Lance had been about to step into the game room when he heard the command. Red Lion was a lot more straightforward than Sapphira – Blue had been. He wasn't sure if he was allowed to call her by that name anymore. He had one for Red, but he wasn't sure if he could use it either. Nevertheless he heard the command in his subconscious and he stepped away from the door and found himself running. To where he wasn't entirely sure, but there was a level of desperation in Red's command. He had to move faster. With a new speed he hadn't been sure he possessed he found himself moving faster, speeding through the corridors of the Castle.
He ran until he wasn't sure where to go anymore. He was near the barracks. Now where? That's when he heard a noise. Screaming? No, crying! Who was crying? He moved toward the sound, feeling Red's distressed rumble in his hindbrain. Something was very, very wrong. He turned a few corners until he realized where he was going and sped up again. When he was a few corridors away, he found himself slowing down as the sounds grew softer, quieter. Then he heard another sound. Allura's voice. He continued on until he found Allura standing over two figures crouched on the floor, worry in her eyes. Shiro was kneeling on the floor and Keith… Keith was half on the floor, half in Shiro's arms, trembling.
For a small moment, Lance was stunned into complete stillness. Keith was trembling. Even after they'd been out in space for this long he had never, ever seen Keith vulnerable. Even when absolutely consumed with worry, he never portrayed it with any standard traits of vulnerability. Rage? Yes. Sarcasm? Yes. Screaming, sobbing, or trembling on the floor? Absolutely not. He very gently stepped into view and quietly walked over to Allura, eyes full of concern.
"Allura, what's going on?"
Allura snapped her head up in surprise at the sound of Lance's voice. But quickly recovered and drew her eyes back to Keith. She was sadder than he'd seen her since she first awakened from the healing pods.
"I'm not sure," Allura answered. "I had just been talking with Shiro a few doboshes ago. A few ticks ago I heard screaming so I came back. They were like this when I got here."
Lance wasn't sure what to make of it. The entire situation was unprecedented. There was no Garrison protocol to handle this, no Paladin training to fall back on; all he could really do was stand and watch. Even as he stared, he could hear Red's sympathetic rumbling in his head. He looked on as Keith's sobs quieted and his breathing slowly transitioned from struggling gasps to uneven in and exhales.
"Is – Is he asleep?" Lance asked softly.
"Yeah…" Shiro answered. "Yeah he is."
Shiro gathered up Keith in his arms and carried him away, heading towards the barracks. Lance followed, Red's rumbling egging him on. He honestly didn't blame her for being so upset. Despite their bond, Red was still very attached to Keith. He hadn't known what to make of it at first. When Red first called him, her roar was more like one of duty, not pride. He kept himself open towards her, but she had been very… unresponsive. It had felt like he was the only one trying. Even so he couldn't bring himself to be upset over her distance. They had both lost connections to parts of Voltron they'd been connected to.
After Coran had told them all the Legend of Voltron, about Zarkon and Alfor and Blaytz… He began to understand a bit more. Lance wasn't a fool; he could figure it out. Alfor was the one to stand against Zarkon after the Lions were hidden away. Red and Alfor were likely the only ones left. And when Alfor was defeated… Lance shuddered at the thought. He didn't want to know how it felt to have a psychic bond severed like that. There one second, gone the next. Red must have been in pain after that. She lost her Paladin in the worst way possible… And then to be taken away from Black Lion in the Castle…
Lance could feel a grateful purr shake him from his thoughts and he looked up at what was in front of him. He nearly slammed right into a wall. He let out a small chuff and silently thanked Red. He looked over to the door where Keith's room lay. He was tempted to go in, but thought better of it, knowing Keith's pride would resent him for it when he recovered. A reassuring rumble in his subconscious won him over and he opened the door. Shiro had just pulled the covers over the younger when he walked in.
"Is… Is he gonna be okay?" Lance asked tentatively.
"I don't know… He's not physically injured, but…" Shiro sighed. "I have no idea what's wrong."
Lance looked down at the older boy in silence. He wasn't sure what to do. Eliara was worriedly murmuring in his mind— Lance paused. That was the first time he let himself call her that. Red – Eliara calmed down slightly at the sound. The rumbling became malcontented purring and he let a slip of a smile push through.
"Red's pretty worried about him," he told Shiro.
"…So am I."
Lance wasn't sure what to do now. Should he stay or…? His question was answered for him when he heard the Red Lion's purr calling him. He excused himself and followed the sound. When he found himself in front of the Red Lion. Lance felt the purring slow, and he was invited to the cockpit. He sat down and closed his eyes.
"What do you need?"
Almost instantly, his mind was bombarded with images – memories of before. Bloody vestiges of Alfor's fall. The icy disconnect from Keith. All of it painful. Lance felt tears well up in his eyes. All these memories hurt. Twice she bore a Red Paladin, and twice they had each been taken from her. Lance began to understand a bit more. The Red Lion had mourned Alfor for ten thousand years in captivity. Now his successor had been ripped away from her too. It had dredged it all up, brought it to the surface. She couldn't protect her Paladin, she had been so... useless.
"Not useless," Lance muttered.
The flurry of memories slowed, then stopped, allowing Lance's conscious and subconscious to reconnect. He his words replayed in his mind. No, the Red Lion was not useless. Eliara was not useless. She had rescued Keith, and inadvertently the rest of the team, on several occasions. She was a living embodiment of the Spirit of Fire. The warmth running through his veins was a constant reminder of that. And fire… Fire was not just warmth or destruction.
"Do you know what Eliara means?" Lance asked quietly.
There was a confused rumble, meaning, no.
"Eliara," he whispered secretively. "It's a name I made up. It's a mix of words from Earth."
Now the rumbling quieted, and Lance was rendered silent as well.
"It's intended to mean light."
