(From Ashes) Chapter 9

 

Pride: From Ashes
            Chapter 9
            Overtaken By Events

Keith was certain he'd made a mistake. Why, why had he mentioned the Lion of Storms to the princess? It had felt so right in the moment, like something he should do. And he hadn't really told her anything of substance, had he? Just that he thought it might be in the mountains. That he wanted to go…

Damn it. And yet, the more he thought about it, the more certain he was she'd already known. She hadn't seemed even a little surprised by his words, and she'd offered so readily to help…

What the hell is going on? Who's playing at what, here?

All this kicking himself was the result of Pidge finally finding him. He had a report, he'd said. And the ninja just popping up and claiming to have information felt about right for their situation, if he were honest. So here he was, pacing the Falcon's rec room again, waiting for everyone else to check in and hoping he hadn't botched everything.

Across from him, Pidge was leaning against a wall uneasily. He knew he needed to report, but he really didn't want to report. He didn't want to tell them… well, he didn't want to tell them things.

At the thought, he heard Green Lion purring in his mind. You shut up. She purred louder.

Slowly the others filed in. Lance and Daniel had already been back, showering and changing after the trek to the volcano. Sven also had changed, still more than a bit irritated by his attempts at the lake. Vince was grumpy too, from weirdness and mushrooms. Romelle was still on edge, though the Falcon felt safer than the castle. And Hunk…

"…Where's Hunk?" Keith asked flatly, looking around his team. Bad enough for Pidge to have disappeared on them. Hunk was hard to miss.

"Haven't seen him." Lance was avoiding looking directly at Pidge, or directly at much of anyone. Looking at the salalizard on Daniel's lap—the others were back in their room, hopefully not setting anything on fire—was much safer. The kid was cuddling the reptile to try to keep his mood even; the happiness from Lance's praise had not lasted near as long as he'd hoped, but at least he had a lizard. "It's Hunk, he couldn't have gone far."

"He was right outside the ship when I got back?" Pidge offered, then fell silent. That had been a while ago, by now. Not useful.

"No idea." Sven shrugged. "I've been swimming."

"You went swimming?" Lance repeated, looking over at him and raising an eyebrow. His hair did look wet, now that he mentioned it.

"Yes. I think my lion is down there." He made a face. "No idea how to get there, but I'm certain she's there."

Lance's eyes widened. Well fuck. At least someone was making progress. "Uh, at least you can go into the water? I think mine is in a volcano. Daniel and I walked out to have a look, but we sure as hell didn't see anything that said it was a door…"

"But there were lizards!" Daniel said cheerfully, holding his up. "Or salamanders. Whatever these guys are."

The Viking raised an eyebrow; that was less encouraging than it could've been. "She might as well be in a volcano. There is absolutely no way I'll be able to reach her without diving equipment."

Diving equipment. He wondered if this planet had possessed such a thing even before it was attacked—the tech level was hard to pin down.

"Well, I think mine is in the mountains." Keith shook his head and pointedly did not mention his conversation with the princess. "Somewhere."

"Still beats lava."

They all seemed very comfortable with referring to the lions as theirs, Pidge noted. He was absolutely not going there, but this was what he'd come to report. "The green one is in the forest."

Immediately all eyes were on him.

"Wuh…?"

"…Huh?"

"Say what now?"

Blinking, Keith spared about half a second to seriously regret not asking Pidge for a preliminary report. He cleared his throat to silence the others. "I take it you've… been hearing a voice, Pidge?"

That was another thing he was wholly unprepared to say out loud. Voices in his head were still a touchy subject. Instead, he snorted and raised his hands about to his chest. "I was escorted there by wolves this big."

"Wolves?" Keith and Sven both echoed.

"Wolves."

"Fucking wolves?" Lance looked over at Daniel's salalizard, and his thoughts drifted to the lion in his head. You knew. He got a low, knowing purr in response. "Well, why the fuck not?" Sven followed the pilot's gaze and frowned slightly, thinking about the gorcas. Which he supposed had started to grow on him, but…

For his own part, Daniel was hit by new twinges of bitterness at the news. Pidge got a lion too? Pidge? Scowling, he put the salalizard on his head, and immediately felt a little better. Sitting next to him, Vince had no idea what to think—except that he was glad for some weirdness that wasn't about him. Were giant wolves worse or better than ghosts?

Keith frowned. He'd have preferred if Hunk were here, but they couldn't just stop now. "What can you tell us, Pidge?"

…Surprisingly little of use, he realized, and made a face. "There's a lion. She's there. She's green. She gave me a lecture."

"A lecture fits," Lance agreed, clenching his jaw. The one he'd gotten recently about grief still hurt.

