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“Wait, wait, wait. You guys actually think we’re gonna see Space Bigfoot?” Lance asked.
“Or Space Mothman.”
Hunk mused, “Can it really be a Space Something if the original was from space?”
“You mean like there can’t be a Space Keith because Keith is already from space?”
“What would a Space Keith even be?”
“Standing right here guys.” Keith reminded them.
Shiro smiled to himself, walking ahead of the group. There had been hardly any bickering so far, and he hoped the younger paladins would keep it civil for the whole trip. The whole point of this little excursion was to bond as a team and relax after all. Keeping the whole universe safe was… stressful, to say the least. Stumbling upon this heavily forested planet was something of a blessing. Funny how life works out like that sometimes. Shiro had dreamt his whole life of exploring space but, now that he was here, all he wanted was some semblance of Earth. It was good to be out of the paladin armor for a little bit at least.
They finally broke through the trees to a small clearing. Coran marched ahead of Shiro, and looked around, stroking his mustache.
“Here’s a good spot then, eh?” Coran resembled a very strange boyscout, with a vest and a backpack bursting with supplies. Shiro nodded to him and surveyed the area. It was only a little ways back to the castle, and the clearing was big enough for all the tents. So far, so good. He turned back to the paladins.
“Go ahead and pitch your tents. And don’t wander off.”
Keith had packed the lightest of all the paladins. He didn’t think camping was all that special. He had been living out of a shack in the desert for a year, after all. He didn’t mind the excursion, but he also wasn’t jumping at the chance to sleep in a tent outside.
Lance, on the other hand, had a backpack almost as full as Coran’s. He preferred beaches to forests but, if he was gonna do this, he was gonna do it in style. He and Allura were set on “glamping” comfortably. Shiro had tried to tell him that they would only be out here for one night, but that changed nothing.
Keith went about pitching his tent near the edge of the clearing. For a brief second, Lance was conflicted between setting his own tent up as close to or as far away as possible from Keith's. Before he could decide, his feet were moving by themselves, following after Hunk. It made sense; he and Hunk were roommates at the Garrison, they could be tent-mates out here. He started pitching his tent, having only a little trouble with the poles, considering the instructions were in Altean. Soon enough though, he had his own little palace rigged. All there was left to do was wait for his air mattress to inflate. He crouched, examining the grass. The flora here all had slightly off colors: the trees had a slight twinge of purple in their bark, and the blades of grass had streaks of blue.
Across the clearing, Keith crawled out of his tent to see what else needed to be set up. Coran had dragged out a small table with a few unfoldable chairs. How he carried that much stuff was beyond Keith. Shiro was putting together the camp fire and waved Keith over to help.
Shiro showed him how to arrange the rocks. “You got this?” He asked. Keith nodded. “Good. I’m gonna go supervise the rest of them. Hunk will help you get firewood.” Shiro stood and walked away. “Lance, can you tie up the food? I don’t know about Space Mothman, but space bears might be a real possibility here.”
Lance chuckled. “Yeah, right, roger that captain.”
“And Pidge?” Shiro looked around for a moment before finding her. She squatted in front of her small tent, with a backpack hanging off her shoulders. Hearing her name, she shot up, clapping her hands together.
“Yeah?”
Shiro paused, examining her. “What are you holding?” He sighed.
Pidge looked down at her hands and then back at him. She opened her mouth to deny anything, but he arched an eyebrow. She huffed, but offered up her hands and opened them.
In her palms sat a large green bug-like creature.
“Okay, bye.” Hunk said, walking away hurriedly. Lance yelped and scrambled into his tent, zipping it shut behind him.
Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why?”
“I thought it was neat.” She shrugged.
“Okay, new camp rule. No picking up Space Bugs.”
Keith whipped open the flap of Lance’s tent, ducking his head to peer inside. He found Lance and Allura sitting across from each other. He was painting her nails. The tent was packed with blankets and pillows.
Keith shook his head. “Lance, a word?”
Lance sighed dramatically, capping the bottle of nail polish. “Be right back. Don’t let it smear.” He crawled out of the tent and walked after Keith to the side of the campsite. “What’s up?” He asked.
“Did you tie up the food?”
Lance dropped his smile, brow furrowed. “Yeah.”
