It's chapter four! This update fought with me every single step of the way, and I ended up rewriting it multiple times. I knew what I wanted to do with it, I just didn't know how to get there! That's the trouble sometimes. Anyways, it's finally done after much delay, and I think I'm pretty pleased with, even if the process of actually getting here was pretty frustrating. Finally, all five paladins are together!
under the pale moonlight
chapter four
under the afternoon sky
"Lance, didn't you say Captain Shirogane was recuperating at the tavern?"
Glancing behind him at his sister, Lance frowned. "Yeah, why?"
"You might want to come take a look at this." Rachel told him.
Lance frowned, exchanging a glance with Hunk. A few hours had passed since they had both returned home from Miss Lia's tavern, and it was now well into the afternoon. Hunk had spent the rest of the morning at home with his parents, but after lunch he'd shown up at his front door, seemingly desperate to hang out. He got the feeling it was for the same reason he was feeling antsy- which was to say that he couldn't get either Shiro or the Galra off his mind.
He had tried to ignore it, tried to rationalize that it had nothing to do with him. He'd just been in the wrong place at the right time. Or maybe the right place at the wrong time? Ugh, he didn't know. The point was, whatever it was that was going on with the Galra, it couldn't possibly involve him. He had helped bring Captain Shirogane to Miss Lia's tavern, and that was it- that was the end of his role.
Maybe if he kept telling himself that, he'd actually believe it.
Even so, when Rachel said that, he couldn't stop himself from getting up and following her out the door. Hunk trailed behind him, anxiously wringing his hands.
"What's up?" Lance asked. "Don't tell me there's an angry mob or something in front of the tavern?"
"Worse." Rachel told him. "Soldiers."
Lance froze for a second- before he quickened his pace, half running to the small plateau that overlooked the whole village. There was a great view of both the village square and the tavern from it, the sort of place that would have been the perfect spot for a little romance- you know, if he ever found himself that girlfriend he wanted.
But there was no romance going on right now. Sure enough, Rachel was right. There were soldiers surrounding the tavern- a whole squadron of them at that. Judging by the white and blue flag they flew, they had to be from the Southern Fort.
"They sure got here fast." Hunk observed.
All Lance could do was nod. The Southern Fort was half a day's ride from here, much closer to the Lion's Mountains than their little village was. Since most of the soldiers were foot soldiers, they would have had to move at a slower pace, meaning that the latest they could have gotten the news about Shiro- or at least, someone stumbling out of the deep forest- was early this morning.
It wasn't impossible. The village did have a single messenger hawk that could have made the trip easily. But something about this still didn't seem right to him.
It was the number of soldiers, he realized. Even for someone that had stumbled out of the deep forest, that was way too many soldiers, especially when one factored in the fact that Shiro had barely even been conscious when he'd arrived. Just a few would have been plenty.
"Hunk, buddy," Lance began, "-is it just me, or do these guys look awfully unfriendly?"
"That is an awful lot of soldiers for one man." Hunk agreed. "Do you think they know it's Captain Shirogane?"
Lance shook his head. "I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about this."
Behind them, Rachel heaved a sigh. "Why did I have a feeling you'd say that?"
Lance frowned, shooting her a look. "You don't need to sound so upset about it."
"I'm not upset." Rachel insisted. "It's not like my one chance to play the moon maiden is slipping through my fingers or anything."
Oh, right. With all the talk about the strange shadows that had been seen during the night, there had been whispers that the harvest festival would be canceled this year. His father had left to go to a town council meeting, and hadn't come back yet. Straining his eyes, he tried to make him out in the small crowd that had gathered some distance away from the tavern- onlookers, not soldiers. But he was too far away to see anyone clearly, much less his father.
"Look, why don't Hunk and I go down and take a look?" Lance offered. "Maybe you'll still get the chance to play the moon maiden tonight."
Rachel frowned, looking unconvinced. "I thought dad told you he wanted you to stay here."
"Yeah, my parents said that as well." Hunk added.
"Yeah, but aren't you worried?" Lance asked. "I mean, Pidge is in there, and I'm pretty sure they're there for the Captain."
"And Miss Lia." Rachel added.
Lance just snorted. "Please. Miss Lia can handle herself."
"Exactly." Hunk said. "Miss Lia can handle this."
