.
Dravla calls out for him, trying to crawl towards him, but only able to go so far with his ankle and wrists chained together.
It left Keith to fight Rashra alone, yelling at clawing at the Coeihns arms.
There was no way out of this… Rashra was just too strong. But if he could just reach the sword along his belt, then maybe he could fight his way out of this.
But once again, Rashra was just too powerful, pinning Keith's arms down to his side with a single hand, the other beginning to roam free over Keith's neck and shoulders, idolizing the skin.
He had to think fast or else…
A plan came to his mind.
It was risky.
It was dumb.
It made his skin crawl, but he had no other choice.
Keith glanced at Dravla, watching his friend struggling to get to his feet through his leg. "Keith…" he calls.
Keith decided that for the sake of Dravla, Dizzen, and for Lance, he was going to have to pull it off. He had never been that great of an actor in middle school when he was forced to participate in the school play, but he was going to put on one hell of a show today.
"Keith…!" Dravla was attempting to move and help him, his eyes catching with the Red Paladin.
Keith narrowed his eyes and Dravla froze in place.
There was something in those light purple irises that made Dravla feet go still. It was as if Keith was quietly trying to convey some message, ordering Dravla to stay where he was.
Confused, Dravla's attempts went still, forced to watch in quiet anticipation for the worse.
Keith stopped moving, his own arms falling limp, his expression relaxing. He even tried a smile up at the Coeihn above him.
"Not going to fight against this?" Rashra quirked an eyebrow.
Keith doesn't say anything for a long time, then, he chuckles, trying to sound carefree, "Do as you'd like,"
The entire cell was shocked.
Dravla was screaming, "Keith?! No-!"
"It's fine. Us humans switch from partner to partner so easily sometimes. What's the big deal?" Keith inquired, "It's in our nature to seek out a mate… one that is preferable strong, and daring... " He's lathering it on, hoping Rashra was easy to bolster.
"W-what's the big deal?!" Dravla sputtered, repeating what Keith had just said, "Are you serious-!?"
"Shut up, Dravla," Keith commands, "This doesn't concern you," with a hot glare, Dravla closed his mouth. It took everything Keith had to lay still, to relax his body and simply… take, what Rashra was doing.
It was sick.
His stomach was twisting, threatening to upchuck anything he held within. But his ploy seemed to work, and Rashra's shoulders were relaxing, looking very pleased. He gripped Keith's chin and brought their faces closer.
Keith closed his lips tightly when they kissed. It was repulsive, making every fiber in his body scream to rip away and sanitize his mouth. It was nothing like when he kissed Lance. Lance was... gentle. His lips were so soft, warm to the touch and moving against Keith's like he was cherishing his mouth with his own. Even just a peck from Lance had Keith's toes curling, his heart fluttering wildly in his chest.
This kiss was like eating spoiling fish.
Keith had to stay still. He had to accept this, even if just a little, to assure Rashra would be convinced.
It made him writhe under the feelings when he realized this might have been what Lance had felt like during his first time with that horrid guy from the Garrison. That thought was too horrible to bare.
After a few agonizing seconds of slithering touches and nauseous breaths, a limit was being reached. Keith wanted to tear off his own skin, which had surprisingly held well against his face, keeping the unwavering poker look.
Rashra was growing at ease, beginning to fully accept that Keith was willing with this.
He slowly released Keith's wrists, lifting the red paladin's shirt to look over his smooth chest, "Beautiful' he murmured, grazing his fingers along it. Keith's face remained unchanged, complacent almost.
Dravla couldn't watch. Where had that hot-headed young human gone a few moments ago?! How could he just agree to something so horrible?
Did he care about what Lance would think about this? Didn't he hold any self-preservation?
Emotionally torn with witnessing this, Dravla holds his breath when he see's Keith's hands moving. They grip Rashra's shoulders at first, sliding along them to entangle towards the back of his head. The more Rashra defiled his chest or moved one hand to Keith's pants, the closer Keith inches his own fingers downward, running them along Rashra's spine.
Then- he reaches towards his lower belt, sliding cautiously, patiently, to the hilt of his sword.
Dravla gasps when Keith grips it.
With a motion too swift for anyone to stop, Keith took the blade from the holster, lifted it, then brought it back down into the awaiting flesh of Rashra's back. The Coeihn made a choking sound, his body going stiff before becoming limp. Collapsing against Keith, the Red paladin squirmed out from below him. Using the blade, he cut himself free from his binds, quickly pulling his shirt back down and buttoning his pants back up.
He was shaking, breathing coming out in ragged gasps, "T-There," he says, reaching for Rashra's belt to pull out the device that deactivated the cell.
"Oh… oh, thank Parlog!" Dravla put a hand to his chest
Keith blinked at him "What?" He inquired, stepping over Rashra's unconscious form
"You scared me!" Dravla jabbed a finger towards him, "I thought you were serious for a second! Ughhhh," he groans in relief, "I about had a heart attack. But it's- what does Lance say? Cool? It's cool. It was a trick. You were tricking him."
