Chapter 9

"Keith, wake up young one."

Keith heard a soft feminine voice call him from deep within his slumbering mind, too exhausted by the day's events. He didn't know how he'd fallen asleep and he was too tired to care considering the many sleepless nights he'd had.

"I know you can hear me. Wake up."

Keith dragged himself from the deep slumber he'd been in, only to see that he wasn't in the forest where he and the princess had rested that night. In fact, she was nowhere in sight.

Jumping to his feet, Keith scanned the area around him, only to realize he was standing barefoot on the shore before a very wide blue sea. The water flowing around his legs was so clear that he could see the soft, white sand for meters around him. The sky above him was so blue, azure, with only a few white clouds dotting it here and there. He had never seen a sky so clear in his life, nor a place more peaceful.

"I'm not on Arus." He breathed, suddenly feeling panic rising up within him.

"Oh, but you are." The soft voice said again, a hint of amusement detectable in its tone.

"Who are you? Who's there?" Keith asked, pulling his blaster from his side, only to realize it wasn't there. In fact, all his weapons were gone.

"Calm yourself, you don't need to defend yourself from me. I'm your ally and I will never allow any harm to come to you, for her sake."

Keith turned around to look for the source of the voice, and what he saw took his breath away.

A blue lioness sat a few feet away from him, sitting on her hind legs, observing him. Her coat was as blue as the clear water in that sea, he could tell it was soft to the touch as it danced in the soft breeze that blew along the beach. She was poised and regal as she sat there and she was larger than any lion he'd ever seen, but she was utterly breathtaking.

"I…Uh…I…"

"It's alright. I'll never tire of the expressions humans make when I appear before them. It never gets old. I am the Blue lion of Voltron. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you my actual name for that is only known by my human half, my soul as your people put it. But you can refer to me as Blue. It is an honor to finally meet you, Akira Keith Kogane."

"You know who I am?" Keith whispered, still trying to get over the shock of meeting the lion.

"Of course, young prince. It would be sacrilegious not to know your name. Your bloodline is tied to Voltron, after all.

"Where am I? How did I get here? And where is the princess?"

"One question at a time, my prince. I will answer what I can, although I will get in trouble for speaking to you first. But my curiosity got the better of me. Your consciousness is linked with mine at the moment. I have brought you to this place because I wanted to meet you and speak with you concerning my cub, Allura. And yourself."

"What do you mean, I don't get it. You're her lion and you're appearing to me. Does she even know that we're talking like this?" Keith asked her.

"No she does not, and even if she did there is not a thing she can do about it. Like I said, your bloodline is tied to Voltron, meaning that any one of the lions can appear before you. It is your destiny and a fate we share. Five souls and five lions."

"My father always said the same thing, but I never understood it. Why do you need souls when you're obviously so powerful?"

"Because the power we have by itself corrupts completely. Power by itself differs in its form not by its nature but by its use. A lion without a soul is hollow, empty, corruptible."

"How can you be corruptible? You're the guardians of Arus, the light of this planet." He asked, perplexed by the statement.

"Yes, we are, but we are not perfect. Every light battles the shadows it creates, Keith Kogane. Just as you battle the shadows of your own past, so do the lions. So does Arus."

Keith tensed at this, remembering his own painful past.

"And the shadows that you've created…"

"Are the reason why you dream such horrible dreams. I will be clear, young prince, you are destined to protect Arus from the darkness threatening to consume it. If you fail, Arus, and Allura will die."

"Why do I see her in my dreams? She's always in them, but she's dead. She haunts me."

"It is proof that the darkness is spreading. It wants to consume you to insanity until you can no longer tell the difference between reality and fiction. If that happens and you give in to it, Arus will fall. Allura is your anchor." She ended cryptically.

"My anchor?"

"Yes. What's expected of you is great and you will need support. The hurdles that you will need to overcome will rely on the both of you. To what extent, depends on the both of you."

"No offense, my lady, but that princess of yours is a spoilt brat. Naïve, if you ask me. Too focused on how she can prove herself in this big bad military world full of men. She's abnoxious." Keith scoffed, slightly offended that the lion before him would even suggest him partnering with the princess.

"I'll help her out when it comes down to it, she's the monarch after all, but you've got it all wrong when you say she's my 'anchor'. She needs it more than me."

"Men are all the same, aren't they." The blue lion laughed quietly. Keith had stubbornly folded his arms across his chest, a slight scowl on his face as he stood there defiantly, refusing to accept her words.

