WARNING: Vulgar language (cussing) will appear in this chapter.
Xxx
Coran watched from the bridge as the pod holding four paladins of Voltron stormed away from the Altean castle. As prepared as the team usually is, the video feeds for the castle were still intact, and Coran had been expecting something like this.
He had watched from the sidelines as Lance sluggishly made his way to the kitchen. He had witnessed his small make up with Keith and their interruption from Pidge. He had seen Hunk nervously stand in the lion hangars as he prepared to leave with his friends. He smiled proudly as Keith second guessed his decision before finally piloting the four towards where their happiness lied.
And Coran had done nothing to stop it.
He had secretly hoped the young paladins would stick up for themselves, or at least do something to make themselves happy again. Coran had become less of a voice of reason to Princess Allura and more a distant annoyance over the past three years. Once a trusted guidance, now not even a second thought. It had hurt more than a stab to the heart, but Coran was a grown man who could handle himself. He knew the princess would come around in time once she'd realized she was in the wrong.
It was when she and the black paladin had began shoving disinterest on their team mates that Coran became more vocal about the issue. Often times, pointing out the two on their faults when they wouldn't listen to reason. He'd try to tell them to calm their harsh words or simply try listening, yet it was only getting worse.
First he saw Pidge close off. The green paladin wasn't really close to anyone, her search for her missing family always took first priority. But then her desires to rescue her most likely dead family became too much of a hassle for the two leaders of Voltron. When she stoped sharing her opinions, Coran had noticed. When she began sleeping less and less, when she barely touched her plates of food, when she became sluggish in training, Coran noticed. That was the first push.
Then it was Hunk. He was normally the first to always point out bad ideas, which were a natural occurrence. But when Hunk's worries were cast aside only to be proven correct in battle, the yellow paladin began to lose his trust in the people he once looked up to. That was when scattered mixing bowls and used utensils appeared in the early hours of the morning. That was when Coran noticed another young paladin spending the night awake. That was the second push.
Next it was Lance. The happy-go-lucky teen had slowly disappeared into practically nothing. He was like a hollow shell trying to imitate some form of himself in the past only to be pushed away for only being what he thought his true self was. And it certainty wasn't fooling Coran. The boy was losing himself and only seemed to get it back every time he engaged Keith in some time of recognizable fight, often ending with both of them scolded harshly. That was the third push.
Keith, surprisingly the last one, was a slow process. Always usually untrusting and cold towards others. The one person he'd even allowed himself to get close too was Shiro who was the one pushing him away. To have your one support system throw you to the side was not only heart breaking to feel, but to watch. Then Keith began to suffer in battle. Fear began to overcome his mind more than instinct. He was afraid to take risks in fear that the last thread of a bond he and Shiro had would fray away from his inability to follow set directions. That had been the last push.
They had been formed and molded to fit an impossible shape by Allura and Shiro's cold words and harsh punishments. They had shaved away their personality and and smoothed away their dents of unique qualities no one else possessed. They became pieces of a game to be moved around as if replaceable.
Pidge's defiance.
Hunk's caution.
Lance's humor.
Keith's strength.
It was all being taken away.
Coran had enough.
He was grateful the younger paladins had formed their own bond and had managed not to lose their own sense of who they were. He began to see sparks of their true colors peak out from the mask they'd created when they were together.
He saw Lance take Pidge to bed when she had finally passed out from exhaustion, and he could have sworn he didn't see the blue paladin leave her room until the next morning.
He had seen Hunk make something similar to pancakes from earth and brought the fluffy food to his friends in the morning to convince them to wake up to another day.
He had seen Pidge creating a program to replicate the clear blue skies of earth onto the black white of ceilings of their bedrooms.
He had seen Keith give the his fellow paladins pats on the back for work well done, something Shiro had been lacking in.
And he couldn't bare to see these kids who he'd seen grow up too fast lose anymore of themselves due to the mistreatment of two people.
"Please," Coran spoke out to the stars, "Keep them safe. Give me strength to fix this, King Alfor."
Xxx
After a few hours of flying with the booster, the planet of Tyla came into view. Keith sighed in relief that the planet was so close. He had been worried about running out of fuel for past few miles, and there was a mysterious light that had popped up about 10 minutes before that gave Keith a bad feeling.
