#defenders of arcadia | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sugarrushproductions · 2 years

Text

Tales of Arcadia (Voltron)

Romeo and Juudas

Keith had no idea how he'd got here.

Well, he did, but still. His armor had malfunctioned during school hours. Hunk had pushed him into the empty locker room just as his armor came on and the bell rang. It had just been after Griffin came by, taunting him, calling him a chicken.

He wasn't a chicken, damnit! He was just devoting his energy to better things than petty fighting. Beginning Trollhunter training couldn't start soon enough.

And that had been the thought that is what got him to the locker room.

What got him to the stage was Mr. Kade following them in and wondering what he was doing in such a get-up that was definitely not in school code.

Hunk had the brilliant idea to say it was for the school play, and with a mischievous glint in his eyes no less. So they'd been ushered off to the auditions that ended in five minutes.

"Wow, did you make that?" Lance asked, checking out the costume and only the costume, Keith told himself. Despite that, heat still rose to his cheeks.

"Uh, Hunk- Hunk helped a little," he said, nearly a whisper.

"But he came up with the design," Hunk said, pushing him forward a little. Damnit Hunk, stop lying, Keith begged.

"Awesome," Lance gushed, placing a hand on the chest plate. "Commitment like this and you'll definitely get a part. What-"

"Next!" Miss. Janet called.

"I think that's your cue man. Good luck!"

And now, Keith, was standing on the stage with nothing to say. He didn't even know the original damn play, much less the rewrite!

The faces in the crowd were familiar, mostly. There was Pidge, who was likely only doing tech, a senior girl with black hair that he'd talked too every now and then when he'd made his way to the office (she was an office aid), Shay, who Hunk had a crush on, Mary, the local gossip girl, plus a few others. He could do this. He could do this.

"What part are trying out for?" Miss. Janet asked. Keith said the first part that came to mind, that he knew.

"Romeo?" She wrote that down and gestured for him to begin. He racked his brain for anything, anything that could be written off as poetry or Shakespeare-

Destiny is a gift.

"Destiny is a gift," he said.

Some go their entire lives living existences in quiet desperation,

"Some go their entire lives living existences in quiet desperation."

Never learning the truth that what feels as though a burden-

"Never learning the truth that what feels as though a burden,"

Pushing down upon our shoulders is actually a sense of purpose that lifts us to greater heights!

"Pushing down upon our shoulders is actually a sense of purpose that lifts us to greater heights."

Never forget that fear is but the precursor to valor!

"Never forget that fear is but the precursor to valor! That to strive and triumph in the face of fear, is what it means to be a hero! Don't think-"

Become!

"Become!"

He had gotten more confident with every word, more sure of himself. He didn't understand all of what he was saying, but it was the only thing he knew of that could fit with this stuff. And the applause felt both weird and earned.

. . .

This is what happens when he tries to be nice to Keith. He told him specifically to leave the part of Romeo for him. And what part does mullet go for?

"Uh, Romeo," Came out of his mouth.

Lance didn't care about his whole speech about destiny and fear. Didn't care that he looked downright hot in his armor. That the way he swung his sword left him surprised and breathless...

The point was that he didn't use any lines from the play, nothing that he'd ever heard before, and he'd still get the part. He never had to try, he was just gifted things and talent.

Lance was about to leave in full, was halfway down the ramp when heard someone complementing him.

"That was pretty cool, what you did out there," he heard the girl say. "I'd definitely say you've got the part, Romeo." Keith chuckled which stupidly made Lance's heart flutter.

"Keith, actually."

"Oh, I know who you are. You've practically made a home in the office." She joked. Despite it all, Lance had to hold back a laugh.

"Right. And thanks for the compliment, but I really didn't even think, I just sort of said it all."

That pissed Lance off again.

"That's acting, my dude!" The girl laughed. "Oh, and keep that armor ready. You'll need it." With her tone of voice, Lance just knew she winked at him. That put a knot in his stomach.

Lance saw her exit the theater from his small vantage point and heard Hunk speak for the first time since Keith went onstage.

"Do you think she knows?" He whispered.

"What?" Keith asked, then immediately answered "no way. She's probably just talking about the play." But he didn’t sound sure.

What was he hiding?"

. . .

"You were pretty angry at Griffin earlier," Hunk said as they were riding their bikes through the city street. The sun was casting an orange glow over the tallest buildings, orange rectangles of sun scattered about. "Blinky said it responds to your emotional state, so maybe that's what triggered it."

"Maybe, but if does that all the time," Keith trailed.

