Chapter Text

Lionhearted

Chapter One:

“Alright! Who can tell me what these three cadets did wrong?!” 

The three cadets in question cringed as they glanced to their right, where their crowd of imposing classmates stood, hands in air. 

“Ingerman!” 

“Sir!” Cadet Ingerman yelled, addressing the ever-irritable Commander Goat. “The pilot crashed!” 

“ Why did he crash, cadet?” Goat growled. 

“Unnecessary risks sir,” Ingerman continued. “Tried to navigate the canyons instead of scouting from above,” 

“Exactly!” The short officer yelled, again pointing at the cadets. “JORGENSON!” 

“Despite her babe-licous looks, the mechanic’s hair got in the way and she fell out of her chair,” Snotlout said, grinning at the failed cadet team’s mechanic. 

“Merida… chill,” The comms officer hissed. The redhead next to him huffed and blew a strand of her curly locks off her forehead. 

“Right! That hair is not regulation cadet!” Goat yelled. “Hofferson!” 

“Comms officer disregarded procedure and distracted his crewmates,” The blonde girl said dryly. Goat nodded again.

“Right!” The commander yelled. “These types of mistakes have caused missions to go horribly wrong! The Kerberos crew knew this, and they forgot! Learn from their mistakes!” 

This time, it was the pilot and mechanic restraining the angry comms officer. 

“Hic - chill!” The pilot, a white haired boy named Jack hissed. “Don’t get us in more trouble!” 

“QUIET CADET!” The commander yelled. “Cadets, you are released for meals! Overland, Dunbroch, Haddock! Back to the dorms!” 

“Yes sir,” The three cadets muttered. They turned and marched over, only stopping to breathe once they were out of sight. 

“Odin's crows we messed tha’ up,” Merida Dunbroch muttered. Like the others had pointed out, her bushy red hair was bursting out of its tie, escaping whatever braid or bun she’d attempted to put it in before. 

“We?!” Jack Overland scoffed. “My flying was fine! You two idiots are the ones who couldn’t handle it!” 

Jack was the crew’s pilot. He had (also anti regulation) dyed white hair and a bad habit of purposely breaking rules for fun. He was a decent single simulator pilot, but was completely hopeless when he had to fly in team missions. 

“We couldnae handle it?!” Merida hissed. “You're tha’ one with tha’ fancy flyin’ tha’ almost killed us!” 

“Me?!” Jack protested. “Oh come on! Hiccup, tell her that I- Hiccup?” 

The comms officer was a small teen with shaggy auburn hair and green eyes that somehow always looked nervous. He wore a pair of large glasses that had a bad habit of catching the light, but his teammates had a theory that he didn’t really need them. Currently, he was also edging out of the group, heading back towards his room. 

“Where does he go every night?” Jack muttered. “He always sneaks out, but he’s always back by morning,” 

“Ah donae think he sleeps,” Merida muttered. The redhead shrugged. “Ah’ll meet you back in your dorm? Sneak in some sweets,” 

Merida snuck back into the boys dorms, now dressed in her civvies - a loose set of cargo pants and a dark teal shirt - with a few bags of chips stuffed in her pockets. Jack met her at the door, now comfortably dressed in a blue sweatshirt instead of his stiff uniform. 

“Hiccup’s already gone?” Merida asked, ripping open her bag. Jack nodded. “Let's follow him,” 

Jack’s eyes sparkled. 

“Oh yeah,” 

The two cadets snuck out of the dorm, following the direction Jack often saw Hiccup take. They slipped quickly past the officers' mess, crawling under the long window. Jack performed a few somersaults, causing Merida to roll her eyes. 

The duo quickly pressed their backs to the wall when they heard a new set of footsteps, but managed to sneak through a slightly ajar door. 

It led up to the roof, where coincidentally, they found Hiccup. 

“Come out here to rock out?” Jack asked, yanking Hiccup’s headphones off his head as the other boy cried out. 

“Jack! M-Merida!” Hiccup groaned. “What are you doing?” 

“Finding out where you went,” Merida said, crossing her arms. “Wot even is this stuff? Ah know tha's not Garrison issue,” 

“I… built it,” Hiccup said, a slight blush spreading across his face. “I tinker with stuff back home, so I modified- JACK STOP TOUCHING!” 

“Wot are you doing up here then?” Merida asked, sitting down and poking at the computers herself.

“Scanning to the edges of the known galaxy,” Hiccup smirked. “And picking up alien radio chatter,” 

“Aliens exist?” Jack asked. 

“Jack. You are in the space exploration program,” Hiccup muttered. “Aliens exist!” 

“Wot are they saying? Do they even speak our language!?” Merida asked excitedly. 

“No, but they all have this one word in common - Voltron.” 

“What's Voltron?” 

“I don’t know!” Hiccup yelled. “And stop touching!” 

“Wots that!” Merida yelped, leaping to her feet and pointing out into the desert. 

“An asteroid?” Hiccup said, packing his tech into his bag. “Wait-”

“That’s not an asteroid, that's a spaceship,” Jack interrupted. 

“That alien chatter is picking up!” Hiccup yelled, yanking his headphones off. “They know something about voltron!” 

“Let's go then!” Merida yelled, grabbing Hiccup and Jack, tearing down the stairs. As they reached the door, a loud alarm started to blare inside the building, giving out a loud warning to all the students about a lockdown. The three ignored it, bursting out a side door and tearing towards the desert. 

Merida pulled her hood up over her voluminous hair, gesturing for Jack and Hiccup to do the same. If they were going to sneak aboard, the last thing they needed was to be recognized. 

In the short time between the ship crashing and the time it took to catch up, Garrison officials had already set up shop. They had hover cars and medical tents set up, and had started to ferry in scientific supplies for the lab crews. 

The trio slipped inside when the sentries weren’t looking, and Hiccup pushed ahead to lead the way. He’d already hacked into the Garrison computers and pulled up an evolving map, which led him to a hastily set up console. 

“Come on,” He muttered, opening up the cameras. “Wait a second!” 

“Wot?” Merida asked. 

“I… that was one of the scientists on the Kerberos mission!” Hiccup said excitedly, sowing the others the footage of a tall blonde man who was lying restrained on a bed. More Garrison doctors - all dressed in hazmat suits - were reassuring him. “But, where are the others?” 

“This definitely isn’t the Kerberos shuttle,” Jack muttered, staring up around the strange purple and grey ceiling. “Okay, does anyone else hear whispering?” 

“Actually, yes” Merida griped, peering around the corner anxiously. 

“Wait - he’s breaking free!” Hiccup yelped, watching as the man broke out of his cuffs and ran for the door. 

“Wot?!” Merida yelled, grabbing the computer screen and looking. “Wot the hell is he doin’?!” 

A loud crashing sound led to the mystery man tripping his way into the hall the three were hiding in. He locked eyes with the cadets, but they widened when he noticed Hiccup. 

“Hiccup?” He asked.

“Bucket?” Hiccup asked. Merida and Jack flicked their eyes back and forth, surprise blooming across their faces. 

“It is you!” Bucket cried, running towards the young cadet. “You’ve grown up!” 

“Bucket, where are the others!?” Hiccup asked quickly. “What happened?!” 

“Voltron!” The old astronaut cried, grabbing Hiccup by the shoulders. “You have to find Voltron! It’s the only thing that can stop them!” 

“Stop who?!” Hiccup stuttered. “Voltron? What is Voltron?” 

“HEY!” The other Garrison soldiers had found them. 

“Odin's crows!” Merida cursed. “We gotta go!” 

“Bucket, come on!” Hiccup cried, stepping back. The blonde man shook his head and stepped back himself, putting his body between the Garrison and the cadets. 

“Go.” He said, demeanor clearing for a minute. “Find Voltron. Save us all,” 

Hiccup’s eyes widened as Jack grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away. The cadet stumbled, glasses tumbling to the ground forgotten, turning around joining his crew as they bolted out of the ship, officers close on their heels as Bucket did his best to delay them. 

“This way!” Merida yelped, hurtling towards where the hover cars were parked. She leapt onto a hoverbike - colored the Garrison orange and white. She slammed her heel into a panel before the steering, popping it off and pulling out a bundle of wires as Jack and Hiccup caught up. 

“What are you doing?” Hiccup asked. 

“Why aren’t we running?!” Jack added, looking nervously behind him as more officers were alerted to their presence. 

“Success!” Merida shrieked as the hoverbike thrummed to life. Jack shoved her out of the way, grabbing the steering handles and kicking out the pedals. 

“Lets go!” He yelled, shoving the steering forwards. The bike lurched up and out into the desert. They sped away from the crash site, seemingly home free until the familiar thrums of hover cars started to catch up. 

“No!” Merida cried. “Go faster!” 

Jack swerved to the side, almost knocking Hiccup and Merida off their positions on the bike. 

“OI!” The redhead screamed, grabbing onto the hoverbikes arms. “Stop tryin’ ta’ kill us with your fancy flyin’!” 

“Let me do my thing!” Jack yelled, a hint of panic in his voice. The garrison officers were getting closer, and with Jack’s piloting, the trio’s future wasn’t looking particularly bright. 

“Shove over!” Hiccup suddenly yelled, pushing Jack back and throwing himself into the seat. His hands and feet automatically adjusted to the control pedals, and he clicked the right one back - sending them rocketing forwards again. 

“Hiccup!” Jack yelled. “What are you doing!?” 

“Flying!” The brunette boy yelled back. He slammed the controls to the left, and the bike banked hard. A minute later, one of the Garrison cars smashed into the rocky outcroppings. 

“But you aren’t a pilooooooooooooot!” Jack shrieked. Merida whooped loudly next to him, obviously enjoying Hiccup’s flight style. 

“Just because I’m in the comms program doesn’t mean I didn’t want to be a pilot before!” Hiccup yelled over the wind, swinging the bike around again. Two more cars crashed behind them, leaving two in the chase. “How hold on!” 

“Hold on?” Jack yelled, peering over Hiccup’s shoulder. “THAT'S A CLIFF!” 

“I know!” Hiccup smirked, and gunned the engine. They rocketed forwards, over the edge of the cliff as the last two cars skidded to a stop. The whoosh of air in their ears mixed with Merida’s screams of joy. Jack had been scared at the beginning, but Merida and Hiccup’s enthusiasm was infectious and he joined in. 

“WOO!” 

