Chapter 7
A/N: hey everyone! Welcome back! Glad to see ya'll're still reading! I know things are a bit weird right now with the chapters, and I promise that once all the rewritten chapters are up things will flow a lot smoother. Anyways, I just own my OCs, that's it.
"Great job today guys," Shiro praised as the Castle doors slid open to let them inside. Popping his helmet off, he huffed a puff of air at his forelock as it flopped into his eyes after being plastered to his head for so long. "I really think we're starting to get the hang of this Voltron thing."
"Yeah!" Lance agreed quickly, "Seriously, did you see how far I kicked that broken alien ship? It must've been like half a mile!"
Beside the Blue Paladin, Keith raised a brow as he took off his helmet, "Yeah, that'll come in handy when the Galra challenge us to a soccer match."
At his deadpan tone, Lance scowled, crossing his arms as he tilted his chin up, trying to look down his nose at him, "Hey, it's not my fault you can't handle the fact I did something cool."
Keith rolled his eyes as he grabbed a plate "Your kick sloppy and put us off balance. We fell."
As usual, the Blue Idiot refused to take any of the blame form himself, "What?! What was Hunk's fault!"
"Hey!"
"Alright," Shiro chided, "Knock it off. Save that energy for fighting Zarkon."
"Orrr, we could wait to sell tickets," Jaz spoke up as she slid into the room. "I bet people would pay big money to watch you two duke it out. My money's on Keith. What do you think Shiro?"
"I'm not getting involved in this," he muttered.
Beside him, the Awoken woman smirked, "That's cause you know Keith would win and you don't wanna hurt Lance's feelings," she taunted getting up and high-fiving Keith.
"HEY!"
Before another argument could break out, a door hissed open and Coran walked in with a large platter of food. "Hello everyone, how was the Voltron workout today?"
Shiro sighed, leaning back in his chair, "We're getting there," he answered. "Are you guys almost done fixing the Castle so we can leave this planet? I feel like we're sitting ducks here on Arus."
"Almost," Jaz answered. "It's taking longer than expected cause of how long the systems have been out of commission and how out of date they are."
"In the meantime, to get those duck seats off your mind, I made this!" Coran set down the tray and ripped the lid covering it off with a flourish. "An authentic Paladin lunch!"
What was in front of them was a smelly, green, oozing thing with weird yellow-green tubes coming out of it.
"And I find myself not hungry anymore," Jaz muttered shoving her plate away with a grimace.
To her right Keith seemed to agree as he eyed they strange dish, almost seeming to expect it to come to life. "I thought the goo was bad."
"Coran, you just got me hooked on that goo, and now you're changing it up on me?" Hunk complained poking the green blob with a look of distain.
"This is packed with nutrients!"
"It smells like a Scorn's cell," Jaz deadpanned.
"That's how you know it's healthy!"
This did not seem to appease the Yellow Paladin, "Coran, we're on a planet with fresh herbs, spices, and whatever this is," he held up a thin orange and green plant. "Now, if you'll you excuse me, I'm going to the kitchen to spice things up." Without waiting for a response, the teen stomped off towards the kitchens.
"Oh thank God."
Shiro glanced around the room, his brows furrowing, "Where's Pidge?"
Coran's ear twitched and he put his hands on his hips, "Well, he's probably checking on the prisoners we rescued from Zarkon. They'll be waking up soon in the infirmary," he answered grabbing a spoon and holding it up to the Black Paladin, "Now, open up the hatch! Food lion coming in!"
Thankfully, Shiro was saved by his chair being pulled away from the table as Jaz yanked him to his feet, "We should go check on Pidge." She put on a fake smile, slowly backing away before she quickly turned and all but raced from the room down the hall.
"You don't know what you're missing!" Coran called after them.
Jaz grimaced, shaking her head, "I don't know what that was, but it wasn't food."
Shiro chuckled, "No kidding. Thanks for getting me out of that."
"No prob," the Awoken woman smirked, playfully elbowing him. "Someone's gotta keep your nice butt out of trouble. You hardly ever think straight."
Shiro rolled his eyes at the playful jab, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. If there was one thing he remembered from his time in Zarkon's prison, it was definitely his friend keeping him grounded with stupid jokes like that. It was definitely a bright spot in their otherwise abysmal existence.
