Chapter 4: The Chase

A/N: I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender.

I just own Ziera, Colran, Sephiras, Janze and any other OCs mentioned in this fic that isn't canon.

WARNING: Contains violence, death, implications of sexual acts, Lance's flirting, and other things that may cause some readers discomfort.

Hey guys, it's been a while since I updated this story, BHBL is getting really close to the romance portion of its story, and I've been putting my focus there for the time being. However since I had to plan the next five chapters of BHBL, I thought I'd take the opportunity to update this fic while my plate wasn't full!

I hope you enjoy!

Honestly, none of this was what Ziera was expecting when she left Olkarion in a blind rush to see her home again. She never expected to see Tylyrio completely obliterated, or be persecuted by Allura because of her precious pendant. But now the ship was under red alert, the shrill alarm causing her serious hearing discomfort as she skated down the halls towards the bridge, where she knew everyone had gathered since it was rare for people to blatantly ignore a red alert.

When she finally reached the room in question, she skidded to a halt and switched off her Skate-Overs as the door slid open and she saw the entire crew stood around the central platform where Allura stood. Said woman turning to meet her horrified gaze as the Tylyrion woman stared up at what awaited them outside the castle's observation window. "No..." She managed to squeak out in terror, fear clenching deep in her gut as she remembered the last time she saw that ship.

When it was hovering above the burning remains of her original home.

It was Zarkon's command base, and it was towering over them with many battle cruisers tagging along behind it.

"I knew we couldn't trust you!"

Ziera's thoughts were torn from her as she snapped her gaze to the Altean princess, who stepped towards the feline alien, causing her to panic internally and look for an escape route. "I knew the moment you were left alone, that you would reveal our location to the enemy! I should have followed my instincts and refused your 'help' from the start!"

"W-wait, I-I swear it wasn't me!" Ziera piped out, swallowing the fearful lump in her throat as she looked at the other Paladins. "I don't even have a communicator that would work long range!" She carefully pulled the communicator she did carry out of her ear, a tiny pod made of wood. "This thing can only detect close-range signals, and even then, they can't be encripted, or it'll just voice static!"

"Liar!" Allura continued to storm over to their newest ally, and Ziera stepped back, trying to pin herself to the wall, but because she had just entered the room, the only thing behind her was a door that reacted with a close-proximity censor. Therefore, the poor feline almost fell backward when it slid open on its own. "How else would the Galra find us so easily? It's quite a coincidence for them to appear just after you arrived!"

"P-please believe me!" Ziera straightened up, trying to stand her ground against the taller alien woman. "I wouldn't do that to any of you! Ryner is my best friend, and she trusts you all, why would I jeopardize that by betraying you?!"

"She's got a point, Allura." Keith piped up from Allura's left, prompting the princess to turn around and face him. He had been silent during her questioning earlier, why was he choosing then to speak up in favor of their new 'ally.' "His commander must have radio'd in from Olkarion. It's the only other possible conclusion, I can think of."

"Keith's right." Shiro chipped in, looking back at the commotion, trying to be alert in a time of crisis. "Ziera's given us no reason to suspect her so far, we can only take her word for it until we deal with the situation we're in."

Allura stared for a moment, thinking over his words, then shot a sharp glare at Ziera, who flinched back in fear, only to hop back into the room when the doors started to close on her. After a moment, Allura clicked her tongue, trying to keep her thoughts to herself, as she turned back to address said situation.

Ziera would have relaxed if it were not for the unsettling presence of Zarkon's ship.

"Guys, we need to wormhole, now!" Shiro told them, noticing that a few of the cruisers had started aiming their ion cannons towards them since they had not moved for a minute or two. "Everyone to your stations, we've got to put some distance between us and Zarkon! This could be the fight of our lives!" With that, they all nodded and each went to their own seats, while Coran ran up front and Allura remained on the central platform where she commanded the ship. He then turned to Ziera, who was stood awkwardly by the doors, unsure what to do. "Ziera." The Black Paladin's use of her name caught her attention.

