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Shiro never cared much for malls, and his disliked for them grew even further after spending what seemed like an hour just looking for a place to park. He sighed as he rubbed his eyes and walked through the mall.
He was tempted to just find a bench and sit down, but Lance had sent him a message saying he had to come.
We met someone and -Oh boy, Shiro you are not going to believe it, Lance had texted Just come by the fountain, okay?
Shiro rubbed his neck as he weaved through the crowd. Eventually, he spotted the fountain and saw Hunk waving frantically at him.
Shiro gave a tired smile as he waved back. Hunk seemed to be eating some kind of space nacho as he, Lance and Pidge were..talking to a person in a hood. Shiro frowned as he approached.
Whoever they were talking to had their face hidden. The person momentarily glanced to Shiro before quickly turning their gaze away.
“Hey, Shiro, about time,” Pidge said with a smirk. “Was the parking that bad?”
“You don’t want to know,” Shiro said with a deep sigh and then looked to the stranger. “So..who is this?”
Lance grinned as he placed a hand on the stranger’s shoulder. “You are not going to believe what we found.”
The stranger shifted and fiddled with their hood. “I...don’t know.”
“Hey, dude, it’s fine,” Hunk said as he ate the last of his nachos. “Shiro is cool, we promise.”
The hooded stranger tilted their head. “Cool?”
“Earth slang for ‘he’s fine’,” Pidge translated with a sigh. “Just show Shiro already.”
The stranger’s shoulders slumped as he looked to Shiro. “Okay…”
Shiro arched an eyebrow as the hood was lowered, but all confusion was gone once the scarf was removed and Shiro found himself staring into the eyes of a teenage boy. A teenage HUMAN boy.
Shiro’s jaw dropped and looked to Lance who was grinning from ear to ear. “He’s human.”
“We know,” Hunk said with a chuckle. “Shiro, meet Keith,” he looked to the boy. “Keith this is Shiro.”
The boy gave a nod to Shiro as he fiddled with the tip of his long black braid. “Nice to meet you.”
“Um..likewise,” Shiro said and shook his head. “Wait, how are you here? Are there other humans?”
His instant thought that his boy had been captured by the Galra somehow like he and the Holts had been.
Keith rubbed his neck. “Um..that’s complicated, but I can honestly say you four are the first humans I can ever remember seeing in my entire life.”
Shiro blinked. “What?”
“He was raised by aliens,” Pidge commented as she adjusted her glasses and poked Keith. “Although, he’s been rather tight lip on who exactly those are.”
Keith sighed as he pouted. “I told you, I can’t. My father..well, adoptive father would kill me if he did.”
Shiro briefly thought Keith meant it literally, but judging by the sour expression, he realized Keith just meant it in the way any rebellious teen did.
“Okay, we won’t ask that then,” Shiro said gently and looked to Lance. “How did you find him?”
“We caught him spying on us,” Hunk said and narrowed his eyes. “And not being very good at it.”
Keith growled. “I was doing just fine.”
“You say that and yet we did managed to catch you,” Lance remarked dryly.
“He does have a point,” Hunk said as he pointed.
Keith gave a pout and Shiro had to cover his mouth to drive back a chuckle. “Alright, so now that we found you,” he looked to Keith, “are you needing to head back to your ‘family’ soon?”
Keith looked up to Shiro and tilted his head at him that kind of reminded Shiro of a curious puppy. “Uh..no. Not for awhile, I guess.”
“Then we have time to talk for a bit,” Shiro said as he offered a smile.
Truth be told, he was tempted to offer to take Keith back to the castle. Keith was barely any older than Lance or Hunk, and it made Shiro concerned he didn’t want to talk about his alien family. Yet, despite Keith being human, inviting complete strangers back to the castle was not a good idea.
They had learned that the hard way when Lance had invited Nyma and Rolo back to the castle and they had tried to steal the Red Lion. They were just lucky they had caught the pair with their ‘hands in the cookie’ jar and had been able to stop them.
Still, Shiro couldn’t abandon another human. The more they talked, they more they could learn about Keith and the situation he was in. Then, Shiro could decide if they had to step in.
Keith chewed his bottom lip as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I can, but...I’m not that greet talking to people.”
“You don’t have to talk,” Lance jumped in as he wrapped an arm around Keith’s shoulder. “Come on, we were about to hit a store to get some spare parts for Hunk and Pidge. You can keep Shiro and I from getting bored as they chat about tech stuff.”
Shiro raised an eyebrow slightly. Lance never minded hearing Pidge and Hunk’s tech talk, until he looked at Shiro and he gave a nod. Then, it hit him.
Lance had the same thought as Shiro. He wanted to encourage Keith to interact with them and maybe trust them more. It was a good a plan as any.
Shiro smile, and when both Pidge and Hunk did the same, Keith’s shoulders dropped. “I guess I could do that.”
“Great, let’s go,” Hunk said as he seized Keith by the arm and started to drag him away. “And we could use some advice. Pidge and I are still trying to understand how all of this alien technology works.”
Keith gave a slow nod as the others followed behind. Lance quietly gave Shiro a thumbs up and Shiro gave one in return.
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Keith had always wondered what it would be like to interact with other humans. He had vague memories of his human father from when he was small, but that was it. Keith never imagined humans would be so...lively.
They kept asking him questions, make jokes about the weirdest things and he swore a few people looked their way when Lance and Hunk laughed too loud. It was a bit jarring compared to the quiet atmosphere he was raised with on the base.
