Authors Notes: And we're back with Rise of the Snow Queen folks, sorry for the long delays but with starting a new story and recently a new job I've been preoccupied so my updates will be less frequent than usual. Now to recap the Paladins and Elsa have learned of the Snow Queens past with the Paladins of old and how she turned evil, and now intends to find the Shattered Eye, purposes still unknown. But now the race to find the eye is on.
Now this chapter is a two part adventure, one half explained here, and the other in the chapter to come. Now lets begin shall we.
Voltron Legendary Defender (c) Dreamworks animation
Frozen (c) Disney
:Written in Stone:
Events for the Paladins and their Arendellian companions, have escalated far more than they ever imagined. The Snow Queen now revealed to be the sister of Queen Iduna, Elsa and Anna's mother making the Snow Queen known as Ingrid their aunt. Further revelations revealed that the Paladins of old their predecessors had traveled to Arendelle once before, met King Runeard, Elsa and Anna's grandfather, even fought against the Snow Queen to try and reason with her to no avail. However the Defenders of the Universe now had a more pressing concern, the Snow Queen and Lotor were now on the hunt for Altean relics that would lead to a forgotten artefact known as the Shattered Eye. A crystal capable of invoking a persons hate turning allies against each other even an entire planet.
Having discovered the first key on Olkarion, the race is on to find the remaining two keys, locate the Eye and destroy it before the Snow Queen can reclaim it.
In the deep nebula of space the Castle of Lions glided through on course for their next destination. On the bridge Coran was examining the coordinates found inside the first key. After a few types on the holo console the coordinates appeared on the star map.
"Okay according to these coordinates the second key is located within the Emnios sector." Coran explained to everyone who were manning their stations. While Hunk and Pidge were under Coran's control station trying to hook up the tachyon tracker provided to them from Ryner.
"The Emnios sector thats a far off region of space." Allura realised.
"Is it Galra occupied territory?" Kieth asked.
Allura brought up the star map of the universe and placed it on the Emnios system, and highlighted any territories occupied by the Galra. However the map high lighted some red dots in some of the area.
"Only a few Galra occupied sectors close to the coordinates." Allura reported.
"Then we'll have to move with caution, if we're detected by any nearby patrols they'd alert Lotor, which would bring the Snow Queen to us in an instant." Kieth explained.
Elsa however was a little worried, she knew the Galra didn't know they would be on Olkarion. "But what if Ingrid learns another way, I mean she found us on Olkarion and ambushed us on that abandoned outpost."
"She probably tracked us cause she's still connected to the Eye." Lance suggested.
"But we didn't know about the Eye until Olkarion, what if she's finding us through me?" Elsa wondered.
"But how could she find us through you Elsa?" Olaf asked.
"Its possible." Said Hunk as he worked on connecting the wires to the Tachyon tracker. "I mean she and Ingrid do share the same powers maybe it's some kind of connection like we have to our lions." He wondered.
"Whatever the circumstance maybe, if there is a way to block out Ingrid's ability to find us we will find a way." Kieth explained.
Soon the Tachyon tracker hummed into life as Pidge connected the last wire to the computer. "Boom we're in business! Now hopefully we should be able to track anything with Tachyon particles like Elsa."
"And find Anna and Kristof?" Lance asked imitating Sven.
"Fingers crossed Sven." Hunk smiled to the two geniuses stood up and Coran began synching the main console to the Tachyon tracker. It began scanning quadrants, but before the crew was ready to make a wormhole jump the screen let out an alert getting their attention.
"What is it?" Allura asked, Elsa had a look of hope on her face could they have located her sister and friend already?
"The trackers just picked up something matching the Tachyon signature that we scanned from Elsa." Pidge explained this perked Elsa, Olaf and Sven's interest.
Coran took a closer look at the readings, and he could see it too. "Number 5 is right the trace is faint but I should be able to get a lock onto it." Coran began to triangulate the signal, until eventually he managed to locate the source.
"The reading seem to be coming from a planetoid three quadrants from our current position." Coran explained.
"Well what are we waiting for lets' go check it out!" Elsa shot up with hope in her heart.
"Hold up what about the second key?" Lance wondered.
"But it could be Anna we need to investigate!" Elsa exclaimed.
"Or it could be another of the Snow Queens traps?" Kieth wondered. "Elsa I know this could be a sign but I don't think you should get your hopes up."
"He has a point but at the same time we can't not investigate." Pidge agreed.
"Yeah but if Ingrid sensed the first key on Olkarion she could sense the second and find it before us, we can't ignore the possibility she'll find it again." Kieth then said.
"But its my sister Kieth! If it was Shiro I know you would jump at the chance to see if it was him!" Elsa argued.
Kieth just closed his eyes in frustration, he knew the danger this Shattered Eye could present to the universe if the Galra or the Snow Queen find the keys first. However at the same time if there was the possibility they'd found a lead on Anna or Kristof it couldn't be ignored. So with a deep breath he remembered what Shiro told him "Patience yields focus."
Eventually he came to a decision. "Okay look we have two missions, and though we can't change from our mission to get the Shattered Eye, at the same time if this is a sign we've found Anna and Kristof we can't afford not to investigate." Kieth said which did put a thankful smile on Elsa's face as it did for Sven and Olaf. Allura was glad too it meant Kieth was weighing the options.
"Okay so whats the call team leader?" Lance asked.
"Well if we're gonna get to the second key and the source of this reading we'll have to divide and conquer." Kieth said turning to Pidge and Hunk. "Hunk, take Pidge and investigate the tachyon reading, and use the Yellow Lion it should be durable and weapons capable for whatever you may face."
"Got it Kieth." Hunk said just then he felt a nudge on his side and looked to see Sven with a begging look in his eyes, this told the Yellow Paladin one thing. "Is there anyway to take Sven with us?"
"Hunks right he'll probably find a way to follow us no matter what we do." Pidge agreed.
Kieth knew the absence of the princess and ice master was affecting Sven the most. "Okay but you'll have to watch him and make sure he doesn't get into trouble." Sven replied to that by sitting down and gave a solute. Which did grant a chuckle from Hunk and Pidge.
