Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Do you know how hard it is to find a dust shop open this late?” A tall, burly, man with big furry ears and an underbite asked. A man in a black suit came up to the merchant behind the counter and raised a gun to his face.

The old merchant held his hands up in fear, “Please, just take my money and leave.”

“Calm down. We’re not here for your money.” The man said tauntingly. He turned towards his men, “Grab the dust.”

Six men in black suits behind him separate to opposite walls, they are all holding canteens. Dozen of pipes holding different colored dust inside. One man reached for one of the pipes when he heard a faint sound of music playing to hit left. When he looked, the man spotted a little girl with short, light, brown, disheveled hair with big, round glasses, scrolling through the magazine rack. “Hey put your hands up in the air,” the man threatened, holding his sword toward them. When he got no response he growled, “Hey! Didn’t you hear me, kid? You got a death wish or something?” He went to grab the girl by the shoulders and spun her around to face him.

“Huh?” The small girl asked wearing a pair of headphones.

The guy points to his ears to signal her to take it off. “Yes?” The girl responded.

“I said put your hands in the air! Now!”

“Are you... robbing me?” The girl asked.

“Yes!”

“Oh...” she smirked.

With a kick to his stomach, the small girl sent the guy flying across the store. That grabbed the burly man’s attention.
With a nod of his head, he sent two more men to deal with the problem. One of the men held his gun up and yelled, “Freeze!”

Crash!

The guy was sent straight through the window into the streets. The big threatening boss looked on towards the street to the cause of his men going down. The girl was holding an angular satar by her side which extended out to form a whip and grappling hook. She held her headphones in her other hand and turned it off with a quick press of a button.
The leader of the bunch smirked, “Okay.” He looked at his remaining men left and nodded to the girl with a frown, “Get her.”

The men in black suits started to attack her. The girl avoided all of them by grabbing one guy by the leg and flinging him toward another building, kicked another guy square in the chest, and knocking out a guy with her grappling hook to the head.

The last guy collapsed in front of the boss who sighed, “You were worth every cent. Truly you were. Well, green, I can’t say this has been an eventful evening. As much as I would like to oblige..” He raised his gun, aiming at the girl, “I’m afraid this is where we part ways.” He shot towards the ground below her feet creating a small explosion and clouds of dust.

The small girl coughed into her hands and frantically searched the streets around her. She found him on top of a building running away from her. With one last look to the old shopkeeper, she asked, “You okay if I go after him?”

The old man nodded.

When the taller man made it to the edge of the building, the girl used her grappling hook to pull herself quickly onto the roof, “Hey!”

The man grunted, “Persistent.”

A cargo jet flew up from the bottom of an alley in front of the man. He jumped on and turned around, facing the girl. He held a small red crystal in his hand, “End of the line green!” He tossed the crystal in front of the small girl and raised his gun.

The girl realized too late that the crystal was actually dust. She gasped and tried to jump out of the way only for the dust to massively explode!

The burly man laughed but stopped when he noticed a new figure standing in front of the girl.

A man with orange hair and mustache holding a riding crop had a protective shield in front of him. With a flick of his wrist, he sent beams of dust at the ship damaging the outer shell.

The burly man was trying to regain his balance from the impact and went to the front of the ship to the pilot, “We got a huntsman!”

The lady who was piloting the ship let go of the steering, leaving it to the bigger man while she stood in the opening of the cargo ship in front of the huntsman.

With the glow of her cloak, she sent a wave of shattered crystals straight to the man below her.

The huntsman without a beat destroyed the crystals. He gathers the shattered dust and formed a couple of long rough spears and sent them back to her.

The lady tried to blast them away but they reformed and kept going straight for her. She formed a shield around her and sent it around the ship to destroy the glass all at once.
With the remaining fractures in the air, the huntsman gathers his energy to form a rain cloud hailing shards of glass that pierced the ship. One almost stabbing the burly man in the pilot seat.

As a last attempt to escape, the woman formed dark energy circles below her two victims. The huntsman who saw the circles pushed the girl out of range with his magic and flipped out of there. The ground exploded leaving the two criminals time to escape. 

Once they were out of sight, the girl turned and gasped at the newcomer, “You’re a huntsman!”

The older male looked down at her.

“Can I have your autograph?” She squealed excitedly.

“I hope you learned you’re lesson today young lady!” The huntsman scolded. The two were now located in a gray room with one light shining in the middle of the ceiling. There is a square table in the middle of the room with two chairs on opposite sides. “You’ve put yourself and others in great danger!”

“They started it!” The small girl argued.

“If It were up to me I would send you back home... with a pat on the back,” the huntsman glanced in the girl’s direction.

She smiled.

“And a slap on the wrist!” He smacked his ridding crop on the table in front of her creating a loud snap.

“Ah!” The girl yelped.

“But there is a gentleman who would like to meet you.” The huntsman smiled and walked toward the other side of the room when the door opened. A man with shoulder-length, white hair, fully dressed in white and gold armor walked into the room holding a plate of cookies in one hand.

“Katherine Holt,” The man spoke.

“Uhh..?” The girl leaned back, “Please. Call me Pidge.”

The man nodded, “Alright." He slid the plate of cookies in front of her. Pidge picks one up cautiously taking a bite. The cookies were fresh and warm out of the oven Pidge concluded and started to attack the plate. "Tell me, Pidge. How did you manage to use a weapon like yours with such tenacity?” He asked.

“M-Mantel Academy?” Pidge stuttered.

“They taught you how to wield this weapon and take out four armed people at such a young age?”

“Oh no. One person in particular.”

“I see. It’s just that I’ve seen someone that resembles you so much. He’s a little older than you.”

With cheeks stuffed with cookies, Pidge mumbles, "Dah Mu brudhor Ma!"

The man quirked his brows in confusion.

“Heh, sorry.” She swallowed, “I meant to say that’s my older brother Matt. I was complete garbage when he first taught me to fight and now I’m all-hoi ya! oooo!” She smiled making silly fighting poses.

“So, I see.” The old man smiled, “Now tell me, what is a small girl like you going to a school designed to train warriors?”

Pidge shrugged, “Well.. I want to be a huntress.”

“You want to slay monsters?”

“Yeah, my brother is in his second year at Beacon and I want to go too, but I’m in my last year at Mantel. I came down here to visit him for a couple of days before my school starts back up." She  laughs, "And my mom says I should always help others and I want to help people so, ya know, I thought yeah I might as well make a career out of it!” She shrugged and slammed her hands down on the table, “the police are alright but being a huntress sound a lot more cooler and exciting and awesome and just jahaa-ah! Ya know!” Pidge squealed in her seat.

Without looking fazed the old man asked, “Do you know who I am?”

“You’re professor Alfor. You’re the headmaster of Beacon.” The girl smiled adjusting her glasses.

Professor Alfor smiled, “Hello.”

“Nice to meet you!” Pidge returned.

“You want to come to my school?” Alfor leaned in.

“More than anything.” Katie sighs.

Professor Alfor took one look back towards the orange-haired huntsman. The huntsman smiled and nodded. “Well, Okay!” Alfor grinned.
Katie’s smile turned into a frown once her older brother was hugging her.

“Oh my gosh! This is incredible! My baby sister is coming to beacon with me! This is the best day ever!”

“Matt, stop..” Katie groaned.

“What’s wrong? Everyone gonna thinks you’re the bee’s knees!” Matt gestured around the ship that they are on with other students walking around.

“I don’t want to be the bee's knees! I don’t want any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees!”

“Hey? What’s up? I thought you would be... I don’t know. More happier?”

“I am!” Pidge protested. “It’s just that I’m skipping a year. I don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb.”

“Eh, to heck what others think about you! You made it here all on your own!” Matt encouraged. “That counts for something!” He threw an arm around his sister’s shoulder, bringing her in for a side hug.

A voice interrupted their conversation. Multiple hologram screens were showing the local news, “The robbery was led by the nefarious criminal, Prorok, who continues to abate authorities.” Pidge looked at the picture of the same man who robbed the dust store the night before. ‘It’s him!’ Pidge thought. “If you have any information about his whereabouts, please contact the bay police department. Back to you Lisa.”

A lady with white hair and a nice black suit appeared on screen, "Thank you. In other news, this Saturday’s Faunus civil rights protest turned dark. The once peaceful organization has now committed-" the news was cut and the huntsman that saved Pidge appeared on the screen. “Hello and welcome to Beacon!”

“Who’s that?” Matt questioned.

“My name is Coran Hieronymous Wimbleton Smythe.”

“Oh.”

“You are among a few privileged folks who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace and as future huntsman and huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task and now it is our turn to provide you with knowledge and training to protect our world.” The screen fades away leaving a breathtaking scene that other new students react to.

“Wow!” Pidge gasps. The ship is flying above the city and sailing pass Vale. “Mantel got nothing on this.”

Matt wraps his arm around her shoulders, “Beacon’s our home now.”

Just down the hall from them, a big husky guy in a yellow shirt and green vest was struggling to hold in his breakfast. He stumbled down the hall to the nearest trash can.

“Well, I guess the view isn’t for everyone.” Pidge smiled.

“It was a nice view while it lasted.” Matt shrugged.

“I wonder who we’re gonna meet!”

“Ugh, I just hope they’re better than vomit boy... Oh gross! Matt! You have puke on your shoe!”

Vomit boy comes back panicking, “Guys, guys, guys, guys, guys, guys, guys, guys, guys!”

“Oh get away from me! Get away from me! Get away from me!” Matt yells.

Chapter Text

The airships have successfully docked and landed. The doors swiped open and people started walking out. Vomit boy came running out from the slow crowd and hurled his breakfast into the nearest trash can.

Pidge ran out of the ship and stared in awe at the scene before her.

Beacon Academy.

Matt stood behind her whistling, “Atlas got nothing on this!”

Pidge looked to her left and saw a guy walking by holding his weapon out, “Oh look Matt! That guy has a classical staff! Ah! And she has a fire sword!” Pidge freaked out following the girl holding her weapon until Matt grabbed her by the belt around her waist, pulling her back. “Hey!” Pidge grumbled.

“Easy little sis, they’re just weapons.” Matt stated.

“Just Weapons? How can ya say that? They’re a part of us! They’re an extension of ourselves! Aw! They’re so cool!” Pidge sighed.

Matt smiled,” You’re ridiculous. Aren’t you happy with your own weapon?”

“Of course I love my weapon!" Pidge brought out her Angular Satar, "I just like seeing new ones, but better...” She pouted.

Matt chuckled, “Oh come on!" He ruffled his sister's hair, making her hair look like more of a mess, "Why don’t you try to make some new friends who also have cool weapons?”

Pidge face scrunched, “Why would I need friends when I have you?”

“Well my friends are already here so I gotta go! bye!” Matt rushed out while taking off with a group of people, leaving his little sister behind in the dust.

“Wait! Aren’t we suppose to go to our dorms? Where are our dorms? Do we have dorms? Oh I don’t know what I’m doing!” Pidge exclaimed. She took a step back when she collided to a carousel of luggage making them crash to the ground.

“What are you doing?” A voice shouted.

Pidge spun around in shock, “Oh- uh! Sorry!”

“Sorry! Do you have any idea of the damage you could’ve caused!” A girl with pure, long, white hair spoke. She had a gold, metal band across her forehead, adorning her face.

Pidge scrambled to grab a piece of luggage to confirm it wasn’t damaged, “Uhh..”

“Give me that!" The girl ripped her suitcase from Pidge's grip. She opened the luggage showing different color vials of dust, strapped into place. "This is dust,” the girl informed and grabbed a vial, “Mined and purified from the Altea Query.”

Pidge frowned in confusion.

“What are you? Braindead? Dust? Fire, lightning, energy!” The girl scolded waving a vial of dust around creating small clouds with every shake. Pidge’s nose began to itch.

“Are ya even listening? Is any of this sinking in?” The girl asked harshly.

“A-choo!” Pidge sneezed.

Boom!

The dust particles in the air exploded with a loud bang. The vial fell from the girl’s hand and rolled next to a pair of feet.

A boy looked up from his book and down at his feet, discovering the vial. He picks it up and examines it when he hears the white-haired girl shout.

“This is exactly what I’m talking about!”

