Chapter thirty-five: Memoryscape
Keith was almost sprinting down the invisible stretch, which he felt strangely confident to run through.
"Keep pacing yourself, Keith." Shiro advised over the com link. "Even though you've got a bit of an open stretch you've always gotta be ready in case something unexpected happens."
And as a result of this direction, knowing deeply how true it was, he slowed to an even jog that gave him more room to react if needed.
"Good, now get ready, there's a left turn coming up." Shiro continued, taking on a more formal posture before the holo-screen panel.
And from afar, at a short distance from the Black Paladin, some observers took in the sight a bit differently than others.
"Isn't it a little unfair for Shiro to be guiding Keith of all people?" Lance mumbled, leaning over Pidge's shoulder. "I mean, those two are like this.." and he held two fingers up and pressed them together, one over the other.
"Would you give it a rest?" Pidge hissed, leaning her head back at him briefly. "Shiro's just come off an injury that could have killed him.. Now we're trying to slowly build him back up again,.. and this seemed like a good way to start."
"Ok, your left turn is coming up.." Shiro paused, making Keith's gaze harden for focus. "Now.."
Screeching to the left, he resumed his even jog waiting for the next instruction. But the unknown edge returned to make him back off on his speed just a little more.
"You're more than halfway there.." Shiro began again. "You've got another left and then a one-eighty turn, but keep it a stride apart so you don't get shocked. The timings gotta be perfect."
Keith just smiled.
"Heh,.. you know me.." the Red Paladin smirked, through panting breaths. Taking a wild guess in the timing, he turned left which yielded a reward that allowed him to turn the one-eighty around in one long stride and kept him going without any shocks.
"Perfect timing.." Shiro commended, sounding almost surprised.. or perhaps just impressed. "Ok now a right turn.. now." Stumbling slightly out of the turn, he kept up on his stride to continue the steady jog he'd set for himself.
"Don't think too fast or you'll get hurt like I did.." Shiro joked lightly.
"Not your fault.." Keith insisted. "That was mine."
"Don't be held back by what you wish you had done differently." Shiro advised. "You've already paid for it.. and you're already making it right."
"Heh, says you.." Keith breathed softly, in clear disbelief. And only the rest of the team could see the subtle drop of Shiro's gaze, before refocusing on the task at hand.
"Your next turn is coming up soon," the Black Paladin sighed, and some among the group barely noticed the tense grip he'd cuffed his left hand in, with a bit of a slight twisting motion for extra measure.
"Copy that.. I'm ready." Keith's voice came back, a slight fuzz in the com static.
"Turn right.. Now."
And when he did, he sensed the coming end.
"Just say when." Keith said aloud.
Shiro watched Keith's pinpoint dot sliding up the screen, internally counting it as it neared the exit.
"Now."
Keith dodged to the left and skidded to a stop. And once he had, it was only a few moments before the maze reappeared behind him, which he turned round to look at.
Pidge stopped her phone's timer, and her eyes widened.
"Woah!" She gasped looking up. "That's a training record! How did you.." and taking one moment to lock eyes with Shiro, who didn't seem to show any response at all, she made the conclusion herself.
"Right.. nevermind," she said finally. "Great work."
"Alright, guys.. Now it's Shiro's turn to be guided through." Coran said, as his gaze turned toward him, putting all eyes on the Black Paladin. And even Shiro didn't know what to think about being put on the spot, as he turned to face the window overlooking the training deck.
xxxx
Setting his helmet on, he stood silently in the middle of the room, waiting for the training maze to come up.
"Ok Shiro, take it slow.." Keith advised. "Pidge will guide you through and you'll need to work together to get you out of the maze once it vanishes from your view."
"Not the first time." Shiro gently reminded him.
"I know." Keith sighed, still leaning over the control panel and staring out the glass at the lone Paladin below them. "But I'm still not sure this is a good idea just yet."
"I know how you feel." Shiro replied sensitively.. "but if we're gonna get back into this fight with the Galra.. we all gotta be back on our feet.. especially the Black Lion.."
"You mean you?" Keith wondered, a little confused by this statement; indicated by the tension on his furrowed brows and the momentary, but very slight, search of his eyes.
"Both of us.." Shiro returned in a low voice, making the Red Paladin's expression soften a little.
"Alright, this course seems pretty simple.." Pidge began. "There are two places that may be a little tricky, but I think we can get you through it easily."
"I trust you, Pidge." Shiro replied. "We can do this. A good teammate knows when to trust their gut and when to trust their team,.. and a good leader knows when to hold on.. and when to let go of their control."
"I thought this was our chance to guide you." Pidge replied humorously.
"Guess there are some things that never change." Shiro returned mildly, but even Keith could hear the humor in his meaning. Closing his eyes he lowered his head, then lifted it to press the button for the com link.
"Just be careful ok?" He sighed lightly.
"No chance of anything else." Shiro responded.
"Ok Shiro the maze is going up.. now.." Pidge narrated, as soon as it showed up with her command, so did it also vanish from view.
"Alright, now you should be able to turn and head straight to your left.." Pidge began.
Shiro looked before turning to walk that way, however no more than four steps later he was hit with a shock that sent him stumbling back a couple paces.
"Pidge!" Keith hissed.
"Ope! Sorry, my bad I thought you were further over!" Pidge immediately apologized. "Ok, take a step over to the left from your current position and then try that again for a couple paces. You'll head to the right after that.."
Shiro's left hand trembled in fist at his side. And though his eyes peered down at it without turning his head, he directed his gaze up and took the step needed to clear the shock zone. Taking the right turn, he slowly strode down the invisible corridor, letting his thoughts remain open for anything, intending to anticipate the next instruction. But really he was just looking for anything to distract him, from the one lowered extremity that was starting to get on his nerves.
