Lost Time

Ten

Allura could feel a tension headache building behind her eyes as she stormed towards the bridge. First, two of her paladins say they want to leave(oh, how would Father react? Was she a failure as their commander?), then the castle is completely offline, what would come next? A duel to the death?

"Coran! Coran, where are you, I need your help!" She wrestled the doors to the bridge apart, ignoring the impressed noises of her traitorous paladins behind her. Almost immediately, she was greeted with thick, heavy smoke, making her eyes water and her throat itch as the air slowly cleared. Coran was there, just a little ways away from the door, covered in ash and bits of Balmeran crystal. "Coran!"

"I'm al-" Coran coughed harshly as he sat up, clearing the air around him by fanning his arm. "I'm fine, Princess. Lance was here, too."

"Lance! Buddy, wake up!" The yellow paladin- Hunk, her brain supplied- cried, holding Lance's soot-covered form, which was worryingly close to where the crystal used to be. His armor was dented, scuffed in the back, and she could see from where she stood that blood seeped slowly from under his tattered armor. The wounded paladin made a soft, displeased noise, his face pinching unhappily, but he didn't open his eyes. "We have to get Lance to the infirmary!"

"Without the crystal, the castle has no power," Coran supplied, his voice slightly panicked.

"He doesn't look so good!" Pidge whined, clambering over the largest chunk of crystal to get to her fallen friend. The scene was heartbreaking to Allura, reminding her of a trauma she tried so desperately to forget, and just seeing Pidge's worried look made the princess have to turn away.

Just outside the doorway to the bridge, the Arusian village leader and its second were blubbering in panic. Allura wanted to scream- couldn't they see that their precious Lion Goddess and her party had a crisis of their own? She wouldn't say that, of course, her father had drilled diplomacy into her since she was old enough to understand what being a princess meant.
"Lion Warriors, please! Our v-village, it's under attack! We need your help, please!" The village leader cried.

"Get to the Lions," Pidge ordered loudly.

"You can't, they're sealed in their hangars," Shiro was there, suddenly, behind the Arusians, a hard look on his face. "There's no way to get them out, and we can't risk damaging the castle further. We're defenseless right now."

"Will you not help us?" The village leader's second snarled. "We would help you!"

"You aren't the only ones that need help, okay?" Keith snapped, causing the little guys to cower. "Can't you see that one of our own is hurt? He could be dying!"

"We just-" The Arusian's words were silenced by the quiet groan Lance suddenly emitted. Allura's heart ached for her blue paladin- she knew she had been extra hard on him, for things that clearly did not involve this new Lance, and to see that he had been harmed while protecting her only Altean companion made guilt fester in her chest. What could she say, to make this better?

Coran, of course, was already doing his best to resolve the situation. Covered in debris, he did not hesitate to gesture to Lance, looking somehow both proud and nervous.

"We can't do anything until the castle is functional again, and to do that, we'll need a new crystal. To get a new crystal, we'll need a ship."

"I- the pod I was loading, I left the bay door open. You can use that." Pidge offered weakly, looking up from Lance. Coran gave her a sharp nod.

"I can use the scanner on board to see if there's any Balmera nearby. Hunk, you're the strongest, you come with me." Hunk did not like the idea, clearly, from the way he cradled Lance closer to himself, but Coran was not to be deterred. The older man's voice went soft as he spoke next, like soothing a child. "I know you're worried, dear boy, but this is the fastest way we can help him. If we can get a crystal, we can get him into a healing pod, and he'll be much better off in a pod than dealing with these injuries on his own."