Until I See You Again: War Of The White Lion

Hold Your Breath

Keith's POV

I run out of my pilot seat to Shiro.
"He must've hit his head on the metal crate when we were hit." Lance says, his shoulder still twitching from the shock.

Allura: "Guys, Shiro's down!"

Pidge: "Keith, Lance, Pilot the black lion now! We need help!"

"Lance, try to revive Shiro!" I command.

"I don't know how!" Lance shouts in exasperation.

"Lance, the lion won't let anyone else pilot. I can't revive him and drive the lion at the same time!"

"Well let's try!"

"No, Lance! For the last time, No!  Your ideas are stupid and childish! The lion will only answer to me! Got that? Now sit down and revive him!"

I get back to the lion and put my hands on the throttles. I push forward. But they don't budge. In fact, they aren't illuminated anymore!

Hunk: "KEITH! THE BLACK LION! WERE WAITING!"

Keith: "IM TRYING! THE THROTTLE IS JAMMED!"

I push and pull randomly at the throttle. It doesn't move. I push the autopilot button. Nothing lights up. The screen is beginning to go dark. I press the distress button but the button is jammed. The lion is falling asleep!

"NO NO NO NO!!!" I scream as I hit the dashboard.

"Work god damn it!"

"Keith, patience yields focus." Lance says calmly. How can someone be calm right now?! HOW?!?!

After a few more moments of futile rage and button pressing, i feel the tightness in my chest and the burning of tears.
I'm failing. I'm loosing. I've flunked out again. But I want to do things myself. I depend on myself and myself alone. But I can't do this anymore. I just can't. I hold off the urge to cry. Finally I stand up.

"Lance," I say finally. "Pilot the black lion to Earth. We need to get those revived and in the Garrison for backup."
I look at him. I know what he's seeing, and I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed of how I acted. I was selfish, and I lost the place of black paladin. But I'm giving it to someone who can take the risk.

I wait for lance to yell at me. I wait for Lance to kick me or something. But he doesn't.
He embraces me.

"It's okay. It's not your fault."

I fight the urge to cry as I embrace him back but only for a few short moments. We let go, and I get to work. I shouldn't have fought he lion for so long. Shiro has already lost a lot of blood.

Behind me, the light begin to flicker back on, the lion roars and the energy returns. I know that Lance has awoken the spirit of the black lion.

The radio taps back in.

Pidge: "Guys, don't come back to the fight. We have a plan."

Allur: "Go to the Garrison with Shiro and get backup."

Hunk: "And hurry!"

Coran: "Shiro told me once that Adam is an aircraft engineer. He'll know about all the types of aircrafts they have. Get him to power the most advanced fleets of ships. We're going to need a lot of backup."

Lance: "Got it!"

Lance thrusted down the throttle and glided down towards Earth at high speed, leaving a trail of purple light behind.

As we fly through space to Earth, I rummage through the crates of my possessions. Pulling out my black T-Shirt, I rip it in half. In another crate I find some antiseptic. I drench the black fabric in the liquid and press it to Shiro's forehead. His white hair is stained dark red, and there is a gash from where he hit one of the metal crates. I gag as I try to clean the wound.
Then using my red jacket as a pillow, I lay him down on the ground and secure him so that he doesn't roll around on the floor if we get hit again.
"Is he going to be okay?" Lance asks me.
"I'm not sure. I don't think he's in any shape to go looking for Adam. We're going to have to do it ourselves.
As we fly down closer and closer, a red light blinks in the corner of the screen. It read:
Warning, Warning. Ship approaching.
Lance and I look at eachother. In the next few seconds, Lance turns the Lion around and faces behind us to see a large Galran battle ship following us, but it's different. The design is bigger, the cannons are larger, and the fighter jets shooting what wince was puny little lasers, have become deathly killer machines!
Lance turns back around and ups the speed. From behind us I hear the shooting of lasers, but then I hear something new. Then I see it.