When another lion came into view, the paladins didn't know what to expect.
When a body came tumbling out of it onto Red's hanger floor, the paladins had absolutely no words. They only crowded around the newcomer in curiosity and suspicion.
A moment of silence washed over the group. "...are they alive?" Hunk asked worriedly. The others didn't respond. Hesitantly, Allura reached over and checked their pulse. A visible but weak drumming was the response.
She exhaled. "Yes, thankfully. But we should get them to a cryopod immediately. Her pulse is weak, and with a crash like that, I doubt they'll be without some severe damage." She looked at Shiro and nodded towards the body. "Help me get them up?"
As the two of them carted the body towards the medical bay, the other paladins remained put, not once making a peep.
Pidge was the first to react. She giddly ran towards the lion, climbing up it as fast as she could possibly go, all while ignoring the others' alarmed yelps and cries.
"Look at this!" She hollered for everyone to hear. She slapped both of her palms down on the head of the lion, not caring for the loud echo it made. "Another mcfucking lion!"
"Language!" Hunk scolded at the same time Lance and Keith yelled, "Get down from there!" All three paladins began to climb the lion at rapid speed, without once slowing down to avoid each others' heads and limbs.
But the youngest of them wasn't listening. She had already managed to find a way into the mouth of the lion, shimmying through and landing in the cockpit, smacking every single button she could find. "DUUUUUUUUUUDE," they could hear from the outside. "It looks exactly like ours!"
Lance scoffed. "Yeah no shit, Sherlock." He plopped down right next to her, eager to see inside as well. His eyes widened when he saw the massive blue turtle stored underneath his chair, and immediately wrenched it out to examine. "Hooooly shit," he mumbled, not bothering to take his eyes off the plushie. It was worn, and a bit of stuffing kept falling out the side, but nevertheless it was still a turtle. He hugged it to his chest. "It's just like the one I had at home."
His sentimental moment, however, was abruptly disturbed by a crash and Keith falling through the back, landing hard on his ass. He groaned loudly. "You'd think after so many years Allura would at least install pillows on the floor," he grumbled, rubbing the spot that collided with the ground. Hunk peered down at them nervously, alarmed by the noise. "You guys okay?" He called.
Pidge looked up at him, grinning. She beckoned him to come down. "Come on, I doubt that the lion's going to kill us or anythiiIINNNNNG OH NO OH SHIT-"
Beneath them, the lion appeared to wake up, and in similar fashion to the ones back home on Earth, it was not at all happy to have four kids on it. They barely had time to grasp onto anything (Hunk especially to prevent crashing headfirst into the mess of limbs that was the Keith-Pidge-Lance mess) before it roared to life and ran around the room furiously.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH" was obviously the word of the day for them, as they could hardly be heard saying anything else for three hours. For some strange reason, perhaps maybe having to do with sound barriers (Allura) or not bothering to check on what they managed to do this time (Shiro) or singing in the shower (Coran Coran 100% Coran), nobody came down to help the four teenagers get out of the lion, much less safely.
Somewhere during this, either because of Pidge's flailing arms or Keith's attempts at flying the lion failed miserably, they managed to launch the lion right out into space.
