1-
Kale groaned and blinked open his eyes, the weather outside was harsh. Saoirse shivered, even though the ship had its heater on.
"Sao'" he rasped as he gently shook her, "Saoirse, wake up"
She let out a soft moan and blinked dizzily. Kale sighed in relief and opened the doors, the two of them climbed out before Kale closed the doors.
As the two trudged through the storm, Kale recalled how they came to being there... and it all started with that nightmare.
…
He laid in the blood of his loved ones, staring at the dead bodies. Various gunshot wounds leaked his precious life fluid, dots danced in his vision.
Blue eyes held back tears.
"I'm so sorry, I couldn't protect you" he croaked weakly, tears finally falling, "I'm sorry I failed, father"
His eyes slipped closed and his breathing teetered.
Silence clouded him.
…
Pale eyes snapped open and Kale inhaled sharply. His eyes flittered around the room before he realized where he was: his room at the Galaxy Garrison.
A loud snore filled the otherwise silent space and Kale shifted so that his forearms were holding him up. He saw his roommate, Jeffery Dale, spread across his mattress with the covers halfway on the floor and entangled with his left leg.
Kale let out a soft snort of amusement before standing and walking over. He gently untangled the blanket and placed it over the older boy before grabbing his daily outfit and hitting the showers.
He stood under the running faucet of the shower, his eyes closed and his head slightly tilted down. The almost hot water ran down his back and neck, soaking his hair in the process.
Once he was done, he left the shower and put on his uniform before leaving the bathroom.
Jeffery was still sleeping so Kale did what he had to, to awaken the other boy.
He flung open the blinds and, in a sing-songy voice said, "RISE AND SHINE!"
Jeffery yelped and fell off the bed, his grey eyes stared at Kale with shock.
"Vhy you do zat?!"
"It's five thirty, if you want to get washed and clean than you have to start now" Kale responded before gathering his supplies and heading out of the room.
The day started off alright, he took a few tests on Coding and Sign Language, the lunch room was serving his favorite food. That ended when it was time for his groups' Simulator.
Lance, the Lead Pilot, kept on shifting the controls too hard and fast making the 'ship' to jerk around. Hunk, the Engineer, had movement sickness and he threw up in the 'ships' main gearbox. Pidge, the Communications Officer, stood up on her seat to reach the radio phone.
"Pidge sit back down" Kale ordered, his head tilted to Hunk, "Hunk, stop puking" and looked at Lance, "Lance keep her steady"
Kale was the Co-Pilot, his job was to take over if the Pilot was incapacitated, or in their terms: Lance goofing off.
Hunk returned to his seat and Lance shifted the Simulator controls so that the 'ship' was straight.
"Look out for that overhang!" Pidge called as a warning.
"No worries! My first year in flight school, you know what they called me? They called me 'The Tailor' because of how I thread the needle. Come around, come around! Come on, come on—!"
They finally arrived at an icy overhang and Lance tried to go under it, ignoring Kale when he told him to go over, and broke off a wing.
"We lost a wing!" Hunk's eyes were bugged out
Lance slouched, instantly knowing they failed, "Oh, man..."
Kale facepalmed and let out a tired sigh, "great"
The simulation flight crashes and the simulation ends
Computer: Simulation Failed.
"Nice work, Tailor" Pidge snarked.
"Enough Pidge" Kale ordered and she fell silent.
The simulator door opens and Iverson appears, glaring at the four as they exited. They stood in a line, shoulder-to-shoulder, as Iverson quizzed the cadets who watched the disaster.
"This is embarrassing" Kale heard Lance murmur to Hunk.
"It wouldn't be so embarrassing if you had done what you were supposed to!" Iverson cut in, glaring with his one working eye at the Cuban.
Iverson went back to glaring at all of them, "these kinds of mental mistakes are exactly what cost the lives of the men on the Kerberos Mission."
"That's not true, sir!" Pidge snapped, glaring heatedly at the man.
Kale understood what Pidge was coming from, if someone told him his family made such a mistake, he would have yelled just as much if not more.
Iverson glared at her, "what did you say?!"
Lance quickly slapped a hand over Pidge's mouth and began to cover for her.
"Sorry, sir! I-I-I think he may have hit his head when he fell out of his chair. But point taken."
Iverson's ire was turned onto Lance, "I hope I don't need to remind you that the only reason your here is that the best pilot in your class had a discipline issue and flunked out. Don't follow in his footsteps. Next!"
Kale bristled and began to think up a good prank he could play on the teacher for saying such a thing to one of his friends.
He followed his class out of the room, stopping when he heard Iverson call him.
"Richards, I want a word with you"
He chose a different name, Kent A. Richards, to put on his sign-up papers so that no one knew who his family was. The reason he didn't want anyone to know who he truly was, was because he had found out by Samuel Holt, Pidge's father, that one of the members of the Galaxy Garrison, Sanda, sent the attack on his family. He joined the Garrison to stop her from doing that terrible to someone else's family; plus, it beat going to jail.
Kale walked back over to the man and saluted, "yes sir?"
"I saw how you took charge in there, Richards" Iverson started, "I want to make you the lead pilot-"
"No" Kale spoke in a stern voice, "Lance is the lead pilot and I will not take his post"
Iverson looked surprised and Kale used that surprise to make his exit. He turned and left the room, heading to the Mess Hall for dinner.
Later that night, Kale just finished setting up his prank and was heading back to his dorm when he saw Hunk disappear around the corner.
"Hunk?" if Hunk was sneaking out, Lance cannot be far behind, or in front.
Kale used his skills to silently follow him to the roof. He stopped the door from closing and saw Pidge sitting with her gadgets surrounding her with Lance walking up behind her and Hunk crawling after the Cuban.
Lance lifted up the headphones over her ears and whispered in her ear, "you come up here to rock out?"
Pidge yelped before recovering, "oh... no just, um, looking at the stars"
Kale walked over to them and peered at the equipment, "did you make this yourself?"
