The Draconian (Keith x OC)

|| The Hunted || {EDITED}

All five lions depart from the castle, heading toward the tracker's location. With the black lion in the lead, the four remaining lions follow close behind in a tight formation. "Lotor's cruiser is on the other side of the planet. At our current rate of speed, we'll be within attack range in an hour," Pidge informed the team.

"Good," Keith replied. "Hold formation."

In the distance, Lotor's ship could be seen hovering above the rings of the planet. While they were focused on the target, Allura accidentally lost control of the blue lion and rammed into the yellow lion's side. "Oh, apologies, Hunk!"

After steadying the yellow lion, Hunk groaned. "Mm, is attacking right now such a good idea? You know, since not everyone is so great with their lions?"

"Do you mean me, specifically?" Allura asked with an irked tone.

"You? No," Hunk replied swiftly before deciding to state the obvious. "No way, I didn't. I'm just simply pointing out that more than half of the team are in new lions. Maybe now's not a great time to bite off more than we can chew."

"You can blame our hotheaded leader for that one," Lance scoffs.

"First, you want me to lead and then you complain about how I do it. Prince Lotor is the heir to the galra throne. We could end his reign right now," Keith replied in irritation.

Hunk suddenly heard a strange noise from his cockpit and looked around in confusion. "Uh, did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Pidge asked.

"A weird noise." Hunk leaned over the edge of his seat and searched his surroundings. He frowned in confusion but then shrieked loudly when he felt something brush against his feet. "What was that?!"

"Hunk, stop screaming!" Lance yelled. "You're gonna blow my eardrums out!"

"There's something in here with me!" He ignored Lance's comment as he continued to yell at the top of his lungs.

"Maybe the mice decided to join us," Allura said.

"No! No! No! No! This is much bigger than the mice! It's probably gonna eat me!"

"Just find it and get rid of it," Keith hissed in annoyance. "We need to focus on the mission."

"Okay, okay." Hunk inhaled deeply before exhaling. He built up his courage and looked around the cockpit once more. When he saw nothing, he seemed to relax. "Maybe it was my—" His eyes widen in horror when something latches onto his helmet. He screams the highest he could and tried to pry the creature off his helmet, resulting in him falling out of his chair. "Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!"

The other paladins contacted the yellow lion via video transmission to see what the creature was. Their eyes widen in bafflement as they saw what was attached to Hunk's helmet and shouted her name in unison. "Arcadia?!"

"Coran!" Allura immediately contacted her royal advisor. "You were suppose to be watching over Arcadia!"

"Oh, yes," he chuckled nervously. "I meant to contact you before you departed the castle, but it slipped my mind. Apologies, Princess."

The transmission ended and Lance groaned. "This is the second time she's stowed away! We've gotta put her in a cage or lock her in someone's room before we head out on missions."

"We're not doing either," Keith growled. "Hunk, just keep her safe."

Hunk managed to pry Arcadia off his helmet with a huff. "I'll try..." He pushed himself off the floor with the flameling in one arm and climbed back into his chair. Hunk placed her in his lap, which earned a cheerful but weak chirp from the dragon. He looked down at her and placed a hand on the back of her neck. "Well, at least you're not burning up like earlier." She maneuvered her body so his hand was on her head. She leaned into his touch, which earned a giddy smile and an adorable blush from him.