…cold.

Pidge could not remember how, could not remember why, for the sake of her sanity, she was standing in the middle of a forest. She presumed it was night, considering how there were not even stars or any celestial object to at least illuminate the place. The forest was something from a standard Earth horror movie – black silhouettes of trees with gnarled branches, red eyes that seemingly stare at her at the corner of her eyes, and her being by her lonesome self – it is a perfect recipe for a cliché, horrendous death. She is not someone easily scared of supernatural things, but something about this place makes her blood freeze and unfreeze by itself. That something was not the eerie atmosphere nor the 'I am alone' trope, but the silence that enveloped the place.

She knew of silence; it is not a foreign concept to her. But the silence that permeates the forest is unnatural. It is the void that swallowed the place, and the one that fills that void too. It is everything and nothing – all organic and inorganic things existing in this place is nothing but a forced illusion. A delusion of the greedy and wicked. Nothing truly lives here nor dies. It is life, it is death.

The silence is the forest itself.

And Pidge wondered how is that possible.

…cold…alone…

A voice. The only sound she could hear amidst the silence. Her bare feet moved against her will, as if drawn by the voice. She kept walking and walking, until she found herself standing before a humongous tree. It stood the tallest and widest among all, its ashen black branches reaching to the heavens where the others cannot. Its ancient roots dug deep into the ground – deeper than the history carved by the natives.

…cold and alone…

There it is again. This time, Pidge is sure it is coming from the tree itself. Even without willing it, her body moved to approach the tree. Four purple, glowing contraptions were dug on the roots of the tree, all of it connecting to what seemed to be a purple crystal embedded deep in the trunk of the tree. There was a stench of decay that Pidge could not describe, and she had to cover her nose as she walked closer. A rectangular block made of marble-like stone was installed before the tree and she has to squint at the words elegantly carved on its stained surface. The words were in a language she did not remember learning, but somehow could read.

For the grace of Ninhurgia.

Immediately, a question rose in her mind. Who is Ninhurgia? She paused, suddenly wondering why she would think of Who rather than What is when the voice whispered quietly, as if someone was speaking right by her ear.

…I am…cold and alone…

The question spilled from her lips before Pidge could stop it. "Who...are you?"

But the voice did not answer, repeating the same words. Each cycle growing in volume, becoming like a screech in her eardrums like the sound of nails being dragged against a blackboard. Pidge nearly bent over the surface of the stone block as she tried to block out the voice. The gnarled branches of the trees now creeping overhead to reach her.

…I am cold and alone.

… cold and alone!

…I AM COLD AND ALONE!

The voice shrieked, and all hell broke loose. The surface of the stone block collapsed inwardly beneath Pidge and revealed a deep void below. The voice, no, the voices, are beneath and around her. From the abyss itself, ghastly faces screamed the same words. Their emaciated hands reached out to her, clawing at her skin, and trying to drag her down to them. Pidge wanted to scream for help, but the void stole her voice and melded it with the chorus of embodied voices. She wanted to break free but electrified chains materialized around her wrists and ankles, shackling her to the stone block. Amidst deafening screams, her ears picked up the sound of footsteps and she desperately looked over her shoulder with hope for help.

The queen of Ninhurgia was standing behind her with white, jagged teeth smiling eerily like a skeleton. Behind her, white, hooded individuals stood in a semicircle, with the king standing right in the middle. She reached out and placed firm hands on her shoulder blades. "Rejoice, Qelzeok!" She spoke. "The Emperor has deemed you fit to serve a greater purpose. You will become one with Ninhurgia. A sacrifice for our planet's continuing prosperity."

The queen looked up and raised her arms. With a reverent voice, she announced. "For the grace of Ninhurgia."

Her company clasped their hands and repeated the same words. With little force, the queen shoved her, and Pidge pitched forward. She managed to look up once last time, at the purple crystal now pulsing like a heartbeat, before falling to the abyss below.

"…een Paladin!"

Pidge jolted awake, her hands fumbling for nothing in the air. She sat up, her eyes flicking wildly around as her body fell to a state of panic and alarm. Rough hands gripped hers firmly to stop her from hurting herself.

"…Green Paladin!" The voice that spoke was different. It is not screaming the same words repeatedly nor sounded like something from deep under a grave. It is urgent and desperate that Pidge flinched and turned with unfocused eyes. "Please calm down. You might hurt yourself."

The fog in Pidge's mind was thick, but somehow, the person before her looked familiar. White hood…pale bark skin…red hair…alien…Ninhurgian. The alien squeezed her hands gently, mint green light glowing from the bark lines on her skin as warmth tingled on Pidge's fingertips. "W-Who…?"

"My name is Azer." The Ninhurgian answered. "You have slept longer than I had anticipated, but everything has gone well." She looked up to meet her eyes. "Do you remember where you are right now?"

"I…" Pidge pulled one hand away and placed it on her throbbing temple. Where…? "I…am on a planet. Not Earth…Ninhurgia?" She murmured. "My team was supposed to get supplies. My team…Voltron. I am a Paladin of Voltron. The Green Paladin." She winced. "I got sick, I think? I don't remember much about it…"

"That is correct." Azer nodded. Her voice soft and quiet as if afraid to scare her. "And I am the healer that was sent to look after you."

