Chapter nineteen! Right into the yellow lion arc, hot off the heels of the blue lion arc. This one is going to be very fun to write, I've got some great things planned that I cannot wait to tell- plus, we'll finally get to see Shiro this arc! He's coming! Boy oh boy is he ever coming.
cosmic dust
chapter nineteen
yellow paladin
So.
He was in space.
That was a thing.
Not only was he in space, but they were blitzing through it at record speeds. They'd just passed Mars, and it had barely even been a minute since they'd left Earth. At this rate, they'd get to Jupiter like, right now.
He hadn't expected the princess herself to join them, but maybe he should have. It wasn't like either he or Lance really knew where they were going, and flying to another planet wasn't exactly like flying to another state. If they got lost, it wasn't like they could just get out and ask for directions.
...okay, so they wouldn't be able to get out and ask for directions while flying the blue lion either, not unless they touched down at the nearest airport. But somehow, he had a feeling that probably wouldn't go over so well.
"There," pointing out the cockpit's window, Allura practically beamed, "-that is where we are headed. The Castle of Lions."
Whoa.
Okay, so he wasn't sure what he was expecting, but this- this beat just about anything that he could imagine. And he was saying that while they were all flying in a giant mechanical lion, so yeah, he could imagine quite a bit.
"You'll need to land there." Allura instructed Lance. "In the blue lion's hangar. After ten thousand years away, it could probably use a bit of a charge."
"Honestly, I'm just amazed this thing is like, ten thousand years old." Hunk told her. "You said your father built these?"
Turning back to look at him, Allura gave him a small smile. "In a sense."
...okay, that was vague.
"The lions are... complex." Allura told him. "My father used to say that they practically engineered themselves. Given the time, I would be more than happy to tell you both the full story, but as it is, I am afraid that we do not have as much of that as I would wish right now."
"You said there's like, one more lion out there, right?" Lance asked, sparing Allura a glance.
Nodding her head, Allura frowned. "We know where the yellow lion is, but I am afraid that getting it is not going to be anywhere near as simple getting the blue lion was."
And that didn't sound good.
Also if having a bunch of guards pointing guns at them was considered simple, he wasn't sure he wanted to know what the princess' idea of complex was.
"Well whatever it is you need to do, you can count on the blue lion for support." Lance told her. "After we have it, we can form this Voltron thing, right?"
"I am afraid it is not that simple." Allura told him. "Even if we do find the yellow lion, without a paladin, we will not be able to use it. And without the yellow lion, we have no way of waking the black lion."
"Which I'm guessing you don't have a paladin for either." Hunk finished.
"No, I am afraid not." Allura confessed. "But even without a paladin at hand, it is imperative that we keep the yellow lion out of Zarkon's hands. We cannot allow him to capture another lion."
"Wait- another?" Lance asked. "I thought you said you had all the lions but the yellow lion."
"Presently, yes, we do." Allura told him. "But before it fell into Keith's hands, the red lion was in Zarkon's possession."
"Oh yeah, Matt did mention something about Keith stealing it from him." Lance frowned. "So like- what's Keith's deal, anyways? How does someone who's part Galra end up fighting against the Galra?"
Yeah, he'd been wondering about that too.
Like- once he got past the whole alien thing, Keith seemed like a pretty alright dude. A bit on the temperamental side, but hey, there were humans like that too, so who was he to judge? But Lance was right- he was Galra, or at least, part of him was, so how exactly did he end up fighting against them?
Allura merely frowned at that. "I am afraid you will have to ask Keith that. All I know is that he was a captive of Zarkon's up until around a year ago, when he escaped with the red lion."
For some reason he got the distinct feeling the princess was leaving something out there, but maybe she just wasn't comfortable talking about the guy behind his back. Which... yeah, that was fair.
"I'm guessing he's not a big fan of this Emperor Zarkon then, if he was held captive by him." Lance observed.
"No, not in the least." Allura told him. "That you can trust."
