deercountry | September Catch-All

[A classroom filled with pre-teens, all excited to meet the top pilot of the Galaxy Garrison who was doing a presentation today, chattered around him. The teacher, a middle-aged woman, non-descript, called for quiet as the man walked in, and she introduced him. Takashi Shirogane.

Keith pointedly stared out the window, not realizing that his air of indifference had caught the man's attention, but, when you were the only kid in a twenty-student class not looking at the speaker, it was pretty obvious...]

Edited 2022-09-10 01:19 (UTC)

[Another simulation run. Another set of boring drills. The class, each student in a solo simulator, was 'flying' their crafts in a tightly packed group. Keith stared blankly at the screen. He could do this in his sleep. Iverson's booming voice droned on in the background, calling out directions to make them change positions. He'd played along for as long as he could stand. Next to him, one of the lower ranked kids that some might recognize as Lance, was slightly off from his mark. Keith smirked and yanked the handle of his control stick.

The two crafts bumped, and Lance struggled to keep control, getting angry at Keith in the process. Keith didn't even care as he sent his own craft zipping off alone into the distance at top speed. That was more like it.

Over the comm, Iverson was livid, yelling at Keith to get back in formation. Another student that people might recognize as Hunk got motion sick again, and vomited in his simulator.]

[Speed... the scenery rushed past... In front of him, Shiro shifted to block and prevent a pass. Keith grimaced at the cloud of dust in his face. He couldn't see through that, so he shifted his own craft to the left for clearer sightlines. He'd pass, but he didn't know this route, yet... not as well as Shiro did. Still, he refused to let Shiro get too far ahead. Eventually, he'd find a spot to pass, and then he could control the route...

He just had to wait for the right moment...]

Edited 2022-09-10 01:24 (UTC)

[Keith wasn't sure why he was following what looked like super ancient instructions to look for something, but it felt right. He'd been following a weird hunch about something in the desert for months now after getting kicked out the Garrison, and each thing kept leading to more clues and more questions.

Besides, it wasn't like he had anything better to do than sit around and mope about how he'd let Shiro down.

So, here he was, sitting in an isolated section of the desert, not far from where the Garrison base was located, the speeder he'd kept from his dad and rebuilt for racing to make money settled in the desert sand nearby. He had climbed a small rise to get a better view, watching the sky. And then he saw it. A shooting star... except, not. That was bigger than a shooting star or a typical meteor. He lifted the binoculars to look closer.

It was a spaceship? But definitely not Garrison. He lowered the binoculars in shock. Just what had he stumbled across?

The ship was coming in fast, and it didn't look like it was going to slow down for a controlled landing. Keith raced back down to the speeder as he saw it crash. It had gotten close to the base. Was it an attack that went wrong? He wasn't sure, but he had a feeling he needed to find out. He started up the engines, and took off towards the crash site.]

[Patience yields focus.

Right. That was easy for Shiro to say. He wasn't running solo and practically blind through an enemy ship that was a giant labyrinth! At least, with Pidge, they had a shot of hacking the system and getting a map. He was supposed to follow some feeling he wasn't even sure about, that Lance had made fun of, by the way, and track down a giant robot lion.

Sure. Great.

He skidded to a halt, staring at a large symbol on the wall of a t-junction.

He'd been here before.

He growled loudly in frustration.]

Edited 2022-09-10 01:47 (UTC)

[He wasn't exactly sure when it happened, how it happened, or what exactly happened, but from one moment when he'd been talking to someone about building supplies to the next standing in a dark dilapidated alleyway, Keith was definitely in shock. He looked around, definitely sure he hadn't been here before, and was cautious about even moving before he finally started to really explore.

As he gradually began to recognize places, or, in some cases, what was left of them, he had to wonder if he'd missed something terrible happening. If he'd gone back to the sea like some other people, he would have woken up on the beach, right? Having been a squid? He was confused and lost, and looking for anyone familiar...]

Hey... Hey! Wait up!

[Keith wasn't sure how to take what was happening. It was a lot to think about, and, considering what he'd been learning from Shiro, it felt wrong. He listened, of course, but it was only a matter of time before he'd manage to say something to get someone angry.]

So, if this guy is so great, why would he create such a crappy place to live in?

[Getting kicked out of places was not new for Keith. Surviving against insane odds also was not new. It wasn't easy to avoid the monsters, and he was doing a lot of fighting, but there were just enough bits of downtime when he could find the rare bit of shelter to catch his breath. Since the cultists weren't too happy with him, Keith did other things instead... like find other new arrivals, or ask the other outcast locals just what was going on here.]