Behind him, Hunk and Pidge were playing a game on the girls laptop that had both of their attention. They started about two hours ago and hadn't stopped. It must be a good game to keep them entertained for so long.
Keith couldn't help looking beside him to take in the sleeping boy with his head hanging down to his chest. Keith felt his lips curl upwards. Lance was finally able to get some rest.
As Keith entered the atmosphere of the planet, both Pidge and Hunk abandoned their game to look over the shoulders of Keith and Lance. The landscape was stunning, with brightly colored plants that look like fluffy trees and bushes. It reminded Hunk of cotton candy.
"We're here," Keith said as he maneuvered the ship towards the ground.
The ship settled just outside a small town in the forrest of pinks and blues. The paladins looked on in wonder at just how amazing the the sight was. The entire sight looked like a landscape of candy, with licorice vines and soda pop ponds. If Pidge was desperate enough, she might have mistook the forrest for a buffet.
Keith unbuckled his seatbelt and turned towards the back seats, stretching his torso in the process, "We need to pick up some fuel, and get out of here as soon as possible. I don't want anyone here recognizing us."
Hunk nodded as she and Pidge both unbuckled their own seatbelts, "That would immediately give away our location."
Lance shuffled in his sleep beside Keith which made him lower his voice in consideration for his sleeping friend, "Can you guys handle getting the fuel? I need to check the engine on the pod to make sure it's good to go for another few Vargas."
"Sure thing," Pidge said digging through her bag.
The green paladin pulled out some of the money Coran had given her for their last trip at the space mall along with a small device that Hunk and Keith looked at with curiosity.
"What's that for?"Hunk asked as he inspected the item in the girls hand that looked similarly to a cell phone.
"I was talking to Lance a few weeks ago about earth," everyone smiled sadly at the mention of their home planet, "and we decided to try to replicate from earth technology. This," she said as she raised the object in her hand, "is basically like a self phone. It can text and call, only to the other cellphone which Lance has at the moment, and take pictures."
The boys smiled in amusement as Pidge showed them the various test text messages between her and Lance during their creation process, "Since he's asleep, I want to take pictures of the planet so he can see it too."
Hunk patted the girl on the back, "That's a great idea."
Hunk and Pidge exited the pod with Keith following, careful not to wake Lance. They all stood on a purple ground with light green plants looking like grass beginning to poke through. Through the slits in the trees, the team could see lingering aliens with pink skin heading to and from shops. The species that inhabited the planet were known for being extremely beautiful in body and voice. They loved music and often had it playing at all times. It was a major part of their culture.
After stepping outside, Pidge pulled down the sleeves of her green sweatshirt, "Holy shit it's cold!"
"Try not to stay out there too long," Keith warned as he opened the back hatch to look at the over heated engine, "There was some type of warning light that turned out about 10 doboshes ago and I have a feeling it has to do with the engine. I might end up needing Hunk's help."
"You could ask Lance while I'm gone," Hunk suggested, but looked regretful as he glanced over at the sleeping boy.
"I would but I don't really want to wake him," Keith responded, "I don't think he's had a decent nights sleep in a long time."
"If he's lucky enough to fall asleep then I don't want to take it from him," Pidge said as she turned to the town with her hood covering her face, "We'll make it quick."
Pidge began walking towards the town as Keith nodded to Hunk to follow. The bigger boy gave a small smile back as he pulled up his own yellow hood to hide his face. Once they were a good distance away, Keith allowed himself to tear his gaze away from his friends. He regretted not being able to join them but someone needed to stay with the pod and the person sleeping inside. He trusted Pidge and Hunk, but his paranoia got the best of him when he imagined someone managing to notice their distinct features that nearly everyone in the galaxy had come to know belong to the paladins of Voltron.
They couldn't afford to come so far only to be discovered so soon.
As Keith examined the engine he could tell it was clearly over heated, likely due to the thrusters Pidge installed being in use for too long. The only solution he could think of to prevent this is to only use the thrusters in small increments. But how could to cool down the engine now so they could take off again was a mystery.
