At the end of the day, the Paladins were worried at that point. They had received no communication from you. They have no clue as to whether you were alive, injured, or dead. They hoped not the last one.

"The two days are up and we haven't heard anything from Y/n," Shiro said from the front of the bridge. He turned his head to Coran. "Put the coordinates for Glacies into the castle. Someone go tell Lance we're going." The Paladins looked at each other before Keith sighed.

"I'll go," he said reluctantly, getting out of his seat and walking off of the bridge. Once he arrived at Lance's door, he didn't bother knocking.

"Hey, Lance. Shiro wanted me to let you know that we're heading off to Glacies now," he called. There was shuffling behind the doors before they slid open, and a brooding Lance walked out. He didn't say anything and just brushed past Keith. "... are you really that upset over Y/n?" Lance stopped, his hands in his pockets.

"You saying you're not?" He countered. There was no malice, no anger, no nothing. Just a simple question.

"That's not what I meant," Keith replied, this time quieter. Lance sighed and hunched his back.

"It's just that... Y/n is such a great person. And knowing there's a chance that she'll never be here again... it just..." Lance trailed off. A look of confusion crossed Keith's face.

"What are you talking about? It's not like Y/n's going to die," he said, crossing his arms.

"I know! But... I just felt like Y/n really... understood me, I guess. You should know. Y/n is a really easy person to talk to. She listens, she understands..."
It took Keith a moment, but when it clicked, his eyes widened.

"Do you... have feelings for Y/n?" It felt foreign on his tongue. And as dense and naive he was when it came to romance, or feelings of any kind, Lance's feelings for you are so obvious, an idiot could figure it out. Lance's cheeks tinted pink and he immediately looked down at the floor, scratching his head.

"I-I mean, I don't know... she's a really good friend and I appreciate her, but I mean, I don't know..." He trailed off, a small smile gracing his lips. Keith stood there, quiet. For once in his eighteen year old life, he agreed with Lance. Even though you were forceful and suggested 'kill them' to ever minor inconvenience, you were very easy to talk to. Even on issues you're not familiar with, you'd sit there and listen. You're understanding, patient... well, as patient as you could get. An unknown feeling began swirling around Keith's stomach, causing him to look to the floor, unsure.

~
You used your sword to push yourself off of the ground. You limped over to where Shivv was lying and grabbed the hilt of your other sword. You removed the blade from her chest and let it hang limply by your side. The tiredness that washed over your body was enough to make you sway from side to side, but you managed to stay awake and up right. The blueness of your skin was almost gone, leaving patches of discoloration. You slowly limped away from Shivv's body and off the battlefield. Your left ankle was broken, you suffered a closed leg fracture, broken ribs, and much more.

'They should be coming for me... hopefully...' You thought, walking into the Winter Forest. You used a tree for support, smearing blood on the bark. Your vision doubled, and your breaths became more labored. White noise filled your ears and blackness appeared at the corners of your vision.

"—/n!"

"Y/—"

"— are you?!"
Those familiar voices reached your ears. They sounded so close, but felt so far.

"Guys! Over...! Here..." Your voice gave out as you dropped to your knees. You face planted into the snow, unconscious. However, you could feel someone—something engulfing you. You felt warm, tight, safe. Whoever was holding you was moving. You could hear it. A heartbeat. You only heard it beat once, but you were positive it was one. You couldn't tell whose heartbeat it was from that single noise. You'd find out soon enough, though.

~
To say Lance was anxious was an understatement. He was a fucking mess. Riding in the Red Lion down to Glacies took longer than he thought. Not to mention no one's said anything. That just made his anxiety go up higher. If he didn't have a helmet on, he would've vomited.

"Pidge. Can you try and track Y/n's location?" Keith's voice asked. Lance was relieved that the silence was broken.

"I'm already locked onto her signature," Pidge replied.

"Alright. Then let's go," Keith said, speeding up his lion a bit more. Although they'd never admit it, all of them were feeling quite anxious. You weren't a paladin, but you had an important role as well. You were... let's say, the peace maker. Even though you were pretty hyper yourself, you're able to calm all of them. You act as their impulse control. You pull the team back together right as they're falling apart.

"We're getting closer," Pidge announced. The five of them lowered their lions closer to the ground. The five of them were looking out for you somewhere below.

"There! I see her!" Allura exclaimed, lowering Blue down to the surface. The five of them landed their lions and exited them. Even though Allura had spotted you, she quickly realized that the forest is thick, and finding anyone in it is like finding a needle in a haystack. The five of them looked around, some wielding weapons just in case.

"Are you sure you spotted her? It'd be hard to find anything in this forest," Pidge commented.

"I'm positive. She has to be around somewhere," Allura replied.

"Y/n!" Hunk yelled out.

"Y/n!" Lance followed him.

"Where are you?!" Keith exclaimed.

"Guys! Over...! Here..."
Allura stopped and snapped her head to the right.

"I hear her!" She exclaimed, speed walking in the direction your voice came from. The others quickly caught up to her.

"Are you sure? Cause I didn't hear anything," Keith said.

"Yeah, it could be an alien monster trying to lure us into their cave so they can feed us to their babies," Hunk quickly stated. All of them abruptly stopped walking to turn to him. He looked at all of them. "... what? It's possible." Some of them sighed before resuming their walking.

"I'm positive," Allura replied confidently. They walked on in silence for a few minutes.

"There! Over there!" Hunk exclaimed, pointing to an overgrown trail. Lance and Keith ran past the group, through the bushes and vines, and came across your unconscious body.

"Y/n!" Lance exclaimed in alarm, kneeling by your side and flipping you over. Both of them were appalled at the amount of blood that was staining your skin and clothes.

"We have to get her to a healing pod," Keith declared. The others joined up to the two of them and stopped dead short.

"Oh my goodness..." Allura gasped.

"What the heck happened here?" Hunk asked, staring down at your bruised and battered body.

"It doesn't matter. We have to get her back to the castle," Lance announced. The three of them took a step forward.

"I'll carry her."

This is where the next chapter will branch off, depending on who carried you! Your relationship with that said person will grow stronger! Yes, I'm even including Pidge, even though she doesn't seem to be interested in a romantic relationship.

Romantic Pidge, or non-romantic Pidge, I don't care 🤷🏻‍♀️. For the multi-endings I'll probably do two endings for Pidge. One as a causal friendship and the other as a relationship. Just to be inclusive.


Edit: Okay, I'm pretty sure, that as of right now, where we currently are in the series, Pidge is either aromantic or asexual. I'm leaning towards she's asexual as a whole, little iffy on the aromantic.

Ja ne!

{Ruby Red}