LOOK OUT!

[Need an ice wall to stop that monster coming at you? Sure thing, but you might want to run and keep up with Keith before it breaks through. The ice won't last forever.]

[Of course Keith would get sucked into something like this. He had two companions in the woods that he would occasionally spend time with. One was a Nightmare Steed, a black unicorn that was bloodthirsty and generally hated everyone, but had decided Keith was okay when he managed to survive their encounter during Ozpin's clocktower jump training. Slowly, the two of them had started to bond after Keith realized it was following him around during excursions into the woods. He'd found it useful to have the animal around as it attacked other dangerous creatures and would protect him, so he'd started coming more often to work on getting closer to it. The other was a massive dragon that had come through one of the portals several months ago. He'd found out later that it was from Sansa's world and his name was Vermithor. The dragon also tended to stay off in the woods and away from town, but would come to him when he was out there and let him ride.

Both were going to be an advantage in hunting the Bugge. Of that, Keith was sure. Add to that Kosmo, and the now Torracat Keith had found when trapped in the Jumanji jungle, and he had his own little animal army. Though, having other more evolved beings along would help a lot... especially for communication.

So, it really was only a matter of time before the Bugge's cries could be heard getting closer.]

We gotta go. We have to kill it before it kills us.

Not Duty's first memory experience, he adapted quickly to the vehicle he'd previously been reading about. Quickly he checked nothing went amiss from the immersion experience; no obstacles to avoid, nothing exploding the engine, no sign of trouble. Some people might have called racing at high speeds through a place he had never been a poor decision. It was fun, considering he'd met the guy he now was.

He shifted to the left slightly to continue to block the kid behind him but focused on his surroundings. Talk about the blind leading the blind. His mouth curved in a smile no one could see.

Even if someone could see it, it wouldn't look strange. Honestly, Shiro, the man Duty was now sitting as, had been grinning most of the time, too, during the actual event. He'd been proud of Keith for keeping up, for pushing, but still playing it smart.

Ahead of them, there was a thin ravine, just wide enough to present a challenge. On the other side, a steep wall that was higher than the ground they currently were racing on. However, there was a ledge just wide enough for the speeders to run on. If they made the jump just right and cut a hard left, they'd make it.

Did Duty dare take the leap?

While he isn't familiar with this speeder, Duty understands the physics. They need speed, the right speed for their mass. Too little, you drop into the ravine. Too much, you smash into the wall. These two certainly did it before. It's possible, and with full faith in himself and rather little time, that's all Duty needs.

Momentum carries him over the ravine. He twists the controls, not merely turning left but briefly using the wall as the ground against which his speeder floats. The planet's gravity is stronger than the speeder's momentum in due time, and he stabilizes it out so the vehicle drives along the ledge. His heart continues to beat evenly.

Keith was right behind him, landing it with even more precision than Shiro had. Soon, the wall curved away in one direction, and the ravine in the other, opening the space up once again to give them room.

Ahead was a sharp drop off, then more desert into the distance. They were headed straight for a cliff. From this angle, it was easy to tell that it was a tall cliff... definitely not some small ridge. Keith straightened up slightly from where he'd been hunched over the handlebars for extra speed. Was Shiro actually going to jump that?

Would Duty?

The question's there in Keith's body language. If he reads it right, so too is Keith's answer (yes). Yes Keith is doing it. Yes it is possible. (Yes it is dumb if he's wrong).

The speeder carries over the edge. For a moment everything hangs still in the air. It falls, and Duty holds steady. A second before the anti-grav kicks in to prevent him from becoming a jumble of bones and ligaments, he revs the engine and keeps that forward momentum going. Is this what ten thousand years of experience is for? Perhaps not, but it's a break from everything else, everything so serious.

[It may surprise some people who know him to find him willingly go to get a free book to read. He's the party boy, not really known for being big on books and reading. But he does read, and more so especially since experiencing life in Deerington and then Trench. Knowledge is important for survival around here, especially if you can get it from a nice safe book instead of exploring a tomb that will try and murder you.

He accepts a book with a red cover and just as he's about to open it, he looks over when he spots a familiar mullet out of his peripheral vision. He's very attuned to his peripheral vision right now since he's, y'know, deaf. But last week it was his sense of smell, so he's just assuming this too will pass. Even if it is… genuinely testing his mental limits. Silence is loud.

