Lance
Lance felt like he had semi-control of Blue, his knuckles were white on the throttles as he fought to keep her from spinning out of control. Something slammed into them, hard, shaking the whole cockpit. Sending Blue and Yellow rolling and screaming through the wormhole.
"WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" Hunk screamed in the coms.
"I DON'T KNOW! JUST HOLD-" Lance would have finished but the coms cut out as they entered the atmosphere of a planet and spiraled rapidly towards the ground. They were losing altitude fast and he couldn't regain control. He could barely make out was coming up to meet them. They slammed into something so hard Lance thought it would tear him loose from the pilot seat. Gasping, he looked up, they were sinking in greenish blue liquid, and slowly coming to a surprisingly gentle rest on the bottom of what he assumed was a lake or ocean.
"Hunk? Hunk are you okay?" he asked into the coms, his voice was hoarse from screaming, he cleared his throat painfully. Waiting on edge for a response. All he heard on the other end was heaving.
"What… What did you say, Lance?" Hunk asked weakly he sounded wretched and exhausted.
"You just threw up, didn't you?" Lance sighed a little, rubbing his face.
"Yeah, kind of…." Hunk mumbled in response. Lance felt a spike of pity for him. Hunk had always had a weak stomach, which had gotten progressively better since becoming a pilot, but after that rollercoaster of a crash, he really couldn't blame the guy for emptying his guts all over his cockpit. He kind of felt bad for Yellow too.
"Right. Anyway, how's your lion?" Lance asked, trying a few controls, he heard Hunk doing the same over the coms.
"Yellow's down, you?"
"No- Oh! Never mind!" Lance replied cheerily as the dash lit up and Blue hummed back to consciousness. Her systems flashing back on surprisingly fast. "Welcome back, beautiful!" Blue's eyes glowed gold as she scanned the bottom of the lake, not much except for some fish and kelp. Nothing dangerous, anyway.
"I'm not picking up anything hostile in the water, I think it's safe to swim to the surface," Lance told him, exiting his lion curiously.
"What? Why would we-" Hunk paused and then sighed, "-you're out of your lion..." Lance peered through the depths of the lake.
'It must be evening, it's so dark,' he thought, still looking around the eerily silent lake.
"Come on, we need to scope out where we are," he told Hunk, starting towards the surface slowly.
"Oh? What makes you think that I'm going to do that?" Hunk demanded Lance sighed. He hadn't expected a different reaction. It wasn't exactly in Hunk's nature to go exploring creepy lakes. A mischievous grin crept across his face, unless…
"Okay, you can stay here, by yourself, at the bottom of a creepy lake, in the dark, alone"— he was abruptly cut off.
"DON'T LEAVE ME!" Hunk scrambled to exit his lion, Lance fought to keep from bursting out laughing. He had never seen Hunk move that fast. Ever.
With the assistance of their jetpacks, they wasted no time breaking the surface and making a beeline for the shore. Gasping, Lance dragged himself out of the water, Hunk stumbling after him. They barely had time to catch their breath, let alone admire the beautiful surroundings, when a hair rising howl split the air. Lance spun around, something very large and very angry was charging them at horrifying speed.
"WHAT IS THAT?" Hunk screamed as they tore off down the beach, running for their lives.
"WEREWOLF!?" was the first thing past Lance's lips, this made Hunk run faster, threatening to leave him behind. Of course, he had no idea if that was a werewolf but he didn't really want to find out. Lance struggled to keep up, he didn't have quite the same energy from his fear that Hunk seemed to possess in bulk. The larger Paladin was actually starting to leave him behind.
"HUNK! WAIT!" Lance shouted terrified he was about to be eaten, Hunk didn't seem capable of slowing down.
'I'M GOING TO DIE!' he thought, horrified.
"COME BACK, MILK DRINKERS!"
