Summary: Kagome, a sweet and caring girl who was destined to fall into the past at the young age of 15, is now a cadet at the Galaxy Garrison. Without warning, she's swept up in a new adventure with a new team. Her docile nature is shed away and is replaced by a trained warrior. Inherently strong and a formidable force to be reckoned with, she's not what her appearance makes her out to be.
Pairing: Undecided. (Poll now in profile. Remember to cast your vote(s) in it, please.)
Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.
Chapter Three
She sat on the wooden railing of the porch, silently watching Kirara kick the dirt up as she chased a butterfly around. She'd decided to head outside to get more space from the arguably cramped building they'd hidden the night away in. By now the sun was nearly fully in the sky, and Hunk had said he'd have the radar finished soon when she went out.
When the door opened and someone stepped out to join her, she glanced away from Kirara. Kagome smiled towards Shiro as he stepped up to the railing she sat on. He returned it as he leaned forward on the railing, watching alongside Kagome as Kirara chased butterflies.
"What's up?" Shiro asked. "You just came out here without saying anything."
Kagome shook her head, and she pulled on a smile that she hoped looked convincing as she pulled one leg up. She tucked her chin onto her knee, foot braced on the railing next to her as she turned her body a bit away from Shiro, guarding herself against him seeing her face. "Nothing," she hummed in response. "Just came out here to do some thinking. Anyway," she sighed, "everyone was doing their own things."
Shiro could tell that something was bothering the normally radiant girl, and he frowned as he leaned more of his weight on the railing next to her. Silence reclaimed the porch they occupied. Kagome followed Kirara with her eyes, watching as dirt got kicked up when she made a particularly high jump in her small form.
Her early teen years had been stolen by a quest for some stupid marble and demons to boot, and the idea alone that her current years could possibly be stolen by aliens brought her a newfound sense of utter discomfort. She'd left Japan to get away from the hectic side of her life, but it seemed that no matter where she went, it'd somehow find her and pull her right back into it.
She could feel the pulse of the energy source out in the distance. Like water, it flowed through her senses. It was almost like she could feel it enveloping her, despite the distance between her and it. The jewel around her neck began to glow a bit brighter, but Kagome tried to tell herself it was just the sun shining on it the wrong way. She glanced down, half-lidded eyes catching sight of the blue hue seeming to spread through the normally pink tint. She frowned and reached a hand up so she could cover it before Shiro noticed. She tucked it underneath her hoodie and hoped the shine wouldn't show through the fabric.
She knew ignoring it wasn't the brightest thing she could do, but she couldn't find it in her to care at that moment. The jewel had caused more than enough trouble, and if it refused to leave, then she'd settle in dealing with it any way she could. Still… her frown deepened as she found her attention straying back down. If someone were to look closely, they'd surely see the unnatural shine from underneath her black hoodie.
This was the first time it'd ever done something like this. Most of the time, it remained dormant, glowing that peaceful rose-pink. It wasn't like when it had gotten tainted in the past, when it had turned into a lurid black of swimming shadows. No, it was more like it was melding with that bizarre aura. Pink and blue swirling together almost like a multicolor whirlpool. Neither color faded, but still blended into one another.
"It's done!" Hunk said, and he and the rest filed outside where Kagome and Shiro were. "Everyone ready to go?"
She was pulled from her thoughts when he spoke, and Kagome nodded. She jumped at the chance to ignore her concerns over the jewel. "Yup! Let's get going then," Kagome said as she hopped off the railing. She went to retrieve Kirara. The cat looked up when Kagome got close, and she leaped up into her arms as soon as Kagome had opened them. Kagome returned to the rest, and as she got near Shiro, Kirara jumped from her arms and into his, purring contently as he let her on his shoulder.
It was silent as eyes went to the cream-colored cat. It didn't take long for the silence to be noticed, and Kagome looked at them, confused. "What's up?"
"Are we really just not gonna talk about the cat?" Lance asked finally, motioning to the cat draped over Shiro's shoulder and purring happily. Shiro looked at him with the same confused look as Kagome. "Y-You gotta explain that stunt last night if she's gonna be coming!"
"What wrong with Kirara?" Shiro asked, having been the only one to not witness the cat's other, very terrifying form last night.
Kagome's eyes widened as realization struck, and she hurried to turn her back to Shiro's searching stare. She didn't turn quick enough, however, and he managed to see her flustered expression. "I-I have no idea what he's talking about," she declared, folding her arms over her chest.