"Normally I would agree with you, but she's still just one person." Lance said. "I just... I don't like the idea of just sitting here and doing nothing, Hunk."
There it was, out in the open. The sentiment that he had been trying to keep down all this time. It was true that this whole Galra business, while terrifying, had nothing to do with him- but that didn't change the fact that he just couldn't leave it alone. It was more than just being worried about the safety of the village, it was... he couldn't explain it, even. It was like there was a strange pull, like something was trying to guide him back to the tavern.
Judging from the look on Hunk's face, he felt it too.
Hunk sighed, holding up his hands in defeat. "Alright, okay. We'll go down and take a look."
Lance smiled. "Thanks, buddy. I knew I could count on you."
"Just for the record," Rachel chimed in, "if dad asks, I didn't know about this."
"Deal." Lance told her, and then, to Hunk, "do you think we should get our bows?"
"Yeah, yeah, I think that might be a good idea." Hunk agreed, looking nervously down towards the soldiers. "And fast."
Glancing down towards the tavern, Lance couldn't agree more. The soldiers hadn't made a move to charge inside yet, but that could change at any time.
Scrambling back inside, he hurried into the room that he shared with Marco. Fetching his crossbow off the wall, Lance grabbed his quiver, grateful that he had just filled it with arrows the other day. Slinging the quiver over his shoulder, he hesitated long enough to dig out the present Veronica had given him for his last birthday- a slender dagger with a blue stone set in its pommel, part of a matching set. It was supposed to go with the sword that she had received upon becoming a Lieutenant, but she used it so rarely that she had passed it on to him instead.
Tucking it into his boot, Lance hurried out the door. Hunk was already waiting for him, his long bow slung over his shoulder, alongside a quiver full of arrows.
"You sure about this?" Hunk asked.
"No." Lance admitted. "But I get the feeling we'll regret it if we don't."
"Yeah, I'm right there with you, buddy." Hunk told him. "Let's go make this count."
"Let's hope we don't have to." Lance said.
The walk down into the village was tense, to say the least. The afternoon had brought with it a surprising amount of heat for being this close to the first real frost of the season. Sweat trickled down the back of Lance's neck, and he had to pause halfway down the hill to wipe it from his brow. There was already a small sweat stain starting to form around Hunk's signature bandana.
Aside from those gathered around the tavern, the streets were practically empty. He exchanged a nervous glance with Hunk as they made their way through the village square, pausing long enough to notice that the men from earlier had finished putting together the new bonfire. It wasn't yet lit, the embers from the previous night's still smoldering, creating a thin stream of smoke.
As they drew closer to the tavern, they began to make out noise. At first it was just the faint whinny of the few horses the soldiers had brought with them, until a man's booming voice echoed down the empty streets, shaking Lance to his core.
"I am Commander Linwood, of the Southern Fort!" The man declared. "We have word that you have given refuge to man who emerged from the deep forest. Surrender him, and we shall have no quarrel."
Lance swore underneath his breath, his gaze darting towards Hunk. The soldiers were bad enough, but even the Commander was here? This was not good.
Signaling to Hunk, Lance silently conveyed that they should split up and flank the soldiers. He wasn't sure what good two bowmen would do against a whole squadron, and he really didn't want to have to fire on a bunch of soldiers unless he had to, but something about this situation stunk.
Hunk nodded, signaling back, gesturing with his thumb towards the rooftop he had in mind. Lance nodded back, indicating one that looked good to him. Splitting up, Lance crept silently through the empty streets, peeking out from behind the blacksmith's house to peer at the soldiers. When he was certain no one was looking, he quickly dashed across the street, his heart pounding wildly in his chest as he made it to the other side.
Only once he had taken a deep breath did he dare check to see if anyone had spotted him. Thankfully, no one had.
Slinging his crossbow over his shoulder, Lance climbed up on the roof. Up until a month ago, it had been occupied by the village tailor, but he had been killed by bandits on his way back from doing business in the bustling port city of Baku. Now it was just empty- his wife and child had decided to pack up and leave, moving to the capital.
Crawling towards the edge of the roof, he peeked over it. Across the way, he could just barely make out Hunk, who had also climbed the roof of the village temple, where the mock moon maiden's procession through the village always ended. He thought about the moon maiden, not for the first time since he'd heard the prophecy from Hunk, wondering if both she, and the prophecy, were actually real.
