Chapter Text
Tumbling throughout space without a known destination was as unsettling and horrible as it sounded. A perfectly awful ending to an equally horrible day. It had been a long day for everyone, and being separated throughout space because of the goddamn Galra was the last thing Keith wanted to deal with.
He could only wonder how Hunk was surviving the torture of being tossed around relentlessly, even while strapped into his lion, it was still pretty shitty.
"You fight like a Galra." What had Zarkon meant by those words? Zarkon was centuries old by now, he must have known the power of every word he weld. Was Keith supposed to be flattered by that statement? No, it had to mean more… right?
Keith shook his head angrily, banishing the words from his mind, it was something that he could think about later, he couldn't be distracted, not when he could land anywhere throughout the entire universe. Finding the others was his first priority. It had to be, or it was likely that his mind would eventually tear itself apart searching for answers.
Gritting his teeth, Keith tried again to reign in the giant lion as he tumbled through space. He had no recollection of time, yet he couldn't have been falling for more than a few minutes. A bright flash occurred outside of his lion, and then he was stilled, floating aimlessly. He seized control of the lion and looked around. There was nothing in sight, far away he could see stars, and something else. A planet in the distance.
For a moment he hesitated, trying his communications, nothing came through his headset but static, and he was certain that no one had been able to hear him.
So he was alone.
Again.
Keith reared his lion towards the planet and began to fly, perhaps the planet would be inhabited and he could find a way to contact his companions. The silence was slowly growing around him, and it was difficult to not be utterly aware of how alone he felt. Even if the other paladins were annoying and got in his way at times, they had become something more than simply fellow paladins—and now, not being able to hear their voices, well he couldn't help but miss them. He knew that he had been with them only moments ago, but all of that time they had spent together on the castleship training and learning their roles in the universe together felt rather far away. Perhaps only now he realized how he had taken those moments for granted.
“Goddammit.” He whispered to himself. He wished he at least had music to play—even something stupid that only Lance would listen to with that cocky son-of-a-bitch smile that he always wore.
It wasn't until Keith’s hands began to hurt was it that he realized how tightly he was gripping the controls. He was still seething with anger from his fight with Zarkon and now the easiness of the galaxy around him was unbearable. He needed to work off his anger, before it turned into something else entirely. Moments like those made him realize how much he hated being left to his own thoughts without distractions, it was easy enough to recognize that he had major issues, but being alone just made him think about them more, and that alone was enough to make him ready to see Lance’s stupid-ass face again.
Sure, he had dropped out of the academy to pursue the project on Voltron before he knew what it truly was, and he had spent plenty of time alone in that desert, but he had always been occupied, he had always had something more to think about, and now—
God! He just needed to find something to distract him for a bit. He had already sorted through all of his own shit, he didn't need to start questioning his progress now.
Next time he saw Zarkon, Keith would punch him in the face just for the horrible silence he had to deal with in that moment.
Fidgeting restlessly, he continued on, towards that distant planet.
He would go on. He would find his friends again.
No matter what stood in his way.
He would find them.
~
“Keith?” Pidge asked “Lance? Shiro? Anyone?!” Her voice grew desperate as she realized that the only thing coming through her headset was static. Without hesitation, Pidge pulled off her helmet to check the wiring within it and to fiddle with her communicator before trying again.
“Can anybody hear me?” She asked again and waited. Nothing. What was the use of the paladin’s tech if it stopped so easily. She made a mental note to upgrade their communications tech once they all made it back to the castleship.
If they all made it back.
“Don’t think like that. We’re all getting back alive.” Pidge whispered solemnly to herself. “God, I’ll drag everyone back half-dead if I have to.”
Something crackled through her communicating receiver, Pidge frowned before place her helmet back over her head.
Another crackle in the static. Someone was trying to reach her. Quickly, Pidge opened the laptop that she always kept handy and fumbled with the wiring in her paladin helmet, hooking it up to her laptop easily.
“Hello?” She asked again and waited.
Another crackle of communication that she couldn't decipher, yet she was able to track the general direction it was coming from with a bit of work. She began to pilot her lion in that direction, waiting to see if another crackle came through.
“Can anybody hear me? Come on guys!”
“Pidg—“ The communication crackled again before it could finish, but she still instantly recognized the voice as Hunks.
“Hunk?”
“YEh I’m—blerghhhhh!” For a moment Pidge almost wrote the noise off as another communication error, that was, before she realized that Hunk had likely lost his space-goo. She frowned in disgust.
“Are you okay Hunk? Where are you?”
“Yeah, you know, I would be better if Zarkon hadn't made us literally spin through space. Like remember that time the we went on that spinning ride at that one amusement park?”
“You mean the one where you puked everywhere after words?”