Keith took a deep breath. “Did you do it right?”
“What the hell, man? Of course I did. I know you think I’m a huge fuckup but-” Keith interrupted him, dragging him by the wrist into the woods. “Uh, okay?”
“It should be right over here, yea?” Keith came to a stop and released Lance, who looked around for a second. Then, he pointed.
“This tree, it should be right up there. It took me forever to get it up high enough.”
“There’s nothing up in the tree, Lance.”
Lance threw his head back and groaned. “Oh man, Shiro’s gonna kill me.” He put his hands over his face, a fingernail on each painted blue. Keith left his side to circle the tree, looking high and low.
“Wait, over here.” Keith squatted in the dirt and waved Lance over. There was a clear footprint, and a scrap of packaging. Lance swore under his breath. The footprint was giant.
“It looks like a bear print.” Keith pointed out the deep claw marks.
“So. What do we do?”
Keith looked out into the woods, spotting another scrap of packaging. It would be easy enough to track it. He glanced over his shoulder, back toward the campsite and then looked up at Lance. Lance bit his lip. Suddenly, Keith felt like he would fight a hundred space bears for Lance. He squashed the feeling down, staring at the dirt. Lance took a few hesitant steps forward. He looked down to Keith.
“You don’t have to come with. I’m just gonna see if I can find it.” He shrugged.
Keith got to his feet. “It’s okay. I’ve got your back.”
They walked for a bit, Keith pointing out the next footprint every time Lance lost the trail. They weren’t too far from camp, but Keith made mental notes of landmarks every so often anyways. The trail seemed fresh enough, though Keith would never claim to be some expert tracker. Neither of them spoke, not wanting to break the eerie silence that wound through the woods. Slowly, the scraps of packaging grew even more frequent, and the footprints grew closer together. Keith’s conscience told him what a bad idea this was, but still he marched cautiously forward. Every so often, Lance would glance behind them. So yeah, they knew what a bad idea this was. But when you put together two stubborn boys trying to impress each other or save their dignity, bad ideas are what you get.
Suddenly, Keith shot a hand out to the side, stopping Lance. He put his finger to his lips, and motioned for Lance to listen. For a few seconds, the forest was quiet. Then, a few yards away, the sound of twigs snapping and a faint shuffling, like something large moving about.
The bear towered over them. Keith had led them around the trees, until they had gotten close enough to see it. Laying low in the brush, it seemed absolutely gigantic. Lance suddenly felt very naked without his paladin armor.
The bear had it’s nose buried in the bag of food, having apparently torn it from the tree and carried it all the way out here. How it had gotten up high enough to reach the bag was quickly answered when the bear stood up on it’s hind legs to scratch its back against the tree. Lance closed his eyes, knowing there was no possible way they would be able to fight this thing. The bear scratched itself with shuddering thunderous movements, seemingly totally blissed out. Until it’s eyes snapped open and it’s nostrils flared. It dropped to all fours with a boom and turned towards them, nose upturned. At once, Keith realized his mistake and swore. They were downwind of the bear, their scent easily carried and noticed. His mind reeled, debating whether they should run or stay still. Those claws would tear them to shreds with one swipe, and he didn’t trust that they would be faster running. With Earth bears, you were supposed to play dead, but what if that didn’t work here?
There was no time to think this through. He had to go with his gut. He shot out his hand, grasping Lance’s.
“Don’t breathe.” was all he had time to whisper. He went limp and closed his eyes, trusting Lance to do the same. He could hear the bear breathing over them, growling in the back of its throat. His heart hammered against his rib cage. He fingers tightened ever so slightly over Lance’s hand as he tried to keep from flinching. The bear’s breath was hot and suffocating as it sniffed over him. His muscles were frozen in fear but screaming to move. When the bear moved away, he had to hold in a sigh of relief. Time seemed to move impossibly slow as it stepped around him. Lance’s hand tightened into a fist suddenly. Keith pressed down with his fingertips, trying to keep Lance from bolting. If they died here, Lance was gonna kill him. After what seemed like an eternity, he heard the bear let out one final whuff and lumber away. Slowly, he let out a silent shuddering breath, his lungs desperate for air. He waited until he was sure the bear had moved far enough away, the wrinkling sound of plastic being a good sign that it was busy again. Still holding onto Lance’s hand, he started to shift backwards. They were on a slight slope. All he had to do was reach the bottom. Beside him, Lance caught on and started to move as well.
