Black, Green, and Yellow return
Summary: We take a break from your regularly scheduled Klance to bring you; the Green, Yellow, and Black Paladins! Allura is pleased with her new paladins, but worried about Red and Blue's lag.
Also a few tags I made for this chapter on Ao3 that I am not able to make on here (I really wish FF had a better tagging system);
Yay! Pidge and Shiro bonding Background Relationships Shatt is there a better ship name for that? please tell me there is One sided Shallura Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt Shiro will probably take the longest adjusting to calling her Pidge Hunk is just excited to meet Shiro Allura is lowkey jealous of Pidge stealing her man Even though she hasn't called dibs AT ALL Matt called forever ago girl Shiro and Pidge have a sort of brother/sister relationship Shit's about to go down guysI've been adding them as I post, if you want to know them let me know and I might just go back through and add the tags to their respective chapters so you guys can enjoy them too, like I love tagging stuff for this fic because it's just so much fun to see what already is a tag, and I can be silly with them too.
The castle stood. They had managed to defend it long enough to get all the lions out and then were able to open a wormhole just before what Allura was sure was the finishing blast fired. Now they were on Arus. They were safe. They were alive. She let out a very undignified sigh as she collapsed down into one of the chairs on the bridge, slouching with her hand to her head. That was entirely too close.
"Coran, is our cloaking operational?"
"Yes, princess, that system seems to be just fine." Coran answered as he began running a castle wide diagnostic check.
"Good. Engage it. I don't want to be found by the Galra again until we have all five lions back with us and their new paladins."
"Understood." Coran replied, letting the scan continue on its own as he went over to the main controls to enable the cloaking and whatever other part of their defenses were still operational. They were in pretty bad shape. He didn't need the scan to tell him that much, he could feel it. The cryo sleep that Alfor had put them in had reached the end of it's count down and had awoken them ten thousand periods in the future, and the war was still happening, Zarkon himself was still in power. How that was possible neither Allura or he knew, but he was, and he was still searching for them. Still searching for Black. He hoped that whoever Black chose as her new paladin, that he would be strong enough to beat Zarkon, to lead Voltron. As it stood, whoever the lions brought back to them would have to learn to pilot and bond with their lions very quickly. Forming Voltron would be hard, but they had to do it. His heart went out to the new paladins. This wasn't going to be easy, and he just hoped they all survived it.
Black, was the first to come back. It had only taken her a few days to choose a new paladin. And the only thing Allura could think was; of course Black would know exactly who she wanted and be back so soon. She was the decisive head of Voltron. She always knew exactly who and what she wanted. This time around she had chosen a species called "human" or at least, that was what the man she brought back had said his species was called. This human's name was Takashi Shirogane, or, Shiro as he had introduced himself. She had made a point to be there as soon as Black landed in her hanger when she had seen her returning to the castle. She wanted to meet her new black paladin as soon as possible. She hadn't been expecting him to have Galra tech as an arm, but she supposed that everyone was paying some sort of price in this war, Shiro's price just happened to be his arm.
"It is wonderful to meet you Shiro, I am Princess Allura of Altea, and this is my ship, the Castle of Lions. I trust Black explained the situation to you?" She asked, bowing to the new head of Voltron with a slight tip of her head.
"She showed me some stuff about a war. I didn't know their reach was so vast, but I think I have a rough idea of what's going on. Though, she also showed me four other lions, but I don't see any others." Shiro looked around, as if that would reveal the other paladins to him.
"There are five lions total, yes. But you are the first to return. Black is the leader of Voltron, it only makes sense that she would be the first to choose her paladin. Though, even if you had been the last, the hanger you docked in is solely Black's. There would not be any of the other lions in it." Shiro nodded at Allura's answer, seeming to accept it.
"I'm not sure I'll make the best leader, especially to a team I don't know. But I'll give it my best. What the Black lion showed me is terrible and must be stopped."
Allura nodded. "That is all I can ask, though I am sure you will do just fine, otherwise the Black lion would not have chosen you. She believes that you are calm and steady. Concise and intuitive. She trusts you to be the level head of Voltron. Now, let me show you around." Allura smiled and gestured for Shiro to follow her out of the hanger bay. She chose to show him to his quarters first, figuring that would be the best place to start. "This room will be yours, if you need anything, please do let me or Coran know right away."
"Who's Croan?" Shiro asked, a brow raised.