"Y-yes?"

"Hold on tight, the ride's going to get rough from here out."

Ziera swallowed what little fear was left after arriving at the bridge and nodded with timid, yet serious eyes. She dove for the back of the nearest chair, which happened to be Hunk's and held on tight, apologizing softly to the Yellow Paladin, who just waved off her words since she was not hurting anyone.

And just then, the outside of the ship lit up with enemy fire and a smaller screen appeared to show at least a thousand Galra fighters that had been dispatched from the cruisers around them. "That sure is a lot of fighters." Keith pointed out.

"Allura!" Shiro started, not turning to face her as he checked the different stats on his small monitor. "Can you evade these fighters? We can't have them following us through the wormhole!"

"I can try!" Allura called back, holding the two pillars in front of her as the castle suddenly sped up. If it were not for Ziera's discomfort around the woman, she would have gone into an excitable charade of questions about her control of the ship, but instead, she kept her trap shut, as not to anger the already rather aggressive princess.

The castle moved quickly through the vacuum of space as the Particle Barrier raised around them and the fighters stopped firing and began to pursue them incessently.

"Keith, Lance!" Shiro called out to his fellow paladins, who both listened. "Let's lay down some covering fire!"

The two made sounds of agreement before three small drones left the sides of the ship, one black, one blue and one red. They shot at the fighters and managed to damage a few of them, but there was way too many.

"Lance, incoming!" Pidge shouted to the Blue Paladin. "Twelve o'clock high!"

Lance smirked and yanked at the controller he held, which turned the drone towards the fighter which was moving far too close to the ship for comfort. "Got it!" He called out, only for the red drone to knock him out of the way and take the shot, destroying the enemy ship. "Hey!"

"Sorry!" Keith said simply. "Gotta be quick!"

"How's that for quick?" The blue drone slammed into the red drone, and the two started trying to destroy eachother's equipment in their petty rivalry.

"Knock it off, you two!" Shiro scolded them, keeping his eyes on the screens. "Stay in your zones!"

"Yeah, Keith!"

"Keep calling out those fighters, Pidge!" He then turned his attention to the Yellow Paladin. "Hunk, how are the defenses holding?"

The larger male wiped his tired eyes and opened the monitor he had, looking over the stats. "I dunno, ten percent, fifteen maybe?" His eyelids drooped when he could not read the symbols. "Everything's a blur, I've been up too long, I have tired eyes!"

"I know we just came off an intense battle, but we gotta stay focused, just until we jump!"

Ziera suddenly leaned over the back of the chair and scared the crap out of Hunk making him shrink back as a reaction. She quickly scanned the images, as she could not understand the language, then shouted over to Shiro. "The defenses are at twenty-five percent, but they won't last long if they take any more heavy fire!"

"Thanks, Ziera! Keep an eye on those readings, ok?"

"Not a problem!" She smiled at Hunk, who let out an awkward laugh and smiled back, giving her a thumbs up. She was a pretty cool person when she did not scare him half to death.

"Hey Coran, when are we gonna jump?" Keith asked, his tone raising an octave as he began to feel overwhelmed by the number of fighters he was forced to deal with.

"They're still too close!" The older Altean replied, looking over the screens as different warnings began to pop up. "We need to gain more speed!"

And that's when something clicked in Allura's mind. "I've got an idea...!" She started, arching forward slightly as her grip on the podiums tightened. "Hold on!"

The group only had a split second to heed her advice, before the ship suddenly gained speed and started flying quite rapidly towards a nearby moon. Sadly, despite grabbing Hunk's chair tight, Ziera's feet slipped out from under her and she yelped as she fell onto her backside.

Though her shoes gave her great momentum, they had zero frictional grip on surfaces. Perhaps she would need to tinker with them and alter this design flaw in the future. "Ziera, are you alright?" Pidge called over, hearing the woman's cry.