Frowning, Hunk couldn't help but pick up on a slight undercurrent there- it almost sounded like the princess didn't trust Keith. But that couldn't be right, right? I mean- she wouldn't have picked him as a paladin if she didn't trust him, right?
Except, based off what he knew, choosing a paladin didn't seem to work that way.
But no, that didn't make sense either. If the lions chose their own paladin, which was still weird by the way, why would the red lion pick someone that couldn't be trusted? Maybe... maybe the princess was just apprehensive.
Or maybe he was just overthinking things.
Again.
It was a bad habit of his, he'd admit.
"Well, I'll just take your word for it." Lance told her. "So... which hangar was it that I needed to land in again?"
Heaving a slight sigh, Allura indicated which one she meant with her hand. "That one there. It is located inside the spire closest to us. Coran will have opened the hangar door, so you should have no trouble getting in."
"Right, got it." Lance said. "So... we headed back to Altea after this? What's the plan?"
Lance had his head turned, so he probably didn't see what he saw- the look of vivid pain that flashed over the princess' face, for just a second. The way her hands gripped the back of the pilot's seat just a bit too tight. "As much as I would love that," she said, "-I am afraid that simply is not possible."
Oh.
Something- something bad had happened to Altea, hadn't it?
"How come?" Lance asked. "Did the Galra take it over?"
"I nearly wish that were the case." Allura told him. "But I am afraid that it is worse than that. Altea is simply no more."
There was a gravity to her words that nearly sucked the air right out of his lungs. She didn't even need to explain the full story- it wasn't hard to guess that her planet probably hadn't died a natural death. In fact, he'd be willing to bet anything that it had been destroyed by this Galra Empire, which was...
...yeah, that was terrifying to think about.
If the Galra were capable of destroying planets, what was to stop them from destroying Earth? Keith had been right- the faster they got the blue lion off the planet, the better. Maybe this way, Earth would stay off the Galra Empire's radar.
He couldn't even imagine what losing your whole planet was like. Everything you knew, everyone you knew... just gone. He didn't know how long it had been, but based on the way she talked about it, he'd say the pain was still fresh.
"That... that's terrible." Hunk said, feeling foolish even as he said it. It wasn't like it wasn't true, it was terrible, but it just... it didn't feel like enough.
"Yes," closing her eyes, he watched as Allura composed herself, steel taking grief's place when she opened her eyes next, "-it is. Which is why it is so important that we do not allow another planet to suffer the same fate as Altea."
On that point, he agreed.
Once they got back to the Castle of Lions, things happened in a rush.
Allura had nearly blitzed through introducing Hunk and Lance to Coran, eager to get the castle-ship moving again. They had spent far too long on Earth, and with the yellow lion in such a vulnerable position, it was clear that she wanted to make arrangements to obtain it at once.
Which was fair, but she wasn't exactly the biggest fan of being hassled.
Besides, the yellow lion was safe- for now. Te-Osh had promised to inform them the second anything changed, and since they hadn't heard anything from her, likely nothing had.
It was resolved that they would return to Arus for the time being- the Galra Empire had no presence there, so it made sense to use the planet as their base of operations. Thanks to Allura's ability to create wormholes, getting there was no issue.
And she had to admit- watching Lance and Hunk react to that? Priceless.
"Wait, so," Lance began, "-we just what, jumped like several galaxies away?"
"Oh, I'd say it's more than just several." Coran told them. "In fact, I'd say we're pretty much on the opposite end of the universe right now."
"You're telling me we just jumped to the other side of the universe in an instant?" Hunk asked. "How does that even work?"
"Oh well, it's quite simple, really!" Coran told him, one hand stroking his mustache. "You see, the teleduv lenses-"
"As much as I hate to interrupt," Allura cut in, "-but I cannot exactly land the Castle on my own. Coran, if you could?"
"Ah, another time then." Coran said, looking only mildly disappointed at being cut off. "Coming, princess!"
"Looks like this system is still free of any Galra presence." Matt chimed in, before letting his gaze drift. "I mean- except for Keith, that is."
Keith to his credit, merely arched a brow. "What, can't get your own jokes?"
