(From Ashes) Chapter 4

Pride: From Ashes

Chapter 4

The Castle of Lions

Scouting the village had brought important information, no doubt. It had also gotten the unsanctioned scouts yelled at. Daniel didn't see that as a negative; it had been so long since Keith had for-real yelled at him that he'd nearly forgotten how good it felt. It certainly made him feel better about having to snitch on himself. At least their commander had reassured him, emphatically, that he was in no danger of becoming a responsible person any time soon.

Lance's damn disappointed face was less enjoyable. He really needed to figure out a way to do bad things without ticking Lance off…

Unfortunately, as a final insult, they were officially out of weird purple bread. Which meant no toast. And how was he supposed to think without toast? He wasn't, that was how. He wasn't tired, though he hadn't done much sleeping… he was just hungry and disappointed.

Vince, on the other hand, was exhausted. Sleep was for people who hadn't just seen ghosts.

"Alright." Keith shook his head in exasperation as he looked over his team. It felt remarkably normal. "Let's go see this village in the daylight, now that our… impromptu scouting party brought back some preliminary information."

"You're welcome," Daniel said, earning him a dark look. Not nearly as harsh as the one he'd gotten a few hours ago, though.

Lance smirked. He hadn't actually been that mad at Daniel; the kid had gotten intel and nobody had gotten shot, which for his plans was a stunning success. "And now you get to lead us to the bodies!" he said cheerfully.

"I'd really rather stay here," Vince protested. "I don't want to know if Arus ghosts do daylight." He didn't want to know if Arus ghosts did anything.

Pidge had not slept much either, not that he ever did, and he'd been dwelling too much on a voice he couldn't admit he'd heard. He tried to tell himself it was the specific words bothering him, rather than the fact that there had been words at all…

It is only beginning.

What was beginning? Not like it mattered. Whatever it was he would be here on the ship, hiding from the sunlight, useless. Again.

"Mechka can stay with me," he offered in a characteristically neutral tone. Keep it to yourself. "Hunk can go."

Hunk whipped around. "Wait, who says I wanna go to the haunted village?"

"You afraid of ghosts, big guy?" Lance chuckled.

"Uh, depends if they're friendly ones or not." Based on the reports last night, these were more indifferent than unfriendly, but that still wasn't friendly.

"You'd have to ask Romelle to figure that out." Vince still couldn't believe she'd spoken to a ghost like it was normal.

Keith frowned, considering the actual suggestion. They didn't have any explosives, but Hunk would still be more useful than Vince if they found themselves needing to force a door or move some wreckage or something… "That's a good idea, Pidge. We might need Hunk. Vince, you can stay." He eyed them sharply. "Just stay out of trouble."

Snort. "What trouble could we get into here?"

"Why would you say that, ninja? Out loud?"

Sighing, their commander gestured for silence, and turned to open the hatch. And as they filed out of the ship, trouble presented itself immediately.

Or at least, what had to be Arusians presented themselves immediately.

"Fuck!"

"What th—"

"Uh oh."

Sven didn't speak, but both his eyebrows shot up as he drew his knife. This was about to get interesting very quickly.

There were five of them, dressed in shabby clothes—some more than others, but it was clear they'd all been roughing it. Their skin was a soft tan, and each had the same crescent-shaped cheek markings as Romelle, except all of theirs were a brilliant gold. One carried a long stick carved to a spear point, and one a bow that looked simple but sturdy. Two more stood with slightly more confidence, holding Drule-model laser rifles.

Romelle stepped behind Hunk the moment it was clear what was happening. He didn't object. "Uh, boss," he muttered instead, putting voice to what everyone had noticed. "These ain't Drules."

Big Dumb Hunk was on top of this. But it just felt like someone ought to have said it out loud.

Standing at the front of the Arusians was an older man—if the gray hair and mustache were any indication—who carried only an intricately carved cane. But he wasn't leaning on it, and as his companions trained their weapons on the team, he twisted the cane's handle and drew a long, slender blade.

His voice was calm and authoritative as he spoke. "Don't move."

As if he'd needed to worry about that.

Coran studied the aliens quickly. He'd seen Earthlings before, though never in person. They were about what he'd have expected, had he known it was Earthlings they were looking for: varied colors and builds, odd rounded ears, but quite similar to Arusians in many respects. And by the way they froze he assumed they did indeed speak Common. Fortunate enough. He knew the language, though he was rather rusty.

"Put your weapons on the ground," he instructed, after taking a moment to translate the command in his head. He kept his tone firm but non-threatening.