"Great but what if the Snow Queen shows up when we get the key we won't be able to form Voltron?" Lance questioned.
"I'll be able to wormhole them back to us should we need their help." Allura assured.
Moments later The Yellow Lion, with Sven, Hunk and Pidge on board in their Paladin armour flew from the Castle of Lions. While on the bridge, Allura focused her energy through the crystal above her and opened a wormhole in front of the lion.
"Hunk, Pidge, Sven good luck but be on your guard the inhabitants of planetoids like this one can be very unpredictable." Coran called on the coms.
"We'll be careful thanks Coran." Pidge called. With that the Yellow Lion flew into the wormhole which vanished behind it. In the Castle of Lions, Elsa looked up at where the wormhole once was hoping and praying that her friends would find something and maybe even her sister.
Flashback: Arendelle some weeks ago:
The sun shone over the kingdom of Arendelle, and in the castle courtyard Elsa was looking up into the sky. She was looking for anything unusual namely a wormhole generated by the Altean flagship and hoped to see her friends again.
"Troubled by something?" Called a voice and Elsa looked to see Ingrid standing behind her in royal Arendellian robes.
"Oh its you." Elsa said surprised. Seeing the stranger they rescued the night before up and about.
"Elsa please its Ingrid, theres no need for formality." Ingrid said. "Is there something on your mind?" She asked out of interest.
"Oh well I was…I was just thinking about some old friends of mine." Elsa explained. "See some weeks ago we met some amazing people, and they did so much for me, Anna and Arendelle."
"Really, who are these people?" Ingrid asked.
"Well it's going to sound crazy but they're knights from another world, called the Paladins of Voltron." Elsa answered chuckling.
Ingrids eyes did wince at the mention of that name. "Oh..I see well thats very interesting." Ingrid answered.
"Yes and they saved our kingdom from not just Prince Hans of the Southern Isles but also an enemy from their world Emperor Zarkon of the Galra." Elsa continued to explain.
Ingrid was rather surprised to hear the name of the Galran Emperor who lead the ones who stopped her before. But at the moment she had something else on her mind. "Who's prince Hans?"
"Oh well I think I should explain that." Said a voice and they saw Anna coming into the courtyard in her green dress. "See uh during Elsa's coronation, I met this guy who's name was Hans and well he asked me to marry him but uh it was also the very first day we met so…"
"Hold on you wanted to marry the first man you met that day?" Ingrid questioned with a joking smile.
"Yeah bad decision right, I guess I was desperate enough to believe it was true love." Anna admitted.
"Oh not at all dear, you know Iduna was rather unsure about true love too and sometimes made mistakes of her own." Ingrid chuckled, however the royal sisters looked rather stunned at the mention of the name Iduna, which was their mothers name. How could this stranger know that?
"H..how did you know that name?" Anna asked.
"Yes, Iduna was our mothers name? Did…do you know her?" Elsa asked.
Ingrid knew it was time to tell the two royal sisters the truth. "Ah yes, I knew this would come but yes, Anna and Elsa, I did indeed know your mother in fact well…we're actually sisters."
If Anna and Elsa weren't stunned before they were now. "Sister?! W..wait so that makes you..our aunt?!" Elsa said in surprise. However Anna was confused.
"Hold on, m..mother didn't say anything about her having a sister?" Anna asked.
"Oh well we drifted apart some years ago, so I'm not surprised that she didn't bring me up." Ingrid said in honesty. "But after I heard that she and Agnarr died in a storm in the Southern Sea years ago..I. I was heart broken thats why I traveled all the way here to pay my respects and to get to know my nieces."
"So you knew she had children?" Anna asked.
"Well yes, I heard of what happened in Arendelle with this eternal winter fiasco, and well I felt it was time I met you both." Ingrid explained. "Especially you Elsa."
Elsa just looked confused, and so did Anna. "Why me?" Elsa asked.
"Well lets just say, we have a common gift." Then out of nowhere Ingrid's hand suddenly sparkled and generated in her hand a snowflake made of ice. Anna and Elsa couldn't believe what they were seeing, someone else had powers like the Ice Queen.
"You…you have powers like me!" Elsa said in surprise.
"That's thats amazing!" Anna breathed in surprise. "This must be where your powers came from Elsa?!"
"Yes a gift you inherited from me, and after hearing of what you can do, it is impressive but I could teach you more. If you wish?" Ingrid offered.
Elsa really didn't know what to say, someone had the same powers as her which meant she wasn't really alone. She looked to Anna who gave a supportive smile and nodded, she was more than happy for her sister to know she wasn't the only one in the family with ice powers.
"Okay, I'd like that." Elsa said.
"Good we'll get started immediately." Ingrid said happily.
Present day: Far away in deep space:
Elsewhere Lotor's command ship flies through space and in a lone room, Ingrid The Snow Queen sits quietly as she tries to focus her powers. The ice magic took the shape of the Shattered Eye itself, she focused and as she opened her eyes they briefly glowed green. Her vision briefly flashed to a distant galaxy and to a lone desolate planet inhabited by wild jungle. She also caught a vision of the Castle of Lions flying towards it and of Elsa.
Her eyes faded back to normal colour and smirked in anticipation. She exited the room and waiting for him was Zethrid. "What do you want?" The Snow Queen asked.
"Lotor wants to see you on the bridge." Zethrid answered rather begrudgingly. However Ingrid just shrugged it off and proceeded to the bridge, the halfbreed general was still skeptical about the Snow Queen and could smell a rat.
Soon the Snow Queen arrived on the bridge and Lotor along with Narti, Axca and Ezor were there waiting for her. "You wanted to see me Prince Lotor?"
"Yes I did, I wish to know how exactly you were able to discover the Paladins and Queen Elsa's whereabouts on Olkarion?" Lotor questioned. "It seems quite a coincidence how you located them let alone how one of your beasts was able to stand its ground against Voltron."
The Snow Queen just gave an honest look. "Oh well I suppose it's time you knew." She began, as you know I have met the current Paladins forbears years ago when they visited Arendelle and as you can see I share similar powers to Elsa. With good reason." Ingrid continued. "For you see she is in actual fact my niece."
"Your Niece!" Ezor gasped.
