The Orange Paladin

Prologue - Kerberos

Kerberos. Pluto's moon. Covered in ice, it shines a pale blue in outer space. A small group of three gather ice samples from the surface.

"Easy, son. This ice is delicate." A man, in a suit designed to keep him safe from the cold and lack of oxygen in the air, advises a boy with honey colored eyes and golden sand blonde hair, who is now known as his son.

"Amazing. Isn't this exciting, Shiro?" The boy questions the third in their group, excitement clear in his eyes.

"You guys get a little more excited about ice samples than I do." 'Shiro' lightly jokes with them.

"This is history in the making." The first man speaks up. "Not only have we traveled farther than any human ever has, but this ice could hold microscopic clues about the existence of life outside of Earth."

"Think of it, Dad. We could then use those clues to become the first people to meet aliens." The boys remarks to his father, his excitement lightly shining through his tone.

"My life's work would be complete." As the father finished his shared thought, the moon began to shake, as if an earthquake was taking place. "What is that? Seismic activity?"

Shiro advises, "We should head back to the ship." A shadow is then cast over the trio. Looking above, what they saw, they were not ready for.

A ship, gigantic in size, gray in color with purple lights, comes into view. Its path appeared to be in their direction. "What? What is that?" The eldest man questioned with alarm in his tone. "It can't be."

Shiro's eyes narrowed slightly, trying to see what the ship was doing. Seeing it charge up some sort of purple ray, his orbs widened, showing his panic as he grabbed ahold of both of their arms and urged them, "Run! Come on, run!"

Soon, the ray fired down upon them. They ran as fast and hard as they were able too. In the end, it wasn't enough. They were soon caught in the purple-tinted light, dragged upwards towards the ship, screaming in fear.

~~~~~~

"Emperor Zarkon," a muffled, noticeably deep voice cut through the darkness, "we were scouting System X-9-Y as ordered when we found these primitive scientists." As the voice had continued, Shiro woke up. With his helmet gone, it's easier to see his dark-colored hair and grey eyes. Seeing the metal floor, his head shoots up, scared of his unknown environment and captors. "I don't think they know anything useful." The strange being finished.

"Take them back to the main fleet for interrogation." A being on screen demands. It's impossible to tell what kind of creature he was, for he was only formed as a silhouette. "The druids will find what they know."

Shiro looks to his right and sees that his two crew members still knocked out cold. Fearing for what may happen to them all, he attempts to inform them of what their intentions were, "Please, come from a peaceful planet! We mean you no harm!" The alien turned, showing his purple, scaly skin, and yellow slotted eyes. "We're unarmed." All that he received in response was a harsh blow to the back of his head, rendering him unconscious yet again.

~~~~~~

Shiro wakes up to being dragged by his arms, leaving him to face whatever was behind him. As his vision came into more focus, he was able to see that at least one of his friends was awake, being lead by the arm to their unknown destination.

"Look, they brought in another one." At the sound of unfamiliar voices, Shiro gazes to his left to see eyes peering through small, rectangular holes. "Who is it?" "Over there. It's another one."

Confused, he tries to figure out where he's at. Gazing to his right, he notices what appears to be hundreds of cells. Remembering what was said before being knocked unconscious, Shiro's eyes shrink, not bothering to hide the fear within.

Fear of being interrogated.

Fear of what may happen to him and his companions.

Fear...

...of what he doesn't know.