"Father!" Allura shouted, running down the hall, "Father! Coran! Wake up!" Lights came on, and soon enough Alfor and Coran were standing in front of the princess.
"What is it?!" Alfor asked, alarmed; Coran rubbed his eyes, then stretched his back.
"What's all the hubbub?" Allura looked down, almost about to cry.
"Lance is gone!" Alfor's eyes widened.
"What?" She showed Alfor her brother's note.
"H-he left this." The king grabbed the note and read through it.
"I..don't understand...." Coran looked at the note as well, his eyes widening when he got to the end.
"I knew it!" Alfor raised a brow.
"You knew?!"
"Of course! It was completely obvious judging by the way Lance talked about Keith. He was smitten." Coran said as he blinked his eyes in a dreamy fashion. Allura rolled her eyes while Alfor rubbed his head in a confused manner.
"So he just decided to—to take off?" Allura folded her hands together in a worried state.
"We have to find him!" She said, and Alfor nodded in agreement.
"And we're going to. Coran, check if any of the escape pods are missing. I can't think of any other way Lance could've gotten off planet." Coran saluted to Alfor.
"Right you are, sir!" Coran took off and Alfor hugged his daughter.
"Don't worry, Allura, we'll get your brother back." She sighed.
"I hope so, Father." Alfor began to walk down the hall to help Coran, but Allura smiled, looking at Lance's note. She knew there was more to that note. She knew that last part was ever so carefully ripped off of that paper.
~~~
Lance traveled for a while, eventually coming to the first planet of his adventure in finding Keith. He didn't know the name, but it reminded him of Arus a lot. He got out of his escape pod and looked around. As he walked through the village, he noticed people turning to stare at him. He went in a small market and the clerk's eyes widened. "Oh mon Dieu! You're Prince Lawrence of Altea!" She fell to her knees in respect, "I've heard about you! We never get people from off planet! This is so exciting! What an honor it is, sire!" Lance blushed and looked away.
"Thanks, I guess? Please, there's really no need for that." She looked up at him and quickly stood up.
"Very well, your highness. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Yes, actually. I was wondering if you knew the location of Zarkon's ship?" Her eyes widened.
"Zarkon?" Lance nodded, "Of the Galra Empire?!" Lance frowned a little, and nodded again. She shivered, "I'm sorry your majesty, I don't, but why would you wanna go and do a thing like that? If you don't mind my saying, the Galra are pretty terrifying creatures."
Gurl, you just dissed my man. Lance put on his best, polite smile. "Well I'm just trying to get in contact with him, that's all." She shook her head.
"I wish I could help you." Lance looked down.
"Thanks anyway." He said, walking out. He was going to go try another market, but he saw some people looking at his escape pod. "Hey!" He walked closer to them, "Do you mind-" He quickly shut his mouth and ducked behind a wall. Those were some of the royal Altean guards. He darted back into the store he came from. The clerk was shocked to see him again.
"Prince Lawrence? What ar-"
"Hey uh..do you think you could make me look like.....not Prince Lawrence?" His fingers tapped anxiously on her counter. She smiled and nodded.
"Bien sûr! This is a beauty and fashion store after all!" She smiled brightly. Lance checked outside to make sure the guards weren't coming his way.
"Perfect." He finally said with a nod, and she brought him around the back with a small skip in her step.
~
"I've just got word our guards have located the pod!" Coran said, "Now all they have to do is find Lance." Alfor frowned nervously.
"You mean he's not in the pod?!" Coran shook his head with a scratch to his head.
"Well he landed on this planet, Earth, not too long ago so...no, he's not in the pod." Alfor groaned.
~
"And voilà!" She smiled, giving Lance a mirror. He smiled, looking at himself. His white hair was now a dark chocolate brown, his blue Altean marks under his eyes were covered with, he think she called foundation; she even had the decency to give him little freckles over them too. His bright blue and purple eyes were now obscured by just dark blue contacts. She giggled, "Why, you almost look human! I'm sorry I couldn't do anything about your ears, though." She looked down sadly. Lance shook his head.
"No it's great." He stood up, looking down at himself, "Now I just need some new clothes." She gasped and her eyes lit up.
~
Allura sat on the ground by her father, concerned of how long this would take. If Lance got to Keith and—more importantly—Zarkon, then Lance wouldn't be shy to tell him what's been happening. "Don't worry Allura," Alfor said, "we'll find Lance. I'm sure he's doing just fine." She frowned towards the floor.
His health isn't what I'm afraid of. She turned to her father with a small smile. "I know Father. Just can't help but worry." Alfor pursed his lips, unsure of what else to say.