"Yes and it's why I am able to sense where she is, she and I share the same powers, and as long as I sense the magic in her veins there is nowhere she can hide." The Snow Queen said. "As for how my creations can face off against the most powerful weapon in the universe, I am far more powerful than her and my power has grown after Alfor foolishly sealed me away years ago." Ingrid explained but that was only half the story, as she wasn't sure she could trust them about a certain crystal.
Lotor was still rather weary, he was still unsure of the Snow Queens intentions much less on the relic she was looking for. However for the moment he decided to bide his time "I see then it is clear you could be a valuable alley to the empire." He said.
Axca and the other generals were rather unsure about all of this it was clear to them that the Snow Queen was hiding something. Yet their leader was willing to help her either way, just what was he trying to do?
"Good, because in my contemplation I've sensed the location of a clue to the relic, and by luck my niece and the Paladins are heading there now." The Snow Queen explained.
"Where exactly?" Lotor asked as he brought up the holo star map. The Snow Queen took a close look at the map and after a few minutes recognised the constellations from her visions.
"There." She pointed to the sector in question.
"Thats the Emnios sector, it's a heavily fortified position within the Empire." Axca explained. "Should we notify the commanders there?"
"So they can fail just as many of them have done before?" Ingrid questioned. "This relic is of great value to me and may provide you the edge you need over the Paladins, I refuse to let incompetent fools be sent on such an important mission."
Lotor could see in Ingrid's eyes she looked desperate to have this relic of hers. So he decided to take advantage of this. "Hmm Very well we shall attend to this matter ourselves, plot a course." Lotor decided.
With that decided Narti set the ships course to the Emnios sector of space, and so the race to recover the second key was on.
Meanwhile:
Elsewhere a wormhole opened in a far off quadrant of space and emerging from it was the Yellow Lion, and laying before it was the far off planetoid. In the yellow lit cockpit the Green Paladin studied her holo screen from her left gauntlet. She was tracking the Tachyon signature.
"Okay according to these readings the Tachyon energy signal is coming from the planetoid ahead of us." Pidge relayed to Hunk who then moved the control sticks forwards as the Yellow Lion began its approach.
It entered the atmosphere and they were greeted with a rather barren landscape with small traces of what looked like iron ore, spiking out of the ground. There was greenish grey fog coating the ground. The Yellow Lion flew down but stayed in the air. From the cockpit Hunk, Pidge and Sven looked at the environment that greeted them.
"Whoa look at that!" Hunk breathed and looked at the scans of the environment on the ground. "According to these readings this planet is rich with some kind of metal ore thats rich in energy!"
"How is that even possible?" Pidge wondered Sven just snorted and shook his head as he wanted to know the more important things. "Don't worry Sven if Kristof or Anna are here we'll find them." Pidge assured stroking the reindeers head.
Suddenly she heard a beep on her gauntlet she activated the holo screen and it picked up a reading. "Hold on I'm getting a reading…yes yes its strong." Pidge said rather excited.
"Wheres it coming from?" Hunk asked.
"Its coming from…..there!" Pidge pointed out what looked like a crevasse in the ground below.
"Okay hang tight Pidge." Hunk said to her as he turned the Lion and they dove into the crevasse below. The crevasse was dark and cold, no sign of light except from above a green mist blanketed the cavern below.
"Whoa it's dark down here I can barely see a thing!" Hunk said.
"Try shifting more power to your lions eye glow." Pidge suggested and Hunk pressed several keys on his Lions holo console and the Yellow Lions eyes shone brighter and now they had a clearer path forwards.
"Ah much better." Hunk sighed. However Sven looked rather nervous about their surroundings and couldn't help but shake. He felt uncomfortable and scared. What they didn't know, was that it was for good reason.
For unbeknownst to the two Paladins and Reindeer as the Yellow Lion flew over the green fog. Something rather below it started creeping through. It gave off a low roar as it moved under the Lion through the fog, stalking it like it was its prey.
Sven was shaking more than ever even he could sense something was wrong. Pidge could see how scared the reindeer looked and tried to comfort him. "Hey hey its okay Sven whats wrong?" She soothed him with a calm voice.
"I don't blame him Pidge, this place is starting to creep me out." Hunk said getting a little creeped out himself. "It kinda reminds me of this film I watched once with my family, something to to with Atlantis."
"Oh yeah I saw that one too." Pidge said. However their culture talk was cut off by a loud thundering sound. The group jumped in fright at that sound. They listened closely, the sound they heard was almost like a deep groaning moaning sound.
"Oooo wh…what was that?" Hunk shivered. He then looked at the radar for any signs of movement, however it started glitching but in one instance a red light blipped.
"Hey I have something!" Hunk said but then the blip disappeared. "A..nd now I have nothing."
With every passing minute the noise got louder and louder, but quite suddenly. It disappeared and all went quiet, Pidge and Sven looked at each other a little nervous.
"Why is it when something bad is about to happen its always quiet before it happens." Hunk said nervous.
"Hunk I don't think that…." Before Pidge could finish that sentence suddenly a loud bang hit the side of the lion causing Pidge and Sven to crash to the side. Yellow Lion is flung out of control by a shadow moving in the crevasse. Before Yellow could recover it was slammed in its right side by a large club like tail.
Hunk ferociously fought for control of the Lion with the control sticks until he was able to stabilise it. They looked and saw what their attacker was. It appeared to be some kind of giant stone serpent with a large eyeless face with sharp teeth within its curved mouth and a large club like tail at its rear with large stone fins for gliding through the cavern on both its had what looked like a metal shell on its outer skin.
"Holy crow what is that!" Hunk yelled.
"It must be some kind of life form native to this planet, we've invaded its territory and now it sees us as a threat!" Pidge exclaimed.
The monster roared and charged straight for the Yellow Lion. "HANG ON!" Hunk yelled as he thrusted the control sticks backwards and the lion roared as it dodged to the right to avoid the beasts attack then unleashed a laser blast from its jaw which hit it dead on its thick skin. However, the blast did nothing but just barely scold its thick skin.
"Wha we barely scratched it!" Hunk exclaimed.
"For good reason." Pidge said looking at the scanners. "Its covered with that same metal ore we saw on the planetoids surface, not only does it have energy its coating provides shielding from energy weapons."
