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[He gets up. It's rough, slow going. He can't tell if Black is on her side, or if he's just too dazed to walk straight, but he gets to Keith and helps to pull him up too. He's looking around for Shadow as he asks--]

Is she responding?

[Meaning Black specifically, but he hopes the wolf's okay too.]

[He moves with Shiro's help, tugging on one control weakly.]

Sort of... [He's quiet a moment, like listening. He feels Black just on the edges of consciousness.]

It...feels like she wants to stay here a while.

[Anger spikes.]

Damnit, Black! This is not the time!

[But he sees Shadow in a corner, at least. Dainty and composed as ever, tugging at a tuft of fur on the pad of her upturned paw. One worry down. Relief floods through him, but not so much that he doesn't make a single frustrated growl.]

Any idea where we are?

[On cue, a small map pops up on the HUD, marking them on a small planet on the edge of this star system. No name registered, but no signs of life aside from small animals that Black picks up.]

It's not anywhere I recognize. [He combed so much of space looking for Shiro before. Covered a lot of other ground with the Blades. He doesn't know this place.]

I can go out and check. See if she's damaged. [And definitely ignore his sore muscles, the whiplash, the blood dripping down his face and probable concussion.]

[Shiro gives him a Look. You know the one.]

No. You stay here. Clean yourself up, then see if you can raise comms with the others.

[And then he turns for the ejection hatch, which Black obediently opens. He doesn't quite glower, but he does flick his hand upwards in a sort of really? shrug. Now she listens.

(They spent so long tangled up in each other's consciousness, he thinks he might know her better than he knows himself, now. It also means that when they bicker, it's like siblings rather than a pilot and his sentient leonine ship.)

One last look at Keith, then--]

If you get any hostiles on the long-range scanners, let me know.

[He's not going to say leave without me. Keith would argue that, and it would be a waste of both their times. But he doesn't wait for an answer, either, as he jumps down out of the lion.

The landing is a little off. It's not just the balance - his right knee isn't quite cooperating with him either. The impact jars every one of his healing ribs. Shiro grits his teeth and curls his arm around himself, but it's the only outward indication of his pain.

Black doesn't appear to be damaged despite the fact she landed a little rough, and their surroundings are--

Well, they're perfect for an ambush. They're in a canyon surrounded by rock, smattered with sparse vegetation that clings to the canyon walls. The plants are a vivid violet, which tells him something about the colour spectrum of the nearby sun.

There's a little chittering creature perched on a rock. Watching him. It makes him think of a squirrel, if squirrels were three feet tall and had long, glistening fangs. Even so, it doesn't appear to be hostile, simply curious. It makes a noise that sounds like a question, lilting upwards at one end. Shiro doesn't think it's a language, but you never know. He gives it a little wave just in case, and it turns and disappears.]

Wait--!

[He chases after it, amidst the rock. Fully sentient or not, maybe they can find some way to communicate and he can learn what this place is. What Black could possibly want here.

It's when he rounds a big pile of rubble that he sees it -- not the creature, which seems to have vanished, but her footprints. Pressed down into the Earth, filled with water and overrun with plants, but they're unmistakable. He'd know them anywhere. So old they're almost--

-- Fossilized.

If blood could turn to ice in his veins, he'd have had the distinct unpleasantness of that experience on the spot. Instead, he turns around immediately and heads back. Once he's back in the Lion--]

I think we should ask her again.

[To leave. His tone is terse. Normally, anything to do with Zarkon and he'd want to investigate it. But neither of them are in the shape for it, they'd more likely be captured or killed if there's some sort of-- rogue Galra base nearby. Whatever this planet is, it's existed out here undisturbed for long enough that they can afford to get back to the others before they return here.]

[Shiro leaves before Keith can say anything to stop him. He should. He should go after him, Shiro's still injured, still needing help. But he can't bring himself to. The hatch closes after him and he's left alone with Shadow, padding up and nosing at his hand.

Right. Comms.

He moves to sit upright, all his aches and injuries from the last few days ringing strongly again. He opens a channel and there's... Nothing. Static. He goes to try another channel - white noise static. The Blades' channel is a no go as well. They're out of range of anything.]

This is bad...

[He keeps the scanners and general channel open while he gets up. He's a little wobbly on his feet, a lot of sore muscles and bones, but there isn't much he can do about that. he focuses on moving, of going to just behind the pilot seat and opening the small hatch. Something he'd found in Red and it looked to be true of Black - a small first aid kit there. Likely for field missions. He sets it by the ejection hatch and goes to see what else he can find but the hatch opens and he looks to Shiro again.]

What? Ask her what?

To leave.

[Shiro's jaw is tense, but he's not doing an especially good job of staying upright. He leans against the chair as Keith works.]

I think-- this planet has something to do with Zarkon. A long time ago.

[Keith watches him carefully, then sits back in the seat to focus. Zarkon is dead, and while they should exercise caution, he doesn't fully believe something this far out and forgotten is something to worry about. But then again, he trusts Shiro's judgement more.