The Blades had always remarked that Ulaz was a chatterbox whenever he discussed his latest research, but he was nothing compared to this group. Keith found it a bit jarring, and yet it was oddly fascinating. If he had been raised with other humans, would he be like this? Or would he be as quiet and subdue like he’d always been.
“So, anyway,” Lance continued as he sipped his drink, “point is, that’s why Shiro is banned from cooking from now on.”
Shiro rolled his eyes from his seat next to Keith in the middle of the food court. “It wasn’t that bad.”
Hunk narrowed his eyes. “Shiro, those pancakes were so burnt, I’m still amazed they didn’t turn to ash just by looking at them.”
Keith gave a small laugh. “Can’t be any worse than Thace’s cooking.” He froze and felt like kicking himself as the others stared at him. Stupid! Why did I say that without thinking?!
“Thace?” Pidge asked curiously as she looked up.
Keith cleared his throat. He had been trying to avoid talking about the Blades as much as he could. They were a secret organization for a valid reason. He hoped his silence would convince them to drop the subject, but as he felt the eyes continue to stare at him, he knew he lost.
“He’s...one of my ‘uncles’,” Keith slowly spoke as he tried to word it as little as possible. “Where I live, we take turns cooking and Thace was banned from the kitchen before I was even born.”
“Dare I ask why?” Hunk asked with his voice full of dread.
“I don’t know the full story,” Keith said as he gave a shrug, “but he did try to make me soup once and..let’s just say one mouthful of it told me enough.”
Keith shuddered at the memory. He had been sick and understood Thace was just trying to help, but Keith was half certain lubricant used for the ships would have more flavor. He still didn’t wish to know what the crunchy parts of the soup were suppose to be.
Shiro’s eyes narrowed as he leaned forward. “Do you cook for your ‘family’?”
Keith gave a nod. “A bit, but I tend to get stuck helping whoever’s turn it is.”
He didn’t mind cooking, it was often a nice break from training.
“And what else do you do with your family?” Lance asked curiously.
Keith coughed, not wishing to talk anymore about the subject and then a thought struck him.
“Before I get into that,” he said as he hoped they actually wouldn’t, “how did you four end up here?” He crossed his arms. “I know Earth isn’t that advance in space travel.”
The four humans shared an awkward look like they were trying to read each other’s mind on how they should answer. Keith frowned. Were they hiding something? He knew seeing humans outside of Earth was a rare occurrence, but he figured someone had crashed on their planet and brought them along, like how his parents had met.
Shiro cleared his throat and looked to Keith. “I was captured by the Galra.”
Keith froze and raised his head.
“I was enslaved for over a year and forced to fight in the ring,” Shiro continued as he locked eyes with Pidge. “I managed to escape, and I got ‘rescued’ by Pidge, Lance and Hunk when I landed on Earth.”
Keith raised an eyebrow. “Recused?”
“From the Garrison, the Earth’s military force,” Lance explained with a shrug. “They were trying to keep Shiro hidden so the general public wouldn’t find out about...well...that he got captured by an evil Galactic Empire, but we bust him out.”
“And then we found a ship and headed back out into space,” Pidge added a bit too hastily. “My brother and my dad were captured by the Galra and we’re trying to find them.”
Keith find a wedge of guilt. He was part Galra, and he lived with Galra all his life. They weren’t the ones that did this, but a part of him felt responsible which he knew didn’t make sense.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly, as he made a note to look at the prisoner records back home. The Blades did try to keep track of prisoners sometimes ever since Slav had been captured. Maybe they would have something.
Pidge gave a nod, and then Keith looked to Shiro. He knew the guy was a warrior the instant he saw him. The scar on his nose and his cybernetic arm, and the way he held himself reminded him a lot of his fellow Blades, especially Kolivan who had seen countless battles.
“That’s amazing you were able to survive and escape,” he commented. “How were you able to do it?”
For Shiro to not only escape, but to also to survive the ring? It was astounding. But wait, there had been a human fighter in the ring this whole time. Had the Blades known this? Keith really wished his father would bothered to fill him more on the secret missions they were always went on.
Shiro opened and shut his mouth. His eyes glazed over like he was lost in a sudden daydream.
“Shiro?” Hunk asked as he touched his shoulder
Shiro jumped, shook his head and gave a shaky smile. “Sorry...I..thought I was remembering something.” He looked to Keith. “I don’t remember a lot about my escape or my time with the Galra for that manner.” He frowned. “But...I feel like someone helped me, but I can’t remember-”
A beep cut him off. Keith jumped and reached into his pocket. He saw it was his communicator and frowned. “That’s weird.”
“What’s weird?” Pidge said as she looked over his shoulder.
“My sensor on my ship went off,” Keith said as he shut off the beeping, “that means someone’s touching it.”
“Why do you have that kind of thing on your ship?” Lance asked.
Keith swallowed. The real answer was so that the Blades could be informed if someone was trying to break into it and hit self destruct before they could obtain any information that was concealed inside. However, Keith couldn’t tell them that.
“It’s...just a way to prevent someone stealing it,” he said as he stood up. “I better go check and make certain it’s alright.”
“How about we come with you?” Shiro asked as he rose.
Keith was already running. “It’ll just take a tic! I’ll be right back!”
He didn’t bother to glance behind as he ran at top speed and pulled up his hood. If someone was trying to steal or break into it Keith would have no choice but to hit the self destruct button, except that would be mean he had no way to sneak back home.
