The news had spread fast, like a wildfire through the Coalition. No one knew where the info had precisely come from, but the pictures and small articles on the situation were undeniable. And being the most significant symbol of peace in the known universe, it was quite some hot information.

The Red and Blue paladin of Voltron were Equivalents.

Of course, many cultures had a different term for it; They were lovers, married, mates, a joined union.

Even Relo had come into possession of this information just as he was heading out with the Blade of Marmora to discover the objective of the Galran ships. It was unrelated information to the mission, but given they had some time before they would even get close to the ships, Relo let himself look through the juicy gossip.

"Kolivan," he speaks quietly, leaning against the Marmora leader's seat.

"What is it?" Kolivan kept his gaze ahead, focusing on steering the ship. He only glanced in Relo's direction when a finger caressed his arm. "Yes?" he says in a softer tone.

Relo lifted the screen up for Kolivan to see. "Were you aware the Red and Blue paladin are each other's Chosen?"

Kolivan looked at it for only a few seconds, "Does it matter if they are?"

"No, I just thought it was interesting." Relo mused. Slowly his smile fell, tilting his head back. Kolivan noticed the change in atmosphere.

"I know that look," he says. "What is bothering you?"

Relo shakes his head, "Keith has gotten quite thin lately. I haven't seen him with Lance very much either, despite being each other's Chosen."

"We're in a time of war. It happens. You had to go away on that Iespion mission for a long time." Kolivan says in a tight tone. Relo nods. He had trained for it, but he still couldn't seem to prepare for just how painful it would be.

To be separated from your Chosen.

Though he supposed Coeihns tended to call it; Equivalency. It was relatively the same thing. The bond was strong within both races.

"How Galra do you think Keith is?" Relo inquired.

"Why do you ask?"

Relo leans against Kolivan, staring out to the stars. "You and I both know how dangerous it can be to be apart from one's Chosen for too long. Especially when the bond is still fresh. I learned that humans don't really have that kind of bond with each other. It just made me wonder if Keith does or does not considering he is a half breed."

"I suppose we won't know unless we ask him. Don't focus on that right now. We have a mission to do. I don't want you getting distracted."

"Me? What about you?" Relo twirled his fingers along the long braid of Kolivan's hair. "I don't want a repeat of the Rumvic sector incident."

Kolivan's jaw tensed, "That was one time and we were a lot younger." he said stiffly.

"You crashed an entire cruiser into another cruiser." Relo says blankly. "That is as 'distracted' as a person can be."

"You weren't being very helpful that day." Kolivan grumbled darkly. "You were reckless back then. You still are. Taking risks that you didn't need to take."

Relo recalled the memory almost fondly, staring at the picture of the two paladins. He was reminded of Kolivan and himself. "Don't regret it for a second. It was the recklessness that caught your attention."

Kolivan reached over, taking a hold of one of Relo's ears to tug him off his seat, "That should not have been the kind of attention you wanted."

Relo shook free, his ear flapping up and down. "It worked, did it not? You noticed me."

They two share a small look, a secret connection shared between them.

"Take my blood and body..." Kolivan says repeating the vow all Galra swore to the day they became the Chosen of another. "Let it be yours till they turn to dust. In-"

"In return, our souls shall be one," Relo whispered the finishing line. He'd never forget the day he made that vow.

As he returned to his seat, sensing Kolivan's gaze on him from time to time, he thought back to Keith. That young little halfbreed….

Was he aware of the Galran cultures at all? If he wasn't, Relo felt the first thing he should teach him was about the Chosen rituals and vows. He had his own Chosen after all.

He just hoped everything was working well between them. For Keith's sake….

"Kolivan," he speaks up once more.

"What?"

"Shouldn't we tell the red paladin about Krolia?"

Kolivan's gaze was heavy, no real sign of his thoughts shown on his face. "It would only cause complications with both of them. Krolia is reckless enough already, her son just as much. If she learns who the red paladin is it will be a reckoning, unlike anything we've ever seen."

Relo can't help but chuckle, "True. However, she will find out eventually if we don't tell her and then she will come after your head for keeping the secret. Scratch that, our heads. She will come after me too because I am also aware." he paused, "This entire ship. Everyone on this ship is now an accomplice whether they know or not. She will take them all out."

