Your P.O.V
It had been a few days since we had all returned to the ship, and Shiro was still in a pod, recovering. It felt like a weight had been lifted when everyone was back on the ship and safe, but everything soon went downhill again when Shiro began mumbling in the pod. That, of course, led to what was going on now.
We all gathered outside of his pod, anxiously waiting for him to wake up. While Hunk and Keith stood right next to the pod, Allura and Coran were stationed at the control panel for the room, leaving Lance and me on the steps. Pidge, of course, was nowhere to be seen, probably in her lion's chamber again.
Silence filled the tense room the rest of us were in, though. No one knew what to say; what could you say when you were in a situation like this? Shiro's grunts echoed around the room and I doubt anyone wanted to speak about that, especially considering the reasons behind it probably weren't exactly nice.
Hunk, being the caring person he is, eventually broke the silence in the room. "Is he okay?", he asked.
"Sometimes, the healing process can cause involuntary brain wave reactions", Allura explains to us, but everyone still seems worried about him considering he's such an important part of their team.
He looks like he's having a bad dream...", Hunk says, and he's not wrong. His face held a look of pain, and the grunts he was letting out sounded as if he was in pain. Maybe he was having a nightmare about his time with the Galra? I could understand if he was, I've been through it myself and it would suffice to say it's not a pleasant experience.
"He just got blasted by a space witch and mauled by giant lizards", Keith finally spoke. What dream could be worse than that?", he finished, both him and Hunk staring at the pod. I felt a pang in my chest, knowing Keith must be suffering the most right now considering how close he is to Shiro.
'What's going on in your head, Shiro... Please wake up soon, for Keith.'
~ In Shiro's Dream ~
Purple lights filled Shiro's vision as he looked up.
"No, no, no!", he shouted, grunting as he fought against the brute strength of the Galran guard that seemed to be holding him down. Said guard brought a strange object to Shiro's arm and punctured his wrist with it, earning a grunt from the poor man.
He turned to his left and saw two more Galra men; one was a guard, the other stared at Shiro with his luminous yellow eyes. A burning hatred was ignited in Shiro as the Galra continued his fixated gaze on him.
"You took my hand. What more do you want?", Shiro spat, gritting his teeth at the pain lingering through his body. Instead of replying, the Galran simply turned away from Shiro, looking towards his comrade who still held that object to Shiro's wrist.
Shiro grunted helplessly; his body ached with pain but he couldn't throw them off out of fear of what would happen if he did. The other Galran man seemed to move his arm towards his friend before speaking.
"Stop! I want him awake enough to feel this", he demanded.
His comrade obliged, turning away from Shiro and walking to the corner of the small room. As he did this, the 'head Galran' turned to the guard behind him and grabbed his head, slamming it against the wall using a significant amount of might. The guard grunted and stumbled backwards as his apparent attacker made his way towards the remaining Galran in the room.
This time, he shoved the guard back, making his back hit the wall with inhumane force. After doing so, he ran back to Shiro's side and began helping the man. He brought a small, purple device to Shiro's robot arm and began loading some sort of data on to it.
"Listen to me. We don't have much time.", he says, but Shiro can barely keep his eyes open, making the man slap him across the face before continuing. "Wake up! Zarkon has located the blue lion of Voltron on your planet, Earth. You must get it before he does."
Shiro's face held a dazed look, seeing as he didn't know how to respond to a Galran of all people helping him. This supposed ally moved into a crouched position, fiddling with something under the operating table.
"What are you doing?", Shiro asked.
"I've planted a bomb to cover your escape. Get to a pod, now", the Galran instructed as he helped Shiro sit up on the table.
"Who are you?", Shiro questioned. He wanted to know the name of the man who had saved him.
"I am Ulaz. Now, come on!", the Galran - otherwise known as Ulaz - replied, ushering Shiro out of the room after helping him to the door. He poked his head out to check if anyone was roaming around the corridor and, luckily, the coast was clear. He then turned to Shiro.
"Zarkon will know that I released you, so I must disappear. But if you survive, go to the coordinates in your arm. The Blade of Marmora is with you", Ulaz told him. Shiro looked at his arm, a troubled expression adorning his features.
"Why are you helping me?", he asked.
"As a fighter and a leader, you give hope. Hurry. Earth needs you", Ulaz told Shiro before he turned his back to the escapee, fleeing the scene. "We all do", was all he said as he ran down the corridor. Shiro stood up and roamed the corridors, using the walls as help for him to walk and find a pod.
After a while, he stopped and leaned his full body on the wall, catching his breath. As he goes to leave, however, footsteps echo off of the walls, making Shiro gasp and hide in one of the many gaps of the wall. He then watched as a pair of Galran guards walked past the area he had previously been mere metres away from.
Once they were out of sight, Shiro took his chance and ran out after them in search of a pod. Unfortunately, though, he ran into a transportation cart being used by the Galra, knocking multiple large, pillar-like vials off of it in the process. They hit the ground and made a clanging noise, alerting the two guards who had previously been in the corridor.
