The training simulator was already occupied when Nayni arrived. She felt more relieved than annoyed by it. She needed a bit of time to put herself back together after her little tryst in the elevator with Mister Smythe. Shiro was sparring with one of the combat drones. The Black Paladin moved around the drone as if in a dance. The massive chamber echoed with the sounds of his grunts and footfalls. Every attack the drone went for, Shiro dodged with ease. His cybernetic arm glowed with a violet aura as he sliced through the drone. With one final jab of his arm, the drone flickered back out of existence. After a fight like that Nayni would've been drenched in sweat and desperately trying to catch her breath. Shiro looked as if he'd barely lifted a finger.
"You made that look terribly easy, Shiro," Nayni said.
The white tuft of hair on his head rustled as he turned to see her. She startled him a bit. He was a rather strapping young man but there was a lot of pain behind those eyes. The air about him just felt like he was so much older than he actually was. Nayni could say that about most of the Paladins now. He walked along the white floor over to the sidelines where she stood.
"I didn't have the difficulty set as high as it should be, Nan-" Shiro began.
He awkwardly cut off his sentence. He must've remembered how she'd berated Lance for calling her that. She'd given up on beating that habit out of the Blue Paladin now. It seems they'd all picked up on it rather quickly.
"I was just here to test out the modifications Hunk and Pidge made to my shield," Nayni said.
Now she was the one salvaging an awkward encounter. Things had changed quite a bit as of late. Shiro was running his hand along the joints of his cybernetic fingers. She didn't envy him for having to see that reminder, every single day, of the torture he suffered at the hands of the Galra. Nothing was more awful than having the pain of your past shoved right in your face.
"Oh- well, I can leave if you want," Shiro said.
They were very stiff around each other. She knew he was a military man like her. It didn't matter what alien species someone was, military people tended to carry themselves in the same way.
"I much rather have a sparring partner made of flesh and blood, to be honest," Nayni said. "Drones are all well and good but they don't teach you much about how someone will actually act during close combat. They don't make the same mistakes or engage in the same risky tactics as an actual person would."
It'd also been a very long time since Nayni had faced off against anyone. And from the looks of things, Shiro would've been more of a skill test than any of the simulations she could go up against. She was curious to see how her new shield would hold up against that arm of his too.
"I guess that would be a nice change of pace," Shiro admitted.
He'd probably had his fill of fighting actual people but she appreciated that he was going to indulge her. They stepped out onto the floor. She was flooded with memories of her Guardsmen training and she felt a twinge of sadness. All of those people were gone. Nayni deployed the new shield. Hunk and Pidge had done a fine job of getting it close to her description. The blue barrier was as tall and wide as Nayni was. It wasn't exactly the same shape as her old one but it would suffice. Shiro seemed a tad hesitant to start.
"Don't hold back now. I may be an old lady but I can take it," Nayni said.
Shiro powered up his arm. It glowed with violet light again. The Black Paladin still seemed to be hesitating. He swung his cybernetic arm through the air. Nayni slid to the side as his arm collided with her shield. Blue sparks flew into the air. He'd hit her much harder than she'd expected and by the way he was cringing she could tell that he hadn't intended to do that.
"C'mon, Shiro, I know you've got more in you then that," Nayni teased.
"Are you sure?" Shiro asked.
The man was legitimately concerned. He was a sweetling and it was a tad surprising.
"I've been shot, stabbed, punched, and kicked by aliens that were twice your size and I'm still standing," Nayni assured.
She left out the part about how she'd taken those savage beatings when she was much younger but she didn't want him having another reason to hold back. Shiro shook his head and got back into his fighting stance. Nayni braced herself again. He went for her again. Dodging his attacks was proving to be most difficult. He was much more agile than she was. She would see that violet streak gleaming through the air and could barely get her shield up by the time he slammed into it. Violet and blue sparks erupted with every impact she took. The more they sparred, the more he seemed to let go.
Shiro danced around her, trying to get around her shield to a weak spot. He fought with such control and discipline that she knew he wouldn't actually hurt her. He was already starting to wear her down though. Sweat was rolling down her face in thick globs and her legs were shaking. Maybe sparring after the events of the previous night wasn't the best idea. Shiro came at her with a vigorous swing. The strike was so fast that Nayni knew she wasn't going to get her shield up in time. She swiveled to the left and twisted her body around. The pain in her side was instant.
