Chapter Two- The Rescue
(Warning: Brief description of violence/setting for the first two paragraphs)
Keith had seen destruction before. But not quite like this. He'd seen buildings on fire, but not the bodies that had suffocated in the flames. He'd seen the wake of war that the galra left behind on many of the planets, but this was nothing like to others. This was a massacre. Lance, who was a few steps behind him, had his bayard up in position, prepared to fire at moments notice as the group of paladins trekked through the completely eradicated ruins that had once been buzzing with life. Even the trees were burnt, the giant patches of black they'd seen on the fly down a lot bigger and more terrifying in person. It was like all the color had bled out of the planet, the vibrant hues that once manifested on this planet charred down to black and gray. The people that had once thrived were now wiped out in a single, fell swoop.
Pidge whimpered as they continued, some of the bodies ripped apart by blasters, others just stone still, like they'd just passed out where they stood. Keith tried not to focus on the bloody images as they continued. "Shiro told us it would be bad…" Lance murmured under his breath, comforting himself. Hunk also had his bayard out, his usually bright eyes sweeping over the wreckage with a mournful sadness, the kind that Keith didn't feel. He only felt numbness where his guilt usually resided, just couldn't manage any kind of emotion. No anger, no burning desire to find the galra who did this and give them a taste of their own medicine. Nothing. Pidge sighed, long and heavy as they came to a stop at the edge of the village, where the last few huts faded into the giant, looming forest that was just a few steps away. The trampled village path was still dotted with blood, even now, bright and clotted under their boots as they took a moment to take in what they'd just seen. Keith examined the faces of the other paladins, noticing the crestfallen expressions, and that Pidge had just started to cry, the sights all too much. She was only maybe fifteen! Kids didn't deserve to see these horrors. No one did.
"Do you think we should tell Shiro? About the..." Lance nodded back towards the village. "You know, what happened?" He murmured, his face shadowed by the gloom that seemed to hang in the air around them.
"I have a feeling he already knows." Keith said in response, looking back at the woods. "Telling him won't make much of a difference. There are no survivors."
Pidge and Hunk nodded gravely, while Lance just looked into space, almost in a haze. Keith was slightly worried for the three of them, given they weren't even legal adults yet, let alone prepared to see these kinds of things. Keith was about to give the order to go back to the lions when he heard something. A sniff of sorts, like someone was breathing. He whirled around, trying to pinpoint where the noise was coming from, when Pidge gasped. "Look!" She shouted, breathless as she pointed towards a nearby ruin. A faint white figure stood a few huts away, almost like a mirage. "C'mon! Let's go!" Pidge shouted back at them, dashing towards the ghostly figure. Keith could hardly believe it as he scrambled after her, Hunk and Lance in tow. The rounded a few destroyed shacks, the flicker of hope in their chests reignited. As they came closer, the figure looked up.
The young girl stood, looking down, clearly crying. She wore a grimy, slightly stained dress, and her face had a bit of dried blood smeared on it, with some also dotting her arms and legs. Her ratty blonde, almost white hair was knotted with twigs and leaves, as if she'd come from the forest itself, and her tiny feet were cut and bruised. As far as they could tell, she was alone. When she saw the four paladins, she stumbled back, hugging herself. As if it would be some protection from the strangers. Keith couldn't help but to notice her wide eyes were a deep, pristine blue that matched the hem of her dress, kind of like Lance's.
For a moment, they just stood there, staring at each other. The poor child backed away slowly, her hands trembling as she pulled something out of her belt, a blaster that was covered in grime and dirt. Lance was about to shoot it out of her hand when Keith stopped him, putting a hand on his shoulder with a look that practically said let me handle this. Keith took off his helmet, placing it down on the ground nearby, along with his bayard. "Hey there.." He said uneasily, crouching down on the ground so he was at the girl's level. His hair gently brushed his forehead as the long black locks tumbled down the back of his neck. "Are you lost?"
