DChan87's VLD One-Shots

Roar (Gen, Keith-centric)

Keith-centric, set during season 3 (Actually a segment from Stay Alive, but I think it makes a great one-shot)

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One night, Keith heard the roaring.

At first it was faint. He thought maybe one of the lions just felt like roaring. Did real lions actually do that? That was a rhetorical question he asked himself.

Then he could hear the roaring growing louder. But there was no echo. It sounded like it was coming from inside his head, like head headphones listening to lion sounds. Or just like the first time they heard the instructions coming from the lions.

He immediately jumped out of bed and ran out the door.

He got lost at first. He assumed that Red was the one calling him, so he went to Red first, only to find out that Red had put a particle barrier up. He tried to call to it—"III! AAAM! YOUR PAL-A-DIIIN!"—until he remembered that no, he wasn't Red's Paladin, especially not anymore. He felt like a fuckin' moron as he sat cross-legged in front of Red. She probably didn't like him anymore. She and Lance were probably very happy together.

He cursed himself. He'd let Lance's "seventh wheel" crap get to him.

"I dunno what to do," he groaned, ostensibly talking to Red. "They'll accept me as the leader, right?" Red didn't answer. "Gah! You're no help!"

Then the roaring returned.

At first he was befuddled. Which lion was calling him? Green? Blue? Yellow? He could probably be a leg. But that made no sense. Why would either of those lions want him? The only other option was—

He groaned. "Black," he said to himself.

He immediately knew that he didn't want to have to face Black.

Keith stared up at Black, clenching and unclenching his fist and taking several deep breaths to calm his heart rate. He said nothing to Black, since he didn't have anything to say. He didn't even know what to say. He was so confused about why Black had called for him. Why? Blue had already rejected Lance after the latter took over the Red Lion, taking his place in turn. It wasn't easy to figure out, but it also wasn't hard to get a good idea. Maybe Black liked Keith. That was the likeliest reason.

He didn't know what Black was doing, or thinking. Obviously he wasn't like Garfield or any other sentient cartoon cat. The Lions existed in their own little niche the Paladins had yet to figure out. Even so, if he could talk to Black, Keith had all those questions he wanted to ask him, aside from 'why me?' Why had Black accepted him in the first place? Was Black really so busy with the Voltron Show that he couldn't try to help him once in a while? Was he crazy for thinking he could talk to a giant robotic cat?

The last one probably made the most sense... kinda.

Most importantly, what did Black want?

He got impatient. "What do you want, Black?!" he called. He quickly felt as stupid now as he did the first and second times he tried to talk to Red. But then Black's next move caught him by surprise.

Black got up of his haunches, stood up straight and then leaned down on his forelimbs in front of Keith. When his head reached the floor, he opened his mouth. Keith immediately understood what Black wanted, but he was still confused.

"Uh, what?" he asked. He put that thought away and moved towards Black. He paused, hesitating. Then he remembered that hesitation wouldn't have gotten to Voltron in the first place and stepped inside Black's mouth.

Once inside the cockpit, he sat down in the pilot's seat. It didn't feel as familiar and comfortable as Red, but it was still both of those. But he still didn't know what to do. Shiro did tell him about that bonding moment with Black when he (Keith) and the others went to that mall, and Shiro hadn't even left the castle.