Now or Never~klance

Chapter Four

The two boys awkwardly stand in silence. Lance feels strange. Like really strange. He crinkles his nose in embarrassment as he remembers how he thought about Keith in the shower just this morning.

Lance is not a big fan of quiet, but he can't think of anything to say. This is really odd for Lance because he could usually go on and an for hours just about the color of his shirt, but for some reason his mind goes blank. 

Luckily, Keith fills the silence by saying with a smirk, "Wow, you are actually kind of okay to be around when you aren't rambling your mouth."

Keith has calmed down since everyone had left. He could tell Lance was nervous, and for some reason he felt nervous too. If he didn't make an attempt to get along with Lance he might be excluded from other missions. Keith does not want to miss any of the action.

"You too, Weird Mullet Boy," Lance replies. He cringes inside right as he says it. Weird Mullet Boy? I'm in for it.  Keith forces out a laugh and answers, "Weird Mullet Boy? Your insults are getting worse and worse by the minute."

For once their conversation did not consist of anger, just smiles. After a few minutes of light banter, Lance decides to mention the planet they are resided on. "This planet really does look like Earth." He lets out a sigh of somber as he spoke. Keith was about to yell at Lance for bringing up what sparked the fight, but he realizes that Lance's face actually looks distressed. 

"You must really miss Earth don't you," Keith says. Lance suddenly jumps up. He almost let Keith get the best of him. He wants to make a smart comeback at Keith, but he is at loss for words. Keith had just showed a sign of sincerity towards him! How is he supposed to react? Lance stammers out, "uhh, umm no, what? Earth?" This is unlike Lance, he is always one to be smooth and slick. Lance blushes. 

Keith is about to make fun of Lance, but he hears an odd rustle in the ferns. "Did you hear that?" Keith questions suddenly.

"Hear what?" Lance asks confused.

"Listen! It sounds like it's coming from over there!" Keith says while pointing to a nearby tree. 

"I think it's just your wild imagination Keith, I don't hear anything." Right as Lance says those words a pack of aliens pop out from the forest. They sort of resemble wolves, but purple, and with no fur. Lance jumps back and runs off. Keith instantly pulls out his bayard and is about to take a swing at the creatures. Out of the corner of his eye, Keith sees Lance sprinting into the forest. Keith rolls his eyes and puts his bayard away and runs after the tan boy.

The alien wolves were right on the boy's tails as they sprinted away. Both the boys aren't scared, they both feel a sense of thrill. They sprint side by side away from the dangerous creatures for about 5 minutes. Since both boys were going at their top speed to escape the danger, they were getting tired fast.

In hope that they outran the creatures, Keith turns his head and sees the strange animals are at their heels. "LANCE!" Keith shouts out, "WE MIGHT HAVE TO PICK UP THE PACE!" This causes Lance to turn his head to see the creatures getting closer and closer with every step. A light bulb goes off in Lance's head. 

"Follow me!" Lance hollers. He takes a sudden turn into the bushes. Keith was about to argue, but Lance yanks him in after him. Keith follows Lance, keeping the same pace as the tall boy.

Keith sees a cliff up ahead. Oh no. he thinks. "Lance, what are you thinking?"

"Just trust me Keith!" Lance shouts and he keeps sprinting closer and closer to the edge. Keith is starting to get worried. 

"Lance! What are you? Crazy? Are we really going to jump?" Keith shouts.

"It's now or never Keith!" Lance screeches out as he leaps off the edge into the lake below. Keith turns his head and sees the wolves directly behind him. Keith closes his eyes as he jumps into a dive off the cliff. It is a long way down. Keith held position so he would be in perfect dive position as he plunged into the water. Lance just rose up from the water as Keith splashed in.

Keith regains composure after the fall and starts to swim up to the surface. Panicked, Keith realizes a piece of orange alien seaweed has latched itself onto Keith's foot. Keith frantically tries to detach himself from the plant, but time was running out. Keith's foot is stuck. He tenses up as he realizes that he can't hold his breath much longer. 

Lance waits curiously for Keith to return to shore. After about 20 ticks Lance realizes something's wrong. Keith wouldn't still be under unless he's hurt. He dives down to where he saw Keith land. Lance spots Keith completely motionless, drifting with the movement of the water. Lance desperately glides over to Keith and unties his foot from the odd orange seaweed. 

With the unconscious boy under his arm, Lance swims up to shore. As Lance gets out of the water he hectically takes off Keith's red armor. Luckily Lance sort of knew how to do CPR after one of his brothers almost drowned in the creek by his home. 

Tears streaming down his face, Lance opens Keith's mouth and tilts his head back. After performing 30 compressions on Keith's chest, Lance repeats for about 2 minutes. Keith finally coughs up the water from his lungs. Lance gives a sigh of relief as he pushes Keith onto his side into recovery position. Lance smiles as he looks down at Keith. After a few moments Keith's eyes fluttered open and he took a deep breath. He looks up at Lance confused, "What just happened?" The pale boy asks. His thoughts felt cloudy and his lungs felt heavy. 

"Oh nothing much, we just got chased by a pack of wolves so we had to jump into this lake, then your foot got stuck to something in the lake." Lance jokes as he grins at Keith.

"Oh. Wait... Lance did you rescue me?" Keith asks. 

"Yup!" Lance replies. Keith feels a blush creep up on his own cheeks. 

"Well, thank you," Keith says as turns over onto his back. Not knowing what else to do, Lance lays down next to Keith. They stared up at the sky. It was blue just like at home, but the clouds were a soft pink instead of white. It is a gorgeous sight.