She shook her head, her mouth curving into a pursed frown. "N-no..." She whispered, as if she couldn't say it for everyone to hear. "I l-live here with m-mommy.." Her tiny voice was frail as she lowered the gun a little. Keith suddenly realized that her mother must've left her. Poor girl. His heart stung with the first emotion he'd felt all afternoon as he watched her begin to fall into sobs, the gun falling from her hand and clattering to the ground. "B-But then t-the bad guys c-came -hic- and hurt e-everybody..!"
Lance came forwards, his previous frown replaced with a gentle smile. "Hey, hey.. It's okay now. You're safe." He wrapped his arms around her without hesitation, something Keith could probably never do with that much courage. "We're here to rescue you, okay? It's going to be fine." He rubbed the girl's back as she hiccuped and sobbed, holding onto the blue paladin. Keith watched the heartfelt moment, only to realize the possible peril of the situation.
"We should get back to the Atlas. We can't stay here, just in case the galra do come back."
Although Keith trusted the scans they'd conducted before going down to the planet, the galra had a knack for coming back when you least expected it, and wreaking havoc. He picked up his helmet, his bayard vanishing. Pidge had a small screen open, and was looking up as she conducted scans. "We're still clear." She reported, her green eyes searching over the glowing hologram. "I've also let Allura know we're coming back now. She's gathering the rest of the research team now." The mood seemed lighter now, at least. Hunk was watching the trees, only glancing back to make sure something wasn't coming from the other direction to attack them. Lance got up, holding the girl like she weighed nothing. The young girl clutched Lance's neck, watching the paladins with wary eyes as they started the long walk back to the lions.
The docking bay was busy. The team that had gone down to the surface of the nearby planet of Kiamac was back, the lions of Voltron being fussed over by the mechanics, to make sure the paladins hadn't banged them up too much. The small transports brought supplies from the wormhole from Salaze, a planet that had recently joined the coalition, and the MFE's were in the process of being charged as the typical trafic of the hangar proceeded as usual. Although it was unorganized at best, Captain Shirogane couldn't help but to be proud of this operation as he watched, the program he virtually built with his own hands thriving as pilots and mechanics worked together to bring the ships back home from flight. As a matter of fact, the entire Galaxy Garrison had made this once unfinished piece of junk into a network of fast moving communications and a lethal fighting force in a matter of days, that stood a chance against Honerva and her miniature army of Alteans.
But there was a small group in particular he was the most impressed by. The paladins of Voltron, who he'd mentored practically since they first met, who were climbing out of their lions. The mission they were returning from was one he'd assigned them personally, having them go planetside with a research team to investigate the distress call that had come from that planet some time ago. Although they had relayed some information back through the bridge, he only knew the parameters. No known survivors, total destruction. Shiro could say that he'd feared as much, but in reality, it was a bit of a shock. No survivors? Literally none? That couldn't be right.
As he approached the black lion, the group of researchers nodded to him, showing the mutual respect that most showed the captain of the ship. Although they weren't required to salute, since they were rebels and not his soldiers, it was nice to know that they at least acknowledged his position. Besides, Shiro didn't want people to salute him. It was a bit awkward and uncomfortable, although he tolerated it anyways. "Hey Shiro!" Matt waved to him, breaking Shiro's train of thought as the captain slowed his pace. Matt jogged over, his long hair tousled, and goggles perched on top of his head as he smiled brightly. "Did you hear? We discovered a new breed of tree that turns different colors depending on its age!"
Shiro wasn't a science geek, but smiled anyways. "So kind of like you?"
Matt chuckled darkly, punching his shoulder in good humor. "Shut up! You're the one who looks like a grandpa!" They both shared a brief chuckle before one of the researchers called Matt over. Matt waved, before glancing back at Shiro. "Anyways, I gotta go!" Shiro laughed as Matt waved goodbye, returning to his group with a hurried stride.
Shiro continued his course to the black lion, where one of the members of the Blade of Marmora was talking to Keith, her expression serious. "... mission was a failure. Don't mention it to anyone." She suddenly noticed Shiro walking over, nodding her head at Keith, and walked away. Keith sighed, looking up at Shiro with a forced smile as the captain stopped in front of him.
