There are many, many infinite universes with many, many infinite outcomes and people and situations and planets and civilizations. In some, all of the races - human and alien - got along in perfect harmony. In others - such as this one, - they did not. In some, the Galra were the ones attacking and enslaving the galaxies. In others - such as this one, - it is... different. In search of peace for all, in some type of horrible attempt at purveying that idea, the Altean people have inadvertently (or perhaps, entirely advertently) taken over worlds. It had only been six months ago that they had found Earth, and it had taken around a week for them to completely take over. Or, at least, to have taken over the government systems of each country and promote their own beliefs to the people. And at first, it hadn't seemed all that awful. After all, how could peace be bad?
Figuring out that they were removing the freedoms of the human race took a few more weeks. Curfews, monitored language, restricted traveling, invaded privacy, subliminal messages in broadcasting... the list went on and on. But even when the humans did figure it out, there wasn't much they could do about it. The Alteans were powerful beings, and humans... well, they weren't. So they allowed it, mostly. The restricted creative expression, the emotional suppression, and especially the tamped-down levels of violence. Which, honestly, Arin didn't think was too bad. Not at first, at least. But then those restrictions moved into things like sports, debates, and you could forget about things like the Garrison and fighter pilots.
Arin Galinsky had once been a student at said Garrison. In fact, it had only been one year since she had had to quit. Not because of the Alteans or any misdemeanors or any type of expulsion, but because of injury. She'd been fifteen when it happened, and now, at sixteen, she'd been hoping to return and finish her training. As long as she didn't strain herself too much, she was fine. Or, relatively speaking, at least. All she had to do was take it easy.
But she was not good at taking it easy.
Especially when she just knew those Alteans were hiding something great in one of those ships that they used now and again as carriers. Honestly, they really should've thought their locations through - when a Galinsky was lurking around, no secrets were safe, and outside of the former Galaxy Garrison was one of those places that one tended to lurk. Arin wasn't a genius, as most of her family members had been, but she had more than enough determination to sneak her hard-headed self into even the most well-guarded castle-ship-thingies.
Brute force certainly helped in these kinds of situations.
Or, in this case, a tactfully-thrown sleeper grenade that Arin had been hiding in her backpack for the past... how long had it been? She couldn't quite remember, but it had been a while. It never hurt to be prepared, did it?
Under the cover of night, Arin had managed to sneak close enough to the ship to set off the sleep grenade and effectively put the three guards who were watching the entrance out of commission. The girl wasn't particularly large a person, and after taking some time off from training in order to heal, did not have the muscle mass that she used to. There would be no hand-to-hand combat this time; she was not nearly strong enough to handle even one Altean, much less three of them. So, instead, she just held her breath and bolted past while they choked on the gas that she'd assailed them with. She hoped that the fumes would work similarly on Altean physiology that it did with humans.
Fortunately for her, the doors were opened - which was, she guessed, why the guards were set up outside for the time being. Not that the dark-haired girl had spent much time reasoning this attack-thing out before she implemented it. More or less, she was just hoping to get some type of information from them. Nobody else seemed to be willing to do it, so why not her?
If it wasn't already abundantly clear, she had been a freaking nightmare at the Garrison.
Slamming her hand into what she hoped was the "shut the door please" button, Arin was happy to see the Altean guards outside laying on the ground, fast asleep. The doors themselves slid shut like the motion-activated ones at the mall, effectively barring her view of the sleeping guards and sealing herself inside. With the first step of her self-administered mission completed, Arin turned her pale green eyes to scan around the inside of the ship.
It was clean and crisp, mostly white, with some sort of pinkish energy running through the walls. Fortunately enough, there was nobody else around in this particular place, and she couldn't hear any alarms going off, so she could only assume that they hadn't detected her yet. But that wasn't any reason to drop her guard, so she kept quiet as she crept down the halls. However, it was so silent within the ship that she could hear absolutely every step she took and every breath she breathed. It was making her feel anxious, to say the least, but her adrenaline was rushing so quickly through her veins that she hardly acknowledged the fear.
