This is a definite turning point in the story. There is going to be a lot more original content tucked away here and there now that one of the lions is... well... you'll see. One of my main concerns is staying true to the characters at this point. Let me know how I'm doing in the reviews!

I do not own Voltron.

Enjoy!

The Wrath of the Black Lion

(Tears of the Balmera)

It was overwhelming.

The whole world seemed bigger in a way that was dizzying. There was one other problem. Nyx had experienced smell before, distantly, and threw her link with Shiro who largely ignored the scents around him unless something stood out. Now those everyday smells assaulted her nose with far more strength, stinging her eyes and making them water.

She crouched, trying to block it out with her front legs pressed over her snout. It didn't help. Nyx came to the conclusion that she would just have to power through it. Using her front paw to scrub at her eyes one last time, the lioness steeled herself against the sensory overload and stood up.

The hangar had always felt like such a little place before. In this smaller form it took her a few seconds to cross the distance to the door into the castle. Her soft paws made no sound as she walked.

Nyx came to a sudden realization. In her larger form, her metal paws clanked and crashed wherever she stepped, the noise alone giving away her position. In this form, she made no noise, and, since the galra seemed to have an aversion to light, her dark form would melt into the shadows. Sendak wasn't going to know what hit him.

The lioness set off at a run, loping silently through the darkened halls.

Shiro woke up with a startle to Sendak's furious cussing. The black paladin, struggled onto his knees, breath hitching in panic as he felt his arms were cuffed behind his back. Worst of all, the place in the back of his mind that Nyx usually occupied was silent and empty.

Lance was on the floor at his side, and Shiro was a little relieved to see that he was in a recovery position. The kid was on his side, legs bent and relaxed. His breaths were still a little too shallow, but they were steady for now. They hadn't even bothered to cuff him.

"Haxus!" Sendak roared. "I want whoever's in this ship found and terminated!"

Shiro raised his head, desperate hope, flaring like pain through his heart.

"Commander Sendak," Haxus called from one of the consoles in the room. "I've received a transmission generating from somewhere inside."

Allura's voice played next, and Shiro realized with a sinking feeling that the galra even had access to the coms in their helmets.

"There's not much time before they get the ship running again," Allura was saying. "You must shut off the particle barrier so we can get in."

"You got it," Pidge said. "Tell me what to do."

Pidge! His green paladin was still inside the castle, and apparently causing the galra no end of grief. He was so proud of her, but part of him wanted her to just go hide and stay safe until he got an opportunity to break free. Unfortunately, his galra arm wasn't responding.

"The particle barrier generator is beneath the main hull," Allura said.

"She's telling the intruder how to take down our defenses," Haxus reported, sounding incensed.

What? The people you just stomped on were trying to retake their ship? The gall! What upstarts!

'Did you really expect us to take this lying down?' Shiro thought.

"Yes, but she's also giving away his location," Sendak said. "Find that room. Kill the paladin. Repair the engine. Emperor Zarkon has commanded us to bring him Voltron. This ship will rise before day's end."

The sentry machines marched away in unison.

A lovely chill settled on Shiro's heart at that command. Pidge would have to stay one step ahead of them, but there was no way he could warn her. He would just have to bide his time.

"Commander," Haxus said suddenly. "One more thing. The Black Lion has disappeared from its hangar."

Shiro almost gave himself whiplash as he jerked his head up to look at Sendak's toadie. Nyx was gone?

"What!" Sendak said, pulling up the feed on the largest hangar bay. Shiro could see it from where he knelt.

Sure enough, it was empty.

Sendak turned, his gaze falling on Shiro, and he glared. "I know this is your doing."

Shiro couldn't help the amused smile that pulled at his face. "Actually, I'm as surprised as you are," he said.

Sendak stepped off the raised platform and approached.

"What?" Shiro said. "She's never done that before!"

He knew he was going to pay for that anyway.

Sendak raised his flesh arm and backhanded him across the face, pain exploding in his head. Shiro's training kicked in, and he moved with the blow, reducing the damage done. He landed on his side, but the galra officer wasn't done with him.

Shiro felt his hand close around his throat with bruising force, cutting off his air. Sendak hoisted him off the ground. Panic had him lashing out and kicking, as he pulled against his cuffs.

Shiro barely heard him over the blood roaring in his head.

"Your insolence will be the death of you one of these days, Champion," Sendak said. "But not today. Haggar was insistent that I should bring you back alive, if at all possible. It seems she misses you. You should be honored."

Sendak's hand finally loosened, and Shiro fell to the floor, legs collapsing beneath him as he hit the ground. The black paladin lay on his side, gasping and choking on his bruised throat. It was a struggle, but Shiro got himself back up onto his knees just in time to see Haxus setting off to repair the damage to the engines.

