The Gold Paladin

Chapter 1 - Golden

SPOILER: THIS STORY HAS SPOILERS FOR UP TO SEASON THREE. IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED UNTIL THE END, PROCEED WITH EXTREME SPOILER AWARENESS.

Keith was angry. Extremely angry. Angry at everyone. Lance for being so oblivious. Hunk for being so nice. Shiro for being gone. Pidge for being so smart. And himself, for allowing the black lion to choose him. A white-hot rage filled him as he pushed past Lance and Pidge, who called after him, trying to reason with him.

So many thoughts raced through his head.

Why am I piloting the Black Lion?

Why did Shiro choose me?

Will I be a good leader?

I don't want to be the leader.

Why did the black lion choose me?

Maybe some fighting would help.

He stormed up to the training deck, threw off his red jacket, and pulled out his bayard. It extended into his familiar red sword.

"Begin training sequence level five," Keith growled. "Let's see what you have for me today."

The familiar yellow menace sprung up from a panel in the floor. Keith squared off against him. The fighter rushed at him, weapon waving madly. Keith summoned all his anger and rolled easily to the side, jabbing at its exposed side. However, the fighter had other ideas. It dodged his blow narrowly and popped back up into a square stance. Keith yelled in fury and charged at it. He slashed and stabbed, but the yellow annoyance avoided and countered his every move. It seemed to taunt him, letting him have many opportunities to finish it, then springing back out of range.

Keith was getting tired. Sweat blurred his vision, but he blinked it away, his black-gloved fingers tightening around his Bayard. He panted in exhaustion. The fighter rushed at him again and Keith summoned his last burst of strength, knocking its blade aside. The fighter's blade clattered across the room, and it ran towards it.

"No, you don't!"

Keith stormed at it and slashed his sword clean across its face, disabling the training. The fighter was swallowed up by the floor panel and Keith lay there panting. While he caught his breath, his anger dissolved, replaced by an overwhelming sadness. For no reason. Suddenly, footsteps sounded, crossing the floor.

"Hey, Keith."

Keith looked up. Lance was standing a few feet away from him.

"Oh, hey Lance."

Keith remembered his outburst, he recalled pushing Lance away from him, telling him he never wanted to see his face again.

Lance looked concerned. He took a step forward. "You okay, man? You seemed pretty mad about having to pilot Black."

Keith fought the urge to tell him to go away. He sat up. "No, I'm fine. It's just, you know, Shiro-"

"I know, you think Shiro should have chosen someone else, blah blah blah, I'm not a good enough leader, blah blah blah." Lance finished for him.

Keith grinned a small smile. "Yeah." He sighed. "I guess I just need time to soak it all in..."

Lance helped Keith up. "Well, I came to see you because Allura wants to see you. I think you know why." Lance explained.

Keith groaned. Lance grinned.

"Well!" He patted Keith on the back, something that made Keith jolt. "Have fun! Don't make her mad, and," Lance's voice dropped to a whisper. "Try to find out if she likes me."

Keith rolled his eyes. That was so Lance.

"I'll try..." Keith murmured.

Keith fretted nervously in the elevator up to Allura's hall. He guessed the conversation was probably going to be about his outburst, controlling his anger, blah blah blah.

The doors of the elevator opened with a hydraulic whoosh. He stepped out into the hall. Allura sat in a chair at the end of it and gestured for Keith to sit, too.

"Keith," Allura began. "About today-"

"Yes, I know, I'll try to control my anger next time, and I know you're upset about Shiro. We all are. But I'll try to be a good leader."

Allura seemed surprised. "That's not what I meant."

"It-it isn't?"

"No. Lance didn't tell you, but I've been chosen to pilot the blue lion. So Lance will pilot Red. Is that ok with you?"

The thought of Lance doing backflips and dive rolls in Red made him grin.

"Yeah, it's fine. I'm just not sure how to pilot Black. I mean, it should be the same, but what if it's different?"

"Well, it probably won't be, it'll just be bigger and stronger."

Keith nodded.

Allura pulled up a screen near her chair, and Keith leaned over to it.

"Now, the second matter to take care of is my piloting skills. I've only flown the castle, and the pod a few times. I may not be very good at first, so if we have to go on a mission, we'll need backup."

Allura typed a few things into the database, and it pulled up a map. It displayed a green planet, which had visible mountains and cliffs. The ID tag at the bottom declared the planet's name: Kty'hipta.

"Interesting name." Keith murmured.

Allura took a deep breath. "You know the story of how the lions and Voltron were created, right?"

Keith nodded.

"Well, when my father was first experimenting with them, he created one lion, the Gold lion. It had no paladin." Allura continued.

"After the five Paladins formed Voltron for the first time, my father wanted to see if the sixth lion, Gold, could be part of Voltron. For some reason, it cannot form Voltron, but it has the properties of a lion. When Alfor scattered the lions, he put this one on this planet, Kty'hipta."

"So, we'll have an extra lion to fight with us?"

"In theory, yes. King Alfor had an alliance with this planet, but when Zarkon declared war, the people of Kty'hipta refused to help. Not many Kty'hiptans know of Gold's location, but the royal family knows. We will journey to the planet and retrieve the lion."

"Who will pilot it?" Keith questioned "Coran?"

Allura seemed taken aback by this idea.

"Quiznak, no! The Kty'hiptans enchanted Gold so only they could fly it. Why I know not, but this was thousands of decaphobes ago. I have scheduled us to arrive on Kty'hipta in a few Vargas. They know we are coming. Tell the others and get ready."

Keith found Lance by the Red lion, talking with it, not wanting to interrupt him, he paused by the doorway and listened.

"Are you sure I was meant to pilot you, Red? I wonder how Keith feels. I felt pretty bad about giving up Blue, but hey, you're cool. I mean, do I get fire powers now? What about Keith? How did you feel about him? I mean, he's an okay guy, and I like him, but I don't know if you're okay with him flying black... Can you like summon him or something?"

Keith stepped out from the shadows.

"Hey, Lance."

Lance whipped around, startled.

"What are you doing? You didn't hear me talking to Red, did you? Oh, you probably did." Lance frowned, which was something he didn't do often. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's ok." Keith filled Lance in on the details of the mission.

Lance's mood visually changed. "A hot jungle planet and a new lion? Sounds great! Let's go!"

They sped off down the hall together, to find the others.