Kolivan let out a long sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "We will deal with that when she arrives in a few days."

Relo accepted that, looking back down at the photo. He wondered if Krolia would like her son's Chosen.

/

"We got word on what the Galra were after yet?" Shiro asked as he circled his Lion around the now previously conquered Galran supply planet. With the ships leaving the area completely, it took only a few hours to gather the planets and liberate each one.

It was a great day for Voltron Coalition.

"The Blade of Marmora says multiple ships have begun converging on a single area, but our scanners can't pick up anything out there. It's open space." Coran explained.

"That can't be right," Allura says, looking over the scanners again. "They wouldn't put that much force into nothing without some reason. Shiro, I believe we should still investigate."

"With that many ships?" Lance questioned, "What's our backup plan if they turn around and start firing at us?"

"We'll keep our distance till we can confirm what it is." Shiro tells them. "Let's start heading in that direction." the team quickly returned back to the castle to initiate a wormhole jump.

"It's gotta be something big if the entire Galran empire is after it." Hunk says as they got to the bridge. "Makes me a little nervous."

"Perhaps it's a power source?" Pidge guessed, pushing up her glasses.

"We won't know till we get there." Shiro says as they take their seats. "Ready for the jump, Allura."

"Right." she sent a message out to the Coalition just as she prepared the ship to leave. "Is everything secured?" she asked.

"We've got it handled." Ryner's face appeared on the screen. "Are you heading to the next location?"

"Yes. We will contact you soon. Call the moment something starts to go wrong." she requested.

"Of course." Ryner bowed her head. She paused, the Olkari smiling a little. "Hello, Keith. Lance." she says to them.

"Oh… Hi." Lance waved, not sure why she was suddenly so friendly. "Keith, say hi back." Lance nudged him. Embarrassed and not sure Ryner even knew his name Keith lifted his hand, waving slightly.

"Hello."

Ryner found this pleasing, a few giggles echoing behind her. She hushed them to be quiet. "Leave the two in peace." she says behind the intercom before smiling back at them. "Good luck, Paladins."

Despite the conversation ending on a strange note, Allura nodded. "Right. See you soon." not sure what that was about she ended the transmissionLet'sets get those coordinates in." she says, moving up the platform to begin the wormhole jump.

No one seemed to notice the Yellow and Green paladin sharing a small smirk of victory.

A few minutes later they were making a jump to the supposed hot spot the Galra empire were heading to. Keeping back far enough to avoid detection they decided to let Pidge go in first. With her lions ability to camouflage, she would be able to get a close enough distance without being detected.

She never expected to find out what the Galra were after.

"Guys…" she choked out within the intercom.

"Have you confirmed what it is?" Shiro questioned.

"Yeah… And it isn't making any sense." There is a long pause, " It's him."

"Who exactly?" Allura frowned, ready to send the lions off at a moment's notice.

"It's Lotor. They're attacking Lotor!"

/

The Prince of the Galran empire stood alone, staring out at the stars from his ship. He folded his arms, deep in thought as his soldiers and generals worked below. They had begun to notice a change in his behavior. He had been distracted lately.

It was obvious why, since he had been this way since they had run into that Blue paladin. They expected they would see Voltron a lot lately, which was no big deal. What bothered Lotor was how he had risked his own life to save the strange blue paladin back at the mines.

Lotor felt no fondness for him. Yet his eyes haunted him. He was capable, and a good shot from what he could tell. He could say he admired the paladin for those skills but that was it.

He had acted impulsively when he saved him from the collapsing cave walls. Even now he couldn't fathom why.

He did not care if the blue paladin lost all hope or if he fell into a pit of despair. But he couldn't just let him die. He didn't want the paladin to die.

It was as if….

As if he wasn't trying to save the blue Paladin, but someone else. Yet those kind of thoughts made no sense.

Something about his blue eyes made him feel sad.

Made him want to ensure they stayed safe, even for just a little longer.

It's what made his own thoughts all the more confusing. He couldn't talk to any of his generals about this because they wouldn't understand either. He was on his own.

"Prince Lotor?" Acxa made her presence known behind him.

