~~~Shiro~~~
Allura decided to hold a large party that same evening after we defeated the Galra monster. I didn't think that hosting a party was such a good idea, especially after what we had been through. However, I suppose a party would help us unwind a little. Especially Saoirse.
I looked around the room from the entrance, watching the Arusians mingle with the others.
"The monster fell from the sky!" The Arusian King said as he and several of his people recreated the battle in their own way, "It was an epic battle, but, Voltron was victorious!"
The Arusians playing us fell to the ground on the stairs.
"No. I said "Voltron was victorious!" The kind repeated, the performers quickly shifting to make Voltron victorious.
The Arusians cheered and Allura walked up to the king.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for that wonderful production." She said then turned to face the room, "It saddens me that we must leave tomorrow, but we must continue our battle with Zarkon and spread peace throughout the universe."
Allura turned back towards the Arusian King and handed him a small communicator.
"Your Highness, please accept this gift. This will allow you to contact us anytime you need help. Arus will be the first planet in the Voltron Alliance." She said. The king gave a big cheer followed by the other Arusians cheering after him.
I smiled at Allura's festive speech, she really knows what she's doing. Meanwhile, most of us don't have a single clue how to fight in a war, much less win it.
I looked back out at the crowd and spotted Saoirse talking with Lance, Keith and Hunk, all smiling while Lance was coming up with a team cheer.
I'm glad to see my sister smile. She needs that joy.
~~~Saoirse~~~
I laughed as Lance tried to make a team cheer. It didn't work out since Keith and Hunk couldn't understand it.
"We'll work on it." Lance said, taking a sip from his cup before finding it utterly disgusting. But he swallowed it anyway.
"Coran, what is this?" He asked the orange haired Altean standing close by.
"Oh, this is Nunvill, the nectar of the gods." Coran answered, happily taking a sip from his own cup.
"It tastes like hot dog water and feet."
"Yeah, makes a wonderful hair tonic as well." Coran dipped his fingers in the cup and splashed some of the drink onto his mustache, making it fluff up and shine.
Lance retched as Coran walked away to talk with Shiro, who was standing guard by the main entrance.
Keith and Hunk circled around Lance, I just stood there waiting for Lance to finally snap out of it. I sighed when Keith poked his shoulder and Lance fell to the ground.
I decided to go around to walk and mingle. Many of the Arusians still huddled around me and called Angel. I still didn't understand why they called me that, but, to each species their own. I had no right to deny them the name they gave to me.
I walked around saying my hellos to the Arusians, when I bumped into someone.
"Excuse me." I said politely.
"It's fine, Saoirse." I heard Pidge say. I looked down to see Pidge and her new drone friend she reprogrammed back in a Galra ship. His name was Rover as she called him, and he never left her side often.
Just as I was about to go about on my way, I noticed that Pidge held a back over her shoulder.
"What's with the bag, Pidge?" I asked curious about why she needed it. Pidge was stiff for a moment not answering my question, before she sighed and looked straight into my eyes.
"I'm going to leave to find my family." She admitted, "I've decrypted the information from the Galra ship and have a general idea of where my father and brother were last held. I'm leaving tonight."
I wasn't very surprised about Pidge's decision. After our battle this afternoon, she spent hours before the party deciding Galra records she found in the destroyed ship from Sendak's attack.
However, if Pidge left, then Voltron couldn't be formed, and wherever her family was in the universe, they would be in even more danger.
But, I understood why she wanted to leave. Her family was out there and after them being apart for a year, she would want to find them before they could be lost forever.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked with hesitation. She looked at me with a confused expression.
"I would've thought that you would stop me from leaving. And yet you're asking me if I'm sure about my choice. Why aren't you stopping me?" She asked.
I sighed and smiled, "Don't get me wrong, I'd hate to see you go. Without you, Voltron can't be formed and the universe won't have someone to protect it. But I do understand how you're feeling. If I had a chance to find my family, I would take it. Just be sure that when you find them, never let them go again and be safe. Come back soon to see us once your father and brother are in a safe place. Promise?"
Pidge nodded and hugged me, "I promise. Thank you for understanding." She let me go and waved goodbye, smiling all the while.
I smiled back, hiding the fact that I would miss Pidge. But, I just had to keep hope that she would be safe.
Just then. I saw Lance walking up the stairs with a sad look on his face. His eyes were beginning to swell, a clear sign that he was about to cry. He passed by Allura and Coran, the princess walking up to Pidge to talk.
I walked towards Coran and stood by his side.
"Is everything all right with Lance?" I asked Coran.