"Yeah, you're gonna have to work on that if we want to stay inconspicuous." As they turned the corner on their bikes, the two saw a large dark troll at the end of the street. "Oh! I immediately take it back!" The troll roared.

"Trollhunter, Merlins creation, Gunmars bane!" He yelled.

"Are you Bular?" Keith yelled, a scowl on his face. Hunk whimpered at his outburst. The dark troll smirked.

"So you know who I am! Let's see what else you know after- ah!" The troll, Bular, roared as he touched a patch of sunlight.

"He's afraid of the sun," Keith noted. Hunk looked to the sky and whimpered again. "What!?"

"He won't for much longer!" He yelled. Keith followed what he meant and became worried too. He kept his face neutral.

"The amulet! Surrender it, and I will give you a speedy death!"

"Doesn't know how to negotiate this guy!" Hunk yelled before riding off. With a glare, Keith did too. They heard Bular trampling after them, quickly finding refuge behind a delivery truck. "Armour up, armour up!" Bular passed slowly, dragging his sword along the ground. "Armour up! Please! Now! FASTER!"

"Give me a second!" Keith whispered-yelled right back. "For the Glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command." The amulet glowed but didn't do anything. No armor. And that didn't help with Hunk's freak out.

"Uh, why isn't there armor on you right now?"

"I don't know! For the glory of Merlin, daylight is mine to command. Come on! It's me! Keith! The Trollhunter! I'm commanding here!"

"Centuries of Trollhunters, and I will have killed two in almost as many days!" Bular yelled, picking up the truck they were hiding behind.

"Ah! Run!" Hunk screamed, pulling Keith away. It was hard because even without the amulet and his small knife (small compared to Bular's), he still wanted to fight. But he let himself get pulled away because even the fighting part of his brain knew he wouldn't win right now.

As they got down the street, the truck was flying after them. It seemed to move in slow motion in the punk hue of twilight and just barely missed the two. Bular roared in fury.

"Behind Rolo's Electronics!" Keith yelled, making such a sharp right that Hunk nearly couldn't follow.

"Keith, you know I can't fit!" They came to the little alley.

"You're gonna have too!"

Hunk groaned and continued pedaling, hoping that his speed and momentum would get him through. His life depended on his understanding of physics.

Surprisingly, he had an easier time getting through than he thought. It was like the bricks had expanded for him. The pink of the twilight somehow made it into the alley as he went through it. Why was it so pink at twilight?

"He's not getting through it," Keith breathed heavily, the whole situation fully catching up with him. Bular scratched wildly inside the alley for only a few more seconds before running off to find another way to follow them. Hunk expected him to be climbing over the rooftops but there was no sound of that.

"No, but he's finding another way! Come on!" Hunk yelled, pulling Keith away. They were pedaling for a long time, it was dark now, before the ended up seeing Blinky and Arrrgh. They seemed to be walking casually but hurried.

"Master Keith, Hunk," Blinky said with a smile. "How-"

"We just got attacked by Bular!" Hunk yelled. "And he's crazy, man! Feral!"

"And you're still alive! I knew you had potential, Master Keith!" Both Hunk and Keith glared with a fury that even made Blinky stumble.

"You got a sweet voice, but you bring death with you!"

"You can fight him, right?" Keith asked. He was trying and failing to hide the fear in his voice, especially when Blinky chuckled and told him that he couldn't. And then reminded them that Arrrgh was a pacifist when the suggested he fight.

"Trollhunter!" Bular snarled, making every single one of them jump. Blinky immediately took charge and began leading them to the bridge and under the canal.

Bular knocked down the power line and disrupted Hunk's path on the bike and making him fall off. Arrrgh managed to catch him and threw him on his back. Hunk immediately grabbed hold of the fur on his back. Bular was temporarily slowed because he caught his leg on Hunk's bike.

Hunk and Keith didn't have the luxury of stone skin and huge bodies, so they had more trouble maneuvering around the thick forest and they would still have to explain the scratches to Shiro and Hunk's grandma.

"Master Keith! Don your armor!" Blinky yelled, obviously scared. There was no point in showing it, especially when Bular seemed to revel in the fear he caused others.

"I've been trying to!" Keith yelled in frustration. The two had to break for a second to avoid crashing into a tree but quickly came back together. "The stupid thing won't work!"

"Have you been incanting the incantation?"

"I've been incanting the crap out of it!"

"Just focus, dude!" Hunk yelled. He had a slight smile that left his face when Bular roared again. "Ok, this would be a lot more fun if we weren't being chased right now!"

