A/N: I... I have no excuse. I've had this chapter half written for months, but thesis work, actual job work, new fic ideas, and real life all seemed dead set on distracting me. I finally forced myself to sit down on my butt and finish this. Sorry again for the delay. I promise I haven't given up on this. Just a short hiatus because life. I'm mostly back now. My thesis is due November 5, no exceptions. So yeah...
Y'all know the drill. I've given this a rough edit now, but I'll seriously edit it tomorrow. Night and enjoy~
Chapter summary: In which Lance gets to show off, gains new passengers, and realizes he will do anything to protect his home, something Blue wholly agrees with.
56: Sonic
Blue was a wake angel. She was perfect and beautiful and Lance would fight anyone who implied otherwise. A deep-throated purr echoed in his mind and the cockpit. Lance grinned and pushed Blue's controls forward so she swam smoothly up through the ocean to the surface. She was so very pleased with herself. She should be.
However, Lance doubted the Red Lion was pleased with the whole situation. At least the Red Lion wasn't struggling. Although Lance would bet every ache in his body right now that Red would never let Keith hear the end of this venture. He snickered.
When Blue broke through the surface, Lance didn't wait for the pilot seat to move back on its rails to the back room. He jumped up and ran out into Blue's open mouth, gripping one of her metallic teeth to keep from falling into the water. Not that he would mind since he was dripping wet still, but he wasn't in the mood to shift back to his gills if he didn't have to.
The Red Lion's head surfaced by the Blue Lion's paws, much to Blue's vocal amusement. Red dropped her chin on the dock and opened her mouth expectantly, wanting her paladin inside so she could get out of the water as fast as she could. Lance turned his gaze to Keith and snickered at the flushed annoyance on his Chosen's face. Red must be making her disagreement with the situation very clear. Just like Lance knew she would.
"Wow!" Ran gasped, staring at the two huge mechanical Lions with wide gray eyes.
Alve broke free from Darja's grasp and ran up to her big brother. "Did you make that?" she asked excitedly. "How long did it take? Why didn't you tell me?"
"First of all," Lance said, stepping from Blue's mouth to the dock and scooping his little sister into his arms, "Blue is a she." He tapped Alve playfully on the nose. "And no, I didn't make her. But she loves compliments. Flattery will get you just about everywhere with her."
Lance pecked his sister on the cheek drawing a blushing giggle from the little girl. Turning to everyone else on the dock, Lance's smile faded. Darja was staring at the two Lions with fearful black eyes. She turned to Lance as if seeing him for the first time.
"What have you done?" she whispered.
Lance swallowed heavily and looked away. Florona warbled a welcome to him, swishing her lovely tail. From her damp embrace, Taavi turned his head and smiled at Lance. Striding across the wood, Lance knelt by Florona's side and leaned close so she could brush her antennae against his scales. Then he nuzzled his little brother.
"You like this, Taavi?" Lance asked softly.
Sandy hair bobbed enthusiastically. "She said I could get a tattoo like yours," he declared, holding up his bare arm with pride.
"Did she?" Lance said, shifting Alve so she was settled more comfortably on his hip. "Then I'll be sure to get everything together. We can do it as soon as we're safe. How 'bout that?"
Taavi nodded. Cool, damp fingers brushed Lance's scale and :Leaving? Hurry. Others will come.: flowed into his mind from Florona. He sent back :Thank you. Must protect. Will return. Pod-leader. Adore.:
The Myr chirped, batting Lance's thigh gently with her tail and retreated back into her own mind. Slowly, she unwound her tail from Taavi's small body so the boy could latch onto his big brother.
Alve, however, was not pleased. She put her hand on her little brother's head and pushed him back. "Eww, you're wet," she declared.
"So am I," Lance said, winking at his sister with a teasing smile. Alve wrinkled her nose at him.
"We still have a problem," Keith said from his new place by the Red Lion's mouth ramp. He waited until everyone looked at him before pointedly lifting his gaze to the shimmering cells separating them from the weather and ashfall outside. "The shield is still up. And I don't know about you, but I don't think we should lower it right now."
