Summary: Now a cadet at the Galaxy Garrison, Kagome's endured plenty. With no warning, she's swept up into a new adventure with a new team. Her docile nature is shed and is replaced by a warrior. A powerful force to be reckoned with, she's not what her appearance makes her out to be. The original White Paladin and all she forged reside in her. That bitter embrace seems unavoidable.
Pairing: Keith x Kagome. (+side shipping here and there.)
Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.
Note:
Flashbacks/Past told in bulk Italics.
This is kinda a revamped version of The White Paladin.
Chapter One
Gazing up at the sky, she felt so small. Everyone seemed so sad that night, but she didn't understand why. Nor could she understand the way they laughed even as they cried. Her brother had dressed her and done her hair in a way far more different than how she normally would have it. She even wore a dress as opposed to her usual choices of trousers and tunics. Her hair was woven with pink flowers, dark locks falling down to her knees in gentle waves as opposed to the normal way she had it back in a braid to keep it out of the way as she would run around and play.
She glanced away from the sky and drew her knees up to her chest, glancing down to her side. She sat within a large flower patch of yellows and whites. They weren't the same as the flowers that were woven into her hair. They smelled different. The ones in her hair were special, she knew. They were the blooms of memory. She didn't know much about them, or what made them so special, for that matter, and her brother never bothered to answer all her confused questions as he styled her hair for her earlier that afternoon.
"I wonder when Mama will be back…" she mused quietly. It seemed that, just like her father, her mother had just vanished. Well, maybe not. She didn't have any memories of the man that she'd only ever seen in pictures, of the man Ciyras had told her stories of.
She'd asked him earlier as he did her hair, as well. Just when it would be that their mother would finally return. He'd answered her, but not without difficulty, she noticed. She didn't understand his hesitation, or why he seemed to be so somber that evening. He was quiet. He almost seemed exhausted, dark circles forming beneath his eyes.
"Mother… won't be home for a long time, Azilu…" Ciyras said as he struggled for the words to say to the young child. She looked back at him, forcing him to let go of her hair to keep from pulling on it. She looked at him with a frown, and she noticed the way his gaze clouded over some as he looked back at her.
"Well, where'd she go?" she asked, pouting. She wasn't able to prevent her childlike indignation from seeping into her tone. "She never finished our story!"
His lips quivered a bit as a small shadow of a smile danced on his otherwise somber expression. He rested a hand on the top of her head, petting her hair in a feather-light touch. "I know…" he said softly, "but she had to go. She didn't want to be too late meeting Father, after all."
She felt her frown deepen, confusion bubbling inside her. Before she could start to say anything else, she saw the way he looked away to gather another flower. As he did, his emerald eyes glossed over with moisture, and she felt her voice suddenly run away. No words could form, and it was almost as if her will to speak had abruptly died. Silently, she looked back ahead of her. She didn't say anything else as his fingers returned to her hair, working patiently on putting flower after flower in her hair.
She rested her chin on her drawn-up knees as she sat in the silence and safety the warm nightly air provided.
According to her mother's stories about him, her father always watched over them from the stars, since he wasn't able to come home. Did that mean that she was watching from there, too? She looked back up at the sky, accidentally tumbling back when she tilted her head too far back. As she landed, she let her arms spread out beside her head as she mapped out the stars, the constellations she knew by heart.
Without thinking, she held a hand up and waved. The stars above twinkled in response, the sea of shining lights blurring as she let sooty lashes flutter close.
Kagome opened azure eyes to mutely stare up at the ceiling of her dorm. She didn't know what it was, but something in the air kept her from being able to fall asleep that night. She glanced at her bedside clock for only a second, scowling to herself when it revealed to still be quite early in the night hours. She sat up with a muted huff, and the cream-colored ball curled into her side sat up not even a full second later, glancing towards her with wide, curious crimson eyes. The kitten-sized feline gave a chirping mew as she bounded up onto her legs. Kagome smiled and gently patted between her ears.
"You can't sleep either, huh?" Kagome questioned softly.
"Mew!"
Kagome took a deep breath and pushed herself out of her bed. She pushed her hair back over her shoulder as she made her way to her closet. Once there, she bent over and opened a container to peer inside. The moment she did, her eyes landed on a pink, feathered toy, and she carefully picked it up. She held it gently in her hand, the other toying with the feathers on the end.
"Here."
She paused mid-step and turned to face the man standing behind her. The moment she did, she spotted the object he was holding out towards her, and she craned her head to the side in confusion. "A toy?"
He nodded in response. Kagome reached to take it and a second later the cat held in her arms zeroed in on it. She pounced on it, snatching it clean from her hands and swatting it to the ground as she followed after. Kagome took a step back as it clattered to the ground, blinking owlishly at the cat's immediate response to the object.
