The Stars Between -- (VLD)

[35] Allura! You found him!

"So I've been thinking," Pidge huffed, ducking around Allura and firing the hook of her bayard at a drone. Allura moved in, swinging her staff in a wide arc. "When we get a Lion's signal, instead of splitting up, we should all go together."

"In the Castle?" Allura asked, activating her shield and protecting Pidge's back from a shot.

"Not quite, I was thinking maybe in the Red Lion."

They moved back to back, synchronised movements defeating drones at the same time.

"Red is faster-" Allura agreed, holding her shield up again. "-and time is of the essence when it comes to situations like this."

"Guys, a little help over here?"

"Sorry Hunk!" they said in unison, turning to where Hunk was; surrounded by drones. Pidge immediately shot out her bayard, knocking three from the air in one move, while Allura ran in and slid under, holding the shield above her head. She jabbed her staff, throwing the drone into the wall.

"Thanks," Hunk said, lifting his gun and firing a spray of bolts. He hit the last few drones around him, and all three of them dropped their shoulders in momentary rest. "So what were you speaking about?"

"They said that we should all take Red when we find Shiro and Lance." Keith called, slashing clean through several drones. He spun around, activating his shield and blocking as he charged at another set.

"And?" Hunk prompted, hefting up his gun again. "What's your opinion?" he shot down a drone sneaking up on Keith's six with startling accuracy, Keith pausing for the briefest moment to nod his thanks.

"I agree with Allura," he said simply, raising his shield as the drones went on the attack again. Pidge jumped into action, protecting Keith's back as best she could. "Red's the fastest Lion, and we don't know what will happen. I can handle it if we run into trouble."

"Yeah, I can see how that's a good thing, but what if we run into big trouble?"

Allura knocked another drone down in a fluid movement. "Hunk's right." she said. "It would be best to bring another Lion, to stay back as defence."

"The best Lion for the situation is the one with the most unlocked abilities, and that's Blue!" Keith grunted as Pidge missed a shot, the bolt knocking into his shoulder. "And Allura can't feel Blue anymore!"

"Yellow has armour, and Green has cloaking," Pidge shot back, shooting her bayard again. "If you need protection, I think Yellow would be best."

"Yeah, and the Castle can do it just fine! We only need Red!"

"Keith, stressing is not going to help you while we're training." Allura called over her shoulder. He didn't reply, instead throwing his full weight into another slash.

Allura sighed. "End training sequence."

"What was that for?" Keith yelled, stumbling as the drone he was aiming for disappeared.

"We should not be having this conversation whilst training." she said calmly, leaning on her staff and deactivating her shield.

"Yeah man, you're getting worked up about it." Hunk said, bayard reverting to its dormant form. "We all want to find Shiro and Lance, but judgement is really important for times like this."

"If you want to find them so bad, why aren't you doing it then?" Keith growled, bayard still active in his hand, although he let his shield phase out.

Allura bit her lip. "Keith..." she said quietly, but he cut her off.

"You haven't tried at all today to look for them, it's like you've given up!"

"Keith, calm down!" Pidge let her own bayard return to dormant form, hand on hip. "None of this is anybody's fault and sometimes we need to take breaks. We're humans - well, not all humans, Allura's Altean - and there's only so much we can do."

"We're missing nearly half our team and you say that?"

"I'm just saying that we need to take small steps."

"We're taking steps so small that we're not moving!" He turned on his heel, finally letting his bayard deactivate.

"I'll be in my room." he muttered. "Don't come for me until you have results." and with that, he left, the others watching his retreating back.

Allura closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "He's right." she said, looking between Hunk and Pidge. "I have not been trying hard enough."

"Don't say that, Allura," Hunk replied, resting his hand on Allura's shoulder.

"But it's true." she said miserably. "We do not know if Lance and Shiro are even alive, and yet I have ignored my duties as the Protector of the Lions."

"Keith's letting his emotions get in the way." Pidge said, crossing the room to join Hunk and Allura. "I think he blames himself for what split us up in the first place."

Hunk nodded. "It's affecting us all, but I don't think he realises that it affects us in different ways."

Allura gave the paladins a tiny smile. "Maybe so, but it only means that we need to try harder." She sighed, collapsing her staff and clipping it to her side, reaching up to remove her helmet. "We are a team, and we need to look out for each other."

Allura concentrated on the feeling of the Black Lion, tracing along the connection as best she could. It was faint; but sure enough, the head of Voltron was there.

She placed her hands on the Castle's controls, the star charts blowing up around her and filling the bridge. She closed her eyes tight, centering on Black.

Allura was not going to give up. It was her that said they should stay and fight with Voltron. It was her that fought against splitting up the Lions.

And now, they were split again, at her own undoing.

"Please..." she whispered, wanting nothing more than to bring the team back together again. They had become a new family to her, even in the short span of time they spent together. "Show me the Black Lion - Shiro - please."

"Allura! You found him!" Pidge cried, and Allura's eyes shot open. Pidge was grinning, pointing to a planet just above her head.

Hunk nodded, a smile forming on his own face. "The Black Lion looks damaged, but that seems to be from the crash. There's a distress beacon active, but-" he squinted at the beacon's signature. "- it seems edited somehow."

"Now that you mention it, yeah," Pidge said, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Like it's on a private frequency, I guess."

Allura tilted her head to the side. "Well, I suppose thats a good thing," she said, letting the map zoom in on the planet. "It means that Black is safe from being discovered by the Galra."

"It means Shiro's not in too much danger, right?" Hunk said, nodding to the planet's hologram. "If he was, he would have left it on all frequencies so anyone could come help."

Allura's lips curled at the corners. "Now let us hope that Lance is with him."