Even with everyone using a light source, it did little against the heavy darkness of the tunnel. Lance fixed the light to his chest and gripped his rifle tightly in his hands; every sound echoed off the walls, putting him on edge.

“Remember; don’t shoot anything you can’t see,” Wunrik said to him in a gruff whisper. While he didn’t seem very pleasant in the best of circumstances, Lance had the growing suspicion that Wunrik didn’t want him there. Looking around, he couldn’t really blame him; Allura had so many strengths, she’d make a good asset to anything, and Jira and Viltri’s abilities and training made them more than qualified for the mission. Compared to them, he was just… Lance. He nodded his head at Wunrik, who frowned at him before moving ahead.

“Don’t worry about him,” Viltri said, coming up beside Lance. “... You nervous?”

Lance focused straight ahead. Admittedly, he was, but it wasn’t the Hauhet that he was really nervous about; he had been in countless dangerous situations since becoming a Paladin. It was more the fact that Viltri didn’t seemed phased by their earlier conversation while Lance couldn’t stop thinking about it. He knew she was smiling at him, but he couldn’t bring himself to look at her.

“What? Who, me? Totally good over here. I’ve dealt with plenty of giant, planet destroying monsters before,” he said, trying to sound casual. He was no longer sure if he was attempting to show off to her, because he figured she’d be able to see right through it anyway.

“Hmm….” Viltri smirked. “We probably won’t even see the Hauhet while we’re in here… it’s the other monsters we should be worried about.”

Lance looked at her. Viltri’s dark eyes gleamed playfully and she grinned at him.

“What do you mean, other monsters? I thought only the Hauhet lived in the tunnels.”

“The tunnels attract all kinds of creatures that like giant, dark places… creatures that love the taste of fresh meat.” She leaned in closer to him and lance gripped his rifle tighter.

“Ah…”

“Would you two can it?” Jira said behind them. Lance turned to see Jira’s brow furrowed in concentration. She seemed even more anxious than he was.

“Uh… She really looks like she doesn’t want to be here,” he whispered to Viltri.

Viltri gave her friend a concerned smile, and her expression softened. “She has her own reasons for not liking the tunnels, she said simply.

“I mean, I can’t see why anyo-”

“Quiet!” Wunrik hissed. He held up a hand and the group stopped. Somewhere ahead of them,Lance could hear the faint sound of hissing and what seemed like scuttling along the rocks. He swallowed a lump in his throat as the sound got louder and louder, until it seemed to be right on top of them, though there was no sign of any creatures there in the tunnel with them.

The sounds suddenly stopped, and Wunrik aimed his rifle directly above his head. He made one single blast and rolled out of the way, just in time to dodge a winged creature that fell to the ground.

“Be ready!” Wunrik ordered, as more of the creatures suddenly dived at them from above. Lance jumped out of the way, nealy running into the creature that Wunrik had killed. It lay in a dark, crumple pile, but Lance could see large leathery wings connected to a smooth body. A long tail with several sharp barbs coiled around itself. Lance scrambled to his feet as another creature flew at him; it opened its mouth to reveal jagged fangs and a forked tongue. It had the body of what looked like a stingray, apart from its hard, round head, and spindly arms and legs that reached out towards him. He steadied his rifle to aim, but the creature whipped its tail, catching him around the wrist. Lance yanked on the tail, which caught the creature off guard, but it also brought it closer to him. It landed in front of him and unhinged its jaw.

“Oh quiznak,” he breathed and grabbed for his gun, knowing he couldn’t reach it before it attacked. The creature screeched as Viltri phased through its body and landed in front over Lance. She crouched over him, wielding dual blades that glowed green. The creature howled and lunged at them, its jaw finding its way around her body. It clamped into her suit and cracking the shell of her suit.

“Viltri!” Lance yelled, but the creature pulled her away from him. Viltri phased through the creature again, and turned around, ramming the blades up into its throat. The creature’s eyes rolled into the back of its head and it slumped forward, covering Viltri in blood.

