AN1: I'm Back, sorry for the long wait, just so much has been going on I was a little overwhelmed, but I hope you all enjoy this next chapter.
Thanks to Unknown Miko and Shiranai Atsune for leaving reviews on the last chapter.
AN2: Special thanks to Shiranai Atsune for telling me that Ori'Auna's name is Ven'tar. I seriously had no idea, and it's been so much easier googling photos of her!
"Pidge, I don't think it's a good idea for you to do this alone," Shiro urge, his voice filled with concern over coms in Pidge's helmet.
"I agree, you should wait till Keith returns," Allura insisted, But the green paladin's focus was on setting up maps, files and other configurations she needed for her upcoming mission.
"We don't have time" Pidge sighed out, the weight of their stares getting to her through the video feed. She could understand their reasoning even though some of it was an emotional base reaction. Ever since the two of them learned about her strange dreams and the emotional toll it was taking on her mental state and capability to sleep. The Voltron leaders had become extra protective, the two practically taking shifts in her self care.
Shiro took it upon himself to watch the Green Paladin throughout the day forcing her to eat and as of late making her exercise every day. She thought his hovering before was fine but now she started to feel like Shiro's pet, with the way he would encourage her and pet her head. Though Pidge couldn't find the will to complain too much. Shiro's moods had been improving since he started to focus on her.
Then Allura took over as her night watcher, always there at 'night' or whatever considered as bedtime for the ship. Appearing at Pidge's side like clockwork doing her best to convince the green paladin to sleep, luckily Pidge was excellent at verbal debates, unfortunately, the Altean princess was freakishly strong and often resorted to just picking her up when verbal negotiations started to deteriorate. (Making Pidge wonder if this was an Allura thing or an Altean one.)
Allura took Pidge away from whatever the shortest paladin had been doing and dragged her to bed. As of late Allura had more often taken Pidge to The Princess's bed chambers, after the green paladin tried and failed several times to do work in her room after Allura left the room.
This was another thing Pidge absolutely refused to let the other paladins know about, Shiro knowing was fine. Takashi sometimes teased about getting Allura involved when Pidge was in a particularly stubborn mood but at least she knew he would never push it past that or say anything about it to others. It especially had to be hidden from Coran, the man was too much of a chatterbox and it would definitely slip sooner or later about the princess and her bed-sharing.
Pidge wasn't even sure how well Coran would handle the information, and she could already picture how the others would react. Simply put the fewer people who knew them better, but getting back to the task at hand...
"We have no idea how long Keith is going to be and we only have a small window where the Re'Jisa planetary storm subsides enough to be safe to explore" Pidge explained, not bothering to look at the video feed, while double-checking Green's systems.
Allura and Shiro share a worried look over the video feed.
"Hunk or Lance should be back soon" Allura tried to interject.
"And wait outside the atmosphere as a lookout? Both their loins are way too big, neither of them will fit through the crevices of the planet." Pidge countered "If you're really worried about me being detected by a Garla forces; which is highly unlikely in the area. You can send them over as soon as they're done. For now, I need all the time I can get on Re'Jisa to make sure I don't miss anything"
"Pidge we don't know enough about the planet's creatures or other dangers, it's too risky for you to go alone." Shiro stated "we can wait till the next planetary storm break"
"That would be months away" Pidge argued, "this is the first time any of our sensors have found the material the lions were made out of, we need to look into this right away." She stated, looking over her monitors. Good looks like everything she needed had finished downloading "It could help us fix Black Lion"
Allura and Shiro both looked like they wanted to disagree, assuring Pidge that it could wait, but without the Black Lion there was no Voltron and their current tactics were only going to work for so long.
"Look if we miss this, the Galra Empire could find it before us" Pidge added.
"That is a possibility..." Allura sighed "I rather not think about what Haggar and her Druids would create with such material"
"It will be alright, I've done a ton of research about the planet and made plans upon plans, even though things have changed a little without Keith coming I can handle this," Pidge promised. "Even in a worst-case scenario the planet is pretty much a giant thorny bush, we'll be in Green's element."
"Still communication will be next to impossible in the deeper levels of Re'Jisa, please contact us as soon as you reach the higher levels again" Shiro requested, concern still heavy on his features.
"We'll send one of the paladins to your location as soon as they're available" Allura assured, she looked calm but Pidge could tell the princess was tense whenever her shoulders were extra rigged.
