"Paladins, I believe I've located the Blue Lion." Allura said, starting the meeting.
This news immediately woke up the still sleepy Yellow Paladin. "Wait, what?" Hunk exclaimed.
"Princess are you sure?" Shiro asked, hoping the answer was yes. If they found the Blue Lion, it would only be a matter of time before they got a Blue Paladin. And a Red one, for that fact. And with the Blue and Red Paladins, they could form Voltron. Finally.
"I am. I've finally tracked down its quintessence to an old planet." She turned to the screens of the bridge, showing a planet that was differently shaded. There was a clean cut through the middle horizontally. The Planet was shone with an infrared lens, the top half being reds, oranges, and yellows. The bottom was blues and greens. "This is Planet Archaic. It's a planet that was once allied with Altea, though I haven't any idea if they would be allied with us. They could have turned against us for all we know."
"That's not great, but what kind of planet is this exactly? The infrared lens makes it seem like it's completely hot and cold on either half." Pidge interjected.
"You would be correct, Pidge. Archaic is split into two halves. One is completely covered in lava, magma and fire, while the other is said to be a bottomless ocean. They are opposing halves that balance the planet." Allura replied, seemingly not worried about the two ends of the dangerous spectrum she just presented.
"Okay so, you want us to go to a planet that is partially always on fire, with lava and volcanoes and all that on one side, and a giant pit filled with water and who knows what on the other. Sounds great, nothing to be worried about." Hunk nervously rambled. How was this mission going to even be possible?
"If you can believe me, Hunk, the planet itself are not the most dangerous of what is on Archaic." Allura stated, looking back at the paladins with a solemn look. What did that mean? "The race that inhabits Archaic are known as The Ancients. As their name suggests, they live a very long life."
"Why yes they do! I've heard tales of my Great Great Great Grand Pop-Pop having met an Ancient and my own Pop-Pop met the very same! They are a long-lived species indeed!" Coran gushed.
"The Ancients were people that were born on either half, and could survive that half. The Ancients born on the side of fire were said to have scales and be like a dragon in human form. The water side were of different varieties, but were known for living within the water, the best of swimmers who could breathe it even. They were strong warriors." Allura said, as if lost in memory, her eyes glazed over. She suddenly shook herself from it. "But that is not the point. I've tracked the Blue Lion to the very center of the planet, as if it was in its core. I haven't any idea if taking the Lion would disrupt the planets eco system, but we may not have a choice."
"So, a planet full of dragon people and what sounds like mermaids that were known as the best warriors ten thousand years ago that inhabit the planet that is half on fire and half a bottomless ocean. The Blue Lion is in the very center of all of this. How fun." Pidge replied sarcastically.
"That's not all," Allura said.
"Are you saying there's more defenses than that?! How are we supposed to get past what we know is there, much less if there's more?!" Hunk interrupted worriedly.
"What I mean, "Allura said, trying to gain back control of the conversation. "Is that it's not as it seems. Other than the Blue Lion, I have only found one other quintessence signature on the planet." She had that solemn look on her face again. This is what she had been sad about, they realized. It had sounded like an amazing civilization, but it was gone. "But," Allura's face brightened. "This specific quintessence signature is very similar, if not the same, as the Blue Lion." She had a sad smile, as she looked at them, waiting for them to understand.
"If their quintessence is like the Blue Lion's, then...!" Pidge's eyes widened in understanding.
"Then they could be our Blue Paladin." Shiro said the silent words that everyone had realized.
"Exactly! It's very concerning that an entire race is almost gone but I think the last survivor may be our best hope as a paladin."
"So, the Blue Lion is the Guardian spirit of Water, right? Meaning that the last Ancient is probably one of the mermaid people." Pidge said from her chair, looking at the schematics of the planet again.
"Most likely. It would be dangerous for a Fire Ancient to be bonded with the Blue Lion." Allura stated.