The beast turned round and headed towards the Voltron Lion with an ear deafening roar. "Here he comes again!" Hunk cried. "Lets try this!"
The Yellow Lion roared as it formed its armour claws and back armour, then made a charge straight for the beast. The monster roared showing all ten thousand of its teeth, Sven was spooked he his behind Hunks control chair and covered his eyes he didn't dare look at what was coming next. The two collided and the lions armour claws slashed at the beasts face leaving a giant claw mark in the exposed stone of its skin. The giant roared in pain sending out a shockwave that forced the Yellow Lion back near the cliffside.
The beast looked back with glaring vindictive eyes and then suddenly energy it absorbed from the Yellow Lions attacks began surging all over the ore covered armour. From the Lions cockpit the two Paladins and Reindeer didn't like the look of this one little bit. The beast then unleashed a powerful energy blast toward them.
"MOVE!" Pidge yelled, Hunk quickly moved the control sticks and the Yellow Lion just managed to avoid the laser blast for it to hit the rocks on the far side one rock hit the Yellow Lions rear leg thruster, thankfully the armour was thick enough to avoid damage. However the beast wasn't giving up it fired an energy blast which hit the Yellow Lion and shocked the passengers inside the cockpit. The Lion flew out of control and crashed down into the abyss below. Hunk growled as he fought for control and with every ounce of strength he diverted the Yellow Lion into an open cave.
However the cave was getting narrower and narrower. "Hunk its too narrow pull out!" Pidge warned.
"I'M TRYING!" Hunk exclaimed. However no matter what they kept going down and grew rather too close to the ground. "BRACE YOURSELVES!" Hunk cried.
*CRASH!* The Yellow Lion crashed and rolled across the floor of the cave and crashed into the rear wall. The impact caused a cave in and nearly buried the Yellow Lion. Inside the cockpit Hunk lay unconscious in the control chair while Pidge and Sven were knocked out on the floor.
Flashback: Arendelle some weeks ago:
In the castle stables Sven was enjoying some water in his troff, and just then he heard footsteps and saw it was Kristof, he was very happy to see his friend.
"Hey Sven." Kristof smiled as he rubbed his reindeer friends head. Then he offered him a carrot which the reindeer instantly took in his mouth and ate it. "Knew you'd like that."
Just then they heard more footsteps and saw in the courtyard was Anna who was pacing around. Kristof could tell just by looking at her something was troubling his girlfriend. So he went over to see what was wrong.
"Hey you okay?" Kristof asked as he came over, which got Anna's attention.
"Oh yeah I'm fine why do you ask?" Anna asked.
"Well you've been pacing around the courtyard for hours and you've got that look on your face." Kristof noted. "Plus I can tell when somethings bothering you Anna, so whats up?"
Anna sighed as she knew she couldn't hide anything from her boyfriend. "Ah, well its about Ingrid."
"You mean your aunt?"Kristof wondered remembering the exciting news that Anna got at the revelation she had a long lost aunt, let alone possess similar powers to Elsa. "What about her?"
"Well I get the feeling she's hiding something." Anna voiced. "I mean don't get me wrong I'm happy to know I have an aunt and she has similar powers to Elsa, and I'm glad she's learning new things from her but…." Anna struggled with this last bit. "It seems like she's more focused on Elsa than me I mean I'm her niece too!"
"You know being jealous doesn't solve anything?" Kristof said imitating Sven.
"Wha! I'm not jealous I'm glad that Elsa's getting help with learning new things about her powers but, theres something about Ingird, every time we ask her where she's been all this time she changes the subject." Anna voiced. "And theres another thing, whenever Elsa or me bring up Voltron she tenses up."
"How'd you mean?" Kristof asked now intrigued as Sven inched in on the conversation too.
"Well almost like she hates the mention of the word." Anna said. "I mean I've got a bad feeling that Aunt Ingrid isn't telling us everything."
Kristof could hear the tone in her voice which was that of worry and genuine concern, he knew it in his heart that Anna would never joke or lie about anything. Now he was beginning to think about it he wondered about Ingrid too and where she's been then all of a sudden she appears out of nowhere.
Sven looked worried too, he was worried for his friends and their wellbeing. What was Ingrid hiding from her niece?
Present day:
Sven groaned and grumbled as he stirred from unconsciousness. He opened his eyes to see he was still in the cockpit of the Yellow Lion. He looked to see Pidge unconscious lying on the ground. He slowly got up and walked over and nudged the unconscious Green Paladins head with his large nose. Sven looked worried as there was no response, however with a lick on the helmet visor Pidge groaned and slowly opened her eyes to see Sven standing over her.
"Sven?" Pidge asked and the reindeer had a look of happiness and relief on his face. "Uhhh my head….what happened?" She slowly got up before she remembered what happened earlier. "Oh yeah I remember the beast, that blast and then the crash."
Sven rubbed his head against Pidge's and she was glad to see her friend was okay. "Hey its good to see your okay Sven." She then looked to the cockpit and saw Hunk was still knocked out. She hurried up to the control chair and shook him to try and wake him up.
"Hunk?! Hunk!" She said and after a few shakes the Yellow Paladin eventually woke up from his unconscious state.
"Uhhh wow, wha…what hit us?" Hunk asked.
"That beast from before, we were out of control." Pidge said to jog his memory.
"Oh yeah." Hunk remembered, he soon turned his attention to his lion. He moved the control sticks but sadly there was no response. He tried to access the diagnostics from the upper screens but there was zero response on all fronts.
"Great that blast must've knocked Yellow out cold, it'll be a while before we can get him up and running again." Hunk realised.
Pidge then accessed the holo screen on her wrist gauntlet to check if anything else got damaged. Thankfully there was one thing that wasn't damaged. "Well good news is, the tachyon tracker is okay." Just then she noticed something. "Hey the signals a little stronger down here."
Sven looked and snorted with interest at that. "Do you think we're close?" Hunk asked.
"Maybe, but given the Yellow Lions condition we'll have to explore the caves on foot." Pidge explained. "But first we'll need to find out what else is down here."
