A/N: I do not own Voltron, its characters or settings. Anything new is mine.
Starlette: I'd love to read the story. If you want, you can just email it to me...Otherwise, post it for everyone to read! I love seeing stories where Allura is a fighter rather then a crier.
Yamato: Sorry, Lance isn't going to meet up with Lissa again just yet, but they'll see each other soon, I promise!
"What is it like, to be a White Rider?" Haggar asked, curious about the elite members of the Legion of Light, as most people, and especially gifted ones such as herself, were.
Lissa sighed and eyed her for a moment. "Do you want the generic answer or an involved one?"
Haggar studied the woman and then shrugged. "Whatever you want to tell me."
Lissa had told this story a thousand times, to curious listeners across the Universe. Everyone wanted to hear about the glories of the Legion and its members, but Lissa was tired of telling only one side of the story.
"Fine, then I'll give you the full tale," Lissa replied. "Being a member of the Legion of Light is lonely. You forsake all that you have, all that you are, and dedicate yourself to an order that is strict and demanding. The Legion offers no reward per se, only the knowledge that what you do saves the lives of others. In exchange, you give up your own life. What you want, what you need, what you have dreamed of attaining since childhood perhaps, no longer matters. Only duty and honor matter.
"As harsh as that might sound, it is not a completely unpleasant thing. There is a certain sense of self worth one attains from saving the Universe. There is also the happiness one feels when you have saved another life. Duty is a far more honorable thing to obey then power or wealth, there is no corrupting the soul that is devoted to devotion itself, after all. Or so the Elders teach us. The truth is, no matter how much one devotes oneself to a calling, there is inevitably a sense of loss, a knowledge that though you are fulfilling a role, you are missing out on everything else.
"And then there is the matter of honor. Among the Legion, honor means all. If you have no honor, you have no worth. What good is a person who gives their word but cannot be trusted or counted upon to stand behind it? In the Legion of Light, we have only each other to depend upon since we have given up all outside ties, and it is imperative we be able to trust each other. Honor comes not so much from great deeds, but rather the will to carry out even the most minor of tasks to the best of one's ability, whether or not it will benefit you personally.
"To be enlisted in the Legion, you must have shown yourself to posses both honor and a sense of duty, as well as unique gifts. All members must pass tests of extreme difficulty, usually a mission that is unsupervised, where the end goal is not easily seen or achieved.
"To become a White Rider, ah, well, that requires even more of you. More then you can bear at times," Lissa whispered.
She suddenly fell silent, closing her eyes as she mused on things from her past, regrets that never seemed to leave her no matter how much time had passed.
Haggar did not press her to go on. Instead, she thought of what the girl had told her thus far. She understood about loneliness, after all, and duty, and even honor. She had remained loyal to Zarkon because of her love for him, even when he turned his back on her. But she had also done it for herself, because if she had walked away from him, she would have been acknowledging that she had sold her very soul to a man who did not care for her. It was a matter of pride that made her stay, but she had also sworn an oath to Zarkon, years ago, and she would not dishonor herself by breaking the vow of servitude she had made to him.
Like this White Rider, she had no one, save her beloved familiar. Zarkon tolerated her, and Lotor put up with her because his father did and because occasionally her magic was useful to him. But she did not belong here on Planet Doom, not as she had once believed. In her days of foolish youth, she had imagined her place was wherever Zarkon was, but now she knew better.
A companionable silence developed between the two women as they sat lost in their own thoughts, outwardly so different and yet more alike then one might believe.
Lance slowly made his way through the swamp, stopping every minute or so to check the area before inching forward again. Somewhere in the castle, his lady waited. Even now it was possible she was being tortured, or even worse, molested. Lotor was a known womanizer, and Lance knew sexual degradations would break Lissa long before physical torture ever would. Just the thought of Lotor touching her was enough to make his emotions run mad with rage, but Lance held them in check, knowing a hot temper was the last thing he needed right now.
As the trees thinned out, he dropped to his belly and began to crawl over the muddy ground with his elbows and knees, as they had taught him in the Galaxy Garrison. He had no idea how he was going to get into the castle, but first he had to actually reach it. He would think of a plan when the time came, hopefully.
Keith and the Black Lion tore through space, the pilot muttering to himself, torn between joy, worry and anger. On one hand, he was elated to have Allura's affections at last and be able to openly display his own love for her, on the other hand he was furious with Lance for having charged to the rescue like some knight in shining armor. And he was worried about both of them. Any time the team went to Planet Doom, it was a dangerous situation. He had absolute faith in the power of Voltron, but right now the team was split up and so Voltron could not be formed. While the Lions were powerful weapons, they were not nearly as effective as Voltron. Lance had been foolish and reckless to go to Planet Doom alone, Keith only hoped he could get there before Lance was discovered.
