Ally Gone Astray

Chapter five

    The following day, Keith woke up to an odd silence in the castle. Normally, everyone is either discussing battle plans or relaxing with Kaltenecker or in Pidge's case, making updates to her lion. But he couldn't find anyone. He checked each room, knocked on every door and even checked to pool.
    The castle was empty.
    "They're probably just speaking with the Olkari..." he told himself, deciding to look outside.
    Sure enough, he was right. They were all there. But something was off. Someone was missing.
    "Allura!" Keith called out, rushing over to the Paladins. "Where's Shiro...?"
    "We were about to ask you the same question." She told him, slowly motioning to Ryner. "She actually saw a pod leave in the night... We thought it was you... until this morning... when we found that Shiro was missing..."
    Keith turned to Ryner. "You let him leave?!"
    The Olkarion stepped back slightly, but kept a calm demeanor. "I know better than to question a Paladin." She said. "Where he has gone and why must be important."
    "But he's the leader!" Keith clenched his fist in anger. "Now that he's gone, we can't form Voltron!"
    "Wait... We?" Hunk butted in.  "Sorry to interrupt... But you're kind of... Well..."
    "Not a Paladin." Pidge finished his sentence for him, immediately regretting doing so when Keith turned to face them.
    "Voltron is the only thing that can stop the uprising Galra! Who cares if I'm not a Paladin anymore!" Keith looked to the others for some sort of assistance. "We need Voltron."
    Lance took a deep breath and leaned forward, waving a hand in front of Keith's eyes to get his attention. "Look, Mullet. We're all confused and a little worried that Shiro suddenly left, but you need to calm down. He'll come back. We'll be able to form Voltron. And everything will be fine."
    "And what if he doesn't?! What if Shiro doesn't return?!" He looked to Ryner, "this is all your fault... We could've gone after him..."
    "Keith." Allura stepped between him and the others. "We're not throwing blame around! It was an honest mistake. I'll contact the pod and get him back here."
    "You don't understand..." Keith mumbled quietly. "It's not that simple..." he pushed past Pidge and Hunk, making his way back to the Black Lion's hanger.
    "Lance—" Allura began, but she was interrupted Lance's quick response.
    "Already on it." He faked a smile to lighten to mood and hurried after Keith.

***

    "What's with you all of a sudden?!" Lance asked the dark haired boy.
    "What's with me?! Shiro is gone! Do you not remember what we talked about?! Has that all left your mind?!" he  retorted.
    "No... It hasn't.... But you can't just yell at everyone." He tried making eye contact, but Keith looked away. "We need an actual plan. How are we supposed to do this...?"
    "Bond with your lion. Not just gaining trust for combat. Make a real pact. And somehow get to that plane you were talking about."
    Lance rubbed the back of his neck. "About that... You see... We were in Voltron form and—"
    "Then find another way!" Keith ordered. "I'm bonding with the Black Lion. Go to Red and we'll try to work something out."
    "And if he comes back...?" Lance asked, a hint of fear in his voice.
    "Simple." He grinned, "We confront him directly."
    "Great idea... Confront the danger head on. We're so going to die..."
    Keith turned his back on Lance, stepping towards the Black Lion. "With that attitude, we're already goners."
    "What other attitude am I supposed to have?!" Lance asked, slightly terrified. "Shiro isn't Shiro. And this Not-Shiro guy just left. Totally not suspicious!"
    "We don't have time for this... Suit up and get to Red. I'll keep comms with you until we get into this mind scape."
    "R-roger!" And with that, the Red Paladin darted off to find his armor and bayard. There was no turning back now.