ALL MIXED UP | I

16 scattered 16

After finding out that James Patterson, the bestselling author in the world since 2001, has an average chapter length of about 600 words, I have decided that I will no longer beat myself up for not having 6k words in each chapter.

Five pages in Microsoft Word. 2.5k words this chapter. I'm gonna go and have my well-deserved tea.

"What just happened?" Pidge asked.

"Who cares?" Hunk shot back, eager to leave the battlefield. "Wormhole!"

As the lions entered, the wormhole's colour changed from its usual blue to a violent purple. Something was very wrong.

"Coran, what's happening?" Shiro asked.

"The integrity of the wormhole has been compromised," Coran explained. "It's breaking down!"

"What does that mean?" Lance shouted.

"It means we have no control over where we're headed!"

The hangar doors burst open, and the Lions were pulled into open space.

The Red and Black Lions hit the side of the wormhole, flinging then off to an unknown location. Before either paladin knew it, they were hurtling toward a strange planet.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Keith urged, trying to regain control.

No such luck. The Lions crashed painfully into the hard surface of the planet.

Immediately, Keith unbuckled himself from the pilot's chair, rushing to the back where Sage was.

"Sage!" he called, hoping to receive an answer.

"Keith," Sage muttered. Keith sat next to her, pulling her hair away from her face and placing a hand on her forehead once more. Was it his imagination or was she warmer than before?

Sage leaned into his touch, grateful for Keith's cool skin against hers. She shut her eyes, humming contentedly.

"I'm gonna see if there's anything in the first aid kit, okay?" Keith said, resisting the urge to break down right then and there. He rustled through the storage in the back of the cockpit, eventually pulling out the emergency first aid kit that he'd been looking for.

Making his way back to where Sage was, he powered on what he assumed was the thermometer. The pictorial instructions told him to place the flat surface against Sage's forehead and so he did just that, frowning when 39 came up on the screen.

Assuming the thermometer was in Celsius (Keith did some quick calculations in his head), Sage's body temperature was 102 in Fahrenheit, only two degrees from what was considered an emergency.

"It is bad?" Sage asked weakly. Keith let out a slow breath.

"No, it's not bad. You're gonna be just fine," he assured. Sage frowned, seeing right through his lie, but remained silent.

"Here," Keith said, cutting a strip from the thin blanket and soaking it in water from the Lion's emergency supplies. He placed it just above Sage's eyes and she gave a soft sigh of relief.

"I'm gonna go try and locate Shiro, okay?"

"Let me go with you," Sage said, attempting to sit up. Keith carefully pushed her back down. He shook his head.

"You are in no condition to be going anywhere," he said firmly. "Just rest, okay? I'll be back before you know it."

Sage hesitated before nodding, allowing herself to relax back onto the floor. She forced her eyes to remain open until she could no longer see the bright red of Keith's armour from the cockpit's window.