Lance stared up at the glittering shield and bit his lip. Keith was right. They had no way of getting out without deactivating the shield. He wouldn't dare do that. It would be too dangerous. The risk of bringing harm to the innocents taking refuge in Yggdrasil was too high. Now with the mysterious serpent stalking somewhere where they couldn't see…
No. Lowering the shield was not an option.
"Wait a second." Keith abruptly turned to Pidge and the Blade of Marmora. "How did y'all get in here?"
Pidge smirked and crossed her arms proudly. "We managed to open a small hole in the shield and swim through," she said. A quick glance at Lance's horrified expression had her waving her hands in a calming manner. "Don't worry. The hole sealed right behind us. It was like holding a stick in a waterfall."
"Lance."
He glanced at Darja and grimaced. This was not going to be easy. "I can't leave them here," he said quietly. "You know what will happen to them."
His sister's dark eyes flashed. "I'll protect them," she swore.
"But you can't fight what you don't see coming," Lance argued.
"We've survived just fine while you were gone," she countered, her expression softening when she saw her words sting. "I can protect them."
"It isn't you I doubt," Lance said wearily, holding Taavi and Alve close and gazing at Ran who still clung to Darja's skirts. "A Breeder already knows about them." The color in Darja's face vanished. "I know her. She…" There really was no easy way to say this. "She knows who I am, by name. She was one of my Masters. She knows they're my siblings," he said, squeezing Alve and nodding to Ran, "and she let me go. If I don't take this chance, she will come back and she will take them."
Darja narrowed her eyes and grit her teeth. She looked at the Blue Lion by Lance and the Red Lion by Keith then at Pidge and the Blade of Marmora. Florona flipped her tail, splashing it back into the water and drawing Darja's attention. Lance watched his sister approach the Myr, careful to keep Ran within touching distance, and crouch so she was at eye level with Florona. She leaned close and allowed Florona's antennae to touch her scales.
For several ticks, nothing happened. Then Florona withdrew with a trill and arched neatly back into the water leaving Darja alone. She swallowed thickly and furrowed her brow before turning her head to Lance. Without a word, she stood and pulled Lance into a hug, deliberately nuzzling his scales with her own.
:Brother. Family. Trust. Protect. Will come. Return?:
Lance couldn't hug back with his arms full of inquisitive children, but he did sigh and return her nuzzle with his own. :Sister. Family. Trust. Thank you. Definitely return. Vuana. Home. Always return home.:
"Get everyone in the Blue Lion," he said, leaning back and handing Alve to Darja. "I'll join you shortly."
Her lips pressed into a thin, grim line as she tucked Alve on her hip and tugged both Ran and Taavi behind her as she hurried into the Blue Lion's gaping maw. She hesitated briefly to gaze up at the gigantic metal teeth before disappearing from view.
"Pidge, did you come here in the Green Lion?" Keith asked. She nodded. "Lance, can you teleport her there?"
Shaking his head, Lance sighed. "Not without knowing exactly where it is, what it looks like, and how far away it is," he said.
"It's on the bottom of the ocean on the other side of the shield," Pidge said helpfully. "Could you teleport us through the shield? We could go the rest of the way on our own."
"I could," Lance said slowly, eyeing the angry sea beyond the shimmering particle barrier. "But you'll be on your own after that."
"That's fine," the green paladin said readily. "We were fine before."
"You didn't know about the serpent," Lance said. Neither did he, but that was for later. "When I drop you there, get yourself and the Blade into your Lion as fast as you can. We'll figure out what to do with the shield after that."
"We can always just hack it again," Pidge said, walking closer to Lance with the still silent Blade behind her. "It shouldn't be that hard."
But Lance was already shaking his head. "I doubt you'll be able to open a hole large enough for us to get through," he said, "and I'm nowhere near powerful enough to teleport my Lion let alone mine and Keith's." He bit his thumb nail as he tried to hold back his panicked mind.
