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Ok, this time she couldn’t really blame the intel. This time they really had just screwed up and walked themselves right into a trap, and they were going to have to live with that. Assuming, of course, that they lived.
That may have been a bit melodramatic. Sure there were lots of sentries and soldiers and, once again, only Keith and herself to fight them, but they’d beaten worse odds before.
Krolia was laser focused, both on taking down enemies and keeping an eye on Keith across the room. He was doing perfectly fine on his own, not letting anyone sneak up behind him, fighting like an absolute whirlwind. Things looked dire, but really everything should turn out fine.
At least, that’s what she thought, until something slammed into her side.
She hit the ground hard. Her right temple hit it hardest-- so hard that her ears rang and her vision went double. She lay stunned for but a moment before making herself rise, but unfortunately that one moment was enough for the Galra who charged her to plant a boot on her shoulder, forcing her back to the floor.
Through the blurring in her sight, Krolia caught the flash of a fanged smile, then it was covered by the sleek metal of the soldier’s blaster being raised to her head. It’s charging whine joined the keening in her head, and the increasing light inside embedded pain behind her eyes and wanted to make her wince.
Krolia raised her own blaster in a slow arc, aiming to knock the soldier’s weapon aside, but even as she did it she knew it wouldn’t make it in time. She wouldn’t even get to close her eyes.
Then she heard a dangerous, angry growl and a flash of red, and the pressure on her shoulder disappeared.
Groggily, Krolia sat up. Without looking she raised her blaster and fired at the enemy charging at her from the left. Her gaze was focused in the opposite direction, where Keith had just plunged his blade through her previous assailant’s throat.
He pulled it back out with a wet squelch , and Krolia opened her mouth to call for him, but before she could say a word he was up again and attacking the next soldier he set his eyes on. There was something different in the way he was moving-- Keith normally fought with a certain drive, something that a few years ago she would’ve called desperation, but had since matured into controlled force-- but now his movements seemed sloppy.
Keith slammed his target against the wall with a loud clang, followed by a spray of blood. Then he dropped the body and whirled around, looking for another opponent, and Krolia’s breath caught in her throat.
His eyes had changed. His pupils had constricted to slits, the normally white portions turned yellow, and his bared teeth looked sharper than they had been before.
Well, that explains why he’d been fighting strangely. He’d lost control, just like she had a few months ago.
Wincing at the throbbing in her temple, Krolia staggered to her feet. It was then that she noticed how empty the room had become-- apparently Keith’s last victim had been the last adversary, period. How convenient.
“Keith.”
His eyes snapped to her. Krolia blinked once, and in that space of time he managed to get from where he was to her side, one arm wrapped tightly around her waist, the other holding his bloodied sword at the ready. Through their armor she could feel the vibrations emanating from him. Not calming purrs like she had done with him, but protective growls. He didn’t know the battle was over.
“Keith, it’s ok,” she said, her words slurring a bit from her concussion. “It’s over.” She went to run a hand through his hair, the way he liked, but to her surprise he jerked his head away from her touch.
His eyes darted about the room, scanning for danger, then abruptly he started forward, dragging her along with him.
She knew what he was looking for probably before he did, so Krolia wasn’t at all surprised when Keith went for a storage closet, braced open by the torso of a destroyed sentry. The Black Lion was where they should’ve been going, so that they could escape, but Keith wasn’t thinking things through right now. She’d had many years to learn how to control and lessen the urges of her instincts and the bouts of protectiveness.
Keith hadn’t, and right now his instincts were telling him two things: find somewhere dark and quiet to hide in, and kill anything that comes near.
Frankly, they didn’t have time for that. They needed to get off this ship, before more enemies came across them. So she braced her feet, jerking them both to a stop, and Keith gave a distressed whine that made her stomach twist. Knowing he probably wouldn’t respond to words, Krolia instead began to purr, hoping that would get through to his Galra side.
But instead of relaxing, Keith went rigid, his grip around her torso becoming a bit painful as he let out an animalistic snarl.
“Keith--” He jerked her forward again, roughly shoving Krolia into the closet. He stepped in after her, kicking the chunk of the sentry out of the way, allowing the door to slide shut and drape them in darkness.
Thankfully she had fairly good night vision, so she wasn’t caught off guard when Keith grabbed her hand and dragged her to the floor. There he knelt beside her, still gripping his blade in case anything else tried to come in after them.
Krolia took a deep breath. Her head was hurting something fierce, as Keith’s father used to say, but she couldn’t just do nothing. She had no idea how long it would take Keith to emerge from this on his own, and she didn’t want him to have to.
So, in a soft voice, she ventured once again to say his name. But he just growled and turned more towards the door.
“Damn,” she murmured to herself. They couldn’t stay here, she had to do something, but what? She still didn’t know exactly how to be a mother, she’d only met him when he was already an adult, she hadn’t had the time to teach him these things when he was still a kit. After all of these years apart, comforting was beyond her knowledge.
For just a moment she found herself wishing for his father, he would’ve known what to do, just like the first time.
“I don’t know what to do. What am I doing wrong?”
“You’re not doing anything wrong. He just wants to know he’s loved.”
“How?”
“Sing to him.”
“What?”
“Sing. Here, I’ll teach you.”
Krolia bit her lip. It felt ridiculous, the same way it had back then, but unless she could come up with a better idea…
With a self conscious gulp, she reached out for Keith. He tensed a bit at her touch, but didn’t knock her away, so after a moment to boost her courage, she began.
“Home is behind--” Her voice was rough and stuttery, and she had to stop and clear her throat before trying again. “Home is behind, the world ahead.”
Under her fingers she felt Keith go still, listening, and her voice grew stronger. “And there are many paths to tread.
“Through shadow,” she gently moved her hand down to his, one by one prying his tense fingers away from the hilt of the blade, “To the edge of night.” She pulled the blade away and set it aside. “Until the stars are all alight.”
There was a scrape as his armor brushed against hers. Taking this as an opportunity, Krolia drew him back to lean on her rather than before her, the ends of his hair brushing against her throat.
“Mist and shadow.”
His head came to rest on her shoulder.
“Cloud and shade.”
She ran her fingers through his hair, and this time he let her.
“All shall fade.”
He let out a heavy exhale.
“All shall fade.”
Quiet came to them softly-- it reminded her of the old blanket she used to wrap him in. He was calm now; she could feel it in his lax muscles. Unfortunately, after a few minutes of deep breathing and no movement, she realized she may have made him a bit too calm.
“Ah, quiznack.”
Krolia had accidentally put him to sleep.
Oops.