Hiccup yanked on the handlebars, clicking them back a notch. The thrusters rolled in a complete 180, safely bringing them to the ground. He clicked the handles back into place and they sped off, disappearing as a speck in the desert. 

They kept riding until the sun began to creep up over the mountains. The hoverbike started to sputter. Merida concluded that it wasn’t built for this much desert travel, so an excess of sand might have built up in the engines. 

“What's that?” Jack interrupted, pointing towards the horizon. Hiccup and Merida looked over, squinting against the sun. “It looks like… a house,” 

“No point in not trying,” Hiccup muttered, restarting the hoverbike. The trio made their way towards the dark spot, the bike moving slowly as they went. 

The dark spot was a house, but it wasn’t a very good one. The old shack had dry, sand encrusted wood with windows that didn’t line up quite right. Someone clearly lived there, but the house hadn’t been professionally fixed in years. A few old painted potted plants sat around the door, drying vegetable stalks drooping in the heat. 

And outside, stood a thin teenage girl with short dark hair, holding a frying pan threateningly as she stared down the cadets. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Two: 

“Who are you?!” The brunette girl yelled. She held her frying pan like a club and her green eyes were wide as her voice shook a little. She seemed to have spent a lot of time outside, but not around people. The purple dress she was wearing hung a little too short above the knees, and she was barefoot. “I said - who are you ?” 

“Jack Overland!” Jack chimed in, noticing that his crewmates were about to not be any help. “My friends and I are just a little lost!” 

“How did you find me Jack Overland?” The girl threatened. He took a step closer and she tightened her grip, so Jack stepped back. 

“We didn’t know you were out here,” He said. “We just need some water, maybe some time to fix our bike, and we’ll be out of your hair,” 

“Alright,” The girl said, lowering her frying pan. “I believe you,” 

She let them inside the shack before hurrying over to the small kitchenette and getting out some glasses. The inside of the house was surprisingly clean for a desert home. The old floorboards were swept completely clear of any sand, and the furniture was scrubbed clean. Hiccup blinked, noticing the spiralling artwork of murals that covered every available space. 

“The only other person I’ve seen out here is my mother,” The girl said. “She said there's nothing out there for miles, and it's the safest place for me,” 

“Safe from what?” Hiccup asked, taking the water. The girl shrugged. 

“I don’t know,” She admitted. “She says there are people out there that will hurt me, so I’ve lived here forever,” 

“Wot’s your name lass?” Merida asked as she took a swig of the water. Her curls had been plastered to her face with sweat, but they were still insanely tangled from their escape. 

“Oh, Rapunzel,” The brunette said. “Sorry, I forgot that nobody else knows that,” 

“You’ve been here your whole life?” Jack asked. “With just your mom?” 

“Where even is your mom?” Hiccup asked nervously. “I don’t think she’ll be happy to find us here,” 

“Ever since I got older, she moved out into the city I think,” Rapunzel said. “She comes by every week to give me more food and make sure I’m still here,” 

“Sounds bloody boring,” Merida muttered. “Being out here all alone,” 

“Well, it is sometimes,” Rapunzel said, playing with one of her short strands of hair. “I’ve gotten pretty good at a bunch of different topics… kept myself busy inside,” 

“You don’t explore?” 

“Mother doesn’t want me going far,” The girl said. “But, I’m not alone anymore! You three are here,” 

“Yeah,” Jack muttered. “I guess we are,” 

“We cannae go back,” Merida said sadly. “The Garrison will probably lock us up for years,” 

“Why are you three even out here?” Rapunzel asked. “And what's the Garrison?” 

“An alien spacecraft crashed last night,” Jack said. “We snuck aboard to look around and got caught, so we ran,” 

“Aliens?” Rapunzel breathed, eyes growing wide as she leaned in. 

“It was this weird ship, all black and grey with purple-” Jack added, but Merida cut him off. 

“It felt strange,” She said. “Almost like it wanted us ta’ be there,” 

“Like… it was whispering to you?” Rapunzel asked slowly. The other three turned and nodded, eyes wide and confused at her wording. “I need to show you something,” 

“Show us what?” Hiccup asked. He stopped fiddling with his equipment and made eye contact with Rapunzel. “What did you hear?” 

“Whisper,” The girl said. “But it’s coming from a very specific place - these caves a mile or so west. The whispering gets stronger there, and there are these weird cave drawings all over the walls. All of a blue lion - and the word…” 

“Voltron,” Hiccup breathed, and Rapunzel nodded. 

“Voltron.” 

“Tha’s what Bucket was yellin’ about,” Merida said. “So wot is it? A super weapon?” 

“Sounds like a blue lion,” Jack added. “But what does it need us for? If its some super weapon, four teenagers aren’t going to stop anything,” 

“Can you take us to the caves?” Hiccup asked Rapunzel. 

“Tomorrow morning,” The girl said. “It's too hot now, but if we leave early tomorrow morning, we’ll have all day out there,” 

“Gives me just enough time to build an energy detector,” Hiccup said. “If if puts off the same radiation as what I’m picking up from these readings, it’ll help,” 

“I can make a good casing for that,” Merida said. 

“I’ll regale you all with  fascinating stories of my childhood then,” Jack mumbled. 

“Sounds great!” Rapunzel smiled. “I can make lasagna!” 

The next morning, the four teenagers packed up and left before sunrise, hoping to avoid the heart for their journey. Merida had worked for a few hours to fix the hoverbike, and it moved along slowly, taking the four teens towards the western caves. 

“Here we are,” Rapunzel said, gesturing towards the rocky landscape. “There are cave drawings in all of these openings,” 

“I’m getting the most readings from that direction,” Hiccup said, pointing towards a large opening in the rocks. He started to climb down towards the cave, Merida close on his heels. 

“After you,” Jack said, holding his hand out for Rapunzel. The brunette tightened one of her dusty purple overall straps and started climbing herself. 

“These are so many different styles,” Hiccup commented, looking around at the various etchings. 

“Lots of different generations, styles, eras,” Rapunzel whispered. “I don’t think some of these cultures were discovered before this,” 

“They all make the lion look the same though,” Jack said. “Huge, blue… and robotic?” 

He ran his hand over a carving of the lion, fingers tracing its head. Suddenly, the ground beneath them started to rumble, and the cave lit up an eerie blue as every single carving started to glow. 

“Woah!” Jack yelled as the floor gave out, sending the four teens hurtling down a hidden tunnel. A waterfall washed over them, throwing them down the correct path. Hiccup shoved his backpack above his head, trying to save it from water damage. Merida thrust her head above the water, coughing loudly. Rapunzel grabbed Jack’s hand in chaos, and the two teens gripped each other's slippery fingers as tight as they could. 

Just as quickly as it happened, the four splashed down into a shallow pool at the end of the tunnel. Amidst the coughing and groans of pain, Jack sat up and rubbed the water from his face. 

“Guys?” He said loudly, interrupted Hiccup and Merida’s griping. “Look!” 

“Odin's crows,” Hiccup breathed. “It’s the-” 

“Blue Lion,” Merida and Rapunzel said together. 

“Is it Voltron? How did it get here? How do we get inside?” Hiccup asked, running up to the lion. It was at least fifty feet tall, clearly robotic although Earth wouldn’t have the technology to replicate it for at least another hundred years. A large, shimmering blue force field surrounded the lion, keeping the four teens out. 

“Are the eyes following anyone else?” Jack muttered, zig zagging as he, Merida and Rapunzel walked towards the lion. “Because they are definitely follow me,”  

“Hic’s right,” Merida said. “How do we get in?” 

“Maybe if we knock?” Jack smirked, reaching out and tapping the force field. It immediately disappeared, causing the white haired teen to stumble inside. 

“What did you do?” Hiccup cried, running as Jack and Merida raced towards the lion. The teens climbed aboard, following Jack as he made his way to the lion head - and what looked like a cockpit. 

“It's a ship!” Jack cried excitedly, throwing himself into the chair. The seat automatically yanked him forward as the consoles lit up, glowing with a strange blue language he didn’t recognize. “Woah!” 

Suddenly, the four teens froze, gripping at their temples as a shock ran through them. Visions of five lions - blue, yellow, green, red, and black - flashed through their minds, followed by a flash and a giant robot made out of the five lions. 

Jack saw himself in a set of white and blue armor, staring out at a wide expanse of stars. Four other lions flashed past him in his peripherals, and Jack grinned and gunned his engines, shooting forwards. 

Rapunzel blinked as she looked at herself in a mirror, blonde hair replacing her brown. Her armor had yellow accents instead of blue, and she was facing a wide landscape of beige rocks with glowing crystals. 

Merida watched the inside of the spaceship grow smaller as she was hurtled out into space. She kicked her legs fruitlessly, her body rolling as she flailed. Her armor had bright red accents, but her eyes were clear as she disappeared into the stars. 

Hiccup looked down at his armor - white and green - then back up at a hooded figure in front of him. He slid into a fighting stance, but the figure only raised their hands calmly and reached up to remove their hood. 

The last vision, all four teens shared. Three pods, one holding a large older man with a joyful smile. The second held a girl a little older than them, her dark hair intertwined with shimmering feathers. And the last… a man in armor that resembled their own, except his had accents of black. 

More images flashed through their heads - parties, training, aliens, flights through space, new planets, a joyful yet tearful return to Earth… 

And just as quick as it started, it was over. 

“What was tha’?” Merida yelled. 

“We were in space!” Hiccup cried. 

“There's so much out there!” Rapunzel squealed. “Mother can’t have known about that!” 

“Voltron isn’t just a lion,” Jack breathed. “It’s a whole robot,” 

“There are more lions!” Hiccup cried. “But… how do we find them?” 

“Like this,” Jack whispered, and pushed forwards on the control handles. With a loud roar, the lion seemed to wake up. It crouched before rocketing up, smashing through the mountainside and out into the open air. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Three: 

“Wot are you doing?” Merida shrieked, grabbing the back of the pilots chair as the lion rocketed through the mountains. “JACK! This is alien technology!” 

“It’s… speaking to me!” Jack yelled back, hands moving as he guided the lion. “I can hear it in my head or something!” 

“Well maybe stop flying!?” Hiccup yelled. 

“It's more like it's on autopilot!” Jack replied. “The lion just needs me to be here!” 

