If you're still doing the microfics, can I please ask for hurt Keith and protective Shiro? Congratulations on your follower milestone! :3
“Stay back!” Shiro’s head was reeling, but he forced himself upright and interposed himself between his fallen teammate and the group of creatures moving toward them. His Galra arm was glowing already, and he stood defensively, unwilling to move forward and leave Keith behind but certainly not allowing himself to be pushed back.
The five or six aliens approaching through the trees paused and glanced at each other, beady black eyes narrowing, the spines on their back and heads rippling in what looked like conscious patterns. Shiro wondered distantly if they could communicate with those. Most of him didn’t care. These creatures were enormous and seemed highly dangerous, and he wasn’t going to let them get anywhere near Keith.
After some silent communication, one of the smaller aliens at the front of the group took one step forward, upper limbs cautiously outstretched. As Shiro watched, gaze darting back and forth, it retracted the claws at the end of each digit on its six upper appendages. It looked at Shiro without blinking. “Visitor.” Even its voice was careful, almost soft. “You crash-landed from the sky, yes? Your companion is injured?”
Involuntarily, Shiro glanced behind him at where Keith was sprawled in a pile of bracken, limp and unmoving. He had responded weakly when Shiro had dragged them both out of the destroyed pod ship, but hadn’t said anything for the last twenty minutes or so. Shiro wasn’t sure about the extent of his injuries, but he knew they were serious.
He looked forward and raised his glowing arm again. “Don’t touch him,” he spat.
The spokescreature took a tiny step back and raised its upper limbs even higher in the universal symbol of surrender. “We mean no harm to you, sky-traveler. One of our members is a healer. If you will allow us to have a look, we may be able to help.”
Shiro panted for breath and stared into its face, trying to read the truth on a face with features that had few equivalents to human anatomy. It was a losing battle, and he knew it. He had no idea if he could believe what this alien was saying. But Keith was hurt, possibly dying. Shiro’s only option might be to trust these people, whoever they might be.
A chance, even a slim chance, was better than no chance. Shiro slowly straightened, his Galra arm lowering to his side as it deactivated. “Very well,” he said. “I would appreciate your assistance, if you can offer it. But I will not leave my friend’s side, and I warn you, if I have a reason to attack, I can move very, very quickly.”
The spokescreature moved its head slowly in what might have been something like a nod, then looked back to the group and waved an appendage. Another alien, this one presumably a healer, began to move forward. Shiro kept an eye on it, as well as the others, but let them approach.
He hoped he wasn’t making a mistake.
2,000 followers special! Prompts are now closed. Thank you to everyone who participated! You can read all of the fics at this link or on AO3 starting here.