"Lecturing seems to be a part of the standard lion-in-your-head starter pack," Sven agreed, and felt the Lion of Water chuckle.

"So I'm officially the only normal person left?" Daniel muttered, looking around. "Great." Vince immediately opened his mouth to object, then just as immediately shut it. He exchanged looks with Romelle instead; she offered a weak smile.

Pidge eyed their gunner in confusion. "Was I included in that before a metal cat lectured me?"

"It's a low standard."

"That's fair." Green Lion purred again.

Lance snorted, looking at the salalizard on Daniel's head. "Kid, there is nothing normal about you."

"Oh yeah?" He crossed his arms. "I don't have voices in my head, I don't see or talk to ghosts, I don't do weird sparky things. By our standards I'm pretty damn normal."

"You do seem to have salalizard whispering skills?"

Rolling his eyes, Keith cleared his throat for quiet again. "So Pidge, you actually saw it?" They still had so little to go on with these lions, even with the voices in their heads, that—

—The door to the rec room burst open.

Hunk was happier than he could even express to find the whole team already gathered together. He was not up for explaining what had just happened more than once. He wasn't even sure he was up for it once. "Dudes, you're not gonna believe what the fuzzmuffins I just—" His eyes glowed yellow and his train of thought immediately derailed. "—WOULD YOU STOP THAT?!"

Everyone jumped, and more than a few weapons came up. "The fuck, Hunk?!"

"Komora sa kye?"

"Wh—I'm sorry!" That had been Daniel; the salalizard had fallen off of his head and was hissing at him angrily. He hugged it and returned his attention to the big engineer. "Yo, what's with the eyes?"

"It ain't my fault, bro!"

"It's creepy," Vince declared, and felt personally betrayed by the universe. Again. Hunk was not supposed to be creepy!

"What the fuck." Lance lowered his gun, though his heart was still pounding. Something felt weird, and it wasn't just the dramatic entry. The hair on the back of his neck was prickling.

Slumping over the back of an empty couch, Hunk looked around at the others and shook his head. "He says it's because 'the Bonds need time to stabilize', or somethin' like that, whatever that means…" He stared down at the cushions. They were dull blue and kind of grainy and weren't going to get him out of this. "…Um, so yeah. I uh, met my lion."

"Bonds?" Lance repeated, then the last part sank in. "Wait, you met yours too!"

"Met. Yeah. That's definitely what I did."

Keith didn't even bother trying to comprehend enough to form a real question. "Okay. Start talking."

"Mission's shot, boss." Hunk's tone was completely deadpan. "Shot. Super shot. Shot to hell. The shottiest."

You knew that, too. Lance couldn't entirely tell if that thought was his own, or the Lion of Flame.

"What do you mean?" Sven wasn't sure that question was any more specific than Keith's, but Hunk seemed to be struggling. To be fair, it certainly looked like he had reason to be struggling.

"I mean the lions want us to stay… no, that ain't it." The word stay had not, technically, been involved, and it could mean a lot of different things. He didn't actually know where Arus fell into any of this. More accurate was what he actually knew. "I mean the lions want us to bond to them. It's kinda a big deal and—" his eyes glowed again, and he glared over his shoulder in the general direction of the desert. For all the good that did him. "—apparently my name is 'Earthwarder' now? Or it's one of the others, I dunno, he gave me a bunch."

Yellow Lion gave a growl of affectionate exasperation in the back of his mind. It wasn't helping.

Romelle shifted uncomfortably as she listened. Daniel patted his salalizard and frowned; he did not like this. Vince, somehow, was reaching whole new levels of not liking this. How did he have any new levels left?

"He is judging me right now," Hunk continued with a look of frustration, "but I'm not sure how he expected this to go. I don't know how to explain it. It ain't exactly explainable." Though, the bonding thing aside, he did have one piece of information he could offer for sure. Holding out the key, he added, "Also the lions are spacecraft."

Everyone shut up again, for a solid five seconds this time. Pidge broke it. "They're wh…" He thought about Green Lion again, about what they'd known of Voltron before this, and his eyes widened. "Of course they are."

You couldn't have led with that! Lance demanded in his mind, and his lion chuckled in response. "As in flying?" Like there were other kinds, but his brain was short-circuiting right now.

Hunk nodded.

"Wait." Daniel had been bristling ever since the word stay. Suddenly it had gotten even worse. "So they need someone to pilot them? That kind of spacecraft?"

Hunk nodded again.

Oh hell no. This was not okay. These things were spacecraft that needed pilots, and Hunk had one? Pidge had one? But he was being passed over, ignored, left out… he noticed the worried look Lance was giving him, decided he wasn't interested in dealing with any of this, and put the salalizard back on his head. It helped him stay quiet.

