A/N: Some references are made to my other story, Just Open Your Eyes, but you should be able to read this alone without any confusion.

Gravtron1 and I were throwing ideas around last week, and this was one of the things that popped up.

Synopsis: (Post season seven) Negotiations gone wrong end up with Keith stabbed in the back and waking up on the astral plane. While his physical body recovers, he encounters Zarkon and they fight. But, nothing goes as planned when one side of a fight to the death isn't really trying to kill the other.

Rating: K+

Genres: Humor/Friendship

Keith would never forget the day he was stabbed with a spear.

It wasn't because he nearly died, that had become almost a daily occurrence by then. The spear was new, though.

No, it was what had followed that made the event stick in his memory. Some days he was sure he had imagined it, but it had really, truly happened.

It had occurred after what Keith had thought to be a peaceful negotiations with a band of space pirates who had been harrying trader ships headed for Earth. The pirates had apparently surrendered when the Voltron lions appeared, and had been readily accepting of the terms laid out by the paladins.

Keith had turned from the pirates with the other paladins to head back to their lions, when Pidge had yelled a warning.

Something had struck Keith from behind, knocking his breath away and sending him to his knees. Allura had grabbed him, while the other three raced by with weapons raised.

His back had hurt. Something warm ran down the inside of his armor. It became impossible to keep his eyes open.

Keith's eyes had fallen shut, everything going dark and the team's shouts had faded.

Keith opened his eyes to an endless expanse of stars. He gasped, then tried to sit up. Pain shot through his back, making him groan and lay back down. Moving only his head, Keith looked around him.

No paladins. No Shiro. No Black. He was alone.

Keith slowly sat up, hissing through his teeth when the pain briefly intensified. He twisted gingerly to feel his back, but the armor was unbroken.

As Keith straightened, he noticed a growing glow on his arms. Further checking showed that his whole body had started to glow purple. The brighter the glow became, the less he hurt. After a few minutes, the pain was gone and the glow sunk to a light aura.

"Black?" Keith called, figuring it had been Black's quintessence that had healed him.

The lion didn't appear, making Keith nervous. He stood and turned in a circle before he spotted a distant, purple star. If his knowledge served correct, Keith's life wasn't in danger unless he was close to the star. He sighed in relief that it was so far away, and that he wasn't feeling drawn to it. The team had almost lost Lance that way once.

So, Keith was alive and healed. Why was he still in the astral plane? After a moment, Keith shrugged. Not even Black could heal him instantly, he supposed.

He hoped the paladins were alright, but the band of pirates had been small and no other paladins had appeared with him, so he assumed they were handling themselves.

Keith frowned at the purple star. It was still distant, but he didn't like seeing it. He turned away.

And promptly summoned his bayard.

Zarkon stood ten feet away. He wore the same armor and cape as when the paladins first encountered him, along with a large helmet that covered his whole head. Slits in the helmet glowed yellow.

"Zarkon!" Keith spat. "What are you doing here?"

Zarkon gave a dark chuckle. "Surely you must know that the connection between lion and paladin goes beyond death."

"You are not Black's paladin!"

"I am here."

Keith growled and reached for the sheath on his back, relieved when he found his Marmoran blade. He pulled it out and formed both swords.

"You really think you can kill me?" Zarkon laughed. "I'm already dead!"

Keith raised both blades. "Shiro has gotten rid of you once. I don't know how you got back, but I'll do it again!"

"So, it's a fight you want?" Zarkon raised his hand and summoned his own black bayard, which formed into a massive sickle. "Then it is a fight you will get!"

Keith yelled and charged. He took only two steps before he had to dive to the ground to avoid Zarkon's sickle. He rolled and leaped back to his feet while Zarkon rebalanced. He swung at the dark overlord, who nimbly stepped back. His sickle transformed into a war hammer, which he used to bat Keith to the side.
Keith slammed agains the ground on his side, briefly knocking his breath away. He scrambled to stand, succeeding after a few seconds to find that Zarkon still hadn't moved.

"I thought you wanted a fight?" Zarkon mocked.