He laughed and looked back at Kagome. "Guess she likes it, then?" he asked, and Kagome giggled softly in response.
"I guess so!" she exclaimed cheerfully. Looking down, she was keen to notice the way the color matched the pink of Kirara's collar. "Oh! It even matches her collar."
After a couple more minutes of talking and watching Kirara attack the toy, he made his way to the door, and Kagome glanced up at his face. "I should be on my way," he said. "You should give your mom a call tonight," he said before he opened the door.
"Has she been calling you a lot about me?" Kagome asked, and he responded with a slight smile- one she could read automatically.
"Yeah," he admitted after a few seconds. "She's my sister. I know how she gets when she's worried."
Kagome smiled and nodded. "Okay," she said. "I'll call her tonight before Lights Out."
Shiro nodded and turned to leave. "Thank you."
"... I should give mom a call tomorrow…" It'd been a few weeks since they'd last talked, and she knew she should check in with her after the past year. She sighed and stood back at her full height, plucking a few pieces of clothing from her closet in the process.
She was running low on food for Kirara, and her last few treats had depleted severely throughout the day. Instead of wasting time laying in bed, it'd just be better for her to sneak off-site to get some more before the rest of her supplies completely ran out.
She changed out of the clothes she'd put on so she could try and go to bed, draping them on the desk in her room, and put on the clothing she'd grabbed from her closet. They weren't much, nothing that'd risk drawing attention to her as she skulked around the empty, patrolled hallways. A pair of black leggings, a pair of white shorts and a white tank top. Once she'd put them on, she grabbed her oversized black hoodie and put it on over her other clothing. She grabbed her combat boots and sat down on her chair as she put them on.
Kagome stood up and ran her fingers through her messy hair, working it back into a sloppy bun to keep the long locks out of her face. Not long after, she tugged the hood on her hoodie up. She grabbed her yellow bag and rummaged around in it for a few seconds, discarding things she didn't need at the moment to have a bit of extra space. Once done, she nodded and made her way to the door. She opened it and paused, glancing back at Kirara. However, the moment she did, she felt as the cream-colored cat sped out the door past her legs. She froze in place before she darted her head around to peer down the hallway where Kirara had dashed down. Her eyes widened and she hurried out behind her.
"H-Hey, Kirara come back!" Her sharp, hissed whisper went on to be ignored by the cat as she raced down the hall. A few seconds later, the car had rounded a corner and completely vanished down the hallway, leaving her behind beside her room. With no other choice, Kagome gave chase behind her on quiet, careful feet.
Even though Kirara was no longer in her line of sight, Kagome still could tell the path she'd taken. She snuck about as quietly as she could as she dashed down the hall. Every now and again, a sharp hiss of "Kirara!" came from her in hopes that it'd get her to stop her running down the seemingly empty halls. She knew they weren't empty, however. In different locations, she could feel the auras of those who patrolled for people sneaking around just like she was currently doing. Every now and again, she had to stop and hide away out of sight from the figures making their rounds.
So wrapped up in chasing Kirara down and keeping tabs on the auras she knew well enough to avoid, Kagome failed to notice the presence of two other people sneaking around. She rounded a corner, and, just as she did, she ran head-first into another figure. The collision knocked them both to the ground, them to their back and she fell across them. Their body cushioned her fall.
"Yow!" A voice she had mostly ever heard while passing through the halls reached her ears, and she sat up so she wasn't pinning him on the ground. "What was that for?"
Kagome sat on the floor beside him, regathering her bearings and searching every possible path Kirara could've gone down.
"Oh- hello."
Kagome blinked owlishly at the brazen, flirty tone he spoke to her with, and she arched a perfect brow at his boldness.
"I know you," he said, sitting up. "You're Kagome, right?"
"Yes," Kagome responded, not bothering to look back at him as she pushed herself back up onto her feet. A second later, she reached a hand out and helped him back up off the ground. He took it without a second thought. "Sorry to run into you like that, but you wouldn't have happened to spot a cat come running through here, did you?" she asked in a hurry.
"A cat?" He blinked in obvious confusion. "No. Aren't animals prohibited?" he asked.
Kagome nodded and walked around him. "Yup," she answered, but that was all she said. She returned to her slinking around in search of Kirara. To her chagrin, the two decided to tag along with her.
"The name's Lance, by the way," the one she ran into said. Kagome paused and glanced at him, and he motioned to the other guy a few paces behind them. "Big guy right there is Hunk."
"I know you guys," she said. "You two and Pidge really messed up on the test drills today," she remarked as she turned on her heel. "Why are you out, anyway?" she asked as she rounded another corner, finally picking up on Kirara's path again. "It's past curfew, y'know," she said. "Shouldn't you two be in your dorms?"
"Ah, you see," Hunk said, joining her on her right side. "I've been telling him that!"