"So, I take it that the mission had a bad turnout?" Shiro said sympathetically once he noticed the downfallen expression that had begun to cloud up the paladin's face. Keith shrugged. "It was… complicated." He said glumly, his helmet hanging loosely from his hand. The other paladins approached the two at the edge of Shiro's vision, all with similar expressions of exhaustion and disdain. Even Allura looked worn out and defeated. Shiro waited for them to stop, his expression warm and welcoming to contrast theirs. Once they stopped, he noticed something strange.
They had a passenger. A young girl, probably not older than five clutched Lance's hand, her long hair tangled with foliage and blue eyes wide with fear. Her bare feet left little scuffs of dirt on the light gray floor of the hangar, and little cuts on her feet looked swollen with what could possibly be an infection if they didn't treat it right away. She looked at Shiro with a wary glance, hiding behind Lance's leg as Shiro looked her down. Besides the injury, she seemed to be unharmed beyond a simple fix. "Hi there." Shiro said, bending down to see her better. To him, her face was a bit fuzzy on the edges. Hmm. He probably needed glasses or an eye fix once they got back to Earth. He offered a hand. "I'm Takashi Shirogane, the captain of this ship." The girl, to his surprise, took his hand, her small palm soft in his calloused human one. He'd seen his fair share of refugees from other planets, but she was probably one of the youngest he'd seen up close. Her white, almost translucent skin was smeared with dirt and blood, only disrupted by the streams of tears that made silver trails down her cheeks. His heart squeezed a little just at the sight of her.
"Can you tell me your name?" He asked as gently as possible. She looked up at Lance, who nodded down at her. After a moment of her looking down at their hands, which were currently entwined, she looked back up at him.
"Ayla."
Shiro smiled. "That's a lovely name." He said, not wanting to make her any more uncomfortable. He was usually fine with kids, but she was probably traumatized to an extent by the horrible things she witnessed. "Why don't you come with me so we can get you checked out? Then maybe we can get something to eat. How does that sound?" Ayla nodded, quiet once again, letting go of Lance's in turn for his. Lance looked slightly hurt for a moment, before turning his attention to something else.
Shiro returned his attention to the paladins. "All of you can go get some rest. We'll do a debrief sometime later." The paladins saluted wearily, before tromping away back towards the exit of the hangar, dragging their feet. Shiro gently held Ayla's hand, guiding her towards the elevator to the upper levels. Once they were inside, he looked back down at her, just to check. She was looking at the glowing buttons, her shoulders slumped as she watched them as if they were about to pop out of the wall. "So…" He said, feeling a bit awkward. "How old are you, Ayla?"
"Five cycles."
"Ah. Do you have a last name?"
"Dylis."
"Hm. That's very pretty. Do you have a mommy and daddy?"
"I had a mommy. But she left to fight."
Shiro suddenly felt an overwhelming sadness. The poor girl had lost her mother to the attack! His heart began to constrict again, the memories of when he was a boy coming back into his mind. His own parents had perished, their faces fading from his memory still. He had always feared that he would one day lose those faces, and those fears suddenly leaped up again. He had long since healed from losing them, but the wound was still fresh for her. He squeezed her hands, trying to convey all the emotions he felt into a gesture. She clutched his hand tighter, looking up at him.
"Will you be my daddy, now that mommy is gone?"
He couldn't bring himself to say no. It was too hard. He couldn't leave this child with no one to look after them. The image of her going to a home like Keith's previous ones made him sick. Besides, it wouldn't be forever, right? She could stay with different members of the crew throughout the day, and could maybe even learn with the cadets if she wanted to. He could take care of her until she had a new family he knew would take care of her. He would make it work. As long as she wasn't alone.
"Of course." He said, choking up a little bit on the words. "Of course I will."
Note: Sooooo... that was a very sad and happy second chapter. This should clear some things up for Ayla, but also kind of how she and Shiro met. I also figured out just now how to add character tags so.. yay! Anyways, hopefully you enjoyed this chapter, and next time, we get some cute, fluffy stuffs that I love writing for no reason at all! Yay! See you next time, beautiful people!