Keith ran at Zarkon again, then was forced to leap away from the hammer. Zarkon formed the sickle and drove Keith further away.

Keith gritted his teeth and attempted another charge. When the sickle swung at him, he crossed his blades and caught the curved end. He flung it up into the air, but there was too much force behind both of the fighter's swings and Keith stumbled onto his stomach.

"You rely too much on your blades," Zarkon said. "How can you fight from a distance with only two swords?"

Keith frowned at the sudden lack of mockery in Zarkon's voice. He rolled under the sickle to his feet, then answered Zarkon's question by throwing his Marmoran sword at Zarkon while he lifted the sickle back up. When the blade was inches from Zarkon, one hand released the sickle to snatch the blade out of the air.

"That is better," Zarkon said as the Marmoran blade went to its knife state. "But now you are down a weapon, and have only further armed me."

Keith tried running at Zarkon while he spoke, but Zarkon simply formed a black whip and snapped it at Keith. Keith's knife vanished somewhere into Zarkon's armor, and Keith felt a flare of anger. Both at himself for throwing the blade and at Zarkon for keeping it out of his grasp.

When the whip snapped at him, Keith swung his sword at it. It stopped the attack, but the whip also wrapped around the blade. Zarkon jerked, and Keith lost his footing. He fell, losing his sword in the process.

"You let your anger cloud your attacks," Zarkon said, distangling the sword from the whip. "You should have backed further away, so I would form the sickle again. That is the only weapon you have had any luck against. Or better yet." Zarkon drove Keith's sword into the non-existant ground and left it. "Formed a new weapon yourself to fight better."

Keith growled as he stood. "Are we fighting or what?"

"No, we aren't. I'm kicking your sorry rear from here to Wozblay," Zarkon said.

Keith yelled and charged. As he ran, he called his bayard back to him and reformed the sword. He swung at Zarkon, who formed the exact same sword to block it.

"The sword again. Have you really learned so little that you only know how to fight with the sword?" Zarkon asked, completely unfazed by the blade inches from his face. "Honestly, Lotor held the black bayard for barely a varga, and he unlocked more forms that you have in two deca-pheobs."

Keith flinched. Zarkon suddenly shoved against his blade, knocking the sword away and Keith to the ground. Keith kicked out, catching Zarkon's foot and throwing him off-balance long enough for Keith to stand.

Keith ran for his sword, then felt something wrap around his waist and jerk him to a stop. He looked down to see Zarkon's whip around his middle. In a split-second decision, Keith spun and lunged at Zarkon. He managed to catch the Galra by surprise, and Zarkon stumbled back. Keith yanked the whip from Zarkon's grasp and backed up while untangling himself.

Now Zarkon was weaponless, and Keith had a weapon he didn't know how to use. Zarkon laughed and held out his hand. Keith tightened his grip, but the whip still vanished from his hands to appear in Zarkon's. Keith dove to the side and snatched up his bayard. He formed the sword and rushed close to Zarkon before he could use the whip. Zarkon formed a shield on his free arm and stopped Keith's attack while forming his war hammer. Keith had to form his shield and raise it over his head when Zarkon swung the hammer at him.

For a moment, the pair was stuck. Both had their shield occupied by the other's weapon, and couldn't move. Keith started to shake from the strain of pushing back Zarkon's hammer, and he was startled to find that Zarkon was panting slightly.

Giving a grunt of effort, Keith whipped up a foot against his shield and kicked. He shoved himself backward, sword sliding from Zarkon's shield and moving just in time to avoid the hammer. He landed on his back, and rolled backwards to stand again. He got into a defensive stance, but was unprepared for what Zarkon did next.

Zarkon laughed. Not his malevolent laugh, but a real, genuine laugh that sounded amused.

Unnerved by the laughter, Keith rapidly backed further from Zarkon. He glanced around, experience telling him that a laughing villain was a disaster in the making.

But he didn't see anything that Zarkon could use against him, and a quick check found the purple star as far away as ever.

"What is so funny?" Keith finally demanded.

"Ah, it's been a while since I could practice like that," Zarkon said with an almost nostalgic sigh. "Ten thousand years, to be exact."

Keith stared. "Practice?"