One thing was clear, at least- the Galra were on the move.
"I repeat," the commander bellowed, "-surrender this man, and no harm shall come to you."
From this close, Lance was able to get a better look at him. All things considered, he was fairly plain- the only thing worth looking at was his well-trimmed beard. He stood tall, taller than most of his men, but not the same kind of imposing tall that Miss Lia did. He wore the red-lined armor that was expected of his rank, his hand resting on the hilt of a sword whose pommel likely had a red stone set in it- the mark of a commander.
He turned his head somewhat, giving Lance a better view of his face- and the nasty scar over his right eye. It was the sort of thing that should have blinded him, but didn't look as if it had. He frowned, removing his crossbow and his quiver from his shoulder, setting the latter down in front of him.
He wouldn't fire unless he absolutely had to. There was still a chance that this was all just one big misunderstanding.
But if he had to...
...something in this kingdom stunk. Ever since the king's expedition has vanished, everyone had known that. They just didn't know why- or who.
But Pidge had. His crackpot theory was actually right. Something in this kingdom stunk, and it had Galra written all over it. After seeing Shiro's arm, hearing what he had to say, he couldn't exactly deny it any longer, no matter how desperately he wanted to. And if there really were skin-wearing Galra spies within the kingdom, then he wanted to do something to take them down.
He just hoped what he could do would be enough.
The first thing Sendak had noticed about the tavern in question was that it was heavily warded.
The barrier was invisible to the human eye- indeed, even if he were in his own form, he would still be unable to see it. But faint though it was, he could pick up on that familiar scent of iron- not from metal, but from blood. Its lingering odor, nearly undetectable to his human senses, was the surefire confirmation that blood magic had been used here. When he had inquired with the village's elder, he had confirmed that the building itself was new- the woman who owned it had constructed it herself, five years prior.
When he had inquired further, he had identified her as Lia- a traveler who hailed from the distant north, past the great mountain range that separated this pitiful human country from their northern neighbors, the aptly named Northern Tribes. At least, that was how she had identified herself when she had asked for permission to build, but the truth was that no one knew much about her. She kept to herself, and cut an intimidating presence.
Sendak suspected he likely knew her by another name.
The building itself was the barrier, Sendak realized. Blood and bone alike had been built into the very foundations, and reinforced time and time again. It was a feat of blood magic that could only be accomplished by one of the same caliber as the high priestess. Since she was unlikely to have had a hand in the building's construction, there was only one other who could have managed such a feat- the Blade's Seer-Witch.
She went where the future took her, sometimes disappearing for decades at a time. For him to meet her here was an ill omen, but one that he refused to let deter him. The Seer-Witch was powerful, but there was no charm, no ritual that he knew of that she could use to expose him that would not also expose herself.
And he had the greater numbers.
Warded as the building was, it would not protect it from a charge from his army. It would be a simple matter to command his men to drag the occupants outside- even the Seer-Witch would be loathe to turn her blade against unwitting humans. Her fondness for the pitiful creatures was her greatest weakness, to the extent that she had taken one as a mate, going so far as to produce a child with them.
Stepping forward, Sendak rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. He itched to order the charge, but for the sake of appearances, he supposed at least one additional warning was in order. Opening his mouth to speak, he quickly shut it, the doors to the tavern slowly creaking open to reveal a single woman.
The Seer-Witch.
Krolia.
She was clad in the silvery-blue robes of a proper Seer, those who carried on the bloodline of their greatest enemy. It had become diluted over generations, while the Galran bloodline had remained strong- save for a few misbegotten halfbreeds.
Though the blood that gave the Seers their gift was diluted, their future sight had still proven problematic on numerous occasions. They had made numerous attempts to wipe them out, to put an end to the accursed Altean bloodline once and for all, but to little avail. Generations ago, they had secluded themselves on an island in the middle of the blue lion's lake, inaccessible to any who swore allegiance to Zarkon.
Already behind him, he could hear a faint murmur ripple through the crowd. The traditional attire of a Seer was easily recognizable, though he doubted any here had actually seen one before. Her robes were not the only thing that marked her as a Seer- there was also the crown of silver vines that adorned her brow, and the belt of silver that cinched her waist, a single white stone set in the center.