"But seriously," Jaz stopped in front of him, putting her hands on her hips, "I know that look Takashi, you're worried about something. What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Jaz's lips pursed as her brow rose skeptically, "Uh huh?"
Shiro sighed, "You don't believe me do you?"
"What possibly gave you that idea Taka?"
Shiro huffed at the sarcasm practically oozing from her tone. No way he was getting out of this one. "The prisoners, the recognized me."
The woman's brows furrowed, "They what?"
"They recognized me," he repeated. "They even called me Champion."
"Champion?" Jaz muttered. Her glowing gold eyes glanced towards the ground, as she tapped her chin in thought. "It doesn't sound like an alias, let alone one you would've picked for yourself. Which means, it was a title assigned to you."
It was Shiro's turn to be confused, well, more confused than what he already was. "A title? We were prisoners."
"It's probably something the other prisoners assigned you," Jaz stated. "Stuff like that happens sometimes, I remember from my rotations as a guard in the Prison of Elders. A term like Champion, it's a title, one you earned somehow, probably assigned by the other prisoners as some sort of warning or inspiration."
Shiro's eyes went wide. "Warning?" he sputtered his stomach dropping. What of it was a warning? What on Earth did he possibly do to earn such a terrible title? Kami, he hoped it wasn't a warning title, Shiro didn't want to imagine what he could've done to make people terrified of him.
"Taka!" Jaz's voice snapped, causing the Paladin to jump as he was yanked from his thoughts. Her hands were squeezing his shoulders as her gaze locked with his. "Calm down. It's just as likely that title is something of inspiration, remember that. Think about it, how did the prisoner react when you found him?"
Shiro nodded, thinking back when he and Pidge rescued them on the warship. He remembered they were scared at first, but, the one who recognized him, he wasn't. "He told the others I could help," he recalled quietly.
Seeming satisfied with this answer, Jaz gave him one more reassuring squeeze as she stepped back. "See, it's more likely that people saw you as someone to look up to while we were there. So calm down. I'd tell you to think straight, but we both know that's not possible," she smirked.
Shiro rolled his eyes as they resumed their trek to the medbay, the pit that had been developing in his gut feeling just a little lighter. Like usual, the doors gave a soft hiss before they whooshed open, revealing the Green Paladin standing in front of the pods, her foot tapping as she seemed to check the clock periodically.
"You're as anxious as me," Shiro mentioned gently, startling Pidge who looked towards them.
"These aliens have to know something about my family," she said. "They have to."
"Hope so."
Jaz sighed, stepping up and setting her hand on the younger girl's shoulder, "Remember, they were prisoners. Even if they do know anything, it's likely that they won't know where they are right now. Just keep that in mind."
Pidge pouted for a moment, shrugging Jaz's hand off as she looked towards Shiro. "They recognized you didn't they? They called you Champion, what does that mean?"
Shiro gave her a shrug, "I don't know, I can't remember much from that time. And, from the way those guys looked at me when I freed them, I don't know it I wanna know." He crossed his arms, chewing the inside of his cheek. What if the title was a warning? "Jaz, I don't suppose you know anything?"
Unsurprisingly, she shook her head, "Sorry, most of it's still pretty fuzzy."
That meant that they'd have to wait until the prisoners woke up to get the answers they wanted.
-.-
Keith could smell the food before he saw it, however, unlike with Coran's abomination, this actually smelled good. He didn't have to wait long as Hunk strode in carrying a tray full of colorful entrees. The Yellow Paladin set the trays down and Keith grabbed a fork and took a bite, eyes widening, he shared as glance with Lance who looked just as stunned as he was.
Finally, there was real edible food.
Needless to say, neither waited long before digging in with gusto. There was no way they were going to waste the opportunity while they had it.
"They like the Paladin lunch," he heard Allura remark followed by the advisor's annoyed huff.
"I don't want to talk about it."
The princess was silent for a moment, no doubt slightly confused; but she seemed to drop the subject. "I just got the final nebulon booster working. We should be able to leave Arus tomorrow and take the fight to Zarkon."
