Hey guys! This will probably be the last chapter of the year ;) So happy New Years and I hope you all had a happy holiday :)
Pheylix
Lance tapped his fingers against his bayard as he followed Shiro through the snowy field.
"Do we have a plan for when we need to get back to the ship?" Lance asked as he continued looking around.
"Well... hopefully once we're ready to go Keith and Pidge would've already helped one of our lions so we can just call for them." Shiro answered as he trudged through the snow.
"And if they're not back in time?" Lance asked as he felt a knot in his stomach begin to form.
Shiro was silent as he scanned the map, "I'm sure the others are working on getting in contact with us right now."
Lance nodded, and then realising that he was walking behind Shiro, replied with, "You're probably right.. I'm just being paranoid and it doesn't help thay I've been on edge recently."
Shiro stopped and turned to Lance, "Why are you on edge?"
Lance bit his lip as he realised what he just said, "Oh.. um well it was my youngest brothers birthday the other day and it's the first year that I haven't... been there." Lance sighed.
Shiro placed his hand on Lance's shoulder, "I'm sure that if he knew what you were doing, he would be proud of you."
Lance shrugged, "I guess.. I just.. nevermind, it doesn't matter."
Shiro began asking what was wrong but Lance waved it off as he began to walk towards the forest again.
Lance mentally kicked himself for slipping up like that in front of Shiro. He knew that he souldn't be annoyed with himself for expressing how he felt but it just didn't seem right for the goofball to be all vulnerable and crap like that in front of his hero.
oOOo
"Allura!" Hunk called as he stared at the screens in front of him.
Allura was by his side instantly, "What is it?"
"Okay, okay, don't panic but as I was looking for Lance and Shiro I discovered something about Pheylix." Hunk said as he showed her the planet.
"You see, it's a very old planet and even though it's coated in snow and ice, its core is a star that is about to supernova."
Allura's face fell as she took in what Hunk just told her. She placed her face in her hands and took a deep breath before looking back at the screens.
"I can't believe we sent them to a bomb planet." She muttered as her hands flew over the controls.
"Luckily, I just found a way to contact them- can you track how long they have before the planet explodes?" Allura asked Hunk.
He nodded and hastily turned to the screens.
"Coran!" Allura called, her eyes glued to the screen.
Coran ran in, "Yes, what is it?"
"How is the tonic going?" Allura asked.
"Fine fine, except I'm missing a very important ingredient that is luckily found on Pheylix." Coran replied.
"No!" Allura slammed her fists on the controls, "We need Lance and Shiro to get off of that planet as soon as possible!"
Coran stared at her in shock, "What do you mean?"
"She means that the planet is going to supernova in 3 hours!" Hunk exclaimed.
Coran's face went blank, "Oh dear."
Allura pinched the bridge of her nose, "Is there anywhere else they can get the.. what was it?"
Coran shook his head, "Elem leaves are vital to the tonic and are only found on Pheylix trees... Which I see is not in our best interests at the moment.. this is turning quite disastrous..."
Allura frowned, her brow crinkled in concern.
"Got it!" Hunk yelled.
"Got what?" Allura huffed.
"A signal! We can contact Lance and Shiro!
"Thank goodness." Allura sighed as Hunk contacted them.
oOOo
"Paladins? Paladins, can you here me?"
Shiro looked up, "Allura?"
"Yes, yes it's me.. Are you both alright?"
"Perfect shape princess.. can't say the same for our pod though." Lance replied.
"Yes.. sorry about that but I'm afraid I have more bad news.."
Lance looked at Shiro before asking what it was.
Allura hastily explained the supernova and that they only had 3 hours to get the crystals.
Shiro sighed, "Alright.. we better get going, have you found a way for us to get back yet?"
"We're working on it but-" Allura started before being interrupted by Hunk.
"Yeah, working on it but Coran also realised he needs these leaves called Elem leaves? Yeah.. anyway they're these yellow petal leaves from the trees and we really need them for the tonic so as much as I hate the idea, can you guys get them?"
Lance huffed, "That's great. This is all just great."
"We'll get them Hunk, don't worry. We will try to stay in contact but we have to go now." Shiro said.
"Okay, goodluck and please be safe you guys!" Hunk replied.
"You got it, buddy." Lance said as the two began walking towards the forest again.
oOOo
Lance stared in awe at the forest. It was filled with the most vibrant green and it seemed to flow effortlessly into the snow. Lance frowned as he thought about how this planet wasn't going to exist tomorrow.
"Lance.. you coming?" Shiro asked.
Lance brought his attention back to Shiro, "Yeah, yeah I'm coming."
Shiro nodded and began walking into the forest.
"Do you think we should split up?" Shiro asked after a while of mindlessly walking.
"What? No! Definitely not, something bad always happens when people split up." Lance replied.
