Strona 1 Goodnight, Travel Well Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at . Rating: Mature Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Category: M/M Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Relationship: Keith/Lance (Voltron) Character: Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron), Pidge (Voltron), Pidge | Katie Holt, Allura (Voltron), Hunk (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron), Coran (Voltron), gonna be a baby at some point, Acxa (Voltron), Lance's Family (Voltron) Additional Tags: Black Paladin Lance (Voltron), klance, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Violence, Altean Lance (Voltron), Kinda, Lance has Altean heritage, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Horror, emotional breakdowns, lance has a twin sister, Revenge, Allura is pregnant and also an adult, Minor Allura/Shiro (Voltron), Mutual Pining, Team Bonding, Minor Character Death, Claustrophobia, Lance has it to the extreme, POV Lance (Voltron), Allura and Lance Brotp, kinda Lance and Allura co-leadership, bed sharing, Nightmares, Blood and Gore, Some Swearing, paladins growing together, Sexual Content, Lance has superpowers??, Altean magic, Evil Spirit, Graphic Violence, Altean History, Twins, BAMF Lance (Voltron), wow im happy thats actually a tag, Storms, Supernatural Abilities Collections: I love these fics with all my heart, The Klance Fanfic Survey Fics, SHOT THROUGH THE HEART AND YOU'RE TO BLAME, Best Klance Fics (in my personal opinion) Stats: Published: 2017-04-14 Completed: 2018-06-24 Chapters: 52/52 Words: 341891 Goodnight, Travel Well by europa_report Summary There's something wrong with Lance; his blood feels like it's turning to ice, and the nightmares he has feel more like warnings than dreams. The black lion might help, but it's not responding. “Quit being stressed?" Lance stuttered, disbelief marring his features. "I’m sorry, can we revisit this weeks events? I’m the new black paladin, Allura’s pregnant, Pidge just got poisoned by a freaking… Chihuahua, the castle took us to a haunted star system and stopped working, and Keith is… okay, where the hell is Keith?” “Oh yeah,” said Pidge, peering at him through puffy red eyes. “You know that unidentified ship that was hanging around and you were all, don’t approach the unidentified ship, well Keith just left the hanger and is approaching the unidentified ship.” OR When the castle seemingly wormholes itself to a distant star system, the team, with Lance as their newly appointed black paladin, don't think much of it. Until the wormhole returns Strona 2 to take them the next night, and the next, and they find themselves drawn relentlessly back to a dark pocket of space, where the pull of the sole planet and the cave entrenched within it taunt Lance with the awful truth of his family's past. Notes Just wanted Lance to do some cool stuff so here we are There is graphic violence, but it isn't extreme gore or anything (and I warn you if a chapters going to be harsh) Edited Note - I started and finished writing this a long time before Shiro was revealed as gay (which is amazing news!), but obviously could not change that, so I'd ask you read this by just appreciating the awesome dynamic Shiro and Allura do have Please feel free to comment anything and I hope you enjoy this! You can find my tumblr and any fanart in the notes at the end. Thanks for reading, you rock! ;) See the end of the work for more notes Strona 3 401 It began two weeks after Shiro’s disappearance. “I don’t want to talk about it.” “Lance-“ “I said I don’t want to talk!” Lance stared at his hands; they were shaking. His entire body itched with the need to escape his own skin. Stop staring at me, it’s not me. The bridge was quiet, the scattered circle of paladins watching him intently, waiting. “She responded to you-“ He stood abruptly, scraping his chair along the floor. Five sets of eyes followed him up expectantly, as if he was their goddam leader already. Lance’s hands tightened into fists, fingers twitching as he fought to focus. “Shiro is the black paladin,” he said. “And we are going to find him.” - One stupid accident, that’s what started it. Just Keith and his hot-headed tendencies, going full on kamikaze on a stray Galra fighter. Lance replayed the morning’s events in his head as he sped toward his room. The rest of them had been planet-side, investigating a potential crash site in search of their missing leader, with Keith doing an air sweep. Lance had no idea why they thought that was a good idea, leaving Keith to scout the sky alone in the state he was in. The red paladin had been a mess since Shiro disappeared, whatever bonds he and Lance had built before hand were being put to the test as he simultaneously resisted and took-up responsibility as their leader. The black lion hadn’t responded to Keith yet, but Lance got the feeling Keith wasn’t responding to it either. He was an emotional time bomb, a loose thread that didn’t know how to act accordingly when the only member of their team who really understood the pressure of it was gone. So of course when the lost Galra fighter ship showed up, a remnant from their final battle with Zarkon, Keith took it upon himself to launch into battle without so much as a whisper of warning. And did he stop attacking, once Red took one to many hits? Nope. Keith turned that