"Yeah," Keith nods, "I was," he glances at Rashra in disgust, "You seriously think I would- with him?"
("He didn't mean it?") Dizzen asks Dravla.
("No. No, he was faking it,")
Dizzen threw his head back, making a panicked noise, ("I got so scared. I thought he was going with it. He is a very good actor,")
("Yeah he is! Scared the living daylights out of me,") he looks at Keith, shaking his head, "I almost barfed at least 4 times and actually barfed the 5th time at the thought," Dravla explains, motioning to the corner, "I wouldn't go over there if I were you,"
"Noted," Keith runs to them, "Now come on, we gotta get going."
As Keith knelt next to them, Dravla glanced over to the former head of the royal guard, "Did you kill him?"
"Don't know, don't care. But just in case I didn't, we should hurry,"
"Right."
Uncuffing Dizzen's and Dravla's restraints, they unlocked the cell doors. Helping Dravla support his injured leg, they crept out into the hall of the Galra ship.
"Okay," Keith says, "We gotta find the others."
"How do you plan to do that?"
Keith brushes off the sweat pooling at his brow, "I dunno- but we better figure it out soon, because it won't take long for a sentry to make its rounds. They usually keep prisoners around the 3rd floor, so for now, let's try to get our hands on some weapons and make our way down there."
'Right," the two Coeihns nod, following Keith's lead. Since he knew these types of structures it was best they relied on him to lead their way.
For now, Keith just had to focus on them not getting caught, but he was close. He just had to find Lance and hope he was okay.
0000-0000
When left to his thoughts, Lance tended to think horrible things. He stressed over his own capabilities, questioned his choices, and overall just considered every mistake his own fault.
It was just how he was sometimes.
But the worse of it is when Lance would think about what happens next. He was always worrying about the future- stressed over the chance on them dying or otherwise. Rashra's words when he left didn't leave him much confidence.
He was going to Keith to do who knows what and Lance was left to wait- wait for some supposed Galran soldiers that would show up eventually and…
He didn't want to think about it.
It made his body shakes and his breathing ragged. He just needed to relax, and think this through. There had to be some way to get out of this mess.
His restraints weren't going to give anytime soon if the slight bleeding along his wrists were any indication. He was hanging too far in the air to even try to touch the ground, and there was nothing close enough in distance to grab.
Nothing on his person either.
He was doomed.
Lowering his head, Lance sighed. This was all his fault, wasn't it…? If he hadn't accepted that challenge, then none of this would have happened. But if he hadn't done that then Keith would have- no, as much regret as he feels right now, he couldn't ever allow Keith to go to someone like Rashra.
Though considering everything going on, that might just happen anyway. It sucked.
Why wasn't he stronger? Rashra was right, all he's done since he arrived is get protected by others. He had to have Tellru and Dravla help him to save Keith, had to have Ruru save him from those Coeihns, and to rely upon and get protected by Keith all throughout when he was blind...
Perhaps trying to protect Keith wasn't the only reason he had accepted Rashra's challenge. Maybe he also wanted to prove to himself that he could do things on his own.
With tears burning his eyes, Lance turned his head into his arm, rubbing them away. He had to stay strong right now. No breaking down. Come on Lance, you can do this.
This courage he built only lasted so long before he could hear the cell door sliding open. A few Galra soldiers entered the room, taking in Lance's body. He tensed, swallowing thickly.
"What do you want?" he says, hoping to sound intimidating.
When the three Galra approached him, Lance's body went rigged, "S-Stay away from me," he says, his voice cracking without meaning to.
They ignored him, moving closer with small smirks. Two of the three had no problem coming closer to him, but the third seemed to stay back, scanning the room thoughtfully.
"That guy was right- I never really got to notice before, but he is quite the catch," One says.
"Bright blue eyes," the second one agrees. "Nice lips, very skinny- look at these curves," their hands graze his hip and Lance bucked away.
"Don't touch me!" he barked, fearfully.
"Awe, he's shy,"
"Wouldn't mind having a shot at this before we hand him over to Lord Zarkon," they two in front of him sneer. Their looks petrified him, sending him into a cold sweat.
"D-Don't…"
They loomed around him, reaching to touch him. Their fingers trailed his chin, down his neck to his chest- Lance wanted to scream, and maybe he did, but it was drowned out, cut off by a fist connecting with bone. The Galra that had stood towards the back of the first two had lunged forward.
Startled, Lance held his breath as the Galra attacked the other two. He punched one, flipped the other, and then pulled forth a dagger that changed to a blade.
Lance recognized it without needing an explanation.
The Blade of Marmora.
He knew they had spies within many different areas of Zarkon's empire, but to think there would be one here of all places…
Taking out the other two Galra with ease, knocking them unconscious, he turned to Lance and slashed at the chains above him. Falling to his knees, Lance scrambled to find his baring's.