Shiro looked at her and sighed. "Kagome… I may have been gone for a while, but you haven't changed. You're still a terrible liar."
She could tell she wasn't going to get out of this, no matter what she did, and she sighed. Kagome had been hoping that they'd manage to forget it in the craziness that had gone down last night, but it seemed like that wasn't possible. "Kirara." The single word from Kagome caused Kirara to bolt off of Shiro's shoulder. She bounded a good amount of space away from the group before a familiar blaze of flames whirled up around her. Before anything could be said, the flames were gone as suddenly as they came.
The flames died down, and left in their wake was Kirara in her larger form. She trekked over to Kagome, walking in a circle as she wound herself around her, nuzzling her and rumbling affectionately.
"Huh…" Pidge said after a moment, being the first to speak since Kirara had taken her large form. "She's not as scary in the daylight."
The rest hummed in agreement. Her size was still imposing, and so were her terrifyingly sharp teeth, but in the light, she definitely looked more like an oversized kitten… just one that happened to be as tall as Kagome.
Shiro looked at the large saber-toothed beast that stood next to Kagome. The ground was scorched some under the cat, dark marks left behind by the flames that had engulfed the once much smaller feline. The shock was evident on his face, and when he looked at Kagome, she turned her head to the side with her cheeks dyed a deep crimson.
"I can't believe you hid her on Garrison property," Shiro finally said. He paused, seeming to think his words over. A second later, he sighed, "actually, scratch that. I can believe you'd somehow manage to hide something like this." Everything he knew about Kagome just seemed to confirm how strange of a person she actually was.
"I know she looks… intimidating," Kagome said, "but she's mostly harmless- promise!"
"I was held captive by aliens. This," he said, motioning to Kirara, "is nothing compared to that." He saw Kagome exhale in relief, and he closed the distance she'd put between her and the rest of them, Kirara circled around her as if guarding her against any possible reaction. He reached a hand out and scratched behind her ear, and Kirara began purring loudly, leaning her large head into his palm. "If you say she's not dangerous, then I'll believe you."
His actions served to pull the rest forward as they got used to the new appearance.
Tentatively, the rest reached out and tested touching the large cat, while Kirara sat down and purred happily as she soaked up the attention.
"I kinda expected her to be more growly," Hunk said as he scratched under her chin. A second later he placed both hands on her face and rubbed her face gently. "Aww, who's a good kitty? You are!"
"Woah, warm too!" Lance exclaimed as he combed his fingers over the puff of fluff around her neck.
"Kinda... cute once you get past the teeth," Keith said as he patted the top of her head.
Kirara glanced at Kagome before she stretched and flopped onto her side, successfully pulling the four down with her into the dirt when they hadn't expected her to move. They landed with a thud. Pidge, who had been on the other side, had managed to avoid the trip down.
Kirara rumbled in content as they slowly got back onto their feet, and Kagome tried to stifle her laugh to no avail. She giggled, and Kirara phased back into her small form once they had all gotten up.
"I think that's her way of saying that's enough," Kagome said once she managed to smother her giggles. She shook her head and composed herself again and let Kirara settle onto her shoulder. "We should start looking now, after all."
"You're right," Shiro said. He looked at Hunk, who had the radar, and nodded. "Alright, everyone, let's go."
They set off towards their intended location. Kagome wasn't sure how long they'd been walking before they arrived. She'd lost track the further and further they went. They eventually made it to the spot, and the machine Hunk built picked up a frequency.
"Uh, it's telling us to go that way," Hunk said, nodding in the direction his radar was pointing them in. With that information, they started in the direction, being led to a cave.
"Are these the markings you mentioned, Keith?" Kagome asked as she looked around. They covered the walls all around them. There was barely any unmarked space left, the markings littering nearly every inch.
Keith nodded as he came up next to her. "Yeah. They're all over the place down here."
Kagome turned a full circle as Lance went up to the cave wall. Curious, he brushed his hand along a few of the markings. Not long after his hand made contact with them, the markings all around them began to glow a bright blue. The light filled the cave, and the rest looked on in awe at the abrupt change.
"They've never done this before," Keith said as the glowing began to get brighter.
The ground under them began to turn soft, almost as if it was soft clay finally crumbling apart. None of them could move fast enough to avoid falling downwards, sliding down along a slab of rock practically drenched in water. Several screams filled the cavern they slid down into, a loud series of splashes finally drowning the screams out as they landed in a pile in the water below.
The only one of them who had avoided the watery fall was Kirara, who had all but flung herself to the first glimmer of dry rock she saw.
