Lost not Broken

Chapter 4

A gentle warmth surrounded me. Still, I shivered violently. Everything hurt. Everything ached and burned like I had just been run over by a semi-truck. I heard a faint shuffling, followed by a soothing sound, something like a voice. I tried to move, tried to speak, tried to open my eyes, but I couldn't. It was like I was frozen in ice. Suddenly, I felt drowsy, and the next thing I knew, I was asleep.

Nightmare after nightmare haunted me. I had no sense as to how long it had been or what time of day it was. Everything was in and out. Pain, sleep, nightmare, pain, sleep, nightmare in an endless loop. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I could see. Not well, as my eyes were so blurry I was basically blind, but I could see. With a soft grunt, I tried to move, only for another sickening wave of pain to crash over me. I felt like I was about to vomit. Unfortunately, I gained enough strength to roll over and throw up, at least missing whatever I was laying on. More shuffling. "You're awake?" A voice said. I tried to see who was speaking, but my vision was fading again. I sensed them getting closer. I growled weakly, more of a squeak, in attempt to ward them off. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just stay still."

Not like I have much of an option.

I retorted, thinking rather than speaking. There was a pause before the voice spoke again. "Alright. Everything's cleaned up. There's a bucket in case you get sick again." They said. I groaned in response. Suddenly, pain wracked my body, so strong that I shouted. I started crying.

What's happening?!

I just wanted everything to end. "Hey! Hey, listen to me." I felt whoever they were place a gentle hand on my shoulders. "I know you're in pain. I know it hurts. But please, focus on me. I need you to stay awake, okay?" They said. I thought I heard fear in their voice. I nodded weakly. "Alright. This is gonna hurt pretty badly, but it'll help in the long run." They fell still. I heard a faint buzzing and sparking, that grew louder. As it did, the worse the pain got. Worse than it had been before. All I could do was scream, wishing that I was dead rather than deal with this. Suddenly, everything stopped. My body ached so badly. At the same time, I felt pins and needles, like everything had just fallen asleep. "There. G-Get... some rest. Y-You shoul-d be able to s-see once you wake again." They stuttered. Once again, I grew drowsy, falling into a deep sleep.

A bright light woke me. Groaning, I rolled onto my stomach, blinking as my eyes adjusted to the light. Shakily, I pushed myself up into a sitting position. As the blurriness faded, I took in everything I saw. I seemed to be in some sort of cave that had stone ledges for shelving, and one big one for the bed that I was laying on. The sun shone right onto me as it rose into the sky, casting pale yellow rays into the cave. No one else was around, but there were obvious signs of someone else being around besides me. I sighed, laying back down. Above my head were charcoal sketches on the stone. Birds, waterfalls, and dozens of cats. I squinted, looking closer. "Is that Voltron?"

"Yup."

I whipped around, startled. A female human-looking person stood at the entrance of the cave. "W-Who-" "Name's Storm." Storm answered as I stuttered, choking on my words. "Wha- how did I- where am I?" She smiled lightly at me. "I found you unconscious in the middle of the forest, so I took you back here. You've been in pretty bad shape, dude. I had to use healing magic on you." She said. "Healing magic?" I was so confused. "And why do you have..." "Ears and a tail?" "Yeah." Storm smiled again. "I'm a Meif'Wa. My species is literally the same as a human, except we have personality traits, some physical features and instincts of cats. A couple of us are able to use certain magics." She explained. "Oh. Makes sense. But... why did you have to use healing magic on me?" I frowned. "Well... I'm... uh... not really sure how, but you managed to contract a... disease, is the closest word to describe it. Some sort of after-effect from being in close proximity to dark Galran magic. It doesn't show up on almost all medical records, scans, anything, so that's why you've not heard of it sooner." Storm sighed. "Then how did you figure out that I had it?" I questioned. "I was getting a weird vibe from you. Dark magic vibes. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened, so I made sure you were somewhat stable and got rid of the virus. Had you not been in the desert exhausting yourself, you most likely would have died, since no one else had noticed you were ill." She replied. "O-Oh... that's why my back hurt, wasn't it?" I stuttered. "Yes. The disease targets nervous systems, and you had already had a weak nerve in your spine, which caused the pain. The virus was actually trying to fuse your nerves together so it could more easily destroy you, so... you were dying much more rapidly than most who get this kind of disease do." Storm's ear flicked. "Am I still dying?" I croaked. "No. You're okay now. Still going to be in pain, but you're okay." She smiled again.

Why am I not acting like I usually do? I'm... being nice... god, STOP IT KEITH! YOU PIECE OF GARBAGE, DO YOU ACTUALLY THINK YOU MIGHT MAKE A FRIEND?! You should've died faster, should've died before someone could save you.

I looked away, hating myself even more. "Hey, uh... I was kinda rude, so... I'm sorry! You wake up, I introduce myself and then tell you you basically died. My sincerest apologies... Keith, right? Paladin of the Black Lion?" "Y-Yeah, how did you-" "There's very few beings in the universe who do not know of Voltron and it's paladins." She chuckled. "That makes more sense. Hey... uh... where exactly am I? And how long have I been here?!" I began to panic. "You're a few miles west of the Garrison. You've been here for about two weeks." She said calmly. "WHAT?! Voltron probably thinks I'm DEAD!" I cried, trying to get up. "Keith, sit your butt back down!" She snapped. The sudden authority she spoke with made me listen, doing as told. "The grand reveal of the house was a week ago!" I said. "I know. Just listen, okay? You're still weak. You can go back, but not without an escort. There's some weird stuff going on at the Garrison. Things keep disappearing, files are getting corrupted, and there's even a couple missing persons reports. I know you've battled the Galra and all, but you're weak right now." She growled, tail lashing. I glared at her, debating on my next move. I could either attack and take my chances, or listen and just get it over with.

Let her kill you. And if she doesn't, and you kill her, then you'll get to live with the guilt for the rest of your life. You'll suffer, knowing you killed an innocent person. Because that's all you are. A killer.

"Okay." She nodded, helping me up. "Come on." Suddenly, a golden-white swirl surrounded her, and when it disappeared, there was a massive winged snow leopard in her place. "What the-" "What'd you think, we were gonna walk? Waste of time. Hop on." She lowered her left wing. "Where am I supposed to sit?" "Right in front of my shoulder blades, legs on each side of my neck." The snow leopard-Storm said. I shrugged, swinging a leg over. She looked back to make sure I was ready before walking outside of the cave. "You ever ridden a horse before?" Storm asked. "Once, when I was little." "Cool. This is basically the same thing, except we're flying. Hang on!" With a swift beat of her wings, Storm had taken to the sky. I panicked, tightly wrapping my arms around her neck. I felt her purring in amusement. "T-This isn't funny!" I shouted. "It is for me!" She laughed. Regaining a bit of my strength, I shakily sat up a little. My eyes widened at the sight. Everything was small from up here, a lot like when I was piloting my lion. Except it was... real. The rush of the wind blowing through my hair, the fresh air, the crystal-clear view of the blue sky ahead and the ground below. I smiled just a little, something I hadn't done in a while.

Everything's so... peaceful... is it always like this for other people?

I looked down, trying not to cry. "Hey, you okay?" Storm asked. "I'm fine!" I snapped, starting to shiver as I did everything to keep myself from crying and losing my balance. Apparently, I did a pretty bad job at it, because the next thing I knew I was falling.