Now that the creature was dead, its grip weakened around Lance's wrist. He grabbed his gun and ran to Viltri who was inspecting her suit.

“Are you okay?!” He said, looking down at the significant damage on the suit.

Viltri laughed and wiped the goopy blood off her face. “Wunrik isn’t gonna be very happy that I ruined another suit.”

“But it just bit you!” Lance said in disbelief.

“Well yeah,” she said, showing him where it had bit clean through to her skin, but she had no wounds or bite marks.

Lance sighed. “ Thanks for saving me… again.”

Viltri smiled at him. “Well, you can’t kiss me if you’re dead.”

“I, uh-” Lance fumbled, but Viltri just winked at him and took off to take out another winged creature. She effortlessly used her ability to weave between the creatures, slicing through them in a complicated dance. Lance watched her for a moment, suddenly unaware of the chaos that surrounded him. The howling of a creature in his ear snapped him back into reality and he turned to see another one flying towards him. Something grabbed the back of his suit and flung him backwards with tremendous strength. When he landed, he saw Allura fighting the creature off.

“Lance, focus!” She yelled at him.

Lance groaned and pulled himself to his knees. Jira ran up to him, blood on her face as well, and helped him to his feet.

“You good?” She asked, handing him his gun.

“This might sound weird, but this is probably the best and worst day of my life, I think.”

“You’re right, that does sound weird. You sure you didn’t take a bad hit to the head?”

Lance nodded and set his sights on the task at hand. Allura was right; he needed to focus. There were still several creatures left, all within shooting range.

“Give me some cover,” he told Jira.

“You got it.”

He took a steading breath and aimed at one coming directly at them.

“One down” he whispered, and shot it, sending it plummeting to the ground.

After getting into the groove of things, he shot down three more before they were all taken care of. He wiped the sweat from his brow and rest his rifle on his shoulder. They were surrounded by over a dozen dead creatures, but the tunnels had gone silent again. They paused, waiting for a sign of another attack.

“Jira,” Wunrik said. “Can you sense it from here?”

Jira shrunk her polearm down and clipped it to her suit. She slowly approached Wunrik and knelt down on the ground. She laid both hands on the ground and scrunched her forehead and closed her eyes.

“It’s… it’s asleep,” she said, breathing out a sigh of relief. “We didn’t wake it up.”

“Good to hear.” Wunrik turned to Manazu. “Set up the monitors. We shouldn’t stay here much longer.”

Manazu set to work, installing small devices along the walls of the tunnels. They blinked, similar to the radars used to track the Hauhet.

“What happens now?” Allura asked Wunrik.

“These devices have a signal that will go back to the Kafa. This will allow us to track the Hauhet within a certain range. If it wakes up or nears the Kafa, this should help warn us. We have dozens of signals in this jungle, but this tunnel looks fresh.”

“So… we can go back then?” Lance asked.

Wunrik nodded. “We’re safe for now.” They waited until Manazu had finished and they quickly made their way out of the cave. They were all but silent as they made their way back to the campsite. Because it was late and Wunrik dubbed the campsite safe, they opted to go back to the Kafa tomorrow morning.

Lance was grateful to be able to clean up a bit and change, but once he laid down for bed, he had trouble sleeping. His body ached all over from being thrown around today and it hurt him more to lay down than it did to be up and about. He snuck out of his tent and saw Viltri sitting on a rock, holding the hard shell of her suit. Lance debated going back inside his tent and avoiding her; he knew he’d only make a fool out of himself again. But he also knew the only way he’d get over being nervous around her was to actually talk to her. Right now, he would have rather fought off more of the tunnel creatures than talk to Viltri, but he forced himself to approach the rock and sit next to her. She smiled up at him as he joined her. She had taken her hair out of her bun and it swept just below her shoulders and she looked at peace with herself.

“What are you doing up so late?” She asked him.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“Same… You’re an impressive shot, you know.”

