Dedicated to Cheetahtwo because I haven't done your prompt yet... It'll probably be after this, though!

TW: Major character death, sort of racism?

Lance let out a string of swear words as he scrambled up the mountainside. He didn't risk looking behind him - the hunters had given up trying to be sneaky. Now they were going in for the kill.

One of the hunters shouted something, and while Lance didn't hear his exact words, he could guess the overall message by the way that the other three branched off. Surround him. The first one jumped over him and landed in front of him with his spear drawn.

"Please, please don't hurt me!" Lance yelped. The hunter only glared at him and raised his spear a little. "P-please..." Lance could feel his heart pounding in his chest... Many said that his kind didn't have hearts, but he knew they were wrong. They were wrong about him, at least.

"Just do it, Shiro." The hunger on the right yelled. Lance turned toward him, terrified. This hunter looked to be slightly shorter than he was, with his long black hair tied in a bun. The hunter's eyes were filled with hatred. They always looked like that...

"C'mon, Shiro, hurry up or I'll do it." The hunter behind him called. Lance turned to her, wandering if she would really end him. He didn't doubt it, but he always wondered how his life would've turned out if he was born human. Perhaps he'd be a hunter. Maybe he'd be a stitcher. Imagining used to be a fun passtime for him before he had to learn to survive on his own.

Lance closed his eyes and curled into a ball. "Just do it." He said, hoping that he would be heard. It would be worse for him if they drew it out. Maybe, just maybe, they'd be kind and make it quick. If he was lucky, he might not even feel anything at all.

"Shiro, did you hear that?" The hunter on the left said.

"Yes, I heard it. It wants to be killed for all its sins." Shiro said. Lance could hear him take a step closer, and he tensed. For the first time in a long time, tears started streaking down his face. He kept them as silent as possible, not wanting to die any more ashamed than necessary.

"No, he doesn't!" The hunter on the left protested. Is he... sticking up for me? Lance thought, a spark of hope beginning to flicker in his heart. Perhaps he wouldn't die today.

"You know that they can fake emotions. This is probably its last attempt to save itself." Shiro said, dousing the kindling of Hope in Lance's heart with an avalanche of hatred.

"But, Shiro-"

"Hunk, this is not the time." The hunter on Lance's right hissed. Lance curled tighter into his little ball, wishing it would just end. Wishing he could be free from this hopeless, hate-filled world.

"No, Hunk's right." The hunter behind Lance piped up. "He's terrified, I can feel it."

"Maybe he's terrified because we found out his plan, Pidge." Shiro theorized.

"No, this is pure terror. This is end-of-the-line, I'm-gonna-die fear. He's terrified - of us." Pidge said. Lance realized she must have been an emotional seer. They weren't common in human communities, but every good hunting group had one.

"Look, he's obviously gotten to you." The hunter on the right said. "Do it, Shiro." Lance screamed as the spear peirced his side. They didn't even have the grace to make it quick, did they? It took all of Lance's strength not to lash out at them - his mama had always told him not to mess with humans. They would only make it worse if he attacked.

"Shiro, he's obviously in pain! His terror levels have spiked to an unnatural level - a human level." Pidge sounded terrified, of him or for him, Lance couldn't tell. Shiro didn't seem to care, though, as he turned Lance over and peirced him in the stomach. Lance couldn't contain his scream, and now he could feel his life force fading away...

He opened his eyes and saw two of the hunters attacking the leader, Shiro. He assumed these to be Hunk and Pidge, but he didn't really care. Of course he appreciated their efforts to help him - it just didn't mean anything. They were still hunters, and he was still a monster, and he would die right here on the mountainside. Nothing could change that.

He looked up to the sky, wondering why it decided to be so beautiful. Maybe it was for him... Yes, that must have been the case. The sky always knew, so it must have known about the hunters. It must have known that he would die. So it decided to be beautiful.

Lance smiled at the sky, wondering if he would become a star. It had always been his dream.

"Stars are the spirits of the innocent." His mama had told him once. He wasn't a perfect guy, but he always tried to be. Perhaps he would join the stars and shine the brightest. Then travellers would look to him in the night and say "Guide me home, North star."

Lance could see the stars now, even though it was morning. He could see them, and they smiled at him. He reached towards them, and they seemed to pull him upwards.

Dreams do come true...