Allura's head swam as she lay on the floor of the Black Lion, trying to mold her body to the tight space under the control panels. She knew it would do little to hide her, but the small space made her feel just a little safer. Somewhere in her mind, she wondered where Coran was, if he was alright or if the Galra had found him. She shivered at the thought. He had to be alright, she could feel it in her bones that he was alright.
First, the castle's defenses had gone haywire, her connection broken from the castle somehow, and then within seconds, the castle had shaken with missile impacts.
Then everything had crumbled around her. Her uncle had been frantic trying to bring back their defenses, but it was no use, neither he nor Allura could do anything to stop the attack. The castle was too old and her body was too tired from their 10,000 year sleep.
The Galra had come pouring in, they were surrounded. They fought until their bodies ached, bruised and battered. Coran had shoved her into the Lion hanger, locking the door. The face he made, the look of devastation was ingrained in her mind. He had looked so heartbroken, as he told her "Be careful, Princess, I will see you again." The doors closed on him, separating her only family from her. She didn't have time to tell him to do the same.
She limped to the only safe haven in the tall metal room. Sometimes she hated her own castle, how stark and clinical it seemed. How lonely everything was. Where there should have been five lions, there stood one. It too looked lonely. Black and shining edges glared back at her as she opened the manual entrance hatch and jumped in. The lion had not welcomed her, had not leaned down to open for her. Allura was not its true keeper, only the chosen paladin could pilot it. But there was nowhere else to hide from the attacking Galra forces, the black lion was her only hope. Hiding there seemed ironic to her- how this was what the Galra had wanted in the first place, and there she was laying right in it.
Opening her eyes hurt, her head was pounding, she could hear the doors of the hanger being pried open. She couldn't tell what was louder, the hammering of her heart in her chest or the bolts of the doors being ripped apart.
Everything had gone wrong, Allura thought as she closed her eyes again, I'm so sorry. I've failed you father. I'll die here, and so will the rest of the universe. Tears leaked from her eyes, leaving tracks on her face. The Galra were getting louder, a loud smash echoed through the room. They're here, Black Lion, She thought, I wish you had gotten to meet your paladin. Go somewhere safe, if you can.
Blue light radiated, the darkness under her lids becoming blotchy with escaping light, and then it was dark again and Allura knew this time, it was time to say goodbye.
The meeting was dragging on, going far past the time slot that Shiro had given it. There were a thousand other things he had to do before the day was done and he could finally rest, but it seemed like it would be another late night and early morning. Sleep, once again, was going to elude him.
His generals were conversing loudly at the table in front of him, whispers of Galra attacks were coming in almost daily now. What had once seemed like a far-off enemy was know almost on their doorstep and they were ill equipt to handle it. They didn't have many warships in their fleet, Shiro had commanded his engineers to work double time, triple if they could manage. They would lose many if the Galra made it to his planet, but if they could build their weapons faster then maybe they could save it.
Everything seemed dismal, but he had to stay strong for his people, they relied on his calmness in the face of battle to bring them glory.
He was so stuck in his thoughts that what happened next completely disarmed him. Shiro bolted upright, clutching his chest, lightning felt like it was striking his body, shocking him, over and over. His vision blurred and Shiro winced against it. He could hear through the rushing in his ears Keith, his second in command, calling his name, but he sounded far away. And then as quickly as it came, it was gone, leaving him at the head of the table gasping in his chair. Keith was hovering over him, asking him if he was alright. He could barely breathe, his breaths coming too quickly as he shoved Keith's hands away.
What felt like hours, but were surely only a minute or two, ticked by as he grappled for control of his senses again. And then he felt fine, his vision was back, he could breathe again, it was like whatever had happened had never happened. If his subordinates hadn't been there he would have thought he was going crazy. "I'm alright Keith, calm down." He shooed the boy away further, but his voice didn't even convince himself. Keith's dark eyes were filled with worry.
Suddenly the doors to the meeting room burst open with a bang, a small sentry, Pidge, came running in. She was a little thing, all brains instead of brawn. "Theres a ship- or- or something- coming towards us! And there's a Galra fighter behind it!" She was yelling, frantic.
Shiro and Keith exchanged a glance before they ran out to the balcony of the meeting room. A battle appeared to be happening outside, a Galra cruiser, all purple and black and screaming for vengeance was gaining on what looked to be a flying... lion? Shiro had never seen such a thing in his life, it looked like it was made of metal and flew at speeds that he had only dreamed his warships would go.
The lion made no counterattacks, only swiveled and twisted out of oncoming shots, but its speed was too great and Shiro and the others watched as it collided with his planet, tearing down trees and leaving dirt ruts in a massive display of destruction. The castle they stood in shook with the impact and Shiro saw Keith grab hold of Pidge's jacket before she could tumble over with the shockwave of it. The Galra fighter hovered for a moment before disappearing, leaving no trace in the sky that it was ever there except for a trail of white smoke.
The trio set into action, Shiro heading up the front, Pidge in the middle, and Keith at the rear. They took Shiro's hover cruiser, their guns holstered at their waists, to the spot where the massive lion stood. No longer was it laying on its side, the way they had watched it crash and slide to the ground. It was now on all fours.