Shiro frowned, "But we have a limited amount of time to find the crystals and the leaves. All I'm saying is that it would be easier to split up."
Lance tapped his foot as he thought about what Shiro said, "I don't know.. I see what you mean but it just seems to risky."
"Staying on this planet is already a huge risk, we can handle it and we'll stay in contact." Shiro responded.
Lance sighed, "Alright.. okay I'll go look for the leaves while you go find the crystals.. just send like an okay message every five minutes."
Shirl nodded, "Meet you at the edge of the forest, soon."
The two paladins separated, causing Lance to feel even more on edge.
"What did they look like again?" Lance asked Hunk through his coms.
"They're like these thick, yellow leaves that kind of look like flower petals and they're found around the base of those really tall trees." Hunk responded.
"Really tall trees? Hunk, all the trees are tall." Lance said.
"Oh, right. Um these trees are mostly all trunk- like they have no leaves except for the Elem leaves." Hunk said.
Lance chuckled, "I bet they look stupid."
"Yeah.. I just nodded- also their trunks are very light so you should be able to spot them." Hunk replied.
"Cool, thanks buddy, see you later." Lance said.
"Bye."
Lance stumbled forward as the ground shook, revealing glowing cracks through the ground.
Crap.. Lance thought.
"Shiro, did you feel that?" Lance asked as he held onto a tree for support.
"Yeah... we better hurry, did you find anything yet?" Shiro responded.
"No.. I think I see the tree though, how about you?" Lance asked.
"I think I'm getting close... just keep going, we're running out of time." Shiro replied.
Lance nodded and continued forward.
He had infact seen the tree ahead of him, as he was now standing at the base of it.
Lance kneeled down and started to dig through the dirt.
"There you are." Lance sighed as he picked the leaves up. He stared at them in shock. They seemed to glow and shimmer. Lance could feel the heat from the ground increase as he stood up. He quickly placed the leaves into the blue capsule that Coran had given him and attached it to the top of his jet pack.
"I found the leaves, how are you doing?" Lance asked as he slowly made his descent back to level ground.
"I'm in the area where they should be... I'll update you when I find them." Shiro responded, his voice tense as he crawled through the small tunnel that they grew in.
Lance sighed, feeling a little hopeful.
Lance yelled out as the ground shook and caused him to fall forward down the hill. His vision blurred as he crashed through the trees.
Lance skidded to a halt at the base of a tree, his head spining.
He grunted as he urged himself up into a sitting position. Lance held his chest as he breathed, flinching as he felt an intense pain in his side.
Lance looked down and felt his heart drop at the sight of his side. He could see a jagged rock sticking out of his side, tacky with blood.
Lance let out a shakey breath as his hands fumbled around the rock.
His breath hitched as he pulled the rock out of his side. He immediately regreted it as blood began to flow out of the wound.
"No, no, no..." Lance gasped as he pressed his hand into his side and looked around widly. He noticed some vines hanging from the tree above him.
Lance gathered up some large leaves and pressed them into his side. He then pushed himself up against the tree and slowly made his way to his feet. He reached up with his left hand and ripped down some of the vines. Lance then tied the vines around his middle tightly, securing the leaves and creating a makeshift bandage.
Lance leaned against the tree and breathed deeply as his head swam.
"Come on Lance.. you gotta keep going." He muttered as he pushed off the tree. He kept his left arm wrapped around his middle as he stumbled forwards.
"Lance!" Shiro called, making Lance flinch.
"Yeah?" Lance asked weakly.
"I found the crystals- are you okay?" Shiro responded.
"Uh.. I just took a nasty fall.." Lance replied.
"Are you hurt?" Shiro asked, concern thick in his voice.
Lance closed his eyes and leaned against a rock, "I.. yeah.. I should be fine once we.. get back.. to the ship.."
"Okay, hold on, I'm coming to you." Shiro instructed.
Lance slid down the rock and rested his head against it.
"Stay awake.." He whispered as he took deep breaths, his side screaming in protest.
Lance looked down and groaned as he saw the blood seeping through his makeshift bandages.
He slowly changed out the leaves and packed more over the wound, securing them tighter.
oOOo
Lance snapped his eyes open as he heard his name being called.
He looked around and noticed that it was Shiro's voice.
"Shiro?" Lance called out, his voice raspy.
"Lance?" Shiro yelled out as he ran towards the sound.
Lance sighed and then felt his breath hitch as he heard the ground cracking.
"Lance!" Shiro exclaimed as he caught sight of Lance.
Lance's eyes widened as the cracks began to glow, "Shiro wai-" Lance was cut off my an explosion as the cracks burst, throwing Shiro off to the side.
Lance skidded sideways, getting the air knocked out of him as he smacked into a tree. His ears rung and his side screamed as he stood up and stumbled forward.
Lance felt his heart skip a beat as he saw the huge crater now present in the ground.
