~~~~Keith~~~~
We all stood on the Bridge the next morning, wide awake and ready to come up with a plan. I glanced over at Saoirse, noticing that she had a brighter smile on her face. Something good must've happened last night. Maybe a good dream?
"Okay, look." Shiro started, snapping my attention back towards him, "I now know for certain that Zarkon is tracking us through the Black Lion. We have to find some way to stop him."
"How are we gonna do that?" Pidge asked.
"We've never had this situation before." Allura said perplexed, "Two paladins fighting for the same lion."
"Well, unless we want Zarkon taking control of Voltron every time we get close... I'll have to forge a new bond with my lion. One that's stronger than his." Shiro answered.
"Well, while you're working on that... the rest of us need to find some new teludav lenses... otherwise we won't be able to travel via wormhole." Coran said.
"Is that something we have to mail order?" Hunk wondered aloud.
"Does anyone even make those anymore?" Keith asked.
"I don't know." Allura sighed, "Only a few Alteans could use the teludav 10,000 years ago. They may not exist anymore."
Coran thought for a minute, his hand under his chin in a thinking position.
"I think I may know where we can get some." He said suddenly.
He walked over to the control panel and opened a file full of pictures on screen. On the left were pictures of shady characters with multiple arms behind the counter. King Alfor, younger obviously, was standing the background looking at Coran with a curious expression. To the right of the screen was a picture of Coran smiling in a shop with a large bag on his back filled with who knows what he bought.
"Coran!" Allura shouted in a disgusted tone, "You're not suggesting going to one of those filthy swap moons! The last time you went, those space pirates took you for everything you had."
"Space pirates?" Lance repeated.
"Unilu were traders and pirates that roamed the galaxies and dealt in black market goods." Coran explained, "Umvy spice, by-tor water, little bottles of infinity vapor. Of course, you had to bargain. No one could bargain like the Unilu. Last time I ended up giving away three quarters of my shipment of lango... in exchange for a used pogo oscillator."
Allura and Coran burst into laughter.
"Father was not pleased about that." Allura said smiling brightly.
"Well, while Coran is shopping for his lenses... I'll take you shopping for something sparkly." Lance said as he slid to Allura's side, trying to be sly.
"This isn't shopping!" Coran shouted, splitting the two apart, "You're not wandering around saying... "Oh, what a lovely pink hat! This is so becoming." No! I can't allow Allura to get anywhere near those... filthy, lowballing Unilu hoodlums."
"But I'd love something sparkly." Allura said, pleading with large begging eyes.
Coran sighed, "Look, you're the only one who can operate the Castle. You need to be resting, after all you've been through."
Allura slumped her shoulders in disappointment.
"Now, let's ready a pod for our mission." Coran said, "We need to get in... find the scaultrite lenses, and just get out."
"Shotgun!" Lance called as he ran after Coran.
"What? No, you have to be in the pod bay to call shotgun." Hunk said as he ran after the two.
"Since when?"
"Uh, since forever? That's shotgun etiquette! I wrote the book."
Saoirse laughed and turned to Shiro, "Good luck, Shiro. Hope you do well with the Black Lion." She said before running after the others.
Shiro smiled and waved us goodbye.
I went to the pods at my own pace, getting into the back but was squished up against Saoirse. I didn't know if she saw, but my cheeks I could swear turned a deep shade of pink.
~~~~Saoirse~~~~
I was squished against Keith as we flew through space. I didn't know if he could tell, but my cheeks flushed a deep shade of pink as they heated up quickly.
After launching and flying for a while, I felt my cheeks cool down a little, but still not much.
"Hello? Back passengers? Can you hear me?" Coran asked from the front seat.
"Oh, it's so comfy up here." Lance laughed, "Extra leg-room, heated seats! Oh, man!"
"Stupid Lance. Stupid shotgun." Hunk grumbled.
"Now, these swap moons are bery dangerous environments. So be on your toes. Now weapons or communication devices of any kind! Also, I've brought along some disguises."
