AN: Second part of the previous chapter. Heads up where you last left off.
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Her body felt light.
Allura was drifting in the sky with the wind currents. Her arms stretched out like wings of a plane as the sun hit her face. Her fingertips cut through the white clouds with ease, never stilling, always in motion.
Then, alarms sounded.
She looked down to the control panel, seeing that there were two bogeys on the radar. They were on her tail and approaching fast. Her gloved hands stayed on the familiar steering wheel of her plane and waited, waited...Then she sharply turned to the right at the last second and dropped the nose of the plane down. The below wind current gave her plane a boost, as she had predicted. She lifted her head, seeing an explosion of paint as the "missiles" were caught in the winds.
The radar sounded again. A plane this time.
She rolled the plane as the combatant took a shot. Pilot Randal Harris was older than her, more experienced. He had even gone to Mars twice and was the first to reach Saturn before an unexpected storm forced him to stop his journey and return home. In other words, he was a highly decorated pilot.
Good thing she had a couple of medals too.
Harris was coming down on her. She went lower to the canyon, ducking under arches and slipping through cracks that only allowed for a very narrow margin of error. This area was new to her and Harris to keep the Kerboros competition fair. She was out in the open. Harris was waiting, having gone around the whole maze of rocks to the opening where she would appear.
His position cost him.
Her eyes looked at the branchy bushes rustling then quickly deployed the back flaps. A strong gust of wind went through the canyon, sweeping up Harris' plane as he tried to fight against it. Meanwhile she drifted alongside it, letting the current push her to a side opening and out of the way. Nature was not something a person could fight. That's what pilots like Harris didn't understand.
Timing was surviving.
She felt herself slip out of the plane and into a dark, dank cell.
There was a disgusting smell all around her, in the air, in the walls, in her very clothes. She was disoriented, having woken up so suddenly. Her ribs hurt. Her arms were sore. Her left leg - her left leg felt wet and warm. Her breath caught in her throat.
"Gopi?"
She grabbed her partner's shoulder, giving it a good shake. The orange alien stayed still, his stained wrapped stump of a hand slipping off to his side.
"He was calling for you," voiced out the dark blue alien on the other side of the cell. "But you wouldn't wake up."
Guilt and anger clawed inside her. "Why didn't you do anything?" She roughly questioned in a voice that was not her own.
"Does it matter when he goes?" The prisoner shrugged. "He would have died in the next fight."
Her hands fisted tightly. She knew he wouldn't have lasted long past this scenario, but the naïve part of her still hoped otherwise. Then her hands unclenched and leaned over to close Gopi's good eye.
"I'm sorry," she murmured with remorse.
The sentries were at the cell door. It was now morning.
Allura jolted awake.
Her eyes were wide but staring at nothing as the memories made her heart clench. She took deep breaths of clean, cool air. Those memories weren't hers. She ran her hand over her face. It didn't take a genius to figure out who they belong to but she didn't understand why she had them. She dropped her hands away from her face, jolting again when she felt an arm next to her. For a tick she was expecting Gopi's lifeless body chained to her hand.
Shiro was on his stomach, his right arm under the pillow.
He was very still. Shakily, she reached a hand out to his shoulder. He did not stir. Wide eyed she shook him harder, making the yellow mouse next to him slide down the pillow to his neck. The motion made his head shoot up. Groggy eyed he looked at her, the room, and then back to her with more alert eyes.
"What's wrong?"
She didn't answer. The relief coursing through her was so strong, she half expected him to be dead. She covered her eyes with one hand. Gods. How long would this memory linger?
"Princess."
She shook her head. "I did not mean to wake you." She felt the bed move. She kept her face covered, knowing that he wouldn't drop it until she told him something. "...I need to see my father."
He slowly nodded his head. "Alright."
He moved the yellow mouse back onto the pillow then swung his legs around to put his shoes on.
The rest of the day Allura stayed in her room.
Their morning training continued. In the afternoon they had free time. Hunk visited Shay when he could since they were still on the Balmera. Allura was not well enough to help awaken the crystal. Coran could pilot the ship but since they landed Allura was needed for the beginning.
"We shouldn't stay in one spot too long," Shiro murmured as he looked at the holo-map.
"I agree." Coran sighed as he moved the image along. "But we can't risk the Princess' health."
"I wouldn't suggest it," Shiro calmly reassured him. "Is there anything we can do to help her heal?"
"At this point, no." Pause. "Thank you for sparing some quintessence."
"Teammates look out for one another."
"Mm, yes." Coran gave him a sidelong glance. "I suppose you were in her quarters for that reason?"
Shiro caught his eyes. "The first twenty four hours of any serious injury requires supervision."
Coran looked at the sleeping yellow mouse's ears peeking out from Shiro's front vest pocket.
"And the pet is for...?"
"They're connected to her mind. If anything happens while we're out of range of her the mice can -"
Coran chuckled, cutting him off. "Always so serious." He slapped a hand on Shiro's back. "You mean well, I know. If it was Lance, on the other hand," Shiro didn't miss the steel glint in Coran's eyes, "we'd be having another conversation."
