After Wunrik left with the others for the scouting mission, the Kafa was a bit more lively and relaxed from what Keith could tell. Ship repairs were going well for the Blade and Drundlo had gotten a few districts to agree to meet with him; things were starting to look up. Keith would have liked to go on the scouting mission, but Wunrik was pretty strict about who he wanted tagging along with him. He knew Lance only managed to go thanks to Viltri, but he couldn’t complain too much. After talking to Jira yesterday, he knew he needed to smooth things over with the other paladins, starting with Shiro.

He had scoured the castle and Kafa, looking for Shiro, but only managed to run into Lotor. He was standing on the walkway inside the Kafa with a disgruntled looking Zalko. Keith was reluctant to approach them, but he knew Shiro spent most of his time watching over Lotor, so it was worth asking. Lotor gave Keith a grin that made the hair stand up on the back of his neck, and he remembered what Jira had said when he came to the Kafa the other day; he had too many secrets to be trustworthy. Keith frowned at him and forged ahead.

“Have you seen any of the Paladins?” He asked them.

“Pidge and Hunk went off with Horm somewhere,” Zalko said. “I think Shiro mentioned checking out the area where your ship crashed.”

Keith furrowed his brow. “Why?”

Zalko just shrugged. “I don’t know, but he left a while ago. He might not be there anymore.”

“Gotcha. Can I borrow a hoverbike?”

“Sure.”

Keith raced off to the hoverbikes, and hurried his way through the jungle towards the river. He found Shiro standing along the riverbank, hands on his hips, deep in thought.

“Shiro, what are you doing out here?” Keith asked, walking up behind him. Shiro turned his head and looked at him.

“I just needed to get some alone time away from Lotor,” Shiro said. “And I wanted to see for myself where your ship crash landed. I’m glad no one was hurt.”

“Kolivan handled things well, but we’re lucky that the Eioans are friendly, otherwise we would’ve been killed before you ever showed up.”

Shiro nodded. “How do you feel about Eioa?”

“I like it,” Keith shrugged. “I’ve met great people here and they seem really willing to help us.”

“They’d make great allies… What about things with the Blade? I know it’s only been about a month, but have you gotten any closer to finding out more about your mom?”

Keith’s shoulders slumped a bit. “Ah, no… but actually I was uh… the Blade is why I wanted to talk to you.”

“What’s up?”

“I know that when I left Voltron, I had everyone’s support but I-” Keith paused and held his arm. “I guess a part of me still feels a little guilty… for leaving. I miss everyone- sometimes I wonder if I made the right choice.”

“Keith, you’re still fighting Zarkon in your own way,” Shiro said. “And the Blade is the best chance you have of learning about your past.”

“I know, but…even though I left, would everyone still…” he dropped his gaze and looked at the ground. Shiro put a hand on his shoulder.

“You’ll always have a place with us,” he said. “That hasn’t changed.”

“... Yeah,” Keith smiled, but he was a little disappointed that Shiro hadn’t used the word ‘family’. It felt childish to him to want that, but he knew it was what he needed to hear at that point. Shiro sighed and looked back at the river. The landscape from where the ship once lay was scorched and the vegetation destroyed. It was a glaring defect in an otherwise colorful and beautiful area.

“Even though your ship survived the crash well enough, we need to be sure that the Eioans' defenses are strong enough to take on another Galra attack.”

“Isn’t Wunrik overseeing that?”

“His focus is now a bit divided, thanks to the Hauhet-”

“Yeah, but the Hauhet is a pressing threat too.”

Shiro frowned. “It is, but we can’t afford to let down our guard in any area.”

“And Drundlo gets that. They’ve gone this far without the Galra attacking, beside we have all of the lions here.”

Shiro squared his shoulders and looked back to Keith. “You’re right,” he said. “We have to do everything we can to protect this planet. Regardless of how they fall into line with Lotor and his plans, the Galra would destroy this planet due to their ignorance.”

