(Phoebe's POV because I can't do 3rd person very well)

"We didn't try to capture you." Said a man with a white tuft of hair.

"Really?" I asked skeptically. "Because taking someone aboard your ship without their permission kind of sounds like kidnapping to me."

"We rescued you from the Galra ship. You and a bunch of other prisoners." This came from a boy with a red jacket and Raven hair in a mullet. The suspicious one, I remembered.

At this, I felt elated. They probably saved Thistle! I had to act like I didn't care. Just in case. "Well, I woke up in a strange enclosure." I said harshly.

"That was a healing pod." I looked over at the one with glasses. I couldn't tell if they were a boy or a girl. The one who wanted to scan my cuffs.

"Why were you on the Galra ship?" Asked the one with glasses.

"Secret." I said. I didn't know.

"How long were you on the ship?" Asked someone with brown hair. What's her deal boy.

"Less time than Thistle. Look, I'm not here for an interrogation. Just drop me off somewhere with breathable air." I said irritably.

"Who's Thistle?" Asked a boy with a yellow headband.

I froze. How could I answer this. "My sanity for over a year and a half." I said, looking down at the ground.

"What do you mean 'your sanity?' Can't you give a straight answer?" Mullet boy yelled. I hoped that I looked braver than I felt.

"Where's Thistle?" I asked. "I need to know."

Mullet boy (I think I'll call him red) looked like he was about to respond. "Keith. Calm down. She just woke up, and probably is terrified. " said White Tuft. So Red's name is Keith?

     "But Shiro-" Keith began.

"Hey!" I said irritably. "I introduced myself to you guys. Return the favor." Looking on that in hindsight, I was extremely rude. But I had been a prisoner for so long, I hadn't had much exposure to manners for a while.

     I stared at them through my hair, which fell in front of my eyes. I think it used to be dirty blonde, but now it was matted, and dark with dirt, and what I could only assume was blood.

"Sir Edge Lord! Start!" I pointed at Keith, and noticed how claw like my nails were.

He glowered at me. "My name is Keith." He said. He crossed his arms.

I nodded. "Glasses! What's your name?" I pointed at the one who I now recognize as a girl.

"I'm Pidge Gunderson." She was looking at my cuffs.

      I pointed the one with the headband. "You!"

    "Hunk!" He said.

      "White Tuft! Go!" I snapped. I crossed my arms, and tapped my foot impatiently.

"Shiro." He said. I noticed he had a prosthetic arm.

    Before I could point to the last one, he interrupted. "The name is Lance, most talented, handsome pilot among the Paladins of Voltron." He smirked, and looked like he wanted a response.

      "Okay. What exactly happe-" I stopped. My brain seemed to be repeating three words, over, and over again. "Who did you say you were?" I asked, my heart beating faster.

     "Uh, Paladins of Voltron?" Hunk said, but phrased it like a question.

    "No..." I whispered, bowing my head. "No, no, NO!" I yelled. This was awful. I had been rescued by the Paladins of Voltron, which was the worst thing possible.

     "What do you mean 'no?'" Keith asked.

"You didn't bring Thistle's body." I said, with total certainty.

     "Who's Thistle?" Pidge asked gently. It was her demeanor, which reminded me of Thistle so much, that made me answer.

     "My best friend. My sanity. She's dead, but I still need her." I whispered, feeling a tear escaping my eye. I brushed it off my face. "I still... Need her..." As soon I brushed aside the first tear, a dozen others followed it.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and felt too upset to brush it aside. "Don't touch me." I said softly, a small puddle forming. I hadn't been allowed to cry on that ship, or scream. But I did anyway, and for those tears, and those screams, I had been taken to the Druids. So now, in this strange place where I was allowed to cry, I had tears to to spare. I cracked open my eyes, and saw my reflection, warped in the puddle.

My face was covered in cuts, and bruises. My hair, which I had cut with a knife a while back, had grown out jaggedly. My eyes, which had once sparkled with hope, were a dull brown, and were fractured, like glass.

Whoever it was didn't take their hand off my shoulder. Then, their arms were wrapped tightly around me in a hug. I gasped at first, not recognizing the gesture. Then, I relaxed a little bit, and started sobbing loudly, leaning into the hug.

"I'm sorry about your friend. I wish we'd been there sooner." It's Pidge who I was leaning into, soaking her jacket with warm tears.

"No..." I whispered, trying to calm myself, in vain. "There was nothing you could have done."

I heard footsteps, and then someone was pressing a tissue into my hand. I took it, not caring who it was from.

I didn't trust these people, nor did I didn't know them. But right now, they were giving me comfort, and that was what I needed more than anything.

     I held onto Pidge like a lifeline, gripping her shoulders with my claw like hands.

     "No matter how soon you arrived, Thistle would have died first. You could have arrived a month ago, and the results would have been the same. There was nothing that you could have done." I said, looking up at these strangers, and must have looked a mess, but I didn't care.

I knew that even if they had arrived sooner, Thistle would still be dead. Because if Thistle said it, somehow, it always happened.