She could feel it the moment they fell into the ground, but now that everything had come to a halt, she could really take it in. As she slowly got back up, bracing herself on her knees, her eyes landed on the large blue lion hidden in the very back of the cavern they were in.
She pushed herself fully up and out of the water like the others, but as they slowly went up to the lion, she hesitated. The large robotic lion seemed so surreal in front of her, despite it being right there, concealed by the sheer blue barrier. Kagome hung back as the rest went ahead. The jewel hidden under her hoodie pulsed, and it the same feeling from before came back tenfold.
The aura surrounded her in a cool, wavy embrace. She could see the blue tendrils reaching for her, but she didn't move towards it. Though she couldn't see the jewel clearly, she could tell it was still a swirl of pink and blue. In the dim cavern, the glow was brighter.
The jewel had never responded to anything like it responding to this lion, and she wasn't sure if she should be worried or not. It didn't feel bad, but…
Her hesitation was noticed by Lance, and he glanced back with a frown on his face.
"Hey… you okay?" he asked. Kagome jumped when she heard him speaking to her. She nodded and stammered out a reply.
"I- Yeah," she took a breath and began to walk with the rest over to the lion. "It's just…"
"You don't have to explain," he said, humming as he turned back to the lion. "Anybody feel like this thing is watching you?" he asked.
"No?" Shiro said, glancing back at Lance. "Do you?"
"Yeah," Lance nodded. "It totally feels like the eyes are following me," he said, occasionally moving from side to side, to no avail. The feeling never went away.
The two joined the rest at the base of the lion. Kagome could feel it pulling her forward, but she ignored the feeling of it. Lance eventually went up to the barrier, and as soon as he touched it, the sheer blue wall faded and dropped.
As soon as the barrier fell, they all were bombarded with the vision of Voltron, and the lions that formed it. They were stunned as the vision faded.
"This… this is only a single part of what they're after," Kagome said, looking up in awe at the lion they stood before.
"Um, Kagome…"
Kagome blinked and looked around at the rest when they were strangely silent. All eyes were on her, and she tilted her head to the side. "What are you guys looking at?"
"You're glowing," Keith said, and his words took her by surprise.
"Thanks?" she said, partially confused and a little embarrassed. A strangely bright light caught in her eyes not long after. Kagome felt her face heat up as she finally realized what he had meant. Her attention fell down, and she could see the vivid blue and pink glow from under her hoodie. It was radiantly bright now, and she looked up at the lion the next second. "H-Huh?!"
"What is that?" Shiro asked. He didn't know what she could have that would be glowing so brightly in the cave. He watched as Kagome finally dipped a hand under the collar of the dark material and she pulled out a small, round gemstone necklace.
"I-It's never done this before," Kagome said as she palmed the jewel in her hand. She tugged the necklace off so she could get a better look at it. "I think… it's the lion causing it."
"Huh?"
"Look, okay it's not a normal jewel," Kagome said, her expression weighed down. "In fact, there are probably very few things about me that are actually normal, and I've learned to deal with it, but this is definitely new," she admitted. "The lion is the only thing I can figure to be causing this."
The lion suddenly moved so it was kneeling in front of them, and out of reflex, Kagome threw up a barrier just in case something tried to attack them. When the lion finally settled into a position with its mouth open, Kagome watched it cautiously. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she ignored the curious stares she got as the others observed the translucent pink barrier encasing them. Shiro set a hand on her shoulder.
"... Kagome?"
She took a deep breath and turned towards Shiro. She knew she had more to explain after her knee-jerk reaction, and she lowered her gaze to the ground. She let the barrier fall.
Kagome sighed and closed her eyes. They were all looking at her expectantly, all seeming to have their own confusions over the things that had just unfolded in only a few seconds. Her mind went back to her moment on the rooftop with Lance, Pidge, and Hunk the night right before Shiro crash-landed.
"If we're gonna work as a team, we can't have any secrets."
That had been what Lance told Pidge before things had become what they were. Sure the context wasn't the same, but…
She'd become a part of this team the moment she helped bust Shiro out of that quarantine tent. Her secrets couldn't be hidden from the team she was on.
The rest were silent as they waited. Whether it was because they were still processing it, waiting for her to begin, or if it was just because Shiro was supportively waiting for her to say something, she didn't know.