"Ah-ha, yep, I'm fine! I just slipped!" Ziera shouted back, trying to get back up, only to realize she was safer staying on her ass. "I'm going to stay down here until the princess does what she must to ensure our survival, otherwise I'll just keep falling over!"

"Uh, Allura, what are you doing?!" The young tech expert turned her attention to the princess at her side, who was looking out at the oncoming moon.

"I'm going to use this moon's gravity to gain speed and put some distance between us and Zarkon!" She stated simply, as she finally reached the moon's orbital gravity. The ship turned with the moon, flying around its large surface as the occupants tried to keep a tight hold with the intense G-force caused by the speed increase.

Coran watched the monitors as they did so and was quick to turn. "We're clear to wormhole!" He called out over the rumbling vibrations their little stunt was causing.

Allura nodded and closed her eyes, sweat dripping from her chin as a large wormhole appeared in front of them and they slipped through, quickly closing it behind them to ensure no fighter jets followed them inside.

Ziera took the opportunity, as they slowed down, to stand up, smiling at Hunk when he shot her a worried look. However, her smile faded when she noticed that there was still a red, flashing alarm blaring through the room. "W-wait, if we managed to wormhole away, why are we still on alert?"

Shiro's expression matched Ziera's concern. "Coran, what's going on?"

Coran was quick to open a new screen on the monitor, and all the color drained from his face. "Oh no!" He cried out. "Teladuv Lense malfunction!" He looked up at the wormhole tunnel as a portal appeared. "We're about to exit this wormhole a lot sooner than we planned!"

And they did, within a moment the ship slipped through the exit and into a large galaxy filled with massive shards of broken ice asteroids. Though dangerous, it was a beautiful sight.

Once the group got their breath back, they looked around at their surroundings. "Whoa, where are we?" Lance asked, arching a brow. "Look's like some sort've iceberg graveyard."

"Coran, what's the status?" Allura managed to rasp, gripping her head as a wave of dizziness washed over her.

"Checking that now..." Coran started, typing rapidly. "We didn't make it to our exit point, but we're several galaxies from Zarkon's fleet."

Everyone's attention turned from Coran in an instant when they heard Allura let out a gasp and hit the ground. They all vocalized her name in a panic and rushed over to see if she was alright, even Ziera, who was in a little pain herself.

"Oh no, you look exhausted..." The eldest Altean stated, crouching down to check her over. "You must rest, you've been exerting way too much energy..." He stood back up and kicked off towards the door. "I'll go check on the main turbine and figure out what's going on-uuwaaaaahhhhh!" With that, the poor man seemed to step into a puddle and skidded straight into the wall beside the door, which opened comedically, despite him completely missing his original trajectory.

"Whoa, are you alright?" Lance asked, standing up next to Keith, a little shocked by the sudden collision.

Coran groaned as he peeled himself off the cracked wall, leaving behind a strange silhouette of his form in slime. He then tried to act cool and placed his hand against the wall, secretly using it for balance. "Ohhh...Oh, I'm fine!" He let his foot skid across the shiny floor, leaving a trail behind. "Um...Look, I'll tell you what, I've probably hit a slippery spot on the ground here." He stiffened up and pointed at the suspicious puddle. "Someone, please...Wipe that up there!"

Allura turned to face Coran. "You're..." She paused to catch her breath. "You're sweating...You might have a case of the Slipperies."

"What?" Coran spoke with such a strong sense of shock as if she had offended his very being. "No! No, that's an old person virus, and I'm not old, I'm young~." He held out a hand in a proud manner, only to notice a bubble of sweat filling his palm, which he quickly tucked behind his back nervously. "Well, young-ish..."

"What're the Slipperies?" Lance asked.

"It's a common Altean virus that occurs...Later in life." She tilted her head to the side when she said 'later.' "It's not harmful, and usually only lasts a couple of days, but..." She watched as Coran stepped away from the sweat, only to panic when a puddle formed beneath his feet, forcing him to move again. "It causes one's body to secrete extremely slick fluid."