"I don't know. He just passed by sniffling. He looked pretty upset." He answered.
I looked up the stairs and watched as Lance's back disappeared to the upper level.
"Maybe we should go talk to him. He shouldn't bottle up his feelings." I said.
Coran nodded and we went up the stairs to find Lance. We searched down the halls with no sign of him being anywhere, when we finally made it to the bridge.
We walked through the doors and saw Lance sitting on the small set of stairs near Shiro's station.
"Mind if we join you?" Coran asked.
Lance looked up at us, tearing away from his thoughts. The two of us jumped down and stood next to Lance.
"How far away from Earth do you think we are, Coran?" Lance asked.
"Well, let's take a look." Coran walked up to his control panel and activated the holo-map of the universe.
"Earth is over here. And we're all... the way over..." Coran said swiping the floating map several times, just further proving how far away from home we really were.
"You ever notice how far the planets are form each other, Coran?" Lance asked.
"Yes. Haven't you been paying attention?"
"I don't think that's what Lance meant, Coran." I said. Lance stood up and walked up next to Coran, I followed as well, standing by Coran's left side and watching the stars.
"Yeah, like, I mean, they're really, really far away." Lance clarified, "Like, say Earth. It's so far away, I can't even see it. The... The blue oceans, the white clouds, green grass... I... I can't see any of it."
It was all clear now. He was feeling homesick. We all were. I missed Earth as much as everyone else. I wanted to go back, but what would I go back to?
"You miss Earth." Coran said understanding what Lance was talking about. "I understand. I miss Altea."
"I know we're supposed to be brave paladins and Defenders of the Universe or whatever, but, honestly, I just want to go home."
I looked around Coran and over at Lance, "I understand that you miss Earth, Lance. I know that as much as you. But, if we don't fight, we won't be able to go home back, if there's ever a home to go back to."
"If I could go home, I would." Coran said.
"I miss rain and splashing in puddles." Lance said reminiscing.
"Rain?" Coran repeated.
"Yeah. It's water that falls from the sky." Lance explained.
"Oh, we had that on Altea. Only, it wasn't water, more like rocks. Razor-sharp and boiling hot. Oh, they could knock a hole right in your head."
"Sounds fun." Lance groaned before turning to me, "What about you, Saoirse? What do you miss about home the most?"
I hummed in thought, thinking about what I enjoyed most about Earth. There were so many things, but I had to say that there was one thing about Earth I missed the most.
"The full moon." I answered.
Coran and Lance looked at me confused by my answer.
"The moon? Really?" Lance asked. I nodded confirming my answer.
"I would've thought you would answer your family." Coran said.
I sighed, frowning at the assumption Coran made. Of course, he didn't know.
"No. I have no family other than Shiro. At least, none that I can remember." I answered. Coran and Lance looked at me completely shocked, their mouths hanging open and their eyes wide with shock.
"You don't have any family in Earth?" Coran asked. I shook my head.
"Nope. None. Shiro adopted me as a younger sister when I was about twelve. I've been an orphan for most of my life." I didn't notice that I was rubbing the scar around my neck.
Coran and Lance no noticed my actions, but didn't question it.
"I... I never expected you to be an orphan. You always seem so happy." Lance said.
I smiled and faced the two, "I smile because I left that behind. I can't remember my family, so how can I miss them when there's nothing to remember about them to miss?"
We stayed in silence for a while, just staring at the starry sky above Arus. I guess other than the moon, I missed the stars above Earth. At least I can still see those during this journey.
~~~Pidge~~~
I stood with Allura and the others. I had just finished explaining my plans, and I had hoped for them to be just as understanding as Saoirse was. I was wrong.
"Pidge, no." Shiro said.
"The download from the Galra shio was enough to at least get in the right direction to start my search. I have a pod all ready to go." I said.
"You can't leave." Keith said stomping in front of me and getting right up in my face with an angry look.
"You can't tell me what to do!" I yelled back.
"If you leave, we can't form Voltron. And that means we can't defend the universe against Zarkon. You're not the only one with a family. All these Arusians have families. Everyone in the universe has families."
"Yeah, I have a family. They live on Earth." Hunk interjected. "I want to be with them. Is that, like, a thing that can happen?"
"You want to leave, too?" Allura asked, afraid to lose another paladin.
"Of course I do! Look, Voltron is super-cool, don't get me wrong, but I never signed up for a lifetime in space, fighting aliens."
"You're putting the lives of two people over the lives of everyone else in the entire galaxy!" Keith shouted at me, stomping closer to me. I backed away from his explosive anger. Shiro grabbed his arm and pulled him back a little.