lion right around and turned suicide bomber, and all they could do was watch as he hurtled toward the surface, taking the ship with him, like a meteorite burning up on its way through the atmosphere. Lance hadn’t been anywhere near Blue; then again, he’d been even further from the black lion. He wanted to think this was simply evidence that the black lion was finally accepting Keith as its new pilot, but instinct was telling him otherwise, as was everyone else. Because it wasn’t Blue who landed forcefully in front of him as he ran toward the location of their lions, screaming at Keith over the coms- it was the black lion. Black? Did Shiro ever refer to his lion by a name like that, like Lance did? Lance would’ve been shocked if that had occurred at any other time, but in the heat of the moment he hadn’t thought twice about leaping into the black lion’s cockpit and taking off toward the fireball streaking toward the surface. He practically collided with Keith, grabbing the red lion out of the air and flying them to safety as the Galra fighter burst into flames when it smashed into the hard rock. And that was that. Lance had piloted the black lion. The black lion, who’d refused every one of Keith’s attempts to bond with it, had let Lance pilot it. Strona 4 A knock on the door startled him. He groaned, not in the mood for more talking. “Lance? Are you in there?” Coran; he could deal with Coran. Lance sighed, running fingers through his tousled hair. “Yeah, come in.” The door slid open, revealing Coran. Lance frowned at his feet as the elder Altean came and took a seat beside him on the bed. “Sorry for running off,” Lance mumbled. “It’s understandable, my boy.” Was it? Was anything understandable? The conversation between them all when they returned to the castle should have been about Keith. It should have been Allura looking disappointed, it should have been them berating Keith for his recklessness. Instead, all eyes turned to Lance as he stepped from the black lion, the only one ready to give Keith a mouthful. But Keith couldn’t even respond, staring at Lance as if he might’ve grown a third head. “This just means the black lions responding to Keith, right? Like when Shiro was hurt, and it helped Keith save him." Coran sighed, tugging absently on his moustache. “Coran?” “You feel it, don’t you?” “Feel what?” Coran only waited, he knew Lance wasn’t stupid. “I can feel all of them.” All the lions. It was the same energy he’d felt with Blue, but each was so different in its own way; it was overwhelming. “It’s just, so much,” Lance whispered. And it was. The moment he first felt them, he’d pinned it on adrenaline. He’d been halfway to Keith, barely thinking as he threw the black lion into a sharp accent, when his mind was assaulted by a shockwave of various sentient thoughts. Blue was still there, her voice like a tune on a small radio, muffled, playing off in some other room, but there. But now they were all there, and it was almost dizzying. Coran rested a hand on his shoulder. “But you know its true then.” Lance hunched his shoulders, choosing not to respond. Is this what Shiro had felt? Did this mean Shiro was really dead? He didn’t want this responsibility; he was only nineteen for god’s sake. “I don’t… its not meant to be me, Coran. I’m not a leader. And Shiro’s not dead.” Strona 5 Coran sighed, and Lance avoided his pensive gaze. “Shiro may still be alive, but at the moment he’s not here. We need a pilot for the black lion, and you have shown your ability to lead more times than you think.” “Shiro picked Keith,” Lance muttered. “But it’s the lion that makes the final choice.” Lance didn’t say anymore, he didn’t feel like it. “Get some sleep,” Coran suggested. “It’s been a long day. We can reconvene in the morning.” Get some sleep. Yeah, that was a good one. Nothing had Lance cozy-ing into the covers quite like the knowledge that he was supposed to be the new black paladin. Night Lance, sweet dreams Lance. He ground his teeth together anxiously, staring up at the dark ceiling. He didn’t believe it. Even if the black lion refused Keith as its new pilot, then surely Allura would be the next choice. She was their leader anyway, Shiro’s equal; in fact, she was who Shiro looked up to. Lance was no leader; the seventh wheel and a nuisance more often that not, and now the black lion had picked him? It was a joke. But apparently it was true, according to the others at least. That terrified Lance; he didn’t think he could lead Voltron, let alone give up his beloved Blue. Who would pilot Blue? Lance vowed to speak with his lion in the morning, straighten things up, prove it was all just a mistake. He tossed and turned, eventually managing to drift off to sleep. - He was underground. This was a different sort of dream, because he knew immediately he was dreaming. He was aware of it, yet he wasn’t in control. There was no preordained knowledge telling him he was underground, it was only what he assumed from the looks of the dark tunnel he stood in, wet clumps of dirt forming an unstable wall around him. Lance shuddered, he hated being underground. Water was his element, it was so freeing, it allowed him to move anywhere. Earth… rock and dirt, darkness, he feared it and the way it could trap one. The memory of a windy day and a dark cave mouth looming before him overtook his mind; a girl’s voice, Lance? He shook