Much as Lance didn't like the look on Daniel's face, he was feeling badly torn right now. Arus reminded him so much of home… and finding out the lion in his head was some kind of fighter craft, or something, was far from discouraging.

You want me to be your pilot? Sven asked his own lion, receiving a purr in response. I should warn you, that is probably a mistake. She did not seem concerned.

"Well." Keith spoke into the silence just to end it; he had no idea what to say. "This is… crazy." When in doubt, point out things are crazy.

"Ain't it." Hunk sighed. "Anyway, if the glowy eyes, which I was not warned about, didn't make it obvious, I said yes."

Pidge frowned. "Said yes to what, exactly? 'Bonding'? Is it just piloting?" He was not even convinced about the piloting part.

"Definitely not just piloting, but…" Hunk had nothing more he could say to that. What else was it? A few hours in, it was mostly a lot of glowing eyes and feeling off-balance. So uh, Yellow, you want to help me out here?

"The Bonds are not so easily explained. They will know when it is their time to know."

Well, he believed that last part, anyway. Faith. Got it.

"Indeed. The Earth is patient."

Watching him, Lance couldn't help the other obvious question. "You said yes? I mean, fucking glowing eyes, got that, but you didn't seem thrilled about any of this."

"I wasn't." Frown. "I'm not."

"Well that's not fucking confusing."

Yeah, tell me about it. He probably could have tried to explain that part, but an awful lot of that decision-making process had been personal. He wasn't ready to go poking around at the bandage that had been ripped off out there just yet. Besides… "Trust me, when yours get to you you'll understand."

A few nods answered him. The lions did seem to rely on an awful lot of feeling.

Keith still would've liked some more concrete information. "Did you… fly it back here, by chance?"

"Uh, hell no. You ever seen me try to fly anything? I asked him about his bad taste in pilots and he just laughed at me." Frown. There had been more to it than that, too; he'd asked just before heading back whether he was supposed to start trying to fly right then.

"As much as I would enjoy the open sky, no. It is safest if I and my siblings remain hidden, until all of them are awake."

"…Also think we've gotta get to the others before flyin' him is any help."

Perhaps that made sense. Nearly all of what they'd discovered before their arrival indicated all five lions were necessary to the weapon. "What else can you tell us?"

"Well," the engineer brightened a little, "he did kinda give me answers about some things! Sort of. Ish."

"That just sounds ominous, Hunk."

"Has anything not been ominous?"

Fair point.

"Uh, so about these answers?" Vince asked hesitantly. "I like answers. Answers might make this less weird." And it's a weird that has nothing to do with me, for once. Daniel scowled at him slightly—he did not want answers about weird that he wasn't part of—but again he stayed quiet.

Answers would be nice, Lance decided. "How the fuck do I get into a volcano?"

"Know how to get to the bottom of what's practically a miniature ocean without equipment?"

…Apparently the others had been making progress. Good! Hunk looked between them and grimaced. "Uh, those were not the questions I asked. I can see if—"

"—They must find their own way, as you did."

"—Never mind, apparently Mr. Lion of Earth thinks a desert is the same thing as water or lava."

Their pilot snorted. "Of course he does, why wouldn't he… but mine doesn't even know where the door is. He thinks."

"There has to be a path," Keith said quietly, remembering what Princess Allura had shown him… before he could say anything more, he felt a low, warning growl in the back of his mind.

"Was looking for a temple or something like the Murder Garden, but nothing."

"I know where the 'path' in my case is," Sven muttered. "I just can't get to it, since it's an underwater cave."

Looking around at the others, Pidge reconsidered—slightly—his objections to insistent monster wolf guides. At least they could choose not to maul him to death.

"Welp." Hunk shrugged helplessly. "Gotta do it yourselves, dudes, apparently. But he did tell me all this 'gotta do it yourself' crap isn't their fault, exactly? Somethin' about how 'the Defender'—which is Voltron—which is all he told me about Voltron—is really powerful and they have to be sure they have 'compatible' people to bond, or else it would… uh, I dunno, but it would be bad." His eyes glowed again and he scowled. "Maybe fry your eyeballs out instead of just this glowy bullshit, yeah?"

The room went quiet for a few moments as the team considered that. It was information, at least…

Maybe sparks and ghosts make you bad for… lion bonds or whatever? Vince sighed softly. Thank goodness. He had more than enough to worry about as it was.

Oh, so I'm not compatible. Daniel snorted, he shouldn't be surprised. Since when was he compatible with anything?