Sendak continued to prowl impatiently around the crystal chamber, checking various consoles and taking a moment to bring up the camera feeds around the castle. He spotted Pidge once, scraping off two of the sentry bots in the training deck. Sendak lost her when she disappeared into a maintenance hatch. The galra officer gave up for the moment and came to stand over the two paladin's for a moment.

"I must admit," Sendak said. "Your paladins are brave to have caused me this much trouble in a moment of victory."

"Who said you've won?" Shiro asked. "We won't stop until we have our ship back. We won't stop until Zarkon is dead, and his empire is in shambles!"

Sendak backhanded him again, and Shiro hit the ground on his back. The galra warrior advanced, lashing out with his foot, connecting with the black paladin's ribs.

Shiro gasped as the air was driven from his lungs, and he was pretty sure he heard something snap. The muscles in his side were on fire, protesting against the abuse. Sendak looked like he wanted to do more, but an alert had him turning back to his console. Shiro taught himself how to breath again, before getting back up onto his knees, struggling against his aching body. It was getting difficult to catch his breath.

"Haxus," Sendak said.

"I've repaired the damage to the engines," Haxus reported.

Well that was fast.

"Powering sub panels."

Sendak quickly walked over to a different console, and checked something there.

"Sub panel energy transducer is go," Sendak reported back.

"Aye, sir," Haxus responded. "Opening pathway to link with bridge. Initializing main cluster reboot."

Shiro's heart dropped into his stomach. These reports were sounding far too positive. They'd be up in the air in no time.

"Initializing complete," Haxus reported after a bit. "I'm set for main power up."

"The bridge is go," Sendak said.

"Powering up."

Shiro looked around, there had to be something he could do to stop this!

"Sir, something is wrong," Haxus suddenly said, and there was an actual note of apprehension in the galra's tone. He screamed, and then communications were forcefully cut.

Shiro heaved a sigh of relief. Sendak, however, was cursing up a storm as he hastily tried to reestablish communications with the engine room.

"Haxus, come in," Sendak said. There was nothing.

The officer slammed his fist down on a surface and then pressed a few more buttons.

"Haxus, report in."

"Haxus is gone," Pidge answered, shouting angrily. "And you're next!"

Shiro would have been proud of her if he could get over the icy fear in his heart at the thought of Sendak getting his claws on her

"You've slowed me down," Sendak admitted, a note of respect in his tone. "But this ship is mine! You will turn yourself over to me immediately!"

"Never!" came Pidge's defiant response.

Shiro watched Sendak's eyes narrow dangerously as he stepped away from the console toward his prisoners.

If either of them had been watching the camera feed or even the door in that moment, they might have actually spotted the large dark shadow that wound silently around the door frame, into the room. It melted into the shadows in the corner, completely unnoticed.

"Well, then," Sendak said, almost as if he was talking to an errant child. "Maybe your leader can convince you."

"What do you want?" Shiro demanded, as Sendak circled around behind him, making the hairs on the back of his neck prickle.

"Your friend wanted to hear from you," Sendak said casually, as he took two more steps forward.

"Shiro?" Pidge asked, voice turing softer with concern and uncertainty.

All at once, Shiro understood what was about to happen, and sure enough, Sendak activated his mechanical arm. It crackled with purple lightning.

Shiro turned away, heart racing as his body tried to prepare itself for pain. "Pidge?" he said urgently. "Pidge, don't listen to-!"

The words were cut off as Sendak's metal hand descended on his left shoulder. There was no steeling himself against the agony that coursed through his body. Shiro had been electrocuted before. This didn't even compare. All the muscles in his body tightened convulsively as all his nerve endings screamed with fiery pain.

He saw the world through a haze of red, and he was distantly aware of the agonized screams tearing themselves from his throat. All control was stripped away, and he couldn't even think about trying to muffle the sound of his pain. It was a relief when the world went dark once again.

Nyx's tail lashed as her eyes bored into the back of Sendak's head. This galra would die screaming for his actions here today. His blood would stain her claws, but right now, she didn't stand a chance against him. She knew the paladin's wore armor for a reason. Sendak's weapons would burn right through her fur. The others needed to get into the castle first.

"No!" she heard the green paladin's cry

"You can make it stop," Sendak offered. "Turn yourself in. His suffering is in your hands."

Nyx's tail gave another angry lash as her claws unsheathed themselves on the ground. The lioness desperately tried to curb her desire to have Sendak's throat between her teeth. Now was not the time.