them away quickly; he didn’t want this to become one of those dreams. He had control over his own body but not the scene around him. That was strange; Lance read that once someone realised they were dreaming, they should have full control of the setting. He sure as hell wasn’t in control of this. The darkness was stifling, but the walls almost glowed a soft grey, casting just enough light to see by. That made it worse. Lance could make out the crumbling dirt walls, the ceiling that looked ready to cave in, the slick wet mud where earthworms wriggled. He could smell it, the stench of damp earth, and felt the clamminess of his own palms as his heart beat faster. Should it be this vivid? His dreams weren’t normally this… real. He forced himself to breathe evenly, which shouldn’t have been a problem given this was a dream. Stay calm, just figure out where you are. Lance didn’t want to look around, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He stood at the end of a long tunnel, whose other end disappeared into the darkness hundreds of feet away. And… that was it. Lance swallowed the lump in his throat, feeling very claustrophobic. Stretching both arms out, he could just touch the sides of the wall, but withdrew quickly as his fingers brushed the wet soil. Water leaked from little cracks, and Lance felt ill with fear at how unstable this underground tunnel must be. There were no doors leading out, just the walls, floor, and ceiling, pressing in from all sides. The only way to go was forward, along the tunnel that sloped steadily downwards into… Lance didn’t want to think about what was down there. He already felt in his bones that he was deep down in the earth. Strona 6 The tunnel didn’t look manmade, it was rough and sagging, as if dug out by an animal, except it was much too large. Lance really, really didn’t want to investigate any further. The ghost of a hand around his own, leaving his. Lance? Sighing, he shuffled around a bit and- was his leg chained to the ground? Lance crouched down to investigate, and found there was indeed a rusted metal clasp around his ankle, bolted to a chain that ran into the ground. He gave the chain a tug; there was nothing holding it to the ground, it just plunged into the soft mud, disappearing. It felt to deeply buried to pull free. What the hell? Now Lance was feeling scared. Being underground was one thing, but alone, chained down, trapped, facing off with a dark pit… Lance was starting to panic. His eyes were wide with fear, staring at the end of the tunnel, trying to see further, deeper. There shouldn’t have been a breath of wind down hear, and yet he thought- Lance frowned. That wasn’t wind. But there was something. Whispers. His stomach lurched, blood rushing to his head and roaring in his ears. His lip trembled, almost whimpering, because he could hear whispers. They were almost indistinguishable at first, whips of words that could have been mistaken for the slide of water over dirt or the shuffling of his toes in the mud, but with every passing second they were growing stronger, frantically so, grains of sand gradually budding into a swirling tornado of noise. It awakens. It’s coming. Lance tugged on the chain, eyes fixed on the end of the tunnel. He couldn’t tell where the voices were coming from, they seemed to sprout from the very walls of the place, a thousand voices and a thousand warnings, all screaming the same thing. You woke it. It’s coming. So many voices were screaming at him, men, women, children, it became indistinguishable. They sounded so afraid, as if each voice was chained down as he was, thrashing, fighting, driven to insanity but the terror that overtook them. Each word was a cry for help, a disaster, a scream too terrible to ignore. You woke it, its coming, its coming, its coming- Lance clamped his hands over his ears, but it couldn’t stop the noise. A particularly loud voice, like an old woman’s, that didn’t even shout, just croaked right into his ear in a broken sob. “It’s coming.” He whipped around, but there was no one there. Just him and the voices and the tunnel where… Lance squirmed, trying to twist his ankle out of the clasp. Something was coming up the tunnel. He couldn’t see it, couldn’t hear it, but he knew. Something ancient, clawing and crawling its way toward him through the dirt and muck. Centuries of isolation, something sinister and otherworldly, dragging itself up from the depths of the cold earth. It’s coming, it’s coming. The voices grew louder, unbearably so. Lance thrashed, pulling on the chain as the dark tunnel beckoned to him, whatever lay within it coming ever closer. IT’S COMING. He screamed, the mud quivering beneath his feet. IT’S COMING IT’S COMING IT AWAKENS IT’S COMING IT’S COMING IT’S COMING IT’S Strona 7 COMING IT’S COMING IT’S COMING IT’S COMING IT’S COMING IT’S COMING IT’S COMING IT’S- Lance gasped, shooting bolt upright in bed. His entire body was shaking, drenched in sweat as his heart beat its way out of his chest. He could barely adjust to his new surroundings though, as the alarm that had woken him was still blaring. Cursing, Lance threw his feet over the bed, standing on shaky legs to move toward the door. Alarm lights flashed along the castle hallway as Lance ran toward the bridge, not having bothered with his armour and feeling severely disorientated. Could it be Shiro? He pushed the dream