"See you two soon" Pidge promised, taking off in her loin, and slipping through a portal before Allura and Shiro could argue with her more.
On the other side of the wormhole she saw the thorny planet oozing out fog.
"Good thing Hunk didn't come, he would've been creeped out by this place" Pidge muttered to herself as she approached the planet's surface.
The hidden material was located deep within the tangled planet but to get the exact coordinates she would need to be closer. Pidge wished she could've had the blue loin try to sonic map the place before hand, but with all the other Loins occupied or indisposed she needed to work with what she had.
Soon The Green Paladin found an opening that would hopefully give her the straightest route possible.
"Alright I'm heading in communication will resume in two hours max. Should the castle not receive a message within that time send assistance," Pidge said, sending out her last message before flying into the fog and throne fill tunnels.
The fog wasn't normal; it changed colours the further in Green Lion went, fist white, then ominous blue and now glowing blood-red. With each new level the more sensors she lost and the less equipment she could overall use. The red clouds were especially dangerous any laser or fire-based weapons would cause a chain reaction of explosions that the planet could survive but Pidge rather not test if her Loin could.
"Still looks like we're on the right path but we should stop and check for any major obstacles ahead," Pidge said aloud, partly talking to herself, partly to her Lion. Hearing a soft rumble in the back of her mind as they landed on a thick vine making sure the green's paws were perched between the thorns.
"Okay let's see if I can do this without Okieri assistance" Pidge said taking a deep breath. Having the Olkieri planet become Voltron's colerassion base caused the green paladin to visit them often and with each visit she learned something new from one of their people.
Pidge closed her eyes, taking slow and steady breaths as she tried to sync with her loin. Slowly the connection expanded through the thick vines. Sensing the way the plants grew out and connected to others creating a map in her mind of her immediate surroundings.
Pidge gasped as she found a small scout ship that had landed above and behind her, the vessel perched delicately on a branch, clearly watching her. Briefly, The Green Paladin could feel the pilot on the ship, before snapping her eyes open catching something shining against her visor that was…. Coming from her Face? But before she could check what it was it faded away. Strange but that would have to wait, she had a spy on her tail.
Did the Galra already know about this signal and waited for one of the Paladins to come, but if it was an ambush or an assassination attempt they would have tried to attack her long before now. No for some reason they were only following…They probably let her in because they couldn't find the material themselves.
Luckily Pidge had one thing to her advantage, they didn't know she knew about them. The Green Lion Pilot doubted their electronic sensors were working much better than Green's sensors and the fog was so thick it created limited visibility. So maybe if she could get ahead quick enough to set up something before she was back in their vision... Yes, she was sure they would quickly tag along, but not too quick to risk being spotted.
The only other issue was how close she was to the material, it seemed to be resting near a dead end so she couldn't overshoot it. Pidge couldn't be sure if it was even possible to backtrack to the material if she did get in a fight with this pilot.
Still, it could be manageable, just needed the right placement and timing.
A devious smirk played across Pidge's lips, oh she was going to tangle this wannabe spy pilot deep in her web. The only downside being she wouldn't get to see their shocked face when she sprung her trap.
Lotor pulled his hand away from his visor, his markings had started glowing for a quick moment before fading away again. Perhaps he had landed slightly too close to the Green Lion?
At the very least it confirmed that the Green Paladin was indeed his soulmate. Lotor still needed to be careful, no need to scare his soulmate before he lured them to the right location for their long-awaited talk.
Here no one in the Galra Empire; outside of his general, would know about their meeting. The Witch wouldn't learn about his soulmate, not until he was prepared to let her know.
Haggar and Zarkon would never take another soulmate away from him.
So far the plan had gone perfectly, being a good stand-in empire Lotor had sent generals and their fleets on three separate missions. Being careful to plan out and calculate the power balance of each fleet against each individual Lion. He had to make sure it was enough to occupy each of the other lions without needing to get the Green Lion involved or call for backup. With the way they had been searching for more Lion material The Prince was sure even if it was slightly too much for a solo mission, the Green Lion would still come to investigate the signal and have the castle of Lions come to the other Voltron member's assistance instead.
It took a lot of research to find the perfect planet for the Green Lion to be the most suitable one, but it was well worth the challenge. Because now his Soulmate was right where he wanted them and soon he would get to hear his soulmate's voice for the first time once more.
