Chapter 1: Keith

The Castle of Lions was silent as the five Paladins and two Alteans slept. They had successfully completed their individual tasks that day in their plan to take down Zarkon. Shiro, Pidge, and Lance had rescued Slov from the Galra Prison; Hunk and Keith had braved the belly of a weblum; Allura had flown the castle back to the Balmera and collected the largest crystal ever given; while Coran had remained on Olkarion building the new teludav.

The Blade of Marmora returned to their headquarters to explain the plan, while Slov was left on Olkarion isolated from the teludav to prevent further damage. Coran reviewed the damage and estimated that the repairs would take an additional day and demanded Slov not be allowed to touch the teludav. He also requested Hunk keep his distance after the comment about blowing the teludav up.

The Olkari were happy to assist with the repairs to the teludav, which allowed Coran to return to the Castle of Lions and ensure all systems were fully operational before the attack on Zarkon.

The day ended, after the hard battle against the previous Ro-Beast on the Balmera, and the team decided to call it a quintant and turn in early.

The Castle remained in orbit around Olkarion and the ship was peaceful. The lions were stowed in their individual hangars and the inhabitants of the Castle were resting in their quarters.

Keith lay in his bed, tossing and turning. He pulled the covers over his head and buried his face in his pillow. Sweat ran down the back of his neck. His black hair stuck to the sides of his face as Keith struggled to catch his breath.

Inside his dream, Keith was strapped to a table. He fought against the restraints. His first thought was the Galra had captured him, but Keith couldn't figure out how. The Blade of Marmora crossed his mind, but as Keith looked around the room, he saw the familiar Altean tech and design of the hangar bay. Keith strained his neck to look behind him and, sure enough, saw the Red Lion, standing guard.

"Help me!" Keith pleaded, but the Red Lion seemed off. The glowing yellow power in its eyes was gone and the protective shield that surrounded the lion wasn't activated. Keith continued to struggle to break free.

"There is no need for that." A hand reached out from behind him and rested on his forearm. Keith jumped, noticing the person in the room for the first time. It was a male voice, which sounded young, but he didn't recognize it as being any of his crew-mates.

"Who's there?"

"Therron, now can you stop struggling, please, or this is going to hurt more." The man, Therron stepped in front of Keith and placed a syringe to his neck. Keith felt a quick jab of pain and then it was over. Therron appeared, the definition of a strapping boy. His hair was silver and about Pidge's hair length, but he reminded Keith most of Allura with his dark skin and sharp icy blue eyes, with the blue markings underneath to match. He wore a white button-down shirt with a black or perhaps a navy blue vest.

"What was that?" Keith turned his head from side-to-side as the injection ran its course through his body and made him tired.

"It was a relaxant. It won't make you pass out, but will at least prevent you from struggling. Lux was supposed to be second for the energy transfer, but the council is getting a little irritated with you, especially after you sabotaged the Green Lion."

"I didn't-"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me. I get it and you're right. We're rushing things. With Waverly, we had to, but that doesn't have to be the case for the rest of us."

"Therron. It seems like you have a good grasp of the situation. So if you let me go, I think we can come to an agreement."

"This is the agreement. I will ensure that Sorrel gets to live his life. He will be giving four years that he otherwise wouldn't have been allowed. By that time, I will be twenty-two. The council won't allow anything older, they already think they are pushing their luck with you."

"I'm seventeen."

"Then you must have lied on your paperwork." Therron chuckled, fiddling with the computer console. "I'm not here to argue with you. I just want to let you know the plan. This is what you wanted, so you can rest easy."

"Sorry, if I'm not comforted, laying on a dissection table."

Therron stepped forward, but before he could say anything, the hangar bay doors opened and an Altean woman came through. "Prince Therron, Lieutenant Lux is here."

"Please send him in." To Keith, Therron said, "I'll let you two say goodbye."

"Wait. Therron!" Keith tried to pull against the restraints again, but he didn't have his strength like before.

"Hey, Captian."

Keith looked up and saw a tall toned muscled figure. He had blond hair styled like his own, as Lance called his mullet. Keith laughed, "Guess I know what blond me would look like."

"Oh no. I'm too late he's already gone into hysterics."

"Lux, I need you to get me out of here."

"Sorry, orders are to not untie you. I think the staff is wondering if they'll be able to get you back in the restraints."

"Why am I even being restrained?"

"I think they're meant so you don't harm yourself. I'm surprised Therron isn't replacing you, and even more at the damage, you did to the Green Lion. Therron is a man of his word. Not sure how he convinced the council, but he plans on keeping his promise to you and Waverly."

"This isn't right. I'm a Paladin and you're going to kill me."

"This is what you wanted to be with your sister."

"I don't have a sister!"

Lux ignored the comment, "You won't be alone for long. The Yellow Lion is nearly complete and ready. I guess if everything goes to plan this won't be the end. I'll see you again with the others. So I guess this is goodbye for now." Lux squeezed his arm and then turned to leave.

"No, wait! Lux, get me out of here! Lux!"

"Now we're ready to begin. Do you have any final words?" Therron returned with a group of Alteans in white suits.

"What the hell is going on?" Keith turned his head, straining to get a better view of the Alteans muddling about from the strapped position on the table.

"Prince Therron, we are ready to begin the soul transfer."

"The WHAT!" Keith found new strength and began fighting against his holds, which now also had the hands of multiple Alteans pressing down on him.

"Linking in ten clicks," Therron said from behind the control console identical to the one Allura used to fly the ship. Keith saw Therron place his hands on the pad and Altean energy started to flow into the system as Therron began to glow. Therron looked up into Keith's indigo eyes, "You're going to feel some discomfort. In three, two, one."

Keith felt like his whole body was on fire, the burning sensation when your feet are cold and you step into a hot shower covered his entire body. Keith screamed, but the sound didn't penetrate through the pain his mind and body felt in the link.

Keith woke, screaming. The sound finally piercing through his subconscious, startling him awake. His whole body was sweaty and trembling. He felt cold and disoriented. He pulled his hands up, reassuring himself he wasn't pinned down to the table and rubbed his fingers through his long hair.

"What the hell was that?"

Kestle:

Hi, FanFiction Readers! This is my first FanFiction story.

I've had many ideas in the past and thought I should write one, but for the longest time felt that I should work on my own original Fiction stories and publish, but I have been struggling with editing my book and thought this would be fun in the meantime.

Voltron: Origins started with the idea of what would the lions be like if they were people. I wanted to create a story for the lions and how they made a team. Everything didn't begin with Zarkon and Alfor, but with the lions themselves. Just like it took our known Paladins some time to bond and form Voltron the same is true for the lions or the people before the lions.

Please let me know what you think.