He would have to call Kolivan and confess everything. As a result, Keith would be lucky he’d be allowed outside of his own room. Keith dashed into the parking lot and skidded to a halt as he came upon his parking space.
To his horror, his small one person transport ship was gone.
“Quiznack,” he grumbled and ran a hand through his hair. “Where did it-”
A hand was placed on his shoulder. On instinct, Keith spun around with his dagger in hand. He was stopped as Antok calmly grabbed his wrist and looked down at him.
Keith blinked as he lowered his arm. “Antok?”
“You’re instincts are getting sharper,” Antok said as he let go of Keith. “Although, you should have heard me before I touched you.”
Keith rubbed his eyes and groaned. Fantastic. “Where’s my ship?”
“Already placed it securely on my ship,” Antok replied as he crossed his arms. “I knew you come running once the sensor was activated.”
Keith growled and wondered if blowing up with the ship was a suitable option at this point. “Don’t tell me Father sent you to get me?”
“No, he came with me.”
Keith froze. He knew that deep growl of a voice anywhere. He pulled back his hood and gradually turned around. As predicted, Kolivan was there with his arms crossed and the disapproval frown Keith had witness several times throughout his childhood.
“Um..hey, Father,” Keith greeted with a small wave. “Fancy meeting you here?”
Kolivan kept silent as he approached, seized Keith by the back of his shirt and flung him over his shoulder.
“Hey!” Keith protested as he tried to wiggle free. “Put me down!”
“If you’re going to act like a disobedient cub, then I shall treat you as such,” Kolivan growled as he walked and kept a tight grip on the boy. “We’re leaving, now!”
“What?! Oh, come on! Put me down!” Keith struggled, but it proved fruitless as his father kept his grip. Keith gave up in defeat and squeezed his eyes shut. This was so not his day!
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“Dude, you honestly think we have to follow him,” Hunk panted as they reached the parking lot. “He did say he was coming back.”
“Judging by the face he had when he ran off, yeah we do,” Lance remarked as he looked around. “He had the classic ‘I better fix this so I don’t get into trouble’ face. I’m an expert on it.”
Considering how many times you’ve made the expression I would believe it, Hunk thought.
“Also, the guy is clearly not a master at lying,” Pidge remarked. “Something’s up.”
“We’re not jumping to conclusions,” Shiro said as he looked around. “We’re just making certain he’s okay.” He frowned. “Also, where is he? He did come out this entrance, right?”
“Yeah, but this isn’t exactly a small parking lot,” Hunk crossed his arms and shrugged. The place could fit a small town. “Maybe we should back inside-”
“PUT ME DOWN!”
The group jumped. “Who was that?” Lance asked.
Hunk paled. “That...that sounded like Keith.”
Hunk looked to Shiro, but their leader had already run off after the voice. They followed the shouts until they found the source.
There were two large strangers. They outfits were similar to Keith’s. One had his hood up and wore a mask, but the other had his hood down and gave a clear view of his Galra face. If that wasn’t already a cause for alarm, the fact he was carrying a struggling Keith over his shoulder was.
“Oh no,” he muttered and looked to Shiro. “What do we do?”
Shiro’s eyes narrowed and his Galra arm glowed. “We got to help him! Come on!”
They followed, but it was too late. By the time they reached them, they had entered a large ship and it was beginning to take flight.
“No, no, no!” Lance cried as they watched the ship begin to ascend. “They’re getting away!”
Hunk’s brain was working in overdrive, but then when his fingers brushed against his vest, he moved on instinct. He reached inside, brought out a small orb that had been his latest experiment and tossed it like a baseball.
It landed on the bottom of the ship and it began to blink before it flew out of sight.
“Yes!” Hunk said as he did a fist pump. “Perfect shot!”
“Uh, that’s great and all,” Lance said as he tilted his head, “but what did you do?”
Hunk smirked with pride. “Oh, I just managed to get a tracker on that ship.”
Pidge adjusted her glasses and grinned. “Wait, is it one of those trackers you found in the castle-”
“And been adjusting to give off a stronger signal? Yup.” He brought out the small tracking device he’d been keeping in his vest. “I brought it along because I was hoping to find some parts that could improve battery life, but then I realize maybe asking random shops about spy equipment was a bad idea. So, I hid it and then forgot about it when Keith-”
“We get the picture, buddy,” Shiro said as he patted his shoulder and smiled. “Still, good job.”
Hunk grinned, but then frowned as he looked at the tracker. “Don’t congratulate me yet. It won’t hold out forever and the range can only carry so far.”
“Then we better get moving,” Shiro said as he signaled them to follow. “Come on! We’ll be better off in the lions.”
“Agreed, but,” Hunk frowned, “why did those guys take Keith?”
“We’ll ask that later!” Lance declared as he gave chase. “Come on, time for team Voltron to form a rescue.”
Hunk followed, but still couldn’t shake off one thing that was still bothering him. Why were those two in similar outfits that Keith had been wearing?
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Keith scowled and refused to even look at his father as the ship flew. Kolivan was equally scowling as much as he continued to removed his eyes off of Keith. It was almost as if Kolivan was convinced Keith would disappear if he did. It wouldn’t surprise the boy if Antok was grateful at the moment for being stuck at the front driving the ship.
“You realize we are going to discuss your disobedience,” Kolivan spoke in a calm voice. “It can either be here or at the base.”