Leave it to the Seer-Witch to wear silver without fear.
The knife she wore at her back less so. It marked her as a Blade, a traitor who had refused Zarkon's rule and had fought against him, alongside Alfor and the Alteans.
Krolia stood there, rooted in front of the doors. In the instant she locked eyes with him, Sendak became keenly aware that she knew what he was, if not who he was.
He smirked. Good. That put them on equal footing. Krolia was only her use name, she had long since abandoned her real one.
"You come seeking that which I refuse to give you." Krolia spoke, her gaze not leaving his face, watching him as if she were a hawk. "Leave."
Sendak took a single step forward. Krolia did not so much as flinch, but he didn't think she would. She was a fearsome fighter, or so he had heard. He'd never had the privilege to fight her himself, and he could feel his blood boil with anticipation. He had to fight it back, knowing how it would look for him to lunge at what, by all appearances, was a Seer. Normally he would disregard such a thing, but his mission took precedence.
He would play by human rules- for now.
"We have orders from Her Majesty herself to take the one you are currently sheltering into our custody." Sendak lied. They had no such orders. The Queen had proven annoyingly clever, impervious to the rumors that they had so painstakingly spread, not unlike her daughter. She would never order such an action be taken against the Captain.
"If you have orders, as you claim," Krolia began, "-then I am certain you would not take issue with sending a messenger hawk to verify them."
Sendak narrowed his eyes. "No."
She had called his bluff, but he would call hers in return. However this conflict ended, it would end long before any messenger hawk reached the capital.
Krolia merely hummed, not giving her own bluff away. She didn't move away from the door, effectively blocking the only entrance. He had left a few soldiers stationed at the exits to the village, so if the Champion tried to slip by while he was otherwise distracted, he would know about it. Thus far no signal flares had been fired, so he was confident that he was still inside. All he needed to do was to deal with Krolia, and then he could be on his way.
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as the soldiers he had brought with him seemed to hesitate. Her choice in attire was deliberate, then- she was attempting to counteract his authority and unnerve his soldiers. There was also some superstitious nonsense about it being bad luck to kill a Seer, but it was nothing more than a bunch of hogwash. But she would find it would take more than that to break the loyalty- and the fear- that he commanded them with.
He took another step forward, drawing his sword slightly from its sheath, just enough so that a hint of iron could be seen. "Stand aside."
"I refuse." Krolia said simply.
Sendak took another step forward, ignoring the hushed whispers of his troops. "I said, stand aside."
"No." Krolia replied. She hadn't broken eye contact with him even once. "If you wish to enter, you will have to go through me."
She took half a step back, so that she stood immediately in the open doorway. The scent of iron briefly increased, and he froze in place. His human-skin meant that there were many barriers that he could cross, but somehow he didn't think this was one of them. Even worse, the Seer-Witch knew it.
"Commander," the single perimeter scout he had brought with him spoke, "-maybe we should listen to her. If a Seer says that there is a reason for her actions-"
Sendak merely scoffed. "She is no Seer. She lacks the marks."
Krolia merely lifted a hand, wiping it under her right eye. A thin slash of purple emerged, a trick, Sendak knew- but trick enough to fool the humans, too ignorant to know what the marks actually looked like.
"I apologize for concealing my true identity," Krolia said simply, even though she was still lying through her teeth about who she truly was, "-but the future I have seen urged me to take action. If you take this man, you and your kin will be lead down a path of darkness, from which you will not be able to return."
There was a crack of prophecy to her voice, well-practiced. Sendak's hand did not stray from his blade. Perhaps it was a true prophecy- in which case, it meant that should he be able to seize the Champion from his hiding place, and drag him back into the forest, then the Galra Empire's victory would be assured.
Zarkon would be revived, and the Earth would once more be their own.
Out of the corner of his eye he spotted the distant tree line, gauging the distance between here and the forest. The Champion would be in a weakened state, unarmed and unable to put up much of a fight. It would be a simple matter to overpower him and drag him back himself, even if it meant exposing his own so-called treachery. The only obstacles were Krolia and her barrier.
If he slew her where she stood, the barrier that she had crafted would lose all power. Killing her would be a critical blow to the Blade of Marmora, and her choice of attire meant that he was armored, while she was not. They were both in weakened human bodies, but when it came to power, he was confident he had the advantage. He was a trained soldier- she was nothing more than a weak and fragile Seer.
