Voltron: Legacy

Chapter 2

I left the cab, clattered down the steps, and nearly bumped into two people standing right outside. One was Katie, the other one was a tall, muscled man with a glowing robotic arm and a shock of fluffy white hair. I gulped and saluted. "Captain Shirogane, sir! I'm, uh, sorry about accidentally taking over your lion, sir."
He actually laughed. "Don't be sorry. And you can call me Shiro. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of each other."
He held out his robotic hand, and I shook it. Then he leaned in and whispered in my ear, "Don't tell them you have no clue what you're doing. Most leaders don't."
I nodded. At least this guy was being honest with me. Just then, we were all distracted by the other two lions lifting their heads to roar.
When they lowered their heads again, I saw Jason stepping out of the Green lion, his short dreadlocks even messier than usual and his eyes shining. Leilah came out of the Blue lion a moment later, adjusting her headscarf. She was looking down at the ground and muttering her favorite curse words in arabic, but when she saw everyone staring, she straightened up and gave a brilliant smile. I rolled my eyes.
"Oh, wonderful. Not Leilah."
"Why?" Katie asked.
"She's insufferably smug, she's too "cool" for everyone, she's a drama queen and a girl-chaser, she hates me, I could go on for days." I shrugged. "Guess I'll have to get used to it."
Katie snorted. "Reminds me a bit of another Blue paladin."
When I gave her a questioning look, she replied, "Lance. He used to be a lot like that before he got all mature. He and Keith did not get along."
We headed over to Jason and Leilah, who both got handshakes from Katie and Shiro. The other important people crowding around, including the other Holts and Commander Veronica McClain, all had questions and scoldings to deliver. Between that and the regular Garrison people wanting to know what was going on, the next half-hour or so was an overwhelming blur.