out of his mind, though it hung around at the back, testing him by pushing insistently at his consciousness. He was still scared. Keith and Pidge were already on the bridge when he arrived, and he could hear Hunk thundering down the hall behind him. They were all still in their pyjamas, save Keith, who looked ready for a fight. “What’s happening?” Lance demanded, wiping sleep from his eyes and willing the tremble in his hands to stop. It’s gone, it was just a dream. But it was underground. You promised you’d never go back there. “The castle’s being weird again,” Pidge muttered, as Allura and Coran raced between various screen displays. “Like… ghost kinda weird? Cause I’m staying away from any airlocks in that case.” “That wasn’t ghosts,” he heard Keith mutter, and turned to the other boy. Keith looked like shit. Lance would usually tell him that to piss him off, as a joke of course- but tonight he really looked awful. His hair was unwashed, hanging over his face in dark bangs, where his eyes were marred with dark circles, lips pulled thin and tight. Had anyone spoken to him about his suicidal nosedive yesterday? “You look like shit.” The words were out before Lance could stop them. He was really tired, alright? Keith turned to him, expression sour. “Perhaps you should take a better look at yourself, jackass.” Lance faltered, unable to stop himself glancing at his reflection in one of the windows. Okay, kudos to Keith, Lance looked even worse. Why though? He’d skipped one night-time routine cause of all this black paladin nonsense, only one, he shouldn’t look like someone who’d just walked out’ve a goddam horror show. His hair was a mess, forehead still a little sweaty and sticking to the longer strands, and his eyes looked hollow and spent. Some dream, huh. “Just… what’s up with the castle?” “The castle!” Coran all but yelled, as Hunk finally made it into the room, “has gone beserk!” “Calm down, Coran,” Allura muttered, looking in no mood to deal with her advisor’s antics this early in the morning. “It’s just a malfunction.” “A malfunction Hah! You won’t be saying that when it’s spewing us out into space as we sleep!” “Is this important or not?” Keith snapped, arms folded tightly across his chest. “I’ve got stuff to Strona 8 do.” Lance frowned. “At what? Three in the morning?” Keith ignored him. “Just tell us what’s happening.” There was a second there where Keith’s voice broke, but no one chose to mention it. There was hope in that sentence, as much as Keith tried to hide it; he was hoping they’d received news on Shiro. Lance felt a twinge of sadness. Coran slamming his hand down on the consuls brought them all back to attention. “Coran,” Allura sighed. “Right!” He said briskly, far too alive and awake for this hour. “The facts are, at some point during the night, the castle has… uh, well, it piloted itself.” Five pairs of eyes blinked blearily at him. “Like magic!” Allura shook her head, moving over to where Coran stood. Lance could have been imagining things, but she looked a little green. “I’ll explain,” she muttered. Taking a deep breath and righting herself, Allura prepared for a speech. “Look out the window.” They did. Lance frowned; they were within a solar system, a small white star burning fiercely far off. “Where are we?” Questioned Pidge. “We don’t know yet,” Allura answered stiffly. “I was woken just a short while ago, with the feeling that something was wrong. It appears the castle brought us here of its own accord, I don’t know why, but we’re far away from where we were before.” “Like, couple of planets over kinda far, or…” Lance raised a brow. Allura sighed, pinching her nose. “A couple of light-years kind of far. We… we wormholed here.” “A wormhole?” Hunk was biting his nail, looking anxious. “But did you open one?” “No, I didn’t. I was asleep. By all accounts it makes no sense. Coran is trying to find out exactly where we are, but we have no clues as to how the castle got us here.” “Oh boy,” Lance muttered. “I do not like it when the caslte starts getting all freaky on its own.” “We should go back,” said Keith suddenly. “Wormhole out of here. That last spot we were was the closest to Shiro.” Allura looked sad suddenly. “I agree, it’s simply that…” She looked to Coran, who gave a shake of his head. Strona 9 “Oh, now what?” Mumbled Pidge. “The castle is broken,” Allura announced. “Its still functioning, but I can’t get it to move. We… for the moment, we’re stuck here.” Strona 10 400 Chapter Notes hiya Thanks so much for your kudos and comments guys!! (im trying to get better at replying to comments but i have all the social elegance of teaspoon sorryyyy I do really love comments tho <3 ) ya enjoy n all that (i did add some additional tags mostly related to violence cause this fic might get gory) - “Do we know if there’s actually anyone on this planet?” “Nope,” Pidge replied, popping the p. Lance grumbled something non-committal about being too tired to be dealing with this, but steered his lion after the others none-the-less. They’d been up all night trying to reboot the castle, but too no avail. For the moment they were still stuck in the mysterious star-system, not moving at all. They had successfully detected a nearby planet on their scanners, an incredibly small one, a dwarf really. Lance reckoned it was only a quarter of the size of Earth’s moon, yet it showed promising signs