“Yeah, that one! Well, I feel like that, but worse, and I think it’ll take a few weeks to get this lion to smell the way it used to…” Hunk finished, sounding a bit disgruntled and like he was possibly pouting. Pidge rolled her eyes but still smiled in relief to herself. She was confident that she could handle anything herself, but it was still a relief to know that she was not alone.
“Have you made connection with any of the others yet Hunk?” Pidge asked, typing rapidly, trying to search for any signs of possible technology.
“No, you’re the first one I’ve heard from. But, when I wasn't puking, I was fiddling around with some spare parts inside here, and i think if I had a satellite, or maybe some makeshift thing that’s kinda similar, maybe I could somehow track the other lions… you still have your laptop, right?” Hunk might have had a point, but the technology that they would need to build a tracking device like that, even just one that read the energy of the lions, that would take time, and materials that they didn't have any access to anymore.
“Of course I have my laptop, who do you think I am?”
“Just checking. Uhm, maybe we should find each other first, then we can make a plan. I can’t see you anywhere.”
“Just stay where you are, I’ll find you.”
“Not an option, I’m currently trying to navigate through a meteor belt, anything like that close to you?” Hunk asked, he sounded like he was going to be sick again.
Pidge looked around until she found the edge of the nearby belt int the distance. “Yeah, I think I might have found it…”
“Right well imma just—blerhghh!” Pidge cringed at the sound of Hunks vomiting. “…I think I’m going to land… Big Meteor, I’ll wait for you here… tell me when you find me.”
“Got it.” She responded lightly, tapping through feeds on her laptop again. There was no one else near them, nothing within miles of where they had been dropped.
Pidge sighed. It was going to be a long day.
~
Lance didn't know if he was screaming, crying, yelling, or all three as he spun out of control. He watched as his companions were thrown out into space, and he quickly followed. Yet, when he emerged, he was barreling straight for the ground of some foreign planet. He could only pray that the planet was not inhabited by the Galra, if it came down to another fight, Lance would just assume that fate hated him and desperately wanted to make his life as difficult as possible. He almost sighed in exasperation instead of horror as he slammed into the ground, jerking against the straps that held him in place.
He pulled his lion out of the ditch, looking around for any signs of life before sitting his lion down and trying to get a handle on everything that had happened. He tapped his helmet, listening for anyone. He was hardly unsettled when he didn't hear anything. Either something was jamming his communications, or his companions were simply too far away. They could be light-years away for all he knew.
The thought alone of the other paladins being so far away made him hesitate before trying to figure out where he was. Light years… how were they supposed to find each other when the entirety of galaxies could lie between them? Lance shook his head, he wasn't one to get down over simple things like this, all he had to do was have faith, if he could believe that they would find each other than they would eventually. All he had to do was stay positive and search for anything, or anyone that could help him.
For a moment he observed the deserts around him. That was before vehicles started rushing towards his position, lasers and guns pointed in his direction. Lance was about to curse violently and pounce before he realized just where he was.
He had landed on earth. The Lion had fallen right back to where he had started. And now, he had fellow humans ready to shoot him down. Fate was leading him in one big circle.
He had finally made it home.
~
“Shiro?” A voice prodded him. His head ached, his arm ached, God, he couldn't focus at all, what had happened to his vision. “Shiro!”
Finally, everything became clear again, they had been on their way back to the castleship when—oh god, where the hell had they ended up?
Allura was with him, gripping his arm and looking at Shiro with concern in her eyes. “Sorry,” He muttered. “I’m okay.”
“You’ve been doing this for the past hour Shiro! What did that witch do to your head? You can hardly sit up.” Allura countered quickly. “We need to land as soon as possible so you can rest.”
“I said: I’m fine!”
“I think we both know that that’s a lie, Shiro. There’s an uninhabited planet—or more of a meteor I suppose—near here. You need to land so you can rest and regain your strength.” She pushed, squeezing his arm until it hurt. He tried to swat her away, but found himself even too weak to achieve that.
“We need to find the others—“
“Yes, but it can wait!” Allura pointed him towards a large, hulking space rock that was coming up on his right. “Now land. We can discuss finding the other paladins after I know that I can trust your judgement.”
“I can’t just leave them out there Allura, I am their leader, if we wait too long, we might never get them back.” Shiro managed, trying to pull his lion away from the rock.
“Do you truly believe that I am not aware of that? I understand your concern, but right now, you need to focus on yourself for once. You are no good to them if you can not function properly. They need your judgement Shiro, and currently, I do not believe the you are capable of leading anyone. Now, land the bloody lion!”
Before he could object again, his head splintered in pain, images, voices, all of it spilled through him again. Faintly, he could hear Allura’s voice. A moment later he felt the impact as his lion landed and Allura pulled him from his chair.
It wasn't long before he faded into darkness, unconsciousness whisking him away.