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.) The poll will be closing on August 10th.

Disclaimer: I do not own either series. Each belongs to their rightful owners.


Chapter Four


As they entered the castle, Kagome felt the dull pulse of sleeping auras. Without intending to, she had taken the lead and had been guiding the rest of the group down the halls. The rest followed her as she silently took the lead with Kirara trotting alongside her.

Wall Torches lit up as they went down the hallways, giving off a faint glimmer of light in the otherwise dark castle. They eventually came across the room where Kagome could feel the faint pulse of the auras she was sensing, but no one was visible. Kagome frowned as the rest filed into the room behind her. She looked around for any trace of someone, something, but only found nothing. After a bit more concentrating, she was able to figure out where the auras originated from. They came from under the floor they stood on, hidden out of the way for whatever reason.

The auras felt undeniably weak, so much so that it was unnatural. Whatever held them must do something to block outside forces from picking up on the auras. However, she wasn't like most others, and she was able to pick up on what others would simply bypass without realizing it.

Kagome looked around for anything out of place, precise eyes trailing over the floor for anything that looked different from the rest. She eventually found what she was looking for. Along the ground, in a circle, were several round rises in the floor. The rise of the bumps along the flat surface was barely visible. The only thing setting them apart from the rest of the floor was the thin line separating it from the surrounding floor.

The auras she felt seemed to be coming from them.

"Where are we?"

Kagome looked up when Hunk asked the question.

"It sorta looks like a control room," Pidge said as she went towards the center of the room. While she was looking at the console, the bumps on the floor lifted, the things hidden underfoot rising as the console activated. Kirara cocked her head to the side as the pods rose from the floor, tails twitching in a curious rhythm.

"... there are people inside those things," Kagome said, her voice carrying through the stunned-silent room.

Now that the pods were above ground, she could feel the auras much clearer. One was a soft pink with white swirls intertwined together. It was… uncommon. Two-toned auras were often rare, as most auras were typically a single color. The other one was a warm orange.

Lance walked up to the pod closest to him and cupped his hands over the glass to try and peer inside. After a moment, he stepped back.

"They're alive, right?" Hunk asked, and Kagome nodded right after without missing a beat.

"Alive, yes," she said, pausing for a second. "They aren't awake yet… they're in some sort of stasis."

"Are these things sleep pods?" Pidge asked, looking back at the strange-looking cylindrical chambers when she heard Kagome say that.

"I guess so," Kagome said, moving away from the rest as she walked over to the pod secreting the pink and white aura. She set both palms on the glass and tried to feel for any pulse of awareness. "I wonder when they'll-!" Kagome was startled into silence when the glass abruptly vanished under her hands. Below it was a tall, lithe woman with long snow-white hair and warm-brown skin. Her eyes opened with a gasp falling from her lips, revealing shimmering blue eyes with purplish-pink pupils.

"Father!" The woman in the pod fell forward, stumbling into Kagome and taking her down with her. They landed on the floor with a thud, the white-haired woman landing on top of Kagome, who ended up taking the brunt of the fall.

The others stood surprised at the sudden shift. Kirara cocked her head to the side and mewed.

The woman slowly moved up so she wasn't putting her full weight on Kagome, and she looked down when she realized she had landed on a body opposed to the floor.

Allura blinked, confused, when her gaze landed on the raven-haired girl under her. There was something about her that felt familiar. Her eyes met bright blue that seemed to shine even in the dim lighting. After a moment, Allura realized that she didn't know this person, and she pulled back from her, her heart hammering in her chest.

As she stood up, she realized that the girl wasn't the only stranger there. Allura stepped back when she spotted the others present. She glared and sized them up. "Who are you? What are you doing in my castle?" she demanded, "and where is King Alfor?"

Shiro helped Kagome up off the ground, eyeing the woman who had fallen from the pod. "We were brought here by a blue lion that we found on our planet," he said, taking the lead.

"The blue lion?" Allura glared at him. "Why do you have the blue lion? Where is its paladin?" She froze a second later, glancing down at her feet as an ill feeling burrowed in her chest. "Unless… how long has it been?"

"We don't know what you're talking about," Shiro said. The troubled expression on her face made him frown. "Why don't you tell us your name? Maybe we can help you."

She spared him a quick glance as she walked past him. "I am Princess Allura of planet Altea." She went up to the control panel and placed her hands on it. It activated with her touch. "I need to figure out how long we've been asleep…"

Not long after Allura focused on the console, the second sleep pod opened and out tumbled an orange-haired man with a bushy mustache. When he got back on his feet, he noticed the group of strangers standing around. "T-Trespassers!" he shouted out, although it got no response from Allura, who was still focused at the console.

Coran looked from face to face, figuring if Allura was calm then that the new faces were nothing to worry about. That didn't stop him looking each of them over. It wasn't long in his examination of each one that his eyes landed on Kagome, crouching and petting the two-tailed cat at her feet. Something about her struck him with instant familiarity. She wasn't like the other humans in her company, but he couldn't put a finger on what set her apart from them.

Allura audibly gasped, and Coran instantly looked towards the princess, eyes filled with worry. "What is it?"

