Catch the Stars ||Keith Kogane||

34

The three of them stood at the top of a gray staircase. Shiro and Trip had been trying to talk Keith out of his latest dumb idea, but it wasn't very successful.

He had changed from his paladin armor into a suit that was a lot like the ones Blade members wore. All black with purple details and lights coming from it. His blade was gripped in his hand, his knuckles white from the force. Like he was afraid someone would take it from him again.

"You have bad ideas," Trip sighs with a hand on her forehead, "but this has to take the cake."

She could practically hear him rolling his eyes at her words. Not much to anyone's surprise, Shiro agreed with her, "this is pretty stupid, Keith."

"This is the only way to get answers," he tells them for the third time.

Surprisingly, Shiro hadn't asked any questions regarding the blade. He probably figured that Keith would tell him when he was ready. It was nice to see how much the two of them trusted each other. It reminded her of how she and Haylie are.

At the bottom of the stairs, they can hear the sound of a metal door sliding open. That was their alarm that their talk was over. Keith had to go face the trials of Marmora. All Trip had gotten from Kolivan was that it was a fight. To the death or to answers. Keith was a good fighter, he'd improved a lot during training, but she wasn't confident that he could handle this on his own. Not with his temper.

Trip watches him turn away from her and Shiro. She was still angry at him for lying about Ulaz, but she didn't want him to die. At least not unless it was her causing it.

He's halfway down the staircase to his trial when she calls out, "remember to swing with your wrist, not your shoulder!"

He looks over his shoulder at her, stopping in the middle. He gives a brief smirk, "be careful," he says, confusing her until he tacks on, "you almost sound worried about me."

The cockiness in his voice made her swallow. She spins on her heel, not wanting him to see the red rise to her cheeks. Her reply is shouted behind her, "I just don't want any more blood on my hands, Red."

Shiro follows her through the door at the end of the small room they had been in. Kolivan was waiting in an "observation room" a few paces down a hallway. He had left a few blade members outside the door to escort them there, and they were waiting when they exited.

Shrio catches up to walk beside her as the Blade members begin leading them down the gray hallway. After being around them for a while, the paladins didn't hesitate very often when they wanted to say something to her. Times like now, when she knew Shiro was about to tease her, she wished they would. Sadly, her intimidation factor had gone down when they saw her with a bloody nose after getting kicked in the face.

"So...you and Keith seem to be close, now," his tone was amused, and he even ended it with a chuckle. The red still hadn't left Trip's face, and she could feel it getting worse with his teasing.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she says in a steady voice. Shiro only snickers in response.

They reach the room where Kolivan was waiting. There was a large window in the front, and he stood in front of it with his hands folded behind his back. The humor left Shiro as soon as he remembered where they were and what was happening. Keith was practically being sentenced to death.

The man of the hour could be seen through the window. An arena seemed to be below them, where Keith and a Blade member were facing each other. Determination was surrounding both of them. She leans against the wall behind Kolivan, while Shiro stands directly beside him. Once the door to the room closes, she gets ready to watch a fight with incredibly high stakes.