Non-threatening or not, Lance immediately tightened his grip on his guns. The last damn thing he was about to do here was—

"They are only things."

—Things?! His eyes widened as the voice growled in the back of his mind. As if it didn't even entertain the idea that they could be in danger.

Maybe the voice knew something he didn't… as a flicker of warmth ran through him, he slowly set the guns down.

"At least they didn't wait for everyone to leave," Vince muttered; he and Pidge were still just inside the hatch, able to hear but not see what was going on. The comment earned him a hand slapped across his mouth, and he glared. Like I want to face alien strangers alone with the ninja!

"Don't draw attention," the ninja in question hissed under his breath; Vince hissed back.

"'Cause I'm Daniel? Duh!"

The others had set their weapons down with varying degrees of trepidation. Keith kept his eyes on the other group's leader as he set his own at his feet, then raised his hands slowly. "We're not here to fight." It was clear the Arusians meant business, and the one who spoke for them had an air of cleverness as well as confidence about him. And he knew a quality blade when he saw one—in a fight, that cane sword would cut through his stolen ceremonial blade as if it were nothing.

Conquered though it may have been, this planet had held out for a long time. They'd even chased the Drules out of at least some territory, if the reports from last night's scouting were accurate. These people were not to be trifled with lightly.

Coran was having similar thoughts. There were five of the Earthlings—no, six, he could tell someone was hiding behind the large one. He didn't worry too much about that; his scouts had the group well covered. They looked to be a mix of confused and nervous, but they'd been armed well enough. And the Princess believed they were of some kind of importance.

That was enough for him, in theory, but in practice he was hardly going to take them back to her without being sure he had the right people. Without being sure they were safe. He didn't even know if this was all of them… if it wasn't, hopefully the weapons trained on their friends would prevent any others from doing anything rash.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Those were far from his only questions, but they'd do for a start.

"Who are you?" the apparent leader of the Earthlings countered.

"You are the unexpected visitors. You answer first."

That was fair enough, Keith supposed. Inconvenient, but fair. The only problem was coming up with an answer. Their usual cover story—god, it felt like forever since they'd used it—might get them killed without any further questions. A planet like this would probably not welcome bounty hunters just now.

Lance was pretty sure he should not jump in here with hi, I'm Lance and we want Voltron. Daniel, next to him, was pretty damn certain he shouldn't speak at all. For once letting Keith handle this seemed just fine.

For once, Keith might not have minded the intervention. "We're travelers," he offered finally.

It hadn't been much of an answer, and the older man's eyes narrowed. "What do you want?" he repeated a bit more emphatically.

A cheeseburger and a nap? Hunk was positive he shouldn't say that.

Keith exhaled slowly. One option was coming to mind that might help here, given the state of things. And it wasn't a lie, if not even close to the full truth. "We're searching for safety from the Drules," he said quietly.

It was immediately clear to Coran that it hadn't been the full answer. But he could hear the honesty in the Earthlings's tone, the note of raw pain buried deep within it. And even without his previous orders to bring them back unharmed, he couldn't have refused it. Arus would not turn its back on those the Drules threatened… even if what safety they could actually offer was questionable.

The others were nodding in agreement. Nodding in return, he sheathed his sword in his cane again. Good enough, for now. He didn't fully trust them, but that wasn't the criteria here. "You can lower your weapons," he said to his scouts in Arusian, and the Earthlings relaxed a little as they did so.

Daniel was staring at the old guy's sword cane. He was usually more of a gun person, but that was really cool and he was pretty sure he wanted one. Keith was having similar thoughts, no 'pretty sure' about it.

"You guys look a lot nicer when you're not pointin' scary things at us," Hunk commented. "Just sayin'."

Back inside the Falcon's hatch, Pidge briefly considered going out and stabbing the big engineer himself. Vince noted his expression and just shook his head.

Coran eyed Hunk and chuckled slightly. "You'll all need to accompany us to the castle. There's someone who is very eager to meet you."

"…Oh well that ain't ominous at all."

Lance wasn't sure if he was buying that, either. "Someone? Who? What?" He didn't feel the familiar prickling down the back of his neck. This somehow didn't feel dangerous. It really should feel dangerous. He surely didn't mean Voltron? No way were their lives ever that easy.

It took a few seconds for Coran to put that question together—to remember the difference between the words who and what, specifically. Truthfully he was very impressed with how well he'd been remembering his Common here. "They are most certainly a 'who', and you will be introduced when we reach the castle." His tone warned against further questioning. Even if he wanted to answer, under the circumstances it wouldn't have been his place.

