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Keith stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. He always needed a shower after coming out of a healing pod, no matter how tired he was. Today was no different, especially since there was a lot of dried blood to clean off. He looked at himself in the mirror to see the scar left over from the day’s battle. His eyes immediately fall to a large scar along his left side that wasn’t there yesterday. It starts close to his belly button and runs around his waist, about 8 inches or so he assumes. It was a deep cut, causing the scar to be about an inch high at it’s maximum. He runs his fingers across it, gauging how deep the scar runs.
He doesn’t remember anything about the end of the battle; he had passed out from blood loss after he was hurt. But he does remember how he got this scar.
The castle had gotten some intel that Lotor and his Generals would be attempting to steal some supplies from a nearby planet called Livora. They didn’t have much time to plan, but they headed to the planet to stop them. Lotor and his Generals were still on the surface when the Paladins got there, so they landed their Lions and searched for Lotor to stop him. Their surprise attack didn’t go quite as planned since Lotor and his Generals were prepared for something going wrong.
The battle was a jumble of weapons and limbs as eventually all planning on the Paladins part went out the window. Shiro’s main rule was they were supposed to avoid directly engaging Lotor. But Keith and Shiro eventually found themselves face to face with him while the other Paladins and Generals fought. Due to his upbringing and training, Lotor proved to be a troublesome opponent even for two Paladins at once. He was able to fend off both Paladins at once with relative ease and finesse.
The battle between the three of them stayed evenly matched with each party getting some hard hits. Eventually, Lotor found himself cornered but neither Paladin was daring to move closer, choosing to take a moment to catch their breath. Before Shiro could address some sort of plan with Keith, Keith lunged forward towards Lotor with his sword drawn. With no time to react, Shiro could only watch as Lotor swung his sword towards Keith and caught him in the side.
Being caught up in the moment, Keith noticed the blade a second too late as it made contact with him. He felt the sharpness of the blade slice through his under suit and the skin beneath. Sure, he had been sliced and stabbed before, but it was nothing like this. This time he was so close there was no where to go to try and lessen the blow, he had no choice but to face the full impact of it. For a moment, everything was in slow motion and Keith felt the edge of the blade slice his skin and slice deep into the muscle and tissue underneath. It took a couple seconds for the pain to register in his brain and allow him to cry out.
Dropping his sword, Keith fell to the ground as it dissolved in thin air. Trying to get up, he looked at his side and was greeted with a puddle of blood already starting to form beneath him. He couldn’t tell how deep the wound was, but knew it was deeper than anything he’d ever had before. Looking up, he could see Shiro rushing Lotor while he was distracted making sure Keith didn’t get up. Keith could hear the sounds of feet running towards them, but when he looked to find who it was, his vision started to blur. Before he knew it, he had passed out in a pool of his own blood.
Luckily it was the other Paladin’s running towards them, and they were quickly able to send Lotor and his Generals escaping back to their ship. Shiro turned his attention to Keith as he called the castle to have a healing pod ready because Keith was injured. As carefully as he could, Shiro brought Keith to the Black Lion to bring him back to the castle. Being able to sense what was happening, the Red Lion was able to pilot herself back to the castle, closely following the Black Lion and her Paladin.
Back at the castle, Shiro and the other Paladins rushed to the med bay with Keith being carried by Shiro. They arrived just as Coran finished getting the healing pod set up and ready for use. Not having time to remove his armour, Keith was carefully but swiftly set into the pod armour and all. Everyone crowded around the pod as Coran read the output. Keith was covered in blood, so much so that it was barely distinguishable that his armour was white on the left side of his body. Per the readouts, they had barely gotten him into the pod in time. The cut was deep and had sliced some internal organs along with muscle and tissue.
Allura had to hold the debriefing in the med bay as the four Paladins refused to leave right away. Eventually one by one Lance, Hunk and Pidge left to shower and change, leaving Shiro keeping watch over Keith’s pod. He sat on the floor and leaned up against the pod and settled in to wait. It took a couple hours for Shiro to hear the familiar beeping signaling that the pod is about to open. He called Coran to come to the med bay and prepared himself to catch Keith when the pod door opened.
Keith was still unconscious when the door opened and he started falling forwards into Shiro’s waiting arms. Shiro was carrying him to an exam table by the time Keith opened his eyes. Before Keith can question anything, Coran walks into the room and meets them at one of the exam tables. Shiro removes Keith’s armour and explains to Keith what happened during the battle after he passed out. Coran explains the injuries that Keith sustained while scanning him to make sure the pod healed everything. Once Coran can confirm all the injuries are healed, Shiro takes Keith back to his room to rest.
Setting down Keith’s bloodied armour in the corner, Keith thanks him and says he’s going to have a quick shower then rest. Shiro leaves to give him some privacy and to update the other Paladins on Keith’s condition.