A/N: A little fangirl stuff here~~
O.M.G!!! I just finished watching Voltron and I'm so addicted!! 8 seasons weren't enough for me *cries*
I mean I don't have a favorite character because I love them all *INTERNAL FANGIRL SCREAM*
Anyways... here's a one-shot! Enjoy!!!!
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"Okay Paladins, here's our next mission," Shirogane Takashi, or just Shiro, The black paladin, the pilot of the black lion, and the leader of the Voltron team addressed his team in the control bridge.
For millennia, the Galra Empire has plagued the universe by destroying other civilizations and enslaving various races. The only known threat strong enough to go against the empire's power and plans, is the legendary Defender of the Universe called Voltron, a robot warrior composed of five lion robots whose pilots are known as the Paladins.
At the crux of the war that ended with the destruction of planet Altea, King Alfor of Altea separated Voltron's lions to protect it from falling into the evil Galran King Zarkon's possession. King Alfor bonded the five lions' energies to his daughter Allura's life force and sent them across the universe to different locations until the time for the next generation of Paladins to appear and pilot Voltron arrived.
The paladins have gathered and along with Princess Allura and her advisor Coran, they have found the rest of the lions and have begun their mission to stop the Galra empire from conquering and destroying more planets and more civilizations.
They all are traveling across the universe in an old castle slash war space ship that was built big enough to contain all the lions of Voltron and to make it easier for the paladins to travel between galaxies. The ship's name was 'Castle of Lions'.
"Zarkon has been searching for something lately, sending out troops and patrols looking. Apparently, what he was looking for was someone, not something," Shiro continued.
A screen popped up in front of the young paladins, Coran, and the princess. It contained a clear picture of the person Shiro was currently talking about.
"His name is [Y/N] [L/N]. According to the information we had collected from the Castle of Lions that my father, King Alfor, had left for me, he apparently is able to pilot any and all of the lions," Princess Allura explained further.
"What?! How is that even possible?" Lance exclaimed loudly, like always.
"Yeah! Only paladins were supposed to be the only ones to pilot the lions, right?" Hunk backed up his friend.
"Aren't paladins supposed to form bonds or whatever with the lions? How could a total stranger do that?" Pidge added worriedly.
"Well, we don't have answers to those questions. However, all we know now is that we have to find this guy before Zarkon does. He could answer all of our questions when we find him then,"
"Easier said than done," Pidge mumbles and everyone silently agreed.
Keith frowned as he concentrated on the picture in front of him. If Zarkon is really looking for him, it means he's also a threat to Voltron and everyone else.
He could not be trusted.
♡♡♡♡
And so, the paladins have begin their search of [Y/N]. The last whereabouts were on a planet already occupied by the Galra space army. So they had to sneak undetected onto said planet, and look for him without being caught in the process.
They disguised themselves with clothes and left their lions back in the Castle of Lions, just away from the Galran radars where they could be safe. They would be attacked the minute they appear on the enemy's radar. Better be safe than sorry.
Still, It was extremely difficult to look for a single person on an entire planet. And they had only six people to do that. Coran not included, since he had to stay back in the castle in case of an emergency.
"The Galra haven't found [Y/N] yet, it seems," Pidge noticed the Galran sentries are still going around asking the locals about him.
"Maybe he's just good at hiding," Hunk shrugged.
"If he is, then that would make things even more difficult for us," Allura sighed.
"Uh, guys," Pidge called out when she noticed they were missing a teammate, "Where's Keith?"
Meanwhile, Keith had decided to leave the group and look for the man called [Y/N] on his own. His teammates would only delay the mission and with Loudy Lance there, their disguise might be blown up, and they certainly don't have that much time before the Galra beat them to the guy. Or worse, they all get caught.
He had a printed picture of [Y/N]. It was much better than having a hologram device where it could somehow lead back to the Castle if it went in the wrong hand. He was going from stand to stand, from door to door, asking if they had saw him or came in contact with him. But luck was never in his favor. Nobody knew the guy or even saw him.