Moving at a snail’s pace, it was a good five minutes before they had reached the bottom of the little hill.
Under his breath, speaking into the ground, Keith whispered, “On three, we book it. Follow me.” Lance nodded carefully. Keith took a deep breath and started counting. On three, he released Lance’s hand and launched to his feet, spinning on his heel and sprinting through the woods. Lance ran beside him, easily keeping up, but the bear wasn’t pleased. It roared, shaking the world around them. Keith nearly stumbled, barely keeping himself upright. He had no idea where he was headed, but he didn’t dare stop to try to figure it out. The bear had started to come after them, and they would need a miracle to stay ahead of it.
Suddenly the trees opened up around them and Keith had to skid to a stop to avoid falling over the cliff’s edge. Lance stumbled into him and he got a good look into the canyon before he pulled himself back. The bear was right on their heels. They were out of options.
“Jump.”
“What?” Lance shouted.
“Jump!” Without waiting, Keith grabbed hold of Lance’s shirt and launched them both over the cliff.
They plunged into the raging waters below. The current was fast and threatened to keep them both submerged. Keith fought to get his head above water, resurfacing in time to hear the bear roaring from high above them. He gasped for air, struggling to stay up. Lance splashed up beside him.
“What the hell?” He spluttered. Keith didn’t reply, too busy treading water. The current tossed him along, never letting up. “Keith!” Lance shouted again. He was pointing downriver, barely keeping his head above water. “Waterfall!” Keith didn’t even have time to try to find something to grab hold of. One moment he was underwater, and the next he was falling through the air.
The water hit him like a ton of bricks. For a terrifying moment, he couldn’t orient himself in the water, and vainly struggled to find the surface. He finally thrust his head out of the water again, gasping and coughing.
“Lance!” He called out.
“Here! Grab on!” He turned around, water dripping into his eyes, before finding Lance, clinging to a large flat piece of driftwood. Lance grabbed onto his wrist and they helped haul each other onto the makeshift raft. It was just big enough for the both of them, as long as they didn’t rock it too much.
“Fuck… this is your fault.” Lance muttered, still panting for air.
“My fault? Sorry, I wasn’t the one in charge of the food here.”
“You saw that bear! But, no, flawless Keith had to test his luck! Flawless Keith can do no wrong!”
“Well, maybe you are kind of a fuck-up, Lance!”
Keith’s throat closed up as soon as the words left his mouth. The air felt quiet and heavy as his heart pounded in his chest.
Lance didn’t reply, turning away from Keith.
The floated along in silence for a while. Keith felt like jumping off the raft and drowning the more he thought about it. He could be such an idiot. He wiped the water from his face, droplets dripping from his hair onto his shoulders. His feet dangled in the water.
“This is just like The Goofy Movie.” Lance finally spoke up again, in a small voice. Keith froze, unsure what to say.
“The what movie?” He cringed at himself.
“The Goofy Movie. Ya know, with Goofy and Max and they go on- oh, okay, you’ve never seen The Goofy Movie.”
“Uh, yeah, no.”
“It’s such a good movie though! I put it on for my nephews all the time. Or, I used to.” Out of the corner of his eye, Keith watched Lance wave his hands and then deflate again as he spoke.
There’s a beat before Keith gathered up his nerve. “Well… what’s it about?”
Lance looked over his shoulder at Keith, hesitating before he shook his head with a small smile. Carefully, so as not to rock their raft, he turned and scooted closer to Keith. “Okay, well we open with a shot of this gorgeous field of golden wheat right?” As Lance started in, apparently having memorized the movie shot for shot, something inside Keith softened. He would curse himself for being so… well. Not that he’d ever admit it, but he’d curse himself for pining so hard. Lance was annoying and loud and definitely goofy, but…
They say that if you want to get to know who someone truly is, you should take them camping, because everything that can go wrong will go wrong. And here they are, soaked to the bone, floating down a river. Ten minutes ago they were more than annoyed at each other. How he and Lance could snap back so easily baffled Keith. Keith, the kid who was always getting into fights, the discipline problem, the one who could never seem to make any friends. So, yeah, everything has gone wrong. But, there’s also somehow nowhere else Keith would rather be.