Nayni sucked in a gasp and her eyes went wide. The old wound felt like it'd just been torn right open again. The muscles along her side were in agony. Nayni fell to her knees and clutched at her side and gritted her teeth. Shiro was instantly overcome with guilt. He rushed to Nayni's side and tried to help her up. The idea of moving was not very appealing to Nayni at the moment. She tried to smile at him to ease his nerves.
"It's fine. I'm fine," Nayni said.
Her voice wavered. Just talking made her side hurt more. The muscles on her side had always been a bit weaker since she'd received that injury. This had happened a few times before if she'd bent the wrong way or turned too quickly. Maybe she wasn't cut out to fight like this anymore.
"I'm so sorry. What do you need me to do?" Shiro asked.
Nayni had tested her shield but she'd also managed to terrify the Black Paladin. She'd accomplished quite a bit in one day. Her legs wobbled a bit as he helped her up. She had to lean on Shiro quite a bit more than she wanted to. She was sweating even more furiously now that this unbearable pain was back. She'd pushed herself too hard but she didn't want to admit that to Shiro. She may have pushed herself too much last night as well and she was definitely not discussing that with the Black Paladin.
"It's not your fault," Nayni said. "It's just an old injury acting up."
Shiro helped her lean against the wall. The cool surface of the metal felt wonderful against her skin. Nayni half expected to feel blood beneath her hands but there was nothing. Every time this happened she felt some deep instinct that she was dying again. There was never any blood though. There was never that gaping wound reappearing spontaneously. It was just some very sprained and very angry muscles.
"See what you have to look forward to?" Nayni teased.
Shiro laughed half-heartedly. She could really see how he ended up as the Black Paladin now. He was very concerned about others. He kept hovering around her, waiting for her to slip and fall again so he could rescue her.
"I should help you get back to your quarters," Shiro said. "You need to lay down."
Nayni smiled sheepishly. This was going to be awkward.
"My quarters are—um-Coran's quarters now," Nayni said.
And Coran was going to be rather upset to see what she'd done to herself. Shiro handled this news with much more awkwardness than she'd expected. He was the oldest Paladin, after all, she'd expected him to be a bit more mature about it. He didn't seem to know what to say. He just bit down on his bottom lip and looked away from her.
"I can just get there myself," Nayni said.
She probably would be sliding herself along the wall the whole time and trying not to scream but she was willing to do it to avoid this awkwardness.
"Let me help you," Shiro insisted.
He smiled warmly in an attempt to push past the tension in the air now.
"If I didn't, I'd have to deal with Allura and Coran trying to kill me," Shiro said.
Nayni chuckled. That brought on a new wave of pain and she clutched her side again. They were probably going to be more cross with her than they would be with him.
"Just let me sit for a bit," Nayni said.
Shiro sat down next to her. This was quite embarrassing but there wasn't really anyway to get around it. Nayni rested her head against the wall. She winced every time she took in a breath. She tried to keep her posture as rigid as possible. That seemed to help minimize the agony that she was experiencing. Her clothes were soaked with sweat and she started to feel a chill as it dried on her skin. Nayni had been so incredibly stupid today that she wanted to punch herself in the face.
"I suppose I will be staying back on the Castle with Coran," Nayni said. "I might be too old for this but I suppose I can still nanny you all."
That would be something that the Royal Advisor would be happy about. Shiro chuckled.
"I thought you weren't a nanny though," Shiro said.
Nayni rubbed her side but it didn't seem to help relax her muscles. She wouldn't talk to any of the other Paladins about this. They were all far too sassy but Shiro was practical and he didn't seem the type to openly mock her.
"I did quite a bit of babysitting," Nayni said. "It wasn't exactly in my job description but I wiped up plenty of sick and played plenty of stupid games. Allura was rather wild and adventurous when she was a babe."
Nayni still missed those days. They'd been filled with laughter and warmth during the time she'd needed it most. Shiro found this fairly amusing.
"I can totally see that," Shiro said.
Allura had gone through quite the transformation but she still had that spirit of adventure in her. She still possessed that fearlessness.