of life. So that’s where they were headed, four paladins and Allura, while Coran stayed behind to monitor the castle. It was all in the hopes there were alien beings there who might be able to help repair the castle, or at least give them some indication as to where they were. Traces of Lance’s strange dream lingered, but they’d been mostly chased away by the events and confusion surrounding the castle. He tried not to dwell on any of it. “Breathable atmosphere,” Pidge announced over the coms. “But it’s so small,” Hunk replied as they descended toward the surface. “Clearly proving that size doesn’t matter,” Lance said with a smirk. “You’d know,” muttered Pidge. Lance’s shocked stuttering went unnoticed as they came into view of the surface. It was astoundingly green, and as they came closer Lance realised much of the surface was covered in a thick forest. “Alright paladins, remember, we don’t know what could be down there.” Lance jumped as Allura spoke right beside him, almost having forgotten she was catching a ride down to the surface in his lion. Why was she in his lion? Because it made sense for her to travel via Strona 11 Voltron Assembly Piece Number One (read- the black lion). Yup, Lance was back in the black lion. He was trying not to think too much about it; he’d wanted to take Blue, but Allura insisted they see if the black lion would respond to him the same way it had before, but in a less dire situation. Lucky Lance- it had. “In honour of its bravery and teeny-tiny size, I vote we name this planet Pidge,” Lance announced as they descended through the atmosphere. “Hey!” “Given your last admission, I was gonna suggest we call it Lance.” Lance’s jaw dropped at Keith’s snide comment, which had Pidge laughing. “Alright, haha, listen up guys-“ “We have to acknowledge all the universe’s tiny things, Lance.” “Okay, you know what, Pidge, you’re demoted to second least favourite paladin. Hunk, back me up or what?” “I’m not defending the size of your, uh…” “No, no, you’re too sweet for this conversation, I’m sorry for dragging you into it.” “If we’re quite done,” Allura said, without a trace of humour in her voice. “I think I see a place to land.” They set the four lions down in a small clearing, just big enough to accommodate the robotic beasts. Lance whistled as he trundled down the gangway, jokingly offering a hand to Allura to help her down. He frowned when she actually took his hand, refusing to meet his eye but swaying a little on her feet. “Uh, Allura?” “I’m fine,” she muttered, all the while looking a little nauseous. Lance decided not to press; Allura’s mood had been significantly altered since Shiro’s disappearance, but now wasn’t the right time to confront her. “Trees…” Pidge hummed, turning in a slow circle and drinking in the sight of the forest. Lance turned his attention to the rest of his team and their new location. Tall, deep green trees, similar to pines surrounded them, bushy branches whispering to them softly as a light breeze swept through. Pine needles covered the forest floor, and underneath the earth was soft and dark. Like your dream. Shut up. “Wow,” Lance offered, already feeling at ease in the cool shade of the trees. “Where do we start?” There was Keith, straight to business. “I’m thinking picnic in the park, pinecone fight-“ Strona 12 “This is serious.” “I know, I know,” Lance sighed, searching for any trails leading out of the clearing. “We can still appreciate it.” “Hey guys,” Hunk called. “Think I found something.” The other four wondered over to the yellow paladin, eyeing the small trail he’d found through the pine needles. “Maybe this planet has cats,” Lance said hopefully, following the small disturbance of needles. “Space cats.” “Is everything space for you?” “Sure is, space friend.” Ten minutes along the trail and Lance was yet to see any space cats, or any life at all for that matter. “Coran, any luck with scanning the planet for life forms?” “Not yet, Princess. But I’m all eyes and nose.” “Nose?” “Don’t question it,” muttered Pidge. “There!” Up the front of the group, Keith suddenly took off quickly, striding through the pines. They followed hastily, emerging into a small clearing and- Lance swallowed, the air of ease surrounding him evaporating. “Trust Keith to find the edgy looking cave,” Pidge joked, earning herself a slight but playful push from said paladin. Lance could barely focus on their conversation; his heartbeat was up in his throat, the rush of blood in his ears drowning out all other noise. I’ll be right back, Lance. Just- let go, its fine. “Lance?” Pidge tapping on his shoulder brought him back to Earth with a crash. “Y-yeah?” “Keith made a joke and you didn’t laugh. And you laugh at him even when you’re comatose.” “Laugh at him being the operative word,” Lance said quickly, flashing her a grin as he worked to compose himself. He could do this, it was fine. The cave before them wasn’t that daunting, now that he gave it a proper look. It was more of a Strona 13 large overhang, ferns cascading like a waterfall over the lip of the rock that formed the mouth. Still, Lance couldn’t help but feel nervous. Stupid. “We should check it out,” Keith was saying. “See if anything lives there.” “Maybe it’s the secret space cat dwelling.” Lance couldn’t even muster up a smile at Pidge’s comment. He hung back as they moved toward the cave, fearing someone