Chapter Text
"Red, Black, or Neither"
Season Three Episode Six
While the Paladins slept, two of the robot lions gathered in Black's hangar and talked. Red had joined Black as she wanted to beg Black to give her back her cub.
"Please, Black! I want my cub back! You don't know him like I do. He needs to be looked after, and being the leader isn't good for him. You have Shiro back. Why won't you let him pilot again?" Red begged.
Black sniffed. "I don't know who Keith and I found, but it's not my Shiro."
"Then, why did you pick him up?"
"Initially, it felt like Shiro until we were closer, but by that time, Keith had noticed that it looked like Shiro."
Red whined. "So, I can't have my cub back?"
"I'm sorry. I need a Paladin, and Keith is the only one who fits."
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Season Four Episode One
Red keened, startling every being and robot lion on the castle ship. Black looked at Red in alarm. "What in the universe is wrong with you, Red?"
"My cub left us, left me," she wailed.
"Oh."
"And you accepted the other Shiro, even after telling us he wasn't Shiro!" Red snarled. "You pretty much pushed my cub away!"
"Calm down, Red. Keith had made this decision on his own, even without me allowing the other Shiro to pilot."
"He wouldn't have left if he had been allowed to come back to me," she insisted.
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Season Four Episode Six
After the battle for Naxzela and while the Paladins were resting, Red roared in despair.
"What is your issue, Red?"
"My cub almost died! He has lost the fire within him that I loved. These Blades are not good for him! They were cruel to him when he went looking for answers, and they are instilling in him a lack of self preservation. They are willing to let him kill himself as long as the mission is successful."
"We can't do anything until he decides to come back."
"When will he come home?"
"I don't know. I just don't know."
Fin