Pidge rubbed the back of her head, “I’m really, really sorry!”

The taller girl sighed, “What are you even doing here? Aren’t you a little young to be attending Beacon?”

“I-uh,” Pidge stuttered.

“Next time watch where you’re going! I would not like to have the school destroyed because you sneezed from a speck of dust.” The girl said tiredly.

Pidge had enough of the girl's attitude and growled, “Hey, I said I was sorry, princess!”

“It’s heiress, actually,” a male voice spoke. The two girls turned towards the newcomer. A boy with raven black hair and bangs covering his face came walking up. He wore a cropped kimono top with long puffed sleeves and baggy pants tucked into boots. “Allura Altea, heiress to the Altea Dust Company. One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world.”

“Finally! Some recognition!” Allura smiled.

“The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners.” He Stated.

“Wha- How dare- The nerve of...” Allura gasped. She stepped up to the boy and snatched the vial out of the boy’s hands. She stormed off while her butlers dragged her luggage, following her.

Pidge yelled after her, “I’ll make this up to you!” She sighed, “Huh, guess I’m not the only one having a rough first day... So, what’s-" She turned around to face the new stranger who’s already walking away. Pidge looked around the courtyard and notice she was the only one left. She dropped to the ground and laid on her back, “Welcome to Beacon.” She said as she stared up into the clouds and closed her eyes.

A huge shadow covered her body and a new voice spoke up, “Hey! Are ya dead?” Pidge opens her eyes and focuses her vision on the two strangers. A tall, lanky, tan boy with short brown hair stood to the left while a big husky guy with an orange bandanna across his forehead on the right was holding his hand out, “Hey. I’m Hunk and this is my friend Lance.”

Pidge gave a hesitant smile, “Pidge.” She reaches for his hand, yanking herself up. She coughed hiding her smile, “Aren’t you the boy who threw up?” She looked over the boy’s clothes, recognizing the green vest.

“All I’m saying is that motion sickness is much more of a problem than people let on!” Hunk defended himself.

The trio was walking around the school grounds. All the new students were already inside looking around the classrooms and cafeteria. Their introduction from their headmaster wasn't until later this afternoon and Pidge would rather walk around outside than get caught in the crossfire of that snobby girl or the anti-hero boy, so she took it upon herself to look around the building outside. Getting a feel for the architect. See if there were any blindspots. Ya know, any excuse to not go into the building. The boys were walking on either side of her. Hunk to her left and Lance to her right.  

Pidge and Lance chuckled. “Okay! I’m sorry. Vomit boy was the first thing that came to mind!” She smiled.

“Oh yeah? Well what if we called you crater face?” Lance taunted.

“Hey! That was an accident!” Pidge exclaimed, stomping her feet.

“Lance, no, that’s mean.” Hunk chastised. 

"You're no fun." Lance groaned and rolled his eyes dramatically. “Anyways, the name’s Lance McClain. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it!”

Pidge snorted raising an eyebrow, “Do they?”

“Of course they do! Especially when I’m driving! They call me “The Tailor” because of how I thread the needle!” The lanky boy exclaimed.

Pidge scoffed and turned to the bigger guy on the other side of her, “So What are you guys’ weapons?”

“Ooo! Great question! I have a canon that- get this!” Hunk went to grab for his weapon behind him. He smiled excitedly when his weapon shifted from a box into a canon, “that has mini-turret launchers!”

“Cool! What about-“

“Thought you would never ask!” Lance cut Pidge off mid-question, “I have an assault rifle that turns into a sniper rifle.” He showed off his already transformed sniper rifle.

“People did call him the “sharpshooter” back at the school we use to go to.” Hunk added.

Lance smirked holding his chin between his thumb and index finger, “Heck yeah they did!”

They kept walking and Pidge brought out her weapon, “Well... I got this thing,” she brought out her angular star that was hooked around her leg.

“Aw look! It’s small and cute like you!” Lance laughed.

Pidge frowned and lit up her satar with electricity and hit Lance on the side, shocking him.

“Aaaahhh!” Lance fell over in a crisp.

“Yeah, it is cute.” Pidge grinned in triumph. “Anyways, where are we going?”

Hunk shrugged, “Oh! I don’t know. I was just following you!”

Both of them looked around the empty sidewalks behind the school, while Lance is laying on the ground groaning in pain.

“Do you think there’s a food court? Or a map? Ya know, any identifiable landmark?”

Pidge snorted.

“So I’m guessing that’s a no?” Hunk asked.

“Uh- no.”

Chapter Text

The trio walked into the grand halls where all the new students were gathering.

“Hey, Pidge!”

The said girl turns around to find Matt waving to her waiting by the back wall. “Oh hey, I’ll meet up with you guys later!” Pidge waves goodbye to her two new friends.

“See ya!” Hunk replies while Lance checks out all the ladies in the room.

“Hey, little sister, hows your first day going?” Matt asked.

“Oh, you mean ever since you ditched me and I exploded!” Pidge growled.

“Whoa, meltdown already?”

“No, I mean I literally exploded a hole in front of the school! There was fire and I think some ice?” Pidge explained.

Matt smirked and crossed his arms, “Are ya being Sarcastic?”

“Oh, I wish! I ran into this really chummy girl’s luggage and she yelled at me and then I sneezed and I exploded and she yelled at me again and I felt really really bad and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me!” Pidge whined.

“You!” Someone yelled from behind the small girl, making Pidge jump into her brother’s arms.

“Oh no! It’s happening again!” Pidge cried, closing her eyes in fear.

Allura frowned and pointed her finger at her, “You’re lucky we weren’t blown off the side of the cliff!”

“Oh my God, you really exploded,” Matt muttered.

“An accident!” Pidge exclaimed getting off of Matt, “It was an accident!” Allura shoved a pamphlet in front of her face. “What’s this?” She asked.

“The Altea Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating an Altea Dust Company product. Although not mandatory, the Altea Family highly encourages its customers to read and familiarize themselves with this easy to follow guide to Dust applications and practices in the field.”

Pidge stood there mortified by the amount of information. She muttered, “Uhh..”

“You really want to make it up to me?” Allura asked.

“Yes?” the small girl quietly questioned.

“Read this and please don’t let it happen again!” The white-haired girl turned away.

Matt stepped in, “Whoa, its sounds like you two got off to a bad start. Maybe you should just start over?”

Pidge perked up, “Great idea!” She grabbed the pamphlet and held out her other hand, “Hello, Allura! I’m Pidge, wanna hang out? We can go shopping for school supplies!”

“Oh and we can do each other hairs and buy glittery things and maybe talk about long, tall, and scraggly over there!” Allura pointed toward Lance standing by Hunk, catching his attention.

“Really?” Pidge asked in excitement.

“No.”

The whine of the microphone catches everyone’s attention. They turned towards the stage to professor Alfor. He had the microphone ready while Coran was standing by his side. “I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step.”

Alfor walks off stage and Coran starts talking into the mic, “You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready! Don’t want any be wolves to snatch you off into the night! You are dismissed.”

“Well, that was ominous...” Matt stares at the headmaster.

“Almost like he wasn’t there,” Pidge added.

Lance leaned into their space and said, “I’m naturally tan, ya know!” He wiggles his eyebrows at Allura who facepalmed.

The ballroom was filled with new students and their sleeping bags. Pidge was laying down writing in her journal when Lance and Hunk came crashing down next to her in their pajamas.

“It’s like a big slumber party!” Hunk plopped down on his sleeping bag.

“Yeah, I’m not sure my parents would approve of all the boys,” Pidge muttered.

“I know I do,” Lance smirked checking out the crowd.

Hunk sat on the other side of Pidge, “So, what are you doing?”

“Writing to my friends back in Atlas.”

“Aww, that’s so cute!” Lance patronized.

Pidge whacked Lance in the face with a pillow, “Shut up! I didn’t get to come here with my friends! It’s weird not knowing anybody!”

Hunk frowned in thought, “What about me and Lance? We’re you’re friends!”

Pidge sighed, “And I already made one enemy.”

Hunk shrugged, “I don’t know. Allura seems nice when ya get to know her. You did almost explode her luggage.”

“Ugghh!” Pidge groaned and covered her face with her pillow.

A candle is lit from behind and Pidge looks. She sees The raven-haired boy from earlier. “That guy...” Pidge whispers.

Hunk chimes in, “Do you know him?”

“Not really. But he was there when I ran into Allura. He left before I could say anything.”

Lance turned around from talking to a pretty girl and followed his friends' gaze towards the dark brooding boy reading a book. “Oh. That guy.” He groaned.

Pidge turned around, “You know him?”

“That’s Keith. Man, that guys always trying to one-up me!”

Hunk blinked, “Wait? Are ya sure?”

“Oh yeah, I know that mullet anywhere.” The three sat in silence. Pidge fiddled her thumbs while Lance glared a hole into Keith’s head. Hunk looks at Lance and Pidge then Keith and back to Lance and Pidge again.

“Well, I think nows your chance!” Hunk exclaims.

“What?” Lance snaps. Hunk stood up and grabbed Pidge by the arm.

“Wait! What are you doing?” Pidge panicked.

“Hello!” Hunk spoke to Keith.

The dark-haired boy glanced up from his book, seeing the trio in front of him.

“I believe you two may know each other?” Hunk questioned, pointing to the smaller girl.

Keith scrunched his nose, “Aren’t you the girl who exploded?”

“Uh, yeah! But you can just call me crater-" Pidge held her hand out and stuttered, "Uh well you can just call me Pidge,” She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.

Keith ignored them and went back to reading his book, “Okay.”

“What are you doing?” Lance whispers to Pidge.

“I don’t know! Help me!” She whispered back.

“So Keith. How did you get into this school?” Lance asked with a yawn.

Keith looked back up and stared at the boy. “Do I know you?”

Lance gawked, “Uh! The names Lance!” Silence. “We went to the same school together? We were like rivals! Ya know, Lance and Keith, neck and neck?”

Keith frowned, “Really? Were you an engineer?”

“What! No, I was fighter class!”

“Oh wait, I remember you! You’re the one who spilled coffee over Shiro’s arm.”

Hunk laughed, “oh yeah I remember that!”

“Hunk!” Lance squeaked.

“What are you reading?” Pidge asked.

“Huh?” Keith looked up.

“Your book. What’s it about?”

“Oh it’s about a man with two souls. Each fighting for control.”

“Oh yeah... sounds... lovely.” Lance replied sarcastically.

“I love books. My brother would read them every night to me. Stories of the hero and the monsters. They’re one of the reasons I wanted to become a huntress.”

Keith closed his book, “Why’s that? Hoping you’ll get your happily ever after?”

“Well. I’m hoping we all will. When I was a kid I wanted to be just like those heroes. Someone who fought for what’s right and protected people who couldn’t protect themselves.”

“That’s pretty ambitious for a child. Sadly the world doesn’t work that way.” Keith frowned.

Hunk comes walking up behind the small girl and shrugs towards Keith, “Well that’s why we’re here. To make it better.”

Lance smiles and picks up Pidge in his arms, “Aw, that’s was such a sweet moment. I could hug you!”

Pidge yelped, “Hey! Put me down!”

Hunk and Keith Started chuckling.

“Well, Pidge, Hunk, it was nice to ha-“ Keith was interrupted by another voice.

“Could you keep it down! Some of us here are trying to sleep- “

“Oh no! Not you again!” Allura and Pidge simultaneously yelled.

“Uh! Guys, she’s right! People are trying to sleep!” Hunk tried to calm his friends down.

“Who cares? If they’re that tired, they can sleep through it! But on the other hand...” Lance slid over to Allura's side pointing finger guns at her, “The names Lance.”

“Ugh.” Allura groaned.

Keith rolls his eyes and grabs his candle and blew it out.

Chapter Text

“Wake up, Lazy butt!” A girl with blonde hair tied back into low pigtails stood over a grumpy Keith.

“It’s morning, it’s morning, it’s morning, it’s morning!” The girl sang. “I can't believe we've been at Beacon for a full twenty-four hours! Not that I thought we'd get kicked out or anything, I mean, you're the perfect student and I'm... well, I'm me! But it's just crazy, you know?” Romelle plops down next to the tired boy.