"Hey!" a booming voice sounded behind her, and Arin snapped around so fast that her knee twinged in residual pain. Instantly, her gaze landed on one of the three guards standing at the entrance of the ship. It was an oddly beautiful sight - the Altean, painted in the colors of his dark skin and white hair, bathed in the light from the purple energy flowing throughout the walls. "Stop right there, intruder! I do not wish to harm you."
Okay. Maybe she was going to fight.
A smile crept onto her features and she shrugged her right shoulder. He pointed his weapon - perhaps some kind of laser gun - at her, though Arin was fairly confident he wouldn't shoot to kill. Alteans were all about that peace shit, after all. So, she raised her hands in surrender and let him walk over to her. The Altean seemed much more at ease now, lowering his gun and striding purposefully over to her. Arin allowed him, and even complied when he grasped her left shoulder firmly, giving it a sharp squeeze before moving to lead her to the exit.
With one fluid motion, Arin dropped and swept her good leg around to slam into the Altean's ankles, dropping him to the metal flooring with a loud clang and clatter of his gun as it skittered down the hall. He grabbed for her calf and brought her down immediately after him, and the two of them wrestled on the floor for a long few moments. It became clear almost instantly that Arin would not be the victor of this match - after all, Alteans were very strong, and Arin wasn't in top form in the first place. Honestly, she wasn't sure why she wanted to do this so badly. It was just that, after the Galaxy Garrison was shut down because of the Alteans and Arin returned to find the place abandoned in the middle of the desert, with an Altean ship planted nearby, she couldn't help but begin to plan some type of attack.
Arguably, one single human probably needed more than a night to plan and prepare for an attack... but what was done was done, and there was no coming back from it. Still, she fought like hell to beat this guy - she didn't rush in headfirst like this to come out empty handed.
But the Altean had her pinned flush against the cold metal floor, and her knee was screaming for rest. Actually, her entire body felt like it was on fire, but the main problem was that injury flaring up again. All of her shoving and elbowing and kicking was coming up for naught. It felt like she was struggling against a prone brick wall, and it was quite obvious that there was no moving him.
Unless...
Without giving much thought to it, Arin brought her good knee up to slam between the Altean's legs, hoping against hope that it would work similarly to how male human physiology would. Although she didn't know much about Alteans and their biology and crap like that, she knew that a nutshot was pretty much good enough to put any human man out of commission for quite a while.
Fortunately - and surprisingly - the Altean's eyes widened and his hands went immediately to the injured spot. His face took on a pallid hue, mirroring a human's expression exactly. It was almost comical, and under normal circumstances, Arin would be rolling with laughter. As it would happen, however, she only had time for a slight giggle before she straightened her legs out to propel him off of her so that she could dart off down the hallway. It was only at the end, when she managed to run into the room at the very end of the hall, that she allowed herself an actual, honest-to-god laugh. Then, she made sure that the button to her right shut and locked the door.
She had her priorities, after all.
A soft gasp escaped her mouth as pain shot from her knee to her hip, reminding her that she was not supposed to be putting nearly this much strain on it. Gripping it tightly with one hand, Arin looked around the room to check and see if there was anything noteworthy lying around. Upon first glance, however, it would seem that there was hardly anything interesting there at all. The walls were stark white and the floor steel. The only thing even in the room at all was a small table sitting right in the middle of the room, and the only thing sitting on that was a small, colorful object.
Arin, being naturally curious (which was, incidentally, the reason she was here in the first place,) didn't hesitate before hurrying over to pick up the object. It was hexagonal in shape, and each of the sections was a different color. There was a gray side, a gold side, a purple side, a white side, a teal side, and an orange side. She wasn't sure why, but Arin couldn't help the attraction she felt to the final color on the list, and she reached out the index finger of her right hand to touch it. The instant she made contact, the orange side illuminated brightly.
"Hello, Orange paladin." The voice, unexpected and disembodied, sounded like it rang out in her very mind. She couldn't tell whether the carrier of said voice was male or female; young or old. After the initial shock wore off - because Arin had nearly dropped the hexagonal shape and yelped at the unexpected noise - she was able to think a bit more clearly. Or, as clearly as she was able in this specific situation. "I have sealed the door to the room, so that you and I are free to speak for the time being."
