I wish that I could say that there's no better place than home.

But home's a place that I have never known.

~ "On the Run" from Steven Universe

Waking up in pain sucks. Waking up in pain after being spat out of a destabilizing wormhole to find out you had no means of contacting your team was worse. Waking up with your entire body throbbing, your head feeling like someone had taken a drill to it, and your skin itching like crazy, on top of being unable to contact your team and going outside to survey the area only to discover the planet you are on is inhabited by the enemy, is hell!

Keith pulled back from the rural (or as rural as a civilization with technology millennia ahead of Earth's could be) village he had been spying on in hopes of finding peaceful life. He was glad he'd changed into the clothes Hunk had stuck in his lion as part of the yellow paladin's emergency preparedness kit. The black jacket, jeans, and boots he had pulled on over his under armor were a lot stealthier in the night than his bright red and white, glowing paladin armor.

As he quickly ducked behind a rock, he made a note to talk to Allura or Pidge about making a stealth version of their paladin armor. He also made a note about not moving too quickly.

Keith groaned into his hands as the world around him tilted and spun. He pinched his eyes closed, hoping that would relieve some of the nauseating effects of the vertigo. That crash must have done more than Keith thought.

"Who's there?"

Keith jerked his head to the side, ignoring the renewed bout of vertigo the action caused, to see a Galra approaching him. He stumbled to his feet, but was still too disoriented and soon found himself pinned. The red paladin braced himself for a fight, hand inching towards the blade hooked to the back of his belt.

However, the Galra just looked him over before scoffing, "You're just a boy." He let Keith go and stepped back. He fingered the dagger at his hip, but otherwise didn't come off as aggressive which was really confusing the disoriented paladin. "Who are you? What are you doing here? I don't recognize you so you're not from anywhere around here."

Keith tried to come up with something - anything - to say, but his head was pounding and the world was spinning and he honestly had no idea what was going on.

The Galra frowned at his silence and grabbed his chin to pull Keith closer. He frowned at whatever he found and sighed. "Great. Alright, kid, come with me." He didn't give Keith a chance to even register his words before he grabbed the teen's arm and began dragging him towards the village.

The red paladin didn't try to take in anything about the village as he was marched through it and instead focused on not face planting in front of a massive group of Team Voltron's mortal enemies.

The Galra that had found him finally paused outside of a building and banged on the door. "Styxanne! Open up you-"

"Jezpor, you dwylip, if you finish that sentence I'll- Oh!" The Galra who had opened the door paused as she caught sight of Keith. She took a moment to take him in so he did the same.

She was taller than him, by a lot. She was probably a bit shorter than Allura had been when she disguised herself as a Galra. If he had to estimate, the red paladin would have placed her at around Shiro's age, maybe a bit older. Although, he honestly didn't know anything about how the Galra aged so he could have been way off. She had the usual lilac skin and there were silver swirling designs around her eyes that could have been markings, but also could have just been the Galra version of makeup. Keith couldn't tell. Her long fuchsia hair was braided and draped over her shoulders like a scarf.

She was also giving him a look that he could only describe as being similar to the look a group of his female middle school classmates had given the cat they had found behind their classroom.

"He's so tiny," she hummed and Keith blushed. No, Galra were just huge compared to humans. "Who is he?"

"No clue. Found him while on patrol," the male Galra - Jezpor? - replied.

The female - Styxanne? - eyed Keith for a second longer before turning a glare on Jezpor. "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing, he was like this when I found him!"

Styxanne huffed and took Keith's arm. "Useless."

"Hey, I brought him straight to you!"

The female Galra ignored him and shut the door in his face. She led Keith through some sort of sitting area to a small room off to the side that held an odd metal table connected to a console and some cabinets. "Lie here, Prycoso," she said, helping him up onto the table.

Keith didn't want to. He wanted to escape and somehow find his team and put this whole thing behind him. At the very least, he wanted to find out why the Galra were acting weird, but then he was lying down and the fatigue that he had been ignoring since he woke up because he had more important things to do was overwhelming him and the stupid metal table-bed was actually a lot more comfortable than it looked and the cold of the metal felt great on his pounding head when he tilted his head so that the side of his face was pressed against it and he suddenly couldn't remember why he shouldn't be lying down and resting.

A purple light flickered over Keith. "Alright now what's- Oh wait, no! Don't go to sleep, Prycoso. Did you hear me? Stay…"

Running.

Laughter like chimes.

"Come on, my little warrior. Time to go."

"Catch me, Mama!"

