~warning: small mentions of blood~
Chapter eleven
Another sentry dropped to the floor, only to be replaced with another one grabbing him in a choke hold from behind. Shiro's breath caught in his throat. His frustration of the situation enabling him to push through. And reaching his glowing alien hand up behind his back, he pulled the sentry over his shoulder and stabbed his hand through it. His breaths abruptly jerking his chest in and out, as he knelt there. He hand on his shoulder made him whip around, extending his glowing hand out to meet the surprised face of the Green Paladin.
"DaAHHH!! Shiro its me, it's Pidge!" Pidge cried quickly, holding her hands up like she was about to be arrested. She stumbled on her words, as her eyes widely glanced directly at the glowing weaponized extremity five inches from her face. Shiro's eyes flashed and he lowered his hand, motioning an apology. Pidge smiled and motioned back, placing a hand on his arm.
"Now let's go get Keith." She said, gesturing for them to go. Shiro nodded understanding the meaning of her actions. Heading on down the hall, Pidge heard a cry she recognized. Taking Shiro's hand she led him toward the sound. Stopping to kneel down next to another corner, the Black Paladin following suit. She carefully leaned over and peered around it. Another cry and sounds of a struggle echoed from a room guarded by two Galra soldiers outside the door. Shiro peeked around her to see what she did. The two exchanged and glance and a nod, and crept out from around their hiding place.
The silence was shattered by a green cable weapon slamming one of the Galra soldiers across the cheek. And the other one attacked by a man's unusually strong right-handed punch. Making sure they were out cold, Shiro, then, made his way inside the room. There were seven figures standing there around the table, flashbacks of himself on that table suddenly flashing across his mind. Shaking himself out of it, he lunged for the closest Galra there. The attention shifted from Keith on the table, to the intruder in seconds. A couple Galra trying to wrestle Shiro down. His weight shifted back and he hit the wall, he then slammed one Galra into it; freeing one hand. Slicing through the pair of sentries. And powering the other Galra down. One of the masked technicians delivered a shock to the man's side. Shiro nearly fell over when it ended and stumbled toward the table. Steadying himself against it, the two masked techs prepared to grab him from both sides. Unfortunately for them, their faces met Shiro's fists as they lunged forward, both fell limp to the floor. Shiro stood there to catch his breath for a second, he, too, was getting tired by now. Battle hadn't been easy for him, and he knew it wasn't gonna get any easier. Not with Zarkon around.
"Shiro, you ok." Pidge said, finally rushing in to join him. She placed one hand on his hand and one on his shoulder; Shiro's palms not leaving the table in front of him. She patted his arm, and knelt down to disable the shackles that held the weak Red Paladin's arms and legs down. She then ran around the other side to get a good look at him.
"Keith?" She murmured to him. Keith's head lay toward her, his eyes slowly peeling open.
"P..Pidge?" His voice weakly croaked, barely audible.
"That's right we're here." The Green Paladin smiled. She looked up at Shiro, and Keith slowly shifted his head to follow her gaze. Shiro's head was downcast, his white forelock shielding his face. As he lifted his face up, they could now see the gash above his left eye, blood slowly sneaking down his face from it.
"Sh..Shiro?!" Keith breathed, shuttering at the chills running up and down his spine.
"I'm here Keith." Shiro motioned to him.
"We need to get out of her... now." Pidge said, trying to help Keith up. But her small size made it difficult. Without thinking twice, Shiro came around and slung Keith's other arm over his shoulder they walked out together. Pidge was nearly drowned by Keith's arm, because of how short she was. But that didn't stop her from trying to help make it easier for her wounded friend.
"Guys we've got Keith, we're heading back to our lions now." Pidge reported.
"No, head for the Red Lion first. It wants Keith. And it'll destroy this entire ship to do it." Allura instructed, tensing at another attack.
"But why not let it?" Hunk asked. "I mean that would help us wouldn't it?"
"No Allura's right." Pidge cut in. "Keith is in too bad of shape. We can't stay here any longer than we have to. If we take Keith to the Red lion, it'll take us to our lions and Keith back to the Castle. It wants to protect us, just as much as it does Kieth."
"That's right." Allura finished. "Now Pidge. The Red lion is not far from your location. There's an airlock that you can access to get to it."
"Great, that's just where we need to be. And we can retrieve his bayard and helmet on the way." Pidge said, looking at her holomap.
"Excellent. We'll continue to cover you as best we can. But we need to get out of here soon." The Princess reminded her.
"Copy that Princess, were on it." Pidge said, pointing in the direction they needed to go for Shiro. Keith was barely walking, though he never fell because Shiro kept a firm grip on him. "There's the airlock!" She pointed as they came around the corner. Coming up to it, Shiro placed his hand on the screen, his Galra hand granting them access to the airlock. Having retrieved Keith's helmet, they placed it on him, Pidge held on to his bayard. Shifting her right hand to hold Keith's arm over her shoulder, she activated her helmet and swung her left arm to bash the button; releasing them all into space. Shiro held on to keep from floating away, Keith releasing a weak moan. Shiro and Pidge caught a glimpse of the Red lion biting into the ship again. The lion suddenly froze and looked in their direction. Crouching down, it launched itself toward them. Hurtling faster and faster, as it came closer to them it slowed to allow a smooth pickup, and jetted on through the sea of Galra ships.
"Allura! We have the Red Lion! And Keith is safe." Pidge reported.
