We flew off into space, following our new leader, Keith. He had planted a tracker on Lotor's ship, so we've been following that signal.
"Lotor's cruiser is on the other side of this planet." Pidge informed us, "At our current speed, we'll be within attack range in an hour."
"Good. Hold formation." Keith ordered. I sighed as he gave out the order with such an angry tone.
"Keith," I said, "Are you sure that this is a good idea?"
"This is how I lead, Zurine. I put that tracker on Lotor's cruiser for a reason. We need some answers."
An hour passed and we were almost in attack range. All of a sudden, Allura, now piloting the Blue Lion, accidentally bumped into the Yellow Lion.
"Oh, apologies, Hunk!" She said.
"Mhm, I'm beginning to agree with Zurine. Is attacking right now such a good idea? You know, since not everyone is so great with their lions?" Hunk tried to put simply.
"Do you mean me, specifically?" Allura asked.
"You? No. No way, I didn't-- I'm just simply pointing out that more than half the team are in new lions, and Zurine had just woken up from being in a coma. Maybe now's not a great time to bite off more than we can chew."
"You can blame our hot-headed leader for that one." Lance said.
"First you want me to lead, and then you complain about how I do it. Prince Lotor is the heir to the Galra throne. We could end his reign right now." Keith said annoyed by the constant complaints.
The Red Lion pulled back into the group and near the Blue Lion.
"Allura, you doing okay in Blue?" Lance asked in a worried tone. Allura on the other hand was nervous, but refused to show it.
"I'm fine. I've been piloting the castle for half my life. I just need a few ticks to adjust to the lion." Allura replied.
"Allura, the lion is not exactly like the castle. It has a heart and mind of its own. You'll need more than a few ticks to adjust." I said.
"We don't have that much time, Zurine. We're going in." Keith led the team forward into battle towards the Galra cruiser.
After a little while, something happened.
"I'm detecting movement." Keith said suddenly.
"So much for the element of surprise." Lance said, his voice laced with agitation.
We neared closer to the cruiser, and as the gap between us and the cruiser became smaller, a small fighter emerged from it. I could feel someone inside.
It was Lotor. His cold presence, even from this far away, I shall never forget.
"Just a single fighter. Where's the rest of them?" Hunk wondered aloud.
"Probably scrambling as we speak. Let's take it out." Kwith grunted as he rushed the Black Lion forward.
Lotor's fighter rushed forwards as well, ready to fight. I pushed the controls and ruahed to Keith's side. But just before I could get to him, the Red Lion rushed forward and crashed into the Black Lion.
The two palidans grunted at the sudden movement of the lions.
"Lance, what are you doing?" Keith shouted.
"Sorry! Red here is a lot faster than I'm used to." Lance replied.
"Keith, we must head back to the castle and abandon this mission! We need time to adjust to the new crew assignments." I tried to reason with him, but Keith wouldn't listen.
"Uh, where'd that fighter go?" Lance's question put us on high alert. The Red Lion looked behind it towards us and sae thw small fighter hovering over the rest of us.
I followed its gaze and spotted the fighter. Quickly I changed into my moon form and flew over to the Black Lion to protect it. The soft blue glow of my powers, changed the white steel of my lion to soft blue with a white shimmer.
The fighter fired at the Black Lion and me. Thanks to my powers over the moon, the lion was safely protected, however, my lion took the full force of the attack.
"Come one, move!" Keith ordered the Black Lion, but the lion stayed at the same pace.
"Black Lion, what is wrong?" I asked.
"Young Keith Kogane has not yet taken to my strengths and weaknesses. I'm not as agile as the Red Lion, and he pilots me like Red."
My eyes widened in realization as we continued to duck and weave from the laser bullets.
"I can't shake him. Someone get this guy off my tail." Keith said.
"Coming in on your six." Pidge said. The green, yellow and blue lions came in from behind, but Lotor saw it coming.
The three lions shot their lasers at the cruiser, but the attacks were dodged.
Lotor twisted and turned his cruiser then continued to follow Keith and me.
"Keith watch out!" I shouted, pushing him out of the way and taking one of the hits from the attacking lions.
"Allura!" Keith shouted in anger.
"I'm sorry, Keith. Zurine I'm so sorry." Allura apologized.
"There's nothing to apologize about, sister." I said happily, but then turned my focus back to Keith and Lotor.
