Void (Voltron: Legendary Defender Fanfic)

Void

Small, thin fingers traced the smooth side of the intergalactic ship, before twitching slightly in anxiety. A pair of dark blue eyes stared out at the vastness of space, the voice bringing unwanted trepidation. The voice of space appeared clean, dark and cold, unlike the desert with the comforting red and brown sands blowing in the warm, bright sunlight beating down on one's skin.

"Keith?"

The person in question turned, his entire body stiffening at the sound of his father's voice. The ship smelled overly sanitized and unfamiliar, yet the musty smell of his father brought some kind of comfort. So did the familiar jaw set firmly, the dark locks of hair, and the scar over his father's left eyebrow. A calloused hand reached out to ruffle Keith's hair, bringing on a smile, making the void of space forgotten as well as the fear which went with that void.

He was safe.

The man motioned for Keith to follow him as he turned then, a quick flick of his finger. The corridor was filled with boring greys, whites and metallic colors, all forming straight, almost unnatural lines. These lines were another stark contrast from Earth's more natural lines. Keith stood started forward, his feet falling in line when his ears picked up a sharp vibrating sound, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a vibrant purple light.

He couldn't see the horror on his own father's face, but Keith could hear it in his voice. The man's calloused hand moved down to the sleeve of Keith's red jacket, tugging him along, as the entire spacecraft shuddered suddenly as if hit by something. At that same moment, the ship lurched to the side, knocking both off their feet.

The man steadied himself quickly, grabbing Keith's arm quickly before talking off down the hallway towards their quarters. The hallways became a blur as they surged forward, but the sound of the ship creaking and passengers screaming filled Keith's ears. The grey, white and metallic colors blended together, as he tried to say something. Only, Keith found his throat dry, painfully so.

The joint where his shoulder attached to his body hurt, his father's normal gentleness gone due to fear of something. The door to their room swished open, and the man pulled out the emergency suits, shoving the smaller at the two at Keith. "Hurry." Keith complied, not understanding why his father was panicking. As he continued to look around, he found a blade shoved into his hands. "This was your mother's. Keep it close Keith."

Keith also found a teddy bear tucked firmly into his suit, shoved in to bring some kind of comfort like it usually did at night. The two family members finished changing into their suits, before heading out to the door. He watched his father hug the wall, the world around them becoming cold like the outside void. A shudder ran down Keith's spine, his eyes catching sight of a distant venting from one of the windows.

A sound came, making Keith's father duck down a dark hall, the lights flickering with one last effort. The man carefully placed one gloved hand over Keith's mouth. His stomach lurched slightly when a few rather large figures stepped into view, large, purple, and something out of a child's worst nightmare. In fact, Keith felt his eyes widened, remembering how he'd dreamed them up in his own dreams.

He'd spend many a night waking up in a cold, dripping sweat, his mind terrified by the dripping fangs of the purple beasts, their yellow eyes boring into his soul as he slept, their claws threatening to shred him to pieces. When the nightmare started, his father gave him the teddy bear to chase said nightmare's away, allowing Keith to sleep in peace.

This wasn't a dream though, and teddy couldn't chase them away. One of the purple monsters started to turn towards them when an explosion occurred. Keith let out a scream as his small body hurtled out of the side of the ship. The alien creatures, for that, was what they were, weren't prepared for the sudden cascading of that particular area of the ship. Keith's father, however, was and reached desperately out for his hand as they spun out of control.

Keith's dark-blue eyes clamped shut, hot tears feeling them at the terror of being sucked out into space, spinning amongst the debris of the ship. The void of space meant oblivion, a very cold oblivion. A quick tug brought his attention away from his free spin. His eyes opened, allowing him to see his father there, pulling him in tightly. This did nothing though to abate his fears and anxieties.

Somehow, the man managed to push off the debris, back towards their ship. This, however, did nothing to ease Keith's fears, nor did the teddy bear tucked soundly between his regular clothes and suit. His eyes closed again, his breath coming in desperate breaths to regain control, only to open once again when they arrived at the breach.

The breach in the hull was a large scar, marring the entire ship, the ribs bowed out and snapped in unfortunate places. His father alighted and then tugged him with him towards an air lock. No light came from inside, but then a slight, dying flicker. Getting in was simple enough, his father twisting a switch, but there was no sound.

Everything was dead, everyone was dead.

They moved slowly through the wreckage, and Keith hugged close, fearing one of those purple monsters would lurch out of the shadows, ready to sink their fangs into the neck of him or his father. The man led him to a place Keith hadn't been before, a place with small pods. He found himself lifted up, placed in one of the pods even though he could have stepped in himself.

"Stay."

It wasn't as if he couldn't. Something worse than the void of space occurred, as the pod closed, and the glass began to incase in ice, but not before the ship shuddered again, and he saw his father ripped from view. Keith found himself starting to fall asleep, unsure if he would awake from the nightmare, but he could see the stars, and the spinning of the void, first of space, then of complete ice.

Everything was dead, everyone was dead.

The void became his worst ever fear, in a way.