"Heads up, you're gonna be heading to the left soon." Pidge's voice came over the com.
Shiro's eyes tracked the nothingness like there was something to see, but really his mind was recalling something he had nearly forgotten..
xxxx
To get out of this field and off the planet it appeared to be a labyrinth of some kind. Mainly because you couldn't escape through the top like a normal labyrinth.. Even though the top was open to provide that way of escape. He'd figured out quickly that the pressure and contents of the atmosphere were far too unstable and would, for some reason,.. send his ship into the red zone far too quickly, almost instantaneously. Thereby, prohibiting a quick sprint for space, forcing his hand into sticking around to feel his way out of it.
Luckily, based on the control panel to his right, it seemed there was a point on the map where the atmosphere was clear for an escape to the stars, but he had to find his way through the labyrinth to find it. So hesitantly.. He eased the ship enough off the ground to keep it above the ground, but low enough to stay out of the red zone above..
xxxx
This deja vu of the moment seemed to parallel his adventure and he seemed to anticipate the need to turn left.
"Go- ahead." Pidge trailed off.
"What is it, Pidge?" Keith wondered, catching on to her confusion.
"Uhh- nothing.. maybe he just got lucky.." The Green Paladin replied, shaking out of her momentary distraction. "Ok now a right.."
Shiro turned, maintaining the same walking pace, almost like a soldier in a lineup yet a little more relaxed.
"Another right," Pidge instructed a couple paces later. "And.."
"A left?" Shiro put in for her.
"Yes!" Pidge confirmed brightly. "Wow, it's like you've done this before?"
"Um we all have, genius." Lance deadpanned flatly, lowering his head over his crossed arms.
"No duh.." Pidge quipped, "but look at him.."
The team came a little closer to observe him.. as Pidge was just about to give an instruction they noticed now how he reacted right as she was giving the command.
"It's like he's anticipating his every move.." Keith mentioned aloud.
"He didn't have this same course the last time, did he?" He asked after a pause, turning to Coran.
"Uh, no.." Coran confirmed thoughtfully. "In fact, all of the courses we've done today have been different from the ones we started you all on."
"So how does he know where to go?" Hunk wondered.
"How much further, Pidge?" Shiro wondered, through the comlink.
"Apparently he doesn't.." Lance figured based on this statement.
"Shiro, are you seeing something?" Pidge asked.
"I'm not sure what you mean." The Black Paladin replied.
"Ok.. nevermind. You'll be turning right soon.." Pidge replied back softly. "Ok so he's either gotten better since we started this or he memorized all the courses."
"Not possible, the computer generates them, but doesn't save them." Coran declined, with the wave of a hand. "And that's on purpose so that no one can just go back and cheat.. and it mimics the universal terrain of different planets and landscapes."
"Then how do you explain that?" Lance asked, gesturing a hand down to Shiro, who again anticipated the turn as Pidge was telling him.
Allura thought for a moment of her own.
"Perhaps he's seeing a memory.." she supposed with some enlightenment. "And it just so happens to match what he's doing currently.
"Well,.. these mazes are generated based on cataloged locations stored in the castle's archives." Coran recalled.
"Is there a way to find out the location it was based on?" Keith wondered hopefully.
"Well of course.." the royal advisor confirmed walking over to the panel next to Pidge and beginning a sequence of taps and types. "Usually we wait till after the simulation is completed.. but because this is a unique case.. Here it is.. looks like this location comes from the planet Vortex 1.. the first of the techy planets in sector eighteen of the Galaxy Rubexia. These planets are a living breathing puzzle of puzzles each region is riddled, *clears throat* pardon the pun.. as you earthlings say.. with giant life-sized trials or puzzles that need to be solved in order to get off the planet. As it turns out this particular maze is from the largest recorded labyrinth in that galaxy. Said to be large enough for whole ships to navigate, a rather popular type of puzzle which the Vortens made sure to expertly craft."
"So.. could Shiro have been here at some point?" Keith asked.
"Well obviously.." Pidge figured. "I mean he was missing for at least a couple months.. and we know he's been a little bit of everywhere, even with a wound that almost killed him."
"Pidge?"
"Right, sorry!.." Pidge refocused quickly. "Take a left.. then another left a couple paces after. You'll go right and then right again in the same way after that."
"I think we should test him to see if we're right." Pidge mumbled to the group while Shiro was busy once again.
"And how do we do that?" Lance asked skeptically.
"All he has to do is see the location on the screen and we'll know whether he recognizes it or not." The small girl shot back.
"Ok, head to the left and you're home free." Pidge announced to their leader.
And by this point he had closed his eyes to navigate and once he had completed the final direction, he could sense the maze appearing after he stopped where he was. Then opening his eyes, he turned around to see the maze right behind him.
"Great work, Shiro, you come back up to join us." Pidge announced as the maze materialized into thin air. And though this confused him slightly, he headed up anyway.
Heyooooo! Bet you thought I forgot all about this story!
Wronnnng! However, UUUGGGGGGGHHHHHH IT'S BEEN SOOOOO LONG!
Ugh! I hate leaving a story hanging.. Especially since this idea was suggested to me by someone here and it was something I was curious to explore myself. And since I had so many amazing plans for this I just couldn't let it all go to waste.
So here's a new chapter. Don't know when the next one will surface, but just rest assured I have not completely forgotten about this story! And I intend to finish it.
Hope you guys like it and I hope you check back whenever you can for whenever I get a new one out. Till then, I'll see you next time! Thx!