HELLO! I return from the dead! So I think Voltron is just awesome and if you've read ANYTHING by me before, you know I like to make people suffer. And Keith is a really cool character. Thus, suffering. This is my first time writing anything Voltron related, and I also wrote this in half an hour after doing math for 5 hours straight, it seems good to me now, but it might actually be terrible, so please review and let me know!
ALSO!
This story ends how you want. If you don't know what that means than read on and find out!
THIS IS BASICALLY ME TAKING MY FEELINGS ABOUT FINALS SEASON OUT ON KEITH OK SO YOU READ THIS AND SURVIVE FINALS TOO OK, OK GOOD!
THANKS! LOVE YOU!
Heroes were many things. Smart, strong, and probably a little stupid too. But one thing that they weren't was old. Heroes didn't live long happy lives, they lived short high-risk ones.
Heroes aren't meant to survive.
It was something Shiro had said once, in a way to comfort Allura after she lost the AI of her father. He mentioned it to the paladins sometimes as well, but no one took him seriously.
However, it was that thought that gave Keith the only comfort he could get as he lay on the ground, alone. He was a hero, a paladin of Voltron at the very least. This was what was meant for him. This was okay.
It won't be okay.
Their mission had been so simple. No Galra, no fighting, they didn't even take their individual lions; they just all piled into Black.
The planet was dead- empty, hollow, basically a shell. But a thousand years ago the castle had received a distress call as it was dying, the cause unknown. Thus Allura sent the paladins on what Coran referred to as "A field trip! For fun! And research!".
The planet was fragile when they got there. The entire terrain cracked and crumbled as they moved around, parts of the ground breaking off and falling down cliffs or into dark voids. Colorless and cold, it felt like a graveyard. There was no evidence of there ever being any life on the planet, no remains of civilization or residents. It was either a good sign that whoever had sent the distress signal had been able to completely evacuate, or a terrible sign that every sign of life had been eradicated. Whatever it meant, it didn't matter to Lance. He was bored, which never ended well.
"Bet I can make more rubble fall than you." He changed Keith.
"Do you even realize how dangerous that is?"
"Are you scared, Mullet?" Lance taunted. And no, Keith wasn't scared. He, unlike some people, had the common sense to know that trying to make rocks fall off a cliff was a bad idea.
"Don't start." Shiro called over his shoulder, hardly paying attention. He was crouching next to Pidge, analyzing the scans she was getting from the planet. Lance huffed and glared at Keith, as if he had started it.
"Hunk, I bet we can make the ground crack just right so it'll look like the shock wave blew you away, like in those superhero pictures." Lance offered.
Hunk laughed. "Please, you're literally lighter than Pidge. You couldn't crack this stuff if you tried."
"Please don't try." Pidge said. "If my scans are right, and let's be real- they are, then we're actually standing above a really big cavern. We should probably move to-"
A loud CRACK cut her off. "God dammit Lance." She cursed.
Lance looked up, a mix of horror and 'I-didn't-mean-to' on his face. His gun was jammed into the ground because OBVIOUSLY the idiot couldn't think about what he was going to do, or listen to the warnings he was receiving.
The ground fell apart almost instantly after that. The only way the team managed to avoid tumbling down into the cavern below was due to their jet packs, because Pidge- glorious, genius, Pidge- had suggested wearing their armor, just in case. That being said, the team still dropped a good 30 feet before snapping into action.
"Why can't you ever think about what you're doing?" Keith yelled at Lance as they avoided the falling debris.
"I didn't mean to!" Lance pouted, shooting a rock.
"You never 'mean to'!"
"What does that mean?"
"LOOK OUT!" Hunk shouted.
In three seconds three things happened. First, Keith looked up and saw a massive boulder barreling towards Lance. Second, Keith looked at Lance, whose reflexes had not kicked in yet, and was still glaring at Keith accusingly. Third, and finally, Keith rushed forward, pushing Lance out of the way, feeling a heavy weight crush his jet pack.
"KEITH!" He heard the shouts as he fell, growing further and fainter, until his head collided with something hard, the sound of shattering glass filled his ears, and Keith blacked out.
(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)
Keith wasn't stupid. He wasn't naive. As soon as he opened his eyes, buried under the aftermath of the collapse, he knew he was screwed. That was before he tried to move.
Keith's head spun and he quickly realized why it hurt so bad; his helmet had been utterly destroyed in the fall, the glass of his visor shattering, shards stabbing him in the face. Half of his helmet was gone altogether, and blood was running from under his exposed hair.
Breathing made him cough up blood. Keith couldn't move his right leg. His left arm was pinned under rocks, and every time he tried to shift it, the rock pile he was buried under shuddered like it was about to fall.
Heroes aren't meant to survive.
And he was a hero, right? He was here because he pushed Lance out of the way. Imagine if Lance was here. But then, why wasn't Lance here? Why wasn't his team here?
I'm dead already. They know better. It's too dangerous for them to be here.
Keith could rationalize all he wanted. It didn't make him feel better. The last thing he had said, the last thing his team would hear him say, would be an argument with Lance. He wouldn't be remembered as the Red paladin, or a friend. His legacy was a moody, argumentative, bratty teen with an attitude problem.
Keith found himself crying in his tomb, each sob aggravating his clearly broken ribs, tears getting caught in the glass shards in his cheeks.