The lion flew past Rapunzel’s shack, then rolled into a somersault as it passed the alien crash site, and up past the Garrison itself. Everything happened in less than two minutes, despite the hours it had taken them before. Once they reached the Garrison, the lion started to fly up, and broke through the atmosphere as the teens screamed in terror. 

Jack blinked, the noise of the lion in his head dying away. Everything paused for a few moments as he took in the sights. The planets in the distance, stars twinkling, the glow of the sun - and a dark purple splotch in front of him. The lion started to warn him again, feeding in new information about the ship. 

“They’ve come back for Bucket,” He said slowly. “The lion wants me to take it out,” 

“That's an alien warship!” Hiccup protested. “How are you even going to damage it? Your claws? You can’t fly this thing!” 

“Actually, I can,” Jack said. “I know it sounds weird, but I can tell you what every button or lever does,” 

To prove his point, Jack thrust the lever forwards, and the lion suddenly moved into what they could only call ‘attack mode’. It fired a glowing blue laser towards the alien ship that crashed into the side and knocked it off course. Jack directed the lion close to the ship’s hull, and sent a beam of light streaking down the side as it ripped the armored sides apart. In response, cannons from the ship started to fire towards them, and the lion flipped and rolled to avoid them. 

“We’ve gotta get out o’ here!” Merida yelped as they barely avoided a lethal shot. “We donae have enough firepower to win here!” 

Jack nodded, and the lion shot under the ship towards open space. As they hurtled away, a large… thing opened up. It had a thick border of blue with the same weird language as the lion’s controls, and it showed a window into another completely new portion of space. 

“The lion wants me to go in.” He said flatly. “Should we?” 

“We don’t know where it’s taking us,” Hiccup muttered. 

“We canae go back,” Merida added. 

Rapunzel didn’t say anything, but lay a land on Jack’s shoulder. The pilot looked up at her, blinking as her hair appeared a little lighter. Maybe it was the lighting? The girl looked into his eyes and nodded, and Jack nodded back. 

He pushed the lever forwards, and the lion burst through the wormhole, which closed just as they escaped the enemy ship. 

“Where are we?” Rapunzel whispered. “I don’t recognize any of these stars,” 

“There's a planet ahead - the lion wants us down there,” Jack said. As he spoke, the lion guided itself down to the planet's surface, landing outside of a large, alien, but clean looking castle. It was tall with a large base, made out of some sort of metal material. In a way, it resembled the lion. 

“Should we go in?” Merida asked. 

“We don’t even know if we can breathe this air!” Hiccup protested. 

It turned out that they could breathe the air. The lion informed them that they had landed on the planet Warren, which had a very similar chemical makeup to Earth. The four teens climbed out of the lion and up to what seemed like the main entrance of the castle. The doors were almost as big as the lion, with a shimmering teal color that stuck out from the sterile white of the walls. 

“How do we get in?” Jack asked. As if it had heard him, the large doors slid open, and the interior of the castle suddenly lit up. “Woah…” 

The four teens slipped inside. Only one of the hallways was lit up, so they naturally followed it. It led them through a large ballroom, then up a set of stairs and down into a room near the top of the castle. 

“This seems like a...control room,” Hiccup muttered. “See all those consoles,” 

“What are those?” Merida asked, pointing at three large standing pods in the center of the room. 

“Punzie what is happening with your hair?” Jack muttered. 

“What?” Rapunzel asked, feeling at her head. She pulled a strand out, eyes crossing in a confused expression as she stared at the much longer, blonder hair. “Okay, this is weird,” 

“Who cares wha’s up with Punz, does no one else remember these pods?” Merida interrupted. “Like we’ve seen ‘em before….” 

“The vision when we found the lion,” Rapunzel said, stepping forwards and tapping at the pod. With a whoosh, the three protective screens disappeared, and the occupants stumbled out. 

“FATHER!” A female voice screamed as the occupant of the middle pod fell out. Rapunzel managed to catch her a little, but the girl stumbled and regained her footing. Her hair was long and a rich dark brown, threaded with iridescent feathers that sparked off from a gold circlet around her head. She wore a similarly colored dress, but the skirt was slashed to allow a full range of movement. 

“Hi?” Rapunzel said. Jack and Merida have caught the left pod’s occupant - a large and imposing looking man. Hiccup was helping the right pod’s owner, a young man only slightly older looking than themselves. 

The girl jumped back, eyes wide as she brought her fists up in defense. 

“Who are you? Where is my father? Why are you here?!” 

Chapter Text

Chapter Four: 

“You four found blue lion and it brought you here? Fascinating!” 

The large man had introduced himself as North, senior advisor to the king of Punjam Hy Loo. He had an accent vaguely reminiscent of a russian one on earth, and was extremely excitable, which counteracted his imposing appearance.

The others were named Toothiana and Bunnymund, although North and Toothiana just called him Bunny. Apparently Warren was his home planet, but it wasn’t for the other two. Toothiana was the princess of Punjam Hy Loo, the people who had made the castle themselves. The last thing she remembered was her father pushing her into the cryopod, but she had no idea where he was now. 

Either way, neither the princess nor Bunny, the ever loyal guardsmen, seemed to trust the four teenagers. Jack and Hiccup especially kept catching them giving the earthlings dirty looks. 

“We have to scan you all,” North said. “Make sure your bodies are handling the different planet without some sort of terrible diseases,” 

“QUIZNACK!” Toothiana suddenly screamed. She’d been aimlessly typing on one of the consoles, and had pulled up the diagnostics for the castle. “We’ve been asleep for ten thousand years!” 

“That’s impossible!” Bunny yelled. “But that means the others…” 

“Are all gone,” Toothiana breathed. “The paladins are all gone,” 

“There was a war,” The princess began slowly. North had convinced her to eat something, so the party had moved to the mess hall. “It started in Punjam Hy Loo and the nightmares - led by their emperor, Pitch Black,” 

“Nightmares?” Hiccup said. “That was the ship Bucket crashed in!” 

“The Nightmare Empire wanted the lions, wanted Voltron,” Toothiana continued. “My father sent them away, separating them to keep the nightmares from getting a hold of them. I wanted to stay and fight, but the nightmare army was too strong. We fled to Warren in a last ditch effort, and my father put North, Bunny and I to sleep in the cryo pods to protect us,” 

“He did protect us Princess,” North said. “Without him, we would not be here now, with new paladins,” 

“They are not new paladins,” Toothiana grumbled. “They are barely more than children,” 

“But they found the Blue Lion,” The advisor said. 

“And they will have to find the others,” Toothiana muttered. She took a deep breath and stood up. “You four are our only hope. You will find the other lions of Voltron and pilot them… as the new paladins,” 

The desert was a hard place to live in, which made it the perfect hiding place for her flower. 

Galiana Gothel had felt a sinking feeling all morning. Despite only visiting Rapunzel a few days ago, there had been some hot days, and she felt the need to restock the girls water supplies. It would also be nice to… check up on her talents. 

“Rapunzel!” The older woman sang, opening the door to the shack, a jug of fresh water clutched in her hand. “It's your mother!” 

There was nobody inside. Gothel’s eyes widened in shock and she dropped the bottle, the jug smashing into the floor. 

“RAPUNZEL!” 

She tore the shack apart. Ripped the covers off of the bed, tipped the table and bookshelves, scattered the various projects around the shack. When everything was either broken or destroyed, Gothel sank into her seat and stared at the ground. There was no sign of her. 

Angrily, Gothel stormed out to her car, and grabbed a small bag from the trunk. She dumped the contents over the bed, pulling for a small communicator as she closed her eyes and focused. 

A flash of magenta purple hit her head, and when Gothel’s eyes opened, they had turned an eerie gold. 

“Punjam Hy Loo…” She muttered, clicking open the communicator. 

“Hello Gothel,” A low voice drawled. “I hope you aren’t interrupting my war meetings for nothing,” 

“Rapunzel is gone.” Gothel snapped. “I think she found something from the old days,” 

“I did just get reports of the Blue Lion resurfacing,” The voice answered. “Your little flower turned into quite the pilot,” 

“She was supposed to be hidden here! On earth!” Gothel yelled. “She was never supposed to find out!” 

“Gothel.” Emperor Pitch Black snarled. “You are not my top druid for nothing. I will find the girl,” 

“You better!” Gothel yelled, hanging up. 

“Sent General Mor’du to Warren,” Pitch said to another attendant. “I’ve received reports about the Blue Lion entering that space. Tell him that he must take all prisoners alive, and that they will be dealt with by me. Personally .” 

“There are five Voltron lions,” Toothiana explained, pulling up a holographic map tha surrounded the group in the control room. “Each represents a different important faction of the universe. This map also shows where each lion is located,” 

“It looks like the blue and black lions are together,” Hiccup pointed out. 

“They are, but without the other four, we can’t access it,” North said. 

“Jack, the blue lion reacted to you,” Toothiana continued. “You will be its paladin.” 

Jack nodded, a holographic image of the lion coming to rest above his head. 

“Rapunzel, your heart makes you a perfect match for the yellow lion. It’s currently located here, and Jack will take you in the blue lion,” 

The now blonde nodded. Her hair was about chest length, and had turned a shining gold. She currently kept it held back with a hair tie, but neither North or the princess had been able to explain what was happening. 

“Hiccup, your intelligence links you to the green lion.” 

“I’ll be taking you to retrieve it in one o’ the shuttles,” Bunny interjected. “Should be an easy grab, the planets not hostile,” 

“Finally, Merida, you will be the red paladin. Unfortunately, it’s tracking was disabled before it was hidden, so we are unable to locate it yet. While the others get their lions, we will work to find it,” 

The redhead nodded fiercely. 

“What about the black lion?” Hiccup asked. “Who pilots that?” 

“Me,” Bunny said. “I piloted it before the war started, and I’ll pilot it now. Only fair as the last remaining original paladin,” 

“What makes you so worthy?” Jack asked. “You couldn’t stop the nightmares before,” 

“Listen here,” Bunny snarled. “You don’t know what happened-” 

“We do not have time for arguing,” North said, separating the two. “We must hurry. nightmare ships have already started to look for us, we cannot wait much longer!” 

“Alright,” Toothiana said. “Let's get going,” 

Chapter Text

Chapter Five: 

“We cannot keep the wormholes open for very long, so remember to be quick,” Toothiana reiterated through the comms. “However, records indicate that both planets are secluded and peaceful, so they might be a nice place to live out the rest of your days,” 

“Was that joke Tooth?” Jack asked. The princess bit back a smirk. 

