Author's Note: Alright, so a bit of clarification. I'm still working on the official part 2 for this (I want to get the whole story written first so I can try to post a chapter a week again, so it may take awhile), but in the meantime, this is kind of a fill in story. It's basically explaining what the others were doing the whole time Keith was with Thace during "What If The Storm Ends?" fic. So, hope you all enjoy this story!

Chapter 1

Shiro would not say this was the worst day in his life, that honor went to the day he got captured by the Galra and made into a slave. However, today was a close second at least.

The rescue of Allura from Zarkon's clutches had been an ordeal and their plan had gotten derailed the second Zarkon had gained control over his Black Lion. He still wasn't sure how or why that barrier came down to allow them to escape. It should have been a victory, except the wormhole got corrupted and now they were all scattered.

Shiro winced as he checked the scanners of his lion, while gripping his side. The wound he had received there was pure agony, but it wasn't his priority at the moment. He gave orders for the others to stay wherever they landed because he was going to find them.

Shiro failed his crew once and he was NOT going to let it happen again.

The images of ice and snow around him caused another groan from Shiro. From what he could understand, they had crashed landed on some kind of ice planet or maybe this place was in the middle of winter?

Whatever the reason, it was going to make getting off this planet a whole lot harder. Shiro climbed out of the cockpit, but the pain from his wound caused him to stumble and was forced to grip the Black Lion for support.

He panted, taking controlled breathes as he waited the harsh pain to subside. Shiro removed his hands and grimaced at the glowing wound Haggar gave him.

"I doubt the first aid kit will fix that," he muttered and glanced to Black.

She gave no answer. Black had been awfully quiet since the battle, except for the soft growls of concern, although Shiro blamed himself for the silence. Truthfully, he found himself trying to block out Black's thoughts to him altogether. He couldn't face her, not now. Not while he felt so ashamed.

They had, at least Shiro had assumed, they had forged a strong bond, but Zarkon had tossed it aside so effortlessly and Black rejected him. Was it really that easy for her to forget their bond and throw him out without a second thought?

"Some leader I am," Shiro muttered grimly. "Couldn't even keep my own team safe."

His hands tightened into fists. Plan, he needed a plan. He didn't have the luxury of wallowing in self pity.

He should find Keith first since they came out of the same wormhole. Keith had to have landed on a nearby planet. Once Shiro found him, they could-

Snow crunched behind him.

Shiro whirled around with his glow arm, ready to attack. However, his arm came to an abrupt halt as he realized the trespasser was a little old lady...at least that was Shiro's best guess.

The top of her head only came up to his waist. Her skin was a pale peach, and she had a huge round nose and pointed ears that were longer than either Allura's or Coran's. She had thick silver hair tied back into a giant bun, several stone earrings hanging off her ears and a couple of feathers tied loosely to a belt around her waist.

Judging by the way she squinted her eyes and tapped the top of her wooden cane, she hardly looked the less bit intimidated by Shiro's glowing arm in her face.

"Well, this is certainly something I don't see in my backyard every day," the woman marked dryly.

Shiro froze, pulling back his arm. "Oh..um, I'm s-sorry, I didn't mean to-"

The little alien woman was unfazed as her gaze locked onto Shiro's wound. She grasped her chin and hummed to herself, like she was trying to study it. "Interesting wound you got there, Sonny."

Shiro grimaced, having almost forgotten about his wound and tried to cover it up. The old woman then walked past Shiro and approached the Black Lion's head. "So, how exactly did you two end up in this mess?"

Shirosighed as he ran a hand through his hair, uncertain how much he should go into detail. "That's...a complicated story-"

The old shushed him, giving Shiro's flashbacks to when his grandmother took him to the library as a child.

"Quiet, I wasn't asking you," she said and returned her gaze to the Black Lion.

"Yeah...uh huh, oh, I see," she muttered with her arms folded. "Hmm, yes, you were lucky to get out of there intact."