Keith sighs sitting up and tightens his sleeping bag while the energetic girl is fixing her hair.

“We've been friends for soooooooo long! What are the odds we'd still be together? Well, not "together-together..." Not that I'm not saying that you're not handsome; you are handsome, but that'd just be weird, right?” Romelle waved her brush over to her friend.

The two are in the middle of eating their breakfast, the girl has a pancake hanging from her mouth as she continues talking with her mouth full, “Right! Besides! You’re not interested in girls like that! But still, I hope we end up on great teams!” She slurps up the rest of her pancake, “Oohhhh! We should come up with some sort of plan, to make sure we end up on good teams! What if we bribe the headmaster? No, that won't work. He has school.”

The two are readying themselves in the locker room. Keith is loading his Weapon while the Romelle is still talking, “I know! We'll have some sort of signal! Like a distress signal! Huh! A secret signal so we can find each other in the forest! Can you imitate a sloth?”

The boy sighs, “Romelle?”

“Yes, Keith?”

Keith puts his sword behind his back, “I don't think sloths make a lot of noise.”

Romelle stood there in silence, thinking, “That's why it's perfect! No one will suspect we're working together!”

The boy closes his locker, “Come on Romelle, let's go.”

Romelle smiles, “Not "together-together..." she happily skips off behind Keith.

“Wonder what those two are excited about”, Pidge asked Matt.

“Oh, who knows. You seem awfully happy this morning!” Matt pointed out.

Pidge smiled, “Yup! No more awkward small talk or “getting-to-know-you” stuff, today I’m letting my sweetheart do the talking!” She cooed over her weapon.

“Well, remember, Pidge. Everyone else is going through initiation. If you want to grow up, you’re gonna have to meet new people. Make new friends.”

Pidge groaned, “Ugh! You sound like dad!” She slammed her locker shut, “First of all, how does meeting new people have to deal with fighting? Secondly! I don’t need to grow up! I drink milk!” She crossed her arms in defense.

“What about when you form teams?” The brother asked.

Pidge shrugged, “I don’t know. I mean I guess I have already met new people. They probably wouldn’t mind.”

“Well, I’m proud of you! You’re finally trying to break out your shell!” Matt exclaimed.

Pidge scoffed, “What? I’m not breaking out of my shell, that’s totally- “

“Ridiculous! I don’t remember putting my weapon in locker 242! I would’ve remembered having a password that long! Oh... why did this have to happen today!” Hunk groaned passing the sibling duo.

“So Allura! Have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to team up with a strong, well-known individual like yourself!” A girl dressed in full armor and a helmet that covered her whole face except her mouth commented.

“I don’t know, Ndrea. I was thinking of letting the chips fall where they may.” Allura responded.

“Well, I was thinking maybe we can be a team?” Ndrea smoothly asked.

“That would be grand!”

“Perfect,” Ndrea smiled.

“Ya know what else is great? Me.” Lance came up behind Allura.

“You again?” Allura asked with a smirk.

Ndrea steps in front of Allura, “Nice to meet you, my name is- !” Ndrea tried to introduce herself, only to be pushed to the side by Lance.

“Yeah, yeah, likewise. So!” The brunet boy focuses his attention back to Allura, “I couldn’t help overhearing about your fondness of me the other day.”

“I don’t specifically remember saying any of that.” Allura tried to deride him.

“Don’t be embarrassed! So, I’ve been hearing rumors about teams! I was thinking you and me would make a great one! What do you say?” Lance persuaded.

“Actually, I’ve heard the teams are comprised of four people,” Ndrea chimed in from behind.

Lance glanced at her and smirked, “You don’t say. Well, hot stuff! Play your cards right and you could join the winning team.”

“Lance, is it? do you have any idea who you’re talking to?” Ndrea asked curiously while gesturing towards Allura.

“Not in the slightest, metal angel.”

“This is Allura.” Ndrea gestures to the white-haired girl.

“Hello again!” Allura waves.

“Allura graduated at the top of her class at Sanctum.” Ndrea stated.

“Never heard of it.” Lance furrowed his brows.

“She's won the Mistral Region Tournaments four years in a row. A new record,” She blinked.

Lance quirked a brow, “The what?”

“She’s on the front of every pumpkin Pete’s marshmallow flake's box,” The armored girl spoke plainly.

Lance gasped, “Huh! That’s you!" He points an accusing finger to the heiress. "They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters! Dude! My niece and nephew love that!”

Allura nods her head, “Yes, that was pretty cool, sadly the cereal isn’t good for you.”

Ndrea crosses her arms and smiles, “Now with that in mind, do you think statistically and physically think you can be in the same team?”

Lance shoulders slumps, “No, I guess you’re right.”

“Actually Lance, despite all you’re flirting, I think you would make a great team leader!” Allura reassures.

"Oh, stop it!" Lance perks up at Allura while Ndrea blinked in astonishment. He looks over to the armored girl and smirks, “Sounds like Spots are filling up quick! Now I’m not supposed to do this but maybe I can pull some strings, find a place for you, whaddya say?” The tan boy smirked.

“I say, if you find us first, then I guess we have no choice than to be partners with you.” Ndrea shrugged, “Good luck finding Me or Allura!” With that, Ndrea turned and slowly walked off with Allura following her, shaking her head.

The intercom buzzed to life and Coran’s voice could be heard saying, “Can all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff with a hot skip and a jiffy.”

Matt smiles and patted Pidge on the shoulder and suddenly brought her in for a hug, “Kick some butt out there little sister!”

“I will.”

The older brother smiled and walked out of the locker room to go find his team and head to class. Hunk arrives beside Pidge while Lance finished loading his gun. “Come one guys!” Pidge burst with excitement. Hunk and Lance followed after her.

Alfor stood at the edge of the cliff with Coran, the forest directly behind them with trees spreading for thousands of miles. Coran is holding a tablet in his hands and the twelve new students all stood on their own square concrete, standing next to each other.

Alfor cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of everyone, “For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest.”

Coran stepped in front of Alfor and says, “Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of "teams." Well, allow us to put an end to your kerbobbled minds. Each of you will be given teammates... Today!”

“What? Noooo...” Pidge whined.

“These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well with,” Coran finished.

Alfor smiled and stepped forward, “That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years.”

“Wait? What?!” Lance shouted.

Romelle whispered towards Keith, “Told ya!”

“After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die.” Alfor added. Hunk laughed nervously and gulped. “You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?” Alfor finished.

Hunk raised his hand, “Yeah... Sir?”

“Great! Now get into position!”

Everyone strikes a pose except for Hunk who is still raising his hands, "Yeah, I have a question.” The platform under Allura springs forward, launching the heiress into the air.

“So this landing strategy. W-what was it again? Are you dropping us off?”

A catapult springs from down the line.

Alfor smiled, “No, you will be falling.”

Another student is shot off.

“Oh, I see. So are you handing out parachutes or something?” Hunk nervously asked.

Romelle and Keith are gone.

“No. You will be using your own “Landing Strategy.” Alfor informed.

“Uh Huh... Okay.” Hunk frowned and scratches his chin.

Lance winked at Pidge and shot off yelling with excitement. Pidge smirked and followed Lance a second later.

“So, what exactly is a landing strateg-yyyyyyyy!!!!” Hunk screamed being flipped off the cliff. His form not perfect and unprepared.

Alfor smiled and took a sip of his coffee. Coran hums and looks down at his tablet.

Chapter Text

A little black crow ‘caws’ flying through the sky over the vast range of the forest. No creature of Grimm insight.

Pidge shoots by hitting the bird and knocking it out with stray feathers flying everywhere. “Birdie no!” The small girl yelled in distress.

Pidge pulled her weapon from her belt and aimed at the tallest, nearest tree. Her grappling hooked caught on the trunk and she used it to spin her way to the ground.

Flying over her, Allura used her whip and snapped in the air, her blue dust creating soft platforms for her to jump and slow her momentum on.

Another girl with short brown hair and a green playsuit is using her body and bat-gun to crash through the tree branches, clearing a path and rolls onto the ground into a fighting stance. She holds her bat up and searched around her. The girl deemed it safe until she heard a faint yell, looking up she realizes it was another student.

Lance whirls past the girl, screaming in excitement. He uses his sniper rifle shots to slow himself down. In the nearest tree, he jumped from branch to branch and landed safely on the ground. “Whoo! Nailed it!”

Meanwhile, Hunk crashes to the ground with an oof. “Oh geez! That hurt!” He felt a slight scratch in his face. He acted a glow around him, the cut slowly disappearing.

In the middle of the forest, Pidge lands in a crouch and starts to run. ‘Gotta find, Hunk! Gotta find Lance!’

“Hunk! Lance!”

‘Oh, this is bad! This is really, really bad! What do I do if I don’t find Hunk first?’ Pidge panicked. ‘I mean there’s always Lance... He’s nice. He’s funny! But he's kind of loud... Oh! There’s Keith! So dark, so mysterious! But I don’t think I can hold a conversation with him.’ Pidge shakes her head and kept running. ‘Okay, who else is there? There’s Hunk, Lance, Keith, and...’ Pidge skid to a halt when she noticed a figure in front of her. Looking from the ground up, she looked at the person in the eyes and gave out the biggest sigh of her life. “HUNK!” She yelled and hugged the big guy.

“Oh thank god! Pidge! I was scared I wouldn't find you in time! I couldn’t find Lance!” Hunk cried wrapping his arms around the small girl, “I’m so glad I found someone!”

Pidge smiled in relief. "Yeah, I know the feeling."

The brown-haired girl is walking through the forest when she hears a gunshot and someone grunting. She pushes through some bushes to a girl in full armor.

'She almost looks like a soldier.' The brunette thought. She crouches low and hides behind some bushes while she watches the armored girl using her gun to kill a couple of Grimm. The brunette notices a boar stalking behind the girl. “Watch out!” The brunette runs out from behind her hiding spot.

"What?" The armored girl turns around and finds the boar about to attack. The brunette grabs her bat and swings the bat against the boar's side. The boar flies into the trees while the brunette shoved the armored girl behind her. The Boar Grimm comes rolling towards them with lightning speed. The brunette's body glows while she takes a stance.

"What are you doing?" The girl behind her yells.

The brunette uses her body as a wall to knock the rolling boar into its back. She uses her bat and holds it against the boar's neck to stop it from getting back up. "Stab it!" She shouts.

The armored girl runs towards the nearest tree and rips a thick tree branch off the trunk, throws the branch with as much force as she can muster and successfully stabs the pig in the stomach.

The brunette relaxes and stands up catching her breath, while the other girl slowly walked up to her.

They both stare at each other in silence until the brunette started introducing herself.

“Hello! My name is Shay!” The girl huffs.

“Ndrea Seven.” The armored girl nods.

Chapter Text

“Helllooo?” Lance called out into the forest. The boy walks around aimlessly. He cups his hand around his mouth and shouts, “Is anyone out there? Hellooo! I’m getting bored here!” A twig snaps behind him making him turn, “Is someone there?”

The bush behind him rustles. Lance walks towards the sound and spread the bush apart. “Hunk? Is that you?”

“Ggrrrrruughh...” a beast rumbles.

Lance’s face drops and slowly raises his head to see the Grimm's face, “Nope.”

He ducks and rolls out of the way when an Ursa, a bear-like Grimm, comes striking at him. Lance gets back up just in time to see the Grimm swing his left paw. The boy backflips out of the way. Another Ursa who storms out from the trees and charges at the tallboy. Lance uses his rifle to shoot ice dust towards his leg, freezing it. He shoots two fire shots towards the other Ursa making it fly a couple of yards back.

“You guys wouldn’t have happened to have seen a big guy or a small girl with glasses, would you?” Lance asked the two beasts.

The Ursas roars.

“You could have just said no!”

The bear tried to strike Lance again but the boy maneuvered out of the way and laughed, “Geez! My grandma can move faster than yo-“ a trickle of blood fell from the side of his face. He raises a hand and slightly flinches at the sting on his cheek. When he pulls his hand away, his fingertips are stained red. His perfect skin, damaged. “You...” The boy growls.

The bears looked at each other.

“You... Monsters!”