As Keith stared into the hatch trying to come up with a solution, he heard the sound of the pod opening, then he heard the footsteps. Worry filled his mind as his chest constricted. Thousands of possibilities flashed through his consciousness.
Someone is ransacking us.
Shiro and Allura have found us.
Pidge and Hunk forgot something.
Keith closed the hatch to the engine, silently stepping to the edge of the pod. Peering around the side, Keith was relieved only to see Lance facing away from him.
The red paladin sighed with relief, "Jeeze Lance, you scared…" Keith lost his words as Lance turned to face him. He almost looked like he didn't see Keith, looking right through him.
He only had a moment to realize what was happening. He hadn't time to prepare. Suddenly he was on the ground with the cuban boy who had his hands wrapped around Keith's neck with wild, terrified eyes.
Xxx
Hunk and Pidge stared in awe at the town they were walking through. The whole planet was beautiful, even the shops were brightly colored with detail. The fountains spurted out various shades of blue goo that looked almost like water, or jello, Hunk couldn't quite tell.
They kept their hoods up as they walked side by side, keeping their gaze downwards towards the map they had gathered.
"Okay so the equivalent to a gas station should be to the right at that next crossing," Hunk determined.
Pidge nodded quickly, "Yeah, and guess what's right next door?"
Hunk leaned into Pidge's space a bit more to take a look at the map, "Hm? What is it?"
The girl looked up to her friend with a devious grin, "A shop dedicated to Earth items."
Hunk looked at her quizzically, "Earth? Why here?"
Pidge shrugged her shoulders as both her and Hunk turned right, "My guess is with Voltron being universally known by now, everyone knows about the Human paladins from Earth."
Hunk brought his hands to his chin as he thought, "So now everyone is fanatic about Earth things?"
"Basically," Pidge said as she halted in front of their destination, "Alright let's get some fuel."
Both wanted to get in and out as quick as possible, paying for a few gallons of fuel, and exiting without anyone getting a glimpse of their faces. They'd gathered a few weird looks, considering they were covered head to toe, but they shook it off.
By the time they both made it back outside, only five minutes had passed.
"Alright," Pidge said and she checked the time, "I say we have some time to check out the earth shop."
It didn't take much to convince Hunk to go with her.
As they entered, the nostalgia hit them like a brick. Where as the other shops in the town had a look and feel distinct to the planet with bright colors and candy looking scenery, this shop looked and felt like they were walking into Earth.
Hunk never thought he'd miss dully colored carpet and cramped shelves so much. It was obvious this store was trying to replicate Earth's culture as best as possible, and Pidge couldn't help but realize they'd gathered most of their replications off of an Earth store called Game Stop.
The two glanced around, taking interest in the movies they's watched as children that they hadn't been able to find anywhere. Hunk picked up a copy of Forest Gump while Pidge grabbed a series collection of Friends. They even grabbed The Princess Bride for Lance and Karate Kid for Keith.
Pidge had to really resist the urge to buy all of the Super Mario games.
As they got closer to the back of the store, something caught Hunks eye. The back wall was covered in images he knew all too well. There were posters of a giant robot. Black, red, green, blue, and yellow lions forming Voltron. There were giant images of himself, standing next to yellow, with a dull smile. He could spot Pidge's own candid poster next his. Lance's near the other end with Keith's. Shiro's own in the center.
He remembered this. The photo shoot to help spread their image. The photoshoot no one but Shiro wanted to take part of. The photoshoot that took place as the Galra attacked a neighboring planet. The photoshoot that caused them to be late to the scene ending with many innocent lives dead.
Yet the people cheered.
They cheered.
They praised them.
They were crowned heroes and put on a pedestal when they were late.
They could have saved so many more lives.
But they were late.
Because of a damn photoshoot.
"Are you finding everything okay?" Hunk was jostled from his thoughts as he faced one of the pink aliens that inhabited the planet.
Hunk cleared his throat attempting to clear his throat, "Yeah! Yeah, just… looking."
The Tylarian, who Hunk presumed male, admired the posters Hunk stood in front of, "They're really neat huh? Voltron, Defender of the Universe."