And while he appreciates that Keith came to stay with him for a bit to at least put the house back together, his memories have… come back. So now he has to try to navigate being normal and stable around him and not a dick. Which means he's out of the house more and more often. What does he say right now, he wonders? Should he even speak? He can't hear himself, it might come out weird.

He'll just hide his face by opening the book- …

Oh… this looks familiar- oh holy shit! And with that he's sucked into Keith's memory of preparing to kamikaze his ship into that shield while they were trapped in Voltron. He's in Keith's body, literally, experiencing it as if it was happening to him, but also aware of the fact that it's not, that he's a paralyzed and helpless passenger and witness to all the things Keith felt and…

This is extremely conflicting for him and jarring as suddenly there's a burst of sound. External sound, not just the stuff he hallucinates in his head. It feels like he shouldn't be here seeing and experiencing this, but he doesn't think to find a way to tune it out and look away either…]

[Lance hadn't come out here intending to hunt the bugge, it seemed like a bad idea since he was… blind. But he got a little lost since his coyote omen is a troll sometimes. He heaves a breath and wishes Edelya was here, she usually has a sense for when he needs help and will come running to his aid. But he's not in immediate danger right now, so she's likely not on her way.

He'd only just found Keith, his omen telling him who it is out there in the dark when he heard movement. Which means that he hasn't had a moment to tell him he's kind of not the best hunting partner and should turn back. The bugge's cries interrupt that intent and he sucks in a frustrated breath.]

Dammit. [His glaceon nervously fidgets where she stands on his shoulders.] Is now a bad time to mention I can't see…

[Lance would hear Matt yelling over the comm, telling him that they couldn't get the shield down from around the battlecruiser controlling the device on that planet. It would be a conversation Lance had heard bits of while trying to escape the gravity bomb on Nacxela, trying to get back to the rebels in time. They hadn't been able to take down the canon, and the Blades, for their part, while having captured the canon, hadn't been able to operate it more than once before the Galra managed to cut off its power.

Keith was racing towards the rebels, not even sure what he could do in a single tiny fighter craft. All he knew was that his friends, his only family that he knew, were currently stuck in the blast zone if that planet exploded. It was going to take out a third of the galaxy, and they had to stop it.

He knew he was in range the moment the enemy fire starting blasting around him. He grit his teeth, diving into the fray and joining the battle. His instincts kicked in, and Lance would suddenly feel Keith's ideas forming in his head, seeing the best places to hit, how to maneuver with the rest of the rebel forces and create formations. He'd get a sense of the movements, being able to fly as fast as the little craft would move, pulling back on speed and cutting left or right when needed. Keith's instincts were almost like a sixth sense as he felt aware of things around him that others might miss.

But it was also that instinct that realized they weren't breaking through. The craft took a hit to the left wing, something he'd just been unable to avoid, cutting its ability to dodge down to half. Matt reported that their weapons weren't having an effect.

And Lance would know... Lance would know what Keith was thinking as he stared at that shield. The thought echoed in his head...]

Maybe we don't need weapons...

[The thought sent a spike of fear through him. Was that really the only way? What about-? And he stopped himself.

No.

Voltron was important. They were needed. If he didn't do this, a third of the galaxy could be lost. All those lives, all those planets, everything. And the Empire would win. And everything they'd done so far would be for nothing. What was the life of one person compared to that? It wasn't like he had anyone waiting for him back on Earth. He didn't even know if his mother was still alive, or if she even knew if he was still alive. He wasn't a Paladin anymore. The Black Lion had taken Shiro back. It would be better if he did it, right?]

[Keith stared at him for a second, a stunned look on his face. He needed to process that. Had Lance really just said what Keith thought he said?]

You what? When did that happen? [But he cut himself off.] You know what? Never mind. We're gonna hafta make do. This thing won't stop chasing us now that it's on to us, so... we gotta take it out. We have no choice.

[He reached out and grabbed Lance's wrist.] Come on.

[It's a lot like being on the most harrowing rollercoaster ride that also injects you with emotions and thoughts and freezes your body in place. He feels Keith's heart hammering like it's his own, but knowing it's not. And as a mild empath, feeling someone else's emotions alongside his own isn't new, but it's never been this intense.

And it's almost torture when the memory gets to that moment. The one where Keith realizes a solution to the problem they all faced that day and what it would mean for him. In all honesty, Lance had never really realized that what Keith had almost done would have been an instant death for him. For some reason, his mind cushioned the moment and recounting of it with this fantastical notion that obviously Keith was going to maybe eject at the last second or the ship would have speared through the shield leaving his cockpit intact.