“My name is Toothiana paladin,” She said. “And I’m only relaying the information,” 

Jack rolled his eyes and guided the blue lion down onto the planet where the yellow lion was supposedly hidden. It was a lot like the desert back on earth, with large rocky mountains and hills. 

“Lion is that way,” Rapunzel said, looking up from the tracker on her console. Her hair had seemingly grown another six inches, and she’d started to braid it to keep it manageable. North, who was still working back at the castle, had promised to prepare a healing pod to scan her and find out what was causing the rapid growth. Until then, she just had to deal. 

Jack lowered the blue lion to the ground outside a large cave, noting the extravagant carving of a mechanical head at the top of the arch. Yep, the lion was definitely inside. 

Rapunzel climbed out of the blue lion and walked inside the cave. The inside was a little dark, but the air itself was very dry and arid. A lot like home. 

Rapunzel took another step, squinting in the dark, but her foot must have hit one of the cave drawings. The walls around her started to glow a warm yellow - like the cave on Earth. Rapunzel smiled as a larger light lit up from further inside the cave. 

“The lion,” She whispered, and ran inside. 

“Does this look like a peaceful planet to you?” Hiccup yelped, holding tight to his seat as Bunny sent their pod spinning into a roll. “Because we might have different definitions of the word!” 

“Our records may be a little outdated!” Bunny yelled, avoiding shots from the nightmare cannons on the ground. The small pod zoomed closer towards the Green Lion’s location. 

“Down there!” Hiccup yelled. “That mountain - with the vines!” 

“The nightmares must be getting close!” Bunny yelled. “I’m going to drop you in and hold them off - GO!” 

The pooka yanked a lever, which ejected Hiccup’s seat from the shuttle. The younger boy was sent flying out of the pod, and crashed into the jungle below. 

“A’right ankle-biters,” Bunny groaned. “Lets dance.” 

He put on more speed, sending the pod hurtling between nightmare drone ships to lead them on a wild goose chase. He looped and twisted, avoiding shots from the ships and cannons below. Everything seemed to go well, but his luck ran out, and a lucky shot took out his right wing. Bunny braced himself as the pod crashed and skidded across the ground. He sat up to see hundreds of nightmare soldiers closing in. 

This was it. Bunny closed his eyes and shrunk back, preparing for the end when suddenly… 

Roar. Crash . 

Bunny opened his eyes, but instead of approaching nightmares, it was the large legs of the Green Lion. 

“Crikey, that kiddo did it,” He breathed. Bunny hauled himself out of the remains of the pod and into the lion, which gave him access before launching itself back into the sky. 

“Welcome back,” Hiccup grinned as he avoided shots and took out the cannons with the lion’s lasers. The brown haired boy looped through the air, causing the chasing nightmare ships to crash into each other. 

“You’re a pretty good pilot,” Bunny commented. “It took Katherine ages to fly the Green Lion like this,” 

Hiccup barely seemed to hear him. He pulled the lion into a climb, exiting the planet's atmosphere and breaking through the wormhole towards Warren. 

“The lion’s speaking to me,” He explained loosely. “Everything just clicked,” 

“Any updates on tha Red Lion?” Merida asked as she reentered the control room. Toothiana shook her head. 

“No, it would need to be closer to us to even register, and P… the previous paladin disabled it’s exterior tracking systems,” The Princess explained. “I’m at a dead end!” 

“North an’ I finished the bulk o’ the repairs,” Merida said, joining Toothiana at the console. “He sent me out ‘ere ta help you,” 

“I don’t know what you could possibly do,” Toothiana said. “You don’t even understand our technology,” 

“An’ you’ve been asleep for ten thousand years,” Merida retorted. “Ah think ah can do something .” 

Merida tapped the console. At the same time, a red blip appeared on the holomap. It seemed to be moving closer to Warren, and the castle. 

“It's the red lion!” Toothiana cried.

“Why is it moving?” Merida asked. 

“Because it’s on a nightmare ship!” Toothiana yelped, pulling statistics. “Oh no!” 

“We’ve got ta get a message to the others!” Merida cried, scanning the map for their blips. “They’re on their way - all three lions. We can come up with a plan after this,” 

“Paladins!” Toothiana cried, walking down the line of pilots. “We don’t have much time,” 

“That's for sure,” Jack muttered. Bunny scowled and whacked him in the back of the head, but the princess ignored them. 

“You need all the equipment of the paladins if you are meant to be one,” Toothiana continued. “And I’ve been keeping it long enough,” 

She tapped a panel beside the door, which opened to reveal five cases with five full sets of armor. Each set was white with accents that matched the color of a specific lion, with glowing blue buttons and black bodysuits underneath. 

“Get dressed and get back here in five,” Toothiana said. “There's more,” 

The five paladins dressed quickly, girls in one side room, boys in another. 

“Woah,” Jack mumbled as the girls ran back into the room. Rapunzel was finishing the end of her braid, the long blonde hair over her shoulder. Her white and yellow armor elongated her legs and showed off her figure - something her other clothing hadn’t done. She looked up at Jack and smiled, and the white haired boy blinked. 

“Ready to fight some Nightmares?” Merida asked Hiccup as she attempted to wrestle her curls into a ponytail down her back. 

“Let me,” He muttered, grabbing her hair from her. Hiccup twisted the mass into a short braid to keep it together, then wrapped it securely. “There you go,” 

“Never answer my question,” Merida reminded him. Hiccup smirked. 

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” 

Like Jack, he’d noticed how form-fitting the armor was. Unlike Jack, he wasn’t a complete tongue tied idiot. 

“Your biggest asset is your lion,” Toothiana interrupted. “But outside of it, you’ll be using these - your bayards,” 

She tapped a table in the middle of the room. Like the cryopods before, a protective cover disappeared, revealing five handle shaped objects in matching colors to the armor. Each paladin leaned forwards to pick the corresponding weapon up. 

Bunny grinned as the black bayard transformed into a familiar boomerang. It had been too long since he’d last held it. He tossed it up and down in his hand, testing the feel and grip. 

Hiccup grasped the green bayard firmly, watching in awe as it transformed to a short dagger. Merida looked at it and stifled a laugh, but was cut off when the dagger suddenly elongated into a full longsword. 

“Woah,” He breathed as a green current of electricity ran up the length of the blade. 

“Nice!” Merida grinned. Hiccup smiled widely at her, and both teens watched as her bayard transformed into a spacey looked bow with no string. Merida looked at it confusedly, miming the position of drawing an arrow back. To her surprise, a glowing blue string and arrow appeared. The laser arrow fired just as cleanly as any other would, but Merida guessed it wouldn’t be impeded by weather conditions. 

Jack’s bayard elongated into a long bow staff. He whirled it around in his hand, landing it over his shoulder as it turned into a sniper rifle, firing off into the ceiling. 

“Woah!” He yelped, jumping back. The staff would be useful both in long and close range, and he liked the feel of it in his hands. 

Finally Rapunzel looked at her own bayard. With a whoosh, it transformed into a familiar looking frying pan. She grinned, testing the weight and swing in her hands. Jack looked over and laughed. 

“A frying pan Punzie?” He asked. In response, the blonde swung the pan at Jack, who only just managed to block with his staff. 

“To your lions!” Toothiana cried. “Bunny will wait in the hanger to access the Black Lion. North and I will manage your stats from the castle,” 

“Jack and Rapunzel will act as a distraction,” North added. “The Yellow Lion has more armor than the others, and the Blue Lion is the only one that can rival it - other than Black lion that is,” 

“I’ll drop Merida inside the ship and join the right from the other side,” Hiccup said. “Once Merida gets the Red Lion, Bunny can get to Black,” 

“Exactly,” Bunny nodded. “Let's get moving Paladins,” 

“Attention nightmare vessel!” Jack yelled into his comm, an image of nightmare command popping up on his screen. “This is the blue paladin. Yellow and I are giving up our lions! Do not fire,” 

In another channel, Rapunzel sent Jack a reassuring smile. They were currently enacting the first stage of the plan. The blue and yellow lions were hovering close to the nightmare ship, acting like they wanted to surrender. With the nightmares all locked on them, nobody would notice as Hiccup and Merida snuck in the other way. Once the nightmares let their guard down, their next job would be to destroy the cannon. 

Meanwhile, Hiccup carefully guided the green lion to the bottom of the nightmare ship. Using a matinnice hatch, Merida was able to slip in. Once inside, she turned her helmet from space mode and signalled to Hiccup that she was good. 

Which worked in their favor, as everyone's comms suddenly exploded with Rapunzel and Jack’s screams of panic, followed by the sound of a nightmare cannon firing. Hiccup sped off to help his friends, and Merida started to follow the tracker in her armor. 

They hadn’t been able to practice flying with more than one lion, but the firepower and flying ability was stunning . Jack may have been trained as a pilot and Hiccup seemed to be a natural, but even Rapunzel guided the heavy looking yellow lion with ease. It was that Punjam Hy Loo magic, something that melded with their minds and made them an unstoppable unit. 

Rapunzel smashed her lion into the cannon, which barely dented it. She rocked back from the impact, but back up and slammed into it again. This time, the cannon crumpled, cutting off more attacks. 

“WOO! YEAH PUNZIE!” Jack yelled over the comms. Rapunzel blushed a little in response. She’s never had friends before this, so the boy’s over the top reactions still made her react. 

“You two need some help?” Hiccup asked over the comms as the green lions glided into view. Jack was about to reply when the hanger doors on the nightmare ship opened, releasing a group of drones. 

“Odin's crows,” Jack muttered. “Yeah, maybe we do!” 

“Remember!” Toothiana interjected, the princess's face popping up on a screen in the lion’s cockpits. “You just need to hold out until Merida gets the red lion! Then, Bunny can join you and you can form Voltron!” 

“Then where the quiznack  is Merida?!” Jack griped, rushing into a roll to avoid a drone. “QUIZNACK!” 

“I don’t think you’re using that word correctly,” Hiccup muttered as his lion avoided a shot and tried to fire back. 

“Actually, he is,” North interjected. “Quiznack is a common swear used on-” 

“We do not have the time for this!” Jack interrupted. “MERIDA HURRY UP!” 

The red paladin rolled her eyes and kept sneaking down the halls. She stuck to the shadows, barely avoiding troops that had come running down to the hangers only minutes before. 

