riverviewlogs | Trek to the Portal

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Trek to the Portal

who: Keith, Shiro
what: Exploration, trying to investigate the portal, but they get interrupted by something else from home.
when: This week
where: Out and about in the woods surrounding the city
warnings: None at the moment

Keith had gathered together some supplies. After their last trek into the woods to that temple, he had a better idea of what to expect and what they might need. Even with their armor, it didn't hurt to have a bag with supplies. Carrying it could prove interesting if they needed to use the jetpacks for anything, but they could figure that out when the time came... if the time came.

He headed upstairs to Shiro's floor. They hadn't moved out of the community building, yet, but it had definitely gone up in priority since the fire. But, there were still other things that were important. Investigating the fact that Allura had been there before them and had apparently disappeared was pretty high on the list, too, and was definitely more important than finding a private place to live.

He poked his head in the door from the elevator lobby, then knocked before calling out.

"Hey, Shiro. You ready?"

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Keith barely managed to push the creature off, even with Red's help. He stared, wide-eyed, as he slowly sat up. Once Red was sure the creature wasn't going to attack again, she came over and nudged Keith from behind.

"Woah..." She almost knocked him back over. "Hey... easy there." She purred at him, a deep rumbling sound, and he brought his hand up to place it on her forehead. "You're so small..." He wrapped his arm around her head as she leaned down to put it on his shoulder from behind, and looked over as the Black Lion emerged from the forest, also scaled down in size. Not that it wasn't still a massive robot, but no where near as large as normal.

"They're so small..." As the threat of the creatures seemed to fade off for the time being, and the Lions slowly started to relax, Keith started to pick up on the general sense of confusion. Red was maybe even a little nervous. What had happened to them?

Shiro was getting that too; they were confused, probably just as confused as the paladins if not more. Black, having chased away the threat at least temporarily, came over to Shiro, ducking its head to nudge his shoulder. Shiro wrapped his arm around the lion's neck as it practically rested its head against his shoulder.

"They are small... insanely small for them. How... how did this happen?"

He was getting a vague general feeling of traveling through the portal because of needing to take care of something, but it was hard to tell even so. Had the lions chosen to come through the portal on their own because they were in trouble? Well didn't that just take the cake for Red being overprotective if it were true.

"I think we need to post-pone the trip to the portal. Get them back to the city."

"Yeah..." As worried as Keith was about Allura, this kind of threw a wrench in things. But then, maybe not? He remembered something Coran said shortly after they found the Castle. "Wait... the Lions are all connected to Allura. They'd know if she was here, wouldn't they?" Red gave Keith a nudge, as if he was on to something, but it was still a pretty strong nudge, and he lost his balance. "Wooaahh..." He caught himself before he fell over. "Easy, Red."

"That's a good point. They are connected to her and she to them. If she were here, the lions would be able to tell. I'm not really getting anything that tells me they can sense Allura here. You?"

He couldn't help a chuckle as Red nudged him, almost knocking him over.

"I guess they really don't know their own strength." As Black shifted around and bumped Shiro he almost fell as well. "Nope, they really don't know their own strength."

Keith shook his head.

"Red says she doesn't."

All things considered, that was probably the best answer they were going to get. If Allura wasn't actually in Riverview, then there wasn't much more they could do. Even if she had pushed her luck with the portal and ended up some weird place, they might not be able to go find her.

"I just hope she got home."

"I don't think we're going to get anything more conclusive than that. If they can't sense her, then it's likely she's not here. They found us after all. I hope she got home too."

There was a moment of silence from the group as Shiro thought about the best course of action. The rustling in the woods around them and crunching of leaves on the ground quite easily convinced him as Black looked up again, eyes turning towards the spot the sound had come from.

"We should go back to the city."

If she wasn't here the remaining trek was pointless and if the creatures were out, they may not be as well prepared as they thought.

Red had also focused in sharply on the sound, but didn't leave Keith's side. Her stance, though, was much more aggressive than Black's. Keith looked over there, wondering what they could see. He kind of wished he could see the sensor readout in the cockpit right about now.

"Yeah... good idea."

He got up, now that Red wasn't attempting to stand over him anymore, and gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder. That was weird, having her small enough that her shoulders were just around his hip, and he could easily just rest his hand on her back without a problem.

She moved with him, a lot like a very well-trained military dog, staying right next to him.

Shiro wondered as well what the lions were looking at, but whatever it was seemed to be hesitating with one robot lion in an aggressive stand and the other standing almost the full height of the human it was next to. They seemed to be in pretty much a stand off with whatever was in the forest.