They turned to face Shiro, but he was quick to turn on his heel and run in the opposite direction, the two guards following close behind. Shiro halted to a stop outside an oddly shaped room and flipped one of the guards over his shoulder. The other guard, however, caught Shiro, holding him in place.
A large explosion was heard behind them, soon followed by vibrant yellow flames erupting into the room. Grunts were heard as the pressure from the explosion blasted Shiro and the guard apart, leaving Shiro free to escape. The door closed, crushing the guard in between the two pieces of grey metal.
Shiro let out another grunt as he stayed on the ground, but rushed to a pod, escaping narrowly as he was chased by the undying flames of the fire.
~ Out of Shiro's Dream ~
We were all gathered around the healing pod, watching with anxious faces as we saw Shiro's unsettled expression. We couldn't tell what he was dreaming about, but it didn't look pleasant. Coran and Allura monitored his condition, informing us that he'd be waking up soon.
"Finally! Keith's been sulking this whole time", Lance cheered, his fist shooting up into the air. I flinched back slightly but laughed quietly at his excited reaction. Smiles broke onto everyone's faces, but Keith didn't look too happy about what the Cuban boy had said.
"I wasn't that bad, Lance! Tell him, y/n!", Keith defended himself, but decided to drag me into it. I rolled my eyes playfully and rubbed his shoulder.
"He's right, Lance. Cut him a little slack maybe? Shiro's like his brother, I can only imagine what it would be like for a sibling to be in a coma", I reasoned, my voice growing quiet with each passing second. To be honest, I was unsure of whether I had said the right thing until Pidge gave me a soft nod and a smile, making me smile back as I leaned gently on Keith's arm.
He patted my head gently and thanked me for backing him up, his eyes shooting fierce glares in Lance's general direction, making him jump back behind Hunk. We heard a few more grunts from Shiro, making us all forget about our conversation and go back to smiling. Pidge leaned on my shoulder and looked impatiently at Shiro's sleeping figure.
Gasps echoed around the room as Shiro opened his eyes, everyone relieved to see him finally awake. He had been out for what seemed like a week, and everyone had missed his friendly yet determined spirit being around. 'Well thank god he's waking up, but just what was he dreaming about?'
~~
Pidge had hooked up Shiro's arm to a machine so she could process the data from it. After he woke up, he claimed that there was a man, named Ulaz, had helped him escape and told him about coordinates he placed into the programming of his arm. Pidge, eager to experiment with Galra tech, obviously agreed.
The whirring of computers echoed around the room and Altean letters could be seen in the reflection of Pidge's too-big glasses. She gave the impression that she was sceptical of the whole 'Galra helping a human escape' thing, but no one could be more opposed to the idea than Allura.
"I'm not finding any coordinates in here. Are you sure it wasn't just a dream?", Pidge asked, breaking the silence of the room. Everyone looked towards Shiro expectantly as he let out a frustrated sigh.
"I'm positive. Someone helped me escape", he repeated. Allura's face contorted into that of an angry expression as she clenched her hands into fists, glaring down at Shiro.
"And you're sure he was Galra?", she asked again. She looked angry, her eyebrows furrowing as she spoke. I held my breath, taking cover behind Keith in case an argument broke out. Conflict is something I hate, and a tense aura is lingering in the room. Yes, indeed, something is about to happen.
"Yes", Shiro deadpanned.
"You know you cannot trust them", she lectured. Her tone somehow stayed steady, her voice only slightly raising as she got more annoyed.
"Your father must have trusted them once. Zarkon was the original black paladin, wasn't he?", Shiro fired back. The room fell silent, and Allura's angry expression turned into one of pain. Was she upset? Was Zarkon, the Galra's leader, seriously the original black paladin?
I gasp slightly, finding it hard to believe. 'If he was the black paladin, what made him turn against the Alteans? Can they find a way to work together again instead of fighting till the death?'
"Wait, what?", Lance asked, eyes wide.
"Didn't you see how he stole the black lion from Shiro?", Keith countered. "Or that he could do all that cool stuff with his bayard? Shiro's bayard? You know, the black one?", he continued. I placed a hand on his arm, signalling for him to stop and back down, which luckily worked as he took a deep breath in and calmed down.
"Why didn't you just tell us the truth about Zarkon?", Shiro asked her. She closed her eyes, sucking in a shallow breath, and looked guiltily to the side.
"I wanted to protect you from the dark history of the paladins. I wanted you to have a chance to bond with your lions on your own.", she briefly paused, now looking Shiro dead in the eyes. "You are the black paladin now, not Zarkon", this earnt a huff from Shiro as he looked down.
"Yeah? Well, the black lion may have a different take on the matter", he mumbled. Before Allura could say anything else, Pidge interrupted them.
"Wait a second. I think I see it now", she announced. My ears perk up at this and I make my way to her side to see what she's found. "Some repeating numbers in all this Galra code. Let me extract it", and with that, she displayed her finding on a holographic screen so that everyone could see.
A model solar system appeared in the top right corner and Pidge triumphantly said "They are coordinates! They lead here: the Thaldycon system", I patted her shoulder and beamed, showing her how well she had down. She quickly returned the smile before turning to the front again.