"And Coran has always well-been Coran," Nayni said.
He hadn't changed much. Coran had gotten a few more wrinkles on his face but he was still the same man down to his very bones. He was still brilliant and loyal and beautiful. The muscles in her side still throbbed but they were starting to get to a bearable state. She was still afraid to move. She must've been smiling like an idiot because Shiro was chuckling to himself.
"Well the way he was acting during the Ark mission makes a helluva lot more sense now," Shiro said.
Nayni's chuckle turned into a gasp of pain and she clutched her side again. She'd been in denial for so long that looking back on all the little things made her so angry. It shouldn't have taken the world ending for them to get to this point.
"I mean he's been tense during missions before but he seemed genuinely afraid," Shiro went on. "I just assumed it was because there was a chance to find any Alteans. But-"
Shiro just smirked. At least he wasn't snickering and gossiping like a child over it. She expected some level of awkwardness. She was always terribly awkward but this was a nice changed of pace.
"We've all got something we're fighting for," Nayni said. "You've still got an entire homeworld to protect."
Shiro nodded. He must've been under an immense pressure since this all started for the humans. Their Earth had yet to see the true might of the Galra empire. They had to do everything in their power to stop it.
"It's more than just that now. After everything we've seen and everything we've been through it can't just be about us," Shiro explained.
He was truly that selfless. Nayni could feel that about him. If she'd been that selfless she wouldn't have made nearly as many mistakes as she had with Coran. She admired him for it. Shiro was so wrapped up in doing his duty. He was so consumed by the need to to do what had to be done. It only made it that much more clear to her why he was the pilot of the Black Lion.
"It's all right to make it about yourself every now and then," Nayni said. "If you don't take care of yourself it's going to be a lot harder to save the universe."
She realized how incredibly hypocritical it was for those words to come out of her mouth. Here she was sitting on the ground because she pulled a muscle.
"I'll try and keep that in mind," Shiro said.
He probably would think about her advice but there was a good chance he wasn't actually going to heed it. People like Shiro had a very hard time thinking about themselves. Nayni felt as if she was ready to make the trek back to their warm bed but the Castle's intercom crackled to life. Was this it? Was this the return of the Galra fleet? The timing would've been rather bad then for Nayni to injure herself. Allura's voice came over the speakers. There wasn't an ounce of fear or alarm in her tone.
"I need everyone on the bridge as soon as possible," Allura announced. "We've got an incoming transmission from Keith."
Allura had been hunched over her desk and studying for hours. The farther she'd gotten along in her schooling, the less Nayni had been able to help her. They'd made quite a few spontaneous visits to her various tutors. But Allura seemed most comfortable with turning to Nayni or Coran. She was having to escort the Princess to Coran's office more and more though. Allura was just as tall as Nayni now. The bodyguard could probably still scoop her up with ease though. Allura let out a sigh of frustration and pushed aside some of the datapads sprawled out across her desk.
The Princess's room had changed quite a bit since Nayni had started this job. Gone were the piles of stuffies and lavender decorations. The Princess had become fixated on the color pink as she was creeping into her adolescence. It was a bit morbid but every teenager went through that phase at some point on Altea. She'd even gone to the lengths of dying pink streaks in her hair. Allura still had some of the same interests. She lived to go on outings with her father especially now that she could actually discuss Alchemy on a more equal footing. She'd also gotten quite a bit sassier. This could be quite taxing at times but Nayni also had a deep appreciation for a mouthy girl who spoke her mind.
Nayni eyed the gaming table near the doors to Allura's balcony. It was loaded with every conceivable game that any Altean could want to play but Nayni had been wondering about one in particular lately. She'd had literal interest in those tabletop adventures even when she was young. She much preferred running amok and getting into trouble. Sitting around a table and moving around holographic play pieces seemed incredibly boring.
Coran had taken up the habit of playing the classic strategy game muril. It was old and dreadfully dull. Nayni had seen elderly male Alteans playing and bragging about it since childhood. She was starting to get interested in it now. Her only reason was to potentially spend more time with Coran. It was infuriatingly stupid. As much as she'd seen people play muril, she still didn't have the slightest clue as to how to go about it herself. It all just seemed like over complicated drivel.