"S-Shiro?!" Lance called as he stumbled around it.
"SHIRO?!" Lance yelled, feeling the panic take over.
Lance ran through the trees, searching for his teammate. He gasped as he found him laying on his back far away from the crater.
"No no no!" Lance exclaimed as he skidded to his knees and checked Shiro's pulse. He breathed out in relief as he felt it under his fingertips but that relief was replaced with panic as he realized the state Shiro was in.
His chest plate was burnt and cracked and Lance could see blood running down the side of Shiro's face. Lance guessed he had broken some ribs and his suit was charred.
Lance could hear the hammering of his heart in his ears as he stared at his hero.
"What do I do? What do I do??" Lance repeated as he felt hot tears spring into his eyes.
"Paladins!" Allura's voice cut through Lance's comms.
"Princess?" Lance gasped.
"We are coming to get you, Your jetpacks should be able to propel you into space where we will pick you up but you bave to get far away from the planet as you only have half an hour before it explodes." Allura instructed.
Lance nodded, "I'll try but-" Lance was cut off by static as he lost contact, "Allura?? Hunk?? Hello?"
Static.
"NO!" Lance screamed. He wildly looked around and gasped as he noticed the glowing cracks beneath him.
He felt his heart skip a beat and hastily grabbed Shiro under his arms and began dragging him away from the cracks.
"Come on! Please! I can't- I can't do this alone- Please!!" Lance yelled as he struggled to pull his leader. His side roared in protest. Lance caught sight of the growing cracks and threw himself on top of Shiro, trying to protect him.
Lance felt himself propelled away from the ground as another explosion occured. He gripped onto Shiro as he spun out of control. Lance screamed as he lost his grip when he hit the ground, feeling the air knocked out of him. His face plate took most of the damage as Lance collided with the ground.
His vision blurred and he coughed up blood onto his cracked visor. It was completely smashed and there was a piece missing but he was still breathing.
"Air!" Lance gasped as he ripped his helmet off, giving way to the frigid air.
Lance went numb to it instantly. He dropped his helmet and ran over to Shiro. Realisation hit him as he kneeled next to his friend.
"Come on, come on!" Lance yelled as he flipped Shiro onto his stomach.
Lance reached behind him and took off his capsule and attached it to Shiro's. Lance carved a messaged onto the blue capsule before locking it in.
"You're probably going to be mad at me for this... but only one of us can get to space, and if you think about it.. it works out this way.. you're the leader... I'm just the.. goofball." Lance muttered as he ripped off the cover of the jet pack. He rewired the jetpack to go off in one minute and keep going until it lost power. Lance hastily placed the plate back on and pulled Shiro to his feet.
Lance felt his knees buckle but held Shiro upright.
"Come on!" He yelled as tears rolled down his face, freezing to his skin.
"COME ON!!" Lance screamed as he squeezed his eyes shut. He heard the jetpack start and released Shiro as he left the ground.
Lance watched his ascend into space, his chest tight, "Forgive me for this.." He muttered.
Lance held onto his side as he picked up his helmet and sat down. He could hear distant explosions as he closed his eyes. Despite the snow, the dying planet felt warm under his hands.
Lance allowed his memories to race through his head as he listened to the planet.
He saw the first time he met Hunk and Pidge.. Blue.. The first time they formed voltron.. So many battles they fought together.. Bonding moments..
Lance gave a sad smile as he felt his tears escape his closed eyes.
His smile faded as he remembered his family. His mom, dad, brothers and sisters...
Lance's eyes snapped open, "I'm not leaving them."
He grabbed his helmet and ignoring the burning in his side, raced towards the icey blue waters. He skidded through the snow and felt his legs go numb but kept running as the planet gave off explosions around him.
Lance stumbled to a halt as he came to the edge of the water.
"Please.. come on.." He whispered as he dipped the face of his helmet into the water. He quickly retracted it and watched as it instantly froze over, creating a new screen.
Lance stared in shock, "Okay.. okay I can do this.." Lance positioned himself so that he could dip his side into the water. The right side of his body from his under arm to his waist froze.
"Ahh.. okay, okay.." Lance gasped.
He awkwardly stood up and placed his helmet on his head. His suit activated and even though he couldn't see, he would be able to breath.
Lance shook out his hands as he heard the familiar cracks of the ground. He felt it heat up beneath his feet and counted to three.
On three Lance pushed off of the ground and rocketed up into the sky. The ground exploded and propelled him higher.
Lance felt his breathing become uneven as he broke through the atmosphere and entered space.
He closed his eyes as his head swam. He felt the heat of the dying planet radiate to him as he flew away.
"I'm coming.." Lance whispered as he drifted out of consciousness.
oOOo
Yeah yeah I'm evil yadda yadda yadda. Also none of this is scientifically correct but ya know aliens so yeah, whatever happens, works :)