Now he just had to wait till they found the transmitter, with the red fog making more finely tuned sensors absolutely unless. It was child's play to create a transmitter that could mimic the unique material and fool the more blunt devices that could still work in this red fog.
The Green Lion suddenly bounded forward as it dashed off into the thick fog. Lotor placed extra care in keeping his distance from the Lion. No need for his Soulmate's mark to start glowing again, it could complicate things if they were to get spooked and try to leave.
A little further, just a little more, ah yes here we go, Lotor smiled.
The Green Lion had just found the transmitter in a tangled thorny dead end. Though the Lion had no facial expression, Lotor could tell through The Green Lion's body language that its pilot was surprised. The Lion's head reeling back before whipping around to face him. As his ship came into view through the thick fog.
"Please don't shoot. I wish only to talk," Lotor said, broadcasting his words on an open channel, depending on how the fogged affected transmissions it would only be able to work in a relatively short distance.
Lotor wasn't sure The Paladin could hear him as The Green Lion raised its haunches and lowered its body looking ready to pounce on him. The Pince dared to inch closer with his recoloured Galra scout ship, and repeat his words "Please don't shoot, I only want to talk."
Suddenly vines shot out of the fog tightly wrapping around his ship, the thick cloud making it impossible to notice the vines till it was too late. Leaving Lotor no time to react as the vines rapidly twisted around his ship, even as he instinctively tried to move, his ship's gears only creaked and groaned as they were trapped in place.
The Green Lion gracefully landed on top of the vines surrounding his ship, one claw resting against this cockpit window. The Prince's cheek markings started glowing again as he started up in amazement and smiled up at the Lion that threateningly stared down at him. No matter the life his soulmate had amazing ways to make first impressions.
First with Ori'Auna's indirect show of incredible ingenuity and leadership skills when it came to her planetary defences. To now, with The Green Paladin staying true to their title of being creative, bold and daring. Lotor wasn't sure exactly when the Paladin had noticed him but they had quickly come up and made a counter trap without his notice. If he wasn't under threat he might have swooned in his seat.
The Lion's claws lightly scratched over his cockpit, making The Prince flinch at the screeching of metal against metal.
"Your cheeks are glowing too correct?" Lotor called out and it must have been true as the Lion upon him froze. "Please, if you can give me a few minutes of your time I wish to explain this to you and many other things" Lotor pleaded.
The Paladin's lack of response was starting to get to him, the desperate need to hear his soulmate's voice and be accepted by them growing heavy in his chest. The Prince tried to remain logical, reminding himself that caution and speculation in these times probably allowed his Soulmate to survive through this war.
"If you can hear me, please respond," maybe his transmissions weren't going through, or on the other hand-
"Are you Atem?" Came a voice through his speakers, and Lotor nearly felt his heart leap out of his chest. How many centuries had he gone without hearing that nickname?
"Yes, Ammi it is me" He replied with a soft smile, a warmth blooming in his chest as he spoke the old nickname. "I take it you have Ori'Auna's memories?"
"Some... I assume key parts of her life, I've been... getting them through dreams" they explained, Lotor still couldn't tell by the voice alone if his soulmate was male or female.
"How did you know it was me, did you sense it when our cheeks started glowing?" Lotor asked curiously, not sure how detailed his soulmate's dreams were.
"No, it was your voice, I recognized it from the dreams... I always had a feeling those dreams might be based on reality but couldn't be sure till just now. Oh, and you were going to explain what these glowing cheek marks are about?" she questioned getting back on topic as The Green Lion's other paw started tapping against one of the vines around his ship.
"Ah Yes I apologize" Lotor replied, it seemed Ori'Auna's inquisitive nature was a core part of her soul "It's an Altean way of identifying one's soulmate."
"But I'm not Altean...Wait are you Altean!?" surprised spring out of their voice.
"Yes, though only half Altean, and both parties do not need to be Altean for the other person to be soulmate" Lotor explained.
"What does it mean to be an Altean soulmate? And what does it entail? My kind have… stories about soulmates but there is no physical proof like glowing cheek marks" They expressed.
"Well let's start off with what your kind's standard for a soulmate is and I'll expand, or deny from there."
The Green Lion backed away and laid against the vines still remaining above and away from the sightline of his weapons. His soulmate was definitely the cautious type but they were giving him their attention and were willingly discussing in exchange he could deal with a little discomfort.