Lance caught it and grinned a little. "I like a mystery." Keith actually turned and shushed him, drawing a laugh from Daniel and a glare from the pilot. The fuck? Am I twelve?

The boss was a bit more businesslike. "Can we bring our weapons?" They couldn't afford to trust too easily. Nothing actually guaranteed that these Arusians weren't Drule collaborators. He didn't really think so, but they'd been through too much to get here. They couldn't afford to let their guard all the way down.

Coran had anticipated the question, and Allura had not given guidance on it… well, unless they may be the ones to save us was considered guidance. Possible saviors being allowed to keep their weapons seemed reasonable. But he could hardly let his guard down, either. "As long as you keep them sheathed, I don't see why not," he finally answered. Though he smiled as he said it, he also signaled for his scouts to enforce the instruction. It was a fair middle ground, he thought.

The Earthlings seemed to think so too. "We'll be on our best behavior," the one in the leather jacket promised with a wink.

"I really don't like to make those kinds of promises," the younger black-haired one muttered, but did holster his weapon.

"These ol' things?" the big one asked with a chuckle, retrieving his rifle and slinging it over his back. "We just keep 'em around to look pretty, yeah?"

Coran froze up slightly—not because of what the Earthling had said, but because of who had become visible behind him when he moved. There was a woman there, a woman who looked very much like an Arusian. But she wasn't Arusian. Not with the gold tint to her skin, or the Golden Mark not being golden at all, but lavender…

A Polluxian. His small smile faltered, just for a moment, as she noted his gaze and raised her chin defiantly. Quickly he recovered and plastered the smile back in place. The Princess had mentioned thinking the secret of the lions might lie with Pollux, but he hadn't expected to see one of them in the company of Earthlings.

He noted that the rest of his scouts looked startled, too, but not startled enough. It was probably only the resemblance; if they could identify one of the ancient betrayers, no doubt the reaction would've been stronger.

Just as well, really. "Is this all of you? It would be… preferable to have your entire group."

Preferable for who? Pidge eyed Vince and held up a hand. They were not setting foot off of this ship without an order from their commander. Vince didn't really want to either, though he was more worried about the pale morning sunlight filtering through the hatch.

Keith also hesitated. It would be wiser, tactically, to keep Pidge and Vince behind as a backup plan. Just in case. Though if the Arusians were genuine, holding his own people back could cause problems later. Can we trust them? Can I really…

"Yes."

The word rumbled through his mind with a comforting purr, like a distant peal of thunder on a peaceful summer night. He gasped softly, looking to the sky. It was bright and clear, and yet he felt the crackle of lightning down his spine…

"…How far is it to this castle?" he asked finally. "One of us can't be out in the sun very long."

Vince grimaced as Pidge swore very creatively in Baltan.

"It's not far," the Arusian answered reassuringly, and Keith nodded. The ninja had insisted, repeatedly, that he could go out if he had to. Time to take him at his word.

"Vince. Pidge. Close it up and let's go."

"Yes sir…" Vince eyed the sunlight again, unconvinced.

Pidge was unconvinced for entirely different reasons, pulling his hood up and stepping out into the hatchway. "Sir, this is a bad idea."

"Wait, we're just going with them?" Daniel blurted, his certainty about keeping his mouth shut evaporating. "Just like that?"

"Your concerns are noted," Keith answered, frowning slightly. "But something told—something tells me we can trust them."

That wording wasn't lost on Lance. "Really?"

"Something?" Daniel echoed skeptically, then paused. Oh right, they've got the crazy-not-crazy thing going. "Nevermind."

Lance reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be alright." He might have heard a soft growl, too.

"I'm holding you to that."

Hunk was frowning. He was okay going with Mustache Dude, all things being equal. He was a little less okay with doing it if the boss was operating based on mysterious voices in his head, which was definitely what he seemed to have just implied…

"You will see. The earth is patient."

Oh yeah, that was gonna change his mind. He considered telling the voice where exactly to stick its patience, but doubted it would really do any good. He glanced over at Sven, who caught his eye and nodded slightly. Looked like he must be getting mysterious voice reassurance too, except his way actually reassuring. Unfair.

Coran watched the two other aliens appear at the top of the ramp. One was another Earthling, dark-skinned and much more nervous-looking than the others. The other he couldn't tell anything about; it was someone short and lithe wearing faintly iridescent black leather. That must be the one who couldn't be in sunlight.

