The Purple Paladin

Chapter One: Galra Takeover

"Victoria! Hurry up!" my friend, Alec, yells at me as he gets ready for school.

"I'm going as fast as I can! Hold your space horses!" I yell back.  I tug on my purple shirt and jacket. I slip on my blue jeans and start to tie my purple sneakers. Making sure my wings fit through the slits in my jacket I grab my backpack. That's right, I said wings.  Here on Animaria, everyone looks like a human combined with an animal. I'm one of the lucky ones with wings because I'm half pegasus.

You may be wondering how I know what a human is if I'm not from Earth.  The answer to that is simple. We are aware of Earth and have even visited the planet before,  but we have never revealed our animalistic halves while there. Though many humans have seen us and made us the stuff of legends and folklore.

"V, if you don't get your butt down here right now we're going to be late!" Alec shouts, shaking me from my thoughts.

I look at the clock and notice that we only have a half hour until school starts, "Aw crap!" I yell and race downstairs. Alec follows me as I race out the door and down the street.

We keep running through the streets trying to get to school on time. "We're not going to make it," Alec pants.

"Oh yes, we are. Hang on!" I reply and turn into my animal form, a pegasus. This is a skill all Amimarians have, we can transform into our animal halves. Alec leaps onto my back and I take off, soaring over the rooftops.

I land in the school courtyard with ten minutes to spare, "Nice save, V," Alec says sliding off my back.

"Well, it's my fault we were running late to begin with. I don't want to get you in trouble, again," I reply, changing back and fixing my dirty-blond colored hair back into its usual ponytail.

"Nah the teachers know me. It's you I'm worried about," he replies.

I frown, thinking of all the other times I've screwed up, mostly because of my stubborn attitude, and how the headmaster was now threatening to expel me if I don't get my act together,  "Yeah, I know, but I already know how to survive on my own so if they kick me out I'll just go to the forest and mountains.  Plus it would certainly make it easier to work on that personal project we spend so much time on."

"I know but just be careful," Alec says, "I don't want to lose you. You know the Galra have been trying to take Animaria. They have been talking to the leaders for a while."

"I know," I reply, thinking about how the Galra had tried to convince our leaders to hand over the planet. Their actions had cost me both my birth parents and my adoptive ones, which is why I now live with my best friend and his family. Then I spot the only thing about the Galra that can make me laugh. I turn to Alec and whisper, "And speaking of the Galra." Alec follows my gaze and spots who I'm staring at.

"Oh, it's Carter and Douglas. Everyone's favorite Galra spies who can't hide worth crap," he says, smirking.

I snicker, "Yeah, and they are so full of themselves too."

"Yeah, remember when Douglas thought he could beat Katie in that test of kicking strength? She's half kangaroo for crying out loud." Alec whispers.

I laugh softly, "Yeah I remember, didn't it end with Kally getting mad and almost kicking him?"

"Yep," Alec nods.

Then the bell rings, "I have to go. See you for lunch?" I ask.

"For sure! See you Victoria!" Alec calls as he runs off to his first class.

I race into mine. For once I don't want to be late to class because I need to ask my teacher if I can borrow the books about the Lions of Voltron, my history teacher may be nice but you have to have a good reason for borrowing those books. Today we are learning about Altea, the planet that created the lions. Or, at least, that's what I thought. The teacher had barely started the lesson when Carter and Douglas walk in. They march up to my teacher and hand him a letter. My teacher reads it and looks up, "What is the meaning of this?! What right does your king have to ban topics of history on our planet!?"