Sendak strode away from the two unconscious paladins and checked the consoles one more time. Slamming his fists down on the stands as he discovered that once again, the castle was grounded, and wouldn't be moving any time soon. He walked back to stand over her paladin.

"I remember when I first found you," Sendak said. "If anyone had told me you'd soon earn the title 'Champion,' I would have laughed in their faces before killing them."

He paused and grabbed Shiro's face.

Nyx tensed up, ready to spring, but the galra merely lifted Shiro's head to look him in the face.

His eyes were closed, but Shiro still looked like he was in pain, the skin around his eyes tense, brows drawn together.

"I thought then that you looked weak," Sendak continued. "But you have continued to surprise me. You are by far, one of the strongest fighters to ever be thrown into the gladiatorial games."

Sendak let go, and Shiro's head fell back down against his chest.

"I'm impressed that you managed to escape," Sendak said. "Perhaps it would be worth the trip to your planet to see if the rest of your kind have your spirit. Of course, they will all end up broken, just like you. Now that we have Voltron, every planet, every race, all share the same fate."

Nyx almost gave herself away by growling. It was very important to Shiro that the galra never had the chance to reach Earth. She too wanted a chance to see her pilot's home, unmarred by the fires of war. Her claws itched with the need to sink into the galra's flesh.

Eventually Sendak went back to monitoring the castle, probably to see if he could do anything to get the castle moving from the room they were in. He saw something that displeased him, but had no time to rant about it, because seconds later, the green paladin appeared in the camera feed from the chamber door.

Sendak whirled around and attacked with his mechanical arm, giving chase when she dodged and got away.

Nyx almost broke cover to go to her paladin, but then only seconds later, Pidge was back. She ran straight to Shiro.

"Shiro, wake up," she said urgently, and he began to stir. She did not see Sendak coming in behind her. "It's me, Pidge! Ah!"

Sendak took her by surprise, grabbing her by the shoulders with the mechanical arm and reeling her back in. Pidge hung there, trembling in pain as he squeezed her harshly.

"You really thought your little hologram trick would work with me?" Sendak taunted her.

Nyx was very glad to see Keith and Allura come running into the room. Keith activated his bayard, the sword forming with a ring of metal. She also watched as the blue paladin woke up after all this time. He quietly activated his own bayard and took aim at Sendak's back.

Nyx crept forward, fur standing on end, teeth bared in a silent snarl. Her opportunity was near.

"Stand back," Sendak said. It sounded more like a command than a warming.

Just then, Lance fired his shot. It nailed Sendak in the square of his back and he stumbled forward, Pidge thrown from his grasp. She tumbled out of his immediate range. Nyx bolted forward, entering the fray with a sound like ripping cardboard. She made a powerful leap with her back legs, front legs reaching out for Sendak, lethal claws unsheathed and ready.

She saw Sendak's eyes widen in reflex fear, just before she crashed into him, jaws heading for his throat. Her claws grasped at the back of his armor, but it was completely smooth. Her teeth found purple fur, and she bit down hard but it was not the killing bite she'd wanted.

His mechanical arm closed on her shoulders, and he pulled her off of him, flinging her away. Nyx twisted herself in mid air, landing on her feet, just in time to see Shiro get swatted aside. Keith attacked finally, exchanging a few blows between sword and metal arm before Sendak got a hold of him and sent the kid flying as well.

Nyx ran forward again, but Pidge beat her. The girl took a swing with her bayard at the purple energy while it was still extended. It cut right through, and the mechanizm died with a descending hum.

"No!" Sendak shouted.

Nyx pounced again, managing to get her fangs around his skull, but he quickly shook her off, and advanced on Pidge, kicking the girl's energy shield with teeth rattling force. Her shield failed, and she was thrown, but in a moment of quick thinking or reflex, she shot the line from her bayard and it curled around Sendak's leg.

The lioness didn't dare attack, because suddenly the galra officer was crackling with green lightning.

'Now you know what it feels like!' she thought and roared.

Keith had recovered by then and charged in with his sword. Beyond all the odds, and still surging with green energy, Sendak saw it coming and caught the blade bare handed. Nyx hesitated. The two were losing control, but if she attacked, she would be injured. She decided to stand back and wait for an opening.

"Keith, now!" Allura shouted, and Nyx almost jumped in surprise. The lioness had lost track of the altean during the fight.

Keith jumped, planting his feet on Sendak's chest and used the galra soldier as a springboard.

Sendak lost his footing and fell back, just as Allura activated a barrier, trapping him in a cylinder of blue light. Sendak punched at the barrier, but found it would not break, and gave up. Nyx launched herself at the barrier, striking it with a paw and roaring in Sendak's face, but he didn't react.