"We've been asleep for the past ten-thousand years!" Allura exclaimed, her expression and voice weighed down with dread. She was silent for a while before finally turning from the console. "Coran… Altea is gone, and so are the rest of the planets on our solar system. They've been destroyed." She closed her eyes when she felt tears welling up in her eyes. "Father is… Father's gone, and so is our entire civilization." When she opened her eyes next, her tears were replaced with rage. "Zarkon!"

The single name uttered with absolute disdain made Shiro's head pound with a sharp sting. An image of a face flashed through his mind, and he looked at Allura, taking a step towards her. "Zarkon?"

She looked back at him, as did the rest in the room. "He was the king of the Galra ten-thousand years ago," she said. "A cruel, vile creature."

"I can remember now," Shiro said, and Kagome closed the distance between him and her to place a supportive hand on his arm. "I was his prisoner."

"He's still alive?" Allura gasped. "That can't be possible!"

"I can't explain it," Shiro said, "but he's still alive. He's searching for some weapon called Voltron."

Allura's eyes narrowed when he said that. "He's after Voltron because it's the one thing strong enough to destroy him." She looked between the many faces with her. "That's exactly why we're going to find it before he does."

Kagome scooped Kirara up in her arms as she focused on Allura. "How are we supposed to find the rest of the lions?" she asked. "The blue lion was on Earth, but where are the others?"

Allura let her eyes meet the blue of Kagome's, and she nodded. "Right." Allura turned to give a once-over to the rest. Before she could say anything, her ears twitched when she heard faint squeaking coming from one of the sleep pods. She turned to find it, letting out a faint gasp at the sight of the four little Altean mice at the bottom of her pod. "I can't believe it," she said as she knelt down to scoop them up. "Coran, look! It seems like there's a little bit of Altea left!"

The mice squeaked and climbed up onto her shoulder, burrowing in her hair. She recalled Kagome's question, but before she could say anything, an alarm started blaring. Kirara growled as her fur bristled, and she jumped from Kagome's arms and stood poised for a challenge, though she kept her smaller form up.

"What's that?" Hunk asked, covering his ears as worry lined his eyes. "Oh man, it sounds really bad!"

"A Galra ship has set its tracker on us!" Coran said. "How'd it find us so quickly?"

Kagome frowned. "Maybe it's the same one from before? The one that came after the lion?"

"How long will it take for them to get here?" Shiro asked, and Coran looked at him before silently ticking away on his fingers.

"At the speed they're going?" He hummed for a second. "Hmm… I suppose a few days?"

"It doesn't matter," Allura said as she shook her head. "Let them come! By the time they arrive, we'll have reformed Voltron! Together, we will put an end to Zarkon's empire." Kagome's question came back to the front of her mind, and she nodded. "Right, the rest of the lions," she looked at Kagome. "You've found the blue lion, but we still need the black, white, red, yellow, and green lions."

"Princess, how are we supposed to find the other five lions?" Shiro asked.

"King Alfor had the lions connected to Allura's life force," Coran said, urging the group to follow behind him as they gathered in the bridge of the Castleship, standing underneath the large crystal overhead. "Allura and Allura alone is the only way we can find the rest of the lions."

A sea of stars filled the room as Allura activated the console. They stayed still as a holographic map of the cosmos saturated the room.

"Woah! Cool!" Lance exclaimed as the illusion covered the entire space of the room.

Pidge looked around before turning back to Coran. "Are these coordinates?" she asked. "It looks like the black lion is in the same place as the blue lion."

"Right you are!" Coran said.

"The black lion was hidden in the castle," Allura said.

"King Alfor was concerned the most about keeping the black lion out of Zarkon's hands, and so, he made sure to lock it inside the castle. It can only be retrieved once the remaining are present together," Coran explained.

"As you've already experienced with the blue lion, the lions choose their pilots," Allura said. "It is a mystical bond that cannot be forced. The quintessence of the pilot must be reflected in the lion, and together they form a bond incapable of being explained." She focused on the black lion first, turning towards Shiro a second later. "The black lion is the head of Voltron. A born leader and someone always in control is the only one capable of piloting it. Someone who's team will follow without question or hesitation. Shiro, you will be the black lion's pilot."

Shiro nodded and Allura moved on to the green lion next. Her eyes landed on Pidge.

"The green lion is of an inquisitive spirit and will only accept a pilot of powerful intellect and daring personality," Allura said. "Pidge, you will be the pilot of the green lion." She paused for a moment and focused on the blue lion, looking at Lance the next second. "It seems the blue lion has already chosen its pilot, but the blue lion takes-"

"Oh, let me guess," Lance cut Allura off mid-sentence. "The blue lion takes the most handsome pilot of the bunch?"

Allura glared at Lance, expression contorted in annoyance before she took a breath and turned to the yellow lion. " The yellow lion is caring and kind. It will accept a pilot who's capable of putting the needs of others above their own, someone who's heart is full of warmth." She looked at Hunk then. "As the leg of Voltron, you will lift and brace the team."

Hunk looked like he doubted her words, and she smiled as she went on to the next lion. "The red lion is quite… temperamental," she said. "It's the most difficult of the bunch to master. While it's more agile than the rest, it's the most unstable. It'll only accept a pilot who's guided more by instinct than just pure skill." She turned towards Keith. "Keith, you will be the pilot of the red lion."

