Chapter 1: Stranded

Voltron LD timeline, after the Netflix season 1 cliffhanger. I know they promised that there would be a "season 2" or "second half of the first season" coming soon, but the plot bunnies won't leave things alone. After watching the teaser clip at San Diego Comic Con and sitting in on the panels for Voltron LD, I decided to release the bunnies!

While there won't be a lot of KA in the early chapters – they got separated after all- this story does include hints of that pairing, and builds on the other Voltron LD short fics "Left Behind" and "Interrupted Moments." There will also be many interactions between the team; I do love the dynamics of the new group.

With that in mind, please do enjoy chapter 1 of Unbreakable Bonds.

It made sense. The moment that things looked to be going somewhat reasonable in his life, something came around that had him spinning and tumbling. This time more literal than others.

Inside the Red Lion's cockpit, Keith Kogane could do nothing to correct his course or to get control of his trajectory. He hated not being in control. Feeling helpless to fate.

After his fight with Zarkon, his lion's energy and systems remained unresponsive, considering the others were falling out of control as well even if he did have the power, it would not have done much. Bracing himself as the spinning and tumbling continued, the Red Lion pilot took a calming breath and let the forces-that-be take him through an open wormhole.

"What did you say, cadet?" The shouting echoed in his mind a bit much for it to be real. "You think just because you have the highest scores and most potential that I won't kick your ass out of this academy. I don't care who you are or if you shit gold! Disrespect is disrespect."

The bellowing man continued to bark in a distorted voice.

Blackness continued to surround him, but Keith knew this memory all too well…

"I said that your version of the story is wrong sir," a slightly younger Keith remembered standing his ground against one of the harshest instructors at the Garrison. Keith had refused to accept the fact that Shiro, his friend, and mentor could make such a critical mistake and cost the lives of his crew. This wasn't the first time he had gone head to head with this particular guardian of Garrison's truth.

It happened rather frequently in his years under the care of the Garrison. Several of the instances where the strong-willed boy voiced his opposition to the official story came during accounts of his parent's disappearance during their service with the fleet and the circumstances at the orphanage, before Shiro had rescued him. Those he could brush off after a few demerits and issuances of nasty punishments, but to sit by and listen to others falsely accuse Shiro, a well-decorated veteran, that went too far.

"Wrong? And what would a mutt like you know about it? The Garrison says the sky is green, and it's green, you got it?"

"I'll call the sky whatever color you want, but you can take a flying leap before I accept that Shiro made a mistake. The Garrison is covering something up, and you know it. What happened to logic and following the clues?"

"If you don't shut your mouth this instant, I'm going to…"

Keith remembered the vein that popped out of the military man's neck. The reddening of his skin from shouting and anger showed well against the gray of his uniform. He didn't need to see the image to recall the look the man gave him- one that warned him to shut up now… or else.

He was throwing the older man a similar look, although he doubted his face showed as much anger. Mostly the expression of slightly contained rage and stubbornness was what he let others see in times like these. In the back of his mind, he couldn't help but begin to feel some of that rage building up, simply remembering that lies that the Garrison fed its people… and the people of Earth.

Calm down Keith, he told himself as the memory began to fade and he felt once more connected to his body. The pain hitting him also brought the memory to a quick close as he sat up quickly with a gasp as if breathing again after a time without the ability to do so.

His eyes adjusted and he found himself on the floor of the cockpit. The once well-lighted dashboard of the Red Lion remained dark and in the back of his mind he could hear what was either a ringing of his ear drums or what remained of the warning alarm that sounded as his lion went out of control and his harness unlatched.

"What the hell happened?" He asked aloud. His mental connection with his lion worried him, Red was not responding to him. "I really put you through the thrasher, didn't I boy? Sorry about that." Attempting to get to his knees and stand, Keith ended up hunched over a console with a throbbing pain in his arm and a nasty spout of dizziness.

"Just what I need, a broken arm maybe and a concussion," he muttered, pulling off his helmet. "I guess it could be worse."

Looking around the cabin, Keith decided to take a seat and assess his situation better… just as soon as the world stopped spinning.

"I think we should get our money back from that crazy ride, huh Red?" Silence filled the area, and Keith sighed. "You take a break; I'll see what I can do to get you back up and running."

After a few minutes of awkward tinkering with the controls and working with a painful arm, Keith came to the conclusion that the power cells were drained, and his kitty sustained some pretty nasty bruises.

"We match, don't we?" The young pilot chuckled as he decided to use the emergency exit to see where exactly he ended up. Putting his helmet back on, and allowing the face mask to activate, the trek outside could begin.

The hiss of the door opening to the different pressure and the brightness had him frozen in place for a moment.

Using the computer in the helmet's visor, he searched the atmosphere and was relieved to find the air appeared to be breathable… or at least he hoped he read that correctly. His brain still seemed a bit fuzzy.

Deactivating the mask, he took a deep breath of the air. It was clean and felt natural. Taking in his surroundings, Keith found himself smack dab in the middle of a lush, tropical looking jungle. Red Lion had been thrown at some speed that the impact of the landing seemed to take out a good portion of a heavily forested hill.

He could hear birds talking to each other and the sound of running water not too far off in the distance. The heat of the area also smacked him in the face, and he began to sweat in his suit. Using the visor's camera and computer, he quickly tried to see if there were any life forms nearby.

In his condition, he decided, the fact that no one was around was good news. Also, the broken trees seemed to create a natural camouflage for the bright red machine.

