Shiro was gone. Keith tried to process this simple fact, but it was impossible. Shiro had always been there for him. He was there when he was still an orphan back on earth, while he was at the Garrison and he even managed to come back to him after he got captured by aliens.

But now he felt exactly the same as back then. Shortly before Shiro had disappeared, weeks before he dropped out of the Garrison.

He was drained. As if there was a black void inside his heart, where his mentor belonged.

It had been hours already, but still, Keith did not feel a single thing. He was sitting on his bed, his mind wandering from his Galra-blade to his past and to Shiro, without an exact destination.

He just let it spin in circles as he always did, when he did not know what to do.

It was quiet. Too quiet in his room, despite his love for silence. This silence was just as empty as his heart and his mind.

Keith did not know what even kept him here anymore. Zarkon seemed to have been defeated, so why could he not at least be a little relieved?
And, why in the whole universe was he still here then? He could go home! He should find out about his true origins. But yet, he did not.
"You´ve been brought here for a reason!", Allura´s voice echoed back inside his mind. Exactly and now it was up to him to be the black paladin. To bring Shiro back.

"Zarkon is still alive! Coran and I have found evidence that Haggar is keeping him in his broken down ship and uses magic to heal his wounds.
We need to be back on line as soon as possible!"

So, it was not over yet, right?! Allura seemed to be just as furious about the news as Keith felt. They needed to find Shiro. What the hell where they waiting for?!
"Let´s go then!", Keith said, as everyone else was still silently watching the princess. "It´s time to get our Shiro back!"

"Wait a second, Mullet-boy. I know this guy is probably your idol or muse of something, but he just disappeared about a week ago. We do not know if he even is with Zarkon! We cannot just head out without a plan!", Lance tried to reason, but it was Allura who interrupted him.

"Keith is right! Not only do we need to take our opportunity now, since Zarkons fleet is weakened, we need to save our family!"
"I have to agree! Maybe we will find my brother and father along the way.", Pidge agreed and adjusted their glasses.

"Guys, just think about it! We don´t exactly know where to start! We should rely on our alliances! We cannot risk to stumble into another mess which might causes us to loose another Paladin!", Lance almost yelled, as if he could not believe there were people out there who did not understand his reasoning.

"Yeah, I would love to get Shiro back just as much as you all are, but we cannot form Voltron without Shiro and it is way too dangerous to storm in with only our lions, when Zarkon might be able to form another connection to the black lion!", Hunk interfered, causing Lance to silently thank him.

"Well, we just need one more person for the lions, so there should not be a problem!", Keith crossed his arms, a challenging look in his dark purple eyes.

"Are you nuts? It´s not exactly as if a perfect Paladin would just simply appear to take Shiro´s place! He was our leader. You cannot simply replace him!", Lance snapped.

"He told me to do so, though!"

A long silence followed after Keith´s statement. "He, what?", Lance asked confused. "When we crashed on that planet after we were separated, Shiro asked me to lead Voltron."

Keith would probably never forget this one moment in his whole life that he managed Lance Mc-talking-shit-Clain to shut his mouth.

"Figured.", Lance mumbled to himself and crossed his arms over his chest, not without twisting his face into a pout.

"That sounds … nice. But who will pilot the red lion then?", Hunks eyes switched from Keith to Lance. The tension between them was almost visible.

"Yeah, Keith. Who will pilot YOUR lion?", Lance questioned angrily. But as someone cleared his throat, both of the boys attentions were now directed towards Coran.
"Well, my fellow Paladins. Since our honorable Princess has a great connection to the castle and, therefore, needs to stay here, I guess we´ve got only one choice, right?", he proudly ran his hands through his mustache, signaling them his obvious intention.

"And who would that be?", Keith asked anyway.

"He is talking about himself, hothead!", Lance commented, still frowning.

"As great as this idea might sound. I believe it will not be as easy as you believe! I told you already, the lions choose their Paladins for different reasons. And, not to mention that Coran is not suited for the red lion, it appears the black lion has closed up on herself.", Allura finally interfered again, checking something on the hologram screen right in front of her.

"What?!", Keith suddenly felt his arms loosen around him. "But that cannot be. I piloted her once already. She should open up to me, right?!", he asked, ignoring the surprised gasps of Hunk and Lance.

