Escape (Keith X OC)

Chapter 3

     Allura snapped back, "Yes, why? What's going on and who exactly is she? I heard the Peonian race has been wiped out for almost 17 years, how can this be an-"

     Keith could tell Tera was feeling uncomfortable, "And your race has been gone for longer!" Allura felt hurt by Keith's comment, but she knew it was true. It was perfectly possible for a race to not be entirely wiped out.

He knew he probably should not have said it, but he had to stand for Tera; he just had to for some reason. Keith's expression softened, "Princess, I'm sorry. It came out wrong-"

"No, no, it's perfectly alright. I see now."

Tera explained herself, "I'm sorry, but please, help me. If you don't want me to stay, I understand, but please! I need to get un-chipped right now. I can't go back. Do you know what they'll do to me? Right now, they think I'm still on Juke waiting out a sandstorm, but it won't be long until they figure it out!"

Allura hesitantly nodded, and asked Coran and Pidge to help Tera immediately. She decided it would be fine to see how Tera is. Allura knew how manipulative the Galra could be and so it did not surprise her that Tera was held captive. She wanted to give the new acquaintance a chance at least. Coran, Pidge, Tera, and Keith left to the infirmary.

     Pidge asked, "So, where is it?" Tera removed her necklace looking gadget, moved her hair to her left side and pointed to the bump under her skin. It was about 1 inch by 1 inch big. Luckily, they had the equipment to get it out as painless as possible. As soon as the chip was out, Tera had burned it in her hand using her energy ability.

     She could finally be free. No more limitations, threats or orders she had been forced to obey. But where would she go now?

     Keith placed a hand on Tera's shoulder, "Are you alright?"

She was taken back by his concern, "Oh, yeah, better than ever. I should leave now, thank you for your help."

Coran clapped his hands together, "Yes, I'll walk you over to one of our ship pods for your safe travel-"

     Keith had to step in for his new friend once again, "Tera, you aren't going anywhere, at least not yet. You have no where else to go anyway." He moved in front of Coran, "And you, I can't believe you're just going to send her packing on 'safe traveling' already? Trust me, she's good and can be trusted." Coran thought for a moment.

     "Alright, I'll show her her to her living quarters instead perhaps. I mean, she has given us the jewel " said Coran.

     Pidge awkwardly slid out of the room, "Yeah, I think I'll just show myself out of here." Pidge skedaddled and it became a quiet. Coran told Tera to follow him and she did. It looked like she was about to say something, but she shut her mouth in stead. She turned to Keith as she walked out to give a shy smile and nod. He did the same in return.

5 minutes later

Coran stopped in front of a door finally, "Here we are, your new room! Hope you like it, I'm not sure if it's as cozy as your old living quarters, but it's something." He turned to his right on his heel and left. Tera was exhausted and desperately wanted to just 'plomp' on the metal of her bed and blanket. She opened the door and to her surprise, it was amazing.

       It was nothing like her room back at the Galra. The bed was not hard metal, but a huge, soft cushion. She threw herself on it and wanted to fall asleep emidiately, but stopped herself from doing so.

     Tera wanted to look around her new room more before knocking out. There was a bathroom attached to the room, which caused her to scream into the palms on her hands and muffle the sound. She was ecstatic. She found a vanity with a new brush that she thought to be one of the nicest things she ever possessed. She couldn't contain her excitement any longer and ran to her bed. She stood up on the mattress and began to jump while laughing to herself. She could not think of a time where she felt happier.

Meanwhile in the halls:

      Lance and Keith were walking to their own rooms while talking.

"Bro, I can't believe Tera's staying here. Thanks for bringing her back here, like, really. You think she thinks I'm cute?", said Lance, obviously.

     Keith sighed, "Can you think of anything else besides girls for once?"

      Lance shrugged, "Come on, you gotta admit. Tera's a cutie- doesn't talk much, but a cutie. How'd you find her any way?"

      Keith rolled his eyes, "I helped her fight some desert musks and she led me to the cave to get the jewel. The-"

      Lance cut in, "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, you were with her in a dark, spooky cave for how long?" Keith did not see the point of his question.

He gave a quick answer, "Yeah, for about 20-30 minutes or so. Why?"

     Lance stopped and shook Keith's shoulders, "'Why'? YOU'RE ASKING WHY? Uh, maybe because that'd be the perfect situation to be in! Like, just imagine, pretty girl in a dark, scary cave, she's gotta be a little scared, right? She probably was all like, 'Oh! Keith! Please, hold my hand! It's way too dark to see!' And you were all, 'Sure thing, girl'." Keith never could understand Lance's logic especially when it involved girls.

     Keith sighed exasperatedly, "Yeah, no, that didn't happen. She actually wasn't scared at all. She's been stuck with the Galra, I'm sure she's seen scarier things."

     Lance let him go, "Aw, bummer, man. Hey, maybe it would've been different if I was there, 'cause then she'd definitely be all, 'Oh! Lance! Please, hold my hand'!"

      Keith couldn't take him seriously, "Yeah, whatever, man."

"Woah, you think so?!" Lance got his hopes up, not catching the sarcasm in Keith's response.

Time skip

      Everyone in the palace was asleep, except for Keith. He couldn't help but think about what had happened during the mission and afterwards. Mostly everyone wanted Tera gone. They all ignored the fact that she could give them information on the Galra, pinpoint their weaknesses. They all assumed she was lying and that Keith was the fool who fell for it. Tera wasn't lying. Keith knew that. Everyone else, they just needed to give her a chance. He drifted off to sleep after over thinking. The next morning, Keith got up to turn his alarm off and got ready for training along with everyone else.

       As for Tera, she over slept a bit. Like, 30 minutes past 8 o'clock late. She didn't care though, it's not like anyone was dying to see her. She couldn't help but feel tension when in a room with people. After lying there on her bed for a minute, Tera got up. She found a tooth brush and tooth paste in the bathroom. She dressed in some clothes she had found in the closet, which were a tank top, black-athletic pants and some shoes. Afterwards, she stepped out the room and walked around to see where everything was exactly.

     Of course she could map out the whole palace like she mapped out the desert using her abilities but, she liked exploring. Tera lost herself for a bit. Everything had happened so fast with drastic changes and it made her lose her track on time, reality, everything.

      It felt like she was just there, floating in existence. She wondered if ghosts were real, if they felt the way she did right there and then.