As they moved down the ramp, Vince noted the large hole in Pidge's suit and the already-burnt skin beneath it, and before he could really think about it, he put a hand up to shield the area. Then he froze—so did Pidge—for a moment they just stared at each other and he was very glad he couldn't see the ninja's expression.

Then, he heard a very quiet and sullen, "Thanks."

Whew. "No problem."

Looking at the Arusians, Keith stepped forward and took a deep breath. Here went nothing… "Lead the way."

As they started forward, Hunk started whistling Ride of the Valkyries. It wasn't quite the same without the heavy metal.

The sun was getting brighter as they approached the bridge; Keith noted that as it got brighter out, the Arusians' skin became noticeably darker. That wasn't something that seemed to happen with Romelle, and he found himself idly wondering about the divergence between their people. For certain they'd only scratched the surface of the history there, and he'd noticed their leader's reaction to seeing Romelle for the first time.

Pidge had noticed the change as well, and wasn't thinking at all about the history of an ancient exile. Only about how convenient an adaptation that must be, and how intensely jealous he was right now.

Rather than following the river, after crossing the bridge they forged straight ahead into the meadow. The two scouts with rifles were scanning the sky carefully. "No cover?" Sven murmured half to himself, surprised. These people had held out much too long to be so careless, surely…

"Most of the enemy's aerial assets have long since been reassigned," Coran explained. "And the meadow itself is better cover than you might think." He said something in his own language to the scout with the spear, who nodded and dropped to her stomach. The long grass sprang back up around her, rippling and swaying in the breeze; for the first time Sven noted that the scouts were all wearing mottled green cloaks. The combination left her very nearly invisible.

Not careless at all. They knew what they were doing, and they'd gotten very good at it. He nodded, impressed.

Daniel was feeling nervous, but it wasn't about Drules. Not really. It was more like about, well… everything. Lance noticed and gave him a small nod. "It will be okay, kid," he promised again. "I just feel it."

No question what that meant. "I really hope you're not crazy." Smirk. "I'd hate to have to permanently take over your position as pilot."

Lance snorted. "Never going to happen, kid."

"We'll see."

There was a familiarity in the way they acted, Coran thought. They reminded him a little bit of his old division among the Golden Knights. Perhaps more than a bit; at least a couple of them felt likely to be soldiers or ex-soldiers themselves, though others he highly doubted. Most of all the Polluxian, whose eyes were darting over the meadow as though she couldn't decide how she felt about being here.

Fair enough. He wasn't too sure how he felt about her being here, either.

A dark shape was starting to come into view on the horizon. The castle? They were heading right for it, so it was likely to be the castle, at least. Keith kept his eyes on it for as long as he could, but then the meadow dipped a bit, and the slope of the small valley blocked it from view.

"We're close," the old Arusian murmured, confirming his thoughts. And then they moved back up the slope, close enough to really see what they were approaching.

"Holy…"

"Damn."

"…Fuzzmuffins."

"Whoa."

"Fuck." The whole team had frozen, and Lance's eyes traced the structure looming ahead of them. "That… that was beautiful, once…"

Romelle could only gasp, feeling torn all over again. The legendary castle was ruined… no, not exactly. Ruins would have been somehow easier to take.

It was still beautiful, in a haunting way. The castle was built of gray stone, and some patches still gleamed in the sunlight; others had been damaged, the polish stripped away by Drule bombardment. A few tattered banners still flew, but there were far more empty spires and parapets. The doors were huge and cracked. A huge marble statue of a lion sat to the left of the door. To the right, the remains of another—much of the body had been smashed, though the noble face still gazed forward.

The Castle of Lions…

All the lost beauty of the castle was somewhat belied by the gaping holes in the structure. One whole tower was gutted, the top part somehow still jutting out over a huge empty space. Other gaps were less dramatic, but no less wrenching to look at.

"It is very impressive," Pidge said quietly, in the shadow of his teammates' shock. No doubt it had been pretty before, but he was more impressed by the structural integrity. Any lesser construction would have—should have—been pure rubble.

Looking away, Romelle felt a violent shudder go through her. She could only hope her own castle and planet didn't look like this by now… next to her, Hunk's thoughts were following a very different track. If the team were a building, they'd look just about like that, really.

Lance's thoughts were on other destroyed buildings, on Beau Terre… he looked up at the brilliant blue sky and exhaled, comforted by it. Home.

