A/N: Because I'm terrible at waiting, I started another fic. This is actually kinda old, because mainly I post on AO3 and I... forget about this site lmao.

Anyways, enjoy!

Chapter 1: Kerberos

Allura had known from the start that the Garrison had been lying about what happened to the Kerberos mission. The space pod burning an entry path through the atmosphere was only further confirmation that something odd was happening above their heads.

Investigating a crash site hadn't been the evening's original plan—she'd only wanted to go get some decent, non-cafeteria food with Hunk, and he apparently knew all the best restaurants in the near-by town—but she also hadn't expected to find her classmate, Pidge Gunderson, sitting on a cliff surrounded by weird scanners.

Today had been weird, in general.

She hadn't even thought through what she was going to do before she was running towards the ship. Garrison cars were pulling up all around it, but damn it, she had been a star track and field athlete, and she would get there first. Pidge and Hunk, who'd followed her in panic, they were… not as fast.

"Get us an escape!" she yelled at them. They gave her confused looks, faces flushed from exertion. "A car! Hijack one of their cars!" she yelled.

She didn't wait to see what they would actually do. Two geniuses could figure it out. But Allura, she had a pulling ache in heart that gave impossible hope for the pod.

Please, please let it be…

It was smoking, dented and glowing red-hot in places. A space pod shouldn't be this banged up from atmospheric breach. Something must've gone wrong.

Please be okay…

She didn't know how to open it. Garrison officers were swarming towards her, yelling things she hardly heard. In frustration, she slammed her fist against the ship.

The hull popped open.

"Takashi," she breathed.

He… he looked so different. His hair, part of it was white now, a whole section. From stress? An accident? And there was a scar across the bridge of his nose. God, what had happened? Had he'd been forced to fight?

Shiro would never fight if he had the choice.

The Garrison men were yelling, and there was a screech of tires behind Allura. She spun to see Hunk and Pidge skidding to a stop behind her in a Garrison jeep. They both looked so scared.

"Hunk!" Allura called. "Help me!"

He jumped out of the jeep instantly, jogging over to her. "Allura, what's going on… that's… is that who I think that is?"

"Takashi Shirogane," Allura confirmed. "Yes, it is. Now, help me get him to the car. He's unconscious and…" She trailed off. She didn't want to say anything out loud, anything that could tempt the fates.

Hunk nodded and grabbed Shiro under the arms. Allura grabbed his ankles, and together they lifted him out of the pod. He was heavy, heavier than Allura remembered. Was that… a metal arm? It was shaped perfectly to match his other arm, which was bulky with muscle he hadn't had before, either.

What had happened?

They reached the jeep and Hunk lifted Shiro into the back. Allura hopped on as Hunk jumped to the driver's seat. He hit the gas hard and they tore off through the growing circle of Garrison tropes.

"What's going ON?" yelled Pidge over the wind. "Why was Takashi Sirogane in an alien spaceship?"

"I… I don't know," Allura said.

Pidge stared at Shiro, taking in the scar and bizarre metal arm. "There wasn't anyone else in the ship?"

"No, just Sleeping Beauty here," Hunk replied.

PIdge's brow furrowed, deep sadness passing through his eyes before he turned around. He muttered something Allura couldn't make out over the wind.

"HALT! YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!"

"Shit, they regrouped!" Hunk said. "Pidge, you didn't hear that."

"Well shit," Pidge said. Hunk sighed, hands tight on the steering wheel as he flung them around a rock. Allura threw herself over Shiro, trying to keep his rag doll body from hitting anything.

"You have to get us out of here, Hunk!" Allura shouted.

"Uh, yeah, working on that!" Hunk yelled back. "If you have any ideas, I could really do with some right about now!"

"HALT OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!"

"Open fire?" Pidge repeated, voice cracking. "What the hell? We're their students! Actually, why are we running at all?"

"The Garrison lied about the Kerberos mission," Allura said. "I suspected it the moment the news came out. Shiro would never let such an accident happen. When I saw him in the ship, I… I knew we had to get him away from them. Who knows what they would do to him, to try and keep up their lie."

Pidge didn't look shocked at all.

"Are you serious?" Hunk yelled.

"She is," Pidge answered solemnly. The jeep hit a rock and for a moment they were driving on two wheels. "Jesus, Hunk, I could drive better than this, and my feet don't even reach the pedals!"

"Fine, then you take over!" Hunk said.

Well, that was an idea. "Pidge, get back here," Allura said. "Hunk, I'm taking the wheel."