We landed not too much later in front of a large building with people coming in and out freely. It surprised me how normal the people entering and exiting looked, but I didn't question.
We all got out of the pod and Coran directed us to the compartment in the back cargo hold.
He pulled out a giant brown bag and handed us an array of clothes to wear.
"Coran, what are these for?" Lance asked.
"Shush! Put them on before anyone else sees you." He said in a quiet voice, "Now, we need to be inconspicuous. Follow my lead."
After we got dressed, which frankly, I didn't like my outfit. The shorts were too short and barely fit over my jeans.
We walked up to the doors, waited for them to open and revealed.....
A normal looking mall.
The speakers played soft elevator music and it even had young children running around with their parents through and around the small shops that littered the mall.
"Uh, Coran?" Pidge said, "This Unilu swap meet looks an awful lot like a regular mall."
"Well, it does seem to be a little cleaner than I remember." Coran said, "Still, be vigilant. The Unilu are cut-throat wheeler-dealers. So keep your hands on your coin satchels."
"Uh, my satchels are empty." Hunk said.
"Let's just get this over with." Keith said annoyed.
"Yes, right. Everyone, let's fan out, search the area for teludav lenses. We'll neet by the giant ticking clock here in one varga. Don't be late, and try to blend in." Coran said before he walked away.
Once he was far enough away, we ditched the disguises and threw them in the trash.
I walked alone through the mall, acting normal to blend in. I passed shop after shop, mostly antique shops and old thrift stores looking for teludav lenses, but none of the stores I found had a single lenses.
Suddenly, I heard something drop and shatter nearby.
"Oh, no, this isn't good." Someome said after whatever shattered crashed. I looked around and saw an old woman and a young man fretting over a pile of shattered glass boxes.
"Great Grandmother, are you all right?" Fhe young man asked.
People passed by, not even sparing a glance at the two who needed help. But unlike most people who was pass by, I wasn't like that at all. I ran over to the two and knelt down.
"Are you two all right? Here, let me help." I said beginning to pick up the pieces of glass, being mindful to not cut myself on the sharp edges.
The old woman looked up at me and the younger man looked down at me before they both gasped.
"Oh my, thank you so much, young lady." The old woman said as she and the younger boy helped pick up the pieces.
It took about ten minutes to get all of the broken glass into a nearby garbage can. Then, after we were done, I finally got a good look at the old woman and her great grandson.
The woman was small, maybe about a couple inches shorter than Pidge. She was a little heavy set with yellow green skin and deep purple pupilless eyes that shine with gratitude and kindness. She was wearing layers of silk-like fabrics all different colors that complimented her skin and eyes. Finally, her white hair was tied neatly in a bun.
Her great grandson seemed to be older than I was, maybe in his late twenties or so, depending on his race. He looked much like his great grandmother, but his hair was black and cut short in a pixie cut style. He wore a large strip of fabric on his upper body, but his pants were brown with purple markings and hugged at his ankles.
They both smiled at me kindly.
"Thank you so much for helping us, miss." The young man said, "My name is Ryjual and this is my great Grandmother Luraina."
I smiled and shook my head, "It's all right. There's really no need to thank me."
Luraina shook her head and took my hands in hers.
"If you will not take a verbal thanks, allow me to give you something. An Angel surely needs something just as wonderful as her actions." She said. I was surprised by her offer, but I didn't have time to decline it as she and her great grandson dragged me away.
We went up the elevator and down the mall's halls. Finally, we stopped in front of a small store. We went inside and I gasped at the sheer amount of fabrics hung on the walls and counters. Luraina walked behind the main counter and disappeared behind the cloth covered door to the back.
I walked around the store and felt the many fabrics that hung on the wall. Each fabric was different and not one had the same color nor texture.
I felt a hand tap my shoulder, then turned around and saw Ryjual standing behind me.
"Is something wrong?" He asked. I shook my head and turned back to the fabrics.
"No, nothing. It's just that I've never seen fabric in any of these colors. You can't get these types of fabrics where I come from."