Pidge puffed out her chest in pride and nodded, "yup"
Hunk went to touch the equipment when Pidge told him off.
"Don't touch it" she proceeded in explaining its function, "With this thing, I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system"
"That right? All the way to Kerberos?" Lance observed.
Pidge looked away and didn't respond.
Kale gently pried the headphones from her grip and put them on. He heard natural space sounds as well as some strange strident voices. The voices kept repeating the word "Voltron" and inducing said word into their sentences.
Kale took off the headphones and looked over to Pidge, "who keeps on repeating 'Voltron' and what does it mean?"
Pidge looked at him, hesitating.
"Look, Pidge, if we're going to bond as a team, we can't have any secrets" Lance said.
"Fine. The world as you know it is about to change. The Mission wasn't lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake—"
Hunk went to touch her equipment again and Pidge noticed right away.
"STOP TOUCHING MY STUFF!" she took a deep breath and continued, "so I've been scanning the system and have been picking up alien radio chatter"
"Whoa, what? Aliens?!" Hunk cried out.
"OK, so you're insane. Got it."
"I'm serious! They keep repeating one word: Voltron. And tonight, it's going crazier than I have ever heard it"
"How crazy?" Kale asked right before the Garrison alarms went off.
"Attention, students. This is not a drill. We are on lockdown! Security situation Zulu Niner. Repeat: All students are to remain in the barracks until further notice" Iverson's voice blared through the intercom.
A fiery object flew passed the building and crashed a few miles away. The Garrison sends out land rovers to investigate.
Kale quickly followed suite.
"Kent, wait!"
The American-Japanese mix ignored them as he made his way towards the rising smoke. He stopped at the edge of a small cliff and watched as the Garrison members pulled something into the set-up tent. Lance, Pidge and Hunk arrived minutes later and Pidge looked through a set of binoculars.
Lance stole them and began to comment, "Whoa...What the heck is that thing?! And who the heck is she?"
"LANCE!" both Pidge and Kale snapped at the same time.
"Now is not the time for Loverboy-Lance to appear" Kale continued.
Lance looked decently ashamed before continuing, "Ow! Ah, right, alien ship. Man, we'll never get past all those guards to get a look."
"Aw, man. Yeah, we... yeah I guess there's nothing to do but head back to the barracks, right?" Hunk smiled sheepishly at Kales glare.
"Wait. They set up a camera in there and I grabbed its feed. Look!"
Kale leaned in closer to get a better look.
The camera showed Shiro on the feed strapped to a table as Garrison technicians examine him. This Shiro had white bangs, an arm made out of metal that wasn't from this world, a scar on his nose and he was in what looked like prisoner clothing.
Kale clenched his hands into fists as he glared. Shirogane didn't deserve this, no one did.
"We have to get in there and free him"
The three bickering people stopped and looked over to him.
"How?"
"We go in there gangster style and beat the hell out of them" Kale responded with a completely serious face.
The three stared at him like he grew three extra heads, he ignored their stares and looked out towards the desert. Something felt... off but familiar.
Explosions went off a few miles from the crash site and most of the Garrison members went to investigate, leaving only one guard and the scientists inside the tent.
Kale instantly knew who did the low-grade bombs; he slid down the cliff and ran up towards the upcoming hover-bike.
Keith leapt from the bike and the two greeted each other.
"Shiro's in there, they won't listen to him" Kale quickly reported and Keith nodded.
"I had a feeling"
The two entered the tent, side-by-side. The door slid open and Garrison scientists, as well as Iverson, demanded why they were there, saying that they weren't supposed to be there.
"Blah, blah, blah" Kale mocked as he and Keith took them out.
Keith ran to Shiro's side and cut him free with the knife he had since birth and both of them got Shiro to his feet.
Lance, Pidge and Hunk entered then and Kale narrowed his eyes as both Lance and Keith seemed to argue over who should rescue Shiro.
"Oh, for God's sake" Kale rose his voice over their bickering, "it doesn't matter who rescues him, let's just go before the Garrison people get back!"
The others silently agreed and Keith and Kale carried Shiro to the Hovercraft. When Hunk and Pidge climbed on, they handed Shiro to them, Lance proceeded to climb on than Kale and finally Keith.
"Will this thing hold all of us?" Hunk asked nervously as Keith started the engine.
"No" Kale replied blandly.
Satisfied that no one was going to come off, Kale twisted and said, "Keith, go!" and the other boy floored it. They were off, the only problem was that the Garrison rovers were close behind.
"Can't this thing go any faster?!" Lance shouted-asked.
"We can always toss out non-essential weight" Keith replied.
"Oh, ha ha" Lance snarked.
"Stop fighting you two" Kale calmly spoke, he grabbed a smoke bomb from his hidden compartment under his light coat and threw it.
The Garrison vehicles were lost in the smoke and Keith ordered Hunk to lean left and expertly kept them from crashing into the mountain side as the hoverbike skidded and continued on with the chase.
Two vehicles crashed trying to follow and three were still in pursuit, the other six had gotten turned around due to the smoke-screen.
"Big man, lean right!" Keith ordered and Hunk did so.
They flew over a gorge and, once again, Keith's skills kept them from crashing. Only one more vehicle was after them.
Kale looked forward and instantly knew what Keith was planning on doing.
"Oh shit" he turned his attention to the other three, "Hunk, scoot back a bit and hold on tightly with your legs, Pidge give Shiro to Hunk and get into Lance's lap, Lance when Pidge is in your lap grab onto Shiro's legs"
Kale shifted so that he was slightly brushing against Keith. They shot off the cliff and were in a controlled free-fall. Kale closed his eyes, loving the feeling of the wind on his face and the exhilaration of the fall.
The last Garrison rover was unable to follow and they high-tailed it out of their when the hoverbike was safely on the ground.