"You did what?!"

-

Keith was now standing directly in front of the black lion. He was sure that the Lion had to open up for him. She already had once, why would she close herself up?
But as he tried to approach her, she did not open up. Her blank eyes were not even directed at him. They were lifeless and directed into nowhere.

"I thought you said, it opened up to you?!", Lance mocked, arms crossed, while standing a few steps behind of him.

"I- I don´t understand?! Last time she did!"
"Well, you said that last time Shiro was injured and you needed the black lion to save him. Maybe that´s why.", The suggestion Pidge made, sadly sounded the most logical, even to Keith who was not desperate to believe it.

However, Keith was not allowed to comment them, as suddenly the other four lions stood up in all their glory.
Lights flashing from their lights as they kneed down to each of their destined Paladin.
Keith could feel it and he knew that the others could, too.

"I am sorry, Coran, Allura.", Keith started. "But this is nothing, we are allowed to decide.", he failed to explain and stepped towards Red.
His mind in anticipation, unknown to the anxiety his fellow team members were trying to avoid, unknown to the confused faces of the last living Alteans.

-

The lions flew off. Keith did not know their destination and it appeared his friends were just as worried about the situation as he was himself.

"Where do you think we are headed?!", Pidge´s voice echoed through Keith´s helmet. "How would I know? My lions not responding!", Keith snapped, though he did not intend to do so.

Maybe the last few weeks really had taken a toll on him. "No reason to yell at Pidge, Keith!", Hunk interfered. Actually he was the last person Keith had expected to answer.

"Let´s all calm down first, guys!", Pidge announced. Still no response from Lance. "Lance? Are you okay?!", Keith asked.
"What? Uh, yeah of course. I was just thinking why the lions would force us out here.!", the answer almost made Keith groan.
"It´s obviously to decide who will pilot the black lion until Shiro is gone."

"Yeah, I mean, Blue told me that. But why? Shiro did not need to take a test to pilot the black lion, though Zarkon, her first pilot still had a connection to her. So why do we need to do so?
Also, what is the purpose of flying through space? We could just collide with another planet and Galra we need to fight. We are not able to form Voltron. Do they expect us to all fight on our own to prove our worth? Or do they want us to lead the group?
I mean, what is our destination? What are they planning?!"

Keith opened his mouth to form a respond, but he could not. "Dude, did you seriously just think about all that by yourself?", Hunk let out an uncomfortable laugh.

"Wow, did not expect that.", Pidge agreed. "Hey!", Lance shouted in disbelief. Well, way to make things easier. It was at this moment that they heard a loud crash and suddenly everything went black.

"They have been like this for two days now!", Allura almost flipped the table as she smashed down on it´s beautiful white surface.
"I know, Princess. But they have to go through this. Remember the time before Zarkon was the black Paladin?! The other four had been fighting about it for months.", Coran stated.

"And they had been gone for another! And just because the black lion did not want to accept my suggestion!", she pouted.
"Well, you are linked to the lions. You are allowed to decide about who pilots which lion as long as you do not have a preference. Last time you were manipulated through your love towards your father and your admiration towards Zarkon, now you cannot decide between Keith and Pidge, am I right?!"
Allura did not dare look at him. "I know, I am sorry. This is all my fault!"
"Don´t worry. Look at the bright side! Neither do you have to decide now, nor is it going to be the wrong decision." This statement, however good Coran´s intention might have been, did not exactly help to brighten Allura´s mood.

"But what if there is no time left when they come back? What if each of them is failing the test? They are human, Coran?! What if they won´t be able to survive the test due to exhaustion, dehydration or hunger?!"

"I believe, you do not have to worry about that.", Coran simply said as suddenly a certain noise signaled the opening of the lions.

It had been the same illusion Shiro had had to endure last time.

Stumbling and cursing, the paladins left their lions, each one looking surprised to still be in the castle.

Everyone except for one. And that person did not stop, much to the surprises of their fellow paladins as well as Allura and Coran.
They stepped forward, heading directly towards the black lion. And while their own lion was roaring in the background, the black lion´s eyes came to life again.
Black kneed in front of his next Paladin and finally, she opened up.