Winter Tree (Voltron: Legendary Defender Fanfic/ONC )

Winter Tree

The frosty air smelled sharp and crisp in the early morning as the sun beat down upon the snow-covered field. The rays of sun melted the snow slightly making the ground glistened underneath his feet. With each step came the sound of crunching snow, yet the slight chill in the air proved invigorating. Lance enjoyed his early morning walks by himself near the Castle of Lions despite his normally sociable disposition.

Recently the early morning walks proved a distraction from the lull in conflict the pilots of Voltron faced recently. Lance found himself anxious in anticipation of something happening. Rarely did the crew ever go long periods of time without having a mission, yet the usual couple of days between became a couple of weeks. Boredom started setting in along with the worry something major would occur, yet the quiet atmosphere made the peace appear real.

Lance walked briskly and kept his hands tucked into his armpits for warmth. His breath came out in deep puffs, yet he kept his eyes focused on the ground. As such he didn't see the tree in the middle of the field as he approached, but his mind was in fact on other things, such as the leader of Voltron pointing out he might want a warmer jacket for his walk when they passed by each other that morning. Keith had in fact been right, or in the very least Lance might have taken a pair of gloves with him.

Eventually, Lance stopped for a few seconds and caught his breath. His eyes blinked away the sunlight shining in his eyes and mentally attempted making out the silhouette of the tree which grew in the middle of the field. The branches bowed slightly form something stuck in the tree, yet the sun rising from behind prevented Lance from discerning any details. He instead started walking in the same brisk manner as before, but his mind didn't register anything as amiss even when he arrived at the tree and started looking up at the trunk area.

In front of his eyes, an object fell with a loud thud. Lance's eyes blinked a few times before stepping over towards the object. The first thing his mind registered was the object which landed in the snow. Lance took a deep breath upon seeing a helmet which looked like the helmets he and the other pilots of Voltron wore when piloting the lions. His blue eyes took in the way the red helmet was cracked, but he sucked in his breath upon registering the ruby red blood droplets against the pure white snow.

Instinctively he looked up. "Shit."

He saw a badly injured person stuck up in the tree, yet even more striking for the Voltron piolet was the fact he recognized the person. The person in question wore a uniform very similar to the uniform he wore when piloting the red lion, yet this suit was red like the leader of the Voltron pilots. Even the mullet haircut was something Lance recognized, yet the facial features of the person seemed far more youthful than their Keith.

A sigh escaped Lance's mouth. Previous experience from the Voltron crew dealing with alternate universes meant the appearance of another Keith honestly didn't phase him, yet Lance knew the injuries that Keith sustained were simply a start of the trouble which would come. Questions of what kind of universe this other Keith came from and what differences there were rattled through his brain.

Shaking his head, Lance pushed any contemplation of where that Keith came from and grabbed onto the lowest branch and hoisted himself up into the tree and started climbing. He proceeded carefully up the tree at a slow and steady pace. A groan from above made him look up at the young man hanging from the tree. Lance took a deep breath before speaking. "Hold on kiddo. Uncle Lance is coming to get you."

Lance continued climbing until he stepped onto a branch which allowed him easy access to that Keith. The Voltron pilot started examining the tree branches. His blue eyes took in the broken branches in the dense foliage of the tree from above which indicated that Keith came from above. Lance examined the lower branches for a safe way down while carrying a person next which took a few minutes.

He turned after his examination towards that Keith and began tugging the injured young man off the branch in a gentle manner. Lance noticed that Keith had a scar running from his lower eye across his cheek where their Keith did not. Another groan escaped from that Keith's mouth. "Shush now. Uncle Lance is going to get you down and take care of you, okay."

The process of going down proved much slower than the process of going up, yet one wrong step would bring both Lance and that Keith crashing down. That Keith didn't need any more injuries. When Lance arrived at the final branch he carefully lowered that Keith down so when he dropped the injured young man he would slump against the tree trunk instead of falling onto the ground.

Lance jumped down. After regaining his footing, he gently lifted that Keith up over his shoulder and started heading back to the Castle of Lions. Another groan escaped from that Keith's mouth.

"Shiro."

"Who?" Lance's breath came as a frost.

That Keith didn't answer the question and instead weakly said. "Help."

"Don't worry. I'll help you kiddo."

That Keith remained quiet until they were almost all the way back at the Castle of Lions. "Mom-mum."

Lance froze slightly and looked over his shoulder at that Keith. Eventually, he started walking again. "So, you're from an actual universe where you got to know one or more of your parents? I guess that's a good thing."

Upon arriving at the Castle of Lions he started towards the infirmary. "Lance?"

He turned towards the voice of the royal advisor and saw the Altean looking at him with a look of astonishment. "Sorry Coran, but I've got to get him to the infirmary."

Coran took a deep breath. "I'm not sure where I should begin. I'm personally wondering where you got another Keith from, but if you stopped and examined his injuries before hauling him all the way back here. I'm also curious regarding why you didn't call any of us for help with this young man."

Lance let out a deep sigh knowing full well he was in for a lecture.