"So how are we going to go about getting on the planet and convincing the ancient, much less getting the Blue Lion?" Shiro inquired. If the planet was in a complete half then how were they going to land? If they couldn't even get on the planet, then there was no point of hoping.
"It's actually a half lie that the planet is completely covered in either water or lava. There's a strip of land that goes all around, about twenty units wide." Allura said, not realizing that the non-Alteans in the room had no idea what a unit was. Luckily, Pidge had translation notes she had written pulled up. An Altean 'unit' was slightly larger than a foot. "This middle ground is known as the Black Lake. If I remember correctly, it's named this due to the fact that the area is covered in black sand. The Black Lake is the only place on the entire planet that either the fire or water ancients could both be on.
"If you drop from the lions mid-air and use your jet packs, you should be able to land safely in the Black Lake. There, you can speak to the ancient and at the very least ask about the lion and how we're going to take it back."
"What do we do if they don't listen?" Hunk asked. "I mean, if the Blue Lion is in the middle of the planet how are we supposed to take it by force because, even if we were able to get to it, mind you going through the water and lava, but what if taking it disrupts the planet? What can we do then?"
"I'm afraid...I'm afraid we will have to make that decision when the time comes." Allura answered.
What could they do? If the ancient said no, they would have to take Blue by force and that may very well destroy Archaic, truly ending the Ancients race. But the entire Universe hung in the balance of this. Without Voltron, sure, they had been doing not too bad with 3 lions, but that couldn't always work. Voltron needed to be there, for a symbol of hope and for its strength.
"Alright team," Shiro began, standing up. "Let's suit up and get to your lions."
And that's how they got to their current situation.
They had done as Allura stated, flew the lions into the atmosphere, exited mid-air and landed with their jet packs. Landing in the Black Lake was easier than they had thought it would be. Allura had given them the last found location of the Ancient. Shiro looked around, searching for any signs of life. He walked back and forth for a bit, trying to see over some of the hills and large rocks. Hunk was looking at the fire side as if it would suddenly come alive and eat him.
"Guys, I've got a really bad feeling from that side. It's like someone's watching us or something!" Hunk said, waving his arms a bit.
"Hunk, remember what Allura said. The only signature left had to be from the mermaid people. There's no way someone's over there." Pidge answered from the ground. The green paladin was currently investigating the black sand, taking samples and sifting through some of it.
"I dunno man...I really feel like someone else is here..." Hunk replied worriedly.
For some time all they heard was the sloshing of water and the shifting of the sand. The lava was surprisingly quiet, making only a few gushing sounds when it bubbled or it blew up a bit in the distance. Time flowed, blending seamlessly into nothingness. How long had they been there?
Suddenly, Hunk felt like something was watching them, but this time, from the water. Before he even turned to look, he heard:
"Who are you?" said a voice.
They all turned to look at the water, and what they saw was chilling to the bone.
Half a head was poked out of the water but it didn't stay that way for long. A body arose, not coming any closer to the black lake but rising still. It rose up to its waist, hands still within the water. Tan, tan skin was on display, covering every inch of skin that scales weren't. Yes, scales. They came in a V shape from its muscled flat stomach, going up its sides and curling around its shoulders. They traveled down its taut arms, which were decorated with golden, bejeweled cuffs on the biceps and forearms, going past the wrists in the water. They went higher, coating the neck (though leaving bare some jagged slits) and high cheek bones of the creature. Even further, they curled under its eyes and connected onto the nose bridge, making a point at the end of the nose. The creature had brown hair at the top of its head, not too long and curling at the ends. The ears were fin-like and the same light blue color of the scales. There was a pink starfish on the left side of the head, just behind the ear. He had a long necklace on with what appeared to be a 'stick' instead of some medallion. Overall, a lanky but strong figure.
But none of that was scary compared to the eyes.
But none of that was scary compared to the eyes.
At the distance it was, there was no see-able pupil. Its eyes glowed even in mid daylight. They were light blue, almost white, and the sclera of the eyes were black, an inky darkness that was beginning to haunt them.