"Keith, that's not how a team works." He said sternly, "People want to be a part of it. They can't be forced."
Keitu stood down, still glaring at the ground in his anger. I knew he wouldn't understand.
"If you want to leave, we won't try to stop you." Shiro said calmly, "But, please, just thing about what you're doing."
I kept my head down not wanting to look up and face the others.
"I'm sorry." I said, "You're going to have to find someone else to pilot the Green Lion. But I will come back once I find my family. I made a promise to Saoirse about that."
I turned and walked away, Rover following me close behind.
I've made my choice. And I won't turn back on it.
~~~Saoirse~~~
We turned away after watching the stars for a while longer until we decided to go back to the party.
Just as the doors opened to let us out, Rover came through flying into the bridge.
"Hey, Rover." Lance greeted as the drone passed us.
I didn't lay much mind to the drone. But then I noticed something strange. Rover never left Pidge's side. If she wasn't here, then why was Rover here in the first place.
I stopped in my tracks, turning around to watch what the drone was doing. Suddenly, just as it got close to the crystal on the ceiling, the once calming green lights it had turned crimson red and the drone began beeping rapidly.
I gasped when I understood what was going on.
"Coran, Lance, look out!" I shouted, jumping on top of them to shield them from the blast. I thought I saw a blast of light, before everything went dark.
I didn't feel any pain, but I couldn't move.
~~~Keith~~~
We ran to the bridge where the explosion originated, the Arusians were still running around the Castle in a panic, but we had to find out what was happening.
We heard groaning through the smoke wafting through the halls from the bridge. We coughed loudly as we went through the smoke and found Coran on the ground, disoriented from the shock.
"What happened?" Shiro asked.
"I'm not sure." Coran groaned. The smoke cleared, allowing us to see what had happened on the bridge. The room was a mess and the crystal on the ceiling was completely destroyed.
"The crystal!" Allura exclaimed running up to see the extent of the damage. She ran up but gasoed when she saw two more victims on the floor.
"Lance! Saoirse!" She shouted. I looked down at on the floor and saw Lance and Saoirse unconscious on the floor.
Saoirse was on top of him, she most likely tried to shield him from the blast.
Shiro and I ran up to the two, carefully holding them up in our arms.
"Lance? Lance!" Shiro said to try and wake up Lance, to no avail, only a soft groan of pain.
"Saoirse? Saoirse, wake up." I said, but I was met with a groan as well.
"We have to get them to the infirmary!" Pidge said.
"Without the crystal, the Castle has no power." Allura stated.
"They don't look good." Shiro said, worried for our friends.
"Lion warriors!" We heard someone shout behind us. We turned around and saw the Arusian king running up to us in fear, "Our village is under attack! We need help!"
I gently lay Saoirse back on the floor, making sure not to cause her any more pain.
"Let's get to the lions!" I said.
"You can't." Allura said, "They're sealed in their hangars. There's no way to get them out. We're defenseless."
"Will you not help us?" The king asked.
"We'll help you. We just..."
Lance groaned, stopping me from talking anymore.
"This is bad." Hunk said.
"We have to get a new crystal to get the Castle working again. But, to get a new crystal, we need a ship." Coran said.
"The pod I was loading, we can use that! I left the bay door open." Pidge said.
"I can use the scanner in the pod to see if there's a Balmera nearby. Hunk, you come with me. I'll need someone night to help me carry the crystal."
"A Balmera?" Hunk repeated questioningly.
"It's where the crystals come from. I'll tell you about it on the way!" Coran, Hunk and Pidge ran down the halls to the bay area to find the ship and hopefully find a crystal to power the Castle.
"I'll go see what's happening at the Arusian village." I said.
"I'll go with you, Keith." Allura stated, "I brought this on the poor Arusians."
"I'll tend to Lance and Saoirse and stand watch over the Castle." Shiro said.
I took one last look at Saoirse, not wanting to leave her. Shiro looked up at me and smiled softly.
"I'll keep her safe, Keith. Get going." He said. I nodded, knowing that Shiro would never let anything happen to his younger sister.
I ran down the halls after Allura, hoping that Soairse would be string enough to keep living until we can get her into a healing pod.
I don't know what I would do without her. Probably go crazy.
~~~Shiro~~~
After everyone left on their own missions, I carefully picked up Saoirse and Lance, throwing them on my shoulders to get someone other than the bridge.
"Hang on, you two. Help is on the way." I said, reassuring them not sure if they could hear me.
