The Paladin's Honour

The Green Lion

Normal POV

The pod shot out of the wormhole and toward a jungle-like planet, which is breathable for the two humans. Upon landing, Pidge activated a tracker that Coran have given to them— as well as Lance and Hunk— before going off to find the lions. Getting a reading, they follow it through the jungle to the shore of a river. "Look!" Pidge pointed to a nearby canoe— and there, carved on the bow, is the head of a lion-like creature. Having a feeling that they're not alone, Shiro and Pidge looked to their left and notice a sloth-like alien standing beside them. They let out a startled yelp as Pidge scrambled to get behind Shiro, earning a moan from the alien.

"It's just a... whatever that thing is." Pidge said before the alien walk past them and toward the canoe, gesturing the two humans to follow. "I... I think he wants us to get in his canoe." Pidge stated, "Then I guess we should go." Shiro said with a shrug, earning a look from Pidge. "I've been locked up by aliens for a year. This is nothing." He said before making his way toward the canoe with the younger human following. After making sure the humans are boarded, the alien got in and push the canoe off the bank. As they drift down the river, small creatures squeaked from the riverbanks, earning a chuckle from Pidge as they glide into a stone tunnel that has the same carvings as the one where the Blue Lion was hiding. "I wonder if Hunk and Lance are having as good a time as us."

~~~~~v~~~~~

?'s POV (Flashback)

Hearing someone letting out a frustrated groan, I turned around to see Hiroshi getting out of the Green Lion. "I don't know why we had to go back there to train when we've already proven ourselves." He place his hands on the Green Lion and begin mending the damages from the latest barrages from the Muldoks, a territorial species found on the rainforest planet of Griezian Sur. "Honestly, I don't know how you managed to go through those training grounds with flying colours. I guess it must have something with your past occupation before being chosen as a paladin successor..." I place my hand on his shoulder, "Not really. I used to be a bit impatient when I was younger, but then I had some help from my mentor who told me that patience yields focus." I said with a nostalgic smile. Hiroshi still look discouraged, "If you feel up to it, why don't we do that nose-dive exercise. You'll see what I mean. And you may find that you're a lot more resilient and resourceful than you thought; especially if Coran decided to take us back to the Karthulian System." He look up at me with a smile. "Alright. Let's do it!" and that is when we heard Isamu and Marmora at it again. Honestly; those two really act like they're even younger than Hiroshi...

~~~~~v~~~~~

Shiro's POV

I shook my head, what was that? "I know the Princess said this is supposed to be my lion, but what if she's wrong?" Pidge said out loud, bringing my attention back to the present moment. "I mean, she's probably not wrong. She's a princess, but I'm not a pilot, even though... I've always wanted to be a pilot. I mean, I read all the fighter manuals, but never got to fly the simulator. But, hey, I can't be all that worse than Lance. He crashed all the time." The alien look back at me, and I gave an apologetic smile as I shrug; though hearing Pidge rambling reminds me of Matt when he was that age and tends to overthink things. "But what if I get in there and it doesn't respond? What if I get in there and it's too big and my feet don't touch the pedals? What if there aren't even pedals?!" I bit down my urge to chuckle and decided to speak up, "You're rambling. Listen... Our commander on the Kerberos Mission is the smartest man I ever met, and he always said, 'If you get too worried about what could go wrong, you might miss a chance to do something great." Pidge calms down afterward, reminding me of that weird flashback... Hearing a gasp, the thoughts were shattered again when I notice that we're approaching a stone temple covered in interwoven vines. On either sides of the path leading to the temple were statues of lions— possibly the depiction of the Green Lion...

Upon landing, Pidge and I carefully climb out of the canoe and thank our guide before approaching the temple. The carvings etched on the ground begin to glow green, a good sign... If the Green Lion's meant to be Pidge's, then it would be best to stay behind at the base of the stair. "Go. Be great." I said, causing Pidge to get my message and excited begin to climb the temple stairs toward the Green Lion. I thought back to that flashback I had; who were those people? The flashback is almost similar to those dreams I've been having, which consist of memories that weren't even my own... Although this is a nice change of pace compared to the nightmares of the death of whoever these memories belong to. A loud roar and a slight tremor broke my train of thought as I look up in time to see the Green Lion emerging from beneath the vines. "Need a lift to the pod?" Pidge ask over the speaker as the lion lowers it head for me to climb aboard, "We have secured the Green Lion and heading back to home base once we retrieve the pod." Pidge radio in to report the successful retrieval, waiting for a response. The Princess' face appears on the command screen, "Excellent work, Paladins. Let's bring these lions home." She said with a smile before her screen vanishes. "Two down, three more to go. I just hope Hunk and Lance found the Yellow Lion..." I thought to myself before the Green Lion lands, allowing me to get into the pod and take off toward the wormhole.