Perhaps it was no longer time to play by human rules.
"Vrepit sa." Sendak muttered underneath his breath, drawing his sword even as he lunged.
The situation exploded into chaos faster than Lance had anticipated.
He was still trying to process the idea of Miss Lia being a Seer when Commander Linwood suddenly drew his sword, lunging towards her. In that same instant, she drew her own knife, deflecting the blow with what could only be described as practiced ease. In spite of the fact that the commander was both heavier and more well-muscled than she was, she didn't even seem to break a sweat as she shoved his sword away.
Lance sat there, frozen in shock, trying to process what was going on. All his earlier resolve had flown out the window, too stunned that this was actually happening. His shock extended to the soldiers and villagers alike, unable to comprehend the fact that the commander had just drawn his sword on a Seer. Wasn't that like, bad luck or something?
The moment passed, and one of the horse soldiers seemingly shook off his shock, issuing a rallying cry, his sword raised in the air, the blue stone of a lieutenant gleaming on its pommel. Even then, the soldiers hesitated, jumping as their commander barked out an order to charge.
Lance swore underneath his breath, loading an arrow into his crossbow. Before he even had the chance to fire, another arrow cut through the air, piercing the ground right in front of the lieutenant that had tried to rally the soldiers. Looking out across the rooftops, he grinned, just spotting Hunk ducking back down into his hiding place.
It wasn't intended to hit, but served as a warning shot instead. We have archers, it said. Pressing the trigger on his crossbow, Lance enforced the message with a warning shot of his own, forming an x in the dirt where Hunk's arrow already had lodged itself in.
The lieutenant hesitated, nervously looking both ways. Any potential charge lost its momentum, caught between the threat of archers and the confusion of their own commander so ruthlessly attacking a Seer.
Commander Linwood nearly seemed to growl. "She is no Seer, but a witch! An ally of the Galra!"
"A fine claim for a Galra to make." Lia spat out, readying her knife in the event of another attack. "Come, and I'll cut your stolen skin right off you."
At Miss Lia's declaration, Lance felt his grip on his crossbow tighten. Sure, the possibility had been thrown around before, and heck, he'd even been considering it, but actually hearing it? That was something else entirely. He shuddered, vividly recalling the story Marco had told him about the Galra stealing the skins of children, desperately wishing that it had stayed as just a story.
The commander lunged towards Miss Lia again, apparently heedless of the presence of archers. Lance trained his crossbow on him, his finger hovering over the trigger. He still wasn't sure what to think about this whole Galra business, but there was one thing he did know- and that was that he trusted Miss Lia. Sure, she scared the crap out of him, but she'd never given him any reason not to trust her.
So if she said that the commander was actually a Galra... then he believed her.
Readying his next shot, Lance waited for his chance. He kept an eye on the soldiers, but they were all frozen to the spot, stunned by what Miss Lia's accusation. Some had reached for their swords, but no one moved forward to advance- not even the lieutenant who had tried to rally the troops earlier. They all watched the pair exchanged blows, Miss Lia parrying every thrust and lunge the commander made.
Hell, she probably had this situation entirely under control herself.
Still, when Lance saw his chance, he took it. Firing his crossbow, he watched as his arrow cut through the air, smirking as it struck his target dead-on. "Bullseye."
The crossbow bolt sank into the commander's sword arm, wedged in between a gap in his armor. His smirk faded when this didn't even slow him down, or even make him drop his sword- instead, he just reached for the bolt with his free hand, ripping it from his arm without so much as changing expression.
Swearing underneath his breath, Lance went pale. He had not seen that coming, holy shit.
But his actions weren't as useless as he initially thought. In the few seconds that the commander's guard was dropped, Miss Lia surged forward in a flurry of motion, angling her knife at his throat. It would have been a killing blow, had the commander not avoided it in the last possible second, but he didn't do it well enough. Changing her angle of approach, Miss Lia sliced upwards with her knife, gouging a deep line across his face.
In the instant that the knife connected, Lance sword he saw something flash on the blade, but it was gone just as quickly. What was easier to notice was the way the commander's skin now hung loosely from his face, but instead of a gory scene of exposed muscle and bone, what was revealed was instead was...
Was that- was that fur?
