Chapter Text
Shards of broken glass snag the skin on his arms. Bits and scraps of metal trap his legs beneath the garbage. The harsh crunch of footsteps bring Keith into consciousness and he opens his eyes, shooting upright at the sight of an unfamiliar face. He gets to his feet as quietly as he can and feels along his belt for his knife. The stranger is digging Lance out the heaps of trash, his shiny white armor glistening in the sunlight.
Keith steps forward, brandishing his only weapon in front of him. “Who the hell are you?!”
The stranger turns around and Lance stirs. “I’m here to save your sorry group,”
“God, is that you? Our Lord and Savior?” Lance looks up at the man with hazy eyes. “You’ve finally come for me...”
The stranger sets Lance on the ground gently, concern knitting his thick eyebrows together. “My name is Shiro. Now come, help me unearth your friends,”
Keith doesn’t join Shiro in bringing the paladins to the surface, instead stiffening and watching him with unsure eyes.
Shiro lifts a heavy piece of machinery off the pile and tosses it behind him effortlessly. He rummages through the garbage and pulls out an unconscious Hunk. “Don’t just stand there, put yourself to use,”
Keith cautiously slides his knife back into its sheath and steps over marred furniture to help Pidge stand. The short girl hisses at Shiro and wields her axe at him.
“Don’t bother. Your party cannot defeat me,”
Lance, still loopy and inane, nearly trips and catches himself on Shiro’s humongous shoulder. “That’s right, guys... It’s ‘cause he’s a God,”
Shiro snorts and shakes his head, stepping away from the standing four and delicately holding out a hand for Allura to get up.
“Thank you,” The princess smiles sweetly, brushing residue off her hands and onto her pleated leather skirt. Shiro nods in recognition before turning away to look for others.
Keith clears his throat and runs his hand over his partially concealed knife. “Where are we?”
“We’re in the dump. And enough of the knife, you know it can’t hurt me,”
Keith sighs, moving his hand away from the weapon.
Hunk pipes up from behind him. “How did we get here? How do we get back to our village?”
“Don’t know, don’t know,” Shiro slides down the hill of junk and lands gracefully on his feet. “I was just walking by and I saw a limb dangling out the rubble. Decided to check it out, and here we are now,”
Lance nods and follows the bigger man, but not before checking if Allura was uninjured from the trash pile. Hunk rushes after him. Pidge and Keith exchange suspicious glances as they stumble after the four.
“God?” Lance dashes to keep up with Shiro.
Shiro chuckles. “I’m not a God. I am a mere human, just like you,”
Lance blinks, bewilderment plastered across his face. “But...?”
Shiro shakes his head and laughs. He adjusts his vambrace before speaking again. “I’m on a mission. You see, there lives a wicked king in a castle far ahead. He bargained with a demon for his wealth and magical abilities in hopes of saving his kingdom, but succumbed to evil after his husband was killed in the process. The husband owned six pendants and it’s my job to find them, because they hold a magic that can defeat the king,”
“Dang,” Hunk says from beside Lance. “Isn’t that difficult?”
Shiro shrugs, his armor clanking with the motion. “I’ve been doing errands like these for years, ever since I was a young boy,”
Keith raises his eyebrows. “I don’t trust him,”
Allura nods. “I’m not so sure, either, but he doesn’t seem to intend on hurting us. If so, he is a marvelous actor,”
“I just think he lo-,”
“Keith! Allura!” Pidge yelled from several feet ahead. “You’re falling behind!”
Allura shot off quickly, her heels clacking against the dirty path. Keith huffed, going after her.
“Too fast?” Lance teases Keith. He drops his attitude the second Allura joins his side, leaving Keith scowling and shooting daggers.
“Please, do stay together. I would hate losing one of you on our journey,” Shiro opines.
“Our?” Keith splutters. “What makes you think we’re joining you on your expedition?”
Shiro clicks his tongue patronizingly. “Well... Considering you have no other way to go...” He smirks. “I’ve walked these trails since I was twelve. You’d get lost without me,”
“We’d be fine without your help, thank you very much,”
“I suggest you choose your next words more carefully,”
Keith clamps his jaw shut, biting his tongue to resist snapping at the older man.
Shiro huffs in satisfaction and turns to continue chatting with Hunk. “Tell me, what village do you come from?”
The sextet’s journey is later interrupted by a piercing shriek.
"Jesus!" Pidge covers her ears, glaring at Lance. "What is wrong with you?"
Lance continues to scream, pointing at a strange puma-like monster with tentacles obscuring their path.
“What the hell is that?!" Keith's eyebrows knit together as he whips his knife from its sheath.
“A displacer beast. They're fierce and vicious and hate all other creatures. They often kill for pleasure and are incredibly hard to hit because they use a magical displacement ability," Shiro's heavy armor jangles as he takes a step back, the shiny metal reflecting light onto the canopy above.
“What the hell is that?!"
“An illusion which makes it appear farther away than where it actually is,” Shiro answers calmly.
Lance manages to stop wailing and clears his throat. “How do you kill it?” He asks as Allura knocks an arrow on her bow.
“Allura, no. It’ll kill us all if you provoke it,” Shiro holds out his hand to stop her from shooting the monster.
“What do we do?!” Hunk panics.
“I say we kill it,” Keith hisses.
“No, Keith...!” Shiro lunges to stop him, but to no avail.
Keith rushes forward, swinging his blade at the creature. He misses and the displacer beast hits him with the sharp edge of its tentacle. Keith falls to the ground, groaning and clutching his ribs. The others charge at it, attempting to bash at it with their weak weapons. Shiro watches silently. It’s an endless cycle; someone runs at the animal, tries to hit it, then gets swung back by the beast’s appendages. He resists stepping in to end the strife and instead cringes at their lack of strategy.
It’s when Keith doesn’t get to his feet again Shiro puts an end to the struggle. With a single slice in the neck with a scimitar, the displacer beast falls to the ground, dark blood pooling around its limp body. The others in the party wheeze and pant, doubling over as they catch their breath. Shiro steps over the dead beast and crouches to examine Keith. “Keith? Keith,”
Lance shuffles to the pair only to be shooed away. The paladins share worried glances as Shiro presses a hand to Keith’s ribs.
“Is he going to be okay?”
Pidge stands on her tip-toes to slap a hand over Hunk’s mouth.
Shiro says something under his breath and Keith’s eyes fly wide open. He gasps for air, reaching his hands out to grab something. He latches onto Shiro’s armor and Shiro tenses before wrapping his arms around the paladin to help him stand.
"Oh, my God," Allura exclaims.
The paladins shift their gazes to the skin of Keith's belly, where the flimsy leather armor rode up to reveal a fresh bright white mark between his ribs. Shiro grunts, hoisting the man up and setting him on his back to carry him piggyback style.
"Let's go,"