The Lost Paladin (discontinued)

Loss

That night, Shiro, Keith, and little Katie stood at the makeshift grave they made for Colleen.

Her last wish was to be buried in the place where her and Sam met: under an oak tree at the edge of town. She dreamed of her and Sam being buried together in that place when the time came, but unfortunately fate had other plans.

Keith was able to figure out that Colleen must have not taken her medicine. The pill bottle was full in the woman's pocket.

Katie couldn't believe that her mom would deliberately skip her daily pills when she knew of the consequences. She should have been more vigilant.

Katie sat at the foot of the grave with a crumpled letter in hand as she held her knees to her chest. Around her neck, she wore the necklace her mother always wore; a small emerald gem that was passed thoughout her family.

My dearest Katie,

Thank you for taking care of me. I know it couldn't have been easy looking after a sickly woman when I knew you wanted to go outside and learn. You are so young and bright, and I fear one day you may loose me, just as we did your father and brother. So I wrote this letter to say my final good-byes. But you are not alone. I will always be with you, and so will they. Promise me you will follow your dreams. Use your intelligence to get into the Garrison, I know you wanted to follow in your brother's footsteps. Seeing how close you two were makes a mother so happy. And I know Shiro would have been proud of you as well. You are strong like he was and remind me so much of him.

Here, I want you to have this necklace. My father gave it to me for my 15th birthday and I dreamed of passing it down to you when your birthday came. But I fear that the time may not come. So I pass it onto you now. I hope you live a long life, meet the guy of your dreams and pass this neckless onto your children and have them pass it to their children and their children's children.

Take care of yourself Katie. I love you.

Love, mother.

Katie crumbled the note further in anger and fresh tears began to fall as she remembered every word she read. The wound on her knee was untended and it stung more than ever, but she didn't care, she felt like she deserved the pain.

Shiro watched in sadness as his dear friend and little sister falls into a pit of despair. Keith placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, in hopes of bringing him comfort. He knows that he was close with Colleen. How she fed him, told him and Matt stories when he slept over, and even gave advice about girls when need be. She was like a second mother to him, just as Matt was his brother and Sam a father figure.

Shiro gave Keith a grim glance before making his way over to Katie. He knelt down and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, but he didn't say anything. He knew silence was what they needed right now.

Katie just whimpered and moved to cry into the muscular man's chest. Shiro didn't hesitate to welcome her into his arms, hugging her so tight and never wanting to let go.

Keith heard thunder in the distance, seeing the dark clouds mist over the stars till they were no longer visible.

"We should head back. A storm's coming." He said monotoned.

"Come on Katie. Let's go. I also need to take a look at that leg of yours." Shiro agreed, trying to keep himself as calm as possible and hide the quiver in his voice.

Katie shook her head. "No, I'm not leaving her. I can't leave her alone. Not again."

Shiro was at a loss for words. To his surprise, Keith knelt on the other side of the crying teen.