"Yeah?" Lance saddled up to her left with an arched brow. "And what's your excuse?" he countered at the same time.
Kagome paused again and glanced at him, folding her arms over her chest. "I was going to sneak off the Garrison's property so I could go get some supplies for Kirara, but she dashed off out of the blue and now I have to find my cat before I do anything else," she responded. Kagome slumped her shoulders with a weak sigh. "I doubt any of the other officers will be as lenient as Takashi was…" It wasn't as if she was on anyone's bad side, and she wanted to keep it that way.
"Huh, Takashi?" Lance perked up a bit. "You mean Takashi Shirogane, right?" When she nodded, he leaned in a bit closer. "Woah you knew him?! Man, that guy was a legend!"
Kagome stiffened up, unable to prevent a frown from appearing on her face. Hearing him referred to as if he was gone always managed to stun her. It'd been a year, and yet she still never expected to hear him referred to in the past tense. Her expression softened and she nodded. "I… I guess you could say that…"
Most people who knew that they'd been family were other Garrison Officers, so Lance's casualness at talking about it didn't offend her. She knew he'd have more tact and care if he was aware. It'd been so long since she'd spoken of him out loud, and it felt strange. A lump formed in her throat, and she forced the tears away before they could fully form.
Kagome shook her head to clear her thoughts from the somber ones that'd infected her brain so suddenly. As she did, she whirled around, hands on her hips, to glare at the two sticking by her side all of a sudden. "And you two are following me because…?" she asked with a huff. "You're gonna get me caught."
Lance flicked his hand in a casual wave. "Psh, what makes you think we'll get you caught?"
"Please," she scoffed, flicking her hand in a mocking wave to what Lance had done. "I've done this plenty of times before. I know what I'm doing, but I can't account for stragglers."
Right as those words had left her mouth, the faint sound of footsteps drawing near echoed through the eerily quiet halls. Kagome froze and eyed the two with her as she recognized the aura as someone making their rounds through the night hours, and she immediately swapped her focus to search for a hiding spot big enough for three. Once zeroing in on one spot, she shoved both boys along with her.
"Shut up and move!" she hissed in a sharp whisper. "You're gonna get me caught if you don't!" she hissed out through clenched teeth as she shoved them around a corner and far out of the way."
Silence claimed the area as they hid around the corner. The two boys with her didn't dare to make a single sound as she glared up at them in silent warning not to. As the footsteps fully faded away, Kagome breathed a sigh of relief and slumped against Hunk for a moment as she once again began searching for the path Kirara had taken. Once finally finding it, she began to move again.
"Haah… why is she even scampering off like this?" she sighed to herself as she made her way down the hall on silent feet. "She never does this… I don't know what's gotten into her."
With Hunk and Lance still in tow with her, Kagome took extra caution in sneaking through the halls, wanting to allow herself enough time to duck and hide with them following along after her if it was needed. Eventually, she made it to the roof, and she let out a sigh of relief upon spotting Kirara sitting and flicking her twin tails in a rhythm. She was lounging next to a familiar figure, watching them closely with wide, crimson eyes. Kagome recognized them. It was Pidge, the third to the two with her.
"Kirara!" Kagome exclaimed and made her way over to the feline. "There you are!" Her voice and presence took Pidge by surprise, and they jumped and looked up at her.
"Oh," Pidge calmed upon recognizing her and then looked at the cat. "Is that your cat?" Pidge asked before continuing, "she followed me up here and wouldn't leave me alone."
Kagome nodded and cradled Kirara in her arms, her expression shifting into apologetic. "Yeah," she said. "Sorry," she added on. "I have no idea why she just ran off like that. She never does it."
Pidge looked the cat over a bit closer before shifting their attention back to the girl. "How come she's got two tails?"
Kagome tilted her head to the side at the question before forcing a laugh. "Oh, she's just a really special breed, is all!" she exclaimed. As she fell silent, Kagome observed what Pidge had set up in front of them, and she sat down next to where they sat. "Say, what're you doing out here, anyway?" The curiosity was reflected in dazzling azure eyes.
"Oh, just um… just watching the stars," Pidge responded, taken a bit off guard when Kagome freely sat down alongside them. Kirara settled down on her head a second later, tails once more flicking in a rhythm as her eyes mimicked her owner's, watching in silent curiosity.
"So, you're out here looking at the stars, but you've got all this stuff set up everywhere?" Kagome questioned, her tone hinting to Pidge that she hadn't quite believed that excuse. A second later, she sighed and shook her head, turning her focus up to the star-littered sky. "What are you really up to out here, Pidge?" she asked.
"Yeah!" Lance peered over Kagome's shoulder, setting a hand there to keep his balance as he looked over the spread of technology that'd been set up on the roof. "This stuff doesn't look like Garrison tech."