That comment made Keith pause as he looked to the two Alteans. Yeah…no. No way everyone was prepared for that. They were still figuring out how to do Voltron without Lance messing something up. If they left now, they would probably have their asses kicked in a real battle. Frankly, Keith only thought they won the last one due to beginner's luck and the fact that Voltron had been gone for thousands of years so no one had the battle experience.
Red light flashed in the dining room as alarms blared, dropping his fork, Keith shot to his feet, bayard in hand as he ran up to Allura's side, brows furrowed as she pulled up a camera feed. Just outside the Castle, a small yellow salamander-like being with horns peered out from behind a rock. Its small head darted around before it gave a cry, rushing towards the Castle, a sword in hand, leaping behind another rock. "What is that?"
"No idea, perhaps it's a local Arusian," Allura offered. "He's approaching the Castle."
"Aw, doesn't look too dangerous," Lance remarked.
Keith raised a brow. He could easily think of multiple animals that were adorable, but surprisingly dangerous both on Earth and in his system. "You never know."
Allura glanced at him, her eyes seeming to widen as she saw the bayard in his hand. "No, Alteans believe in peace first. Let us go welcome them."
"It's adorable!"
"Maybe we can knit them a little sweater!"
Keith shook his head as he turned to follow them, first the Alteans wanted them to fight a war and now they wanted peace. Frankly he just wanted them to make up their damn minds. "Yeah, I'm not taking any chances."
The trek to the Castle entrance felt like an eternity due to the endless chatter of the group ahead of him. And once or twice Keith considered throwing himself out the window to end his momentary misery.
"Hello," Allura called out as the doors opened, the Princess quickly striding to the rocks the small alien hid behind. "We know you are there. I promise, no harm will come to you."
It came out holding its primitive blade out. Keith had initially thought it had been the camera angle, but now he could see that the alien truly was quite small, it barely even reached his hip. The young guardian had to silent resist the urge to see how far he could punt it. "Drop your weapon," he demanded holding up his bayard.
"Nobody takes Klaizap's weapon!"
"Keith," Allura admonished, "put that away. Please kind sir, accept my most humble apologies."
Keith gave a deadpan expression as he looked at the Princess. Apologies? For what? Being practical and safe?
"Huh?" the alien muttered tilting his head. It took a moment, before the small being lowered his weapon, "I am Klaizap, bravest of our warriors. Our village rises over Gazrel Hill. I come seeking answers, as to why the Lion Goddess is angry with her followers."
"Followers?"
"Lion Goddess?"
Violet eyes glanced back at the Castle then back to the Arusian. Yeah, it wasn't hard to see that jump. Advanced alien Castle, primitive race, made sense. Keith himself had heard of it hundreds of times as many alien races revered Guardians as gods.
"The one the Ancients spoke of," Klaizap answered, pointing to a carving on one of the rocks, confirming Keith's suspicions.
It seemed Allura had picked up on it too, as an amused smile crossed her face, "What makes you think she's angered?"
"Destruction is everywhere! In the past few days, fire has reigned down from the heavens, and a giant has danced in the sky."
"I think he's talking about Voltron," Hunk whispered.
Traveler, he really was trapped with idiots.
The princess gave an amused chuckle as she clasped her hands together, looking down at the uninvited guest, "I can assure you, you have not angered the Lion Goddess."
"How can you be certain?"
"Because I am Allura, and this is my Castle."
For such a tiny being, it gave a surprisingly loud gasp. Holding out his sword, Klaizap fell to his knees in a bow, "Lion Goddess!"
"Please, bravest warrior, take us to your village, so we may meet our neighbors."
"I thought you wanted to get off this planet and fight Zarkon?" Keith reminded.
Allura looked at him, "Part of our mission is to spready peace and diplomacy. Arus has been our host for ten thousand years, its people deserve our thanks."
By the Light of the Traveler, why couldn't these people seem to pick a mission and stick to it? They could do this diplomacy stuff after they eliminated the tyrant who was busy in an arms race with the Hive and Cabal to conquer and destroy as much of the known universe as possible.
-.-
"So how long have you been a prisoner?" Pidge inquired as she handed one of the rescued captives a steaming cup.
"Some years," the grey alien answered looking into the glass, "decades maybe. It's hard to tell, time becomes a blur."
