Bound

lance x reader

A dead branch snapped under the weight of the red paladin's foot, the sound echoing throughout the dreary cave. The Voltron team was currently exploring a cavity located deep in a chasm, on an empty, vacant world.

From the surface, the land was positively dead. Plants were withered and brittle, the sky a foggy yellow, the ground a depressing gray. There were no signs of life on the abandoned planet, only craters and scorches from what seemed to be a Galra attack, and old weathered buildings which looked like the remnants of a civilization now destroyed.

The chasm was just a little ways from the where the destroyed town lay, and deep inside the far reaches of the gray and disheartening chasm rested the cave in which the paladins were exploring.

The Castle of Lions hovered in the atmosphere, refusing to land just in case it was a trap. "See anything?" Allura asked, her voice crackling through the speakers inside each helmet. Pidge flashed waved her bayard across her face, the luminous glow of the tool providing light to see.

"Nothing's here... Allura, are you sure that the distress signal came from this planet, in this spot?" Shiro asked, gunmetal irises glancing over the rigid walls of the cave. His hand was also being used to provide light, as were all the bayards of the other paladins.

An indignant huff sounded through the helmets. "I fixed this ship's positioning sensor and signal detector!" Coran exclaimed, miffed at the insinuation that his mechanical skills were less than what he claimed they were to be. "The screen is saying you are right on top of the distress signal."

"That's hard to believe, seeing as there is only just a bunch of nothingness here!" Lance groaned, grimacing as he dodged tripping into a large stalagmite. Frowning, he tucked his bayard onto his hip and said, "I say we book it, it's kinda creepy here anyways."

Allura sniffed. "But what if there's someone down there who really needs help?"

Hunk scoffed, crossing his arms as he tried to calm his nerves. "I'll have to agree with Lance here, this place is creepy and empty. Besides, why would a distress signal come from deep inside a cave? Seems like a ruse to me."

Shiro looked back at the team's engineer, pondering quietly. "Alright, how about we search carefully for a couple more minutes, and if we don't find anything, we'll head back to our lions and go back to the castle."

Murmuring agreement, the paladins explored a little deeper, looked a little harder, and pushed down any fears or suspicions as they searched.

For the next couple minutes, the only sound that could be heard were shallow breaths, and the footfalls of each paladin as the cautiously explored the hollow, dreary cave.

"There's nothing here," Pidge finally said, sighing as she hooked her bayard onto her hip. "We should leave."

"I'm down, let's get out of here already!" Hunk exclaimed, eager to resort back to his lion and rest in safety.

"Alright, get back to your lions. We have more things to do, and quickly," Allura directed, voice weary.

The team began to retreat by following the light at the entrance of the tunnel, disregarding the blue paladin as he stared blankly into the dark abyss.

And then, by impulse, the Cuban raised his bayard, and with a sneaky smile, shot a beam of blue light through the inky darkness.