The two boys glanced at each other, and then did as she'd said. She clambered over the back of the driver's seat just as Hunk's foot left the gas, and she slammed her's down. Her hands reached the wheel and—

"Allura! The cliff!"

They were going too fast. They couldn't stop in time.

The earth dropped away in front of them, plummeting far too many feet before the red desert continued.

All they could do was hope to land upright.

Dust settled and metal creaked. Pain rocketed through Allura's body, tensing every joint and rattling her insides. Her vision was pulsing, she felt light headed… her head must've hit the steering wheel.

Pidge broke the silence with a cough.

Pidge! Oh god, was he… was Hunk… Takashi…

"Is everyone alright?" Allura asked, coughing herself.

"I think my entire body is a bruise, but yeah, I'm fine," Hunk replied.

"I'm okay," Pidge said.

Allura twisted in her seat, straining to see through the disturbed dust. "And Shiro?"

Pidge shuffled around to put a hand on Shiro's neck. "Still beating," he confirmed. Allura sighed in relief.

They were lucky. Somehow, the jeep had landed on its tires (one of which had exploded on impact) and they were all alive. But… now where could they go? There was exactly nothing in front of them, and a tall cliff and decidedly unfriendly Garrison behind. They couldn't very well walk anywhere, not with an unconscious man and no provisions.

"I'm going to check if there's a spare tire," Allura said. She hopped out of the jeep, groaning as the impact of the ground sent another wave of pain through her. "Easy, there," she muttered to herself. Her dark hair was a ruffled mess, so she quickly tied it back as she walked to the back of the jeep.

Again, luck graced them. There was a spare on the back. With Hunk's help, she changed the tires, tossing the exploded one to the side. No proper place to get rid of a tire in the desert, so littering would have to do.

"Where to now?" Pidge asked.

Allura rested her head on the steering wheel. "Somewhere Shiro can rest," she said. "Where all of us can rest. Tomorrow we'll have to head for the nearest town."

"Nghh…"

"TAKASHI!" Allura exclaimed, twisting in her seat and leaning back. "Takashi, are you okay? How are you? Do you…"

His eyes blinked open heavily. Hands shaking, he pushed himself up to a sitting position, Pidge awkwardly moving out of the way. "Allura?" he said. When his eyes met her's, his lips turned up into a small, pained smile. "Hey."

She was crying. Goddammit, she was crying. She wanted to hug him, but she'd have to climb to the already crowded back, and Shiro was injured. Instead, she reached out a hand.

He raised his right hand automatically. The sun glinted off the metal, and he paused, dropping that arm. He met her hand with his left. His human hand.

"Where were you?" Allura asked.

"I… I don't really know," Shiro said. "All my memories are a blur… my head…"

"That's okay," she said. "I'm just… I thought I might never see you again."

He squeezed her hand and then pulled it back. He looked awkwardly from Hunk to Pidge, as if just now really noticing them.

"Oh! Shiro, these are my classmates from the Garrison, Pidge and Hunk. I know they're young, but they're both bloody geniuses," Allura said.

"Pidge and Hunk, huh? Nice to meet you both, even if it's under strange circumstances. You can call my Shiro."

Hunk shook Shiro's offered hand, but Pidge just fidgeted. Finally, he looked up, frowning. "Do you know what happened to the other members of the Kerberos mission?"

Shiro's eyes narrowed, shifting back and forth in thought. "I… I know they got taken with me but… I don't remember anything else."

"Taken? Taken where? And by who?" Hunk asked.

Allura revved the engine. "Okay, we all have questions, I know. I have them, too. But Shiro has only just woke up. Let's get somewhere safe before we start discussing all the things the Garrison doesn't want us to know."

She gazed out at the horizon, trying to decide which way to go. Hunk chattered nervously next to her ("Wait, what the Garrison doesn't want us to know? Is this a conspiracy theory or something? What the hell? I just wanted to get crepes!") Sandstone cliffs were everywhere, but would any provide shelter until tomorrow? Allura didn't want to risk going to the nearby town; it would require passing the Garrison, or else going very far around to avoid it. And it was night, they were all tired, and driving that much did not sound like a good idea.

South. South sounded good. The cliffs formed a jagged line, and something told her they'd be safe there.

South was good. They needed to go south.

Pidge yelled at Hunk to shut up, and Allura snapped back to her body. Her mind felt fuzzy, probably from exhaustion. She put the jeep in reverse, backed up, and then drove south, the rising moon to their east.

Allura couldn't have said why she stopped in front of the cave. They'd passed other caves, yet she'd kept driving. Maybe she was more tired than she realized, and her brain had thrown logic out of the window in favor of following whatever whims her feet had. Said whims were currently telling her that this cave was the place to be.

