I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.
Origins: A Legend Unfolds: Chapter 7
A feeling of overwhelming exhaustion fills Keith on the ride back to Storm Kingdom. He closes his eyes, giving up his battle to stay awake. As his chin comes to a rest against his chest, Coran glances over at him then sighs. Keeping his voice low, he says, "He is more injured than he is willing to admit."
"Yes, we know," Sven whispers back from his place directly behind the advisor. His eyes move over the sleeping form of his friend then he looks over at Lance. "We need to find a way to keep him in Storm Kingdom tomorrow so he can rest."
Lance snorts in response then quietly retorts with a small smile, "Good luck with that one."
Rolling his eyes, Sven inquires, "How long until we reach Storm Kingdom?"
"Another ten minutes…"
Nodding, the Norwegian sighs, "Well, at least he can sleep until we arrive."
The beeping sound of a comm. unit interrupts that however, and Keith suddenly sits upright as he watches the advisor pull the unit off his belt, "Yes?"
Hunk's voice comes across as he states, "We have a possible problem. Is the commander available?"
Grabbing the unit from the advisor, Keith asks, "What's going on?"
"A group went out on patrol without approval."
Sven and Lance share an irritated glance as Keith replies, "So what's the problem?"
"Princess Allura led the group out."
"FUCK!" swears Keith as he looks over at the advisor. They share a worried look for a moment then the commander asks, "Does she do this often?"
"No, but she does on occasion go out with the men on patrol. I always try to dissuade her from it. However, when that girl gets an idea in her head..." He pauses for a moment then looks at the commander with worrisome eyes as he adds, "When she has been…pushed…made to think she cannot do something, that is when Allura will do something she should not."
Swearing under his breath, Keith pushes the button to talk, "Hunk, do you know where they are?"
"No, Commander. The trooper that informed us of the patrol didn't know where they were going."
Taking a deep breath, Keith looks over at Coran, "How do we find them?"
The advisor sighs then says, "There is a tracker on her, underneath her skin, on the back of her neck. I had it put on her when Arus fell."
Keith hands the comm. unit back to him, "Tell Hunk how to operate the tracker and get us back to the compound as fast as you can."
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Entering the meadow behind Derek, Allura listens to the men cry out as they rush at the Doom soldiers. The robot closest to the back of the flames goes down then suddenly they are surrounded by Drules. A cry of alarm escapes the princess as she turns about, her sword raised in the air. She brings it down hard against the Drule closest to her. He laughs as he parries the blow then swings down his own sword hard, making Allura's hand go numb, causing her to drop the sword.
Grabbing for the blaster at her belt, Allura hears the painful cries of her men and glances over at them. She watches Derek get shot in the side then tries to turn back. Her inattention costs her as the Drule slams the butt end of his sword against her forehead, knocking her out.
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Keith does not wait for the vehicle to come to a complete stop as he opens the door and jumps out. He runs for the steps leading up into the compound and hears the footfalls of his companions behind him. Reaching the top, he glances over at Sven, "Control room! Now!"
Nodding, Sven gestures for him to follow. He and Lance lead Keith down several hallways at a run. They quickly reach a pair of double doors that stand open. Rushing into the room, Keith yells, "Status!"
"Her tracker indicates they are about two miles away from here in a meadow. She hasn't moved in the last ten minutes," Pidge informs him, a worried look on his face.
"Any other signals?" the commander inquires as he moves forward to take weapons being held out to him by an Arusian soldier. He shoves the knife into his boot then takes the short sword from him as Pidge replies, "Yes, I picked up communications between some Drule ground troops in the same area."
Keith glances back as the sound of the out of breath advisor finally running into the room reaches his ears. Ignoring him, he looks at his men to find each of them now similarly armed. His gaze goes to Hunk as he asks, "How do we get to them fast and quiet?"
"Horse…back…"
He turns to find the advisor standing behind him, "It is the…only thing we have…to use…above ground."
Turning to the closest man in the room, Keith demands, "Get us to those horses…now!"
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Awakening to the sound of a foreign language being spoken around her, Allura opens her eyelids only a fraction of an inch. Unable to see much of anything, she closes them once more and simply listens. A dry male laugh echoes in her ears a moment later and a rough voice states, "I know you are awake…"
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Riding hard through the woods and praying not to be intercepted before they can reach their destination, Keith glances over at Pidge, who is riding beside him. His eyes move to the device in the private's hand, indicating how close they are to their target. As they near the red dot, Pidge pulls back on his reins and Keith copies him. As their horses paw at the ground, the youngest member of the crew states, "They should be a quarter of a mile ahead..."
"We need to finish going in on foot." finishes Keith for him. He signals the rest of the men to get off their horses. Tying the reins to a low-hanging tree branch, he says, "Ahead quickly and quietly, flank two by two, I've got the lead." At his men's nod in affirmation, Keith takes off into the brush.