Shiro raised an eyebrow as he suddenly felt like an odd third wheel. "Okay..um, I feel a bit lost here."

The woman ignored him as she spun around and poked Shiro's leg with her cane. "Right, Sonny, you come with me and I'll get you fixed up..um…" She titled her head at him. "Wait, what's your name? I missed that part."

"It's Shiro," he said, feeling uncertain on what exactly was happening.

"Right, well my name is too long for sane people to pronounce so you can just call me Gran, got it?" She walked forward and gestured for Shiro to follow. "Don't worry, your lion will be safe here and my home is just over that hill."

Shiro scratched his head baffled as he looked between the woman and his lion. "I..uh...wait, a sec! What are you talking about?!"

The old woman paused and glanced over her shoulder rather annoyed. "You have snow grubs in your ears? I'm going to mend that wound of yours and get you inside my hut before you die of the cold."

Shiro frowned and raised an eyebrow. That was sudden. "Okay, but why? You don't even know me."

"BECAUSE YOUR LION ASKED ME TO!" she snapped back as she continued to march ahead. "Hurry up, I'm freezing my ears off here."

Shiro blinked as he looked back to his Lion and saw she had already cast a barrier over herself.

He scratched his head, debating on what he should do, but in the end Shiro followed the old woman up the hill.

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The old woman, or 'Gran' as she insisted to be called, lead Shiro to a large hut that was built from carefully fitted stones. There were no windows, only one door and a small chimney with smoke streaming out of it on the curved roof.

Gran opened the door and didn't want for Shiro to follow.

"Wipe your feet," she instructed as she made a beeline for the back shelf. "And shut the door, I finally got a good fire going and I don't want the wind to snuff it out."

Shiro did as he was told and stole a second to survey the place. It was simple,and from the looks of it was mainly one room except for a door leading to the back which he could only assume was a bedroom.

Various colourful stones and crystals were tied to long strands of string hanging from the ceiling. They gently turned and clicked against each other, reminding Shiro of windchimes, which was a bit strange considering there was no wind to move them.

A mat woven from blue and green fabric was placed in the very centre of the room, with a blue pillow to match it.

The rest of the hut had shelves located on every wall, each containing jars, glasses and vases written in a language he couldn't read. Gran poked at the roaring fire with a stick before gliding over to the next shelf.

"Don't mind, Tiki," she said without turning her head. "She's just curious."

Shiro raised an eyebrow. "Tiki?"

"Mew."

Shiro jumped and glanced down to see a furry white ball of fluff sitting at his feet. It appeared to be some crossbreed of a rabbit and a cat. She twitched both her long ears and a black nose at him before deciding to lick at her paws, and then venturing off to the side.

"Alright, did a quick inventory of my materials," Gran said as she walked back to Shiro. "So, let's take a look at that wound of yours."

"Look, I feel very confused here," Shiro stated. "Who exactly are you?"

"A Quizan baker," Gran retorted sharply. "What do you think I am, Sonny? I'm a healer, and the best there is." She squinted her eyes as she zoomed into Shiro's side. "Hmm...and looks like that's exactly what you need."

Shiro couldn't exactly argue against that, and he had to admit the pain was slowly getting worse.

Gran then raised a hand and held it above the wound as she shut her eyes tightly.

Shiro frowned. "Um..what are you-"

"Shush, I'm analyzing," Gran whispered. Within moments a firm line appeared in her forehead and she cursed.

"Druid magic, I was afraid of that." she said with a sigh as she turned back around. "I'm going to have to cleanse that first or it will have a hard time healing." Gran tapped the mat with her cane as she passed by. "Remove your armour and lay down."

Shiro frowned and stayed put where he was as he watched Gran turned her back to him to reach a shelf. She seemed harmless enough, but he learned the hard way you can't judge people by their appearances. For all he knew, she was just some crazy woman who wanted to grind his bones for bread or something.

"No offense, but how do I know I can trust you," he said, softly.

