Ready

Hello everybody! This is a Story I had the idea for for a Long Long time, and now I've finally decided to post the first chapter! Here's a few things you should know about this: I will pick a song for each chapter of this Story that I think fits to it, there will be lots of swearing, and POVs of multiple People. The most important characters will probably be Lance, Pidge, and Allura. I don't know how often I'll be able to update, and I have no idea where this Story will take us. I have a basic plan but my stories tend to go in a completely different direction once I actually get into writing them. All in all, I hope you'll enjoy this Story, have fun reading this first chapter, and- well, bye lol

Chapter 1, Anthem for the Broken

Song of the chapter: Anthem for the Broken by Missio.

Shiro was tired. That wasn't new, not at all. He actually should have adjusted to being tired by now since he was constantly tired. Since the year imprisoned by the Galra, he didn't get a good night's sleep.

He sighed. Everything he usually did when he couldn't sleep he already tried, and it didn't work. Training, push ups, staring out at the stars, reading, hell, he even tried counting sheep! And none of that had worked. So now he just lay here in the dark, thinking about how tired he was, hoping that the team hadn't noticed.

The team wasn't doing that well themselves, Shiro had noticed.

Keith seemed just as tired- with the combined force of Shiro and Lance he had to be driven out of the training deck multiple times. It had gone as far as Lance asking Coran to close the training deck from 10 pm to 4.30 am. When Keith exploded at Lance for that, the Cuban boy just put up his arms and said "Hey, don't blame me, it's just for your own good. It's really not good for your health to train after 10 and before 4 o'clock. I read that in a magazine."

Pidge had rolled her eyes at that. Shiro wasn't even surprised that Lance would quote a magazine; he seemed like that kind of person. Shiro knew that Keith trained when he was tired. Or when he was sad. Or when he needed to think. Or when he was confused. Or when he had enough of the literal six other people on the ship. So basically, Keith trained the entire time. Well, he would be training the entire time, if it weren't for people like Shiro, Lance, Hunk, and Coran. Pidge didn't seem to give a fuck about anyone, and Allura seemed to approve of Keith wanting to train the. Entire. Time.

Shiro thought of the other members of the team. Hunk looked fine, most of the time, anyways. But Shiro didn't know much about the guy, the only thing they ever did together was Shiro teaching Hunk how to pilot properly. Hunk promised that he'd teach Shiro how to cook in return, but Shiro was a complete failure on that topic, and he was glad they never had tried it.

Pidge was okay, actually. She was probably the one feeling the best out of them all. The only thing that really bugged her was the search for her brother and father. Shiro didn't even know why he never helped her; he missed Sam and Matt, too.

Even though Coran and Allura always pretended to be fine, Shiro knew that they weren't. Come on, they just lost their entire planet, with all of their civilization, people, technology, friends, family, and really everything on it. Altea was gone. So of course, Coran and Allura were not fine. They were just strong. Maybe Alteans were emotionally stronger than humans. Shiro didn't know. Maybe he would ask Coran sometime.

And then there was Lance. Shiro- honestly, Shiro had no idea what to think of that boy. At first, when they all rescued him back on earth, he thought good about all of them. Then he quickly realised that he didn't like Lance. Well, not really.

Lance was awesome with his gun, he and the Blue Lion had a nearly perfect bond, and he always put the team first. That were the good things about his personality. But every time the team leader reminded himself of that, other things popped into his head.

Like Lance goofing around in the middle of training, and not taking things seriously. Him always arguing with Keith, flirting with the princess, disagreeing with Shiro. Lance being loud, nosy, annoying. Caring more about his skincare than training. Shiro hated himself for not liking his team member, but he didn't really get why people would love to be friends with Lance. That guy was just so annoying. But Shiro didn't really know him that well.

He sighed. Maybe it all was a facade. He doubted it though.

Allura was lying in her huge bed, Space Mice by her head. She lay awake in the dark, though it wasn't completely dark. In a corner of her room was a dim night light. She had had it ever since she had been a kid. The cyan light with the different red rings and shining little dots were supposed to resemble the Altean night sky. It was nothing like the actual one though.

Allura sighed. She missed Altea, deeply. Her home planet. She always loved space but being only in space was- she started to miss home. It didn't really sink in that she'll never be able to go home again. Never.

When she was little, she always dreamed of going to space, with her father, mother, Coran, the other paladins, and Clantho. Oh, how much she missed them all.

The Paladins of Old had been like family. Allura had learned so much from them. Even from Zarkon. She hated to admit that to herself, but Zarkon had been good- a good friend, and a good leader. But now, all of that was gone. He had turned into a monster, conquering the universe for 10.000 years, spreading fear, hunger, and misery everywhere. He destroyed planets, homes, and killed people. He killed her people.

