Dusk 'Till Dawn (Book 3)

Deiz 10

Sorry for the wait, I wasn't sure how to end this chapter... so that may suck...

This is also pretty short soo, sorry again...

May post another chapter to day that will be longer. Don't count on it though.

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To say Keith’s nightmare had caught the Paladins by surprise was an understatement. Ruu had seen his eyes when the teen woke up, the panic in his eyes, like a wild animal. They’d snatched Pidge away from the other teen, backing away from Keith. Which they were glad they did when Keith’s claws dug into Hunk’s arm, Allura yanking the larger boy back, making the wound longer and deeper. Ruu jumped out of Keith’s way pulling Pidge with them as he ran.

Allura pulled Hunk’s arm to her looking it over for half a second as the other Paladins sat in shock.
“Da, ah, w-w-wh-why, why would Keith attack us, that doesn’t make any sense?” Hunk stammered, Ruu could tell the boy was about to start freaking out.
“He wasn’t thinking Hunk,” Ruu assured the Yellow Paladin calmly, “I don’t know what caused it, but his survival instinct took over. He didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

“Do you think Lance’s absence could be part of the problem?” Allura asked, hiding how badly the situation had actually scared her, wrapping Hunk’s arm in a blanket to slow the bleeding.
Ruu nodded, “It’s most likely the main factor. All Galra get testy when they’re separated from their mates and kits, why do you think the Empire is so aggressive?” Ruu asked, helping pull Hunk to his feet.
“Isn’t that a dangerous card to play on Zarkon’s part?” Pidge asked as Allura and Ruu led Hunk from the room.
Ruu nodded, “It is, but the soldiers’ fear of Zarkon and the Druids is more than enough for them to keep quiet and follow orders.”
“That’s messed up,” Hunk frowned.
“Yes, it is,” Ruu nodded, leading him to the healing pods.

Pidge paused behind the older three, “Maybe someone should go after Keith…”
Ruu looked back at her, “That would be incredibly stupid,” they deadpanned.
The remaining Paladins looked at them.
Ruu sighed, “Keith has a lot of trauma, and whatever happened in his nightmare scared him enough to trigger his fight or flight response. He chose flight. If someone goes after him, that will change,” Ruu stated, the underlying threat to everyone's saftey obvious, walking to the pods with Hunk and Allura, “He probably went to Black, Red, the Training Room, or his den. As long as we avoid those places we’ll be fine until he calms down on his own.”

“So you don’t even want to help him!? He’s probably having a panic attack!” Pidge protested.
“I do want to help him,” Ruu argued, stopping and looking back at the human kit, “But I can’t do that without endangering all of you. It hurts me a lot to not do anything, I sympathize with him, more than you know, but I also know what can come from the smallest misstep when dealing with a Galra in a panic like this. Hunk’s wound would be the least serious injury to come out of this if anyone made a single mistake while trying to calm down Kieth.”

Ruu sighed, their ears dropping, “I nor any of you can do anything to help him right now. But the Lions can, we’ll just have to hope Black can do something.”
“Black has never had to deal with anything like this,” Allura said.
“Then hopefully he’s smart enough to go to Red, she has that experience,” Ruu said, wrapping an arm around the smallest Paladin and silently leading them, feeling Red’s worry for her former Paladin.

“Black can handle this, right?” Ruu asked the Lion, expecting silence like always.
“I hope so… Keith went to him, he may believe Black can help. I hope he’s right,” the Lion sighed, purring her comfort like a Galra mother.
Ruu hid their surprise, having never heard the Lion speak before.
“Me too,” Ruu sighed quietly, indulging themself in the Lion's offered comfort.