Shiro stood shin-deep in the stream. He felt good, better than he had in long time. The water was cool, there was a nice breeze blowing through, and nothing to worry about.
Other than Coran, of course. Coran stood beside him, with his pants rolled up to well above the knee. They were supposed to be fishing. Pidge had laughed at the idea and tagged along to see how well it went. She sat well out of the “danger zone”, playing a video game. Shiro had almost scolded her about how kids should enjoy nature more before realizing how old he would sound.
“Now, what you’re going to want to do is activate the lever on the side.” Coran instructed. He had dug around for a bit in the castle and found these old Altean fishing rods and decided it was his mission to teach Shiro how to use one. It was turning out far more complex than it had to be. Not to mention, Pidge snorted every time Coran said the word “rod”. Shiro hadn’t even really cared if they caught some fish; He had just wanted to do something relatively normal and stress free. Stifling a sigh, he did as Coran had said and flipped the lever. The pole hummed to life in his hands. Shiro almost called it quits, then and there.
After several more buttons, and long winded explanations of each that left Shiro more confused than when he had started, Coran finally let them cast their lines. Finally he could just enjoy the quiet.
The far off sound of animals, the water trickling by. Even the sounds of Pidge’s video game in the background made the ambience feel wholesome and peaceful.
That lasted about twenty minutes. Coran had eventually launched into recollecting the good old days of being the Altean equivalent to a cub scout. Neither of them had gotten a bite yet, nor seen any sign of fish. Shiro maybe wasn’t as patient as he liked to think he was, and he was beginning to rethink this whole “fishing” thing. He felt bad, but Coran could just be a bit… much, sometimes. He was lost in his own thoughts when Coran suddenly interrupted himself and exclaimed, “I think I've got a bite!”
The next moment he was being yanked deeper into the water as whatever was on the other end of his line tried to pull away from the hook. Shiro dropped his pole, and rushed to help Coran regain control of his. They dug their heels into the sand. Even with the two of them, it was a struggle to stay upright and keep hold of the pole.
“Whoa, did you guys actually catch something?” Pidge exclaimed behind them, setting down her game to watch.
Shiro clenched his jaw. “Coran, reel it in!” He pulled back on the pole, feeling it jerk forward again. Coran pressed a few buttons, and they were able to take a small step backwards, still struggling with the pole.
“You need to lower that knob.” Pidge said, suddenly knee deep in the water beside Shiro. She pointed to the side of the pole, and Coran stared at her and then the knob.
“Right you are, Number Five.” He flicked the knob and the pole began humming louder. The line started to reel in. Further out in the river, something was thrashing under the surface. With every small step they were able to take backwards, the water churned even more violently. The pole jerked forward again, nearly slipping out of Shiro’s hands but suddenly Pidge darted forward, grabbing hold of it as well. All three of them were reeling it in.
Then the fish breached the surface. “Fish” was a strong word. It looked like it could easily swallow Pidge whole and have room for dessert. It arced through the air, droplets of water shimmering on scales that were more like plates of armor.
It splashed back into the water, and they resumed their game of tug o’ war. It was a grueling few minutes, neither willing to budge, though a small voice at the back of Shiro’s mind was asking what the hell he was doing here.
They were finally able to reel it in enough that they backed into the shore, Pidge stumbling backwards and falling onto the sand. The pole jerked again, and Coran’s fingers slipped, but Shiro summoned one last burst of strength, practically throwing the pole backwards. The fish-like creature broke through the water again, flying overhead and landing to flop around on the shore. They stared at it, panting. Before any of them could move however, the trees to their left suddenly crashed down, branches cracking and a flutter of leaves falling around them. Leaping from the woods with impossible dexterity to snatch up the fish in its mouth was a giant bear. Rising onto its hind legs, it crunched down, powerful jaws crushing bones and fishing pole together.
The three of them stared upward in horror.
Keith wasn’t sure when he’d dozed off, but suddenly he was jolted awake. He sat up, feeling the raft rock beneath him. Then it was still again.