"Then that's where we're headed", Shiro told us, eyes fixated on the screen.
"Shiro, are you sure you can trust this? I mean after all the Galra took from you. They- they took your arm", Keith retaliated, uncrossing his arms. His violet eyes held worry, but he almost seemed angry that Shiro would be so trusting when he didn't know whether it was just a dream.
"It's worth the risk,", Shiro said, turning to face Keith. "Someone helped me escape. If we can locate some allies in our fight against Zarkon - especially ones from his side - we might just find a way to take him down"
"We can check the location, but I do not like this. The Galra are not to be trusted", Allura asserted, arms crossed as she glared at Pidge's computer screen.
We made our way to the main control room, the paladins sitting in their seats as Allura and Coran went into the middle to move the castle. I stood awkwardly between Lance and Keith's seats, not knowing where to go. Keith turned around and gestured for me to come closer, so I complied.
"You good, y/n?", he asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the silence of the room. Not feeling talkative, I just give him a small nod and a smile, but he doesn't look convinced. "Do you wanna sit down?"
"There's always room on my lap, pretty lady", Lance teased, a light chuckle escaping his lips. I laugh as well, not noticing the multiple pairs of eyes on Lance and me as we talk. "Well? Are you gonna take my offer or not?". I laugh again before replying with a quiet 'no thank you' and sitting down next to Keith's chair.
Silence being restored to the room, Coran and Allura open a wormhole for the castle, bringing us to our destination in a matter of seconds. We arrive, and I notice crystal clusters scattered around us, almost everywhere you look. Each of them held a turquoise colour but, if the light hit them right, they almost looked white.
"Well, this is it. No sign of any activity at all, living or otherwise", Coran concluded with his usual, overly-cheery voice.
"Can we get in there and take a closer look?", Shiro asked.
"I don't want to bring the castle any closer,", Coran replied. "Those xanthorium chunks contain highly unstable nitrate salts. Even bumping into one of them can blow us straight to Wozblay,", he explained, turning around to see Shiro's face.
"Are you sure this is right?", Shiro pushed on. 'Did the Galran man trick him to lead us into a trap? I hope not, he seems really determined to find this guy.', I thought, leaning my head on the side of Keith's chair.
"These are the coordinates that number five gave me,", was all Coran said, earning a glare from Pidge.
"Hey! My description is solid,", she grumbled, a frown making its way onto her face as she slouched further into her chair. Shiro ignored her comment, lost in thought. His eyes glance up to Coran once again and I brace for whatever might come.
"There must be something we're missing,", he said again. His demeanour has been off since he woke up; he seems more troubled and upset, not the normal, encouraging Shiro I've gotten to know.
"We should get out of here,", Allura states. "We've checked it out but now it's time to move on,"
"No. There must be something more to this, I can feel it,", Shiro insists. I sigh slightly, wishing they'd just stop arguing over it. "I think we should wait,", he reiterates. Allura finally gave in, and we decided to wait.
As time passed, Shiro began looking at the crystals in more depth but was cut off when some sort of alarm began blaring.
"There's an intruder in the castle!", Coran exclaimed, looking at Allura with a panicked expression. 'Wait, intruder? What if it's... well, him? Wait, no y/n. We'd know if it was him, calm down. Maybe they're friendly? Yeah, friendly.'
"How could someone just sneak aboard the ship?!", Lance shouted back.
"I knew coming here was a mistake!", Allura told us as she began fiddling with something on her holographic screen. She pressed a few things until cameras from all around the ship became visible, giving us a clear view of who had boarded the ship. "There he is; level five,"
"Everyone, suit up,", Shiro says, and everyone stands up. I go to follow, but he places a hand on my shoulder before I leave the room. "Stay with Allura and Coran, alright? We can't have you getting hurt", I sigh before nodding and walking to stand next to Allura.
The paladins suited up and scattered around the ship in hopes to catch the guy who'd gotten on. The first to find him was Lance.
"I got him", Lance said, aiming his gun.
"Keep eyes on him, Lance. We're all headed towards you,", Shiro assured, but it was nerve-racking to see Lance all alone with that guy. Although I couldn't see his face, he did not have a pleasant look at him. He turned to face Lance, making the Cuban boy's eyes widen.
"Hold it right there!", Lance warned, but the figure ignored him, simply walking forwards until he suddenly broke into a sprint. Lance took action, firing his gun in all directions in an attempt to hit his target. This, however, failed, as his opponent somehow managed to dodge his shots with ease.
"Careful! He's faster than an angry klanmüirl!", Coran told him through the intercoms, making me shoot him a confused look. 'What the heck is a klanmüirl?'. Coran spoke again, making me jump. "But he can jump like a sprightly goblinheffer!"
"Coran, you're not helping!", I hear Lance scold over the intercom as he continues fighting the intruder.
"Ooh! Somebody's as mad as a wet chüper,", Coran teased. I stifled a laugh, knowing Lance would get more annoyed if he had heard me laughing. "Coming your way, number five!", he informed Pidge. We watched as the hooded man ran through the corridors, approaching our small, green paladin friend.
