°:•. Stupid Things .•:°

Chapter 2

Lance started panicking. What else could he have done?

Keith was no where to be found. The two alphas searched the little clearing that they had left Keith in from top to bottom. What if he got eaten by those snake horse things Raheo was talking about?

"We have to look farther." Lance stated after a minute of silence.

"But we will get lost, not many Udrako go into these woods, and when they do, they usually don't come out." Raheo warned.

"Okay, but I'm a paladin. My skills in tracking have to be immaculate." Lance said, standing from his spot on a stump.

"I still don't understand who these 'paladins' are. What are you supposed to do? What makes you so great?" Raheo questioned as she followed Lance into the line of trees.

"Us paladins have great responsibilities. We make sure nobody dies from the hands of the Galra." Lance explained. He may or may not have made him and his fellow paladins seem more glorious than they really were, but hey, Lance saw an opportunity, so he took it. He may be a bit of an opportunist. Just a little.

Raheo cocked her head at him, before remembering that Lance had his back to her, "What are the Galra?"

"They are basically these purple cats that want to destroy everyone for absolute power." Lance said with venom in his voice. "And their Emperor, Zarkon, is like, the worst person I know." Lance said nonchalantly, but still had an icy tone to his voice that could send a shiver down anyone's spine.

"What is the worst he's done to you and your paladins?" Raheo asked, suddenly really interested in Zarkon and the Galra.

"I, I don't really want to get into those kind of stories. They," Lance paused, his fists clenched. "They are really bad. That's why Voltron is going to defeat the Galra." Lance sneered, and continued walking. The war had really took a toll on him.

The team had had too many close encounters with death, and being captured. Hell, the situation Lance and Keith were in was great, compared to another time they were stranded on a planet, no food, water, and way too many Galra fleets to overcome. The paladins were weak, and angry about the situation and even more irritable because of lack of supplies. They almost died. Over the course of a week Lance had nightmares about simple what ifs that weren't far off from the condition the paladins were in during the attacks.

One of the worst though, was that time Lance had to leave children in collapsing buildings. Those haunted him for life. Those children, they still had all of their lives to live, get in trouble countless times, hang out with friends, have a family. Lance had to be physically held back from running back in, hearing the wails of the helpless children. He even heard a baby in there too. The baby didn't even have an understanding of the world yet! It's life would be over before it had even started! He wanted to let the child live just as much as he wanted to keep surviving. He still didn't understand how the Galra could be so heartless! How they could kill innocent children and find joy in it. That time was what kept Lance awake up at night for more than a week. He still gets nightmares.

Lance had to get his mind off of these things. He was a paladin, he can't show weakness.

"Okay, you don't have to talk about it. It's alright. But please, keep your scent down, alphas from the city can probably smell your discomfort, and they are miles away." Raheo nervously chuckled.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, just, it's not easy. Being a paladin. Anyways," Lance stopped. "Do you smell that?" He grew panicked although it was delightful smell. Almost of vanilla, and home. It smelled painfully of home. There were always different smells in the McClain household, but there was always one smell more prominent than the others. Lance couldn't describe it, only the fact that Lance had grew up around it and it meant home. Where his Mama and Papa were, all of his siblings were, and his niece and nephew. How were they doing now? Were there anymore family members? Babies, daughter-in-laws, or son-in-laws?