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some-cookie-crumbz · 5 years

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Echoes in the Wind

Echoes in the Wind - Kidge Month Day 6 Prompt Fill Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Pairing: Kidge Summary: While on a mission to retrieve a necessary component for medicine, Pidge and Keith are forced to enter an allegedly haunted forest. And maybe confront something more frightening than ghouls. Standard Disclaimer: If you read and enjoy this, please give it a like/ reblog so I know if I should write more.

Missions to get medicine weren’t something they had been used to doing before but they’d had to adjust while Samuel and Coran tried to figure out how to make new healing pods. Their most recent escapade involved Lance messing with some kind of arachnid-esque creature while on a peace mission, which led to him turning orange, swelling up, and becoming slightly weightless. Coran had explained, while tying one of Lance’s ankles to the bed, that the illness took it’s time, so they had a few days to get the ingredients.

The last thing they needed was the roots of a vuque tree, found on the planet Sinturion 4. Sinturion 4 was a lush planet coated in greenary of all kinds, but was also a planet that had been relatively far removed from the conflicts of Voltron and the Galra Empire. It being aligned to no side, though, was a positive. Since Pidge was the begrudging Paladin of nature, and Keith was the leader, the pair had been sent out to retrieve it.

Which normally wouldn’t have been a problem. Except that the two of them weren’t on the best of terms right now.

Admittedly, Keith had no one but himself to blame for it. It had been a few nights prior, as he and Pidge were settled up in her room, watching movies. It had been a while since he’d had free time to just relax and it felt great. They’d started watching the Harry Potter films way back when Shiro was still missing and finally decided to start again, though they’d had to go back to the first film again. They were cuddled up under her comforter, her head on his shoulder, watching the chess game scene.

“Hey, Keith?” She asked softly, peeking up at him.

“Hmm?” He asked, tilting his head down to look at her.

She had leaned up to meet him and kissed him, soft and sweet. He had felt himself suck in a breath of surprise before relaxing into it, hand coming up to cup her cheek and tilting his own head to kiss back more firmly. The movie session had dissolved from there into more of a makeout session. Neither of them had pushed for anything below the collarbone, and the next morning he’d been silently singing the praises of his Garrison blazer’s high collar. Pidge had been watching him with a smug, satisfied grin, and actually winked at him as they parted after the morning debriefing. No one else had noticed, thankfully enough, but for as much as it had his heart pounding in a giddy whirl, it also put an uncomfortable realization in his mind.

For as much as he wanted to, he shouldn’t pursue his feelings for Pidge. It would be entirely inappropriate, given his status as the leader of Voltron. What if things didn’t go well between them and they weren’t able to work together as a team? Or if their fights carried over during combat situations? For as much as he wanted to be able to say that Pidge was his, he knew that they couldn’t put countless other lives at risk like that.

So, once he was able to, he asked to see her in private and said, “What happened the other night was a mistake.”

She had stared at him, hurt evident in her eyes. “I… I don’t understand. I.. I thought that you felt the same way,” She said quietly.

“That doesn’t matter. Or, well, I guess it does matter because it’s kind of the problem,” He said, trying to keep himself composed. It was hard, seeing her so upset, but he knew it had to be done. “We shouldn’t be pursuing anything with each other right now. Not when we still aren’t sure what Haggar is planning. Not when we have to form Voltron.”

Her brow knit at his words, eyes slowly narrowing to glare at him. “What?”

“We can’t be letting ourselves be distracted, especially not by each other,”

“So… What your saying is you don’t think I could handle us being together? That I’d be dumb enough to let how things between us are going affecting our ability to work together?” She snapped angrily. He flinched slightly, holding his hands up and getting ready to say something, but she shook her head. “Fine. Forget all about our little ‘mistake’, then.” She sneered before turning and storming off.

That had been nearly a week ago. Despite her still clearly being furious with him, they were still able to form Voltron and battle. She followed his orders just like before the argument, but he knew there was tension there, underneath the surface. While things with the team were fine, he and Pidge hadn’t actually been left to work solely with one another since then. This assignment, however, made collaborating a necessity. Allura and Hunk were both off getting other ingredients they needed.

The ride down had been a bit awkward with the comm channel silent other than confirming this or that about landing. The strictly professional side of Pidge wasn’t outwardly callous, but there was a rigidness to her tone and attitude and it hurt. It reminded him of how she interacted with some of the younger Atlus crew members when they got too big for their britches. When they landed, in a clear space between a large village and forest, she headed right to the small group of Sinturians waiting for them.