Zarkon swung his sickle to rest over his shoulder. "You didn't think I actually intended to kill you, did you?"

"Yes, I did," Keith stated bluntly.

"Ah, well, my own fault." Zarkon chuckled again, like he had played a grand joke on Keith. "It's been so long since I had any excitement in here, I had to see if I still had my old skills."

Keith back away further, deciding it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Okay, okay, I get it. But I mean you no harm." Zarkon deformed his sickle and dismissed the bayard, then held up his empty hands.

"You are up to something.

"Ah, paladins these days. So suspicious."

Zarkon held up a hand in a pause motion, then reached up to remove his helmet. His face looked... rather normal. He had red-brown irises and normal black pupils. The sclera were still yellow, but they didn't seem to glow. He had a... a nice smile that somehow didn't seem so sinister to Keith with his open expression.

Keith couldn't help it. "Who are you?"

Zarkon laughed again, then unclipped his cape to let it fall. He pulled off the shoulder armor, then removed the rest of the armor piece by piece, until he stood in black paladin armor.

"I am Zarkon, the original black paladin. And who are you?" Zarkon said, smiling indulgently.

Keith frowned and finally lowered his sword. He put a hand to his head, trying to remember if he had hit it at some point.

"You... you can't be Zarkon," Keith said. "Zarkon was evil and twisted, and would have killed me by now."

"Ah, you admit I am the better fighter, then?"

"That isn't the issue!"

"True, I knew that I could beat you from the dobosh we first fought." Zarkon's eyes briefly became pained. "But, I am sure you want an explanation of how I am here. This isn't the first time you have come to the astral plane, I assume?"

Keith stared silently.

"Work with me, would you? Anyway, I'll assume you did, since your team have survived this long."

Keith's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

"The astral plane is, essentially, the lions' consciousness. The most common part of the plane you will find yourself on is the middle ground between the five. That is where we are now."

"However, see those stars? Those are the core grounds of the lions, where you can sense their presences the strongest. Of course, the only way to attain that is to have an immensely close bond with your lion or, well, be dead."

"We've figured that out," Keith had to say. Pride filled his voice when he said, "We have flown the lions while we weren't even inside."

"Not even my team got that far," Zarkon mused. "Well, then this can't be the closest you have been to Black's core. The core of the lions hold the consciousness that have been there since they were first created. Black is strong and a leader, Red is fiery and runs on instinct, etc. However, I have learned that when a paladin dies-"

"They become part of the core, I know," Keith said smugly.

Zarkon huffed. "Do you enjoy stealing my thunder?"

"Lance nearly reached Red's core after almost dying. Alfor appeared to him and convinced him to go back. But he came as a lion."

Zarkon looked at himself and shrugged. "This is only my essence. I could take any form I pleased, but this is most comfortable for me. Trust Alfor to choose a lion's form."

Keith nearly laughed, then remembered who he was talking to. "Supposing you really are Zarkon's essence or whatever, why are you so... civil?"

"You thought I was always a power hungry warlord?" Zarkon clicked his tongue. "If Coran has let you believe that illusion for so long, then my memory of his long-winded stories has become exaggerated."

"He told us about the history of the lions and paladins." Keith crossed his arms. "It's just hard to believe that death could make you a decent guy."

"I'd be hurt if I wasn't shocked myself. But, turns out, that losing a physical body that flows with quintessence kind of dims one's desire for quintessence."

"Pidge wondered if that would be the case," Keith said thoughtfully.

"So you believe me now?"

"I haven't decided."

"Well, hurry up. Because no one lives forever, and one day you'll be joining me here. I'd rather we weren't enemies then."

Keith grimaced. "Did you have to bring my death into the conversation?"

"Hey, fact of life. And innevitable. Get used to it. It took me very little time to."

Keith snorted. "I can't believe we are having this conversation."

"What would you rather talk about? I have ten thousand years' worth of experience. I'm an open book."

"If you just wanted to talk, why did you act all sinster and 'fight me' when I first saw you in here?" Keith had to know.