He closes his eyes, asking Black to leave. Listen to them and let them leave this planet. Why won't she.

After a few minutes, he shakes his head.]

It... feels like she just wants time.

[Time for her to recover? Time for them to recover? Then why bring them alone out here...]

[He is dead, but Shiro is still unspeakably wary of anything that bears the stamp of his involvement. This planet feels-- peaceful, and it's that peace that has him on edge. It never sits right with him. He frowns at Keith's words, shakes his head. At length,]

We can't spare more than a few days. And I'm not sure it's safe here to begin with.

You hear that?

[He looks up at the ceiling of the cockpit.] A few days. [He doesn't really know if she'll listen to that either, but he's trying.]

What do we do until then?

[He looks at Shadow, sitting expectantly by the first aid kit and the ejection hatch door.]

I think there may be some emergency rations in there... But that's all I've found.

We'll be fine.

[He says it automatically. All this time and he's still trying to be Keith's leader.]

The atmosphere is comparable to Earth's. There's bound to be things we can eat. As long as we're careful.

[This, at least, is better than the horrific sense of worry that's building up in the back of his mind. Decisive action.]

We need to set up a perimeter before nightfall.

[He nods and begins searching for whatever they can use. Seeing as it's only been Zarkon, Shiro, and now himself in this Lion, there isn't much to really give clues what he can find. It looks like the previous Paladins prepared for being stranded at least: Keith finds a small tent-like structure, a bedroll, and more sealed rations. He isn't sure how much he trusts them being ten thousand years old.

He starts to offer Shiro some of the tools he finds, but remembers the arm and instead does it himself, setting loops in a length of rope and starting them climbing up the side of the canyon. It's exhausting, and takes the better half of the day, but there's a small clearing around the top that he sets up for.

For the moment, he tosses Shiro the small pouch of water from the kit.]

Think we can rest here for a little bit.

[A climb like this, when they're both injured and exhausted - mentally and physically both - is made harder by the lack of his prosthesis. Like it or not, Keith bears the brunt of it. Carries most of the gear. Shiro grits his teeth and tries not to feel like a burden. He just does the best he can without complaint, even though halfway up his shirt is soaked through with sweat and he can feel the burn of his muscles across his shoulders and down his sides.

He takes the canteen, shakes it back and forth gently to assess its contents. There's enough greenery around that he knows there's a water source somewhere nearby, and he spent enough time doing survivalist drills with the Garrison that he knows how to purify it with nothing more than rocks and charcoal, but he doesn't want to be excessive and wasteful. He takes a mouthful, nothing more, and then caps it and hands it back.

Black, below them, has sat on her rear haunches. He's pretty sure she's watching them.]

Might not be a bad place to set up for the night. It's defensible enough.

[The sun's going down fast, he thinks it must be about an eighteen hour day. Their back to solid rock, a hard descent or climb for anyone coming after them, Black down below. He knows she'd provide cover if it came to that. Whatever her whimsy was in bringing them here, he doesn't think she's been hijacked or taken over somehow. For themselves, they have one bayard, Keith's blade. It isn't much, and his skin is still crawling knowing Zarkon has been here. Maybe he's just being paranoid.

(Maybe he's not being paranoid enough.)]

Agreed.

[A few things he learned from the Garrison, a lot of other things he learned from Krolia during that time alone. She helped him learn how to read areas, how to pick the best places for shelter, the best structures to build with what pieces he can find.

He takes the canteen back and swallows a little, looking over the side at Black.]

...She seems proud.

[Then sighs. The canteen gets put back with their gear and he sets to work on gathering small debris for a fire.]

Could you set out some rocks for this?

She seems like she's going to get a stern lecture later.

[He's still annoyed at you, Lion. That pride might be a touch tinged with smugness when he speaks, but her presence stays a warm comfort. She sheltered him for so long. He closes his eyes and lets the sensation wash over him, its familiarity bracing.

He does smile a little, though, at Keith giving him direction. He's really come into his own as a leader, owning up to all the potential Shiro saw in him so many years ago. He does as he's been asked wordlessly, gathering up enough to make a ring. It's hard going with only one hand, but he manages it. Nearby, some of the plants are dry and cracked, long-dead. He pulls them out of the rock face and breaks one open. Seems okay. If it releases any sort of noxious fume when burnt, the area's open enough it shouldn't do more than give them a headache. Still, better not build too large a fire right away.]

I don't suppose you brought any matches?

[He sounds faintly amused. Here they are, brought to this place by one of the most advanced weapons in the known universe, at a loss for a firestarter. Of course.

Oh, he's well aware they both know how to start one in the absence of a fire source, but it's slow going.]

[He finds what amounts to a small armful of twigs and broken branches and brings them over to the ring. Oh but. He laughs at that.]

Not on me, no. Probably something in those supplies. Looks like they were stocked just in case.

