A Matter of Family

Chapter Seven: Reunited At Last

*note to readers* Hello again and welcome to chapter seven! As I said in the last chapter, my days are gonna start getting a little more busy with some school stuff starting up. I typically write during the evening though, so hopefully it won't interfere to bad with publishing. Anyways, I hope your weekend was great wherever you are, and if not, there's always tomorrow (lol)! Feel free to let me know what you're thoughts are about this story if you've gotten this far, and I hope you enjoy what's coming next!

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Shiro's eyes fluttered open. He looked up at the ceiling. The light of the fire danced upon its surface, and the noises it made cracked in his ears and were the only noises he heard for a moment. Shiro sat up slowly, careful not to move his ribs too much until he found that he felt almost no pain when he moved.

"How do they feel?" Eliza's voice asked, looking at Shiro from across the fire, her helmet still on.

"I don't feel any pain." Shiro replied.

"That's good. It means the medicine seeped through the skin and healed the bones like it's supposed to." Eliza remarked.

"Great. That means we can get a move on: if your ready."

"I am. I've dreamed of this moment without knowing it would ever come for years. Let's get to it."

Shiro felt sorry for the alien as she spoke those words. She had stayed here on this planet for years, all on her own. The planet looked to be pretty bare from what little Shiro had seen of it. It was hard to believe someone could survive on it for long. He could tell that she had no love for this planet and was eager to leave it behind once and for all, and while he didn't know exactly what that felt like, he was aware of how it could feel. Shiro stood up, stretching a little as he did. Eliza went to the door of her home and moved it aside, letting all the fresh air and sunlight in.

"I won't be coming back here, so mind as well let the place see some sunlight." Eliza remarked, returning to the fire only to put it out.

Shiro blinked at the bright sunlight outside as he walked out, breathing in the fresh air. It was still morning and there were still shadows of darkness across the land, but the sun shone surprisingly bright even as it was just starting to peak across the land.

"Well, we better get going." Eliza announced as she joined him outside.

"Lead the way." Shiro offered, and with that they began their walk back to the cave where Shiro's lion sat.

The trip seemed slightly longer this time, but perhaps that was because of the ever present urge to get out of this place. Shiro wondered how Keith was doing. How the team was doing. What could have happened to Keith on Corsant during Shiro's time here. All the possibilities running through his head made him anxious. A good number of bad things could have caused Keith's pod to leave without him. Why couldn't Keith have just waited?! Why did he always rush off into the unknown alone? Shiro could understand why Keith rushed off, but it just seemed like a half thought out plan. A plan like that was bound to have more hiccups, and Shiro couldn't be sure if Kieth head prepared at all for such situations. He sighed, trying to calm himself with the breath of air. Shiro needed to get things back on track. He needed to find Keith before the situation got worse.

He was brought from his thoughts as he saw they were getting closer to the narrow, steep path which led up to the cave entrance. Shiro and Eliza climbed it, and before long, they were finally at the top. Shiro was relieved to see his lion had remained in the same spot, but he wasn't completely sure that it would let him in. He could tell it felt his presents, but it didn't seem ready to let him in just yet. Shiro walked to the Black Lion looking up at it and waiting for some kind of movement or sign, but the lion remained still. Shiro sighed. If he didn't figure out what was wrong quick, there's no telling how long they would be stuck here.