:Lance? Worry? Friend.:
Startled, Lance looked down at his feet and saw a tiny, familiar fluffball scamper across the dock from Yggdrasil's trunk to his foot. Chulatt? By the 'Verse, Lance had been so worried he'd completely forgotten about his friend.
:Sorry. Well? Hiding? Why?: he sent his friend. His connection stuttered a bit without direct contact, but he was sure the mouse got the gist of the message.
The Blade of Marmora stiffened in surprise when he saw the mouse climb up Lance's clothes to snuggle up by his neck. Lance felt a soft smile tug his lips despite his concern and he lifted a finger to scratch at the tuft of blue fur on Chulatt's head.
:Fish-Human scary. Chulatt food. Scared.:
Lance snorted. Florona wouldn't eat Chulatt. Pick her teeth with him maybe, but that's it. Chulatt squealed hurting Lance's ears and hid in his hood, curled up at the back of his neck. With a snicker, Lance scooped up the little mouse and set it on one of the Blue Lion's metal teeth.
:Inside. Safe. Dry. Wait for me.:
The mouse gave him a tiny salute before scurrying down the metal and up the ramp into Blue's cockpit. Little guy was fast.
"Alright you two," Lance said, turning to Pidge and the Blade of Marmora. "You have what you need to swim that deep?" They nodded. "Good. Now, Pidge, this may not be pleasant for you, but just know it's less pleasant for me." She looked suspicious. "Imagine where you left the Green Lion. The view outside the cockpit viewscreen, any distinct features. Think of them right now."
She eyed him oddly but her forehead creased in concentration. Without waiting for her to question what he was doing, Lance knelt and pressed one of his eye scales against her cheek. He heard her soft gasp of surprise, but it was drowned out by :Water. Shield. Sand. Fish. Green. The comfortable pilot's seats. Control panel. Dashboard. Green's playful nudges.:
At that, Lance retreated. He only wanted a clear image, not anything personal. At least Pidge had given him a good view of the Green Lion's cockpit. That may make things easier. He could teleport them straight into the cockpit instead of into the water nearby. It wasn't a perfectly clear image since she didn't have eye scales, antennae, or a deep connection like Lance had with Keith, but it good enough. He'd been forced to work with less before. Leaning back, he stood and placed one hand on her shoulder and one on the Blade of Marmora's.
"Whatever you do, do not move," he said, then teleported.
They reappeared in what looked like the Green Lion's cockpit. Thank the 'Verse that worked. Lance had been a bit worried. But hhey were in a rush so he didn't linger.
"Start trying to find a way to get through the shield without lowering it," he said. "But keep an eye out for an unwelcome visitor. The waters aren't safe right now."
"Implying they were before," Pidge grumbled. "Wai-"
He teleported back to the Blue Lion's cockpit, safe from Pidge's questions, the Blade's silent stares, and that much closer to getting his family to safety. He could already tell this wasn't going to be easy.
Wrapping his hands around the controls, he piloted the Blue back from the dock and into the water. Florona and several of her podmates were swimming curious circles around Blue's paws, their unblinking eyes staring up at Blue's glowing golden eyes. Lance smiled and dove the Blue Lion into deeper water.
He felt her roar in excitement as they moved effortlessly through the ocean. He turned Blue's head and snickered when he saw the Red Lion pawing through the water like a flailing Earthborne child in the shallows. He couldn't resist the temptation and opened a secure channel.
"You're so graceful, Keith," he called, his voice dripping in sugary sweetness.
"You're an ass," Keith's annoyed voice replied through the link. "Red is not happy about this."
"She's just jealous of Blue's grace and perfection," Lance replied, pushing the controls forward and propelling the Blue Lion towards the shield.
She really was moving much smoother now than she had when they first crash landed here. Huh. Now there was a thought. If the Blue Lion was blue quintessence which was closely tied to water and ice, then maybe the reason why Blue was more recovered than the Red Lion was due to the greater exposure to her element. Snow was still technically water, after all.