“Wha’s happenin’?” Lance slurred groggily beside him. Keith suddenly realized that they must have fallen asleep leaning against each other. Ignoring that thought, Keith looked over the side of the raft to where the water splashed his feet. Again, he had to marvel at how clear the water was. The shore was made of tiny tan and pink pebbles, worn round with time. And then it hit him.
“Lance, the shore!” He turned and pulled at the other boy’s sleeve and Lance looked around with a start.
“Hi, what about it?”
Keith laughed a little, as he slid off the raft, landing with a splash. The solid ground felt good beneath his feet. He turned to face Lance, whose eyes grew wide as he too realized they had drifted back to shore. Lance jumped off, the raft bobbing behind him as he splashed through the water. He swiped his hand through the water, splashing Keith.
“Hey!” A laugh bubbled out of his chest and Keith splashed Lance back.
With both now thoroughly soaked, they scrambled out of the water and onto shore. They laid there, panting for a moment.
“Hey,” Keith started slowly. “I’m… sorry about what I said earlier.”
“Good.” Keith’s heart skipped a beat. But then Lance was sitting up beside him, and continued, “But don’t sweat it. I know you didn’t mean it.”
“I didn’t.”
“I know. It’s no biggie, dude.”
Keith was silent for a beat. “Cool.”
“Come on.” Lance stood, sending the pebbles beneath his feet skidding. He offered Keith a hand up, and an easy smile.
Hunk admired his handiwork, setting another braid of flowers to the side. He liked to keep his hands moving, and it was peaceful sitting in the middle of camp. Hearing footsteps behind him, he paused and turned to look up.
“Oh, hey, princess.” Allura sat down beside him,
“What are you making?” She asked.
He shrugged, holding a flower out to her. “Flower crowns, I guess.”
“Oh! We used to make whole strings like these with the juniberry flowers on Altea.” She pulled up a few flowers, and began weaving them together. “I’m a bit rusty,” she admitted, but even so, her work looked as good as Hunk’s. “Here, you can make long strands by tying the stems together like this. Altean children would sit in rows out in the meadows and twist strings of flowers as long as our banquet tables.” She showed him how to tie the stems in so that the string continued seamlessly. She hummed as she worked: a soft, lilting melody.
Soon enough they had an impressive chain going with both of them working at either end.
However, it wasn’t long after that they heard a shout. Their hands froze and they exchanged a worried look.
“That sounded like-” Allura didn’t finish.
“Yeah.” Hunk stood and helped Allura up, studying the woods around them. Suddenly, in the distance, they heard another shout, and then the sound of trees cracking and giving way. Something was crashing through the forest, barrelling towards them. They took a few steps backward, clinging to one another’s sleeves.
Then Pidge jumped out from amongst the trees.
“Run! Move!” She shouted, waving her hands at them. Hunk didn’t need to be told twice. Scooping Allura up, he booked it to the far edge of the clearing. Pidge was a few steps behind him when Coran and Shiro came running into the campsite as well. Then the giant bear followed after them. It crunched down on a fishing pole, rising onto its back legs and surveying the camp. Thankfully, it ignored the five people huddled at the far edge. Unfortunately, it apparently needed to take a few anger management classes.
It huffed and let out a roar, falling to all four legs with a thunderous boom. By the time it finally wandered off, the campsite was a wreck.
Lance kicked a rock as he trudged along. The woods were quiet aside from the far off cries of birds and the crunch of leaves beneath their feet. It wasn’t an uneasy quiet, but quiet always bugged Lance anyway. He rolled his head around and stretched his arms into the air with a sigh. Keith was too busy staring at the ground to pay any mind. Lance dropped his arms back to his side with a huff.
“What is it?” Keith finally asked, with an edge of impatience in his voice.
Lance shoved his hands in his pockets and looked toward the treetops. “Nothin’. Just wonderin’ what’s so interesting about the ground.” Keith arched a brow.
“Well, for one, we just walked onto a path.” Lance’s gaze snapped back to Keith (his hand on his hip) and then to the ground. Sure enough, the brush had thinned away and they had stumbled onto a roughly defined path through the woods. “Which way should we go?”
Lance looked right, following the path for as long as he could until it curved around the trees out of sight. Then he looked the other way, considering the question. “Right. The river carried us, uh, that direction,” he pointed to the left, unsure which direction it actually was.
