Chapter eight

Though Pidge had said nothing, her actions spoke louder than words. When they broke apart, Shiro lifted his knee up as if to get up. Pidge tenderly took his forearms encouraging him to stand, once up she took his hand and led him away out of the lion. The others looked at each other quizzically before following suit.

The Green Paladin sat the distressed Black Paladin down in his chair, then took out her laptop, just as the team caught up with them. Sitting on the arm of the chair next to Shiro, Pidge typed something and set the computer in his lap. The team remained silent, watching them. Shiro's depressed expression stared at the screen. For a moment, Pidge wondered if he was actually looking at what she wrote. She finally got her answer when Shiro slowly began to type something. The team drew closer to read over his shoulder what was being done. On the screen read Pidge's message:

"Keith is missing, but that doesn't mean he's gone. We're going to find him. We just need to figure out what happened."

Shiro's response was just under it:

"How could lose him so easily? Where could he have gone? How did he get separated from his lion? And why hasn't the Red lion gone to rescue him?"

Pidge took the computer and typed:

"I don't know. But we won't rest til we find him."

Reading this he looked up doubtfully, but Pidge returned a tender smile; placing a hand on his shoulder. Shiro's look of doubt became a slight smile, as he placed a hand on top of hers. The Green Paladin then looked up at the rest of the group.

"We need to start figuring out what happened to Keith." She said simply.

A Paladin's sight faded in and out of darkness, blinking a few times his vision cleared. His back ached and his head felt heavy. It thumped when he tried to stand. His black hair was plastered to his neck and face from sweating. How long had he been out? And where were the others? Had they been captured? And where were Shiro and the Black lion? All questions running through Keith's mind. Having become accustom to the dim light, he scanned to walls; which informed him of his location.

"Great!" Keith cursed under his breath. Just then footsteps could be heard in the hall outside, they stopped and the door opened. The dark silhouette of the witch was cut out of light that emanated from down the hallway. The witch remained where she stood as to soldiers stepped around her and entered the cell. Keith struggled against them, but the pain in his back screamed at him; dragging him down in his efforts of escape.

"Did anyone get a visual of where Keith went?" Pidge asked the group.

"I caught a glimpse of him heading toward the Glara's main ship." Allura confirmed. "But he disappeared behind the ship and I don't know what happened after that." Shiro typed something and Pidge leaned down to read it.

"He says he noticed that Keith was gone and when he tried to look for him the Galra fighters had him pinned down. And then the tractor beam caught him." Pidge said, standing at her full height again.

"So something may have happened to him." Lance figured.

"Duh, Lance." Pidge scoffed, her crossed arms and annoyed expression indicating her distaste for his obvious comment. "But what did happen?" She adopted her thinking face in saying this. Shiro could tell they were thinking about Keith, and racked his brain for ideas as to where Keith could have gone. But then it hit him and his eyes widened, his fingers finding the right keys in no time. He, himself, was amazed he could type that fast, since he really wasn't that 'techy' as the other Paladins called it. And he knew that they were right, he couldn't believe how computer-savvy some kids were these days. Especially Pidge, she had impressed him from the very beginning, and still does so. Shiro had never known a more versatile computer genius. She never ceased to amaze him with her intellect and tech-savvi...ness, if that was even a word. Pidge read his words, and slammed her palm into her forehead.

"Of course!!" She said aloud. "Keith must have gone after Zarkon alone." Pidge's brain suddenly caught up with her words, and the meaning of this became clear. "But then that means..." she trailed off, unable to bring herself to finished her thought.

"No!" Allura breathed, her eyes widening. "There's no way!!"

Cries of agony forced their way into the otherwise empty air. The weak Paladin slumped against the shackles holding him against the table, as the shock died down again.

"If you will not tell us what we want to know, we will take further, more extreme, measures of interrogation." Haggar snarled in his ear.

"I.. won't tell you.. anything!!" Keith snapped back, between labored breaths. His eyes bore into hers almost as sharply as hers into his. Anger bubbled up in the witch, her frustration of his resistance beginning to get on her nerves. She silently called for another shock and Keith's cries rang out in the small room. As his body relaxed, yet again, Haggar spoke again.

"If you will not give in, well see too it that the rings will." The emphasis on those two words was all Keith needed to know, to understand what she meant.

"Keith can't be gone!!" Allura insisted. "It isn't possible!! He's a Paladin of Voltron! And apart of this team!"

"Which is exactly why they would take him out." Pidge insisted for the third time.

"Wait, hold on guys!" Hunk put his hands up in front of him, as he stepped up between the two girls. "Why are we just assuming that Keith's dead?"

"Because they wouldn't waste their time on him!!" Pidge shouted in her ugly frustration.

"Yeah, but why not?" Hunk questioned further. "I mean, when they took Shiro he wasn't a Paladin. And when they took Allura, they didn't kill her on the spot; like we thought they would. So why would they do that to Keith?" Pidge was bursting at the seams. Rage boiling up in her about to burst, when the realization of Hunk's reason put a stop to the bubbling anger in her heart.