They were paralyzed by those eyes. Shiro was about to fire up his arm, Hunk and Pidge about to call for their bayards, but they couldn't. That inky black and glowing gaze was keeping them from moving. The being looked at each of them, assessing and making judgment. Finally, after what felt like forever, it did a slight shake of its head, and blinked its eyes. When they opened again, the sclera was white and the eyes were a bit darker, but still no pupil.
Hunk was the first to react, feeling no threatening intent from the being. He made a half step forward, drawing its attention immediately.
"Uh...M-my names Hunk...and uh...we're the P-paladins of Voltron." He said, hoping the creature hadn't decided to attack them. "Are you an Ancient, by any chance?"
"I am. What's it to you paladin of voltron?" A masculine voice came. Male, then, probably, though Hunk didn't like assuming. The way he said 'Paladin of Voltron' though, sounded strange. What did he mean by it, that he didn't believe him? Could this Ancient have no idea what Voltron was? Or maybe he was playing dumb to out-smart Hunk? Or maybe-
"We are here to ask a favor and to retrieve something." Shiro finally said, taking over for Hunk when he had gone quiet from overthinking. "I'm Shiro, this is Pidge, and Hunk already introduced himself. Could I ask for your name?" He spoke cautiously.
The Ancient said nothing for some time, looking between the three of them. His jaw was taut and brow line drawn from thinking, the water sloshed a little as he moved side to side, his arm waved back and forth in the water a little.
He's nervous Hunk realized. They had made the scary Ancient nervous?
The Ancient looked ahead of them, pointedly at something, but what? All that was behind them was the lava side. Was he trying to focus on a point? Or was something coming? Hunk was stirred from his thoughts when the Ancient answered.
"Lance. My name's Lance. What do you want?"
Shiro breathed out a small sigh of relief. "We're here because we tracked the quintessence of the Blue Lion to your planet. The very center, actually. I don't know if you've heard of Voltron, but basically, there are five lions that form into a giant weapon, known as Voltron. The only lion we don't have is the Blue one, which we've tracked here. We were hoping to take it. Maybe we could make a fair trade of sorts?" Shiro said, trying to stay on the Ancient's-Lance's-good side.
Lance didn't like that. His eyes narrowed and glowed slightly. He focused his gaze on Shiro, who immediately bristled. Gone was the nervous looking male and present was a beast that was ready to attack. His right arm rose from the water, holding a golden trident. Its handle was a deep teal, the top had three tiers with carved markings down the metal spikes and staff. It stood at his side, as if he staked it into the ground next to him. He kept his hand on it. The hand had more scales and there was clear membrane-webbing-between the fingers. His claws were long and white/clear. His mouth opened in a silent snarl, and it showed off multiple rows of sharp teeth, not unlike a shark.
Uh oh. They had said something wrong.
Lance once again looked behind them, and slightly shook his head. He looked back at Shiro, and said, "How about you don't treat me like a dumb fish and more like an equal? You're on my planet, where I'm the one in charge. Threaten messing it up again, and you'll regret it. Taking something from the core of the planet? You might as well ask if you can drill a hole to the center of it, and blow it up. Do you have any idea how fragile planets actually are? I'd guess not from someone who thinks they can do it like they're picking kelp." Lance growled. One more mishap, and Hunk didn't want to be around for what Lance had threatened would happen.
"Uh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you or anything! I promise, we have no ill will-" Shiro began, but was interrupted.
"Yeah, let me ask, what were you planning to do if I said no? Just leave and forget about this place? Obviously not. I don't know if you work alone or you're given orders, but I'm guessing it was an agreement of some kind that you'd take her by force if I didn't agree. Calling yourselves 'Paladins', as if you deserve to walk in the previous pilot's steps. Have some respect why don't you?" Lance said, shifting in the water. His hand had tightened on the trident and his knuckles where the scales were bristled, pointing up a little.
