The Stars Between -- (VLD)

[30] Are you there?

Shiro woke in darkness.

Although he used to sleep with all light blocked out, it was getting harder these days. He much preferred the soft glow of the castle lights, or keeping his door open so he didn't feel so trapped.

Even closing his eyes was too dark sometimes, bringing flashes of horror he wished he still didn't recall.

So when Shiro woke in darkness, his first instinct was to search for a source of light.

It was strange, a silence in his mind. The absence of Black was unnerving, he had become so used to it over the course of the last few months.

His throat was too sore to make any noise, so he tried calling for her in his mind.

With no reply, Shiro guessed she was too damaged to respond in any way. There wasn't even a flicker of lights.

What had brought on this situation again? Shiro wracked his brain, casting it back to the last things he remembered.

Keith.

He had pulled Keith's lion back to the Castle, only for the wormhole to malfunction, pulling them in all separate directions.

In any case, Shiro was stranded with no power, and--

He bent over almost double, clutching at his side and hissing in pain.

The witch had struck him.

Shiro stared down, wincing as the movement caused pain in his neck.

He could see his wound, which alarmed Shiro for a second before he realised it was glowing.

Well, a voice in the back of his mind floated up, at least there is some light now.

Shiro must have snorted, because his throat started to burn.

No time for that. The more reasonable part of him said.

He needed to assess the damage - both to himself and to the Black Lion.

Shiro was mostly fine, despite the glaringly obvious wound in his side, which he continued to place pressure on with his hand. He ached all over, but that was normal for his situation.

In the dull glow of his side (the more delirious side of him was still giggling over the fact that it produced light), Shiro noted that the back panel of his prosthetic hand was dented. However, it didn't seem to impact on its manoeuvrability, so he supposed it would only need straightening out later.

Shiro made to stand up, relying heavily on his seat as a crutch. Almost immediately, he overbalanced and fell, head hitting the console on the way down.

The helmet took most of the blow, but Shiro groaned, lying on his back on the floor.

Another wave of pain caused him to gasp, shutting his eyes tight until it passed.

"Come on, Black," he managed to say, voice barely audible even to himself. "Just a little bit of power."

Still no reply.

His ears were ringing - no, wait. That was his helmet. Static and white noise filled the space around him, and Shiro frowned.

"Keith," he started, still lying on his back. "Are  you there?"

As expected, no reply.

Shiro sighed, pulling himself up to sit as best he could, propped up against the side of his chair. He took pressure off his wound for a moment to remove his helmet, letting it fall to his side as he winced at the burst of pain, hand quickly covering it again.

Shiro had never felt more alone. There was always someone - his family, his team, his enemies - nearby, a reason to keep fighting.

But now?

He let his eyes slide closed, chin dropping down onto his chest.

Only to jolt back up a second later.

No sleeping. No giving up. Takashi Shirogane was not one to give up. Not now, not ever.

He grabbed his helmet once more, single-handedly fixing it back on his head and reading the visor's scan of the Lion.

Minimal damage to structure. Minimal engine damage. Minimal weapons damage.

Nothing wrong, it seemed. So Shiro couldn't understand what was wrong with Black.

He listened into the static again, wondering if maybe the noise hid voices within.

It was worth another shot.

"Princess? Coran? Can you hear me? Are you alright?"

Even with no reply, Shiro decided to leave his helmet on, just in case contact broke through the static.

Shiro hauled himself to his feet, determined to make his way to the hatch of his Lion. He knew there was a manual overdrive somewhere, but if she still wasn't responding to even that, he could exit by cutting through with his arm. He hoped it would never come to that.

He navigated the cockpit well enough with no light besides the small amount peeking from between his fingers (meaning, he only stumbled once or twice into the walls). Shiro ran his left hand down the wall, trying to find the switch. The tip of his index finger brushed against something, and Shiro shifted his right hand over his wound for a bit more light.

He chuckled darkly at the fact he was using an injury to his advantage, but quickly focussed back on track and located the switch. Clicking into place, the hatch opened and amber light flooded into the bay, causing Shiro to shield his eyes.

He squinted out, making out the shape of rocks forming a cliff face. He was in some form of cavern, the sun reaching down to Black as it set over the edge of the cliff above him.

Shiro guessed it was the high walls surrounding him that was blocking out signals, but there was no way to be sure until he made his way out and tested.

He looked around for a few minutes more, eyes making a path up the cliff in the easiest way without worsening his injury. There seemed to be a shallower path halfway up, only getting steeper near the lip.

He could manage, if he took it slow and steady.

Shiro went to jump out, only to remember at the last possible second that his jetpack had been broken.

Growling in frustration, Shiro stepped back, trying to think of how to leave his Lion whilst remaining (for the most part) unharmed.

After a moment of deliberation, Shiro realised this was probably the safest way, and rolled his eyes. Of course.

He jumped.

Rolling to lessen the impact, Shiro nearly stumbled and fell flat on his face, catching himself seconds beforehand. Dust flew up around him, and Shiro made his way out from underneath Black, pausing to rest on her leg.

There was a low growl from behind him, and Shiro made the mistake of twisting his body to see what it was. He cried out in pain and clutched at his side, biting his lip so he didn't shout again.

That was another mistake, as the moment he closed his eyes, some creature came out of the darkness and attacked, leaving Shiro with no time to defend himself.