Out of the sight of anyone, a great weapon landed gently on the ground. It rumbled as it settled to the ground and hissed as mouths opened like hatched and people, clothed rather oddly, walked out.

"You're sure," the one dressed in red asked as he stepped out of one if the coloured lions "that this is the right planet?"

"Absolutely." one with the most impressive orange moustache you will ever see and strange markings and ears responded "I checked the Castle's data, this is where the teleduv took us when it malfunctioned again and, it would appear, the only possible place for Lance to be."

"Then why has it taken us so long?"

"I was trying to see if I could pinpoint his location any more - it is a shame but I cannot."

"I see…"

"is there something else bothering you Keith?"

"It's just, this planet looks so much like home - how could it not be our Earth?"

"Come on Keith," Takashi Shirogane rested his flesh hand on the boy's shoulder "We're on the wrong side of the universe."

"I guess so. Anyway, do we know where we are heading from here?"

"barely." a soft feminine voice spoke in what was akin to a British accent "The best approach would be to approach a settlement and see if we can find anything at all about him."

"That's a long shot Allura…" the large boy standing behind her fretted "I mean, really, what are the chances we'll find anything at all?"

"Higher than if we just stand here arguing." another feminine voice interjected.

"I guess you're right Pidge."

"of course I am Hunk."

"Let's begin." Shiro directed them all back to their lions, having Coran group with Allura for the time being and leaving any doubt about what would happen behind for as long as possible. They hid the weapons as safely as they could and then began to walk beneath a scalding sun, over dusty desert floors.

To Keith, it felt like home.

Chicago was a dull city, or at least it seemed that way from their view above where clouds acted like a veil, separating Festus the flying dragon and his passengers from the city down below, where, between streets and office buildings and businesses, people were going about their lives, both normally and abnormally. For all they knew, looking down from a point at which people were barely limericks on the landscape, there could be someone getting engaged on one street corner, and another getting stabbed a few streets over.

They descended quickly, already strong wind picking up and lashing about madly as they travelled quickly down through it. Not one of them managed to make the trip down without violently shivering. Lance pulled the strings if his hood as tight as he could and tied them there, pulling the fabric close around his face. Piper laughed a little before doing the same with her own, clinching fabric closer to cheeks flushed red with the stinging cold they plummeted through.

They landed with a this and dismounted from the large dragon.

It didn't take long to find a number of wind spirits, dancing along each violent gust that threatened to bowl Leo over.

They talked for a little while before Leo turned back to Festus and summoned something from his toolbelt. Lance watched him, curious as to what it was.

Leo unfurled his fiat to reveal a cheap, brightly coloured plastic whistle that merely sat in the centre of his palm, fully glinting beneath what little sunlight could pass the clouds. Even Festus cocked his head, confused.

"Look buddy," Leo began, placing a hand on the head of the dragon "we're gonna follow these spirits. Just in case something goes wrong, I have this whistle with me. If i blow it you have to come and help. Got it?"

Festus expelled a puff of smoke from his mechanic nostrils. Apparently that was en9ugh if a yes for Leo who merely nodded. "Good," he said with a confident nod "see ya soon bud."

Lance watched the dragon slowly take a few steps away from them, glistening spine and shimmering tail swaying with the movement of immaculately constructed legs, now slick with rainwater. He smiled slightly even if he wasn't sure quite why.

However, that smile definitely faded as the spirits lead them onwards…

To a manhole cover.

"The sewer?" Piper crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow, looking down at the cover distrustfully, with such an intensity one would almost believe she could see through it.

"I guess." Leo shrugged nonchalantly, dripping down so he rested on his toes, knees tucked up as he pried away the cover.

"You aren't bothered enough." Lance decided as he looked down at the dark space beneath the cover that was being gradually revealed as Leo struggled to pull away the heavy plate.

"says you! You're never bothered enough."

"...no comment…"

"Ha!" Leo shuffled back, dragging the cover with him before dropping it suddenly and listening as it slammed down to the floor.

"Well, Pipes, ladies first." he featured forwards with a wave if a hand, joking.

"good try - go on Leo."

Grumbling, Leo edged himself along the soaked pavement, letting his legs dangle into the darkness below. With a final grumble and accusatory look at Jason and Piper, he swung himself down. They watched him drop, deeper and deeper until he has completely disappeared into the dark. There had been a thud, a landing, moments later.

They stared down.

"Well," Lance stepped up himself and assumed the same position as Leo had "No time like the present."

They all followed after.

"Ugh," Lance looked around at the cavernous space around them "it stinks in here!"

