For The Stars

Chapter 1: The Rise Of Voltron

Lance and Hunk had left in Blue, Shiro and Pidge had left in a pod, and Keith was stuck standing in the way-too-bright medbay with two Ancient Alteans. It was awkward. He shifted his weight between his feet slightly. After the identity scans, the castle had automatically started translating everything. He and Shiro had been the only ones to understand the scan, but after it was complete the translations flowed seamlessly.

He was trying not to eavesdrop, but they were both talking so loudly that it was hard not listen. The princess' hatred ran deep; she hated the Galra, all Galra. He thought, for a fraction of a tic, he'd caught the other Altean's eyes flit over to him, but that was just paranoia right? Keith looked passably Human, he arrived with 4 actual Humans, and he'd made damn sure to only speak in English since arriving. So he shrugged it off and continued to study the room and his surroundings, tiny scurrying movements catching his attention every so often.

Before they'd left, Coran gave Shiro a run down on how to fly one of the Altean pods. He'd asked a whole slew of questions about Earth and how much the Earthlings knew and what Earth technology was like and so on. Shiro volunteered the information that Earth was un-contacted and that they knew literally nothing – with the exception of Keith. The newly minted Red Paladin made a mental note to 'thank' Shiro for that one.

Currently, Coran was working at the console running full diagnostics of the castle. Allura was pacing around the room, waiting for further instruction. And the mice were keeping their distance, which was all well and good to him; he hated mice! Although, the big one might make a decent snack if they kept chittering annoyingly, and Keith started to notice that he was fairly hungry and they hadn't eaten in a while. He eyed it up a little and the creature scurried over to Allura, scampering up her leg and hiding in the princess' massive pile of hair with the other mice.

"KEITH! You will not eat Platt." She scolded, starring him down with the kind of authority one is simply born with. "Or any of the mice for that matter." was added after a moments thought. He rolled his eyes and huffed, crossing his arms and glaring at the Altean mouse.

"Um, Princess? Could you go to the bridge and relay the current configuration of the Ploogles? They should be set to match the Riggets, but not the Splunkers. That is VERY important!"

"Of course, Coran. Match the Splunkers. I understand." She giggled and swiftly left the room, taking the mice with her, and gracefully made her way down the hall to disappear into the elevator as Coran sputtered. Keith smirked as he watched her go and when he looked back, the moustachioed man was directly in his face, mere inches away. Keith may have hissed at him.

"Sorry lad; didn't mean to startle you."

"S'fine. Just wasn't expecting it."

"Yes, the Galra have always been quite touchy about their personal space. Hm?" Keith's eyes shot wide but he stayed otherwise silent as he stared at the Altean. "Oh come now, did you think I wouldn't notice? I must admit, the fact that you're not purple did throw me off – a Halfling I assume?" He nodded, still utterly dumbfounded. "Ah, makes sense. Your other parentage must be the same species as the Paladins, correct?" again, Keith nodded. The Altean man twirled the tip of his moustache between two fingers, pondering something as he stared the half Galra down. "If Earth is un-contacted, and the others know nothing while you know much, then I am assuming you were raised off planet and so, culturally you would be Galra not Human."

He continued to stare at the man for an embarrassingly long amount of time before nodding again. "How – how did you figure this out?"

"Well for starters you're not doing a very good job of hiding it. Poor Platt." Coran shook his head and tisked but continued none the less in an incredibly upbeat tone. "Also the castle ran a DNA scan when you all arrived." Keith groaned and the other practically beamed at him.