Does this guy even exist? Allura says that his name showed up in King Alfor's research files for over ten thousand years ago. The guy might be dead for all they knew. But since his last whereabouts were on this planet, then he needs to make sure at least.
"Do you know this guy?"
He doesn't know how many times Keith had asked the same question and held up the same picture over and over. He got the same answer each and every time. Nobody knew or saw him.
He noticed some Galra sentries heading his way with their weapons at the ready. They were removing any head covering of any person covering themselves. It's like they were desperate in finding [Y/N] and by doing this, it increased their chances in finding him faster.
The Ravenette made sure that the hood was covering most of his face, but he was still able to observe what the sentries are doing. They outnumbered him. He couldn't take them down even if he wanted to. He was separated from the others, and without his lion there to help, he couldn't do anything. As much as he loved to fight them and get over it, it wouldn't be wise to do so under those circumstances.
As he was ready to look for a way to escape, a cloaked person had appeared out of nowhere, gripped Keith's arm tightly, and pulled him away from there. They started running to only God knew where. It took them some time to avoid running into any more Galra sentries -which were still roaming around the streets-.
Finally, by the time he had shaken the person's strong grip off of his arm, they were both out of breath and tired from all the running. Keith scanned around the place they were in. It was just a dark, empty alley, away from any local people, and definitely away from Galra sentries.
"You're doing a really poor job at hiding the fact that you're a Paladin of Voltron. Everybody would know who you are the moment they remove your hood," The stranger said calmly while removing the hood from over their head.
"You!"
Keith remembered very well the distinct features of the person they were looking for. Even after ten thousand years, [Y/N] looked younger than ever. His beauty was just... out of this world. And as much as he tried to look like a human, he wasn't. The Altean markings under [Y/N]'s eyes and his pointy ears were very visible.
But Keith still couldn't trust him. Not yet. Not ever.
When [Y/N] turned his back, asking his companion to follow him to a safer place so they can have the chance to talk, Keith chose this moment of [Y/N] letting his guard down, to attack from behind, taking him down to the ground.
Slamming his head face down with one hand, both hands secured behind his lower back by the other, body immobilized by Keith's knees on his back and hips. Keith ignored the sound of dirt crunch under them, as [Y/N] looked back at the paladin in shock and disbelief but didn't attempt to move. It was like he expected this to happen.
"I thought the paladins of Voltron are supposed to bring peace to the universe?" Surprisingly, [Y/N] was calm for someone who was pinned face down. "I just saved your life. A simple thank you would have been nice,"
"I never asked you to save me. So don't expect me to give you one," Keith bit out.
"Keith!"
Hearing the pounding of many footsteps running as the rest of the paladins along with the Princess, ran towards the two of them. It wouldn't be surprising that the team had found Keith this quickly. They must have used a tracker to find Keith, and it was just their luck that led them to their target.
"Let him go, Keith," Shiro used his stern leader voice to get the younger boy to listen to him. It was the only way to get through the hot headed ravenette.
He didn't want to, but he couldn't ignore a direct order from Shiro. Keith reluctantly released [Y/N] but didn't bother help him up. The Princess and green paladin helped the young -old?- man up and asked him if he had any possible injuries he might have sustained from Keith roughly manhandling him.
Other than a few scratches on his perfect face, a sprained shoulder where the Red paladin forced his hands behind his back, he was perfectly fine. [Y/N] thanked them both for their help. He avoided looking at the ravenette.
Keith had a tinge of guilt in his eyes but turned away so nobody could see it. He might admit that he was a little rough with the person who just saved his life. But he learned from a very young age that he shouldn't trust anyone just because they helped him.
"We should stick together, Keith. We can't have you acting as you please and going on your own every time we go on a mission," Shiro had taken Keith aside by the arm and away from the rest of the team, and scolded him like any team leader should. It wouldn't be the first time and from the looks of it, it won't be the last.
Not that [Y/N] was noticing or anything.
"I got the job done, didn't I?" Keith disagreed with Shiro. He looked annoyed at the man who he considered as a brother. Shiro knowns that he was a lone wolf, and didn't like to work in teams. He always preferred to work alone. Teammates just held him back. He doesn't want to be distracted.