Kale yawned and stretched, he swung his legs and slid off the hoverbike. The others followed suite, Keith took Shiro and led them to the entrance of his shack. The wooden door flew open and a young black-haired, green-eyed girl stood there.
She saw Kale and her eyes brightened, she raced over and hugged his waist.
"Kale!" she squealed in her pre-maturity voice and her grip tightened when she saw the others, "Kale, who are they?"
Kale's eyes flicked to his Simulator team and he smiled kindly to her, "don't worry, Saoirse, they're friends"
She relaxed and grabbed his hand, pulling him inside, "come, come, I have to show you something!"
Kale calmly followed her to her room where a painting of a giant robot with lion heads on the limbs and face sat. She grabbed the painting and showed him it.
"Do you like it? I had a dream of it during nap time" her eyes were hopeful and oh-so innocent.
Smiling, Kale nodded, "your paintings are getting better, and I like it a lot"
She beamed.
…
Kale blinked and stretched on the floor of Saoirse's room. He slept surprisingly well.
For the first time in a very long while there were no memories of his mother's empty eyes or Cannan's horrific screams that haunted his dreams.
Instead, he dreamed of the peaceful days, when his parents would take him and his brother to the ice-skating ranks during the Autumn and Winter seasons. When his uncle would help them prank their mother and father during April Fool's Day, only to start raging from being turned on. When his mother had little Cannan, Coral if he were to be a girl, and his father would hold her hand while his uncle would reassure Kale that it was normal for a baby to cry. When his father would teach him how to fight with a beautiful bladed sword.
There were no tears of pain, no gut-wrenching screams. Just a small smile that graced his lips at the fond memories.
Kale stood and headed to the main part of the shack. His Simulator team were slowly waking up. He looked out of the window and saw Keith and Shiro standing outside, talking, Keith's hand on Shiro's arm.
Kale's head tilted slightly when he heard the popping of bones and he looked over his shoulder, Lance was bending his back while Hunk rubbed his eyes and Pidge flexed her arms to regain feeling in them. Saoirse came into the room while trying to put on a sock as she walked.
The shack door opened and Keith marched right on over to his board without saying anything to them. He ripped off a paper that hid his work and revealed a few pictures, some maps, notes/dates and theories.
Keith has definitely updated the wall.
"Wow, you've been busy" Kale commented, the last time he was here was a few weeks ago.
Keith nodded and proceeded in explaining how he has been getting these vibes of going around the area and how, once, he went into a cave and saw the cave markings in some of the pictures.
Hunk had explained that he and Pidge could make something to track the energy. The two used a broken-down microwave, a remote control and a car battery.
The seven (Saoirse included) followed the "Voltron Tracker" as Pidge dubbed it. The tracker led them to the cave where Keith found the Lion carvings and they explored it as far as it would go.
Kale found the carvings beautiful as he gently traced one of them. Lance placed his hand on a head-carving and all of the carvings suddenly began glowing a bright, brilliant blue. The ground under them gave way and they fell.
Pidge, Hunk and Lance screamed in fear, Shiro and Keith cried out, and Kale and Saoirse screeched.
The seven hit the shallow waters below. Kale groaned softly in pain.
They left the drenching cold and froze at the sight of a giant, blue and white Lion with golden eyes. It had a sparkling force-field surrounding it as it sat on its back haunches.
Lance moved from side to side as the seven approached it.
"Does anyone else get the feeling this is staring at them?" Lance asked.
"No" Shiro answered with an unamused look.
"The eyes are totally following me"
Kale walked towards the force-field and laid a flat-palm on it and felt a strange vibratey-feeling. Keith and Lance joined him; Keith tried to find an entrance while the others stayed back.
"How do we get through this?"
"Maybe all you need to do is knock" Lance literally knocked and the force-field seemed to shatter and the area began to glow an ocean blue.
Suddenly, they all had the same vision. It showed six Lions coming together as one and formed a large robot with giant wings and a whip-like tail.
"Whoa!" everyone whispers.
"Did anyone else see that?" Hunk asked.
"Voltron is a robot! Voltron is a huge, awesome robot!" Pidge's eyes were as bright as stars.
"And this thing is only one part of it! I wonder where the rest of it is" Shiro commented.
The blue and white metal Lion shifted into a crouching position with its maw open for access. Lance raced into it and Kale followed, grabbing the handle of his sword in case something bad happened. The others followed close-by. Lance dropped into the control-chair and looked at the strange controls. Lance froze in surprise before looking back at them.
"Did you guys hear that?" Lance asked.
"No" Kale replied with a frown while Shiro asked "hear what?"
"I-I think its talking to me" Lance stammered before looking at the controls, "um..."
He began pressing the strange buttons and the Lion rose and let out a mighty roar, the humans inside screamed in surprise.
"Okay, got it" Lance causes the Lion to smash out of the cavern and takes off flying; he pulled the levers, doing somersaults and wild turns in the air. This terrifies the team.
They scream, holding onto the chair for dear life.
"You. Are the worst. Pilot. Ever!" Keith panted, holding on tighter at another wild flip.
Kale held tightly to the leather of the chair; his normally strong stomach was feeling queasy, "Lance, smooth out before someone loses their lunch!"
"Isn't this awesome?!" the former Cargo Pilot asked, shifting the controls so that the Lion was sort-of evened out before blasting out towards space.
"Make it stop! Make it stop!" Hunk begged, close to tears.
Lance gave a slightly nervous laugh, "I'm not making it do anything! It's like it's on autopilot!"
"Where are you going?!" Pidge asked.
"He just said it was on autopilot"
"It says there's an alien ship approaching, I think we're supposed to stop it" Lance called back to them, ocean blue eyes wide with a mixture of excitement and fear.
"What did it say, exactly?" Pidge demanded.
"Well, it's not like it's saying words, more like feeding ideas into my brain. Kind of."