There was a moat, though it only seemed designed to prevent frontal access; it didn't even circle the whole castle. The drawbridge was scorched and broken and didn't invite too much confidence, but a couple of smaller bridges had been constructed alongside it. One of them reminded Keith of the bridge back near the Falcon. The other was very different, a utilitarian metal structure that looked more characteristic of Drule design…

What in the world happened here?

Hopefully they were finally going to find out.

"This way." Their guide led them to the Arusian-built bridge, with the other scouts following. Their vigilance had obviously spiked, now that the alien strangers were approaching their castle.

"Are we supposed to go in there?"

"It looks like it'll just fall on top of us."

Hunk gave the structure another examination, gratefully engaging his engineer brain this time. "It won't." He could see the structural supports in his mind—where they must be, the load distribution, the redundancies that allowed the place to still be standing at all. And where you'd have to stick another bomb to finish the job… not what they were here for, of course, but the fact that he could identify no less than four more supports that would have to be eliminated was encouraging.

"Seems like despite it all, it's made of sturdy stuff." Lance's eyes were on the front doors as they approached. It was covered in intricate carvings, murals that were still mostly intact. This place really had been beautiful, and he felt his fists clenching. Like the Galra, the damn Drules had taken so much. Too much.

Though Vince wasn't sure he trusted the place, he was torn between the slim fear of being crushed by a collapsing ceiling and the more immediate concern of Pidge being out in the sun. "You're sure?"

"Dropping a castle on us would be a highly inefficient way of doing things," Pidge pointed out. He didn't exactly trust the Arusians, but if they wanted the team dead there were much easier ways.

He did palm his knife.

Coran had listened to this conversation with interest, as well. Travelers, they'd said they were. It sounded like they were very accustomed to talking through such questionable situations… "I assure you that it is safe. At least moderately." The royal engineers had strongly advised they not go up into the unsupported southeast tower.

"Moderately?" the big Earthling repeated. "You know how to reassure people, yeah?"

Shrug. "Would you prefer I lie?" A couple of the others snorted at that, and the nervous one from aboard the ship gave him an extremely doubtful look.

To his surprise, the big man smiled brightly. "My dude, I blow stuff up for a livin'. This place looks fine." The nervous one gave him a look that was somehow even more doubtful, and their leader gave an exasperated sigh.

Coran was not clear on what a 'dude' was, and sincerely doubted he was indeed his dude, but decided not to make an issue of it. It had sounded like an attempt at friendliness, and the friendlier things could be right now, the better.

He pushed the doors open and led them inside.

It was dark inside the castle. Keith blinked a few times, waiting for his eyes to adjust, watching the Arusians' skin become rather pale. The golden markings on their cheeks nearly seemed to glow in the darkness.

"This is creepy," Daniel announced as he waited for his vision to get itself sorted out. He didn't need to see much to figure out dark and empty and spooky.

"True that."

"Very creepy."

"What, a dark room in a crumbling castle? What's creepy about that?"

"Who would've guessed." Pidge had lowered his hood and removed his glasses; he could see just fine in the darkness. There was a large—no, huge—staircase in front of them, with a few chunks taken out of the stone. He thought he might have seen a mouse scurrying across one of the steps, though it was gone before he could be sure.

Romelle had seen it too, though as a blur of deep red warmth—what the Earthlings had called infrared—rather than being able to make out any details. She could see enough of the entry hall to note the rubble strewn over the ground. "What a mess."

Having also seen the mouse, knowing it meant Allura was nearby, Coran eyed the Polluxian and smiled patiently. "We have not had time to properly clean it, but it is on the list."

Romelle gave him a look, and Hunk didn't quite fight down a snicker. Lance did better at not laughing, though he did nod his approval of Mustache Dude's snark.

"You brought us here," Pidge muttered, getting a nudge from Vince.

"Pidge."

"Was I inaccurate?" The place was a mess, if he didn't want them commenting on it he probably shouldn't have insisted they come with him.

Vince sighed.

Most of the team could see now, and for the most part their initial trepidation was fading again. It just seemed like a creepy ruin. Wasn't the first one of those they'd seen on this mission. Now it was just a matter of…

"Princess, I believe it's safe."

He'd said it in Arusian; Romelle still snapped her head towards him, reflexively. He couldn't be talking to her. The others tensed but didn't react beyond that, given they couldn't understand what he'd said… but then footsteps from the top of the staircase got their attention.

"Greetings," a warm voice spoke from the darkness, "and welcome to the Castle of Lions." A young woman stepped from the shadows.

