Hello, LilAsianMouse here!

Thanks for reading Voltron - To Be the Enemy

Hope you enjoy this chapter, and don't forget to leave a review if you'd like to!

(Note - Updates will be sporadic, since school exists and it takes up a lot of my time - lo siento!)

Elsewhere, Lance, Hunk and Pidge were all together, no longer enjoying the party as much. Lance felt extremely guilty. HE was the one to cause a disruptance, and yet Keith paid the price. Kx'sdre was taken away by his consort and the festivities commenced, whispers about the Galran paladin floating around. Hunk wanted to punch anyone and everyone who was talking poorly of their resident Red Paladin. The moon overhead illuminated the reflective lights the Pl'xxra built. They all found themselves around a fire, the elder Pl'xxra telling stories.

"Have you ever heard the tale of the O'xtrnis Princess?" A young Pl'xxra asked Allura. She smiled and shook her head.

"I'm afraid I have not. Would you like to tell me?" She asked.

"The O'xtrnis is a deadly creature that slithers on the ground and its bite is venomous!" The young Pl'xxra exclaimed. Another joined in, dancing around the fire. More joined in and the first Pl'xxra continued. "It's stare entrances you, and when you realize it, you'll be eaten!"

"That sounds scary!" Allura feigned shock. An elderly Pl'xxra cleared their throat and the dancing and commotion died down instantly.

"Do not throw your caution to the wind, Princess of Altea. The O'xtrnis is real, and the only thing that it thinks of is food and blood. They live in the dark forests of Briril." The elder pointed a finger beyond their village. "We have barriers that protect our homes. The O'xtrnis refuse to live in light and only come out for food and blood."

Pidge looked at where the older Pl'xxra had pointed. She blanched and turned to Hunk and Lance.

"Isn't that where Keith and Shiro ran off to?" She said, her voice barely above a whisper. Lance looked at Hunk and shot up. Allura heard, and she stood immediately.

"I am terribly sorry to cut this celebration short, but I believe it is time for us to take our leave." She said curtly. After a brief goodbye, the rest of the Paladins and the Princess quickly grouped up. "Keith and Shiro both took off in that direction. If what the Pl'xxra are saying is true, then I fear we may have a dire situation on our hands."

"Coran, are you hearing this?" She asked through her comms on her earrings.

"Yes, Princess. I'm pulling up their locations right now." There was a pause, which seemed like hours. "They're both alive, but their vitals show that they're most likely moving quickly."

"We have to find them Allura. Not even Shiro and Keith could take on one of those... Ox-those monsters." Hunk tried and failed to pronounce the name of the O'xtrnis.

"You should hurry, Number One's vitals just spiked!" Coran yelped. The remaining Paladins and Allura took their cues and ran.

VOLTRON_

Keith wouldn't admit it, but he was grateful that Shiro had followed him. He would not have calmed down, and it most likely would've gotten him hurt or killed. His Galran eyes allowed him to have excellent night vision. But it wouldn't've done anything to help him find his way out of the dark forest. He was brought out of his musing when Shiro stopped abruptly.

"What's wrong?" The younger Paladin asked. Shiro didn't say anything, but held a finger to his lips. Be quiet. Keith got the cue and was on alert instantly, his bayard at his side.

"I think there's something out there." Shiro whispered. "Stay close." Shiro looked around, looking for the source of the footsteps he heard earlier. Suddenly a blur shot out of the bushes and knocked the two off their feet. Shiro shot up quickly and activated his arm, the hum of purple energy lighting up the forest. Something growled and Shiro lashed out. His arm hit something solid, and the creature let out a roar. The younger paladin had gotten up and drawn his bayard. He saw the creature swipe Shiro and the older paladin cried out.

"Shiro!" Keith roared and lunged at the thing. His tail helped him keep his balance as he used the trees around him to leap off and straight at the monster. It roared and tried to hit him with it's tail. He ducked and rolled. The creature finally stopped moving and Keith got a good look at it. It looked like a snake with horns on its head, and two forelegs. It was then that he realized the eyes glowed an ominous red. The red reminded him of a sunset, or of his Lion. He felt like he should've been doing something, but the red.. it was... enticing. It was... It..

"Keith, watch out!" Shiro shouted. Keith snapped out of his trance, but it was too late. The monster gave a screech and clamped on to Keith's midsection. He screamed as he was shook around by the monster. It dropped him to the ground and he hit the forest floor with a dull thud. "KEITH!" Shiro screamed. He got up from his crouched position and ignored the flaring pain from his leg. He activated his Galra arm and roared. The monster gave a roar of its own when the Black Paladin struck out and jabbed its foreleg. His arm gave enough light that he could see where he was hitting the creature. But all he saw was Keith getting attacked by the monster, and he used his rage to fuel his attacks.

Keith coughed, still awake but losing consciousness quickly. He watched as his brother repeatedly hit the monster, blinded with rage. "Shiro-" The Red Paladin coughed wetly. He looked down at his armor where he'd coughed. It was stained with red. His midsection felt like it was on fire, so in a twisted way, it made senses that he would be coughing up blood. His vision blurred violently and he stopped trying to move. He looked around and saw blurry shapes that moved too fast for his muddled mind to follow. "S-shiro!" He yelled, his voice hoarse and weak. The older Paladin heard Keith's pitiful cry and he stopped, looking for the source of the voice. The monster saw the opportunity and tried to hit Shiro with its tail. But the Black Paladin saw the looming appendage and ducked, grabbing onto the tail and climbing the monster. He grabbed its neck with a vice-like grip and started to slash at it with his prosthetic.

The creature screeched and started thrashing around, throwing Shiro wildly around. He tried to hold on with everything he had, but the monster wasn't having it. With a final buck, it threw him off. He felt himself go sailing in the air. Shiro suddenly felt his trip in the air cut short as he felt a sharp, intense pain in the back of his head that traveled down his back. The helmet absorbed most of the impact, but it shattered around the back and he fell to the ground. His vision was filled with red and black spots as he tried to shake the pain. Something was wrong. He couldn't move his lower body as he tried to sit up. Nausea swirled throughout his body and he nearly toppled over. The monster charged his prone form, but suddenly there was a bright light and the monster screeched in pain as the light attacked it. The black spots returned, and despite his resistance, consciousness left him quickly. The last thing he saw was a blur of green and blue shapes running towards him.