might see his expression. Get yourself under control. What kind of black paladin are you? Lance jumped as a hand settled on his shoulder. “You alright?” Hunk asked in a whisper, just enough for Lance alone to hear. Hunk knew a little; granted, not everything, but enough to know when his friend was being pushed out of his comfort zone. Lance braved a smile. “Always.” Hunk looked sceptical, but Lance brushed him off, stepping toward the cave as if to prove his durability. Silently he thanked Hunk for sticking close to his side. It was the universe’s idea of a cruel joke, Lance reckoned, that the blue lion had been hidden in a cave. Of all places, a goddam, underground cave. He supposed he was thankful to Blue for reaching out to his mind even back then, as he wasn’t sure he could’ve followed Keith into that hiding place otherwise. Lance had learnt to control his fear; he’d handled the Balmera well enough. But after that dream… it all seemed fresh, harder to confront. “You guys, check this out,” Pidge called, beckoning him deeper into the cavern. The entrance was wide enough to flood the front of the cave with natural light, and now that Lance stepped into a shadow of the overhang, he could see it didn’t even extend that far back, a hundred feet at most. The walls were hard rock, but the most interesting part of the cave were the drawings carved into said rock. “Y’know, Keith, you’ve really got a knack for digging up weird cave paintings,” Pidge remarked, stepping closer to the wall and adjusting her glasses. Curiosity got the better of Lance as he followed his team deeper into the cave, wiping sweaty palms against his armour. “What is this?” Everyone seemed equally intrigued by the paintings, which began near the entrance and filed down to the back of the cave. They were drawn with simple black paint that stood out against the brownish rock, and had no mystical glowing blue properties as far as Lance could tell. No new lions here then. Those near the entrance depicted what he guessed was the daily life of the planets inhabitants, not that they’d encountered any. They were pretty basic drawings, but the figures looked largely humanoid, almost entirely human in fact. Scenes of them building villages, cutting down and tending to the pines, interacting with various fauna… it seemed like a pretty peaceful planet. The paladins moved along the paintings in succession. Here and there were inscriptions in a language of strange symbols he didn’t recognise. Strona 14 “It’s almost similar to Altean,” Allura hummed. Pidge immediately began snapping pictures of the text, chatting excitably about how she might be able to translate it back on the ship. “Um, guys,” said Keith from the front of the group, already having moved on to the next set of pictures. “I’m not sure we’re gonna find any people here.” “Why not?” The way he spoke made Lance uneasy. Keith just pointed, waiting for the others to move to where he stood. “Oh…” murmured Pidge. “Are they… drowning?” Lance frowned, looking solemnly over the array of darker paintings. The scenes changed drastically, and unfortunately there was no text to explain it, just various upsetting images. They did look like they might be drowning- the once peaceful inhabitants were shown in scenes of disaster, sinking into a dark substance, their blank faces unable to convey their fear, but their body language a sign enough. Entire villages sank into the dark water, families, smaller figures indicating children, all thrashing as they disappeared helplessly into the gloom. Lance couldn’t figure it out; he hadn’t seen any water when they’d flown over the planet, let alone enough to drown the entire planet. “Did anyone see any water?” Asked Hunk, voicing his exact thoughts. “Nope.” “Not a trace,” said Allura frowning. “It could be a flood of sorts?” “There’s more,” said Pidge from the back of the cave. She was staring up at the back wall, where the paintings came to an end. There was a single but large painting here, a circular black hole, like a planet. It was definitely a planet, Lance guessed from the faint details of stars and space around it and what not. All around the drawing, the same set of words was written over and over. He had no idea what they meant, but they had to be important; that was where the paintings concluded, that had to be the explanation, if there was one. “It’s a planet,” said Keith. “Is it this planet?” No one answered. Lance wanted to logically assume it was, but something felt different. The same unease flowed back through his veins, leaving his throat feeling tight. “Maybe,” Allura answered eventually. “Pidge, could you photograph all these, perhaps we can decipher them back on the castle.” “On it.” Lance couldn’t tear his eyes away from the last painting. It was stupid to be scared of it, it was just a drawing, but the dark, shapeless planet seemed to be pulling him in. Ice spread through his veins, his breath stuttering for a moment. Darkness, a deep, tangible darkness. Not nothingness, this dark had weight to it. The dark void of space was nothing, the darkest parts of the ocean were nothing; in both those instances you had freedom of movement. This was heavy darkness, the type that Strona 15 weighed down on one- dirt, rock, actual solid matter, suffocating and inescapable. Lance shuddered, rooted to the spot, eyes boring into the dark painting. It’s