Destiny: Chapter 3 Destiny
Ch. 3/?
By Dani
Disclaimer: "Voltron, Defender of the Universe" and its characters are ©1984 World Events Productions, Ltd. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Original characters and storyline are property of the author, please do not use without permission.
Rating: PG
Allura let out a yawn as she listened through Coran's morning report. After having a rather short practice that morning, she found that she couldn't keep herself awake.
Lance nudged her, which caused her to "wake" up. Everyone in the room was looking at her now as she tried to focus on what Coran was saying.
"Excuse me," she stated. "Sorry, Coran, you were saying?"
"I asked if you were interested in painting the Castle Pink, and you answered yes," Coran said with a smile.
Allura blushed as she met his gaze. "I'm sorry, Coran," she said with a weak smile. "I guess I wasn't paying attention."
"Before you decided to daydream, princess, we were discussing about appropriating some food and supplies from the township of Morex to Memr while they go through the harsh drought in their area."
Allura quickly nodded as she felt her eyes grow heavy again.
"Yes, yes," she said. "I'm sure Lerin will allow us to do that."
"Lance has also offered that we help build a well for Memr and port over some water until they can get back on their feets," he offered.
"Yellow Lion is more than capable to do so, but as I remember, Memr was built on solid granite," she said. "Building a well, will be a bit fruitless. What they would need is a water system that can bring them water from Morex. Lake Samsk has more than enough water to support both townships."
"But Memr lies 200 kilometers from Morex," Lance pointed out. "They kind of water system we would need to build would be tremendous."
Allura smiled. "Build it underground," she said. "It'll be more work, but it will last longer and also bypass the problem of building pumping stations along the way to get the water up to Memr. Then all you would need to do is build one station in Memr, to get the water up to the townspeople."
Coran met Hunk's gaze and all Hunk could do was nod.
"An excellent suggestion, princess," Pidge said. "And it would keep the waterway out of danger should there be an attack."
Allura nodded.
"Is there anything else we need to cover?" she asked.
"We've covered all the matters for today," Coran said. "Though I think we should take a vote on that Pink color."
Allura smiled. "I like purple myself," she said.
Coran cleared his throat as he dismissed everyone.
"Good save, Ally," Lance said as he stood. "Seems like you're learning a lot."
"I've learned too much already," she said with a smile. "And if you'll excuse me, I am feeling a bit tired and want to go and rest."
"Rest?" he asked. "Don't you remember?"
"Remember what?"
"Ally, the ball tonite?" Lance asked. "You and Nanny have been planning it for months."
Allura could only stare at him. "You mean its tonite?" she asked. "Im just losing all track of time today."
Lance smiled. "Well, you didn't look too good this morning," he commented as they walked out of the meeting room together. "You looked a bit tired."
"I couldn't sleep last night," she said. "Something kept me up most of the night."
"Oh?"
"I guess it was a nightmare," she said. "But I can't remember anything from it."
"Well, if you promise that you're only going to take a small nap, I'll cover you for an hour…hour and a half at most," he offered. "Otherwise, if Nanny gets the better part of me…"
Allura smiled. "Thanks Lance," she said.
"You owe me for this."
She smiled as she walked down the hall, as he watched her disappear around the corner.
**********
Anala smiled as Lance pulled down several large pieces of cloth from one of Nanny's cupboards. He threw down 5 of them before her and jumped down from the shelf he was using. He picked up the heavy load of cloth as he turned to her.
"Domestic housework was never my thing," he said to her. "Which it seems why Nanny tries to make me do this all the time."
"You should be thanking her, then," she said. "Did you need help with that?"
"Sure, if you can take one of them."
She nodded as she pulled off the top pile and found it to be rather heavy. She gathered up the loose ends into her hands and they made their way down the hall.
"What are these for?"
"Allura is having a masquerade ball tonite," he said. "Tradition."
"Masque—Masquereede?"
He smiled. "Masquerade," he said. "Masked Ball. People come in costumes and dance, and get drunk..."
She laughed. "Why would someone want to attend a ball in a costume?"
"It's the mystique," he said. "You might not even know the person who is behind a mask."
She nodded. "Are you attending this….ball?"
"We are all invited," he said. "You guys too. Nanny has some extra costumes that you could probably find. Or you can ask Allura. You two look about the same size."
"I will ask her then," she said. "What are you going as?"
He smiled as he turned to her. "Sir Lancelot.."
"Why would you want to go as yourself?"
"No, no, no," he said. "Sir Lancelot is a character from an old Earth story, called Le Morte d'Arthur; The Legend of King Arthur."