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Running her hand slowly down along her leg, Allura reaches for the knife in her boot. She feels a hand on her shoulder, turning her over, and tries to stab out with it. She cries out in pain as it is kicked from her hand, followed by male laughter from several directions. She hears the Drules converse in their language then feels a knife near her neck. Opening her eyes again, she watches the soldier smile maliciously as he rips the cap from her head then reaches down to unzip her vest, "As I thought…a woman…"
The Drule cuts the material holding the vest to her away, his eyes moving over her form. He stands back up and gives a command that the princess does not understand. She withholds a scream as two robot soldiers move toward her. Yanked upright with her arms being held on both sides, Allura looks up to find the Drule soldier in front of her again. He grins obscenely as he says, "Look what we have here…" Grabbing her chin, the soldier forces her chin up so he can look into her eyes, "A beautiful one for a change."
Allura rips her face away from him, "Get your hands off of me!"
"Oh, and she has a bit of fire." The smile grows on his face as the Drule takes a step back to look at her.
Taking a chance, Allura drops all her weight and kicks out at him as the other two have to yank her upright to keep her weight up. He laughs at her in response as he grabs the leg then twists it. A cry of agony escapes her as the princess feels something pop in her knee. She barely hears the next remark.
"I think we should keep this one for ourselves. The prince has enough beautiful women to keep him company."
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Moving quickly and silently through the woods toward the light visible ahead, Keith swears under his breath then glances to the sides to find his men alongside him. Reaching the edge of the campsite, he finds the Arusian soldiers on their knees off to one side, with robots soldiers watching over them and the princess being held up between two men near the fire. Using hand signals, he directs his men to the left and right and signals that he will go forward. They nod at him and quietly move around the woods in the dark.
Looking forward, he watches the Drule gesturing to the princess and making comments. Anger fills him as he listens to the princess' cry of pain when she tries to kick the man then watches as the soldier reaches forward and rips her shirt down the front.
As her breasts become visible, Allura screams and tries to twist away from the Drule. He continues to laugh at her as he steps forward to touch her. About to attack, Keith pauses when something amazing happens. A flash of light comes straight out of the princess and knocks the Drule backward away from her as well as the men that had been standing behind him.
In the confusion, Keith cries out to his men, "ATTACK!" and begins to swing his sword at the robot soldiers in front of him. He notes Sven and Lance fighting on the right side, Hunk and Pidge taking out the robots on the left and rushes forward toward the princess. The guards holding her release her and as she falls to the ground, Keith quickly slices through them.
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Lying on the ground, tears run down Allura's face as she curls into a ball, barely cognizant of the fighting going on around her. Sucking in a deep breath, she almost screams when she feels hands on her then stops when she hears the commander's voice, "I'm here Princess…you are safe." Allura feels something covering her then feels herself being lifted up off the ground. Wrapping her arms around him, she buries her face in his neck and releases a sob.
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The dark room inspires fear in those that enter it. Dark, blood red walls, whether from real blood or paint, which is unknown, shines around the room from the dreary light cast by torches. The old witch, Haggar, stands at an altar, staring down at the creature in her hand that is desperately trying to get away from her. Ignoring its scratching and biting, she raises a dagger high then drives it down into the animal as she continues her chant.
Turning away from the altar with her hands full of blood, she turns back to her crystal and runs her hands over it. As the blood covers the sphere, it glows brightly. The blood is gone a moment later as the globe slowly dims. Haggar finishes her chant then leans over the sphere.
Soon an evil cackle echoes around the old witch's laboratory as she stares into her crystal. Her eyes flash bright yellow as her blue cat, Coba, meows then hisses at her. Haggar chuckles to herself as she continues to stare into the swirling contents of the crystal ball, "Yes, soon my sweet pet. All of the pieces of my plan are coming together, soon all will be ready and I will have back what once was mine."
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Finishing cutting the ropes off the Arusian men, Sven looks over to see his commander wrapping his jacket around the princess then picking her up off the ground. Keith's face is stiff with rage as he looks back at him to order, "Let's get back to the compound."
Sven nods then looks down at Derek, the leader of the group of Arusian men. The man tries to rise then falls back to the ground, the wound in his side too grave. Shaking his head, Sven looks back at Keith, "They will never be able to walk it."
His eyes move over the wounded then back to Sven as he gives him an order, "Send Lance back to the compound on his horse and have them send out a shuttle. You, Hunk and Pidge stay with them in the meantime." His arms tighten around the woman in his arms, "I'm getting the princess back to Dr. Gorma." He does not wait to see if his commands are accepted and instead turns around and leaves the area.
Sven turns back to find that Lance had heard as he nods at him then runs out of the site. Bending back down to the man in front of him, he says, "Hold on tight, help will be here soon."
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Making his way through the wooded area, Keith feels Allura shaking in his arms. He soon arrives where they had left the horses earlier to find one gone. Lance had already left for the compound. He grimaces as he approaches his. He feels her dig her fingers more into his side and sighs as he whispers, "Princess, I'm going to put you up in the saddle then climb up behind you."
A soft sob escapes her as Keith lifts her up into the saddle. Her fingers shake as she grabs onto the pommel with one hand and the sides of the jacket around her with the other, her face turned away from him. Keith pulls himself up behind her then wraps his arms around her as he grabs onto the reins. He pauses when she leans back into him to hide her face against his chest with one arm around his waist.
Shifting the reins into one hand, the commander wraps the other one around Allura's back as he listens to her crying then snaps the reins. As the horse begins an easy canter, he whispers to her, "Everything is all right Princess. I'll have you home soon."