"I refuse to live in the jungle like some Tarzan wild man," he began looking back into the cockpit. "I wonder if I could hook up my helmet and Bayard to Red's central computers and skim enough juice to get the long range scanners up…"

While Keith certainly wasn't at the same level as Pidge or Hunk with technology, he had done well for himself. Even during his Garrison days, he and Shiro would tinker with hover bikes and other machines. He had built his favorite red twin hovercraft from scratch out in that desert, how hard could it be to tinker with an ancient, but super advanced form of alien tech?

"First thing is first… this arm is killing me."

Finding the Arusian version of a first aid kit in the lion, he began to work on his injuries. Taking off his suit, he wanted to conserve as much of its power as possible. He may just need those jet packs and pressurized abilities later.

His black shirt and tight fitting jean-like pants felt weird without his signature red jacket, but he quickly got over that and started poking at his left arm.

"It might just be dislocated…" he mused as he found that the pain came from his shoulder. "Better just get it over with," he prepped himself as he stood and slammed his shoulder into a wall. The pop told him that the bone went back into place, and the stars he saw for a brief moment had him imagining a sore are for some time to come.

Grabbing his never far from his side dagger, safely stored in a compartment on the backside of the pilot seat, he strapped it to his belt. Keith, feeling somewhat better with his keepsake on him, once more sat at the controls with his helmet and Bayard in hand.

"Time to get to work."

It took some time. Keith openly admitted to himself that had Pidge or Hunk been present, it would have been finished long ago… and with fewer burns to his hands when connecting or pulling out a wrong wire.

The main screen of the Red Lion slowly powered on, with a much dimmer luster, but it was enough.

"Ok, let's check out this planet. Maybe one of the others landed here as well, Shiro and Black shouldn't be too far… right?" He wondered out loud, still not hearing much from his lion partner. "Bingo!"

Zooming in on a power signature, Keith let out an excited shout and was about to pump his arm into the air, until the pain came shooting back.

"Looks like Shiro isn't too far, that's good. Seems one thing is going for me, huh Red?"

Taking a few last minutes to draw out a map, Keith then scanned the planet to see if he could find the others.

"Not another of the group, but I need to keep a low profile, looks like Zarkon has an outpost here…"

Shutting down the power, he needed to make sure that there was some left just in case the baddies got to Black first. Minimal powered Red could still do some damage to an attacking force.

"Time to do a little hiking," Keith tried to motivate himself for what looked like a several hour hike through a humid jungle.

"Hang on Shiro, I'm coming for you."

The trek across the terrain took more out of him than he had hoped. Only a few hours in and he found himself short of breath and wishing he had his speeder.

Thoughts of his little house, well, shack was maybe the better term for it, filled him as he used his dagger to chop the brush out of his way. The small place wasn't anything spectacular, that little homestead, but it was home.

Stumbling upon the dilapidated building during his time searching for what he now knew to be the Blue Lion, he decided to use it as a base of sorts. He made little improvements to the roof and cleaned up the eerily vacant rooms. No owners came to claim it, and so he stayed. Building his speeder, looking for clues to whatever drew him out there, and wishing Shiro had not gone missing, a lot happened there. It felt soothing to think about it now.

I wonder if I'll ever see that place again, he questioned himself during a short rest against a large tree; he needed to give his already weak legs a break. Looking up into the foliage, he could hardly see the sky- the leaves filled it up so much, it was breathtaking. Even knowing that Zarkon's forces claimed this vast planet, there still remained some parts untouched... places of peace.

His next thoughts went to his small bunk in the castle. He had only lived there for a short time. The new surroundings felt comfortable and the mission they inherited seemed to give him a new focus. He was part of something important in that castle. The last time he found the prospect of being part of something greater came when Shiro brought him to the Garrison. Thinking back, he held high hopes for his time and years in the service of his planet.

That hadn't ended well, internally he muttered. I can't let it happen again.

Get to Shiro and Black, swing back to Red, launch off the planet, find the others, and defeat Zarkon… then head home? He stopped, not knowing what to think about planning that far ahead and the prospect of heading back to Earth. Would he want to go back there? It wasn't like it held many happy memories for him.

Pushing himself forward, he knew he didn't want to be stuck out in the wilderness after sunset.

Home, that would be a subject of further discussion at another time. Currently there was too much on his plate at the moment to get tied up in those matters.

Shiro's counting on me.

She's counting on me. His eyes closed and he felt a strange ache to not know if the Princess of Arus was safe... or injured... or worse.

No, stop it! He demanded of himself. Allura will be fine, she's a lot stronger than we are. And I won't fail. Not now, not ever again. Patience and a cool head brings results. Focus on getting to Black.

His mantra gave him the strength to push on, quickening his pace. And by some miracle, the image of the massive Black Lion came in sight just as the sun started to vanish below the horizon. Keith felt a wave of relief wash over his tired body.

Thank the heavens, I've made it.

With his stamina weaning, he still managed to climb the debris from the lion's landfall. The massive beast sat silently with its face angling down towards the ground. Keith felt if the robot lion had actually been a real cat, it looked as if it was sniffing the ground. Getting closer, he wondered why Shiro had not noticed his presence from inside the lion.

The silence unnerved the younger man as he forgot the pain in his arms and legs and pressed on... something was wrong.

At the peak of the debris, Keith finally got a view of what the lion guarded. There on the ground lay a still form of the Black Lion's pilot.

"Shiro!"

Is our hunky leader in some kind of trouble? What will our other pretty boy and leader-in-training do? You'll have to stop by next time and find out!

Until then, feel free to leave me a comment, constructive criticism, or just plain randomness. All are appreciated!