"Lance of Voltron?" the Galra inquired, kneeling next to him to offer a hand.
"Y-yeah?" Lance took it, heaved to his feet. "Thank you. Who are you?"
"I am Vel. I am here to help you. Your team has been looking for you,"
Lance was thrilled to hear the news of his friends. So they were still okay? Of course, even with his and Keith's absence, the Blade of Marmora would be there to help give support. "Can you contact them?" he asks, "Tell them where we are?"
"Outer communication has been cut off. A new device Zarkon's druids have devised," Vel explains, motioning for them to follow, "We have to keep moving. It won't take long for the patrols to realize your escape. This is as far as I can help you without blowing my cover,"
"Right." Lance nods, understanding.
"The other paladin, as well as many other Coeihn hostages, are held within this ship. Down that hall you should be able to locate the King of this world."
"Manson?" Lance gasps.
"Yes. Find him and the other Coeihns. If you can get to the lower deck, you should be able to find the device controlling the communications and destroy it. That should allow you to get into contact with your team. There are many escape pods within this ship." he hands Lance something along the lines of a timer, "You have one hour,"
"Till what?" he pales.
"I've set explosives set to blow in this time. It will not destroy this ship but will give you plenty of cover to get out and force the Galra to flee. By then you should be able to contact your team before they return and seek aid."
Lance nods, "T-Thank you, Vel. Thank you so much."
The Galra's ear flicked and he bows his head, "It was an honor to meet you, Blue Paladin. Perhaps we'll meet again. I shall try my best to buy you time to collect some weapons for the Coeihns, but be quick about it." he hands Lance his spare blaster
"Okay," giving the timer a second glance, he gives Vel a similar bow and runs off, scurrying down the hall as fast as he could. Arming himself with the blaster, having never fired one before, he was grateful to see it wasn't too different from his Bayard. Speaking of, he needed to find that, as well as Keith.
Sneaking along the wall, used to having to infiltrate Galran ships but never on his own, Lance moved cautiously. He had a chance right now, so he couldn't scaunder it. Everyone was counting on him.
Peeking into all the rooms he passed by, finding most of them empty, he came to a heavily guarded one. Realizing this was probably the room Vel mentioned, he took aim for the guarding sentinel's heads. He inhaled, then fired as he exhaled.
With two headshots and one to the third sentinel's chest, the robots collapsed to the floor.
Always feeling like he had been thrown into a video game in these situations, Lance steps over them and slipped into the room.
The Coeihn King was within, tied by his arms and hanging in the air in a similar fashion to how he was a few minutes ago. "King Manson?"
Manson lifted his head, eyes wide as Lance approached, "B...Blue champion?" he asks wearily.
"Hey, your highness," Lance grins, rushing over to help uncuff his wrists and help him down, "Are you alright?"
'I- Yes," he shakes his head, looking like he was unsure if this was real, "What are you doing here? How did you escape?"
"I had a little help," Lance offers, "Listen, we don't have much time. We have to find the others and get out of here within the next-" he glances at the timer, "The next 53 minutes,"
"Or else?"
"This place is gonna blow," Lance tells him, "So we gotta find the others, take out the communication blocker, then get out of here."
"That device is on this ship?" Manson frowns, "Well, that would explain why we have been unable to discover its location till now," he nods to Lance and gets to his feet, "I have to find Harri first- they took him," Manson lifts up one of the fallen sentinel's guns.
"Do you know how to work those?" Lance asks.
"...Nope. But what better way to learn, yes?" he offers. Allowing Lance to show him where the trigger was Manson nods, "Let's go,"
"Manson, wait!" Lance grabs his arm. The King pauses, raising his eyebrow curiously to Lance.
"What is it?"
"I…" Lance cuts off, rethinking his choice of telling the King exactly everything he had learned these last few hours. He had no idea what sort of state Manson felt with the death of his equivalent. Perhaps he had finally come to peace with it and was able to keep living...? Perhaps it still haunted him that he could never find the murderer of his beloved…
If Lance told him this, would it truly end in a good way?
But he deserved to know, didn't he?
"Your equivalent… their name was Kac'ela, right?" he asks cautiously. Manny's body goes still, his eyes glazing over to mask any emotion he might feel with this conversation.
"Yes," he nods solemnly. "Why do you ask?"
"I just… I don't-" Lance sighs and lowers his gaze, "I'm so sorry, Manson."
"Lance?"
"Rashra he- he came into my cell and was talking to me. He was completely nuts, Manson,"
The King nods, "I could never understand what was going on in his head, but it was my fault for not seeing him as the traitor he was. This is not your fault, Blue Champion," he assures.
"I know that. It is Rashra and the Galra's fault. But Manson, when he was talking to me- Rashra told me that- he…" Lance's voice wavered
"I'll stop you right there," Manson put a hand on Lance's shoulder, cutting him off. "Whatever you are about to tell me… don't do it."