"That's great, Pidge!" Allura smiled. Shiro entered the cockpit, he watched the screen. Then jerked one of the handles over, pointing it towards the Black and Green lions; which were waiting patiently for their Paladins to return. The Red Lion read his mind and without further hesitation, flew on towards them. As Shiro and Pidge exited Red to get to their lions, Shiro glanced back at the lion. He pointed for it to go, and, strangely enough, the lion immediately turned and jetted away toward the Castle. Green and Black launched and followed Red, leaving the Galra ship behind. Only a short distance had been covered, before Shiro was slammed with a major migraine; that he knew was Zarkon! The Black lion stopped and squirmed awkwardly as if fighting trying to it off itself. It's pinkish glow returned and Shiro was beginning to feel a rush of energy, coursing through him. Lance's drone picked up on this.
"Uh oh," the Blue Paladin murmured. "Guys!! The Black lion!!" He called, over the com. Red and Green gazed back.
"I got this!" Pidge called, readying her lasers; and Red kept going. One blast at the ship was enough to throw the Galra Emperor off, freeing Shiro from his influence. Shiro took that opportunity at once, thrusting Black as fast as he could to get out of range. All finally reaching the castle they wormholed away, and were, again, several galaxies away. Red waited quietly with its mouth open, for someone to come get its Paladin; who was passed out on the floor. Shiro, of course, was the first to arrive, followed by the rest of the team. Hunk helped Shiro get Keith up, and they all hastily rushed him to the infirmary. Laying him carefully down on the table Coran, Allura and Pidge began assessing him. Shiro had stepped back to give them space, dazed by what he had seen. Memories of his own Galra experience returning to him in flashes. He began to see himself where Keith was. Was his mind playing tricks on him? Or was he just going mad? Maybe he was dreaming. But the blood stinging in his left eye reminded him otherwise. His fingers found his brow, looking at his hand the blood on it suddenly seemed burn his eyes. Was it just him, or was the blood on his hand growing; as though his hand, itself, were bleeding? But no matter how red his hand seemed to get, nothing hit the floor. The world around him seemed to blurr away from him. The sight of Keith and the others looking distant and almost moving in slow motion. He stared blankly at them, terror slowly revealing itself in them. Panic suddenly jerked him out of his delirium.
"Keith!" That one word escaped him as he snapped himself forward to help Keith. He was met by Lance and Hunk grabbing his arms, and Allura turning around to hold him back with both hands pressed to his chest. He struggled against them, unable to look away from the wounded Paladin
"Shiro!" Pidge waved at him to his left, finally breaking his gaze. Shiro froze at the sight of her. She placed a hand on his forearm, and he knew what she was trying to tell him. Lance, Hunk and Allura released him. And the Black Paladin turned and paced a couple steps to the left, then the right. He was struggling to keep his cool, and not totally lose it; fighting back the tears that threatened to break him. They all watched him for a moment as Allura stepped back, and Pidge came closer to her.
"You guys keep working on Keith." Pidge said, turning to Allura. "Hunk and I will deal with Shiro."
"Got it." Allura nodded. "But Pidge." She spoke up, stopping the Green Paladin in her tracks. "Be careful." Her concern demonstrated by her face and tone of voice. Pidge smiled back at her.
"That's why I have Hunk with me." She said, continuing to lead Shiro away by his right forearm; with his other hand to his head. The Princess reluctantly turned back to Keith. The bruises and scratches on his body telling the story of all he had been through in the few vargas he'd been gone.
"This arm is pretty messed up." Coran commented, inspecting the flaps of skin and the work that the Galra had been doing with it.
"We must work as hard as we can to fix it... to save Keith's arm." Allura decided her determination, masking any amount of fear and concern she had for him... and Shiro.
Shiro stared at the floor, his eyes hollow and his mind distant. He sat on the steps amongst the pods where Pidge had left him. No thoughts, but Keith, crossing his mind. Pidge laid an ice pack over his shoulder, and then knelt down to wipe the blood away from his brow; only to reveal the gash from which it came from. The blood has trickled down his cheek like a red tear, but the cloth and water fixed that promptly. His elbow rested on his knees; as he made no sound, and made no move. A single tear escaped down his cheek, and Pidge brushed it away. Shiro closed his eyes and, still, didn't move. Pidge glanced up at Hunk, who returned a mirrored one of concern. Both of them knew he was upset about Keith, but neither of them could imagine what he was going through. Only because they knew that the Galra had held him prisoner for a year; and now Keith, whom he cared about very much, had been captured and hurt by them too. All Pidge could do was fight back the lump in her throat, and the pain stabbing her in the heart; as she continued to tend to the Black Paladin. Footsteps made her look up, seeing the Blue Paladin standing there. Hunk had looked up too, but Shiro remained as he was. Pidge then dropped her gaze back to Shiro, and sniffled to recompose herself.
"How's Keith?" She asked, trying hard to hide her despair.
"Ok," Lance kept a soft quiet voice. "Coran and Allura are fixing his arm right now. They're trying to stabilize him so they can put him in the healing pod... Who knows how long that'll take." He paused, hesitant to go on. "How's Shiro?" He managed to say, coming down the steps and stopping at the bottom. Pidge opened her mouth to speak, but the words died before reaching her mouth; unable to escape the lump still in her throat. Thinking of nothing to say, she rose from her place, then strode over to him. Her stride quickened, as she wrapped him in an embrace; unable to hold back the tears any longer. Lance was taken aback by this, but snapped out of it to return the embrace; which seemed to last forever. Hunk solemnly looked away, feeling the heaviness of his heart all too well. Pidge's muffled sobs echoed in the quiet, highly-tense room.
Hey everybody!! How's it hangin'? This chapter was actually really fun to write!! I was really getting into it, and the ideas just kept coming with this one. Hope you guys find it as enjoyable to read, as it was for me to write! Thx!!!