Moments later Pidge was now outside with a BLIP Tech device in hand. When a distance away from the Lion she placed down the device and it activated. The Green Paladin looked at her holo console and the BLIP Tech sensor showed her a map of the tunnels in the planetoid.
"Hunk, you seeing this?" She asked.
Hunk looked at his own holo console on his gauntlet and he and Sven saw the map of tunnels. "Whoa, looks like theres a large series of tunnels in this planetoid, makes the Balmera look like a labyrinth." Hunk observed. "But so far no sign of life."
Sven moaned with worry which the Yellow Paladin noticed. "Hey don't worry Sven just because its not showing on the map doesn't mean the signal doesn't mean anything." Which did comfort the reindeer a little.
Outside Pidge looked at the tachyon readings on her gauntlet. "The signals coming from ahead, we'll have to get moving."
"Okay but what about Sven, we don't even know if the air here is breathable?" Hunk said. Sven tilted his head in confusion.
"Oh don't worry, I have an idea of how to fix that with something I brought with us just in case." Pidge smiled.
Moments later Sven was now with Pidge and Hunk standing outside the Yellow Lion. The Green Paladin attached what looked like a belt from the Paladin suits around Sven's neck like a collar.
"Whats with the spare belt from our suits?" Hunk asked. Pidge gave a knowing look as she pressed the blue button in the centre which then surrounded the reindeer with a blue shield which wrapped around him then faded as if it wasn't there.
"Well its something I've been working on just for this." Pidge explained. "I figured Sven would want to come with us on missions, so I modified this belt as a collar to act as breathing apparatus for him. He's now surrounded by an invisible coat of air."
"Wow, handy." Hunk said and Sven just licked Pidges helmet as a friendly response.
"Ahaha okay easy Sven." Pidge said. "Lets get going."
The group then set off into the caves following the trail left by the tachyon tracker. They moved through the tunnels slowly and with their Bayard weapons in hand. Given what they saw in the chasm, they were being cautious in case there was something else in the tunnels. The trek was long through the tunnels. They came to a large gap down the lower tunnels. Pidge and Hunk used their jet packs to jump across. Sven took a running start and leaped over it, his back hooves nearly slipped but Hunk pulled him up.
They continued the journey through the tunnels. However as they turned a corner they couldn't believe what they saw. "Whoa!" They breathed.
For before them was a tunnel completely comprised of the energised ore they saw on the planets surface. The two Paladins, couldn't believe it despite its dangerous capabilities on the beast they saw earlier. It did have some kind of inner beauty to it.
"It…its incredible." Pidge breathed in amazement as she felt the side of the caves with her hand it was so smooth. "Its so smooth."
Hunk took a scan with his gauntlet and saw the analysis. "Whoa, this is just like the metal we saw on the planets surface, its rich with energy, its a wonder why no-ones stripped this planetoid dry."
Sven then noticed something on the scan that was blinking he shoved his nose at Hunk pointing him to it. "What is it Sven?" Sven used his eyes to gesture to the scan.
Hunk soon saw what he meant. "Whoa, now I know!"
"What is it?" Pidge asked coming over to him, and she looked at the scan. "Whoa thats high energy levels."
"Yeah one wrong laser blast and this whole tunnel could blow." Hunk said rather concerned. "We'll have to watch our backs."
With that they continued to follow the signal going deeper and deeper into the tunnels. Just when they entered another tunnel, suddenly Sven picked up a scent sniffing his nose, his ears perked up and his eyes widened and out of nowhere he ran down the tunnel.
"Sven!" Hunk and Pidge called as they ran after him into the tunnels. Sven skidded round a corner and he looked surprised at seeing something he ran ever faster. Hunk and Pidge were close behind and it was then they caught sight of something, it was a faint blue glow. They could sense it was cold down here.
The two looked with some hope in their eyes and they ran towards the light, but when they arrived. They saw what looked like ice in the wall, and to their surprise it was a rather familiar sight. Sven was sat against the wall and it looked like he was sobbing. For the ice was already broken and it looked like someone was once inside it but now it was empty.
"Hunk is this…" Pidge said in horror.
"Yeah its the same ice formation we found Elsa in on the Ice asteroid." Hunk said comparing the scans from both Elsa and the ice they found. "But it looks like someone found him first looking at the cracks and forced entry."
Sven just groaned and sobbed through his sorrow. Pidge came over to the reindeer and hugged his head trying to comfort him. "Hey hey its okay Sven, at least we know where our friends were." She said in a soft tone but Sven just cried and put his head close to Pidge's face.
Hunk couldn't help but feel like they'd failed, and it looked like Elsa wasn't going to take this news well. However he looked at his gauntlet screen and noticed something. "Hold on guys." He said getting their attention.
"If the tachyon source is this Ice cocoon, then why am I still picking up some Tachyon particles?" He said which peaked their interest. "They seem to be coming from this direction." Hunk pointed down what looked like a narrow tunnel with some rocks made of ore coating the tunnel.
Sven and Pidge looked at each other with hopeful eyes and a smile, they got up and headed down the tunnel with Hunk. "Lets go!"
They moved down into the tunnel, all seemed quiet. Too quiet for comfort. Suddenly they heard a scratching noise like a nail hitting iron echo through the tunnel. "What…what was that?" Hunk said spooked forming his Bayard Cannon and Pidge followed with her Bayard energy blade. Sven was rather spooked as he stayed close to them.
Suddenly a large rock fell from above and right in front of them, they yelped at the initial sound. They eyed the rock suspiciously, what happened next came quite suddenly the rock unrolled to reveal what appeared to be a spider made of stone and the metal ore that surrounded the caves. It looked at them with red glowing eyes, but much to their horror, it wasn't alone. More rocks fell from the ceiling and became more rock spiders.
They circled their prey with their metal pincers at the ready to attack. One spider leaped at Hunk he quickly fired his Bayard cannon at the spider which blasted it back. However all that did was charge the ore that was within it. The other spiders got closer.
"Oh no no no!" Hunk said and he fired his cannon at the surrounding spiders circling them. Pidge readied her grappling hook and swung it round and round and slashed at the incoming spiders. Sven charged at the spiders and swung his antlers at them catapulting them away.