Hildegarde
Hildegarde sighed, rolling her shoulders back. It had been weeks since she could remove her armor, and it felt good. She pulled her braids out, running her fingers through her thick reddish-brown hair, it fell down to her hips in a wavy sheet. She wandered out onto her porch wearing nothing but a light ivory tunic covered in soot stains and brown trousers that were torn off at the knees. She tossed her mace onto the table next to her as she sat down, finally relaxing. She was sore from traveling, and her feet hurt, but she was home now. Hilde put her feet up on the railing, leaning back in her chair and smiling. Her lake was smooth, barely touched by the breath of wind, the sky was clear, a soft breeze brought the sweet smell of evening pines and wildflowers. She picked up her bottle of wine, the cool glass pressing against her lips.
Two balls of fire appeared, she watched frozen in horror as they crashed into her once still lake. She slammed the bottle back onto the table, sitting up, the red liquid almost sloshing out onto her hand.
"I know they didn't just land in my lake!" she roared, throwing her chair back, leaping down the steps and charging towards the lake. The wolf in her chest howled for a hunt, she obliged, shifting into her wolf form, and racing to the lakeside. She snarled, lapping at the water, and glaring out across the rippling water. Two figures burst from the depths, swimming quickly towards the shore, a low growl started in her chest and she tore off towards them. Hilde howled as she got closer, it would be no fun if they didn't even run for her to give chase. She was still almost on top of them before they screamed and ran for their lives. Hildegarde roared at them, almost casually lopping after the two figures as they ran. She picked up their scent.
Human?
Hilde picked up the pace, rapidly closing the distance between them. Shifting as she went, it was excruciating to turn so quickly, but soon enough she was stumbling after them in her human form.
"COME BACK, MILK DRINKERS!" she shouted, they looked over their shoulders and started to slow the pace until they stopped, doubled over, gasping for air. Hilde scowled at them as she got closer, she reached for her mace, glancing down when it wasn't there. She saw it in her mind's eye on the table.
'Perfect,' she thought bitterly, no skull crushing tonight, she was panting and slowly getting her breath back. The one in yellow had tears streaking his face, and jumped at every noise, she almost wanted to laugh. But they had interrupted what would have been a wonderfully relaxing evening. They both held up their hands as she stopped in front of them, huffing in annoyance.
"WHERE DID IT GO?" the yellow very nearly shrieked at her, he was on the verge of tears and looked like he wanted to cling to the blue armored boy. Hilde raised her eyebrows.
"What are you talking about?" she asked a little coldly, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
"That THING!" he shuddered, glancing around a little wildly, tears beginning to stream down his face again. Guilt flickered in her stomach, she shifted her stance a little awkwardly.
"That was me," she replied, shrugging. Terror filled their faces, they looked ready to book it again.
"Please don't eat us…" The blue one mumbled under his breath several times, he looked petrified. Hilde rolled her shoulders and sighed a little.
"Typical werewolf paranoia," she muttered, the yellow boy pulled his helmet off and wiped his face, she wondered if he had messed his breeches as well. "If I wanted to eat you, I wouldn't be talking to you right now" she pointed out, gesturing for them to follow her. They did, surprisingly. Although they still looked terrified, she led them back towards her manor. They weren't Galra, as she had originally thought, and they didn't smell like Galra so it wasn't a trick. Just two boys who fell from the sky and very nearly wet themselves. Hildegarde glanced back at them every so often to make sure they were still following her.
"Um… Lady, who are you?" the yellow asked timidly, he seemed to have composed himself and reclaimed the shreds of his dignity. She smiled kindly back at him.
"My name is Hildegarde Shattered-Blade. I expected to be ripping apart Galra tonight, which you're not. And no Galra crawled out of my lake with you. Who are you?" she asked, frowning a little. She could practically feel them exchange another look, they were doing that a lot. She paused and looked at them expectantly.
"I'm Lance, this is Hunk. We're the Yellow and Blue Paladins of Voltron. You may have heard of us," Lance replied, taking his helmet off, flipping his short hair, and smiling a little suggestively at her. Hildegarde gave him a blank stare before turning back to the manor and heading to the stairs leading up to the open porch.
"WHY. ARE. YOU. FLIRTING. WITH. A. WEREWOLF?" Hunk hissed through gritted teeth, she smirked a little, grabbed her untouched bottle of spiced wine, and holding the door open for them. They exchanged yet another look before walking slowly inside, gapping at the interior and workmanship of her hands. She had built the entire thing, ground up, by herself.