Allura clenched her fists, tears forming in her eyes. Zarkon would pay for this. She and the new paladins would bring him and all the Galra down. If the new paladins could do that, of course.

The new Paladins were nothing like the Paladins of Old. They were sloppy, loud, new to all their technology, and only Shiro and Keith had the obvious talent to really fight. Hunk seemed too frightened for that, Pidge too small, and Lance too unfocused. Allura didn't even think that they took their duty seriously. Don't they realise what a difference they could make? The lives that depended on them?

Allura knew that; she had lost her people. The earthlings hadn't. The princess hoped that with training, they would change. Become more mature. Stronger. Better focused.

She hoped they would.

Lance was walking through the castle. It was 2.39 am. So very early in the morning. He was walking and not sleeping because- well, he couldn't sleep. Nightmares. They were new. He had had nightmares back on earth, but not ones like these.

A burning earth. A frightened family. A dying team. A mad laughter (really cheesy one, you know, the classical MUAHAHAHA). Then voices of them all.

"You failed us."

"We put our trust in you, and you failed us."

"Why did you do this, Lance?"

"Sharpshooter? Only people who can actually land a shot deserve that title."

"Why did you leave us, hijo?"

"Why didn't you come back, Lance?"

It had been terrible, and when he had woken up, drenched in cold sweat, he didn't want to go back to sleep. So here he was now, strolling around, hoping that none of the team were awake. The night-time had something to it, something where all honesty was revealed. Lance was sure that if secrets or hopes and dreams or fears would ever be revealed, it would be under the cover of the night. He always thought of the night as a thick, woollen blanket; kind of cosy, but it could be suffocating.

Strolling through the castle had become his nightly activity now. Whereas at home or in the Galaxy Garrison, he would have grabbed his phone and headphones, put on some of his favourite music, and try to go back to sleep. Here, the only thing he could listen to was ASMR. Why Pidge would only have that to listen to, Lance didn't know. The girl was a mystery altogether. Sometimes, Lance thought they were friends (they were, of course they were), but then Pidge would act irritated and spiteful, and not in her usual gremlin way. Sometimes, she was a snake. Nothing against snakes or anything, just, sometimes, the Green Paladin had the venom of one. Lance honestly didn't know how to approach the girl without immediately being cast away.

He still had Hunk though. Hunk would always be there for him. Hunk was his friend, his best friend, his brother. Lance knew that the Yellow Paladin had his own weight to struggle with. Being a pilot and having motion sickness wasn't easy. None of them knew if they would ever see their family again. None of them knew anything. On his nightly strolls, Lance would mind the kitchen, knowing that Hunk would sometimes be there, putting his stress into cooking. Lance knew he was a shitty friend for not at least sitting with his friend, but sometimes, he just needed to be alone.

Speaking- thinking- of alone. Keith. Lance had no idea. He didn't know anything about Keith. Anything at all. He had a mullet. He was an introvert. He liked glaring at people. He was the Red Paladin. That was it. Literally nothing else confirmed came to mind. Lance always had hated Keith. But now, in space, he thought that maybe it was something else- jealousy. Keith always had gotten everything, best grades, best scores, everything. The attention, the love of Takashi Shirogane. The admiration of several teachers and students alike. The whispered conversations when he went by, voices full of wonder and awe. Everything. And Lance? Lance, no matter how hard he tried, all he ever got was annoyance from people, and being shouted at. From teachers, fellow students, older pilots. From his friends, the people he considered friends, the people he hoped would become his friends. From his idol and leader, the princess, his teammates. From Keith.

And Allura. Allura. Allura was such a perfect person, she was like a Mary Sues. She was beautiful, kind, but firm. She could lead and fight, she could talk and convince. In so many ways, she reminded him of Rachel. Strong, beautiful, kind, stubborn. But, as it turns out, not perfect. Rachel had had her flaws. And, even though Lance hadn't seen them yet, he was sure that Allura had some as well. She did loose her entire planet, the only thing left now was Coran. And, well, the castle. Lance didn't know how it must feel to lose one's entire planet. He lost some people he loved. His grandpa. His uncle. His sister's girlfriend. Rachel. But loosing all of Earth? Everything? He didn't think he'd be able to handle it. Another weird thing about Allura.

And, of course, Coran. Lance held Coran dear. He reminded him so much of his uncle. He wished for Coran to be happy and be able to leave at least some of the grief behind. Lance didn't know if there was someone Coran loved back on Altea, a wife or husband, children, family, whatever. He just wished that, if there was someone like that, they loved him, and he knew that.