"Yeah, except that you've hurt the only person who could help us defeat Zarkon and his empire," The older man had every right to be angry at him. "If he thinks that this is the way we would treat him, he won't help us,"
Keith tsked and led the way back to where they had hid the pod they came down in. Again, leaving everyone behind. But that was much better than having him wondering off and causing unnecessary havoc or draw any attention to them.
Allura turned to the newcomer, "Please accept my apologies, [Y/N]," The princess looked sincere at least. "Keith is just-"
"Save your breath, Princess," [Y/N] said coldly as he covered his head again with the hood of his cap. "I guess we have somewhere to be?"
"Hey!" Lance stepped forward up to [Y/N]'s face, as if trying to intimidate him, "Don't speak to your Princess that way!"
The [hair color]ed Altean sighed as he showed how much of annoyance those people seemed to be. It unnerved him. Can't they just get down to their save-the-universe business?
"Just to get this out of the way, I might be an Altean, but I won't kneel or serve the Princesss," [Y/N] met each and every one of their gazes as he said that. They all exchanged a glance but no one commented.
He looks like a certain someone. They all thought.
They went back to the pod they came in. They found Keith waiting, and left the planet using the new cloaking feature that Pidge has added to the pod for their mission, to prevent them from being caught by the Galran warships.
Coran waited for their arrival in the control room. [Y/N] looked at the Castle of Lions with raw nostalgia clearly evident in his eyes. His eyes were suspiciously wet, but he didn't want to cry in front of them. He would wait until he was alone.
They all looked at him in confusion. He took a long and deep breath and walked towards the control panel that Coran was standing next to. Pressing a few buttons, a screen popped up suddenly. It drew everyone's attention to it.
Allura gasped when she saw the image of her father on the screen.
"Hello, dearest [Y/N]," King Alfor said with a sad expression, a small smile on his face. "By they time you hear this, I'd be... no, all of us would be gone," Alfor paused, then, "I know we haven't listened to you when you warned us that this would happen. We tried to stop it, but we were too late,"
[Y/N] watched his deceased friend rub his face with both hands. "I have put you to sleep before my daughter and Coran. You three would be able to fix what we couldn't with a new generation of the paladins. I've put you on a different planet to keep you protected. You all will wake the moment one of the lions is found and activated,"
King Alfor stayed quiet for a while before he finally looked up and said, "I hope you forgive us someday. Please tell my daughter that I love her. Take care, my friend. Farewell,"
And just like that, the screen went dark.
[Y/N] couldn't keep holding back his tears anymore. He collapsed on the floor when he felt his knees give out from under him, hands still on the panel. [Y/N] sobbed loudly, not caring that he wasn't alone in the room anymore. His friends, his family were all dead. His planet was destroyed. And that was more than ten thousand years ago.
But it still hurt.
His sobs got louder and louder, until it got to the point that his voice grew weaker. He couldn't get enough air into his lungs. Black spots appeared in his vision, and he knew he was losing consciousness. [Y/N] heard the shouts before everything went black.
♡♡♡♡
When [Y/N] regained his consciousness, he found himself in a bed in the medical bay. He knew the castle of Lions like the back of his hand. Nothing changed at all. Well, except for the ravenette sitting on a chair next to the bed.
He looked up from a book he was reading to look at him. Both of them didn't say a word as they gazed at each other. Both gazes emotionless. [Y/N] didn't know how long both of them were staring at each other, but he could give this human some points on his bravery and recklessness.
[Y/N] broke eye contact and swung his legs to the side of the bed and attempted to stand, but a wave of dizziness told him that he still wasn't ready for that. He was about to be planted face first into the floor but two strong arms caught him before that happened.
The altean gasped softly when he looked up to meet those steely eyes. [Y/N] felt himself vulnerable at the moment. He might have acted all tough and uncaring before, but now? Now he turned away from those knowing eyes. The eyes that saw everything that he tried so hard to hide.