"What is it, Acxa?" he didn't turn to look at her.

"I came to check on you. You've been up here for hours," she says softly.

He took her words into account, "I suppose I have." he agreed. "Just lost in thought, nothing more. How is the project?"

"Underway and right on schedule, sir," she explains. "We are working around the function for the Telludove till we are able to get our hands on the technology."

"It's only a matter of time till then," Lotor smirked. With the two biggest forces fighting against each other at this moment, it had allowed Lotor to go about his work freely. His father was so blind sighted by Voltron he hardly noticed what his own son was up to.

Of course, with this war came the unknown future of the universe.

Who would win in the end? The Galra empire or the new founded Voltron Coalition. If he had to be honest, he hoped the Coalition would win. His Father was not the man he once was, and if he continued to rule, there would be nothing left to rule over. Not that he ever cared about his Father's empire.

He was honestly quite happy when he had been banished and the role of an eventual successor was taken from him. Good riddance to it. It was almost pointless anyway. Zarkon had no plans on dying, so a successor was foolish.

"Everything is basically done. There are only two components left that we need." Acxa explains.

"The comet and a telludove." Lotor nodded. "Be patient. They will be ours through time."

She nodded, turning to leave. "Would you like to join us?"

He smiles, following after her to check on the progress of his new ship to be. His generals welcomed him with smiles as he approached the vessel. It was hardly finished, but it could fly at the moment and sustain normal life functions for a few days. The engine was basic till they could get their hands on that comets ore.

"It's coming along well." he smiles.

As his generals talked about the ship to him, he felt something odd.

Something like eyes staring at him.

He had felt that feeling a lot lately, but couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from.

It was always there lately. He felt almost paranoid as though he imagined it.

Then he saw them. The eyes.

The cat that sat on Narti's shoulder was staring at him. Its golden eyes were locked with his own, sucking him into its gaze. He frowned at the sense of foreboding.

"Narti." he began to say before an explosion followed a second later.

They gasped when the entire ship tilted, the explosion going off in a lower level.

"What was that?!" Zethrid demanded. Lotor turned to look out of the ship, realizing a moment later what it was. The Galra.

A dozen of Galran cruisers had managed to locate them, taking fire a moment later. They stumbled around, struggling to keep their footing.

"How did they find us?!"

Lotor turned, a lump in his throat. Slowly he looked over the sentries, then his generals. The sentries hadn't left this base, so there was no way his father could have tracked them.

Then it only left….

He knew before he had to think about it. He just wished he didn't have to.

But he could see it that feline's eyes, boaring into him, watching his every move.

The damn witch.

He rushed forward, grabbing his sword. They had little time and he couldn't hesitate. None of them would get out alive if he didn't…

It was Narti. Or more specifically, it was her cat. It allowed her to see, as well as one more.

Zarkon's witch. She had been watching them for who knows how long. Evidently, she had only just deemed them recently as a threat and informed Zarkon.

The tracked them through that cat and would continue to do so if they didn't get rid of it. It sat on Narti's shoulder. One swing it would be gone, and so would... Narti would most likely-

He had to do it. For the sake of everyone else, he had to. They wouldn't be able to escape if Haggar knew their escape route.

"LOTOR, NO-!"

Just as he swung Ezor's scream seemed to shock him enough to lose a good amount of his momentum.

Then that damn cat jumped!

The next thing he knew he was slicing into the skin of Narti's shoulder and lower neck.

He managed to curve to the right just enough to stop his blade from digging deeper, but Narti was falling backwards. Lotor dropped his sword, snagged her by the waist and bracing her fall.

Her body convulsed, reaching up blindly for the wound along her shoulder.

"Why did you do that?!" Zethrid demanded, her face pale.

Lotor turned to snap, "Get the cat!"

Acxa was already pulling out her gun and aiming. It ducked to the left, scurrying down the platform and squeezing through the door to escape out into the hall. She attempted to give chase before Lotor called her back.

"Forget it! It's good as dead now! Get to the ship!" he commanded. His generals jumped into action, still confused and startled, but knowing enough that they had to get out of here.

He placed on arm around Narti's back and the other around her knees before lifting her up.