Hunk couldn't help but cringe. Neat? They were barely managing to stay sane.
"Yeah," Hunk chocked out, "Pretty cool."
"I even have a signed copy if you're interested. I got the blue paladin to sign one, almost got the red one's too."
Hunk shook his head, "Nah I don't have the money right now, but thanks anyway."
Hunk shot him his a smile as he turned to leave, but stopped when he heard the gasp.
"You're…" The Tylarian began as he stuttered his sentence, "t-the yellow…"
Hunk eyes widened. He'd blown it, "Nope! Gotta go!"
Hunk dashed towards the exit, grabbing Pidge in the process. He held their purchased fuel in one hand and the tiny female between his side and arm.
"Hunk! Put me down! What's going on!"
Hunk didn't stop as he turned corners and ran through confused crowded. He hoped to god the guy thought he was imagining things. He hoped Voltron wouldn't hear of it. He hoped he hadn't screwed everything up.
Hunk didn't slow down until he'd made it into the cotton candy looking forest. Setting pidge down, he finally caught his breath. His eyes were wide with fear at what he might have just done.
Pidge stared at him with worry, "Hunk?"
The yellow paladin took a few more deep breathes, "He recognized me."
It didn't take any more explanation for Pidge to understand. She gave him an understanding nod, "Alright, we should head out of here fast."
Both headed towards the ship where Keith and Lance were in a haste.
Xxx
Keith struggled under the hold of Lance's hands, secretly surprised with the boys strength. He'd been at this end of Lance's anger before, but only during training. It seemed to slip his mind that Lance was likely going easy on him in fear of actually injuring him.
But he could tell by looking in Lance's eyes that this wasn't really Lance, not the Lance they all knew. This Lance was terrified, and losing it fast.
Keith tightened his hands around Lances white knuckles, trying to pry them off of his neck so he didn't lose the ability to breath. Lance's eyes were wide as his pupils dashed around his vision.
"Where are they?!" Lance's voice sounded strained.
Keith managed to loosen Lance's grip slightly enough to breath but still remained trapped under the boys hold.
"Where's who?"
Lance's scoffed, as he looked at Keith but still seemingly not really seeing him, "Don't play dumb with me Galra."
Keith felt the pain through his chest once again as the spite in Lance's voice the blade deeper. He thought they were done with this. He thought everyone was done with this. He thought everyone had accepted his heritage and moved on.
He couldn't help the tears that tried to surface.
"Lance stop it!" Keith shouted.
"Not until you tell me where they are!"
Keith groaned in irritation,"Where who are, god damn it!?"
"What do you mean who?!" Lance's eyes turned even darker if that was even possible.
Then Keith began to fear for his life.
The red paladin, for the first time in what felt like forever, reacted on instinct, not quite thinking through the situation. He threw all of his weight up and around to ram Lance's body into the ground. This time Keith was on top, attempting to grab hold of Lance hands making their way towards Keith's burning neck once more.
"Give them back you fucking purple skinned bastard!"
Keith managed to pin Lance's hands firmly into the ground, but that didn't stop him from trying to break out of the grasp. Keith held his knees on Lance's elbows and sat himself on the boys stomach.
"Who?! Give who back?!"
"My friends! Keith! Hunk! Pidge!"
What?
"Lance, I'm right here! I'm Keith!"
Lance's eyes darted around, still not seeing Keith. It was then that Keith realized what was going on.
"Lance, you're dreaming!"
Lance grunted as he fought Keith's hold. He let out a tiny sob that broke Keith's heart. The boy was fighting so hard against a Galra in his mind for his friends. He never knew he meant that much to him.
"Lance, please," Keith began speaking softly, "I'm right here. I'm Keith."
Lance's fighting began to die down as his eyes became more focused. He blinked a few times as he stilled under Keith's grasp. Finally, Lance looked at Keith, and actually saw the boy on top of him.
"Keith?"
The older boy let out a nervous laugh before pulling Lance into a hug. He could resist the urge to hold the boy close, for just a minute. He was happy to feel Lance encircle him as well.
"What happened?" Lance whispered in Keith's shoulder.
"You were dreaming. It was a nightmare," one that Keith felt might have happened quite frequently.