"You and me both," Shiro dryly intoned.
Coran hummed to that. "...Granted, the Princess is old enough. Her decisions are hers to make. But I know Alfor would be restless in Oriad if I let someone unworthy near his daughter."
Shiro kept looking at the map. "We could head towards here. There's no asteroid belts or debris so we could have the ship on autopilot."
"That is a good place. We wouldn't need the Princess to use the thrusters or teledev." He patted Shiro's shoulder. "You're a good man."
Coran walked away. Shiro slowly blinked.
If Coran could see the memories he had, he wouldn't say that so readily. He sighed to himself. But he was trying to recover who he once was. That was all he could do really.
The second night came.
Shiro checked her pulse and forehead. Allura didn't tell him that Coran already checked her vitals.
"Your pulse is a little high but better than too low I suppose."
"That's good," she murmured distractedly. Her father's advice regarding her dreams were in the front of her mind but she didn't know when a good time to broach the subject. She bit her lip a little, then decided that no time was really better than another.
"Coran tells me you gave me some of your quintessence."
Shiro sat back onto the chair. "You were very low."
"Thank you."
"Teammates don't have to thank each other for every incident," he half smiled.
She looked down at her hands. She could still feel the manacle around her right wrist. Shiro's, she mentally corrected. She looked up to him, her gaze subdue.
"Last night I...saw some memories."
He did not understand right away. She knew when clarity hit. His small smile was gone, any trace of ease was replaced with tension.
"...Which ones?"
"A competition against a Pilot Harris..." she lightly traced the edge of her comforter, "and Gopi."
He took a sharp intake of breath. She sat quietly besides him for a moment.
"I didn't think that would happen."
"You did what you could for me and for that I am grateful." Pause. "As you did what you could for Gopi."
"...I'd rather not talk about that," he lowly murmured.
"He's still in my head," she whispered.
He closed his eyes tightly. She lightly touched his right arm.
"It's alright."
He slowly removed her hand. "No. It's not. It wasn't." He stood up from the chair. "I'm sorry that you saw that."
"Was he a friend?"
"Let it go Allura. Please."
She could see the shame so clearly on his face. "You did nothing to be ashamed of."
He frowned at her, then realized she must not have seen the whole memory. He felt partly relieved and partly disgusted with himself for feeling calmer about it. But he still didn't want her to know more. When he regained the memory he could barely look himself in the mirror. He didn't think he could take it if she felt the same way.
"I'll keep the yellow mouse with me in case you need anything."
"You're not staying?"
"Twenty four hours is usually a good amount of time to monitor someone."
"And that's -"
"One quintant."
"Oh."
"Good night Princess."
The door closed before he could hear her reply.
The sentries stood in front of Allura.
She frowned at that. "I need the key."
"Paired fighters go together," came the robotic response. "Or not at all."
"He's...dead."
They stayed where they were. She felt her mouth dry up at what she was going to have to do. But her ribs needed attention. She lasted the night, so earned the right to be treated in the infirmary. She struggled onto her feet, feeling the chain that binded her to Gopi feel heavier. Using what strength she had left she heaved the orange alien over her left shoulder.
One sentry went in front of her and the other behind.
As they walked down the halls she could feel liquid seeping into the back of her shirt - his blood from his missing hand. She breathed in short breaths. Her ribs were not liking this added weight. But she refused to drag him on the ground like trash. She owed him more than that.
The sentry leading went right. She frowned.
"The infirmary's on the left."
The sentry behind her pushed her to continue walking. Her heartrate was steadily picking up. Changes in this place were never for the better. An ashy, bitter smell filled the corridor they entered. Her eyes widened as she saw two other sentries tossing in a pair of lifeless fighters into a square opening. She heard them tumble down a tunnel and the flames of the incinerator lit up the opening.
"I'm still alive," she protested.
"Paired fighters go together," repeated the robot.
"No," the sentry behind her took her right arm as other one took her left, "wait-!"
She struggled. Gopi's smaller body slid off her shoulder to the ground. She stumbled a little, stepping on his body. An idea came to her. A terrible, dishonorable thought. She enacted it before she could regret it. With a great yell she grabbed the chain and put all her weight into her foot.
A sickening crack of bones filled the air. Gopi's hand was still connected to the chain. With a trembling hand she removed the remaining piece from the manacle and dropped it on the rest of his body.
The sentries' lights flickered as if scanning her.
"Single fighter. Multiple injuries."
They escorted her back down the hall towards the infirmary. Behind, she heard something tumbling down then smelled the new scent in the air. She almost relieved her stomach but she forced herself to persevere, to not look back.
Shiroganes were survivors.
She clenched her hands so tightly she pierced skin.
In the middle of the night, the yellow mouse darted away from him.
Shiro watched as the mouse shivered in the corner of the cot, curled into a tight ball. His eyes closed with grim realization. She knows. It was bound to happen. He should have figured the memory would have continued the next night.
He rarely got what he wished for.
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AN: Since this is T I did not go too descriptive but I hope it wasn't too horrific...