"Huh?"
Manson gives a wryly smile, "We need to focus on finding our comrades and getting out of this place. Any other task could just lead to us being recaptured. I have to focus on my people and my son…" he turns, "I have to protect what I still have,"
"Oh…" Lance watches in awe as the King moves across the room, his gaze set. Admiring him, feeling like was looking at Shiro for a moment, Lance shuffled after him. When they stepped out of the room, they quickly put their backs to the wall and slithering through the halls carefully.
"You know these kinds of halls better than I," Manson tells him, "Perhaps you should lead?"
"I don't know them that well," Lance warns him, "But I do know they have sentinels on constant patrol so we'll have to move fast and quiet," motioning for him to follow the two begin their quest down the hall. "Prisoners are held on the third floor so- I think that is where we are. Did any Galra come and talk to you while you were held captive?"
"Some strange looking ones in cloaks. They were talking gibberish, honestly. Something about Coeihns and our strength. A mention of our high quintessence too,"
"Huh?" Lance was confused. "Those must have been druids. They are like- magicians or whatever for the Galra. They do some messed up stuff. They experiment on people… they took the arm of one of my friends," Were they perhaps considering using the Coeihns for their experiments? They were stronger than Humans and most species Lance had seen so far, so maybe the druids thought they could be better test subjects.
"That must be why they are gathering so many Coeihns hostages instead of killing us." Manson concludes, "We must hold some value to them,"
"That's gotta be it," Lance agrees.
Ducking through a few halls and squeezing through rooms, Lance found themselves in a large control room of sorts.
"This room sure looks important," Manson notes.
"Sure does," Lance moved around one of the consoles, looking over it curiously. Still not able to understand Galran tongue, he did his best to figure out what this room was for. Something about a signal, he assumed.
"I think I found the source of our signal block," He tells the King, "It's gotta be somewhere in this room. We just gotta destroy it, then we can get communications up and running again."
"How do we know which device is which?" Manson eyed the multiple floating or spinning contraptions wearily. Lance shrugs.
"I'm not Pidge- she's the techno junkie of Voltron." He tells Manson.
"I see. Well, I suppose we'll just have to take them all out,"
Pressing a few random buttons on the console to see what they did, Lance seemed to lower a few of the devices. "I guess we just shoot them and see what happens?
"Not much of a plan," the King informs him.
"If you have a better option," Lance mumbles, "I would love to hear it."
"Well, we could-" When Manson turned to him, he gasps, "Lance! Watch out!"
Turning at the sound of his warning, Lance managed to duck just in time before something slashed at his neck. Stumbling back, Lance came into contact with a Druid. His mind flashed back to months before, when he lost his sight.
Caught in the memory, he ran into Manson, who tackled both of them out of the way from the Druid's next attack. "Lance! Snap out of it!" Manson shook him.
Lance jumped, "I- s-sorry, yeah. I'm fine. I'm fine," he lifts his pistol. Shooting out from their hiding spot that attempted to attack the druid, "That's a druid!" Lance warns, "Be careful- it can do crazy stuff!"
"Crazy stuff-?" Manson understands a second later when the Druid disappears just to reappear right behind him and tried to slash at his side. Catching the sword with the pistol, he ducked to the side just as it was cut in half. Lance lifted his own to fire at the Druid but missed when it flew back.
He had never really had to fight one before no but knew from conversations with Allura and Keith that these guys didn't go down easily.
Not to mention one had already got the drop on him before...
He wasn't going to let that happen again. He was ready now. He could do this.
The Druid turned to him, lifting his hands. They sparked with electricity and Lance ducked to avoid a lightning bolt to the face. His gaze caught with Manson, who had lifted a small chunk of glass that had shattered from the Druid's attack. Meeting Lance's eyes, the two nod in quiet agreement to a plan.
Running in aimless circles, Lance drew the Druid's attention to himself, making taunting noises. Ducking and weaving through machines that erupted over his head, Lance screamed as he tripped and slide against the floor.
Rolling onto his stomach, he looked up to find the Druid looming over him. It lifted its hand to kill him them-
Glass Manson had taken off the ground pierced the Druid's chest, and the Galra let out a choked gasp. Staggering, it clawed at its chest before falling in a heavy heap before Manson's feet.
Huffing, he stepped over it to help Lance to his feet, "You okay?"
"I'm fine," he nods. "Thanks for the save,"
"I guess we're even now," Manson chuckles.
Lance chuckles over a whirling sound. Puzzled to what it was, he lifted his head to their right, surprised to find a strange looking satellite device in front of them. It spun in fast circles, making a horrible scratching noise that made goosebumps appear on his arms.
"I think that's our mark," Lance pointed to the spinning device, knowing they had to act quickly before any other patrols or druids appeared.
Manson lifted his pistol, "Well, then I guess I know where to aim."