Despite the depressing tone of his answer, Pidge seemed to perk up. "Then you must've been there when my dad and brother arrived! Sam and Matt Holt?"
"I never knew their names, but I certainly remember the other solian that arrived with Champion and Sorceress."
"Champion?" Shiro repeated. "Why do you keep calling me that?"
Grey eyes met gold and Jaz shrugged, "Don't look at me, this is the first time I've heard Sorceress."
"You two really don't remember? Unbelievable," the alien said, his eyes wide in shock. "You two were legendary gladiators, undefeated in the ring. I was there the day you two earned your titles, as was the young solian. We were all prisoners, forced to fight for Zarkon's entertainment. That day, were we being sent to fight Myzax, a vile beast many thought would never be defeated. Slaughter awaited us all. This Matt, was the first of us selected to fight. But fate had other plans…you two…you were so thirsty for blood, you injured your fellow solian, before you two turned on each other."
"You guys attacked my brother!" Pidge exclaimed, her face turning flush with rage.
"What?" Jaz whispered.
"No, no way! There's no way that happened!" Shiro argued.
"I was there, we all were."
"After my brother was injured, where did they take him?"
"I know not."
"There's no way we attacked Matt!" Jaz hissed, her eyes flashing brighter. "There has to be something you aren't telling us!"
"Wait!" Shiro voiced, stopping his comrade as she took a step towards the captive. "The ship that crashed, the one we were captive one, there has to be info in the systems!"
Jaz didn't waste any time, taking Shiro's hand as she stomped out of the medbay. "Wait! Hold on!" Pidge called chasing after them.
-.-
Keith crossed his arms as he stood in the small Arusian village. The group was surrounded on all sides by more of the tiny beings, all of them staring and talking excitedly around them.
The chatter quieted down as a larger Arusian stepped forwards, wearing a blue robe of some sort, "Oh Lion Goddess, I, King of the Arusians, formally beg your forgiveness. Please have mercy on us and accept our traditional Dance of Apology, as atonement for our wrongdoings." His pudgy arms stretched above his head as he clapped dramatically and pink villager ran forwards. "Commence Dance of Apology! Hoorah!"
The small alien began the dance, and Keith looked around the village. It seemed quaint for the most part, tiny houses with grass rooftops. It almost reminded him of a mini version of some of the hunting villages on Terra.
"Uh…Keith?" Yorak hesitantly prodded through their bond. "Is that a bonfire?"
Brows furrowing, Keith looked around the village before his gaze stopped at the sight of a large pile of wood. Was there going to be a festival? A feast?
"Please," Allura spoke up, an embarrassed grimace on her face, "there's no need for this."
"Moontow, halt!" the king demanded, and the Arusian immediately froze. "The Goddess has refused the apology. Start the sacrificial fire! We must throw ourselves in."
The woodpile burst into flame and Keith felt his jaw drop as several villagers rose a pillar of wood with some pour soul tied to it, ready to be dropped into the flames. By the Traveler, they were serious.
"NO! NO SACRIFICES!" Allura exclaimed, waving her hands quickly in panic.
"So…we may proceed with the dance?"
"That's the better alternative," she replied shakily.
The music restarted and the dance continued, but Keith watched as the villagers lowered the sacrifice and released them from the pillar. He'd seem some weird things before, but sacrifice…that was a first.
With a final flourish the music ended and the tribe bowed to them. "Oh my," Allura blushed, "Please, please rise. Thank you for that, but I am not some great being worthy of your worship. It is I who have unknowingly put you all in danger; it is I who should be apologizing to you." She stepped forwards, kneeling down and gently pulling the closest villager to their feet. "I am Princess Allura and these are the Paladins of Voltron. Although we may come from different worlds, and have very, very different traditions, we wish to live alongside you as friends."
"But, the mighty metal angel, has it not come to punish us for our immoral ways?" the King inquired.
"What? Voltron?" Allura scoffed. "No, in fact, that mighty robot is here to protect you. Let it be known that Voltron will protect every innocent being throughout the universe!"
The tiny aliens around them cheered loudly as they leapt to their feet. Before long, the small beings began to approach, clustering around them chattering rapidly. Keith bit back a grimace as he pulled away from the dense crowd, wanting to keep a semblance of his personal space.