Pidge was also none too certain when he'd ever been compatible with most things. Maybe Green Lion had just wanted him out of her forest…

"Stop that, cub."

Closing his eyes, Lance tried to make sense of everything. Easier said than done. Just what the fuck do you want from me?

For a long moment, the Lion of Flame was silent. Of course he was. Then, "Find me."

As if that were the problem!

Keith's mind was still on what he'd seen before. The tunnels…

"No, cub. They must find them on their own."

But they're my team.

"No."

Clenching his fists, he nodded and remained silent. It was infuriating, but if this was what the mission required, then…

"I don't know if I want glowing eyes," Sven murmured, sensing this time it was his turn to break the silence. His lion just chuckled; he'd expected no less. And no more.

Even Romelle had latched onto the idea of incompatibility. Allura had asked if her people had taken something… how did it fit together with this? But she couldn't quite fully form the question, so she kept it to herself and just listened.

Their commander got to somewhere similar, at least. "Hunk, are you saying that nobody on this planet was… compatible for these lions to bond with?" It didn't make sense.

The big guy brightened. "I actually did ask that!" Just as quickly he seemed to un-brighten. "…And uh, he said they kept tryin' to but 'something went wrong', and also he'd have given me a straight answer if he knew the straight answer. In case anyone was hopin' for things to get less confusing."

"Something went wrong."

"That seems like an understatement, if it led to all this."

"A lot of things have gone wrong."

"Tell me about it…"

Lance had been looking at Daniel, still worried. Now he was just shaking his head. "So they can't… bond?… to Arusians? So they need us?" He didn't even know where to go with that. It was a lot.

"Basically yeah. I think."

Another long silence. They had something concrete, finally, but what were they supposed to do with it? Other than be careful what they wished for, apparently. Everyone stared at Hunk, then the looks started turning to Keith. And what was he supposed to do, exactly? He knew no more than anyone else, and less than some…

But you are still the commander. He exhaled slowly, remembering the engineer's opening words. Mission's shot. That wasn't in doubt. Information wasn't helping them, but it still felt like they needed it. To understand everything they could about this process. Because if there was anything he could feel positive of right now, it was that this wouldn't stop with Hunk.

"Was the… bond… painful?"

"Bond itself? Nah. Kinda freaky," he flashed back to the wave of gravity and earth that had flooded through him, "but didn't hurt. Had to go sneak this," he held up the key again, "out of a cave with a giant man-eating snake, though. That kinda sucked."

"A giant snake?" Keith echoed, looking at Lance and hoping with all his might that the pilot would not go off about it. "Didn't we do that already?"

"See, that's what I thought…" He glanced over at Daniel and shook his head. "It wasn't even hot. And no legs." It won him a brief smile, though the kid's concern about all this bonding stuff was still rapidly building.

"Cave serpents should not be a problem the others have to deal with, Earthwarder."

"…Oh. Apparently the giant snake was a 'me' thing."

"Good, lava is bad enough," Lance muttered. "Fucking snakes."

"Water and lava do sound dangerous enough on their own," Romelle agreed quietly. She wasn't quite sure why she'd said it, except that she felt like she ought to say something. To be part of this discussion, because this team was… her team? She caught a small smile from Vince, and returned it.

Lance nodded, then looked up in time to see Hunk's eyes glow again. It was brief—not even all that bright, really—but it was so fucking far out of context he couldn't shake it off. "That eye thing looks freaky."

"Trust me, bro, feels freaky to me too. Everything," he gestured widely, "looks yellow."

"Huh." Definitely not something they'd expected from the superweapon with robotic… cats? "So wait, does that mean anyone who 'bonds' gets yellow freaky eyes? Like cats?" He felt his lion purring and something else occurred to him. I don't want a tail!

The lion laughed outright.

Hunk hadn't even made that connection, but supposed he had left out one key fact here. "My lion's yellow. I mean, make of that what you will."

"…Blue glowing eyes?" Sven murmured to himself, remembering the blue section of the temple. His lion had to be the blue one, surely? He wasn't sure how he felt about it…

"Better than yellow, yes?"

Probably true. He could already hear Jace yelling about glowing alien jaundice.

Lance grinned. He liked that better, at least. "Kid, what do you think? Fire eyes for me?" Even as he asked it, part of his mind was objecting. Why are you acting like this is a done deal?

Daniel would have liked to know that, too. "Maybe." The idea sounded really cool. The fact that he'd asked it was concerning.

"Awesome, right?" Are you really that sure?

"Yeah." No.