In that moment the humans of the group all dove behind Allura with sounds of disgust, while Ziera just sat beside the Altean princess, unfazed by the description. There were worse Tylyrio ailments, like fleshballs...

She had them for a short while on Olkarion, they usually only come around when stress builds up or an illness like flu is contracted and they are not too pleasant. Luckily the ailment is rare, so she only had it once and vowed to try not to get it again.

Blegh.

"Yes, it is gross!" Coran stated, looking very embarrassed as he grinned nervously. "It's a good thing I don't have it!"

Allura shot her surrogate father a soft smile, while Pidge ran off to the side to vomit, which again, Ziera did not truly understand. "Coran, it's nothing to be embarrassed about."

"I'm not embarrassed!" The older Altean outstretched his arms as a form of emphasis, only further proving he had it when the sweat started dripping off his arms. "Because I don't have it! And now, I'm actually going to leave, because I've got to fix the main turbine." He turned to the door, but much to his humiliation, whenever he took a step, he did not move an inch due to the slick puddle under his feet. He started to panic and increased his walking speed, only to lose control and fall onto his rear and out the door, skidding down the corridor with wails of fear. "QUIZNACK!"

Silence stretched for a moment before Shiro spoke up. "Alright, since Zarkon has no idea where we are, this is the perfect time to focus on our next step." With those words, Hunk and Lance sighed while both Allura and Keith's expressions warped with exhaustion. Ziera though, still had a lot of energy, as she had not done much since arriving. "Maybe we can find that secret group, the Blade of Marmora." The Black Paladin quickly turned his attention to the young tech expert who had flopped onto her chair after emptying her stomach. "Where are those coordinates?"

The young teen groaned as she sat up and started typing lazily. "Wait, hang on...I'm so tired, my brain's not working."

"Yeah..." Lance started, his shoulders sagging tiredly. "So's mine."

Ziera hummed and looked over at the fatigued Green Paladin. "Do you want me to assist you, Pidge? I've still got plenty of energy to spare, that way you can take a break~!"

However, their small conversation was interrupted by Coran's voice as a monitor appeared before them, diverting their attention. "Hello all, I've checked the engines!" He said, trying to keep his balance, despite his virus.

"That was fast," Pidge commented.

"Well, I slipped right down-" He started, but realized what he said and flailed to fix his mistake, only to hit the floor, causing a bump to appear on his forehead. "I mean, hurried down!" He straightened up, injury throbbing painfully as he did so. "The good news is, the Galra Fighters did minimal damage! I flushed the turbine and it's fine."

"Oh, wonderful!" Ziera said gleefully, standing up to look at the screen better, excited by the different machines she could see behind the man. "This ship truly is a mechanical marvel, if it can take such force without damage!"

"Well, actually..." Coran interrupted, sweatdropping slightly. "Bad news is, the Teladuv, or 'Wormholer' as the paladins call it, is in bad shape..."

"Oh..." Ziera's large ears drooped.

"Several Scaultrite lense stones of the Magnifying Beam Generator are cracked." He looked at the machine to his right, which held the cracked lenses. "As you know, the Magnifying Beam Generator uses a crystal to convert Altean energy into usable fuel. That supplies the power needed to wormhole." He realized his injury was still throbbing away and quite painfully pushed it down, which made the others flinch slightly, while Hunk looked ready to vomit. "Well, I need to remove the cracked lenses and readjust their trajectory temporarily until we can replace them! I'll also need to divert power to make up for the lost energy...Anyway, it's going to take at least a quintant!"

Shiro nodded at Coran's explanation, he and Allura being the only two that did not react to his actions. "Alright, we'll hide the ship and get some rest while Coran comes up with a workaround." He looked at the others, who were significantly more tired than he was, then returned his attention to their mechanic. "Tomorrow we'll be sharper and refocused."

