Meanwhile, on a different planet: 

The alien sloth guides the canoe to rest at the side of the river. Before them rises a stone ziggurat, the steps overgrown with tangled vines that get thicker towards the top. Closer to the river, a pair of lion statues sit either side of a path that leads to the ziggurat's base. 

Pidge steps out of the boat, eyes fixed on the structure. 

He steps out as well, thanking the sloth quietly.

"This looks likely," he says to Pidge.

"...yeah. Alright, I can do this." 

Pidge strides determinedly forward, lines and shapes on the ground lighting up green under his feet.

He hits the base of the steps and starts climbing: the steps themselves are sized for a short human, but the massive vines that wrap around the building are about the size of tree trunks in places and make things a little trickier. 

He'll follow, ready to catch Pidge if he falls.

Pidge does not fall! He has to slow down and even back up in a couple of places to pick a safe path through the overgrown parts, but he's careful and methodical and always tests a foothold or handhold before putting weight on it. 

The stones of the ziggurat continue to light up under his touch, giving off a green glow. 

When he gets to the top he stops and looks around, confused.

Akira climbs up next to him, looking around as well.

Pidge turns in a full circle (carefully, on the uneven footing) and peers down at the massive growth of plant matter covering all four sides of the ziggurat. It's centred on the top, where they are, not coming up from the base as one might expect from an overgrown building. 

"...hmm." 

He finds one of the bigger gaps between giant vines and sits down to slide through it, disappearing inside the green tangle. 

He sighs and stays where he is. For now. He'll follow if he hears screaming.

There isn't any screaming.

There is a new green light, much brighter than the little glowy carvings, beaming out from the interior of the viny mass. The vines—actually, the whole ziggurat—start to move. 

He's going to get out of the way as much he can, but otherwise crouch down and hold on.

After a minute the rumbling stops and Pidge's head pops up through the hole again. 

"I found my Lion," he says, somewhat unnecessarily. "Want a ride back to yours?" 

"Sure."

So they do that. 

When the two Lions are next to each other, the green one is still huge, but noticeably smaller. The Green Lion lets Akira out so he can go fly Blue home, and then they're off again and heading for the wormhole back to the castle. 

Well, that was conveniently easy.

Nuray would like to register her day has been neither convenient nor easy. Just for the record. Maybe when they put up her memorial marker they can put 'really dealt with a lot of bullshit' on it.

She backpedals away from Shiro.

He doesn't attack her, just kneels there shaking with pain and fear as the purple glow of his arm flickers and dies away.

A few seconds later, he blinks and the wounded animal behind his eyes is replaced with his usual intelligence. He's still scared and disoriented, but he's looking at Nuray rather than through her. 

"...what...are you okay?" 

"I'm fine. Are you?"

"I—I think so; I'm...not sure what happened."

He's rubbing at the connection point in his upper right arm again, almost absent-mindedly. 

"...where are we?" he asks, looking around.

The Yellow Lion sends Nuray what it can see: the green-and-blue planet that holds the Altean castle, getting larger in its view as they come in for a landing. The Green and Blue Lions are swooping down ahead of them. 

"We're back at the castle. Looks like Pidge got his Lion, too - Yellow can see both Blue and Green."

"We were fighting Galra. You were holding a choke-point so I could get Yellow. We kind of just scooped you up on our way out."

"Right. That's...that's good." Shiro's breathing is still ragged, and he's dripping with sweat, but he seems calmer. 

"I remember fighting the Galra soldiers..." He stares down at his prosthetic hand, flexing it and watching the metal joints move. It makes tiny clicks and squeaks as the internal mechanisms shift. "My arm was...glowing. No, that doesn't make any sense." 

"...I saw it glowing too. After it got hit."

"Thank you," he says quietly. "With my memories of the past year as patchy—and strange—as they are, it can be hard to tell what's real sometimes."  

"Well, I can be your reality-check when I'm there, how about?"

Shiro looks kind of conflicted about it, but nods.

"Thanks."