Keith arched an eyebrow, as he slowly turned to him. “Or what? You’ll lock me up and forbid me from leaving the base?” He tossed his hands up in the air. “Oh, wait! You already do that!”
“You are exaggerating,” Kolivan stated with a slight growl. “You are hardly a prisoner.”
“Oh, really?” Keith said as he leaned forward in his seat and counted off his fingers. “You refuse to let me set one foot off the base-”
“By yourself,” Kolivan cut in. “If you had simply asked I could have asked one of the other Blades to accompanied you.”
Keith sighed as he shook his head. “But I don’t need a babysitter! I can take care of myself.”
“You are a cub,” Kolivan argued back as he crossed his arms. “You are still in training, and you know fully well only Blades who have completed their training are allowed to leave the base.”
Oh, yes, Keith knew this. It was one of the first rules he had ever memorized. He did understood. The Blade of Marmora had been able to stay hidden from the Galra Empire’s eyes for centuries. They couldn’t risk an untrained warrior exposing their existence because they were foolish enough to leave the base and let themselves get capture.
Yet, Keith wasn’t foolish and despite his size, he was one of the top warriors for his age. Exceptions had been rare, but they had been made in the past for young Blades with such talents.
Keith could take care of himself and didn’t need someone holding his hand like a small child just because he wanted to explore a little. Honestly, he was half suspicious Kolivan refused his request of leaving the base because he was his adopted son.
“I’m not a little kid anymore,” Keith retorted sharply. “Thace believes I can take care of myself. He said-”
“Thace isn’t here, and it wouldn’t matter if he was. I am your father AND your leader, and I say you’re not ready.” Kolivan narrowed his eyes. “And you are not proving it to me otherwise by sneaking off the base without permission.” He leaned forward. “After this stunt, I should not allow you to even leave your room.”
Keith growled as he slumped back. He knew it was a risk, but he couldn’t stand it anymore, especially with the argument they had last night. He had asked Kolivan again if he could leave by himself and he refused. As a result, Keith ended up waiting until everyone had been asleep and took one of the small ships.
Keith had been desperate to go flying on his own and the taste of freedom he got had been worth it. A part of him wondered if this what his mother had felt whenever she had flown, not that he remembered much of her.
“On that matter, I still do not understand why you choose to go to the shopping center of all places,” Kolivan asked as the lines in his forehead puckered.
“I figured it was the last place you would look for me,” Keith muttered. The shopping center was loud, and full of people. It wasn’t Keith’s first choice to explore, but he heard the other Blades discuss it enough times to grow curious.
Last thing he expected was to discover other humans. They probably figured I ditched them by now. The thought sadden him, but there wasn’t much he could do to change that.
Keith then paused and looked to his father. “How...did you find me there?”
“You forgot to disable the tracker in your ship,” Kolivan replied in a disapproving tone.
Keith cursed. I thought I did..Wait...Now, that I think about it, wasn’t there talk of improving the trackers? Crud, must have upgraded them without me knowing.
“In any case,” Kolivan continued as he glanced forward. “We are going home,and we shall have no more talk of this foolishness. You’re lucky you didn’t get into trouble.”
Keith glared. “Oh for- I was fine! I had even found some humans…”
He stopped himself and bit his tongue. Crud, he hadn’t meant to say that last part, but it was too late as Kolivan whipped his head back to him.
“What did you say?” Kolivan asked with his eyes full of alarm.
Keith pouted and turned away. “Nevermind.”
His father continued to stare at him silently. “Keith, what did you find?”
The boy sighed. “I found humans, ACTUAL humans while I was looking around.” He made certain to leave out the detail of Lance, Hunk and Pidge catching him. Kolivan did NOT need to know that
“Humans?” Kolivan’s eyes widened. “You found other humans?”
Keith sighed and nodded. “Yeah, I did, and I was getting to know them when you decided to carry me off.”
And it was probably the only time he would ever learn about his human half, but that chance was gone forever.
Kolivan frowned as he moved closer. “What did they look like?”
Keith was surprised by that question and rubbed his neck. “Um..well..one was a small human female with short hair named Pidge, and three human males named Lance, Hunk and Shiro.” He pointed to his nose. “Shiro had a scar across his nose, and he also had a cybernetic arm.
Kolivan’s eyes widened. “You met the champion?!”
Keith shifted backwards. “Champion? What are you talking about?”
His father opened and shut his mouth before he looked head. “It’s nothing.”
“No, it’s something,” Keith insisted and then it dawned on him. “Wait...Father, did you know about Shiro?”
Kolivan kept quiet.
“Did you know the Galra had a human fighting in the battle ring?!”
Kolivan squeezed his eyes shut before turning to Keith. “Yes, I did.”
Keith’s jaw dropped. “You..knew where I could find another human?” His hands tightened into fists. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Kolivan knew it had been hard for Keith to grow up being the only human on the base. Yes, he was half Galra, but he barely looked liked it. Kolivan had spent countless times reassuring Keith that he was a strong warrior despite not having the abilities the other Blades had.
“Because I knew you want us to rescue him,” Kolivan answered and held up his hand to stopped Keith from replying. “Haggar had kept a close eye on him, it was too high of a risk to take.”
“So, you left him there?” Keith replied with a flare of anger.
“At the time yes,” Kolivan replied sternly, “but, before we could discuss the matter further, Ulaz disobeyed my orders and freed him.”