Keith sighed as his eyes fluttered open. He slowly sat up and looked around. The room he was in was about the same size as the one he had in the Castle of Lions if not a tad bigger. There wasn't much in it: a couple crates stacked next to the door, a mirror on the wall on the other side of the door, a window that was covered by some shutters-like device that kept out most of the light, the bed he was on, and a table a short ways next to it with a glass of some sort of clear liquid on it (Keith knew better than to automatically assume it was water after spending the last however many weeks or whatever surrounded by aliens and their weird food and drinks).

The red paladin shifted around so that his feet hung off the bed. He reached out for the glass, fully prepared to down whatever horrible concoction might be inside it if it meant alleviating his dry throat and mouth. At least he could be pretty sure that it wouldn't kill him. If the Galra wanted him dead, they had plenty of ways to do it besides poison.

His fingers had just brushed the glass when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. He turned and his breath caught in his throat. Shakily, he got to his feet. He walked up to the mirror. He reached out his hand, then flinched away when the Galra in the glass did the same. He brought his hand up to pull a lock of his hair forward so he could see it.

The lock was a paler version of his eye color. Except not, because apparently his eyes were now a bright yellow and ringed by swooping blue markings.

Keith stumbled back and collapsed onto the bed. What- How- But-

"You're just a boy."

"He's so tiny."

This- This is why that Galra hadn't attacked him. Why he'd brought him to the female Galra, who Keith was guessing was some sort of doctor. They thought he was a Galra.

He looked like he was a Galra.

"You fight like a Galra soldier."

The door slid open and Keith looked up to see Styxanne walking in.

"Oh, you're awake! I was getting worried there. You've been sleeping for almost three days. You took quite a hit to the head. I was worried you weren't going to wake up again."

Three days! He didn't have three days to be lying around! What's going on with the others? Was Red okay? Had she healed from the damage she had taken? Had she been discovered?

"Prycoso?"

Keith blinked and took a shaky breath. "I- Uh- Yeah, sorry. I guess I'm not quite awake yet."

Styxanne frowned. She brushed her hand over a pad next to the shutters and they opened. Keith raised a hand to block the bright light and suddenly Styxanne was right in front of him, grabbing his chin.

"Uh…"

"Well, you certainly seem better than you were before. What happened to you? How did you get here?"

"Oh, uh, I crashed my… ship. I was walking around trying to find civilization when I came upon your village."

"Well you're lucky you found us when you did. My name is Styxanne, though you can call me Xan. Only that dwylip Jezpor refers to me by my full name."

Names, right. Keith supposed a name like "Keith" isn't usual for Galras considering the names he knew. But what would a good Galra name even be? "Oh, uh… I'm Kayiv."

Wow. That was dumb. It barely sounded any different than Keith.

So why did it sound right?

"Kayiv? I like it, Prycoso," Xan hummed, grabbing the glass off the table and holding it out to him. As he drank, she said, "I want to run another scan on you, but then we can get some food in you. Such a tiny little thing."

The last part was mumbled to herself, though Keith heard it just fine. He blushed and sputtered into his (thankfully) water. "R-right. Thank you."

"He's still injured, Jezpor. He woke up yesterday after being unconscious for nearly three days. I'm not going to just toss him out."

Keith paused, his ears twitching. He moved closer to the door and listened in. It seemed his host was back.

"I'm not saying you should, I just think you should be more careful. You've heard the rumors. We have no idea who that guy is. He just showed up out of nowhere."

"His ship crashed here."

"Why was he flying around here? And all on his own?"

"I was on my way to meet with my team."

Jezpor and Xan looked up at him as he left his room, adjusting the grey jacket Xan had given him. He was also wearing a borrowed black shirt, dark grey pants, and a violet belt alongside his own boots. His own spare clothes were tucked into a bag alongside his hidden paladin under armor.

"Your team?" Jezpor asked with narrowed eyes.

"We were supposed to meet up to work on our skills. We are hoping to join the army."

"Really?" Xan asked, eyes beaming. "That sounds incredible!"

"Yeah," Keith said.

Jezpor stood up from the table he and Xan had been sitting at. "Kayiz, right?"

"Kayiv, actually."

"Of course, sorry."

Keith felt his ear twitch. "No problem."

"So you crashed? Where's your ship?"

"I wouldn't know. I was pretty out of it by the time you found me. I'm not sure how long I had been walking, let alone in what direction. I was hoping to head out and search for it once I'm well enough."

"Which is not right now," Xan hissed.

Keith held his hands up in surrender.

"I need to head out for patrol. We're not done talking about this Styxanne," Jezpor said, heading towards the door.

"Yes, we are," the female Galra growled. She followed him and slammed her hand on the door controls as soon as he was out. "Ugh! That- That- Ugh!"

"So Jezpor, is he your-"

Xan snorted. "He wishes!"

"I was going to ask if he was related to you. Like your brother or something."