“We’ll be ready,” Keith said, but he only felt more discouraged. Not in regards to Shiro’s persistence in protecting Eioa, but more in the fact that he seemed to brush Keith off. Keith was ready to be open with him, he had wanted to be, but was only left feeling disappointed. “I’m gonna go. You don’t need a ride back, do you?”

Shiro shook his head and Keith turned to leave. “Alright, see ya later.”

As Keith returned to the Kafa, his mind became weighed down with his thoughts. Though it had been months since the Black Lion found Shiro, Keith still worried about him. Whatever had happened to him, he hadn’t recovered fully. Keith used to be able to confide in him and they were close; now Keith felt at times like Shiro was distant towards him and the others, or going to through the motions of being a leader perfectly without his heart being in it. Shiro put on a good act, but Keith worried about how it was affecting his health. He hadn’t mentioned this to anyone else, but he wondered if the others on the team had any concerns about Shiro.

He pulled the bike back into the hangar and started the trek back to the barracks. From the entrance of the Kafa, he saw Pidge and Junx walking towards him.

“Hey!” Pidge called to him and Keith stopped and waited for them to catch up.

“Are you busy right now?” She asked. Keith looked to Junx, still a bit mad at what he did to Shiro earlier this morning.

“Uh, no… Do you need anything?”

“We were going to meet up with Hunk and Jinx to do some Tridi racing.”

“What is that?” Keith asked.

“They’re like Eioan kangaroos... except less dangerous, I guess.”

“Wait, you’re going Tridi racing?!” Rixel appeared behind Pidge and she and Junx tensed up.

“No…?” Pidge said with uncertainty, but Junx just rolled his eyes.

“You can come with us as long as you don’t say anything to Zalko,” Junx said and Rixel gave them a wide grin. Another Rixel walked up behind Keith and the original disappeared.

“Sweet!” Rixel said. “Hope you’re ready to lose. I am an undefeated Tridi racing champ.”

“We’ll see about that,” Keith smirked. “But no abilities.”

Rixel gave him a feigned, offended look. “How dare you, I would never. Let’s go!”

He eagerly led them into the jungle, arguing with Junx.

“You don’t even know where we’re going,”” Junx grumbled.

“Of course I do. There’s only a few herds in this area, and the one I’m leading you to is the closest. Jinx and Hunk would be at that one.”

Junx continued to argue, though it was clear Rixel knew plenty about the tridi. They found Jinx and Hunk in a clearing, surrounded by large, furry creatures that stood a few feet taller than them. They had powerful hind legs like kangaroos, but their arms were longer and their tails resembled that of a horse. The strangest thing about them was how colorful and unique their fur was, each one looking different from the last. Considering their surroundings, however, it only made sense that they would have brightly colored fur. The tridi leaned further forward in their stance, which Keith figured would make them easier to ride. Jinx had already climbed on top of one and was prancing circles around Hunk.

“Hey guys!” Hunk waved them over. He was standing next to a tridi and petting its neck. Their faces were shorter and wider than kangaroos as well, and Keith had to admit that they were pretty cute… though he’d never admit to that out loud.

“So what do we do?” Pidge asked, coming up to one with purple and white fur. It nuzzled her face and she laughed.

“They’re really friendly, so once you get familiar with one, you should be able to mount it easily enough,” Junx explained.

“Okay, but have you seen how short I am?”

“Right…” Junx said. He cuffed his hands together and helped Pidge onto the purple tridi.

A smaller tridi completely covered in green fur approached Keith and licked him on the cheek.

“Blech,” Keith reeled away from it, but it nuzzled up to his arm like a cat.

Keith stretched his hand out and patted its nose gently. “... Okay, buddy. You wanna race?” The tridi bobbed its head excitedly and Keith climbed onto its back. The fur on the back of its neck was long enough to give him a good grip, but he held it cautiously, fearing that it would hurt the creature.

“You ready?” Hunk asked, bounding up next to him on his own tridi.