"Great" Keith sarcastically rolled his eyes, "so, we're listening to a giant Lion robot that is leading us to our deaths. Wonderful"
Saoirse looked at him, panic filtering, "do you really think that?"
Kale smiled softly, "don't worry Soairse, I'll protect you from anything that causes you harm"
She relaxed and the content sparkle reappeared in her eyes.
Hunk nervously waved his hands around, "Well, if this thing is the weapon they're coming for, why don't we just, like... I don't know, give it to them? Maybe they'll leave us alone. Sorry, Lion, nothing personal"
Kale wanted to hit the man over the head, but stopped himself and only sighed in exasperation.
"You don't understand. These monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path. There's no bargaining with them. They won't stop until everything is dead" Shiro explained and everyone looked at Hunk.
"Oh... never mind then" Hunk smiled sheepishly,
They leave the Atmosphere and see a large, purple and black warship. Everyone gasps.
"Holy Crow! Is that really an alien ship?!" Lance exclaimed, his eyes going round.
"Yup" Kale replied as Shiro looked pale and sick.
"They found me..."
The warship suddenly opens fire and Lance began pulling the Lion into evasive maneuvers.
"We have to get out of here!" Someone yelled.
"Hold On!"
Kale grabbed Saoirse and made it so that she was cushioned between him and the chair, so that she doesn't go flying.
"Ah, okay I think I know what to do!" Lance yelled.
"Be Careful Man! This isn't the Simulator!" Pidge yelled back, grabbing onto Shiro's arm to keep herself from getting thrown.
"Well, that's good" Lance chirped, "I always wreck the Simulator"
The other occupants of the Lion moaned in fear.
Kale is unsure how, but Lance was able to get a mouth cannon from the Lion to work and he shot the warship before digging the Lion's claws into it. Lance made the Lion fly away from the ship.
Less than a minute later, they were at Kerberos.
…
Kale stared at the beautiful castle as the Blue Lion drifted down and landed in front of the doors. Its large head lowered to the ground and it let them out.
Hunk had a tiny freak out as it rose and roared. The spires and designs glowed briefly before the double doors opened.
The seven entered cautiously and looked around intrigued by how the circle of lights right above them seemed to come on all by themselves. A small droid drifted down from the ceiling and shined a scanning light on them after telling them to "hold still for identity scan".
"Why are we here? What do you want with us?" Shiro asked the droid, but it flew back into the ceiling without answering.
Torches lit up, showing a pathway that seemed to be the way they wanted the team to go.
"I guess we're going this way"
As the team goes forward, more of the crystal torches ignited to lead them deeper inside the castle. Hunk's voice echoes as he calls out, trying to get an answer.
"You know, if the occupants of this castle are hostile, you'd be telling them our location" Kale calmly stated and Hunk stopped instantly.
They walked for what seemed like hours, but was really only about ten minutes, before coming across the room the torches were taking them to. It was a large white room with blue accents and a control panel.
Pidge went to the control panel and examined it, "this must be a Control Room"
The panel suddenly glows and there was a hissing near Kale. He turned and saw three metal pods with glass coverings rising up from the floor, it looked like there was someone inside each of them. He took a cautious step back.
"Are they dead?" Saoirse asked, looking slightly ill at the very thought.
One of the pods suddenly open and a young woman with elfish ears, warm brown skin tone, eyes a mix of galaxy blue and turquoise with purple pupils, white wavy hair and markings under her eyes that are light pink in color fell out. Lance was quick to catch her before she hit the ground.
He blushed and spoke in a suave voice, "hello"
She blinked and looked up at him, confusion danced in her gaze, "who are you? Where am I?"
"I'm Lance, and you're right here in my arms"
Kale facepalmed.
The woman frowned and narrowed her eyes when she saw Lance's ears, "your ears... what's wrong with them?"
Lance looked instantly offended and Kale couldn't stop the short laugh from leaving his mouth, "nothing's wrong with them! They heard exactly what you said!"
She was swift when she grabbed his ears and flipped him into a restraining hold. Kale stiffened and grabbed the hilt of his sword; his muscles were tense and his eyes were narrowed.
"Who are you? Where is King Alfor? What are you doing in my Castle?" she sounded hysterical and panicked.
"A metal blue lion brought us here, that's all we know" Saoirse explained quickly.
"How do you have the Blue Lion? What happened to its Paladin? What are you all doing here? Unless... How long has it been?" Her eyes were wide as she released the Fighter Pilot and headed to the control panel, it glowed when her hands were touching it.
A screen popped up, almost like the holoscreens in some movies Kale watched.
"We don't know what you are talking about, maybe you can tell us who you are and we can help" Shiro negotiated.
"I am Princess Allura of Planet Altea. I've got to find out where we are and how long we've been asleep"
The pod next to Kale and the one on the other side of Allura's opened. A man with ginger hair, blue eyes and Caucasian skin came out of the other pod while a young girl, who looked the same age as Kale, fell from the one next to him.
He swiftly caught her, his hands grabbing under her armpits. She let out a soft, surprised sound before looking up at him.
Kale felt mesmerized by her beauty. She had Caucasian skin with similar markings under her sky-blue eyes, but they were pink instead. Her long, white hair had natural blue highlights. She wore a maid-like outfit, black dress with a pink hair piece and apron.
"A-apologies" her voice was soft, but strong as she pushed herself to her feet.
"It's alright" Kale assured.
She smiled sweetly.
"That can't be..." Allura's voice drifted into Kale's ears and he looked over to her.
"Princess?" the girl Kale caught asked, "what is wrong?"
Allura looked so pale, so stricken, "we've been asleep for ten thousand years!"
All three of the strangers looked horrified by the news, the Earthians looked at each other, shocked.
"Zarkon" Allura snarled, her eyes blazing like a blue fire.
Shiro inhaled sharply, "Zarkon?"
Kale glanced over to him, worried, for he had heard the beginnings of a minor panic attack starting.