"... told you," she eventually said. It was very clearly hinting to what she'd said previously, about how very few things about her were normal. Still, even if she wanted to tell everything, a part of her held onto the darker parts of it all. Not to hide them, but because she couldn't face reliving them. Not yet, not so soon. "This dumb marble is cursed, and it's my problem," she said. She held the jewel up, glaring at it as it continued to shine, like some pretty lie. "It's normally dormant, but for some reason, being here made it… wake up, I guess."
"That doesn't sound good," Hunk said. He frowned when he saw her worried expression deepen.
"It's not," Kagome said then. "Because that means it's a target all over again."
"Target?" Shiro tensed up when she said those words. "Target for what?"
"... everything," Kagome said quietly. "It draws everything to it. The jewel gives the wielder a boost of unimaginable power. That, and it's able to grant the wishes of its holder, but only if it decides it wants to grant their specific wish."
"Why do you have it?" Shiro asked, but Kagome was silent for a long time before she finally managed an answer.
"Because it chose me," she said. "It likes my aura, so it refuses to let me wish it away… otherwise, I would've done that years ago," she muttered quietly. "I haven't had to worry about it in so long, since it was dormant, but now…" Kagome looked at the lion. She could feel its aura calling to her, and she shook her head as if she was scolding herself. It almost felt… apologetic for making her react the way she did. "When the lion moved, I thought something was going to try and take the jewel, but I was wrong," she said then. "The jewel was reacting to it, and it couldn't do anything about that."
Kagome pulled away from the rest as she approached the lion. Something about it felt alive, aware. Much like the jewel, it seemed the lion had its own level of sentience to it. She walked up to the lion, setting her palms on the cold metal once she was beside its face. "I'm so sorry for mistaking you," she said softly. "You must be happy to have someone find you after you've been here alone for so long."
The others behind her watched, stunned and wide-eyed as she apologized to the lion, but perhaps the strangest part was the way it seemed to growl in response as if it were answering her.
Kagome turned to the rest with her, a serene smile on her face as she waved to them. "Come on," she said, "it's inviting us inside. It means no harm."
Kirara was the first to bound after her, jumping from Shiro's shoulder and darting after Kagome. The rest follow suit, all of them piling into the blue lion's head. Lance helped himself to the helm, sitting in the pilot's seat. Not long after he sat down, however, the seat jerked forward and lights flashed on inside the small area.
"Woah!" Lance exclaimed, looking around and reaching forward to mess with a few of the switches and buttons. The rest continued to look around as Lance messed with the buttons. He paused after a second, and glanced around "Do you guys hear that?"
"Hear what?" Keith asked.
Kagome looked at him, and Lance met her stare. "I- I think it's communicating to me," he said. "You can hear it too, can't you, Kagome?"
She shook her head. "No. I can't hear it, but I can feel it," she said. "It does seem like it's bonding to you," she said after a moment's thought. "What's it telling you?" she asked.
Lance looked back at the controls. He reached out to press a few more. Without warning, the lion stood up with them inside of it. Kagome stumbled, taken by surprise when the lion suddenly began moving, and she shot a hand out to grip the person closest to her, which happened to be Keith. He didn't pull back, and instead, let her grip his arm so she didn't fall.
"Hm… now let's give this a try," Lance said, gripping the controls tight and pushing forward. Kagome stumbled into Keith even more, falling against his chest and nearly taking him down with her as the lion took off in a sprint.
It smashed through the walls and took off towards the sky, sending chunks of rocks flying as it burst free. Kagome had never been more grateful for the fact she used to be slung around piggy-back style by Inuyasha in the past, otherwise, she'd get sick with the way the lion was soaring.
She felt Keith grip her with one hand, his other holding tight to the seat Lance was in.
"What are you doing?!" Keith shouted at Lance. "You've gotta be the worst pilot ever!"
"Oh come on!" Lance exclaimed, "what do you mean? This is awesome!"
"Please make it stop!" Hunk cried out, trying his hardest not to lose his balance in the rapidly moving lion. Pidge had braced against him for support, but both of them looked like they were about to fall forward at any second.
"I'm not doing anything anymore," Lance said. "It's like it's on autopilot." He paused and looked at the rest around him. Without warning, the lion stopped flipping around and smashing into things, and it took off straight into the sky. Soon enough, they were approaching Earth's atmosphere.
"Where are you going?!" Keith asked as they all got a clear view of the sky as it began to shift into a black, starry mass.
Lance glared at Keith. "I'm not controlling it anymore! This thing's gone on autopilot or something," he said. He paused for a second before looking back in front of him as if looking for something. "It says there's an alien ship approaching Earth. It… I think it wants us to stop it," he said finally.