Lance loaded his rifle and started to shoot the bears in a barrage of bullets. He switched his rifle to a sniper and shot one Ursa between the eyes. The beast fell dead. The other Grimm growled.

“What? You want some too?” Lance yelled.

The bear growled preparing to attack when a slice was heard. The bear huffed and fell. Behind the beast stood Keith with his sword in the back of the Grimm.

He yanked his sword out and strapped it to his back. He glanced at the brunet and gave him a smirk.

Lance glared and coughed, “I could have taken him!” He muttered.

Keith and Lance were thrown in another battle against a dozen of beowolves. Keith stood his ground while Lance was looking everywhere for an escape route.

‘Okay. Remember your training with Shiro. Head up, shoulders back, right foot forward... Not that forward.’ Keith adjusted himself. ‘Patience yields focus.’ the boy held his glowing red sword beside him, charging it up with dust. ‘Now!’ Keith charged to the wolf that was in front of him.

Lance noticed the wolf in front of Keith has fewer Grimms behind him and aimed his rifle at the exact same time.

Keith, noticing Lance’s advance, skid to a stop in hopes of avoiding Lance's shot. In a rush, he directed his loaded sword to a nearby tree, setting it ablaze.

Lance notices the burning tree but missed the wolf raising his arm. "Keith!"

Said boy, looked up, and took the full brunt of the bear's hit. He flew from the impact and was pushed into Lance, knocking them both down.

“Watch it!” Lance scolded.

“You attacked out of nowhere! You could have shot me!” Keith defended.

Lance rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the Grimms, “Whatever.”

The beowolves surround the two. Lance reloads his gun while Keith assesses the situation. The burning tree snaps and falls down with a loud crash, the beowolves howl and run away. Keith grabs Lance’s arm, “We have to go!”

The Grimm's howls can be heard in the distance while Keith and Lance run the opposite direction towards safety. Once they are out of sight, they stop to catch their breaths.

“What was that?” Lance yelled, “That should’ve been easy!” He gestures to the burning trees.

“Well, if you had realized the amount of danger you put me in, I wouldn’t have set the forest on fire!” Keith snapped back.

Lance scoffs, “Oh, so it’s completely my fault?”

“It means that for someone who talks so much, communicates so little!”

Lance growled marching up to the broody boy and got up in his face, “Oh you’re one to talk! You didn’t tell me you were gonna fight the Beowulf I chose!” Lance pointed his finger into Keith’s chest.

“I shouldn’t need to say anything if I’m already facing that monster!”

“Well, I’m sorry that you need my help to win a fight!”

“I don’t need help! I’m just fine on my own!” Keith argues.

“Well, congratulations on being the strongest, dropout to fight your way into Beacon!” Lance finished and walked away. “Bravo!”

Keith growled and sliced a tree clean through and marches behind Lance in quiet rage while the tree falls and crashes to the ground. A huge black feather gently floats down right after it.

Shay and Ndrea are trudging their way through the forest when they heard gunshots going off in the distance.

“Did you hear that?” Shay asked.

“Gunfire. It seems some of our comrades have encountered the enemy.” Ndrea states.

Shay continued walking in front of Ndrea. She pushed a branch out of the way only for it to whip back and smack Ndrea across the face. “Ow!”

“Ndrea! I’m sorry!” Shay apologized.

“It’s alright. It was only a scratch.”

Shay frowned, “Why didn’t you activate your aura?”

“Aura?” Ndrea questioned.

“Do you not know what aura is?” Shay asked. The girl shook her head. Shay smiles, “Aura is the manifestation of our soul. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts.”

Allura trudges through the forest alone, weapon in hand.

“Have you ever felt you were being watched without knowing that someone was there?” Shay asked.

“Yes.”

Allura comes to a stop and narrows her eyes. She looks around the forest while a huge black serpent rises up from the grass behind her and quickly surrounds her with its large body. She crouches to a fighting stance as the snake coils together in front of her and attacks with its long fangs.

Shay walks up towards Ndrea, “With practice, our Aura can be our shield. Everyone has it, even animals.”

Ndrea frowns, “What about monsters?”

“No.”

Allura leaps out of the way of the snake's mouth. It hits the ground and instantly comes back up again to hit Allura with its tail in the air.

“The monsters we fight lack a soul. They are creatures of Grimm, the manifestation of anonymity.”

The heiress lands in a crouch when the serpent encircles her again, and she activates her weapon before jumping up and striking at the Grimm.

Shay continues, “They are the darkness, and we are the light.”

Allura kicks the snake in the snout and slashes at its head.

“Right and that is why we fight them!” Ndrea voiced her thoughts.

“It's not about why; it's about knowing.” Shay spoke.

the snake slithers around Allura and tries to bite her again, but she flips over it and wraps her whip around its head until she felt another movement behind her.

“Understanding dark and light helps us manifest our Aura. Everyone has some of both.” Shay explains.

Allura turns and looks up at the white snake as it launches itself at her. She dodges it and lands just in time to see the head slither towards her. As it gets closer, she runs at it and leaps onto the white head, sliding over its body and blasting the other head with dust.

“By baring your soul outward as a force, you can deflect harm. All of our tools and equipment are conduits for Aura. You protect yourself and your soul when fighting.”

Allura is knocked off by the white snakes head, dropping her weapon. She turns back to the snake in time to see it strike, “No!”

Ndrea smiles and nods, “So, It's like a force field?”

Shay chuckles, “Yes if you want to look at it that way.”

Allira is holding the snake's fangs in the palm of her hands. Her hands glow a faint, pulsating pink as she grips the teeth and yanks them from the monster's mouth, causing it to flail away. It attempts to bite again, but Allura spins to the side and stabs a fang into its eye, rotating her arm to deliver a final blow that drives the fang into its skull. The amount of force blows the head apart in a dark mess as its headless body falls over. Wasting no time, Allura runs towards the black snake.

“The aura you described...” Ndrea slowly speaks.

“Yes?” Shay nods.

“I believe I do not have one. If I remember correctly. It was stolen from me as a child.”

Shay gasps, “But, how?”

Ndrea shakes her head. “I don’t know. My memory is hazy when I try to remember.”

“That’s why you have a lot of armor, isn’t it?”

“Yes. But don’t be sad. I’m still quite useful without it.” Ndrea reassures. Shay smiles.

Allura stands over the two dead snakes when she hears a weird noise.

“Bbrrra! Bbrrra!” A wild Romelle appears, hanging upside down from a tree in front of Allura.

“Hello.” she greets her friend.

“Boop!” Romelle tapped the heiress’ nose.

Chapter Text

Professor Alfor stands by the cliff examining his student through the tablet he's holding.

“It seems the last pairs of teams have been formed sir,” Coran reported. “Allura partnered with Romelle. That should be exciting!”

Alfor hummed.

“Alas, poor Keith. I can’t imagine him nor Lance getting along together. Still, I suppose it better than any! I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” Coran turned his own tablet off and started walking back towards the school, “By the way, what did you use as relics this year?” The redhead turned to Alfor, “Professor?”

Said guy is focused on the two newly formed team of Keith and Lance on his scroll.

“It this way... no, it’s definitely this way!” Lance marches across the open space behind Keith, going the opposite direction. The taller boy comes to a stop beside his teammate, “Okay, it’s official. We passed it.”

“Lance, why can’t you just admit you have no idea where we’re going.” Keith sighed.

“That’s because I know exactly where we’re going! We’re... going to... the forest temple!” Lance exclaimed.

Keith groaned.

“Oh, what do you know mullet? You don’t know where we are either!”

“At least I’m not pretending to be a know it all!”

“At least I’m not being a big, fat jerk!” Lance angrily shouted.

Keith rolled his eyes, “Just keep moving!”

“Just keep moving! Hurry up! Ugh! Watch where ya going!” Lance mimed. “Why are you so bossy?”

“I’m not bossy! Stop saying stuff!”

“Stop treating me like a kid!”

“Stop acting like a kid!”

“Stop acting like a jerk!”

“Stop acting perfect!”

“I’m not perfect!” Lance argued. “At least not yet but, I’m still leagues ahead of you.” He stomped away.

Keith stood there, hurt, “You don’t even know me."

Pidge and Hunk appeared in front of an abandoned piece of architecture. Pedestals line in a circle holding white and black statues.

“Think this is it?” Hunk asked.

“Most likely.”

They both slid down the steep hill and walked towards the ruins. Pidge walked up to the nearest pedestal and grab the object observing it in her hand. “Chess pieces?”

“It looks like we weren’t the first one either. Some of the pieces are gone.” Hunk states looking around.

Pidge raised an eyebrow. “I guess we pick one now.”

“Think this is it?” Romelle asked Allura.

The duo stood in front of the wall of a cliff with a huge dark hole in the middle. Romelle leads the way holding a torch in her hand while Allura is following close behind her. “I don’t think this is it,” Allura spoke.

Romelle groaned, “Allura, Please. I made the torch. At least entertain me for five more feet. Whoa!” Romelle stumbles and loses her grip on the torch and drops it into a puddle of water, extinguishing the fire. Romelle regains her balance and slowly stands up.

“Do you... feel that?” Allura asks, hoping she's facing in the direction of her blonde friend.

“Soul-crushing regret?” Romelle squeaks.

“No, it’s... warm.”

“Hmm..." Hunk scans over the statues in thought. "How bout a cute little pony?” Hunk picks up a horse chess piece.

Pidge smiles and rolls her eyes, “Sure.”

Hunk high fives Pidge, “That was easy!”

“It’s not like this place is that hard to find.” Pidge smiles and adjusts her glasses.

Allura and Romelle continue onward through the cave until they see a large glowing yellow object right in front of them, illuminating Romelle’s excited face.

“That's the relic!” Romelle exclaims as she slowly reaches out to grab it. The golden object moves back, “Hey! Bad... relic!” Romelle squints. She tries to grab the object once more and it evades her a second time. The blonde growl and leaps forward latching onto the glowing form. "Got it!" Romelle shouts in glee until the golden item lifts the girl off the ground and shoved into the face of a scorpion Grimm.

Allura looks up, “Uh... Romelle?”

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Romelle scream is heard all the way from the temple where Hunk turns toward the sound. “Someone is in trouble! Pidge, did you hear that?” Hunk looks back at her.

Pidge doesn't answer while she's staring up at the sky.

Allura rushes out of the cave before the monster crashes through the hole, roaring and waving its claws as Romelle hangs from the scorpion's stinger.

“Help! Whoa! ah-ah-ah-ah! Why?! Allura! Heeeelp! Allura, this is not the relic! It's not!” Romelle screams. “Do something!”

Allura stood her distance away from the huge scorpion, “Romelle! Whatever you do, don't let-“

"Ahhhhhhh!" Romelle is flicked away by the tail. She is flying into the distance behind Allura.

“...go.” Allura watches her teammate disappear behind the trees. She turns back to the scorpion as it snaps its claws at her and screeches. The heiress smiles awkwardly before turning and running away leaving a burst of leaves.

Pidge continues to stare up at the sky. Hunk is starting to panic and faces the small girl, “Pidge, did you hear that? What should we do?”

The screech of a Grimm is nearby, the voice of a girl screaming can be heard in the distance, and a boy is falling from the sky where Pidge is looking up at.

“Heads uuuuuuuup!" Lance screams as he’s falling straight towards them.

Chapter Text

“Lance!” Keith yells. The brunet looks back at the raven-haired boy. “I told you this was a terrible idea!”

“We’re fine! Stop worrying!” Lance shouts, responding back.

“I am so far beyond worrying!”

“In a good way?” Lance asked.

“In a bad way! In a very bad way!” Keith shouts, closing his eyes from the violent wind whipping his hair back and forth from his eyes. The two boys are hanging onto the feathers on the back of a nevermore, a huge Grimm vulture.

Lance frowns, “Well, why don’t we just jump!”

“What are you? Insane?” The pale boy shouts.

There was no response. Keith looks up to find that the boy in fact jumped and left him. “Oh, you insufferable little runt!”

“Pidge did you hear that?” Hunk turns and finds Pidge pointing up to the sky.

“Heads uuuuuuuup!” Lance screamed but was intersected by a flying Romelle and they both flew into the trees.