"He was the king of the Galra. An Enemy to all free the people and a vile creature" she spat, her gaze darkening with rage.
Kale frowned in even more concern as Shiro's breathing picked up.
"I remember now, I was his prisoner" the leap-year born informed.
The pink-marking'ed female let out a fear-filled whimper, the orange haired male gasped and Allura hissed.
"He's still alive?! Impossible!" her eyes contained too much emotion, too fast, for Kale to truly see it.
"I can't explain it, but it's true. He's searching for a superweapon called 'Voltron'" Shiro said, he was shaking slightly.
"He's searching for it because he knows it's the only thing that can defeat him, and that's exactly why we must find it before he does" Allura's eyes were hard, determined.
Kale watched Allura interact with the orange-haired man, he had introduced himself as Coran, when the female in a maid-outfit walked to stand beside him. She held out a silver tray with green goo blob on a white plate on it.
"You should eat" she said, looking him up and down, "you need to keep your strength up"
Kale shook his head, "no, thank you-"
"Alita, my name is Alita"
"No, thank you Alita, I'm not hungry"
She gave a small nod and went to the others. Saoirse and Hunk ate it while the others politely declined.
"I can't believe you were so advanced ten thousand years ago" Kale commented as he gently traced a wall design, "it must have been amazing"
"It was, but now we are the last three Alteans alive" Allura mourned and Coran comforted her; Alita closed her eyes, tears welling slightly.
Allura's ears flicked slightly and she let out a soft gasp before heading over to a gap between one of the Pods. Her eyes brightened and she reached in before pulling out four colorful mice. Allura introduced them to the humans in the room.
"Platt" is the largest member of the mouse family. He has yellow fur with green fur on his ears, tail and gut. He has a white patch over his right eye and a sunny attitude.
"Chulatt" was the smallest mouse. He has pale blue fur with medium blue fur on his ears and tail. His stomach is white with a white oblong patch on his forehead; he seems perpetually timid and impish.
"Plachu" was the leanest mouse. He has sultry blue-green fur with pink ears and white fur on his stomach. He has the longest tail and a pointy jaw as well as red eyes; he has a hostile, cynical personality.
"Chuchule" is the final mouse. She has pale pink fur with white fur on her stomach. She has almond-shaped red eyes and a childlike, frivolous temperament.
Alarms suddenly blared and the mice startled. The screen came up to show a Galra Battlecruiser.
"A Galra Battleship sent its tracker to us!" Coran called from the computers.
"How did they find us?!" Pidge cried out.
"I don't know, but I bet it's Keith's fault"
"Lance" Kale warningly spoke, not wanting another fight between the two to break out, especially at a time like this.
"Say whatever you've got to say to make yourself feel better... after getting us stuck on the other side of a Wormhole!"
"Keith" Kale used the same warning voice.
"I'LL STICK YOU IN A WORMHOLE!"
"STOP FIGHTING!" Kale snapped at them both and they looked away from each other, both in a huff.
Shiro gave him an appreciated look before turning his attention to the Alteans, "how long do we have?"
"Oh about... carry the two, remove the five... a few days" Coran stated.
Allura's eyes narrowed, "Good. Let them come! By the time they get here, you five will have reformed Voltron, and together, we will destroy Zarkon's empire!"
Hunk belched and blushed, apologizing.
"Princess, there are five of these Lions. How are we going to find the rest?"
Kale hummed in agreement.
Allura had them follow her to the Castle's Bridge, it had a large crystal in the center and she stood underneath it.
"Alfor connected the Lion's life force to Allura's. She is able to connect to them wherever they are in the galaxy" Coran explained when he saw their confused faces.
The computer activates and a hologram of the galaxy appeared around them. It showed the Black and Blue Lion in the same place, the Yellow Lion was on a planet farther away than the Green Lion. It showed a White Lion much farther than the others.
"These are... coordinates. The looks like the Blue and Black Lions are in the same location" Saoirse spoke up after studying the hologram.
"Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage!' Coran chirped.
"Very observant. That's because the Black Lion is in the Castle" Allura smiled.
"To keep the Black Lion out of Zarkon's hands, King Alfor locked it in the Castle. It can only be freed if the other four Lions are present." Coran explained.
"As you have found, the Lions choose their pilots. It is a mystical bond and cannot be forced. The of the pilot is mirrored in his Lion. Together, they form something greater than science can explain."
Allura sent the Black Lion hologram to Shiro.
"The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times, someone whose men will follow without hesitation. That is why, Shiro, you will pilot the Black Lion."
"I won't let you down" Shiro promised.
Allura smiled at that and gave a slight nod before sending the Green Lion hologram to Pidge.
"The Geen Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring. Pidge, you will pilot the Green Lion. The Blue Lion-"
"Hold up, let me guess:" Lance interrupted, "Takes the most handsome slash best pilot of the bunch?"
Allura gave him an annoyed look but moved onto the next one, moving the Yellow Lion to Hunk.
"The Yellow Lion is caring and kind. Its pilot is one who puts the needs of others above his own. His heart must be mighty. As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together"
Hunk uncertainly pointed to himself. Allura moved the Red Lion to Keith.
"The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master. It's faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable. Its pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instincts than skill alone. Keith, you will fly the Red Lion."
The White Lion was sent to Kale, he stared at the design in awe.
"The White Lion is the Queen of Voltron and the wings; it protects the backs of its comrades. Its Paladin is able to let go of anything that holds them back, and must keep his mind on task and where they must confront their selves of their pain and protect their comrades. Kale, you will pilot the White Lion"
Kale dipped his head. The description she gave of the Paladin sounded so much like him, he always pushed his problems to the back of his mind and always stayed on task. Especially after-
"Unfortunately, I cannot locate the Red Lion's coordinates yet. There must be something wrong with the Castle. After 10,000 years, it... might need some work" Allura looked sheepish as she explained this.