"Coran in my advisor, but he is also the person who knows the most about this ship. If something is wrong, Coran will know how to fix it. Now this way to the training room and the dining hall."
While waiting for the others to show up Allura had gotten to know Shiro quite well, and she could honestly say that she liked the new black paladin quite a bit. He was strong and brave, he had escaped Galra captivity all on his own, though the details of said escape were fuzzy for him at best. She felt bad that her paladin was suffering so much at the hands of the Galra empire, but she assured him that as long as they had Voltron, they could stop Zarkon before he could hurt anyone else. They just had to wait for the other lions to return.
After waiting another three cycles, the Green lion showed up with a young human girl named Katie. It appeared that Shiro knew her, having instantly run up to hug her as soon as she had stepped out of the green lion's mighty mouth, an endless stream of incomprehensible apologies on his tongue. Though Allura did not know why, Katie had stated early on that she wished to be addressed as 'Pidge,' but she complied. As soon as Pidge had gotten settled into the Castle of Lions though, Allura found herself missing how much time she had just started getting used to spending with the new black paladin. He had nearly glued himself to Pidge's side the second he had seen her, the two always talking about the young girl's family, and Allura had not failed to notice the guilty look Shiro seemed to adopt any time the name "Matt" was spoken aloud. She learned soon after, that Pidge's father and brother were members of Shiro's crew, that they had also been taken by the Galra, and while Shiro had been able to escape, he had no idea what had become of Pidge's family. Pidge chose to firmly believe that both her father and her brother were alive and well, just waiting to be rescued.
"I don't believe you would have just abandoned them Shiro. Matt and my dad are probably both waiting for you to show up and rescue them. Imagine their surprise when I show up with you though!" She had laughed, and Shiro's eyes seemed to get a little softer as he pulled her into another tight embrace. She hugged him back and reassured him that she didn't hold him responsible at all, that she was sure that he had done everything in his power to keep her family safe like he had promised he would before they had left on their mission. Telling him that she knew he would never let anything happen to Matt. Allura felt a bit excluded from the tender moment, but had to remind herself that these two had clearly already been close before they were chosen to be her paladins. That meant that bonding should be easier for them. Even if Shiro had spent the whole first day telling Pidge she should go home. Allura understood that children fighting wars, let alone ones that were not their own, was wrong, but Green had chosen her. Green thought she was a good choice. And Pidge wanted to help. Allura had smiled when Pidge had declared, quite loudly, that she didn't care what Shiro thought, she was going to help, and even if they were blood she still wouldn't listen to him on that.
"Katie, this is dangerous! How am I ever going to look your father in the eye again if I let you do this?!"
"You aren't letting me do anything, I'm telling you, I'm staying." And that had been the end of it. Pidge and Shiro spent a lot of the time waiting for the other lions in the training room. Shiro's reasoning was that if he was going to let her stay, he was at least going to make sure she could properly fight if the situation called for it. It warmed Allura's heart, but chilled the small fire that had been beginning to take flame in the pit of her stomach. Shiro would be spending more time with Pidge than he had been with her. Which, was good for the team. She shouldn't be jealous. And yet, there was that niggling feeling just out of reach, that she couldn't snuff out that said she wished Shiro would look at her with half the tenderness that he directed at Pidge. She sighed and shook her head. This was war. There was no time for silly crushes. She had to keep her head straight.
Following very closely after Green's arrival, after nearly a whole turn, was the Yellow lion and his Paladin; Hunk. They too were human. Allura had never encountered a time, nor could she recollect one where so many of the paladins were of the same race. But the lions never made a mistake when choosing their paladins. She trusted their judgment of the new Green, Black, and Yellow paladins. Though, it did make her wonder just who in the universe the Red and Blue lions would bring back. She showed him around just as she had Pidge and Shiro. It appeared that Hunk knew exactly who Shiro was as well, but he was not close to him as Pidge had been, claiming that he was one of the older boy's biggest fans. That he was the reason he had wanted to join the Garrison, whatever that was, Allura would have to ask later. Shiro had blushed quite the alarming shade of red at the praise and Pidge had just cackled, laughing harder when he tried to glare at her for laughing at him in the first place. Hunk smiled when he saw Pidge, someone his own age, and then his face twisted into a contemplative look before he broke out into a very large smile once more. She could see instantly why Yellow had chosen this boy.
