A Matter of Family

Chapter Four: Mad Pursuit

*note to readers* Had a busy day today and didn't get around to this until near midnight, but I got chapter four up and will hopefully be post chapter five tomorrow. As always, I hope you enjoy and have a great day!

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Shiro woke up feeling rather sick. His forehead was rather hot and he found he'd been sweating. He sat up, not exactly sure what was wrong with him. He lifted his hand to his forehead to feel his temperature, but his hand never touched his skin. Shiro stared at the red liquid on his hand. He lifted the other to see if it was the same. It was, to his dread, the same red color. Shiro heard some kind of liquid drip to the ground to his right, and he looked to see what was causing the leak. It wasn't a leak.

There, standing in a small pool of red liquid, dressed in his Mamora suit, was Keith. His right hand and forearm were soaked in the blood, the forearm and hand still crushed. The fingers on his injured hand looked rather crooked, clearly broken and crushed. The blood dropped down from the tips of his fingers. Shiro didn't know how Keith was standing since he thought his legs had been crushed (even now his legs looked disformed or bent in unnatural ways). If Shiro had been in his right mind, he would have reasoned that Keith was already healed and well, but the person standing just inches away from him looked so real and terrifying that all other thoughts of common sense were choked out by fear.

Keith stared at the door at first, but then turned his head to look at Shiro, one eye colored red by the blood. Shiro was finding his breath being caught in his chest. Keith spoke, but his voice was faint and weak, just like it had been when he was down on that planet.

'Corsant." Keith weezed, 'Corsant.'

Shiro was almost scrambling away from Keith. He suddenly heard the familiar noises of drills and surgery equipment. Shiro's room was seemingly becoming overshadowed with dark, purple light. The horrors of Shiro's past came springing back. Keith continued to speak the name of the planet he had so desperately wanted to go. Shiro heard his own, seven year old self echo in the background, "She's out there. Just let me find her!"

Shiro's eyes flung open and he sat straight up in bed with a scream. His breathing was fast and his heart beat rapidly. Shiro frantically looked around his room. He looked to the place Keith had been standing. No Keith. He looked at his hands. No blood. He no longer heard the voices and noises of his past. It was all just a nightmare. Shiro took a second to calm himself down, leaning forward and putting his head in his hands. Why was he always haunted by nightmares of the past? Shiro pushed the thought of his past away, all the tortures, horrors and sorrows he had gone through. He pushed them all away, burying them deep. With a few deep breaths, he calmed himself, got up and got dressed. He walked through the halls of the ship to the kitchen, where he hoped to find something to eat. Everyone was in the kitchen except for Coran and Allura...and Keith.

Shiro guessed Keith was out on the training deck, but when he walked past the doors and took a peek inside, no one was there. Shiro found this rather odd. Was Keith still in bed? Allura seemed to half speed walk half sneak past him, but Shiro caught her before she could get around the corner.

"Princess," Shiro called her attention, and Allura stopped and looked at him in a rather odd way, as if nervous, "have you seen Keith this morning?"

"Um no," she responded, "not this morning. No."

She seemed anxious, and Shiro grew a little concerned.

"Are you alright?"

"Oh yes. Just fine." Allura responded quickly.

Something was up, and Shiro had a bad feeling.

"Are you sure?" he pressed, and at this, Allura succumbed to defeat