'That doesn't sound good' Kale thought, 'what if the Galra have the Red Lion? How do we get it back, then?'
"Don't worry, we'll find it soon. They don't call me "The Coranic" for nothing. It's because it sounds like "mechanic." So... Coranic, mechanic. It's not—It doesn't sound... exactly like it. It's similar." Coran stumbled over his words and Kale kept himself from laughing.
The holographic Lions suddenly roared and charged together, forming Voltron. The Black Lion was the head and chest area, the Red and Green Lions were each an arm (Red being right and Green being left), the Blue and Yellow Lions became the legs (Blue being the right leg and Yellow was the left), and the White Lion attached to the back, forming large bird-like wings and the same whip-like tail (it looked like a bigger version of the Blue Lion's tail).
"Once all the Lions are united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known, the Defender of the Universe" Allura smiled at their awed looks.
"Wait. Okay, we're going to be in there and flying Lions. Got that part. How do Lions turn into legs? Also, is this going to be a long trip? Because I have to pee. Do you people pee?" Hunk rambled.
"Every living thing pee's Hunk" Kale told him and he looked relieved to know that.
"You know we don't have much time. Pidge and I will go after the Green Lion. Hunk, you take Lance and get the Yellow one. Kale, you will go and get the White Lion. Keith, you stay here. If you locate that Red Lion, go get it."
"I want to go with Kale" Saoirse exclaimed, "I know how to protect myself and he can't go to an unknown planet alone"
"Sure, let's go" Kale gently placed a hand on Saoirse's back and guided her out of the room, ignoring what the Black Paladin was about to say.
They waited for the others, soon the six were off. Pidge and Shiro took one ship, Hunk and Lance took the Blue Lion and Kale and Saoirse took another ship.
"We can only keep the Wormhole that leads to the other Lions open for two of your Earth hours, so you'll have to be quick about your work. The good news is that according to my readings, all planets are relatively peaceful. So, if you do get stuck, they could be relaxing places to live out the rest of your lives. Enjoy the trip!"
"What?!"
"No-!"
"Say Again!"
"I Did Not Receive the Memo on This-!"
They were all forced through the portal.
…
Kale flew into the atmosphere of the mostly-white planet, Saoirse looked excited as she looked at the frozen land.
"It's beautiful" she breath and Kale silently agreed.
They were a few miles from the Lion energy signature when a blizzard suddenly appeared. The harsh winds were much stronger than the flight pod and they were thrown many different directions. Saoirse screeched and clung to his right arm and the armrest; her eyes were wide with panic.
Kale tried to fight through the winds and land safely but they weren't having it. They flung the ship around and around, picking it up and dropping it over and over, like it was a toy for them to play with. The winds seemed to get bored almost ten minutes later and threw them, letting go and they crashed into the wintery mounds of snow.
Both of the ship's occupants have fallen unconscious due to the trauma.
Kale groaned and blinked open his eyes, the weather outside was harsher than before. He looked over to his sister-like-friend and noted that Saoirse shivered even though the ship had its heater on.
"Sao'" he rasped as he gently shook her, "Saoirse, wake up"
She let out a soft moan and blinked her eyes open, looking around dizzily. Kale sighed and heaved the roof open, the two climbed out before closing the door-like roof. They trudged through the thick snow, it was up to their knees, and Kale used his dominant arm as protection against the weather. He shivered, pulling his dark grey hoodie's hood over his head even more. Saoirse stayed close to his side, seeking warmth from him.
'Maybe she should have stayed in the pod' he thought as he brought her closer, shivers wracked her body a lot more than his.
"Whose plan was this?" his teeth chattered as he bitterly began talking to keep Saoirse's mind off the fact that they were basically walking to their death in this cold, "whose plan was it to take a trip to an entirely different universe in a giant blue metal lion?"
He continued to talk, shivers wracking his body even more than before. His icy eyes spotted a shape in the distant, it seemed to be coming closer.
"What-?" he squinted his eyes, frowning.
His eyes widened when the creature came into clear view, it resembles a large weasel with a rat-like tail. It had large canines that don't fit in its mouth. A snake-like tongue that kept on flicking in and out, and dark saliva dripped from its slightly open mouth. It had pure white fur and glowing grey owl-like eyes.
"RUN!" Saoirse screeched and they were off. He quickly turned and ran, making sure Saoirse was in front of him.
The creature let out a hissy-roar and continued to chase him. Panic flared within as the snow slowed him down, but it seemed not to affect the creature at all.
He bent forward and shifted his weight so that it was mostly in his hips instead of his legs. He became lighter and ran faster. This was a trick his father taught him when he was almost seven years of age, and he taught it to his sister-like friend weeks after they met. She was naturally faster and lighter at this stage of her life so she had no need of it.
He glanced back, only for a second, and that second cost him greatly. His foot slipped on a patch of ice and he tumbled roughly down a tall hill. As he did so, he had curled around the smaller human and used his body as a shield as they fell. His back hit three or four rocks on the way down and his head smacked harshly against the thick ice. His vision blacked out for what felt like a second and when he could see once more, he saw five more of the white creatures.
He stumbled to his feet, pulling an even more dizzy Saoirse with. He pushed away the pain that laced his entire body and quickly looked around. He saw a cave and ran for it. The creatures roared and followed them. He ran in and continued to run. Soon, he realized that the creatures weren't behind them, in fact, it sounded like they haven't even tried to enter the cave.
"Huh, their scared of the dark" Kale hummed, suddenly, the sound of something slithering behind him made him freeze.
Saoirse let out a muffled, fear filled whimper and closed her eyes. She shrunk closer to Kale's chest.
There was a hiss, it sounded bigger and deadlier than the white creatures.
Kale slowly turned, keeping Saoirse behind him, and got a faceful of stinky, decaying meat breath and saliva as a much bigger version of the white creatures (this one being black) roared at him. His breath left him as he stared at deadly, souless eyes.
