Voltron: Alistair x Shiro

The Balmera

The castle's alarms droned in Alistair's ears, the young prince unable to look away from the battlecruiser in front of him. How could this be happening again?

Father wasn't here this time to put him and Allura into Cryosleep again, to save them from the pain of what was about to happen.

"The castle defenses cannot take much more," Allura said into the coms, waiting for the paladins to escape from the core of the Balmera.

"One hit from that ion cannon, and we're finished!" Coran exclaimed.

Alistair felt so helpless, unable to do anything other than stand by his sister's side. It was just like that day all over again.

Just like when he stood beside his father, alarms blaring just as they were now. The Galra cruiser ahead of them promised a quick and imminent death.

Though this time, a different noise cut through the alarms. It started as a soft growl, getting louder until it was a deafening roar.

A lion's roar.

Allura and Coran didn't seem to hear it, as they didn't look away from the Galra ship in front of them. All the lions of Voltron were on the Balmera, so how did he hear a roaring so clearly?

The reason didn't matter as he turned and saw a new door had opened off of the side of the bridge. Alistair's feet were moving before he could process what was happening. He had explored the ship so many times as a child, but he had never been down this corridor as if it had appeared out of thin air. And it almost as if it had, just like the contents at the end of it.

Alistair stood face to face with a majestic white lion, as large and stunning as the lions of Voltron.

The ship lurched with an impact, though he still felt rooted to the spot. The particle barrier lowered around the lion at his approach, the lion bowing its head in greeting to him. It was as if it was beckoning to Alistair, calling for him to join it. Slowly, he approached, stepping up into the beast's open maw.

A suit of paladin armor awaited him, the colors inverted from Shiro's black armor to highlight the white symbol of Voltron across the chest piece.

The lion must have sensed his hesitation as he felt the gentle urging to don the armor and take his place in the pilot's seat. He knew he didn't have time to hesitate, that the lives of Allura and Coran were in danger.

With a deep breath, he stepped into action, pulling on his new armor, and sat in the pilot's seat. He could hear the communication between Allura and the Paladins as they worked with the Balmerans to escape. He would have to act in the meantime to try and protect the ship a little bit longer.

"Paladins, keep trying to get to your lions. I will support the castle until you can form Voltron." The prince said as the lion launched from its hanger and entered the fray. The small Galra fighters turned their attention to him, Alistair nimbly digging the attacks as a hazy memory came back to him.

He couldn't have been more than seven when his father had brought him to the cockpit of the Red lion, Alistair perched in King Alfor's lap as he sat in the pilot's seat.

"One day, you may have to fly one of these lions to protect the Universe, my son."

His father spoke kindly, though there was a weight to his words.

Alistair pilot one of the lions? He remembered looking up at his father quizzically, though he didn't elaborate and only began to show him the different controls and how to fly the lion.

It was that lesson that surfaced, making it easy for him to adjust to the controls.

If only he could see me now.