"Lance?"
Glancing over his shoulder, his amusement faded somewhat. Darja stood there, here black eyes wide and staring through the Blue Lion's viewscreens in awe. Alve, Ran, and Taavi peered around her legs as well.
"You might want to hold on," Lance said, turning his focus back to the viewscreens. "Blue has fantastic inertial dampeners but even she can't block out everything."
A ping accompanied by a blue square appeared on his display. Zooming in, he grinned when he saw the Green Lion's form hovering in the water on the opposite side of the shimmering blue-tinged gold shield. Green's mouth was open and Pidge in her green and white armor was fiddling with one of the main control arms of the shield.
This was it. Lance bit his lip. They only wanted to get out, not lower the shield completely. However much he wanted to get his family to safety, he didn't want to jeopardize the safety of his entire race. The Vuana were strong, but they weren't undefeatable.
Come on, Pidge. She could do this. If anyone could figure out how to do this, she could. The Green Lion's paladin was a fount of curiosity and intellect. Lance trusted her.
And it seemed that trust was well placed, no surprise. The shield flickered and he could almost hear the harmonic tones it was probably making just as a hole opened up. The hexagonal pieces of this section vanished one by one until the hole was just big enough for him to slip through.
"You first Keith," Lance called, twitching and glancing down to see Chulatt crawling up his sleeve to nestle in his hood against his neck. "I'll take the rear. I'm faster in the water."
"Right."
Lance watched as the Red Lion swerved through the water, albeit ungracefully, so it was in front of him and Blue. Red moved through the hole, which began closing because of course it would! Not on Lance's watch.
Pushing the controls full forward, Lance and Blue sped ahead, crashing into the Red Lion's hindquarters and forcing both of them through the hole with a tick or two to spare before the hole slammed shut behind them.
"What the fuck Lance!" Keith shouted, his face appearing in a small window on Lance's left.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Lance chirped. "Did you want to be cut in half by the shield and seal me inside?" He slapped his chest in mock offense. "And here I thought you liked me."
Violet eyes blazed in Keith's stressed face, before they noticed Darja looming behind Lance's pilot seat. The color drained from Keith's face and he quickly cut the visual link.
"Sorry," he said.
"If you two are done flirting," Pidge droned, her visual channel opening and appearing on Lance's left, "we need to get back to the Castleship."
"Not yet," Lance said, gripping his controls. "Something out here is eating my people. I'm not leaving until it's dealt with."
"What?" Pidge cried. "That wasn't the plan. We have to go now."
"Lance," Keith said, his face appearing next to Pidge's, "as much as I understand how you feel, I have to agree with Pidge here. We don't know what that thing is or where it is. Even if we did, we have no way of knowing if we can handle it."
"We have to," Lance said, activating the Blue Lion's scanners looking for any signs of life. "My reason for fighting is my family, my people. If that's not good enough for you, then go join up with the Castleship and I'll follow when I'm done here."
A hand squeezed his shoulder and he set his mouth in a grim line, recognizing his sister Darja's slender fingers anywhere.
Keith sighed. "Fine," he said. "I'm with you. Just know that I'm not going to be moving as quickly as usual."
"Don't mind that at all," Lance said with a smirk. "Gives me a chance to be the center of attention."
"You two are disgusting."
Lance rolled his eyes at Pidge's comment. She was so jealous. Something pinged on the far upper right of his screen. Staring at it, Blue's electronics locked onto the signature and enlarged it. By the 'Verse, what was that?
"Blue, turn on the cockpit speakers," Lance commanded.
"Lance? What is it?" Keith asked.
"I'm not sure," he murmured.
There was a soft click as the speakers turned on followed by a steady roar like the engines of the Oceanborne ships. Embedded in the deep roar was an eerie, high-pitched shriek that came at intervals of three ticks. The hand on his shoulder tightened and Lance was very aware of the heavy silence behind him.