coming, screamed the voices in his dream. But Lance couldn’t dwell on it, because just then someone actually screamed. Or more accurately- “Fuck!” He whipped around to see Pidge trampling through the bushes near the cave entrance, hopping about on one leg and kicking back a tiny, furry looking creature. “Ow, get away, get away!” She yelped, dancing around as the animal snapped at her heels. Lance could’ve laughed- the animal attacking her was a little dog like, though no larger than a Chihuahua. “It bit me!” Pidge cried, darting toward the others. Keith was first to come to his friends rescue, grabbing the small creature by the scruff of its neck and hoisting it into the air as Pidge jumped to safety atop a small rock. He frowned, holding the animal at arms length as it snarled and snapped at him. “Looks like your space cat is more of a space dog.” “It’s a space demon is what it is!” Pidge cursed. “What do I do with it?” Keith asked, thrusting the animal toward Lance and Hunk. It looked like a cross between a bat, dog, and very angry badger. It was kinda cute. “Do I just throw it away?” “No!” Hunk yelped. “You can’t throw it!” “Throw it, Keith,” Pidge hissed from atop her rock, clutching a bloody ankle. “No, no, give it here,” Hunk gestured for the animal, which Keith handed over carefully, steering clear of its snapping teeth. “Doubt that things gonna help fix a space ship.” Just as Lance was about to suggest they search somewhere other than the cave, a faint whine escaped Pidge. She swayed, slumping down on the rock and frowning. “I don’t… feel too good.” Keith whipped around faster than light, going to crouch anxiously beside Pidge. “Pidge?” “Ugh…” She grumbled, rubbing her eyes and- were her cheeks swelling up? “I told you I should have thrown it!” Keith snapped, reaching out to steady Pidge before she toppled off the rock. “Throwing it wouldn’t change the fact it already bit her!” Hunk protested. Strona 16 “Pidge, are you alright?” Lance stepped closer, grimacing as he caught sight of her puffy red eyes and cheeks. “Oh, oh no, you look horrible.” “Fuck you too, Lance,” Pidge mumbled, though she was having difficulty annunciating clearly. “Here, let me see,” Keith grabbed her ankle, unclasping a boot so they could get a proper look at the bite. The animals teeth had managed to chew right through the armour, and Pidge had a nice set of marks around her ankle. Hunk grimaced, still holding the furious animal. “We need to get her back to the ship! Allura-“ A gagging sound made Lance turn around, and he found Allura leaning a hand on the side of the cave, clutching her stomach. She looked unusually pale. “Are you… oh my god, are you gonna throw up? Cause really that’s Hunk’s thing.” “Wash happinf-“ Pidge slurred, her eyes all squinty now that they’d swollen up. Keith yelped when he turned back to her, not having expected the poison to react so quickly. “The nes pershon to make shfun of my shface is gonna sear aboush it.” “I-I don’t know what you’re saying,” Keith pleaded. “But you look horrible.” Pidge flipped him off with a swollen finger. Lance looked helplessly between Pidge and Allura, and now Hunk too, given the creature was trying to fight its way out of his grip. “Guys, what-“ “Paladins!” Coran’s voice came through the comms. “I’ve detected an unidentified ship within range of our own!” “What?” Allura promptly threw up. Lance groaned. “Cool, everyone just loose you’re shit at the same time, doesn’t bother me,” he muttered, striding over to where Allura was crouched on the ground. “We have to get Pidge back to the ship!” Keith yelled, probably overreacting, plucking up the smallest paladin. “I’m shuper,” Pidge protested. “Shimply peachfy.” “What do I do with this though?” Hunk asked, hoisting the animal a little higher as it tried to claw at his face. “Throw it in a hole!” “That’s barbaric!" Strona 17 “Paladins! Do I engage in combat with the ship?” “Shmash it,” mumbled Pidge. “Don’t en-“ Allura doubled over again, gagging. “Hey, are you okay,” Lance rested a hand on her back, pulling back a ring of her hair as Allura groaned miserably. “Engaging in combat-“ “What the hell Coran!” Lance yelled. “Don’t engage!” “I’m gonna throw it if you don’t throw it,” Keith snarled at Hunk, tossing a resentful Pidge over his shoulder. “I’ll throw you!” “Throw shim ands you hash to shface me.” “Guys stop fighting!” “I shwant to die.” Keith yelped, shaking Pidge. “Don’t die!” “Shake me ands Imma puke on shoe.” Allura groaned, and Lance pulled her up gently. “We- lets just get back to the lions.” “I am not receiving an answer from the ship! They could be hostile! I should engage our defences-“ “Coran! Chill out!” “I’m bringing it with us,” Hunk announced. “Fucking try it!” Yelled Keith. “Too late, I’ve named him Puffy.” “He poisoned Pidge!” “For the love of-“ Lance grabbed Allura before she fell down to throw up again, steadying her and glaring at the other paladins. “Keith bring Pidge, Hunk bring Puffy, I’ll take Allura, just get back to your lions!” “If I could just spare one missile-“ “And Coran, if you shoot at that ship, I’ll- I’ll let Puffy loose on the healing pods! Now lets go!” - Lance landed the black lion unceremoniously in the hanger, glowering as he strode quickly down the gangway. Allura wasn’t looking on the verge of throwing up anymore, but her colour was Strona 18 definitely off. “What the hell