"That's cuz it's not," Pidge responded. "I built it."
Hunk reached a hand out to it, only to get it swatted away by Pidge, glaring at him silently. A moment later, Pidge turned back to the technology. "With it, I can scan all the way out to the edge of the solar system!"
Kagome looked back at them with wide eyes. "Huh?"
"Edge of the solar system, you say?" Lance rose a brow and leaned even more over Kagome's shoulder, much to her apparent annoyance. "You mean all the way to Kerberos?"
At the mention of Kerberos, Kagome glanced back at Lance. A second later, she shoved him from her person with an irritated noise falling from her otherwise silent form. He fell back and landed with a thud before sitting back up. When she noticed Pidge's shift in emotions, she glanced at them. Immediately, she spotted the sulky look on their face, and Kagome frowned in response.
"Pidge?" she asked, her voice catching their attention. "What's wrong?"
"He gets riled up whenever any of the instructors bring up the Kerberos Mission," Lance intervened. "I don't get it- why though?"
Pidge remained silent, turning back to the technology in front of them and ignoring the others present. Lance huffed.
"Oh, come on Pidge! If we're gonna work as a team, we can't have any secrets between us."
Kagome's expression softened at the complicated emotions she could feel coming from Pidge, and she leaned in a bit closer to the silent figure. "I… I know I have nothing to do with you three, but I'd like to know as well Pidge," she finally said something, her words garnering their attention. She glanced down at her lap, tightening her hands until her knuckles turned paper-white. "I keep myself calm, but I have my own… opinions on the Kerberos subject," she admitted, "I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut whenever it gets brought up, too."
"Wait what?"
Kagome ignored Lance's voice as she focused on Pidge. Eventually, they looked up to meet her gaze. It was quiet for a moment before Pidge sighed and finally relented.
"Fine," they said with a sigh, "I'll tell you." The words drew the attention of the rest outside with them. "Everything is about to change. The Kerberos Mission wasn't lost because of some error," Pidge said. "I've been using this stuff to scan the system, and I've picked up a bunch of alien chatter."
Kagome blinked owlishly, not liking the feeling that spread through her chest as she processed those words. "... Alien?"
"Wait, what?!" Hunk rolled away from his spot next to Pidge's set up. He backed away, and Kagome could feel the alarm in his aura. "Aliens? Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure," Pidge held up a notebook with a drawing on it, pointing a finger to it. The action coaxed the rest into looking at it. "It's going crazier than ever tonight. They keep repeating the same word over and over again- Voltron."
"How sure are you?" Lance asked, folding his arms over his chest, almost as if he didn't believe anything Pidge had just said. Right away, Pidge jumped up and glared at Lance.
"I know what I'm talking about!" Pidge snapped back defensively. "I'm not crazy!"
"So you're implying that aliens somehow interfered with the Kerberos Mission, and that's why the crew is missing?" Kagome asked, her voice soft. Pidge pouted at her question, almost as if they expected her to doubt them just like Lance seemed to. When Pidge nodded, Kagome sighed. "Just great…" Kagome grumbled to herself. "First demons and now aliens," she continued, not exactly caring if the three with her heard her words or not. "Anything else you wanna throw at me, life?"
"Wait, what'd you just say…-?" Hunk asked, keening in on her words a few slow seconds after she'd said them loud enough for them to hear. Before she could respond, loud alarms sounded through the area. Kagome jolted up onto her feet, body tense before she relaxed her posture some. It didn't last long, however.
"Attention Cadets! We are on lockdown- I repeat, we are on lockdown! Code Zulu Niner. All cadets must remain in the barracks until the situation is resolved."
Kagome let her gaze stray upwards as that announcement followed the sound of the alarms, going on to echo throughout the area. As she did, her eyes landed on something streaking through the sky in bright fiery colors. A harsh aura burned against her senses, and she backed up some. She felt Kirara nosedive into the hood of her jacket, hiding in it as Kagome kept her gaze trained on the sky.
"Well, that can't be good."
C.R: Revamping this one and I'm super excited for it! The original version will probably stay up on my profile. There will be a lot of changes to it, some minor but some much bigger ones (Such as Kagome and Shiro being related.) Reading through the original version, there's a lot I want to add to it (mostly concerning Azilu and her past with and without the Paladins of old.) There's gonna be more insight into her relationships, as well.
Kagome will be Shiro's niece in this. (He's her mother's younger brother.) Kagome is currently 17. The pairing is gonna stay Kagome/Keith but there will be minor shipping as well because it'll be a long time before the pairing is fully incorporated.
Anyway, that's it for now! Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the new version! Hopefully I caught all the errors before posting, but if not sorry.
Please remember to Review&Favorite&Follow, thank you!
Bye for now~