“Uhhh... what happened?” Lance groaned. He looks up to find Romelle hanging upside down in a branch.

“Hey.” Romelle waved at her.

“Did lance just fall from the sky?” Pidge asked Hunk.

“I-“

Gunshot was heard grabbing Hunk and Pidge’s attention towards the front of them.

“Ahhhh!” Shay came into the clearing riding on the shoulders of an Ursa. The beast drops dead to the ground with the girl on its back, “Finally! it’s dead.”

Ndrea appears from behind the bear breathing hard, “Shay please, next time, let me handle it.”

Shay chuckles, “Of course!”

“Did they just ride in on an Ursa?” Pidge asks Hunk another question.

“I-" Hunk is cut off again when they hear another Grimm screeching and branches snapping. Pidge and Hunk look to their right to find Allura running from a Grimm scorpion. Dodging and weaving from the snap of its claws.

“Romelle!” Allura shouted.

“Allura!” Romelle calls back. She wiggles around on the tree branch and fails to get down.

Lance finally shook the dizziness from his head and stands up, "Whoa..." He tries to maintain his balance and quickly runs from the tree.

“Lance!” Romelle waves her hands but she's a second too late. The boy jumps out of the tree and rolls next to Pidge.

“Lance?” The small girl asks.

“Pidge! Hunk!” Lance cheers.

“Lance!” Hunk yelled.

“Shay!” The brunette appeared beside them and smiles.

Pidge is still looking at the heiress, “Did she run all the way over here with a deathstalker in her tail?”

Hunk snapped, “Okay! I’m gonna cry! Can everyone take it down a notch before something crazy happens again and I start panicking!”

Three ticks go by and Ndrea finally joins the group with Shay. Pidge tapped Hunk’s shoulder and pointing up again making him slouch in defeat.

“How could you leave me?” Keith yells hanging onto the nevermore’s feet.

“I said jump!” Lance spoke.

Pidge cleaned her glasses while Hunk spoke up, “Do you think he’ll be okay?”

“He’s gonna fall,” Ndrea spoke.

“He’ll be fine!” Lance stated.

“He’s falling,” Pidge states while adjusted her glasses back on her face, looking up.

Lance growls, “Okay. Someone launch me up there! I’ll catch him.” The tan boy crouched ready to be thrown.

Hunk frowned, “Uh, Lance. I don’t think that’s gonna-“

“I’ll help you.” Shay smiles stopping Hunk mid-sentence.

Romelle managed to untangle herself from the tree. She tucks and rolls beside Pidge, sighing in relief. Meanwhile, Shay connects her fingers ready to launch. She's facing away from the falling boy. “Ready?” She directs her question to Lance.

Lance is standing a couple of meters back from Shay. He looks up at Keith and nods, “Totally.” He runs to Shay and steps into her palms while Shay uses all her strength and launches Lance into the air.

Keith struggles to grab his sword so he could make a slide or platform to land on until he felt a pair of arms around his chest. “Gotcha!”

"Okay, dude, brace for impact!" Lance shouts. They both tuck and roll to lessen the fall. Keith smoothly rolls and stands up on his feet while Lance rolls and lands on his back with an oomph.

Keith rolls his eyes at his partner, “My hero," He remarks sarcastically.

“My back...” Lance twitches on the ground.

Allura is running in behind them when she is smacked by the scorpion’s claw, sending her to skid in front of the group.

“Yay! The gangs all here! Now we can die together!” Pidge remarked sarcastically.

Lance got up and smiled, “Not if I can help it! Hyaaa!” He ran towards the deathstalker.

“Lance wait!” Hunk yelled after him.

The tan boy used the recoil of his gun as a boost to send him faster towards the monsters. He collides with the front of its claws and was sent backward, crashing to the ground. “I’m okay! Totally fine!” Lance announced, getting back up. He turned around to find the scorpion a few feet behind him. Lance uses his rifle that had no effect on the Grimm.

“Lance!” Hunk starts running towards him.

The brunet stored his gun away and started running back towards Hunk. The nevermore circling above them had different plans. It flapped his wings hard and feathers shot off into the ground. One feather snagged lance by the tail end of his long jacket while the rest of the feather blocked Hunk’s path. The path was narrow and too small for him to squeeze through.

The deathstalker crawled behind the trapped boy and raised its tail, ready to strike. Lance yanks on his jacket but the feather won't budge. He stares up in fear while Hunk yells in fear, “Lance!”

A flash of black and red whirls by. Lance closed his eyes when he sees the scorpion's tail about to attack. A loud crack fills the air.

“You are so childish!”

Lance opens his eyes to see his partner standing over him. “Keith?”

“And dim-witted and hyperactive! And don’t get me started on your fighting style." Keith turns away from the wall of ice he created in front of them, "And I suppose I can be a bit... difficult! But if we’re going to do this, we’re going to have to do this together.” Keith stared into Lance’s eyes. “So if you quit trying to show off... I’ll be...” He sighed, “Nicer.”

Lance stared at the ground, “I’m not trying to show off. I want you to know I can do this.”

“You’re fine,” Keith mutters and walks away.

Lance unhooked himself from the huge black feather and stares at the wall of ice that Keith made. He walks around to look behind it and gasps, “Whoa!” The scorpion’s stinger was stuck and the Grimm was yanking his tail, trying to break free.

When Lance turns to walk away only to be bear-hugged by Hunk, “I’m so glad that you’re okay! Don't ever do anything crazy like that again!”

Lance chuckles, "Sorry man, no promises." Hunk releases him and they smiled at each other for a moment before looking up at the nevermore still circling the sky.

“What shall we do? The nevermore is coming back!” Shay looks at the group.

“Well, there’s no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us.” Lance firmly stated.

“He’s right,” Keith said, “Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it to the other side of that cliff.” Lance and Keith looked at each other and nodded. “There’s no point in fighting these things.”

“Run and live? That is an idea I can get behind!” Hunk awkwardly smiled.

“Me too!” Romelle stood next to Hunk.

Allura and Keith walked up to a pedestal and grabbed the chest pieces. They smiled at each other.

Shay noticed the ice cracking from the deathstalker. “I think it’s about time we left!”

“Right. Let’s go!” Keith leads the way with Allura on his tail.

They make it the bridge connecting to the cliff. The nevermore above them caws. Allura grabs Romelle and runs to the nearest pillar to hide. The rest of the group follow their lead and hide behind their own pillars. The nevermore lands on top of the cliff and caws a deafening sound.

“Well, that’s just great!” Hunk hissed.

The screech from the deathstalker is heard and the scorpion from before comes bursting from the trees and makes its way towards the group of teens. “Ahhh! Run!” Romelle screams. They all emerge from their hiding spots causing the nevermore to rise up in the air.

“Romelle! Distract it!” Keith yells.

Romelle rolls into the open and grabs her bow and arrow. She loads a box on the end of her arrow and shoots it at the Nevermore. The box explodes on impact and creates a massive explosion. Romelle shoots a couple more bombs at the bird, unaware of the deathstalker on her back until Pidge and Allura use their whip-like moves to stop it in its tracks.

They run towards the bridge at the edge of the cliff. Ndrea kneels and aims her gun, “Go, go!” Everyone passes her and she shoots the scorpion in the face with a barrage of bullets. They make it to the bridge far enough to stay out of the deathstalker claw’s range.

They continue to run but failed to notice the nevermore heading straight for them.

The Grimm flies into the bridge breaking it apart and separating the group.

Romelle lands with an oof. She looks back at the broken bridge and notices that Allura, Ndrea, and Pidge need help with the deathstalker on the other side, “Oh no! We need to get over there!”

Shay stands next to Romelle, “let’s do it!”

Romelle smiles nervously, “Yeah, I don’t think I can make that jump.”

Shay smiles and grabs the side of her hips. “What are you doing?” Romelle asks. Shay spins her around three times fast and launches her across the gap, sending Romelle screaming. Shay, using the strength in her legs, launches herself over in a huge leap.

Romelle barely makes it over while Shay charges straight from the air, hitting the scorpions face with her bat and knocking him down for a second. She lands backward and accidentally knocks Pidge of the bridge.

“Whoa!” She’s free-falling. Looking at the nevermore, she quickly uses her grappling hook to cling onto the bird's wings and reels herself in. Pidge jumps onto the nevermore's back and yanks her grappling hook blade out of the wing, making the Grimm screech in pain. Turning her grappling hook into a whip, she uses the strongest current of electricity in her weapon and begins to strike the bird's back and break its skin. After a couple more whips, Pidge realizes she has no effect by herself and jumps onto the ruined platform her partner is on.

“It’s harder than it looks!” Pidge yelled once she landed.

“Then let’s hit with everything we got!” Lance shouts.

Keith and Pidge powered up their weapon with dust while Lance and Hunk loaded their guns. Keith slices his sword through the air creating flames, Pidge is using her whip to snap and create balls of ice, and using the end of her whip to send it flying, Lance is using his sniper rifle while Hunk uses his giant cannon to blast it out of the sky.

Multiple blasts and hits land on the nevermore and the bird screeches in rage. The Grimm flies straight into the tower they're standing on and destroys any stability it had left. Hunk managed to get out of the way while lance uses the recoil in his gun to send him up the falling tower. Pidge uses her grappling hook and swings onto another bridge. Keith uses the falling stones as a platform and jumps from boulder to boulder until he jumps to a pillar and runs the rest of the way up and lands next to Pidge on the bridge.

“None of this is working!” The girl sighs.

Keith looks around at everyone's weapons and positions. “I have a plan! Cover me!” Keith ordered and ran towards Hunk and Lance.

Allura stood with Shay, Ndrea, and Romelle. The deathstalker banged its claw against the bridge making it shake and crumble. “Let's move!” Allura yells.

All four girls charged at the deathstalker. The scorpion swiped its claw at Romelle but Shay moved and used her arms as a shield. She grabbed her bat-gun and whacked the claw the opposite way. Allura came in wrapping her whip around the other claw to hold it down. The scorpion aimed its tail to strike but Ndrea wrapped her arms around the stinger and started shooting at the base.

The Grimm screeched and whipped its tail hard flinging Ndrea into a tree. Shay looks over in a panic, “Ndrea!”

Allura notices the stinger holding on by a sliver. She looks at her friend, “Romelle! Cut it!”

“Got it!” Romelle aims and shoots an arrow, severing the stinger from the tail. It falls and stabs through the scorpions head.

“Shay! Nail it!”

“Heads up!” Shay shouted and leaped her highest in the air. At the highest point of her jump, she decides to spin to give her kick more of an impact. Shay kicked the scorpion in the head and slam her bat for good measure. The force of the hits made the Grimm fall forward on the bridge while Romelle and Allura jumped above the scorpion onto the ground behind it. The unexpected weight of the scorpion made the bridge collapse and fall, taking the Grimm with it.

Allura landed perfectly on her feet, Romelle fell on her back, Shay landed on her butt, while Ndrea came walking to her group and dropped to the ground in exhaustion. They all turn around to watch their friends fight the nevermore.

Hunk is standing on top of a column shooting at the nevermore. The bird flies towards him and opens it mouth to scoop him up. Hunk willingly jumps into the mouth and uses all his strength to keep its beak open while he aims his canon down the throat, shouting, “I hope you’re hungry!” Hunk looked behind him and sees the wall of the cliff approaching. He jumped out of birds' mouths and lands by the others.

The nevermore crashes into the wall and quickly lands on its feet, raising its wings in intimidation and screeching to the high heavens. The bird ten starts to flap its wings to take flight, until Lance with his sniper rifle to fire ice at the bird's tail feathers, creating a slab of ice and trapping the bird to one area.

Pidge shoots her grappling hook across to Hunk who catches it and sticks it to the column he holding onto. Keith runs and jumps high enough into the air and lands in the middle of the band and stretches the band down to its maximum length. Keith stabs his sword into the ground and holds a tight grip on the sword as to not launch himself unprepared. Together, they have formed a giant slingshot with Keith as the bullet.

Lance stands next to him with his sniper locked and loaded.

“We have to time this right.” Keith eyes the Nevermore, talking to Lance.

“I know.”

“Think you can make this shot?”

Lance smirked, “Can I!”