"It's mostly about compatibility, some say that your soulmate is someone who has the other half of your soul. Something like... all souls were created whole, then split in half and put into different bodies. They say when you find that other person it's like two gears that fit perfectly together. It feels like that other person completes you?" His Soulmate explained, not sounding confident about their explanation. "Sorry... I don't really know much more I was never really into romantic base fables" They sighed, The Green Lion dropping its head a little in reaction, the paladin and the lion must have had a strong connection to be so closely bonded to its pilot's emotional state.
"Seems like your peoples' fables are not too far off from what Altean's soulmates are," Lotor assured. "From what I have gathered our marks always glow when we share strong moments together, our quintessence mingling and fusing strongly together in those moments. There are supposedly some other effects but what is fact or fiction is nearly impossible to tell with what little I have been able to find. Most of the Altean culture was wiped out by the time I was born" He explained, best not to let on how truly old he was till they got to know each other better.
The Lion slightly nodded its head, probably mimicking what it's paladin was doing "but that makes me wonder how you've been able to survive in the Galra Empire. Have you kept yourself transformed all this time?"
"I do not possess the ability to transform, at least nothing past manipulating my joints" he confessed, "As to how I've survived for so long it's mostly thanks to my combat abilities, and as to why Zarkon himself hasn't tried to end me for my heritage I do not know…" he was clearly part altean yet his Father never killed him, though some of the things Zarkon had done could be considered worse than killing him in The Prince's book. "I assume the only reason I live is that I am half Galra, though I get more than my fair share of ridicule."
"Is your mother full Altean?"
Lotor paused not fully sure himself, at least not with what happened to his mother near the end... "As far as I've been able to discover, yes, she was a pure Altean. I never knew her and what I have been able to find mostly relates to her inventions and experiments as an Alchemist"
"Oh... I'm sorry," his soulmate replied, they truly did sound sympathetic. Heh, it was rare to find someone feeling sorrow for him not knowing his mother, instead of reacting with disgust that his mother was Altean in the first place.
"That's very kind of you to say," Lotor replied, wanting his soulmate to know that he appreciated their words. They had just met him and still showed him more sympathy than most of the universe, but a lingering fear echoed in his mind that The Green Paladin might not be so sympathetic once they learned who his father was. "Glara tend to place a lot of value in how 'pure' their blood is"
"That seems unnecessarily limiting on Galra genetic potential and evolution for species as a whole" The Green Paladin stated, startling a laugh out of Lotor.
"Yes, I've had similar views on the subject, and have met others who felt the same but they are few and far between in the Galra Empire." Lotor explained.
"Speaking of the Galra Empire" His soulmate hummed, the Green Lion's paws tapping against the vines entrapping him. "I take it you already knew about the other three attacks on the Voltron Alliance when planning this meeting..."
"Yes, I knew about the attacks" He answered, leaving out the part that he also planned out the three attacks. "After doing some research on what kind of missions the Green Paladin usually was spotted on, I carefully planned a way to lure you out. So I could meet you and I could confirm for myself that you were my soulmate and that... I wasn't losing my mind," Lotor confessed. To be given a chance to have a soulmate again after eons of a painful hollow feeling echo in his soul. It was more than the Prince dared to hope for and quickly grew desperate to confirm.
His Soulmate was quiet for a long moment as The Green Lion's head titled curiously to the side as it stared down at his ship."How did you know I was your soulmate?" The Paladin question, "you must have had some kind of proof to take this big of a risk."
"Galra spies had gathered fragmented blueprints to a Quintessence booster. As soon as I saw them I recognized it as one of Ori'Auna's inventions." Lotor replied, fondly recalling the times he watched Ori'Auna's intensely sketch different designs on large pieces of papyrus, her deep brown eyes shining with an unwavering focus.
"Did the Galra spies figure out it was a Quintessence booster or was it something only you knew?" The Green Paladin asked, with a curious lack of surprise in their tone over spies finding blueprints of their and Ori'Auna's creation.
"No they don't know, they have some theories, but as far as I know I am the only one who knows what it is," Lotor answered, making a mental note to analyze his soulmate's lack of reaction later.
"That's good" they replied, his soulmate almost sounding pleased with that piece of information.
Before The Prince was given a chance to question his Soulmate anymore, The Green Lion suddenly jumped onto its feet. The fog around them being taken over by an even thicker purple fog.
This fog was not in any reports Lotor had found about the planet and they had plenty of time till the planetary storm returned.
So what could be the cause of this?