The Paladin Princess (Part 1)

Hey everyone, I know I haven’t been writing much for the past of months–it’s because I’ve been really busy, and I’ve started to lose interest in blogging. I’m taking a break from A New Journey. I started watching a new TV show, Voltron: Legendary Defender, which really got me interested in sci-fi stories. I’m not saying I’m done with A New Journey, and I’m not quitting it. I’ll continue, someday, when I feel like it.

But today, I present to you the most polished, dramatic, and exciting tale I have ever written: The Paladin Princess. It will consist of several parts, many of which I have already written, so you should expect content more often. The Paladin Princess is a fanfiction about Voltron: Legendary Defender. You won’t need too much Voltron knowledge to understand this story, just a few things: this story takes place somewhere in the middle of season eight of Voltron. The main character is Princess Allura of Planet Altea. The Galrans (an advanced race of aliens living within the Galra empire) are the antagonists. There are five lions of Voltron: the Black Lion, the Red Lion, the Yellow Lion, the Blue Lion, and the Green Lion. The Black Lion is the most powerful. Keith pilots the Black Lion, Lance pilots the Red Lion, Hunk pilots the Yellow Lion, Allura pilots the Blue Lion, and Pidge pilots the Green Lion. Oh, and one more thing: if you haven’t watched Voltron: Legendary Defender yet, and you dislike spoilers, then I’ll advise that you don’t read this. Alright, let’s get on with the story!

“Keith!” Lance yelled. “Hey, get down here, will you?”

Keith rushed down the steps of the IGF Atlas. “Yeah, what is it?” he asked.

“Dude, I think something exploded in here!” Lance said, eyeing the room. “It’s a mess.”

Keith nervously chuckled. “Right, about that: I said that Pidge could perform an experiment here.”

“And let me guess: it didn’t end well.”

“Correct.” Keith sighed. “Sorry, Lance, but I’ll help clean it up.”

Lance put one hand on Keith’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault, man. Just send Pidge.”

Keith smiled. “Are you sure you don’t need my help?”

“I take every oppurtunity,” Lance teased. “If you want to help, sure.” 

Keith nodded. “I’ll get Pidge. Just a minute.” He ran up the stairs.

Keith found Pidge in the laboratory, doing another experiment. “Hey, Pidge,” Keith said. Pidge jumped.

“Keith!” she complained. “You startled me.”

“Right, sorry,” Keith apologized. “Lance wanted you to–“

“Just tell him that I didn’t mean to mess up his room!” Pidge interrupted. “I’m very busy right now.”

“Pidge,” Keith said, sternly. “The only way that Lance will accept your apology if you clean up his room.”

Pidge spun around on her office chair, tapping her chin with a pencil. “Tell Lance that I’ll clean up his room next time it gets messy. Seriously, Keith, I’m figuring out a way to double this ship’s speed!” She jumped off her chair and spread her arms as she said the word double. 

“Fine,” Keith grunted. He hurried down the steps again to Lance’s room.

“Well?” Lance asked. “Where’s Pidge?”

“Uh, she’s a little busy with something about doubling the ship’s speed,” Keith replied. “But I can help you.”

“Great,” Lance said, handing a mop and a bottle of cleaning liquid to Keith. “You clean the left side of the room, and I’ll do the right.”

“Got it,” Keith responded. “So… how are things going with the Red Lion? Are you getting the hang of him?”

“Our bond is really strong,” Lance bragged. “Better than his bond with you.”

“Hey!” Keith laughed. “You know, Lance, having a bond with the Black Lion is better.”

Lance walked over and put his hands on Keith’s shoulders. “Hey, man,” said Lance. “Is there something wrong?”

Keith didn’t realize that he was staring at the mess and just standing there, doing nothing. He turned around. “N-nothing,” he said. 

Lance nodded suspiciously. He looked out the door with Keith. Keith gasped. Allura was standing there for just a second, with glowing yellow eyes, and then, she disappeared.

“L-Lance?” asked Keith. “Did you just see that?”

“What?” asked Lance.

“Allura. She was there. And her eyes were glowing yellow.”

Lance laughed and put a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Please, Keith, you’re just imagining it.”

“No, Lance, seriously! She was right there.“

Lance shrugged. He smiled. “Ooh, totally. Allura is working behind our backs, hoping that the Galra empire defeats us.”

Keith groaned. “Lance! I swear I saw it! Ugh, fine, I’ll just tell you if she appears again.”

“Fine with me.” The two of them continued cleaning until Lance’s room was the neatest it had ever been. They fist-bumped and walked outside.

— 

Just two days later, Lance spotted Allura plucking juniberry flowers out of the pot. “Allura?” he said.

Allura turned around. Her eyes were now black instead of their normal color, blue. Smoke seeped out of her mouth. “Lance,” she whispered, but the voice was not hers. “You have come.”

“Allura? W-what’s going on?”

Allura smiled, but it was not kind. She slowly took out her bayard and slashed at Lance. He collapsed and Allura went back to the juniberries. 

A few hours later, Hunk found Lance lying on the ground, moaning. 

“Lance! What happened to you?” Hunk asked, helping Lance up.

“Allura. S-she…”

“She what?” asked Hunk. “Did she do this to you?”

“I hate to say it,” Lance moaned, “but yes.”

“Don’t worry, Lance, we’ll get to the bottom of it.”

—

A day later, the Paladins all gathered around a table to discuss the Allura problem.

“So, Keith and Lance,” said Shiro. “You claim that Allura has been…” Shiro glanced at Allura, trying to find the right words. “Uh, she has not been herself lately.”