is happening?” He demanded, bursting through the doors into the bridge. Hunk and Keith were engaged in a screaming match, Hunk clutching Puffy tearfully while the latter paladin spoon-fed Pidge a brown goop, probably an antidote prescribed by Coran. “He was just scared!” “He’s a menace!” “This tashtes like shfeet,” Pidge mumbled around the spoon. “I’ve still got those missiles armed and ready if you’ve changed your mind,” Coran piped up cheerfully. Lance slapped a hand over his forehead. Was this what Shiro had to deal with? “Enough!” He could’ve cried at the sound of Allura’s voice. She marched right up to the controls, ordering Coran to stand down. Her face had a slight green tinge to it, but she held herself steadily and fixed them all with a cool stare. “You are all acting like children! Lance is behaving the most mature of all of you.” “W-was that an insult?” ”Coran, what is this ship you detected?” Allura asked, ignoring his question. Coran slouched, visibly disappointed that he hadn’t been given free reign to wreck havoc on the vessel. “I’m not sure, Princess. It appeared on the scanners just a little while ago. I tried hailing it but have had no response.” “Do we have any visuals on it?” “Not yet. I was going to ask Pidge for help but-“ “Pidge ish out’ve comishion.” “Eat your medicine.” “It tashtes like shfeet ands butt.” Keith shook his head, looking exasperated. “You don’t know what either of those things taste like.” “Try fme.” “What do we do?” Lance interrupted. “About the ship?” Allura rubbed her temples, inhaling sharply. “I don’t know, Lance. What’s your suggestion?” “M-my suggestion?” “Yes,” Allura bit out, clearly not in the mood to be dealing with any of this. Strona 19 “I don’t know. You’re the one with the good ideas.” “And you have taken on the responsibility of the black paladin.” “Well, I wouldn’t quite put it like that-“ “The black lion responded to you,” Allura snapped. There was definitely something off about her mood today. “Hey, I didn’t ask it too. We don’t even know if-“ “Lance, do you have a suggestion or not?” Lance couldn’t help it, he glared at her. The past two days had been hard enough with this stupid newfound responsibility being lumped onto his shoulders, he didn’t need a bunch of squabbling paladins, pissy princesses, and dodgy spaceships to add to the chaos. “No,” he bit out. “I don’t.” Allura pursed her lips, frustration bubbling up within her, threatening to spill. “Do we even know what kind of ship it is?” “Not without the visuals,” announced Coran. “Do we approach it?” “Is that not what I just asked you?” Lance turned back to Allura, who had her own gaze fixed on the panel, tapping away at the screen with a little more force than strictly necessary. Lance felt the eyes of the other paladins on them, looking on nervously. “Did I do something wrong?” He demanded. “No,” Allura replied testily. “What gave you that impression?” He scoffed, planting his arms firmly across his chest. “I didn’t want the black lion, if that’s what you’re pissed about.” “It’s not about that, Lance. I’m just trying to gather your opinion on how to address this, seeing as you were so invested.” “I don’t know what to do, alright?” “Perhaps as a new leader, you should at least try.” “I-I’m not… I’m not the leader of this group!” “Is that so?” “Yes.” “I thought you wanted more responsibility. Was I wrong?” Strona 20 Lance threw his arms up. “What is with you?” “Me? The black lion responded to you, Lance! But instead of acknowledging that, you’re dancing around the problem.” “That doesn’t automatically quality me for anything,” Lance insisted. “So you admit you have nothing to offer?” Lance expression darkened, and he jabbed a finger in her direction. “You’re our leader. Where’s your suggestion? I thought you accepted responsibility for this group when you first dragged us into this stupid war!” That was it; Allura snapped. “Maybe you haven’t stopped to consider,” she practically yelled. “That sometimes I need help.” Her voice cracked on the last note, an unreadable mix of emotions flooding her face. For a moment no one spoke. Allura dropped her hands from the controls, abruptly dropping his gaze and crossing the room. Without another word she swept through the door, leaving them all stunned. “So…” mumbled Pidge after a moment. “Whats shappened. Cause I can’t shee a all.” Lance cursed, running a hair through his hair. “I think… you upset her,” Hunk offered quietly. “I know that,” Lance snapped, hating that all eyes were now on him. “The ship-“ “Is it attacking us? Is it even moving?” Lance all but yelled. Coran jumped, fingers moving swiftly over the screens. “Uh… no. It’s dormant.” “Then just, ugh-“ He pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. Where was Shiro when they needed him? Probably dead. Lance’s heart sank a little; why did it always have to be like this, so difficult? “Just leave the ship alone. Monitor it, if it does anything or comes any closer then let us know. Let’s just… get Pidge fixed up.” Pidge shot him a thumbs up. “What about Puffy?” Questioned Hunk. “I’m sure there’s an airlock available somewhere,” Keith muttered. “Put him, I don’t know, just put him somewhere safe. Away from Pidge. And Keith!” Lance added, as the latter’s eyes darkened, glaring at the small animal. “You’re impossible, all of you,” he muttered, already making his way toward the door.