Sinturians were oval-headed with large, black insect-like eyes and multiple pairs of antenna that draped along them like hair. They had mouths that were reminiscent of humans but they lacked lips and had small, curved pincers protruding from the far ends. They had two sets of limbs that had exoskeleton-esque plates over them, with three fingers on their hands. From what he could glean based on appearances, females had beige coloration to their exoskeletons while males were a mahogany color. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Paladins of Voltron. I am Divus the 32nd, leader of my village,” The one he assumed was their leader said, moving from shaking Pidge’s hand to shake his.

“It’s a pleasure. Thank you so much for being open to our visit. We had been planning to come for a proper introduction with the whole team but, well, that's part of why we’re here,” Keith said.

“The captain of your allied ship - Shiro, I believe? - gave us a brief rundown of the situation. I am afraid, however, that getting what you need will not be an easy task,” Divus admitted nervously. Keith and Pidge exchanged worried glances before the leader nodded his head, leading them towards the nearby border leading into their forest. There seemed to be a gloss of sadness covering his eyes as he stared out into the shadowy forest. "It has been many decaphoebs since anyone has entered the forest, and the last who did, never returned. There are spirits in the forest that have grown malevolent in recent times."

Keith huffed a bit before turning his attention to the forest. "Well, we don't have a choice. We need the roots from a vuque tree to make the antidote our friend needs,"

"Besides, the likelihood that it's actually haunted is pretty slim. Your planet isn't known for that kind of activity, right?" Pidge pointed out as she approached as well, walking over on Divus’ other side.

He glared at the pair of them in turn. "I am speaking from experience, young warriors! That forest robbed me of my only son, Divus the 33rd!"

"What happened, exactly?" Keith asked, making sure to be gentle in his approach. The l;ast thing he wanted to do was set the ruler off.

"We sent him out with a small group of other young, strong warriors to eliminate a colony of vile Gulabulos that had started nesting on the other side of the forest! They never made it through to the other side, though, and we most likely killed by those vile beasts,” He growled out lowly.

"And Gulaboros are...?" Pidge prompted, settling one hand on her hip and cocking her head. Sometimes the aliens they interacted with forgot how limited the knowledge of other species was for humans.

Divus whipped his head around to look at her. "They are filthy savages! They will steal land and crops, and bring with them foul diseases! They cannot be trusted and must be chased away when they get too close!" He rambled furiously, indicating the forest with one hand while the others were clenched into fists. "They are the reason we had to grow this forest in the first place! Many innocent Sinturions laid down their lives to assure this forest grew! Their spirits have become restless and torment our own now! And for what? Because they move closer to the only thing keeping us safe from them, the barrier those lost souls gave their all to create? Disrespectful, foul creatures!"

His brow knit at the other’s words. "But... Couldn't you just move farther away from the forest yourself?" He was answered with a vicious glare. Pidge joined in when she saw the change in the Sinturian’s demeanor. "Er... Never mind, forget I said that."

Pidge herself hummed before shifting and starting to walk towards the forest. "Well, I guess it just means we should be extra careful, right?"

"Being careful will not serve you as well as you may think when there are furious spirits afoot," Divus advised gravely.

"Uh huh. Anyway, we're kind of running out of time, so," She trailed, walking backwards to face the alien and indicate the forest with a jerk of one thumb, "we really need to get going."

Keith gave her a warning glance but she waved him off and turned around, already wandering past the start of the tree line. He shook his head and offered his hand to Divus again. "We appreciate your advice and help. Once our friend is feeling better, we'll be sure to come by with the team as a whole and give you a proper welcome into the coalition,” He promised.

Divus nodded, "Thank you. Perhaps you will be able to lend you help with our little issue when your whole team is here?"

“We’ll certainly do what we can,” Keith said, nodding, before darting along after Pidge.

She glanced at him as he caught up with her. "So do you really believe anything he's spewing?"

He scoffed. "About the Gulabulo? Sounds like nothing but racist garbage. And the thing about spirits? Sounds like superstitious nonsense,”

"Good to know we're on the same page with something," She barked back flatly.

For as much as he wanted to snap something back, he opted against it. He didn’t want to fight with her about the situation between them. As they walked, there was none of the usual chatter between them, and it felt unnerving. The ambiance of the forest normally would have been something Keith enjoyed. The gentle gurgling of bodies of water off in the distance and the quiet chirping of foreign birds or insects were normally soothing, but now it left his skin prickling under his body suit. Something about the whole place felt… Off.

