1Escapades
In the following weeks, Lotor came very often on Aris. He met little Rose in the woods. She took her stroll every morning, and as far as he knew she maintained the charade of the tall secret admirer.
Being able to move around undetected like this made him giddy with pleasure. He would travel to various worlds to find lavish gifts, rare flowers, jewelry, and marvelous gowns. How he would love to see his beloved in the deep purple one, with that wonderful lizard-shaped broach he'd found on Vh'taï. He loathed pink and carefully avoided anything in that shade. For him, pink was the very symbol of everything that formed an obstacle between them. The only pink item he bought was an irresistibly beautiful, pale bird that the vendor had assured him could talk. He brought the bird to Rose, golden cage and all.
His small accomplice was as spellbinding as Allura in her own way. She would tell him stories that actually made him smile, a rare treat. He gloated a lot when he fought the Voltron force, but this was different. It was a peaceful and worry free smile. She showed him all the beautiful gardens. Of course, Lotor had been here so often before he could have drawn a map, but it was so pleasant when she took his hand and pulled him to supposed new discoveries.
What she loved most of all was evading the castle spies. She knew them all and even gave them nicknames.
"Here, behind that pile of rock hides Pink Mammoth," she would whisper. "He's conspicuous and he breathes just as loudly, that's for sure! And about fifty metres to the left you'll find Fidget. He moves constantly. It makes his spy cloak blur, you can spot him a kilometre away."
Lotor knew them and their pattern, but it always amused him to find out how the little ferret called them. It also delighted him to hear the tales of the worse blunders each Voltron team members had done.
Sometimes, they would just walk in the enchanted forest, admiring it in the dappled light of the morning. They had a good agreement. When it rained, they had a place in a hollow tree were he would leave the gift, and Rose would pick it up later. When it didn't, they would meet and she'd have a new story. They would walk in the filtered light of the forest, delighting in the progress of the gardens, spotting birds and cloaked spies. Sometimes Rose found him in his favourite spot, from where he gazed at his love humming to herself in her sun drenched garden. Rose would tease him, tell him how Ma had another pink dress made for Allura, and didn't she look better in that awesome dark blue? They would argue about just what shade made her golden hair shine best. He would ask her a million questions, what Allora had for breakfast, did she like this or that gift. He knew the ferret probably invented on the spot more then half of what she told him, but he loved it all the same. Then he would leave and return to the cold and dismal castle Doom, to brood in his sofa.
***** ***** *****
This time it was raining heavily and the forest was dripping veils of gray water. The visibility was poor and the ground slippery. In spite of his colour-shifting cloak, the prince was cold and shivering by the time he made it to the hollow tree. He left his gift and hurried back to the comfort of his ship. For an inexplicable reason he felt very nervous. The forest seemed menacing in this weak, colourless light. The very flowers turned their face to the ground, beaten by the steady fall of frigid water. He fancied he saw shapes moving everywhere.
He suddenly understood that it was no fancy. Those moving shapes were men wearing spy cloaks as he was. Seeing his way forward was blocked, he calmly veered to the right, then jumped behind a pile of rocks. The spies realized immediately they'd been seen, and opened fire. Lotor started to flee. They had to contour the pile, and with the rain, it was hard to spot their target, even though he was running. They lost him for a moment and then he was seen. The lucky spy aimed carefully and shot.
"Got him!" He cried as he saw the blurred shape tumble.
Then it disappeared again as the wind pushed the raindrops in their faces.
"Where the hell is he?" Cried one of the spies
"Fan out!" Ordered the one who seemed the leader.
He didn't know by what miracle he hadn't cried out. The shot had passed clear through his right shoulder. By sheer luck it hadn't damaged the artificial arm's anchor. He ran, driven mad by the pain. He surmised his ship had been found, and felt sure they'd eventually catch him since he had nowhere to go now. Still, not knowing why exactly, he fled through the woods, coming to areas he'd never seen before, hearing the cries of the soldiers behind him. That warm wetness spreading with alarming speed had to be his own blood. Perhaps he would die... that would solve all his problems rather neatly, he thought his an odd longing. He lost track of time. It seemed the cold wind driven rain and the very world was becoming unreal, and he ran on. The sense of being removed from reality became even stronger when he came to a glade. Here the light had an eerie golden cast to it, and It felt sacred somehow. He laughed hysterically before what he saw, thinking he'd lost his mind. Right in front of him was the green lion. Either he hallucinated, or sheer luck had brought him right to the lair of the mechanical beast. Its eyes were shiny and through his odd madness he even imagined that they looked benevolent. 'Well, it's a ship and I happen to need one rather badly.'
He could not recall how he made it into the cockpit. He didn't understand either why the lion didn't simply throw him out. He had stolen lions before and learned then that they were inhabited by a living spirit. Perhaps green lion's resident ghost wasn't in. He let go of his shoulder and looked in amazement at his bloodied hand. Had he been shot at? He couldn't remember. He plotted a course for castle Doom and took off with the lion. He wondered idly why the thing even worked at all, since he didn't have the key. Bloodied water fell down on the seat, and collected on the floor.
He came in and out of consciousness, and in his lucid moments wondered how he was going to explain this to Zarkon. He could always say he'd been on Aris to steal the lion and prove himself, but that left out the arm. He'd have to find some way to reach his room, put the damned appendage back on. When he had left, several hours ago, his father had been gone.
For once fortune seemed on his side. When he finally reached castle Doom, no one was there. He somehow half climbed, half fell out of the ship, and went to the infirmary. He was leaving a steady trail of drops behind him. He met two drones and put them to work. One was to get his arm, the other had to clean the mess. He still had enough presence of mind to order them to self destruct afterwards in some hidden corner. He reached the infirmary on pure adrenalin, and literally fell in the arms of the waiting medbot.
***** ***** *****
"HE WHAT?" Cried Keith furiously.
"Well," said the spy leader miserably, looking at the floor, "he... eh...took off with green lion."
"How the hell did he get the key?"
"He didn't," said Pidge. "The key is right here with me."
"How can that be?" Asked Allora.
"We'll sort it out later," said Keith. "Let's go after him."
They ran into green lion as the robot ship was heading back to Aris. There was no pilot.
***** ***** *****
He awoke some time later. His artificial arm was neatly tucked beside him, and his shoulder bandaged. The medbot had not covered the anchor, not knowing what to do with the mechanical part of his patient. It hovered on idle, bobbing up and down. Lotor sat and clicked his arm in. He felt awful but he had to find out what had transpired while he was out. When he stumbled to the open hangar, he saw that the green lion was gone. He stared in amazement. Perhaps the others had come to get it. The castle was still empty. He wouldn't have to improvise a story after all. He'd just have to pretend he'd been here on his sofa all the time. Hiding the injury would be difficult, it hurt like fire, but he had no choice. He realized with chagrin that since the spies were on to him now, his joy filled escapades were over.