Chapter Text
“Now we need to find Hunk and Lance,” Coran said offhandedly. Everyone froze, realizing that they had forgotten entirely about the two missing teammates with all the fuss.
“Quiznak, Coran! You should have told us sooner,” the princess swore as she and Pidge rushed out of the room. Coran chuckled to himself and left Malakai with Keith to watch over Shiro in the pod room. Mal sat on the cold castle floor, a slight shiver running up her back as she gazed at the smooth shine. She could even see her reflection, something she had only ever seen in water, Keith assumed. He watched her be enamored by her own reflection. She brushed her hands over the floor and knocked it a couple times. Keith realized the situation she was in: a girl from a desert planet with no language and no known family, suddenly thrust into space with a group of creatures she had never seen before nor knew anything about. His eyes drifted back to Shiro in the pod. What would have happened had she not been there? What if they had been alone? He shuddered and pushed the thought to the back of his mind. When he looked back to the floor, Malakai was gone. He glanced toward the door and then shrugged and went back to keeping watch over Shiro in case the pod let him out early.
Malakai had deposited her music box in her backpack and found her way back to the control room of the castle ship. She was, once again, entirely captivated by the scene before her. Now, where stars used to shine brightly, a giant planet sat. They had warped to a large, water-covered planet. Allura and Coran were talking through the coms to Pidge, who had collected Lance and Hunk from the ocean. The large screens with moving images mesmerized her. She wandered up to the control station where Allura was standing and gawked at the screens surrounding them. Allura flinched and let out a yelp of surprise when she noticed Mal to her left.
“Princess, are you alright?” Coran asked, startled.
“Ah, yes, sorry. Mal just scared me,” she replied. The three Lions were seen flying toward the ship, and Pidge’s face popped up on a screen. “Lance and Hunk have been extracted. Heading to dock,” she informed.
“Good work, Pidge. We’ll see you inside,” Allura responded. The screen shut off and she looked back to the girl on her left. You could practically see the stars in her eyes. Malakai ran to Coran at the front control station. Allura watched the skip in her step as she ran to the controls. She sure did look happy, but Allura worried how long it would last, how long until the next battle. Could they keep her safe? Malakai seemingly knew nothing besides her healing magic, which Allura had yet to witness.
Joy swelled in her chest as Allura gazed at Mal’s ears and under-eye markings, the same as her own. There were no words to describe the elation of knowing she and Coran weren’t alone in the universe, even if the only other known Altean was mute and, somehow, still a child. She wondered how a child was alone on a deserted planet. Had she also been in a cryopod? Had she been abandoned by a nomadic Altean colony? Are there other groups of Alteans? There had to be adults if they had found a child! She didn’t know the answer to any of those questions, but she didn’t need to know yet. For now, Allura would just be content knowing they aren’t alone, and neither is Malakai. Not anymore.
“Hey Mal. Do you want to open the hanger for the Lions?” He asked, getting no response as he expected from the redhead. He gestured her forward to the button and took her hand in his. He guided her hand to the button for the hanger and pushed it. Malakai’s face lit up, and she tried to press the button again, but Coran stopped her.
“Ah, no, you only get to press it once.” He intercepted as she reached again for the button. Her excitement fell when she realized she couldn’t repeat the action. Coran felt a bit guilty at that, as he couldn’t explain to her what the button did.
Three of the doors to each of the Lion hangers opened, revealing the rescued paladins and Pidge.
“Hey guys,” Hunk waved, stepping toward Allura, still at the center console. Lance followed after him from the other side of the room.
“Good to see you’re both alright,” Allura said happily. Shiro had been the only one injured from the previous battle. Hunk looked over to Coran, who still had the short Altean by his side. He was telling her about all the buttons, switches, and sliders. She didn’t understand but was listening attentively, having yet to notice the new people in the room.
“Who’s that?” Hunk asked, pointing to the unknown redhead. Coran overheard him and turned to face them, causing the girl to copy the action. She smiled brightly and ran over to the new, exciting people. Malakai tugged on Allura’s hand and pointed at the blue-armored man before her while looking at the princess with questioning eyes.