She came to a halt, shifting her body into a defensive stance so that she would be ready to attack. The figure rushed towards her at full throttle, lunging forwards. She took action quickly, rolling underneath him and catching him with her bayard. My heart seemed like it was beating out of my chest as I watched my friends fight such a dangerous person.
"I got him!", Pidge told us, her voice strained as she struggled to keep the person still. The tables turned, however, when the figure got ahold of his bayard and began dragging Pidge down the corridor, resulting in a groan from her. "I don't get him!". Lance followed shortly after, racing behind Pidge and the hooded intruder.
"He's dragging Pidge away!", Coran panicked, although I couldn't really blame him. Our friend was being dragged away by some hooded assailant and there was nothing we could do about it.
"C-can I go and help, Coran? Please?", I asked, but before he could respond, Keith did it for him.
"No way, y/n! That would be a stupid move! Are you trying to get yourself and that kid of yours hurt? Just stay put, we've got this", he snapped. I jumped at his tone and frowned, but agreed with his statement. He was right, after all. I turned my attention back to the screen, seeing as Pidge attempted to drag the man back towards her.
"Come... back here!", she yelled, yanking her bayard further back.
"Huh?", Hunk said, finally hearing the commotion going on in the corridor behind him. He turned around and began firing his gun frantically until one shot grazed Pidge's helmet making her grunt.
"Hunk!", she scolded.
"Huh? Sorry!", he said, opening his eyes and watching Lance run past him and soon trailing behind.
"Oh, Hunk failed the team guys!", Coran commented. I gave him a look, and he took the hint, shutting his mouth and not saying anything else.
"Hey!", Hunk shouted back, obviously offended by his comment. Coran brushed it off, leaning his focus towards the situation at hand rather than a small argument.
"Alright, it's up to Keith now,", he told us all. My heart skipped a beat; I know Keith can fight, but so can everyone else. What if something bad were to happen? Trying to shrug the feeling off, I bit my nails, eyes fixated on the screen showing Keith. 'You can do this, I know you can.'
"Copy that. I'm ready,", he replied, taking his bayard out so he can use his sword. He began sprinting down the hall, a determined look spread across his face. Coran grabbed my shoulders in anticipation, suddenly getting back into being the 'commentator' of the fight.
"Ooh, this is exciting! He's got a sword!", he pauses for effect. "One young paladin, one seemingly indestructible foe...", he paused again as Keith came face-to-face with the hooded attacker. He seemed to still be dragging Pidge by her bayard, but Keith slid under the wire with ease, ignoring Pidge's screams as she was thrown carelessly around the corridor.
He continued to follow the two people down the hall, neck and neck with his opponent. As they ran, Keith took his chances and began swinging his sword at the guy next to him, but narrowly missed.
"Swing and a miss!", Coran exclaimed. Keith tried again, still barely missing. "Oh, another swing and a miss!", the guy began running away, leaving Keith in the dust. He quickly recovered, though, now running next to Pidge as she slid across the floor. "He can't touch him! He's too fast!"
Pidge and Keith gave each other a look, followed by a subtle nod. Suddenly, Pidge reclined to the ground, tugging on her bayard, making the man stop in his tracks and turn around. Keith, on the other hand, started running towards the man again, bouncing off of the walls to get more momentum as he bounded towards him, their swords clashing.
Small grunts escaped Keith's lips as he fought to push down the assailant's sword. Something caught Keith's eye, though, as he seemed to lose focus. This didn't go unnoticed by the guy, however; he saw it as an opening, pushing harder on Keith's sword and sending it flying out of his hand.
"He knocked his byard out of his hands! It's on the ground!", Coran commented, watching as Keith backed against the wall, fists up. He grunted as he ran towards the man again, about to punch him, when the hooded figure swung Pidge towards Keith, knocking both paladins swiftly to the ground.
They both groan again, but Keith was the only one to get off of the ground, charging at the man once again. He simply dropped Pidge's bayard, linking Keith's arm with his own and flinging him up against Lance and Hunk as they dashed into the corridor, obviously at the worst possible moment. My breath hitched at the sight; he'd managed to fight them all off, even if he didn't mean to half the time!
His victory was short-lived, however, as Shiro appeared behind him. Using his arm, Shiro pushed against the man's neck, disregarding that his opponent's knife was mere inches away from his face. Everyones' eyes widened at the sight, but Shiro kept a completely straight face somehow.
Silence filled the castle for a short time before the hooded figure slowly drew his weapon away, taking a step back from Shiro. He removed his hood, and his mask simply disappeared, leaving Shiro faced with a Galra man. I shivered.
Shiro looked shocked as he lowered his arm. "Ulaz?", he uttered in disbelief. Allura stormed past him, pushing the Galran up against the wall roughly.
"Who are you!", she demanded. Shiro rushed to her side, holding his hands up in surrender.
"Stop! It's him! This is the Galra who set me free,", he explained to the princess. He turned his head towards 'Ulaz' and looked him in the eyes.
"You've come,", was all he said.
