Chapter Text
Five months. That’s how long it had been since the wormhole. Most of the team had been located soon after, the longest so far being Hunk who had waited for a mere three weeks. Lance was the exception. Allura couldn’t track him till now; something to do with the planets magnetic readings, something that messed with the sensors. Even though she knew where the lion was now there was no telling if Lance was even alive, eventually leading to the paladins taking a small pod down to the planet towards where the blue lion lay.
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As the group landed the first thing they took in was the blue lion, sprawled on its side, mouth hanging open. There was a clear trail behind it, life slowly trickling back where the ridge was dug. As they neared the mouth, they readied their Bayards. Best to be ready for anything.
“I hope he’s okay” Hunk muttered, eyes glancing side to side clearly unnerved. Everyone murmured their agreements, Shiro supplying him a reassuring nod. They were prepared for Galra or a dead body. What they didn’t expect was a cat-like creature to hiss at them from inside the lion’s jaws.
Cat-like was a bit of a leap. From shoulders up it was accurate, however its legs appeared to be made of quite a few tentacle like appendages. Its tail was the same, but longer and overall it was yellow fading to orange towards its ‘feet.’ A voice from inside the lion had them forgetting about the creature all together. “You better not be growling at the rats again Churro! I already fed you today!”
Shiro took the initiative, calling out “Lance?! It’s us! We came to get you!”
“Guys?!” Lance came running out of the lion, smile plastered to his face dashing past ‘Churro’ and down towards the group. “Man am I relieved to see you!” His face scrunched together in a questioning frown. “Why are you all staring like that?”
Shiro glanced around behind him at the shocked looks that mirrored his own. Turning back toward Lance, he looked the blue paladin up and down before meeting his eyes once more. “Lance, what happened to you?”
Lance looked at himself, at first in confusion before his features settled into a grimace. “Oh, yeah….” His hand traced over the slash mark on the left his jaw as his eyes roamed over the more major of injuries he’d collected over the months. Teeth mark scars in his right bicep, a spiral bruise on his left forearm colored purple with green on the edges. His right shin had angry red burns that had clearly been there for a while. Not to mention he was scraped up in general. He glanced back at the group, eyes meeting those of his team one by one. “Had to learn the hard way a few times. Most of this planet is carnivorous. My armor did its job when I crashed but it was too broken to risk running around in. I was lucky I kept a change of clothes and rations packed away. They only lasted so long though.” He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Smiling, he continued, “But hey you guys are here now so we can get back to the castle!”
Hunk rushed forward, gathering Lance in his arms and lifting him off the ground, “I missed you so much buddy! Let’s go home.”
Lance laughed, cringing a little when Hunk set him down. He was still a little sore okay? It was Allura’s voice over Shiro’s com that grabbed everyone’s attention.
“Paladins, we may have a problem. We can’t get you off the planet”
Shiro looked up, his eyebrows coming together in concern. “Why not?”
Coran’s voice rang out, “It’s the planets magnetic forces. The same ones that messed with our scanners are preventing us from coming down to collect the blue lion safely. Your pod has probably already been affected. It won’t be able to fly. Exposure for too long damages the equipment.”
Lance paled, voice shaking. “Coran, how long are we stuck here?”
Allura’s voice answered calmly, “The castle should be able to build up energy and with enough in reserves we can come collect you safely.”
Pidge spoke out gently, “Allura how long is that going to take? The castle isn’t exactly in tip top condition.”
The silence weighed over them, broken by a deep sigh. “About two weeks from our calculations. Will you be okay?”
Lance spoke up a little more steadily, “We’ll be fine Allura. I’ll take pity on these poor souls and keep them alive like the brave hero I am.” That earned Lance a chuckle.
“Very well. Glad to know you’re alive Lance. Our communications are going to be cut for maximum charging capabilities. We’ll come and collect you when we’re ready.” With that the line clicked closed.
Lance smiled wide, the scar on his chin stretching with it. “Guess you guys are stuck here for a little while.”