"Huh, him really?" Lance asked. Keith glared at him, to which Lanced glared back at him. Allura ignored them and focused on the last lion.

She looked to Kagome, still unable to get past or even place the reason she felt so familiar to her. After a moment, Allura shook her head, reminding herself that now wasn't the time. "The white lion is drawn to a pilot who is patient and trusting, yet strong and resolute," Allura said. "Kagome, you will be the white lion's pilot. As the body and heart of Voltron, you will be the very center that holds the team together."

She looked over the lions and her decisions on their pilots, and she nodded to herself. "I'm able to locate all of the lions except for the red lion," Allura said as she focused on the map spread out around them. "Something must be wrong with the castle. After all, it's been dormant for ten-thousand years just like Coran and me," Allura said.

"Don't worry, Princess," Coran said, "we'll locate the red lion soon."

Allura nodded. "You're right."

"Alright," Shiro looked at the group with him. "We're running out of time. Pidge and I will go find the green lion. Lance, you and Hunk will go find the yellow lion. Kagome, take Keith and go get the white lion." As he listed off the pairs, they looked at each other and shrugged, going along with his choices. "When we're all back, we'll see how locating the red lion is coming along," Shiro said.

"In the meantime, I'll focus on prepping the castle's defenses," Allura said. "I'm sure they'll be needed."

"Give me a few moments, and I'll get the pods ready and load the coordinates to the green and white lions on them," Coran said. A second later he was heading off.

It wasn't long before everyone was set and ready to go. Kagome left Kirara behind with Allura and Coran for the time being, letting her take a break from the constant space-travel.

"She's quite cute," Allura said as Kagome handed Kirara off to her. "Don't worry, Kagome. I'll look after her for you."

Kagome smiled. "Thanks… I'm sure being shaken around so much in the blue lion probably wore her out," she said as she looked at Kirara curled up in Allura's arms. She looked up a second later. "Before I forget, she does have a second form. A much larger form. I doubt she'll take it, but just giving you the heads up," Kagome added on with a laugh.

Allura nodded and waved her off as she went to join Keith, and together the pair made their way to the pod they'd use to get to the white lion.


The planet the white lion was hidden on was calm and peaceful. A pink sky was overhead with white clouds overlooking the vibrantly colored ground. They stood beside each other as Kagome tried to feel for its aura. Before long she felt it, and she led them off in the direction she was getting pulled to.

It was quiet between them as they walked, both parties looking over their surroundings. After a few minutes of undisturbed silence, Kagome glanced at Keith, watching him for a second, before finally disrupting the silence.

"It's kinda nice here," she said, and Keith turned to her when he heard her voice. "Though… I don't know what's making the sky pink, or if it's something we should be worried about."

Keith looked up at the sky and nodded. "It seems like its uninhabited," he said.

Kagome shook her head. "There's definitely things here," she said. "I can feel them, but they don't appear harmful to us so there's not really anything to worry about."

"You're pretty calm for everything that's happened so far," he said, and Kagome tried to stifle a laugh, only to fail.

"Yeah, I guess I kinda am," she said then. She looked at her feet as she walked. This wasn't the first time she'd been in a situation like this. Sure, it wasn't the same on many levels, but, at the same time, it bore similarities to her trips through the well. A calm smile was on her face as she looked back at Keith, and he suddenly felt warm. "What can I say?" she hummed thoughtfully. "I'm no stranger to weird situations."

"How do you know Shiro?" he asked, and Kagome tilted her head to the side, blinking owlishly. "I mean, you seem pretty close to him."

Kagome thought over his question for another moment before she shrugged. "He's my friend," she finally said after a moment's contemplation. "He found out about Kirara and he helped me hide her," she said. "I guess… we just became friends after that?" she mumbled thoughtfully.

They came to a halt at a stream of purplish water, and the pair looked around for a way around it. After a minute or two of searching separately, Kagome heard Keith call for her.

"Hey, Kagome, over here!"

She followed the pulse of his aura to where he was waiting, and she saw a few rocks spaced unevenly through the water. She understood what they were for, and she followed him in hopping from rock to rock.

When she got to the third to last rock, Kagome let out a squeak when her foot hit a slick spot on the rock's surface. "Eek!" Keith turned at hearing the noise, his hand shooting out to try and grab Kagome's sleeve. Though it was full of good intentions, it only served to pull both of them in the water.

After landing with a small splash, they sat in the slow-moving current for several quiet moments, only for a laugh from Kagome's end to break it up.

"Pfft- hahaha!" Kagome tried to suppress her laugh, only to fail miserably. Keith glared at her, expression sour, as they stayed in the water. A second later he was standing up.

"Next time, remind me to let you fall," he said as he waded through the calf-deep water the rest of the way.

Kagome got up next, rolling her eyes when he said that. "Oh come on, don't be mean," she said as she followed suit. She hopped up on dry land and worked on wringing some of the water out of her hoodie and skirt underneath. "I'm happy you at least tried," she said then.

Keith turned back to her with a half-smile on his face. "Come on, let's go."

Kagome trotted back up alongside him and they began back down the path to where she could feel the white lion.