A part of him knew that part of it was tension, but he couldn’t place where the rest came from.

The forest itself was large and difficult to navigate. Pidge had pulled up a tracker to keep an eye out for heat signatures, specifically keyed in to track down the tree they were looking for, but he could see it occasionally freezing up. They had noticed that in areas like this, with limited technology, it could sometimes be hard for them to get a proper reading on this or that. Normally they had a guide, but it had seemed like a pointless request to make with Divus. He stole a glance around them, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand upright. He didn’t like going in with something like this so blind.

Pidge let out a quiet, frustrated growl. "This place is huge. Do you think my signal would be better if I climbed up one of the trees?"

"It's possible. Especially since we don’t really have any help here," He said, looking around again. From the corner of his eye he caught a flicker of movement, a few fern-like plants shifting. He grabbed Pidge’s shoulder and tugged her back towards him. "Hold up. Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" She hissed, rolling her shoulder from his grasp.

"Stand still for a second," He seethed, feeling on edge. He whipped around and saw the distinct gleam of something silver rushing towards them. "Pidge, hit the ground!" He barked, pressing a hand between her shoulder blades and forcing her down with him.

Pidge let out a squawk in response, the sound muffling as she connected with a ground. Behind them, an arrow that seemed to be made of a metal-like material stuck into a tree behind them. "Holy-! Where the Hell did that come from?" She blurted out, staying low but trying to get a look around to see if she could find their attacker.

"Stay down! I haven’t been able to track them yet!" He pushed himself up with his arms to try and get a better look around, but ducked again as another arrow whizzed by. The sound of hissing air as it narrowly missed hitting his helmet. "Any chance you can get a reading on where or how many we're up against?"

"Give me two ticks!" She snapped back, pressing her arms in front of her and pulling it up. Her other hand clacked away, doing this or that.

While she worked on that, he called up his shield and rushed towards where the two arrows had come from. Then, however, three more arrows came from either side of him. He managed to dodge one and had to use his shield to keep the other two from getting his calves, hitting the shield hard enough that it briefly flickered out. “How long is two ticks to you?" He snapped angrily, calling up his bayard and swatting at another arrow that came right for his head.

"It's not my fault there's all these big ass trees everywhere! They're jamming my signal and I can't get a good reading!" She snapped back, glaring up at him before returning her attention to her attempts at getting the monitor to work properly again. "Well, either that or we actually are dealing with ghosts!"

He whirled around and glared at her as another arrow was blocked with his sword. "What do you-?" He said before looking to the ground. Maybe if he grabbed one of the arrows, Pidge could run some kind of scan on it to track it. He was stunned, however, when there was nothing at his feet. "What the Hell? There were arrows in the ground right there! I felt the impact of them hitting my shield!" He looked behind him briefly, to where the first arrow had lodged in the tree, and felt fury swell in him when he saw it was gone. He hadn’t heard anyone behind him, and he certainly would have seen if someone came close enough to pick up the ones at his feet! "If that moron Dicus was right about this place being haunted, I'm gonna be pissed!"

"You mean Divus?"

"I know what I said!" He barked back, swiping again at another arrow that came at him. "Anything clearing up on you? Maybe something that can give us an actual answer?"

"My radar is still clogged! There’s still, you know, trees everywhere!" She snapped back, looking up as a barrage of arrows slammed into his shield, sending him tumbling back and crowding his shield as best as he could. "Keith!" She pushed upright as the onslaught died down and charged in front of him, calling out her own bayard.

"I'm fine! Get out of the way!" Keith snapped back as his shield finally flickered out.

"I'm not leaving you!" She barked back before firing her hook shot out, in the direction that the last batch of arrows had come from. She felt it slam into something and then there were sparks and a crackling sound. Then, there was a quiet electrical hum, before there were smaller sparks from some of the surrounding trees. "Huh?" She trailed, yanking her hook shot loose and looking around, watching as one by one the other devices short circuited.

There was a rustling behind where her first shot had landed and a figure came tumbling out, indicating the fried device with two sets of hands. "Aw, dude, what the Hell? Way to fry the system, dude!" They lamented, turning around to face them.

"Wha-?" Pidge trained, her head cocking at the Sinturian standing before them. He looked a lot like Divus, only slightly smaller, and his antennae were tangled and weaved into a braid of some sort.

Keith was up and charging at him in a breath, seizing him up by the front of his robe and slamming him into the nearby tree. "Who are you and why did you attack us?" He growled, pressing the blade of his bayard against their throat.

