Don't You Trust me?

Midnight Flight

Keith keenly watched his glowing screen as the little blip continued forward. "Where would she be going this late?" He wondered aloud as he followed behind. Every so often he would glance up from the portable scanner to make sure he wasn't getting close to the blue lion.

Without ample warning the blue lion shot forward and promptly disappeared off his scanner.

"Quiznack," he mumbled incoherently and aggressively shoved the controls forward. Exploding into an incredible speed, he flew past the stars and planets. Eventually, the blue lion appeared back onto his scanner and he slowed down again. A habitable planet came into view a few minutes later.

Gripping the controls again he experienced the rush of adrenaline as he went into a nosedive. He slowly pulled out of it and carefully leveled out seeking a proper place to land. Several trees secured the ground. It took him a considerable while to pinpoint a decent spot to land his lion to where he was fairly close to the blue lion without being seen.

Keith exited his lion and headed into the brush that separated him from figuring out what Lance was up to.

He progressively moved blossoming branches out of his face and stepped over raised roots as he made his way closer. Every once in a while he would voluntarily stop and listen attentively to his surroundings. The continuous sound of leaves rustling in the wind, creatures rustling in the underbrush and the sound of him breathing remain the sole things that comfortably filled his attentive ears.

It wasn't long before the branches instantly started to thin out and he stumbled awkwardly into the grassy clearing.

Sitting tamely before him was the blue lion, the fierce eyes were still glowing which meant Lance was possibly still inside.  A few precise moments later Lance exited the lion a personal bag rested on her shoulder.

She looked to her right then to her left, observing no one she walked away into the forest. Keith stood up and walked cautiously around the grassy edge of the clearing to where Lance had willingly entered the forest. Whatever Lance was up to, he was about to find out.

He carefully made his way through the brush easily pushing the leaves and branches out of the way. By the time he made it to another clearing, leaves were adhered to him and branches had left scratches on his armor.

Brushing the leaves off he stepped merely outside the forest line. He glanced around the clearing. Nothing caught his eye that appeared out of place. In apparent fact nothing was in the clearing at all. Walking out into the center of the clearing a dull glint of glittering light flashed into his alert eyes as he passed between two magnificent trees. He stopped instantly and looked back only seeing two trees standing side by side. The leaves were green and clung tightly to their branches, each time, the wind blew through them.

Not sure if the unknown forest was performing cruel tricks on him or something was genuinely there he took a step back.

It was if the forest was split in half. The two trees that he had seen before had completely disappeared and their place was a building. The building itself had several windows that allowed him to see a yellow glow from within.

Keith automatically glanced around him before heading towards the mysterious building. As he got closer figures started to take shape. They were talking and moving around, several of them were undoubtedly standing around a table.

Keith crouched down next to a tree hidden in the shadows as he eagerly watched the figures move from across the room and back again.

________________________________________________________________

Keith jolted up only to instantly fall on his back. How long had he been out? He sat up just in time to witness Lance exit the building the same bag strung over her shoulder. She gently brushed a piece of hair out of her face, glanced cautiously around the clearing and instantly disappeared into the lush forest. Keith stood up and his knees gave out. He slumped against the tree gently shaking each of his legs awake.

"It probably would've been a sensible idea to have stretched before impulsively deciding to carry out a stakeout." He said to himself as he followed after Lance.

Going back through the forest, he was sure where Lance was headed. She was headed back to her lion, which is precisely where he should be. He should've been back at the castle of lions, but something about Lance just seemed off these last few weeks and he merely had to confirm it. Naturally, his gut was right and Lance was withholding something he just wasn't one hundred percent sure what.

He watched from the trees as Lance glanced once more around her before boarding her lion. Once her lion's mouth closed Keith made his move to his lion. In a few breathless minutes, he had promptly taken off and headed back towards the castle of lions. Flying way above the blue lion so as to not be seen he made his way back to the castle.

Landing his lion in the hanger he made his way as quiet as possible back to his familiar room. As soon as the door closed exhaustion overcame him and he collapsed on his bed asleep.

The next morning Keith was on his way to the training deck when a unmistakable sound called his attention. It was a room off to the side that no one ever really used and frankly he wasn't absolutely certain what it was for. The door was unbarred a crack and the lights were turned off which made Keith even more suspicious. He set his hand on the door and slowly pushed open, stepping inside.

"Hello?" He tentatively called into the room, "Is anyone in here?"

When no one answered he turned to leave. Without warning he felt a hand seize his wrist and twist him around, he was rammed against the door closing it completely. He felt a hand press against his chest advising him not to attempt anything. There had been a moment of silence before he heard a voice. "Don't you ever think about trying to follow me again. You won't appreciate what will happen if you do."

Keith could tell Lance had been close to him from the hair that whipped across his face as she turned away from him.

"This is your only warning Keith Kogane."