"Now all see you for what you truly are," Miss Lia declared, and he swore that she smirked, "-Sendak."
If Lance thought things had exploded into chaos before, then it was nothing compared to the frenzy of activity Miss Lia's statement spurred now. All at once, the few villagers who had remained to observe the outcome of the fight fell back, scrambling to get away. Some of the soldiers went with them, including, Lance noticed, the lieutenant who had tried to lead the charge earlier.
The rest, swords now fully drawn, formed a tight circle around Commander Linwood- or around Sendak, he guessed, since that was his real name or something. He didn't know how Miss Lia had figured that out, but eh, it was probably some sort of Seer thing.
(He still couldn't believe Miss Lia was a Seer. Weren't they supposed to be all fragile and delicate or something? That so wasn't her.)
Sendak narrowed his eyes, clearly gauging his options. For a second, Lance thought he would run- before he gripped his blade tighter, shifting his weight to his other foot as he lunged towards Miss Lia. He brought the sword down in an overhead blow, which Miss Lia blocked with her knife, digging the heels of her boots into the ground.
"Victory," Sendak bellowed, slamming his knee into the pit of Miss Lia's stomach, hard enough to break the stalemate and force her to stumble back, "-or death!"
Raising his sword for another blow, Lance jumped to his feet, readying his crossbow to fire. Across the way, he saw Hunk doing very much the same with his long bow, poised to release one of his yellow feather fletched arrows.
Neither of them got the chance to fire.
He first caught it as a bright glimmer in the corner of his eye, before it flared even brighter. He nearly thought it was the sun reflecting off of something, before it surged forward like an arc, curving upwards to avoid the ring of soldiers before slamming at full force into Sendak, sending him flying past the ring, past even the last few straggling villagers. It flickered in the bright afternoon sun, blazing red even as it coiled back, back to its source, deftly avoiding any obstacles in its path.
Coil was the optimal word for it, for the creature that was retreating back to the village square was none other than a snake. Just one that was massive and made out of fire, right down to the tongue that periodically flicked outwards, resembling a candle's flame. From his vantage point on the roof, he could see that it was coiled around the bonfire, the once smoldering embers having flared suddenly to life, feeding into the fire snake.
"Holy shit." Lance whispered, it suddenly dawning on him that it was a summon. A bona fide summon, not one of the hoaxes that traveling performers like to put on.
The flaming snake bowed its head, at which point Lance took notice of the dark clad figure standing on one of the nearby lantern posts. Unafraid of the flames, they rested a hand on its head, before the snake disappeared into a burst of flames, leaving nothing behind but the smoldering embers of the nearly put out bonfire.
The summoner- because that was who they had to be, no question- turned, but he couldn't make out their face. It was obscured by a mask, just as dark as the rest of their armor, with purple slits for their eyes that he swore almost seemed to glow. He must have caught him looking, because he gestured with his hand in the direction that Sendak had flown.
Snapping back to reality, Lance pivoted on his heel, searching for the fake commander. But Sendak was gone, leaving behind only a scorched helmet and his sword. Everyone else seemed to realize this too, nervously looking around like they expected him to come crawling out of some dark corner- either that, or for some other absurd, jaw drooping creature to appear. It had been a hell of a day.
But nothing did. Not Sendak, or anything else, for that matter.
"He fled back to the forest." Miss Lia spoke, seemingly the only one unaffected by the appearance of the massive fire snake. "But he will likely return again tonight. We have much to prepare. Who among you is in charge?"
There was a mutter of debate amongst the soldiers, before a young woman with dark skin and glasses stepped forward. She carried a sword with a yellow stone set in the pommel, that marked her as a perimeter scout, as much as her yellow-trimmed armor did.
"I guess that would be me?" She said, hesitant. "I'm not with the Southern Fort, but I am the ranking sub-lieutenant of the perimeter scouts in this area. I happened to be in the area when Commander Linwood," she paused, crinkling her nose and quickly correcting herself, "-when Sendak received word that there was a Galra loose."
"But," she frowned, tilting her head slightly, "-I'm guessing there's no Galra, is there?"
"No."
Blinking at the sound of the somewhat familiar voice, Lance craned his neck for a better view. Miss Lia stepped aside, allowing a much cleaner and much better dressed Shiro to exit the tavern. His right arm was thoroughly bandaged, not even a hint of purple fur visible.