Lance whistled. Good entrance.

Didn't see that coming. Pidge almost dropped his knife. The others just looked up the stairs in stunned silence.

She was beautiful, though far from spared the ravages of what had happened to her planet. Her long blonde hair was ragged and her gaze was slightly haunted. She was wearing a pink and white jacket covered in delicate embroidery, very different from the scouts' simple garments, or even their leader's battered finery. That alone was enough to mark her as someone of importance…

Then there was the delicate tiara on her forehead. And the nobility she carried herself with as she moved down the stairs. And the fact that she was hanging out in the creepy ruined castle at all, actually. Maybe mostly that last one.

"Gentlemen and lady, may I present Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Allura Hanna Raimon of Arus." Their guide dipped his head respectfully. "Princess, these are…" Then he blinked, realizing the rather significant thing that had been forgotten in all the excitement. "Actually, we have not exchanged names quite yet."

"Sometimes I forget we have names," Hunk whispered under his breath, and Vince nodded in fervent agreement.

Allura paused on the bottom step, looking over the new arrivals. There was a Polluxian, just as she'd thought there might be. A boy who didn't quite seem to be an Earthling, though she couldn't tell precisely what he was. And six Earthlings… she looked over them and found her gaze lingering on their leader. Those electric-blue eyes. She'd seen them before.

We are coming.

It is him.

Keith gulped as the princess' eyes locked on his, seeming to stare into and through him. As if she were expecting something, and judging whether they would be found wanting. He didn't dare look away.

He was definitely supposed to be introducing himself right now. But how he hell was he supposed to do that, exactly? Tell the Crown Princess of a destroyed planet that they were soldiers, here searching for an ancient weapon on her world? Not damn likely…

"I'm Keith," he finally blurted out.

Oh, yes. That's how you wanted to do this, Commander Crystal Spur.

Both of Sven's eyebrows shot up for what felt like the dozenth time today. There had been a lot of surprises. But if that was the standard of informality being set, well, it was the standard he'd go with. "I'm Sven." He could hear, actually he could feel, his mother shrieking in his head. Oh well.

"Hi, uh, I'm Vince." Vince was surprised to have spoken so quickly, but he'd basically just managed to remember his own name and wanted to get it out before he forgot it again.

Lance and Daniel had exchanged shrugs, both at Keith's informality and, well, the general situation. But they might as well roll with it. "I'm Lance," he gave his most charming grin, "and it's very nice to meet you."

"Yo." Daniel flashed a peace sign and found himself fumbling for words. Why the hell did he feel so awkward? This was the second princess he'd met—though in his defense, the first situation had been a lot different… "Uhh, me Daniel." Oh dear god, how was that what had finally come out of his mouth?

"Romelle," the other princess in question said quietly, a small frown on her face. She was not about to mention her rank here.

This was going downhill in a hurry; Hunk gave his biggest grin in hopes of lightening things up. "Everyone calls me Hunk."

"…Pidge." Their ninja somehow managed to sound even more skeptical than the last time he'd introduced himself to a princess.

Looking over the group and committing the names to memory, Allura found herself glad that she'd kept this situation as quiet as possible. The new arrivals were quite the informal group; Nanny would have fainted by now, or worse. It didn't bother her. If they were indeed what she hoped, she'd have hugged each and every one of them, but suspected it wasn't the wisest course just now.

Perhaps later.

"Who's he?" Pidge asked in the sudden silence, pointing at the Arusian who'd led them here. Hunk moved to elbow him, then stopped. It was actually a good question.

"My name is Coran," he answered easily, bowing his head again. If they weren't doing full names here, he supposed he could adapt to that. "Royal advisor to the princess."

Coran the royal advisor. Lance felt Mustache Dude was more fitting, but whatever worked.

"So… what happened here?" Keith asked, looking around the mess that had once been a grand entryway.

Assholes happened, Lance thought, but managed to bite it down.

Daniel did not, of course. "Pretty sure Drules blew up their castle." Keith sighed.

Allura hesitated a moment, unsure about how to respond. She didn't really want to answer that question. She didn't want to have to relive the attack, and most of all, she didn't want to waste even a second. She wanted to take them all before the Lion of Storms and discover what secret it was that they held, what key they had brought to bring her planet salvation…

No. Black had been very clear. She could nudge them, guide them, but they had to reach the Great Lions on their own. Taking them there herself might do nothing. It might do worse than nothing. The temptation was strong, but she must not succumb.