~
"Oh! You look fantastique, sire!" The clerk giggled, looking at Lance. He now just wore a white t-shirt with blue sleeves, as well as blue skinny jeans, and grey sneakers. Lance looked at himself in the full body mirror.
"Feels like something's missing.." Then he saw a green jacket hanging on a coat rack in the mirror. He turned around and smiled excitedly. "That's it!" He ran over to it and pulled it out, slipping it on. She clapped and jumped up and down.
"Ah! C'est parfait!" Lance smiled and she handed him his original clothes. He folded them neatly and placed them in his bag.
"Thank you, how much do I owe you?" Lance asked, but she shook her head.
"Oh, nothing! It's on the house!" She winked, "Not Prince Lawrence."
"Are you sure? I really do feel like I should give you something."
"Non monsieur, you should get going." She waved at him with a big smile and Lance bowed his head to thank her. He was about to take off, but then he realized..he can't take the pod, his father can track it. The prince sighed, trying to think of how to avoid the new problem. Then somebody bumped into him.
"Hey, watch it!" Someone shouted at him, "This is some priceless equipment here!" Lance looked down at find a small child with short, light brown hair and large, round glasses.
"Oh..sorry I didn't see you." The little person glared at him.
"Is that supposed to be a short joke!?" Lance held his hands up defensively.
"No no! Please, I really didn't see you, I'm very sorry." The person rolled their eyes, "I'm Lance by the way."
"Whatever. Name's Pidge." Lance cocked his head.
"That's an interesting name for a..." He looked at Pidge, who never dropped that death glare.
"I'm a girl." She finally said. Lance smiled nervously, pointing a finger at her.
"I was just about to say that." She rolled her eyes again and continued walking. Lance tapped his chin, "You seem like a pretty techy person, huh?" He followed Pidge, who just grunted.
"Yeah? What of it?" Lance shrugged, smiling curiously.
"I have this pod problem.." She blew her long bangs out of her face.
"And?" She side glared at him.
"Well, maybe you can help me?" She set down her equipment and wiped the sweat off her forehead.
"Why would I help you?"
"Because....you're a nice.." Lance took note of that glare, "..patient.." Pidge rolled her eyes once more, her foot tapping against the ground; Lance's mouth hung open for a few ticks, "you're a person who's willing to help others out!" He finally said, still not fully confident with his answer. Pidge just crossed her arms.
"Listen bud, I've got my own stuff to deal with. I don't have time to help you with your problems, I can barely handle my own, okay! So if you'll excuse me-"
"Pardon me." Lance's eyes widened and he turned his face away from the Altean guard who was now standing in front of them, "But have you two happened to see Prince Lawrence of Altea around here?" Pidge shook her head.
"Believe me, if I saw Prince Lawrence, I would've been able to name him right off the bat," she bent down to pick up her equipment again, "and not sorry to say, I haven't seen him." The guard hummed, turning to Lance.
"What about you?" Beads of sweat formed on Lance's head.
"Sorry I-I don't think I've seem him either, sorry." He squeaked out. Pidge raised a brow at his sudden change of demeanor. The guard studied his face.
"Interesting, you actually look a lot like Prince Lawrence." Lance forced out a loud laugh.
"HAHAA!! P-people tell me that All the tIme!" Pidge suddenly gasped and dropped her things in shock. The guard and Lance both jumped at the noise.
"What is it?!" The guard asked, alarmed. Pidge pointed in some random direction.
"I saw him! Just now! He went that way!" The guard glanced behind himself, quickly thanked Pidge, and ran off. Lance turned to Pidge and raised his arms in a what-the-heck-was-that-about!? way. Pidge picked her stuff up again. "Alright. I'll help you." She then disappeared behind a curtain of a small shack. Lance raised a brow but then she came back out, dusting her hands off. "What do you need?" Lance frowned, trying to process what just happened.
"Okay...what was that?" Pidge shrugged.
"What?" Lance did that are-you-serious?! face.
"Um, one, you yell at me because you almost drop your stuff. Two, you're super rude to me and say you don't have time to deal with my problems. Three, not five minutes ago you're bashing on me about your precious equipment, but then you drop it and tell that guard Prince Lawrence ran some way, when he wasn't even there!? What the heck!" Pidge smirked.
"Hello~! If I help you, I get special royal prince type favors." Lance frowned, watching her walk towards the pod, "So come on Princey, lemme help ya out." Lance crossed his arms, following her.
"How'd you know I was Prince Lawrence?" Pidge just snickered.
"How'd you know Prince Lawrence, 'wasn't even there'?" She quoted him, "You weren't even looking in that direction." Lance blushed out of embarrassment and Pidge folded her hands behind her head. "Don't be embarrassed, everyone makes mistakes. Except me of course. I'm a freakin genius."