A Side Unseen

Chapter Two

Lance had been pacing his bedroom back and forth that next morning when Allura called the rest of the Paladins to the bridge. He slid on his jacket and immediately left his room- probably the quickest he's ever gotten ready before.

As soon as the automatic door swished open, he saw Shiro had already been making his way down the hall. 

  "Oh, hey man," Lance said sleepily.

Shiro gave a small grin, and kept walking. That was fake too. Lance jogged to catch up to him and they walked side by side. 

There was an awkward silence between them and Lance wanted to break it, but didn't exactly know how. Shiro and him have never been too close and that was one of the many things Lance was jealous of about Keith- he couldn't just have a daily conversation with this guy, unless it was with the team.

  "So, um..." Lance tried to think. "What's up...?" Lame.

Lance turned toward Shiro, who was still looking straight forward. Finally reacting, he just sighed. And that's it.

Well so much for that.

The two reached the bridge and the Princess, Lotor and Coran were already there. Lance noticed Lotor and Allura standing irritatingly close to each other. 

Coran turned his head to acknowledge their presence. "Ah, Lance! Shiro!" He said with a cheery tone. 

Allura and Lotor also turned as if on cue, Allura's expression slightly surprised. "Nice to see you here so early, Lance," she said. "You look quite exhausted. Are you doing alright?"

Lance put on a smirk, acting flattered. "Allura? Worrying about little old me?"

Allura's face dropped to annoyance. "Why did I bother...?" She muttered and turned back to her work.

Pidge and Hunk walked in together not too long after, looking just as tired as everyone else.

 "Good," Allura said. "Now that everyone has arrived, let's get started!"

xxx

"So this magic rock is going to guide us to a mysterious planet?" Pidge asked skeptically.

The Paladins and Lotor had gathered in a circle while Allura held a rock with glowing teal lines engraved.

 "A land known as Oriande," Lotor said.

Coran chuckled like it was a joke. "I'm afraid someone's been rumbling your brain, Prince Lotor. Oriande is just an Altean folktale, it doesn't actually exist!"

 "That's what I thought, Coran," Allura said. Everyone turned to her. "Now, I have a feeling it is quite real."

 Lotor continued. "It is the birthplace of all Altean alchemy. The place where King Alfor learned the secrets that helped create Voltron and where Allura will master those same secrets so that my ships may enter the quintessence field."

Lance crossed his arms. "And what makes you the authority on crazy Altean nonsense?" He pointed a thumb at the royal advisor. "Coran knows more magical made up gobble-de-goop than anyone I've ever met!" Lance quirked up his eyebrow.

Coran tilted his chin in gratitude. "Thank you, Lance. And I can assure you King Alfor never mentioned anything to me about traveling to Oriande."

 "In all likelihood, he kept it a secret from everyone." Lotor replied. "I have been researching Oriande for centuries, hoping to learn more about my Altean ancestry. Overtime, I managed to gather evidence from all over the universe that hinted at its existence. Now, thanks to Princess Allura, I will gaze at it's magnificence with my own eyes."