Keith frowns and glances at his partner, “Can y-“

“Of course I can!” Lance interrupts with an offended look on his face.

Keith focuses back on the Grimm and uses his ice dust to form a larger blade on the end of his sword, raising him higher in the air.

Lance gets behind Keith and jumps and spins in the air, his feet matching Keith’s feet for a split second before the ravenet yanks his sword out of the ground at the same time. Lance shoots a powerful shot and uses his gun’s recoil to give Keith a huge boost in speed.

Keith flies through the air in the bird’s direction while Lance lands back on his feet and aims his sniper at the mountain wall. He uses his ice to create a zig-zag pattern of wedges that leads straight to the top.

As the ice bullet passes Keith, he shoves his blade into the trapped nevermore’s neck and lands against the wall. Using his momentum and speed, he makes it to the first wedge created by Lance as leverage to push himself further up the wall to the next ice wedge.

Keith’s dragging the bird by the blade in its neck, moving as fast as he can giving the bird no time to recover. With the last wedge, he uses all his strength to shove his sword through the nevermore’s head, splitting it wide open.

He lands on top of the cliff without trouble while the nevermore's dead corpse falls down into the foggy canyon below.

Allura and the other girls stared in awe.

Hunk lands beside Lance and Pidge, “Well. That was a thing!” He sighs and smiles in relief. Lance and Pidge nod in agreement. They look up to see Keith walking to the edge of the cliff and looks down at all of them.

“Monoma Bronze, Roy Blu, Racheline Sky, Kenny burgundy. You four have retrieve the black bishop piece.” Professor Alfor stood in front of the group. A huge screen behind him shows their pictures and names. “From this day forward, you will work together as Team Marker.” The names in the background disappeared to show only the first letter of their names, creating the word MRKR. “Led by Monoma Bronze.”

People in the audience clapped as the team walked off stage. Their names and picture fades as new ones appear on screen. Allura and her partners step onto the stage and present themselves.

“Allura Altea, Ndrea Seven, Shay Balmera, and Romelle Lavender. You four have retrieved the white rook piece. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Answer.”
The names once again disappearing and leaving the first letters, forming ANSR. “Led by Allura Altea.”

Said girl smiled and raised her head to meet the professor’s eyes. Alfor smiled fondly at her and winked. The crowd applauded once again as the team left the stage.

Alfor turned to the new group, “And finally, Keith Kogane, Lance McClain, Pidge Holt-“

“Woo! That’s my sister!” Matt yelled, interrupting the Headmaster.

Pidge smiled and shook her head in embarrassment. “...Hunk Garret,” Professor Alfor finished. “You four have retrieved the white Knight Pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Cliff.” The letters on the screen showed ‘KLPH.’ “Led by Keith Kogane.”

Keith’s jaw dropped, “Led by...”

Alfor smiled, “Congratulations, young man.”

“I’m so proud of you!” Pidge exclaimed while Hunk bear-hugged him off the ground. Once he was put back down, Lance held his shoulder, grabbing the shorter boy’s attention.
“We did it. We are a good team.”

Keith gave him a small smile in return.

Everyone in the school cheered for the new students and their success. Alfor stood proud, “It looks like things are shaping up to be... an interesting year.”

In a dark abandoned storage building, a tall dark figure with huge furry ears stood over a table. Papers scattered over the desk with a huge map of Vale on the wall in front of him.

A guy in a white uniform with a red Beowulf symbol on the back of his jacket pushed a cart into the room. He pushed the cart to the side of the man. The big guy threw a stack of cash in front of the uniformed worker.

The man turned around and walked into the moonlight to reveal Prorok, standing over the cases the cart held. “Open it.”

The guy unlocks and lifts the top open. Dozens of dust crystals line the black compartment. Prorok raised one to inspect it and frowns “We’re gonna need a lot more men.”

Chapter Text

Keith blinks from the morning sun shining on his face. With a loud groan, he sits up and rubs the sleepiness from his eyes while he raises his arm in the air and stretches. A whistle is fiercely blown into Keith’s ear making the boy jump and fall off his bed onto the ground with a loud thump.

“Goooooood morning, Team KLPH!” Lance shouted.

Keith rubbed the back of his head and groaned, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Lance smiled, “Now that you’re awake we can officially start our first order of business!”

The raven-haired boy frowned, “What’s that?”

“Decorating!” Hunk exclaimed from behind Lance. He was standing next to the door by Pidge. All three of them are wearing their school uniform.

“What?” Keith frowned.

“We still need to unpack!” Pidge smiled. She held up a suitcase which opened and all of her belongings dropped to the floor, “And... clean.”

Keith stands up and dusts himself off clearly unhappy. When he looks back at Lance, the boy scares him once again by blowing the whistle in his face.

“Alright!" Lance hops in front of his team leader to face his other teammates, "Keith, Hunk, Pidge, and their fearless sharpshooter Lance, have begun their first mission!” Lance pumped his fist in the air and yells, “Banzai!”

“Banzai!” Pidge and Hunk cheer after him. Keith shakes his head and sighs.

Team KLPH unlocks their suitcases and starts to pull out clothes and personal belongings onto their bed. Keith, not having many items or clothes, sits on his bed in his uniform as he watches the others organize their things. Hunk is storing his clothes into his own wardrobe. Pidge is stacking her books beside her bed onto a bookshelf. She pulls out her journal and quickly holds it to her chest and looks around in caution. Seeing everyone looking the other way, she stuffs the journal under her pillow. Meanwhile, Lance is in the bathroom sorting his skincare and hair products in order around the sink, taking up most of the space.

“This isn’t going to work.” Hunk stated.

Their belongings are perfectly set up, Hunk's bin of kitchen utensils are stacked nicely in one corner, Pidge's bookshelf she claimed earlier is packed to the brim, and Lance's posters are pinned against the wall, leaving their beds in the middle of the room piled on each other.

“It is a bit cramped in here.” Keith muttered.

Pidge furrowed her brows and adjusted her glasses, “Maybe we should ditch some of our stuff.”

“Or... we can ditch the beds... Huh! And make bunk beds!” The brunet boy jumped.

“Ah! No! That seems dangerous.” Hunk tried to reason.

“And super awesome!” Pidge high fived Lance.

“It does seem proficient.” Keith added.

“Uh! I say let’s put it to a vote!” The big guy tried once more.

“Hunk, buddy," Lance laid a hand on his friend's shoulder, "I think we already did.”

They go back in and adjust their beds to fit the room. They all stand back together to examine their room once again.

On the left side of the room, Lance’s bed is hanging over Keith’s bed by a couple of ropes wrapped around each corner of the headboard. On the right side of the room, Pidge's bed is standing on top of her books which is stacked on the corners of Hunk's bead posts.

“Mission complete!” Lance gloats.

“Today's the first day of classes, too!” Hunk pulled out a small binder on top of his desk, “ At nine we have-“

“Wait! Did you say nine o'clock?” Keith interrupts.

Hunk squints his eyes, "Yeah?"

“It’s 8:55! We’re gonna be late!” Keith sprints out of the room.

Hunk, Pidge, and Lance looked outside their door watching their team leader run down the hallway.

Allura and her team stick their heads out from their door directly across from Team KLPH.

“Uhh, to class!” Lance announces and runs with the other two behind him.

“Class?” Romelle questioned. She looks at her scroll and notices the time, “Oh no! We’re gonna be late!”

Professor Alfor holds a cup of steaming coffee while he walks around the school grounds when he notices eight students sprinting across the field to the front doors of the school. Keith, he notices, being the fastest with Lance being a close second and Allura pulling the rear. Alfor chuckles and continues his morning walk.

“Monsters! Deeemons! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!” Professor Coran stood in front of the class.

Team KLPH took their places in the front row. Keith was doodling on a piece of paper, Pidge was reading her latest book, Lance was trying to balance a pencil on his nose while Hunk was the only one trying to pay attention.

“And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! My name is as you will address me is Coran, and it’s a pleasure to teach you, students. Now, as I was saying." Coran turned towards the chalkboard, "Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses...” The man addresses the class, "Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!"

“Woo.” Lance mouthed at Pidge making her giggle.

Coran coughed into in hand, “That is what you are training to become! But first: A story. A tale of a young, courageous man... Me! When I was a boy..."

Coran’s word fades to the background as Keith notices Lance intensely drawing on his paper. 

“...Despite smelling of yalmor, my father was a wise man and said, ‘Coran’...” the man continued talking about his childhood.

Lance finished his drawing of Coran with an exaggerated face and a huge mustache on a stick body with Professor Mustache written on top of the paper. He showed it to his team making Pidge and Hunk chuckle.

“Ah-hem!” The trio snapped to attention when Coran coughed. The professor raised a brow and continued his story, “In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero!” Coran slowly bows. He stands back up, "Moral of the story? A true huntsman must be honorable!”

Keith looks towards his partner Lance while he's trying to balance a book on top of his head.

“A true huntsman must be dependable!”

Keith grinds his teeth watching Lance sleeping with a semi-quiet snore.

“A true huntsman but be strategic, well educated, and wise!”

The brunet is not so subtly digging in his ear with his pinky finger. Keith is shaking with annoyance and clenching his fist.

“So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" Coran asked.

“I do sir!” Keith raised his hand.

“Well, then come on down and face your opponent!” Coran turns and unveils a huge cage holding a wild beast with bright red eyes, growling and banging against the metal cage.

Chapter Text

Keith emerged back into the classroom after changing his school uniform back into his regular clothes. He grabs his sword from behind and takes a fighting stance. The cage is shaking while the beast inside is growling and growing restless. His teammates are cheering him on.

“Let’s go, Keith!” Hunk cheered.

“Fight well!” Pidge smiled, holding a mini flag with their team name on it.

“Yeah! Represent Team KLPH!” Lance joins in.

Keith growled, “Lance! I’m trying to concentrate!”

The boy slouched, “Oh. Sorry.”

“Alright! Let the match begin!” Coran yelled, opening the cage door to reveal a large Boarbatusk. It charges at Keith who dodges it’s attack and rolls out of the way.

Once he upon his feet again, Coran laughs, “Ha-ha! Weren’t expecting that were you?”

Lance tensed and held his breath, “Come on Keith! Hang in there!”

Keith runs to the boar and aims for the head. The boar meets him halfway and uses its tusk to deflect and hold down the sword.

Keith grunts and struggles to release his weapon, trying to shake the boar off.

“Come on Keith! Show it who’s boss!” Lance shouts.

The smaller male glares at the brunet leaving him open. The boar knocks him to the side and Keith loses his balance and grip on his sword. The sword flies to the other side of the room.

“Oh! Now what will you do without your weapon?” Coran called out.

Keith looks up in time to see the grim roll at an incredible speed and aiming right towards him. Keith dodges once more and slides to his sword and grabs it. He takes his stance once again when the boar crashes into the Professor’s desk.

“Keith! Aim for its belly! There’s no armor under there!”

“Quit telling me what to do!” Keith glares and snaps back. Lance frowned and stayed quiet.

The boar charges again in it’s speeding ball form. Keith backs up into the wall, waiting for an opening. Once the boar was close, Keith dodges one more time making the Grimm slam against the wall and fall open on its back. Keith swing his sword and charges at the open stomach, successfully killing the Boarbatusk.

“Bravo! We’re are truly indeed standing before a Huntsman-in-training!” Coran cheers.

Keith stood up with a frustrated sigh. The bell rings, signaling the end of class.

“Sadly, That concludes the first day of class. Please read the assigned reading and stay vigilant! Class dismissed!”

Keith frowned and walked ahead of his team leaving them in the dust.

Allura stood by the trio concerned as she also watches Keith storm away, “What’s wrong with him?”

Keith just turned the corner when Lance caught up to him. “Keith!”

“What!”

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you being-“

“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you? You’re suppose to be a huntsman! Instead you’ve been acting like a nuisance!” Keith yelled.

Lance scoffed, “Me? What did I do?”

“That's just it - you've done nothing to earn your position! Back in the forest, you acted like a kid, and you keep doing it!”

Lance spoke, “Keith, where is this coming from? What happened to all the talk about 'working together'? I thought you believed in acting as a team. I even let you lead everyone cause I thought.. nevermind- you know what Keith?”

Said boy glared, “What?”

