Spirit of the Lioness (Keith x OC): A Voltron Fanfiction

Chapter 1: The Dream Guide

12 years later...

Nifa walked across an arid, rocky biome. She wasn't sure how she got here, but she felt like she had to be, for some reason unbeknownst to her. It was as if something out there was calling her, in need of help.

As she trekked across the mesa, she saw a bright light shine from inside of the canyon. Once again, she felt drawn to it. She stepped down the cliffside and saw that the light was coming from a cave in the side of the rockface. As if being pulled in by a magnet, she stepped inside the cave. Along the cave walls were pictures; drawings of constellations, all which looked like lions. Moreover, they seemed to be glowing blue, the same color that had been emitted from outside.

Nifa continued down the tunnel until she came to a hole in the ground. More blue light shone from it, even more than the pictures on the outside. Curious, she slid down the hole and into a water pool. What she saw on the other side astounded her. It was a giant blue lion, sitting inside of a blue dome. In front of it was a person; someone in full battle armor, that was marked with blue.

"They must want to get inside," Nifa thought to herself. Barely had the voice in her head spoken when the lion's gaze turned to her, its yellow eyes staring back into hers. They seemed to be awaiting her command.

Nifa looked to the person in armor, then back to the lion. Inexplicably, she understood what to do.

"Let him in," she said to the lion, half-expecting it not to do anything. The lion proved her wrong, for as soon as the pilot touched the force field around it, it dropped, leaving him access to the mechanical beast.

The lion crouched down and opened its mouth, allowing the pilot to enter. It then faced the ceiling, awaiting its next command. Once again, Nifa knew what to do without second thought.

"Fly him wherever he needs to go," Nifa said, feeling more confident now that she knew the lion was listening to her. As soon as the words came out, the lion took off into the sky and out of the cave. Once in flight, Nifa suddenly felt a new aura around her. She could feel the wind on her face, the clouds zooming by. It was like she was flying with the lion.

Suddenly, she thought of something else. This lion was clearly going somewhere. If it was taking her commands, it must've expected her to know where.

"Take him wherever you came from," she spoke, not sure what else to say. That's when the lion started moving on its own, flying left and right and even out of the Earth from whence it came, going straight for a portal-like wormhole in the middle of space. It shot right through and on the other side, there was a new planet, somewhat similar to Earth. The lion shot down towards it, and through its eyes, Nifa saw a castle, proud and brilliant, sitting atop a lone hill.

***

"Miss Nifa? Miss Nifa, HEY! Open your eyes!"

Nifa sat up in bed with a small yelp of shock. She looked around, not sure of where she was at first. However, a small lamp, a few posters of her favorite T.V show, Windbreaker, and a tiny closet helped her realize that she was in her own room. At her bedside, sitting in a chair and poking her cheek, was Ellen Sanda, the Admiral of the Galaxy Garrison. As usual, she had a stern look on her face.

"Fourth time this week you've overslept!" she spoke sharply, removing her finger from Nifa's cheek. "I thought I told you to stop wasting your time stargazing late at night!"

"Sorry, ma'am," Nifa mumbled, rubbing her eyes clear of sleep. "I was just dreaming. I had one about a pilot-"

"Dreams are no good unless they're teaching you something important," Admiral Sanda snorted before standing from her chair. "Now, get dressed and be downstairs for breakfast at 0500."

Nifa nodded once and stepped out of her bed, tossing the covers over her pillow and straightening it out. She knew the Admiral was a hardball, but she still cared for her like the mother she had lost quite some time ago.

Yawning, she stuck her head in her closet, and came out wearing a navy blue star-printed T-shirt, bleach-faded jeans, and a midnight black hoodie. She slipped her feet into short-cuffed laced boots before heading downstairs, where a small meal of bacon and eggs was waiting for her.

"Fine time to fall asleep last night when you did," Admiral Sanda grunted, looking over a few papers. "There was an uproar near the Garrison last night."

"Really? What kind of uproar?" Nifa asked without looking up, instead sipping calmly from a cup of hot chocolate.

"Says they brought in a man who crash-landed near them," Admiral Sanda replied without missing a beat. "They were trying to get him fixed up when a bunch of teens broke in and kidnapped him." Admiral Sanda didn't hide much from Nifa, now that she was 18. She had known her long enough to trust that she wouldn't let any of this information out. After all, it had been years since she had stopped going to school, due to the instructions of Commander Iverson.

"Teens? And they got away with it?" Nifa said, curiously peering over her mug.

"Sure did. Hopped on a hover bike and got away just like that," Admiral Sanda confirmed, putting down the report. "Y'know, if you applied yourself a little more, you could actually pull off something like that. Yet here you are, your head in the clouds."

Nifa felt her shoulders slump in the slightest. The one thing that set Sanda and her real mother apart was that Sanda sometimes said degrading things to her. She knew she only meant to push her in the right direction and meant no real harm, but deep down, under the rock solid exterior Sanda had helped her build, she was still that sensitive alien that had come down to live on Earth 12 years ago.

"So you're saying that you want me to be cunning and sly enough to outrun even the Garrison?" she playfully challenged. A normal person would think twice before saying such a thing, but Nifa knew she had known her long enough to be comfortable with a little teasing.

Admiral Sanda raised an eyebrow, but focused her attention on her coffee. "As a matter of fact, yes," she agreed. "You should be able to evade even your allies when the right times come. There could be a time where they might not be allies after all."

Nifa bent her own brow in confusion at the statement. What could Sanda have possibly meany by that?

Before she could ask, there was a knock at the door. Admiral Sanda got up to open it, and there stood Commander Iverson himself. Nifa couldn't help but feel a little surprised. The commanding officer of the Galaxy Garrison hardly came over to their house. What could he have wanted with them?

"Admiral Sanda. Is Miss Nifa here?" he asked in his gravelly, aged voice.

"She's at the breakfast table," Admiral Sanda answered simply, though her face showed the slightest hint of confusion. "What do you need her for?"

"We've received a foreign message at the Garrison," the commander replied. "There's an alien trying to contact us. The only thing we've managed to decode is that they want to speak with Nifa. They said 'it's time.'"

The young girl immediately stood up, now even more surprised than before. A message for her? From outer space? What could it mean? The answer was on the edges of her mind, but she couldn't remember the entire reason in full.

Admiral Sanda looked surprised too. She turned to face Nifa, a rare look of astonishment on her face. Then, with one blink, she returned to her neutral state.

"I see...very well, then. I don't know what this is about, but I knew a day like this might come," Admiral Sanda said, almost to herself. She then walked over to Nifa and placed a hand on her shoulder, with a softness she had never known to come from her. "Little Lion, I pray to God that you're ready for whatever comes next."

Nifa's eyes widened. She hadn't heard that nickname since she had first moved in with the Admiral. Whatever was going on, she knew it was big.

Confused, but willing, she let Sanda lead her to Commander Iverson's side, who escorted her to a military van. Nifa could only stare back at her foster mother standing in the doorframe as they drove away, towards the destiny that had been laid out for her so long ago...

BOOM! Exposition to the exposition! Isn't it fun? Who has sent this message? What adventure lies in wait for our new hero?