Gran paused, and gave a questioning look. "Honestly, you don't, but I can tell you that you're lucky you got out of that fight with Zarkon with your head attached."

Shiro's eyes widened. "How do you know that?" he asked. That had only happened an hour ago. There was no way news could travel that fast.

"Like I said, your Lion told me," Gran muttered as she reached for a jar. "Hmm...need to get more powered wingroot after this."

"That's the part I don't understand," Shiro replied. "How could my Lion told you?" I'm just learning to hear my lion..at least I thought I was.

"All sentient beings have a voice," Gran said as she reached for a small box. "Trick is you got to know how to listen is all." She turned and waved her cane. "Now strip AND GET YOUR BUTT ON THAT MAT!"

Shiro jumped slightly and sighed. Probably better to play along for the moment. He removed the top armor, but became hesitant as he got to his undershirt. His chest was covered in scars from his year both from the battle ring and from being a Galra slave. When possible, he tried his best to make certain the other Paladins didn't see it since he knew they would be upset by it.

The only one who had seen it was Coran, since he had to often check their health status. Shiro had been shocked to see how unshaken Coran had been at the sight, but granted Coran was an experience solider himself. The Altean admitted Shiro was hardly the frist scarred soldier he had ever come across.

With that said, healer or not, Shiro wasn't certain how a little old lady would react seeing his scars.

"If you're concerned you're going to scare me, don't be," Gran said as she placed the box and several jars near the mat. "I've treated many escaped prisoners of Zarkon, so I'm used to it."

She raised her head and showed a small smile. "Besides, I could hardly call myself a healer if I wasn't prepared for such sights."

Shiro stiffened, but upon seeing Gran's smile relaxed and slowly peeled off his undergarment. As promised, Gran didn't even blink an eye as Shiro lay flat upon the mat.

"So, what exactly are you going to do?" Shiro asked.

"Like I said I got to cleanse the wound," Gran said as she poured a liquid in a bowl and stirred. "After that it's just a matter of stitching up and bandaging you."

She stopped stirring and her eyes hardened as she rolled up her sleeves. "Not going to lie, the cleansing will hurt, but I promise to make it as quick as possible."

Shiro gave a nod as he tilted his head back. "Quick would be good. I have to get moving to find the rest of my team."

Gran raised a doubtful eyebrow as she dipped a cloth into the bowl and lifted it back out. "I'll do the best I can, now brace yourself."

Shiro nodded and felt Gran pressed the wet cloth into the wound. It burned like fire. Shiro whimpered, but kept his mouth shut and dug his fingers into the mat. Gran was unfazed and muttered a chant under her breath as Shrio did his best to remain still and focussed on breathing. Gradually, the burning sensation faded, and Shiro's fingers loosened in the mat.

He panted heavily as sweat dripped from his forehead.

"You could have screamed if you wanted," Gran said as she removed the cloth and dropped it in the bowl. "It wouldn't have bothered me."

"I've...had...worse," Shiro replied, suddenly feeling very weak. Sad part was he wasn't lying. He couldn't recall the memories exactly, but Shiro was certain he had felt worse pain.

Gran's eyes hardened, but gave a nod in understanding. "Well, that was the worst part, next I just got to patch you up." She opened a jar and brought out some bandages from the box. "So, just sit back and try to relax. Honestly, you should try to sleep. It would be the best thing for you."

Shiro gave a small chuckle. "No time..for that," he said as he turned his gaze up to the ceiling. "I got to...find my team."

Gran patted his shoulder. "Your lion seemed certain you'd find them soon enough. So, just take it easy while I work, alright?"

"Yeah..okay," Shiro replied in a whisper.

He felt the tip of something poke into his side, but thanks to the numb skin there, he barely felt it. Shiro silently watched the crystals above spin and gently clink into each other. They slightly reminded him of wind chimes back on earth.

Gradually, he found his eyes getting heavy and before he had realized it, Shiro had shut them.

Maybe a nap wouldn't be a bad idea, Shiro thought as he gave in. Just hope the others are okay.