From the moment these two met, the red paladin had made it glaringly clear of his contempt and distrust towards the Altean. Yet for some reason, he chose to pick up a book and read, sitting next to an unconscious [Y/N].
With an arm behind his shoulders and the other behind his knees, [Y/N] was effortlessly hoisted him up and back onto the bed again. He was covered again with the same blanket that covered him moments ago. A hard look was thrown his way that clearly ordered him to 'stay put'.
The older Altean decided to do just that for now. The human went back to his chair and picked his book back up and started reading again, like nothing happened. He'd never admit it, but [Y/N]'s heart warmed just a little, after being icy cold for a very long time.
♡♡♡♡
[Y/N] decided to finally talk to the new team of Voltron. He might be angry at Alfor for putting him in a cryopod for more than ten thousand years, but at the same time, he was very sad at what happened to them all.
He can't blame the new generation of paladins for trying to fix what the ones before obviously couldn't. It was best to fight with Voltron instead of destroying the universe with Zarkon.
They all gathered at the living area of the castle upon his request. It's been a couple of days since he came to join the team but he didn't have enough energy to do anything except to sleep, and sleep some more. After eating a dish of the space goo that he kindly thanked Hunk for, [Y/N] begun to talk.
"As you all know, King Alfor was the one who built the lions and chose his friends to be the paladins. He asked me to be one of the paladins but I have refused,"
"He then asked me to put a small segment of my own soul into each lion. He thought that in case a paladin is captured, missing, or dead, I'd take over so the team can form Voltron without delay, until they find the next one. That's why I can pilot each of your lions," [Y/N] finally finished explaining.
The silence that had fell in the room was making him sweat buckets. He might be more than ten thousand years old, but he still gets nervous when put in a situation like this. Throwing himself into space looks tempting right about now.
"So," Lance was the first to break the silence, "You have a part of you in the lions, but I can have my part in you-"
"LANCE!!"
[Y/N] tilted his head to the side, not really understanding what's going on, but decided not to ask. He had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer.
"That can certainly benefit us in the coming war," Allura finally said.
It was clear that nobody was happy about it. However, they all agree that having the Altean by their side would be a good idea when something happens to one of the paladins.
"But that doesn't make any sense," Shiro threw in his two cents, "If that's all there is to [Y/N]'s presence, why would Zarkon search for him? He would need four other paladins to actually form Voltron,"
"Who said that this is all there is?" All eyes were back on [Y/N], waiting for his answer. "I guess I can show you," He shrugged.
They all headed to the hangers where the lions are located. Since the black lion was the closest, [Y/N] decided to head there first. The rest of the team stood aside and watched as the Altean made his way slowly to the biggest lion.
"Hello, old friend," [Y/N] spoke with a very beautiful smile on his face. He raised his hand and touched the lion and it came to life instantly. The sound of purring filled the room.
They all stood dumbfounded. They cannot believe that this guy is actually telling the truth. Nobody was able to activate the black lion except for Shiro. And now he did too.
[Y/N] kept his hand on the lion and closed his eyes. The paladins, along with the princess and Coran, watched in anticipation as every single scratch, crack and peeled paint had disappeared, like it was brand new. Whatever the Altean was doing, it looked like it healed the lions.
Shiro gasped suddenly, and all eyes went to him. "I can... I can feel as if I'm one with my lion," He looked at his lion in wonder, "Like as if we shared a soul..."
Shiro stepped forward to where [Y/N] was still standing. He smiled at the leader of Voltron and gestured for him to do exactly as he's doing. Shiro raised his hand and touched his lion, closing his eyes.
After a couple more minutes, the Altean stepped back and removed his hand. He wobbled for a second but thankfully, nobody noticed it. Or so he thought. He took a deep breath to compose himself before turning to the other paladins.
"Who wants to go next?"
Pidge spoke up excitedly. [Y/N] couldn't help but smile at her visible enthusiasm. And so, one by one, the Altean male went around the lions, healing them one after the other, helping the paladins to connect even more with their lions.
But his energy was draining fast.
And lastly, they went to the Red lion's hanger. [Y/N] took another deep breath. It was like there wasn't enough air around him. His breathing became shallow and rapid. He tried his best to hide it from them.
