36) The Grudge

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I was in my room, supposed to be resting, but I couldn't sleep any longer. My arm still hadn't healed and it hurt a lot. So instead of getting up, which is something I was told not to do, I put on my glasses and was going to do something to pass the time.

I picked up a signal, one that was being blocked by something and the Atlas wouldn't be able to pick up without looking specifically for it.

"Atlas... come in!" I heard Pidge's panicked voice say through static.

"Pidge, I'm here. Where are you guys? What's going on?"

She didn't answer so I immediately knew something was wrong. I figured out where the transmission was coming from after a couple minutes of searching.

I jumped out of bed and put on the armour my mom had fixed for me after the arm had been burnt off. Then I snuck into the hangar and stole an MFE.

"Aris, what are you doing? Where are you going? We're supposed to rendezvous with the Paladins," Shiro said.

"There's something wrong. I received a distress call from Pidge, I learned where they are but I don't know what's going on. It could be that they've just got some technical problems and need help or they're being attacked and have lost their Lions and can't fight back"

I closed my eyes for a second, trying to decide how I'd get to them quickly, but when I opened them again a wormhole had appeared in front of me. When I flew through it I saw a Galra ship, and underneath of them were the Lions, unmoving.

I found Keith's signal since he was the only one that I was able to track. The others must have lost their suits or something, maybe to keep themselves hidden from whatever was hunting them, from whoever owned that cruiser.

Keith was going towards a volcano, running up, but then he suddenly stopped. I landed nearby running out to find him.

I took off my glasses, knowing if the Paladins were being tracked by their suits I could probably have been tracked by my glasses. It was a little hard to breathe and I knew it was going to get harder because of the CO2 in the air.

"Keith?" I called out quietly, not wanting to be found by whoever was hunting them.

The Atlas showed up and took out the ship, since I knew the others were probably safe now I continued on my hunt for Keith.

"Keith?"

Someone grabbed my hand, pulling me down behind some rocks. I was about to punch them as they covered my mouth with their hand, but then I saw Keith's eyes.

He left me sitting there for a second while he went and attacked someone with a gun, probably searching for him.

He was starting to breathe heavily, finding it more and more difficult to breath. I was too, because of the CO2 in the air, but we needed to be in the unknown to fight off these unknown assailants.

We climbed up, going further up the volcano, and Keith stopped to catch his breath. Someone was standing in front of us and when they took their helmet off we saw a familiar, angry face.

"Zethrid?" Keith asked.

"The mechanic," she said, staring at me. "The weak spot"

"Zethrid, why don't we just talk?" I asked calmly. "We aren't the enemy anymore, Honerva is"

"I don't care about Honerva. I get two for one," she said with a smirk, but the smirk dropped as she snarled. "You took Ezor from me!"

She attacked us in a rage, doing all she could to kill us. Keith and I both took out our blades and they formed swords. Even though it was two on one and we had the weapons when she only had her bare hands, she was still winning. Her want of us dead for supposedly taking Ezor from her seemed to take over any other thoughts she had.

She punched me in the stomach and I rolled down a small hill, losing my sword along the way. Keith slid down the hill, trying to get away from her, but she jumped down after us.

When I managed to get back up on my feet she had started attacking Keith. He tried to block her attacks but he got hit, crashing into a wall of rocks behind him, landing on the ground.

He was struggling to move and I was backed into a corner, Zethrid coming for me, me standing on a ledge about to fall into a giant lake of lava.

"Don't touch her!" Keith shouted as loud as he could, which wasn't very loud.

Zethrid smirked a little as she looked at me and spoke quietly. "I remember you saying the same thing about him. I guess you two really are each other's weaknesses"

"I don't know what you think I did," Keith said weakly, hoping to get her to listen.

"You took away everything. And now my face will be the last one you see!"

She charged me with a growl. I made myself grow so I was the same height as her and tried to attack, but she dodged my punch and picked me up by the neck.

"You first, then your little boyfriend," she hissed.

"Put me down, why don't we just talk?" I choked out, barely able to talk because of her hand crushing my throat. "Make some sort of agreement?"

"I'm going make him suffer by watching you die!"

I glanced behind her at Keith, who was trying his best to get up and catch his breath. "Keith, I-"

Her hand tightened around my neck and I struggled to breathe. Keith finally pushed himself up and an MFE flew idly above him. Acxa and Shiro jumped down from it.

Zethrid put me back down on my feet, holding me in some sort of hostage situation. Her body was hidden behind mine, almost completely hidden because I was still her size, and she held a gun to my head, her free arm wrapped tightly around my neck to keep me from moving around.

"Zethrid, don't do this!" Acxa said.

"I knew you'd come," Zethrid said. "Now you will feel what I felt"

"It's over. You're surrounded"

"You think this deters me, Acxa? I welcome death now that Ezor's gone"

Acxa took off her helmet. "Zethrid, I know you hurt. Ezor hurt, too. That's why she left you. She couldn't keep holding on to the anger"

"Stop!"

"Hear my words. Remember how we first met. We were all so full of hate and rage, half breeds rejected by the Galra. Lotor used us. He led us down a painful path, a never ending cycle of destruction and loss. Now's your chance to break that cycle... with me, with Ezor. She wants you to leave the rage behind"

"I'm too far gone. She'll never take me back!" Zethrid's arm tighten even more around my neck.

"Wait! Please! Don't let the rage control you"

"All I have left... is revenge!"

She aimed the gun at Acxa, her arm loosening a little around my neck. I took the chance to free myself. I brought my head back, hitting her face hard enough to knock her back. But someone else had shot a gun, also seeing a chance to attack.

They accidentally shot me in the arm since I had probably moved directly towards where they had been planning to shoot. Zethrid fell back, down towards the lava, but she grabbed onto my leg and pulled me down trying to save herself. She grabbed onto the ledge before she fell.

I was left falling down, about to die. My consciousness started to fade away the closer I got to my death. I briefly saw someone jump down and catch me, using their jet packs to keep us from falling into the lava. But that was the last thing I saw.

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