I Am The Red Paladin

The Galra King

When Keith woke he was unable to move, his wrists and ankles were tight with restraints, limbs pinned to a large slab. He struggled against the metal hissing slightly in pain as the restraints cut at his skin. Keith ceased his fight and examined the room he was being held prisoner. It was dull, only a small light lit the room and Keith gulped at what lay beneath it. Tools, strange ones, alien almost but the red paladin knew torture weapons when he saw them. He glanced down at himself, finding that the Galra had relieved him of his armour and his jacket. There was a hole in his shirt where that unmasked druid shot him, meaning that the woman had pierced right through his armour which caused an unintentional shudder to course through him. Where human skin should have been was now purple and Keith hastily changed his attention to his hands and arms to find his Galra DNA had furthered its conquest of his human body. The paladin growled a little before restarting his resistance, yelling out in frustration as the manacles refused to move.

"Resisting is pointless."

Keith's head snapped to the door and he felt a shiver of fear flow down his spine. Zarkon. The Galra King himself had made a personal appearance. The King was menacing, to say the least, his broad shoulders gave the impression of how large the Galra actually was. Those square like eyes were ominous and held a chilling aspect which caused Keith to tremble. The paladin thrashed around as Zarkon approached only to stop a few metres away, Slowing his movements, Keith watched in confusion as the Galra placed a hand to his chin and analysed his prisoner with curiosity.

"What?" Keith snapped angrily at him, he had to admit he'd much prefer the man to torture him than dress him down with his intimidating purple pupils.

"It was brought to my attention that we had an intruder and imagine my surprise when I find out it was a Paladin of Voltron. The Red Paladin no less." Zarkon came closer dipping Keith's shirt down to reveal the purple skin. "And to find out that the boy was showing signs of being Galra, I just had to see for myself."

"Well gawk all you want." Keith spat at Zarkon as the Galra moved away, "I won't give up the others."

"Oh, I don't expect you to." The Emperor shook his head before turning to the door. "They'll come for you."

"So you're not going to torture me?"

"Oh," Zarkon turned back and gave Keith the darkest sneer, laughing as the paladin's face fell. "I never said that."

  ***  

"Where is he?" Kolivan asked Thace as everyone crowded them.

"If he survived the blast then he will surely be a prisoner by now."

"Survived the blast?" Shiro exclaimed heatedly. "You were only there to shut the system down, not blow up the ship."

"It was the only way." Thace snapped back at the black paladin. "They changed the codes before either of us were able to enter them."

"So how did you escape?" Hunk asked the Galra noting the injuries the man had obtained.

"There was an entrance to the second deck from the main conduit, the paladin pushed me into it. His lion was waiting for me when I got there. Your friend saved my life." Thace bowed his head to the yellow paladin. "And for that, I am grateful."

"So you have no idea if he's alive?" Lance shook his head in disbelief.

"No."

  ***  

The painful scream faded leaving Keith's throat raw. The torture was worse than he expected, it was continuous, he was unable to let the recent inflicted throbbing fade before another stab of pain shot through him. The druid to administer the damage didn't say a word other than the routine questions Keith knew the man had interrogated so many times before. The red paladin couldn't tell if the Galra man was enjoying it or not, the mask that covered the druid's facial features betrayed nothing that laid beneath it. Keith was panting heavily as the druid turned away from him placing his bloodied instrument back onto the table. The hooded man's hand stopped centimetres away from his next choice of torture as the door slid open.

"Let him down."

"Of course, Haggar." The druid nodded respectfully to his superior before removing the restraints that cut into Keith's joints. Keith had been prepared to fight, ready to kill for his life but when the manacles were released he fell to the floor too weak to even lift himself up. His body was hauled up from the floor, sluggishly eyeing the two Galra soldiers that held his weight before turning back to Haggar who was smiling willfully at him.

"Let's see if the Paladin's live up to their names," Haggar spoke with spite. "Perhaps you'll even be better than the 'Champion'."

Keith's eyes widened in terror and was powerless to stop his carriers from dragging him from the room. 

  ***  

"We have to save him." Pidge and Hunk sang together.

"We don't even know if he still lives," Antok commented. "He knew the risks."

"I understand that sacrifices are part of your job," Shiro replied sharply. "But Keith is family and we don't leave family to suffer."

"Yeah!" Pidge agreed.

"Now if Keith did survive what would they do with him?" Shiro asked Thace.

"Torture him for information," Thace explained, reliving the countless hostages Zarkon had taken over the years. "It is also likely they would send him to the arena. After this I'm unsure."

"The arena?" Shiro's face was littered with horror. "You mean?-"

"-Yes paladin, the very same."

  ***  

Zarkon stared out the glass window that walled his throne, watching in tamed anger as a cluster of his soldiers began their work on reconstructing the remains of the ships communication hub. He clenched his fist in frustration, he had been so one minded on the black lion he let his enemy sneak behind his defences and deliver a devastating blow. Zarkon didn't turn when Haggar entered the throne room, nor did he acknowledge her when she began to speak. His mind drifted to his son having him expected back weeks ago.

"Any word from Prince Lotor?" Zarkon interrupted the druid not interested in what the woman was rambling about.

"What about me?"

Zarkon and Haggar twisted around to find a man with sharp features, long white hair and a handsome smile of his lips standing against the door.

"Lotor." Zarkon approached the man while Haggar bowed low. "Where have you been?"

"Ah, let's just say a Weblum's insides are not as homey as you would think." Lotor smiled grasping his father's arm in greeting. Zarkon chuckled before bringing his son towards his throne.

"I have the perfect welcoming back present but I hope you haven't returned empty handed."

"Perish the thought." 

  ***  

Keith didn't know when he had passed out knowing it was somewhere among the everlasting corridors, but when he woke he was alone, isolated in a small dark cell that smelled strongly of blood. Keith groaned as he lifted himself up, attempting to soothe his aching limbs only to cringe in pain as his hands brushed over the vast amount of deep cuts covering his body.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Keith turned to the voice that spoke and hobbled over to the cell door, grasping the metal bars to steady himself on his feet. Keith was dreaming and or hallucinating that was for sure. The person that spoke to him was upsettingly familiar. But their voice was vastly different, it was deeper, filled with pain and question. But there was no way that this person was here, unless. Keith's eyes widened in disbelief and let the one name tumble from his mouth.

"Matt?"