"I see, so there were once royalty on Earth?"
"Yeah, a very very long time ago," he said. "Sir Lancelot, according to the story was one of his knights in shining armor."
Anala smiled. "I see," she said.
"And since King Arthur treated everyone as his equals, he built a large round table for his most loyal knights," Lance said.
Anala's features then furrowed a bit. "Is this the same Lancelot character that Keith told me about?" she asked.
"And what did he say?"
"That he was a well liked knight; a ladies-man," she said. "But he also had the audacity betray his king by falling in love with the Queen Gui….Guinnivere?"
"That's about right," he said. "That's why my sister hates her name, and just rather be called Genny."
"Her name is Guinnivere?"
He nodded.
"Did you parents like that story that much?"
"Apparently," he said. "Actually, my mother loved the story. If you ever meet her, just don't get her started."
"If I ever meet her?" Anala asked as she stopped and looked at him.
Lance realized that she had stopped walking and turned to her. With a smile he added. "And I'll be sure to give you a grand tour of where that story originated, okay?"
She smiled as she caught up to him.
"I don't know what Im getting myself into."
"A lot of trouble?" she asked.
"You ARE trouble," he said.
"So what is everyone else going to be going as?"
"Hunk is going as Conan, another Earth character," Lance said. "I think Pidge is going to go as himself."
"Himself?"
"Yeah, don't ask," he said. "Allura will probably be forced into a costume chosen by Nanny, and Keith…I don't even know what he is going as."
"Where is he anyway? I thought he was supposed to be helping?"
"He went to see Dr Gorma after our meeting this morning," he said as they came to stop in front of the ballroom doors. "His nose bleed started up again."
"Nosebleed?" she asked as the doors slid open. "Again?"
"Yeah, since yesterday," he said as they walked into the room. "He never had them before."
"Lance, do you remember which side?"
"Which side what?"
"Which side he was bleeding from?" she asked.
"Left, I think, does it matter?"
Anala's felt the blood rush to her stomach. "Uh, listen, Lance, I just remembered that I have to do something real quick."
"And leave me with this?"
"I'll be right back," she said. "I promise I'll help you get those curtains up, okay?"
Before he could say another word, she had run out of the ballroom.
*********
"Why didn't you tell me you were bleeding?" Anala asked as she rushed into the infirmary and saw that Dr. Gorma tending to Keith.
The both of them looked up at her as she came to stand before them.
"Nosebleeds are not life threatening, Anala," Keith said to her.
Anala shook her head and walked up to him. "The problem is that YOU can't have nosebleeds," she said.
"What do you mean?" Dr. Gorma asked.
Anala then reached out and took Keith's hand into her own and her eyes turned to one of shock.
"It can't be," she said.
"What?"
She pulled back on the sleeve of his shirt to expose his wrist to him.
"You've completed the Nilan," she said as she met his gaze.
**********
Alysson checked over both of Keith's wrists then turned to Anala.
"And you didn't see them yesterday?"
"Mom, we both didn't see them yesterday," Anala stated. "How can it be done in one day? Nilan takes months….years for some."
Alysson could only shake her head. "The problem is that it's not possible."
"So what does this mean?" Keith asked.
Alysson turned and looked at him. "Just think of it as all 7 years of puberty just crammed into one day," she said. "Which is why the marks of the Nilan are complete on your wrists."
"That's that first rite you told me about?"
Alysson nodded. "Well, it doesn't seem to affecting you at all," she said.
"Mom, he's having nosebleeds."
"What?"
"Since I returned yesterday," Keith said. "And again this morning."
"That's not possible." Alysson said as she turned to him.
"Why is it NOT possible for me to have nosebleeds?" Keith asked. "It's a common human occurrence."
"Vallusians lack the blood vessels in the nose," she said. "Or actually the capillaries. Nosebleeds are caused by the breakage of those capillaries."
"But since I'm half…"
"You don't have them," she said with a shake of her head. She then let out her breath as she met his gaze. "Nosebleeds are only experienced by a few of us."
"If we don't have capillaries in the …"
Alysson held up her hand to him. "Those nosebleeds are not the same as the way you think them," she said. "They are caused by another instance."
"And that is?"
"K'Chau," she said simply.
"Mom, you can't be serious…."
"K'Chau?" Keith asked. "Wasn't that the name of the 2nd rite?"
Alysson could only nod. "The rite that a Vallusian goes through when he or she is destined to become an Elder," she said. "Nosebleeds means that your 'mind' is developing."
"Developing? In what way?"
She shook her head. "For that I must contact the Elders," she said. "They are the only ones who can answer that question."