As they started off back towards the city, Black stayed nearby Shiro as well before falling behind slightly. When Shiro looked back, he could see the larger lion making sure whatever it was wasn't following them before catching up with them.

Seemed to make sense, based on what he had seen of the lions acting on their own. Black had seemed to be the guarding them when the first robeast arrived, putting itself deliberately even in front of Green.

Since Black wasn't lagging, but periodically stopping to watch for anything, Shiro chose to keep up with Keith and Red, knowing Black wouldn't be far behind.

With Black watching the rear, Red was keeping an eye ahead. Still on edge, Keith had kept his bayard in his hand, though he did deactivate the blade part of it for now. He was going to feel that tackle later, but nothing major. Another reason Red was staying close, though, and Keith could tell she was trying to make sure he was okay.

Thankfully, the two very large robot lions kept most of the other creatures at bay for now. Black was a pretty intimidating presence. Though, the gate guards were curious upon their return. Red was wary of everyone, being protective. However, the fact that Keith seemed to remain calm and was familiar with most of the people they ran into in town on their way back to the apartments kept her from getting too riled up about all the attention.

Shiro made his way back down, leading as much as possible. Probably the only reason he was really able to was because Red wa staying closer to Keith. He had a feeling if the lion ran full tilt, he wouldn't have a chance. This was further proven when Black quickly closed the distance with them as they neared the city walls. Yep, even the slower Black lion was able to catch up. No way beating Red if she really wanted to go.

Black was also weary as they entered the city, standing close to Shiro, practically leering at the guards over the Black Paladin's shoulder. So it was a good thing both Keith and Shiro continued to act like this was normal as they headed back to the apartments.

One problem Shiro realized when they neared the building.

"No clue how to get Black up to Floor 15."

"Hm."

Keith stood there with him, staring at the building as they walked towards it.

"Yeah... they're not exactly lightweight, and, well... even at this size, Black is pretty big. I'm not sure if it would fit into the elevator or up the stairs, either. Red might be able to handle the stairs, but..." He shrugged a little.

"There had been that space where Hana had kept her mech in the garage, but..." Keith looked down at Red. He was reluctant to even suggest it, but it would do temporarily, at least, right? They'd be out of the weather if things got crazy. "With them having more autonomy, it seems almost cruel to leave them in there, doesn't it?"

Shiro was considering the same thing. The stairs might be possible for Red, but they'd be more awkward for Black. No one would be able to pass the lion on the stairs. The elevator was probably right out, breaking all the weight limits that they had for an elevator. He didn't even want to try it.

Keith's mention of the parking spot reminded him of Hana's, but it seemed... weird to think about sticking the lion in a parking garage.

"Yeah, it does. They are vehicles in our world yes, but they are acting more alive than they did then." Black came over to rest its head on Shiro's shoulder as though reacting to the comment. "Well, it would be temporary or we might be able to get Black as far as Floor 2 and he could stay with you. Either way, we need to step looking for a new place... and this changes the requirements."

"We can try." Keith shrugged. He was willing to do that much at least. "There's a bit more room lately. A few people have left." Plus, he knew the Black Lion at least trusted him, even if he wasn't the Black Paladin. Black had let him in once before to save Shiro from those dinosaur things, so he knew the Lion would stay put with him if Shiro asked.

With that seemingly decided, Red bounded ahead, stopping at the doors to look back at them, her tail curved up into the air.

Shiro walked over to the building, Black following behind him. He chuckled at the fact that Red and raced ahead. "Looks like Red is anxious to see the new place."

She probably didn't actually need them to open the door, being strong enough and fast to probably get through on her own. But it was a good idea that she didn't get in the habit of simply pushing her way outside or inside. If nothing else, robot lion being on it own in the city wasn't the best thing.

When he reached the door, Shiro opened it.

Red stepped in as Shiro opened the door, and her metal paws immediately slid on the tile floor. She didn't fall, which probably would cracked the tile, but she did leave a few scratches where she used her claws to keep her legs from going out from under her. Keith cringed a little as he opened the other door to see if Black could even just fit in the front, let alone get up the stairs.

"Yeah... you're not going to be able to race around in here, okay?"

Red rumbled at him in response, sounding almost disappointed that she had to be careful.

Oh geeze! Sliding lion! Shiro immediately made an instinctive move to grab the lion, but she kept her feet under her so he didn't actually have to help her. But yeah, there were some nice scratches in the floor now. Well, it was obvious the traction for robot lions wasn't very good here.

But now that Black was going to attempt the building, Shiro held the door open. "Careful, bud. It's slick." No having the largest lion sliding and falling. The lion would be fine. The floor? Probably not.