"Uh, I'm stealing them, you know, like a proper space pirate?" Matt pointed out.
"Space pirates don't steal jokes." Keith told him- though she didn't miss the hint of a grin on his face. "Besides, I'm pretty sure Pidge and I are retired now."
"I mean, we did just steal the blue lion, so I wouldn't say we're retired just yet." Pidge cut in. "Besides, we both know that stealing from the Galra is like, a compulsion for you."
Rolling his eyes, Keith shot her a look. "It's not a compulsion. They stole four years of my life from me. I'm just paying them back a little, that's all."
"Sound logic." Matt said. "Or it would be, if you didn't have a criminal record before this."
"I don't have a-!" Keith opened his mouth to protest, before firmly slamming it shut. "...maybe a small one."
Arching a brow, Pidge glanced over towards her brother. From the sound of it, he knew something she didn't- in which case, he really needed to spill.
"Wait, what do you mean, before?"
Oh right. Lance and Hunk were here now.
Coran and the princess mostly seemed content to ignore their conversation. Allura hadn't exactly expressed a lot of interest in Keith's personal life, which was fine by him.
"Nothing you need to know, Lance." Keith told him, watching him with narrowed eyes.
Ah. So it wasn't just Allura he intended to keep out of the loop. She... couldn't say that she didn't expect this, given how he'd reacted to being asked what his non-Galra half was back on Earth, but still- did he really think he could keep it a secret?
No offense to Keith, but she'd figured that he was at least part human out pretty quick. He didn't exactly do much to hide it, and when Allura had confronted him about it, he'd simply admitted it.
So why the sudden need for secrecy?
Actually wait, hold on a second- if Keith had been a cadet at the Garrison once...
Okay. She saw where this was going now.
He was afraid they'd make the connection. Which was fair- but it just seemed like to her that the greater lengths to which he went to hide it, the more obvious it would become that he was, in fact, hiding something. Better to just act natural, that way they didn't suspect that he had anything more to hide.
"Keith," Allura, who apparently had actually been listening with half an ear, merely glanced in his direction. "-I know the matter of your heritage is not an easy one for you to speak of, but if we are to work together as a team, we need to at least have some measure of openness between us."
For a long moment, Keith merely held her gaze- before he let out a defeated sigh, his shoulders slumping. "Fine."
Satisfied with that, Allura fixed her attention back on landing the castle-ship.
Turning back towards Lance and Hunk, Keith watched them for a long moment, tight frown set on his lips. After about a minute, it was clear that the two cadets were starting to become uncomfortable- they didn't know Keith like she did, couldn't tell that all he was trying to do was sort his thoughts, and think of the best way to tell them the truth.
Underneath that cool, mysterious badass exterior, he was just painfully awkward.
"I'm-"
"Keith's half human."
Catching Keith's eye, she merely gave him a shrug. Look, if she left it up to him, this could take all day. Best to just get it out and over with.
"Wait," Lance began, looking between her, then Keith, and then back to her again, "-he's human? You're human?"
"Half human." Keith corrected. "It's not a big deal."
"Wait so," Hunk began, "-is that- is that what the Galra came to Earth for?"
"The first time." Keith replied. "I don't know much about it."
Lance and Hunk exchanged a glance, like they were debating whether to believe that or not. She felt her brow furrow- sure, Keith didn't like talking about himself, but that didn't mean he wasn't honest where he could be. He actually kind of stunk at lying, impressive, considering he was a space pirate and all.
If he said he didn't know what his mother was doing on Earth, then she believed him.
Did that mean he didn't have theories? Probably. But she was willing to believe he didn't know for sure.
Besides, this was Keith's mom. Galra or not, she couldn't picture her as being bad.
"So uh," Lance began, "-is Keith like, your real name, then?"
"No, it's Yorak." Keith told them, rolling his eyes. "Yes, it's my real name. You got a problem with that?"
"I mean, it's just not very alien." Hunk told him. "Which I guess, since you're half human is fine, I mean, I guess your human parent named you? Was- was it your mother? Your father? How human are you?"