That did not last long as one Arusian leapt at him, its tiny arms barely managing to lock around his waist. "Uh…well, I normally don't hug strangers," Keith sputtered, patting the alien's head, "but man, you are cuddly."
"Thank you."
Keith's eyes widened at the response as he looked down at his new belt; mostly due to the fact that a voice that deep was not supposed to come from something that small.
-.-
"This looks like the master control board, but there's no power," Pidge said as she and Shiro jetpacks turned off, allowing them to land on the ground in front of the sparking machine.
"Yeah, well, it's not like the ship is broken or anything," Jaz remarked as she jumped between broken slabs of metal and caught up to them.
"So then we just need to find a power source, one that's compatible with Galra Tech."
Shiro's brows furrowed as he glanced down at his cybernetic hand then to the board. A familiar violet glow began to envelop it as he set it against the panel and, to his surprise, the screens began to flicker to life.
"Guess that solves the power issue," Jaz muttered.
Pidge didn't say anything as she activated her holoscreen, and began shifting through the data. "My dad's, Matt's, and Darvah's whereabouts have to be in here somewhere. Once I download this information, I can find a way to decode it back at the Castle."
Shiro and Jaz looked around as they heard a noise. "Jaz…did you do something?"
"No, I'll go check it out." Ignoring Shiro's protests. She leapt back up the metal slabs. Some slivers digging into her palms as she crawled up to look around. So far, nothing seemed to be approaching from the ground. It was only when she looked up she got her answer, there was a big fireball falling towards them. "Well draaf. We gotta go!"
"What is it?!" Pidge called.
"No clue, but it's big, probably Galra, and heading right towards us!"
"Shiro don't move!" Pidge snapped. "I'm only fifteen percent done! I'm not going anywhere!"
God this girl had a death wish. "Unless your family wants you to become deep-fried pancake we need to go!"
Sharing a nod with Shiro, the man scooped the tiny girl up as Jaz crawled out the exit. She could hear the jetpack behind her and Pidge's shouts of protest. Raising her hand up to the commlink she swiped, she called the others. "Guys! We have a problem!"
-.-
"Jaz?" Allura suddenly spoke, looking up from the Arusians almost as if she was listening to a commlink.
Prying himself away from the clingy critters, Keith approached the Princess, jaw set tight. "What's going on?"
His answer came as a boom shook the air around them. Looking up he could see the ball of fire falling into the atmosphere. "Yorak, what're the odds that that's just part of the ship we took down?"
"Not good."
That's exactly what Keith wasn't hoping to hear. But that didn't mean he didn't suspect it. Especially given the odds of a natural meteor crashing onto them. "We've gotta get to our lions!"
At his words, Allura and Coran leapt into action, quickly waving their hands and assisting the little Arusians, "Everyone get inside and stay down!"
"I'm on it!" Hunk said running past him.
He didn't get far as Keith snatched the Yellow Paladin by the back of his collar, nearly causing the other teen to slam onto his back as he legs continued moving without him. The Red Paladin ignored the other's whimpers as he dragged him back towards the Castle.
-.-
Jaz coughed as heat scoured her throat. Uncovering her eyes, she blinked a few times, trying to see through the haze of dust that had erupted from the impact of the unknown object. Instead of seeing the projectile, she saw the black and white leg of one of the lions.
"The…the lions saved us?" Shiro panted.
Pidge seemed equally surprised as she looked up, "I didn't know they could do that."
"Well, you learn something new every day," Jaz muttered. Standing up, she shielded her eyes from the blinding sunlight brows furrowing as she spotted whatever almost flattened them. Whatever it was, it was definitely Galra, though she would note that there did seem to be some Cabal influence on the design. The lander was huge, bigger than any she'd seen before. There had to be an army in there…maybe something worse.
Her concerns were proven valid as the lander hissed, steam spewing from the seams as the walls began to separate and shake the ground as they collapsed. What was revealed, was something right out of some sci-fi movie or an anime genre Shiro liked that she couldn't remember: a giant robot, one that, no doubt, was sent to fight Voltron.
"Get in the lions!" Shiro ordered.
