Five years later Krolia was going through a large pile of old clothes looking for some pants too go with her shirt that went down to her knees. She sighed when she couldn't find any that would work. She had worn her old ones to the point that they were uncomfortable and way too short. Now fourteen Krolia had become accustomed to the hardships of being a slave and showed little emotion to anyone except for the old slave who looked after her. He kept her warm on cold nights, comforted her when she lay awake thinking about her family, slipped her extra food and kept her hope alive that voltron would come to rescue them.
Everyday Krolia listened for any news about voltron, especially after the news had arrived about three years prior that a group of rogue galra called Red's Cubs had found the red lion and was fighting against the empire. That news had spread throughout the planet like wild fire and ignited a new hope among the slaves. She hadn't heard any news of the other lions being found, only that the empire was getting close to taking the planet. Krolia didn't know what to think about this because she knew that the empire was supposed to protect her but since her arrival on that planet, she had heard some pretty despicable things about it.
Shaking her thoughts from her head Krolia set out to do her tasks before she got in trouble for not started on time. Getting whipped again was something Krolia wanted to avoid at all costs. Her first task was to clean the floors, ceiling, and walls. Why this had to be done every day Krolia had no idea, except for the suspicion that it was to keep her busy. Starting with the ceiling first she grabbed a bucket already filled with suds and walked up a wall and onto the ceiling.
It was always a challenge not to spill the water when doing this, but Krolia had been quick to master it as to avoid an unhappy master. This was always her favorite one to do because she liked to think of it as a game, seeing how much of it she could get to not drip onto the floor. The most challenging part was making sure none of it dripped onto the master when he was around. For the most part Krolia was able to avoid cleaning above him but there were a few times that it couldn't be avoided.
This was one of those times and to make things worse he was in a foul mood. Carefully she scrubbed the celling, thankful that the wonky gravity kept her shirt from falling down. Just as Krolia was almost finished, a single drop landed on her master's head. "21412248 get down here this instant!" The scrawny man bellowed. She carefully but quickly made her way to the closest wall to obey, hiding her fear deep within along with everything else. When Krolia reached the floor, she looked at the floor knowing better than to look her master in the eye. "For this outrage you will be sold at the next bazar and no more food!" He stormed away causing anyone in his path to scurry out of the way.
Krolia resumed her work and hoped that it wouldn't be too long before the next bazar was put up. For she didn't know how long she could go without food and it would be risky for anyone to try to sneak some to her. It was scary to think of getting a new master, for while there was a chance of them being more kind than her last one Krolia knew that they could also be much worse. But what choice did she have? If a slave tried to run away, they would be almost certainly caught and sent to the arena.
Once she had finished the ceiling, Krolia managed to get through cleaning the walls without further incident and started to clean the floor. After a while there was a commotion outside, just like there had been when her village had been attacked. Not wanting to get into anymore trouble she tried to ignore it and continued her work. Though after a bit, cheers of freedom filled the air and the older slaves were rushing out not listening to their protesting master.
Krolia's curiosity got the better of her causing the girl to lay aside her work and see what was going on. Peering outside she saw galra soldiers marching down the street declaring victory over the planet and that all galra slaves were now free. Krolia slipped out of the house to try to find someone from her village. While she didn't expect to find her family or get off the planet, they could at least start a new life here together.
As Krolia wandered down the streets of the town she wondered where her family was and how they were doing. She could only hope that they were waiting for her back home and that somehow, she could get there to be with them. Eventually Krolia spotted a man speaking to others who had been recently freed. To her it looked like he was offering help, but no one seemed to be interested in what he had to offer.
Curious Krolia decided to investigate, wondering what the man could be offering that no one would want. "Helo there little one, do you need some help?" He asked upon noticing her. Krolia just nodded, trying to remember what her parents taught her about strangers and unsure how to respond. "Come let me get you some food then, we can talk." He seemed nice enough and it would get her some food. So, she followed him to a small restaurant that gave them a much more private setting for them to talk in. After ordering the food, the man introduced himself as Kolivan and told her that he was part of a group of rebels fighting against the empire. "Does that mean your mission is to help us, who have been just freed, or is it to find new recruits?" Krolia asked suspicion beginning to rise in her.
"I am here to help, though I did forget that for a while."
"Is that why no one was excepting help?"
"No, it is because they did not like that I am against the empire and after awhile it began to feel like only new recruits would except help. That is until I saw you."
"Me?"
"Yes, I've always had a soft spot for kits and seeing you reminded me why I volunteered for this mission in the first place."
"You want to help kits like me find their families." Krolia guessed lowering her defenses begging to feel safe for the first time since she had lost her family. Kolivan nodded wrapping an arm around her, which caused the girl to purr, and brought down the last of her defenses. That's when the food came and while they ate Krolia told Kolivan everything she could remember about her family, hoping that the more information she gave, the easier it would be to find them. He just smiled knowing that very little of it was going to be actually useful, but thought it wouldn't hurt for her to get it all out.
Once Krolia was done talking, Kolivan told her that they would first go to her village to see if any of her family was still there. If there were, any he would leave her there and move on to search for the rest of them. She eagerly agreed, wanting to get back to a normal life as soon as possible. Kolivan knew that there was little chance of her family being there, but he had to try. Because he didn't want to sweep the young kit into the war if there was a way to help her without doing so.
When they finished eating, Kolivan led Krolia to his ship and began making preparations to leave. While he did that Krolia explored the ship, poking her head anywhere it would fit, and feeling everything, she could reach with her hands. Sitting in the pilot's seat she tried to imagine what it would be like to fly it. Krolia still remembered what it had been like riding in the back of one felt like and couldn't help but wonder how different it would be to experience it from the front.
After awhile Krolia started staring at the dashboard, trying to figure out what each button did. She knew better than to try hitting one, so she contented herself to gingerly touching them, unaware that the ship had a safety feature activated that made it so that it wouldn't respond to a kit. It didn't seem long before Kolivan came in to leave and gently moved her to the co-pilot's seat. "If you want, I could teach you how to steer a little as we travel." He told her noticing how interested she was in the ship.
"Really?!" Krolia asked in excitement, her eyes sparkling.
"Of course, you may have one of your own someday and should learn all you can."