"Keith, we must retreat. Allura, Lance and even you have not completely controlled your new lions yet. We must go back." I pleaded with Keith, but still he wouldn't listen.
He couldn't answer as Lance and Allura kept spiralling out of control with their lions. Lance trying to figure out how to control Red's speed and unpredictably. And Allura trying to command Blue, when the two should be working together.
I watched and heard my friends groan in pain as their lions were hit and thrown around like ragdolls.
Then Allura decided to go bold. She chased after the fighter, but before she could land a hit, the fighter pulled up, sending her on an unavoidable path into the Yellow Lion.
The impact was not pretty.
"What did I tell you, Keith? We need to head back!" I yelled.
"Whoa! What's up with this guy? He's playing us against ourselves." Lance exclaimed.
"It's gotta be Lotor." Keith said. I nodded.
"Keith's correct. I'd recognize that cold presence even if he was hiding himself in the heart of a volcano." I said.
"Or. Allura, you okay over there?" Hunk asked as the dizziness passed.
"I'm fine but these controls are not respinding, not like the castle." She replied, "What's wrong with you, Lion? Do as I command. Move!"
"You can't just command the lion to do what you want it to to. You must become one with it." I advised.
"Took the words right out of my mouth, Zurine." Pidge said with a smirk.
"I already told her that yelling at her lion won't work. Didn't go over well. She yelled at me too. I would've thoight that out of all people, Allura would listen to Zurine. Guess not." Lance said.
"She scares me when she's under pressure." Hunk said.
"I can hear you." Allura's annoyed tone of voice scared the three palidans.
"Keith, what should we do?" Pidge asked.
"How about this? Everyone just stay out of my way!" Keith flew away from us all. My mouth hung open as he flew off anf left all of us behind.
"Great. Great leadership." Lance said sarcastically.
The Black Lion fired its lasers at Lotor's fighter, but they all missed. I growled as I pushed the controls forward and rushed towards the two fighting teams.
The Black Lion was pushed back and growled after a laser hit it dead on.
"Okay, this isn't working. We need to from Voltron." Keith said, "Everyone, in formation."
We did as he said, but as we flew into formation, I suddenly felt an ache in my heart. I let go of one to the handles and grasped the cloth over my heart.
"Guys! Guys, I'm not feeling that Voltron feeling." Hunk said.
"Keep going!" Keith urged on. But the pain was just too much for me. I began gasping for breath.
"White, what's happening to me?" I asked.
"The lions are not together, therfore the heart is in turmoil. They must work together, feel six becomimg one."
The White Lion fell behind as Lotor swung around in front of us.
"It's not happening!" Pidge exclaimed.
"What is going on?" Keith growled.
"Hold up a second, where's Zurine?" Lance asked. The while team suddenly turned cold as worry worked its way into their minds.
Everyone opened a communication channel to my lion, they were shocked to see me panting and gasping for air.
"Zurine, what's wrong?" Allura asked.
"What happened to you and White?" Hunk asked.
"The heart..." I gasped, "Voltron is not together. The lions are not used to you.... thus not being able to connect with you and form Voltron."
Lotor swooped down and we all dodged, although, when he came close to me, he quickly evaded.
Lotor retreated after that.
"Well that was embarrassing." Lance sighed.
"So... should we call it quits? Maybe go back, regroup, get a meal?" Hunk asked.
"No!" Keith objected, "I know everyone is struggling, but can't let Lotor slip away."
"And What happens when we face Lotor, an enemy we know nothing about and something goes wrong?!" I shouted, silencing everyone in surprise at my loud tone.
"We need to regroup and regrasp Voltron. Or else someone could get hurt, and I don't want to see that happen." I whispered through my pain.
Everything was silent for a tick, but Keith's voice peirced through it.
"I'm sorry, Zurine. But you and the Black Lion chose me as the new leader. And this is how I lead."
We took off following the fighter.
"This is how you lead? By risking our lives to fight an enemy we know nothing about? I love you Keith, I'll follow and support you in any way I can, but this is dangerous. I thought you would have a level and focused mind when it---"
"Well, I'm not the perfect leader like Shiro!" He shouted, silencing me, "Maybe you and the lions chose the wrong pilot to lead you guys."
"I never make mistakes about these types of things."