:Fear. Awe. Pretty. Scary.:
"Are you guys hearing this?" he whispered.
"Yeah," Keith replied, sounding awestruck.
"It sounds like a pod of whales or something," Pidge said. "Where's it coming from?"
"Sending you the coordinates now," Lance said, forwarding the location to the Green and Red Lions. "It's moving fast though. We should be able to see any tick now."
"Weapons ready," Pidge said.
No one spoke after that. Their attention locked on the fast approaching creature. In the darkness of Blue's cockpit, Lance's eyes noticed movement before the others. He never had the chance to warn the others. He had just enough time to give a sharp cry of surprise before something lashed out and smacked the Blue Lion aside like a toy.
Gripping the controls, Lance pulled them all the way back towards him to force Blue out of the uncontrollable roll. Righting themselves, Lance and Blue rocketed through the water, firing a beam of blue energy at the wriggling thing.
"What the hell is that thing?!" Pidge cried, a bolt of blue energy firing from the Green Lion's mouth too.
"I have no idea," Lance grunted, raking Blue's claws over the serpent's orange scales and ripping apart one of the frilled green fins.
"Whatever it is, it's fast," Keith said. "I can't keep up like this."
Lance could. Diving down just in time to avoid a sharp whip from the sea serpent's tail, he blasted the thing. It struck a glancing blow but it got the creature's attention. Good. Turning tail, Lance pushed the controls full forward and felt Blue speed through the water, the blinking blue alerts warning him the serpent was in hot pursuit.
Whirling abruptly to the left, he pushed Blue into a roll that brought them completely around and fired a beam of ice at the serpent. It struck true, freezing the serpent's head. The snake wriggled furiously, smashing its tail down on the ice and shattering it. Its head opened revealing four large, toothed flaps that served as its enormous mouth.
"Blessed Encompassing Universe, have mercy!" Darja breathed, clutching on Lance's chair. By his ear, Chulatt chirped in agreement.
The other two Lions appeared, firing at the distracted serpent giving Lance the chance to fire another ice blast, freezing its jowls open wide. The serpent unleashed a shrill shriek that had Lance and his family wincing at the pitch and intensity. Then it was slithering through the water with ease straight for the Blue Lion.
"Frak," Lance muttered, turning Blue around and blasting forward. Chulatt squealed at the abrupt move and speed change. Lance's eyes scanned the viewscreen for anything that could be used to-
There! Stone rose up from the sea floor with just a narrow chasm separating them. It was just wide enough for Blue to slip through, but it would be difficult for the serpent to follow. Worth a shot.
Angling down to the chasm, Lance piloted Blue through the water. Coolness washed over him like a wave and suddenly Blue was right there with him, aiding him. He saw through her eyes, moved with her paws, and felt the water stream around them. In the distance, he could hear the muffled conversation of Keith and Pidge through their shared open channel, but they weren't important. Not right now. All that mattered was Blue, the water, and the chase.
Together, they wove through the chasm, dodging rock outcroppings and the errant fish. They heard the serpent's shrill roar of frustration as its body failed to maintain the strict control Blue and Lance could pull off and struck the sides of the chasm. As one, Lance and Blue burst free of the chasm into open water and turned sharply around.
The serpent's advantage was its speed. If they could take that away, the creature would be no match for them. They needed to slow it down. The chasm helped, but although the serpent's tail was trapped between two protruding rocks, it wouldn't remain that way for long. Another shrill, ear-piercing shriek and they knew what to do.
If the monster wanted to fight them with sound, then they'd give it a taste of its own weapon. Icy cold quintessence flooded their senses, sparking along Lance's skin and Blue's metallic fur, sluicing through their veins, and filling them with power. It wasn't quite like when they united with their pridemates to form Voltron, but it was as close as they could get on their own. Vaguely, Lance felt himself breathe a puff of warmth into the frigid air, then he and Blue roared!