“East,” Keith interjected, slightly amused.
“Yeah. So if we go right, then we should be walking back to camp in no time.”
“Wow. Look at you go, Mr. Wilderness.” Lance rolled his eyes and started following the path right. Keith walked after him, continuing, “No, I’m serious, you should have your own TV show. You could show everyone how to drink piss.”
Lance shrieked, punching Keith lightly on the arm. Keith laughed.
The sun was rapidly disappearing behind the trees, and gray clouds were drifting overhead when they stumbled upon the cabin. It wasn’t tiny, but modestly sized, and made of purple-tinted wood from the surrounding trees. There was a cozy little porch wrapping around the front of the structure. Hanging next to the door was a sheet of metal with alien letters burned into it. Whether the sign said “keep out” or something more welcoming, neither Lance nor Keith had a clue.
“Should we… knock?” Lance asked. Keith realized he had subconsciously reached out and taken hold of Lance’s sleeve. He dropped his hand hastily, crossing his arms. Creepy cabin and Lance wants to knock on the door. Of course. He turned his head for one second to survey the woods, and when he looked back, Lance had already stepped onto the porch.
“Lance,” Keith hissed. Lance ignored him, taking a deep breath and knocking on the door. Keith held his breath.
There was no response.
“Huh.”
“Okay, you knocked, can we go now?”
Lance shook his head, putting a hand on the door handle. “Hold up.” To his surprise, the knob turned easily.
He pushed open the door cautiously, poking his nose inside. He was startled when a small bell rang over his head as the door eased open. Before he could react, someone popped up from behind the counter across the room. Staring back at him was a small creature with large black eyes. Their skin was a wrinkly purple, reminding Lance of a mole rat dipped in grape juice.
“Customer?” They nearly shrieked.
“Uh.” Lance simply stared back at them. Keith poked his head over Lance’s shoulder, trying to see past him.
The alien shrieked again. “Customers!”
Suddenly, there was a loud noise like a stack of boxes falling and Lance realized there was a door next to the counter. The next moment, it swung open and a large, burly creature stepped out, partially obscured by a stack of boxes. With a grunt, they shuffled a few steps and deposited the boxes on a shelf against the wall. The top of their head nearly scraped against the ceiling as they turned around to face the alien behind the counter. This small one beamed up at them, gesturing toward the door. “Rae, we have customers!”
Slowly, Rae turned their head to look at Lance and Keith. They had mottled blue skin with a texture like rocks, large arms, and Lance would describe them as balding. They scratched their cheek, and then their neck, and then their shoulder, all the while never taking their eyes off Lance.
Finally they turned back to their partner. “They’re soaking wet, Glin.” Lance looked down at his clothes and then back up at the larger creature. Glin shook their head and disappeared below the counter again before emerging from behind it and walking across the floor toward them. They were much smaller than Lance had realized and suddenly Glin was taking his hand in their own tiny one. They led him into the store as Rae settled behind the counter with a sigh. Lance looked back at Keith and shrugged.
“Yeah, your friend can come in too.” Keith jumped at Rae’s voice, hesitating before he stepped inside as well. The door closed softly behind him. Lance was at least 75% sure they weren’t about to be murdered in a creepy cabin in the woods.
Glin released his hand and scrambled back up behind the counter.
“Now then. What can we do for ya?”
Lance couldn’t help it. He kinda liked these guys. He propped himself on the counter with one elbow. “Well fellas, My buddy here’s a real fan of cryptids. Y’all know where we can catch a glimpse of Space Moth-” Before he could finish, Keith jabbed an elbow into Lance’s ribs. Lance gave him a shit-eating grin before turning back to the counter. Glin’s eyes had gone wide. They traded a look with their partner.
“Rae, aren’t they just so sweet?” Glin tilted their head and flopped onto the counter. Rae grunted and nodded in response. Lance and Keith traded another look.
“Uh, sorry. What do you mean?”
Glin explained, “Well, it’s always nice to see a young couple. Reminds me of us, when we were younger, eh?” They asked Rae, who simply nodded again.
Lance stood up straight, trying to process the words. He and Keith blurted it out at the same time.