Ch. 3/?
By Dani
Disclaimer: "Voltron, Defender of the Universe" and its characters are ©1984 World Events Productions, Ltd. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Original characters and storyline are property of the author, please do not use without permission.
Rating: PG
Allura let out a yawn as she listened through Coran's morning report. After having a rather short practice that morning, she found that she couldn't keep herself awake.
Lance nudged her, which caused her to "wake" up. Everyone in the room was looking at her now as she tried to focus on what Coran was saying.
"Excuse me," she stated. "Sorry, Coran, you were saying?"
"I asked if you were interested in painting the Castle Pink, and you answered yes," Coran said with a smile.
Allura blushed as she met his gaze. "I'm sorry, Coran," she said with a weak smile. "I guess I wasn't paying attention."
"Before you decided to daydream, princess, we were discussing about appropriating some food and supplies from the township of Morex to Memr while they go through the harsh drought in their area."
Allura quickly nodded as she felt her eyes grow heavy again.
"Yes, yes," she said. "I'm sure Lerin will allow us to do that."
"Lance has also offered that we help build a well for Memr and port over some water until they can get back on their feets," he offered.
"Yellow Lion is more than capable to do so, but as I remember, Memr was built on solid granite," she said. "Building a well, will be a bit fruitless. What they would need is a water system that can bring them water from Morex. Lake Samsk has more than enough water to support both townships."
"But Memr lies 200 kilometers from Morex," Lance pointed out. "They kind of water system we would need to build would be tremendous."
Allura smiled. "Build it underground," she said. "It'll be more work, but it will last longer and also bypass the problem of building pumping stations along the way to get the water up to Memr. Then all you would need to do is build one station in Memr, to get the water up to the townspeople."
Coran met Hunk's gaze and all Hunk could do was nod.
"An excellent suggestion, princess," Pidge said. "And it would keep the waterway out of danger should there be an attack."
Allura nodded.
"Is there anything else we need to cover?" she asked.
"We've covered all the matters for today," Coran said. "Though I think we should take a vote on that Pink color."
Allura smiled. "I like purple myself," she said.
Coran cleared his throat as he dismissed everyone.
"Good save, Ally," Lance said as he stood. "Seems like you're learning a lot."
"I've learned too much already," she said with a smile. "And if you'll excuse me, I am feeling a bit tired and want to go and rest."
"Rest?" he asked. "Don't you remember?"
"Remember what?"
"Ally, the ball tonite?" Lance asked. "You and Nanny have been planning it for months."
Allura could only stare at him. "You mean its tonite?" she asked. "Im just losing all track of time today."
Lance smiled. "Well, you didn't look too good this morning," he commented as they walked out of the meeting room together. "You looked a bit tired."
"I couldn't sleep last night," she said. "Something kept me up most of the night."
"Oh?"
"I guess it was a nightmare," she said. "But I can't remember anything from it."
"Well, if you promise that you're only going to take a small nap, I'll cover you for an hour…hour and a half at most," he offered. "Otherwise, if Nanny gets the better part of me…"
Allura smiled. "Thanks Lance," she said.
"You owe me for this."
She smiled as she walked down the hall, as he watched her disappear around the corner.
**********
Anala smiled as Lance pulled down several large pieces of cloth from one of Nanny's cupboards. He threw down 5 of them before her and jumped down from the shelf he was using. He picked up the heavy load of cloth as he turned to her.
"Domestic housework was never my thing," he said to her. "Which it seems why Nanny tries to make me do this all the time."
"You should be thanking her, then," she said. "Did you need help with that?"
"Sure, if you can take one of them."
She nodded as she pulled off the top pile and found it to be rather heavy. She gathered up the loose ends into her hands and they made their way down the hall.
"What are these for?"
"Allura is having a masquerade ball tonite," he said. "Tradition."
"Masque—Masquereede?"
He smiled. "Masquerade," he said. "Masked Ball. People come in costumes and dance, and get drunk..."
She laughed. "Why would someone want to attend a ball in a costume?"
"It's the mystique," he said. "You might not even know the person who is behind a mask."
She nodded. "Are you attending this….ball?"
"We are all invited," he said. "You guys too. Nanny has some extra costumes that you could probably find. Or you can ask Allura. You two look about the same size."
"I will ask her then," she said. "What are you going as?"
He smiled as he turned to her. "Sir Lancelot.."
"Why would you want to go as yourself?"
"No, no, no," he said. "Sir Lancelot is a character from an old Earth story, called Le Morte d'Arthur; The Legend of King Arthur."