Everyone, apart from the energetic Tylyrion female, sighed with relief, and Allura, who was still sitting with her fingers linked in her lap, spoke up. "There's a pool in the third sector if anyone wants to have a relaxing swim before they get some sleep!"

All she got was some grunts of exhaustion and maybe a casual 'sounds like a plan' as the three teens, excluding Pidge, left the room to do their own things. Pidge then stood up and stretched. "I'm gonna help Coran for a bit...Standing and tinkering will help me sharpen up."

Pidge hopped out of her seat and walked towards the door, pausing as it opened to look at Ziera. "Do you wanna come with me, Ziera?"

"Oh please, Pidge, call me Era~!" Ziera said with a kind smile. "And I'd love to help, but first..." She turned her attention to Allura, who blinked in curious confusion when she felt eyes watching her. "If possible, I'd like to accompany Allura as she goes to her room."

Allura's expression went cold in a split second, distrust obvious in her eyes, which hurt the Tylyrion female a little, but she bit back her pain, she understood her suspicion, after all. "That's quite alright." The princess stated as she stood up, still sweating slightly from exertion. "I can make my own way back."

"But...!" Ziera clenched her fists and swallowed the fear that bubbled up when she thought of arguing with last surviving member of the Altean Royal Family. "I think the company will help rejuvenate you a little, and...I feel like I know nothing about you, I want to understand you better, is that such a bad thing?"

Allura was silent for a moment as she thought back to every logical argument the paladins had made in Ziera's favor. And after a moment of contemplation, she sighed and gestured to the door. "Fine, you may accompany me to my quarters..."

Though the small step in the right direction made Ziera hopeful, because of her previous rejection to the idea, the atmosphere in the room felt tense and a little irritated, so she just awkwardly nodded and left the room, Allura following behind.

Once Pidge left the room and turned the corner, leaving them alone, they started walking and the door to the bridge closed behind them. They were a small distance apart due to the sweat coating the floor, but the most uncomfortable thing was the silence that followed.

"So..." The tech-loving feline started, awkwardly twiddling her thumbs behind her back. "The Alteans are rather famous on my planet...Well, Olkarion, anyway~!" She smiled at Allura, who did nothing but glance over. "After all, you were the ones that challenged Zarkon's empire, right?"

"...My father was the one to challenge Zarkon's rule." Allura finally stated, and slowly, Ziera felt relief wash over her, this was better than nothing. "He was also the one to create Voltron and defend the universe as a peaceful protector."

"That sounds amazing~!" Ziera looked up as she let out a curious hum. "I bet you're proud to be his daughter!"

"...Yes, not a day goes by where I don't miss him."

The change of tone in Allura's voice caught the feline's attention and she turned her head to see the princess averting her gaze with pain stretched across her features. Her curiosity warped into guilt and empathy as she sighed and looked down at the floor. "I get it..." She started. "I...Know it's not the same but I've lost people in my life too, though...I can't remember them."

Allura hummed. "You can't remember them? Is that a symptom of your amnesia, per-chance?"

Ziera nodded and swallowed the lump that started forming in her throat. It still hurts to think about it. "I can't remember much from before I woke up under Ryner's care...I just remember little bits and pieces of my life...Like being captured by the Galra, and some local traditions and sayings from my home planet..." Her chin trembled and her voice cracked when she spoke again. "A-and the moment I watched Zarkon's fleet fire at Tylyrio and destroy everything...!"

When she choked back a painful sob and covered her mouth in an attempt to stop the burning sensation in her throat, Allura's eyes actually softened, and she saw herself when she found out her father died. There was no denying the honest emotion of grief. "I'm sorry for your loss..."

Ziera sniffled and shot Allura a grateful smile, then surprised the princess by taking off her goggles and holding them out to her, the wooden comm still in her hand from earlier. "Here..." She started, watching as the princess hesitantly reached out for them, confused for lack of a better word. "I want you to take these to Pidge and analyze them, just to put your mind at ease about whether or not I'm a traitor."

