Pidge snuck her head around the corner. Nothing broke the gentle darkness. Cold metal softly pressed against her back. She quickly whispered "Stop it Rover."

Rover pinged as it and Pidge tip-toed into the large room. It whired while pointing it's lens at Pidge's right arm. "Seriously Rover. I'm fine."

"Define fine."

She froze at the harsh tone. "Ah…crap."

Her eyes squinted when the light blasted on. Blinking a few tears away, Pidge turned to find Shiro leaning on the side of the doorway, arms crossed. She jerked her hand behind her back. "Oh. Ummm. Hi Shiro."

Shiro raised an eyebrow. His eyes bounced from Rover, whirring in concern, to Pidge shifting in place slightly. "Scouting went alright?"

She plastered on a smile. "Yep. Of course it did. What did you expect? Not a single sign of the Galra's anywhere. Didn't even encounter much of the locals. And there is a bunch of interesting plant life so Hunk would have plenty of new spices to try and"

"Pidge. You're rambling again."

A nervous laugh escaped her throat. "Rambling? I wasn't rambling I was repor"

Shiro shook his head. "You were trying to distract me when obviously you don't want to be in the same room with me." He took a few steps toward her before kneeling down. "Now, tell me why are you hiding your arm?"

"No reason. Nope. Nothing at all." Her eyes refused to met his.

"Um-hum. If everything's fine then you wouldn't mind letting me see it right?"

She tried to take a step back, getting blocked by Rover. "Seriously Shiro. It's nothing. I'll just go to my room and take a quick nap. Be perfectly fine in the morning."

"Right. Because to be perfectly fine in the morning means that it's not alright now."

"Yep so if you'll let…what no I didn't mean."

Pidge's excuses fell on deaf ears as Shiro reached around to tug her arm towards him. His eyes widen. Long scratches ran down her arms. Blood dribbled from broken skin, trailing down to the spot where the scratches met. A red lens crept up on the edges of his vision.

Shiro closed his eyes while taking a deep breath. "Run-in with a animal?"

Pidge slumped down but shrugged at the question. "Kinda. To be honest it looked like a mix between animal and human. A lot like the Balmerans actually."

"Right." Shiro released her arm and stood up. Placing a hand on her good shoulder, he firmly steered her down the hallway. Rover flashed its lights happily as it followed. Pidge kept her eyes to the ground. Lance's pop music grew closer before dropping away. A bubble of hope appeared in Pidge's chest. Maybe he won't show the others just yet. She glanced sideways.

She gulped at his narrowed eyes. His lips turning pale from being pressed so tight. Yep, not going to happen.

He rapped on the kitchen door once before steering the three inside. A kind voice came behind the counter. "Hey. What can I get you?"

"Hunk, do you have any bandages in here?"

Hunk popped his head above the stove. "Bandages? Yeah I have a couple. What do you…PIDGE what happened to you?"

Her feet scrapped across the floor. "Nothing much."

"Pidge got attacked while on scouting patrol." The chairs squeaked as Shiro sat their youngest down. He knelt down, ignoring the mutterings of Hunk searching. "Now what exactly happened? And no leaving things out."

Pidge sighed. "Like I said nothing much. I stuck to the edges of the forest, just behind the tree line. There was a wall off in the distance but I didn't get to close to it just yet. Besides, it was made out of wood, not metal so I know it wasn't the Galra's. But Rover made some noise and then this-cat-person jumped out at me." She hissed as Hunk dapped some anti-biotic on the scratches. "Too be honest I think I scared it. It backed off after the first attack."

Shiro jerked his head in a nod before motioning to Rover. "Did you get a good reading on this cat-person?"

Rover pinged. "Good. Cause we're going to Princess Allura. Maybe she or Coran knows something about them."

His calloused hand ruffled the girl's hair ("Hey!") and walked out the door.

Hunk started wrapping the crisped bandages. "So, I would understand if you're not hungry, but I always get hungry after a skirmish. And you missed dinner, not sure about lunch, so you might be hungry but"

"Hunk." Pidge softly punched the large boy's shoulder. "I get it. And I could use something to eat."

"Good. Cause I got something in the oven right now. I'm trying to recreate chocolate cake." He tied a knot on the bandage before moving back to the oven. "But I also made something earlier that defiantly taste good."

Pidge smiled as she leaned on her uninjured arm. "That's great Hunk."