After about ten more minutes of walking, they eventually came across a hazy, white barrier. It looked almost like fog, but when they walked into it, it felt heavy, like gravity had just increased around them.

"It's not much further," Kagome said as she felt it calling to her. She looked at Keith. "I'm going ahead."

He nodded in response. "I'll be here when you're done."

"Right!" Kagome said as she headed off into the heavy haze. The further she went, the heavier it felt. However, as she stopped in front of the lion, the weight went away.

Just barely she could see a white, translucent barrier from inside the fog, and she approached it. She got to it and paused, looking up at the barrier she could feel the white lion behind.

She took a deep breath and pressed her hands to the barrier, and she felt it flicker under her palms. There was a low growl from inside it, and two eyes took on a sharp glow. The fog around her dissipated entirely, and the white lion loomed down at her.

Kagome looked up at it and smiled. "Okay, let's get you back to the castle," she whispered.


"Welcome back everyone," Allura said as the team returned, filing in one after the other. "How did it go out there?"

"It was awful," Lance groaned, rubbing the small of his back. "I nearly puked out there! Man, I felt like Hunk," he said, jabbing a finger towards the other guy.

"Hey, think about how I felt," Hunk responded with a low whine. "So much better now that I'm not spinning…"

Pidge looked from them and up to Shiro, grinning a second later. "We had a rough time, too," she said. He grinned back at her comment before turning to Kagome and Keith.

"How'd it go for you two?" he asked. Kagome blinked and glanced at Keith. A second later, she smiled.

"We had a great time!" she exclaimed.

"We fell in a river," Keith deadpanned, glaring at her.

Shiro looked them over and rose an eyebrow. "That explains the damp clothes," he said. Still… he looked between the two and smiled.

Keith didn't have the easiest time connecting with other people, and if anyone could manage to connect with him, then he knew it'd be Kagome. Something about her personality drew people of all types to her. Friendliness and acceptance practically radiated off of her. Even after all the new information about her came to light, she was still the friendly, warm girl he knew hid a cat in her bedroom at the Garrison.

She was a friend to everyone, but she had the habit of keeping people at arms-length away. After today, he realized that he was one of those people kept at arms-length, too. Though they were friends, there were still many things she'd kept hidden. He realized he actually knew very little about her.

Shiro looked from the rest, finally turning to Allura. He saw her with Kirara curled in her arms, still asleep. "Have you been able to locate the red lion?" Shiro asked as he walked up to Allura.

"Allura was just able to locate it, actually!" Coran said. "We have a bit of good news and, well… bad news," he added on.

"What is it?" Kagome asked.

"Well, the red lion happens to be quite close to us already! The bad news is that it's onboard the Galra ship inbound for us. It seems like they're orbiting Arus, the planet we're currently stuck on."

"They're already here?" Shiro asked.

Coran nodded, his smile flickering as he looked at his hands. "Yes, I suppose my calculations must've been off. Finger counting can be quite risky to rely on, I suppose."

"Okay, we just need a plan," Kagome said. "If we-" She was cut off by a transmission being broadcast to the castle, and she snapped her mouth shut as she turned to face the screen. The others followed suit, watching as a purple-furred alien appeared.

"Princess Allura," he spoke, "this is Commander Sendak of the Galra empire. I speak on behalf of my Emperor Zarkon. I come to claim the Lions of Voltron. Surrender them, or I will destroy the planet you are on."

The transmission cut off as soon as he said his piece, and a tense silence fell over them. Shiro looked around. "Okay everyone, now's not the time to panic."

"It's not?" Hunk asked. "You just saw that too, right? T-That purple guy is driving his battleship right to us! We only have five lions!

"Well, actually, we only have four working lions," Pidge said. "We can't get the black lion until we have the red one."

"Ooh right!" Hunk groaned, "thank you, Pidge! Four working lions and a castle that's at least ten-thousand years old."

"Well, the castle is actually ten-thousand-six-hundred years old!" Coran said. "My grandfather built it when-!"

"Okay, the castle is over ten-thousand years old," Hunk said, cutting Coran off before he could end up telling the full story on the origins of the castle. "I-I don't know about you guys, but right now seems like the perfect time to panic!"

"Things look bad, yes, but if we panic things won't get better," Kagome said, looking at Hunk. "We need to stay calm so we can think of a way to get out of this."

"Coran, doesn't the castle have a particle barrier?" Allura asked, "can't we just activate that for cover?"

Coran hummed, thinking it over before shaking his head. "I doubt the particle barrier would hold out long against Sendak's ion cannon. It's been a long time, and I assume Galra technology's only improved in these ten-thousand years."

"I know you said no to, but I'm seriously panicking," Hunk said. "Oh man, things don't look good for us."

"We just need to think of a plan of action," Shiro said. "Everyone take a deep breath and think. We don't have much time, but if we put our heads together, then we can't fail."

"Alright, I'll say it: Wormhole." Lance looked around the room. "Pop through a wormhole and live to fight another day."

"That sounds good," Hunk said. He felt eyes on him and he rubbed the back of his neck. "L-Look, we tried to find all the lions, but we don't have them all. We can't form Voltron without the other two."

"Alright, it's settled then!" Lance said.

"Absolutely not," Kagome frowned, folded her arms over her chest.