The entire rest of the way was silent and awkward. Lotor led us to a gaseous planet, all of a sudden, my lion's sensors went haywire and became more warped the closer we got to the planet.
Keith, ignoring the helpful advice and warnings we've been giving him, ordered us to fly straight inside the unknown planet.
Our sensors went offline.
"Guys, we've got a problem." Pidge said, "My sensors are going crazy. I think it's due to this planet's atmosphere and what must be strange magnetic poles."
I hit the dashboard in anger, "This was his plan. Lotor led us here on purpose to divide and conquer us one by one.!"
"We can't worry about that right now. I'm not letting this guy get away." Leith said as he rushed further into the unknown.
"Keith, without accurate sensors or working equipment, we're nit gonna be able to tell what's up or down, where we are, or how to get out. I say we fall back."
"No, keep going." Keith ordered. All of a sudden, Keith's voice turned static, then it dropped out completely.
I quickly lost sight of my friends as they flew off. Without my sensors, I couldn't communicate.
But I could feel the turmoil within the lions and within the palidans.
I was so just looking for my friends, that I barely noticed the large rock formations around me.
I screamed and pulled back on my controls, barely missing the rock but my quick movements sent me crashing into another rock.
I was knocked back into my seat, my head smashing hard into the hard metal chair. I blacked out right away.
Mindscape~~~~~~~~
I opened my eyes to see that I was in my mindscape once again. The six lions of Voltron surrounded me, but only the yellow, green and white lions looked bright and colorful, while the black, blue and red lions looked dull.
"What happened back there? Where's the rest of the team?" I heard Lance ask through the Red Lion.
"This is all my fault. I followed him right into this trap." Keith blamed himself, "Everyone warned me, but I didn't listen. I put the enture team in jeopardy. I even yelled at Zurine because I was too blind."
I sighed, at least he learned his mistake.
"Yeah, you kinda did. But niw we gotra fix it."
"You're right. Let's go."
I smiled at Keith's words.
"Yellow Lion, how is Hunk?" I asked.
"He is relieved that Green and Pidge have found him, but now they are stuck without anyway of communicating." The Yellow Lion answered.
"I see... Blue, how is Allura?"
"Frustrated to say the least, she still doesn't understand how to pilot me."
"I can't control everything. I... I need your help." I heard Allura plead. Suddenly, the Blue Lion gained color and roared. I jumped for joy as Allura had finally connected with Blue.
But then, I felt the pain of Blue as he was fading in and out rapidly. I collapsed onto my knees and clutched my heart as the pain continued.
"Allura is being attacked?"
"Yes, but not for long. She's fibally grapsed my abilities. She's now a true palidan of Voltron."
"That's good to hear." Finally, I collapsed and returned to reality.
Mindscape end~~~~~~~
I groaned and opened my eyes, seeing the blue fog around me. I quickly pulled myself up and scanned for the others. No success.
I sighed, "Palidans, hello, anyone? Hailing the palidans of Voltron! Can anyone hear me?"
It was silent for a few doboshes, until, finally, someone answered.
"Zurine!" I heard Allura shouted through the comms. I laughed at the sound of her, happy to finally hear a friend.
"Allura!" I shouted back, "I'm glad that you're okay. Have you found the others?"
"We're right here, Zurine." Keith said happily
"Hey, what's up? You looking for a way out?" Pidge asked jokingly.
"I'm happy that you're all okay. Now, we should find a way to get out of here." I chuckled.
"Already on it." Allura said, "Hold up a tick. Everyone, we have company. It seems that Lotor called for back-up."
"Oh, man. It's always something." Hunk groaned.
"We have to form Voltron." Keith said.
"But we were not able to form Voltron the last time we tried." Allura poimted out.
"We have to keep trying. We may have come here fragmented and disorganized, but the only way we're getting out of here is if we work together. This is our team. Shiro believed in us and Zurine trusts us with our lions. We have to believe and trust in ourselves. Who's with me?"
"Yeah!" We all shouted.
"Now, form Voltron!" We all flew into formation and transformed into Voltron.
All of a sudden, a new feeling rushed into the depths of my very soul. It was a new feeling that I could barely described.
But it felt protective.
We flew away from the planet and dodged the lasers coming towards us. As we moved through space and attacked the cruiser, I felt the lion's power increase.
And as we returned home, the whole team smiled. It was a good day.