Langst One-Shots

White Paladin

-Third Person-

Lance had been acting strange ever since the battle 3 days ago. He was still Lance, but he wasn't. Lance bounded into the training room, a grin on his face. "Hey guys. What did I miss?" Keith frowned. "Where were you? You're late, like usual." Lance didn't flinch, only laughing. "I'm here now, aren't I?" Allura sighed, irritated. "The battle 3 days ago has left our systems severely damaged, so today will be a free day while Coran fixes them." Her voice was tired. Shiro nodded. They dispersed, leaving Lance alone in the room with Coran. "Um, Coran?" Lance asked quietly, "Can I talk to you about something?" Coran nodded, "Of Course." Lance took a deep breath. "Can you run a diagnostics test on me? I feel kind of weird." Coran shrugged. "Yes. I took one of you after the battle, and you were fine, but-" Lance cut him off. "So there wasn't anything physically wrong with me?" Coran shook his head. "No." Lance grinned, visibly relieved. "Ok, thanks. I'm good then." Lance spread his arms wide, "Need any help?" Coran laughed, "Always, my boy. Always."
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-Keith's POV-

Lance was late. No surprise there. I sighed, tapping my foot impatiently on the hard metal floor. "Breakfast started 35 minutes ago." I expressed my annoyance, "Where is he?" Hunk shrugged, "Dunno." Pidge looked up from her conversation with Allura. "Should someone go get him?" Shiro shook his head, "He'll get here when he gets here." There was silence. A soft sound drifted in from the hallway, and Lance staggered in.

That was the first indication that something was off.

Lance walked in silently, eyes downcast on the floor. He gently sat in a chair, and his hands laid still on his lap. "Lance?" Pidge asked, concerned. "Good morning." Lance said softly, eyes still locked onto the floor.

More silence.

"Well, Lance, nice to have you join us." Coran said cheerfully, laying a bowl of space goo in front of him. "Yeah." I glared. Lance didn't respond, his food laying untouched. "Lance, are you okay?" Shiro asked, eyes filled with worry. Lance looked up, and Hunk flinched.

Lance's eyes were a startling grey.

"I'm fine." He answered, his eyes devoid of their usual electric blue color. I sat up straighter, staring at him. "What happened to your eyes?" I asked, crossing my arms. "What do you mean?" Lance asked quietly. I opened my mouth to respond when Allura flitted in. "Paladins, report to your lions for training!" Lance slowly got up and trailed after Allura, shoulders slumped. "This is gonna be one quiznak of a day." I grumbled, filing after Shiro.
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-Keith's POV-

We approached the hangar, reaching for our armor and pulling it on, prepping for training. We gathered around the console, waiting for everyone to finish. There was an audible gasp as Lance walked in, and my eyes widened.

Lance's armor was gray.

The Blue on his armor and helmet was non-existent, replaced with a shade of gray so light it looked white. "Is there something wrong?" He asked, pulling his helmet over his head. He made his way over to Blue, silence smothering any response we had.

What was happening?

Paladin armor didn't just change colors. You couldn't change it unless you crafted a new suit. Lance paused in front of his lion, laying a palm on her surface. "Hey girl." He whispered, closing his eyes and resting his forehead on Blue. "LANCE?!" Hunk shouted as Blue started to change color, white spreading like poison from Lance's hand, coating Blue and dimming her coat to the same dull gray on his armor. Lance turned around, staring at his hands, gray eyes wide.

"What just happened?" I growled, stalking towards Lance. His breath sped up. "I- I don't know! I didn't think it would get this bad!" His breathing was heavy. "What wouldn't get this bad?" Hunk asked, panicked. "The witch wasn't lying." Lance's voice wavered, "She wasn't kidding." Shiro froze. "Lance, what are you saying?" Lance swallowed. "When I went on the mission 4 days ago, Haggar hit me with some magic." His eyes were wide, "She told me that if I were to say anything, she'd-she'd curse you too, because you were in range." Lance was shaking now, "She told me that the curse would let my inner colors bleed out slowly." His dull eyes locked onto the floor. There was silence. "You got hit by magic and didn't SAY ANYTHING?!" Allura yelped. My eyes were wide. "Wait, if your inner colors are supposed to come to light, why are yours gray?" Lance froze.

"Well, I guess the cats out of the bag."

He laughed. "I'm not a happy person." Lance smiled, "I can't feel anything. Hence, the gray." He turned away. I stumbled backwards in shock. Lance was depressed? "L-Lance?" Pidge whimpered, "Do you mean....?" She trailed off. Lance shrugged. "Let's just get this training over with, okay?" He clambered into his lion.

Shiro was still, eyes wide and posture frozen. "Shiro?" I asked, concerned. "I can't believe we didn't notice." He whispered. "It's obvious now." I turned away, eyes downcast.

It was obvious, and that's what hurt.
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-Keith's POV-

We weaved through the blasts, the castle sending drones out in place of Galra Fighters. I grunted and pulled on the controls, firing a laser through several drones, destroying them. "Lance! 3'o-clock!" Shiro yelled over the comms, and Lance whipped a blast at the drone, a black beam shooting from Blue and whirling around the drone encompassing it in a cloud of black before exploding.

"Whoah. What was that?" I asked, surprised. Lance laughed hollowly, "Oh, that's my new special attack called 'utter despair'." Lance paused, "I've gotten hit with that thing far too many times." Static filled my ears. "It kind of fits, though." Lance's voice filtered through my helmet.

"A dark attack for the White Paladin."