Ally Gone Astray

Chapter three

    "Keith!"
    He turned his head from side to side, blinking constantly. "What....?" He forced himself to speak, but his voice was so frail.
    "Keith. Can you hear me?"
    He couldn't see much around him, but he was awake. At least for a short amount of time before he blacked out again.

***

    Keith gasped for air, suddenly sitting up. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and tilted his head to see who's it was.
    "You're alright, Keith. You passed out an hour or so ago... I came as soon as I heard."
    "Sh-Shiro...?" He asked in disbelief.
    The Black Paladin nodded in response. "Yeah. You look surprised to see me. You must have hit your head pretty hard to give me that look." He chuckled, ruffling Keith's hair.
    "Must have...." His eyes fell to his hands, "what happened....?"
    Shiro gave a slight shrug. "I don't know really. Hunk found you just outside of your room, brought you to the infirmary and came to get me."
    Keith looked around, other than Shiro, he was the only one there. "But... how? I don't remember—" His eyes suddenly widened and he quickly looked to Shiro, "You were there! You were calling for me! It was you!"
    "I don't know what you're talking about, Keith. I was with Allura and Coran, planning for our next attack. I didn't see you until you were already out cold."
    "No... I heard you. You said something... I had to do something..." He growled in frustration. "What was it?! Somewhere or something... It was important!"
    Shiro shook his head, "I didn't say anything. You must just be—"
    "The lions!" He yelled, cutting him off. "That's what you said! Something about the lions!"
    "I'm sorry, Keith. I don't recall ever saying anything to you. Other than of course you name."
Keith shook his head, "No... You told me to go to the lions! I know you did!"
"I didn't... You must be misremembering." He gave Keith a sympathetic look, "You can ask the others, I never said anything about the lions."
"I'm not crazy!" He yelled, staring directly into Shiro's eyes. "I'm not hearing voices! You have to believe me. Please, Shiro."
Slowly, he nodded, "Ok. I believe you. You're not crazy, but you have to trust me when I tell you that I never spoke a word about the lions."
The room fell silent. Keith hung his head, he didn't know what to believe anymore. Did he really hear Shiro, or was it just his mind playing tricks on him? Was it someone else's voice? Or was Shiro not telling the truth?
Minutes passed, and still not a word from either Shiro nor Keith. The silence was suffocating, neither could bear it much longer, yet no one said anything.
Shiro gave Keith a small pat on his shoulder before leaving.
He was alone with his thoughts, which if you ask any of his teammates, is a dangerous thing. Keith replayed the recent events in his head; the time with the gladiator, his never ending headache, the voices, and his recent collapse outside of his room. All of it.
    None of it seemed to make any sort of logical sense. If he had a concussion, he would know by now, someone would've found out. But it was different. He didn't black out, not normally. He could recall all of it, every second, the only problem was that not a single person believed him.
    Keith stood up, grabbing his blade - Shiro, or someone, was kind enough to leave it for him - and left the med bay. He was instructed to rest, and if anyone saw him, they'd force him to go to his room. However, Keith doesn't normally play by the rules.
    He rounded the corners, walking down the long halls, heading to the lion hangers.
    "Keith?" A voice called out from behind.
    He groaned, turning around expecting to find Lance, but his demeanor softened when he saw who it was. "What do you want?" He asked in a tone as kind as he could manage.
    "Aren't you supposed to be resting?" Pidge asked him.
"What's it to you?" He frowned, "don't you have better things to do then snitch on me?"
She looked around their surroundings and shrugged. "I do. Which is why I won't tell anyone." Pidge grinned and went on to say "I won't snitch, as long as you answer my question."
Keith looked away in annoyance, but complied with her bargain.
"Why are you... You know... Here?" She asked in total curiosity.
    "Am I not allowed to see an old friend?" He asked with a sigh.
    Pidge forced a smile while adjusting her glasses. "Yeah, but the Black Lion is that way..." she pointed her thumb behind her.
    "I'm not going to see her..." Keith turned his back to Pidge, slowly walking away "Cover for me, will you?"
    She rolled her eyes, "Sure, Keith. But don't blame me if they find you. Castle security is—"
    "Screw security!" He didn't wait for her to speak another word before running ahead to Red's hanger.
"If Lance is right... Then Red needs me... Or it's one of his stupid pranks."