He looked at me confused, "Strange, I would've thought you could get any color of fabric on Teshiria." He said.
I turned back around and looked at Ryjual shocked. He knew about Teshiria.
"I've never been to Teshiria. I would like to go there someday." I said. Then, my shocked expression turned confused and concerned when I saw Ryjual frown.
"I wouldn't recommend that, miss." He said sadly, "Last I heard, the leader of Teshiria was planning on teaming up with the Galra." His brow created in anger, "That man cares about nothing other than riches and power. He's as bad as Zarkon."
"Ryjual!" We heard Luraina shot from the back. We turned towards the old woman who held a small glass box holding something inside.
"You know as well as I do that if the security guards were to hear you talk ill about Zarkon, they'll throw us out immediately." She said. Ryjual sighed and nodded.
"I apologize, Great Grandmother." He said quietly. Luraina smiled and walked over to me with the glass box.
"I got this from someone just like you, young Angel." She explained, "She helped me just as you did today. And then, she gave me this for a stack of my most beautiful fabric in stock. She said she was using the fabric to make a dress for her daughter, but had no money to pay in exchange."
She opened the box and pulled out a small stone. I gasped at the similarities it had to my own stone. It was colored to look like a swirling galaxy with white lines in an intricate pattern.
Suddenly, the stone began to glow softly. I pulled out my own stone and was stunned to see my stone glowing just like the first.
Ryjual and Luraina were just as surprised as I was to see this. But Luraina smiled and placed the stone in my hand. I looked down at her and she nodded.
"Could you describe the woman who came here and gave this to you?" I asked, "I know it must've been a long time ago, but could you try?"
Luraina hummed in thought as she remembered the past.
"Let me see... she was just as beautiful as you. Pale skin with long blue hair and the most beautiful ocean colored eyes." She explained.
I sighed and pressed my finger on my stone, making the picture appear and the song play.
"Is this her?" I asked. Luraina gasped and nodded, then pointed a shaky finger at me.
"Yes, that's her. Are you...?"
I nodded at her unfinished question, "The woman you saw was my mother. I haven't seen her in years, we were separated." I said.
Luraina and Ryjual looked at me sadly and Ryjual placed his hand on my shoulder sympathically.
"I hope you find her. She looks like a wonderful woman." He said smiling.
I smiled back.
"You may take it back to your mother, young Angel. I'm sure she'll be delighted to see it and you again whenever you find her." Luraina said.
I nodded and looked around to make sure no one could see what I was about to do.
I took a deep breath in and let my hair change to blue for a moment. Ryjual and Luraina gasped as my hair turned back to black and my eyes glowed for only a second.
"Thank you so much for what you have done." I said clutching the two stones in my hand and putting them back into my pocket.
"No, thank you for giving us hope that the Angels are still out there somewhere." Ryjual said with tears building up in my eyes.
"I give you all the hope we can, please young Angel, give us a way of light to follow." Luraina said holding my hand.
I nodded and began to exit the store when I stopped at the door.
"Please, don't call me Angel." I said, turning back around and smiling, "My name is Saoirse."
I turned back and walked out of the store. I smiled so happily walking around the mall back to our meeting point. Just about a Varga had passed since we all split up, so I had to find the others.
All of a sudden, I heard someone scream my name. I turned around and was more than a little confused when I saw my friends screaming out my name.
They were riding a cow? I didn't want to question it since it seemed that they were being chased.
Keith held his hand out towards me as they quickly passed by. I ran along with the cow and grabbed Keith's hand. He pulled me onto the cow and sat me in front of him, his arms wrapped around me to keep me from falling off.
"Why are we riding on a cow being chased by the security guard?" I asked as we rode the cow away.
"Lance and I got the cow with the purchase of a game! And the guard thinks we're pirates!" Pidge shouted.
"We've got to find Coran!" Hunk shouted from behind Keith.
We flew off the ledge and down towards the floor, swerving as we flew away from the guard.
We passed a shop and saw Coran walking out of it as we sped by.
