**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender (duh)
Today was one of those miserable days when Keith insisted they start the morning with training. Laying in her makeshift bed, curled up beneath the warmth of her blanket, Mari had been enjoying a dreamless sleep, only to get yanked back into the realm of consciousness as he shouted over the lion comms.
"Everybody up!"
"Ah!" From the next cargo hold over, she could hear Hunk startle awake. "No…" he groaned as he realized what was happening.
"Only a ninety-nine on the test? But I did all the extra credit," Pidge grumbled, still half-asleep.
"Come on, it's time to wake up," their leader ordered, and she screamed as she fully awoke.
"What's the point?" Lance griped through a yawn. "We're just floating in space. There's no day or night here."
"I have to agree with Lance," Allura murmured drowsily. "We should sleep for fifteen more doboshes."
"Guys, we can't let this long journey make us soft or dull our skills," Keith tried to encourage them, as if they hadn't had this argument several times before. "Routine will keep us sharp."
"Keith's right," Shiro said, coming to his defense. "Routine is what got me through being Zarkon's prisoner and being in the infinite void of the Black Lion."
"I guess that does make you an expert on killing time," Lance noted dryly.
"Okay, but like, can't you at least let the non-paladins doze for a bit longer?" Scarlett almost sounded like she was begging.
"I second that," Mari piped up.
"No," Keith shot them down, and she frustratedly buried her face in her pillow. "Everyone, to your stations. Running battle simulations now."
He was met with a flurry of grumbles and groans all around. "Can't we just have – Can't we just have breakfast first?" Hunk pleaded, and there was an irritated sigh on Keith's end.
"The sooner we work out this simulation, the sooner we can eat and move on with the day," he reminded them.
That got everyone up and moving. Pajamas were discarded and exchanged for uniforms and armor. Hair was combed and pulled into place. Teeth were brushed and morning breath became minty fresh. When everyone had made it to their respective cockpits and had seated themselves, stifling their yawns and groggy attitudes for the most part, Krolia fired up the training program.
"I programmed a new battle simulation," she informed them, a smile in her voice. "I think it's going to be especially challenging."
"Why do you sound happy about that?" Hunk wondered just as the controls of the Yellow Lion chirped. A new image manifested on the displays, replacing the outside view of space with that of a dark orange planet covered in lava. His frown deepened with dread.
"That's stubborn, no nonsense Krolia, for you," Scarlett muttered and a huff of a chuckle escaped the Blade's lips.
"Like mother like son," Lance drawled, completely unamused.
"Focus," Keith urged.
"Here's the scenario: You're on a planet with double gravity, dense volcanic fog, and eight blovar raptors are attacking," Krolia relayed as the simulation scenery changed to the lower atmosphere of the planet. The eight raptors were highlighted on screen, screeching in the distance. "What do you do?"
"This is a good one," Keith said, a smile in his voice now.
"Do these raptors have eggs?" Hunk asked, unfazed by the fictional situation they found themselves in. "I say we steal some and we make a little breakfast. AHH!"
He shrieked and fell out of his chair as a raptor threw itself at his lion's face, covering their view of the planet. The displays blinked red and alarms went off, indicating his failure in the simulation.
"A blovar raptor just melted your face off, Hunk!" Krolia snapped at his carelessness. "Now it's eight on four."
"That's fine by me," Hunk murmured, rolling along the floor and pushing himself to his feet. "We're eating."
"Yes," Mari grinned, her stomach growling. Freed from morning training, they exchanged a fist-bump and hurried into the cargo hold where all their food was kept.
"I'm thinking…breakfast burrito. With a yogurt parfait on the side," he decided, tapping his chin in thought as he looked at all their supplies. "Sound good?"
She nodded. "Works for me."
While Hunk prepared the burritos, Mari laid out the separate containers and utensils they'd need to put together the lunch boxes for each member of their team. She filled up the cups with water as he moved on to serving the yogurt, scooping several dallops into each small tupperware before topping it with nuts and berries. When all lids had been snapped shut, preventing anything from spilling, they divided everything into ten packages, giving their comrades one of each item. Hunk carefully wrapped them in a blanket and carried the sack into the cockpit where the wolf was waiting. The cosmic canine bumped its nose into Mari's and then Hunk's hand in greeting, before allowing the Yellow Paladin to tie the sack of goodies around his neck.
"Food incoming!" Hunk announced and the wolf disappeared in a burst of blue and white light.
"Ain't it convenient that we have a teleporting wolf on our side," Mari noted, munching on her own burrito as she stared at where the wolf had once been. "Still kinda freaks me out."