Pidge was not thinking about the prospect of glowing green eyes—besides, Baltan eyes already came close to glowing in the correct light. He was more interested in consequential things. "This 'bond'." He had not gotten an answer the last time he'd tried to ask. "What is it these lions want from us, exactly? To pilot them? For what? Against the Drules and the counterattack, that seems like a reasonable ask." More reasonable if they'd all picked actual pilots, but nonetheless. "But what then?"

Everyone looked at him, and then at Hunk. It was a very good question. It was probably the most important question. "Yeah, what then?"

"I am also interested."

It was a damn good question, wasn't it? Hunk shook his head slowly. "I don't know, guys. Didn't feel like a temporary thing." He should know more. He should've asked. Shouldn't he? But it hadn't felt like the important question at the time, because… because why, exactly? Faith?

"The Earth is the foundation. There is a reason you were the first."

What the fuzzmuffins does that mean, dude? But maybe it did make sense…

…No, it hadn't been faith. Not quite. "Look, gettin' back to Earth, specifically… not the biggest priority for me, okay?" There. That was it. His team was here, his team's mission was here. The rest of them had seemed more receptive to all of this, and they'd forged ahead into every other crazy-ass thing together. They'd do the same here—or not. Going first, that was faith.

…Kind of ironic that the Knight of the Earth had just played the 'not worried about Earth' card, wasn't it? Nothing he could do about that.

A very tense silence had fallen over the team.

Returning to Earth. Was that even the question anymore? Keith felt a pang, a quiet acknowledgment in his guts that maybe it didn't even matter. His family was long gone; what was left for him was duty. And his duty, to bring these lions back, was already on a collision course with reality that he couldn't stop.

Sven was in no hurry to get back to Earth, either. But there were people there he'd like to see again, at some point—he did love his parents, and even liked them in manageable doses. Still, for all they'd known, this hunt for Voltron could have taken years on its own. He just needed to know more about this 'bonding'.

There was nothing whatsoever for Pidge on Earth; he didn't even like it there. Nothing but a vague hint of blind hope, and an oath he couldn't shake off so easily… but those were both personal problems. He would follow his orders here, if someone would just tell him what they were.

The Arusian sky was filling Lance's mind. Earth was meaningless to him. Everything he needed—well, everything still alive that he needed—was here. He looked around the whole team, and then at Daniel… who looked ready to explode. Uh oh.

"…Okay, but staying here isn't a priority of mine." Daniel was very proud of his calm tone. He didn't fit. He didn't fit on a fucking Explorer Team. They had magic robot lions he couldn't compete with, and all he had were too many feelings and no options or answers. He wanted to stay with the team! But the team—he looked over at Vince, and even Romelle. Hoping for at least some kind of support.

Romelle didn't feel she had much to offer on the subject, though she sympathized with Daniel. Earth was irrelevant to her; staying on Arus was more of an issue. But Arus itself didn't understand these damn lions, and she knew Arus was not where they belonged. And most of all… "We've all suffered enough at the hands of the Drules," she said quietly. "Perhaps stopping them should be the focus?"

Though he wasn't hearing lion voices, thankfully, Vince couldn't help thinking that sounded easier said than done. They weren't the ones being asked to accept an uncertain 'bond' to save a planet they barely knew anything about. He almost wondered if they should even be here, but they were still a team… he personally missed Earth, he missed his moms, he missed life being normal and boring. But that last ship had sailed a long time ago—and the first two, as best he could tell, were still on the table. "We know Voltron visited the Rim, right? If the lions are spacecraft, they're not trapped here."

"That's not…" None of them got it! Daniel stood up, steadying the salalizard on his head. If he didn't get out of here, he would lose it. "I need to take a walk." He left without another word, feeling the lizard curl its tail comfortingly around his shoulders.

"Kid…" Lance trailed off. His gut feeling, the result of months of Daniel-wrangling, told him not to push it right now. And he felt the lion's comforting warmth curling around him, as if reassuring him… so he sighed and didn't follow.

Looking after him, Pidge exhaled slowly, then turned to Keith. He would've liked to run for it again too, but he didn't have that option. "Orders, sir?"

Damn it, why did he always have to do that?

Their commander closed his eyes. What orders could he possibly give in this situation? "These people need these lions," he murmured. The Alliance would not tell them to just abandon people to the Drules, surely. "If they can't get the locals to bond… and these lions are choosing us, for some reason… then we continue on this path. We have to." He felt the Lion of Storms growl approvingly in the back of his mind. "I'd feel better making that an order if I knew where this path leads, but…"

"Trust me, boss." Hunk shook his head. "Unless this was a 'me thing' too, and I've got all kinds of reasons to be pretty sure it wasn't, ain't any way to know that until you get there."

"I hate to say it, but I believe that."