“Lance,” Allura answered.
Mal thought for a moment, eyebrows furrowed, visibly thinking. “His name Lance,” she said slowly, smiling with pride when she finished. Allura was amazed. She had just barely learned about language and was attempting to put together sentences.
“His name is Lance,” Allura stressed.
“His name is Lance,” Mal repeated with a nod. She pointed to the yellow paladin.
“My name is Hunk,” he said slowly and clearly while pointing to himself. It took the girl a moment to think of how to string her words together.
“His name is Hunk,” she said, seemingly unsure. She finally pointed to herself and said, “My name is Malakai.”
“Yes!” Allura was beaming with pride at Mal’s accomplishments. The girl smiled back, satisfied.
“Nice to meet you, Malakai,” Lance said, leaning his hands on his knees.
“Nice to meet you, Lance,” she repeated. She turned to Allura for confirmation. She got it in the form of a huge smile from the taller Altean.
“Nice to meet you, Hunk,” she said once more. Hunk reached his hand out to her, indicating a handshake. Malakai took his hand in hers, and he shook her small hand. She looked at him, confusion on her face.
“Handshake,” Pidge responded from her left.
“Handshake,” Mal repeated as Hunk pulled his hand back. She smiled happily at him, then ran back to Coran to continue poking buttons. Hunk looked back up to Allura.
“Are you going to tell us where you got a small Altean?” Hunk began.
“She’s an Altean?” Lance responded, never the quickest to catch on. He looked her up and down, noticing the markings and pointed ears. He stared in amazement at her striking cherry-red hair and deep green eyes.
“Keith and Shiro found her,” Pidge began, “Or well, she found them on the planet where they crashed.”
“So you guys aren’t extinct? There are more of you?” Lance asked, straightening his posture.
“We didn’t find any others.” Everyone turned to Keith who had entered the room. “And judging by the fact that she didn’t even try to speak, we’re pretty sure she’s been alone out there for a long time..”
“Oh,” Hunk responded. They all deflated a little bit. Allura broke the silence.
“She didn’t speak until we taught her. She didn’t even know her name.” She patted Mal’s head.
Lance crossed his arms over his chest, “So little Altean girl found on an alien plant all by herself with no language.” Hunk cut off Lance’s thought.
“You said you just taught her how to speak? She looks, what? 12? I’m surprised she can pick it up that fast if she’s never had language before,” Hunk pondered, a hand on his chin. Allura assumed he was speaking in Human ages since 12 was around the time that children started learning the alphabet, but she agreed with him. It was bizarre that Malakai was learning so quickly. There had been stories back in her day of children who were left in the forest and raised by animals, children who had never learned to speak or wear clothes, and there was no way to teach them. They had missed the development stage needed for language.
“Do you think that means she knew it at some point? Maybe she just forgot,” Lance considered. The three stood in silence, watching Coran continue to show Mal all the buttons on the ship’s console.
“How long do Alteans take to reach adulthood?” Pidge asked.
“100 deca-phoebs is old enough to live on one’s own. 130 is when we recognize someone as a true adult,” Allura replied. The humans gawked. Allura noticed the confusion.
“How long do humans take to reach adulthood?”
“16 to live on your own and 18 to be legal,” Hunk responded.
“16!? Kids barely know how to read by then!” Allura said, shocked.
“Humans only live about 100 years,” Pidge offered. “I guess we develop a lot faster.”
“Alteans live around 4000 deca-phoebes on average,” Coran said, walking toward the group with Malakai in tow. “But with a healthy life we can live even longer than that. I think the oldest Altean was around 6000.”
“The oldest human was around 130.” Pidge crossed her arms with her hand to her chin thoughtfully. “If you assume 4000 decophoebs is about 100 years comparatively for development, then Alteans age at a rate about two-fifths-x-squared compared to Humans. So if we assume Mal is between nine and twelve Human years, that would make her between 32 and 60 Altean years…” She trailed off.
“That’s a long time to be alone,” Lance finished her thought. The sad silence was back, and it weighed heavily on the group.
The silence was broken by a yawn from the redhead.