Her tracker led her deep into the ship, into a secluded hanger - and the red lion. 

Like the others, it was surrounded by a large force field, powered down and in status until its paladin arrived. Smirking, the redhead walked up to the sphere. 

“Hey, open up!” She said, knocking on the field. Nothing. “It’s me? Merida? YOUR PALA-DIN?!” 

Still nothing. Merida groaned. 

“Come on!” She yelled. “We need to go form Voltron! Save the others!” 

The lion didn’t respond, but the doors to the hanger opened, revealing both a group of soldiers - and General Mor’du. 

“Intruder!” One of the soldiers yelled. 

“Capture the red paladin!” Mor’du ordered. 

“Quiznack.” Merida cursed. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Six: 

“It would be really nice if you let me in now!” Merida yelled, taking out the nightmare sentires with her bow. A few managed to get in some lucky shots that crashed into the lion’s protective shield. 

The red lion stayed silent. Merida groaned and rolled behind a control console. Mor’du and the remaining sentries started to step forward. Within a few minutes, she’d be completely surrounded. 

“Come on, come on!” Merida muttered to herself. “How do ah get out of this?” 

“Come out little cub…” General Mor’du growled. 

“Wha’ would Hic do?” Merida thought, smacking her head into the back of the console. “Tha’s it!” 

The redhead leapt out of her hiding spot, losing an arrow that hit Mor’du in the shoulder, knocking the nightmare general back into the elevator. With the nightmares distracted, Merida slammed her fist onto a button on the console, opening the airlock and sucking everything not tied down in the hanger out into space. 

She tried to grab ahold of the console, but her fingers slipped. Merida’s eyes widened as she was yanked into space, the red lion disappearing from view. She slammed the side of her helmet to turn it to oxygen mode, and closed her eyes to await the inevitable drone shot that would kill her. 

A loud roar interrupted her. Merida’s eyes flashed open as the red lion pounced, catching her in its mouth. 

The door to the black lion’s hanger opened. Bunny smirked and ran inside. 

“Hey old girl,” He smiled as the lion let him inside, and the two blasted off into space. 

“Black lion online,” He said into the comms. 

“Bunny!” Rapunzel cried happily. “Wait, that means-” 

“Red lion online,” Merida said, the red lion cresting around the back of the nightmare ship. 

“WOO!” Jack cheered. 

“Yeah baby!” Hiccup cried. The black and red lions joined blue, yellow and green in formation, prepared to take out the drones and the nightmare ship. 

“You need to form Voltron!” Toothiana cried. “More ships are appearing at the horizon! If you don’t stop this soon, the castle will be attacked!” 

“Alright team,” Bunny said. “Follow my lead!” 

The black lion sped to the front of the lineup, the red and green lions lining up behind him with yellow and blue at the end. As they sped towards the nightmare ship, the five paladins felt everything suddenly… lift . 

Their minds cleared and melded together as the lions suddenly transformed, clicking together and rearranging their metal limbs. In a flash of light, the paladins found themselves in completely different views - and linked together. 

“We… formed Voltron!” Jack yelled. 

“We’re legs!” Rapunzel giggled joyfully. 

“Giant robot!” Hiccup and Merida chanted together. 

“We’re back.” Bunny smiled. “Now let's go show off,” 

Voltron attacked the nightmare ship, sword swinging in quick, precise blows. The robot took out the battalions of drones, the tiny explosions dotting the sky was the blade hit. The giant robot wound up and punched the nightmare ship, denting the side. They then ripped one of the wings off. 

As leader, Bunny kept the team on track. They destroyed the nightmare ship so much that it would barely function. If any of the nightmares came back, it would only be able to warp them away. Even then, it would take extensive repairs. 

With a resounding boom that echoed over the surface of Warren, Voltron touched down in front of the castle. With a matching light to before, the robot dismantled into the five lions, and the paladins guided them into their hangers. 

“We won!” Jack hollered into his comm. He quickly jumped out of Blue and started running towards the control room. To his right, Hiccup came bounding out of the green lions hanger. 

“We won!” He yelled again, bursting into the control room. Rapunzel and Merida had already beaten them there. The white haired paladin sprinted towards the blonde and hoisted her into the air, twirling as they laughed. 

“That was so cool!” Hiccup was gushing to Merida as the two jokingly reenacted the best parts of the fights. North smiled as he looked on at the teenagers, and even Toothiana seemed more laid back. 

The princess herself was still nervously glancing at the doors, eyes darting back and forth from her console. Finally, the doors slid open, revealing Bunny. Toothiana ran towards and threw her arms around him, but stepped back quickly. 

“I think this calls for celebration? Yes?” North said. “I shall go get food,” 

“We made a giant robot!” Hiccup cheered. 

“We’re in space!” Merida added.

“We won!” Jack yelled again. 

“I’ve decided that you may call me… Tooth,” Toothiana said, taking a drink from her glass. “It won’t a make very good team dynamic if you four- five think you have to fear me,” 

“We didnae fear you lassie,” Merida joked. Tooth turned a little red, and Bunny gave her a few comforting pats on the shoulder. 

“I’ve finished the scans,” North interrupted for the second time, holding a tablet as he looked over the files. “You said you are all earthlings?” 

“Yeah,” Jack said. “Why?” 

“Well, two things,” North continued. “I have solved ze Rapunzel mystery, but….” 

“What?” The blonde asked nervously. 

“You are not human,” North said, pulling up the charts on the large consoles. “See the differences?” 

North was comparing the scans of Rapunzel with Merida. While their skeletal and muscle systems were relatively similar, Rapunzel’s had more… activity. Shown by a yellow outline that ran throughout her body, her DNA was something not quite human. The line pulsed, as if to show the movement and power. 

“I have not seen this in a very long time,” North continued. “Not since… the beginning of the war,” 

“She’s Coronian,” Tooth breathed. “Quiznack - she’s Coronian,” 

“What’s a Coronian?” Rapunzel asked nervously. The other three teens also seemed concerned. 

“Back at the beginning of the war, Pitch had a team of druids,  sorceresses that used quintessence - a life source - to tear people apart. They were taught by Coronians - the healing people.” Tooth said, sounding as if she was reciting old lessons. “When Pitch rose to power, he let his head druid go wild. She destroyed the entire planet of Corona, the healers and everyone else with it.” 

“What’s that have to do with her hair though?” Jack interrupted. 

“The healers were ‘blessed’ by their sun,” Bunny said. “They were identified by their ever growing blonde hair. Rapunzel is one of those healers,” 

Rapunzel herself had gone very pale, shaking as she slumped into her seat. Her eyes were wide - as if she was trying to remember. 

“W-what was the druid's name?” She asked quietly. Merida leaned down and rubbed the girl’s shoulders encouragingly. 

“Gothel.” North said. “Her name was Gothel,” 

“She… stole me,” Rapunzel whispered. “My… mother,” 

“Your mom who hid you away in the desert your entire life?” Hiccup asked. 

“Your body also has signs - very faint - of cryopod usage,” North added, zooming on a patch of cells. “This is why your powers were so diminished,” 

“And when we found the lion?” Rapunzel asked. 

“Quintessence was a crucial part in the lion's construction,” Tooth explained. “The excess in the lion helped to… kickstart your Coronian DNA,” 

Rapunzel closed her eyes, looking like she was almost about the cry. They couldn’t blame her - her entire life had just been flipped. Hiccup almost wanted to reach out… he understood sudden changes at least. 

“I’m going to stop her,” Rapunzel finally said - voice strong and steady. “Gothel’s probably the reason the nightmares found us so fast. She stole me and murdered my people, and I want to stop her. Her and Pitch,” 

“We’ll help you,” Jack promised. “Won’t we?” 

“O’ course,” Merida said, crossing her arms over her chest. “You would have ta’ drag us away - kickin’ an’ screamin’!” 

“You helped us before Punz,” Hiccup said. “We’ll follow your lead,” 

The blonde smiled and wiped at her tears. 

“Thank you,” She whispered. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Seven:

Five Years Ago: 

“Why is it that all scientists are obsessed with ice?” 

Said two scientists scowled at their brown haired pilot. All three wore spacesuits in the traditional Garrison colors, all primed and ready for the harrowing temperatures of Kerberos. 

“Valka, this is space ice,” Bucket responded, holding up the sample. “It’s useful,” 

“And way cooler,” Mulch added. 

Valka smiled. It was true - space ice was extremely useful. It was only the third day of their Kerberos mission, but the pilot was still excited. Her hand drifted towards a zipped pocket on her suit - the one that held the picture of her husband and eleven year old son. 

“Hiccup would love this,” She whispered. 

“That kids gonna leave for the stars one day,” Bucket said. “Reach for the stars and never come home,” 

“Why would he? The other kids aren’t ever nice to him,” The concerned mother said. “I hope things are doing better…” 

“Don’t worry Val,” Mulch said. “You can bring him some space ice - middle schoolers love that stuff!” 

Valka laughed. She opened her mouth to reply, but their research site was suddenly shrouded in darkness. The three officers looked up, only to see a large purple and gray ship instead of the stars. 

“What is that?!” Valka yelled. “We have to go!” 

She turned to run back to their shuttle, but she only made it a few steps before everything went black. Valka struggled to move, but her vision was fuzzy as a voice drifted down to her. 

“Emperor Pitch will be very happy with these new specimens…” 

Present Day, A few weeks after the Reemergence of Voltron: 

“Ah’m sore, Ah’m tired, and ah never thought Ah’d say it but ah miss Garrison food,” Merida groaned, throwing herself down into a chair in the lounge. 

“I hurt in places I didn’t know could hurt,” Jack added, joining the redhead. 

“You could always train more,” Hiccup tried, barely looking from his sketchbook. Ever since the teen had been chosen as the green paladin, he’d been working on upgrades and new gear nonstop. 

“Maybe you can-” 

“I made muffins!” Rapunzel interrupted, breezing into the room with the tray in her hands. 

“Muffins!” Merida cheered, snatching one from the plate. “Thank you Punzie!” 

“This is exactly what I need after Bunny’s torture,” Jack smiled. “Thank you sunshine,” 

Rapunzel blushed a little at the nickname. 

“Bunny’s training has been pretty rough,” She said. “But it isn’t as bad as you three seem to think,” 

“No, it is,” Hiccup said. “You just don’t feel all the pain because of your super-soldier Coronian blood,” 

“Oh,” Rapunzel mumbled. “More I didn’t know,” 

“Why aren’t you training?” A loud voice interrupted. The four paladins groaned loudly, turning to see their leader in the door. 