He held all four hands up in shock. "Attack you? Nah, dude, that wasn't me! It was just our security system; all totally fake but incredibly realistic!" He said, tone surprisingly jovial for someone being held at blade. He then nodded his head to indicate Pidge, who was approaching them with a scowl of her own in place. "Which, like, the little dudette there totally just fried."

"I'd apologize if I hadn't done it out of fear for our lives," She seethed at him, arms crossed over her chest.

"Nah, I get it. All that, like, self-preservation stuff, ya know?" He said with a small laugh.

"You still haven't told us who, exactly, you are," Keith growled out lowly, pressing the blade against the stranger more firmly.

"Oh, right, right. Sorry, dude; always been a bit of a scatterbrain," He laughed, reaching up with one hand to gently guide Keith farther away from him. Once there was enough of space between them, he ducked down and away from Keith completely, dusting his robes off a bit. Then, he offered a smile and indicated they follow him with two arms. "Come with me and I'll tell you what you want to know."

“Maybe we could start with something simple to break the ice, like your name?” Keith prompted, calling his bayard back to himself.

"Oh, yeah! Sorry, dude," He laughed again, still as jovial as before. If he weren’t still so frustrated Keith might appreciate how unfazed the other was by being accosted. "I used to be called Divus the 33rd, but that just wasn't me. I felt like I was just, like, a cog in the machine. You know what I mean, man? So I picked a new name for myself! Get to be called Sudiv now!” He boasted excitedly as they began following him past the trees he’d been lurking in.

Pidge stared at him, blinking slowly, before shaking her head with a furrowed brow. "Isn't that just-?"

"Pidge, stop," He said, holding a hand up at her. The last thing he wanted to risk was pointing out the obvious and the whole situation getting derailed again. "Your father and the rest of your village think you've been dead for quite a while."

"That was an intentional decision," A smooth, composed voice chimed in behind Suvid. "Fucking idiots!" A more high-pitched voice shrieked afterwards.

The figure that stepped out was somewhat similar to the Sinturians, though the exoskeleton was a dark green coloration, their eyes were more oval-esque in shape with small black pupils, and two sets of legs, as opposed to the twin set of arms of the others. Additionally, they lacked the antennae of the others, though they did have the small tusks at the corners of their mouth. They wandered a bit closer and it was then the two of them could see a tail swaying behind them, with a large orb at the very tip. The orb was the same color as the rest of the exoskeleton, but there were two vertical slits that were glowing bright yellow, and a white zigzagging pattern just an inch or two below them.

Suvid perked up and smiled as he turned to face the. "Juel!" He said happily, holding out both of his arms to them. They smiled gently at him, holding their own hands up and allowing them to be held in both of Sudis’. Then, seeming to remember what was happening, he turned and looked at the two Paladins again. "Oh, yeah! So, strange dudes, allow me to introduce you to Juel! Juel here is my better half! Juel, these are some strange dudes that totally wrecked our security system."

Juel blinked, clearly surprised, before they seemed to compose themselves again. "That is rather unfortunate," They said. Their tail poked up suddenly, the orb hovering over their shoulder, seeming to stare at the two humans. "Are you kidding me? Do you fucking dullards have any idea how long it took to build that thing? What the actual fuck?"

"Um... Uh...?" Pidge trailed, looking from the furious talking tail to Suvid in hopes of getting some clarification. Keith himself cocked his head a bit, stunned to find that the white zigzags were the lines of the tail entities mouth.

Suvid cast a clearly affectionate glance at his associate. "Juel is a Gulabulo, hence her smaller side," He indicated her tail at the statement. He reached out with one hand and gently smoothed one hand over it, causing the eyes of the thing to close and the zigzags turning upward in a strange sort of smile. "For Gulabulos, their tails are a sort of secondary brain that helps filter out negative thoughts or desires to, like, help maintain peace and junk."

Juel smiled herself and chuckled a bit. "It is more meant as a means to keep us honest. The smaller sides of us are meant to help voice our honest opinions and thoughts, though they certainly put it much more crassly than we would say ourselves," She said calmly. The tail entity didn’t speak up this time, instead seeming content to just observe how things continued to progress. Juel’s attention returned to Suvid, growing a bit more serious again. "Now, Suvid, we should discuss getting the security system repaired immediately. Having it down for extended periods of time is not something we are prepared to allow."