"Last stop, everyone off," she said.

"Finally," Pidge yawned. He lightly punched Hunk in the shoulder, successfully waking the snoring boy. They both clambered out of the jeep and shuffled to the cave.

Shiro put a hand on Allura's shoulder and she nearly jumped out of her skin. "Are you okay?" he asked.

She smiled at him. "I should be asking you that," she replied wearily. "But… yes, I am. Tired beyond belief, and still afraid I'm dreaming."

"Dreaming?"

"That you came back," she said.

"Uh, ALLURA?" yelled Pidge. "You, er, you guys should come see this!"

Allura and Shiro shared confused looks. "What is it, Pidge?" Allura called back, stepping out of the jeep.

"It's like, uh, cave paintings?" Hunk answered. "But carved? And of giant lions? There aren't lions in America, why are there lion cave carvings?"

"Lions?" Shiro repeated. His face twisted with confusion and memory. Then his eyes widened. "Voltron," he whispered. Without an explanation, he broke into a sprint. More confused then ever, Allura sprinted after him. God, when had he gotten faster than her?

The three boys were standing, mouths open in awe, staring at the walls and ceiling of the cave. It was dark except for Pidge's flashlight, but it was easy to make out the sharp, clean cuts into the sandstone.

Lions. Lions were clearly the main motif. Small human forms stood around the lions (or was it just one lion, repeated?), and above were stylized… hollow suns?

"What is this?" Allura breathed, voice full of wonder.

"These don't look like any cave art I've seen before," Hunk said.

"Could they be new?" Pidge asked.

Hunk shook his head, running a hand over one of the images. "These definitely seem old. The edges are worn, and they're way shallower nearer the entrance. They've had time to be worn down by the wind and dust."

"These are incredible," Allura said. She walked, trance-like, to the nearest carving. Her hand brushed over it, and blue light blossomed under her fingers. She leapt back as the light took over the figures all over the walls, illuminating the cave.

Everyone was staring at her. "What did you do?" Pidge asked.

"I don't kno-OOOOOOOOOOH!" her answer turned into a shriek as the floor below them lit up and collapsed.

Gravity snatched them and they tumbled into a waterfall. The icy water pulled them down, chilling them to the bone, until it dumped them one after another in to a muddy pool just deep enough to cushion their fall. Allura's hair got into her mouth and eyes, and she blindly pushed herself to her knees, shoving her long brown hair back.

They'd fallen into a huge cavern filled with similar pools of water, all fed by small waterfalls coming out of the wall. And in the center of the cavern was a giant blue lion.

"Whoa," Allura breathed.

"This… this must be it!" Shiro said. "This has to be Voltron."

"Voltron?" Pidge questioned.

"The aliens that captured me, they were always talking about some giant weapon called Voltron," Shiro said. "They're looking for it. I think… I think they're afraid of it."

"Then, maybe shouldn't we be afraid of it?" Hunk asked. "I mean, if a space-faring alien civilization is scared of it, it's probably for good reason."

Shiro frowned. "They're afraid of it being used against them. We…" he looked at the lion, "we can't let it fall into their hands."

He stood up and trudged out of the pool. His metal arm, Allura noted, was working fine despite the impromptu bath. Shiro walked straight up to the blue barrier encircling the lion and placed his metal palm against it. Allura followed him, Hunk and Pidge a step behind.

Allura gently pressed her hand against the barrier, eyes fixated on the eyes of the lion. She felt like it could hear her, like it was watching her. "You're amazing," she whispered.

The barrier fizzed and broke, and a movie flashed before Allura's eyes. She stumbled back, hands flailing for balance, and then suddenly it was over.

"Holy shit!" Pidge yelled. "Did everyone see that?"

"Voltron is a huge, huge awesome robot!" Hunk said.

"And this is only one part of it," Allura said. "Where are the other lions, then? Why is only this one here?" She frowned, her feet mindlessly bringing her closer to the lion. "What happened?"

The lion stood, its movements near silent, and then it bent down in a stretch, like a cat waking from a nap. Its tail whisked back and forth, nearly smacking the walls of the cavern. It walked in a circle, robotic paws padding softly as air on the ground, carefully avoiding the small humans in front of it. Then it laid on its belly and the jaw dropped, revealing a metallic mouth and a door. A panel unfolded into a ramp, and the lion stared at Allura.

She stepped on to the ramp.

The door slid open.

A tall, lanky boy with white hair and blue armor stumbled out.

His voice shook as he said, "Where am I?"