"It's a sewer." Jason pointed out.

"No, really? I know it's a sewer! But why have they," he gestured to the wind spirits ahead of them, brought us down here?"

"not the foggiest." Piper was holding her nose as she looked around.

"well, we have to get going."

They walked down the straight path to the side of the waste that rushed along like a river beside them.

After a while they seemed to lose the spirits they has been following. They walked a little longer without their guides. Piper yawned. They came across a path that split in a couple of directions and gave up.

"Wanna just stay down here and try to find the spirits tomorrow?" Leo asked, looking fleetingly in either direction and realising he had no idea how to get out or find the spirits up ahead.

"Is rather not." Lance said as he sat down "But I guess we haven't got any other choice; we're about to drop and we're lost, we can carry on tomorrow."

They say there around a burning fire that illuminated the dark space. Leo looked over at Lance, his face glowing in the light of the flames, before looking at the flames themselves. It felt as though there were bugs crawling beneath his skin, traversing in a line towards his hands. He looked down.

"Leo," Jason began suddenly "since when could you…?" he featured at the fire, burning and crackling, unbothered by the unease surrounding it.

"since forever," he responded, looking up "but, really, it's a curse and I hate using it."

"A curse? It isn't a curse Leo, you could do great things with it."

"or horrible, awful things." he closed his eyes and breathed, trying to ignore the image flashing across the darkness, his mother's face, smiling with a stripe of oil on her dimpled cheek, then football consuming flames, bright relentless, burning, burning, burning.

"you can do horrible things with most things you can do good with." Lance looked at him "Honestly, more like all of them. It doesn't matter what they are, whether something is a curse or a blessing comes down to perspective."

"huh. Buy can it still be a blessing after you've done something terrible with it?"

"Why not?"

"Good point." Jason agreed.

Lance had put the fire out with what they had, the rushing sewer beside them That, rather than touching in any manner, he had concentrated on and willed to put out the flame before returning to the stream.

Afterwards, much later as Leo lay besides Lance who, though he had his eyes closed, probably wasn't asleep either, he replayed the earlier conversation over and 9ver again in his mind. It was as though, tired as his body was, Leo's mind would not allow him to rest, it was restless and working quickly, quickly, quickly.

He tried to sleep but he couldn't stop the shaking of his foot, tapping an erratic rhythm in the floor. It elevated in tempo until, as the memory ended for the umpteenth time, he stopped with a sight. Still, a tapping noise, softer than his own but just as fast, persisted. Lance definitely wasn't asleep.

Leo sat up, staring down at his own hands again. He breathed raggedly as he looked at the pads of callused fingers. He set one alight. It was a small flame, miniscule and controlled, only large enough to illuminate his own face rather than the pitch black space around them. He stared at it and it was as though it was staring back, glaring with fiery intensity.

He mumbled, never blinking "you are not a burden." he.was trying to convince himself but, as the mumble echoed, it seemed as though others were trying to do the same. He could have sworn he heard a hushed "You're right" respond.

They didn't know how far they were from civilisation but the sun above them had burned them for a long time, blazing. Then, eventually, they came across a couple of houses, nothing much, just a few detached buildings lined up. They were only small, sure, but they were the first sign of life they had seen aside from the animals they had passed in their journey.

Keith glanced at them as they walked between two.

"We can't be far now."

"Still, we don't even know if they'll speak English…" Hunk continued to fret a little "besides, what if they haven't seen him?"

"We have translators paladins." Coran looked at him.

"I doubt they will have seen him," Podge adjusted her glasses "Though that isn't to say they won't have news on him."

"He probably made something of an interesting entrance." Shiro added

"Subtlety never was his thing." Allura kept looking forwards, starting at the bright glow of the horizon ahead of them. As they walked there grew small disturbances. They grew and grew as they approached, getting bigger until it seemed as though there really was a town perched there.

"I just hope they know something - This is a bit of a different experience than rescuing someone from the Galra." Pidge sent a sideways glance at Shiro and continued to walk, determined they would find her friend.

A/N my computer is broken (So I haven't been able to respond to reviews!) which is why this is so late and probably full of typos (I wrote this whole thing on my phone!) Which is, in turn, why it's short. I'm sorry, I'm trying my best. Also, I had originally planned to have Voltron in earlier but then new seasons came out and I got nervous but they're here now. I'm not entirely sure where in the timeline this sits, definitely somewhere in season three or, at least, before the beginning of season 4.

I also haven't been able to check my poll so please feel free to leave ships in reviews.

~We'reAllABitOdd