Lance grins and copies his movements, firing with Manson. He doesn't consider the idea that firing at a dangerous looking machine might be a bad thing till a few shots later when the device seems to short circuit. The spinning device in the middle falls to the floor before the rest of the device began on catch fire.
The two pale at the sight, wondering if they had gone overboard, "Whoops-" it exploded slightly, making them stumble back, "And… that is our cue to leave,"
"Right behind you," Manson nods.
Shrieking like a bunch of 5-year-olds they ducked out the room when the rest began to explode and dashed down the hall. "That was a mistake!" Manson announces.
"At least it's gone now!" Lance says back, turning and tripping right into the Sentinel. Manson freaks out and trips over them too, slamming right into the sentinel's head and crushing it with his weight.
"..." The two sat up and awkwardly moved away from the robot.
"My bad,' Manson mumbled.
"That's one way to take 'em out," Lance shrugs. Looking up to see where they are, he looks at the panel to the right. "I think we are close to the other cells."
"One of three steps done at least," Manson dusts off his hands, "We just have to find everyone and get to the runaway pods, right?"
"Escape pods," Lance corrects him, chuckling.
"That's what I meant,"
"Sure," Lance nudges him and the two move down the hall.
Cells, all empty, were appearing on their sides. Knowing they were getting close, they picked up the pace. Looking into one room, Lance gasps when he spots a something that belongs to him.
"There it is!" he slides open the door and runs in. Several Coeihns weapons and other things were within, including a very familiar look blue and red Bayard. "Our weapons!" Lance plucks them both up, attaching them to his belt where they belonged.
"My sword," Manny grins, taking it. "I would have been sad to lose you," attaching it to his hip, he grins. "I think I know how to arm the hostages we save,"
"I like your thinking,"
0000- Keith-000
"These things sure do come in handy when you can't move your feet too well," Dravla beams, lifting the stolen pistol he had taken from a sentinel.
"They are meant for far distance combat," Keith confirms, despite having grabbed himself a blade from one of the Galra. His aimed sucked anyway, so what was the point of taking a gun?
"You doing okay, Dravla?" he calls over his shoulder, making sure to stick ahead in case they ran into trouble. With Dravla's leg, they were at a disadvantage.
"Fine," Dravla says, leaning against Dizzen for support. "Sorry to slow us down,"
"It's fine," Keith assures him, "We're making good progress," he would feel better though if they could find Lance. "Let's just try to hurry up a bit-"
"Oop! Wait wait!" Dravla forces Dizzen and him to stop. He was looking down a hall they were just about to pass. As if seeing something important, he grins, "Well hello there,"
Keith trails off to look over his shoulder, watching Dizzen and Dravla limp wildly down the second hall. "Hey," he calls them, "We have to move-" when he comes around the corner, he is surprised to finds cells of Coeihns. The other hostages!
Dravla is grinning at them, asking the Coeihns questions and giving small talk. "Keith, we found us some Equivalents~"
Dizzen was reaching through the bars, tears in his eyes as he grips a girl's hand. Watching his sobbing face, the girl chuckles, reaching out to brush them aside.
("I was so worried about you, sister,") Dizzen sniffles like an infant
"(You were worried about me?" she gawks, "You were taken away with no distinct reason and away from everyone else! I was worried about you! You're a fragile little angel who can hardly lift a fork,)"
Dizzen pouts, no longer sure if he was that happy to find his sister, "(You're ruining the moment, Bexley,")
"(Sorry)"
"Aww," Dravla says, "Dizzen found his sister,"
"I'm glad to hear that," Keith approaches the cells curiously, "Are they all Equivalents?"
Dravla nods, "Yeah, strange right? Did they take just Equivalents when they were capturing Coeihns?"
"Is Dizzen an Equivalent?"
Poor Dizzen blushes when Dravla leans over to sniff him, "Pure as pure can be… which is surprising given that he is a teacher and has black hair." he nudges Dizzen, "(You shy or something?")
("N-No! I just haven't found the right person,") he mutters, flustered.
("He's awkward,") his sister says to Dravla, who nods in understatement.
"(I am not!") Dizzen whines.
Keith isn't sure he cares about this topic anymore and tries to find a way to open the cells. "Ask them if any of them have seen Lance," he tells Dravla.
("Hey!") Dravla calls into the cells, ("Is Tellru, Lance or Ruru in there?") Many explain to Dravla that Tellru didn't get captured with them, and if she had, she wasn't with them.
"If you are all Equivalents, and she isn't here, I doubt she was," he concludes, ("My girls are too strong to let some Galra get the upper hand on them,") he boasters proudly. The Coeihns blink at him, clearly not amused. "But Lance doesn't seem to be in here either, Keith."
Keith nods numbly at that information. Since they were paladins the Galra probably took Lance somewhere else.
("But in all seriousness, were any pure's captured?") Dravla asks.
