Voided

Chapter 1: Aftermath to a Beginning

"We're going home."

That is what Keith had said, gaze turned upwards to the sky as the planet's distant sun shined down on them.
Even in the aftermath of what could have been the hardest battle Voltron had ever experienced in the however many years they have been out in the galaxy, the warmth gave the team an almost hopeful feeling.


Keith turned to look at the rest of the team, as well as their newly acquired friends, taking note that while they all looked hopeful and even excited, the majority of the team looked utterly exhausted. He looked down at Shiro, who'd long since slipped into unconsciousness after Allura had transferred him from the Black Lion into the clone's body, as banged up as it was. The sight of the missing arm made Keith wince, but inside he knew that could be fixed, that Shiro was going to be okay after everything they had gone through.


"You found me..."

"Hunk, can you carry Shiro into the Black Lion?" Hunk looked up and nodded without another word, pulling Shiro's remaining arm over his shoulders to lift him up. Hunk grunted at the added weight, "Come on, Shiro, I've got you..."


"What are we waiting for?" Lance stood up from where he was crouched on the ground, "Lets board the Lions and get this show on the road!"
"We just came out of a huge battle, Lance." Keith replied back, "As much as I know how much you want to see your family again, we need to be smart about this."
"Keith is right." Allura spoke up, "We need to take this time to check on our Lions, collect our thoughts..."
"Plot our next move?" Pidge offered, reaching over to pet the wolf that had came back with Keith.
"That too."


Lance glanced up at the Red Lion, taking note of the noticeable paint chips on it's exterior from getting batted around by Lotor's ship, making dents in the metal that made him cringe when he saw them. Poor Red. Ol' girl needs a vacation.




The Red Paladin frowned and looked back at Keith, who was talking to Coran and Krolia about... Whatever newly appointed leaders talk about.
Hah. Leader. He was almost proud of Keith... No, he was proud of him. Something that confused him a bit, but what else could he say about the rival that he now called a friend? Despite everything, Keith definitely had grown enough for him to notice, albeit still the annoying emo kid that Lance grew to love to irritate. He smiled. Proud of you buddy, a thought he kept to himself.
Since there was no way in quiznak he'd say that out loud.


--


"Black took quite the beating..." Keith noted through the comm system in his helmet, looking over various holographic screens the Black Lion had displayed before his eyes. "What about the rest of you?"


"Same here..." Lance responded.
"Green's roughed up too." Pidge added on.
"Yellow needs a nap." Hunk said, keeping the list going.


"Allura, what about you?" There was no reply from her, making Keith furrow his brow. He glanced at her Lion through his own's eyes, as if he was trying to look at her. "Allura?"
"Hmm? Oh!" She came in, startled out of her own thoughts by the sound of it. "The Blue Lion's condition is about the same as the rest of you. Power is down by 50%, and a few systems have gone temporarily offline." She sighed heavily through her comm, "Without the Castle, I can't think of a way to recharge them."
"Will it be enough to get us home?"
"If we go slow, I believe so. Otherwise, the Lions will need to rest for a long time before we go anywhere." Allura paused, "If we do not want to risk suddenly losing power out in the middle of space, we could make a few stops on our way."


"Just like a normal roadtrip." Pidge said cheerfully, and Keith smiled a little. The gloom still hung around in the air, but at least they still had the will to try to lighten the mood from time to time.


"We have plenty of supplies for the journey, but how long would it take to get to Earth from here?"
There was a long silence as everyone worked out the numbers. Well, everyone being just Pidge and Coran.

"I'd say about... Ten deca-phoebs?" Coran said through Pidge's comm, a bit muffled since he was in the background. The comm system errupted in shocked and disbelieving responses to the estimate, and Pidge made a slight choking sound, "What? No! It would most likely take at least..." She paused, muttering numbers and equations to herself that Keith couldn't make out.
"At least..?" He leaned in slightly.
"At least about one and a half Earth years, unless we jump-start the Lions. Then maybe about half an Earth year?" Coran chuckled nervously in the background. Keith nodded, "Alright... Who's taking who? We've got a few passengers."


"Well, you can take the cosmic wolf and Krolia," Allura started, "Romelle and the mice are already with me..."
"I can take Coran!" Pidge piped up, "Since he's already here. Lance, Hunk?"
"You've got Shiro in a healing pod in the cargo hold, Keith." Hunk reminded him, "That's two people and a dog."
"Wolf."
"Wolf, sorry. Do you want any of us to take someone to ride with us, or..?"


Keith shook his head, "No. I can keep an eye on all three, don't worry. Which one of you is taking Kaltenecker?"
There was a deep moo that came from Lance's comm.
"... I guess that answered my question."


--


"Alright, everyone situated?"


"Ready."
"Ready!"
"Gotcha, man."
"Lets go already!"


"Alright everyone... Lets go home."




--


(( Authors Note: I hope this came out well for I suppose a first episode/chapter. This may be rewritten/tweaked a little bit in the future, but for now I feel like this is a good start. Don't forget to comment and let me know what you think! -- ZJ ))