"I wanted to see how your hand-to-hand had improved and it wasn't like you wouldn't have attacked me anyway, no matter how I appeared to you. Also, I wasn't lying when I said I wanted the practice." Zarkon smirked. "But, I was also bored and your reaction was priceless."

Keith shook his head. "I cannot believe this."

"Do I have to tell you again, boy? Believe it." Zarkon studied Keith for a moment. "Your physical body is nearly healed enough for you to wake up."

Keith looked down at himself. "How can you tell?"

"Secrets of the astral plane," Zarkon said. Keith raised an eyebrow, and Zarkon admitted, "Okay, I can sense your quintessence. You can, too, I know, if you take the time."

Keith shrugged. He never had worried to much about feeling out quintessence.

"Do you have anything else to ask?" Zarkon asked.

"If this real," Keith said slowly. "Does that mean we could talk again? Not for your 'pleasant' conversations, believe me."

Zarkon chuckled. "Didn't think it for a second."

"But... you did lead the original team of Voltron for deca-pheobs. If you could... help me to lead my team... I would be grateful."

"I would gladly do that, and more!" Zarkon proclaimed.

Keith smiled a bit. "What else can you do, besides scare me half to death?"

"I can teach you to fight, boy," Zarkon said.

"I can fight!"

"About as well as Alfor could."

Keith narrowed his eyes. "Was that an insult?"

"I'm just saying that there is room for improvement. You aren't the red paladin, running purely on instinct. The black paladin must know what he is doing at all times."

Keith chuckled. He was getting tired, that must have been why Zarkon was making sense to him. He sat down, eyes falling half shut.

"Your physical body is ready for you to return," Zarkon said.

Zarkon stepped closer and put a hand on Keith's shoulder. Keith didn't even flinch, no longer intimitidated by the large Galra. He blinked owlishly at Zarkon, unresistant as he helped him lay down.

"And even more importantly," Zarkon went on, "So is your team."

"I'll be back," Keith murmured. "Beat you next time."

Zarkon laughed. "Just keep telling yourself that, boy."

Keith grumbled at Zarkon's laughing at him again, but couldn't form the words to protest. His eyes fell shut. Zarkon spoke again, his words quickly fading.

"Tell Shiro that he owes me a rematch in astral chess."

"He's still not moving."

"I've done what I can, Pidge," Allura said. "He should wake up any moment."

Who were they waiting for, Keith wondered. Had someone else been injured while he was talking to Zarkon?

"He moved some. I think he is waking up now."

That was Shiro's voice. How had he gotten to the pirates' ship? Keith shifted, feeling himself laying on something softer than the lions' or pirate ship's floor.

"Keith? Come on, buddy."

Keith pried his eyes open. He squinted in the light, but he could see Shiro and the other paladins over him. Their expressions were all worried, but became more relaxed as Keith's eyes focused.

"How do you feel?" Shiro asked. "The others said that you were stabbed."

"With a spear," Lance supplied.

"Spear?" Keith repeated.

"Some sort of weird, hi-tech spear. The tip was a laser, and it sliced right through the armor. If it hadn't also mostly cauterized the wound, we wouldn't have been able to get you help in time," Hunk said.

"Oh." Keith tried to sit up, but Shiro held him down.

"Take it easy," Shiro said firmly. "Allura helped you heal and I think Black did, too, but your body is still recovering."

"What happened to the pirates?" Keith asked.

"We promised they could live if we never saw or heard of them again," Lance said. "They won't be an issue."

"Good," Keith said, glad to be rid of them.

"Hey, you went to the astral plane right?" Lance asked. "You didn't try chasing any stars, did you?"

"No, I was a little... distracted," Keith said. He looked at Shiro. "When you were in Black's consciousness, you played chess?"

Shiro's brows rose. "You mean, you met Zarkon?"

Pidge blinked. "Chess? Zarkon? What are you two talking about?"

Keith turned his head to her and grinned. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

A/N: I am treating being a paladin like being the Avatar or something like that. Remember how Aang could talk to the past avatars? Each paladin, upon their death, becomes part of their lion's consciousness. New generation paladins can sometimes meet them in various manners (on the astral plane, speaking to them in their heads, etc).