Allura growled and tossed another datapad across her desk. The Princess buried her face in her hands and groaned with frustration. The calculations she'd been working on were completely beyond Nayni so she wasn't going to be of much help.
"Take a break, Lurie," Nayni said. "When you come back, you'll be refreshed and get it all sorted out."
Allura just sighed and pushed herself away from her desk. She was starting to only acknowledge Nayni with grunts and angsty sighs. Even though Nayni had been through that phase of her life she still found it a bit irritating. Though being a Princess during this time was probably a lot more difficult than anything Nayni had been through.
"I'm never going to figure this out," Allura said. "What's the point anyway?"
Nayni wasn't sure that knowing all those complicated algorithms actually had a point but it was definitely something a Princess would need to know.
"You'll get it. Just don't fret about it now. Relax," Nayni said.
Allura opened up the doors to her balcony. The breeze rustled her ponytail and made her curtains flutter. Allura looked out over her view of the sparkling capital. She leaned on the ornate white stone railing, resting her chin in her hands. Nayni leaned on the railing next to her. Nayni didn't really like to look out on all the plush trees and glittering rooftops. It was a beautiful view that always filled her with stupid romantic ideas.
"Shall we go off and get a sweet icicle?" Nayni proposed.
Allura just sighed again and rolled her eyes.
"We do that all the time, I'm tired of it," Allura said.
Just because they did that all the time didn't mean it was dreadful. Prepubescent girls were so taxing. Nayni glance over her shoulder at the gaming table.
"Could I convince you to teach me how to play muril instead?" Nayni asked sheepishly.
Allura leaned against the railing and smiled rather mischievously. Nayni realized that this request might've been a mistake.
"Why's that?" Allura pried.
She had a twinkle in her eye. Nayni stiffened.
"It'd be something to do, that's why," Nayni said.
She was not going to have this discussion with Allura. The Princess had been particularly suspicious of Nayni lately. Allura questioned everything Nayni did and always seemed to try and read between the lines. It was a problem because the Princess was very gifted at picking up on the subtleties of people's interactions. Her intelligence was most problematic.
"Is that really all?" Allura asked.
The Princess raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"Because father and Coran play that quite a bit," Allura said.
She seemed incredibly satisfied with herself. Nayni rubbed her temples.
"Are we going to play or not?" Nayni pressed.
She wasn't going to stand around and be teased by a child for wanting to play a stupid quiznacking game that the mustached Royal Advisor enjoyed. Allura had a little bounce in her step as she headed over to the gaming table. It was always easy to hold Allura's interest if there was romantic gossip involved. Nayni hadn't exactly been graceful about dodging the subject of Coran. She was never really graceful during any topic of conversation though.
Nayni pulled up a chair to the gaming table as Allura typed into the console. The whole time the Princess had the smuggest grin on her face. The familiar holographic pieces filled the board on the table. Nayni had seen them before but she had no idea what they were called or how they functioned. The blue pieces fizzed slightly on the board projection. Allura leaned over the table, her ponytail fell over her shoulder and brushed along the table's surface.
"These five pieces are the ones you want to protect," Allura explained. "You pick one that is supposed to be your Monarch but don't tell me which one. We each have to figure out which one has been chosen. Whoever takes out the opponent's Monarch first, wins."
Nayni just stared at the pieces as Allura went on and gestured with her slender brown fingers.
"Its really about knowing your opponent. You need to know how they think and figure out how to counter them before they've even moved a piece," Allura said.
Nayni did that for a living and people had made a game of it? A very old game too. She leaned back in her chair as Allura continued to explain. Nayni kept getting lost. All these pieces had different rules for how they moved around the board and it was hard to follow. Allura was the first to go. Nayni hadn't even really decided which of the taller pieces was supposed to be her Monarch yet. Nayni just moved one of the pieces that she happened to remember the rules for. She wasn't terribly certain if she'd just made a wise decision or not. Nayni wasn't even entirely sure she'd come up with a proper strategy either.
They kept taking their turns. The whole time Allura had a rather cheeky look on her face. Nayni was bracing herself for more prying. The girl was bent on getting Nayni to crack.
"I thought you found this sort of thing to be dull," Allura said.