"You get used to it," Hunk said, taking a big bite out of his burrito. "He's such a good wolf…fella…guy. Oh my gosh, we really gotta come up with a name for him."
"Not gonna happen," Keith stated.
"Oh, come on," Hunk chided, grinning around his food. "I vote Kosmo."
"I like Kosmo," Allura said.
"Kosmo is cool," Lance agreed.
"It's cute," Mari hummed.
"Yeah, it's nice," Pidge pitched in.
"It's better than calling him 'the wolf' everyday," Scarlett chimed in.
"We're not calling him Kosmo," Keith insisted.
"Oh, come on, Keith, we gotta call him something," Hunk pressed.
"I figure when he's ready, he'll tell me his name," Keith said, the certainty in his voice wavering.
"Cosmic animal or not, I don't think he can talk, Keith," Scarlett said.
"We don't know that for sure…"
There was a beat of silence.
"So, Kosmo. Got it," Lance concluded, and their leader dropped the argument in defeat. "Oh! Hunk, this is delicious!"
"Yes, thank you, Lance," Hunk beamed, glad that his ingenious cooking was once again being appreciated. "I made it by collecting fungus paste from the dung of the beetles on that last planet we stopped at to pick up supplies."
There was a loud gagging sound from Lance and Scarlett snickered. "Hunk, please! I don't wanna know what it is," he huffed, not even bothering to hide his irritation. "I just wanna eat it and pretend that it's my meemaw's home cooking."
"A signal!" Pidge suddenly exclaimed, interrupting their breakfast.
"How did you get a signal?" Allura wondered, surprised.
"I've been running a passive scan, so I wouldn't give our location away, looking for any signs of communications," she quickly explained. "And I just picked up something!"
"Well, what is it?" Keith asked.
"I'm patching it through now."
A new video feed appeared on their screens. It showed two of the noodle-like aliens sitting on a couch in an apartment while a laugh track played in the background. They were speaking to each other in a series of bii's, boh's, and bi's until a third actor entered the scene. No one said anything for a long moment as they tried to process just exactly what they were watching.
"Is this supposed to be some sort of sitcom?" Pidge finally asked no one in particular, sounding rather disappointed and underwhelmed.
"What, like space The Big Bang Theory? Or space Friends?" Lance wondered. He hummed to himself. "So no one told you life was gonna be this way…"
A round of four rapid claps followed from different inhabitants of almost each lion. He laughed to himself, pleased with the response.
"Ha ha, classic."
The next burst of laughter escaped Coran for another reason – he was actually following along with the show. "That bii-boh-bi sold the other's flizblaznator!" he translated, through his giggles. "These bii-boh-bis get comedy."
He howled again as the tension heated up between two of the characters on screen. His chortling was instantly cut off when one of them hit the other, causing them to collapse to the floor, unconscious. The third character cradled them in their arms, crying out to the world in grief.
"Oh! The drama caught me totally unaware," Coran gasped, moved by their emotional acting.
Scarlett sighed. "Can we change the channel or something?"
"Now hold on, I want to see where this goes!" Coran insisted, but Hunk quickly shushed him.
"Wait, shh, shh, shh, shh." He paused, listening closer to the audio. A high screeching whine could be heard just at the edges of the signal. "What's that noise?"
"It sounds like some interference," Pidge said. "I'll try to tune it out."
"No, wait," Krolia hurried to stop her. "Pidge, can you amplify that signal?"
"On it."
"Aw, I wanted to see what was going to happen next," Coran pouted.
The sitcom screen disappeared and was replaced with the wavelengths of the strange noise. They all listened to it for several long seconds, unable to make anything of the din.
"Judging from the intermittent sound structure, it's just deep space interference," Pidge concluded. "Most likely a radiation pulse from a nearby star."
"No, that's just what it's supposed to sound like," Krolia said. "Listen to the sounds in between the pulses. There's a unique pattern."
They went silent to listen again.
"She's right!" Allura realized.
"Before the Blades were unified, we would use this crude way of communicating with each other," Krolia explained, unease creeping into her voice. "Not many Blades know this code. It must be a senior member."
"Kolivan?" Keith wondered.
"Possibly."
"What does it say?" Shiro asked.
"It's a distress signal," Krolia replied. "Whoever is sending it is in trouble."
Pidge brought up their maps on screen, pinpointing the location of the signal. "It looks like it's coming from this sector."
"Do we know anything about that section of space?" Shiro prompted.
