Hey, Brother? {a Voltron fanfic}

Chapter 5

Keith looked her up and down. Galaxy mask, black jumpsuit, sword in hand. Then he laughed "Why don't you fight me instead of those holograms?"

"Why should I fight you?" She asked "Is it because you're so confident and you want something to inflate your ego?"

Keith growled a little "I'm just seeing what I'm up against. If I beat you now and you betray us later, I know that I can beat you already."

"Self confirmation." Kiera mused.

Keith pulled a handle thing out of his pocket and it turned into a long sword that was red and white. He walked toward her.

Kiera stayed put, not raising her sword but keeping an eye on him. He was crouched lower, almost matching her height and he held his sword in his right hand. His left leg would be the most vulnerable point.

He circled her. Like a predator, scouting its prey. He made the full circle and stood in front of Kiera again. She smiled maliciously beneath the mask and crouched and raised her sword. He attacked.

He slashed with his sword and Kiera blocked. He was fast and relied on attacking instead of defending. She let him back her up until she was near the wall. This time, when he swung at her chest, she ducked into a ball, rolled between his legs. When he turned around she was ready and did a little flick and twist. His sword went flying and she jumped up and grabbed it. She spun and held it out of reach and pressed her sword point to his neck, pushing him against the wall.

They stood there for a minute. Keith breathing heavily and Kiera unfazed but holding her ground.

Finally, she stepped back and held out his sword to him "I win."

"You're a good fighter Kiera." He said and took his sword "Why don't you take off your mask?"

Kiera lifted her hand to the base of her mask and said "No."

"Why not? We don't hide our identities from you." Keith seemed annoyed.

"I'm going to wait until the whole group can see." She said "Just to annoy you." She turned and started walking away.

Keith groaned behind her "What if I told you that I still don't trust you and it'd be better to know what you look like now."

"Keith that's a horrible way to convince me to take off my mask." Kiera said. She waved her hand over her shoulder and said "It doesn't even make sense."

She heard the running footsteps too late. Suddenly, Keith ran up behind her and slammed her against the nearest wall and put his sword against her neck.

Kiera rolled her eyes "Wow that's a record. Second time today that I've been pinned to a wall with a knife to my throat."

Keith looked at her masked face and reached forward with his other hand. He was off his guard.

Kiera decided to risk getting her neck cut and punched him as hard as she could in the stomach. He crumpled, clutching his stomach. The sword nicked her collarbone on its way down. Kiera sprinted to the door, strapping her sword to her back on the way.

"Kiera wait!" Keith yelled behind her. She didn't wait. He ran behind her.

She ran as fast as she could back to her room "Simplicity!" He jumped "Simplicity, come on! We are leaving!" He whined but ran up and jumped onto her shoulder.

He whined in her ear as she ran down to where she'd left Ace "I know you want to spend more time with Pidge. But we really need to go."

She could hear Keith running behind her, yelling for her to stop and wait. She started to hear the others wake up. Kiera pushed her legs faster.

She skidded into the entrance room "Ace! Ace we need to go!"

He turned to her and said Well then climb in!

He knew when not to ask questions. She climbed into the driver compartment. She could hear the others running behind her.

She grabbed Aces controls and said "Set course for somewhere on the other side of a planet! We may need to come back here!"

The back camera showed the group still running and Pidge had pulled something from her pocket and tossed it to Lance, yelling something. Lance threw it as hard as he could. The metallic thunk that sounded told Kiera that whatever it was was now stuck to Ace.

"Ace GO!" She screamed. He lifted off the ground and shot out the space tunnel. G force pushed Kiera back against the seat and they flew out the door. Ace located the nearest planet and began to fly around it.

Why did we leave so soon? Ace asked I hadn't even charged yet.

"Because I-" she sighed "Because Keith fought me and tried to get me to remove my mask."

Ah. He said Still want your identity to be kept a secret?

"Ace, my brother is on that ship." She said "He doesn't even know me or that I'm his sister. I had to leave. I'm not ready to meet him again."

Ace sighed Kiera you can be ready. And if he doesn't accept you then that's stupid. You're awesome. You built me! You built Simplicity. Much as I think that that is a very strange bot choice, you still did it.

He knew how to cheer her up "Thanks Ace." She gripped the controls tighter and added "Now, let's look for a place to land."

They found a clearing in a forest and Ace landed. Kiera made her mask into a helmet and the compartment door opened. She hopped out and looked around. Green grass was all around her. The tree leaves were a shade of blue and their trunks were purple.

She grinned "We chose a good spot, Ace." She turned to help Simplicity down from the compartment "What do you think?"

Simplicity popped excitedly and ran to the nearest tree, bumping her nose against it. Then, she proceeded to bump noses with every tree surrounding the clearing.

"Ace, what are the oxygen levels on this planet?" She wanted to take off her helmet.

Ace scanned then said Breathable but fragile. We won't be able to stay here for more than a few days.

"That's all I need." Kiera nodded and pulled out a small bag of personal belongings from a compartment on Ace's arm. She gingerly took off her helmet and placed it into the bag. She pulled down her hood and breathed a sigh. She was alone, finally. She calmly let her hair out of the right braids and looked around "It's really beautiful here."

"Just like you." A voice behind her startled her. She turned and saw nobody. She took her knives out from the sheaths on her wrists. One blade in each hand, just like a pirate.