Voltron: Tales of the Valkyrie (Voltron Legendary Defender fanfic)

United 2

Lance waited by Allura's lion. Once his lion. Not important, but he needed to distract his mind. Distract from his pathetic attempt at winning Allura over. Or, confirming that he had won her?

"Lance?" Allura came striding in with her pink helmet on her hip.

The red paladin smiled sheepishly. "Hey! What are you doing here?" His pride dropped. "That's stupid. This is your lion, where else would you be? Look, I wanted to see you off."

Allura cocked her head. "You are coming with us."

Lance's cheeks heated. "Yes, right. I mean. . ." He sucked in a breath. "I wanted to say be careful. No way of knowing what will happen."

Allura blushed, to his surprise. She gave him a two-second hug. They hadn't gone much farther than that.

Until she kissed him on the cheek. "You be careful as well." She boarded the blue lion without another word.

Lance stood, frozen. A joyous yip sprung from deep inside his chest and he ran to Red. In the pilot's seat, he rested his feet on the dash and opened a link to the black lion. "It's official. You need to take romancing lessons from me. Otherwise, Starlight will be an old hag before you admit-"

Keith interrupted him with a severe cough.

"Come on. It's not that bad." He looked at the display. Starlight sat beside Keith in the black lion's cockpit. "Oh. Red out."

Lance cancelled the communication, leaving Keith and Star in silence. Keith eyed her distracted gaze. "You're not gonna ask?"

"Just fly."

The lions took off and jumped into hyperspace. Star stared at nothing but the flashes outside.

Keith tried to focus, but his attention always shifted to her. And she didn't seem to notice. She always noticed.

"Stop staring," she finally said.

"Stop ignoring me."

She slowly lifted her eye to his gaze. Her head dropped almost immediately. "I have to."

"What did Quin show you?"

"Nothing. But she described nearly every detail."

Keith couldn't imagine what in their future would make her shy away from him. He took her hand, though she tried to avoid it. "Do you know who she fears?"

Star relaxed. Placed her hand on his and squeezed. No explanation needed. And no time for one.

Menaku lay before them, a gray shell once green and mountainous. Now held together by cracks, landscape shifting constantly.

They found a spot to land. The terrain rumbled beneath their feet, earth as gray as the smoky sky.

Hunk held his bayard close. "You're sure we can't stay in the lions?"

Star searched the landscape. "Quin isn't here yet. Something happens on the surface, and if we can stop it, she'll be trapped in the quintessence field."

Pidge checked her scanners. "There's a ton of quintessence readings."

"That's because the locals dug up an opening to the field. It's still sealed with a spell, but whatever happens breaks the seal."

Keith looked over Pidge's shoulder. "Then let's find it. Where's the strongest reading?"

Pidge swept her scanner across the plain. She stopped, directed left from their position. They moved forward, following Pidge and her scanner through scattered trees and gray boulders. The crunch of rock and shifting of plates constantly haunted their ears. Ash polluted the air and darkened the gray sky.