"Yeah, got the feeling you're right…"

"Seems reasonable."

'Reasonable' probably wasn't the word Keith would have chosen. "Hunk, did your lion say anything about the locals? Should we be… telling Princess Allura what's going on with this?"

Hunk blinked. He hadn't thought about that, either. Of course the princess might find all of this relevant. "Uh. That did not come up. You think I oughta tell her?"

"I don't know. We can't promise her anything, when we don't even know ourselves what we may or may not be getting into…"

"The Daughter of Arus has already been informed."

His eyes widened. And glowed. "Wait, what?!"

A few of the others jumped; Keith recoiled in confusion. "I just said—"

"—No, sorry boss, not you. Uh, apparently the princess has 'already been informed'. Except Yellow—uh—my lion already told me he doesn't talk to her."

"You are welcome to call me Yellow, Earthwarder. It is one of my names."

Oh, well that's a relief, what the hell do you mean the princess has already been informed?! Everyone was staring at him now, waiting for some further explanation.

So of course Yellow decided not to provide one. "I was not unclear."

"He says he wasn't unclear."

"That's a fucking matter of opinion."

"Right?"

"Alright, enough." Keith was pacing again. "Everyone involved in this has their own agenda, clearly." His team and their mission—whatever they could salvage of it. Arus and its leadership. The lions themselves. "But we can all agree on two things: all of the lions have to be found, and the Drules have to be stopped when they return. We focus on that right now, and deal with the rest when we get there. It's what we do best, right? We're an Explorer Team."

Answering nods swept around the room. "Fuck yeah we are."

"Good. It's late now; let's call it a night. And just keep doing what we can."

"Yes sir."

"Yessir."

"Roger that, boss." Hunk hesitated. "…Wait, how am I s'posed to sleep with my eyes doin' this stupid—" As if on cue, they flickered yellow again. "Yellow, I know you said you're not doin' that on purpose, BUT IT SURE ACTS LIKE YOU ARE!"

Pidge facepalmed, and Lance snorted. "Try sunglasses? If not for you, for us."

"If only we had sunglasses, bro!"

"…Point."

With that the team dispersed, minds racing with more information—and more sheer confusion—than any other point of the mission. And as Hunk opened the hatch to his quarters, he felt Yellow purring in his mind.

"You handled that very well, my cub."

Your standards are so low they're underground, dude.

"Even if that were accurate, it would be… thematically appropriate. Don't you agree?"

…He supposed there was no arguing with that.

*****

Allura had, indeed, been informed of what was happening with the Great Lions. She was practically bouncing with excitement as she waited in a reasonably intact meeting room. It wasn't proper and she did not care in the least—this was no time for decorum!

Arus will be saved. Everything she and her father had worked towards, everything she'd hoped for, everything she'd believed in. It was all in motion.

…Far from finished. Far from certain. But in motion! For this moment she was going to embrace the optimism. They needed this… she needed this.

"The Earth shakes, Daughter of Arus. Our brother is Bonded once more."

An indignant squeaking caught her attention, and a grin tugged at her lips. She'd sent mice to fetch Coran and Larmina, who of course could not speak to the mice. But they had their ways of making themselves understood.

Sure enough, both of them entered the room a few moments later, and she motioned them closer with a smile. "Coran, Larmina!" The mice they'd been following hopped up onto her shoulders, and both the Arusians they'd brought eyed her with a mix of confused trepidation. "I have some good news."

Coran was always in favor of good news. "Yes?"

"It's starting to happen!" She leaned over the table, eyes bright. "I've just learned the Yellow Lion is awake and beginning to move."

"…To move?" In these trying times, perhaps movement was all they could ask for, but it felt like so little. Then again, with all he knew about King Alfor's long search for information, moving also seemed like quite a lot.

"Yes. He has claimed and bonded to one of the Earthlings—I believe the large one they called Hunk."

Huh. Larmina blinked. Guess it's a good thing I didn't want to throw him in the lake. She considered bringing up the one she'd seen at the lake, but maybe it wasn't the time—he'd seemed to be having significantly less luck with whatever he was doing, and Auntie was too excited. No need to dump bad news on her right now.

"Black had only a few details, but this much is certain. One of the Great Lions has returned."

"That certainly is good news," Coran agreed delicately. He understood the Princess' excitement, to be sure. It was wonderful news. But he'd also have liked to know more, much more… he'd barely even spoken to the one called Hunk, and—

"Didn't they just get here?" Larmina asked.

Yes, that.