"Soairse"
"Yeah?" her breath was quick and her hands were clinging to his hoodie.
"Run"
She turned and ran; Kale did a 180 and followed her. He got two steps before the creature was on his, it pinned him to the ground and roared. The claws began to dig into his back when there was a much louder and much bigger sounding roar. A white and silver blur tackled the black creature off.
Saoirse went to Kale's side, looking worried.
"Kale, are you alright?!" her voice was high with worry.
Kale nodded and sat up, he rubbed his shoulders and wiped his face clean of the spit.
"I'm fine" he rotated his shoulder and stood, "come on"
They were only a few meters away when both of them were scooped up in a large maw. Saoirse screamed before realizing where they actually were.
"Wow" Kale whispered in awe; he had seen the Blue Lion's cockpit but the White Lion looked different. It was a good different.
The controls were the same, yet there were extra controls on the walls that Blue didn't have. The coloring was a silvery-goldish with white accents and blue lighting. The chair was a deep snowy white with grey handles and black control sticks.
Kale sat down on the chair and gently wrapped his hands around the joysticks and gave a soft pull to the left. The Lion turned that direction instantly. Kale smiled and flew the Lion to where the Flight Pod was sitting. Kale landed the Lion had the Lion pick up the ship with its maw.
They were off once more.
"Paladins, please return to the Castle as fast as you can" Allura's voice called through the commlink she had given them before they left.
"On our way Allura" Kale responded and they flew through the Wormhole.
The trip through was just as dizzying as the first and second time. When they appeared back on Arus, Kale noticed the Yellow, Blue and Green Lions were just landing. He joined them, the White Lion touched down and crouched before bending the head down and letting them out.
Saoirse left first, still shaken from the events on the planet. Kale stood to leave when he felt a presence in his mind, it was soft and curious and familiar. His mind instinctively opened and he let out a soft, surprised sound when he was suddenly in space. There were shooting stars in the dark sky; he stood on a moon. The White Lions sat before him.
She was white and silver with golden eyes. She had two pairs of large golden wings resting on her back with light blue and stormy grey accents. Her tail was longer than Blue's but skinnier than Yellow's. She was less bulky than all of the others, Red included and looked flexible than them. She was slightly taller than Yellow even as she sat.
Hello, Paladin
Her voice was soft, just like the presence that was in his mind.
Where are we?
We are at the same place, physically at least. Mentally, you are within my consciousness.
Why am I here?
You are the White Paladin, I have brought you here to train you, to strengthen our bond
Kale frowned before nodding.
When do we begin?
Tonight, right now we are in trouble. Paladin, I wish for you to trust me and listen to every rule I give.
I will, what kind of danger?
Her eyes seemed to darken before she replied, her voice was tense.
Zarkon's Galra. The Fleet that was heading to Arus, they have arrived seconds before we returned.
Kale nodded, tensing.
I need to help them; can you send us back?
He felt affirmative before he was back in the cockpit. He quickly left the Lion.
Stay safe, Paladin
I will
…
"The Bayard is the traditional weapon of the Paladins of Voltron. It takes a distinct shape for each Paladin"
Kale admired his Bayard; it was black where the others were white and silvery-white where there's were their color. His armour looked more flexible than the others and instead of a helmet, he had a hood that was connected to a cape. The hood had a retractable visor that had a mouth part and an eye part. The armour part was all one piece like the others. His armour was black with silvery-white, just like his Bayard. His hood and cape were shiny gold with silver lining.
Kale felt a pull from the Bayard and gave it a tug. It lit up before turning into a strange-looking knife with two blades.
Pull it apart, Kitten
He frowned and did so. It detached from each other and became two arm blades. His eyes instantly brightened.
Thanks, White!
…
They decided to use Blue and Yellow as decoys because the Galra already knew that the Paladins had them while Green and White snuck behind to ship to sneak inside. Kale went with Keith to get Red while Shiro and Pidge freed the prisoners.
Kale followed the soon-to-be Red Paladin and they kept passing the same Galra symbol in the hall.
"This isn't going well" Kale muttered, watching Keith get frustrated, he walked over and placed a hand on the older's shoulder, "remember what Shiro said: Patients Yields Focus"
Keith looked at him before closing his eyes and taking deep breaths. He stayed like that for a moment or two before his indigo eyes snapped open and he turned.
"Got you" he ran and Kale followed close behind.
Kale loved his armour, it wasn't restricting like clothing and there was something to hide his face but didn't suffocate him. He didn't know what to think of the cape yet.
The two entered a room and Kale instantly saw the Red Lion, after all, it was hard to miss. The Red Lion was smaller than the Blue Lion. It sat on its haunches with its tail curled around its legs.
Kale could feel an extremely small connection to it, through his Lion. He let his mind go closer to the connection and felt wild-fire. He pulled away, back to White's star night.
Keith tried to coax the Red Lion to lower its, his, particle barrier. Kale felt White's amusement through their bond.
Kitten, Fiar'e requires someone who proves themselves and earns his loyalty.
I know, this is just to fun to let end
More amusement flowed through the bond and Kale barely kept a laugh from escaping.
Movement caught his attention and he turned, activating the Bayard and attaching the blades to the sides of his forearm.
"Keith, we have company!"
Keith activated his Bayard, it turned into a sword, and the two charged.
"You're not getting this Lion!" the Paladin of Fire snarled.
Kale sliced the throat of two of the drones before they began overwhelming them. Keith slammed his fist into the Emergency Release and kale grabbed onto the bar just before all of the air got sucked out. One of the Galra Soldiers pulled Keith out with it. Kale's eyes widened and he was about to follow and ask White for help when there was a roar.
His head snapped to the right and he saw the Red Lion, Fiar'e as White called him, fly out. Kale smiled and let go of the bar. Red, or Fiar'e, caught Keith and White came around and caught him.
"Good girl" Kale smiled as he sat in the chair.