"No, thank the stars. He's just in charge of the patrols so he feels the need to involve himself in everyone's business and I'm the only one that tells him off for it." Xan shook her head, then turned to Keith. She tilted her head to the side. "What are you doing, Prycoso?"

"I just thought I'd go out for a little while." At Xan's narrowed gaze, he added, "Not far. Just around the village. Get some fresh air."

"Well… I suppose. Just as long as you stay close and you come straight back if you're feeling even a little off."

"Of course." Keith quickly went to the door before she could change her mind. "Be back soon."

"Careful!" she managed to say before the door closed.

Keith sighed in relief. He had forgotten how claustrophobic being stuck in someone's house and watched over twenty-four-seven could be. Not quite as bad as the Garrison, but still annoying. At least with the Castle of Lions he could slip off to training or some deserted part of the ship whenever he needed to be alone.

Keith looked around as he walked through the village. He passed by an outdoor marketplace, but continued on instead of going in. A few of Galra glanced over at him as he walked about, though none seemed hostile. Mostly they just seemed confused or curious. Keith decided to just try and ignore them. He did keep an ear out for gossip or rumors though, especially anything concerning the words Voltron or paladins.

About an hour after heading out, Keith found himself pausing outside a building as he heard music floating out an open door. He peaked inside to see that the place was a sort of tavern. The music was coming from the corner where a female Galra was playing what appeared to be a piano.

Keith slipped inside and leaned against the wall. He closed his eyes. The music was relaxing. It also felt so familiar.

"What would you like me to play now, Kayiv?"

Keith jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Xan looking at him with worry.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. I was just listening to the music." He turned back to the musician and she followed his gaze.

"Ah yes, the xiaziovax. Galra's greatest invention. If you're into that kind of stuff, I mean."

"Yeah." Keith noticed Xan eyeing him. "What?"

"Nothing. I just never would have pictured you as the artsy type."

"My mother used to play the- used to play it for me when I was little."

"Ah!" A moment's pause. "Do you know how to play?"

"Me? I uh…" He had learned how to play (the piano at least) in school, mostly because music had been mandatory in most of the elementary schools he had attended and he had the vaguest memories of his mother playing the piano for him, but the last time he had placed his hands anywhere near a piano had been when he was… eleven? It was before the anti-space travel nuts so he couldn't have been more than twelve. "I used to, but that was a long time ago."

Xan's face lit up. She grabbed his arm and started dragging him towards the alien instrument.

"Xan, wait, hold on!"

"No, I want to hear you play! No getting out of it!"

"Seriously, Xan, it's been a really long time." Not to mention he's not even sure if the instrument even played like a piano. "I'll probably just make a fool of myself."

"Then it will be interesting either way!"

Keith glared at the female Galra and his ears pressed against his head.

"Wysic! Do me a favor and let my new friend Kayiv have a go at the xiaziovax!"

The Galra at the piano-like instrument looked up at the two and raised her eyebrow.

"Come on, Wysic! It'll be interesting, I swear!"

Keith had to hold back a growl.

"Fine," the musician sighed. "I need a break anyways. You owe me though, Xan."

"Uh-huh, sure, whatever!"

Wysic sent the two a look, then stood up and headed to the bar. Keith was unceremoniously shoved onto the bench.

"Well, go on then!"

Keith sighed and situated himself better at the keys. He ran through a simple scale just to get a feel for where and what all the notes were. From what he could tell, the alien version was missing some of the lower notes and gained a bunch of extra higher ones. The red paladin peaked up over the instrument and flinched as he realized everyone in the tavern was staring at him.

Great. Keith let out a shaky breath and quickly chose a song. He mentally adjusted the scale to cover for the lost low notes and began to play.

As he played, he let the music take over. He allowed himself to forget everything. Forget about his lost teammates. Forget about being surrounded by the enemy. Forget about currently being the enemy. All he thought about was the music. He even began to hum the lyrics to the song under his breath.

As the song came to an end, he felt a hand land on his shoulder.

"Yes, Kayiv, just like that!"

Keith pulled his hands away from the keys and he looked up. For just a second, he saw her.

Dark lilac skin with jagged blue designs over her eyes. Silver-purple hair that was longer on her left than her right and loosely flowing. Sunny yellow eyes that smiled down at him.

"Kayiv?"

Keith snapped back to the present. He could hear the crowd applauding and Xan was standing over him, her smile slowly fading to worry.

"Sorry, what?"

"I said that was great. I've never heard that song before. It was amazing! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks. I think I need to go lay down now."

Xan nodded and waved to Wysic before leading him out and back to her home. The moment he was left alone, Keith collapsed on the bed.

What was that?