#kidgetober 2022

Kidgetober 2022 Week 3 : Wandering Journey

Day 20 "Tourist"

Kidgetober 2022 Week 1 : Fall Season

Day 8 "Fan Convention"

It's the angry vs sunshine ship dynamic 😎

Bonus:

“Ow…,” Pidge shuffled a few steps further and grimaced.

She just had to go out hiking on her own.

She just had to see the view from that stupid outcropping.

She just had to be dumb and fall. 

Now here she was, hobbling her way down a trail on a badly twisted ankle and hoping she didn’t stumble into a rattlesnake or cactus patch or scorpion or…

She gave her throbbing ankle a moment to rest, pulling out the cracked phone from her back pocket. She poked at the dead screen in vain, hoping that maybe if she just left it alone maybe it’d come back on long enough for her to call for help. 

Nothing happened. She knew it wouldn’t.

She sighed, looking up to the darkening sky and cursing herself again. 

She was seriously going to yell at Lance when she made it back. He’d said this trail was easy. A nice day hike. Fucking liar. She should have known better then to trust –

A crashing sound echoed off the nearby rock walls and something thrashed in the growing shadows just beyond her vision. 

What the fuck lived in the desert that was big enough to make that noise?!

She crouched behind the nearest boulder, ignoring the pain it caused, and waited, holding her breath.

The thrashing sounds got closer until a monstrous form, with a tangle of brush wrapped around its head, pulled from the shadows, snorting breath hot enough to be seen as steam.

A cow? 

It was a cow…

A very big cow. Okay, maybe the proper term would be bull. 

She gingerly stood up from her spot behind the boulder, thankful she wasn’t wearing any red, and watched as the bull continued to flail, trying to get the dried brush off of its head. 

“It’s just scared…” she wondered out loud, tilting her head. 

The bull locked eyes with her and snorted, stamping its foot on the ground. 

Thudding on the hard ground in the direction the bull had come, made her crouch again, pain shooting up her leg. 

Two figures on horseback flew into view, half obscured by the shadows of the rock wall and quickly fading light. She heard the crack of rope and the bull started to be more frantic, pulling at something now wrapped around one of the long horns.

 A lasso. 

These were cowboys. 

What century had she stumbled into?! 

One of the men called out to the bull in a soothing voice, his horse barring down to hold the rope tight while the other man jumped from his horse and quickly untangled the mess of brambles. 

He ran back to his horse as soon as the branches were gone but the bull had already calmed. Or worn itself out. She wasn’t sure.

“What stopped him?” The larger of the man moved his horse forward, getting the bull turned around in the direction they’d come.

“I don’t know.” The other man panted, turning in her direction. “Oh.” 

They blinked at each other for a moment, both equally surprised to see the other. 

“Hi…,” Pidge waved a hand, moving to step around the boulder only to stumble instead. 

“You okay?” Before she realized what had happened, the younger man had jumped from the horse and was kneeling beside her. 

She had to be delirious. 

How else could she rationally explain looking up to a sky darkened by a dark hat, dark concerned eyes and a rugged handsome face? 

“Uh…yea? I mean — no! I, um, hurt my ankle and I kinda fell on my phone…” she reached into her pocket and pulled out the useless device. 

The man’s face moved from concerned to amused.

He let out a laugh and extended a hand. 

“I’m Keith,” he gave her a lopsided grin that had her shaky on her feet for all the wrong reasons. “That’s my brother, Shiro.” He pointed over his shoulder at the other man who waved. “And that,” he pointed at the now contained beast, “is Lotor.”

“Nice to meet you, I guess?” She squeaked, hobbling along next to him as he made his way back to his horse. 

“Need a ride? It’s the least we could do for helping us stop this asshole.” Shiro tipped his hat at her and she really really wanted to ask what decade it was. There was no way this was real.

“Maybe a lift to a hospital?” Keith jutted his chin at her ankle and she winced, trying to act tougher then she was actually feeling. 

“If you could just get me to the trailhead, I can manage from there.” Shiro shook his head and let out a low whistle.

“Sorry, ma’am. The rangers close that road at night. I think we’re your only option out tonight.”

“Ma’am? Oh shit! I’m Pidge.” 

“Pidge? Like a bird?” Keith skewed his face and she wanted to say something snarky but it was far too innocent for that.

“Katie. My real name’s Katie. Pidge is a family nickname. Brother’s fault.” Keith laughed again, adjusting something on his horse’s saddle. 

“Brothers…” he shook his head and Shiro tisked him. 

“We need to get this guy and Ms. Katie back to town. Can you ride?” 

Ride? She couldn’t even walk!

“Well, I’ve never been on a horse before…,” she shuffled towards the blue-toned animal in front of her and reached out a hesitant hand when he stuck his nose out. “But I like dogs. And I know horse just means big dog. So…that’s something right?” She looked up at Keith skeptically but found only nodding approval. 

“You’re not wrong.” He patted the horse’s neck and smiled, “Cosmo is really easy. Don’t worry. I will have to ask though, is it okay if I ride with you? It’ll go faster if I can steer.”

“Sure…”

It was an awkward few minutes of trying to get onto Cosmo’s back and Keith being way too polite with where his hands were going while helping but they managed. By the time they reached the main road, the sun had set and the stars were out. 

Out of nervous habit, Pidge started to point out different constellations and planets and to her amazement Keith was actually interested. He even knew a few himself! It made the slow ride to the ranger station much more bearable.

The rangers let Pidge call her brother to come and get her and after reassuring Keith for the hundredth time that she’d be perfectly fine in the well lit, warm ranger station, he finally relented. 

“Fine. I’ll go. But here…” he swiped a memo pad from the other side of an unused desk, jotting down a number. “This is my cell. Call if you have any problems.” 

It had been a long day. A long, interesting day. And she was starting to get a little loopy which made her bolder than she usually would be.

“Are you giving me your number, cowboy?” She laughed as Keith’s face went red. “Give me your phone.” She swiped it from his hand before he could say anything. “I know my phone’s broken right now but I’ll probably have it fixed by tomorrow so if you want, you can call me. You know…if you need someone to help with your cow problems.”

He bowed his head, smiling as he hit the phone into the palm of his hand.

“Sounds like a date.” He took a few steps backwards before tipping his hat and walking back out the door.