"No Galra." Shiro said, giving them all a wry smile. "Just me."
The woman's eyes went wide in recognition. "Captain Shirogane!"
"Cadet." Shiro saluted her, clearly recognizing the woman. "Or I guess I should say lieutenant now. Guess you bunch didn't need me to finish your training after all."
The woman shook her head, then lifted her arm in a jerky, startled salute. "Lieutenant Nadia Rizavi, ready for service, Captain."
"Glad to hear it." Shiro smiled. "Have someone send a message back to the Southern Fort. Let's hope that our other Lieutenant friend doesn't just seal it up tight behind him, since I'm guessing that's where he fled to. We're going to need its defenses."
"Sir...?" Nadia frowned, her brows knitting together.
"This isn't the last advance the Galra will try to make." Miss Lia said. "We need to evacuate every village from here to the Lion's Mountains before the new moon."
Evacuate. Lance's heart plummeted into his chest, thinking of his family. He hadn't thought... up until now, even with Shiro, and everything else, he'd thought... he'd thought they would be safe. In hindsight, it was a stupid assumption- if the Galra were real, and the seal on the Galra broke, it would only make sense that his village would be at the forefront of any invasion.
"Every village?" Nadia asked. "There must be a half dozen along the perimeter. Even if we can evacuate them all in time, where would they all go? We can't fit them all in the Southern Fort."
"The port village can evacuate by sea." Miss Lia said simply. "The rest can cross the mountains using the pass. We can discuss the rest inside."
Nadia opened her mouth up to say something more, but Miss Lia sidestepped her, looking directly up towards his hiding place. Not that it was much of one anymore, now that he was just standing around like some kind of statue, fully exposed. He gave her a slight wave, but she only arched her brow in response.
"Lance," she called his name, then turned her head, her gaze flicking Hunk's way, "-Hunk. Join us."
It wasn't a request, he sensed. Numbly picking up his quiver, he paused to glance in the direction of the village square. Whoever that masked weirdo had been, they were gone now.
Slinging his crossbow over his shoulder, he made his way down from the roof. The crowd of soldiers was already starting to disperse, gone to ward the perimeter on Nadia's command. He smiled at Hunk as he trailed in behind him, even as he couldn't help but wonder what Miss Lia wanted from them.
Was it just to thank them for their help? Maybe, but that didn't sound right.
Pidge was already waiting for them inside, his gaze flickering nervously towards Nadia. She squinted at him, but turned her attention away as Shiro cleared his throat, motioning towards where she should sit, even going so far as pulling out her chair.
Lance took the seat next to her, unasked. She didn't look that much older than he did- maybe in her early twenties.
"So you're the one who made that shot, huh?" Nadia asked. "Pretty good aim."
"Thanks," Lance winked, "-I practice."
"Is that everyone?" Shiro asked.
"No," Miss Lia shook her head, a secretive smile on her lips, "-there's one more coming."
Lance was about to ask, when he had his question answered for him. In strode the masked summoner from before, looking for all the world like they belonged here. Up close it really did look like the eye holes of his mask were glowing, creating an eerie effect. He couldn't even say if they looked human or not- every inch of skin was covered by some kind of weird armor. The plates were normal enough, aside from the glowing marks on the chest plate, but the undersuit was made up of what looked to be pitch-black scales, intricately linked together. Even their hair was hidden, covered up by a dark-colored hood.
Miss Lia looked at them as if they meant the world to her.
Huh. He'd never seen her look that soft before. It was so brief that he nearly thought he'd imagined it, and probably would have if not for the gentle manner in which she placed her hand on their shoulder.
They exchanged a few words in low tones, unheard by himself or anyone else, for that matter. After a few moments, Miss Lia drew her hand away, and went to shut the tavern doors. She yanked the curtains closed as well, plunging the tavern into near darkness, save for the light provided by the few lanterns scattered about the interior.
The masked stranger reached up, pulling off their hood. Their mask shimmered a bit as they pulled it off, revealing a pale but human face, with a familiar pair of purple eyes. The light glinted strangely off of them as he fixed his mask to his belt, raising his head to look at those gathered in the tavern with a slight scowl.
"So," Lance began, sensing that no one else dared to ask, "-who are you supposed to be?"
"I'm a paladin."