Diamond In The Rough

Chapter V

"It is night already." Y/n looked up through the dense canopy of trees. Pike must've seen the dark too, because he suddenly stopped. "This isn't good." He muttered, but Y/n could hear every word. 

"Of course this is not good! Nothing that has happened today after the attack has been good!" Exasperated, she threw her hands in the air. Now that all the adrenaline had worn off, she could feel a dull ache. 'Probably from when I fell.' She thought.

Pike must have seen her wince because he quickly noticed the injury. "Um, Y/n. You do realize you're bleeding, right?"

She looked down at her arm which was throbbing now. Blood had ran from a deep gash on her bicep down to her finger tips.

"Quiznak." She grumbled, mentally face palming. How could she not have noticed? This was something most people would realize sooner! She decided to blame it on the terror earlier, hoping she wouldn't die of blood loss anytime soon.

"I didn't notice." She sighed, looking at the thief whose eyes had widened.

"Wai wai wait." He held up his palms. "You mean to tell me that we've been walking for two vargas and you didn't notice the possibly life threatening injury you got?"

Y/n shrugged, immediately regretting it. "About sums it up."

The thief groaned. "You can't die! I still need you to open a door or something!" Y/n rolled her eyes in response. "I am so glad I have value to you."

"Come on." Pike gestured to a fallen tree nearby, ignoring her sarcastic comment. "We need to build a fire. Then we'll fix your arm."

A couple of doboshes later and they had a nice roaring fire. It reminded Y/n of that morning. The flames under the stove. The smell of breakfast. Lilian smiling, cracking jokes here and there. She sighed dejectedly. What did Lilian say earlier that morning? To never forget about her the way she did when she ran from that monster. 

The fire blurred slightly and with a jolt, Y/n realized it was from tears. No. She would not cry. Not now.

"Hey."

Y/n glanced over at Pike who was busy bandaging her arm. It was odd to see a thief concerned, but then again, this thief was strange.

"Are you okay?"

No. Y/n was not okay. Her whole life had just fallen apart before her eyes, her entire village was destroyed, all her people turned to solid stone, and her only "companion" was and annoying, half-cat, half-human, thief. Nothing was okay.

Yet when she answered, all she said was. "I am fine."

Pike nodded, unconvinced and went back to bandaging her injury. 

A silence settled between them for which felt like vargas. The flames engulfed the pile of sticks, flicking pieces of burning ashes into the sky. The stars were barely visible above the trees, but a handful of sparkling dots managed to poke through.

"Do you ever wonder what it is like on a star? So far away, so warm, so bright." Y/n asked, still gazing up at the expanse of space above. 

"I don't have to wonder." Pike replied, clearly distracted.

"You do not?"

"Nope." Y/n wondered if he even realized he was talking. "I'm secretly a Paladin of Voltron named Lance so I know what space is like."

Y/n blinked, extremely confused. "What?"

"What?" Pike's tail twitched. 

"Who's Lance?"

"I donno." He said stupidly. "Sounds like a cool guy."

Y/n shook her head, giving up the idea of processing the conversation. "You are weird."

"I think you mean amazing." He corrected, and Y/n wrinkled her nose. "Barely."

So many unexpected events had happened all in one day. She decided she must have been in shock because talking to Pike had actually made her feel better. She pulled her knees to her chest as a gust of frigid wind broke through the trees. It was so much colder on the other side of the mountains. 

"Do you ever get the feeling that something terrible is all your fault" Y/n asked timidly.

Pike's expression softened. "That wasn't your fault. You couldn't control the earth spirit."

'So that's what they are.' Y/n noted. 

"No. I mean my cousin. I left her alone while I was running from that... spirit, and then, when I remembered, she was gone." Her voice was dangerously shaky. "How ironic. She had told me to never forget her that very morning. I said I could never forget her, but here we are." She gestured angrily around them. 

Pike was quiet for a moment.

"I'm a thief because it's the only thing I know how to do right. My parents were thieves like me, and even worse, assassins. They had a son because they wanted to pass on their legacy, but I had other plans. I wanted adventure, not murder, and for that, I was a disappointment. They forced me to steal, but no matter what they did, I couldn't hurt anyone."

Y/n looked over at him, slightly intrigued by his backstory. His cat-like ears were flat on his head as if the memory was almost too painful to bear.

"They nearly killed me when they realized I wouldn't obey. So finally, I decided to name myself The Silent Killer and pretend to follow in their footsteps. They were so pleased to see that their disappointment of a child had finally learned. One night, they took me into a nearby town to watch me kill my first victim."

He clenched his fists, his whole body shook slightly. "I- I couldn't do it. So my parents killed the victim their selves, then turned right back around to kill me. I got away, but not before getting this."

He tapped the scar that ran from his forehead to his cheek. "I felt responsible for that person's death. Guilt hurt worse than any scar they could give me."

Pike locked eyes with Y/n, the hollowness of them made her shiver. "So to answer your question, yes. I do feel like that sometimes."

"Wow. I never would have guessed that..." She trailed off, uncertain of what to say.

"It's weird what a quest can do to you. I barely know you and here I am, pouring out my life story." He laughed bitterly, but quickly brushed it off. 

"Let's get some sleep." He said, lying down and turning away from her.

"Yes." Y/n's voice seemed so loud in the quiet forest. "Let's."

She laid on her side, distancing herself from the thief. 

Slowly, the night crept on and the fire grew dim until the blissfulness of sleep finally swept her away.

Sorry not sorry.

Also

I might have accidentally, deliberately broke fourth wall

Oopsies.