The Galra Boy [discontinued?]

The Chase

As Lance approached the campfire, he noticed a person-sized pile of old blankets on the ground. As he got closer, he could see it was breathing. "Is that them?" he asked himself. He crept closer and found a head-shaped lump in the blankets. Carefully, he pulled back the blanket covering the stranger's head. His heart froze when he saw their face.

It was a Galra boy, with long black hair that framed his purple face, with a braided strand falling down to his shoulder. Silently turning away from him, Lance removed his hand from the blankets and reached up for his call button. 

"Guys- guys I found a Galra boy, get over he-" before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a roundhouse kick to the head. Luckily, because of his helmet, he was only knocked over instead of knocked out, and was able to get up just in time to see the Galra boy sprinting into the woods.

"HEY! WAIT!" Lance shouted as he chased after him. 

The Galra was light and spry, which he clearly used to his full advantage. Lucky for Lance, so was he. The Galra made sharp twists and turns, easily jumping over fallen trees and rocks, and Lance followed right on his tail. The Galra squeezed through a thick set of vines, but Lance took out his bayard and cut right through them. The Galra picked up a rock and threw it back at Lance, and it bounced off of Lance's shoulder.

"Agh, what the hell?" Lance shouted at him. The Galra kept running. "It's like he's running for his life or something," Lance murmured. It then clicked in hid head; to the Galra, he was. "I'm not gonna hurt you!" Lance called. Suddenly, the Galra boy fell. Seconds later, Lance heard and agonized shout.

Lance skidded to a halt to find a steep slope before him, with the Galra boy at the bottom, clutching his ankle. 

"Don't worry, I'm coming!" Lance shouted. He activated his boot rockets and safely hoovered down the cliff side, making a landing a few feet away from the Galra boy. 

The Galra boy snapped his head up at Lance, pulled out a blade, and scooted back on his free hand and good leg. 

"I'm not gonna hurt you..." Lance said gently. 

The Galra boy's hand shook as his blade pointed to Lance. He grit his teeth and pushed the blade against his own throat. "You won't take me alive!" he cried. 

"Woah! Woah! Hey!" Lance grabbed the Galra boy's wrist and pulled the blade away from his neck. "I'm not taking you anywhere," his voice was strong, but gentle. "You'd have to buy me a coffee first," Lance winked. 

"Coffee...? The fuck is that?!" the Galra boy asked as he struggled against Lance. 

"Never mind," Lance sighed. "I was only trying to lighten the mood. Lemme see your ankle. Hey, it doesn't look broken, that's good, but you probably sprained it from that fall."

"Let go of me! Just leave me alone!" the Galra boy struggled to free his arm from Lance's grip. 

"No can do, babe; I'm on a rescue mission and you clearly need rescuing." 

"I don't need help from you." the Galra boy spat. 

"Yeah? Well, do I see any other volunteers?" Lance looked around sarcastically before leaning in towards him. "Look. I know it was you who sent out that distress signal. You called, we came. That's how it works."

The Galra boy's golden eyes widened. "You got my message? But it was only meant to be processed by Blade tech. How did you convert it?"

"Oh, please. A bit of white noise and some speed distortion? It was easy."

"I didn't do that, the only reason it was distorted is because it wasn't meant for you!" He pushed his leg against Lance's chest, managing to break free. He leaped up and tried to run again, only to fall over groaning from the pain in his ankle.

"Well, we did, and now we're here to help you." Lance strode forward and held out his hand for the Galra.

The Galra was quiet for a moment. Hesitantly, he put away his blade and took Lance's hand. 

"You have a name?" Lance asked as he put the Galra's arm over his shoulder to make himself a crutch. 

"Keith."

"Nice, my name's-"

"LANCE!" Shiro shouted, running up to the scene. The others followed close behind. When Allura saw that the boy was Galra, she activated her bayard.

"Wait!" Lance shouted. "He's the one who sent out the distress signal, and he's injured!" Shiro put out a hand to block Allura. 

"He's Galra! We can't trust him!" Allura shouted at Shiro.

"But he needs our help!" Lance cried. 

"I don't associate with the Galra," Keith said. "I'm a part of a resistance group called The Blade of Marmora."

"How do we know he's not lying?" Allura growled.

"Even if he is," Shiro turned to Allura, "he clearly needs help, and that's why we're here. Let's at least get him back to the ship and fix that injury."

Allura paused for a momunt. "Fine." she said. "But he's staying in the brig."

They limped their way back into Blue and flew back to the castle. Once they got there, Coran made quick work of wrapping up and cooling down Keith's ankle, and Allura made even quicker work of throwing him into the brig.