"Come on," she sighed, leading them down the stairs to the main floor and dining hall. It was occupied by a large table, an enormous hearth with a fire crackling inside, goat horn chandeliers, a set of double doors that were both open and showed a nice view of her stocked kitchen, small side and back rooms, cluttered with the occasional vase growing various herbs. The smell of freshly baked bread and venison soup wafted from the kitchen, she heard their stomachs growl loudly.
"Sit," she ordered, marching off into the kitchen. She could see them through the doors, looking around nervously but sitting obediently at her long table. They had been smart enough not to touch the large chair by the fire that she normally occupied. She pulled out hot loaves of bread, ladled two bowls full of thick soap, and brought it out to them. Tossing the bread on the table, but placing the bowls more carefully, she returned to the kitchen and brought out cheese, watered down wine, water, and jazbay grapes.
"You're….Feeding us?" Hunk asked cautiously, Hilde smiled a little, sitting heavily in her chair by the fire and taking a long draft of wine.
"Yep," she replied shortly, licking her lips. She watched them scarf down the meal, Lance ate a little more slowly than Hunk, but the food rapidly disappeared anyway. She stared at the fire quietly for a moment, mulling a few things over in her mind.
"I don't know what Voltron is, all I know is that the last time meteors came to Nirn in the form of ships, a people called the Galra came," she took another sip of wine, "and they left desolation and misery in their wake… Are they your friends?" she asked, finally looking at them again. Hunk frowned and Lance looked a little taken aback.
"No. Definitely not our friends," Lance replied firmly, she smiled at how tense they looked.
"Good, otherwise I would have eaten you." Hildegarde chuckled, drinking again. It burned all the way down and filled her with warmth. "They came from above, we fought them, and they fought back. A few thousand of us died… A few hundred thousand of them died. They ran away, or, well… Flew away. But I dare say the Orsimer still have a few hundred mummified heads on pikes outside the strongholds. They didn't taste good, but their weak little bodies were entertaining when they broke. You just have to hit them hard enough," she laughed a little, even as the psyche scars from the battle itched in her mind. The wolf in chest lifted its head and growled, Hilde shook her head slightly. She looked at Lance and Hunk who sat frozen at her table, wearing identical expressions of terror and curiosity. They also seemed to be a few inches farther away. They exchanged a look she couldn't quite catch now that her mind was buzzing with wine.
"Wait, the Galra came here? And they lost?" Lance sputtered weakly, looking half shocked half impressed.
"They came during a time all the armies were mobile, preparing for an all-empire civil war. Just marched in and demanded fealty to their high king, who is probably as pathetic as they are, and expected to walk out alive. I wasn't there personally, but I fought alongside my parents when the invasion started," she took a thoughtful sip, "the warrior who killed the envoy mounted him on a pike and waited for the invasion to start. It was pretty impressive," she explained, her cheeks beginning to tint pink from the wine.
"That's… cool?" Hunk mumbled, they looked downright horrified. Hildegarde smiled warmly at them again.
"You needn't worry. As long as you aren't here to make the same request, you'll be fine. I won't let you get eaten by anything," she told them softly, in an almost bemused way. She stared off into space, her mind drifting to the Galra war and the slaughter that had happened among the people of Skyrim. She swallowed hard, blinking several times to get the screams out of her head. Hunk tried to hide a yawn, but Hilde saw it, they both looked exhausted.
"Come, there are spare beds. Follow me," she stood, swaying for a moment before leading them back up the stairs, they followed her silently, only the soft pad of their feet could be heard. She gestured vaguely at the room filled with beds and went to her own room. Flopping onto her makeshift bed and falling asleep quickly.
AN: So here's chapter 3 and we have found Lance and Hunk. We, unfortunately, won't see Allura and Coran for another few chapters but they will come eventually.
And for those you patiently waiting for my Code Geass/Voltron story, I'll officially start writing it tomorrow (had some midterms this week and that has left me just a LITTLE stressed out.) So stay tuned!