"My father." Keith told him, words clipped. "Half."
"So how did your parents-"
"Like I said, I don't know." Keith cut Lance off, shooting him a glare. "It doesn't matter."
"Paladins," Allura cut them off, putting a halt to any further questions, likely on purpose, "-we have landed."
So they had. Glancing over towards Keith, she couldn't help but notice that he looked grateful for the change of focus. He caught her eye, frowning at her- he looked a bit miffed, but eh, he'd get over it. She knew him well enough to know that.
"Matt," Allura said, "-do you suppose you could contact Te-Osh? We may need her help in getting the yellow lion."
"Not a problem." Matt assured her. "I'll see what I can do."
Nodding her head, Allura turned her focus on Lance and Hunk next. "While Matt is doing that, Coran will show you to where you will be staying while you are here."
"Are you sure you won't need us?" Lance asked.
"In time, yes." Allura told him. "But it will take some time to form a solid plan, so in the meantime, you should take the chance to familiarize yourselves with the Castle of Lions."
Glancing over at Hunk, Lance merely shrugged his shoulders. "Sounds good to me."
"If you don't need me for anything, princess," Keith cut in, "-I'm going to check on the red lion."
Ah, so he was in a bad mood. She couldn't say that she was surprised, exactly.
"Yes, of course." Allura said- and judging from her frown, it looked like she wasn't the only one to pick up on Keith's mood. "Pidge, you are also free to do as you wish. I will stay here on the bridge, and try to work things out with Matt and Te-Osh."
"Fine with me." Pidge said with a shrug. "I was hoping to get some repairs done on our ship anyways. It took a bit of a beating during the fight with Sendak."
Sure, they didn't really need it now, but hey- she'd gotten a bit attached to the old girl. It had held up through more close calls than she cared to count. Best to make sure she was in prime condition, just in case.
If there was one thing that being a space pirate had taught her, it was that it was best to take advantage of downtime when you had it.
With nearly everyone gone from the bridge, Allura allowed herself a moment to sigh.
She nearly thought Matt too busy to notice, but no sooner than had she done so, did he look up from his work. Something about putting the transponder code directly into the castle-ship's system, so that he could contact Te-Osh whenever he wanted.
"Everything okay, princess?"
Turning back towards him, she gave him a small smile, if not one that was a bit on the weary side. "Yes, just a bit tired, that's all."
"You can sit down, if you want." Matt told her. He set up camp at the green paladin's chair- not that she was about to tell him to move. He was, after all, the green paladin's brother, so he had just as much right to it as she did, in that sense. "It might take me a little longer to finish this."
"Thank you, but I will be fine." Allura assured him. "If anything, I am just concerned about the success of our mission."
Our mission.
Perhaps that was a bit presumptuous of her. Yes, he was the older brother of the green paladin, but that did not mean he would be around forever. He had a family back on Earth, and once he found his father, she couldn't imagine any reason why he would choose to stay.
Not when Earth had been so blessedly peaceful.
It had almost made her heart ache, but at the same time, she was grateful to see a pocket of the universe that still remained safe. Waking to learn that the Galra Empire had conquered so much of it was like living in a nightmare, so if there were people out there who were still spared of it, she could only be happy for them.
She could only hope that it would remain so.
"Getting the yellow lion, you mean?" Matt asked.
"Well yes, that," Allura began, "-but also the bigger mission, of reforming Voltron."
"I'm guessing you can't do that without all five paladins." Matt observed.
"I am afraid not." Allura told him. "And I am afraid that when it comes to finding paladins, I am all out of ideas."
It was truly a conundrum. Finding the blue paladin on the same planet as the blue lion was a stroke of luck, but not one that she expected to repeat itself. She could use the Castle to determine the location of the lions, but the same could not be said of their paladins.
If only it were that simple.
But she had already known that reforming Voltron would be no easy task. Even if she managed to find paladins for all the lions, there was no telling if they would be able to work together or not. Already she'd seen signs of strife between Keith and Lance, and if she didn't figure out some way to deal with that, then forming Voltron might truly be impossible.