~~
We stood in front of a chained up Ulaz (as per Allura's request), about to start questioning him. I was in-between Keith and Lance, successfully hiding between them as I clutched their arms tightly. Everyone else stood close together, wearing similar expressions. Well, other than Allura. She looked... angry, to say the least.
"Are you sure this is necessary?", Shiro asked, making me nod my head in agreement. 'Maybe not all Galra are so bad'. Allura's face twisted into that of disgust and frustration as she answered him.
"I will not have some quiznacking Galra soldier on the bridge of my ship!", she yelled, exasperated. I jumped backwards slightly, not expecting such a hostile tone from her. No one spoke up, afraid to rile her up more. It was Ulaz who was cunning enough to talk next.
"If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already,", he deadpanned. 'Okay, forget what I said. He's scary.'
"Are your Galra threats supposed to win my trust?", Allura roared. At this point, I had dragged both Lance and Keith in front of me and covered my ears, shielding me from both Ulaz' stare and Allura's whining.
"I'm not trying to win your trust, I'm trying to win a war. And, because of Shiro, we are closer than we have ever been,", he responded. "Our gamble on you paid off much better than we could've ever imagined". 'Gamble on him?'
"When you released me, you also mentioned that others were working with you,", Shiro said, cutting straight to the point.
"Yes. We are called the Blade of Marmora,", he tells us.
"Uh, others? Are they here?", Hunk asked, now looking more antsy than normal. To be honest, though, I couldn't help but agree with him. I struggle to deal with one Galra, nevermind more of them. I tugged on Lance and Keith's arms, looking between them for an answer. They both sighed as Lance replied to Hunk.
"Hunk, can you stop acting so scared around the chained-up prisoner? It makes us seem a little lame. Besides, you're scaring the little lady over here,", he told his friend, gesturing at me towards the end. I pouted slightly at the nickname, although I was aware of how I lacked in height.
"I am alone on this base,", Ulaz interrupted their bickering.
"What is this base you're talking about? Shiro's coordinates just led us to this... wasteland", Allura demanded, her ever-sassy tone returning.
"The base is hidden. Now that I know it is Shiro that has come, you are welcome to our outpost. It lies dead ahead,", Ulaz told us. 'Wait, you mean-'
"Behind all the xanthorium clusters?", Pidge said, practically reading my mind.
"No, right in front of it, in a hidden pocket of space-time,", he continued.
"Coran, are you hearing this?", Allura asked, sounding doubtful. 'Why doesn't she trust him? If Shiro does, that's enough for me to know he's probably telling the truth, even if he does scare me.'
"I am picking up some kind of anomaly on the screen. I suppose it could be a cloaked base,", Coran responded a few beeps being heard in the background.
"Just fly straight for the centre of the xanthorium cluster. You will see,", Ulaz assured.
"You think you're going to get me to destroy our ship just because you say so?", Allura sneers at him, arms folded across her chest in defiance.
"We came out here to find some answers. Are we really going to turn back now?", Shiro asks, and I couldn't help but agree. This could be an amazing opportunity, even if it means working with the Galra, right? I give a small smile to Shiro, showing that I agree with him.
"You know I trust you, Shiro, but this just doesn't feel right,", Keith tells the older male, making me sigh. Keith looks towards me, shooting me a confused stare before looking back at Shiro.
"And you know I hate to agree with Keith, but it's a big fat ditto for me,", Lance takes a step forward, backing Keith's opinion up. Feeling uncomfortable next to the two boys, I step to Shiro's side.
"Galra could've implanted fake memories of the escape into your head,", Pidge suggests, looking at Hunk next so that he could give his viewpoint. 'Are they all really so doubtful? Yes, they've done terrible things, but if this guy was on Zarkon's side, I can guarantee that we would've been captured long ago.'
"Oh, come on. That would be evil which, of course, they are.", Hunk started, making me slightly lose hope. "But they'd have to come up with some molecular level storage unit, which... his hand does have,", 'is this going anywhere?' "But, to be linked to memory, it would need a direct path to his brain, which... yeah,". 'I guess not'
"Ulaz saved me. Without him, we wouldn't be here,", Shiro told us. I felt bad for him; no one seemed to trust him even though the evidence is clearly there.
"I- I probably shouldn't have an opinion on this, but I do know that if there's a chance of having new allies for this war, we should take it,", I started, making everyone look at me in shock. "Sure, his kind have hurt us in the past, but we can't just stereotype them, that's basically the alien version of racism. We should trust him,", I ended my speech, feeling slightly awkward with all the attention it had gotten me.
Allura looked at the floor, slightly conflicted, while the others sent reassuring smiles my way. I shifted uncomfortably in my spot, flushing in embarrassment. 'Never again, y/n. Never again'
"Fine. Slow and steady, Coran. Head for the xanthorium cluster,", Allura finally caved.
"Yes princess, beginning approach,", he replied, moving the ship forward. "Impact imminent in five, four, three, two...", a pause was heard as Coran let out a small gasp. "Well that's something,", he muttered.
"What is it?", Allura asked.