Instead she sighed heavily, looking up at the cracked ceiling. "Yes. They came without warning. I and my people were rushed to the underground shelters… what we thought were relics of the ancient wars of legend, never to be needed again."

Several winces ran through the team; Lance's was probably the most intense. "How many survived?" he asked softly.

"Not many." She lowered her eyes. "Many were killed or taken as slaves in the initial attack. Many more have perished during the occupation."

Damn. It was about what they'd all expected to hear, but that didn't make actually hearing it any easier. Even Romelle shuddered.

"We've been trying to fight back ever since. My father was able to rally our survivors and keep the invaders searching for quite some time, but… now he is gone."

A few muttered curses answered that. It sounded too familiar… "Really sorry to hear that, Princess."

"I… we're sorry for your loss."

"Yeah, same."

Allura nodded, grateful for the words; they were awkward, but she could feel their sincerity. It would almost have been concerning if they'd been too smooth, reacted too easily. Instead she could sense a sort of echo. The people before her had suffered loss as well.

Nudge them. She hadn't been sure exactly how to do that, but she was starting to get an inkling. Perhaps they were alien strangers, but they weren't too alien to relate…

"We haven't noticed much of their activity since we landed," Keith said quietly. "Or any, really."

"The Drules?" Now the princess smiled. "We recently were able to reclaim the castle. We took the governor alive, and… encouraged him to aid us in keeping up regular reports while we strengthened our position." Her smile faded. "But he escaped recently. We have been preparing… there's every reason to expect their forces are approaching again as we speak."

Telling them the governor had also been eaten by wild animals might not be the wisest decision.

"So you did manage to chase them off as we were told," Romelle murmured.

Chased them off, but not for good. "That's both impressive and a bit worrying." Lance sounded more impressed, but he definitely felt more worried. A bit. Heh.

Daniel looked more worried, too. Great, they're coming back. I'd better not end up a slave again. He would have some very strongly worded complaints if any of that shit happened again.

Exchanging looks with Sven, Keith decided it was time to mention at least part of the truth. "We just recently escaped from Korrinoth. We shook them off our immediate trail, but they'll be looking for us as well."

Both Coran and Allura startled at that. Escaped from Korrinoth? Neither had ever heard of such a thing. There was much more to that story than was being told…

Guide them. "It would seem we may be allies, then."

…Well then. Any vague thoughts Keith might have had about admitting their real purpose here immediately vanished. He looked back at his team, reading it reflected in their eyes… well, several of them. Sven and Lance clearly wanted no part of admitting it. Vince looked torn. Daniel on the other hand was clearly struggling not to blurt it out, until Lance gave him a nudge—this 'controlling what he said' thing he had to do when he was trying to be good was so damn annoying.

Pidge was the one who actually spoke up. "And you have no defenses?" This time Hunk did elbow him, earning a glare; regardless of the Voltron issue, it was a completely valid question. It was perhaps the most important question.

Before anyone even answered him in words, he felt a sense of contradiction flicker through him. A soft growl brushing against his psionic barriers. He pushed it aside as usual, but this time it actually seemed to be giving him useful information… maybe?

The others were feeling it too. Static was crackling down Keith's spine, and it felt almost as though it were encouraging him to tell the truth. But that seemed like a terrible idea. He fought the urge down, shivering; he felt like he might trust the rumbling growl that was following him, but trusting its motivations and trusting its judgment were two quite different things.

At that thought, he felt the purring chuckle again.

"So it may appear," the princess agreed softly. "But I am hopeful that those appearances will prove incorrect."

"Hopeful?" Lance echoed. Was she crazy? What the hell did it mean she was hopeful?

The warmth whispered through him. "As are you."

His eyes widened. Hopeful… or crazy. Maybe he was a bit of both. Maybe she was a bit of both. It does fit, doesn't it? he thought, staring at the princess in a new light as he felt the low growl of agreement. Maybe they were exactly where they needed to be.

"Yes." She nodded, closing her eyes. She could feel the presences in the room. The lightning that accompanied Black's voice, but more than that. Other presences she'd barely begun to comprehend… fire, wind, water, and earth. "Arus may yet become free again. It is possible, I can feel it."

What does that mean? Sven wasn't sure if it was his own internal thoughts, or a question he was directing to the voice in his head. And even thinking he might be asking the voice in his head about it, intentionally, was so far off the rails of where this mission had begun. Hell, it was so far off the rails of where this mission had been three days ago. And hearing the princess, standing in these ruins, speaking of what—blind hope?—seemed like some sort of madness.