"As you wish, my prince. As I said, its up to you, Allura included. Who am I to interfere in a lovers' spat. I have my own male to deal with."

"Hey, we're not lovers!"

For a moment, just a moment, Keith thought he saw the lion smirk at him. Impossible, he thought to himself. All this was impossible.

"We're almost out of time. Remember what I said, my prince. This is your destiny so do not doubt yourself. If you are ever in need, trust the others. We'll meet again in the physical realm soon. And a word of advice, when you meet him, show your true self. If you cannot, everything will be lost before it's even begun." The blue lion said as she was fading from sight, the light from the fading sun passing through her.

"Wait! I still have questions!" but she was already gone, leaving him with these words:

"He'll give you all the answers you need."

Keith woke up with a start, the light of dawn lighting the area around him where he and the princess had settled for the night. His gaze landed on her figure kneeling beside him, startled still by his sudden alertfulness, hands on the blaster on his hips still in its holster.

He jumped at her just as she jumped back, attempting to pull the blaster free and they both rolled onto the ground, the blaster flying from her hands and hitting the floor near the open wall before going off.

"What the hell are you doing?" Keith demanded, struggling to grab her fists that were beating any place they could reach.

"Get off me!" she screamed, before kicking him between his legs. She scrambled to her feet just as Keith froze from the pain, cussing vividly, and ran towards the gun. She stood there, pointing it at him, breathing heavily from their little tumble, heart racing as she realized she finally had the upper hand on her captor. Her heart had nearly stopped when he'd suddenly woken up from a deep slumber, afraid that he would hurt her. Now, he'd give her the answers she wanted.

"Sit up. And don't try anything strange or I swear I will shoot you!" she said shakily, pointed at him.

Keith finally admitted it as he tried to sooth his ache.

He had the worst luck in the world.

He groaned as he uncurled himself, leaning against the collapsing wall behind him, hand still trying to soothe himself. Allura blushed slightly, but remained focused on pointing the gun at him.

"You're cruel, princess. And first thing in the morning too." Keith hissed quietly.

"Shut up. You only speak when I say so. Am I clear?" she demanded stiffly.

Keith watched her for almost a minute without saying anything, picking out at least seven ways of disarming her of the weapon in her hands in half a second. His gaze travelled up her lean toned arms covered by the long sleeved t-shirt, to her shoulders and other areas he shouldn't be admiring at all before going up to her face and disheveled hair. His gaze met hers and he couldn't help but admire the blazing blue fire in her eyes.

She was even more beautiful in natural light.

"I said are we clear?"

"Yes, princess." He resigned. Things may go faster for him if she felt she had control, he thought to himself.

"Who are you and who do you work for?" she asked quickly. The faster I deal with him, the better for everyone, Allura thought as she began her questioning.

"Captain Keith Graham of the Crimson Guards of Dispa. I answer to General Graham and Lady Serena."

"Not them, Captain Graham, if that is your name, but outside of our people. Who do you serve?" she asked again, moving the gun from his chest to his head.

"Nobody."

"Lies!" she yelled as she shot the blaster at the wall beside his head. Keith turned his head away as splinters flew up, avoiding the debris.

"Again. Who do you work for? You can't possibly want me to believe that you led me into the heart of drule territory for a stroll. Now, who do you work for?" she said, lowering her voice dangerously.

"Nobody, princess. And even if you shoot me to get at answers that don't exist won't make the facts disappear. I work for no one." He reasoned quietly. The princess caught his eye, trying to figure out if he was telling the truth. She shook her head to clear it of the doubt that she'd caught the wrong man and continued with her questioning.

"Then what are you doing out here? In their territory? Why aren't your men with you? And please, lie to me. I dare you. I'll put a hole in your thigh right now." She said, shifting her aim.

"You're trigger happy, aren't you?" Keith joked lightly.

"Shut up and answer my questions."

"I certainly can't shut up and speak at the same tim…" a hole appeared between his open thighs, black smoke rising out of the dark circle. He raised his head in disbelief as he looked at her, mouth open from the uncompleted word he wanted to say. She smirked at him before cocking her head cutely and raising her gun slightly from the burning target on the ground and onto his flesh. He didn't need to look at the barrel to recognize the mark.

And why did he think she looked cute when she cocked her head like that at a time like this?

"Any more smart remarks?" she asked sweetly.

Shaking his head, Keith realized that this was the first time a woman had rendered him speechless. She had balls, no pun intended, he thought to himself, highly impressed.

"Answer."

"I took personal time away from my duties so that I could go home to retrieve a family heirloom. It's very important to me. My men are still on active duty which is why they aren't here, with me."

