Forming Bonds -- (VLD)

Chapter 3

Lance didn't really get a chance to do any sort of planning. Even if he could have, with all the fog that still clouded his brain. Not to mention the very distracting sounds of a pained Keith that was quite literally chained to his side. He had hoped that their opponent would wait a little- size up its competitor for a few moments, or perhaps even take a second to decide which paladin would be easier to beat.

But Lance was unlucky.

Their opponent was onto them within seconds.

Thankfully, they were still sheltered behind the pillar, which was now being attacked by a rather scaly looking thing. The poor pillar had done nothing to deserve this. Lance did his best to protect Keith from the dust and debris that was raining down on them as the monster attempted to break down their poor equivalent of shelter, his teammate unable to do much but groan quietly in pain.

Lance was thankful that the monster didn't seem smart enough to attempt walking around it. He decided to consider it a small miracle.

"Keith buddy, I need you to work with me." Lance said, tapping gently at the other paladin's face. Keith groaned, staring into Lance's face for a moment, before seeming to take in his surroundings. Lance could almost see the adrenaline starting to kick in and sighed in relief. He couldn't fight and protect Keith at the same time. Not in this situation.

"Here," Lance said. He shoved the sword into Keith's hand, who fumbled with it for a moment before gripping it firmly. Together they stood up, Keith leaning most of his weight on Lance. Lance lowered his stance to balance it out, getting a feel for the staff in his free hand. He frowned, staring at the chain over his right arm. Of course it had to be his dominant hand. He wondered for a moment if all this would make him ambidextrous.

If he survived.

Now wasn't the time to think about it. The pillar was nearly at breaking point, hairline cracks trailing over the surface.

But once again, Lance was unlucky. Instead of breaking, the pillar began to fall like a downed tree, intent on squashing both of them. He didn't feel sorry for it anymore.

"Keith, dodge left!" Lance commanded. Keith stumbled a little, but followed the orders. They threw themselves out of the danger zone, crashing into each other. Lance ended up whacking himself over the head with his staff, quite possibly worsening his condition. Seemed to be a recurring theme with him.

As the fight continued, Lance tried to follow Keith's movements- seeing as he was the one with a weapon that he actually knew how to use. Why couldn't the Galra give Lance a gun? They probably thought that was no fun. They wouldn't see blood and carnage if he just shot them all with lasers.

So he tried to do what he could, using the long ill-suited staff that he carried to occasionally smack the creature in the face or bring it down on its head. He took pleasure in whispering 'boop' every time he did this, making the fight seem less scary. And if it made his mildly delirious teammate snort every so often at the ridiculousness of their situation, well, that was a bonus. Lance knew that none of the paladins fought well if they were scared. Over time, it had become Lance's job to lighten the mood. Keep everyone smiling even during battle.

Not fighting to their best here meant dying. Dying here meant never eating another slice of pizza, and never enjoying one of Hunk's hugs. He wouldn't get to ruffle his tiny gremlin teammate's hair. If he died here, he would never be on the receiving end of one of Allura's sarcastic eye rolls, or Shiro's looks of pride again. He would never be able to sit and talk to Coran- about everything and nothing, just to watch his moustache twitch with every smile.

He would never see his family again.

Lance decided he didn't want to die just yet.

So Lance fought as hard as he could, compensating for Keith's handicap as much as he could. He pulled Keith out of the line of fire when the monster attempted to tackle him. He did his best to fill all of the holes in their fighting, regardless of his ability. They needed to win.

They needed to survive.

As they fought, Lance's arms and upper body began to hurt more. His left arm wasn't used to holding a weapon, and the chain on his right wrist was beginning to leave some painful looking red marks every time the paladins were thrown against each other or pulled away as they dodged.

He took a moment to look down at Keith's wrist, noticing the matching redness on his. Lance's left arm shook from the strain of fighting, Keith's right doing much the same. He suddenly remembered that Keith was left handed. Keith seemed to be fighting well enough with only his right, but considering his condition that wasn't too hard. Lance also remembered seeing Keith training himself to be able to use both. He'd laughed whenever Keith had failed in doing so, but he wasn't laughing at it now. Lance really wished that they had been chained the other way.

But he guessed that they were unlucky.

The monster roared and he quickly turned back to the fight. He wasn't paying enough attention, and in the arena that could mean death.

He saw the monster coming at the last possible second, with no time to react. Keith made a last ditch attempt and swung his sword blindly out in front of them.

Keith was lucky. The sword cut across the monster's eyes, causing it to fall back with a scream, throwing itself as far away as it could with its pained movements. It crashed into another pillar, still writhing and screeching.

Lance was unlucky. He dropped his staff and quickly held a hand to the bleeding cut just under his ribs that the monster had clawed into him as it started its retreat. It didn't look too big, but it was still painful.

"L-la-nce..." Keith groaned, his grip loosening on his sword until it clattered to the ground next to him. He reached out his free hand to the other paladin, wincing at the strain. Lance grabbed it, squeezing it in an attempt to bite down the pain. The guard was beckoning them, the other prisoners staring at them in awe. The look on the Galra's face was quite the opposite.

He realised with a start that he and Keith were supposed to have died against the creature, just the same as the other prisoners after them. But they had defied the odds and survived, throwing a spanner into the plans of the Galra. Nobody else would be fighting today. They had saved the other prisoners from certain death. Lance smirked through his pain, chuckling a little as Keith threw him a concerned glance.

He lived to be an inconvenience.