Chapter Text
beep...
*silence*
beep..
*low ringing*
beep.
*fire cackling*
beep!
*metal burning*
beep!!!
An ear deafening shrill escaped the loud clunk of machinery beneath them.
!-System failed-! Flashing in big red letters illuminating the hollow expanse.
The ship rattled with intense turmoil, setting ablaze in the bright purple sky, leaving a purple streak in it's haste.
beep!
"Keith! Stop jamming the controls and prepare for a rough landing!" He could hear his older brother screaming behind him, but decided that the better option would be to simply ignore him.
This however would seem to not be an option at all.
"AKIRA KOGANE!." He internally sighed, oh great he got mister softie pissed.
beep
Keith growled with anger as he slammed the controls once more before scrambling out of his seat to get to the man behind him. He only got so far before falling down onto the cold metal surface as the everything around him shook in disbalance. He took his time struggling to get up, successfully doing so after multiple tries.
He breathed heavily with effort, before stopping. Something seemed amiss... He took a moment to stare at Shiro who seemed to have the same pensive look spreading throughout his whole. His ears twitched slightly as a singular soft 'clang...' rang through the blaringly hot cabin. He looked up, investigating where the sound had come from; a loose bolt was the culprit.
This was apparently his only warning before a high pitched creeakk!' rang through the burning cabin. The bolt had fallen, allowing a vast chunk of board to dangle above him, dangerously close to his head. All time seemingly slowed down at that moment, everything turning in a shorter speed. He felt himself move faster than a Swathian meerakeet, deciding to turn into a sprint-- this however was in vain as he still ended up forced; face flat upon the ground, with a high pitched yelp. He tried to move once, twice, groaning as he couldn't even lift up his tail.
A desperate screech came from behind him, "Keith!"
Wait, was that idiot going to try and help him? "Shiro don't-!"
beep!
Acting completely oblivious to the pleas, Shiro abandoned all safety as he sped towards his little brother. Immediately wrapping his arms around Keith as he tried to cover both of them with his shield, in what would later be a futile attempt to shield the boy before him.
The beeping seemed to stop for a moment,
and then there was silence.
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There was one thing he noticed when he woke up.
Smoke.
Everything reeked of the distinctive smell of smoke and bacon. His nostrils burned as shivers wracked his spine, bacon, a smell associated known to indicate burning flesh. His stomach churned as he carefully took his time opening his eyes to look at the now slimy-yellow colored night sky. Despite the smell of smoke and the flaming machinery all around him, he felt oddly cold. Almost as if he had just taken an extremely long ice bath. He felt his ears spring up in alert, something had to be wrong. Yellow sky, thick atmosphere, no clouds or trees... It all added up, this was the planet of Haseon.
He rubbed at his forehead groggily chasing the burning out of his eyes- as a lilac like scent engulfed him. It was such a soft smell, reminding him of fragile, small, white lilies of the valley. Yet there was something harsher blending into the calming scent, something much more sharp and piercing; almost alike an overwhelming explosion of cinnamon bringing bile to his throat. It smelled so darn familiar, but he couldn't bring himself to remember the origins of it. He focused on it for a few seconds, his eyes quickly widening as his nose let out a soft twitch, Keith. This is the distinctive overwhelming smell of his little brother that was surrounding him.
There was not an ounce of hesitation in his soul as he all but jumped to his feet, hard upon in a rush. Immediately, he felt an intense wave of nausea, swallowing through it and putting it aside to deal with later. He needs to find Keith; and quick. If he really is guessing correctly and they are on Haseon, then neither Keith nor Shiro have time to play the waiting game.
This isn't his first time on Haseon after all, he and Keith has ended up stationed here on a mission a few years prior to collect information on why it had been deserted. Much thanks to their totally awesome luck, they were forced to leave after the debris in the the atmosphere had shown itself to be extremely toxic to Keith's human side.
He took a step before letting out a low wince. he didn't seem to be hurt, but it felt like he had slept on a pile of dirty rocks for 5 whole phoebs. His steps burned in a way that creeped up his chest and swallowed him whole. He grunted, eyebrows knitting deep together in concentration- he didn't have time for measly disturbances. He had sworn to protect Keith until his dying breath, and Shiro is anything if not a man with courage and duty.
He took a deep breath, screaming as loud as he could through the dense atmosphere.
"Keith!"
No response.
Another,
"KEITH!"
Yet again, no response to his desperate calls as they echoed off the broken remains of their ship.
He walked around the wreckage, all of it scattered for what seemed to be miles. Screaming Keith's name as blaring as possible; If it wasn't for the painfully obvious burnt lilac scent, he would have assumed his brother to be dead. The more he walked around screaming the name, the more hopeless felt. His foot ached with spikes, he was starting to suspect that maybe it wasn't just a few scratches he had obtained during the rush. A deep exhale escaped him as he slumped down onto the ground.
Ouch.
He looked down fully expecting it to have been a dagger impaling him and not a smooth round light purple- his helmet! He picked up his helmet in a haste, wasting no time in inspecting it thoroughly. Sighing in relief upon seeing it still intact. Thank god. Somehow the impact didn't break the helmet and only threw it a few rounds away from him. Bless the empire and their scarily heavy armor. Despite the pain in his leg threatening to make him stumble, he fought. He arched his back as he used nearby pieces of scrap to stand. His foot could wait, but Keith couldn't.
Getting ready to start up the search again, he stood up stretching. The scent of burnt lilac seemed to be a lot closer now, however a tad bit fading. He couldn't take any chances by taking a rest. He looked at the atmosphere around him, everything brownish or burning, the occasional lumps of ash- wait.
He stopped, did a double take, his whole body tensing as if ready to spring miles up into the air.
He took a hesitating breath and then squinted. Surely his eyes hadn't been damaged from the fall too badly, right?
"keith.?"