Keith stared stunned. “Ulaz? I thought he was still undercover?”
Ulaz scrubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. “Ulaz freed Shiro which blew his cover and is currently hiding out in one of our bases.”
“Why?” Keith asked as he tossed his arms up. “Why wouldn’t he come home?”
Keith had missed Ulaz terribly. He had been one of the few people that understood Keith’s need for independence. He had half hoped Ulaz would come home soon and help convince Kolivan he could freely leave the base.
If Ulaz was free to return, what stopped him?
Kolivan shook his head. “We’re not discussing anymore of this.”
Keith frowned as his eyes narrowed. “What are you not telling me?”
Kolivan kept silent, and Keith rose from his seat, but lost balance as they felt the ship shake.
Kolivan caught to steady him. Keith gripped onto his arms as they felt the ship sharply turned. “What the quiznack is Antok doing?”
“I don’t know,” Kolivan replied as he forced Keith to sit down. “Perhaps it’s-”
“Leader, get up here,” Antok’s called out over the intercom. “We have a problem!”
Kolivan frowned and instantly raced to the front of the ship. Keith followed and ran through the bridge doors just as they closed.
Antok was frantically trying to steer the ship as Kolivan leaned over his shoulders.
“What’s wrong?” his father asked.
“We’re being pursued!” Antok snapped.
Keith froze. Oh, no. Was it his fault?
Fear shone in Kolivan’s eyes. “Is it the empire?”
“No,” Antok snapped as they felt the ship avoid a cluster of asteroids. “It’s Voltron!”
“WHAT?!” Kolivan cried, and was cut off as they felt something slam into the ship.
Keith raced into the window. He couldn’t believe what he saw. The Blue Lion of Voltron had currently sunk its jaws into the side of the ship. If that wasn’t enough, both the Yellow and Green Lion were right behind it.
“W..why is Voltron here?!” Keith stammered.
This made no sense. The paladins of Voltron fought against the empire like they did. Why were they targeting them? They shouldn’t even know about the Blade of Marmora! Even if they did, how did they find them here?!
Keith stared memorized at the sight of the lions until he felt Kolivan yank him away and forced him into a chair.
“Antok, can you break free?” Kolivan asked.
“Firing blasters at the thing,” Antok snapped, “but it’s not having any affect-”
A roar was heard, and suddenly the Yellow Lion appeared before the ship.
“We’re the paladins of Voltron,” a familiar voice called out. “We don’t wish to hurt you, but demand you pull over immediately.”
Keith blinked. That voice. Where had he heard that voice...Hold it. “SHIRO?!”
That was definitely Shiro, but what the quiznack was he doing riding the Yellow Lion?! He looked to Kolivan who seemed close to fighting a headache.
“Open communications,” Kolivan ordered.
Antok growled, but obliged.
Sure enough, there he was on the screen. Shiro, the human that had been laughing with Keith just a few vargas again, was wearing the paladin armour of Voltron. Next to him was Hunk, also in paladin armour and clearing piloting the Yellow Lion.
Keith blinked and then it dawned on him why his father had been asking so many questions. The humans he met were also the paladins of Voltron and he was feeling like an idiot for not knowing about this.
“Where is Keith?” Shiro asked with anger Keith was certain could rival Kolivan’s. “We know you Galra took him.”
“He is here with us,” Kolivan said in a calm tone. “However, there seems to be a misunderstanding.”
“What’s there to misunderstand!” Lance’s voice as his face appeared on the screen. “We saw you guys kidnap him!”
Keith blinked dumbly and groaned. Oh man..that’s what this whole thing was about.
“We were not kidnapping him,” Kolivan spoke again. “We were retrieving him.”
“How is that different from kidnapping?!” Pidge snapped as her image appeared on the screen. “If you don’t want us to blast your ship apart-”
Keith jumped out of his chair, and moved around his father to ensure the paladins could see him clearly. “Guys, relax! I’m okay!”
Relief washed over all the paladins’ faces. “Keith, you’re not hurt?” Hunk asked.
Keith sighed as he ran a hand through his hair “No, I’m fine, but why are you guys here?”
Confusion appeared over Shiro’s face. “What do you mean? We’re here to rescue you from these Galra.”
Keith groaned. Yup, he’d been afraid of that. “But I don’t need to be rescued.” He pointed to Kolivan. “These guys are part of my family. Kolivan here is my father.”
“WHAT?!” all the paladins cried at once and Lance looked close to falling out of his seat.
“Wait?! WAIT?!” Lance said as he waved his hands around. “Your family is Galra?!”
“Yes, but they’re not with the empire,” Keith said. He looked to Kolivan and waited until he gave an approving nod. “We fight against the empire and…” He swallowed. “I’m part Galra.”
Silence followed.
“You’re...part Galra?” Pidge asked as her eyes narrowed. “But...you look human…”
“I’m well aware,” Keith grumbled as he rubbed his eyes. “It’s the story of my life.”
“Wait…” Lance voiced over the intercom, “so..just to be clear here, you weren’t being kidnapped?”
“No, not really,” Keith said as he rubbed his neck. “My father just came to drag me back after I snuck out.”
No one uttered another word until Hunk broke the silence. “Well...this is kind of awkward.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Pidge commented with an annoyed frown.
Shiro shook his head as he looked to Kolivan. “Okay, clearly there’s some confusion. Let’s go back to the castle so we can straighten this whole mess out.”