And then there was Shiro. Takashi Shirogane. His idol. The greatest pilot in history. The person he wanted to become. And that person? Takashi Shirogane? He hated Lance. Okay, to be fair, Lance wasn't sure if Shiro hated him. But the signs were pretty prominent. Shiro always yelled at Lance. He always blamed him (they all did). He always told him to stop, but then would ask why Lance wasn't doing anything. He would push Lance the hardest in training. Not like, literally push him (okay, sometimes in combat that, too, but well- it was combat) but make him do his best, push him to the edges, make Lance shake and nearly shout at him, but then remember who the leader was. And Lance would continue. He would push past his boundaries. He would, slightly ironically, bow and call Shiro "My King" or "Your Majesty", while doing what he was told. It could be viewed as abusing, and maybe it was, but Lance denied it. He hadn't needed medications yet. He didn't need a healing pod. He hadn't had a panic or anxiety attack since the castle had been corrupted, and that hadn't even been Shiro's fault. So, Lance kept quiet (as quiet as possible for him) and had never stood up to Shiro.

Lance didn't have a big problem with anxiety or that kind of stuff. He didn't have depression or anything. He was a happy boy. He just occasionally would get an anxiety attack, usually after drastic changes or news or something like that. But he could handle them, seriously. Lance sometimes still wondered why he got them, he was fine again, he could breath, he was a pro at handling them.

Lance just hoped that people would love him for who he was, and that these nightmares would stop. He hoped.

Keith really needed to figure out how Coran managed to close the training deck. What else was he supposed to do in the middle of the night, if not training. Okay, some people would probably say sleeping, but to Keith, sleep was like the moth man; it definitely existed, just never came to him. Who would have known. So tonight, Keith just lay awake in his room. Not in bed, just on the floor. Seriously, who needs beds anyway. A second after he thought that his mind immediately sprang to Lance. Of course, that guy needs a bed. No one would want that something would happen to his perfect skin and body. Of course not. Keith sometimes wondered if there only was that one thing on his fellow paladin's mind- skincare. And girls. And probably his lion. Oh. Maybe Lance did think of other stuff. That just sounded so wrong- although Lance probably did think of things like that. Cough.

Keith got up, getting tired (ha ha) of lying on the floor. He didn't go to bed though, he quietly opened his door and glanced outside. No one there. Keith glanced back for a second and looked at the clock- 3.05 am- then stepped outside. Shiro would kill him if he would know that Keith was still awake. But then again, Shiro was close to killing everyone these days. Keith really hoped that Shiro would be okay again sometime. Being abducted and tortured by purple cat aliens was enough to scar everyone mentally enough for a lifetime. But Shiro was strong; he would make it through eventually. Keith was sure of that.

Then there were the other people of the team, Keith reminded himself as he passed Pidge's room. There was the tech-geek Pidge who gave zero shits about anyone, cinnamon roll Hunk who couldn't give more shits, prissy princess Allura, who only wanted to kill them all through training, and all knowing Coran who talked shit most of the time. Come to think of it, they did seem like the perfect team for a film or show or something. If this was what it felt like to be in a show, Keith just wanted to be the viewer. Fighting a space war was fucking exhausting. Keith quietly chuckled, thinking something like Who would've known?

He didn't waste much more time thinking about his idiot teammates, he just wandered around the very dimly lit castle, his steps not making a sound. He headed to the bridge, not really knowing why, just curiosity probably.

Stepping into the room, he was surprised and slightly jump scared to see another person sit there. They looked outside the giant window or whatever it was of the bridge, not moving a muscle, just staring. Keith's eyes moved to the reflected face of the person- it was Lance. Weirdly enough, Keith wasn't as surprised as he thought he would be. He stared for a moment, until silently backing out of the room again. He knew that Lance had probably seen him, he had the eye of a sharpshooter, but somehow, he managed to not care. Apparently, neither did the Blue Paladin. Who knew what that all was about?

Now that the bridge was a no-go, Keith headed to the kitchen. He walked in on someone apparently cursing in another language. It was Hunk. Only briefly wondering what he was doing here, Keith sat down on the counter and grabbed a spork, trying whatever Hunk had been cooking, while the Yellow Paladin stared at him. Like usual, Hunk's cooking was amazing, and, like usual, Keith didn't really know how to say that, so he just mumbled "This is good." Hunk was beaming.

So, instead of training, Keith spent this night with Hunk in the kitchen. (He still wanted to open the training deck, but well, this was okay for a change.) In the back of his mind, Keith wondered what Lance was doing and if he was okay, but he pushed that thought aside when he went to bed at six am.