"Kagome's right," Pidge said. "We can't just abandon Arus. The Galra will just keep taking innocent people as prisoners until we stop them!"

"Well, maybe Sendak will follow us if we leave?" Hunk suggested. "Like on Earth! They left Earth alone and followed us."

"If we leave, Sendak could just destroy the planet and then follow us," Keith said. "I'm with Kagome and Pidge. We can't leave. Staying is our only option."

Lance glared at Keith. "If we stay, we'll get creamed! We're leaving."

"We're staying!"

"Leaving!"

"You guys, knock it off," Shiro said. "Fighting is going to get us nowhere." He looked at Allura. "Right, Princess, these are your lions. You've dealt with the Galra before, and you know what can happen better than any of us do. What do you think we should do?"

Allura looked around the room and frowned, digging her fingers in her dress. "I… I don't know," she whispered. Her heart was telling her to say and fight, but she couldn't figure out if it was the right thing for them to do.

Coran saw the troubled expression on her face, and he walked over towards her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and offered her a small, supportive smile. "Princess… Maybe your father can help?"

"My father?" Allura's eyes widened when Coran said that. "But Coran, father's-"

"Come with me, Allura," Coran carefully guided her to the exit. He paused before leaving, glancing back at the rest. "You all just sit tight. We'll be back in a few minutes."


True to his word, Coran arrived back with Allura maybe ten minutes after they left. When they came back, Allura had donned a change of clothes, swapping out her dress for a spacesuit.

She looked over each one before nodding. "You six were brought here for a reason," Allura said. "You are meant to become the paladins of the lions, and you are meant to reform Voltron to take down Zarkon once and for all. We cannot run. We cannot defy our destiny. We must fight for those still in need, and we must fight for those already gone!"

She led them to the castle's armory, waving them all in behind her. First, she urged them towards the suits hanging up, each one a color corresponding with the lions.

"Your suits of armor," she said.

They were given their armor to put on, and once they were dressed Allura motioned to a long, rectangular stand a little further in the back of the room.

"These are the official weapons of the Paladin," Allura said. "The bayard takes a distinct shape for each of its wielders." All but the black bayard were there, and Allura gave Shiro an apologetic look. "It seems that the black bayard was lost with its original paladin," she said.

Kagome picked up the white bayard as the others picked up their own. She jumped when it took on a white glow, soon enough shifting into a longbow. The handle of the bayard was in the middle of the bow's curve. A string of light pink that glimmered was her drawstring. Pink lines ran along the bow's curve.

"Oh that figures," she muttered dryly under her breath once she realized the shape her bayard had taken. She wasn't surprised at all.


They regrouped back at the bridge of the castle to think of a plan.

"Alright," Allura shook her head. Everyone had dressed in their armor, and all they needed to do was retrieve the red lion from the approaching ship. "Keith, our first priority is that we retrieve the red lion from Sendak's ship. You'll need to get on board and locate it."

"How am I supposed to know where it is?" Keith asked. "It's not exactly a small ship."

"You'll be able to feel it," Kagome said, giving him a supportive smile.

"Yeah, remember when you felt that crazy energy in the desert?" Lance asked.

"Yeah. You made fun of me for it," Keith glared at him.

"Yeah, and I'm proud of that, but turns out it's exactly like that," Lance said. "You'll feel it and be able to track it down."

"You must remember that the red lion is… rather temperamental," Allura cautioned. "Its respect must be earned before it will accept you."

Keith nodded, and Shiro cleared his throat so eyes were on him.

"Here's the plan," he began. "Since the Galra already knows that we have the blue and yellow lions, we're going to use them as decoys. Hunk, Lance, you two will act as if you're surrendering." The pair nodded, and Shiro looked at the others. "Meanwhile, we'll use the green and white lions to sneak aboard the ship without Sendak realizing. Kagome and Pidge will guard the exit and keep watch while Keith and I go find the red lion. While we do that, Hunk and Lance, you two find a way to take care of that ion cannon." Shiro glanced over the group around him. "Everyone clear on the plan?"

He was answered with nods, and the plan was kicked into motion.

As Lance and Hunk went out, acting as decoys, Kagome and Pidge snuck aboard the ship with Shiro and Keith in tow. Once they regrouped inside the ship, Shiro couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity when he saw their surroundings.

A painful flash seared through his brain, and he clutched his head as memories of this ship returned to the front of his mind.

"Shiro? What's wrong?" Kagome reached for his wrist, carefully setting her hand on his arm to draw him back to reality. "What do you remember?"

"I… I've been here before," he said as he caught his breath. The pain was still there, dully throbbing as he looked around. "After we were taken off Kerberos, we were brought here."

"Wait!" Pidge quietly exclaimed, "so that means the rest of your crew might be held here still, right? We have to get them!"

"Pidge, we don't have time for that right now," Shiro said. "We have to find the red lion and get back to Arus."

"We can't just leave innocent prisoners trapped here!" Pidge cried back, eyes narrowed with determination. "We have to help them!"

"Pidge, sometimes in war you have to make hard choices," Shiro said softly. "It's not easy, but we need to look at the bigger picture. Our priority is finding the red lion."

