~warning: mentions of blood!~

Chapter sixteen: The Trail That Led Me To You

"We're getting close." Shiro said, studying the screen before them carefully. "Drop me down there."

"Affirmative." Another alien responded, tapping away at the panel in front of them.

XXXX

The hatch opened and Shiro jettisoned out and down into the trees just below the temple. As he was falling, he looked to his left to find one of the masked aliens free falling right beside him.

"What are you doing?!" Shiro asked her in surprise.

"I'm coming with you." She replied, turning to him simply. They adjusted their position for landing and hit the ground running. Shiro's side flared up in scorching hot and excruciating pain and he stumbled to his knees; grimacing hard and with his forehead to the ground.

"You shouldn't have come on this mission." The alien told him, doubling back to help him up. "You're far too injured to do this."

"There's.. no one else here who.. can take them on." Shiro breathed, stiffly walking with her as she pulled his arm over her shoulder.

"That's where you're wrong." She told him, glancing him the at the path ahead. "You aren't the only one." She went on, watching the path in front of them; then turned her head to him again. "My name is Te-Osh... and I'm a freedom-fighting agent for an underground resistance organization we call the Rebels."

"Huh,.. well, at least we know we're not the only ones." Shiro said. "Me and my team were told we were the only hope for the universe. But we're only, now, finding out that we're not alone in this fight after all."

"You haven't been for decaphoebs." Te-Osh replied. "If anything we thought we were the only ones. Until word spread of Voltron's return;.. when you and your friends became the Paladins of the five mighty lions."

"Well,.. then I guess we were both wrong." Shiro said.

"Indeed..." Te-Osh agreed. "But we were also right as well. We were alone... but now we're not."

"And let's see to it that it stays that way." The Black Paladin agreed. Shiro stumbled and grimaced again, grabbing his side with his right hand; also finding it a bit hard to breath in the moment.

"We need to get you out of here." Te-Osh told him, as she helped him up again. "There's no way you can manage to take down the Galra in your condition."

"I have to." Shiro returned determinedly, restraint in his voice from the pain he was currently enduring.

"No, I'll do it." Te-Osh insisted. "You go free those people. You won't have as many Galra to overcome that way." The two stared at one another for a moment.

"Alright." Shiro finally gave in. Te-Osh helped Shiro to the temple and they found a quiet place for them to split off.

"Be careful." Shiro told her, as she began to leave; keeping his right hand braced to the pillar columns for support.

"And to you." Te-Osh replied, stopping to glance back at him before disappearing into the heavily draped hall. Shiro peered through the giant curtains into the main court room and waited for the distraction to begin.

XXXX

Cuffs synced, feet scuffled... Lines of aliens marched for the exit. Te-Osh held herself against the wall and peered around the corner from the corner of her eye; then stepped out to blast a line of the sentries above the enslaved aliens. Other sentries returned fire and Te-Osh took off out the door, Sendak and most of the men accompanying him chased after her. Seeing this, Shiro crept out from where he was, silent as he could be. A sentry stood watch with its blaster held up across its body, like it normally would; when a certain purple extremity sliced through its midsection. The others turned towards him and fired without hesitation. Shiro struggled to evade the blasts and ducked behind the columns for protection. Pressing his back to the pillar, he glanced back toward the attacks behind him. As soon as they ceased, he lunged out from where he was and attacked. Shots fired, but he managed to avoid them all the way in to take each one out. The dozen or so sentries took no time at all to overcome, despite his painful state and all the blaster fire. Shiro used his Galra hand to melt through the cuffs, to free all the aliens of their shackles.

"Everyone stay within the temple's walls." Shiro told them. "I promise we'll let you know when it's safe to come out." Shiro then left and headed out to find Te-Osh.

XXXX

Te-Osh ran as far away from the temple as she could; while still keeping the small army of Galra behind her. Stopping in a clearing, she waited for them to catch up to her. The stomping feet came closer, trudging through the rough ground. She stood facing them as they arrived, and whipped out two blades of, likely, ancient origin. The base of the larger blade crossing with a smaller one; melding into one larger one towards the tip of the weapon; the largest portion of its pointed blade. Sendak and his army stood before her at the edge of the clearing; glaring at her fiercely.

"Attack!" Sendak ordered and the bombardment of blaster fire began. Te-Osh sprinted around to her left, away from the attack; managing to stay ahead of it rather well. Getting in close she sliced away the heads of the half dozen or so sentries nearest to her. Moving on she went after one sentry after, she had almost defeated all of them when an explosion of pain erupted into her torso. Sendak stood there with the blaster held in his only hand, indicating the origin of the blast. Te-Osh dropped to the ground, her breaths labored and gasping; the pain unimaginable. At that moment, Shiro came running through the trees into the clearing. Gasping at what he saw, he sprinted over to her as best he could. Blaster fire scattered around them as he began to drag Te-Osh behind a rock for cover. He leaned her head on a smaller rock, and observed the giant gaping would in the very center of her torso, which bled in a profuse and gruesome fashion.

"No.. Te-Osh, please,.. stay with me.." Shiro begged, holding his hands over the wound to try and stop her from bleeding. "You'll be ok. I'll get you out of here."

