The desert stretched out before them in rolling waves of silver sand, the moon hanging low and sharp above the horizon. Amethyst led the group with steady, confident strides. Her Maker bracer pulsed faintly against her wrist — a quiet heartbeat matching the energy signature she'd locked onto earlier.
[TARGET: SHIRO — 92% SIGNAL STABILITY]
The others followed her without question now.
Keith because instinct told him she was right.
Lance because she seemed unnervingly competent.
Hunk because someone had to keep everyone alive.
They crested a dune, and Amethyst raised her hand for silence.
"There," she whispered.
Below them, half-cratered into the sand, lay the twisted remains of the Galra drop-ship's escape pod. Steam curled from its vents. Purple-glowing fractures ran along its hull like veins of molten ore. The scent of burning metal still hung heavy in the air.
Lance let out a low whistle. "That… does not look Earth-made."
"No," Amethyst said quietly. "It's not."
The Maker System highlighted several areas of interest across her vision:
[FOREIGN ALLOY]
[QUINTESSENCE TRACES — DRUIDIC]
[BIO-SIGN: HUMAN — WEAKENED]
Her chest tightened.
Shiro was alive. But barely.
---
Keith didn't wait for an explanation. He bolted down the dune, skidding in the sand. The others rushed after him. Amethyst reached the pod last, taking in every detail with sharp, cataloging eyes.
Keith hammered the emergency release. "Shiro! Shiro, it's us!"
The hatch groaned. Sparks spat from the locking mechanism. One last shove, and the metal plate fell into the sand with a heavy thud.
A figure slumped forward inside.
White hair.
Burned armor.
Shaking breaths.
Takashi Shirogane.
Hunk gasped. Lance nearly dropped to his knees. Keith made a sound halfway between a sob and a growl.
Amethyst stepped forward carefully. She scanned the interior quickly — not visibly, but with her bracer flicking silent Maker code into the air.
No traps.
No trackers active.
But—
A subtle pulse of foreign energy flickered around Shiro's shoulder, faint and blue-white like moonlit static.
[ALERT: QUINTESSENCE TAG — ALTEAN VARIANT]
[MEMORY WARNING: ALTERATION POSSIBLE]
She swallowed hard.
Canon again — but worse. More precise.
Shiro stirred, eyelids fluttering.
"Keith…? Is that…?"
Keith grabbed his shoulders. "Yeah. It's me. We've got you."
Lance hovered anxiously. "Dude, you look terrible — not to be rude — okay maybe a lot rude—"
"Let him breathe," Amethyst said softly.
Shiro's gaze drifted up toward her. Confusion flickered there — then relief.
"Pidge…? You're older."
She froze.
Right.
Her build. Her height. The twenty-year-old way she held herself. She'd hoped adrenaline might distract everyone, but Shiro had always been perceptive.
"It's a long story," she said quickly. "One we can tell after we get you out of here."
Keith nodded sharply. "We need to move. The Garrison will scramble intercept teams any minute."
Shiro tried to stand on his own — and almost collapsed. Hunk caught him.
Amethyst reached out instinctively, her hand brushing Shiro's wrist as she stabilized him—
A spark shot through her.
Not from Shiro.
From the System.
[SECOND SOUL-THREAD EVENT DETECTED]
[CALIBRATING CONNECTION…]
[…UNABLE TO LOCATE SOURCE]
Her breath hitched. For an instant her vision blurred with gold-violet light. A presence pressed faintly at the edge of her awareness — distant stars shifting, someone turning their head sharply across the galaxy—
And then it was gone.
Shiro blinked at her. "You okay?"
"Yes," she lied. "Let's go."
---
They helped Shiro up the dune, moving as fast as his weakened body allowed. Lance kept casting nervous looks over his shoulder. Keith scanned the skies constantly. Hunk muttered worries under his breath that Amethyst tried to tune out.
She focused instead on the Maker overlay.
Every few seconds, a pulse of energy radiated outward from somewhere far away. A resonance she shouldn't be able to feel.
Someone was tugging that invisible thread again.
And whoever they were…
They were getting closer.
She tightened her grip on her bracer, grounding herself, and pushed forward. Whatever the soul-thread meant — whatever this new divergence implied — she'd handle it after Shiro was safe.
Voltron's first paladin had been found.
The universe had just changed course.