"Your home is conveniently in drule territory?" she asked suspiciously.

"That's more like an accusation than a question. But yes, my homeland is just east of here."

"Then how do you bear Graham's name? My aunt told me that all her command are native to the province. But here you are."

"I'm adopted. He took me in when I was four years old. I'm an orphan."

"Then all the more reason to be suspicious. You could have been sent in as a sleeper years ago. You assimilate into a community, earning their trust whilst tearing down at their defenses until drule strikes. Its happened countless times before. Why should I believe you?" Allura asked seriously, weighing how much of the answers he'd told her were the truth. He had no obligation to answer her truthfully and could just have fed her lies.

"Firstly, when I left the bunker I thought I was alone. I had no suspicions that you were in the shuttle. Secondly, when I did find you, I did not harm you."

"You just forced yourself on top of me." Allura added tensely, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Because you wouldn't stop to listen to me. The same way you didn't stop before you tried to make me sterile a few minutes ago." Keith also added, annoyed. Allura tensed even more at the reproach in the statement but said nothing.

"I told you to take the shuttle back, and if you hadn't argued with me then you'd have been in your nice warm bed by now."

"Or I'd have been dead considering that the tunnel collapsed from the drule drones you shot down, rendering us stranded." Allura accused silently.

"I did save your life too. Add that to all the reasons why I'm on your side." Keith added smugly, smirking too.

"Allegedly." She said sharply.

"So now that we've cleared up all the questions, can you not point that gun at me. You might shoot me and call it an accident." Keith stated, gesturing below his waist.

"Don't tempt me. I still don't trust you." Allura was at a major disadvantage. She had no communications devices, no map, no food and water. She had no clue where she was whilst he seemed completely calm. Even if she shot him she might wander around for days before hunger and thirst killed her, or the wild animals, or even worse, the enemy. She knew that Lance and the others were out looking for her. Her father would even send out men. She winced for a moment as she thought about how worried her father would be. And furious. Oh, he'd be furious. Her options were limited. Either stick with this man or die out here.

Either way she needed to get a message across to her friends.

"Blue." She said quietly.

A flash of blue light illuminated the space they were in and then a blue lioness stood beside the princess. Allura didn't take her eyes off him as the lion appeared and was surprised by his reaction. For a second she swore she saw him stiffen as she called out her lion and his less than enthusiastic reaction at seeing one of the legendary lions annoyed her deeply and even angered her.

What's wrong with this man? She thought to herself.

"You summoned me, my dear." The proud lioness said, slightly amused by the situation. Her charge holding a gun at the man she'd just spoken with, who was determined to not look at her at all.

Men are all the same, she thought quietly.

"Why won't he look at you? No one has ever avoided looking at you, at a lion before. What's going on here?" Allura asked suspiciously, looking between her lion and Keith, who adamantly continued to look anywhere except where the lion was.

"We've met, dear. And I can tell you that his intentions are nothing but pure. Well, if you discount the primal ones of course." The lion said lightly, amused by the look of disbelief on her charge's face.

"You've met? Him?" Allura said, gesturing toward Keith and back to her lion in utter disbelief. Keith would have laughed out loud if it weren't the gun she was swinging around.

"Why yes, princess. She and I have met. It was quite the conversation we had, but it is too much for your young, delicate ears. May I suggest that we do this whilst we're on the move. " Keith said, standing up and dusting himself off before checking the items in the bag by the corner. Allura just stood there frozen as she watched him, the tables having completely turned.

"We're not going anywhere until someone tells me what's going on here!" Allura exclaimed.

"We are. I think you're smart enough to realize the disadvantage you're in without me explaining it. Also we're in enemy territory and yesterday I blew up their scout drones. Meaning they'll be sending over the troops to investigate. Soon this area will be swarming with drules. We'll catch food and get water on the go." Keith said, picking up his abandoned cloak from the floor and his bag before stepping into the forest, leaving a smug lioness and her open mouthed charge behind.

….

"What's going on?" Shannon asked as he stood outside the interrogation room where General Graham was detained. The blaring alarm meant an imminent attack was at hand. As he turned toward the door, it opened allowing Lady Serena and a company of two older men he hadn't seen before to enter. They didn't acknowledge him as they went straight into the interrogation room where Sven was. Closing the door for them was Lietenant Mclain, who chose to wait with him and watch from the observatory window.

"Lieutenant Holgersson, stay as well. This might be of some interest to you as well as your men. Let the Noblesse deal with the attack." Lady Serena stated, all business as she sat down across from Graham with the two men flanking her. Nobody said a word for a few minutes, the atmosphere heavy from the tension.