("They were,") Dizzen's sister tells him, ("But they were all taken somewhere else,")
"They were?" Dravla frowns at Keith, telling him what he had just learned.
When Keith was finally able to open the door, the Coeihns stepped out to join them, thanking Keith by bowing their head to him. If this didn't prove to them that Keith wasn't some spy, he didn't know what would.
"Well, let's go find the others. The more numbers we have the harder it will be to stay hidden, so let's try to cover as much ground as we can before we are discovered. Can you all fight?" Keith asks them
Dravla translates, repeating the question. All the Coeihns nod and Keith smirks.
"Let's get going then,"
-Lance-
Lance was thrilled when they found the Coeihns.
Rounding the corner, Manson slides to a stop when he hears a few gasps. Turning to the cells, he smiles at his people. They perk up at the sight of him, erupting into cheers. Lance slams his Bayard into the panel controlling the cells and deactivates the bars, lifting them for the Coeihns to swarm into the halls.
They are praising him and the King, but Lance can hardly appreciate it, trying his best to peek over them in search of Keith. He couldn't find him- or he wasn't here.
"Papa!" he recognizes someone yelling towards them. Manson's whole body goes still, and he turns with wide eyes. Prince Harri is pushing through the legs of the Coeihns, most stepping to the side to let him through.
Manson rushed forward to lift his boy into his arms. The Coeihns stepped back to smile at the sight, touched at the happy reunion.
"Papa," Harri sniffled, burying his face into his Father's shoulder. "I-I was brave," Harri is telling him. "I didn't cry o-or anything in front of them,"
"I know," Manson sighs in relief, running a hand through his son's hair, "You did so well, Harri. I'm so proud of you. Daddy would have been proud of you too,"
Lance swallows when he realizes Manson meant Kac'ela. He can't help but look away, swallowing down some bile when he thinks to Rashra and what that murderer had done.
Pulling away enough to look his Father in the face, Harri gives him a small smile, "Daddy would be proud of you too, Papa."
Manson blinked once, then twice, and then laughs brokenly, "You think?" he tilts his head to the side. Harri nods, and leaned forward, pressing his forehead to his Father's. They share a small moment like that before Manson turns to his people.
("We must escape from this place,)" he tells them. "(There is a storage room down the hall room here where we shall arm ourselves. We must free everyone other Coeihn we can find and make our way to the escape pods!)"
The Coeihns do a cheer to pump themselves up, then rush down to get the weapons they sought. Manson stopped one Coeihn to ask them a question. When they answered, Manson nodded to them and sent them off.
"Lance," he turns to him, "It seems that they separated the Coeihns into three groups upon capturing. A group of pure's, a group of equivalents, and then a third group consisting of three individuals. They informed me that Keith and Dravla was part of that group,"
Lance's mind flashed to what Rashra said before- how he had requested three people for his… enjoyment.
Lance looked physically ill at the news, gritting his teeth and inhaling sharply, "W-We have to find them," he says.
"Indeed. We just located the group of pure's, so the Equivalents must have been kept elsewhere. Including Keith, Dravla, and whoever else was taken with them."
"Right," Lance nods stiffly, "Let's hurry," he glances at the timer, "30 minutes to go,"
Arming the Coeihns was simple, but leading them through the halls not so much. It was impossible to use stealth at this point, so they ended up just barreling through whatever Sentinels and Galra they stumbled upon. The Galra were able to track them through this, sending waves of robots in an attempt to stop them.
Of course, being a race that had been in war for centuries, even the citizens knew they fair share in a fight and were able to make it through the robots with ease. To Lance, it was very impressive, and he was very glad to have these people on his side.
The problem was, they were running out of time.
"Still no sign of Keith, Dravla, Tellru or Ruru," Lance mumbles to himself trying not to look down at his timer constantly.
"Perhaps Tellru and Ruru have not been captured…?" Manson suggests as the run down the hall
"Did you see them get away?" he raises his eyebrow
Manson shakes his head, "No, but there are still plenty of cells left to check. We've confirmed Keith and Dravla are here, but perhaps Tellru and Ruru weren't?"
"Maybe," Lance agrees, "Ruru probably would have been with Harri and the other pure's, but she wasn't…. But we still haven't found Keith." he frowns, worried.
"We'll find them," Harri pipes in, looking confident in this fact, "They are strong!"
"Y...Yeah," Lance agrees, smiling at the young Prince. Looking down at his timer, he frowns to find the time ticking down quickly. "23 minutes left," he says, "We gotta get everyone else and get to the escape pods, fast!" he informs the King
They turn to make their way down the next hall, finding themselves stumbling into a large open area. Railings cover the sides of the walkways, plummeting downward to reveal several other floors of the Galra ship.
This place was huge. How were they possibly going to find Keith in this mess?
"Do you hear that?" Manson inquires. Lance doesn't understand what he means and strains his ears to listen.
Gunshots?