The lioness turned away in disgust, anger unassuaged, and found everybody except for Lance staring at her.

She was bigger than the average she lion, standing at four feet at the shoulders. Her body was ten feet of lithe muscle and strong bones from nose to butt, and her tail added another three feet of length. Midnight black fur covered her from head to toe, and she could have been mistaken for a black panther, but her features gave her away.

"Nyx?" Shiro asked quietly, expression bewildered, eyes wide and vulnerable.

She padded quietly over to him, heart softening. Her paladin was injured.

"Shiro don't move!" Allura warned him. "Don't-!"

Nyx ignored her and gently nuzzled Shiro's cheek. Her pilot reached out to her with his mind, and she gently embraced the connection, bracing herself as his raw emotions washed over her. His heart was in bad shape. Sendak's abuse had torn open his soul again, and she poured her love into him, softening the jagged emotions that bled out of him.

"I didn't know the lions could do that!" Keith exclaimed. "That is Nyx right?"

"Yeah," Shiro said, sounding a little muffled from where he had his face buried in the fur of his cat's neck.

Allura's eyes widened with realization. "Are you saying that's the black lion?"

"You didn't know she could do that either?" Pidge asked.

Allura hesitated, glancing at Sendak who was listening intently. "Let's get him contained first," she said. "Then we'll discuss this."

After Sendak was secured in a cryo pod, Pidge approached Shiro quietly and used her bayard to melt through the cuffs. The black paladin gave a quiet sigh of relief as he moved his shoulders into a more natural position. It ached, but this was the good sort of pain.

A little ways away, Keith was checking on Lance. The blue paladin was awake. The poor kid was in a lot of pain, but he was awake, which was a very good sign. He was a little too weak to move around on his own though. Keith looked quite willing to give him a hand.

Nyx gave a worried rumble when his stretch pulled painfully at his ribs and he had to stop.

"I'm okay," he said, and rubbed her shoulder.

Nyx's head jerked upward and she stared at his hand.

Shiro stopped. "Nyx?"

'That felt really nice,' she said. 'Do that again?'

He hesitantly reached for her shoulder again, gently carding his fingers through her inky black fur. The lion's eyes drifted closed. It looked like she was smiling. Shiro had a sudden epiphany.

"This is the first time anyone has ever pet you like this," he said. "Isn't it?"

Nyx's eyes opened. 'Yes,' she said. 'All of my senses are new. Only sight and hearing have any familiarity. It's a bit overwhelming, especially smell.'

Nyx opened her mouth a little, and her eyes began to scrunch closed. Her whole body gave a sudden jerk as she sneezed. The lioness whipped her head up to look at Shiro wide eyed.

'What was that?'

Shiro couldn't keep himself from laughing a little, even though it hurt. He explained the mechanics of the sneeze to her until Allura got back.

The princess approached the black lion with wonder in her eyes. "How is this possible?" she asked. "An event like this is completely unprecedented."

'My paladin needed me,' she said. 'I'm not too big anymore!'

"That doesn't really explain how you did it though," Shiro said.

Nyx seemed to give it a little more thought. 'I needed this to happen,' she said. 'So it did.'

Shiro forwarded her words to the others with a shrug. "So she doesn't really understand the how, but it works."

"Guys!" Keith interrupted. "The castle has power like this for now, right?"

"Not that I trust it," Allura said. "But yes."

"Lance needs medical attention," Keith said seriously. "Now!"

Shiro's lips tightened as he looked the kid over. The blue paladin's shoulders were tense with pain, and his eyes were glassy with shock.

"He's right," Shiro said, hoisting himself to his feet with a groan. "We can't wait for Hunk and Coran. We'll have to make do with what we've got."

He started to reach for Lance, but Keith shook his head. "Don't think I haven't notice the way you've been favoring your ribs," the red paladin said. "I've got Lance."

The party made their way to the infirmary, and Lance was tucked safely into a healing pod.

"After a day in here, he should be fully healed," Allura said, still looking a bit worried.

Shiro nodded. It was going to be a bit difficult to shake the image of Lance on the ground, trembling with pain, but the kid really would be okay. Now there was the second lion in the room that needed to be addressed.

"Pidge," Shiro said gently. "We can't thank you enough for all you did, delaying your departure to help us out and everything. I can't help but feel that you were meant to be a part of our team... but I understand if you still want to leave."

Pidge's expression turned sad, in a thoughtful kind of way. "Dad used to tell me how close he was with his crew members," she said quietly. "They were like family."

Shiro smiled. Sam thought of him as family? That was… that was really nice.