However these attacks didn't seem to harm them only charge them and they fired energy from their legs which the Paladins and Sven quickly dodged. Hunk was ready to attack again Pidge just stopped him.
"No Hunk these things are just like the monster we fought earlier, the ores just absorbing the blasts!" Pidge warned him.
"So what do we do?!" Hunk exclaimed. Suddenly he felt a painful electric shock from behind him and cried in pain as he had been hit by one of the spiders.
"Hunk!" Pidge cried as she too felt a shock blast from a spider behind her. Sven hurried to them and stood defensively in front of them. The spiders close in for the kill, it looked like they were done for.
When all of a sudden something struck the ground it looked like a flare of some kind. Suddenly it exploded and struck the energised ore in the cave walls, and started a chain reaction causing it to explode catching the spiders in the blast wave. Hunk,Pidge and Sven were caught in the smoke, and suddenly a stranger in a helmet and cloak grabbed them and hurried them out of the tunnels.
Hunk and Pidge looked to see the stranger pulling them along through the smoke, Sven followed and for some reason he trusted this stranger. The masked man took them through the tunnels then through a narrow crack in the wall. They emerged on the other side was what looked like a small camp with a fire in the centre with what looked like a tent hanging from the ceiling and a blanket on the ground which was the bed. Pidge and Hunk sat on the ground still recovering from their shock.
The stranger then closed the crack up with a nearby boulder. Hunk looked and saw the stranger had a red metal helmet with a rectangular orange visor and wore a dark green cloak. Black pants, and brown boots with a blue shirt and black undercoat.
"Whew thanks." Hunk said.
"Who who the heck are you?" Pidge asked as she eyed the stranger suspiciously. However the stranger said nothing, but Sven plucked up courage and approached the stranger. He took a sniff, and his eyes lit up and he gave a big smile as out of nowhere he leaped onto the stranger and licked his helmet.
This was a surprise to Hunk and Pidge, why was Sven acting like this? The answer came as a surprise to them. Sven kept licking the strangers helmet as he tried to hold the reindeer back.
"He..hey cut it out buddy!" He said chuckling though his voice was disguised by the helmet Pidge and Hunks eyes widened as they recognised that voice.
The stranger pushed Sven off of him for a moment and removed his helmet and it revealed the face of none other than a certain Arendellian Ice Master. Hunk and Pidge looked in complete surprise and disbelief.
Kristof embraced his reindeer friend with happiness as Sven returned the gesture. "Oh man it's good to see you buddy I thought I'd never see you again!" Kristof said happily.
"Kristof!" The Ice Master looked and saw the Green and Yellow Paladins in the room looking with overjoyed expressions of their own.
"Hunk! Pidge!" Kristof said surprised as he got up and received a hug from his two friends.
"Oh man we missed you so much!" Hunk said happily as they enjoyed their hug. Moments later they broke off the hug.
"What are you guys doing here?" Kristof then asked.
"Well we came to find you you're in our universe." Pidge explained.
"Your universe?"Kristof said in surprise, then realised it. "Well that certainly explains a lot, like those rock spider things."
"Kristof what happened to you, and where's Anna?" Pidge then asked.
The Ice Master's expression then changed to a rather saddened expression as he sat down on a rock stump on the ground next to the campfire. "I…I don't know guys." Kristof said and so Pidge and Hunk sat down opposite him as Sven sat close.
"Well what happened before you ended up here?" Pidge then asked trying to help the Ice Master jog his memory.
Kristof sighed before he continued. "Well I've still been trying to piece that together." He said. "I remember Anna and Elsa talking to me about, their aunt and how she was hiding something. Then she came into the room and she claimed that Anna was trying to drive her away with ridiculous accusations."
"Yeah we've met her and I know Anna would never say such a thing!" Pidge agreed.
"Yeah I thought so too, she said something about how Grand Papie told her about Ingrid and where she really came from." Kristof said. "Then she tried to freeze us and I remember her saying something about Elsa's memories…then before anything else happened there was this bright light and..after that nothing."
The mention of Elsa's memories perked the two Paladins interest the most. "Elsa's memories?" Hunk asked.
"Yeah, I don't remember much but she said when she was done they could have a fresh start free from those who'd judge them." Kristof faintly recalled as he hand rested on his head.
Then suddenly it dawned on Pidge. "Oh of course this explains it!"
"Explains what?" Hunk asked.
"Hunk think about it, when we found Elsa she couldn't remember much of what happened. At first I thought it was because of being in the ice but based on what Kristof just told us, what if the Snow Queen has the ability to alter memories." Pidge realised.
"But how only the Trolls have had that ability?" Kristof wondered.
"I don't know but all the logic points to that." Pidge realised.
"Hold up, you don't think she was trying to wipe Anna from Elsa's memories do you?" Hunk wondered.
"That would be my guess." Pidge said. "I mean we know from Corans story, she wanted to wipe out Arendelle just so she'd be free from people who misjudged her."
"Wait Elsa, she's here too?!" Kristof said surprised.
"Yeah she's back on the Castle with the others." Hunk explained.
However he was still caught on that story, he knew the Snow Queen wanted Elsa but to wipe the memory of ones sister, that was just crossing more than a few lines. If he didn't like the Snow Queen before he certainly didn't now and this news would rock a certain ice queen hard. However there was something else they needed to know.
"Okay but, Kristof how did you bust out of that ice cocoon we found earlier?" Hunk asked.
Kristof found it hard to recall. "Well…I can't remember much but it was dark until I started hearing a cracking sound…"
Flashback:Kristofs POV:
(Note this takes place during Hole in the Sky and Blood Runs Deep chapters)
I heard the sound of bashing and cracking until I hard a loud crash. I could feel myself falling out of something and someone catching me. When I came to, I could make out someone was holding me, it was a man he wore a mask so I couldn't quite make out his face. It had a circle eye in the middle and he was hooded and wore armour with brown and orange clothing. Before I could say anything I passed out. When I came to again I saw I was in what looked like a camp, it was this place in a protected cavern. I could feel a warm fire nearby and I was wrapped in blankets. I saw the guy who saved me and when he took off his helmet. I could see he had long brown hair, its strange but when he turned to me. He kinda looked like Pidge, same eyes and everything.