[He doesn't move the rocks at all, just starts setting up.]

Do you... remember a lot? From when you were there? with Black, I mean.

[He toes one of the rocks into the ring he'd set up, just to complete its symmetry, and then he goes to look through the emergency pack. He'd added a few things to its existing cache when he realized Black had one. It never hurts to be prepared, and old Earth habits die hard. Flashlight, matches, fishing line. Right. He'd forgotten.

That, at least. Not--]

Yeah. Everything. Most things. It's-- hard to explain.

[He falls silent, shakes the box of matches lightly in his hand. Then, once Keith has piled the wood up in something approximating an appropriate pile, he crouches down beside the stone ring ready to light it.

He really doesn't want to articulate it. He doesn't even want to think about it. He's been so close to dead so many times-- but. It isn't fair, that he's the one that gets to cheat death. That he gets to come back. What's dead should stay that way.

Soft,]

Sometimes I didn't exist. But when I did, I remember.

[Keith quietly hms at that. He doesn't want to poke at it too much. Whatever happened there is Shiro's business, as far as he's concerned. But he is curious about one thing.]

And you got to talk with her? Or.. I guess she doesn't really talk.

[He's only ever gotten growls or purrs or impressions of thoughts from Black and Red. Red he could read easily. Red would come across the universe and attack for him. Black... seemed a bit more subtle than that most of the time.

Instead of continuing with an actual question, he holds his hand out for the matches about the same time there's a poof sort of sound and Shadows is landing next to him.]

Good of you to join us. Finally.

No. She doesn't talk. She just--

[The noise he makes is a little frustrated. Not at her, but at his own inability to express exactly what it felt like.]

Feels.

[It's the best he's got. He puts the matches into Keith's hand and when Shadow appears into being, he has a momentary kneejerk fight or flight response. Pulse quickening, he shifts one foot into a defensive stance.

Calming himself down takes an ironclad effort, but he does it and echoes Keith's greeting to her with a little hey.]

[Shadow sort of gives Keith a look with her wolf face, but pads over to Shiro, butting her head against him.]

That's... Sort of how Red was. [Before he started piloting Black. Nowadays, he isn't sure how she feels about him. He misses piloting her a lot.

Matches in hand, he strikes one and brings it to the pile, covering his nose and mouth with his free arm. Just in case the fumes are toxic. He doesn't smell anything when it starts smoking and it seems like it's safe enough.]

If there're trees like this, there've got to be animals we can eat. [He's still ignoring his injuries. He still hasn't actually gotten himself looked over.]

Yeah. We can go hunting tomorrow if needs be.

[He doesn't like the idea of stepping on an alien planet and killing things to survive, but. He'll do it if he has to.

After a moment,]

Do you miss her?

[He's still not entirely clear on what happened there, besides the obvious changes to the Roster. He's... surprised that Red went to Lance. It doesn't seem like an especially suitable match-up.

He sits on the ground beside the fire as it starts to take off, one leg drawn up, his arm wrapped around it.]

[He sits, Shadow coming to lay against his leg and rest her head on his lap. Keith sighs and starts idly stroking her fur as he watches the flames - green at the center, glowing bright blue at the edges.]

I do. I don't know if I told you what happened when I got her off the Galra ship, but I-- Risked a lot to get her. And I know she's risked a lot to help me.

[How many times was he flung into space that she came? That she felt he was in danger and had no hesitation to protect him? He has no doubts Black would do the same (she did there, at the end, didn't she?) but it feels different.

There's a memory that comes to mind as they sit here. The two of them, stranded on an unknown planet, sharing a fire he built. Last time Keith told Shiro nothing would happen to him.

This time, Shiro had already died and Keith did everything he could. Odd, how that works out.]

They're incredible entities.

[He's never felt unworthy of Black's love and deep affection, but he's-- unsteady, now. Off balance in more ways than one. It's not only Keith's admission, but everything else. His place in the universe. He knows that he can still pilot her, but he's not her pilot anymore, which means he's no longer the leader of the Paladins. If he had to hand the mantle off to anyone, he's glad it went to Keith, but--

For maybe the first time in his life, Shiro doesn't have an answer when he asks himself, what now?]

Do you think it's fate? All of us meeting the way we did. Coming to Arus, Voltron. Everything.

No.

[He's firm on that answer. With everything in the universe, the idea of fate, some predetermined thing deciding his future isn't something he's willing to put stock in. His choices are his own.

He looks down at Shadow, licking his fingertips without even lifting her head from his lap and smiles a little.]

You're gonna get lazy, you keep this up.

[Maybe he'd have been able to say it as decisively as that when he was Keith's age, too. Now he's not so sure what he believes in.

He holds his hand out to the fire, warming it as the sun dips below the horizon. The air is cool but not cold, he doesn't think it'll get too much worse than it is now.]

Maybe that's the whole point.

[He glances back to where Black is sitting, his expression slightly askew.]

Maybe she's telling us we need a vacation.