The serpent dares! It dares! Nothing harms their pride and gets away with it. Nothing. It would suffer. They would make it suffer, together.
As one, they unleashed an onslaught of focused sonic noise at the serpent, throwing off its echo-location and making it writhe in pain. They kept going, roaring and pouring their fury and desperate desire to stand firm, the unmoving glacier in the face of a tsunami. They were ageless, they were water, they were ice, they were and they always would be. They were nurturing and they were merciless. None who threatened their own would survive.
None.
This thing had stolen the lives of those they held under their protection. For that, it would pay with its own life. The sea was timeless and took life as often as it gave life. Water was never to be underestimated. Opening their mouth, they roared, encasing the decrepit serpent in a prison of ice. The creature's pitiful wails were nothing in their ears. Its jowls opened in one last cry of pity and they blasted a beam of blue energy into it, killing it.
They blinked, and saw two as they began to separate. When they were two individuals once more, Lance blinked and shook his head to clear it. Blue purred and nuzzled him, proud and loving and victorious. Their pride was safe because of them. They did well. He did well.
A weak smile stretched across his face as he loosened his white-knuckled grip on Blue's controls and flexed his fingers. He huffed in breathless laughter, glorying in the joyous victory with Blue. They did it. They won. Their pride, their family was safe.
"It's dead," he breathed.
Odd. His voice sounded winded like he'd just run a marathon. Adrenaline was coursing through his body, making his muscles spasm and shake as he drifted from his high.
"It's dead," he repeated. "Keith, can you hear me?"
"I can hear you." Keith face appeared on the viewscreen. "Nice ray gun, by the way."
Ray gun? Lance's victorious smile didn't fade as Blue brought up the schematics and specs of their newest weapon. Oh. Wow. It looked like a ray gun, but it wasn't. It was actually a sonic cannon that weaponized sound waves powerful enough to kill some life forms. But it wasn't solely a weapon. According to Blue, it could also be used for a form of echo-location.
Well, well, such a clever, beautiful, creative lady. Blue had so many amazing ideas. And now she was preening and Lance found himself laughing in lightheartedly joy. With this, they could map out Zarkon's bases without alerting the enemy of their presence or endangering their pridemates and attack if they had to. It wouldn't be of much use in space without molecules to vibrate, but in any atmosphere or space with enough molecules in close proximity that could be vibrated just right…
"Lance."
Startled out of his thoughts, Lance looked up at Keith who was looking at him strangely. Why was that?
"Is that it, do you think?" Keith asked.
"Probably," Lance said, scanning the area once more to be sure. "I'm not detecting any more life forms."
"Neither am I," Pidge said. "Keith?"
"Nothing." Keith looked back up at Lance and smiled. "You ready to head back?"
"Ye-" No. "Yes," he said.
Chulatt nuzzled him sending :Sorry. Loss. Home. Not alone.: to him through their mental link.
Keith's smile softened in understanding. "Then let's get out of here and meet up with the others. Pidge, you lead the way."
"Roger."
Lance took up the rear as the three Lions swam up to the surface then broke free of the water and soared into the air and beyond. He paused long enough to turn and cast one longing look at the sparkling, egg-shaped Shield encompassing Yggdrasil and most of the Vuana. The howling wind and relentless rain from the bands of the storm battered Blue blurring his vision somewhat. But he could never mistake his home.
Beyond that, on the mainland, Surtr continued to erupt. At least the worst was over now, hopefully. He would return home soon. When Zarkon was defeated and Lotor was the new leader of the Galra Empire. When his people were safe.
Blue purred and Darja's hand on his shoulder squeezed. He would protect his home and his people. He would do whatever it took to do so. Turning Blue's massive head back up, they climbed through Vuana's atmosphere and out into space. The stars twinkling in the void of space pinpricks of hope.
"I'm forwarding the coordinates of the Castleship to you now," Pidge said. "Let's go."
Lance incorporated the coordinates into Blue's flight plan system and blasted after the Green Lions with Red right next to him. They could do this. They had to.