"Putting it up on the screens,", is all Coran replied with as a colourful wormhole look-alike popped up on the screen. Everyone gawked at it, but Pidge seemed fascinated, displaying the curiosity of a child.
"Amazing. They're folding space,", she muttered.
"It's like a space taco... or a space calzone! Or a space-time dumpling and we're the soup!", Hunk gushed, suddenly becoming cheery at the thought of food. "Hey, is there a cafeteria on this thing?", he asked. 'Please stop talking about food', I thought, the slight movement of the castle making me feel motion sick.
I sat down on one of the couches before looking back at the screen, noticing a ship come into view. It looked like Galra architecture but didn't have the usual decks or rows of purple windows.
"Welcome to the Blade of Marmora Communications Base Thaldycon,", Ulaz said, now sat a few feet away from me. "Now, if you'll free me, I need to send a message to the leadership. They need to know I've made contact with Voltron,", he added, standing up.
"Go with him and keep an eye on him. I'm staying here,", Allura ordered.
"Ooh, can we go?", Hunk asked, eager.
"I wanna see how they make the space pocket!", Pidge added, her eyes sparkling with overflowing curiosity.
"You guys go ahead, I'll hang back to protect the princess and, of course, the little lady,", Lance smugly said, his hands on his hips.
"Ugh...", Allura and I groaned, rolling our eyes.
~~
After everyone else had headed out to see the Blade of Marmora base, I was now left in the castle with Lance, Coran and Allura. Coran and Allura were in the main room, monitoring any activity, and they had told Lance and me to relax and that they'd alert him if he was needed. That leads us to now; we're both sat in Lance's room with a movie on.
"So, y/n", he started. I turned to look at him, signalling that I was listening and for him to carry on. "How do you feel about face masks? And can I style your hair?"
"I-I guess?", I replied. I was shocked he wanted to do anything like that, to be honest, but as long as he's happy. Sure enough, a huge smile spread across his face, his blue eyes lighting up almost instantly. "But do we even have these things on the ship?"
"Of course we do, keeping my skin perfect is a necessity", he replied, scurrying off to grab god knows what. From the bathroom, he shouts, "Okay so option one or option two?"
"What are option one and option two exactly?", I asked.
"Irrelevant! Just give me an answer?", I didn't reply. "Please?"
"Okay okay, option two I guess", I told him, suddenly feeling nervous as to what he's planning. The last time something like this happened was years ago, I had no idea what to expect. Lance came walking back into the room a few minutes later, snapping me from my previous thoughts.
He began putting the face mask on my skin, chatting as he did so. He asked questions about various things; how I'm finding being on the ship, whether I had any previous relationships, who I got along with the most. Basically, just some things to get to know each other. Then, he put a face mask on his own face, and he brought up an... interesting topic.
"y/n?", he asked. I hummed in response, looking away from the tv. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure,", I replied. He smirked, fiddling with his hands that sat in his lap.
"You and Keith seem pretty close if you get what I mean", he winked, making the tips of my ears turn slightly pink. Chuckling at my reaction, he continued talking. "Do you happen to like the emo boy by any chance? He seems to be awfully fond of you", he finished, a barely audible snicker leaving his lips.
"He's just a friend, Lance. He's been helpful ever since I got here, the least I can do is return that favour. Plus, we've barely known each other for a few weeks and I don't really feel comfortable thinking of such a relationship at the moment. I have priorities; like, well, the baby, and to be there for all of you guys, you know?", I said in one breath.
He sits there for a moment, eyes wide at my response. After the initial shock, though, his expression shifted to a smile as he placed a hand on my shoulder.
"I never really saw it that way, y/n, but that was a really considerate response. I'm sure you'll succeed in both the things you want to do,", he reassured me. "But if you ever need a supportive, dashingly handsome, dad figure for your kid, you know where to come,", he adds, flicking his hair.
I let out a laugh before slapping his arm gently and rubbing it afterwards. "Thank you, Lance, for the truly wonderful offer,", I teased, a goofy grin on both of our faces.
"Anytime, you cute midget,", he flirted, finally taking his hand off of my shoulder as we both turn to look at the tv again We sat in silence, watching the movie for a second until he shoots up in his place. "Shit! The face masks!"
~~
Our 'pamper session' - as called by Lance - was cut short by an urgent call from Allura. Lance shuffled back into his armour and I quickly grabbed a f/c hoodie, considering it was so cold on the ship. Now, we stood next to Coran, listening to what we had missed over the holographic screen.
"It's another one of Zarkon's robot... beast... ro-beasts!", Hunk exclaimed over the intercom. 'Ro-beats? Did he come up with that?'
"We have to get back to the ship,", Shiro told everyone, but he was stopped by Ulaz before he could go.
"Shiro, wait,", he said, holding up a small device. "These are instructions on how to reach the Blade of Marmora headquarters. Before you go there, find out how Zarkon is tracking you. If you lead him there, our entire underground network - everything we've spent centuries building - will be lost,". 'Wait, Zarkon is tracking us?!'
Shiro nodded, and the paladins boarded the red lion, heading back towards the castle. While I was concerned, Allura seemed to be feeling the polar opposite in terms of this situation.