“Maybe I was wrong about you! Maybe you aren’t a team player after all. Mr. Lone wolf!”

“It’s better being alone than leading a whole team!” Keith yelled.

Lance laughed, “Ha! More like the team is so much better off than being led by you!” The boy turns and storms away.

Keith finally lets the whole situation sink in. He sighs and groans loudly, when he turns to walk away he is stopped by Professor Alfor blocking his path, “Well, that didn’t seem it went very well.”

“Professor Alfor. Why did you make me the leader? Maybe you really did make a mistake.” Keith sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

“That remains to be unseen.” Alfor smiled.

Lance is walking down the empty hallway when he sees Professor Coran standing on a wide balcony. Lance smiles and approaches him, “Professor Coran!”

“Ah, Lance! To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I.. I liked your lecture.” The brunet complimented.

Coran smiled and stroked his orange mustache, “Well of course you did young man! Only a true huntsman would take interest in a story as so!”

“Really?” Lance hesitantly asked.

Coran hummed, “What seems to be on your mind? Is there something troubling you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well Lance, I’m all ears if you want to talk about it.” Coran gently smiled, laying a hand on Lance's shoulder for comfort.

Lance scratched his head and took a breath. “I think I should have been the leader of Team KLPH!”

“...Preposterous!”

“What do you mean?” Keith asked Alfor.

“I mean, it’s only been one day. Keith... I’ve made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child on this planet. But at this moment I wouldn’t consider your appointment as leader to be one of them. Do you?” Alfor asked.

“How? I mean I’ve been a team player since the start! You’re just gonna accept the fact that Keith is the better leader?” Lance questioned.

“Lance, I’ve know Professor Alfor for years and the man has never once led me astray!” Coran deflected.

“So you would just blindly follow him?”

“If I may be so bold to say, your attitude is matched by your performance on the battlefield,” Coran stated.

“What?” Lance yells offendedly.

“My point exactly. Before me, I see a boy who has yet to see the greater side of himself. One where he covers his skills by doubting himself than having doubts from others.” The professor smiled knowingly.

“Doubt? Pfft, I’m great all the time!” The tan boy proclaimed. Coran raises a brow. “Well... most of the time.” Lance smile fades.

Alfor nods, “Being a team leader isn't just a title you carry into battle, but a badge you wear constantly. If you're not always performing at your absolute best, then what reason do you give others to follow you?"

Keith eyes opened wider at the Professor’s words.

“So the outcome didn’t fall in your favor. Do you think talking in such a commanding way will change that? Or even talking bad about you or him would benefit the team?” Coran strokes his mustache, “Rather, instead of worrying about who is better or what either of you don’t have, savor what you do. Hone your skills and perfect every technique and be not the best leader but the best person you can be.” The orange-haired teacher patted Lance’s shoulder.

Lance slowly smiled at his encouraging words.

“You’ve been burdened by a daunting responsibility, Keith. I suggest you take some time to think about how you’re going to uphold it.” With that, Alfor left Keith to his own devices.

Keith turned away from Alfor, seeing Professor Coran walking away as well, leaving Lance on the balcony.

The moon is glowing in the night sky. Team KLPH’s curtains are open, letting in the gentle moonlight, showing a sleeping Hunk tucked in bed. Pidge is sleeping sitting up with her laptop in her lap on the top bunk bed.

Keith silently opens Lance’s tent curtain revealing the brunet sleeping over his homework with papers and textbooks surrounding him. Keith jaws drop at the amount of work he’s done.

Lance's eyes peeks open to see Keith standing before him. “Ah, Keith! I wa-was just finishing up my homework! And I-I-I fell asleep and-“ Lance was stopped by Keith covering his mouth with his hand, holding a finger to his mouth.

“How do you like your tea?”

“What?”

“Just answer!”

“Uh, honey and five sugars!” Lance replied fast.

Keith huffed and smiled, “Stay there.” He disappeared for a couple of seconds while Lance tried to comprehend what just happened. Keith reappears and gives Lance his own cup of tea filled to the brim, “Here.”

“Um... Thanks, Keith.” The boys stood there in silence until Hunk's loud snore interrupted.

“Keith-“

“Lance-“

Both of the boys spoke at the same time and stopped. They laughed and Keith smiled.

“You first.”

“Okay,“ Lance smirked. “Keith, I just wanted to let you know that I believe you have what it takes to be a good leader.” He glanced down toward his textbook and dragged his finger along the page, “And just know...” Lance looked Keith straight into his face showing how much strength and determination those eyes held, stealing Keith’s breath away, “I will be the best teammate you ever have!”

Keith blinked and tried to recover, “Thank you, Lance. I also think you have what it takes to be a great huntsman. Maybe even better than me.” He shyly smiles, “G-good luck studying.” Keith turned and walked towards the door.

Lance smiled to himself. “Lance?” He looked up when his name was called. “I always wanted bunk beds when I was small,” Keith whispered enough for his teammate to hear and closed the door behind him.

Chapter Text

Monoma Bronze was standing with his weapon, a mallet over his shoulder. Lance was in front of him taking harsh breaths glaring at his opponent. Monoma laughed at Lance’s weakened state.

They were both on a platform with a spotlight lighting the entire arena. A screen is behind them showing the two boy’s profile pictures and their aura status.

Lance took a deep breath and charged at Monoma who dogged his attack. Monoma aimed his mallet and smacked the lanky boy on the back with the flat side of his weapon, knocking Lance to the ground.

“This is the part where you lose.” The blond smirked.

Lance chuckled, “Oh yeah?” With a swipe of his gun towards the ground, Lance’s gun turned into his sniper rifle which turned and extended into a broad sword. People off stage gasped in shocked or awed with amazement. With that response, Lance is boost with energy and charged one last time at his opponent.

Monoma used his mallet. He noticed there was an opening on Lance’s left and decided to swing there.

Lance expected that attack and blocked but didn’t have enough energy to push Monoma off.

Monoma pushes on his weapon and shoves Lance down to the ground, “What was that McClain? Didn’t you mean to say 'Yeah, I am going to lose!” He taunted. Monoma lifts his mallet high in the air and delivers a huge blow.

Lance blocks the hit with his sword and starts shoving back, “Over my dead- augh!” Monoma kicked Lance on the side sending his weapon skidding across the floor. Lance looked up in time to see Monoma lift his mallet once again.

“That’s enough!” The teacher yelled. Monoma groaned and lowered his weapon. The lights were turned back on showing the crowd of first year, “Students, as you can see, Mr. McClain’s aura has now reached the red. In dual-style combat that would mean he is no longer fit to fight and the official can call the match.”

Hunk and Pidge stood next to the stage listening to Professor Blaytz. A man with blue hair and shark fins on his arms, while Keith was behind them staring at Lance giving him a once over. Lance glanced at his scroll and seeing his aura in the red and Monoma was at full health. He groaned.

“McClain, it’s been weeks now. please try to prefer to your scroll during combat. Gauging your aura will help you decide when to attack or go on a more defensive strategy. We wouldn’t want you to be eaten by a beowolf now, would we?” Professor Blaytz smiled.

“Speak for yourself,” Monoma said.

The bell rings signaling the end of class. Blaytz yells over the crowd for one last announcement, “Remember, everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale.”

Everyone is giddy with excitement, especially Pidge who is vibrating next to Hunk.

Keith still standing in place waiting for Lance who is still on the ground. He walks up to him on stage and offers a helping hand. Lance gives a small smile and takes it. He’s yanked back up on his feet and they walk out of the room to the cafeteria.

“So there we were in the middle of the night!” Romelle started.

“It was day.” Allura chimes in.

Pidge was lost in her own book while Hunk was captivated by the story.

“We were surrounded by Ursai!”

“There were beowolves.”

“Hundreds of them!” Romelle shouted leaning up on the table.

“Two of them.” Allura smiles. Ndrea and Shay were quietly listening. Keith was ignoring her while Lance was picking at his food.

“She’s been having this recurring dream for over a month now.” The heiress explains. She notices Lance's pout out of the corner of her eyes, “Lance. Are you okay?”

After a beat of silence, Lance looks up towards his friends. He snapped out of his stupor, “Huh? Oh yeah! Why?”

“It’s just that you seem a little... not okay,” Keith spoke up.

Everyone looked towards Lance who sighed, “I’m fine! See, look!” He gave his signature smile that looked a bit too strained.

“Hey!”

Team KLPH and ANSR looked in the direction of the girl who cried out. Monoma was standing next to a fonest girl with dog ears. He was holding her textbook above her head.

“Lance, Monoma has been picking on you since the first week of school!” Allura stated.

“Who?" Lance feigned ignorance, "Monoma Bronze? Nah he just likes to mess around! Ya know, play jokes!” Lance tries to justify.

“He’s a bully. “ Keith glared.

“Oh please, name one time!” Lance scoffed.

Lance is walking down the hallway with his books in hand looking through his scroll when Monoma walks by and smacks his books down.

“Hey!”

Lance was walking down the stairs when Monoma trips him, sending Lance down the rest of the stairs.

Everyone is in the locker room during the school tour while Professor Coran speaks, “Each of you will be assigned one rocket-propelled locker to store your weapons and extra armor. Additionally, your locker can be sent to a custom location based on a six-digit code.”

At hearing this, Monoma smirks and shoves Lance into the nearest locker.

“Oh no! Stop! Monoma! Don’t you dare!”

Monoma quickly dialed in a six-digit code. The locker revs up and launches off the school grounds.

“I mean, I didn’t land that far off.” Lance waved off.

“You know, Lance, you can always ask for help,” Allura reassures.

Romelle jumps up, “Oh! We’ll break his legs!”

Lance shook his head, “Come on guys. I’m fine! Besides, Monoma isn’t just bullying me. He’s a bully to everyone.”

“Ow!”

Everyone looks back to the fonest girl. Her ears are being tugged by Monoma. “Please, Stop!” The girl pleaded.

“Atrocious.” Allura growled, “I can’t stand people like him.”

Keith shook his head and glared at Monoma, “He’s not the only one.”

“How did you handle him back at signal Keith? I remember he used to pick on you a lot.” Hunk asked.

Keith blinked at the sudden question. “I punched him in the face. He left me alone after that.” Everyone nodded at Keith’s response.

While everyone listened to Keith's story about why he punched Monoma, Lance grabbed his tray and stood up. He walked away from the table and took one last glance at his friends and sighed.

Chapter Text

Professor Gyrgan was in the middle of a lecture. Lance’s head is down on his desk with Monoma sitting directly behind him.

“Prior to the Fonest Rights Revolution or more commonly known as the Faunus war, humankind was quite adamant about centralizing the fonest population in Menagerie.” Professor Gyrgan pointed to a small country towards the bottom right of a world map. “Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why! the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!" He grabs his coffee off the desk and takes a sip. “Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated against because of your Faunus heritage?"

A pause, then slowly one by one, four hands were raised including the girl with dog ears that Monoma made fun of.

“Dreadful. Truly dreadful." Gyrgan shook in head sadly, "Remember students this is exactly the kind of ignorance that breeds violence. Just look at the White Fang for example! Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the War?" Gyrgan turned to his student. Allura raised her hand. “Yes? Ms. Altea!”

“The battle at Fort Castle.”

“Correct!” The professor exclaimed, “And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"

Monoma flicked a paper football right behind Lance’s head, waking the boy with a jolt. “Wha-hey!”

“Mr. McClain! Finally participating in a class discussion? Excellent! Tell me what advantages did the fonest have?” Gyrgan smiled and walked in front of Lance.

“Uhh... the answer... the advantage the fonest has...” Lance dragged his words out to kill time. He slightly looked behind Professor Gyrgan’s shoulder to see Allura making hand signs. She cups her hands around her eyes to give him the answer but clearly didn’t convey it right. “Uh... binoculars!” Lance exclaimed.

The whole class erupts in laughter while Professor Gyrgan sighs. Monoma snorted from behind Lance. “Very funny, Mr. McClain. Maybe you could tell us what the answer is Mr. Bronze?”

Monoma leaned back in his chair and rolled his eyes, reluctant to answer. “Well, it’s probably a lot easier to train an animal than a solider.”

“You’re not the most open-minded of individuals, are you Monoma?” Allura sneered.