Keith looked to Kolivan, but his father’s face was unreadable. He fully expected him to reject Shiro’s suggestion and demand they be free to go on their way. Instead, Kolivan sighed and nodded.
“Very well,” he said, “lead the way and we shall follow.”
Shiro gave a nod before all the paladins on the screen vanished. Keith looked to Kolivan stunned. “We’re going to talk to them?”
“We don’t have much choice,” Antok said as he turned in his seat. “They know about us and, considering they got out their lions to ‘rescue’ you, it’s not likely they would leave us alone.”
“Exactly,” Kolivan said as he crossed his arms with a sigh. “I suppose Ulaz will get his wish.”
Keith frowned as Antok began to fly after the Yellow Lion. “Wish?”
“Ulaz assisted in freeing Shiro in hopes he would find the Blue Lion.” Kolivan sat in the chair. “Shiro not only did that, but also found three other paladins and they currently have three out of the five lions to form Voltron.”
“Oh,” Keith said as he tilted his head as he thought about Ulaz. “I’m guessing Ulaz wanted us to join forces with them?”
“Potentially, yes,” Kolivan stated with a growl, “but the fact remains Shiro himself has yet to reach out to Ulaz since his escape and I saw no need to expose our entire organization. The reason Ulaz has not returned home is that he is currently still waiting for Shiro to contact him.”
Keith raised an eyebrow. Shiro has been keeping Ulaz waiting this whole time? He hadn’t known him for very long, but he didn’t seem the kind of person that would brush off someone that saved him like that.
Keith crossed his arms. “That still doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell me any of this?”
“Because we knew you would insist poking your nose into it,” Antok added as he turned. “Although, it seems you have sniffed them out on your own anyway.”
“Fate has a bizarre sense of humor,” Kolivan added dryly.
Keith wanted to argue against it, but as he thought it over he found he couldn’t as he took a seat next to his father. “At..least it’s not the empire?”
Kolivan shook his head as he reached over to pat Keith’s head. “When this is over, I should just send you to that base where Ulaz is at. You might be able to keep out of trouble there.”
The boy snorted and wondered how hard Ulaz would laugh when he found out about all of this.
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Pidge will admit, when they had left to go to the space mall, she had expected to be bringing back that video game system she’d been after. Bringing back two Galra, one of them being a leader of a secret resistance group, and a human who was part Galra was never on her probability list.
Allura had been less than willing to let the Galra aboard, until Shiro insisted. She seemed convinced these guys were some kind of elaborate trick and were going to attack at any moment. Pidge couldn’t blame her for assuming that, but she didn’t buy that theory either.
There was just no way Keith could have known they would be at the space mall or that they would see Keith being kidnapped at the mall and race after him.
With that said, the Blade of Mormora itself? A secret organization that had been trying to defeat Zarkon for centuries? Yeah, that itself was kind of hard to swallow, but how could she deny the truth in front of her?
Although, she wished Allura would knock it off with the scowling. It wasn’t helping the situation. They were up in the bridge with Allura, Coran and Shiro staring at Kolivan and the other guy named Antok.
Hunk and Lance were sitting near them, while Pidge sat near the back. She was trying to pay attention to what was being said, she really was, but her eyes kept glancing to Keith. He had tucked himself into the far corner of the room.
Pidge imagined he felt like hiding himself since, by the sounds of it, he had accidentally exposed their entire organization because he wanted a bit of teen rebellion. He looked anxious and kept glancing over his shoulder. Was he afraid someone was going to tackle him or something?
Pidge scooted closer as she ignored whatever Allura was saying. “Hey, you doing alright?” she whispered
Keith looked down and gave a shrug. “I guess so.”
Pidge’s eyes narrowed. “So, how exactly are you part Galra? Your mom bumped into Kolivan somehow on Earth?”
Keith shook his head. “No, actually my mother was Galra and my birth father was human.” He pointed to Kolivan. “When my dad died, my mother took me back to the Blades and when she passed Kolivan, our leader, adopted me as his son.”
“Ah, gotcha,” Pidge said and looked him over. “Got to say you REALLY don’t look like you’re part Galra.”
Keith squeezed his eyes shut. “I know, and it’s haunted me my whole life.”
Pidge frowned, but then realized what he meant. Keith had grown up with a bunch of Galra where he was the only human. To them, he probably was the alien to them.
Keith jumped slightly and looked over the shoulder. “Alright, what is that?” he whispered.
Pidge adjusted her glasses. “What is?”
“That growling I keep hearing,” Keith muttered as he looked around. “Do you guys have an animal around here?”
Pidge tilted her head. “Uh..no, just the mice but they don’t growl.”
Keith massaged his forehead. “Great, so I’m hearing things.”
Pidge grasped her chin. Keith was hearing growling and nobody else was. To anyone else this would seem odd, except those people weren’t standing on a castle that had giant robot lions who had a habit of only communicating with their potential paladins.
If Keith could hear it, then could that mean-
She placed a hand on his shoulder as she placed a finger to her lips and gestured for him to follow her. Keith raised an eyebrow, but Pidge was grateful he didn’t argue as they left the room. She didn’t want to cause a communication, and she had a feeling Allura and possibly Kolivan would object to her ‘experiment’.
“Where are we going?” Keith asked once they entered the hallway.
“To the hanger where the lions are,” Pidge stated cooly and grinned at Keith’s shocked expression. “What? I figured that would be more interesting than listening to that ‘fun’ discussion going on.”