"Where am I…? Where's everybody?" Whether it was because of the fog clearing in her mind or Azer's alien magic, Pidge became increasingly aware of her surroundings. She looked around and noticed that the interior is nothing like the Castle of Lions'. The walls were not made of polished Altean metal, but solid bark carved from the inside of a tree. There were no windows, but a small door that was camouflaged against the wooden walls. She would have missed it if she did not squint hard. The room's furnishing was sparse – only the basics were placed including the bed she was sitting on – and was made of the same material as the walls. All of it she could see with a dim illumination in a form of golden lantern.

"We are in the outskirts of the capital, at a distance farther where your spaceship is located." Azer rose from her stool and walked to a small table stuck at a corner of the room. Pidge could not properly make out what she was doing, but it seemed she was picking through the leaves of a plant. "Your friends are still in the capital, but…" She trailed off for a second before resuming. "They are safe, if that is what you wished to know."

The Green Paladin watched as she pounded the leaves with a stone mortar and pestle and added what Pidge assumed to be berries. She added an unknown liquid to the mix and stirred before pouring some to a wooden saucer. The Ninhurgian walked back to her bedside and offered her the tiny plate. "Drink. This will help you regain your energy."

Pidge eyed the golden mixture in the saucer warily. She expected the same feeling of repulsion she had to Ninhurgian food, but it never came. It was strange – the lack of utter aversion she has been afflicted since stepping foot on the planet - and she wanted to turn it down, but the healer was looking at her expectantly. She accepted gingerly and took a small sip. She anticipated for the taste to be bitter, but a fragrant sweetness touched her tastebuds. "What is this?"

"It is a simple medicine to regain one's strength." Azer answered as she settled down on her stool. "The ingredients are Nature's blessings. The opposite of what my people create."

Before Pidge realized, she has already drunk all the medicine. "What do you mean?"

Azer sighed and placed her hands on her lap. "My people, my planet…everything is not what it seems, Green Paladin. What your eyes could see is nothing but lies. This planet has been rotting away for hundreds of deca-phoebs…and that decay, that corruption was caused by own kind." She clasped her hands tightly together that her already pale knuckles turned white. "Forgive me, Green Paladin. This is the best I can achieve. All I can do is to get you away from Queen Ourbele. I cannot save your friends."

Pidge was confused. She could not make sense of what the Ninhurgian was saying, but she is sure that something bad is happening. "Tell me everything." She said. "From the start." It may be because of the medicine that the pounding in her head dissipated and she felt warm and full of energy. Her mind was sharp and alert, like she is at peak condition and could kick a Hunk-sized Galra if she wanted to. In fact, she might even win against a Keith-level at this rate.

"Ninhurgia is an ally of the Galra," Azer started. "And has been since Queen Ourbele took the throne. The reason is that the planet shelters galactic criminals that worked under the Empire and provides information about free planets while disguising as one. I was once one of those who transport criminals to the planet, before serving as a healer directly under the queen." She averted her eyes from the Green Paladin. "I…I was ordered to dispose you but instead, I took you away in the pretense of your impending death. It was my own doing that temporarily incapacitated you and placed you in such false condition. I did it all to deceive the queen and those loyal to her."

I take it back. Pidge thought. She is not completely ready to take whatever revelation the Ninhurgian told her. She expected her friends being in danger, but not that kind of danger. They did a thorough research about the planet, and she and Coran even checked ten times just to make sure. How could they miss that? She gritted her teeth and gripped the edge of the saucer tightly. "Explain." Her voice cloaked in the bubbling distrust and anger to the Ninhurgian, but the healer kept her head low.

"Ninhurgia has become a site for a new experiment of the Galra." Azer said. "I do not know the full details, but it has something to do with quintessence."

Of course. Pidge thought bitterly. It has to be quintessence. "What are they doing with it?"

"They are harvesting it from those that displease Zarkon." Azer answered. "They are using some kind of equipment, an experimental machinery made by the druids, to collect the quintessence and convert it into something they can use to infect the planet's life force. This allows Queen Ourbele to control the planet at her own free will."

"Hold up! What? Control the planet?" Pidge held up a hand. "What do you mean 'control the planet'? Like control everything? You know, how the trees grow, the flowers bloom, that sort of stuff?"

"Yes." The Green Paladin hoped she was joking, but the grim expression on Azer's face easily shattered that hope. "It is as you said. Queen Ourbele is controlling everything in the planet. The experiment may yet to be completed, but it has already let her become the planet itself."

"Are you fucking serious?" Pidge asked indignantly. "Why would she do that? And why are you helping me? Why didn't you tell my friends what is really happening?"

"Because you are our only hope, Green Paladin." Azer answered. "You are the Guardian Spirit of the Forest. You are the only one who can save Ninhurgia. Queen Ourbele planned to have your quintessence harvested because of your bond with Nature, but I interfered." She lowered herself to the floor and prostrated. "Please, Green Paladin. I beg of you! Free our planet and return it to what it was once. I can sense your distrust to me but believe me when I say I wish for its freedom."

Pidge rubbed her palms on her face. A part of her wants to leave this place, this alien, right now, but another is urging her to listen to the Ninhurgian. She did not know what to do. She might be the Green Paladin, the Guardian Spirit of the Forest, and all that jazz, but what can she do against an alien that is the literal planet? Those are just titles attached to her responsibility as the pilot of the Green Lion. She needed advice, but there is no one else here but her and an alien she does not trust. Even the Green lion who often prods in her headspace out of curiosity is being eerily quiet.

"Alright." Pidge said finally after a taking a deep breath. Things might be uncertain for now, but if there is anything she is really sure about, it is that she will save her friends even if she has to fucking burn the surface of the whole planet and nuke its core to pieces. "I will do it. I will save Ninhurgia."