"No!" Pidge protested vehemently. "Commander Holt is my father. He and my brother were the ones taken on the Kerberos mission with you. I'm not going to turn away when they might be so close! I've been searching everywhere for them. I refuse to give up!"

"I- Alright," Shiro said, giving in. "But you're not going alone. I still remember where they kept prisoners. I'm going to come with you." He looked at Kagome and Keith. "Minor change of plans. Keith, Kagome, you two go find the red lion while Pidge and I go check for prisoners."

Kagome and Keith shared a look, nodding a second after. "Shiro. you and Pidge be careful. We'll get the red lion and get back to the others."

Shiro nodded, and he and Pidge went off in the opposite direction, leaving behind Kagome and Keith. They head a different way, running down a corridor until meeting a corridor that splits off into two directions.

The faint sound of approaching footsteps stole Kagome's attention, and she snatched Keith by the wrist, pulling him down the direction she could feel the faint pulse of the red lion's aura.

"This way," she said, and they took off down the hall. "It's not strong, but I can feel a little bit of the lion's aura. It has to be down this way somewhere!"

After a little bit of running and ducking to hide from patrolling sentries, they came to a door. It opened for them, and they hurried inside. Inside was the red lion, and Kagome hung back by the door as Keith ran over to the lion.

Though he tried, the red lion wouldn't respond to him. It remained behind its red, translucent barrier. It stubbornly ignored him, even as he tapped on the barrier.

As Kagome waited for any change in the red lion, the door to the room they were hidden in opened and sentries began to enter.

"Looks like we've been found out," Kagome called over her shoulder as she manifested her bayard into her bow. Keith turned too, his bayard taking shape as he went to join her.

Kagome pulled on the string of her bow, and an arrow of pink light formed. She aimed and fired, the sentries it hit freezing in place as if time had stopped for them. Keith knocked down the ones firing at them, throwing them into the frozen ones as more replaced the ones they took down.

"They're not gonna stop," Keith growled and lunged at more, and Kagome nodded in agreement. They aimed at her, and she summoned her shield to defend herself. When she saw her opening, she dropped her shield and aimed again, firing another arrow of glimmering pink and halting more sentries in place.

The two very quickly got overwhelmed as more and more sentries filed into the room. They both got knocked back, Kagome hitting the wall behind her while Keith was knocked back into the control panel. The airlocks opened and the sentries went flying out into the black abyss of space.

Kagome was forcibly pulled towards the open exit, and Keith turned in time to see her follow the sentries out.

"Kagome hang on!"

Keith let go of what he grounded himself with, pivoting around and lunging for Kagome. No matter how he tried, he wasn't able to reach her as she drifted out further. They weren't out there long, however. Keith was able to see as the white lion shot through the starry space, scooping up Kagome in its mouth right as the same was done to him by the red lion.

Once inside, he let go of the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

They were okay.


They all regrouped back at the castle, bringing the other five lions together so they could get to the black lion that was still locked inside the caste. The door sealing the black lion slowly opened, allowing Shiro to enter. Finally, the six lions of Voltron had their new paladins.

Allura breathed a sigh of relief when Shiro was accepted, but she didn't have much time to relax. The castle's alarms began to blare loudly, once again bringing the reminder of Sendak's approaching ship.

"There's no time to waste," Allura said, looking at the group with her. "Everyone to your lions. We need Voltron now!"

"Right!" In unison, the paladins went back to their lions, and they were launched from the castle. Not long after they left, the ion cannon on the ship took aim at the castle and hit the barrier encasing it.

Allura felt her balance tip, but before she could hit the ground, she heard the low rumble and something caught her from the side. She blinked in confusion and looked for what had caught her, only for her to suddenly be face to face with Kirara's larger form. Taken by surprise at first, she nearly let out a startled yelp, but she soon recalled Kagome's earlier warning.

Allura smiled and gently rubbed Kirara's head.

"Princess, are you alright?" Coran asked, and she glanced at him as Kirara carefully stood up with her.

"Yes," she said, resting her hand on Kirara's back for support in case they were hit again. "But I worry the castle won't be if we get hit again."

"Man those Galra guys sure are quick at repair," Hunk mumbled. Allura heard him from the communication device in her suit, and she frowned.

"I can give you cover with the castle's defenses for a little while, but you have to come together and form Voltron if we want to get out of this," Allura said.

"With each hit we take, the barrier gets weaker," Coran added on as an afterthought. "Once that shield is down, the castle has no more line of defense."

Hunk groaned from inside the yellow lion. "Oh jeez, no pressure," he grumbled.

Kagome sighed and rested her head on the back of her seat. "Hunk, cheer up some," she tried to encourage. Her words fell flat when the barrier was hit with another blast from the cannon. The barrier flickered some but stayed up.

"Alright, listen up team," Shiro said, his voice carrying through the communication device built into their suits. "We've got to give it all we've got. I know it looks bad, but if we work together we can do this!"

"Right!"

She glanced around the inside of the white lion and sighed. The rest of the teams' agreement fell silent as she asked, "so how exactly are we supposed to form Voltron?"

"That's a good question," Shiro responded.

"I don't see a form into a giant robot button anywhere in here," Hunk said.

"Let's just move and figure it out," Kagome said as she saw the incoming fighter jets. "We've got company, remember?"