He came over to me and knelt down. Before I passed out I could hear a voice. "Hey easy now your going to be alright now." He said.
Moments later:
When I came to again, I was alone the guy had gone and I saw he had left supplies for me to survive off of. I'm guessing it was to help me survive while he went to get help.
Present day:
"Then thats all I remember." Kristof said. "Been surviving here ever since."
Pidge's eyes shook the part about the stranger who looked like her was what perked her interest most of all. She didn't want to raise false hope in herself, but she had to know. She activated her holo gauntlet and brought up a certain image she procured from a Galra prison where Slav was being held.
"Kristof, this stranger, did he look like this!" She said with a shake in her voice.
Kristof took a look at the image, it was of a young man older than Pidge but had a similar haircut to hers being rescued by what looked like a rebel. He took a moment to think and then it hit him.
"Yeah yeah thats him alright!" Kristof finally confirmed. "Why do you know him?"
Tears of joy started to weal up in the Green Paladins eyes, she breathed heavy before she gave her answer. "M..Matt…i it's my brother, he was here!"
"Y..your brother?!" Kristof said in complete surprise. "The one who was taken by the Galra with Shiro and your dad?" He remembered the story about her brother.
"Yeah, I learned he escaped the same prison Slav was being held in and now I know he's out there!" Pidge said happily still streaming tears. Sven came over and snuggled against her which she accepted with a hug.
Hunk looked around at their surroundings and began to see what it really was. "Hey I bet this place was some kind of rebel outpost, I mean Rolo did say there were rebels fighting the Galra when we first met him, guess he told the truth about that. Until those beast things we saw force them to abandon it."
"Yeah I figured that out, those rock things are nasty but during my time here I learned how to fight them off." Kristof explained as he held up a small flare like device. "I found out if you launch one of these it sends out flames that spark off that strange ore."
Hunk took a closer look at the flare device. "With good reason, this is an ion flare its designed to send out energised ion as a way of blinding someone but given the composition of the ore and it's energy it must spark and cause a chain reaction."
"Plus given the unstable nature of the Ore it seems to explode, not to mention do serious damage." Pidge realised.
"Well lucky me, I've been exploring these tunnels trying to find out where I am but those bugs keep getting in the way." Kristof said and Sven just cuddled up to him.
"Its okay Kristof now we're here we can get out together." Sven said (Kristof Imitating him).
"Yeah one problem, when we got here, there was a large beast at the door and it knocked out the Yellow Lion." Hunk explained.
"Then we'll need some help." Pidge said and she opened the com lines. "Kieth its Pidge we found Kristof but the planetoid is inhabited by creatures that have us pinned down we'll need backup." However all the Green Paladin received was static. "Kieth.." She tried again. "Lance, Allura, Coran…Elsa…Olaf?!" She tried but still no answer.
"No answer I guess we're too far underground to communicate." Pidge realised.
"Then we're on our own." Hunk realised.
"Great so how do we get out of here and past those things?" Kristof asked.
Pidge took a moment to think, then noticed some of the ore spiking out in the cave they were in. She soon had an idea. "Hey I think I have an idea, the ore is charged with energy and can react to energy blasts so…"
Hunk soon got the idea. "We could use it to blast our way out of the caves and give the Yellow Lion a boost out of here!" The Yellow Paladin then accessed his holo gauntlet and saw a familiar yellow beacon. "The Yellow Lions beacon is up that means Yellow's back up and running."
"Then lets go. I know these tunnels I've been exploring them since getting stuck here." Kristof said as he picked up his helmet.
"Okay grab all the Ore you can find." Pidge said and so they worked to extract the ore. Hunk carefully used his Bayard cannon to cut away the ore but didn't use it on too high a charge to risk a chain reaction. Kristof helped to gather the ore in a sack as Hunk cut it away and Pidge worked to adjust some of the Ion flares in the the group worked their way through the tunnels, with Sven carrying the ore on his back in the sacks.
After scouting the tunnels, they eventually found their way back to the Yellow Lion and found its energy shield was operational, which meant it was fully healed. They soon set to work. Kristof and Pidge placed the ore behind the lion and planted the flare devices which were all linked to a trigger device. As Kristof planted the last Ion flare he was still a little worried.
"Okay thats the last of them, now your sure this won't blow us all to kingdom come?" He asked Pidge.
"Yeah I'm sure, well mostly sure but if mine and Hunks math is right as it usually is the explosion should cause a blast that'll help catapult us out of this chasm hopefully without alerting the beast we encountered when we got here." Pidge explained.
Kristof was still a little confused by all this science talk as was Sven. "Well I'll take your word for it." He simply said.
Just then Hunk called in on the com line. "Guys we're all set to go." Hunk called from the Yellow Lion's cockpit.
In the cockpit all systems were fully operational, and he looked on the radar to keep an eye out for the monsters. However all of a sudden he didn't need a radar to see something emerging from the ground and sneaking up on his friends.
"Guys behind you!" Hunk called.
Kristof, Sven and Pidge turned round to see the rock spiders appearing behind them with their pincers charged. "Oh Quiznack!" Kristof uttered.
Pidge readied her Bayard while Sven stood defensively. Kristof then drew an ion flare from his cloak and was ready to throw it. However before the spiders got closer, a large paw came between them and their prey, the Yellow Lion stood above them and let out a roar which seemed to scare the spiders but they unleashed energy at the Lions mouth. Which did force it back.
Kristof had to help his friend so he quickly ran to the spiders much to Pidge's surprise leaped over it and jammed the Ion flare into the spiders metal ore shell. He pressed the flare down and it started beeping.
"TIME TO GO!" Kristof yelled as he ran away and Pidge and Sven swiftly followed as the Yellow Lion lowered its head and opened its mouth lowing its walkway. They jumped in and Hunk readied for take off.
The flare in the spider stopped beeping then exploded which blew the spider to pieces and some energised Ions hit the ore behind the Yellow Lion as it flew away and started a chain reaction and it exploded. In turn catapulting the Yellow Lion out of the cave. Hunk, Pidge, Sven and Kristof felt the full force of the G-Forces as the lion blasted out of the cave and into the chasm souring into the sky.
