Form Voltron

4. Prison

I stared at the dull walls with hatered. l heard the stomping beyond the cell door, but I couldn't see anything but dirty wall. l listened to the tortured screams of the people and creatures around me without a complaint. I had my own torture.

Dreams of Elliott, my boyfriend, haunted me nightly, torturing me and making me see things I shouldn't see. Sometimes I heard his voice, sometimes Zara's. Sometimes I saw one and heard the other. I could never tell which was which or what they were saying. I never creamed, no, I would give the Galra that kind of satisfaction. They never made me fight like the other prisoners, they always kept me locked away. They never spoke, never told me what had happened to the red lion.

Sometimes, though, as I sat against a wall and stared at the other, I heard stories of a prisoner who had escaped. A fighter called the Champion. A human fighter. He had escaped and no one knew where he went. The younger ones liked to make up storied about what he could have done after he left, the older ones liked to tell about who he was. I like hearing stories. They kept me awake. They kept me alive. Kept me biding my time before I could leave.

There were no stories that night, I assumed, when no one spoke after the match. I guessed someone had died and they were mourning. That was until I heard someone speak up. They had a young voice, a child, and obviously a girl. She was quiet, so the guards wouldn't know, but I could hear just enough to hear her story.

"I didn't know the Champion." She began. There was shuffling as everyone moved to more comfortable positions. "But I've been told he was brave and kind. I heard he hated having to fight and wanted to get out more then anyone. Wren knew him personally."

So that's what happened. Someone named Wren had died. I felt my gut twist in sympathy.

"I'm going to tell the story that Wren told me back before we were moved in to this cell." The girl took a breath. "The Champion was just that: a champion. He never stood down, and never let someone beat him. There was only one time he ever broke down completely, and that was after he survived Haggar's terrible experiments." I shivered. Everyone knew how many people Haggar had killed with her experimenting.

"He came back one day, a stump where his arm should have been. he was thrown into the cell and he didn't move for a long time. The others in his cell were afraid he was dead. Eventually, he dragged himself into a corner, and something terrifying happened then, he began to cry. His tears rolled down his cheeks faster and faster, sobs jerking his body forward and back again. No one knew what to do." This time, someone else took over. A man, older than the first one. "He quieted after a while, still shaking. I went over to him and sat beside him." So this one was there when this happened. "I didn't say anything and I didn't touch him, I just sat quietly. He straightened and rubbed his eyes. He didn't say a word to us but he put a hand on his stump and stared at the wall in front of him, in blank shock. He didn't say a word until he was a taken away again." There was silence until the man spoke again. "I don't know what happened to him or where he went, but I remember a few hours of nothing, then cheers. People screaming in joy that the Champion had escaped. That was the day hope rekindled in our hearts. I don't know about you, but I personally still believe that there is something better waiting for us." Then nothing.

I laid down on the ground, not looking forward to the pain I would have in my neck and back when I woke up in the morning.

"Zara." I whispered, tears welling in my eyes when my heart began to hurt. "Please, if you're alive, come find me. I can't do this anymore." I shut my eyes, the image of the dark haired girl fading with each passing moment. I feared the day when I could no longer see her, for when she was gone, Elliott would be too.

I had this written, and more, but Wattpad deleted it just as I was about to publish it, so I had to rewrite it. I like is better now, it makes more sense.