One-Shots

Feel the Breeze

Issa Wing AU guys. I'm sorry I haven't written in such a long time. I'll try and make it up to you all. For now, enjoy this story. Art goes to lowaharts on Tumblr.
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     The sky was a beautiful mixture of burning orange and soft pink. Swirls of white, thin clouds were spread out across the sky. The wind wasn't blowing roughly, more like a strong breeze. It was fairly warm, the sun having a soft glow.

     The perfect day for a late afternoon flight.

     Keith stood on a cliff that was right against the waves of the ocean. He stared at the colorful sky, letting the breeze hit his face. Keith took in a deep breath, shutting his eyes. He spread out his falcon wings, specifically peregrine falcon wings. They were made for handling high speeds and diving. However, today Keith was just going to glide. Just to feel the wind through his feathers.

     He hasn't gotten a chance to actually soar through the sky in such a long time. He was just...busy doing things. Protecting the universe isn't an easy thing, y'know.

    Keith then opened his eyes, glancing down to the deep blue ocean. He rolled his shoulders, feathers brushing against his back and arms. Keith stepped back some, lowering slightly. His wings arched a tiny bit, and then leaped into the air. He pounded his wings at first, catching his balance, then turning it into light strokes.

    Keith hasn't flown in such a while, so he's gotten a bit rusty. He used to be the best flier, constantly doing stunts in air. Having to keep your wings tucked in most of the time can have an impact to that. Which means that they get cramped and sore. Not really comfortable, especially for an agile flier.

    As Keith glided in the air, thoughts flowed throughout his head. Not in a panic way, more of calming thoughts. He thought back to when he was still in Garrison, being a top flier. When Shiro crash-landed back onto Earth, his dark feathers mangled. Next was when he was part of Voltron, being a paladin. Each paladin had to make a slot in their armor to slide their wings through.

    Keith could remember almost every detail from the wings of his team. The fluffiness of Hunk's canary wings, Pidge's small yet strong hummingbird wings, Lance's silent and big barn owl wings, and Shiro's wide and enduring red-tailed hawk wings. All of them were unique and fit them.

    Keith shook his head to clear his mind, focusing back to flying. He was lower to the water than before, too low for his liking. He was caught off guard slightly, flapping his wings harder to get back up in the air. He got higher up, sighing softly. Flying has always been so therapeutic to him. Always cleared his mind and soothed him.

     He glanced over his shoulder, barely seeing the cliff in the distance. That meant he has to turn back, not wanting to risk getting lost. He sped up a bit, making a dramatic turn, tucking in his wings and did a barrel roll, snapping them back out. It wasn't the best trick, but it'll do for Keith.

     He listened closely to the sound of the ocean waves, the faint sound of seagulls, and the whistling wind. He wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings, and didn't notice the almost-silent strokes of Lance's wings. Lance flew above Keith, out of view. He was planning to do a sneak attack on Keith, just to mess around with him.

     Keith was distracted, looking straight ahead of him. Lance was heading towards Keith, making sure he wasn't seen. Lance had a smirk on his face, and got ready to dive. He tucked in his wings, diving down towards Keith. Lance aimed for his legs, to grab onto him and dangle him around.

     Lance got closer to Keith, stretching out his wings a little. Keith still had no clue that he was a target. Lance reached out his arms, and before Keith knew it, he was snatched out of his gaze. He was stunned by the sudden attack, having a later reaction. He made a 'yelp' sound as it happened, not realizing who it was.

     Lance had a tight grip around Keith's knees, careful to not let him fall. Keith was flapping his wings out of order, smacking Lance in the face. Lance spat at the taste of feathers, and shouted, "Hey! Watch where you're flapping, dodo!" Lance fought to get up higher, dangling Keith with him. "Wh-Lance! What are you doing?!" Keith yelled back. He tried to get out of Lance's grip.

    "Well I was trying to surprise you and bring you back. You looked like you would've kept flying." Lance mocked. He regained his balance and began heading back towards land. "I was already going back, and it was going fine," Keith argued. "Until you almost gave me a heart attack." Lance chuckled at the last comment, giving Keith a crooked smile. "Then I guess I'm a good flier, coming from you." Lance said, proudly.

    Keith blushed slightly, and looked away. "Can I at least fly by myself now?" He mumbled, still hanging upside-down. "How about...no. You're pretty light, so I can just carry you there." Lance replied, facing towards the cliff. "The thing is, you're hanging upside down, which isn't good. So..." Lance cut off. Keith looked back up to him, raising an eyebrow. "So?" He gestured. He wasn't prepared for what Lance did next.

     Lance threw Keith upwards, Keith confused by the amount of strength that must've took. Lance then grasped him by his arms. Keith's heart was pounding a bit faster, afraid that he could've been dropped. "Isn't that better? Pretty sure blood rushing to your head isn't that good." Lance teased.

     "H-How are you even able to carry me like that?" Keith asked, clearly shocked and confused.

     Lance just glanced back down at him, with a soft smile. "Siblings and all that training."

     Keith just mumbled an 'Oh' at Lance's response.

     The fly back to land wasn't going to take long, since Lance was pretty fast. Keith's wings were already feeling tired, and he knew that Lance probably was too.

    It was almost dark out, some stars already showing. Lance and Keith had made it to land by then, meeting back up with everyone. They had already started putting things into the castle, preparing for departure. However, Keith stood by the cliff again, watching the orange and pink sky turn into a midnight black. The stars shone brightly in the night sky, the water reflecting it. It was a crescent moon is the sky as well.

     Keith heard soft footsteps against the grass, heading towards him. He then looked over his shoulder, seeing Lance not too far behind. He continued walking, until he got next to Keith. Both had their wings tucked in, but Lance's size made the wings brush against each other. Keith didn't look at Lance, only until he heard a sigh.

     "Beautiful, isn't it?" Lance said, softly. He had his helmet in his hand. Their armor slightly shined against the stars. Keith stared at Lance, noticing Lance's intense stare at the sky. "Reminds me of Earth." He had a small crooked smile. That smile always got Keith's face a tint of red. "Yeah...the desert always had bright stars." Keith whispered.

    Lance put his hand on Keith's shoulder, locking eye contact. "Well, time for us to head back. Got missions to do, y'know." Lance's eyebrows furrowed a bit, then turned towards the castle. He walked ahead of Keith, with him following behind.

    It certainly was a perfect day to have a flight. 

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This took a while for me to write 😩. Still, I hope you liked it tho! Now it's time for me to sleep. I need it. I'm working on some others, but at least I know what the main thing to write for each is. Have a good day/night!