He gripped the movement rods and they followed Fiar'e.
"Hunk, destroy the Cannon"
"On it"
They landed minutes later in front of the Castle.
The Five Lions activated the door to the Black Lion's Hanger, it slid open. The Black Lion looked like White but larger and different colouring. He had winglets instead of White's wings. The Lions stood and roared in greeting; Black roared back before lowering its head to look at Shiro better.
Kale looked over to the Alteans, Allura looked relieved, Alita smiled in excitement and Coran whoop'ed.
The alarm's blared and Allura pulled up a holocomputer.
"Sendak's ship has entered the Arusian atmosphere" Allura looked panicked for a second.
They entered their Lions and took off. Kale flew beside Shiro while Keith and Pidge flew a little way back and Lance and Hunk flew behind them.
Before they exited the Particle Barrier of the Castle, the Warship fired its Ion Cannon and the purple blast hit the barrier. They landed because of this.
"HOLY CRAP!" Pidge yelled in surprise.
"They fix things fast!" Hunk included.
"The barrier gets weaker with every blast. Once that shield goes down, the Castle will be defenseless" Coran called through the comms.
"I can give you cover with the Castle defenses for a while, but you have to form Voltron now or we'll all be destroyed!" Allura shouted.
"Jeez, no pressure" Hunk murmured, nervousness clear in his eyes.
Peace Paladin, we will win this.
How?! We don't even know what to do!
Trust me, trust us, trust each other
A second blast hit the barrier, weakening it more.
"Listen up, Team Voltron! The only way to succeed is to give it all you've got! This looks bad, but we can do this! Are you with me?" Shiro called.
Kale nodded along everyone else, feeling nervous even after his Lion's assurances.
"I'm nodding, is everyone else nodding?" Hunk asked.
Everyone told him that they were.
"Let's do this!"
The six Lions run forward and exit the barrier under heavy fire from the Galra Fighter Jets.
"Uh, how?"
"Good question. Does anyone have any ideas of how to form Voltron?"
"I don't see a "Combine Into Giant Robot" button anywhere on my dashboard" Hunk whimpered as his Lion was almost hit.
The Galra fighters were bombarding them with attacks.
"White says that we it's all about trust" Kale piped up after dodging two attacks and destroying the fighters.
"This is insane! Can't they just cease fire for one minute, so we can figure this out? Is that too much to ask?" Pidge snapped, she loses her temper and attacks the fighter jets, destroying two.
Keith fires the Red Lion's tail cannon to destroy two more.
"How do we do that?" Keith asked before Hunk slammed Yellow into him with a cry of 'Combine!'
"Hey!"
"Okay, that didn't work"
This isn't working, how do we trust each other if we don't know one another?
Trust is earned Paladin, earn each other's. For now, in this dire situation, Instinctual Trust will work.
"Maybe if we fly in formation, we'll just combine. Take off on my cue. One, two, three, Voltron!"
All six Lions took flight, in the same formation as before, for it felt natural.
Kale closed his eyes and felt his Lions energy. She guided him towards Black, who felt like the sky, towards the forest of Green, towards Yellow's savannah, towards the vast ocean of Blue and finally towards Fiar'e's fire.
The Paladin and Lion of Stardust connected.
He felt all of the Lions, but none of the Paladins.
Where are they?
Not trusting White, no Musyn, gave a lash with her tail.
He didn't listen, none of them are listening to us! Red, Fiar'e, hissed.
Calm, they are new, they are untrusting. Show them to trust my siblingsBlack, Kloa, purred.
Too late Green, Fira'rn, murmured.
We are so doomed Yellow, Silaow, moaned.
Kloa, what now? Blue, Ara, asked.
Show them the way, they are ready
Kale felt a tug on his mind and, after a moment's hesitation, he allowed them in.
The Paladin and Lion of the Sky connected.
The Paladin and Lion of the Terra connected.
The Paladin and Lion of the Vast Waters connected.
The Paladin and Lion of the Flora connected.
The Paladin and Lion of the Flamma connected.
All of them were one.
Voltron was formed.
Flamma stopped the cannon fire from destroying the Particle Barrier.
"I can't believe it!" Keith cheered.
Finally Fiar'egrumbled.
"We formed Voltron!" Pidge hooted.
My kitten Fira'rn purred.
"I'm a leg!" Hunk shouted.
As am I! Silaowcooed.
"How are we doing this?" Lance asked.
We're back! Ara roared.
"I don't know, but let's get that cannon!" Shiro called.
It is good to be back together my siblings Kloa called.
It is good to be back Musynpurred.
Voltron destroys the Galra ship, so fast that Kale was still processing how they were able to without getting attacked more.
They disbanded and Kale guided Musyn down towards the front of the Castle. The others followed.
"Good job, Musyn"
She purred within his mind, and you Paladin, I am glad to know you are my True Paladin. Now go celebrate with the others
She bent down and opened her maw. Kale was confused.
What do you mean-
I will inform you of it tonight.
He nodded and left the Lion, a smile growing on his face to the other's excitement.
"-screaming the entire time, maybe that did it?" Hunk said.
"We won the battle, but the war has only just begun. I'm afraid Zarkon will not stop until he gets these Lions" Allura informed.
Kale felt the Lion's courage on continuing the fight.
"Good thing you Paladins know what you're doing, because you're going to have to form Voltron again and again and again" Coran chirped.
Kale sighed, thought so
Musyn purred happily.
"Totally...Wait, what?"
"We barely survived forming Voltron this one time" Lance complained.
Kale heard and felt all of the Lion's amusement and barely stopped from laughing, covering it up with a cough.
"And you only had to fight one ship. Wait until you have to fight a whole fleet of them! It's not going to be easy being the Defenders of the Universe"
Kale blinked and looked at the Lions, a small smile on his face.
'Defenders of the Universe' huh? I like the sound of that.
The Lions purred happily before all of them stood and roared in unison.