But no, now that he's faced with this moment from Keith's perspective, with his feelings and thoughts right there in his own chest and sliding beside his own… he knows none of that was plausible. Ejecting would have slowed the ship too much to be effective and the shield was more dense and powerful than Keith's ship's defenses, death was the absolute end result. And realizing that now, makes him sick and want to sob and claw his way out of this point of view to- to wrap arms around Keith in his memory and beg him to stop despite how irrational that is.

And not just stop the end from coming, but to stop thinking like that, stop thinking he's not as valuable. Even… even if that's how Lance himself has thought throughout his entire time as a Voltron Paladin and even today. It hurts to know that Keith felt like that, still feels like that. Yes, he knows, this isn't news to him and it's broken his heart before, but it's one thing to have a bit of an idea from the outside, another to feel it for himself in a moment of great sacrifice.

And it's not long before he loses track of himself as Lance, the emotions running high enough to pull him fully into the role, experiencing it more fully as Keith with no knowledge of what's to come. The blurring of identity is sure to mess with him when this is over, but the part of him that cares about Keith as Lance takes the reins in the last moment, altering the memory. Matt yells to Keith and Lance as Keith who lov- cares about Keith, pulls back hard on the controls several heartbeats before the shield falls away.

It's a small change to the events, but a change nonetheless, and as the adrenaline fades and the chapter on the book closes, his memory of what was supposed to happen returns… he finds that kind of strange. But ultimately he doesn't care. As he comes out of the book, he's welling up with emotion, too much emotions. And what doesn't help is that he gets slammed back into silence, which has him careening backwards, disoriented. His back hits a wall, thankfully, and the book falls out of his grasp to the ground at his feet.]

[It's been coming up on a couple weeks since the emotional memory book fiasco they stumbled into. Why that keeps happening to them, Lance has no idea and he's starting to think perhaps there's a Pthumerian out there who has them on their shipping wall or something. Even though it'll never happen (again) because Keith doesn't remember shit.

In any case, it was a lot and he hasn't been around, but that's mostly because he got sucked into that messed up version of Trench with the cult for a bit while he was still deaf. But if he's being honest with himself, he's pretty sure he'd have been keeping a distance from Keith anyway.

But one good thing about them is that despite raw emotional and vulnerable awkwardness, when they have am mission to focus on, they still work pretty well together. Granted… they've never tried it while one of them was blind, but…

Lance heaves a breath and lets Keith take his wrist.] A few days ago. I was deaf last time you saw me, remember? I'm just losing a sense every week, this month. But it's fiiiine, I've been blind before, I'm like the blind master who catches flies in kung fu movies.

[Not exactly, and he probably shouldn't be talking so much right now, but talking a lot more than usual is something he does when he's blind. It soothes him while he's in the dark.]

Right... sure. Weird things in this place again... [But Keith did pause for a moment. Not that he'd actually do this, but...]

Blind kung fu master, huh? So, like... [And he loosened his grip on Lance's wrist just enough to make a point.] You'd be okay if I wasn't here?

[It was almost like it was on cue... the bugge called out again.]

[Keith's little project with Shiro had him actually considering looking through the books for answers. He wasn't great with learning in more traditional methods like studying and all that, being more of a visual or kinetic learner, but books weren't terrible. Reading it would help more than hearing someone tell him. But the small commotion behind him of a soft thud and then the sound of a book hitting the floor caught his attention. He turned.

Oh. He furrowed his brow a bit. Lance had been out a lot lately, and Keith wasn't exactly sure why anymore. Kept claiming it was about this tool or that supply in regards to the house, and he wasn't lying, really. But Keith had started feeling pushed back again. Honestly, he was just beginning to think this was just how things were going to be between then, even if it bothered him for some weird reason to get pushed away. Why did it bother him so damn much?

But, for now, at least, he knew that Lance at least claimed that he considered him a friend, so he would be a friend. He walked over and picked up the book.]

You okay?

[He turned the book in his hands, curious as to what it was about.]

September Catch-All

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First Meeting - mild bullying

Not Quite Fitting In - bullying, violence, emeto reference

Racing Through the Desert - reference to parental death, reference to terminal illness

AU Trench

The Rescue - violence, captivity, forced anesthesia, panic

The Red Lion - violence, stranded in space

Arrival

Sanctuary - or is it?

On the Run

Bugge Hunt

Track or Be Tracked

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wildcard~

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