He turns and looks across the skywalk platform that connected the two sides of the ship. Galra were shuffling across the other side. For a moment, Lance was positive they were headed for them, but their aim was somewhere else.
A small group, the second batch of prisoners they had been looking for, had already managed to escape from their cells and were tempting a breakout.
They were Coeihns, obviously, but one small figure in particular caught Lance's eye. Gripping the railing bars, Lance leaned over as far as he could to peer at the group, his mouth falling open.
Recognizing that crazy mullet anywhere, Lance screamed the other's name across the vast distance,
"Keith!" his name echoed, bouncing off the walls like a symphony.
The Paladin in question turns so fast that he almost falls over, his eyes desperate in his search. Scanning the perimeter like a beast on the hunt, it didn't take long for him to spot Lance, who was waving frantically on his end.
"Keith!" Lance was so happy he wondered if maybe he was crying? Considering that his yell sounded more like a sob, he probably was.
Keith was alive.
And look, Dravla was even with him!
Keith almost drops his stolen sword, mouthing Lance's name in utter shock. With a sudden dash to his right, he is pushing through the Galran soldier, cutting down each one that got in his way from making it to the skywalk and over to Lance.
Lance follows after him, hoping to meet Keith half way.
Manson was barking orders behind him, moving to follow in Lance's lead, the Coeihns follow after him.
It wasn't easy getting across since most Galran took up the bridge and cut them off, but he was close. It was an all out war. Lance had never fought with so many allies before, and it really helped measure the scope of how intense this battle against Zarkon could be at times.
With each sentinel, he shot down the closer he could see Keith. Dark hair, red shirt, angry scowl, but bright eyes- they were almost in reach.
When he got to hearing distance, Lance called to him.
Lifting his sword to catch the blade of a Galran soldier, Keith calls to him, "Lance! Are you alright?!" Lance is a little bit of a distance away but manages to hear him through this chaos.
"Yeah. A little light headed, but otherwise good," he lifts his own Bayard to take fire at the Sentinels taking the positions above, knowing they were trying to get an advantage by gaining the higher ground.
With each swing of his sword, which was odd to Lance since he had never seen Keith fight with anything other than his own Bayard, Keith managed to gasp something else out, "You're nuts! I can't believe you accepted the challenge!"
Was he seriously talking about that Rashra challenge?! "Are you still on that?!" Lance could hardly believe his ears, "That is old news, Keith!"
"I am so gonna kill you when this is done with! Did that creep do anything else? How many fingers am I holding up?"
To Lance's amusement, a faint glimpse of fingers peeked out over the Galran and Coeihn heads.
"3," he calls back, "And it isn't like they were giving me much of a choice!"
"Hell, they were," Keith barked.
Lance grins into his sleeve. The normal response to being scolded should be to feel regret, frustration, or defiance of what they were scolding you of- you definitely weren't supposed to feel giddy and bounce on your heels as much as Lance was.
It was just so… Keith!
Yelling at him, trying to pick a fight in the middle of a war zone. Lance couldn't even see his face, just managed to make out the call of his voice within the sea of warriors, or his sword swinging upward from time to time- or a flash of raven hair.
It was the greatest thing ever, in Lance's opinion.
"Hey, you know me." Lance cackles.
"Annoying and difficult!" Keith summarizes
"That is so rude! You know you adore me!" Lance gasps dramatically.
"Shut up, of course, I do!"
Lance falters, turning to find Keith but a short distance away. Caught by surprise, Lance can only stare at Keith's back as he lifts his sword cutting deep into a sentinel. He turned, jabbing a finger towards the blue paladin.
"When we get back, I'm making you my Equivalent, you ass! So you better be prepared!"
Lance inhales sharply. Caught off guard, his arm was tugged back by Manson to avoid getting his head chopped out. With reeling thoughts, Lance stumbles around him, mumbling his thanks before demanding, "W-What?" Had Keith just said what he thought he said? He wasn't sure! His heart is going too crazy to think straight. If everyone could just shut up for a moment and give him a second to breath, he would really appreciate that!
There is no response, like Keith hadn't heard him- or had, but was just ignoring him. "Keith? Did you just ask me to be your equivalent?'
He locates Keith bashing in the head of a Sentinel, taking out his embarrassment on the poor thing since he hadn't thought through his words when he had openly declared them.
His face is a burning red, his eyes narrowed in a panic, each punch seeming to give no help in decreasing his growing shyness when Keith realizes Lance can see him.
"Keith~!" Lance is stopped from a small fence kind of structure that was cutting off that area. As he was about to lift his leg to go over it, Keith is shoved back into him.