"Yes, but it is beginning. And it means that those who can answer the call of the lions truly can wake them." There had been no guarantees of that. Only desperate hope as all other options failed. But Black Lion had been right all along… and she remembered her talk with Keith. He'd been abruptly summoned back to his team by the arrival of their missing 'ninja', but it didn't change what he'd told her. "We must hope the others being called by the Lions will soon find the way to answer their call, so that they all may wake."

That had not exactly been what Larmina was asking, thought she supposed it was all valid. Coran decided to try it more clearly, and tactfully, because his worries were very similar.

"Princess… I feel the need to point out that we barely even know these men and lady." He opted not to bother pointing out that the lady was also Polluxian; Allura had already made it clear she wasn't interested in letting anyone pursue that grudge. And really, aside from being careful, they couldn't afford to alienate any possible allies right now. But they also couldn't afford to trust blindly—not someone of Pollux, or of the Alliance. "Shouldn't we be a little more… cautious?"

It was a valid question; Allura nodded. "I trust in the Great Lions and their choices." If she couldn't trust in them, what did she have? "But I agree that we should get to know them better, and to see what it is the Lions see."

Larmina snorted. "What, don't the magic lion robots just tell you what they're thinking?"

Coran's eyebrows shot up at the tone, though he wasn't quite sure why he was surprised; he knew what to expect out of Lady Larmina by now. And he completely understood her skepticism. He did trust Allura, implicitly… but secondhand trust in some ancient mythical machines was more difficult.

That was something Allura could understand, too. She was mindful of the fact that being able to hear the Lion of Storms gave her a certain advantage… she had always believed in the Lions, but speaking to them was something far greater.

As for the actual question, Black had said fairly little. "Based on the tales, and what I've sensed, there is a need for trust most of all. The Lions are not searching for a master or a servant, but a partner."

Oh, well that was a relief. Except not. "Okay. So if the offworlders are their partners, what does that make us?"

Very good question. Coran turned to Allura, awaiting an answer also. The necessity of alien strangers to waking the Lions—to saving Arus—was not something King Alfor had ever anticipated in his presence…

Allura felt Black Lion's reassuring growl, and nodded slowly. "Perhaps once they are fully awake, they can tell us more." It wasn't a good answer and she knew it; their expressions confirmed it. "I will try to find a better answer. But I know the Great Lions wish to protect us, and for now it seems these Earthlings are what is needed for them to do that."

Sighing in frustration, Coran nodded his acceptance of that. They didn't have much choice either way—the Drules would be returning, whether they were at peace with the Earthlings bonding to the Lions or not. Larmina looked over at him and sighed too, coming to a similar conclusion. "Okay, so we're still counting on the alien strangers to stop the alien invaders, and then we'll just hope everything works out. Great."

"Do you see another option?" He would love to have another option.

"I don't have any options, I'm just expressing my strong displeasure." She kicked the wall in a huff. "What are we supposed to do?"

"Get to know them better." That much seemed imperative.

"Yes. I would like to think they are more friends than potential new threats… or even just allies of convenience." Allura would take allies of convenience, if that was what was required. But she hoped for something more.

Larmina grimaced. "Maybe I'm better off leaving that to you. I can hardly even talk to them."

"You're one of the five people we have access to who can communicate with them at all," Coran pointed out. And it might really have been four; the wisdom of having Lady Hys as a liaison with the irreverent offworlders was questionable. "Besides, you don't need to have a direct conversation with them to learn about them. I hear you're quite sneaky."

He could not exactly say spy on them, our Princess is too trusting out loud. But he was pretty sure the idea got across. Larmina nodded in response, thinking back to the one she'd seen at the lake; he had offered to help her with Common, which could only help even more if she needed to spy on others…

"Surely one of them is someone you can handle being about?" Allura thought back to the dinner and smiled faintly. "They do seem to be diverse personalities." In fact, if they could become friends, she was curious as to how such a group formed in the first place—though her advisor had offered one hunch. "Coran, you said you believe one of them to be a soldier, correct? Do you think more of them might be?"

"It is certainly possible. I've really only spoken with their leader. We should try to discern if the others are—I can talk with this Hunk and see what I learn, if you like."

Allura nodded; Larmina frowned. She didn't like the sound of soldiers, either. "The lizard hunters didn't seem very soldier-y." Then again, what was soldier-y, really? She was practically a full member of the militia.

"…Lizard hunters?"

"Two of them, uh… Daniel and Vince, they said. They were wandering around looking for lizards. In the crypts. I took them somewhere else though, maybe we should put a couple of 'do not enter' signs up around the castle."

Allura considered that, then gave her niece a sly grin. "Or maybe they could use a proper tour, so they would know where not to go, and such?"

It was very clear that she was expected to volunteer, and she wasn't going to do it that easily. "Seems like that's better for someone who lived in the castle for more than a few months, but I'll think about it."

