Down Memory Lane - Voltron

Chapter 1 - The Mission

/* Author's Note:  Chronologically, this happens after Keith becomes the Black Paladin, but before he leaves with the Blades.  Please comment and let me know how I can fix my writing!  This is gonna be a long journey, so please enjoy.  Thanks for reading!  */

Keith's POV

"Good morning, paladins!" Coran greets everyone on the bridge. They all grunt in response, except for Shiro and Allura, who smile cheerfully back. Keith rolls his eyes; this morning is no different than the last several and therefore not special or "good."

"A few doboshes ago we received a distress signal from the nearby planet Bahiri. You all need to go and see what the trouble is," Coran explains, looking at the paladins one-by-one.

"Aww. I thought today we had off," Lance complains, still in his blue robe and fluffy lion slippers.

"We'll take tomorrow off, Lance. They need our help right now," Keith replies.

Keith, Shiro, and Allura are the only ones dressed in their suits, so they have to wait a bit for the others to change. Soon enough, everyone is ready and in their lions. Shiro rides with Keith in the Black Lion. Coran insisted that the former Black paladin accompany them, something about strategy. Keith had sighed; the others don't seem to trust him to lead all that much.

"No sign of Galran ships," Pidge reports from Green.

"And there don't appear to be any Galra soldiers on the planet," Hunk adds.

"They may still be in danger; they did send out the distress signal," Allura says.

"Maybe the distress signal was old, and they aren't actually in danger?" Keith asks, which triggers irritated huffs from Allura.

"Keith might be right. The leader of Bahiri might have also accidentally pressed the button, you know?" Lance agrees. Keith's heart swells at Lance's defense. Usually the boy backs Allura, but the fact that he's agreeing with Keith against his crush means a lot.

"Well, we won't know who's right until we get down there," Shiro says, shutting down the argument before it can get any more heated.

The lions land in a clearing a few miles outside the main city. They converge and begin picking their way through the – orange grass? Trees the colors of dreams, bubblegum pink, sky blue, and soft lavender, tower over the paladins as they walk. A poo-brown mountain looms several miles to the South, marking a gloomy horizon. When they get close to the city, Keith notices something sorta weird. The buildings are all made of dark colors: night black, discordant blood-red, deep indigo; as though the inhabitants disagreed with the pastel of nature.

Even stranger is the lack of sounds. Keith can hear the crunching of the ground beneath everyone's feet, but there are no animal calls or normal city sounds. Keith scans the surrounding area, his mind on high alert.

"Everyone, watch out. Something weird is going on; There are no sounds anywhere," Keith advises the others through his helmet. A murmur of agreement hisses though his helmet speaker.

The paladins stroll through the center of the city. There is no one around, making the walkways creepy and deserted. When he looks closer, he notices cracks in the paint and the occasional pile of rubble in a tiny alleyway. Keith wonders what kind of people live here.

Clang. Clang. Clang

The tolls of a large forest-green bell tower startles everyone, their bodies tensed from the creepy silence. Sounds of hundreds of voices rises around them, surrounding them as they all whip their heads trying to find the source. Lance clambers up a nearby building, standing on the roof and surveying. His eyes stop on the bell tower.

"Guys, there seems to be some kind of ceremony going on at the bell tower. There are a lot of people over there," Lance relays. He hops off the building, using his jetpack to slow his descent. Keith's breath catches when Lance's body is silhouetted in the sunlight behind him, like the heroes are in action movies. Damn, that boy is fine.

The paladins follow Lance's directions, and soon they are standing on the outskirts of a crowd huddled in front of the green tower. The people, short creatures, are all singing in unison, making the chanting sound they heard earlier.

The inhabitants of the planet, notice the much taller figures of the paladins behind them, and the crowd parts to form a pathway to the tower. The chanting continues, and the paladins cautiously make their way to the steps of the tower where a man dressed in robes matching the tower stands waiting.

"Welcome, Paladins of Voltron," the man booms, when they reach him. Immediately, the chanting stops and silence reigns in the square. Keith shivers at the obedience of the people, but he steps closer to the man anyway. As the Black Paladin, he's supposed to greet first.

"Hello; we got your distress signal. Is everything all right?" Keith asks, getting straight to the point. The short man, who has beady eyes when Keith looks closer, frowns. Keith holds in a sigh, he messed up yet again. People don't like his bluntness, but Keith can't stand the pointless chatter that talkative people engage in. Anyways, these people are supposed to be in danger, but as far as Keith can see, there's nothing wrong.

"Nothing is 'all right,'" the man mocks, groaning loudly. "My name is Rillou Kani, and my people are being harassed by The Entity of the Mountain."

"Well, we are here to help, sir. Please tell us what is going on," Allura answers soothingly. She's always been so much better at diplomacy.

"Follow me," Rillou responds cryptically, sweeping his green robes around and disappearing into the bell tower. Keith barely manages to hold in his groans at the man's dramatics. Shiro pats Keith's shoulder consolingly; he knows Keith is struggling to hold in his explosive temper.

The inside of the tower is magnificent. The green walls stretch up forever, giving Keith a sense of vertigo. Along the lower part of the wall is a mural, depicting a story. As the paladins look at the pictures, Rillou narrates.

"The mountain is home to a great Entity. We Bahirians worship the Entity and gift it sacrifices once a year to satisfy it. The Entity occupied the mountain before we came into being. The Entity protects us and keeps our planet from falling to ruin. The fate of our planet and our people depend on the Entity.

"There is the legend that a treasure is hidden inside the mountain, an orb of grand dimensions that can grant the user eternal life and happiness. The Entity will only grant the orb to worthy beings. Warriors from all parts of the universe come to try and claim the treasure, but they are all lost to the mountain.

"As of late, the planet has experienced seismic disruptions that our scientists sourced to the mountain. We believe the Entity is angry that none have succeeded. I have dreams that if none manage to get the orb, the Entity will tear the planet to pieces. Please, paladins, try to retrieve the orb and save us."

"So you want us to go into a mountain and find the orb that none have ever succeeded in getting?" Hunk asks nervously. Keith pats the big guy on the back.

"We got this, Hunk," Keith says consolingly. At least that's what he is aiming for. It seems to work because the Yellow Paladin shoots him a nervous smile.

"You will do this?" Rillou asks.

"Yup, and we're gonnasave all of you," Lance quips, sending the short man a blinding smile. Keith groans loud enough for the Red Paladinto hear, but it's just a cover for how much he loves staring at Lance'ssmile. Man, can that boy light up a room.