"General Graham, I don't think you need an introduction as to who these men are. One is your mentor Admiral Garrison and the other the advisor to the King, Sir Coran Mailan. Anything you say here will be taken under oath as a soldier of Arus. Lieutenants Mclain, Holgersson and Sergeant O'Reilly will serve as witnesses that nothing was coerced, manipulated or staged. All are sworn to secrecy and will remain under oath at the King's command. This is your testimony before his majesty the King, after which there will be a court martial hearing. Have you understood all the above?" Lady Serena questioned.

"Yes, I have." Graham responded before Lady Serena opened a large screen on the wall. After a few seconds, it came to life as Graham came face to face with the King of Arus.

"You demanded high security levels for the information you are about to give me. It had better be worth it, Graham. The men in that room I trust my life with and Pidge has made sure that no radio frequency what so ever is passing through those walls. Begin." The King stated impatiently.

"My lady, Sire, my apologies if my demands seem extreme, but well, it's an extreme case." Graham started before he was interrupted.

"The severity of the matter we get, that's why we are here, instead of being at a forefront of a huge counter offensive against Zarkon's battalions. The largest this year. So please, to the point." Coran spoke quietly. The news of Allura missing had hit him hard, just like the King. She was like his own child and it took all he had not to strangle the man in front of him.

"Their target?" Graham asked, his features setting into stone as he felt apprehension about what he was going to hear, what he was hoping not to hear.

"The former kingdom of Altaire."

Sven watched as his commanding officer froze, before regaining his composure once again. It was obvious by the look on his face that he meant business now and that he wasn't going to mince words.

"Then all the more need for secrecy and speed. The story I'm about to tell you is true, down to the smallest detail. If you don't believe me, it's alright, because there's a greater force moving things around. Honestly, I failed to grasp all that's been happening as well. It is beyond me."

"What do you mean by that?" Garrison asked, curious about what Graham knew. He'd mentored him into a fine soldier, and the idea that he'd turned traitor sent him reeling.

"Over sixteen years ago before the war reached us I vowed to protect the child of a dying man I found in the forest. A boy. His son. The boy had been tortured and his father's injuries weren't usual. He'd been in a fight, and had lost. That child's name is Akira Keith Kogane. And the man who died in that forest was the last lord of Altaire and leader of the Black Lion Knights, Kiyoshi Kogane."

"You lie." The King said dangerously after a few minutes. This was the worst joke he'd heard in a very long time.

"I wish, Sire. Personally, I'd have kept my mouth shut until the boy came back to tell you himself but since he's going to meet battalions of drule soldiers with only a girl to help him, I think it best I speak up now." Graham scoffed.

"Isn't it convenient that you're giving us this information now in order to save your head? Where's your proof?" Garrison asked, doubtful.

"There is no physical proof except for Keith himself and the remains of his father, and don't ask me to show you where they are, they aren't yours to claim. Find the boy and you'll get your answers. As far as I'm concerned, I've fulfilled the promise I made to that man. The kid's on his own. Or with the princess at the moment." Graham stated.

"So we just have to believe you, take your word for it?" Garrison asked, now very skeptical, looking at Lady Serena whose face was completely blank at the moment.

"Sure. Or you can wait. When he first started talking to me as a kid he mentioned a man called Aidan, described him to a fault. He even left his signature on the boy's back. That's why he never takes his shirt off in public. Am I lying, Lieutenant?"

Sven stiffly nodded as he found all the attention on him. He'd seen Keith's back once. Just once. He had questions until the war reached them, then he found out what torture was.

"I think if I were lying too, you'd have all five lions by now too. But you don't, do you sire?" Graham asked the King, who had his poker face on.

"Keith is unaware of this, but as a child he made references to Kuro whenever he talked about his past with me. I used to believe it was a place or something, my Japanese wasn't that good. But I put two and two together. Kuro is a being, a he. Around his seventh birthday after years of having vicious nightmares, they stopped, as well as his references about this Kuro. He hasn't mentioned him in over 13 years. Until a few months ago when the nightmares came back and there are now worse. His insomnia."

"And Kuro?" Lady Serena asked apprehensively. She knew Keith had been having problems. She hadn't imagined it'd be this.

"He told me he remembered he used to talk about Kuro, but didn't remember what it was. But I did my investigations. Kuro is Japanese and it directly translates into Black.

King Alfor didn't even blink.

A/N: Thanks for the support you guys.