Is any of you watching/Did any of you watch The Umbrella Academy and want to scream at me about Klaus? I just love him so much, Robert Sheehan is amazing. ;;
Oh you want a human bones sword? I can look around next time someone needs an amputation! I mean, my leg would probably grow back but I don't wanna do it unless you REALLY need it! And people would notice. But!! I'd still do it for my baby bro
"I thought it was a distress signal." The red paladin spoke over the comms, confusion evident in her voice.
"Well, it is." From the green lion a voice piped up.
"You said it was 'unusual radio chatter'. That doesn't scream distress signal." The blue paladin watched the screens in front of them.
"It IS." The green paladin insisted. "It's unusual because a planet controlled by Galra should NOT be broadcasting soap operas." The green paladin pulled up the window with the recording. "You know, much less should the soap operas be about US."
~~~~
They walked along a path that was overgrown with vegetation, clearly not in use. Sweeping the area for danger, both green and yellow Paladins could only shrug when nothing came back.
"I'm not going to say it's creepy that there's nothing here, but... it's not comforting." The red paladin glanced around, fingers twitching for her bayard every time a team member snapped a twig with their step.
"If it was supposed to be a distress signal shouldn't we see, like, I dunno..." The blue paladin shrugged. "Distress?"
"There has to be, SOMETHING here..." the black paladin pulled back a branch on what appeared to be a tree.
The thick brush and foliage made it difficult to see anywhere but the abandoned path. If there was anyone or anything to find, it was getting increasingly difficult.
"Maybe we're lost?" The yellow paladin supplied. "We've been wandering for a while, but this GPS says we've barely moved."
"Aw great." The green paladin stopped. "The planet is messing with us."
"How can it be messing with us?" The blue paladin asked. "It's a planet."
Jas, you remember the Balmera?" The black paladin chimed in.
"Similar concept." The yellow paladin tapped at the gps once again before finally putting it away.
The team stopped walking, trying to figure out a plan. As far as they knew, they shouldn't be too far from their lions, but it felt like they'd been walking away from them forever. It certainly didn't help that there were no identifiable landmarks to gauge how lost they had gotten themselves.
"Alright so, obviously we're getting nowhere fast." The black paladin spoke up.
"That's an understatement." The red paladin rolled her eyes, withering smile on her lips.
It was faint, but distinguishable.
The soft snap of a twig.
Silence blanketed the team as everyone held their breath. Looking around stealthily, they could feel their hearts beat out of their chests. What was following them? How long had it been there? And how dangerous would it be?
From the corner of their eye, the blue paladin saw something twitch. The shift was so subtle it almost went unnoticed.
"Mal..." the tension was palpable. A conversation packed into eye contact.
It took seconds, a flurry of motion, bodies rushing for different reasons.
Grip tightened, the source of the noise was dragged to the center of a circle, caught, trapped by the green paladin.
It looked scared.
She looked scared.
Her eyes were as deep and colorful as the forest, pupils dilating quickly in panic. The feathers on the back of her next began to stand up, sandy hair falling into her face. Her hands moved from the ground quickly, unpredictably, and she opened her mouth.
The green paladin moved quickly to clap a hand over their spy's mouth.
"Don't even think about screaming."
The squawk of surprise could have easily been misinterpreted as an attempt to call for help.
"A spy!?" The yellow paladin exclaimed.
But we weren't picking up anything on the scanners."
"Awfully sneaky." The green paladin spat.
"... isn't that the point of a spy?" The blue paladin whispered to their leader, but the black paladin stepped closer.
Her eyes pled with the leader, 'let me go. Please. Call your gremlin off!'
"She, uh... she doesn't LOOK Galra." The red paladin offered.
The captive 'spy' shook her head aggressively at this. Still, she tried to convey a sense of urgency to the black paladin.
"Geez, she's got some real claws back here." The green paladin mused.
"What do we do with her?" Blue turned to yellow. A shrug was left in the air.
With a huff, the captive spy resigned herself to the only option she had left.
"OW!!" The green paladin drew her hand back sharply, and the spy was able to free her arm and scramble away.
"I'M SORRY!!! I'm so sorry!! I'm sorry!" She spoke, hands in front to protect her from feared retaliation. She looked desperately around the group, confidence eroding by the second. "Please don't hurt me! I- I swear I'm not here to harm you!"
She couldn't have been very old judging by what looked like brand new contour feathers down the back of her neck, dusty, a little darker than the hair she pulled back with a clip.
"I'm not a spy, I swear!" She spoke, voice wavering in front of the heroes. "I, uh... look!" She tugged at her shirt sleeve, pulling it up, over her elbow. Nestled just under the crook of her arm was the same V shape the Paladins wore on their shoulder armor.
"I'm on your side..."