He stepped forward towards the inactivated lion and all of a sudden a protective shield encased the lion, stopping him from getting any closer. [Y/N] looked up in confusion. The lions might have a piece of his soul, but they acted on their own record all the time.
"Red?" He called out worriedly, "What's the matter, friend? Let me heal you,"
It's like the lion doesn't even acknowledge him. How is this even possible? All the other lions have complied for his healing energy, except for Red. Does the lion not recognize him anymore? Or maybe if he tried to talk to the lion one more time it would work?
"Red? It's me, [Y/N]," It was clear that the confident Altean was feeling disoriented and for once, he didn't feel confident anymore.
"No,"
The voice came strong from behind him. The male turned around to see Keith marching towards him in angry strides, his blade drawn in his hand and a determined look in his steely eyes.
When the hot headed ravenette reached him, he immediately attacked. [Eye color]ed eyes widened before moving out of the blade's way in the last moment before it connected to his face.
A collective gasp could be heard loudly in the hanger, followed by multiple footsteps rushing hurriedly towards them. But the red paladin didn't care. He kept on attacking the defenseless Altean, who kept on dodging the attacks by a hair.
[Y/N]'s heart rate sped up, his breathing accelerated, his body movement became even slower than before. Until a simple kick behind the knees from Keith sent him collapsing to the floor, panting hard.
The red Paladin towered over him, and watched him with eyes made of fire. [Y/N] met that gaze directly. For some reason, Keith had stopped attacking right before he was pulled away by a very upset Shiro.
"Keith! How many times do we have to tell you that he's not our enemy!"
Pidge knelt down to check if the male was fine or in need of a healing pod. A shake of his head from him told her that he's fine, but he was too out of breath to use his words or say anything.
"Red won't let him heal her, because he had depleted all his energy and his magic," Keith informed his team, eyes trained on [Y/N], "If he had used any more of it, he'd be in a serious danger, or worse, dead,"
"I'm afraid Keith is telling the truth," Allura stepped up, agreeing with the red paladin. "Using this amount of magic and energy can be harmful,"
[Y/N] lowered his face to hide his reddening face. How did Keith discover what he had done was beyond him. It wouldn't be surprising if he knew about this from Red, though. They were partners after all.
The red paladin shook Shiro's grip and approached the Altean sitting on the floor with no hostility this time, after putting his knife away. [Y/N] let out a very unmanly squeak when Keith picked him up bridal style with ease.
They've got to stop being in this position!
The team was feeling rather apprehensive in letting the ravennette take the Altean back to med bay. It would be nobody's benefit if Keith just decided to throw a fit and attacking him again. But he didn't.
[Y/N] had no choice but to cling to the paladin's neck for dear life, afraid that he would fall out of his arms and onto the floor. He took a moment to appreciate the man holding him. It was a pleasing sight.
All too soon, their journey back to med bay had ended when they reached to the same bed the Altean used before. The ravenette gently put him down and tucked him in with the blanket.
"Rest," Was all he said to the older male.
[Y/N] had no idea how exhausted he was feeling, until his head hit the pillow. And the warmth emanating from being tucked in by the blanket had pulled him in deep into slumber.
♡♡♡♡
[Eye color]ed eyes blinked open slowly. It was exactly like the last time he had woken up in this place. The only difference being the absence of a certain ravenette on an empty chair.
How long had I been sleeping?
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes with his fists, he decided to see what the paladins are up to. Figuring out that they spent most of their time on the control room or the living area, he decided to check on both rooms, starting with the first one.
He entered the room and was met by a tense atmosphere. Everybody was gathered here looking at a large screen that showed how the green lion was trying to fight its way around a Galran ship.
Well everyone except Pidge and Keith.
"What's going on?"
Everyone whipped their heads towards the entrance of the room, to find the Altean standing there, suspicious and looking towards the noisy screen that was, well, noisy.
"We were informed that this Galran ship had a secret weapon on it that they will use to fight Voltron," Allura filled in, "We sent Pidge and Keith on the green lion since it has this cloaking ability..."