Arin cleared her throat, unsure of what to say. How does one speak to a hexagon? It wasn't exactly a normal occurrence.
The voice offered a light chuckle in response to her speechlessness, and went on, "It is alright if you are afraid. I am certain that this is a... shock to you. You are not Altean, right?"
"Uh, no," she finally spoke, gingerly bouncing the object in her palms. She couldn't really help it - it was some type of nervous tick that she wasn't even sure she had in the first place. Apparently, speaking to some sort of talking alien tech brought it out of her. "I'm Arin Galinsky. Human. Er, my mom is Spanish and my dad is Israeli. I'm from Seattle, uh, Washington. My birthday-"
"That is quite enough information, thank you." Apparently the hexagon was impatient. "My name is Luxin, and I am - or, I was, an Altean." Arin was beginning to feel like her brain was about to explode. "However, that is unimportant. For the time being, all you need to know is that you must take this object with you when you get out of this place. We must work as one - it is fate that brought us together."
The sixteen-year-old frowned, thick brows knitting up. "Actually, I think it was mostly the sleeper grenade that brought us together."
She could almost picture a personified version of this Luxin person facepalming. Much in the same way her former commanders and teammates did. "Of course the Orange Lion's paladin would be the densest human being on the planet." A sigh came from the colorful hexagon. "Look, I-"
"That's another thing," Arin interrupted, turning the object in her hands to look at all six sides. "Why do you keep on calling me that? A paladin?"
Luxin groaned from within the hexagon. "Please, could we perhaps get out of this ship before you start asking all of these questions?" they asked, exasperated, and Arin arched a brow. A more intelligent person probably would have made sure that they could trust whatever the talking hexagon thing was before they listened to it, but, as previously stated, Arin was not very high in the intelligence category.
"Alright, then."
The Altean breathed a sigh that sounded particularly relieved, and continued speaking as though they had never been upset in the first place. "The guards will likely attempt to break down the door soon. The sole purpose of this ship was to transport and detain me. There are hardly other rooms that you could be in." The tone took on a more amused lilt. "Did you honestly kick that guard between his legs? Because that was surprisingly efficient and hilarious."
Arin laughed, tossing the hexagon lightly and catching it once more. "Guess growing up with brothers has its perks. All guys react like that."
"All male Alteans do that, as well. I suppose it might be a universal law."
"Guess so."
A bang at the door caused the Galinsky to spin around, nearly losing her grip on Luxin in the process. The Altean screeched in response, "DO NOT DROP ME!"
"They're trying to get in," Arin stated bluntly, clutching the hexagon to her flat chest and looking around wildly for somewhere to escape. The room had only one door, and no windows, so the next best thing would probably be...
"The air vent!" Luxin proclaimed, and the mahogany-haired girl looked up to see what they were talking about. The ventilation shaft was positioned just above her head on the far wall, and would take a bit of a jump to reach. Her knee gave a sharp pain of protest at the thought, but Arin put it to the back of her mind for just the moment. There were more important things to do - she had gotten herself into this situation (and was, shockingly, only just now realizing that it was probably a bad idea,) and she could get herself out. Or, at the very least, she could try to.
Shoving the hexagon unceremoniously into her backpack, the teen wasted no time in taking off at a run in order to jump and snag her fingers in the grate that was blocking the vent. She jerked back in an attempt to dislodge the barricade. Unfortunately, all she managed to do was fall back down flat on the floor, and the grate did not budge.
"Idiot." The disembodied Altean's voice was muffled from inside her pack, so Arin pulled them back out. "That's bolted to the wall!" they exclaimed, and the teen was fairly certain that she could feel the irritation wafting off of the colorful shape in her hand. "Hold me up to the corners and allow me to help detach it."
The guards continued banging on the door, and Arin hurried to hold Luxin up so that they could do their thing. Whatever that was.
Once more, the orange side illuminated with light. Only this time, the light extended, connecting with one of the bolts that secured the grate in front of the vent. The screw began to melt; the metal turned white hot and began to drip down the wall. "Awesome," Arin breathed, and moved onto the last three bolts. It was quick work, but the guards broke down the door just as quickly. As soon as the grate dropped to the floor, the door burst in, and the three guards ran into the room. The teen yelped and acted impulsively - as per usual, - throwing Luxin hard and nailing the first guard in the forehead with the hexagon.