They reach the dried up canal soon enough. Hunk, Blinky and Arrrgh went down the side whilst Keith got the amulet out. He tried to say it again.

"For the glory of Merlin, daylight is mine to command!" Nothing. Bular was coming closer. "For the glory of Merlin, daylight is mine to command!" Nothing. Blinky, Arrrgh, and Hunk were still running. "Come on!"

Patience yields focus.

Shiro always told him that. In any given situation, even a stressful one, being a little patient went a long way.

Clear your mind, look at every angle, focus.

"For the glory of Merlin, daylight is mine to command." Even as Bular came exceedingly closer, even as he raised his fist to punch him, Keith stayed focused. So what Bular made contact with was his armor.

It sent him flying backwards, but with the weight of the armor, he fell to the ground sliding across it and summoning his sword. Faintly, he heard Blinky and Hunk cheer. Keith looked up and smirked at Bular, who took the challenge.

Keith waited until the last possible moment to move away from his charge. He was big and couldn't change direction very easily, so if Keith kept it up, he'd get a hit.

When he swung, Bular dodged and drew both his own. There were pleas from the others for him to run, but it was blank. He wasn't leaving until he got one hit on that stone skin. Prove to hi- Hunk, that these creatures were vulnerable.

With a quick twist to get a feel for the weight of the blade, he countered both blades easily. A burst of what could only be magic came from where the blades met.

"Come on, Keith!" He heard Hunk yell. He only knew it was him because Blinky only ever called him Master Keith and Arrrgh didn’t speak that fluidly.

"A little busy here!" He yelled back, pulling away in a spin and hitting his arm. It unfortunately got lodged in it and he was thrown back. At least it was towards the entrance. Maybe fighting wasn't such a good idea.

"Pulling back already?" Bular laughed at Keith's retreating form. He hated that tone of voice on people, but he knew he couldn't fight him, not right now.

The door, which had somehow been open and glowing a bright blue, was closing.

"Keith!" Hunk yelled just before the door closed fully. Keith banged on the wall with a fist.

"No!" He felt around for some kind of lever, button, loose stone, something! But the was no lever or button and the entire thing was solid concrete. As he turned around and saw that Bular was coming at him with a smile that showed too many teeth, his armor deactivated.

Fear coarsed through his veins. There was no denying it anymore. No reason to hide it other than pride, and his was fading. The entire scene was playing out in slow motion. He was aware of every second. Every step Bular took. He looked angrier with each one.

This was it. He was going to die and he would have never-

His thought process was cut off by him being pulled back through what was once solid wall, Bular's roar still echoed in his ears.

. . .

"Ahhhh!!!!" Came from below the bridge. Angel smirked and let the spell she was casting fall. She had bought them just enough time to get to Trollmarket and safety. Her job was done and Bular was none the wiser.

"I know you're there, wizard." Her blood froze as she hid behind a nearby pillar.

Or maybe he was.

"There was no way that truck wouldn't have hit them." He continued, a strange tone in his voice. He was on the brink of laughing, but there was no humor in his voice. "And I would have caught the Trollhunter if you hadn't warded the rooftops or slowed me down just now."

Angel didn't move and she didn't dare teleport. That cause a flash and him to attack the bridge. If she focused, she could discretely turn invisible. Well, it wasn’t invisible per say, but it would make sure no one knew she was there.

"You've been a thorn in our side for almost as long as Kanjigar was. I can’t wait to tear your head from your body and rip out your heart!" He jumped on the bridge growling. Angel held her breath but was unfortunately unable to cover her mouth. The illusion would be broken if she moved.

As he moved from pillar to pillar, her heartbeat picked up. Faster. Closer. Faster. Closer.

Until she felt his breath on her face. It stuck like a thousand dead bodies. Whether they were human or animal, she wouldn't ever try to guess.

"I can smell your fear, wizard," he said, his eyes glowing with amusement and joy. "It's smells delicious."

Bright lights came rushing down the road, causing Bular to run. Angel didn't dare to let out her breath until she was sure he was gone. One whimper and couple tears left before she collected herself enough to teleport to an alley just a block away from the Cafe Douxie worked at.

It was a nerve-wracking walk, one that had her jumping at every car honk, every cat's meow, every dog's bark. By the time she got to the hostess stand, she was visible frazzled.

"Hey Angel," the hostess, Susan, greeted with a smile, barely looking at her as she grabbed a menu and silverware. "Just one in a booth in Douxie's- Hey, are you alright?"

"Yeah," Angel said, looking over her shoulder. It was a slow night, not a lot of foot traffic. "And that's what I want."

