Brighter Than the Stars: A Voltron Fanfic (Keith X OC)

Chapter 1

The leader of the town stepped forward, bowing his head. "Voltron, I am highly grateful to you for freeing my people."

"We wouldn't have been able to do it without Kolivan and the Blades," added Violet. "They helped a lot."

"We were honored to do so," said Kolivan.

The leader swept his gaze over the Blades, distrust evident on his face. Violet winced softly.

"Right," he said. "I hope that Voltron will not hesitate to reach out to the planet of Puig for aid. About that, where is Voltron?" The crowd began cheering excitedly, chanting Voltron's name. Violet's gaze fell.

Ever since Shiro had vanished, the team had seemed to be falling apart. Morale was low; everyone looked to empty space for guidance, and Shiro's calm demeanor had left them frazzled. Worst of all was Keith. He'd been drawn off from the rest of the group; Violet was worried about him. She was the only person he hadn't shut out, and she didn't want to break that.

She, Lance and Hunk regrouped at the castle of lions, where the rest of the team was waiting in the lounge. After giving the report of the mission, Hunk brought up the elephant in the room.

"Here's the thing," he started. "Every planet we liberate thanks us, but they'd rater thank Voltron. Except Voltron's not here, and they're starting to wonder what happened when we fought Zarkon."

"I can tell you what happened. We lost Shiro. Not just Voltron," Keith replied sharply.

Allura took a deep breath, as if bracing herself for the paladin's reactions to what she was about to say. "I know it will be tough, but I think it's the right time to reform Voltron. We need a new black paladin."

Violet flinched. She hadn't told the others, but ... the black lion did have a different sense to her. Shiro wasn't its paladin any longer.

Keith stood abruptly, face flashing with anger. "Never! I won't stop searching for Shiro. He's still out there. We can't replace him." He stalked off.

Everyone looked over to Violet. She sighed. "I'll go after him. And, guys... Allura's right. The black lion needs a new paladin." Her eyes strayed to the door Keith had just exited from. "But every member of the team has to be ready for it before we can move on."

"You're the only one who can talk to him, Vi," Lance said quietly.

Nodding, Violet got up and followed Keith.

She looked in the training room, then the library, then Red's hangar. Violet sighed in frustration. It felt weird going into a boy's room, but ... she and Keith were friends. It was perfectly fine. She wouldn't mind if Lance was in her room; in fact, he had been there more often than usual, lounging around and stealing from her candy stash.

Violet knocked, and with Keith's permission, pushed open the door.

He was sitting on his bed, hair disheveled as if he'd been running his hands through it. Before Violet could speak, he said, "Look, I don't want a lecture or anything. I know I shouldn't have stormed off. I just can't stand the thought of replacing Shiro."

Violet said, "I didn't come here to chastise you, Keith. It's okay that you don't want to replace Shiro - he's done so much for us, it's practically impossible to imagine moving on without him." She chewed on her lip. "I was wondering - would it help to have some kind of ... distraction? To take your mind off current events?"

He leaned back. "Definitely. It's like there's an empty spot where Shiro would be - I'd do anything to escape from it."

Violet smiled. "I know how you feel. So ... we're going to the Balmera."