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It has been ten thousand years.
Ten thousand years of waiting, of longing. Ten thousand years of lying in a cave, of being slowly grown over by roots, of nesting deep in the earth, of being held by the enemy, of crouching in a dormant castleship. Ten thousand years of loneliness.
And now, finally, they are reunited. It has been so long – the renewed bond thrums, bursting with energy, life, and light.
The Pride is reunited.
Things have changed. The universe was always under threat, but this is different. In the time they had lain dormant, waiting, the threat had spread, had accomplished. This isn't a matter of prevention. It is a matter of fighting, of tearing the empire apart until it dissolves back into void.
The Paladins are new, too. It is rare for all five to be of the same species – well, almost the same. Red is proud of her Paladin’s uniqueness; she cares not that he is of the species of the enemy. He is hers, and she will bite any who challenges his worth.
“Human” is a new species to them, except for Blue. She spent a long time on Earth, she knows of humanity. She overflows with pride in her Paladin, how he is the most wonderfulest of all humans. The other Lions are well-tired of this, but they begrudge her her enthusiasm. The two have an uncommonly deep bond, after all.
Yellow waited, buried at the heart of a fledgeling planet, but as the years passed the species on the surface grew more and more dangerous, until she feared that she would never be found. But her Paladin has a heart of gold and steel, and she should not have worried. He fears, much and deeply, but to protect his friends, his very own Pride, he will do anything. She understands the feeling.
Green feels the ache in her Paladin, the longing for their missing family. Green felt that way too, for ten thousand years, alone as the trees grew from seedlings to towering trunks and sprawling roots, locking her away in a deep dark glow. Her Paladin is young but has already lost so much. That does nothing to slow their determination. They will find their family. They will rescue their Pride from the jaws of the enemy, and they will do it with their new Pride at their side. Green knows – Lions do not do well alone. They need their Pride, and they are stronger for it.
Black’s Paladin, she thinks, is similar to Red. Both were captured. Both survived. But Lions are more durable than Humans, and Black thinks her Paladin came out a little worse for the wear than her sister did. But she needs him, just as he needs her, and so she will support and surround and heal what she can, will be his Lion as best she can, because she knows that he is doing everything he can to be the best Paladin he can be. Scars show one’s strength, and her Paladin is so terribly scarred, within and without. But he survived it all, and now with her by his side, they will be unstoppable.
The Lions waited for ten thousand years, but they think that it might have been worth every single one, to have such Paladins beside them.
Zarkon’s time has come. No evil can survive a Pride this powerful.