"You...Wish for me to spy on your communications?" Allura asked, taking them and looking them over, they were very retro but advanced for their design. "Why would you do such a thing?"

"Because I get why you don't trust me...Without all my memories, I can hardly trust myself sometimes..." She clenched her fist around the Galra crystal pendant she didn't remember but cherished. "But I know for a fact I'm innocent here, and if taking my devices and checking them is what it takes to gain your trust completely, then I'm all for it."

To prove how much she appreciated her co-operation, Allura's lips curled upwards slightly. This pulled a quivering smile from the heartbroken Tylyrion, who appreciated that gesture more than anything else.

"Then I'll thank you for entrusting me with your belongings...I'll return them once Pidge runs diagnostics."

"That's fine by me since we're not going anywhere for the time being~!"

The two shared a small chuckle and finally, they reached Allura's room, stopping at the door. Ziera bowed respectfully and turned to walk away. "I hope your rest is pleasant, Princess...I'll be sure to alert you if anything were to happen."

"Ziera, wait."

The feline hummed and turned around, blinking back bewilderment as the princess stood there, smiling. She was starting to see why the others trusted her so easily...Despite her previous suspicions, the Tylyrion was quite the pure-hearted individual. "Coran may not want to admit it, but he has the Slipperies, and that could make it more difficult for him to fix the Teladuv..." She sighed with exasperation and tilted her head to the side in amusement. "Could you perhaps check on him, and assist him with his work? Pidge told me you're quite the tech-expert, and if that's true, I'm sure I won't find anyone better for the job."

Ziera's curiosity turned to surprise as her eyes widened. "Y-you'll let me in the engine room?"

"Of course..." She flashed a frown of guilt and placed her hands behind her back. "The help would be appreciated, especially with Zarkon searching the universe for our ship."

Allura was expecting gratitude since Ziera seemed quite grateful about most things, but she was not expecting the woman's eyes to gleam excitedly, and for her to turn on her Skate-Overs, ready to zoom out of sight at any moment. "I'm more than happy to help, Princess! Just give me the directions, and I'll be there in a flash~!"

The Altean woman laughed slightly, then pointed down the hall, which Ziera followed with her eyes. "Straight down to the first turn, then make a left, then a right, and straight down...That should be where Coran is. You won't miss it, there will be sweat leading up to the door."

"Oh." Ziera laughed and bopped her own forehead. "Of course, I could've just followed the sweat!" She smiled back at Allura and gave her a meek wave. "Right, I'll be going then! Don't worry about everyone else, just get some good rest, ok?"

"I'll do my best~!"

And with that, Ziera started skating through the air, down the corridor and out of sight, while Allura watched her leave. Once gone, the princess looked down at the goggles and communicator, before clenching her hand around them.

Perhaps she had been rather rude to Ziera this entire time...After all, the crystal could have come into her possession after she escaped from the Galra, just because she held one, did not mean she worked for them.

With a sigh, she looked back out at the corridor one last time, before entering her room to get the rest she needed.

Meanwhile, Ziera made it to the engine room in little to no time, skidding to a halt by the door as Pidge left the room with a tired pout. "Hey Pidge!" She called out, surprising the small paladin. "I thought you were helping Coran, what happened?"

"Heh, if you're here to help, I suggest avoiding any conversation about the 'Slipperies.' Pidge started, rubbing her neck sheepishly. "He kicked me out after I slipped on his sweat and told him he should find a cure for the virus."

"Oh dear...Well, thanks for the advice!" She waved pleasantly as Pidge walked past her to go and find someone else to hang out with, and once the young teen was out of sight, she went to the door and opened it.

However, she was not prepared for what she found, as Coran held onto a machine for dear life, panicking as his sweaty feet kept sliding apart, threatening to make him do the splits, which most males tended to hate for obvious reasons.

She felt sweat slide down her own cheek as she realized this task would be more difficult than Allura had made it out to be.

A/N: Thank you for reading, please review, as all comments push me to be a better writer!

Voltron Time

Quintant = Day