Starchild (COMPLETED)

Chapter 7 - The bones of our enemies

'It didn't take much to tire the hot-blooded human out' Lotor thought smugly, an overwhelming sense of satisfaction relieving the lingering aches in his muscles that his encounter had caused.

Once the Galran prince had dealt Lance his punishment, the blue paladin's body had shut down as a final act of defense to allow itself the rest and recovery it so desperately yearned following the cruel acts committed towards it.

Lotor had then unchained him, carried him to his luxurious bed even as he called for the several girls kept as personal servants to keep a careful watch over him while he attended to an urgent matter.

Even as he relayed his orders, the girls kept an envious eye on the sleeping paladin, burning with jealousy at the idea of such an exotic creature sharing the same bed as their master. He had earned their prince's favour without so much as a kiss let alone having lain with him.

A slow deliberate roll of his head to either side of his shoulders meant to loosen the tense muscle followed as he continued down the hallways, the obnoxious cheering and yelling becoming almost deafening as his path led him to a caged exit facing the open space of the arena.

If the witch hadn't been so adamant he'd have been in his room, performing far more pleasurable acts to Lance's skin, in an act of possession.

A soft sigh cleared his mind as the cage was lifted following the announcement of his name and the all clear nods from the guards on duty signaling for him to step out before the crowd.

A look of complete boredom held his features in place as he stepped into the centre, bare chested and muscles flexed in a warrior's stance as the crowd roared their approval.

Here in the arena, the Galra were true to their nature.

They were like animals.

The crowd quietened down as the caged tunnel, opposite their prince was lifted, two guards emerging as they dragged a near unconscious shiro out for all to see before throwing him into the dirt at the feet of their prince.

The bell signaling to begin the match echoed throughout the arena, its echoing sound drowned out by the roaring which followed.

However, Lotor was a patient man, he'd graciously allow his opponent the first swing, only to assess his strength and skill.

The Galra watched as the black paladin struggled in his attempts to pull himself up on his feet, each time was met with a faceful of dirt and dust. Clearly the guards had lashed out on the prisoner in his cell, the bruises and bleeding cuts were enough to attest to that fact.

Lotor simply smirked despite the growing 'boos' from the crowd as he knelt to his opponent's level, tilting his chin upward so they were face to face before murmuring

"Weak. You are just as weak as the day you were captured. This is why what happened to you, will happen to the others."

It was soft enough for their ears only but clear enough to make shiro's blood boil with a newfound rage and the strength to channel it as his bionic arm glowed purple before he struck, aiming to grab the Galran prince with the might to match his title as champion.

However, Lotor anticipated this and reacted almost instantly, pushing himself back with inhuman speed, the very tips of his hair singed off with the heat radiating from Shiro's artificial arm.

This wasn't a fair fight but Shiro would not go down again.

With a loud cry he charged forward, wielding his weaponized arm as practiced, aiming to strike the prince with the strength only the leader of Voltron could possess.

His advances not once met the target as Lotor expertly dodged each one, his eyes flashing with a mocking amusement as he led Shiro around the arena until his opponent was as breathless as he was exhausted.

Using Lotor's amusement as an opportunity, Shiro gathered what strength he had, baring his teeth in similar fashion to his captors as he clenched his fist tightly launching himself from the ground aiming his punch for the Galra with an animalistic growl.

Lotor's eyes widened and in that second before impact he managed to throw himself out of the way so that Shiro's fist collided into the surrounding wall, causing rubble and dust to cloud his vision.

The first thing to emerge from the array of dust and smoke was Shiro's hand as it caught the off guard Galra by the throat, pulling him up into the air effortlessly as the rest of Shiro appeared, charging Lotor into the opposite wall.

His eyes glowed yellow and inhuman snarls dripped from his bared teeth, his blood lust growing insatiable as his fingers tightened their hold on the suffocating Galra.

This was the Galra's champion gladiator.

Lotor's grip on Shiro's wrist was steely as he struggled to breath, drowning out the cheering of the crowds.

A small smirk played on his lips as he stared down his opponent.

This was all for show

"Welcome back, Gladiator."

Unsheathing his claws, Lotor brought his hands from Shiro's wrists to his face, his claws digging deeply into the black paladin's flesh causing him to howl in agony and loosen his grip on Lotor's throat.

Taking this as an opportunity, the Galran prince swung his lower half forward, kicking Shiro with a force to knock the breath from his lungs and send him tumbling back into the ground as Lotor landed safely on his feet.

The crowd grew silent as the Galran prince walked forward to his opponent's unconscious form, a self-piloting drone flew down into the arena, having recorded the entire match before it stilled in front of the victor, capturing the final moments.

"My father built our empire on the bones of his enemies..."

~

Allura's frown was prominent, the castle ship's inability to respond to even the simplest of commands was getting on her nerves.

"What on earth could be causing this malfunction" the Altean princess sighed, releasing some of her frustration with that puff of breath as her mice friends attempted to cheer her up with clumsy acrobatics.

While she momentarily offered her attention to the efforts of her companions, Coran remained focused - running diagnostics and interpreting the results in his hunt for the problem.

"wait a tick-"

His attention was drawn to a poorly transmitted signal he concluded to be the source of the ship's minor meltdown.

"A transmission" Allura's observation was purely quizzical "surely a transmission can't be the source of this mess?"

"Hold on princess."

Amplifying the signal with little trouble, Allura then converted the file to a larger screen for viewing, however instantly regretted it with what appeared.

"Quiznack" Coran whispered almost breathlessly.

The recording of Lotor's fight against the imprisoned black paladin left both Altean's paralyzed with disbelief, their eyes glued to the impossible presented before them.

Allura's form visibly shook, her chest constricting with her inability to regulate her breathing as she tried to process the scene before her.

"S-Shiro- Shiro's alive..."

Aware of his responsibility for Altea's lone princess, Coran was the first to snap out of his trance, turning to address the distressed altean with caution.

"Princess? We need to inform the others-"

"No."

Allura's command was firm despite the obvious trembling which clung to her words.

Her gaze remained fixed upon the screen, its images reflecting over the layer of moisture blanketing her pupils, her next command as clear as the first.

"Set the coordinates for Suskurn."