Carrying Narti into the ship he strapped her into the seat behind his own and started up the engine. The others rushed to their own spots, barely able to strap in before Lotor was shooting off.

How they managed to escape, Lotor will never know. Their engines weren't the best, but he supposed luck had been on their side today in some small way. He figured the ships were too busy blowing up the main ship that they didn't notice them sneaking out within the debris.

When they were a safe distance away, his generals began to look towards him.

"Narti…" Ezor said through the coms, "Are you okay?"

She turned to look at the camera, gripping her shoulder tightly. Even with no eyes or way to speak, she still seemed able to convey "No, I am not okay!" through her body language.

"Lotor." Acxa says, "Why?"

"You asked before how they located us. It was through that blasted cat," he answered simply

"B-but… that cat helped Narti to see." Ezor says.

"It was also given to her by Zarkon's witch so she wouldn't be a liability." Lotor grumbled, "Haggar had a connection with it."

"Is that what she is now?" Zethrid grunted, "A liability?"

Lotor took a long time before he answered, "At this moment, yes." He could already feel the cold stares bearing down on him.

"If she is so useless now why did you bring her?" Ezor hissed

"Would you have preferred I killed her or left her there?" Lotor replied calmly, turning his ship to change their directions. "I saved her for there is value in all four of you. I appointed her my general long before Hagar gave her that cat because I could see that. Cat or no cat I still see that."

His words seemed to dumbfound them to silence, their eyes widening. Acxa lowered her gaze, suddenly looking emotional. "I-I am sorry we doubted you. You said that she was a liability a moment ago so I assumed-"

"Her injury makes her a liability. Which is why we must correct it as soon as possible and get some medical assistance." Lotor quickly corrected.

"Where though?" Ezor inquired

"I was just trying to figure that out before you all started accusing me of being someone like my father." Someone who didn't care how many of his allies he had to kill or betray for his own self-interest.

His generals quickly shut their mouths. Suddenly there was a tapping noise. When Lotor looked at the screen, Narti was saluting him.

A sign of loyalty.

He let out the breath he had been holding. "Rest now, Narti."

Their best bet was to find somewhere to lay low for a while. Somewhere with shelter and supplies, but they had insufficient options.

Shooting back to the stars there seemed to be a small amount of turbulence. Not sure what sort of field they must have just passed over, Ezor suddenly began to panic.

"What the- When did that get there!?" she screamed.

"What is it, Ezor?" Acxa demanded.

"The green lion! It's right behind us!" looking back she was indeed correct. The green lion had been flying the opposite direction of them, the hull of the ship just beginning to emerge from some camouflage mode. It must have gotten too close to their own ship and it messed with the system, revealing itself.

"Voltron is here?" Zethrid grunted.

Lotor quickly picked up the speed, shooting to the right. It wasn't long before the Green lion began its pursuit.

"You've got to be joking," Lotor grumbled. Zarkon and this all in one day?

"Why is it just the one?" Ezor asked, readying the guns just in case the Green lion began to fire back.

"It must have been sent to scout ahead. Zarkon's order probably caught Voltron's attention." Lotor theorized. Which meant that the Voltron castle and the rest of the lions were not far behind.

"Why are we running? If it's just one I say we take it!" Zethrid pounded their fist.

"It won't be just one for long." Acxa frowns. "Is there any way to lose them?"

"Our ships are relatively the same speed." Lotor scowled, "We won't' be able to lose them out in the open." he pulled up his scanners, realizing a planet was close. It was uninhabited, so even if they couldn't get away with speed, perhaps if they can get to cover they can find enough time to get Narti treated and figure out a plan.

With that small idea, he turned his ship to head in that direction.

It was his only chance. He just needed to gain enough distance and lose them around the planet.

Just as he assumed right as they got to the planet Voltron's sizeable white ship appeared as well, the rest of the paladins emerging from it.

"Everyone hold on." he nose-dived downward, into the planet's atmosphere.

The red lion was hot on their tail, moving faster than they anticipated compared to the others. A few lasers shot out from the tail of the beast, catching the side of their ship from time to time. They chased each other around the mountains and forests below, like a game of cat and mouse. He never liked being the mouse in this situation.