They were attacked by the fighter jets as they darted around trying to evade and figure out how to form Voltron with their lions. She heard Pidge huff from the green lion.

"Are you kidding me?" Pidge growled as she snapped the green lion around, using its maw to grip the wing of one of the jets. She then flung it into another one. "Can't they give us a minute or two so we can get a grip of this?!"

Keith fired the red lion's tail cannon, destroying two more of the pursuing jets. "We can't keep running around like this! We've got to do something."

"Maybe if we- COMBINE!" Hunk slammed the yellow lion into the red lion, knocking red to the side as Keith let out a startled shout.

"Hunk, what the hell?!" Keith shouted back as he got the red lion stable again.

"Looks like that isn't how," Hunk mumbled when the attempt fell flat.

"I thought it was hilarious," Lance said.

Kagome sighed and gripped the controls tighter, letting her eyes close as she focused. "There has to be a way…" she whispered under her breath so the rest wouldn't hear. After staying like that for a few seconds, droning out the others as they spoke back and forth, she could hear the white lion communicating to her. A second later, her eyes snapped open as an idea came to her. "That's it, isn't it?"

She didn't have time to say anything else before she was suddenly slammed to the side and into the rocks when she was hit by the fighter jet's shots.

"Kagome what are you doing?!" Keith shouted at her.

She blinked and urged the white lion back onto its feet right as another barrage of strikes went flying at her. Before they could hit, however, a stark white barrier encased the white lion, the attacks bouncing off and leaving no damage. "I have an idea," she said as the barrier fell, bounding back to the others.

"Let's hear it," Shiro said.

"Follow me," she said as she took off. The others followed pursuit, each of them taking flight alongside each other. "We have to be united, and our hearts have to be in sync," she said.

"How do we do that?" Lance asked.

"I dunno," Kagome responded. "Maybe think about how you don't wanna die like this?"

"I mean, I definitely don't want to die flying in a large robotic cat in space," Hunk said. "A-And I hope you guys don't want to either."

"Alright, unity. Let's try it," Shiro said. "Sounds like a plan."

As they flew through the sky, trying to connect with each other, Sendak's ship prepared another strike to the castle. It hit the barrier and knocked the defenses down, leaving the castle open to attacks.

Sendak prepared another strike to the now-defenseless castle, causing them to split up on their focus.

"We have to do something!" Pidge shouted. "He's gonna destroy the castle."

"No, he won't!" Shiro responded. "We can do this, I know we can. I believe in us. I refuse to give up, we can't give up. The universe is relying on us. We are it's only hope. If we fail, then there's no stopping Zarkon and his army!"

Kagome felt a pull in her chest, and she silently wondered if it was just her feeling it. She held back asking as the others let out a chorus of agreement. She felt some sort of pull on her lion towards the others, and they all took off towards the sky.

The next thing she knew, they were a part of something greater than themselves. They were united in a single figure. Together as Voltron, they struck the ion cannon on the ship and diverted its path away from the defenseless castle.

"No way!" Lance cried out as they came to a halt in the sky.

"I can't believe this," Keith responded, his awe felt by the rest of the team.

"We did it! We formed Voltron," Pidge exclaimed in excitement. "This is so cool!"

"Alright team," Shiro spoke, reeling the rest down. "We can celebrate once the battle's won! Let's get that cannon!"

With combined effort, they managed to destroy Sendak's ship and save Arus and the castle from destruction. After the battle came to an end, they regrouped with Allura and Coran in front of the castle. The lions sat in formation as the paladins were finally able to relax on stable ground.

"Wonderful work, Paladins," Allura exclaimed as she met with the rest, Coran and Kirara in tow behind her. Kirara barreled up to Kagome, nudging her stomach with her large head and nearly sweeping her off the ground with a joyous rumble. Allura laughed at the sight. "I think Kirara thinks the same as I do," she said then.

"We did it, you guys," Shiro said, looking over the group with him proudly. "I don't know how we did it, but we did."

"I was mostly panicking the whole time," Hunk admitted. "I know you said not to, but I couldn't help it," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"We know," Keith responded, and Hunk laughed. "Did you really have to slam into the red lion?"

"I thought it might work," he responded sheepishly.

"We were able to do it because we came together," Kagome said as she rubbed Kirara's head. "Our souls were in sync because we wanted to save the castle and this planet."

Allura nodded, "right." She smiled at Kagome. "We've managed to win this battle, but this is far from the last one," she said then. "Zarkon won't stop coming after the lions."

"It's good you six look like you know what you're doing," Coran said, twirling his mustache with a hum of approval. "You are going to have to come together to form Voltron again and again."

"Wait- what?" Hunk frowned at that news.

Lance nodded, his expression in sync with Hunk's. "We barely survived this one."

Coran folded his arms and nodded his head, smiling at the group. "It won't be easy, being defenders of the universe, but it's something that must be done. There are countless people relying on Voltron."

"You know guys? It sounds kinda nice," Shiro said, and he glanced over to the black lion. The rest followed suit, turning to face the lions. "I know we can do this," he said then.

As the rest headed into the castle to get some much-needed rest, Kagome saw Pidge hang back and sit down. She frowned and walked over to where Pidge sat down. Kirara followed her.