“You got a problem?” The boy stood up and retorted.

Allura rolled her eyes. She turned towards Professor Gyrgan and raised her hand, “ No. I have the answer! It’s night vision. Many fonest are known to have perfect vision in the dark.”

“Correct!” Gyrgan pointed at the girl. Monoma growled at the answer.

“General Lagune was inexperienced and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched, and the general was captured." Keith stated. He turns to Monoma, “Maybe if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."

Monoma stood up at that readying to fight but was stopped by the Professor, “Sit down, Monoma.”

Lance tried to cover his snicker when Gyrgan came up to him and regarded the two boys, “I want both of you to see me after class for additional readings.”

“Dang it.” Lance slouched.

“Moving on!”

Class is over and Team KLPH and Team ANSR are walking out. Keith stands by the doorway making Hunk and Pidge turn around. “You guys go ahead. I’ll wait for Lance,” Keith said. Pidge and Hunk nod and walk away.

Gyrgan sighs, "You two have been struggling in my class since day one! Now, I don't know if it's a lack of interest or just your stubborn nature, but whatever it is... It stops now. You've worked hard to gain entrance to this school, and we only accept the best of the best, so I expect you to act like it. History is important, gentlemen! If you can't learn from it... you're destined to repeat it. Pages fifty-one to ninety-one! I want an essay on my desk by next class! Now. Run along." Professor Gyrgan dismissed the two boys.

Lance emerges from the classroom first with Monoma in tow. Lance stood next to Keith and stumbles when Monoma shoved him with his shoulder roughly. Keith catches Lance by the arm and glares at the bully. “Ya know, I really can break his legs.” Lance doesn’t say a word. Keith looks at his partner's sad face. He slowly reaches for his hand and stops out of fear and drops his own hand back to his side. An idea pops into Keith's head and he smiles, “I have an idea! Follow me.” He forces himself to fully grab Lance’s hand drags him down the hallway.

They arrive on the rooftop of one of the dorm buildings showing a beautiful view of Beacon with green orbs floating around.

Lance walks towards the edge with Keith following his lead looking at the scene. Lance glanced down towards the ground 50 feet below him. “Uh, Keith I know I’m not great right now but, I’m not that depressed. I can always be a farmer or something...” He continues to look at the ground.

Keith frowns in confusion. He follows Lance’s eye-line and the realization hits him. “No!” He pushes Lance away from the edge. Once they were a good enough distance away, Keith continues, “Lance, I know you're having a hard time in class and that you're still not the strongest of fighters, so... I want to help you!"

“What?” Lance frowns.

“We can train up here after class where no one can bother us!" Keith smiles. “I figured since you never have shown or acknowledge your sword...”

“You think I need help?" Lance hesitantly asks.

Keith immediately shakes his head, “No, that's not what I meant."

“But you just said it..."

“Lance, everybody needs a little help from time to time. It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us. I mean- You made it to Beacon! That speaks volumes of what you're capable of!" Keith encourages.

Lance turns away from Keith, lowering his head and quietly whispers, "You're wrong. I-I don't belong here."

“Of course you do.” Keith frowned. He was confused, why would Lance speak so lowly of himself? Or was he that harsh on himself?

Lance turns back around angrily, “No, I don't!" He glares at his leader who stands there in shock. The taller boy sighs, “I wasn't really accepted into Beacon...” Lance turns back around facing away from his leader.

“Wh-what do you mean?"

Lance growls, “I mean I didn't pass any of my tests. I didn't earn my spot at this Academy!" He whips around to look at Keith dead in the eyes, “I lied! I got my hands on some crummy transcripts, and I lied!"

Keith blinked, “What? But... why?"

“Cause this is always what I've wanted to be! My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one, too. I was just... never good enough."

Keith approaches him and places a hand on his shoulder, “Then let me help you!"

Lance knocks his hand off and yells, “I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be a hero!"

“Lance, I-"

“I'm tired of being the idiot, who can’t win a fight while his friends fight for their lives!" He marches forward towards Keith making the boy step back away from him, "Don't you understand?" Keith's back hits the wall of the building and Lance stops in front of him, "If I can't do this on my own... then what good am I?"

The pain and sadness on his partner's face make Keith's heart clench. He attempts to reach his arm out and console him, but Lance leans back from his touch.

“Just... leave me alone. Okay?" Lance closes his eyes and turns away.

Keith frowns and lowers his head. “If that's what you want..."

He walks away his footsteps getting softer and softer until he leaves the roof. Lance paces around a little until he hears a laugh making him jump. Monoma appears on the roof from his window just below them.

“Wow, Lance.”

“Monoma!”

“I couldn't help but overhear you two from my dorm room.” Monoma smirked, “So, you snuck into Beacon, huh? I gotta say, Lance, I never expected you to be such a rebel!"

Lance demeanor turned and he started to beg, "Please, Monoma, please, don't tell anyone!"

“Lance, come on! I'd never rat on a friend like that!" Monoma approached him.

“A... a friend?" Lance questioned.

“Of course!" Monoma traps Lance in a headlock. The boy struggles to get free, “We're friends now, Lancey Lance! And the way I see it, as long as you're there for me when I need you, we'll be friends for a long time."

Monoma finally releases Lance who gasps as he leans on the ground. "That being said, I really don't have time to do those extra readings Professor Gyrgan gave us today. Think you could take care of that for me, buddy?" He leans down to hear Lance's response. Getting a subtle nod, Monoma rubs Lance’s hair and gets up with a grin, “That's what I thought." Monoma walks back to the ledge and crawls back down to his dorm window and stops to give Lance one last look, “Don't worry, Lance. Your secret's safe with me." He disappears and Lance stands there in grief.

Chapter Text

Keith sits on his bed looking out the window while Hunk is loading his weapon and Pidge is reading her book.

“Where’s Lance? Shouldn’t he be back by now?” Pidge asked.

Hunk shrugs, “I don’t know. He’s been “hanging out” with Monoma more and more.”

“That's weird..." Pidge looks up from her book, "Should we call him? We have a field trip tomorrow.”

“I'm sure he knows exactly what he's doing," Keith growls out.

Hunk and Pidge look at each other.

“Mmmm... I guess so." Hunk sighs.

Lance hangs his head and closes the door after hearing his teammates. A voice interrupts his thoughts.

“Hey, Lance!”

The tall boy yelps in freight and turns around seeing Romelle.

The girl waves, "Long time, no see!” Romelle was wearing her pajamas. a plain white tank top with long lavender pants. She looks at the door and Lance's hand on the doorknob, “Did you lock yourself out again?"

“Oh, uh, nope!" Lance raises his Scroll and awkwardly laughs, “Got it!"

“So! Where have you been lately?" Romelle asks.

“I, uh..." Lance tries to come up with something and sighs, lowering his head, “I messed up. I did something I shouldn't have, and now Monoma has me on a leash, and Keith won't even talk to me, and..." he breathes heavily through his nose, “I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea." He presses his back on the door and slides down to the floor. “I'm a failure."

“Nope!"

Lance looks at the blonde in confusion, "'Nope?'"

Romelle shakes her head, “Nope!" She leans onto the wall next to him, "You have a team now, Lance. You're not allowed to be a failure."

“But... what if I'm a failure at being a teammate?”

Romelle thinks about it for a moment, "Nope!"

Lance laughs as she joins him on the floor, “You know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff."

“Nope!" She answers once again. Lance leans more against the door in defeat. “Lance, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid..." Lance groans and sinks lower "And you might've even been a failure the first day we met!" He groans more and sinks again, “But, you can't be one now. You know why?"

Lance thinks, “Uhhh, because...?"

“Because it's not just about you anymore. You've got a team now, Lance. We both do! And if we fail, then we'll just be bringing them down with us." Romelle gets up and places her hands on her hips as she speaks, “Also, give Keith some space. This is his first time trying to make friends and he really wants to get to know you. He even told me that himself!" Romelle grins then changes into a small gentle smile, "You two will make up."

“What? I wasn’t worried about Keith! I’m worried about my whole team!” Lance exclaimed.

Romelle chuckles and rolls her eyes, “Sure you are,” She walks over to her door and opens it as Lance is now slightly inspired by her words. “Have a good night, Lance!" Romelle waves and goes inside her room.

With renewed energy, Lance pushes himself off the ground and faces the door, ready to turn the knob and face his team until his Scroll beeps. He pulls it out of his pockets and sees Monoma’s name.

Lance opens the video message, “Hey! It's your friend Monoma! I know you're probably busy with that Dust project I gave you, buuuut I'm gonna need you to go out and get me a bag of Rapier Wasps." Lance gasps while Monoma's message continues, “And make sure they've got some really big stingers! It's important, so don't screw this up!"

Lance closes his scroll. Sighing, he wearily heads down the hallway and away from his room. Away from his teammates.

Coran is leading the teams KLPH, ANSR, and MRKR through the red forest. 

Coran starts talking, “Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to braid each other’s hair or mustaches! Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so."

The small group of students stop. Lance is grunting carrying a large wooden case with six empty glass jars. He tries to catch up with them and ends up bumping into Monoma. The bully scowls at Lance who attempts to feign innocence by whistling and looking the other way.

Coran holds up a jar containing a red liquid, “Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at 4 o'clock. Have fun!"

While Pidge and Hunk smile at one another, Lance attempts to sneak away from Monoma to his team, but the blackmailer sees this and grabs Lance by the back of his jacket.

“Come on, buddy - let's go!"

Lance miserably looks up at his team, where Pidge and Hunk are already walking into the forest and Keith is staring sadly at him. Dropping his gaze, Lance turns and follows Team MRKR. Keith sighs before he follows his friends.

Team MRKR is making themselves as useful as possible by sitting under the trees while Lance fills up their jars. He returns to the group with six full jars of sap and sets them down. The surrounding team gets up in response.

“Hey, great work, Lancey Lance! Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Monoma smiles smugly.

Lance groans, “I'm so tired.”

“Greeeeat, great, great. So, Lance, I bet you're asking yourself, 'Why did my buddy Monoma ask me to collect six jars of tree sap when there's only five of us?'"

Lance nods, still exhausted, “That is one of the many questions I have asked myself today, yes."

Monoma smirked, “Well, come with me, and you'll find out."

Lance moans. He follows Monoma and the rest of team MRKR.

Standing on a hilltop overlooking the other students, Monoma and Lance peak their heads over the crest and watching everyone retrieving their samples of sap. Pidge, kneeling to collect sap from a tree, passes a full jar to Hunk, who trades it for an empty one. She turns back to the tree and starts filling it up. She turns back around to an embarrassed Hunk who had red sap all over his mouth and holding an empty, red stained jar.

Lance turns to his left, “wh-what's going on?"

“Payback." 

Team MRKR smiles and laugh.

Lance eyes widen in fear, "Allura?” He looks at the white-haired girl collecting sap next to Keith, smiling.

“Yup,” Monoma said.

“Wh-what are you...”

“That's the girl. White-haired know-it-all thinks she's so smart. Alright, Lance..." Monoma pulls out a box that’s is buzzing and shaking. “Last night, you here managed to round up an entire box of Rapier Wasps, and now, we're gonna put them to work.” The blond smiles, “Now, according to one of the essays you wrote for me last week, these nasty things loooove sweets. I'm thinking it's time we teach them a thing or two."

Monoma shoves the jar into Lance’s grasp. “And you're gonna do it."

“Do what?"

“Hit her with the sap!" Monoma leans in close to Lance’s face, “Either that, or I'll have a chat with Coran, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon."

Lance looks down at the jar of sap in his hands and then up at Monoma waiting to see what happens. Lance turns towards his friends and aims his throw at an oblivious and smiling Allura and Keith, trying to steel his nerves and steady his shaking hands.

“No."

Monoma frowns, “What did you say?"

Lance grips the jar tightly, “I said... NO!"

He turns and throws the jar at Monoma, instantly recoiling his hands to himself as he looks at Monoma’s chest plate covered in sap.

“Oh, you've done it now..." Monoma growls.

Lance humorously laughs to himself once more with his hands still raised in surrender. Roy and Kenny grab Lance's shoulders and pull him in after seeing Monoma hit by the jar of sap.