Keith looked unsure as he glanced over his shoulder. “Kolivan won’t like that I left without telling him.”
“You’re not leaving the castle and if he gets mad just claim I overpowered you and forced you to come,” she said with a smirk.
Keith smirked as he crossed his arms and entered the elevator. “You overpowered me?”
“Hey, I’m stronger than I look,” Pidge replied as she pushed the button and they headed downward. “Just ask Lance about the time I challenged him to arm wrestling for the last slice of Hunk’s cake.”
Keith looked her over and shrugged. “Naw, I believe you,” he said as the elevator reached their destination and opened.
“So, I’ve been wondering,” Keith asked as they entered the hallway. “I saw you brought you the Green, Yellow and Blue Lion, but I didn’t see the Black one or Red Lion.”
“Ah, yeah, that’s a bit complicated” Pidge said as she sucked the air between her teeth. “Shiro is suppose to fly the Black Lion, but we can’t access it until we have paladins for all the other lions.”
Keith frowned thoughtfully. “And you don’t have a paladin for the Red Lion.”
Pidge shook her head. “No, not yet.” She gave a smirk as they paused at the hangar doors. “However, I have a feeling you might be able to fix that problem.”
Keith stared back in confusion as she opened the doors. Now was the time to test her theory, and she really hoped she was guessing right.
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This day was turning into a disaster, and whenever he returned to base he couldn’t even fathom on how to explain to his fellow Blades that they encountered the paladins of Voltron thanks to Keith’s little excursion.
He was glad to see the rumors of the Altean princess still being alive were true, but the scowl clearly signaled she hardly trusted them. Kolivan couldn’t blame the princess. He wouldn’t in her place.
“Let me see if I understand this correctly,” Coran, the Altean attendant, stated with a clam manner. “You are part of a secret organization of Galra that has been fighting against Zarkon for centuries?”
“Correct,” Kolivan stated cooly as Antok nodded.
“And today, you got exposed because your adopted son, Keith, bumped into the paladins?” Coran scratched his head. “While the paladins were shopping?”
“That is the summary of it,” Antok added.
Kolivan tried to ignore the headache he had been fighting since they reached inside the castle.
“Well,” Coran stated as he twirled his mustache. “Teenagers can be...unpredictable?”
Allura scoffed. “That’s assuming we believe your story.” She rose from her seat. “How do we know this whole thing hasn’t been a plan from the start to gain our confidence?”
Kolivan shook his head. “You don’t, but I assure you if we had such nefarious intentions I would try a more clever ruse than having my son run into the paladins.”
“Um..also,” Lance voiced as he raised his hand. “I..have a hard time believing it was a plan. Keith was hardly thrilled when I had managed to catch him and pin him to the ground.”
“Yeah, he would have kept on running if we hadn’t caught up with him,” Hunk voiced.
Kolivan frowned and raised an eyebrow. “You..caught him?”
Hunk shrugged. “Yeah, Lance chased after him, tackled him…” He froze and gave a sheepish smile. “Oh..uh, maybe Keith didn’t want to know about that part.”
“I keep telling you he needs more stealth practice,” Antok whispered.
“I am well aware,” Kolivan said darkly and made note to re-evaluate Keith’s training when they got back to base.
“Getting back to the topic at hand,” Shiro said in a neutral tone and looked to Kolivan, “if you fight the empire that means we’re on the same side.” His eyes narrowed. “We should join forces.”
“No, we should not,” Antok replied. “You paladins are out in the open, and we’ve been able to survive because we’ve kept ourselves hidden for so long.”
“Perhaps,” Shiro said with a determination flickering in his eyes, “but once we find our red paladin, we’ll have Voltron on our side. You’ll have a chance to turn the tables on Zarkon.”
Kolivan looked to Shiro. “You say that, and yet your lack of actions in the past hardly convince me.”
Shiro blinked. “Lack of actions?”
“Are you suggesting we are not fighting hard enough?” Allura asked with a growl.
Kolivan raised a hand. “Please, I mean no insult to you, Princess,” he then turned to Shiro. “I am merely referring to that fact that since you’ve escaped, you have never bothered to contact Ulaz.”
Shiro frowned in confusion. “Ulaz? Who’s that?”
“One of our Blades that assisted in your initial escape,” Antok replied.
“Ah, well that’s a bit complicated,” Lance voiced with a shrug. “Shiro has a hard time remembering that kind of stuff. His memory is a big jumbled.”
Kolivan’s eyes narrowed. “His memory?”
Hunk nodded and pointed to their leader. “Yeah, Shiro is still trying to piece together….Shiro? You okay?”
Shiro was gripping his head as he seemed deep in thought. His eyes squeezed shut.
“Ulaz...he was a doctor. The one that cut off my…” His eyes widened. “That’s right. He did free me.”
He glanced up to Kolivan with a shocked expression that could not be fake. “I remember now, he’s the one that told me the Blue Lion was on Earth.” He held up his arm. “He installed coordinates to where I could find him.”
“He did,” Kolivan said slowly. “You truly did not remember?”
Shiro nodded looking rather stunned. “Yeah..I..I totally forgot.”
“I see,” Kolivan said.
He felt a bit of relief to hear Ulaz’s efforts had not been taken for granted, but that meant they had one less reason to not work with Voltron.
“Perhaps we should contact Ulaz,” Antok voiced as he looked to Kolivan. “He should know we have contacted the paladins.”