"Ok then. Follow me." Angel did as asked, following her to a back booth. Susan didn't take anything but water as her first drink order and said she'd send Douxie over as soon as he could. Angel thanked her, but asked for some Dr. Pepper too.

Angel leaned her head back and tried to relax in the dark red booth with the soft lights above her, giving her a warm glow. Her heart had slowed, but not by much.

"Angel, what's going on?" Douxie's voice helped. Opening the eyes that she didn’t even know that she'd closed, she saw Douxie's hazel eyes look down on her with concern. In one hand he had a delicious fizzling soda with no ice. And the other was ice water. She reached for the soda first, but it was pulled away. "Nu uh uh, love. Water first. You look like death."

"Yeah, I just avoided it," Angel said without thinking and took the water reluctantly. Before taking a drink, she facepalmed. Douxie sat down across from her.

"What happened? I thought you were just following-" Douxie stopped as realized what happened. "Did- did he attack you?"

"No," Angel said as she finally took a gulp from the water. It actually did feel nice going down her throat. "Not me, anyway. But Douxie, he was so close. I- I- I could smell his breath." She started gulping it down, if only to get to the sweet crisp coolness of the soda sooner.

"He was that close to you?" Douxie's eyes widened. It was easy to see that he was upset, and worry would be an understatement. "How did he know you were there?" At this, Angel looked down guiltily. "Angel, what did you do?"

"He was about to kill Keith and his friend. I'm sure they didn't see me, but I had to use magic a good few times. And, of course, our wards tipped him off." Douxie started to put a hand to his head, but Angel grabbed it and held it over the table.

"Bleeding Balroths," Douxie breathed. But both seemed to be calmed by the simple act of hand holding. "No wonder you came in looking like you did."

"I couldn't go back to the store alone right away."

"Ok. Then you stay here till I get off. You want your usual?" He asked, slowly getting back to a happy face. But it was tainted with worry. Still, Angel nodded as he got up and moved around to hug her. "My treat."

"What? No!" Angel protested, pulling away only enough to look at him. He chuckled.

"This isn't up for debate, darling." He got up and started to walk off, but not before berating her for reaching for the soda when her water was only half gone. She didn't listen.

He put in her order, went to check on his other tables (it was a slow night, so he only had two), cashed one of them, cleaned a couple tables, then went to wait by the window where the food came out. The perfect place to keep an eye on Angel.

She had her LED headphones one, likely listening to some Disney songs or anime themes to calm down. Her look was neutral as she scrolled through her phone. Likely looking at fanart, reading or preparing to write a fanfiction. Ever since they became a thing, she had become almost obsessed with them. Especially when she was upset.

"Order up, Doux!" The cook, Randall, said, sounding fairly annoyed. He must have said it a couple times already. "Oggle at your girlfriend on your time."

"Sorry, Ran," Douxie said as he grabbed the tray. "And she is not my girlfriend." Randall muttered something along the lines of 'whatever you say' and Susan, who was passing by just rolled her eyes. Douxie resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at her.

"Knock knock," Douxie said as he set the tray down and knocked on the table. Either she didn't notice or she just didn't care. Her soda was almost gone and water filled a little more than halfway full now that some ice had melted. "Hey, you need to eat, love," he chuckled as he gently removed her headphones.

"What? Oh," she blushed. "Sorry."

"No worries." Douxie was about to leave, but all Angel did was push the pasta around. He put a hand on her shoulder, put she didn’t look up. "It'll be ok. I promise."

"How close have you ever gotten to him?" Was her answer. Douxie didn't even get a chance to answer it before she spoke again. "It smelled horrible, his breath. Like it was a death omen." She just stared blankly at her food, pushing it around every now and then.

Douxie didn't say anything, just putting her headphones back on. Music calmed her like it did him. She gave him a small and almost unnoticeable smile in thanks before he left.

. . .

The rest of the night passed by slowly. It might have been the best for Douxie since she was so close to him, clinging onto his arm. But she jumped at the slightest sound and her fingers dug into his flesh. She kept looking around wildly every now and then, not even letting him pit her headphones on. He was carrying he uneaten meal.

It made sense that she was so upset. She only started helping him in the past couple decades, during Kanjigar's reign as Trollhunter, one of the quietest ones a trollhunter could have. She had never really been in danger like that before.

So again, the walk was bittersweet.