"WAHOOOOO!" Hunk yelled. "We're out of here!"
However their joy was short lived as suddenly they picked up a familiar blip on the radar, but not before they felt a sudden slam in the lion. They looked outside and saw a familiar looking beast roaring at them with vengeance.
"Oh no not this thing again!" Hunk yelled.
"Whoa that wasn't there before!" Kristof exclaimed.
"HUNK!" Pidge and Sven yelled (Kristof imitating him)
"HANG ON!" Hunk yelled as he thrusted the control sticks forwards and the Yellow Lion soared into the air with their predator close behind it.
The lion emerged from the chasm and the beast emerged with it full size as it unleashed an energy blast towards the Yellow Lion. Hunk pulled the control stick and dodged the attack with a barrel roll. The blast shot right past them and hit one of the nearby asteroids which suddenly exploded as a giant blast.
This shook Hunk and the others in the cockpit as they got the force of the shockwave. "Whoa what was that!" Hunk yelled.
Kristof eyed the asteroids around the planetoid and noticed something about them. "Hold on guys look at the asteroids!" He said and Hunk zoomed in the holo screen on one of the asteroids and they saw what was on it.
"Hey its the ore! These asteroids are made of it!" Pidge realised.
"Hold on if this Ore is explosive in the right hands it could make a very big bang!" Kristof realised.
"Your right!" Hunk realised. "If we can get the asteroid to hit the beast and then we blast it!"
"Its fried beast on a stick!" Pidge realised.
Hunk put the plan into action by rocketing his lion up to the largest asteroid orbiting the planet then rammed it head first. The lion then formed its armour claws and back pack and blasted the asteroid towards the planets surface. The beast soared upwards with its mouth opened ready to devour them. Timing their moves carefully they waited till the asteroid was close enough then.
"NOW HUNK!" Pidge yelled and the Yellow Lion pulled away from the asteroid and the Yellow Lion fired an energy blast from its mouth impacting the asteroid, the energy surged and the ore reacted to it and just as the beast approached it exploded in a massive blast. Which sent the Lion hurtling out of control. Hunk struggled for control while Kristof, Sven and Pidge held onto the chair for dear life. They were blasted clear from the planetoids atmosphere and the Lion stabilised itself with its leg and feet rockets.
The group looked and saw the aftermath of the blast, they saw the beast was wounded and a great fragment of its armour had been blasted off. It roared before it returned to the planet and to its Chasm home.
"YEAH YOU BETTER RUN!" Hunk yelled.
Kristof chuckled as he breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew I forgot how much I missed being with you guys!"
"Tell me about it." Sven said (Kristof imitating him). It was in that moment Kristof saw the planetoid he was on and the vibrant nebula and the stars surrounding it he was finally out of the caves. "Wow…I forgot how beautiful of a sight it was, never thought I'd see daylight again."
Pidge placed her hand on Kristofs arm. "Well your with us now, Kristof and now we've found you that means Anna's out there somewhere too and we won't rest until we find her."
Kristof smiled at the Green Paladin for she meant what she said, and that his friends never gave up. "Thanks guys for getting me out of there."
"Hey we never leave friends behind no matter what the risk, it's what we Paladins do." Hunk smiled. "And hey nice move on that spider back there where'd you learn to do that?"
"Well after spending a few weeks there I've learned to survive, plus fighting a Galra commander at a portal machine does help a little with experience." Kristof said chuckling as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Glad to hear it." Pidge said, she then proceeded to pull out a small rock from her armour and it was encasing part of the ore. "And hey we got a cool souvenir out of this." She said before having a warm smile. "That and I know now that my brother really is still out there somewhere."
She felt a hand on her shoulder and it was Kristofs. "Well if your brothers like you I know you'll find him, and who knows maybe he'll find you and I'll get the chance to thank him for saving me."
"I hope so." Pidge smiled warmly, Hunk was warmed by this touching scene as was the reindeer who cuddled up to the two of them.
"Well let's head for the Castle, we have a princess to find, a hate stone to destroy and a Snow Queen to stop!" Hunk said as the group stood by him and he flew his Lion. Leaving the planetoid behind them as they made their way back to the Castle of Lions, where hopefully the other Paladins have succeeded in their appointed task.
Meanwhile: Zarkons Command ship:
Within the inner sanctum of Haggars lair, the witch was examining the casket that Lotor and his new ally were looking at when they invaded her sanctum. Her magic swirled around it and she sensed the Quintessence around the artefact. Just then one of her Druids arrived, she sensed his presence from afar.
"What is it?" Haggar asked.
"Priestess there is little change in Emperor Zarkon's condition, and some of the commanders are beginning to ask questions." The Druid answered.
"What word from the surveillance on Prince Lotor?" Haggar then asked.
"Scouts have reported him heading for the Emnios sector." The Druid replied. "However we've lost contact with him."
Haggar thought on this and realised that the spy she sent had more than likely been captured. However right now she was more focused on uncovering the mystery behind the casket in her possession. The Druid began to see how focused she was.
"High Priestess if I may why does this artefact captivate you so, and what of Prince Lotors ally he brought to central command?" The Druid asked.
"Something about this relic, the way this Snow Queen was so interested in its significance." Haggar answered. "There is something about its quintessence, something familiar...Something...From the past."
Haggar didn't face the Druid as he dissapeared in black smoke leaving his mistress to work. However the Altean witch was still thinking about the casket, she had indeed felt this quintessence before but when? And what connection does it have with Lotors new ally?
Authors notes: And scene! Well good news Hunk, Pidge and Sven have found Kristof alive and well, and with better news Pidge/Katie now has a clue to her lost brother Matt's whereabouts, and more information regarding the Arendelle royals separation upon being sent to the Paladins universe. However how they were sent there is a mystery. Now I'm sure you've all noticed how I've incorporated flashbacks to Arendelle, well these will reveal more information regarding what happened in Arendelle sometime after Zarkons defeat in the season 2 finale and between the time Keith searched for Shiro before assuming command of the Black Lion.
Now lets hope in the next chapter the other Paladins have as much luck securing the second key to locate the third and destroy the Shattered Eye for good and uncover the Snow Queens intentions with it.
Until next time Vrepit Sa!