"There he is!" Pidge pointed.
"We gotta go, Coran!" Keith shouted.
We quickly leaned down and picked Coran up.
"I got the scaultrite lenses!" He said.
"Good job, Coran." I said as we screamed, exiting the mall.
"Scaultrite? Hold on a tick!" An alien shouted running out of the shop Coran just came out of.
"No take-backs!" Coran shouted back.
We rushed to the exit and escaped, the guard not able to got through it.
"Doggone it! You better run!" The guard shouted, "Don't let me find you in my jurisdiction again, pirates!"
"Oh, so you can't follow us outside, huh?" Lance said looking back towards the guard. He taunted, but the yelped in pain after he didn't duck in time to catch the roof brace about to hit him.
The impact made him fall off the cow and groan in pain.
After helping him back up, we went back to the pod and flew back to the Castle.
"We got our lenses!" Coran shouted as we entered the bridge of the Castle.
I almost laughed, but was more shocked to see Allura sitting on the floor with the mice and her hair in several mismatching ponytails.
"Excellent!" She said happily as the mice jumped out of her hair, "Now, we can get the teludav up and running."
"Where's Shiro?" Keith asked.
On cue, Shiro appeared walked into the room.
I smiled when I saw him walk through the door. He seemed stronger and more confident than before.
"What did you do? Take a nap?" Allura asked.
"Not exactly." Shiro replied, then grew confused as his eyes wandered to the cow in the room, "Is that a cow?"
"Mm-hmm, his name is Kaltenecker." Lance said proudly. The cow mooing in response to his name.
I shook my head and turned back to Shiro.
"So, did you find a way to bond with your lion?" Keith asked.
"Yes, and we need to get moving." Shiro said, "We're heading for the Blade of Marmora's headquarters."
Coran began to plot a course, while Pidge and Lance tried to hook up a video game they bought. Unfortunately, the Caslte didn't have a place to plug it up, which was disappointing for them.
I went back to my room and took out the two stones I had.
My mother's stone. It seemed like it was important to her, and she gave it up to buy fabric to make a dress for me.
I sat down and stared at the stone next to mine and saw the beautiful colors they gave off. I gently set them down on my bed and reached under my pillow for my mother's journal to read another entry.
𝓘 𝓴𝓮𝓮𝓹 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓶𝔂 𝓱𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓸𝓷 𝓣𝓮𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓻𝓲𝓪, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪 𝓼𝓶𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓮𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝓱𝓪𝓭 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝔂𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓱𝓮𝓵𝓹 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓮 𝓶𝔂 𝓹𝓮𝓸𝓹𝓵𝓮. 𝓑𝓾𝓽, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓰𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓰𝓸𝓸𝓭. 𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓱 𝓶𝔂 𝓯𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓱𝓲𝓶𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯, 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓹𝓮𝓸𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓼𝓾𝓯𝓯𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓮𝓷𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱. 𝓣𝓸𝓭𝓪𝔂, 𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓭𝓾𝓬𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓢𝓲𝓵𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓛𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓸𝓯 𝓥𝓸𝓵𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓷, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓼𝓱𝓸𝓬𝓴𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓮𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓲𝓽 𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓮. 𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓯𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓭 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓼𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓪𝓷 𝓪𝓶𝓪𝔃𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓯𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝓭𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓘'𝓵𝓵 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓯𝓮𝓮𝓵 𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷. 𝓐𝓵𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓭 𝓽𝓸𝓵𝓭 𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓪 𝓰𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽 𝓪𝓬𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽. 𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓷𝓪𝓶𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓢𝓲𝓵𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓟𝓪𝓵𝓪𝓭𝓲𝓷 𝓸𝓯 𝓥𝓸𝓵𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓷, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓘 𝓪𝓶 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓽𝓮𝓮𝓷. 𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮 𝓪 𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓮𝔁𝓬𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓭𝓿𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓶𝓮.
𝓢𝓲𝓰𝓷𝓮𝓭, 𝓢𝓲𝓸𝓯𝓻𝓪
My mother seemed to be excited to be the Silver Paladin. We both shared that feeling. And I was going to make her proud.