She knew having a Galra on the team would complicate things. It was not as if she blamed Keith for it, but if she was being realistic- then yes, it did.
She was starting to understand that though he was Galra, there was more to him than that. His strange quintessence was still troubling her- she could only hope that it wouldn't cause any problems in the future.
She didn't know what she would do if it got in the way of forming Voltron.
"What about Hunk?" Matt asked.
Blinking, Allura felt her brow furrow. "What about Hunk?"
"What if he's the yellow paladin?" Matt asked. "I mean- the yellow lion is the other leg, right? You said something about Pidge and Keith being drawn together by destiny, so maybe the legs were too?"
Frowning, Allura considered it. "I suppose you could be on to something. I believe Lance said something about the two of them being childhood friends."
It wasn't quite the same dramatic destiny that had drawn the arms of Voltron together, but one could say that it was still a destiny in and of itself. That Hunk had ended up in space with them... perhaps she should not be so quick to dismiss it as a coincidence.
"Maybe you could test him, like you did with Pidge?" Matt asked.
It took her a moment to determine what he was referring to. When she had connected with the red lion, she had done so in order to find the other lions- an attempt which had ultimately failed, leading her instead to the green paladin. Still, it had not been her intention to test Pidge- it had simply ended up that way.
Besides, she didn't think that would work, not this time. Yes, Hunk had flown in the blue lion, but it had only been rather briefly. Pidge, in comparison, had spent half a year flying alongside Keith in the red lion, during which time it had been able to familiarize itself with her.
Still...
"Perhaps there is a way." Allura mused. "Matt, I believe our transmission to Te-Osh will have to wait, for at least a little while longer."
"Got an idea?" Matt asked.
"As a matter of fact, I do."
"Paladins," Allura's voice came over the intercom, nearly giving him a start, "-I apologize for the short notice, but I need you all to gather in the armory."
"Well that didn't take long." Lance couldn't help but remark, brows furrowed in mild confusion. "I literally just put my bag down."
At least he had a bag to put down, some part of Hunk couldn't help but think. But hey- coming here had been his choice, he couldn't fault anyone else for it. Pidge's mom had tried to help him back, it wasn't her fault that they didn't have any clothes lying around that would really fit him.
Maybe there was like... a space department store or something?
"Yeah, I thought we were going to have a longer break?" Hunk frowned. Granted, he'd been known to get things wrong, but he was pretty sure that this was supposed to be longer than it was. "Also, if she's asking for paladins, does she need me too? And also, where's the armory?"
Lance just blinked, staring at him blankly. "You're asking me?"
Shrugging his shoulders, Hunk gave him a helpless expression. "I mean, Coran just left, so-"
Frowning, Lance stuck his head outside of his room. "Coran!"
"Coming, Lance!" Coran's voice piped up from around the corner, and sure enough, not a second later, there was the man himself. "Right, the armory, yes?"
"Uh, yeah." Lance said. "Why do you think the princess wants us all of a sudden?"
"Oh, likely to give you your bayards, if she's calling you to the armory!" Coran remarked. "Not to mention your armor. Not sure about the timing though. Could be that it just didn't cross her mind until now."
"Bayards?" Hunk asked. "Also armor? Being a paladin requires armor?"
"Well of course!" Coran said. "How else do you expect to survive in space if you suddenly get ejected from your lion?"
"Wait so, it's like a spacesuit?" Lance asked- which okay, yeah, that made way more sense than what he was picturing. He didn't understand why they wouldn't just call it that, but hey- maybe- maybe it was like, a space thing. "Also, what's a bayard?"
Frowning, Coran merely arched a brow. "Hm. I take it Allura didn't have much time to brief the two of you on paladin matters."
"Yeah, you could say that." Lance said.
"Technically, I'm not a paladin, so..." Hunk trailed off.
"No matter!" Coran assured him. "I'm sure the princess won't mind if you tag along."
Exchanging a glance with Lance, he just shrugged his shoulders. That seemed to settle the matter, and in short order, Coran had guided them to the armory. He noticed with a slight wince that they were the last two there- everyone else was already waiting.
