Purple Rain - Klance

Purple Rain

Aching pain soaking through his body woke the Blue Paladin. His vision came back in slow, blurry blinks. Blue's entire control panel was dark, residual smoke swirling around the compartment. Lance let out a stuttered cough, "That was a wild ride, wasn't it Blue?" A tired chuckle escaped him. Not receiving a response, he frowned and worked Blue's control sticks. They moved with ease but nothing happened. His heart thudded in his chest, worry clogging his throat."T-that's alright, beautiful. You just rest..." Lance leaned to look out through the window screens, "I-I'll get us out of this. Be right back."

He managed to get Blue's hatch open and climbed out with only a few hitches of pain. Rather slowly and clumsily, Lance climbed down to the ground. He landed with a soft thud onto dirt, what looked like earth soil. Surveying the surroundings, he realized this planet looked a lot like earth--at least the rainforest parts. Lush tall trees grew in all directions, noises from foreign creatures buzzed in his ears. An unseen wind rustled through the high forest's leaves. A smile pulled at his lips when his nose caught the familiar smell of petrichor.

That was his favorite smell--he didn't even know it had a name until that awesome Doctor Who episode. Wait his favorite smell is also the salty sea air; and maybe Keith's stupid mullet after he showered; oh and Hunk's famous cookie dough chocolate chunk brownie explosion cake; and, let's not forget that weird goo Coran gave him as a face mask, quiznak that stuff was amazing for his pores... Okay so he had a lot of favorite smells, but moist soil was the one he missed the most currently.

Lance looked back toward blue; upon impact she had made a large hole in the canopy, enough for him to see the grey sky. His heart skipped a bit in wonder if maybe it might actually rain here. As his eyes searched the greying clouds he suddenly remembered what had happened. His body stiffened, he'd crashed here during the battle. The other paladins were in trouble. Or were they?

"No.. I mean, they.. They had to have won. They're fine, they're always fine," Lance told the air, dread spreading through his veins. "No.. I'll just wait. Like Pidge did when we got separated; Allura and Coran will come and get me and.. And.." Images of a purple beam of light being shot at the castle flashed in his mind. "Wait, they were sent back through a wormhole. Which means.. The other lions are probably- no, they're fine, just captured is all..." Lance's feet began to pace, picking up dirt with each snapping step. "So," Lance turned to face Blue, "I'll just have to save them myself.. All by myself."

He gulped at the realization, his face going pale. "I mean, I may not be able to build some satellit thingy like Pidge, or rewire somethings to help Blue like Hunk could, or not have crashed in the first place like Keith would have.. Or..or be that good at strategic planning like Shiro is...but, I can-" at this point Lance had slowed his pacing. His heart sunk, his shoulder curling in. Lance turned away from facing Blue, abruptly his body looked small and vulnerable. Pain ached behind his ribs, Lance's lungs hitched with every breath. "I-I..I can't do anything," he whispered, the racing thoughts in his mind subsided. Those quiet words the only thing in his mind's eye. "...h-..h-help," he spoke in just above a whisper. "Help.." his voice rose in volume a few notches, "please, Help me..." Lance took a step forward, his heart broken eyes searching the brush for anything, anyone to help him. He tripped over an unseen vine, sending him sprawling to his hands and knees. "Help! I-I need help! PLEASE!" Lance shouted through the growing lump in his throat. "My friends are in trouble," he said now, in a lower tone, "and I can't do anything to help them...they might even be-" He lost his voice, tears brimming his eyes. He forced them closed, lowing his head, a silent sob escaping him. Such an idiot...thinking I could be anything less than seventh wheel...

"QUIZNAK!" The words ripped from his throat, a tear rolling down his tanned cheek, "I wish it had been someone else...someone else should have piloted Blue, someone else should save the universe." Emotions poured from him in between rib aching sobs, "I'm not good enough for any of this. I just w-want..." He bit his lip to stop him, he didn't think he'd ever come back from saying the words that were dying to escape.