"I hear a but coming..."
They all exchanged a nervous look between the before the princess made up her mind and said, "Pidge was able to run to her lion but Keith got stuck. Pidge is trying to get to him,"
[Y/N] didn't like where this is going. His blood started to boil when he looked up at the screen only to witness the intense attack on the green lion and Pidge's scream of pain.
"Then why aren't you down there helping Pidge out with the other lions?"
"We don't want the whole fleet to know of our location-"
[Y/N] was livid.
"Just because you have someone who can ride any of the lions, doesn't mean that you can abandon your teammate when they're in trouble!" He shouted at her before storming out of the bridge and headed straight towards the hanger.
He didn't think twice on which lion he should take. Heading directly to Red's hanger, he found the lion is still keeping up the protective barrier from before. Walking towards it, the Altean stopped in front of it.
"Red, I need your help. Keith is in trouble,"
That was all he said before the barrier disappeared in a matter of seconds. [Y/N] smiled his thanks before putting a hand on the metal and healing the red lion, then heading right into the controlling room and sat on the seat.
[Y/N] took a deep breath. It was more than ten thousand years since he actually rode in one of these. It was activated almost instantly. The Altean could feel the closeness he had with the lion. He closed his eyes.
"Let's go save what's ours,"
[Y/N] determined voice was heard by the lion, and Red roared out before flying out of the Castle of Lions. Both of them won't return before they got Keith back, even if they died in the process.
"W-wait! Who's flying the red lion?!"
The Altean ignored the green paladim's surprised question and headed straight to the Galran ship. After pinpointing Keith's location, Red shot the ship where Keith was located, made a hole in it, enough to stick its head in it and opened its mouth.
Thanks to Keith's quick thinking, he ran towards his beloved lion. He was the type to jump first, ask questions later, which turned out to be beneficial at the moment.
Shooting the last group of sentries that were trying to follow him to the lion with his bayard, the red paladin jumped in. Red closed its mouth and pulled away from the ship, dodging and shooting the Galran fighters, heading back to the Castle of Lion after making sure that the ship was fully destroyed.
Both red and green lions headed back to the Castle of lions and flew right into the hangers. The three remaining paladins along with Coran and Allura where waiting for them.
Pidge's face was furious and from the look in her eyes, she felt betrayed. But she never uttered a word as she passed them, heading deeper into the castle towards her room.
[Y/N] wasn't going to do the same. His blood is boiling. He was livid beyond reason. How dare they leave their teammate behind when he was in trouble just because they don't want the Galra to 'find out their location'? He made sure he got the point across to the princess.
"How dare you!" The Altean got out of the red lion, didn't even wait for Keith to emerge or check if he was okay or not. They were the 'defenders of the universe' for heaven's sake! How could they save the universe when they wouldn't save their teammate?!
With angry strides, he stood up to the so called 'Princess'. He knew that the team wouldn't do anything if she hadn't ordered it. She's so different from her father in that aspect.
"Your father would be ashamed of you, And you!"
He turned to Shiro, who had hung his head in shame. He's supposed to be the leader of Voltron. And yet he found it okay to listen to whatever the Princess tells them to do.
"I know you take your orders from Allura, but you're the leader of Voltron! Wasn't he important enough for you to save?!"
[Y/N] was screaming at this point. Tears of anger and frustration streaked down his face. He only stopped when he felt strong arms encase him and pull him into a warm chest, a hand petting his hair and the other rubbing circles on his back.
He didn't know why he's feeling so agitated, but the presence of the red paladin so close to him calmed him down into tiny sniffles. He raised his head and met those steely eyes, which softened upon eye contact.
"Thank you for saving me. I don't know how to repay you," Keith whispered softly.
Even through tears, [Y/N] had a small smile on his lips as he said,
"How about you keep those arms around me for now?"
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A/N: Phew! One character is done and many to go!
I think I'm gonna spam one-shots of Voltron because I just can't get enough!!
Do you guys have any anime suggestions I should watch? Write it down!!
Thanks for reading ♡♡♡
See you soon!