"We'll never lose this thing-!" Zathrid grunted.

Lotor cursed when he felt his entire ship shake, as if from turbulence.

The warning signs proved to be something much worse..

Their back engine was hit, causing the ship to go into a spin. Losing control a moment later they had no means of trying to shield themselves for the crash against the trees below.

"Brace for it!" Axca roared

On impact, Lotor's vision went dark for a moment, a flash of white following.

He suddenly remembered something strange.

A memory of his childhood.

He had only been a few years old, isolated from other Galran children as the Prince of the empire. His father was absent through most of his life, only showing up when it was time for Lotor to appear with him during political meetings or during arena matches.

They never talked.

Zarkon cared less about him, and Lotor knew why. He thought Lotor weak for being half Altean. Though that was no fault of his own. Perhaps his Father should have made a better choice on who he laid with if this was going to be a problem.

He never knew his mother. He was told she died when he was born.

Servants and trainers were the only people he interacted with. There had been one woman who served him. She had a child of her own. He would be a servant when he grew as well and was often with her.

When Lotor had time, they played together. He loved playing with that boy. It was his first and only friend. He was very precious and dear to him. He swore to protect him from any harm and have that servant boy train beside him.

He wanted that boy to stand together as an ally. Go adventuring with him into the galaxy! It was a child's dream...

Then something happened.

What was it again?

It had something to do with his Father and the color blue.

Blue.

Something tragic had occurred because of a simple color.

It made him sad.

It made him mad.

It was the first day he truly ever hated his Father.

Perhaps that is why he never let his generals anywhere near Zarkon. He felt that he would do to them whatever he did to that servant boy. He couldn't allow that.

So as the ship tipped over after the crash landing, he grabbed Narti, tossed her over his shoulder and broke the glass of his cockpit. The others were tumbling out, drowsy and disoriented.

Some sort of adrenaline was getting him to move, and he tugged them to their feet, barking at them to escape into the trees before Voltron could surround the crash site and touch down to round them up.

They stumbled to follow his order, escaping into the woods.

With their luck Voltron had lost sight of them, the heavy density of the forest scrambling their trackers.

They had time to figure this out, but with no ship and all of them injured in some way by the crash of his own blade, they had limited routes they could take.

All in all, he was having a bad day.

Lotor must defend his generals with his life if he ever wishes to get them out of there alive.

Yet old memories are resurfacing, memories he long since forgot. Perhaps they are the key to his puzzled thoughts of the Blue paladin?

But first, he must survive the wrath of red lion's pilot.

So yeah. This was my fault. There is a large surge of updates because I have this story in another site. On Archive of Our own. And I've been updating that story there, but I forgot to do it here. SO BOOM! Over 5 updates! YAYYYYYYY XD

I'm so sorry guys! :( I really didn't mean to do this. But hey, now you have a whole bunch to read!

Meladi1: Hah yup! Now it is time for that big switch XD Awwww, Muffin~ That is so cute

Allyourpillsx: Oh my gosh, thank you so much ;-; That means so much to me! Did you like voltron season 5? I really liked it!

Carethiel: Here is the update! YAY!

xSavageNinja: WE ALL LOVE JEALOUS KEITH!

Adiranna Agray: Thank you for reading this story! It means so much to me!

Lola: AWWW ;-; Thank you!

Deity of Death: If you thought two chapters is great, HERE YOU GO! TAKE 5 XD

AirenLag: It could be a crush~ Who knows~ Could be something else~ I dunnno~ Merry (late) christmas to you too! And happy valentines day! And easter! and Saint patricks day! And every other holiday I wasnt here XD

: technically he kind of had one in the last story 0.0 So I kind of let Lance have his turn at that. Though Lance won't be swarmed with people anymore after chapter 7. XD

CaptainHuggyface3218: Right? Lance worked that rope! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOU SUPPORT! I'm so sorry for this long wait!

Knightowl247: Lance's greatest weapon is his legs~

YokaiAngel: THANK YOU!

Ewink18: Ewink! you are the best ever! Oh my gosh. Merry christmas to you, but sorry that is late! And happy valentines day, and easter, and every other holiday that has passed! I hope you've been well!