Pitch Black [Angst - Bewegung aus dem Augenwinkel - für mich]

[peterhforalpha.livejournal.com]

Team: Sonne
Challenge: Angst - Bewegung aus dem Augenwinkel - für mich
Titel: Pitch Black
Fandom: Voltron
Charaktere: Team Voltron
Wörter: 1126 Wörter
Sprache: Englisch
Anmerkung: spielt in Folge 7x06


Keith closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh. He had started counting in his head to know when the next alarm would remind him to count through. He knew how important it was to have a ritual, to have something to cling on to. Time was fleeting and it was cruel when there was just nothing.
Keith had been through worse. They all had been through worse. They weren’t in danger, not momentarily. They just needed some time to figure out how to get out of this impossible situation. But time they had enough. So much time. And only darkness around them.
As the leader Keith needed to maintain his face, to show strength to the others, to keep a clear head. He was the one that the others looked to for answers and solutions and though Keith didn’t know yet how they would get out of this situation he had to be calm and collected. He needed to show them that he hadn’t given up hope yet. They weren’t dead. They still had each other. This wasn’t their end.
With every passing minute it got harder though. The darkness around them turned into eyes that were looking at them. Turned into a scary fog that tangled around their legs. Keith knew that there was nothing there. Deep down he knew that they were alone. But he felt like a kid again, alone at night in his dark room and every little spot of light played tricks on his mind. Now it was nothing else. Just his mind being scared.
He was so lost in his mind that he didn’t even notice the alarm that went off so Hunk was the one who initiated the count through. “Keith,” he said at last. “Sorry, I was-”, he started to apologize but didn’t dare to keep going. He was the one that should lead the group. He couldn’t show weakness.
“It’s okay.” Allura’s voice. “We’re all tired. But we need to stay sharp.”
“Right! How about I tell some more jokes?” Lance jumped in and Keith had to smile at the mumbled complaints from the others. “What? Don’t you like my jokes?”
“No!” Pidge commented.
“You know what, Pidge? That hurt me. That hurt me deep.”
“Will you survive?” Keith asked and tried to move his head as much as he could in Lance’s direction. This little banter gave him back some of his confidence. Although they were stuck in this hopeless situation they were still all together. They weren’t alone.
“Maybe. I’m not sure about that though.” Lance started to wiggle in his arms.
“What do you mean?” Keith asked, alarmed, trying to move his head a little more so he could look in the direction that Lance was watching.
“There is this huge giant … thing!”
“I can’t see anything, Lance,” Pidge said. Keith could hear that she was trying to sound calm but there was a little quiver in her voice. She was frightened.
“What’s going on?” Hunk and Allura asked almost at the same time.
“What’s going on?” Lance’s voice was getting louder. “We’re going to get eaten, that’s what’s going on.”
“Lance, stop!” Keith ordered. “I know you’re scared but take a deep breath.” He couldn’t let them all get freaked out because Lance thought he’d seen something. Lance needed to calm down so that the others could calm down as well. They needed to stay focused.
“Keith, I’m scared, yes, but I’m not imagining things. There is something coming towards us.” Lance’s voice was so steady that Keith didn’t doubt his words one second. Lance was serious and it was rare that he was serious. This wasn’t just his imagination.
“Okay,” he whispered quietly and tried once again to turn his head a little further. And there he could see it, just in the corner of his eye. A movement! It was light grey, so easy to miss in the pitch black around them, but there was definitely something moving. And it got bigger, moving towards them.
Keith’s heart started to bump faster. Normally he hadn’t this kind of reaction when it came to a fight but this wasn’t a normal fight. They were sitting ducks out here, no way for them to fight this thing. Keith didn’t know what to do, didn’t know how to keep the others safe. But one thing was clear. He needed to do something.
“You guys stay together.” Before anyone could say anything he freed himself from Lance and Allura and activated his jetpack to get forward.
“Keith, stop,” Lance’s voice sounded over to him.
“What are you doing?” A mix of the other voices.
“I won’t let you die,” he said. He was the leader. He had to keep the others safe. That was his duty. He had no idea what he should do against this thing but he couldn’t risk the lives of the others.
“That won’t help.”
“What is your plan then, Lance?” Keith shouted now. He hated that everyone seemed to know better. Everyone always had to say something about the way he was leading this team. He never wanted this job. He never asked for it. And he was trying his best. He thought he had improved but maybe he would never be good enough. So he tried to do the one thing he was good enough for. Risking his own life to save his friends.
“I don’t know. But not that.”
Keith didn’t move forward anymore and when he looked down he saw that Lance had grabbed his foot. “We’re a team,” he said. “We stay together. We face it together.”
Keith sighed. Sometimes he hated how stubborn Lance was. “We don’t even know what this is.” It looked like a giant grey cloud. Maybe it was harmless after all. But with their bad luck Keith doubted that.
“Then let’s figure this out together.”
Keith wanted to give in when suddenly the cloud was all around them and alarms started to beep. Keith couldn’t see anything anymore and only heard the desperate shouts of his friends when they called his name.
“KEITH!” Lance’s voice sounded over the others and suddenly he jolted awake. He saw the timer in his vision, reminding him to count.
“What?” he asked, completely confused.
“You need to say your name, Keith,” Allura said to his right.
“Yeah, right, yeah. I’m here.”
“You’re okay, buddy?”
Keith nodded instinctively, only to remember that the others couldn’t see him. “Yeah, I’m okay,” he said to Lance and the others, too, but he couldn’t help himself to look around, to move his eyes to one side and then to the other. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was out there. Just in the corner of his eye.