“We’ve been training for ages Bunny,” Merida griped. 

“Yeah!” Jack added. “Plus, we were on Earth like, a month ago . Now we’re in space. I don’t even know what day of the week it is!” 

“The other paladins never acted like this!” Bunny growled. “Fine, you four can have a break for the rest of the day, we’ll pick it up tomorrow. With combination training .” 

The four groaned again, this time drawing the attention of North. 

“Vat are we fighting about?” He asked. 

“Combination training!” Jack yelled. 

“The invisible maze!” Merida added. 

“Bunny’s overtraining us,” Hiccup said simply. 

“Do not worry,” The older advisor assured. “I have just finished repairs to the castle. We leave Warren tonight, after party,” 

“Party?” Rapunzel asked, eyes bright with curiosity. 

“Leave Warren?” Jack asked. 

“Party?” Merida groaned. 

“How are we leaving?” Hiccup, ever the voice of reason, asked. 

“The castle is a ship,” North responded. “Schematics show this,” 

“We can’t read Punjam!” Merida reminded him. “An’ only Hic is interested in schematics!” 

“I thought you were mechanic?” North asked. 

“Ah wanted to be a pilot,” The redhead responded. “But they said ah was too reckless. Would ‘ave gotten kicked out if ah hadn’t taken the mechanics course,” 

“Regardless of your training or lack of Punjam knowledge, you’re all attending the party tonight,” Another new voice, this one belonging to Tooth, interjected. 

“Do we have to dress up?” Jack asked. “Because… we don’t have other clothes,” 

Tooth smirked. The princess had taken to wearing a loose training jumpsuit in her bright turquoise colors, but today, she was back in her official princess dress. 

“I’m sure we could get some things together,” She responded. “But no, since we are taking off at the end of the night, you five will be in armor,” 

“The people of Warren barely remember Voltron,” Tooth explained. “Best we let them officially join our alliance before we leave,” 

Rapunzel nodded. The Coronian had braided her hair in a long decorative braid, clipping in a few of the bright Warren flowers. Her armor was shined brightly, but this was her first party - and the first time she’d been around more than seven people. Tooth had noticed her nervousness and offered to help. 

“Bunny’s from here you know,” Tooth added, gazing down at where the black paladin was addressing some of the townsfolk. “That’s why we landed here in the first place,” 

“Does he have family?” 

“No,” The princess said. “He was an orphan,” 

“Oh,” Rapunzel said, but was suddenly distracted. “What’s that?” 

“Traditional Warren music,” Tooth explained. “You should go dance. Grab the others, have some fun,” 

The blonde smiled and made her way down the stairs, latching onto Jack and Merida as she pulled them into the dancing circle. Tooth smiled, happy to see the paladins were enjoying themselves. She mentally counted the pilots, and realized that she was missing one. 

Hiccup. 

“Probably back in the lounge,” She muttered, heading deeper into the castle to look for the green paladin. Just as she had suspected, he was sitting on the couch, laptop open as he scanned through hours of nightmare security footage. A small nightmare robot drifted above his head, the lights a warm green instead of the red. 

Tooth rolled her eyes. She disliked that bot solely on the fault that it was nightmare tech. It didn’t matter that Hiccup had discovered the drone in the wreckage and reprogrammed it. He’d also named it Puffin, which was insane on a completely different level. 

“Hiccup!” She yelled, startling the paladin so much that he fell onto the floor. “You’re missing the party!” 

“I’m not going,” Hiccup said, popping up to his feet. “I’m leaving soon anyways,” 

“You’re what?” Tooth snapped. 

“Leaving,” Hiccup said. “I’ve got some leads,” 

“Leads on what?!” Tooth yelped, following the paladin as he started towards the ballroom. “Hiccup!” 

She chased him towards the ballroom, almost running down the steps. Hiccup’s pace didn’t slow as he ducked and wove through the party towards the hanger. 

“I’m not taking the lion!” He yelled reassuringly. 

“What?” Bunny interrupted, hearing the word ‘lion’ and inserting himself into the conversation. “What’s happening?” 

“Sir, we’ve located the control room thanks to the original plans,” 

Mor’du smiled, still looking into the windows of the castle through his binoculars. After his warship had been destroyed, he and a few of his men had rendezvoused on the surface of Warren. After several weeks, they had finally decided to make their strike on the Castle of Lions. It was the perfect opportunity - the foolish paladins had opened the castle up for the people of Warren, with no doors or locks. 

“We want to blow up their thrusters, and with the chaos, we will move in,” Mor’du whispered. 

“Sir, the green paladin seems to have a drone of our making,” His sentry replied. “We can duplicate its code and use it as the bomb,” 

“Perfect…” Mor’du said. “Proceed,” 

“Is what Toothiana says true?” Bunny growled as he stood over Hiccup, hands on his hips. The smaller boy, despite being completely overshadowed by black paladin, stood tall, face determined as he fought back. 

“Yes.” Hiccup said. “I’m leaving. Tonight.” 

“Why?!” Bunny yelled. “You’re a paladin of Voltron!”

“My mom is still out there!” Hiccup yelled. “Bucket escaped the Nightmares! My mom is still with them!” 

“There is more than one person in the universe!” Tooth yelled back. “You can’t abandon this all for your family!” 

“I’m going to save her!” 

Rapunzel squeezed Jack’s hand tightly. The other paladins were in the back of the room with North, awkwardly watching as the princess and soldier yelled. Jack watched as Merida growled to his right, thinking back to their Garrison lectures. 

“You won’t save anyone if you leave!” Bunny snarled. 

“Tha’s enough!” Merida snapped, storming towards the argument and standing in front of Hiccup. “He doesnae owe anything ta’ you! None o’ us do!” 

“You are paladins!” Tooth protested. 

“We didnae ask for this!” Merida yelled. “You're tha’ ones who just assumed we’d be ready ta’ give up our lives!” 

“Merida-” Hiccup tried,  reaching out to grab her arm. The redhead whipped around, eyes ablaze with anger, but he could see the tears brimming. She pushed the green paladin aside, and tore off running down the hall. 

“NO!” Bunny yelled, stepping forward to go after her, but Hiccup shoved him back. 

“She has a point!” Hiccup yelled. “You’ve done enough harm!” 

Rapunzel’s eyes widened in fear as the group devolved into yelling. North finally cut in, sending Tooth, Jack and the blonde back to the party. He said a few quick words to Bunny before sending him off after Hiccup, and the older man set off after Merida. 

Rapunzel and Jack awkwardly joined the dancing again, but both were stiff and nervous. Merida had always been a hot head, but her outburst had stirred up some feelings. Jack hadn’t had much back on Earth, but he definitely missed his little sister. 

“Hey,” He whispered to Rapunzel. The blonde turned, green eyes wide. “Wanna go back to dancing?” 

“No,” She said. “Lets get some food instead,” 

“Merida?” North said quietly, having finally found her inside the control room. The redhead sat slumped at the bottom of the steps, her thick curls covering her face as she quietly sobbed into her hands. 

“W-wot?” She finally said. “Are you jus’ here ta’ get me back?!” 

“No,” North said, joining the young paladin. “What do you miss from Earth?” 

“My family,” Merida sniffed. “Ah ‘ave three younger brothers back home,” 

“Sounds intense,” 

“How far are we from them… from Earth?” 

“Lets see,” North said, pulling up the holographic maps. “We’re here… and Earth is… here!” 

Merida’s eyes widened. 

“Tha’s so far,” She whispered. “Ah’m never gonna see them again! An’ ah fought with my mum before ah for the Garrison-” 

“I have not told any of you this yet,” North said, settling back down next to Merida. “The… original paladins,” 

“The original paladins? The ones Bunny misses so much?” Merida asked. 

“Yes,” North smiled. “You were an awful lot alike,” 

Merida’s eyes widened. 

“Tell me more,” 

“Well, Bunny is black, like now,” The older man started. “But there were more,” 

“Of course,” 

“Sandy was Yellow, he was quiet, but kept all on track. He was an excellent pilot, bit of a night owl…” 

Merida smiled a little. 

“Nightlight and Katherine were the youngest - only a little older than you, but they were always close. Nightlight flew Blue Lion, Katherine was the green genius,” 

“And red?” 

North sighed. He looked down at his hands, taking another deep breath. 

“Red Lion was flown by Pitchiner Black,” 

“L-like the Emperor?” Merida gulped. 

“Yes,” North said. “You and he are very similar. Pitch was ze only one with family - a wife and daughter. He was headstrong and impulsive, and wanted to change ze universe. He would do anything to protect his friends - something I see in you,” 

Merida was silent. North continued. 

“I understand your fear, your anger. But remember that as Voltron, the five of you have the power to save more people than you could ever imagine. But you can only do that if you stay together,” 

Merida nodded. 

“Now, let's get back to the party,” North smiled. “I am sure your friends miss you,” 

They stood up to leave, and were by the door when a small drone floated in, glowing Hiccup’s familiar green. 

“Hey Puffin,” Merida said, recognizing the bot. “Ah thought you would a’ve gone with Hic-” 

An ominous beeping started and the drone flashed red. Merida’s eyes widened. 

“NORTH! GET OUT OF THE WA-!” 

She lunged forwards and tackled North down, just as the control room exploded around her. Merida hit the ground hard, and as the smoke and fire clouded her lungs, everything went black. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Eight: 

The crash shook the castle, almost throwing everyone inside to the ground. The Warrenians quickly ran towards the door and courtyard while Rapunzel and Jack and Tooth ran towards the explosion site. They met Bunny and Hiccup half way, bursting through the doors to see what had happened. 

“North!” Tooth yelled, helping the older man up. North rubbed at his temple, eyes disoriented as he looked at the paladins. 

“What happened?!” Bunny demanded, surveying the damage. 

“A… bomb,” North said. “I did not notice, but… Merida!” 

He whirled around, as the smoke cleared just enough for the group to see Merida, sprawled on the ground and completely conscious. The back of her armor was dusty and charred from the fire, and her open skin was covered in burns and scraps. 

“NO!” Hiccup yelled, sliding to his knees and pulling the unconscious girl into his lap. “We have to get her into a pod!”

“They’ll be offline!” Tooth cried. “Everything's offline!” 