“A couple?” Lance gaped, but Keith promptly shut his mouth before he could say anything else. He studied the floor, raising a hand to his forehead. Lance spluttered.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. We’re not- I mean-”
“Oh, don’t be silly! We saw that little gesture. We got betrothed as young as you too.”
“Betrothed?” Lance yelped. He looked from Glin to Keith and back again. He chuckled nervously and raised his hands. “Me and Keith are not betrothed. Not even a couple! I mean, the idea is just- no way, right?” His face burned even as he said it. Keith bit his tongue, stifling a groan. Rae and Glin exchanged a meaningful look and Lance could tell they didn’t believe him.
As if some cosmic power wanted to save him anymore embarrassment, a rumble of thunder shook the cabin and interrupted the conversation. Glin clambered onto the counter to peer out a window to their left. The sky had already grown significantly darker in the short time Lance and Keith had been in the cabin.
“Is it gonna rain? Do the storms get bad here?” Lance asked. Keith furrowed his brow. Finding their way back to the campsite would be that much harder in a storm.
“Eh, it’ll come and go quickly enough. But it is going to rain hard.” They turned to Rae. “Reckon it’ll raise the river a good bit.” Rae nodded and slowly stood. They disappeared into the back room for a moment, but returned carrying a decent-sized box. They set it down on the counter and Lance craned his neck to peer inside. Glin stood up in their chair to reach in. They pulled out a garment made of dark material Lance would compare to plastic. In an instant he understood.
“Ponchos! Sweet.” He exclaimed. Glin held it out to him, and then pulled out an identical one for Keith. Lance slipped his over his head. They looked like they’d fit better on Rae, but he would much rather them be too large and baggy than too small.
Keith looked at the garment offered to him. “Wait, we don’t have any way to pay for these.”
“Oh, yeah-” Lance started but Glin waved him off.
“Don’t worry about it. We can spare two rainclothes. Besides, it’s free advertising for us!” They unfolded the poncho they were holding and displayed the back. There was a large logo with Rae and Glin’s faces rendered in a cartoon fashion. It looked like something you’d get from a tacky little gift shop and Lance cracked a grin.
“We’d better get going anyway. I don’t want to be hiking all night.” Keith reminded Lance.
“You out here alone?” Rae asked, their voice like gravel. Lance shook his head.
“It’s kind of a long story but, well, we fell in the river. We’ve got a campsite,” He paused to remember which direction Keith had said the river traveled. “West of here. The rest of our group will be wondering where we are.” Another rumble of thunder sounded, and suddenly the cabin was filled with the sound of rain overhead. All at once the storm had reached them.
“Well, it’ll be safe enough to go out there as long as you don’t fall back into the river.” Keith finally took the poncho from Glin and slipped it on. He pulled it over his head and Lance ruffled his hair before he could stop himself. Keith waved his hand away, pulling the hood on and pretending not to notice the way Glin stared at them.
The door blew open as soon as Lance turned the handle, and they slipped outside quickly. The rain came down in heavy droplets, and they were both grateful for the ponchos. It was hard to see more than twenty feet ahead of them. They would have to be careful.
“Hey!” a voice called out over the storm and they turned in place as the wind whipped around their bodies. Rae walked out toward them, holding Glin on their arm. Rae seemed only minorly inconvenienced by the storm, as sturdy as the cabin behind them. “One more thing!” Lance stepped toward Rae. Glin squinted in the rain, but held their arms out. They held a bag made of clear plastic. Raindrops pattered it’s surface as Lance took hold of the bag. He grinned as he suddenly realized what it was full of.
“Thanks.”
The team huddled under a partially collapsed tent, each cold, wet, and miserable. The storm had caught them by surprise before they could even recover from the destruction of the campsite. Nobody knew where Keith and Lance had gone. Every muscle in Shiro’s body screamed with worry. He wanted to go out and find them, but he couldn’t leave the rest of the team alone, or risk getting lost in the storm himself. All they could do was ride it out. Pidge leaned into Hunk, shivering. Her teeth chattered softly, as she stubbornly tried to clench her jaw.
“The rain seems to be letting up.” Allura spoke softly. Sure enough, Shiro could see that it was getting a little better.