Finally, we were all gathered in some kind of meeting room, with leaders from all over the Universe up on the big screen covering one wall. Including Keith, who locked his eyes onto me immediately. "Karah. I leave you alone for literally an hour and you somehow manage to become the leader of Voltron in that time? Kid, what were you thinking?"
He didn't actually sound that upset, more like wearily amazed.
"You realize what this means, right? The implications and how hard this is going to be?"
I nodded. "Black was very clear with me on that point. So was every single other person."
Shiro called the meeting to order.
"For those of you who don't know, three of the Voltron lions returned to Earth tonight. They chose new Green, Blue, and Black paladins, cadets Jason, Leilah, and Karah. This has happened because the Universe is in some type of grave danger, we don't yet know the exact source. We need to find out who, and where, the other two new paladins are, so that they can begin training to face whatever's out there."
"I may have the answers for some of that." A new voice said.
I looked up at the screen. The voice's owner was an older man with an impressive orange mustache, altean cheek markings, and pointy ears. Coran, if I remembered his name right, the leader of their race. He moved back to let three other people into the camera's view. A petite, blond altean woman, a burly, brown-skinned human guy with a cheerful face, and a girl my age who might have been their daughter, with her long dark curls, tan skin, and purple eyes. She had an excited, friendly expression that made me think of a much younger kid. Katie smiled.
"Hunk? Romelle? Linnea?"
The man, Hunk, grinned. "Hi, Pidge! Um, so we have news."
"Not good news, in my opinion." Romelle added. "The Yellow lion has chosen Linnea as its paladin. We tried to reason with it, but giant robotic cats are fairly hard to argue with."
Linnea sighed in exasperation. "Mum, Dad, I will be fine. You've trained me to fight."
"This is different." Hunk grumbled. "We expect you to call us as often as you can from wherever you are, got it?"
"And we'll be sending care packages for you and the other paladins." Romelle said firmly. "Homemade cookies, that sort of thing."
Linnea grinned. "Can't say no to that. Dad, do you think you could make those Earth cookies, the chocolate ones?"
"Brownies? Definitely, sweetie."
The three of them drifted off, talking about food.
Coran moved forward again. "If it's feasible, we'll be sending her to Earth tomorrow."
Shiro nodded. "That would be great. So, that just leaves the Red paladin."
Keith coughed. "I just got a call from Ezor and Zethrid. Apparently Red landed near their usual Marmora base a few hours ago."
"Do you know if it's chosen anybody yet?" I blurted.
Surprisingly, nobody hushed me. I guess being a paladin makes that harder to do. Keith nodded.
"Yeah. Their daughter. She's a bit older than the rest of you, her name's Xaroc. I'll put them up on screen now."
A new image flashed up, showing a lanky galra girl. She was wearing the Blade of Marmora uniform and her dark purple hair shaved except for a long braided mohawk. She did look older than me, maybe eighteen or nineteen. She was being hugged and clapped on the back by two women I recognized as Ezor and Zethrid. I'd met them both when I met Keith and knew them in passing, but I hadn't realized they'd adopted a kid. Xaroc looked up from her group hug.
"Hey. I'll be there as soon as I can get Mom and Mama to let go of me."
Ezor grinned. "That's my girl! You're gonna give whatever you're fighting a run for its money."
Shiro looked at us, the two on the screen and the three around the table, his face unreadable. I really hoped he wasn't thinking we were going to crash and burn. Unfortunately, that was a very literal possibility now.
"It's settled, then. The paladins will meet on Earth, and start training as soon as they're all here."
One by one, the other people disappeared from the screen, satisfied with the meeting's outcome.
"Well," Jason said, standing up. "I'll need to go tell Dad the news. He'll freak out, but then he'll probably be really proud." He grinned. "I wonder if we'll get to meet any Olkari? Katie, you've worked with them a lot, right?"
Katie nodded. "They're amazing. If you come with me, I'll show you some of their biomechanical stuff, and we can dig out my armor and bayard. What form do you think it'll take for you?"
Jason tilted his head. "Huh?"
"The bayard. It can morph into different weapons depending on who's using it, see, and . . ."
The two of them walked off, gesticulating wildly as they discussed various tech stuff.
Leilah waved at me. "Well, see ya. I can't wait to tell my Mama and Papa! I mean, I'm not that surprised, given how good of a pilot I am, but they will be."
"Insufferable." I muttered as she walked off.
Then I sat down at the table, put my head in my hands, and heaved a sigh. I knew I shouldn't be thinking this, I knew how petty and selfish it was, but everyone else had family congratulating them. Everyone else had someone to tell, someone to cheer them on. Of course, I had Mari, but she didn't know yet. And I'd always protected her anyway, so it wasn't really the same. She'd be happy for me, but she wouldn't understand.
"It's a lot, isn't it?"
I jumped and yelped. I hadn't realized Shiro was still in the room. He sat down across from me and I nodded.
"Yeah. It's a lot. Finding out that I have to help save the Universe from . . . something. Hell, we don't even know what it is yet! What you said earlier, about not having a clue what I'm doing, is that ever going to change?"
Shiro made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a groan. "I wish I could tell you it did, but not really, no. It gets easier to handle, though. The uncertainty. Once you've got a team you know you can trust and work with, that becomes your one constant. Your anchor, I guess. Although, if you're the one leading the team . . ."
"You have to anchor the anchor?" I asked.
He snorted. "Something like that."
After a pause, he went on. "I don't really know you, Karah. But Keith does, and I could tell he was proud of you tonight."
"Really?"
"Yes. Keith's not the best with words, but I've known him long enough that I can read him pretty well. He was worried about you too, but he was trying to hide it because he knew you could handle this. He trusts you, and I trust his judgement. I know you can handle this too."
I nodded. "I think I can, at least. Thank you, Shiro. That helped."
"Any time."
I stood up to go, then stopped. "Uh, can I ask you a favor?"
"What is it?"
"Mari, my sister. I won't be able to keep an eye on her if I'm out in space. Could you?"
"Certainly. Now go get some sleep. Trust me, you'll need it."
I nodded, gave a quick salute, and went off to find my bed, already yawning.