"Now I understand what he was talking about," Pidge said. "I still really need to get out there, and find my father and Matt, but… I think I'm starting to understand how dangerous it is out here. This isn't something I'll be able to pull off by myself, not this time. I need people who'll have my back. So... I'm staying with you guys. Let's stop Zarkon for all of our families."

"Good to have you back on the team," Keith said gently, and Pidge smiled at him.

It seemed that all was forgiven.

Allura sighed, then focused her attention on Shiro who suddenly felt the need to go hide somewhere. He rubbed the back of his neck, eyes darting away from hers.

"I'm sorry I let Sendak get past me," he said.

"You didn't let Sendak do anything," Allura said, cutting him off. "Pidge told me what happened. You were outnumbered, six to one. You're not solely responsible for the defense of the castle. We played right into their hands, allowing them to split us up like they did. The 'attack' on the Arusian's village was merely a ploy."

"I saw you take a pretty good hit back there," Pidge said. "I think it would be a good idea to make sure you don't have a concussion."

"He was holding his ribs earlier," Keith added.

Shiro put his head into his hand. "Who's side are you on?" he asked. "I'm perfectly fine."

"I also heard you screaming over the coms," Pidge said tapping her forefingers together nervously.

"Why were you screaming?" Allura asked.

Shiro looked around at all the concerned faces watching him and sighed, smiling a little and shaking his head. Even Nyx, who was wound around his legs, was looking up at him expectantly. They all just needed to see for themselves that he was okay, especially Pidge.

'I can feel your pain, my paladin,' she said. 'Let them help you.'

"I'm just fine," he said. "But I'll let you check if it will make you feel better."

"Good," Allura said, pulling up a seat. "Why don't you sit down and tell us what happened?"

"I am pretty bruised up," Shiro admitted, sitting down with a sigh of relief. Nyx lay down behind him, curled around so she could prop her head up on his lap.

He gave them a quick recap on his injuries. Nyx had to remind him to mention how Sendak had picked him up by his neck.

Allura nodded. "Alright," she said. "I'm afraid the shirt needs to come off. I need to check your ribs. If they are broken, I'll be insisting on you going into a pod as well. With our current situation, we can't risk you getting a punctured lung or worse."

Shiro nodded in resignation and started stripping out of his armor. He didn't want the kids seeing his scars, but there was no sending them out for this.

"Hey, um," he started a little hesitantly. "I'm pretty scarred up. Some of it's gotta look pretty bad. I just… don't want it to take you by surprise."

Shiro took a breath and stripped off the last layer of cloth. He could feel both Keith and Pidge tracing his scars with their eyes, but he did his best to ignore it. Nyx gave a reassuring rumble, rubbing her head against his knee.

Allura didn't need to ask which side got kicked. His left side was already blossoming with color. The princess slipped some gloves onto her hands and approached him.

"May I?" she asked, her hands hovering over his shoulder.

Shiro nodded.

She lay her hands gently on his shoulder, asking him to move it in a rolling motion. It hurt, but he complied.

"That feels fine," she reported. "Next, I'm going to run my hand down your back to make sure all of your ribs are still in place. It may hurt a little."

Shiro only nodded. He couldn't decide whether he was okay with Allura's poking and prodding or not. She wouldn't find any dislocated ribs, but he let her check anyway.

"This is the hard part," she said when she finished. "I need to trace your ribs to make sure there aren't any breaks."

He obliged her by moving his arm out of her way. Starting on his back, Allura traced her fingers along the curve of ribs, moving around his side towards his front.

It hurt.

Nyx got up and moved to stand in front of him. She braced her front paws on the chair on either side of him so she was looking him in the eye. Then she bowed her head a little and bumped foreheads with him. Shiro pressed against her gratefully as Allura's fingers continued to unleash agony in his side.

After an eternity, Allura finally stopped. "I think you're in the clear," she said. "It feels like there might be a slight fracture, but it's hard to say with all the swelling. One thing to say for sure though, we should definitely wrap them."

They insisted on doing a few basic tests for concussion, but he showed no sign of it, so after getting his ribs wrapped tightly in bandages, he was allowed to go.

"Now what?" he asked Nyx as she padded quietly along beside him.

'It's late,' she said. 'Sleep.'

"Sound's good to me."

They stole a mattress from one of the guest bedrooms, and Shiro slept in his own room for the first time in three days, but this time, he had Nyx. The lioness was stretched out on her side on the bed by the time Shiro was in his pajamas. She welcomed him, lifting a foreleg and gently pulling him in close to her belly as she curled around him. It was so comfortable and warm that he fell asleep instantly.