It's fine. Everything's fine. Or at least will be. Fine.

Pidge wasn't one to lash out. Okay, she did lash out a lot, but she did it tactical. She had a reason, a goal, she had tried to keep her calm for as long as possible, she had all her best insults at the ready, she had applied her aura of "Bitch I'm right and if you can't see it you're dumber than you look and I mean look at yourself so fuck off". That aura worked every time. Even on Shiro. Well, most of the time.

So why did she, Katie "Pidge" Holt, stand in the middle of her room, fists clenched at her side, aching to destroy something. It was 3.57 am and she had spent the last god knows how many hours hacking, scanning, and searching. But well, as everyone knows, life is a bitch, and she had found nothing. Not a single clue about her brother and father. Nothing. Pidge had checked everything, every single file and signature, she had hacked something that didn't need to be hacked, she had done every single fucking thing, and had found nothing in return.

Fighting back tears, Pidge stood in the middle of the mess of a room, looking for something she wouldn't regret to have destroyed later. She would have just plainly kicked the wall, but Hunk was in the next room, so that wouldn't do. Maybe she should just continue working. That thought made her incredibly tired and even more angry and frustrated, so she looked through all her stuff, arms and fingers moving fast, just searching for something she didn't care about. Her mind briefly went to her 'team' before she decided against killing them. After all, they were her only chance at finding her family. And although Pidge was convinced that she could do it on her own, it would be much harder, and why make things harder than they already were? They already had all of humanity for that, Pidge didn't need to add on the stupidity.

Then, she finally found something- it was a notebook. She couldn't really remember whose notebook, but as long as it wasn't hers, Pidge didn't care. Then, the last bit of her actually sane and conscious mind begged her to at least look at it first, and the Green Paladin, exhausted and ready to listen to the tiniest voice of reason, opened the tiny book.

If there was one word to describe it, it was full. The things Pidge could make out were drawings and random words, several titles and lists, and a lot about- everything. Pidge, suddenly very calm and level-headed, sat down on the only part of her floor that wasn't filled with junk, and leaned against the door. Listing through the pages, she saw and learned several things. There was a list of "Best Swearwords and Insults", sometimes a name scribbled behind them, like "Veronica" behind "You uncivilised excuse for a film quiz". Whoever and whatever that was. Did Pidge even want to know the back-story behind that comment? (Yes, yes, she did.) Then there was a list of favourite foods, movies and shows, books, and music. There were some entries that seemed more like for a diary, although this was a diary, Pidge supposed. There were lots of other interesting drawings, like the ones that looked kinda like the lions, and others that could vaguely be identified as some of the other people on board of the castle ship. Pidge looked for any sort of date and found one at the very beginning. "Nearly a year ago?" she hissed. The first entry was: "So, hi, new notebook! I will not call you diary because you aren't one! haha… okay, here are some ideas" Then the handwriting had gone messier and messier, until Pidge could barely make out what it said. There was an entire page of just different pen scribbles, and another one that just said, in different handwritings, "This is a waste of paper." Then there was a torn-out page that had been put back in again, and it fell out along with some stickers. Pidge looked at the torn-out page and saw some scribbled down words. "Nightmares. I miss Rachel. I really do. I really really do. If God, or gods, were real, (which they probably aren't because humanity sucks) please let Rach to heaven. Or a better place where she can achieve her dreams. I just miss her." Pidge felt like the person had taken a breath or something after that, because next the words were somehow cheerful again. "Wow, I did not intend on becoming so sad tonight, but it is like 3 am so what was I expecting"

Pidge sighed and leaned her head back against the cold metal. Whoever Rachel was, she seemed really important for the writer.

After a moment, Pidge looked down again. She quickly turned the page and was happy to see something funny and cheerful again. It was a list of "Things u should know bout black markets"

Intrigued, Pidge scanned it. There was stuff like "Always were a hood" and "sometimes money won't do anything, u'll have to bring stuff of other meaning.". There was "DON'T TRUST ANYONE" and "always have at least two weapons on u, but hidden so u won't offend anyone".

At the bottom of the page stood, in slightly different handwriting, but probably the same person's "I actually went to one in space and it was exactly like that lmao, I'm a genius (don't tell Shiro that I was on one haha, I accidentally strolled over...)"

Pidge smiled, only a bit creepily and like a villain with a plan, saying to herself, her voice low "This might come in handy. Thanks, Lance."

So... that was that. Next chapter up soon-ish.

anyways, PLEASE leave a review or follow or faveourite or whatever, I would really appreciate it, escpecially the Reviews! Your opinion matters! Thanks for reading, see you… some time...