Back again, and with another story idea. This is a little fanfiction of Dreamwork’s Voltron: Legendary Defender (VLD), called “Voltron: Reflections.” This based on the alternate universe shown in season 3 of VLD, and I thought it would be nice to try and explore it a little. This isn’t much but I hope you still like it. Take care.
The ground shook yet again from a dying wail, a sound that began many years ago when the Alteans took the last of the energy crystals from the Balmera’s surface. The wail carried on into the present, covered every square of rocky desert, every canyon ever made and every cave and hole dug into the planet. Inside one such cave, Shay, the last thing on Balmera X-95-Vox, felt it all while trying to get some sleep.
Lying on the cave floor in her tattered cloak, Shay clasped her large, rocky hands over her large ears. Each of her four-fingers closed shut to hide out of the wail. She couldn’t hide from it, though. Her seismic sense, once a gift of her people, cursed her to feel the pain of the creature that resided in her planet and gave birth to the energy crystals. The same crystals that powered great warships and weapons. It was the reason why many came to the world.
That had been before the Alteans began their rule. They were among the many who sought after the crystals of the Balmera. Then, they came to the planet centuries, claiming themselves as “the sole protector of the Balmera.” The stories said that had been the first sign of many problems to come. The next sign was the Alteans taking more crystals than usual, the beginning of a long process of taking with nothing in return.
That process ended many years ago. It was a memory Shay recalled every time the Balmera of her world screamed in pain. It was one that never ended, never faded from her mind-
White claws of Altean machines dug into the ground, and the Balmera screamed while rocks and ash fell on its people. Among those, a little Shay stood petrified in caverns’ streets. She could only look up at the devastation before two shadows grabbed her. She was taken aback before she relaxed a bit to find her parents.
“Mother! Father!” little Shay tried to say over the devastation.
Her mother said something back. Shay couldn’t hear her, but she guessed it well enough: “Stay close with Rax!”
Shay glanced around. There was no sign. “I can’t find him!” she told her mother, even if everything was falling apart.
Speaking of which, the walls and floors cracked like a great wound. For the briefest moment, Shay heard her father shout, “Shay, get out of here! Get to the surface!”
With a push from her father, Shay ran. She ran as fast as she could, from the machines and destruction through the screaming and her friends. She couldn’t look back. Shay couldn’t bare another second to waste, so she could get away with her family.
Wait. Where were her parents?
Stopping at a nearby cavern exit, Shay looked. Her eyes wide, she saw the last of the Alteans’ machines retreat from the caverns, carrying the tiny glimmers of what looked like crystals of the Balmera. With the Alteans’ retreat, however, the unstable cavern began to split and fall in on itself. In the height of cries from the innocent, Shay’s parents joined in.
“Mother! Father!” Shay screamed before the cavern wall fell on her parents and everyone-
A loud roar woke Shay into complete consciousness. This sound was unlike anything she had heard before. This was not the Balmera’s cries. This wasn’t a regular ship, either. Curious, Shay took a look out her cave and gasped.
A dark streak spread across the acid skies as something red fell to the planet. Right in front of her cave.
Shay heard the Balmera cry again, but this time was more from shock than the familiar pain it should’ve been used to now. Taken aback herself, Shay gathered her tattered cloak around her. Then, she stepped out of the cave for the first time in several years.
The dust around whatever crashed rose over it, blocking Shay from seeing the true form. There was a glimmer of red, however, along with a loud purr. Shay had no time to wonder about the sound, not when she saw someone stepping through the smoke.
Said someone, clad in a white spacesuit, approached. He staggered towards Shay, as if in a daze. A confused Shay stared at the figure in confusion and spoke with a voice she barely used. “Um, hello?”
“Oh! Hello there!” the figure greeted back, while he took off his helmet. “I hope you don’t mind me crashing here!”
Shay learned to mind, especially when she saw pointed ears and special marking on the stranger’s aged skin. An Altean.
Shay clenched her hands into fists and held them up. “Stay back!” she yelled.
The Altean stopped, blinking his ancient eyes in confusion. Then, he blinked again in understanding. “Ah, yes! I forgot how much time has passed. Time by the black hole really kept me well-preserved… well, almost well-preserved,” the Altean rambled then paused to look at his surroundings, “and I see this place has changed much.”
“If you’re looking for something, then you’d be disappointed,” Shay proclaimed, waving a hand to her desolate home. “As you can see, your people already took everything!”
The Altean’s smile turned into a frown while he looked around. Was that regret? “Yes… so I have heard. I never expected such a thing would happen…” he said almost wistfully.
Shay almost let down her guard. Almost. Wasting no more time, she charged at this Altean, ready to put him down and return what his people had done to hers. And this was an old man. Surely, it wouldn’t be too hard to put him in his place.
The minute Shay threw a punch, she learned otherwise. The Altean, with hair as white as his spacesuit and covered in wrinkles, caught her punch and flipped her. “Oof!” Shay cried, having fallen on her back.
“That’s a reckless move,” said the Altean standing over Shay and shaking his head. “Best not to move without thinking first. Having heart is good though, and you do have that.”
“Ugh…” Shay groaned and tried to get back up.
The old Altean held her down with his boot. “Careful,” he chided, almost playfully, “attack me again, and it might be your last move.”
Shay gritted her teeth. “That does not matter to me! As long I can stop you and your kind, I’ll do everything I can!”
The old one tilted his head to one side. “Oh. And why is that?” he asked in genuine curiosity. There was no response, so he continued, “You believe I’m here to steal Balmera crystals, aren’t you? If I was, what makes you think you can stop me?”
“I don’t!” Shay growled.
“So why try?”
Memories flashed before Shay’s eyes. She saw her people and planet’s suffering. All those years alone. Every image gave birth to a fire that rose with every word she spoke. “When I was a child, I had lost everything when your people came. My home. My parents. My people… My brother… ” Shay swallowed the tiny crack in her voice and glared at the Altean above her. “It has been so long that I can barely remember their faces. I was weak then… but this time, I’m not, and I won’t let that happen ever again. You won’t harm this planet again!”
To Shay’s surprise, the old Altean removed his boot with a smile. “Good,” he said, holding out his hand. “What’s your name?”
Shay glanced at the hand extended to her. Was this a trick? It didn’t feel like one. Alteans had only stole from her. This one didn’t. That had to mean something, right?
At last, she accepted the hand and answered, “My name is Shay.”
The Altean pulling her up smiled kindly. “Well, hello Shay. My name’s Alfor. I know we’ve just met, but I need to ask a favor of you…"
Shay gasped again. The dust had finally cleared and the large head of a red mechanical lion popped through. In her shock, Shay looked back to Alfor, finding a smile on the old Altean’s face as he gave his request:
“… do you mind taking care of my lion for me?”