“What are we going to do!?” Jack demanded. 

“We need a new crystal,” Tooth said, gesturing to the smoking husk of the previous one. “Which means…” 

“We need to get to a balmera,” North finished. “Jack, you and I can go,” 

“I’ll get my lion!” Jack said, starting for the door. 

“You can’t, their hangers are sealed off,” Tooth said, “Everything’s sealed off!” 

“Not the shuttle I was going to take,” Hiccup said suddenly. “I left everything in that hanger open and ready,” 

“We will take that,” North said. “Lets go,” 

Hiccup led Jack and North out of the room, and North began to quickly fill Jack in about the Balmera. 

“I’ll protect the shiela,” Bunny said, gathering up Merida in his arms. “I promise,” 

“We’ll check on the other guests,” Tooth said. “Come on Rapunzel,” 

They hurried back down to the ballroom, where the Warrenians had already run outside. Tooth quickly located their leader, an older woman who was attempting to calm her people. 

“There have been attacks on our village,” She said to the princess. Like Bunny, the Warrenian elder had two light grey streaks of hair at her temple, but they were braided and wrapped around her head. “We need Voltron!” 

“We’ll do the best we can,” Tooth said, running towards the village. “Come on!” 

Hiccup ran down the halls of the castle. He’d just sent North and Jack off to some ‘Balmera’ to get a new crystal for the castle, so the only thing he could do now was meet back up with Rapunzel and Tooth outside. 

He was at the catwalk when he heard voices he didn’t recognize. Hiccup threw himself to the ground, and peered over the edge of the walkway. His eyes widened and he stifled a gasp. 

Mor’du . 

“Take the bridge,” The Nightmare general snarled. 

His men raced inside. It was only a few minutes before Bunny yelled in surprise and Hiccup watched a shimmering barrier - similar but cruder than that of the lions - appeared over the doors. The Nightmares had rigged the bomb. They’d just locked Tooth and Rapunzel outside, and they’d taken Bunny and Merida prisoner. 

He was the last one left. 

“Both paladins are apprehended sir!” One of the sentries cried to Mor’du as he entered. Bunny glanced towards Merida. They hadn’t bothered to cuff her wrists, instead shackling the unconscious girl to one of the desks by her feet. 

“So this is that feisty little cub?” Mor’du growled, standing over Merida. He laughed. “Oh how far she has fallen,” 

“You won’t get away with this!” Bunny snarled. “The others are still out there!” 

Mor’du laughed again. 

“We’ve sealed off every entrance,” The general said. “Besides, we’re the only ones with a power source,” 

He snapped his fingers, and another group of soldiers appeared in the doorway, hauling in a giant crystal. It would have been identical to the previous one, except this one was darker and colored the dusky evil purple-gray that the Nightmares seemed to adore. It had been warped from its natural beauty to do the evil bidding of its master. Bunny’s eyes widened. 

From his perch inside the vent system, Hiccup gulped. He shoved himself backwards and crawled deeper into the castle. 

“Gotta get help,” He muttered. “Gotta get help,” 

Rapunzel and Tooth had snuck to the cliff sides, peering out into the burning village below. They’d expected at least a battalion of nightmare soldiers, but when Rapunzel had snuck closer, she’d found empty drone shells. 

“It's a diversion,” She told Tooth through her comms. “Another attack might be happening somewhere else,” 

“Good work,” The princess responded. “Get back here as fast as you can, we’ll proceed from there,” 

The blonde climbed back up to the cliff, where she and Tooth started the trek back to the castle. They’d only gone a few feet when both of their comms started to flash. 

“Guys?!” Hiccup’s voice whispered. “Can you read me?” 

“Hiccup!” Rapunzel yelled. “What’s wrong?” 

“Nightmare troops set the bomb, they’re inside and have the castle locked off,” The green paladin said quickly. “They have Merida and Bunny, but I don’t think they know I’m here,” 

“You need to find a way to get us inside!” Tooth said, the two girls ducking out of sight of the new nightmare patrols. “If you can shut down the shields, Rapunzel and I can slip in,” 

“The shields?” Hiccup repeated. “That’s in…?” 

“Generator room,” Tooth relayed. “But you also have to stop them from taking off, so the turbine controls are in the same place,” 

“Got it,” Hiccup said. The girls heard a shuffled noise as the green paladin maneuvered his way through the ventilation system. “Shields and turbines. That’s going to be as easy as catching Freya’s cats,” 

North expertly steered the shuttle towards what looked like a large green rock. Apparently, it was a living creature that created crystals full of quintessence - something the Punjam’s used to make everything. 

“This balmera has been in trade with us for centuries, so it shouldn’t be a long trip,” North assured. Jack wanted to mention that he had been asleep for centuries, but the stakes were already dire. He didn’t want to up them. 

“Attention unidentified vessel, w-what's your code?” 

Both Jack and North jumped at the voice coming from their comms. They shared a look, eyes wide as they realized the same thing. 

Nightmares . 

“Uh, this is just… routine flyby?” North said uncertainty. There was a nervous pause, before the nightmare sentry replied. 

“Unidentified vessel, please land for detainment,” 

North stepped on the accelerator. Just as two drone ships flew up to guide them in, North sped to the surface of the planet, weaving his way through the many mining machines set up on the surface. 

“They’re destroying the Balmera!” He yelled in disbelief. “Jack - you fly!” 

Jack quickly took over the controls as North directed him. They dodged the fire from the nightmare ships, just barely making the loops and quick turns.  

“Down!” North yelled, and Jack sent the ship spiralling down into one of the long mining shafts. He made a quick right, and they crashed into one of the offshoots. Holding their breath, they watched as the nightmare drones briefly scanned the area before retreating. 

“Get out,” North whispered. “Ship’s taken too much damage,” 

“How are we going to repair it and find a crystal?” The white haired teen asked, but did as he was told. Jack tapped the side of his helmet to trigger his flashlight, and gripped his bayard in case of trouble. North set to work trying to fix their shuttle. 

Suddenly, Jack heard the sounds of rocks climbing and whirled around, bayard transforming into his staff. 

“Who’s there?!” He hissed, slipping into a fighting stance. 

“Don’t shoot!” A voice replied. 

“Jamie!” Another - this one more female - hissed. “Don’t!” 

“Step out here!” Jack yelled. 

“We’re not Nightmare,” The first voice said, stepping out and revealing himself as a small boy, only about eleven years old. His eyes glowed an opaque yellow, and while his shape was more humanoid, his skin had a rocky texture and color that matched the walls around them. Behind him was another almost identical (to Jack) alien, only this one was a bit thinner and taller. 

“Who are you?” Jack asked, lowering his staff. He had a soft spot for kids, and these two kind of reminded him of his little sister Emma back on Earth. Gosh, he hadn’t seen Emma in almost a month.

“I’m Jamie, this is Pippa,” The boy said. Jack almost laughed at the absurdly human sounding names. A third - very small - one appeared behind the two. “This is Sophie, my sister,” 

“Why aren’t you helping the Nightmares?” Jack asked. 

“They’re hurting the Balmera,” Jamie answered. “I can feel it. We all can,” 

Sophie and Pippa nodded. Jamie was about to continue when the whirs of Nightmare sentries started to fill the mining shaft. The three kids stepped back into the shadows. 

“Follow us,” Jamie said. North and Jack hurried on, quinting in the dark to keep up with the spry Balmeran children. Eventually, they were led into a secret cave, where more children and some adults were milling around. The kids played in a corner while one of the adult Balmerans spooned out bowls of soup. 

“Mom! Look what we found!” Jamie yelled, gesturing to Jack and North. One of the adult Balmerans turned and gasped. 

“What have I said about going out into the tunnels alone!” She chided. The woman quickly glanced at North and Jack, and narrowed her eyes. “Who are you?” 

“I’m Jack,” He answered quickly. “I’m a paladin of Voltron. This is my friend North,” 

“Voltron is just a kids story,” Pippa said nervously. 

“It’s real,” Jack said, shaking his head. “I promise you it is,” 

“Mom!” Jamie interrupted. “Maybe they can help up!” 

“Help you?” North asked. 

“The Nightmares have been destroying the Balmera,” Jamie explained. “Voltron can drive them away!” 

“Jamie!” His mom cried. “They can’t do that!” 

“Yes.” Jack said, surprised at his own words. “We can,” 

All the Balmeran’s turned to stare at him. Jack took a quick breath and continued. 

“We can help you.” He said. “But first, we’re gonna need a crystal to power our castle,” 

“Okay, this should be the generator room,” Hiccup muttered to himself. Puffin whirred in agreement, so the green paladin kicked out the vent cover and rolled outside. 

“Remember, don’t touch the beams!” Tooth reminded. “They’ll deliver such a powerful shock that your human body will probably go into cardiac arrest,” 

Hiccup rolled his eyes and kept moving towards the control box. He popped off a panel and looked inside at the rows of lights and wires that greeted him. 

“You need to disconnect the turbines first, so do that by-” 

“Tooth!” Hiccup interrupted. “It's all in Punjam!” 

“So?” 

“ I can’t read Punjam Toothiana, ” 

“Oh,” The princess said. “It should look like a-” 

“Hey!” 

“Quiznack,” Hiccup cursed, rolling out of the way just as a shot was fired. The Nightmare sentries had found him. “Sorry Tooth,” 

He jabbed his bayard towards the box, letting it move into dagger form and electrify the wires. Hiccup slashed quickly, and a low hum of energy buildup filled the room. Nodding at Puffin, the brunet boy took a running leap off the side of the platform, fingers latching onto the little drone before he plummeted. 

At that moment, the entire generator room lit up with energy as the fired control box and beams combined, knocking out the soldiers. Hiccup and Puffin flew back up to their vents, disappearing inside. 

“Good job boy,” He said, smiling at the drone. He was about to continue on when more voices filled the chamber. More Nightmare soldiers. Hiccup shrunk back, closing his eyes tightly and hoping that they didn’t notice the misplaced vent cover. 

Hiccup couldn’t say he wasn’t a fan of space. His mom had always called him her ‘Star Sailor’ before she’d disappeared, and he’d been dreaming of discovering new planets since he turned eight. He actually enjoyed getting to live in a super techno-alien castle with three cool aliens, his best friend and two very pretty girls. Despite only knowing each other for about a month, they were already all close friends. 

It was just the constant threat of danger that he disliked. 