Pidge held one hand up. "I can help with that, if you want. I mean, I was the one who broke it and all,"

Juel nodded her head. "It would be appreciated," She said. The tail mind turned to look at Pidge. "Especially considering you broke it, ya little shit!"

Suvis suddenly clapped his upper pair of hands together, as if a thought had just occurred to him. "Oh! So, like, who are you strange dudes? And, like, why are you out here?" He asked.

Keith took a deep breath in, grateful to finally be getting back on track again. "I'm Keith, and this is Pidge. We're the Black and Green Paladins of Voltron, respectively,"

"Voltron? We have not heard that name in many decaphoebs," Juel said, tilting her head. "Why are you wearing red, then, ass clown?" Tail chimed in angrily.

"Because red looks better on him," Pidge barked back with a glare. Suvid nodded sagely at that response, as if it made absolute sense.

"Regardless, what brings you Paladins to our planet?" Juel asked. "That's a pretty shit reason!"

"Another Paladin has been infected with a venom and needs an antidote. We were told we could find what we need to make it here," Keith said.

Suvid perked up again. "Oh, are you looking for vuque root? That stuff can cure, like, almost anything!” He said excitedly. “We've got stores of that in our village! It’s, like, one of the main things we grow and stuff! We can, like, totally give you the hook up, dudes!"

"Sounds great, dude," Pidge drawled blandly, going so far as to hold one hand up and make some kind of hand gesture Keith had seen in some old surfing movie. She fell in line with Suvid as he resumed guiding them to the village. "So, in regards to fixing your security system..."

Once there was a small breath of space between them, Juel began walking again. Seeing as Pidge was chatting up Suvid, he figured he’d take a swing at getting more information out of Juel. She seemed to be the more mature of the pair, anyway."So, this village..."

"It is a sanctuary for both Gulabulo and Sinturians who wish to live free of their respective societal pressures," Juel said simply. Her tail had lowered slightly to begin observing the forest around them. It must partially be a defense mechanism, he realized. "You see, Gulabulon society believes that the smaller self is the truest self and is the self to be believed most. But, it is more than that. The smaller self is a part of each of us, the same as how we choose to be seen. Both sides must be respected and obeyed in order for a Gulabulon to know true peace." She explained, her tone growing slightly bitter as she explained. One of her hands clenched into a fist around the soft fabrics of the robe-like outfit she was wearing. "Our leaders decided not to believe such things any longer, and instead only believe and trust the thoughts expressed by the smaller self.."

Keith hummed and nodded, understanding where Juel was coming from. "And Sinturians?"

"They are stunted by their leader’s refusal to acknowledge that not all old beliefs are beneficial and meant to be maintained as the needs of the society change," She said, growing a bit more even. She then glanced back up, looking at Suvid’s back. The soft look she’d warned before, when she’d first approached them, returned. "At least, that is how Sudiv has described the situation to me. He tends to be very… Blase about how he words things, though, so that could be an incredible oversimplification.”

"So the two of you decided to make your own society?"

Juel giggled and nodded. "I was skeptical at first, myself. He may not look it from how he presents himself, but once you get to know him, Suvid is quite the remarkable sort. He is an incredibly thoughtful, compassionate leader who will do all that he can to help foster the success of others. He cares much for the happiness and best interests of others, even if he does occasionally come off as a bit... Flighty," She admitted. Her tail suddenly shot back upright. "He's such a fucking airhead though!"

He hummed quietly and nodded again, looking at her curiously. "So are the two of you...?"

"I love him. Dearly and truly, more than I have ever loved another in my time," She said with a soft, contented sigh. "And if that means I must live away from my own kind, pretending to be a phantom in the wind, that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.”

“But what would happen if things between the two of you fell apart? I mean, couldn’t that hinder your ability to lead together?” He asked worriedly.

“We are open and transparent with each other, and understand that we have a duty to those that follow us. We can be in love but also understand the importance of our roles,” She said patiently. She shifted to look at him with curiosity of her own. “Are you asking these questions out of curiosity, or to seek counsel on a situation in your own life?”

He paused and stared at Juel for a moment, then looking over at Pidge’s back. He couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he had taken the wrong approach. After all, Lance and Allura had taken their relationship to a romantic level and there hadn’t been any negative fallout regarding their teamwork. Could it be possible for it to work out for he and Pidge as well?

#Voltron legendary defender #Keidge #Kidge #Peith #Kidgemas #MonthofKidge #MonthofKidge2019 #KidgeaPalooza #KidgeaPalooza2019 #Pidge Gunderson #Keith Kogane #my fics

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