Whether he'd been soliciting one or not, he received an answer. That same soft growl of amusement. "She is no more mad than you are."

Well that wasn't encouraging.

"I can feel it," the princess whispered again. Yes. It's as if all five lions are here…

Hunk felt the rocky growl fill his mind, startling, his eyes darting around the entryway. He was half expecting to somehow see a robot lion just sitting there inside the castle. That, of course, wasn't the case. Only a voice… "There is hope."

Romelle was not hearing anything, except for her own soft and rather unladylike snort. Nothing on this planet seemed to justify that kind of certainty. Maybe the Arusians weren't as childish and naive as her people thought them to be—maybe they were worse.

"We were hoping to find some shelter from the Drules," Keith said finally. That wasn't a lie. It was only a slim fragment of the truth, to be sure, but it was true so far as it went.

Allura nodded, an expression of grim certainty on her face. "We have plenty of space here, and contingency plans, as you can imagine. Perhaps having escaped them once, your experience will be able to help us." She knew she couldn't truly promise them protection. Not unless… no. Their presence here would lead to safety for everyone on Arus, she was certain of it. It had to. So she smiled. "You are welcome to stay."

"We are—I mean, wow, thanks!" Lance matched her smile with a charming grin.

Keith nodded. "We appreciate that very much, Princess." As he said it he felt a pang. What were they getting into now? What corners might they be backing themselves into?

But they were an Explorer Team. Forging ahead and thinking on their feet was their specialty. They couldn't stop trusting themselves now.

Daniel looked around the very beat-up castle and exchanged glances with Vince, who somehow looked even less enthusiastic. He had very little faith that this place was any safer than the ship. Bad enough that all this obvious pussyfooting around the word Voltron was making him feel like he was going crazy, too…

He understood why they had to do it, he thought, but damn if it wasn't making him fucking bonkers.

Pidge didn't really want to stay in the castle either, but he also recognized that they were going to have to reconsider the plan. Though, needing to reconsider the plan was also an excellent reason not to stay here. They would need somewhere secure to discuss their actual mission, and had no way of ensuring privacy anywhere here. "Can we bring the ship closer?"

Keith blinked at the question, but immediately saw the utility. The others nodded too; regardless of their feelings about the creepy ruined castle, they'd become comfortable on the Falcon over the course of their escape. And their stuff was there—such as it was.

"It would be nice if we could have the ship nearby," he agreed. Landing it in the open meadow seemed like it would be simple enough, assuming it didn't violate some kind of Arusian sensibility. "Princess, would we have your permission to bring it closer?"

Oh, now he's formal. Sven hid a small grin.

"Of course." She was hardly going to deny them that. And having a spacecraft nearby could prove useful, depending what it might yet require to wake the lions. "Perhaps once you've done that and settled in a bit, you might join myself and Coran for a meal? I'm curious to know more about your journey to our world."

"…Now you're talkin' our language," Hunk grinned.

You can't be serious. Pidge was about to say it out loud; then he heard Vince's stomach rumble next to him. His fellow engineer immediately looked mortified, but… he sighed. They had been rationing pretty strictly of late.

"Food sounds awesome," Daniel said immediately, his thoughts on a similar track. "I vote food." Did Arusians have toast?

Keith frowned slightly. It didn't seem like the Arusians could have much food to spare themselves, given their circumstances. But it would also be an opportunity to gain information, and they did have some supplies they could offer. Just not bread. Besides, when an actual Crown Princess invited you to dinner, he was pretty damn sure you didn't refuse.

Now there's our Commander Crystal Spur.

"It would be very rude to say no," Sven muttered at the same time he reached that conclusion, and he bit down a small chuckle.

"We would be honored, Princess Allura."

"Wonderful." She nodded to Coran's scouts and spoke in Arusian. It was a sharp, heavily consonant language, but not unpleasant to listen to. "They will lead you to an intact guest wing. Please—I know it isn't the most luxurious of arrangements—but consider yourselves honored guests."

Looking over them, she could see their questions. She could feel them. So much confusion and skepticism she could hardly blame them for… especially from Romelle, who looked horribly torn. As much as Allura wanted to speak to Keith, the man with lightning eyes from her vision, she decided the Polluxian would need to be her first priority. For more reasons than one. She wanted these strangers to wake the lions and save her world, but she refused to just see them as pawns.

As she watched Coran and his people leading them deeper into the castle, she felt Black Lion purring in her mind. And she smiled.

The Great Lions will fly again.