"I knew he cannot be trusted!", she raged, glaring at Shiro over the intercom call.
"It wasn't him,", Shiro told her.
"How can you be so sure?", she retorted, fed up with Shiro defending someone she didn't trust. Coran, wanting to keep the peace, stepped in so that we wouldn't lose focus.
"It doesn't matter now, what should we do?", he asked no one in particular.
"Why can't we just hide here in the space clam and wait for it to go away?", Hunk asked. Does he not want to fight the ro-beast? It could keep attacking if they don't do something about it. Luckily, Shiro ignored Hunk's statement, quickly shaking it off to take action.
"Everyone, get to your lions but don't launch. We'll wait to see what this thing does. I don't wanna risk fighting it if we don't have to,", he commanded. They reached the castle again and rushed into their lions, then Pidge analysed the situation.
"We should be safe as long as we keep hidden in the space pocket,", she confirmed. Suddenly, however, the 'ro-beast' seemed to start drawing in the xanthorium clusters using some sort of beam.
"he's drawing in the xanthorium clusters!", Coran panicked, face turning pale. Soon enough, it had absorbed whatever it could, closing its hatch for a second, only to re-open it. It began firing a beam at the remainder of the clusters, destroying everything in its path as it searched for us. To our dismay, the ro-beast started flying towards us.
"I think he knows we're here,", Hunk said.
"Hold...", Shiro. The ro-beast opened its hatch once again, firing red lasers left, right and centre until it directly hit us.
"Direct hit! He definitely knows we're here!", Coran shouted, anxiety overtaking him.
"Get the particle barrier up!", Allura demanded, a cold look on her face. The beast continued firing at us repeatedly, leaving us no time for hesitation. To make matters worse, the robot drew more clusters in, preparing to strike again.
"He's readying another attack!", Coran cried. All of a sudden, it began feeling like the ship was being drawn closer by some force. I sat down, gripping whatever I could to keep myself from falling.
"He's pulling us in as well!", Allura confirmed. "Paladins, I think it's time to launch!"
"Form Voltron!", Shiro roared over the intercom, riling all the paladins up. As they did this, the ro-beast continued preparing its attack, collecting more and more clusters by the second. Something it didn't seem to account for, though, was Voltron smashing through the crystals and attacking it.
The large, multi-coloured robot punched the ro-beast dead in the centre, sending it tumbling backwards. Something broke the space fold, however, leaving us exposed and out in the open. 'This is bad. If he can see us, it'll be much easier to attack us and he's more than capable of obliterating us in one go'
"We're exposed! The space fold has been lowered!", Allura vocalized, in a frenzy of panic over the situation. At that moment, we saw a small, singular Galra aircraft flee from the area.
"Well, there goes Ulaz,", Coran humoured, but Allura took it more serious than he had originally intended her to.
"I knew we should never have trusted a Galra,", she sneered, sending a fierce look Ulaz' way. We watched as he flew off but soon became more focused on the current fight between Voltron and the ro-beast.
"Let's light this thing up. Fire lasers!", Shiro instructed, leaving it to Keith and Pidge to fire said lasers at the beast. They managed to knock it back, gaining distance between the two, but their advantage didn't last for long as the ro-beast turned around, collecting another batch of xanthorium clusters.
Huh?", Pidge and Keith muttered at the same time, seeing the ro-beast recover so quickly. "He's pulling in more ammo!", Pidge added.
"Move, move, move!", Shiro urged, seconds before a blast was sent their way, narrowly missing them. They flew as fast as they could, continuing away as the laser beam followed them. The hits got closer, hitting more xanthorium clusters as they tried to navigate their way through the tricky mind-field. Shrieks of pain and discomfort were the only things heard.
"Lance, Hunk, give me full reverse boosters,", Shiro asserted, the two boys complying with his instructions rapidly. The beam began sucking them in from behind, but the boosters gave them the power to fight back and fly in the other direction, smashing through a cluster or two as they did.
"This thing wants to eat us like we're a space taco!", Hunk cried as they continued to be drawn in by the sheer force of the beam. This time, they had a plan though. As they came closer, both legs of Voltron pressed against the ro-beast in an attempt to escape its grasp. Unlucky for us, however, the ro-beast had grabbed ahold of their arms, keeping them in place.
"Can't... get... free!", Shiro strained.
"I'll make him back off!", Keith assured, his usual tone gone as he now sounded determined and focused.
He manifested a sword in his lion's mouth, thrusting it into the ro-beast and making it emit light from all angles. Fortunately, the beast released Voltron and closed its hatch, allowing the paladins to fly away and gain the upper hand.
"We've gotta keep some distance between us and the ro-beast!", Shiro said, aware that they were now being chased by the enemy once again. The ro-beast continued to fire beams at Voltron until they were eventually caught in the crossfire. My heart stopped for a moment, but I soon regained composure when they appeared from the smoke.
"It's trying to pull us in again!", Hunk wailed as they manoeuvred away from the suction beams being sent their way. They were sucked in again, but Lance and Hunk were quick to put the thrusters on. Sadly, it didn't seem to work.
