A Bonding Moment

2-Lance

At the bottom of the ladder we find a small, metal room with a single light in the center of the ceiling. A door sits on the farthest wall. That must lead into the storage room. There's only one way to find out. Keith reaches for the handle.
"Wait!" I say suddenly and grab his arm. "What if it's a trap?"

Keith shrugs, "We'll have to find out sooner or later."

The seal of the door hisses open. Inside we find nothing but darkness. Keith searches the walls for a switch and suddenly the door slams shut. We throw our bodies against it, but the handle is gone. A bright light flicks on behind us from a dome on the floor.

"What on earth..." Keith turns slowly and gives me a puzzled look. He moves towards the dome as I try to get a hold of the castle.

"Allura? Coran? We may have found it but something seems off." The line is silent, "Hello? Is anyone there?" Quiznak. The signal is jammed.

"We're on our own." Keith says, crouched over the metal dome.

I kneel next to him, "Any clue what this is?" My fingertips just barely scathe the cold metal and in less than a tick its burst open. A keyboard and a screen pop out as six small, steel discs slide out onto the floor. Keith reads the screen aloud, "Close to the words of life stay I, but I wither, wane, and dry. Take me home and I will thrive... What does that mean?" Keith raises an eyebrow at me.

I furrow mine, "It sounds so familiar, it's a riddle, I've heard it before."

"It needs an answer. Nine letters. It probably opens the next door. Any ideas?"

A whirring noise emits from the discs on the floor. They slowly lift off the ground, I push to my feet and they follow me to eye level.

"Uh, Keith..." I arm my bayard and in moments my gun is in my hand. He stands next to me, his sword at the ready.

"We need to solve that riddle. Now."

Remember those discs? Yeah. Those are flying, laser-shooting drones. I have managed to figure out the first part of the riddle. In elementary school we learned a riddle about flowers. 'Close to words of life stay I, but I wither, wane, and grow dry.' The second half isn't a part of it. It must have something personal to do with Haggar.

I'm pulled from my thoughts when I hear Keith yell in pain.

"You sure you got this?" I call over the sounds of lasers and chaos.

"I got this! Just get us out of here!" He jumps from side to side. Dodging lasers and drones left and right. As much as I make fun of him for never leaving the training deck, it pays off.

"Take me home and I will thrive... what would Haggar's home be?"

"Watch out!" Keith tucks and rolls towards me, tackling me to the ground as a laser flies over our heads. He's off me in an instant and back to fighting. "I don't know! That's your job to figure out!"

"I'm trying!" I grunt and shake my head, then it hits me.

"Keith! Haggar wasn't always an evil, galra witch! She was um..." I snap my fingers, "Honerva! She was from Altea!"

"Get to it, Lance!"

"Altea, her home is Altea. Flowers from home... Juniberries!" Before I get a chance to key it in, a drone strikes me square in the chest. I hit the floor with a gasp. How many of those things are in here now? Twenty? I sit up and climb back over to the computer, carefully typing in the answer. I press enter and everything freezes and drops to the floor. The door on the other side of the room beeps and slides open. I look at Keith who's lying on the ground panting. I push to my feet and stand over him, extending a hand. He smiles slightly and takes it.

"Pretty smart... How did you know it was Juinberry?"

"I was reading about Altean flora and fauna in one of Pidge's... anyway, they were the flower of Altea." I put away my bayard and watch as Keith does the same.

"You read?" Keith smirks, "About flowers nonetheless?"

"Shut up."

"No, I'm actually curious." he suppresses a chuckle.

"Juniberries look like the flowers my mom used to grow in her garden... I was just reading about them to feel, I don't know, closer to her? It's stupid let's just go."