She toyed with one of her pieces before she moved it and took out one of Nayni's. The piece fizzed and twitched before it blanked out on the board.
"Well it's always good to try new things," Nayni said.
She always tried to counter Allura's prying with some jargon life lesson that had been told to her over and over. Allura rolled her eyes.
"I didn't take up the Farusian flute just to try new things," Allura said. "Lord Donnic's son was fond of it."
Lord Donnic's son had also been a complete idiot that broke Allura's little heart. It had been a shallow wound that healed quickly but Nayni still wanted to throttle the broody little bunghopper for it. It had been very therapeutic for Allura when she snapped that flute in half and tossed it off of her balcony.
"Learning to play muril isn't exactly the best way to impress someone. Everyone else knows how to play it so I figured I should too," Nayni said.
It was partially true but it was mostly just garbage she was spewing. The idea of playing this in front of a crackling fireplace with Coran late at night made Nayni's heart flutter and her ears flush. She wanted to spend time with him. She held onto those stupid little moments but she was just too paralyzed to do anything to make them anything more. Nayni moved one of her pieces and Allura knocked it off the board again rather quickly. This wasn't going particularly well.
"Maybe we should go dress shopping. I think a nice violet would suit you. You could show up to his office and maybe play a few rounds with him," Allura teased.
Nayni's face reddened and she scowled. Allura just fluttered her eyes innocently.
"Why are you so obsessed with this idea that I want to court Mister Smythe?" Nayni said.
She just shoved a random piece forward on the board. It seemed like an important looking one so it was probably a stupid move. Nayni didn't really care at this point anymore.
"Because when he's not looking, you swoon and stare at him like he's made of ungleberry tarts," Allura teased.
Nayni's nostrils flared. She was not a swooner. She did not swoon and flit about like some insipid little lovesick fool. Maybe a little. Or a lot. Especially when she was watching teledramas and stuffing her face with sweets.
"I'm not swooning. I'm just trying to hold back my vomit because he's so irritating," Nayni lied.
Allura wasn't buying it at all. In one move Allura knocked out three more of Nayni's pieces. Losing the game was not helping Nayni's mood.
"So you're holding back vomit when he compliments the way you look some days?" Allura said. "And when we have lunch with him in the courtyard and he sits next to you?"
Nayni just sat with her arms folded and fuming. She was not going to have the Princess go on teasing her like this. Yes, the girl was seeing right through her but she would have none of that. She was mostly so furious because if this was that obvious to a child then it must be incredibly obvious to Mister Smythe. Nayni rather liked to think that he was clueless on the matter. Allura made another elaborate move with one of her pieces and knocked out Nayni's Monarch. Digital confetti exploded in the middle of the board and the blue hologram flickered off.
"It's all right that you're terrible. He'll probably just let you win anyway," Allura said.
Allura slinked back to her desk. Their little torture session seemed to have really rejuvenated Allura.
"Why would he let me win?" Nayni asked.
She actually wanted to know. Allura flopped back into her chair and flashed Nayni a smile.
"Why don't you play a match with him and find out?" Allura suggested.
Nayni chewed on her bottom lip. Now Allura was the one evading questions. She'd become such a maddening girl. But the Princess was right, Nayni was curious as to whether or not Coran would let her win a game of muril.
Nayni and Shiro were the last to stumble onto the bridge. Her side was still so tender that she'd been nursing it all the way from the simulation room. Coran looked exhausted. He must've barely gotten a varga of rest after he'd gotten back to their quarters. They'd already gathered around the main interface. It was filled with a grainy and static-ridden video feed. The video panned over a decimated Galra fleet. Twisted hunks of charred metal were floating around amidst a sea of broken fighter parts. The Castle's crew was silent as they stared at it. Nayni hadn't seen such destruction since the very start of the war. It seemed as if Keith had already been briefing them before Nayni and Shiro had arrived.
The video stream looped over again and again as Keith spoke through the transmitter.
"We found the rest of the fleet but Lotor is nowhere to be seen," Keith explained.
Nayni felt a chill run down her spine. It was a formidable fighting force that they were looking at and it had completely been torn to shreds.
"Lotor's ship is pretty powerful but, there's no way he did this all on his own," Keith said.
