Warmth (Klance Warmth series Book 1 of +4)

10: Balmy Discourse

"Paladins!" the princess's voice yelled over the two Lions' communicators. "Return to the Castle immediately!"

"What? Why?" Pidge said, sitting up in his pilot's seat.

"Yeah," Hunk said. "We haven't found either Lance or the Blue Lion."

"I doubt we could, actually," Pidge said slowly.

"Paladins," Allura called again.

"We're coming, princess," Shiro answered, leaning over Pidge's shoulder. "We're almost to the wormhole. Are you alright?" he asked urgently. "Did something happen?"

"Our long range sensors have detected a Galra ship nearby," she began.

"What?" Hunk gasped, immediately switching on his own long range sensors. "Here?"

"No," Allura replied. "It's en route to Arus."

"Um," Hunk hesitated. "Where is Arus?"

"The Castle!" Coran cried. "They coming to the Castle."

Shiro stiffened. "Not good," he muttered. "We're on our way. Coran, what's the Galra's ETA?"

"'ETA?'" the advisor repeated in confusion.

"Estimated Time of Arrival," Pidge clarified, fiddling with the controls of his Green Lion.

"Oh, well based on my calculations," Coran said, "I'd say they should arrive here in approximately two cycles. Granted, this is based on knowledge from 10,000 decaphoebs ago, but it should hold. I hope."

"That's not very reassuring," Hunk said once he passed through the wormhole.

"Yes well, thing about finger counting," Coran said, sounding a bit flustered, "it's more of an art than a science."

"You do realize finger counting is just counting, right?" Pidge said in a flat voice.

Shiro chuckled. "We're here, princess," he said. "We'll head to the bridge as soon as we land."

The wormhole closed behind them and the Lions made their way to their respective hangers. When they disembarked, Shiro was again struck by that odd pull he first felt when Princess Allura first assigned him to the Black Lion. What if the pull was the Black Lion locked away in the Castle somewhere?

He froze, eyes wide. Was that what he was feeling? Was the Black Lion at the other end of this pull? If he followed it, would he find the Black Lion? He may not be able to free it, but could he see it?

A soulful longing swept over him like a tsunami, stunning him with its power and almost knocking him off his feet. He could almost hear an answer in the flood. There were no words or images, just the faintest of impressions like a flash of something in the distance bright enough to catch his attention but too quick and far to make sense of it. He wanted to find the source. He wanted to find the Black Lion.

"...ro..."

"Shiro!"

He jolted at the shout, whirling around to see Pidge perched on Hunk's shoulders so he was even with Shiro's ear. His mouth was still open from screaming Shiro's name. Shiro flushed and smiled awkwardly.

"Sorry 'bout that," he said, stepping back and rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously. He blinked when he actually noticed how tall Pidge was. A quick glance down brought a goofy smile to his face. "How's the weather up here?" he teased.

Pidge's concerned gaze instantly darkened behind his glasses. He hunched over Hunk's head and glared at Shiro. "Ha ha, very funny," he said.

"Hey," Shiro said with a shrug, "welcome to my world."