Don't Forget About Me (Previously, Keith Isn't Dead)

Chapter 5

The two creatures approached, their footfalls heavy. As they emerged into the moonlight, their appearances were revealed. Towering about a foot taller than Keith, the creatures looked as though they had emerged from the rocks themselves. They were made up of the purple stone, with faintly glowing yellow eyes.

Upon hearing the movements, Keith stirred, sitting up and finding himself face to face with one of the rock-person-things.

He yelped and leapt to his feet, wobbling slightly. He had his knife trained on the creature, who spoke. "Who are you?" The rock creature looked down at Keith. Its voice was surprisingly soft. Keith's dark eyes met soft, light ones. "I'm-I'm Keith, I crash landed here. I'm sorry if I disturbed you. But I need to get out of here." He kept his voice curt, taking care to be polite but not lowering his weapon just yet.

The creature looked at him blankly. Keith tried again, perhaps he hadn't been nice enough. "Uhh. What's your name?" He got no response. A beat passed. Then another. Keith blinked, and the creatures looked him up and down before scampering away together.

Shocked, Keith watched them go. He kept alert, staying awake in case anything else happened. He sat for an hour at most when the creatures returned.

"Okay, Momma, this is the Keith! It says it crashed here, can we keep it, please?" Keith was on his feet in seconds. The two had returned, but now with another one of its kind. The two original rock people were apparently children, based on their size in comparison to the new arrival.

The mother looked from the two children to Keith and back again. Keeping an eye on Keith, she scolded the two creatures. "You know it is forbidden to come out here! Get back inside, now. I will talk to the Keith." Her voice was sharp. Much harsher than the child who'd spoken to Keith's was. The two kids peered back at him, curious but obeying their mother, they reluctantly retreated back into the shadows.

Keith took this opportunity to speak up. He had yet to lower his blade, and spoke with forced politeness.

"Excuse me." He all but growled through gritted teeth, "But I've crash-landed here and need to get home. Where am I?"

She ignored him, and asked him questions of her own. "What kind of creature are you? We never see many others besides our own."

Keith's eyes narrowed. "Can you get me to a communicator?"

"What kind of creature are you? You must be very lost."

"I'm human." He growled, losing his patience.

There was a spark of recognition in her eyes, and she nodded. "Hmm, we very rarely get Humans down here. I'd be happy to take you to our communications station."

"Thank you." He replied tersely, gathering his few items. The large creature placed a giant, rocky hand on his shoulder, causing the pilot to wince. "Just this way," She said, beginning to lead him into the darkness of the cave.

*

On their way down, the air grew colder. So much so that Keith began to shiver despite himself.

The creature took notice, chuckling. "I've heard rumors other creatures feel temperature. Us Dwellers, we don't. Too thick of skin I suppose."

"Dwellers?" Keith pried, trying to wiggle out of the woman's grasp on his shoulder. Her claws only tightened.

"Yes, Dwellers. That's what we are. We are a rock species. We live down under the ground. We use our tough skin to tunnel through this soil and make homes for ourselves."

"It sounds rather barbaric, but you'll find we are quite advanced." She added, taking them around a bend.

Keith couldn't believe it. The tunnel they had been walking through was dimly lit at best, but the cavern they entered was bright and full of life. It appeared the Dwellers converted an underground cavern into a town square. Buildings lined what appeared to be streets, all made of the same purple rock. But neon signs adorned the shopfronts, and brightly colored tapestries hung from windows. Carts full of goods rattled about, and other Dwellers milled about.

The place was lively, but Keith and the woman he was with didn't stay long. She guided him around the outskirts of town, landing at an unmarked and official looking building. Here, her grip tightened once more.

"You understand. You must understand." She said, not looking at him and stopping them just outside the doors.

"You saw them. My children are hungry. I must feed them, I'm their mother. You must understand, Human. I'm doing what is best for my family."

He pivoted, trying to throw her arm off of him as he brought his knife up once more. "What are you talking about?" He yelled, grunting as he slashed at her arm. It did nothing to the rocky skin and really only made Keith sway on his feet at the effort.

She opened the doors, ignoring Keith's struggle and attempts to attack her. His blade was doing nothing, and it was obvious he wouldn't get out of her grip.

"Let me go. Get off me!" He yelled once more, drawing the attention of the room.

Inside was a sort of lobby, with a waiting area and a front desk. The only Dweller present besides Keith's abductor was an old looking fellow behind the front desk.

Keith continued to struggle, ignoring the way his efforts physically pained him. His head was hurting more and more by the second, and his breaths were becoming labored. Black fuzz began to invade his vision, and he ceased his attempts at escape for a moment, willing it to recede and keeping himself conscious.

The conversation the two Dwellers were having faded into existence, and Keith listened as he tried to pry the woman's claw from his shoulder.

"Human it says. That's rare. I won't give it over for anything under forty thousand diblets."

"Mmm, forty thousand? We can do that. Would you like it all now, or multiple payments over time?"

"All of it now."

"Very well, thank you for doing business with us."

"Of course. Where should I put him?"

Keith's fight continued, but soon the older Dweller's hands were on his shoulders, and the woman was leaving. He continued to struggle, throwing all his weight into shaking himself out of the creature's grasp to no avail.

"You- What did you do? Where are you going! Come back you asshole!" He yelled at the retreating form of the woman. "Let go of me!"

The older Dweller chuckled, and Keith screamed in frustration and fear as something sharp stabbed him in the back of the neck. The black fuzz returned, and this time it won. Keith fell limp, and the creature picked him up and brought him down a corridor behind the lobby where Keith was handed off to another Dweller and brought even deeper underground.

Rewritten November 2021. also sorry to anyone reading this like november 27th or later, i switched stuff up this chapter (so i didnt hate it as much) but bc of how i wrote it, the next chapter starts off a bit odd. i was gonna just power thru and rewrite that one too but its 3 am and i am #tired and this is a voltron fanfiction so i will be sleeping and then updating this when i feel like it so terribly sorry for this bumpity bump but oh well ill fix it eventually 

the bumpity bump has been fixed but fair warning to anyone reading, i am updating these irregularly, and im changing up a lot of the chapters. im basically rewriting this story and tweaking it, but that makes later chapters very out of placey so my bad but yeah. ill try and finish rewriting it but in the meantime this is gonna be like a construction site.