Including Keith.
He hoped it was just the bags under his eyes that made it look that way, and Keith wasn't actually half as grumpy as he seemed. As if sensing it, Keith caught his gaze, and Hunk felt himself flinch as he narrowed his eyes.
Yep, definitely grumpy.
Maybe pressing him with all those questions hadn't been such a good idea.
Giving him a nervous smile, he made a mental note to apologize later, before hurriedly fixing his gaze on Allura instead. At least she looked happy to see them, though he could have sworn that she locked eyes with him for like, half a second.
Was he- was he not supposed to be here after all?
Maybe he was just overthinking things. After all, Matt was here too, and so far as he knew, he wasn't a paladin either, so maybe Coran was right, and the princess didn't mind him being here. Maybe she just hadn't expected to see him. Yeah- yeah, that had to be it.
"Thought you said you needed us, princess." Keith's tone was curt, irritated, even.
Briefly frowning at his tone, Allura otherwise seemed to pay it no mind. Maybe she was just used to it.
"I was simply waiting until you were all here." Allura told him, nodding her head in their direction. "Now that you are, I can present to you your suits of armor."
That's when he finally noticed them.
Honestly, he didn't know how he'd missed them before. Ranging in a half circle behind the princess were five glass cases, in which several suits of armor were contained. They were definitely a far cry from what he'd pictured when Coran had said armor, which was probably a good thing, since he didn't think a clunky metal suit would like, be very helpful for surviving in space.
Even Keith looked properly impressed.
"Go on," the princess said, giving them an encouraging nod, "-try them on."
Lance didn't even hesitate. Pulling on the white and blue armor, he beamed, white teeth flashing against his skin, striking a pose he was pretty sure he thought was heroic. "Well? Is this a good look for me or what?"
"Or what." Keith supplied.
"Nobody asked you, Keith." Lance snapped, narrowing his eyes. "I don't see you putting yours on."
It was true. He hadn't even budged. He was right where he was before, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed in front of him. Even Pidge was trying hers on.
(Amazingly enough, it fit.)
"I don't like changing in front of people." Keith told him. "I'll try it on later."
Clearing her throat, Allura interjected before Lance got the chance to say anything back. "There is one more thing I would like to show you all."
He watched as the princess pressed her hand against a panel, giving way to reveal what had to be the bayards Coran mentioned within. Huh- that was weird, though. There were five suits of armor, but only four bayards- where was the black one?
Maybe the leader got something different?
The black lion was the leader, right? He hadn't heard that wrong, had he? I mean, it was supposed to be the head, so... that sounded like leader to him.
"The bayard," Allura began, "-is the traditional weapon of the paladins of Voltron. It takes on a distinct shape for each paladin."
He watched with awe as the blue and green bayards floated up, drifting towards their respective paladins. The remaining two, red and yellow, stayed where they were. Noticing it, Allura frowned, before picking up the red bayard herself, actively handing it to Keith.
"Let me guess," Lance said, "-it's because someone isn't wearing their armor."
"Like I said, I don't like changing in front of people." Keith hissed.
"And there is nothing wrong with that." Allura said simply, pressing the red bayard into Keith's hand before he so much as had a chance to refuse. "The bayard reacts to the paladin, not the armor."
Frowning, Keith took the bayard from her, turning it over in his hands. Eyes darting up, he watched as Pidge and Lance took theirs, causing Hunk to shift his gaze as well.
Which- whoa, yeah, glad he did.
Pidge's bayard didn't change much, what looked like a glowing blade fixing itself to it. Lance's, on the other hand, changed into some kind of rifle, the newly minted blue paladin letting out a whoop at the sight of it, wasting no time in posing with it.
Okay- yeah, he'd admit it. That was cool.
Turning his head, Hunk frowned. Keith's was the only one that hadn't changed, and it was clear from the expression on his face that he was getting frustrated.
Allura noticed it too.
"Keith?" She asked. "Is something the matter?"
"I don't know." Keith admitted. "It's not working."