“Wait, wait. Do you guys hear that?” Hunk suddenly asked. Shiro strained to hear anything over the storm. Faintly, there was the sound of twigs snapping. “There! Something’s out there.” Hunk hissed. They all traded looks, and waited with bated breath for something to jump out at them from the trees.
“What are you guys doin’ under here?” There was a collective gasp at the voice. Lance bent over the tent, rain streaming off his poncho as he held up a tent flap and peered inside.
As soon as the rain stopped, they emerged and surveyed what was left of the campsite. Most of the tents were ruined, but luckily Lance’s had miraculously survived. It would be just big enough to fit all of them for the night. Nobody felt like trying to hike back to the castle in the dark. The firepit Keith had dutifully built earlier was scattered. He didn’t complain though, as he set about trying to get it to light again in the dark. In fact, Lance and Keith seemed in remarkably better moods than anyone would expect. As everyone went about trying to clean up as much as they could, every so often Keith and Lance would catch each other’s eye and exchange easy smiles. They were both too oblivious to notice the other turning away to duck their head and go red in the face.
After a short while they had everything looking a little better. Pidge dragged one of the camping chairs over to the fire and plopped down into it with a sigh. Lance dragged over the second one for Allura, while Keith, Shiro, and Hunk found logs to sit on for the rest of them. Everyone (and everything) was still a bit damp, but sitting next to the fire made it a bit more bearable. (“Ha, get it, bear-able?” Hunk would say, and the others would collectively groan.) Finding dry firewood had been a hassle, but at least they had managed. They had no food though, which Lance found funny considering all he and Keith went through to try and get it back. He did, however, have the bag Glin had given them.
“Hey, Pidge? Want a space marshmallow?”
“What?” She straightened up, staring at him.
He tore open the bag, and tossed her one. “Space marshmallow!” He took out one for himself and passed the bag over to Hunk.
“Where did you guys get these?” Shiro asked.
“Same place we got these dope ponchos.” Lance flourished his.
Pidge snorted. “A gas station?” She leaned out of her chair to grab a stick off the ground, taking a moment to jab it into her marshmallow and hold it out over the fire.
“ No .” He ignored Keith’s chuckle. “We happened to meet some very nice aliens in a cabin in the woods.”
“And you guys survived? Are you sure you aren’t ghosts?” Hunk poked Keith, pretending to make sure he was real.
“They were,” He paused here, trading a glance with Keith. “Weird. But cool, I guess.”
The bag of marshmallows reached Keith and he pulled out two, passing one to Lance. Coran piped up from across the fire, “Oh, when I was a klanmurl-scout, we used to tell tales about ghosts every night!”
And so he launched into an old story, one Allura vaguely recognised and laughed at. Afterwards they went around the circle, each telling an old campfire legend. Pidge told one that Matt always told when her family used to go camping, and surprisingly Hunk had the most disturbing one to tell. Shiro held a soft grin for each ghost story told, none of them seeming to unnerve him in the slightest. Lance was a great story-teller, expressive and passionate. He thrived in the spotlight for sure. You wouldn’t know how long his day had been by looking at him now. They had all been through… a lot. That’s what was funny about all this. They say that if you want to know who someone truly is, you should go camping with them. Well, they already knew who they all were. At the end of the day, they were a family. No matter what the universe tried to throw at them or tried to take away from them, they had each other. The marshmallows helped of course.
Lance’s knee ever-so-slightly grazed Keith’s. Neither moved away.
Keith walked down the barely visible path back to the castle with an easy smile on his face, carrying the remains of his tent. They were packing up the campsite, taking trips carrying things back and forth to the castle. Keith could just see one of the castle towers over the trees ahead. He shifted the bundle in his arms. It had been a quiet, sleepy morning.
So when a twig snapped to his right, Keith snapped to attention. He squinted into the dark woods, scanning the trees. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as his eyes focused and he realized he was staring straight at the creature.
Space Mothman.
Keith stood frozen, not sure what to do. Neither made a sound. Slowly, it blinked those red eyes at him, like a cat. And then, just as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone without a trace. Keith sucked in a breath, mind reeling, trying to process what he had just seen. Nobody would believe him.
Keith dropped the bundle, and launched into a sprint.
“Lance! Pidge!”