Keith glances over his shoulder, blushing. It was almost insane considering they were in war right now but-
"Did you just-"
"Yes," Keith nods, "I-I meant what I just said. I want you to be my equivalent,"
Lance is gasping, "I... I can't-" he lifts his hand to cover his mouth, smiling into his palm. He was happy. He was so incredibly happy. "L-Let me catch my breath," he pleads
Keith reaches over the bars, yet another thing to keep the two apart, to graze his index finger to Lance cheek, savoring the small touch. He is staring at Lance with an unspoken anxiety, his other hand tapping nervously against the bars as he works up the courage to say these things. "Would you be mine, Lance?"
(Yes), his thoughts screamed at him.
He opens his mouth to answer….
The ceiling erupts above them from an explosion. Realizing another freedom battle was going on up above, Lance didn't have time to react to the falling debris.
In that moment, Lance hated Keith's natural flow to follow his instincts. It usually tended to work out well for them- but not when it involved showing Lance out of the way instead of leaping to the side himself.
Time went slow motion. He could see Keith as he was tossed back. Could see the panic in his eyes, then a contentment when he realized Lance would be safe. Then he was gone.
Hitting the ground hard, Lance slides a decent couple inches before coming to a painful halt. He lifted his head, but he couldn't see Keith. He was covered, buried deep within the fallen chunks of ceiling.
"No!" he leaped to his feet and charged for the pile of debris.
"Oh no…" Dravla whispered from where he stood, lowering his weapon in shock.
"Keith! KEITH!" Lance hurriedly scrambled to move the rubble, digging as desperately as he could. His fingers bleed, but he didn't care. He didn't stop till he found him.
When he finally did, Keith's body was unmoving.
(Yes, is what he had wanted to tell Keith.)
"Keith? Keith?!" he pleaded, lifting him into his arms. When he fell limp, Lance forgot what it felt like to breath.
(Yes, Keith.)
"Is he…?" Dravla trailed off, his face pale.
"No…" he laid Keith flat on the ground a short distance away from the rubble, and then placed his finger below his ear, searching for his pulse. It wasn't there. Or he couldn't find it through trembling hands. Blood was rushing to his ears, making them ring. He couldn't hear anything.
(Yes, Keith. Lance couldn't tell him this if Keith... if he...)
Was Keith even breathing? Lance didn't think so.
(Quiznack, yes, dammit! Yes he would be his! He had been his for months now!)
Knowing he couldn't properly listen for the heartbeat like this, Lance put his head to Keith's chest and listened for the sound, for any sign, that Keith was alive.
(He never got to give him an answer…)
One second, two seconds- ten seconds... Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
There was nothing.
Lance's wails could be heard for miles.
My internet, like other things, is dead, so this chapter ended up being late. It came back to life though, like other things eventually, so don't worry :D
... *awkward laughter*
Reviews:
: Oh my gosh hey! Thank you so much for the review too! That means so much to me, and I'm so glad you were able to make an account! :D I didn't notice any errors, so don't you worry about a thing! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too despite how things turned out... 0.0
Oh dear lord: I'm sorry, but oh my gosh you are so sweet! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too! The next chapter has some moments so don't worry. People will be becoming equivalents very soon!
Guest: You weren't! Your theory was almost proven correction, but he was saved, so don't worry! :D
Guest: There are a lot of guests so I hope you all know who I am talking about in certain moments 0.0 I think you are the same person though XD
Guest" Twas a stupid idea, yes XD
Guest: Uh, I think you mean "Boat" XD
Guest: I suck at fake sleeping too. my nose twitches and gives me away
Guest: I shall both please and piss people off! Bwahahah!
Guest: hahahaha XD It's hard to act like you aren't gossiping when you legitly are!
The colorfulmonster: Oh my gosh, thank you! I hope you enjoyed every chapter you read! I'm so happy you took the time to read this!
Guest: Can't have a good story if there isn't some sort of betrayal... or something like that XD
Guest: Yes, everything is fine... be like the Tin man. he doesn't have a heart. and he's fine :D
Guest: Lance didn't die... unlike a certain other person...
Guest: BEAHAHHERL:KH SF BWAHAHAHAHAHAHa
Seamor: Seamor! my friend! My pal! Welcome to hell on earth! :D But yes, Rashra is totally hateable. And something really really bad did happy... yeah...
Zaffrebat17: That is definitely one way to kill someone XD Don't worry! Rashra will recieve his painful demise! ...Cause things aren't over with him yet :3 tehe
Ewink18: Thank you so much! Who wouldn't try to save Lance? ;-; Thank you so much
KnightOwl247: *slowly approaches the ball* ... There there *hands you a blanket and some cookies* They say everything has to get worse before it can get better so... XD I dunno where I'm going with this. I always just make everything ten times worse
Dick-Grayson-Trash: Hahaha XD Oh my gosh, really? I'm so sorry- I think? Thank you for reviewing!
AngiMK: When red learns what's happened, the whole universe is going to Feel. Her. Warth
Devil Wolf girl: Yay! I'm so glad to hear that! I doooooo. yes, I really do enjoy making everyone stress over these boys
Pink doughtnuts: BOOM BAAM! PLOT TWIST! XD hahah