"How are we supposed to do that?" Pidge asked. Lance shook his head and looked back at the controls.
"I think I got an idea," he said. "It's like the lion is feeding ideas into my brain." The ship came into view in a matter of seconds, and Lance looked back at the rest of them with him. "Everyone, hold on!"
The rest took his warning and braced themselves on anything they could as Lance pressed several buttons. The lion fired a laser from its mouth, hitting and heavily damaging the ship that had been approaching Earth. As the lion flew away from the ship, a series of explosions ran along where the laser had hit.
"Alright, time to get them away from our planet," Lance said. He shoved the controls down, and the lion took off away from the ship. As they flew off, the ship changed course and came after them.
"What do we do now?" Hunk asked out loud. "Now we have those aliens chasing us!"
"They're not attacking us though," Pidge said, the observation seeming strange. "They're just chasing…"
"How are we supposed to get away?" Lance asked. "They're catching up to us, and fast."
True to his word, the pursuing ship was gaining on them, even in its damaged state. Before long it would collide with them.
As if it was an answer to his question, a glowing portal formed in the stars in front of them. Kagome exhaled sharply as the aura surrounded her. It… felt bizarre, to say the least.
"What is that?" Hunk asked.
"It's a portal," Kagome said.
"The lion wants us to go through it," Lance said, and he looked around at the rest of them. "I dunno… you guys?"
"We should trust the lion," Shiro said. "It knows more than us."
"The lion wants to get us to a safer area," Kagome said after a moment. She could feel the lion's desire to go through it. It was trying to take them to safety. "It seems like that safe area is on the other side of the portal."
Lance nodded. "Alright," he said. "Looks like we're all ditching class tomorrow."
He piloted them into the wormhole, a sharp light swallowing the lion whole as they were transported to a new area. The turbulence of their trip took a toll on them, and they came to a halt once coming through the other side. The ship that had been after them was gone. It seemed like it hadn't been able to follow them through the portal.
Hunk doubled over and vomited, leaning up for only a second to whimper out a feeble, "sorry," before doubling back over and vomiting again.
"I'm surprised it took you this long," Pidge said. Kagome put a supportive hand on Hunk's back, rubbing small circles to help calm him some.
"There, there," she said calmly. Kagome looked up at the others as she continued to pat Hunk. "Everyone else okay?" she asked.
They nodded yes, and she let out a sigh of relief. They began to head towards a planet in the distance, the lion taking them there.
"Guys, am I the only one questioning letting a robotic cat take us someplace we don't know?" Hunk asked as he slowly got back upright. "I mean, we let it take us through some random wormhole."
"It got us away from an alien warship, didn't it?" Lance said.
"If you haven't noticed, we're in an alien warship," Keith responded with a frown.
"What's the matter?" Lance taunted, "you scared?"
Keith deadpanned, "with you in control? I'm terrified.".
"Alright, stop it you two," Shiro sighed. "None of us are happy about this, but we're here. What's done is done, we need to figure out what's next."
"Shiro's right," Kagome said, arms over her chest. "Things are kinda weird, but we need to cooperate if we wanna make it through this. No being at each other's throats."
"Where are we headed, Lance?" Shiro asked.
"Down there," he said. "The lion isn't speaking to me anymore, but look down there. There's a castle. I think we're supposed to go there."
The lion landed in the courtyard, and finally relaxed into a seated position. It let them out, and they all came together in a huddle as they looked up at the castle.
"Okay," Shiro looked at them, "let's go. Keep your guard up," he said.
"Is there something wrong?" Pidge asked, but Shiro shook his head.
"My crew was captured by aliens, and I'm not going to let it happen again," Shiro said, and the group stepped away from the lion. Before they could get far, the lion stood up again and roared. The doors to the castle opened as it let out its roar, and after a moment of hesitation, they headed towards the now-opened entrance.
C.R: Finally done!
So I'm reminding you guys to vote in the poll on my profile if you haven't already done so. Right now Keith is in the lead for the pairing. I will likely cut it off after the next chapter (chapter 4) so go ahead and vote if you haven't.
Anyway, in this chapter, Team Voltron got to meet Kirara in a better surrounding, and they found the Blue Lion. Speaking of which… Kagome seems to have a strange connection to it, hm? It seems the jewel also had a strange… reaction to it, too.
Anyway, that's it for now, and I hope you all enjoyed! Thank you all for reading. Hopefully I caught all the errors before posting, but if not sorry.
Please remember to Review&Favorite&Follow, thank you!
Bye for now~