"We are led by the Princess of Altea, Princess Allura. She told us about the quintessence of the Blue Lion she found here, and you, who has similar quintessence, making you a perfect candidate for its pilot." Shiro explained.
Lance's eyes had gone wide and in a flash, he pulled his trident from the water and pointed it at them. His mouth opened and made a high pitched sound like a screech. When that sound stopped he growled at them, "I don't know who you think you are but I know that what you speak of is impossible. The Alteans died with Altea and there were no survivors!"
Suddenly, a roar made the paladins jump. It was loud, extremely loud, and shook them to their cores. If Lance's gaze had paralyzed them with fear, the roar had made them pray for a fast end. The sound grew more harsh and rough as it got closer, until there was a large shadow hanging over them. The paladins looked up, and were met with an impossible sight.
A bright, maroon red Dragon was above them, with large folded violet wings and a spiked tail. The snout had steam coming from its nostrils and smoke though its teeth. There were black horns-though one of them, the left one, was shorter at the top, like it was broken-at the top of the head with golden braces on them, and purple stripes on the surface of the Dragons scales going through the eyes down its face and around the rest of the body. The Dragon's eyes were a glittering purple that, in any other case, may have looked like amethyst crystals, but were terrifying presently.
A Dragon Hunk thought Another Ancient
So Lance wasn't the last Ancient? How did they miss that?! The Dragon before them must have been what Lance was looking at behind them, telling it to wait till they said something wrong before he called it to eat them. Now they would die, unable to ever save the universe because they had failed in speaking to some of the scariest warriors to ever exist.
The paladins huddled together, back to back, Shiro facing the Dragon and Pidge and Hunk facing Lance. They called their bayards, Shiro activating his arm. It was quiet, save for the growling of the Dragon and the sounds of nature.
"We don't want to fight you! Please, can we just talk this out?" Hunk asked Lance, hoping they could still get out of this. "I don't know if I'm worthy to pilot Yellow, I really don't. But that can't be important right now! What matters is that I can help those out there from the Galra or from any of the other dangers we don't even known about! I'm terrified all the time, but that doesn't hold a candle to the happiness I feel when we free a planet, when we get Aliens their homes back, when we succeed in hindering the plans of the enemy! If that makes me unworthy of Piloting Yellow and being a Paladin, then I can't say I wanna be one. Please, join us and we can liberate so many Aliens!"
Hunk was kind of panting by the time he stopped talking. He spoke from the heart, sharing some of his insecurities and hoped that the vulnerability he showed might help Lance at least allow them to live.
Lance's eyes had returned to their scary black and white glow, but they widened and his eyebrows raised at Hunk's words. His mouth fell open slightly and his stance slackened. He suddenly blinked and shook his head, trying to get his own attention. He made a similar sound as earlier, but this one sounded more calming and kind of like a croon. He stood straight, pulling the trident back and sinking a little more in the water.
The Dragon had relaxed some, but not as much as Lance. It had stepped back a bit more, still feet deep in lava, and the steam and smoke had stopped, but it still growled.
"Continue," Lance said lowly. He looked at Hunk with innocent eyes, though they hadn't changed to the relaxed gaze from earlier yet. How could they be unnerving and innocent all together? Hunk wondered how old Lance actually was.
This time though, it was Pidge that spoke. "Like Hunk said, if what we do makes us unworthy of being Paladins, I don't want to be one. My family has been torn apart in this war and I want it back. Being a Paladin also helps me get to my goal. Do you have a goal? Or do you wanna sit here in your ocean and allow the people of the universe to suffer because you don't wanna give us a mecha cat? We need Voltron, there's no question about that. But if I'm correct in what I guessed from earlier, you're already Blue's pilot, aren't you?
Lance looked at Pidge in surprise, glanced behind them, probably at the Dragon, and then back at Pidge. "I...am...how'd you figure it out?" He replied in a small voice.