"Hey! Aren't you Pidge Gunderson? I'm pretty sure we were in the same class at the Garrison!" Pidge had stopped laughing when he said that, shrinking under Shiro's questioning gaze.
"Um, about that. My real name is Katie Holt, but yeah, that was the name I was using at the Garrison." She flushed slightly and Shiro only sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and shook his head, muttering "what am I going to do with you?" quietly under his breath. Pidge seemed to huff at that, crossing her arms over her chest before Hunk nodded understandingly, not even addressing the fact that most of Earth thought the team had died.
"So then, you're related to the guys that were on Shiro's team that went missing, right?"
"Yeah, my brother Matt and my dad are still out there somewhere, and I'm going to find them."
"So, you made a fake name to sneak into the Garrison to look for clues?" Hunk guessed. Allura smiled. He was sharp.
"Yeah, after getting kicked out once already under my real name."
"Katie!" Shiro exclaimed, mortified that she had been putting herself in so much danger and risking her future in such a way.
"You guys were gone! Of course I was going to look for you! They said it was pilot error, that the ship went down and you guys had died, no one who actually knew you would ever believe that was true Shiro! You were so ready for that mission! I knew they were hiding something!"
"Even still!"
"So, you like, know Siro personally?" Hunk had interjected, and Allura could tell he was simply trying to ease the tension that was building in the small common room.
"Oh, yeah. Shiro was always over at my place, even before the Kerberos mission was assigned, I mean he and Matt were dating after all."
"Katie!" Shiro had practically screeched, the blush on his face springing back to life as the girl by his side divulged such private information to their new teammate. Allura would have to inquire later as to what 'dating' meant exactly, but for now, she was content just watching her paladins interact.
"No way! Really? I mean there were rumors going around, but, for real?!" Hunk was grinning ear to ear, as he and Katie went on talking about Shiro's love life to the other man's dismay. The black paladin looked like he just wanted to crawl into a hole and die with the way he curled in on himself on the couch, his face in his hands and his ears beyond scarlet.
"God, how Matt puts up with you is a mystery." He muttered, his voice muffled by his hands, but it was quite clear that he felt close to miserable.
"Don't worry, I don't judge, you can date whoever you want." Hunk grinned, slapping a hand on Shiro's back, and pulling him into a tight side hug. Allura had no worries any longer about these three bonding and forming a very close team. But where in the universe were Red and Blue? They should have been back by now. The longer they waited to show up, the harder it was going to be to integrate into this small little family that had started to form. All of them had known each other in one way or another, so how could the Red and Blue paladins afford to wait any longer if they wished to be close enough to form Voltron?
Coran had quickly taken a liking to the new paladins, especially the green and yellow ones. Hunk, it appeared was a brilliant engineer and was able to easily help Coran fix nearly any mechanical failure that seemed to be thrown their way. And Pidge, well she was a genius in her own way. She had helped Coran with many technical malfunctions, upgrading the castle's systems easily, despite not knowing the slightest bit of Altean. Hunk also seemed to be very passionate about cooking. He had designated the kitchen to be his domain and had taken over cooking nearly every meal since arriving as soon as Coran had explained to him how all the gadgets had worked. He may not have known exactly what he was doing, or what the food he was handling was exactly, but Allura had to admit that he was quite skilled and that everything he made was simply delicious.
"So, how far out are we exactly?" Pidge asked Coran casually as she strolled onto the bridge. Coran had been looking over data crystals, making sure everything was ship shape and ready for take off whenever Red and Blue decided to come back. He looked up from his work for only a split tick to acknowledge Pidge, before diving right back in.
"That depends, by that do you mean from Earth, or in the general sense of the universe?"
"Hmm, both I suppose. Do you know either off the top of your head?"
"Not in the slightest. But I do know that it is a great distance for both." Coran didn't hesitate to answer. Pidge snorted. That much was obvious. She had been on this castle ship for roughly three weeks now already and she was getting impatient.
"Are we planning to leave this planet at all any time soon?" She had a universe to save and family to find. She couldn't afford to be sitting here idle much longer.
"We can't leave just yet. We have to wait for the other two lions to return. I am a bit surprised it's taking them so long considering that they were the first two we released." Coran stood straight again, petting at his mustache as he contemplated his own statement. "Not to mention that out of the five, Red and Blue are the fastest."
"Maybe something happened to them then?"
"I should hope not, we can not form Voltron without all five lions."