Lance's body tensed, "I'm sorry."
"Hey," Keith let go of their hold so he could look at Lance as he spoke, "That's not your fault. You can't control it."
Lance nodded, but gasped when he saw the darkening marks on Keith's neck, "Did I… hurt you?"
Keith's hand instinctively went to lightly touch his neck, "It's not bad. Don't worry about it."
But he could already see Lance blaming himself. He could practically feel the self hatred radiating off his friend.
"Lance, it's okay. Really."
He know Lance wouldn't accepted his words right away. He'd likely hold it against himself for a long time, no matter what Keith said. But he would do anything he could to help the boy he was falling for. He'd help him forgive himself.
Before either of them had a chance to say much else, Pidge and Hunk came barreling into the small clearing the pod had landed in. Hunk immediately went to refill the fuel as Pidge carelessly threw their bags in to the pod.
"We, need to go. Now."
Keith and Lance didn't waste any time entering the Pod again. Each member buckled up, as Keith pulled the pod off of the planet's purple ground. In a matter of minutes the pod was back into space. Only then did Keith begin to question the other two.
"Did something happen?"
Hunk sighed, "I got recognized."
Keith cursed under his breathe, "Hopefully it won't get to Voltron. And if it does, hopefully it takes some time."
He heard Hunk murmur some kind of response but couldn't ask him what he said before Pidge gasped, "Keith what the hell happened to your neck?"
He could see Lance curling in on himself as he glared at his shoes. Keith's heart ached at seeing the boy so upset. He wished he had more time to talk to him about the incident, but figured he would want to do that privately.
Keith gave a silent sign to Pidge to drop it, which thankfully she did.
"Okay," Keith began, "So we can't use the thrusters as much as before, so our trip as gone up to 2 quintents. Which is still better than 3."
He heard sounds of understanding from behind him, but silence from besides him. This was going to be a long ride.
Xxx
When Shiro awoke to silence in the castle, we wasn't surprised. The castle was meant to be quiet. When he entered the kitchen and saw no one there, he wasn't surprised. No one had attended a family meal in over a year. When he approached the bridge and only saw Allura, he wasn't surprised. He didn't normally see the team until training.
It was after Allura had announced over the castle comm system for every paladin to head to the training center that Shiro was surprised.
It was when even after 20 minutes, no one showed up, that he got mad.
It was after Allura had called each paladin individually that she got furious.
It was when they stormed through the castle looking for everyone when Shiro felt panic begin to form in his chest.
It was when they found out about the missing pod that that panic was replaced with unrelenting anger.
"Coran!" Allura shouted down hallways as she searched anywhere for the missing Paladins, "Have you seen the Paladins?!"
"Hm?" Coran exited one of the rooms down the hallway the Princess happened to be searching.
"The Paladins, Coran! Where are they?!" Allura grabbed at her hair in frustration.
She and Shiro had attempted to track the missing pod, but to no avail. They couldn't even begin to imagine where the four could be. They're hope that they had just decided to blow off training had diminished the later into the day it got. Allura had went to find Coran to ask if he had seen the Paladins anywhere, but even finding him became a challenge.
"The Paladins?" Coran asked again, "You mean the four other members of the Voltron team."
Allura, beginning to get annoyed with her advisor, snapped at his sarcastic tone, "Yes Coran! The red, blue, green, and yellow paladins!"
"Oh, you mean Keith, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk?"
Allura paused for a moment, trying process his words, before returning to her anger, "Yes! Have you seen them?!"
Coran swiftly turned away from the princess, walking away with no answer to the questions. The princess clenched her fists as she stormed up to the red headed Altean. Her hands grabbed his shoulder as she forced him to face her.
Coran was suddenly face to face with a red faced monster, "Answer me this instant! You know something!"
Coran remained calm as he removed her hand from his shoulder, "You had to think about it."
Allura, beginning to tire of his act, threw her hands in the air, "Please Coran, just give me a straight answer!"
Coran glared at the Princess in front of him who he once thought to be the most thoughtful woman in the land, "You had to think about their names."
And then he left, leaving a confused princess in his path.
Xxx
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