At first, all five occupants of the room went silent, too shocked to say anything. Luxin regained their senses first, and was justifiably pissed off. "You are a quiznaking moron!" they shouted furiously, and shrieked in horror when one of the guards lifted them off the ground.
"Sorry, sorry!" Arin attempted to apologize, taking a few quick steps forward. She fully intended on fighting to free the Altean-hexagon from the guards, but two of three had their weapons drawn and aimed right at the teen. Raising her hands sheepishly in defeat, the Galinsky dropped her head. Though she might be a quiznaking moron, she was smart enough to know when she was completely out of other options. Surrender would be safest in this situation.
She could hear Luxin groan from across the room, severely disappointed.
{[ Voltron ]}
The guards blindfolded Arin and took her to another ship, separating herself and Luxin. Understandable, but frustrating. Because, now that she'd touched the hexagon, it felt... wrong to be away from it. Not that it mattered overmuch, though - they were still capable of communicating. Luxin explained it at some sort of mind-meld, or spiritual connection. Which further enforced the Altean's own view of fate and destiny, which Arin was just now beginning to believe in, herself.
"So... you were the one who created these Lions?" she asked, sitting with her back against the wall of her cell. It was dark in this ship, and Arin could hardly see the bars that led out into the hallway. "Why did you make them in the first place? Is the Orange one mine?" She had her eyes shut - with Luxin's mind-meld, it was easy for the Altean to send her images and help visualize the story that they were telling.
Luxin was significantly more patient with her now that they weren't in immediate danger, and responded to her questions calmly and in order. "I was assistant to the man who did create them. Alfor was the one who came up with the idea when we found the quintessence in the first place. The original purpose for creating Voltron was a weapon to help stop our own kind from taking over the galaxies, but... well, when the other Alteans found out about our plan..." The voice trailed off, considering their words carefully. "They were... not happy. Fortunately, Alfor also came up with this hexagon. We were both going to plant our consciousness into it so that we could live on after death, but I was the only one who made it." They changed subject to the next question hastily after that. "And, yes, it would appear that the Orange one - the left arm of Voltron - wants you."
Arin smiled as an image of a massive, beautiful mechanical lion popped into her mind. Its color reminded her of a Push-Pop - a happy shade of orange that drew her in and created the sensation of impending laughter in her chest. "Where is she?" the teen asked, longing to reach out and touch the metal surface of the great beast's face. "Also, how come the Alteans didn't destroy you when they found the hexagon?"
"The locations of the lions will be revealed to me when we come into contact with the other five paladins. For now, I am not sure where any of the six are." Luxin sighed deeply - the sound echoed through Arin's mind and sullied the feeling of peace and happiness she experienced whilst seeing her Lion. "They did not destroy me because this object is made of the same metal and quintessence that the Lions are. It cannot be destroyed by any technology that they currently possess."
"Sweet."
"I suppose."
The teen sighed through her nose and bumped the back of her head against the wall. "Do you have any idea of how to get in contact with the other paladins?" she asked, fiddling lightly with a frayed hole in the knee of her dark jeans. "Like, maybe you can mind-meld with them like you are with me?"
"I can only meld my mind with a paladin who makes physical contact with me," they responded, but they did not sound upset at the fact. "However, I do have an idea."
Arin raised a brow. "You gonna share with the group or keep it to yourself?" she asked, tapping one sneakered foot on the floor.
Luxin let out a soft laugh before responding. "Now that you and I are connected, I believe that I could possibly release a burst of energy that would call to anyone in the nearest two hundred... er, I believe you humans call these measurements of distance miles." Which sounded good when it was said like that, but would all five other paladins be within two hundred miles? Especially when there were other planets and galaxies and all that?
Apparently, the disembodied Altean voice could hear her thoughts. Or, at least, was a very good guesser. "There can be more than one paladin for each Lion in existence. Mainly, the choosing process is based upon personality and spirit. For example, the Orange Lion chose you out of not only convenience, but because your personality fits with the Lion's. Orange is optimistic, happy, courageous, and... well, frankly impulsive. All traits which you possess."