"I'm burning thrusters at full capacity and it's not making any difference!", Lance told them. At this point, my heart was in my mouth and I could swear my ears were ringing. The entire situation was so intense, it almost seemed unreal.
Suddenly, Allura shot a beam from the castle at the ro-beast, preventing it from hurting Voltron any further. They were split apart, Voltron ending up next to the castle.
"Is everyone alright?", she asked them.
"Alive? Yes. Alright? No,", Lance informed, a frown forming on his face.
In the midst of the moment, we failed to notice that the castle was being drawn in my the ro-beast, multiple clusters damaging the particle barrier. We all groaned, feeling the impact shake the castle as they hit.
"It's going for the castle!", Keith panicked, voice agitated.
"We need some way to stop its tractor beam!", Pidge suggested.
"I've got an idea! Pidge, form shield!", Shiro added. She did as he told her to, and they began making their way towards the ro-beast. "We can use the shield to block the beam!"
They got up close to the beast and rammed the shield into its hatch before punching it backwards, rendering it useless.
"We stopped the beam, now what?", Keith asked.
"Now we go on the offensive,", Shiro answered, earning a solution for that from Pidge.
"The xanthorium clusters! We can use them!", she suggested. The leg thrusters were activated, and Voltron pushed its enemy backwards, launching it into a giant xanthorium cluster as it retreated backwards to prevent being caught in the crossfire. Their plan was a success, and the ro-beast, along with the xanthorium cluster, exploded.
Everyone smiled as I breathed a breath of relief; we're all safe. That relief, as always, was just a bit too early, as a beam was once again fired at Voltron. They took action quickly, putting their shield up as a defence. They were pushed backwards by the sheer force of the beam.
"The shield can't handle this much power!", Pidge yelled, in the same second that the shield was forced out of their clutch, sending them further away. The ro-beast threw itself at them, but they used their thrusters in an attempt to delay the beam's process.
"We might not be strong enough to beat this thing!", Hunk worried, watching as they got closer to the ro-beast each second.
"Hang on!", a different, yet familiar voice, told us.
"Ulaz?", Shiro asked, shocked by his sudden appearance.
"I'm going to take it down from the inside!", the Galra man informed us as he flew towards the ro-beast in his aircraft.
"Ulaz, no! Let us handle this!", Shiro begged, not wanting his friend to sacrifice himself for them. I felt my heartache at this; it was a life or death situation and Ulaz seemed so willing to give himself up for us, even if most of the team shunned him.
"Voltron is too valuable. The universe needs you,", he said his last words as he flew into the eye of the storm, now engulfed by the beast. Once again, it seemed too stubborn to give up as it continued its pursuit towards Voltron.
"Get ready!", Shiro told them, wasting no time to make his friend's sacrifice worth it. Just as they prepared to attack, the ro-beast seemed to begin glitching, eventually folding in on itself.
"Ulaz opened the space pocket from inside! It's falling in on itself!", it dawned on Pidge. We watched as the ro-beast slowly diminished in size, soon folding in on itself, leaving nothing but a small pulse of purple energy in its place.
"He did it!", Hunk gushed.
"Ulaz saved us,", Keith muttered in disbelief.
"He's... gone,", Shiro spoke, voice quiet but full of pain.
~~
Everyone had returned to the castle by now, each of us dealing with Ulaz' sacrifice in different ways. Shiro needed time to think things over, so he left the room, closely followed by Keith who claimed he would check up on his friend. The rest of us just sat down together, trying to comprehend the day's events.
Later on, I walked back to my room, feeling exhausted from all that's happened. I heard some noise from Keith's room, and so I made the decision to poke my head in quickly to check up on him. He sat on his bed, a conflicted look plastered on his pale skin.
"Keith? Are you alright?", I asked him in a quiet voice, as to not startle him. He flinched slightly, shoulders tense, but relaxed a bit when he saw it was me.
"I'm good, what's up?", he replied, standing up and taking a few steps closer. I fiddled with my fingers, unsure of whether I should try to comfort him. He seemed tense or frustrated so, after a debate with myself, I plucked up some confidence and wrapped my arms around his torso, laying my head on his chest carefully.
"Keith, it's okay to be upset about what happened today, y'know? It's okay to feel upset or off, just don't bottle it up. I'm here and so is everyone else we're here for you, I promise,", I assured him, smiling softly as he slowly returned my hug, placing his chin atop my head.
"I know, y/n, I know. T-thank you for that...", he whispered back, staying in the same position for a second before clearing his throat. "Right, well, I bet we're both tired. Best to go to bed, we need the rest. I'll see you in the morning,"
"Yeah, see you,", I chirped, unlatching myself from him before exiting the room, giving a gentle wave as I did.
'He seems off. Did something happen?'
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A/N: Hey reader, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It took a little longer to get this one out because I had a small shock to the system when going back to school, but everything should be back to normal now! Hopefully, you're all doing okay with whatever's happening where you are right now and thank you for reading this chapter! If you get bored waiting for the next one, feel free to check out the one-shots I wrote a while back, and I'll see you in the next chapter! - Gracie