Allura pushed the Blue Lion to its limits, not wanting to overtax the machine but desperately aware time was short and she had to gather the rest of the team and go after Keith. The Falcris was unable to assist her in any real way, it had been almost completely disabled, and as a result a great deal of precious time passed before Arus finally came into view.
Allura breathed a sigh of relief as she led the broken vessel into the atmosphere. She was forced to slow down to a near crawl so the ship and its passengers wouldn't be harmed by the descent. She contacted Hunk and Pidge the moment she reached the planet's surface.
The Yellow Lion and Green Lion met her not far from the Castle of Lions and helped her to deposit the Falcris on the ground.
"What happened to them?" Hunk asked.
"They were attacked by Lotor and his men," Allura replied. "Listen guys, we have a bad situation here. Lance found this ship first, and it seems Lissa was taken hostage and sent to Planet Doom."
"Oh crap," Pidge breathed. "I bet Lance blew his top."
"I have no idea what his reaction was, because I wasn't with him when he found the Falcris, and he left before Keith and I found the ship," she sighed.
"Where did he go?" Hunk demanded.
"To Planet Doom," Pidge guessed.
"What?" Hunk gasped.
"I'm afraid Pidge is right. Lance told the captain of the Falcris he was going to Doom to try to rescue Lissa."
"Of all the stupid, idiotic, hare brained," Pidge began to rant.
Allura cut him off. "We don't have time for that now, much as I might agree with you. Keith went after Lance to try and catch him before he reached Arus, but the odds aren't in Keith's favor and he wants us to go to Planet Doom right away."
"Sure thing," Hunk replied, wheeling the Yellow Lion around and taking to the sky, Pidge and the Green Lion on his heels.
Allura hesitated and looked down to the Falcris, where Prince Ower and his servants were gingerly climbing from the battered ship. "Your Highness, Coran will see to your needs."
The Blue Lion took off before the pompous prince had a chance to respond.
Lance had managed to make his way to within a few yards of the castle when he was suddenly grabbed by the ankles. He rolled over, reaching for his laser pistol, but paused when he found the barrel of a gun inches away from his face.
"Well, what do we have here," a guard dressed in the uniform of Planet Doom mused.
"A spy of some sort, I'd say," his companion replied.
"I know that," the first guard snapped. "What's your name, boy?"
Lance glared at him in silence, refusing to be cowed by the gun in his face but not foolish enough to try moving.
"Wait a minute, he's one of those Voltron pilots," the second guard shouted. "Look at his uniform!"
Lance inwardly sighed but forced his face to remain expressionless.
"Oh the King is gonna love this," the first guard excitedly replied. "I see a promotion in our future."
The two guards yanked Lance to his feet and bound his hands behind his back.
"You might as well tell us your name," the first guard stated. "We know you're from Arus."
"Go to hell," Lance hissed.
The guard hit him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him, but Lance didn't fall. "If anyone here has to worry about going to hell, it's you, my friend."
"I have answered your question. Am I permitted to ask you one?"
Haggar looked up in surprise when Lissa spoke. The two of them had been sitiing in silence for several minutes, each lost in their pasts, and Haggar was astonished to find she felt at ease in this strange woman's presence.
She glanced at the other woman and said, "I suppose so. What could you possibly wish to ask me?"
"What are you doing here, working for a lout like Lotor?"
No one had ever really asked Haggar about herself. They took one look at her and decided, quite rightly, that she was a witch and left it at that. They had never bothered talking to her, though she supposed Lissa would be curious about her captors to some extent.
"I told you, I do not work for Lotor. I work for his father Zarkon."
"Please forgive me if I doubt the father will be any more charming then the son," Lissa muttered.
"He is not," Haggar admitted, "Not anymore. Then again, he might never have been. I
was young and foolish when I first met him, and it took me many years to see that which I preferred not to."
Haggar abruptly fell silent. She had not meant to reveal so much to the girl. She quickly stood and said, "I must be going for now."
Lissa watched the other woman hurry across the room and realized the witch had not meant to tell her such private information. It seemed kindness and curiosity were unknown to the woman. How interesting. Lissa could well imagine a life here with Lotor and his no doubt charming father held little joy or friendship.
"Thank you for answering my question," Lissa called after her. "Even if it was only half of an answer. Perhaps we can continue the discussion later. I'm certain your life has been an interesting one."
Haggar paused to glance back at her, her face expressionless. "Perhaps we can, if you are willing to discuss more of your life as well."
The door closed behind her before Lissa had a chance to agree.