"Cool. So this energy thing will just attract the five that are most likely to fit with the personalities of the other Lions?" she asked, picturing the other colors of Lions alongside her own. "What are those?"
There was a short pause, before Luxin continued. "The right arm of Voltron is the Purple Lion. Intelligent, calm, thoughtful, and stoic, they would likely provide some type of logical element to the team. Negatively, they might stick far too close to logic and think too hard. Which is where you would help, Orange paladin." He paused again for a breath. "The right leg of Voltron is the Gray Lion. Reserved, blunt, loyal, and aggressive, the paladin of this Lion would provide support in the form of solidity and stability. Negatively, there is a chance for rebellion or argumentativeness, or a clashing with the team. I am certain you have met people like this in your life." Arin snorted in amusement. "The left leg of Voltron is the Teal Lion. Devoted, peaceful, original, and flexible, this paladin would probably support the team by providing new ideas and ways of thinking. Negatively, they might be a bit... lazy. Or, at least, they would find it hard to stick to one job and forget things." She knew people like that, as well.
"The head of Voltron is the Gold Lion. Focused, powerful, hardworking, and precise, this paladin would support the team by providing firm and decisive leadership. Negatively, they might lean toward the cold side in terms of personality. Almost like they don't feel emotions at all." Maybe like some of the commanders at the Garrison had been. "The torso of Voltron, the White Lion, counteracts that. Pure, innocent, gentle, and loving, they provide a wellspring of support by being there emotionally for the team, providing good energy and companionship. Negatively, they can be naïve and easy to fool, and perhaps a bit... fearful and hesitant."
Resting her chin on her good knee, Arin sighed. "This is all so complicated," she groaned lightly, running one hand through her short, messy hair. She needed to brush it, she realized absentmindedly. It was beginning to look like some sort of dark russet-brown rat's nest. Not that she could actually see it in the dark like this.
"It is very complicated. Imagine building these Lions," Luxin said in return, and Arin couldn't help but feel a bit of a sympathy headache. That must've sucked. But, before she could say anything else in response, the Altean went on. "What do you say we stop thinking and start calling for the others? Perhaps they can get the both of us out of here, and we can all begin work to form Voltron and take down the Altean empire?"
Arin smiled, closing her eyes and picturing the Lions once more. "Absolutely. I'm ready to get the quiznak out of this place."
{[ Voltron ]}
An ~ It has been SO LONG since I've posted anything! I'm so, so so soososoososooooo sorry, you guys. Maybe we can come back strong with this SYOC? Which I am a little afraid of posting, because, honestly, I have never seen a Voltron SYOC and I don't exactly know if there's any sort of demand for them. I mean, I know that I have been wanting one, because I am obsessed with this show, but... well, I couldn't find one.
So I made one.
It's very different from the actual show itself, as you can clearly see above. I have had Luxin (poor, hexagonal Luxin) explain the generalized traits of each of the Lions and their paladins, but those are loose guidelines. Your character only has to embody perhaps one or two of the traits listed in order to pilot whichever Lion you'd like.
There aren't many rules for this SYOC. Just pm me with your characters, review when you can, and put effort into the form. I have lately seen some people say "pm me if you plan to submit so that I can send you the form to fill out," which is what I am doing. So, if you want a character in this story (because it is going to be epic,) please pm me with a request for a form. In your pm, please tell me the basics of your character (name, age, gender, and Lion) so that I can have some idea of what I am going to be getting. Then, send a different PM titled with the name of your character and what color Lion they pilot.
So, in short:
STEP ONE: Ask for the form through pm, explaining a bit about your character in the process.
STEP TWO: Fill out the form and send it in a pm titled Character Name/Lion Color.
STEP THREE: Enjoy the story, review when you can, and please answer any questions I might have in the future regarding your characters and their relationships/etc.
Please pm me with any questions that you may have, or any concerns. Constructive criticism is always appreciated, as well.
See you guys soon, hopefully!
Love,
Anim8or