"You called Blue a 'her' and stiffened every time one of us said she was an 'it'." Pidge answered.
Hunk glanced between Pidge and Lance, wondering what would happen next.
"You're right," He began. "Blue's not a fan of being called an 'it' and not being treated as though she's alive. She's full of life." Lance smiled to himself as he said that. He looked back up, and looked hesitant. "If I were to join you, what would that mean?"
Hunk thought for a moment. "I guess, it'd mean you'd come with us. Be a paladin and save the universe."
"And your friend could come too." Shiro said. He hadn't spoken in a while, but he sounded confident in his answer.
Suddenly, Lance smiled and giggled. He was laughing? At what?
"Oh my quiznack! Haha! 'Friend'? That's...Oh my-" He had apparently worked himself into something. "Alright. You're on. We'll join you. You'll have to let me get Blue and a few other things but, yeah. We can come back, right?"
Hunk thought about not being able to visit earth, not able to see his family. Even if Lance and the Dragon were the last Ancients, this was their home. They couldn't take that from them.
"Of course. Now um, can you tell your friend to stop looking like he's gonna eat us? I don't know if he eats people but I don't really wanna find out." Hunk replied, nervously turning to look at the Red Dragon. It seemed to look pointedly at him, and he heard Lance giggle some more behind his back.
"He's not gonna hurt you. He's just playing the big scary draegon boyfriend. Keith, just chill out, you heard them. We're friends now!" Lance called to the Dragon, smiling.
The dragon somehow managed to look not impressed. It huffed at Lance and relaxed a little, but did nothing else.
"Don't you give me attitude now! I'll come over there and you quiznacking know it!" Lance said. The Dragon took on a lighter shade of red as it paled. Lance started coming forward, the mer tail that had been hiding the entire time splitting and blending into legging clad legs with partially blue-scaled and tan feet. He had managed to do that whole process with a gracefulness Hunk didn't think existed. Lance walked through the Paladins, having staked his trident at the edge of the waters, who were watching the scene unfold as he neared the fire side of the planet.
The Dragon looked like it was panicking, making little croons and noises with a fixed gaze at Lance.
"Either you relax and shift or I'm coming over there!" The water Ancient shouted, one hand on his hip and the other pointed at the Dragon.
What was going on?
The dragon looked defeated, and began shrinking, its wings disappearing altogether, body curling in on itself as its tone changed. Soon the Dragon couldn't be seen as it shrunk behind a rock the Dragon's front foot had been on. A pale man walked out from behind it, almost knee-deep in lava like it was nothing. He had fare skin, and wore a sleeveless tank with a high neck. He had on billowy pants that cinched at the ankles, and was bare-foot. A red scarf/sash was around his waist, tied at his side and a strip was hanging down. As he got closer, they could make out more features. There was long black hair atop his head and he had tall black horns with the same gold braces, and the same brake at the top of the left horn. His bare arms, feet and face had collages of reds and purples on the outside, similar to Lance's scales. The center of his face was pale, save for the purple stripes they had seen on the dragon. A red-purple tail swished behind him (it had a bunch of gold bejeweled cuffs on it) as he came forward, stopping in front of Lance.
Despite Lance actually being a Merperson, he was fairly tall when he had legs. Not taller than Hunk or Shiro, but a big difference between him and Pidge. The Dragon Ancient was a few inches shorter than Lance, and looked at all of them with purple eyes over Lance's shoulder. He took Lance's outstretched hand, and held it as he walked around him to face them fully.
"I'm Keith." was all he said, and then looked down, trying to find anything to focus on but them.
Lance smiled at Keith, and he looked in love. They had probably been together longer than Hunk had been alive. It was kinda adorable.
"Hello Keith, Lance. Welcome to team Voltron." Shiro said, reaching his left hand forward for a hand shake. Lance took it first. Keith reluctantly let go of Lance's other hand to shake it as well.
"Let's do this." Lance said.