"I see, so there were once royalty on Earth?"
"Yeah, a very very long time ago," he said. "Sir Lancelot, according to the story was one of his knights in shining armor."
Anala smiled. "I see," she said.
"And since King Arthur treated everyone as his equals, he built a large round table for his most loyal knights," Lance said.
Anala's features then furrowed a bit. "Is this the same Lancelot character that Keith told me about?" she asked.
"And what did he say?"
"That he was a well liked knight; a ladies-man," she said. "But he also had the audacity betray his king by falling in love with the Queen Gui….Guinnivere?"
"That's about right," he said. "That's why my sister hates her name, and just rather be called Genny."
"Her name is Guinnivere?"
He nodded.
"Did you parents like that story that much?"
"Apparently," he said. "Actually, my mother loved the story. If you ever meet her, just don't get her started."
"If I ever meet her?" Anala asked as she stopped and looked at him.
Lance realized that she had stopped walking and turned to her. With a smile he added. "And I'll be sure to give you a grand tour of where that story originated, okay?"
She smiled as she caught up to him.
"I don't know what Im getting myself into."
"A lot of trouble?" she asked.
"You ARE trouble," he said.
"So what is everyone else going to be going as?"
"Hunk is going as Conan, another Earth character," Lance said. "I think Pidge is going to go as himself."
"Himself?"
"Yeah, don't ask," he said. "Allura will probably be forced into a costume chosen by Nanny, and Keith…I don't even know what he is going as."
"Where is he anyway? I thought he was supposed to be helping?"
"He went to see Dr Gorma after our meeting this morning," he said as they came to stop in front of the ballroom doors. "His nose bleed started up again."
"Nosebleed?" she asked as the doors slid open. "Again?"
"Yeah, since yesterday," he said as they walked into the room. "He never had them before."
"Lance, do you remember which side?"
"Which side what?"
"Which side he was bleeding from?" she asked.
"Left, I think, does it matter?"
Anala's felt the blood rush to her stomach. "Uh, listen, Lance, I just remembered that I have to do something real quick."
"And leave me with this?"
"I'll be right back," she said. "I promise I'll help you get those curtains up, okay?"
Before he could say another word, she had run out of the ballroom.
*********
"Why didn't you tell me you were bleeding?" Anala asked as she rushed into the infirmary and saw that Dr. Gorma tending to Keith.
The both of them looked up at her as she came to stand before them.
"Nosebleeds are not life threatening, Anala," Keith said to her.
Anala shook her head and walked up to him. "The problem is that YOU can't have nosebleeds," she said.
"What do you mean?" Dr. Gorma asked.
Anala then reached out and took Keith's hand into her own and her eyes turned to one of shock.
"It can't be," she said.
"What?"
She pulled back on the sleeve of his shirt to expose his wrist to him.
"You've completed the Nilan," she said as she met his gaze.
**********
Alysson checked over both of Keith's wrists then turned to Anala.
"And you didn't see them yesterday?"
"Mom, we both didn't see them yesterday," Anala stated. "How can it be done in one day? Nilan takes months….years for some."
Alysson could only shake her head. "The problem is that it's not possible."
"So what does this mean?" Keith asked.
Alysson turned and looked at him. "Just think of it as all 7 years of puberty just crammed into one day," she said. "Which is why the marks of the Nilan are complete on your wrists."
"That's that first rite you told me about?"
Alysson nodded. "Well, it doesn't seem to affecting you at all," she said.
"Mom, he's having nosebleeds."
"What?"
"Since I returned yesterday," Keith said. "And again this morning."
"That's not possible." Alysson said as she turned to him.
"Why is it NOT possible for me to have nosebleeds?" Keith asked. "It's a common human occurrence."
"Vallusians lack the blood vessels in the nose," she said. "Or actually the capillaries. Nosebleeds are caused by the breakage of those capillaries."
"But since I'm half…"
"You don't have them," she said with a shake of her head. She then let out her breath as she met his gaze. "Nosebleeds are only experienced by a few of us."
"If we don't have capillaries in the …"
Alysson held up her hand to him. "Those nosebleeds are not the same as the way you think them," she said. "They are caused by another instance."
"And that is?"
"K'Chau," she said simply.
"Mom, you can't be serious…."
"K'Chau?" Keith asked. "Wasn't that the name of the 2nd rite?"
Alysson could only nod. "The rite that a Vallusian goes through when he or she is destined to become an Elder," she said. "Nosebleeds means that your 'mind' is developing."
"Developing? In what way?"
She shook her head. "For that I must contact the Elders," she said. "They are the only ones who can answer that question."