Pidge groaned. "Fine. Is there a way to track them at all then? To figure out roughly where they are or if they got captured or something? What if one of them went into Galra heavy airspace?"
"Miss Pidge, I admire your concern for them, but the lions would not get caught so easily, they will be fine."
"I'd still like to see if I can find them or not."
"They will return once they find a suitable paladin, just as did Green, Black, and Yellow did, do not worry, I am sure it will not be much longer." Coran assured her, and she didn't want to leave it at that, but it was obvious that that was all she was going to get out of the older Altean. Well, if she was going to be stuck here, she supposed she could at least indulge Shiro's overprotective request to spend a few hours in the training hall every day. She could understand how having basic hand to hand combat skills could be useful in a war.
It wasn't until after what they had all decided was dinner time that Allura called over the castle's intercoms excitedly that both Red and Blue were on their way back and that they should all get down to the hangar bays to meet their new teammates as soon as possible. She was obviously very excited, and the three humans could hardly match her speed as she zoomed down the hallways, practically levitating in her haste.
"Princess, I don't think you need to rush, they'll still be there regardless of when we get there." Shiro chuckled as she tried to hurry them into the lift with her. Hunk and Coran were the first to enter next her, followed closely by Shiro, who was dragging Pidge with him. Once they were all in the lift Allura slapped the button for the general hallway leading to all of the hanger bays.
"That may be, but I am still excited to see who the lions chose!" The ride was short and Allura shot out as soon as the doors opened, heading straight for Blue's hanger bay first. When she didn't see the mighty lion in her room though she furrowed her brow in mild confusion. That was odd, she could have sworn she had seen both of them come out of that wormhole. Oh well, she would just have to check on Red first then. Slower this time she turned on her heel and started for the next hanger over, her hand coming up to tap at her chin as she tried to think of why Blue wouldn't dock immediately. The other paladins and coran followed her quietly, simply leaving her to her own thoughts.
"I thought the lions didn't share hangers." Hunk spoke up first as they entered Red's room just as Blue was landing next to her.
"They usually do not. This is quite odd, but at least this way we can meet both of them at the same time." Allura's frown turned to a small smile easily enough as she approached them.
"Brave new paladins of Voltron! I welcome you to the Castle of Lions! I am Princess Allura of Altea." She smiled wide and opened her arms in a grand gesture. All four of the others could tell she was beyond excited. Now, they just had to wait for the new paladins to come out.
Notes:
Okay, so writing this chapter was a little harder than I anticipated, but it was still fun. Also one sided Shallura and Shatt! (Is there a better ship name for them that I just don't know of? I feel like there should be.) I liked both pairings but decided I didn't want to cross that inter-species relationship bridge right now. I've already got enough on my plate with the Klance. In my head Lance and Keith keep arguing about if it's even possible for their species to have children together and it keeps making them upset because they both want them. (just, you know, later.) Lance is just like "Keith! Knock me up dammit!" and Keith is just sitting there like; "babe, I'd love to, but there are a few problems with that, one; no sex yet, makes reproduction kinda hard. Two, we don't even know if that's possible between us yet. And three, Not fucking yet! I'm not together enough to have my own kids, no matter how hot the thought of pregnant you sounds!"
There may or may not have been a small scene of them talking about it written out for the fic. Lance is expecting one, Keith is just sitting there like "good luck with that, Galra have litters!"
haha oh well
Also, I was super tired while writing the end of this chapter, pretty much the whole Allura greeting Red and Blue scene I was running on fumes, and while writing I made a few errors (I should have fixed them all, bless FrostyTrish, seriously, she's the best.) but I think my favorite one I had made was when Allura was introducing herself. I had accidentally typed "I am princess Altea" while trying to type Princess Allura and it just made me giggle, we both did actually. XD It was kinda great "Princess Altea of Planet Allura" was then teasingly tossed around for a few minutes, but it was all good. Please, if I missed any typos or small little mistakes while editing, that was why and I would love someone to point them out for me because it'll probably take a few days to notice them myself with how much sleep I've been averaging lately.
I love you all and comments feed my soul, please tell me what you think.
Also, if you care to, please tell me how mean you think I should be to Matt, I intend for him to be found, but should I have him be slightly depressed and resenting the Galra and what they have done to him/subjected him to? Or should he be dealing with his lot the bet he can? I have ideas for both but it's hard to pick between them. Please tell me what you think and it might help me make up my mind.
~ Evi