“You saw that?” Lance scratched the back of his neck, feeling heat rise to his cheeks and ears. “I really didn’t do much tonight, though. I only managed to take out a few.”

Viltri turned towards him, and her shoulder brushed against his arm. She set her mouth in a firm line, her eyes set on him. “Hmm.”

“... What?”

“You don’t say that out of humility,” she said. “You act like you’re not good enough to be apart this scouting mission.”

“We-well, I mean compared to everyone else-”

“It’s not about everyone else. It’s about you,” Viltri said firmly and Lance fell silent. “... Is that what you think about yourself as a Paladin? That you’re not good enough?” She asked, her voice softer.

Lance’s throat tightened and he shook his head, afraid to speak. “... You ask a lot of hard questions,” he finally said.

“I know, I’m sorry. I told you that you could tell me when you’re ready. I don’t mean to push you, I just-” Viltri breathed in deeply and closed her eyes for a moment. “... I just want to understand you better.”

Lance nodded slowly. “It’s okay… and thanks. For not pushing me...I want to understand you better, too… because you really do intimidate me,” he said with a small smile. Viltri laughed loudly and grinned at him.

“I get that a lot,” She said, then her eyes grew soft again. She gave him the same look from earlier tonight when she had caressed his cheek after saving him from the Zeloo. He suddenly found himself wishing that she’d touch his face again; anything to feel her skin against his. Viltri confused and even scared Lance to a degree. It scared him that she was so confident with herself, but still went out of her way to pay him attention. It scared him that she might realize that there were better options out there and forget about him… but mostly is scared him that he may never be as open or confident as she was.

Lance found himself leaning closer towards Viltri, unsure what his plan of action was; he just wanted to be closer to her. His eyes dropped to her lips for the third time that night and he froze. Was now the best time for this? Did he really like Viltri for who she was, or because she was showing the attention he wished he got from Allura… or maybe Lance just liked her because she was the type of person that he wished he could be. Doubt crept into his mind and he started to pull away, but Viltri quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, stopping him from pulling away further.

Lance hesitated to hold her, feeling undeserving of her touch. Viltri ran a hand from the back of his neck to his cheek and held it there. “I think you’re more than enough,” she whispered to him. She began to pull her hand away, but Lance quickly brought up his own hand to keep hers on his face. She ran small circles with her thumb over his cheek and he finally brought his arms around her and held her tightly.

Viltri’s ruined suit caught his attention, and now that the blood was washed off, Lance could see just how bad the tunnel creature had damaged it. He wondered if Viltri would have jumped in to save him if she didn’t have her ability to ensure her safety. She had said that he was selfless, but Lance suspected that she was no different.

“Thanks again for protecting me,” he said, running his hands up her back, grateful that she hadn’t pulled away from him.

“That’s twice now that I’ve saved you. I think that’s deserving of at least two kisses.”

Lance laughed, trying to keep his nervousness at bay. “I’m serious… you’re pretty selfless yourself.”

Viltri pulled away from him and rested her arms on his legs. “You’re welcome… Maybe you can repay me,” she smirked.

Lance’s eyebrows shot up. “How?”

“Teach me how to shoot like that.”

“You- you want me to teach you how to shoot? Isn’t that something that you would already know how to do, though? You’re like a soldier… or an Elite, afterall.”

Viltri rolled her eyes and stood up. “Of course, I can shoot. I just wanted to give you an excuse to be close to me again, but if you don’t want to, I get that-” she began to walk away and Lance jumped up after her.

“Wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait-” he moved himself in front of Viltri to stop her. “I’d love to teach you how to shoot.”

Viltri beamed at him stepped in closer. She laid a hand on his chest, running it slowly up to his neck. “You don’t need an excuse to be close to me,” she breathed in his ear.

“... Okay, “ Lance croaked.

Viltri gave him a satisfied grin and patted his cheek. “Goodnight!” She walked back to her tent, leaving Lance alone, too weak to move.