The princess grinned, and even Coran had to stifle a chuckle. "I'm sure you could do an admirable job. It might even be kind of fun."

…Fun?

Larmina gave her best I'm stuck with this, aren't I, look. Allura just kept grinning. You sure are.

"…Okay fine. But let me have another Common lesson or two with Nanny first. She hates the offworlders, spending time with her will make me like them better."

Coran didn't stifle the laugh this time. "And I will see what I can learn about the Yellow Lion's chosen Earthling."

"Perfect." Allura smiled and nodded to both of them as they departed, then reached up and scritched the mice behind the ears. She felt lighter than she had in months… perhaps years, even. Since long before the attacks, she couldn't remember this kind of happiness.

There was hope.

*****

In high Arusian orbit, the empty sky split open as if punctured by a knife. Space around the hole seemed to peel back, revealing a hulk of dark steel and swept spikes. The rip sealed itself as the vessel fully emerged: a Kolushi'in-class cruiser, the blue-violet glow of its piercer drive fading as it settled into real space.

There wasn't much time.

It was possible that Graktag had overpromised what he could do for Governor Tarlok—or, should things go poorly, what he could do to him. He was already running much later than promised. But he was a mere Second Captain, lord of a cruiser and its support craft. He could only detach from the fleet with permission from his own superiors, and it had taken time to get that. He may have acquired it under false pretenses…

So far as the fleet knew, the Furled Banner was simply delivering some high-value prisoners from the most recent conquests to the nearest jumpgate. A stop at Arus was not part of that plan. If they took too long to reach the jumpgate, there would be questions.

Graktag did not want questions.

"Contact the castle. Tarlok had better have a very good explanation for this."

"As you command." There was a brief silence as his comms officer opened the frequency; as she worked, her expression became steadily more concerned. "Our hails are not being received."

"Continue until he answers, then! I don't care if he's sleeping like a gravehound pup—"

"—With respect, sir, I did not say he isn't answering." She looked away from her console. "There is no receiver detected on the governor's contact frequency."

What. He glanced at the message saved in his personal commset, then tried to hail the castle himself. A short error chirp was the only response.

Maybe Tarlok really had been in trouble. It was almost unthinkable that this could have been a serious issue. He was soft and weak, a mere bureaucrat. This was supposed to be a petty inconvenience! "Comms, check all diplomatic frequencies. Sensors, ground scan on the castle environs and the capital. Report anything that seems unusual."

"As you command, sir."

"Running the frequencies."

Silence cloaked the bridge for a couple of minutes, then the sensor tech spoke up. "There's a ship by the castle. Small vessel, independent design—something called a Xaela. Identifying data acquired. Running it through the…" He fell silent. "…what madness is this supposed to be?"

They didn't have time to wonder about madness. "Report!"

"It's a wanted vessel, sir. Associated with a band of escaped Earthling slaves. They were enlisted as gladiators, defeated many challengers—defeated a robeast! Then they broke out and fled Korrinoth on the day of their victory feast…" He frowned as the screen kept scrolling. "…and had previously been responsible for the deaths of a troop frigate's full platoon…" His voice was becoming weaker with every word. "…and they are believed to be accompanied by the Crown Prince's traitorous a'kuri…"

Graktag had heard enough. "If this is your idea of a prank, I'll have your—" The threat was silenced before he could even begin as he looked at the monitor himself.

Every word of it was right there. It wasn't a joke. How in Dra'ki'iri's own sacred name was this not some elaborate joke?!

He considered his options. The Furled Banner carried no infantry to speak of: a single squad of warriors to guard the prisoners they were carrying. An ultimatum wasn't likely to be useful—there was nothing left to bomb. Graktag nodded slowly. His duty was clear. He'd come here intending to win a favor from a bureaucrat; it seemed he'd uncovered far more.

"Deploy one of the surveillance drones. Tune it to the Xaela, in case it leaves. We proceed to the jumpgate and report our findings."

"Shouldn't we just blow their ship to bits?"

That was one of the gunners, and Graktag scoffed. "And give them warning? Do you remember how long we sat around in this world's orbit waiting for the ground troops to find their king? Never mind escaped slaves. No. We leave surveillance in place, and return with overwhelming force."

"As you command, Captain." There was a slight lurch. "Surveillance drones programmed and deployed." Standard procedure called for one active and one backup. They couldn't be too cautious with this.

Nodding, Graktag turned to the helm. Whatever this planet had done, it would suffer dearly for it. "Engage the piercer drive. We are leaving."

Once again, the sky split open. And as swiftly as the Drule cruiser had appeared, it was gone.