It was a miracle of engineering, Shiro cautiously approached it, his hyper beam gun drawn. Pidge and Keith stood back. Again Shiro felt a shock through him, but this time it didn't hurt. It left him feeling warm. The eyes of the beast were staring at him, it didn't have pupils but Shiro could feel its heavy gaze. Slowly it lowered its head, mouth opening to reveal a hollow room. Shiro slowly crept in, ready for a battle, but found none, the lion's mouth stayed open behind him.
His eyes hurt to look at the lights that the control panels were giving off, a large seat stood in the middle of it. Shiro swept his gaze over it, that was when he noticed the girl laying on the floor. She was half shoved under the rounded desk. He holstered his gun and kneeled beside her. The girl too, like the lion, was unlike anyone he'd ever seen.
She was beautiful, with dark skin that contrasted with the silver hair that grew from her head and pooled around her face on the floor. She was dressed in a regal dress, gold and pale blue and purples, on her forehead, a jeweled headband glittered in the low light, and under her eyes were pink crescents that looked like they were more part of her skin than for decoration.
Shiro put his hand against her cheek, she made no move. But he could see her chest rising and falling with phantom breathes. Shiro made a move to call for Keith to get the medical corps but as he was about to yell the mouth of the lion slammed shut, leaving the two of them in the glowing blue room.
His heart thundered, mind raced as he tried to work out how to get out. His mind screamed that it was a trap, he had been fooled. Suddenly the lion shuddered, making him lose his footing, Shiro tripped back into the chair behind him, landing hard on its surfaces.
Everything fell away the moment he touched it leaving him in a hazy blue galaxy in his mind. Across the plain he saw the yellow eyes of the lion, they were calling him and then he snapped back to reality. The soft blue lights of the control panels were now blazing, the darkness that was the windshield of the beast was now clear, windows opening up to show diagnostics. Blue levels and meters were flashing, and an alarm was ringing. Somehow his hands had found the levers on the beast, they fit in his rough fingers perfectly.
The Lion shuddered again, creaking and the alarm kept blasting. He was under attack, Shiro realized, gunfire was ricochetting off of the lion's metal surface in purple flashes. Shiro scrambled out of the chair and grabbed the girl off the floor. She had been thrown against the chair when the beast had moved the first time. He hauled her up and laid her against him as he settles back into the cockpit chair- her cheek lolled against the crook of his neck and rested on his shoulder, her long legs thrown across his lap. He maneuvers his arms around her, his grip going back to the levers on the dashboard. He didn't want her banging around while they were getting attacked, the safest place for her was with him.
On instinct he thrust the lever on his left up, the beast shot into the air. His mind was reeling, it was like the lion was telling him what to do like it was speaking to him, but at the same time not. It was thrilling and exhilarating. The lion seemed to know him, to welcome him.
Through the screens, he could see Galra ships attacking and he fended them off with the lion, dodging and diving, swerving and cutting them down. A screen popped up on his left, he glanced at it while he shot through the sky between two Galra ships, their fired bullets colliding with the other ships in a failed. On screen was a lanky man, facing away from him, typing furiously on another computer. He was shouting as he spoke, "Princess, whats going on? I saw the lion take off and now a distress signal! Allura, are you alri-" he stopped dead in his tracks as he turned and saw that it wasn't the girl, Allura- Shiro presumed-, that was onscreen. Shiro glanced at the monitor while he dodged more attacks. "Who are you? What are you doing in the Black Lion? Is the Princess alright?" The man was similar to the girl, he had the same eye markings.
Shiro didn't look at the man as he spoke, concentrating on the battle. "My name is Shiro, we're being attacked by Galra ships. They followed your princess to my planet." He shot another ship down, it felt like he just kept shooting, there were too many ships. "She's badly hurt, but I'll take care of her." The man's eyes widened on the other side of the scream, but they were filled with determination.
"Alright then. My name is Coran, I've barricaded myself in the control room of our castle, but it seems that the Galra who attacked us only wanted the Lion, most of them are gone now. I'll try to help from my end as much as I can but without Allura the castle doesn't have much energy. The Galra ships are fast but they can't do tight turns at the speeds they fly at, you can dodge them that way." Shiro nodded, though he had already figured that out, Coron on the other side of the screen continued on, "If you fly farther from your planet then i can try to give you some cover with a fake signal of another Lion- they may leave you alone long enough to get away."
Shiro shot through the sky like a meteor, higher, higher still through the air and deep into the confines of space. His people had long figured out space travel, but they had never been able to achieve this much speed and power. The lion was a masterpiece.
He steered the lion through the blackness of space, leaving behind his planet until it was just a small dot behind him, the Galra continued to pursue, though slower than him they lost sight, and true to his word Coran had come through. They shot past him, leaving him in their wake, chasing a false signal of his lion.
He breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the backs of their ships leave his field of view. "Thanks, Coran, I owe you one." Shiro closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat. Against his shoulder, he felt the girl move. He glanced down at her to see a pair of beautiful blue eyes fluttering open, her eyes were hazy.
"The Black Lion... You're piloting it." Her voice was soft and low, a slight accent that Shiro couldn't place hinting at the edges. Shiro didn't dare move, he didn't want to frighten her. Coran was quiet on the screen too, watching the pair. "I asked it to bring me somewhere safe, and it brought me to you, to its paladin." Her eyes closed and she relaxed into him, once again unconscious, but a small smile played on her face.
"She'll be alright, Coran. Send me your coordinates and I'll bring her back."
Coran agreed and the dou were off, flying through the stars away from Shiro's home and deeper into an unknown frontier.