Shiro looked ready to speak again, but he was cut off as Allura spoke. “You are assuming we wish to ally ourselves with you when we have no real grounds to trust you.”
Shiro exchanged a pained look with Coran before he touched Allura’s shoulder. “Princess, I don’t think-”
Allura ignored him as she left her seat, and walked to where Kolivan was sitting. She locked her piercing eyes onto him.
“You claim we are on the same side and yet you’ve been fighting Zarkon for centuries?! If you truly wish to free to universe why has it taken so long for you to do so?” Allura’s eyes narrowed. “Do you expect me to believe in ten thousand years you’ve never had a chance to destroy Zarkon?”
Kolivan took a deep breath. He couldn’t blame the princess. It had been a question he himself had constantly asked in his youth. However, he had been impulsive then and hadn’t yet been exposed to the loss of his companions or how far the empire’s talons had sunk into.
He planned to fully explain this to her, but then Antok beat him to it.
“Should we not be asking you of that, Princess.”
All eyes locked onto Antok as he rose from his seat and Kolivan felt a cold dread rise inside him.
Allura looked startled by the question, but then glared as Coran moved protectively to her side. “Excuse me?”
“It’s true, we have been battling Zarkon for centuries and we have yet to truly be rid of the menace.” Antok growled as he loomed over her. “But all of our current Blades are taking on a war that began long before our great grandparents were even born, and that’s not counting the lives we have lost during it, while you’ve been peacefully asleep this whole time.”
Allura’s glare vanished as her eyes widened and Kolivan could see the guilt creeping in. Coran kept his glare as he placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Antok,” Kolivan hissed with a warning as he stood up, but it was ignored.
“You were there when Zarkon began all of this, and you were there when the most powerful weapon that could have stopped him was sent away,” Antok pointed a finger at her and as Allura tightly gripped the skirt of her dress. “Tell me, Princess, where were you when Zarkon destroyed your people along with your planet-”
“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Kolivan bellowed as he held out his sword in front of him to quiet him. “There is no need of this.”
“I will not be silent when people question my honor and integrity,” Antok said as he looked to Allura. “And I only spoke the truth.”
Coran shoved Allura behind him as he held up a fist. “Of all the rude-”
“Okay, okay, let’s calm down,” Shiro said as he stepped in between them. “This is clearly A LOT for everyone to take in.”
The man servant became still with Allura glancing over his shoulder. The guilt still shone in her eyes, but the anger and distrust was still there. Kolivan glanced over and saw Hunk, and Lance anxious by the whole ordeal.
Kolivan quietly sighed as he put away his weapon. This was exactly why he was reluctant to join forces with the paladins in the first place. If the Alteans didn’t trust them, how would they get this to work? Not to mention working along with the paladins would only risk exposing their organization. Centuries of dedication of keeping their group secret would be all for nought.
“I apologize for Antok’s behavior,” he said as he shot a glare at Antok and glanced around for his cub. “We shall retrieve Keith and leave at once. We will trouble you no further.” He paused as he saw no sign of the scruffy youth. “...Where is Keith?”
Everyone became silent as they looked around. “Um...he’s not here,” Hunk voiced, and then frowned. “Wait, Pidge is gone too.”
“You think Pidge took Keith to her work room or something?” Lance asked as he scratched his head.
Kolivan cursed as he rubbed his eyes. When they finally returned to the base he was going to order Keith be put on a leash.
A roar was then heard. It was so loud Kolivan could feel it in his bones. “What was that?” he demanded. It sounded like an enormous beast had entered the castle.
Shiro blinked in confusion. “It sounded like one of the lions, but which-”
The princess gasped. “Impossible,” she muttered as everyone turned to her.
“What’s wrong?” Lance asked with a concerned frown.
The princess grasped her hands tightly together. “That...was the the Red Lion roaring.”
“Whoa, what?” Hunk asked and shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. We haven’t found her paladin. Why..would she..be roaring…” The boy trailed off as he locked eyes with Kolivan and Antok.
Kolivan stared back in confusion, until he understood his meaning. Keith wasn’t here, and the lion was now roaring.
Kolivan cursed as he looked to Shiro. “Take us to the Red Lion! Now!”
The black paladin nodded and in a flash they all raced out of the room. They ran through the castle for what seemed like an eternity until they finally entered the hangar.
Any other time, Kolivan would have stared in awe at the legendary lions his grandfather had told him in his childhood. Right now, he was more motivated in locating his cub and reassuring himself Keith wasn’t becoming part of that legend.
All of his hopes sank as they reached the Red Lion. She was holding her head up high and let loose another roar. They found Pidge looking up with a huge smirk on her face.
“What happened?” Coran asked. “Where’s Keith?”
Pidge continued to keep her smirk and merely pointed at the lion. Kolivan could express no words as the Red Lion lowered her head, opened her mouth and Keith walked out. Wonder was spread across his face, until he spotted Kolivan and gave a small wave.
“Sssoo…,” Hunk asked as he looked to Pidge and pointed. “Does this mean..what I think it means?”
“Yup,” Pidge said as she gestured with her thumb. “We just found our red paladin.”
Antok burst out laughing as Kolivan groaned. Of course Keith was the red paladin! Of course out of all the possible candidates, it would be HIS cub.
Keith cleared his throat as he approached Kolivan. “So...does this mean you’re still dragging me back to the base?”
Kolivan rubbed his eyes and prayed the Alteans kept some kind of alcoholic beverage on board.