Pidge pushed her glasses farther up the bridge of her nose she opened her mouth to speak but just closed it again. She seemed just as troubled as the rest of them.
"That's not the weirdest part," Keith went on.
A chart appeared on the screen. It was a graph with jagged lines flickering up almost to the top of the frame.
"The quintessence readings here are insane. We haven't seen anything like this since we found that comet," Keith said.
Nayni had heard that another transreality comet had been discovered and that Lotor had gotten his hands on some of it. Why hadn't he contacted them? He'd wanted to know immediately what they'd found on the Ark so it was safe to assume the same after they'd taken Terrapin based on his suggestion.
"Well, at least the fleets been taken care of," Shiro said.
That was some piece of good news to receive.
"We're going to try and track down the source of this quintessence," Keith said. "None of this seems right at all. We need to figure out what happened here. And we can look into this without attracting nearly as much attention as you guys would."
Coran leaned on the control panel in front him.
"You need to be careful, Keith, there's a good chance Zarkon's going to come sniffing around too," Coran said.
His voice was hoarse from exhaustion.
"And we're just supposed to sit around here and wait?" Hunk said. "Did you guys seriously not just watch the same spooky footage?"
"We really don't need to draw any more attention to that sector than there already is," Shiro said. "The Blade of Marmora can figure this out and keep things under the radar."
Nayni didn't care much for this either but it was definitely a job that would require some stealthy tactics. If Lotor wasn't the one who destroyed that fleet, something else did and they didn't want that to come crashing down on their heads.
"I'll let you guys know as soon as we find something," Keith assured.
None of the Paladins were at ease. Coran just seemed far too exhausted to show any kind of reaction. Nayni was still tenderly clutching her side.
"We need to regroup and figure out what our next move is while the Blade of Marmora investigates this," Allura said.
There was never to be a moment of respite anymore. There was always something that was going to be happening. There was nothing else to be expected during times of war though.
Nayni glanced at Shiro nervously before she hobbled over to Coran. She was not looking forward to telling her lover that she'd been an idiot and hurt herself on top of all this other strange news. Coran and Pidge were already pouring over the information that Keith had just sent over. She had made the mistake of pushing herself too hard today, she would not allow Coran to do it too.
Nayni limped up to him. Her side was already feeling a bit better but not quite back to normal. She brushed her fingers along his shoulder and rested her hand gingerly on his back. Coran had dark circles under his eyes and seemed to be struggling to hold onto consciousness. He still managed to greet her with a genuine smile. The other Paladins were still chattering away about the video footage they'd just witnessed. Nayni suspected this would be going on for quite some time before it'd stop.
"I think Pidge can handle this on her own," Nayni said. "You need to get some rest, Coran."
The Green Paladin was still typing into the console and sifting through all the data. Coran hadn't exactly been keeping up with her very well.
"You do look like a zombie, Coran. I've got this. Go get some sleep," Pidge said.
Nayni didn't know what a 'zombie' was. She'd been able to piece together what some of the humans' strange vocabulary was but this one was completely lost to her. Nayni tugged him away for good measure. It was her fault that he was so exhausted to begin with. It was now her duty to try and remedy that.
"All right," Coran sighed. "We'll touch base later, Number Five."
He was dragging his feet as they left the bridge. Nayni was bracing herself for Coran to notice that she was favoring one side of her body again. It didn't take him long to pick up on it. They were barely out of the doors and into the hallway before he did a double take and looked her up and down. He looped his arm through her's to help support her weight.
"What happened?" Coran asked.
She wasn't looking forward to telling him. It was terribly embarrassing for her. She wasn't the Altean she used to be. She'd done a lot of fighting in her time but she was seriously starting to contemplate if those days were going to be over for her.
"I was a little too enthusiastic in the training room and my old wound decided to act up," Nayni said.
She expected him to scold her but he just chuckled under his breath. She welcomed the relief that reaction brought. She hadn't want to have a squabble over something so stupid.
"I'm not sure it was entirely due to your combat training," Coran teased.
Even though she was in pain, her ears flushed. He was exhausted and she was hobbling around with a pulled muscle yet, Coran still felt the need to get her flustered. She adored it though. No matter how frustrated he got her, she would always love every minute of it.