“That’s right,” said Keith. “It’s like when you were a clone and we all thought it was really you, but it wasn’t.” 

Allura stood up and frowned. “I am not a clone!”

“Um, you’re cool, Allura, but that sounds like something a clone would say,” Hunk said, fidgeting.

Allura glared at him and reluctantly sat down. “Lance, I am very sorry about what I did to you,” she said. “I don’t know what’s going on with me.”

Lance nodded and sympathetically placed a hand on Allura’s shoulder. “We know it’s not you, Allura. But we… we’re just worried.”

Shiro gestured toward Lance. “He’s right. Everyone, if you see Allura being… er, different, then please report it to me or Keith.”

Keith raised his eyebrows. “Uh, why me?”

“Because you’re the Black Paladin,” said Shiro. “Alright. I guess that’s all for today. Thanks for coming, everyone. Dismissed.” Everybody got up from their chairs and walked away in different directions. Allura ran to her room and tears streamed down her cheeks. Romelle entered a few minutes later. 

“They think something’s wrong with you, right?” Romelle asked. “It’s just a misunderstanding, Allura.”

Allura took Romelle’s hand. “I-I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Allura sobbed. “Soon, they’ll get too suspicious and kick me off the ship.” 

Romelle brushed a tear from Allura’s cheek. “Please, Allura,” she said. “Everything will be fine.” Romelle smiled and hugged Allura. She waved and walked out, leaving Allura alone in the room.

—

Meanwhile, Colleen was fixing the juniberry flowers that Allura recently tore out. Pidge was helping her.

“Mom, listen, I’ve got to get back to making my improvements to the ship,” complained Pidge.

Colleen sternly looked at Pidge. “Katie, I appreciate that you’re trying to help the ship and the crew. I think you’ve been working too hard. I sent Matt and your father to fill in for you while you’re assisting me.”

Pidge’s eyes widened. “What? Did you say you sent Matt and Dad? But they have no idea what I’m working on! They’re gonna mess it up!”

“Your father and Matt are just as experienced as you are, Katie.”

“Mom! I think differently. I’m unique! And please, just call me Pidge.”

Colleen sighed and continued watering the juniberries. She hummed a song. “These Altean juniberries have precise requirements to live in space,” she said. “That’s why they’re so interesting to take care of. They also smell beautiful.” She brought one close to her nose and took a deep breath. “Here, Katie, smell it.” She held out the flower.

Pidge reluctantly accepted the flower. She took a long whiff and smiled. “Um, Mom, can I give this to Hunk?” Pidge asked.

Colleen frowned. “I wanted to make them into a bouquet and give them to Romelle,” she said, “but maybe you can take one. Just one.“

Pidge nodded and ran away. 

—

In Hunk’s room, he, Lance, and Keith were watching an episode of Voltron Legendary Defender. 

“And, boom, the sharpshooter, Lance, hits The Warden’s arm and saves Slav,” Lance bragged.

“That’s why we bring our sharpshooter,” Shiro said on TV. 

“Well, Lance, while you were out doing that, Keith and I collected scaultrite for the teludav (wormholer) and we even saved one of Lotor’s generals,” said Hunk. 

“Oh, Acxa, right?” asked Lance.

“Right, and it’s a good thing we did because it saved me from getting killed from our fight. She spared me,” said Keith. 

Lance snorted and rolled his eyes. “Um, yeah, whatever,” Lance sighed. He unpaused the TV and they kept watching. 

—

Later, Allura was sitting in the lounge. She sulked and stared at her feet. Romelle walked over. 

“Hey, are you feeling okay?” Romelle asked, and sat down.

Allura smiled at Romelle and nodded. “A little,” she said. 

Romelle put her hand on Allura’s shoulder and said, “I know they were hard on you, Allura. Don’t mind them.”

Allura got up. She stormed out of the lounge. Romelle blankly stared after her but didn’t follow her. Allura walked down the hall and bumped into Pidge. 

“Hey, Allura, what’s up?” Pidge greeted cheerfully. “I’m delivering this flower to Hunk.”

“That’s nice of you,” Allura complimented. “I must go to the deck. I need a word with Coran.”

Allura ran down to the deck. She rushed in and announced, “I need to speak with Coran.”

“Sure,” said Shiro.

She went to the front of the deck and crouched down next to Coran. “Coran,” she said, “were there any Altean legends about people suddenly doing… er, strange things?”

Coran thoughtfully rubbed his chin. “I’m not sure, Princess. Perhaps you can find answers at Oriande.”

“I can’t go there unless I have The Mark of the Chosen,” said Allura. 

“You were able to go last time,” Coran suggested. “Perhaps you’ll be able to go again.”

“Coran, I don’t have the Mark anymore. The White Lion won’t let me in. Besides, last time, Prince Lotor was there with me.”

Coran sighed. “Princess, I don’t know what you should do. It’s up to you. But what I do know is that Oriande is the only place that can answer your questions.”

Allura nodded. She turned to Shiro. “Shiro, can you set a course for Oriande? I know the coordinates. I can give them to you.”

Shiro narrowed his eyes. “I’m afraid we can’t, Allura,” he said. “We’re on a tight schedule. Perhaps you could take the Blue Lion there.”

“The Guardian of Oriande, the White Lion, won’t let my lion in. At least, I don’t think so,” Allura replied. 

Shiro tapped a few buttons and then looked down at Allura again. “I’m sorry, Princess, but we can’t go off course. The only way is to take the Blue Lion.”

Allura nodded and walked out of the room.