"What did you do, break it?" Lance asked.
"I didn't break it." Keith hissed, baring his teeth, glittering sharp against his skin. "It's just not working."
"Strange." Allura frowned. "Might I see it?"
Wordlessly, Keith thrust the red bayard back towards her. Taking it in her hands, Allura turned it over, studying it with a curious expression. "I do not see anything wrong with it, but it has been ten thousand years since it was last used. Perhaps it needs a bit of repair. Coran?"
"Yes, princess?" Coran asked, looking up.
"Do you think you could have a look at this for me?" Allura asked.
"I'm afraid not, princess." Coran told her. "Your father made those bayards. I'm afraid I don't understand a thing about them."
"It's fine." Keith said. "I can just use my knife."
Huh. If he didn't know any better, there was some kind of underlying tension beneath this whole conversation. Was it that bad if Keith couldn't use his bayard?
"Perhaps try it again, when you do decide to try on your armor." Allura told him, passing the red bayard back to Keith, who took it with no small amount of hesitation. "But if it still does not work after that, be sure to let me know."
Giving her a curt nod of his head, Keith wordlessly clipped the bayard to his belt, apparently choosing to ignore it for the time being. Eyes darting up, he seemed to catch him staring, causing him to look away with a jerk.
Just in time to see Pidge electrocute Lance.
"Yeah," Pidge said with a grin that could only be described as wicked, "-it is pretty cute."
Holding up a hand from where he had collapsed on a floor, Lance just gave her a thumbs up. "Yep, okay. I admit it, I should have seen that coming."
Thankful for the distraction, Hunk trotted over, extending a hand to Lance. He gratefully took it, using it to haul himself to his feet, shaking off the last traces of electric shock. "Man, that thing packs a punch!"
"I wonder if I can adjust the voltage." Pidge observed. "I've built my fair share of stun guns, so I know that the sentries that the Galra Empire use short out once you hit a certain frequency. And since Lance is still standing, I'm guessing that wasn't it."
"Wha-" Lance opened his mouth, "-you shocked me with that thing without knowing what voltage it was at?!"
Pidge simply smirked. "Space pirate."
"Also you've been making fun of her partner in crime like, this entire time." Hunk added.
"Wha- Hunk, whose side are you on?" Lance asked, sounding betrayed.
"I'm on the side that involves not getting shocked." Hunk said, not missing the way Pidge preened out of the corner of his eye. "Because in case you haven't noticed, I do not have a cool suit of armor to protect me."
"Actually, about that, Hunk," Allura began, catching his attention, "-I was wondering if you could maybe try something for me?"
Turning back to look at her, he frowned. "Uh, that depends. Does it involve me getting shocked?"
"No shocks involved, I promise." Allura told him, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "Do you think you could try the yellow bayard for me?"
And there was that record scratch sound again.
"Uh, you mean the bayard that's for the yellow paladin?" Hunk asked.
"Is there another one?" Allura inquired, the question sounding so innocent.
"No, I just uh-" Hunk frowned, shifting on his feet, "-I mean, I guess?"
"Wonderful!" Allura exclaimed, scooping it up from where it lay, before thrusting it at him.
Staring down at it, Hunk's brows furrowed. If he didn't know any better, he'd say the princess was expecting it to react to him. But like- there was no way that was right, right? I mean, the yellow bayard was for the yellow paladin, and that wasn't him- heck, he wasn't even a pilot.
Chewing on his lip, he took the bayard with some hesitation. Maybe she just wanted to test it? Maybe since Keith's was apparently broken, she was worried this one might be too?
No sooner than had he taken it, did it flash, causing him to let out a yelp as its weight nearly doubled. Grunting, he stared down at his hands, feeling no small amount of shock to notice that the tiny bayard had somehow changed shape into what could only be described as some kind of a cannon, heavy in his hands.
Allura looked thrilled.
Hunk just felt his stomach drop.
Oh no.
"Hunk," Allura told him, "-you are the yellow paladin."
Yep, that was exactly what he didn't want to hear.