I heard Soairse groan in pain, so I slightly shifted her on my right shoulder. I had never seen her this hurt before. And I was hoping to never see it again.
I walked down the halls towards the Castle exit, when I spotted someone walking through the entrance with something glowing.
I squinted my eyes to her a clearer view of who was approaching. I gasped when I saw someone familiar.
"Sendak!" I gasped in shock. I carefully set down Lance and Saoirse, laying them down on the ledge against the wall.
I ran out to face him, standing strong in front of Sendak by the Castle entrance.
"Stand aside." He demanded.
I activated my arm, "No. You're not getting in." I said.
"Yes. I am." Sendak declared. He swung his large left arm at me, the arm extending all the way over to me with the intent to do serious damage.
I blocked it with my left arm, but his fingers wrapped around my arm and pulled me towards him screaming and groaning in pain.
I came to a halt after his arm let me go. I looked up and saw his arm lifted high into the air, his hand clenched into a fist about to swing down on me.
I got up as quickly as I could and dodged, jumping back and flipping to get away. I looked up at him through the dust and reactivated my arm, rushing back into battle.
He tried to block my assault, but my metal fingers sliced through his metal arm. I kept hitting and dodging, each one met with either a failed attempt of him hitting me back or a returning seing of his large fist.
Finally, our fists hit each other, a massive shockwave erupting from our contact.
"I see you spent some time with the druids." Sendak smirked, "They do love to experiment. Too bad you didn't get the latest model."
His arm shot off with me on the other end. I screamed at the sudden force pushing back into the Castle before I landed next to Saoirse and Lance.
I forced myself back onto my feet. Sendak still continuing to fight as he slammed his metal arm into the floor. I jumped up and quickly ran away into the main ballroom hall.
He jumped into the air to try an aerial assault, but I was too fast for him. I grabbed him by his arm and flipped him over my shoulder, slamming him onto the floor with a loud thud.
He spun back around, his arm glowing a deadly color. I stretched out my arm and positioned it against his neck. He did the same to me with his arm. If either of us moved, we'd be dead.
"Let him go, or your friends won't make it." A voice said from behind me. I turned my head and saw another Galra soldier throw Lance to the ground, but kept Saoirse in his arms.
"Let her go." I said, but Sendak took my occupied attention as a advantage and hit me on the back of the head, knocking me out and throwing me next to Lance.
Everything went black after that.
~~~Saoirse~~~
Everything was dark for a moment, but then, it got really bright. I was floating in peace and quiet. I wish I never had to leave.
"You must fight." A voice said to me. I opened my eyes and saw nothing but white, and a strange object floating in front of me.
I felt light, as if nothing was weighing me down.
I looked down and saw myself dressed in a purple robe with strange gold markings. My hands had strange marks as well.
"Where am I?" I asked whoever's was speaking to me.
"In time, you will know the truth."
"What do you mean the truth?"
I didn't get an answer. Suddenly, my neck began to burn with so much pain. I raised my hands to my neck and felt something warm run down my fingers.
I took my hand away from my neck and saw my hand covered in blood. I was terrified.
It was right where my scar was.
"Pathetic child! I will never acknowledge you as blood!" A different voice screamed at me. Unlike the other voice, this one was filled with anger, hate and pure malice. The voice spitting venom with every word.
"The daughter of a traitor! I WILL PURGE THIS WORLD OF YOUR KIND!!!"
I couldn't handle the pain and the voice. With every word the pain around my neck grew worse until I finally screamed in pain.
My eyes shot open, my lungs taking in as much air as I could. I looked around through my blurred vision and saw a Galra man talking to someone on the screen.
The room was covered in red light, a large purple crystal connected to the ceiling by large wires and pipes. I looked side to side and saw Lance and Shiro unconscious on both of my sides.
The Galra who was speaking turned around towards me and smirked.
"The girl seems to be awake." He said, walking up to me, kneeling down and roughly grabbing my chin forcing me to look up at his smirking face.
"You seem to be a strong Earthling. Maybe I'll take you back to Zarkon and present you to him personally. He's been wanting a new champion in the ring." He said.
I gkared at him as he threw my face down to the floor. He stomped away in anger, leaving me to lay in pain next to my friend and brother.
~~~Sendak~~~
I threw the girl's face back down to the floor and went back to the screens to oversee the launch off of this worthless planet.
But as I left the girl, I felt something strange when I looked at the girl.
She was strange. Those eyes.... they seemed to hold power and determination, it was on par with the bloodlust and thirst for victory seen in any Galra soldier's eyes. It almost made me feel......
....Afraid