"Not without the Castle of Lions' research library core," Coran admitted. "It's unmarked as a pirate territory, but that doesn't mean it's safe. We would be flying in blind."
"It's a pretty severe detour from Earth too," Hunk piped up.
"We must go!" Krolia urged them.
"I agree," Scarlett said. "We haven't had contact with any of the Blades in three years. This might be our only chance to make sure everyone's okay."
"She's right. If Kolivan is there, then maybe there will be more Blades," Keith said, his mind already made up. "We need all the help we can get to reach Earth."
Pidge made no complaint as she redirected their route. With Green leading the way, the lions streamed towards their new destination.
Several hours later, they arrived at the location of the signal's source.
"The signal is coming from this planet," Pidge reported as they drew nearer. "I'm detecting remnants of a civilization, but I don't see any signs of life."
"Is that a good or a bad sign?" Romelle tentatively inquired.
"In all my space experience, there have never been any 'good' signs," Hunk answered matter-of-fact.
The lions landed outside the ruins of a stone city and everyone hopped out, bayards and weapons held at the ready in case they ran into any trouble. Pidge stared at her gauntlet displays, her program beeping rhythmically as she tried to track the signal.
"I still can't tell exactly where it originates," she relayed to the rest of the team. "I'll keep trying to triangulate its location."
As they kept moving, passing crumbling buildings and piles of rubble splotched in dried blood, Mari's heart felt unbearably heavy. It reminded her too much of Vurelle and the damage that had been carved into the innocent planet. She could see the deadly beams from the ion cannons raining down around her. She could imagine the screams of her comrades as they were shot down from the air. Her grip tightened on her staff and Scarlett gave her free hand a gentle squeeze, grounding her before she could begin to spiral. When they entered what might have once been a city square, they came to a stop.
"The signs are all around us," Krolia said, her tone sorrowful as she took in the surrounding devastation. "There was a massacre here."
Allura inspected a scorched gash in a nearby wall. "Some of this damage looks like it's from magic," she murmured and Mari's head snapped to her.
"There were Druids here?" she asked, struggling to keep the growing panic from her voice.
The princess grimly nodded. "I'm sure of it."
Mari let out a shaky breath. She had to remain composed. She couldn't freak out. Deep breaths, in and out.
On protective instinct, Shiro inched closer to her. "Everyone stay alert," he advised the others. "Let's keep moving."
They walked down several more streets, keeping close to one another. A shiver ran down Mari's spine every so often. It felt like something sinister was watching them from the shadows, but every time she looked into the ruins, she'd see nothing. It was frustrating being put so on edge by something that wasn't even there. She wanted to believe she was just freaking herself out knowing that the Druids had once been here. But she couldn't fully convince herself, especially not since Kosmo had started growling more and more often as they moved deeper into the city. Was it a reaction to their rising distress? Or was something really out there, watching them?
Krolia brought them to a halt as she inspected a new clue. She ran her fingers along a gash in the side of another building.
"These strike patterns look Marmoran," she observed.
"Keep looking. We need to find whatever Blade is broadcasting that signal," Keith said, his eyes raking over the area. His hardened expression softened a tad as they landed on Mari. "You okay?"
He hadn't asked it in a teasing or condescending way. He sounded genuinely concerned. Her thumb hovered over the button that would elongate her staff as she restlessly squinted at the wreckage.
"No. I-I don't know," she admitted. The back of her neck prickled the longer she peered into the darkness. "Something just feels very…off. Like we're being – "
Kosmo snarled, nearly making her jump out of her skin, and Keith turned to the wolf. "What is it?" he asked, and Kosmo was off.
He sprinted forward, bounding up and over a tall pile of rock and debris and leaping onto a fleeing figure on the other side. He pinned the stranger, sharp teeth gnashing in their face as the paladins ran to meet the captured individual.
"Good job," Keith rightly praised Kosmo before pointing his sword at the person stuck beneath the cosmic creature. "Who are you? Who's broadcasting the signal?"
"I-It was me," the stranger stammered, sounding old and frail beneath his tusked mask. He had long and skinny limbs and wore ragged robes and bandages.
"Impossible. You're no Blade of Marmora," Keith scowled, his suspicion rising as he took in the stranger's lack of uniform.
"I will explain all if you would put down your weapons," the stranger pleaded, holding up his hands in surrender.
Krolia's eyes narrowed at him. "Let's see what he has to say," she suggested, her guard never once dropping as Kosmo reluctantly let him stand.
**Check out my tumblr to see some cool art: pufftheninja