"*cough* No.." Te-Osh gasped. "This is where my journey ends... but there's something.. you must know.. *cough* *splutter* I know who you are... and..who came with you."

"What?!" Shiro gasped, surprised to know this.

"You.. are known as the Champion.. amongst the Galra... *cough* *cough* and-.. *wheeze* you rescued a fellow earthling who would've died had you not helped him."

"How do you know all this?" Shiro asked, his shock plainly evident on his face.

"Because.. I know t-the one you rescued-.. all that time ago... Matthew.. H-Holt..." Shiro's eyes widened at the mention of his name.

"Please.. take this." She pressed a small device into his hands, concealing it from his view. "It's.. a transponder.. it'll.. help you and your friends.. locate him..."

"I'm not leaving you." Shiro told her. gripping the her hand tenderly.

"You must.." Te-Osh insisted. "I-.. am finished... please... stop Zarkon.. bring-.. down the Empire.. rid- the universe of this pestilence!" And with this last statement... came her last breath. Shiro's heart broke, pain stabbing him in the chest at this tragic scene. The blaster fire ceased and he stood up where he could see them. Sendak grinned pleasurefully at what he'd just achieved; and this seemed to ignite something within Shiro that he'd rarely felt. Stepping out from around the rock his right hand flared to life; his other hand tightened to create a fist, but then suddenly his bayard appeared within it instead. He looked down and lifted it up a bit, as he watched it amazingly begin to glow. Sendak's laugh rang out and Shiro looked up, anger flared up within him in a way he'd never felt before in his life. This anger seemed to trigger something inside of him, because without even thinking he slammed his forearms together in front of his body. This act activated two shapes the materialize in the pinkish-purple glow of his hand, coming up to his elbow. Splitting his hands to his sides again, the black plated armor and glowing purplish blades defined themselves; losing the pinkish glow, other than the blades themselves. Sendak seemed only a little bit surprised by this; but Shiro hadn't a care, as he lunged forward to attack. Anger and rage burned through him like he'd never had before, something must've snapped deep within him; because he didn't feel the usual restraint he was used to. Sendak, still missing an arm, seemed to fight just fine. He managed to tag Shiro across the back and sent him tumbling back away from him. The Black Paladin staking his blades into the ground to pull himself up again.

"I don't need both my upper extremities to take you down!!" Sendak thundered, lunging forward again, to which Shiro responded in the same way. The two were now plunging headlong toward one another, a sword in Sendak's single arm clashing with both of Shiro's in mid-air. Landing on the ground facing away from each other(their backs turned to one another), the blade fell from Sendak's hand. Sendak turned to face him again, blood pouring down his arm in tiny rivers of the liquid-life substance; which defined the extent of the injury inflicted upon him.

Sendak sneered viciously at Shiro, his anger boiling up and over the top; as he plunged toward him once more; a clawed arm extended in his direction. Shiro dematerialized his bayard and stepped back. Holding strong, he took Sendak's arm and used his momentum to swung the Galra commander over his shoulder and into the waiting pod; which had been disguised by a holographic shield up until this point. Shiro was blindsided by a blow to the right side of his head, which knocked him down to one knee. Shiro sidestepped and put his hands to the ground to catch himself. A dizzying ring sounded in his ears and his head pounded. Sendak approached him stiffly, step after staggering step. Suddenly a light flashed and cruiser fire was released upon them.

"What?!" Sendak spat, looking up quickly. He sneered at the sight of the fleet of cruisers hovering overhead. He turned back to Shiro; who suddenly thrust himself up to deliver a blow that plunged him and the men gether behind him into the pod and the doors closed. "No!!" Sendak rumbled, as the doors slammed closed before he could make an escape. Shiro stood watching, as the pod rose up off the ground and jetted off to the stars. Shiro's eyes stared hard at the spacecraft, as a red tear flowed down his temple. A crimson substance trickled down the side of his thigh, as he held the wound in his right hand; as if attempting to stop it from hurting or bleeding further. His white floof waved in the wind, his brow tense as he watched the pod's disappearance into the dark abyss above him. A light reached out to him from behind, signifying the coming of dawn. The lights only lit up parts of the grass, as Shiro turned to head back up the path, but he stumbled and fell to his knees on the gentle slope. His hands caught him, as he gasped for breath from the pain of his jostled wounds. An anthropomorphic, dog-like alien accompanied by and an alien of unknown origin raced up behind him, from the cruiser landed in the same clearing a short distance from him. They quickly helped him to his feet and led him toward it slowly.

"Easy there, Paladin." The unknown alien told him gently.

"Te-Osh!" Shiro gasped, stopping in his tracks. "She's- still back there." He told them slowly turning to look back. The two aliens dropped their gaze.

"We know." The same alien responded solemnly, as a small group of other assorted aliens walked by; with a transport bed carrying something covered by a white sheet of cloth over top of it. Shiro's eyebrows furrowed together at this sight, as the transport was wheeled into the cruiser. The aliens then led Shiro in after it and they all set off for the stars; the whole fleet of commandeered Galra ships took off for the stars together and didn't stop until they reached their destination.