Maybe he wasn't meant to survive. But dammit he wanted to survive. He wanted to keep exploring space, to keep helping his team save the universe. He wanted to help Pidge find Matt, wanted to try more of Hunk's cooking and even go try the garlic knots on Earth that Lance wouldn't shut up about. Keith didn't care if all the questions he had about himself and his past never got answered, he just wanted to be in the castle, arguing, or training, or talking with Red.
Keith didn't want to be alone when he died.
His mind was fuzzy, but somehow he caught and held onto the idea to try his helmet. It was destroyed, sure, but maybe the universe would take pity on a dying teenager and let him talk to his friends. Let him imagine, if only for a moment, that he wasn't alone.
"Lance?" Keith croaked into his comms unit. Static filled his ears. "Shiro?" He tried again. "Pidge, Hunk," Keith coughed violently, biting back a scream of pain. "Anyone? Please? Please..."
Silence would have been better than static. Static reminded him that they were somewhere, that they might be talking back, or to each other, and he just couldn't hear them. Static made sure to remind him just how cut off he was. He could talk all he wanted. His team wouldn't hear him. No one would.
Keith was crying again- from pain, from misery, and from the dirt that kept falling in his eyes. He could feel himself getting more tired, could tell as his vision slowly darkened around him. His brain was moving slowly, thinking less, instead opting for drifting. Not blacking out, just drifting, aware and unaware at the same time.
Keith couldn't move either of his legs now. His brain didn't seem to process the thought. He was lucky we could move his arm, though it took a considerable amount of effort. Just blinking seemed to be draining.
Keith wished he could see the sky. Of all the things he wanted to see as he died, he wanted to see the sky. Down here, in a small pocket of rock, the only light came from his helmet. And that was starting to give him a headache.
"Please, find me." Keith begged his helmet. He wanted to say goodbye. He wanted to apologize for everything. Wanted to make sure Red knew she'd be fine and she'd get a new paladin- one that was probably more level headed or a better team player. Keith needed to thank Shiro for never giving up on him, Pidge for accepting him, Hunk for being Hunk, the stupid, sweet, ray of sunshine he was. And Lance. God. Lance would be so pissed at Keith for dying. Or happy. Maybe feel guilty? No matter what, Keith needed to say goodbye to him too.
"I'm sorry..." He whispered into the comms.
Suddenly, faintly, a noise broke through the static from Keith's helmet.
"Ith? Wher-… Live?" Was it Lance? Or Shiro?
Keith honestly couldn't sort his thought out enough to figure it out.
"You o-o-o kay?" The voice came again.
"Help..." Keith wheezed.
For a moment, the static came back and filled Keith's head, but then it disappeared.
"That better?" Another voice prompted. It was faint, and still hard to understand, but Keith could hear them. His team.
He wasn't going to die alone.
"Are you okay? Please answer me!" That sounded like Lance.
"No..."
"Still trying to find you!" Was that Shiro, or Hunk? "Any idea where you are?"
Keith blinked slowly at his helmet. They were still looking for him. Didn't they get it? They had to get away before they got hurt too.
"Buried." Keith could hardly hear his own voice.
"Can you move?"
"...No." Keith coughed again and this time did scream as his chest flared in agony, blood dripping from his lips.
"KEITH! Keith, oh God, oh God we're gonna find you, and then get you in a pod, you're going to be alright, alright?"
Keith hummed in response. He was getting so, so tired. His eyes couldn't stay open, his breathing slowing down.
"Keith, stay awake." Was that Shiro again? That sounded bossy, and Shiro was bossy, so it had to be. "Keep talking to us."
"Can't."
"Yes, yes you can. Stay awake Keith. Keep talking to us, we're going to find you."
Fresh tears pricked Keith's eyes; he didn't think he had enough life in him left to cry.
"You're too late." He whispered.
"DAMMIT, NO WE AREN'T!" Lance yelled a lot. That was probably Lance. "Listen Mullet-" Definitely Lance. "You're gonna make it through this."
"I didn't want to die alone."
For a moment there was silence, and Keith thought for a moment he had imagined his friends talking to him.
"You're not going to die." Someone finally answered. Pidge maybe? But Pidge didn't cry. This person was crying. But it sounded like Pidge.
"I'm not alone." Keith couldn't keep talking. His vision was tunneling, and he honestly couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. He couldn't even tell if he was actually talking or not. "You're with me. I'm not alone."
"No," That was Hunk. No one else cried like Hunk. "No, you were never alone. And you aren't going to die. You're going to be okay!"
"I am okay," Keith took a shuddering breath, noticing how there wasn't pain in his ribs anymore. "It's our job right?"
"Our job isn't to die!" Lance sobbed.
"Heroes… Heroes weren't meant to…" Keith's eyes closed. Everything went numb and black surrounded him. "Survive."
His friends might have heard him, they might've not. But Keith heard them. He heard their voices blend together into cries, and their cries blending into a song, lulling him to sleep.
He listened to their song as he sank into a beautiful numbness. He listened to their song as a darkness like nothing he'd ever known before descended upon him, wrapping him up like a blanket. He listened to their song with his heart, knowing he wasn't alone.
Keith listened to the song of his friends until, finally, he heard nothing at all.
SO! Did he live, or die? Like I said, you choose. Heck, you could choose to have a rainbow unicorn come save him. ANYWAYS HOPE YOU LIKED IT PLEASE LIKE AND COMMENT IT'D BE PRETTY COOL!
HAVE FUN WITH FINALS
AND BY THAT I MEAN PLEASE DON'T DIE
OK LOVE YOU BYE! (::)