"Angel, where were you?" Archie scolded when they walked into the store. He was walking nimbly down the stair railing as Angel finally let go of Douxie only so he could put up some wards. "You were supposed to be here hours ago to open the shop for the afternoon. The Trollhunter couldn't have taken that long.. to.... "

Archie seemed to talk himself into the conclusion as his eyes widened and he took in her hunched form hugging herself.

"She... she had an encounter with Bular," Douxie said as he finished up the wards and walked to her side.

"Oh my."

"Oh my, indeed," Angel muttered. "I can't stop repeating his threat in my head."

"Threat? What threat?" Douxie asked and Angel nearly facepalmed. She wasn't going to tell him about it.

"What did he say to you?" Archie asked, turning into a dragon just to quickly fly over and perch on Douxie's shoulders before turning back to a cat.

Well now that just wasn't fair, the two ganging on her. But there was no way out of it now that her mouth had betrayed her already.

"He-" She started, but had cut herself off because she heard it again, clear as day:

You've been a thorn in our side for almost as long as Kanjigar was. I can’t wait to tear your head from your body and rip out your heart!

"He- he said that he couldn't wait to... to tear my head from my body and rip out my heart. That I was a thorn in his side almost as long as Kanjigar was. Douxie, I-"

Douxie only waited until Arch left his shoulder to cuddle Angel to put more wards up. She absently scratched behind his ear as she looked on with worry at Douxie.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but you would've just made us take off right then."

"Yeah, and for good reason," Douxie said, his tone both worried and angry. Angel supposed he had a right to be. "Bular is aware of our presence and threatened you, and you should have told me." He turned back to her, hazel eyes shining with hurt. His lip quivered with some unsaid word. He probably didn't know what to say or was having to many cross his mind.

"I'm sorry, Douxie, I am. But- but he isn't aware our presence."

"What?" Douxie asked, and his voice cracked a little. Any other time, Angel would have giggled a little.

"He said wizard. Singular. He only thinks there's one of us."

"What difference does that make?" Douxie scoffed. Archie gave him a look that told him to hush and listen.

"It means that if he- or he- just- ugh! I hate words sometimes!" Angel complained, dragging a hand down her face. Then she took a deep breath and counted to a few numbers. "You know what I mean. If he comes, you'll have the element of surprise. He saw the color of my magic."

"I don't care about some stupid surprise attack!" He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her a bit closer. She could feel his trembles. "Angel, it's worse if he just thinks it's you."

"He didn't see me."

"I don't care! You're in danger."

"Not more than usual." The two stared each other down for a few minutes, with what emotion, no outsider could tell you. The two couldn't tell you themselves. Angel felt his fingers twitch before he sighed and went upstairs. "Douxie. Douxie!"

"Eh, eh," Archie hushed her. "My familiar has a habit of getting emotional. He needs time alone when this happens."

"I know," she sighed. "I just don't want him to worry about me."

"He worries because he cares, Angel. And even more so when you don't tell him things like that. It-" Archie stopped and sighed.

"You want him to tell me how he feels, huh?" Angel chuckled humorlessly, petting him again. Archie nodded.

"However, even after 900 years, he's no better at talking about his feelings." This time her chuckle had humor in it. Archie glared, shutting it down. "Oh don't think you're off the hook, Missy. I only give you more leniency because you're young." Angel scoffed.

"I'm over 30 years old, Arch." The cat jumped nimbly off her shoulders to the ground and began walking up the stairs.

"Exactly. Young."

. . .

"Oh that was- oh man-" Hunk stammered, catching his breath while leaning on a nearby wall. "He nearly- We nearly- He- Almost."

"Speak, Hunk," Blinky said, like nothing had happened.

"HE. ALMOST. KILLED. US!!"

"Almost! A very important word! A life of almost is a life of never." Blinky started walking away with his hands clasped behind his back. Keith wasn't letting him off that easy. He ran to catch him by the shoulder, turning him to face him.

"Why'd the armour suddenly shut off?"

"Master Keith, you are the first human to posses an amulet crafted for trolls. It's to be expected it's behaviour will be unexpected." Well, that was helpful. "Now, come masters." Reluctantly, the two followed them to the edge of the cliff. He was about to protest, on account of there being no clear way down, but a bright crystal staircase appeared.

"Woah," Keith and Hunk exclaimed together, forgetting momentarily the threat outside. They walked down in awe of the bright crystals beneath their feet. The light tapping sounded almost ertheal.

"Welcome, young masters, to Heartstone Trollmarket."

#klance #keith kogane #keith x lance #lance x keith #takashi shirogane #tales of arcadia #voltron legendary defender #douxie x oc

5 notes · View notes