Oneshots - VLD

Burn It Down

Hey, guys! So, here’s my third oneshot. Request to the original author from lost-wandering-soul

<When Allura stays he’ll pilot the red lion and its element is fire, he has a panic attack and freaks out because his dad dies in a fire>

Trigger Warnings: Panic Attack, Vomiting, Talk of Death

In light of recent events: Also, in this oneshot young Keith gets excited about a police officer because he thinks they’re heroes. I am a person of colour and I’d like to say in advance that I do not think the same. Yes, some officers are good people, but as a whole, I don’t support anything going on.

Being in space was fun. Fighting an intergalactic war was not. Being a paladin was cool. Hours upon hours of training and team bonding was not.

Keith could go on and on. But he didn’t, opting instead to focus on the task at hand.

Allura had dragged the new paladins into the training room, fitting them with Altean headbands which could apparently reach into your soul and drag out your deepest and darkest secrets. (Not fun.) They all sat on the floor in different positions, Shiro and Hunk cross-legged, Pidge with her feet tucked underneath her, and Lance leaning back on his hands, his legs in a wide V.

But not Keith. No, Keith was restless. He shifted about every five seconds, so much that Shiro had glanced at him with a concerned gaze. Keith simply shook his head, and fortunately, Shiro understood, giving a reassuring nod and turning away.

As soon as Allura was finished with Hunk’s headband, she stepped back, hands folded neatly in front of her, a regal smile on her face.

“All right, paladins,” she began, “today we will be familiarizing ourselves with our Lions and their elements. Only one paladin will be going into the simulation at a time, but everyone will be able to watch on the screen.”

“Awesome,” Lance grinned. “I bet mine is ruthenforium.” Pidge looked appalled.

“First of first,” she said, “it’s rutherfordium.” (Lance gave a dismissive wave at this.) “And second of all, I don’t think she means those elements. Then there would be at least a hundred and eighteen lions.”

“Ooh!” Hunk piped up, “So is it kind of like in Avatar? Does that mean we all control elements?” He gasped, making a realization. “Whoa, that means Shiro is the Avatar!” Keith snuck a glance at Allura, who had a look of pure confusion on her face.

“Well, um, I’m not sure what this Avatar is, but each one of your Lions is linked with an essential element of the universe. This exercise is designed to help you all get in touch with these elements.” The group nodded in understanding. Finished with her introduction, Allura stepped over to the control panel.

“All right, who would like to go first?”

All eyes went to Shiro. He glanced around the room momentarily, surprised.

“You guys want me to go first?”

“Yeah, you’re like, team leader, right?” Hunk remarked. “Also because I’m kinda nervous about this whole mental-elemental thing.” Shiro sighed.

“All right then,” he said, and closed his eyes, allowing his headband to work its magic.

As soon as he did this, the screen in front of the paladins flickered to life. The image was as if Shiro was laying in a field, watching the stars flicker above him. It was beautiful, bathing the sky in an array of colours the paladins had never seen before.