The Gift of the Harvest (One-shot)

Chapter 1

Lance was tense as he slid into the hovercar, the keys felt almost heavy in his hand. It had taken a lot of sneaking to get them from his sister's room on the base, but they needed them if they were ever going to make it to the nearby town. He started the car as soon as heard Pidge and Hunk enter the backseat and shut the doors.

Keeping the headlights off, Lance reversed, pulled out from the parking space, and drove out of the parking lot into the night of the desert. It was mostly silent in the car until the looming building of the Galaxy Garrison had shrunk to nothing behind them.

"Who's car is this, Lance?" Pidge asked, finally breaking the silence.

Lance briefly glanced back at her in the rearview mirror before focusing his eyes on the road ahead. Clearing his throat with a cough, Lance replied, "It's my sister's. She works here at the Garrison."

Pidge opened her mouth to question him more only to feel a sharp nudge to her side. Irritated, she looked over at Hunk who was shaking his head and had put a finger up to his lips. Taking the hint, she decided to change the topic as they drove on. " So, what's this festival all about? All Hunk told me is that tonight's the last night to go and that it starts when the sun goes down."

Some of the tension seemed to ease out Lance's body at the mention of the festival. Tonight was supposed to be a fun thing that brought them closer as a team; he just needed to loosen up. "They call it El Regalo de la Cosecha, The Gift of the Harvest. I've been going to this festival with Hunk for a few years now. Usually, my sister chaperone's us. She couldn't get the time off to take us tonight. It's a tradition to go and Hunk and weren't about to miss it," said Lance.

"Since you're a part of our team now we thought you should come with us," said Hunk, smiling slightly, "Consider it...initiation. We'll be together until we graduate and possibly longer after that. Better to be friends rather than strangers if we want to be a good team."

"El Regalo is the celebration of a good harvest and how the world slowly falls asleep until it wakes again in spring to provide. It's mostly food, good music, and games but the real kicker is the bonfire at the end of the last night," said Lance as they finally arrived at the town.

Even with the windows rolled up they could hear the chatter of people and music from the various performers. Deftly navigating the car through the crowds of people walking the street, Lance managed to find a good parking spot not too far away from the main festivities. Exiting the vehicle, he stretched slightly, loosening his muscles after sitting in the driver's seat for so long.

Turning to towards Hunk and Pidge, he saw that they were already chatting about what to do first before the bonfire.

"We should play some games first!" said Pidge, hands moving to accentuate his words, "We can win something cool to take back as a souvenir of our first team outing!"

"I know what game you're already playing, dude," replied Hunk, "I'm not having it! We have to swing by Tante Helda's Apple Goods stand first! She sells out quickly, and I'm not waiting for another whole year to drink her Cider or eat her homemade fritters!"

"We're not doing either of those!" Lance said. Wrapping an arm around either of their shoulders he pulled them in close and whispered, "I'm surprised you didn't want to do this first Hunk. We need to get our Favors de San Agabo. They run out quickly, and I want to know how my future looks this year."

"What are Favors de San Agabo?" asked Pidge, staring up at Lance with a perplexed look on his face.

"The favours are little pouches given out to festival goers to toss in the bonfire at the end of the night. They say if you stare into the coloured flames from the herbs in the pouch you get a glimpse of the future!" he replies. Releasing them both he dashed off into the crowd in search of the festival's committee stand where they handed them out. "Keep up you two! The night is young let's get our favours and enjoy the festival!" he called over his shoulder.

It was a whirlwind of activity for the three from then on out. After getting their favours they went from booth to booth, alternating between food and games. Lance and Hunk cheered Pidge on as they watched him dominate game after game. Soon enough they had to make a few trips back to the car to deposit his prizes into the trunk, so they didn't have to tote them around.

The most time they spent was at the various booths of merchants that had arrived to sell their wares. Lance haggled with one of the merchants for a while about the price of a face cream he wanted to try and successfully managed to purchase it for a lower price. Before they knew it it was midnight, and the bonfire was no longer just a stacked tower of wood, but a raging pillar of flames. Swinging by Tante Hilda's first, they all bought a mug of cider to enjoy as the night came to an end.

Clutching his favour in one hand and cider in another, Lance turned to face Hunk and Pidge as the stood beside him. "On three we toss our favours in, sound cool?" Lance asked, itching to see what the Saint had prepared to show him.

Pidge looked at him and nodded yes, and Hunk hummed and 'alrighty' in agreement. Both with favors in hand and drinks in another the stood ready to toss them in and see their 'future'.

" One," said Lance.

"Two," chimed Pidge.

"Three!" exclaimed Hunk.

The moment their pouches hit the fire the flames instantly consumed them and changed to vibrant shades of blue, green, and striking yellow. The thick scent of incense permeated the air from all the other favours burning, but with the trio, it was all whisked away by a strong desert wind, and replaced by the overwhelming scent of a freshly fallen rain in a forest. The three moved closer to the bonfire in an attempt to look closer at the shapes that seemed to be forming in the flames.

"This shouldn't be possible...," whispered Pidge, awestruck at the phenomenon occurring before them.

"I've done this for years with you and Veronica, Lance, but I've never seen the pouches do this," said Hunk, worried concern bleeding into his voice.

Lance said nothing as he stared at where his pouch was burning, the flames seemed to twist into the shape of a feline. Too big to be the head of a cat, in fact, to him it looked like... "Do you guys see lions in your flames too?" asked Lance quietly, transfixed at the sight of the blue head of a lioness in his flames.

At that moment a deafening roar of thunder rolled from the sky, followed by a threatening crack of lightning. Rain began pouring from the sky and in response the tower of burning wood finally gave, and the three's mystical Favors de San Agabo were lost among the glittering embers of the bonfire.

Pulled from their trances Hunk, Pidge, and Lance began shouting as the rain immediately began to soak them all. Running through the waves of people who were also trying to depart, they managed to reach their car safely and load up. Starting the car, Lance began the long drive to head back to the Galaxy Garrison base, the face of the lioness still emblazoned in his mind.