With a double door, Black could definitely fit inside even if it seem to require ducking a little. Moving at a slower more stately pace, Black didn't have any problem with the floor, but now that they were inside, Shiro could see the problem. Black was fairly wide and it looked like trying the stairwell might be pushing his abilities. These stairs were a little bigger because it was an apartment building, but even so it not be enough.

"I don't know how well this is going to work. Black, we should figure something else out."

This was said as Black turned to face the stairs before looking back at Shiro.

The Lion's broader shoulders definitely posed a potential maneuverability problem, but it was the wings that really did it. Keith wasn't exactly sure just how flexible Black was around the waist in this form, but the wings were long enough that there really wasn't going to be anyway to get the large robot around tight corners in a stairwell. It would be like trying to move a couch up there... long and cumbersome.

He frowned.

"Yeah... I don't think it's gonna happen. Sorry, buddy." He gave the large lion a sympathetic look. Even Red almost looked disappointed in the idea. She lowered her head a little, moving closer to the larger lion for the moment. She wouldn't go up if Black couldn't go. It wasn't fair, and they were basically siblings. She wasn't leaving her big brother alone.

Torso alone was the initial problem for entering the stair well; wings were the problem for exiting the stair well. Shiro felt bad that Black wasn't even able to make it up the first flight of stairs. Whether the lion would be able to make it up the stairs didn't even seem to be something it would attempt, whether that was because of space or calculating that the wings would be a problem later.

Shiro walked over, putting a hand on Black as the lion leaned down to look at Red who had come to stand with him. "We'll definitely have to look for a new place. At least since they are here we can make sure it is lion accessible."

A stranger thing he had never thought he would say, but if it were more than one story, there had to be a way for Black to reach every level.

"Yeah."

Keith sighed a little.

"I guess... it's downstairs for tonight, at least, and until we can find something for them."

He felt bad about it, but they didn't seem to have much else in the way of a choice. Red seemed to be understanding about it, though, even if she didn't exactly like it, either. But she would stay with Black to be fair, even if she could fit up the stairs to get to Keith's space.

"C'mon, guys... it'll only be a little while." And just really when Shiro and Keith were asleep. Keith went over to open the doors again.

Black also seemed to be understanding, though Shiro was sure the lion was disappointed the stair well was not designed in a proper fashion for the winged lion. He was kind of disappointed as well, but it was better in a way that Black didn't try. It would have been bad if the lion got stuck somewhere along the way.

Well, the other bright side was that they didn't have to worry about lions on a tile floor if they were in the garage. That was pretty much the only bright side.

Black turned away from the stair well as Keith went back over to the door, Shiro moving to get the other door for the lion.

"Only at night." And at least they'd be together. He'd feel worse if it was only one of them, but they'd have each other.

"Don't worry. We'll get a new place figured out quickly."

Keith held the door until both lions were back outside, and then followed them out. Yeah... he definitely felt bad about this. Red glanced back at him as if she could sense it, and Keith managed to give her a weak smile.

"Come on... this way." He made his way down to the street in order to lead them to the parking garage entrance.

Shiro walked with Keith as Black followed in order to reach the entrance to the parking garage. The larger lion seemed to understand the situation. That may have been because he had seen the stair well and backed down on his own. Yes, the paladins would have their best interests in mind even if it wasn't the most ideal.

"Just this way," Shiro said when they reached it. As he walked in the large cavernous space, he did notice - oddly enough - there were two parking spots designated for Red and Black.

Well... would you look at that.

"That's..." Keith paused, staring at the spots. "It's like they knew they were coming." He looked at Shiro, curious and kind of weirded out. "I mean... at least there's a spot for them to stay for now, but..." His eyebrow curved upwards a little in concern. "I'm not the only one who thinks this is weird, right?"

"No, you're not the only one who finds that weird. It is very weird." The lions had literally just arrived and between the last time they had been in the parking garage - which granted they'd never really had a reason to come down here until now - and now, someone had assigned parking spots to their lions. "I wonder how they knew."

Something else for Keith to add to his conspiracy board.

Black however walked around Shiro, exploring the garage. There were things in here that were about their size now that would have been too tiny to take notice before. It's a whole new world for miniature lions.

Keith narrowed his eyes a little. He didn't have his board set up, really, because he didn't have space for one in the communal housing, but it was going to happen at some point once they had their own place. No worries, though. He was planning on keeping it in his own room.

Red was also exploring as Keith stared at the spots.

"That's a good question," he said. "I mean... they just showed up. Right?" He glanced back at the two Lions. Red looked back at Keith, as if she sensed his question. After a moment, she turned back to her exploring. "Yeah... they weren't here for long before they picked up on us on the path."

Trek to the Portal

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