“Uh, no. Where are we racing to, exactly?”

Jinx stopped prancing and pointed straight ahead. “A few miles from here we’ll come up on a waterfall. First to the water, wins.”

“Let’s do this thing,” Keith said, bracing himself against the neck of the tridi.

“Ready….” Rixel said,looking around. “...GO.”

The group took off into the jungle, alerting the rest of the tridi without riders to follow suit. They ran a lot faster than Keith expected them to and he found himself clinging to his tridi’s neck. The creature brayed in excitement and it ran neck and neck with Jinx’s tridi. Keith stole a look around, seeing that Rixel had taken an early lead with Pidge and Junx close behind. To his right, Jinx and Hunk fought to close the gap.

“Come on,” Keith urged his tridi, and it sprang forward. He steered it a little to the right, to cut off Jinx and Hunk. He gave Jinx a smug grin as he pulled ahead of him. He turned his attention forward again and focused on catching up to Pidge and Rixel.

“Wooooohooo!” Rixel cried as Keith approached him.

“Get back here, Ghost boy!” Jinx yelled behind him. Keith laughed, no longer caring if he won or lost. He was free, and for a moment, didn’t have a single care.

True to his word, Rixel won the race with ease, finishing several feet in front of the others. Once they had all reached the waterfall, they took off their shoes and socks and waded into the pool of water. While there wasn’t any Quintessence around, their surroundings were still stunning. Keith walked out into the water carefully, the green tridi closely following him. He scratched its chin and watched the others. Rixel, and Jinx had removed their shirts and were already climbing up the waterfall to cliff dive into the pool below. Hunk had accrued a small following of tridi was kept busy by petting and playing with the young ones. Pidge was inspecting different plant life that was growing along the river with an impressed look on her face.

Keith really did enjoy being at Eioa and it pained him to think that he would eventually leave. He thought about Jira and grew a little sad at the notion of not seeing her anymore. His chest tightened when he pictured her face when they talked about the Blade the other day. She seemed so torn about joining, he wondered if she had actually considered it. Things weren’t as awkward between them as he thought they would be after last night. They were able to move past their argument, but Keith hadn’t thought to bring up the Blade again. But he was curious to see what her thoughts were; she had never explained herself the night at the hot springs. His chest tightened again and his face flushed when he thought of the hot springs; of how close she was after pulling him into the water… Of how she had touched his chest. Keith shook his head, trying to dispel the thoughts. He could sense someone’s presence behind him and he flinched when he turned to see Junx frowning down at him, arms crossed.

“You seem a bit distracted,” Junx said with a smug look.

“I’m fine,” Keith said carefully. While Junx had seemed more timid before the race, he seemed to be taking advantage of Keith’s discomfort. He needed to level the playing field and just bury the hatchet with him.

“Look Junx, I’m sorry about getting on your case earlier today with Shiro,” he said. Junx’s arrogant expression immediately fell and his eyes grew soft.

“I really didn’t mean to hurt him like that,” he said quietly.

“I know. You don’t know what he’s been through and I got mad over something you couldn’t have predicted. Jira vouched for your intentions, but I was slow to apologize.”

“I’m sorry too,” Junx smiled. “Not only for Shiro, but I think I misjudged you.”

“What do you mean?” Keith asked, his brow furrowed.

Junx scoffed and leaned closer. “... Just remember that if you do anything to make my sister upset again, you’ll have to answer to me personally.”

Keith stepped away from him, hoping that Junx couldn’t tell his face was burning from embarrassment. “You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Good.” Junx squeezed Keith’s shoulder tightly, sending him a warning that Keith was sure to remember. Keith gave him a nervous smile, hoping to reassure him. He wanted Jira’s brothers to like him, and Junx was the one that needed the most convincing. His size and demeanor certainly intimidated Keith, but despite that, he respected Junx. And to his credit, it seemed that Junx was beginning to reciprocate that respect.