"Wait, you're right?!" She realized finally. "They wouldn't just kill him on the spot."

"But when the Galra captured Allura they kept her, because she knew where the lions were; and were gonna use her against us to get them." Lance pointed out. "And Shiro was taken by them, because he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Yes, but now that we're all Paladins of Voltron, we may have information that is of use to them. Or we're a bargaining chip for the Lions." Pidge explained.

"True." Lance concluded. "But then what do we do?" The clicking of keys broke the silence. Pidge leaned over and around his shoulder to read Shiro's message.

"Have you been hearing us?" Pidge asked him, pointing to her ears. Shiro shook his head. "Wow you're good." The Green Paladin commented giving him a thumbs up. "Shiro's got a plan." She told the others, glancing up.

Darkness turned to light was a door slid open, making the person standing before it shield his eyes from the sudden light. The bellow of the crowd sent chills up Keith's spine. So this is what it was like for Shiro. He thought. The sentry handed him a sword and gave him a shove out into the open arena. The four pillars marking where he was to fight. He strode gingerly forward as the crowd booed him. Blinking in the light, he could see that the stands were filled with Galra, all here to see his demise. Once standing inside the large square at the center of the giant arena, he gazed around at the crowd. A noise caught his attention as a door on the opposite side of the ring slowly went up; revealing his first opponent...

..."Keith will most likely be in the central command ship." Pidge read Shiro's typed message.

"Psh, duh." Lance scoffed sarcastically. Pidge shot him a distasteful scowl, then went on.

"Shiro says we need to act 'under the radar' to get Keith back. If the Galra find us out, they might try to use him to get the lions. And we can't let that happen."

"Yes, but we have to find out where Galra central command is, if we're going to sneak onto it." Allura agreed.

"Well we can try to get a fix on their location, with our long range scanners." Coran suggested, pulling up the protocol.

"But what if they're too far away?" Hunk asked, shrugging.

"Then we'll just have to keep moving til we find it." Pidge decided, pulling up the ship's position on the map. Shiro wrote more:

"Too risky." It read.

"But then how are we gonna find him!" Pidge wondered. Shiro blinked, still unable to understand moving lips.

"Right." Pidge typed her question down, realizing his confusion.

Shiro thought a moment before getting up and silently walking away.

"Shiro?" Hunk asked just standing there, blindsided by this response. Pidge wasted no time in following him, neither did Lance. They sprinted after the Black Paladin; Hunk, Allura, and Coran not far behind. Though everyone had to run to catch up, Shiro remained at a slow stroll. Though his body on a mission, his stride was smooth and calm. The hanger bay door retracted back before him and he slowly approached the red lion, which was still sprawled on the ground from the earlier battle. The Paladins finally caught up with him, stopping a few feet away from him. They all gazed past him at the decapitated lion, its eyes dark and lifeless without its Paladin. It remained on its side with its legs crossed over each other, it's mouth slightly open. Shiro turned so his shoulder was perpendicular to them and the lion. He pointed at Red and then faced them. He pointed two fingers down and covered them with his other hand, grasping them together. Then finally he pointed to his head. Coran fiddled with his mustache in thought. Allura took on an awkward stance, rubbing her foot behind her other ankle. Hunk and Lance stared at him blankly. And Pidge thought with her hand to her chin, with her elbow supported by her other hand.

"Oh! You're saying that Keith's bond with the Red lion will guide us right to him!" Pidge guess excitedly. Shiro just stared unable to hear her answer. She quickly took out her phone and typed in what she'd said and showed it to Shiro, who read it and nodded. Pidge grinned happily, proud of herself for guessing correctly. Somehow this game of charades to understand Shiro was kinda fun, despite the circumstances.

"So we just need to get the Red lion to go get Keith." Pidge inferred, beaming.

"And how are we going to do that?" Lance questioned, with arms crossed across his chest. Pidge then looked down again, the revelation of their predicament pulling her away from awareness temporarily. The ground shook as the Red lion suddenly came to life, pulling itself up off the floor. It roared loudly and it's lights flashed on. Upon seeing this, his glance dropped a second, Shiro knew what was coming. The lion faced the open hanger and took off.

"Where is it going?!" Allura cried, in horror.

"I thinks going after Keith?!" Pidge said, staring blankly after it. Everyone's eyes were glued to the open space outside, and the small buzzing light of the Red lion's thrusters already far in the starry distance. Lance glanced at everyone to his right, his eyes widening.

"Hey, where's Shiro?!" He glanced back and the rest of the team followed his gaze. Another blast was heard. And a second set of the thrusters appeared out the open hanger door, chasing after the Red Lion.

"Shiro!!" The team called after him.

Hey fanfic fans! What up?! Sorry I haven't posted to this story for a while but I had things... and I got hung up on some parts. Anyway this chapter was a kind of a way to move the plot along. As always ideas are welcomed and I'm sooooo glad you guys are enjoying this fic!!!! Shout out to Gravtron for giving me the best comments I've ever had, so thank you!!! And I will try to get the next chapter done soon and posted as soon as I can. Til then... enjoy!! Thx!!!