A Trip Of Life (Shidge/Mallura/Klance AU)

Chapter 4 - Mysteries

Katie could not remember which room her brother and Allura had flown into during the chaotic events of the ship's out-of-control fall. Her throbbing wounds did not help much either. Every move she made, every shuffle of her legs or turn of her torso, was more painful than the last. The young woman tried to keep this fact from Lance, but he took notice to her increasingly restricted movements.

With a sigh, he slowed to a stop, tugging Katie with him to stop her from dragging herself further. They had already investigated three other rooms, passing Shiro and the kids once. "It's no good for you to over exert yourself like this. You need to rest. I'm not as severely wounded like you and Shiro are, so I can search for Allura and Matt," the tanned other insisted, lowering Katie to be propped up against one of the more intact walls, "I will be back shortly."

With that, Lance vanished. For a while, Katie just stared at the mess of their ship, praying to the stars that everyone was alive. Soon, she could feel her consciousness slipping. Afraid it may mean death, she fought to keep herself awake. Nothing she thought of could help her against her body's natural instinct to rest, though, and her eyes fell closed. 

She woke to being dragged, her body laying on what appeared to be a stiff, giant leaf. Alarmed, Katie jumped to studying her surroundings, finding Shiro to be walking beside her, cradling his arm, and Lance's voice travelling from somewhere behind her. Upon further inspection, the nineteen-year-old found Allura also being drug on a leaf and Matt struggling to balance on a horse at his wife's side, his legs dangling uselessly at the horse's sides.

Though she did not know who was leading their family's group, surprised to see that they weren't alone. Straining her neck, she could see Lance chatting with the person who held onto Allura's oversized leaf, a lean man dressed in unfamiliar armor. His helmet hung at his side, revealing a pale face with dark hair the same shade as Shiro's. The person who had the stem of Katie's leaf, however, kept their helmet on and there was not much the aunt could tell from their shielded back. 

There had to be at least eight other people clothed in matching armor, the only difference being how many sides a decorative star had on their right arm pad and that a bit of the troops were mounted on horses. She noted that three of them held onto her nieces and nephew. She could tell that Lemia had fallen back asleep, but that Delphie was awake now.

Katie finally took to checking out where they were. Odd-looking florescent trees flanked them on the sides, and they were treading down a red-colored dirt path. A star-filled dark purple sky fill the vast void above her head. No doubt they were on a planet far different from Altea and the beautiful Earth.

"Katie?" Shiro breathed, relief coiled tightly in his shaking voice. 

The girl turned back to peer at him, finding that Matt was also facing her with an expression that was an intensified version of Shiro's. "Pidge, thank Altea you're not comatose," her brother exclaimed, taking one hand off the horse's neck to place it over his chest. It was clear the older had been crying if his puffy, red eyes were any indication.

"No need to worry so much, you big dork. I'm stronger than a ship crash... and so is Allura," Katie offered, knowing it was a pitiful statement but thought it may at least bring some laughter into the dullness that hung around the mostly quiet scenery. It did. At the presence of her voice and the Matt's short chuckle, Katie noticed Lance's head peek out from beside the one troop who remained helmetless. 

His face brightened just as her brother's and Shiro's had. "Hey, Delphie, guess who just woke up?" the blue eyed man called out, a pained smile deploying on his lips. Lance was terrible at acting, especially when it came to feelings that were quite the opposite. Katie could see it in his eyes, Lance was unsure and in pain. He probably hid the true extend of his wounds from her earlier.

The armored individuals pulling both Allura and herself ceased movement to see who awoke. Katie took the opportunity to shakily stand up and face the group. She could see Delphie shift in one of the trooper's grasp, spotting her aunt standing as a smile bloomed across her little round face.

The person who had been dragging Katie dropped the leaf and discarded it in trees to their left. For a moment the Holt thought the leaf was pulsing a deep blue, but chalked it up to her imagination. Turning away from that trooper, Katie inquired in a low tone, "Who are these guys?"

Shiro was the one who answered. "See, these are members of the royal guard on this planet,--my home planet, Voltron. Don't fret, we can trust them," the broadened male assured, face crestfallen, "We are heading for the nearby town to rest and heal before heading to the palace."

Baffled, Katie asked, "Why the palace?" She shifted her weight to her better leg, trying to keep the same pace as the horse and Shiro.

"Turns out Shiro's a prince," Matt blurted out blandly, wobbling on the horse still.

Katie was taken aback by the statement before remembering what the pair on the ship kept addressing Shiro as. They were calling him 'Prince'. They seemed to hold some kind of a grudge against the older. In a moment of ire as a person to blame unfolded before her eyes, the teenager felt anger and anguish wash over her tired bones. "Those two were there to kill you! We almost died and it's your fault," she spat at Shiro, seething through her teeth. 

The taller was taken aback by her sudden outburst and some of the guards took to keeping an eye on the pair, likely in the case that she would choose to assault their prince out of temporary frustration. Shiro stared at her, stunned, before his eyes shifted to scan the faces around him, additionally observing her family's wounds for several seconds. Guilt flooded his eyes, eyebrows furrowing upwards in realization.

"I was avoiding thinking about what happened. My main focus since waking was to make sure we were all alright then after that was confirmed, it was that we all got to safety, but yeah. They were there to kill me and you guys were harmed instead," he admitted, eyes downcast. 

Katie had more to say, but she met the gaze of her brother. Matt shook his head as if to say she should not press the matter. He actually appeared to be disappointed and ashamed that she even insinuated the ship crashing was Shiro's fault.

Huffing, Katie took to focusing on the path ahead of them, noting a discomfort in her hip. Her major wounds were momentarily cared for, but it was nothing permanent, so she did have to be careful to not unravel Lance's handiwork. Walking was a struggle and for the duration of their trek, she remained at the end of the party, not that she minded. It gave her time to think about the earlier events. 

But, her mind was blinded by frustration and indignancy. Katie stubbornly believed that the blame laid solely upon Shiro's still-slumped shoulders, even if her heart knew that it was not so.