Pidge jumped and looked up when Kagome sat down beside her. Kirara sat on her other side, letting out a low rumble as she set her head on Pidge's lap. She didn't put her full weight down, just enough for Pidge to feel it. A small smile pulled at Pidge's lips, and she began to pet Kirara's head.

"I… take it you didn't find your father and brother?" Kagome asked after a few moments of silence.

Pidge sunk her fingers into Kirara's fur as she shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes. "We brought the prisoners here for recovery, but my family wasn't among them."

Kagome set her arm over Pidge's shoulders, and she tugged her into a half-hug. Pidge was surprised at first, but she soon relaxed into the warm touch. It felt comforting, like a hug from her family was.

"You're not doing this alone," Kagome said. "I'll help you find your family, I promise."

A small smile lifted on Pidge's lips. "You're right," she said as she nodded. "Thank you, Kagome."

Kagome offered her a warm smile. "Anytime," she said. "Afterall, with all these guys around, us girls really should have each other's backs, right?"

Pidge felt her eyes widen when Kagome said that. She looked at her, startled. "H-How'd you know?"

Kagome stood up and held a finger to her lips, a silent promise to keep her secret. She headed back into the castle, and Pidge eventually stood up to follow her. Kirara walked alongside her as they went to join the others.


It was late at night, and she was laying in her room aboard the castleship. Kirara was tucked into her pillow, sleeping soundly as Kagome looked up at the ceiling over her head.

The past two days replayed through her mind. Each event, one right after another with no pause. She was exhausted, and rightfully so, but she still couldn't fall asleep. She rolled onto her side and exhaled, letting her eyes fall closed.

The silence around her was comforting, and she slowly found herself dozing off.

As she slept, a world of unfamiliar surroundings bloomed around her.

"Azilu!"

She came to a halt where she was upon hearing the voice in the distance shout the name. She didn't know why, but it felt like they were calling her, and she couldn't help the reflex of stopping and waiting so the person heading over to her could catch up.

Kagome frowned when he stopped a few feet away from her. Something about him seemed so familiar, but she couldn't place what it was. Warm-brown skin and white hair pulled back in a short ponytail were the first things she saw. He had a short, white beard and blue sickle-shaped markings right below his blue eyes.

"Ah, finally," he let out a quiet sigh. "I almost thought you were ignoring me for a moment." He added on with a laugh, "wouldn't be the first time."

Kagome smiled, unable to help the curve of her lips as it happened. "Well maybe you should get to the point quicker," she began speaking, but she had no control of the words she said. It was almost like she was looking in on a memory, unable to do or change anything about it. "It gets boring just standing around, Alfor."

He spared her a mild glare before shaking his head. "Come with me. I need your assistance, Azilu."

She followed after him at his request, absentmindedly listening to him as he spoke to her. They walked past a reflective surface, and it drew her eyes to it. At once, she came to a halt, staring wide-eyed into the reflection looking back at her.

Her reflection didn't look normal. Her hair was still the same raven color, and her eyes were still the same blue, but her pupils had become a pale rose pink. Just below her eyes on her cheekbones were ivory sickle-shaped marks.

Kagome froze, raising a hand up to cup her cheek, slim fingers tracing the unfamiliar markings on her skin. Her companion seemed to notice her sudden halt, and he turned to her.

"Azilu? What's wrong?"

She looked back at him, but as she did the world began to blur into a mash of white and many different hues of gray.

Kagome woke up with a jolt. She let out a choked gasp, and Kirara was up the same second, fur bristling as she looked for any sort of threat. After a quick look over of the room, no one was found, and Kirara looked up at Kagome with a curious meow.

Kagome got out of bed and dug around in the front pocket of her hoodie until her fingers closed around a round compact. She sank back down on the bed, letting a pink glow encase her fingers to give her some more light as she opened the circular mirror. She peered closely at her face, but no matter how hard she looked, there was no trace of the marks she'd seen on her in her dream.

Her fingers dragged along the skin under her eyes where the ivory marks had been in her dream, but she saw nothing but her normal complexion when she looked in her reflection. Kagome closed her eyes and let go of the breath she was holding. Kirara stood on her lap, meowing louder to get her attention. Kagome opened her eyes again, setting her mirror out of the way as she carefully picked Kirara up into her arms.

Kirara was looking up at her, worried. Kagome shook her head and laid back down, letting Kirara use her chest as a pillow.

She didn't know what her dream meant, but it looked like she wouldn't be getting much more rest.

The name Alfor returned to her memory and she frowned.

Wasn't that Allura's father's name?


C.R: Okay so I initially planned to cut the voting off when publishing this chapter, but I also finished it much sooner than I thought I would. So, I'm setting the date to close it as August 10th, which was when I expected to upload this chapter.

I also want to say that no matter who ends up being paired with Kagome, I'll still have some implied shipping of other characters w/her. It'll also affect the relationships/ties she has with the others.

About Kagome's dream, without spoiling anything to come, I'll also say that Kagome has no familial ties to Alfor. You can make guesses if you want.

So in this version, there will be 6 lions.

Anyway, that's it for now. Thank you all for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed! Hopefully I caught all the errors before posting, but if not, sorry.

Please remember to Review&Favorite&Follow, thank you!

Bye for now~