Hiccup took a shaky breath, but kept his eyes screwed shut. 

“Hey Star Sailor,” A warm voice said. The little boy laughed and turned around, only to lunge forwards and wrap his arms around the woman. 

“Mama!” 

“You can’t spend all night looking at those stars,” The woman said, picking up her son and dumping him back into his bed. “You’ll be too tired at school,” 

“They don’t like me there anyways,” Her son said. “The stars like me more,” 

“Oh honey,” His mom said, hugging him close. “You’re going to change the world, but first, you have to be brave enough to face it,” 

“Brave enough to face it,” Hiccup muttered. He opened his eyes and crawled to the edge of the vent. About four sentries had entered the room, looking for what - or who, actually -  had taken out their crewmates. 

Puffin flew out of the vent and started to beep loudly, drawing the attention of the Nightmares. The soldiers started to fire at the little robot, who zoomed back towards Hiccup. The fire followed. 

“Go! Go! Go!” He yelped, flipping around and scabbing down the vent. Hiccup finally sprung out of the vents and into the training room, where another set of soldiers greeted him with shooting. The guards from before burst through the doors, leveling the playing field to eight versus two. 

Hiccup’s eyes widened and he dove to the ground, using his momentum to slide between the Nightmares legs. The others rushed forwards to corner him, but Hiccup started the invisible maze from his tablet, quickly navigating his way out. 

“Bunny’s training hasn’t been completely useless,” He thought with a smile, watching as the Nightmares slammed into the walls, falling back as it stunned and trapped them. 

With Puffin on his heels, Hiccup sprinted back to the generator room. How all he needed was to break open the shields. 

With Tooth’s instructions, Hiccup managed to rewire the castle to let the shields down on the hour - something that wouldn’t draw the Nightmares attention until Tooth and Rapunzel were back inside. He had ten minutes to wait and meet them inside, where they'd be able to save the others. 

“Okay,” He said, turning to Puffin. “Now we-” 

“FREEZE!” 

Hiccup whirled around, locking eyes with one of the higher up Nightmare soldiers. He stormed towards the Paladin, hands reaching out to grab him. Hiccup dove out of the way, but the Nightmare’s arms were longer, and he grabbed him by the back of the armor. 

Hiccup thrashed, struggling against the stronger soldier's grip, yelling angrily. With an angry beep, Puffin slammed into the Nightmare’s head, and the soldier let go from the green paladin. He yelled in fear as he slipped over the edge of the platform. 

Hiccup whirled around just as the Nightmare’s hand closed around Puffin, pulling the drone down as they fell. 

“NO!” He yelled, reaching out. Puffin beeped and the light died, and both the drone and soldier disappeared. More soldiers rushed into the generator room, grabbing him by the arms and dragging him back. Hiccup didn’t even bother to fight back this time, letting the Nightmares take him to Mor’du. 

They threw HIccup to the ground just inside the control room, leaving quickly and closing the doors. Obviously, Mor’du assumed he’d be enough to handle Hiccup. 

The green paladin’s eyes flickered to the side, where he caught sight of Bunny on the ground. Merida was slumped to his left, still unconscious. 

“What were you doing in the control room?” Mor’du growled. “Calling for help?” 

“Your mom,” Hiccup muttered. If Merida had been awake, she’d have cackled at the Earth joke. 

“I don’t appreciate lies boy!” Mor’du yelled, storming towards Hiccup. Hiccup glared and pulled out his bayard, going from dagger to sword form as the general got closer. “You think your petty sword can hurt me? I have been graced by the druids!” 

Hiccup didn’t know what the quiznack a druid was, but General Mor’du had gestured to his large robotic arm. One of the Nightmare’s eyes matched the arm - both overly large and crude looking, but Hiccup figured they’d pack a heavy punch. 

He swung the sword anyways. 

Mor’du growled as it clanged against his arm, easily batting it away. He grabbed Hiccup’s arm, twisting it back as the teenager yelled in pain. Mor’du grabbed him by the throat, hoisting him into the air. 

Hiccup yelled and thrashed, trying to pry the general’s fingers away from him, but he was rapidly losing air. He choked, vision blurring. He could just barely hear Bunny’s yells in the background. 

“AHH!” Mor’du yelled, dropping Hiccup to the ground and grabbing for his shoulder. He whirled around, ignoring Hiccup. 

Merida smirked as she lowered his bow, the string dematerialising as her eyes rolled back into head and she passed out again. She’d used up all of her energy to shoot an arrow into Mor’du’s shoulder.

Mordu was about to storm over there and get rid of the red paladin himself when the doors smashed open, revealing Tooth and Rapunzel. Tooth glared, and Rapunzel swung her bayard in a circle. 

“Oh you’re going down, ” Hiccup muttered towards Mor’du. 

“When will she wake up?” Rapunzel asked North as the group gathered around the newly fixed healing pod. 

“In a few ticks,” Tooth said, giving a quick glance to the Punjam counter on the pod. “She’d be a little off center though,” 

“Off center?” Jack asked. Suddenly, the counter beeped, and the barrier on the pod disappeared with a whoosh. Merida’s eyes opened and she stumbled forwards. She stepped outside of the pod, but her legs were too unstable, and she started to fall. 

Hiccup caught her. 

“Hey you,” He smiled, helping her down. Merida groaned and brushed some of her hair out of the way. 

“Hi,” She said back. Hiccup helped her down to the kitchen with the others, where she was given a bowl of food. “Is everyone okay?” 

“All ready to blast off tomorrow,” Jack grinned. “And go help the Balmerans,” 

Merida’s brow furrowed. 

“Wait,” She said through a mouth full of food. “‘Ow much did ah miss?” 

Chapter Text

Chapter Nine:

Jack and North filled everyone in about the situation on the Balmera before the Castle took off. The castle - with the use of the new crystal - took off without a hitch, and the group was on their way to help their new friends. 

“We need to do this quickly and efficiently,” Bunny said, looking around at the young paladins, armor on and ready. 

“Get rid of the Nightmares,” Jack said. “And save the Balmerans,” 

“There is mining equipment on the surface - good place to attack,” North added. 

“We hit them hard, we hit them fast,” Hiccup said. “And we find a way to locate the Balmerans,” 

“Sensors - similar to our tracking devices in the lions!” Tooth cried. “If we drop them on the surface of the planet, we can get an accurate reading of Balmerans, Nightmares and us!” 

“Ah’ll do it,” Merida chimed in. Her hair, while still a little singed, was tied back into a thick bunch. “My lion’s tha fastest,” 

“Are we all ready?” Rapunzel asked. 

Around the tables, everyone nodded and looked back at each other before nodding again. Then, they started getting ready. 

The five lions shot through the atmosphere, four heading towards the mining sites while the red lion ducked to the left. The remaining lions split off into teams - Green and Black, Blue and Yellow - as they started to attack the mining equipment. 

Rapunzel slammed her lion into one of the heavy cranes. The force of the blow bent the machinery, and it toppled over with a crash. 

“Be precise with your attacks!” Bunny reminded the group. “The Balmera is a living creature, we can’t hurt it!” 

With that, he and Hiccup started in on the cannons, efficiently blasting smaller ones to pieces while avoiding shots from the main cannon. 

“Merida’s dropped five of the trackers!” Tooth updated. “She’ll be finished in a few doboshes!” 

“Is a dobosh a minute?” Jack asked Hiccup and Rapunzel, who both shrugged in confusion. Neither could answer as the main cannon sent an energy blast towards them, and all three paladins swerved to avoid it. 

“Stay focused!” Bunny chided. “And get rid of that cannon!” 

“How?!” Jack yelled, avoiding another shot. “It’s too powerful!” 

“Move!” 

“Merida!” Hiccup cried as the red lion swooped in front of them, firing a shot that melted through the cannon’s base, destroying it. 

“What?!” Jack protested. “She gets fire powers?! What do the rest of us get?” 

As if his lion had heard him, the blue lion roared and fired a shot of ice that froze an entire row of cannons. 

“Woah!” The white haired teen said. “Okay, that’s cool too,” 

“Where are all the nightmares?” Hiccup asked. “We’ve taken out all of their equipment and outer defenses, there should be drones or foot soldiers at least!” 

“The scans of the Balmera aren’t showing any soldiers towards the surface,” Tooth said through the comms. “Wait! There’s a large cavern - looks like all of the Nightmares are inside!” 

“Where are the Balmerans?” Jack interrupted. 

“A different cavern,” Tooth said. “Furthur underground,” 

“Rapunzel and Jack, you two go move the Balmerans. If they aren’t where the nightmares think, they’ll be safer,” Bunny said. “Hiccup and Merida, you two find a way to stop those Nightmares from getting out,” 

“They’re this way!” Jack said as he and Rapunzel ran down the caves. Jack was ahread, hurrying towards the main cave where he and North had stayed with the Balmerans before. 

“Do these caves feel weird to you?” Rapunzel asked, stopping to run her hand over the wall. A few small crystal’s were peeping through, and they glimmered at her touch. “Like… a voice in your head?” 

“No?” Jack said. “Punzie, this could just be another one of those Coronian things,” 

“Yeah,” Rapunzel mumbled. “Another one of those Coronian things,” 

They kept moving in silence, constantly checking their maps for reference and to avoid any loose sentries. After a few more minutes - doboshes - they slipped into the hidden cavern. 

“Jamie? Sophie?” Jack called. “Pippa?” 

“It's you!” One of the Balmerans cried, appearing from the shadows. “The Voltron boy!” 

“We’re here to help,” Jack said. “This is Rapunzel,” 

One of the older Balmeran’s eyes widened, and she bowed slightly to the blonde. 

“Princess…” 

“I’m not a princess,” Rapunzel said quickly. “That’s Toothiana, I’m the yellow paladin,” 

“Jack?” 

“Jamie!” Jack cried, hugging the younger Balmeran as he rushed forwards. 

“I knew you’d keep your promise!” Jamie said. “And you brought another friend!” 

“I’m Rapunzel,” The blonde said. “What do we need to do?” 

“Stay alert,” Hiccup whispered and he and Merida snuck down the caves towards the underground hanger. 

“Like ah was planning on runnin’ out there and dancing,” Merida rolled her eyes, turning to the green paladin. “Ah know what ah’m doing,” 

“I know,” Hiccup smiled. “Okay, it looks like there's only one door the drones can actually fit through,” 

“There,” Merida said, pointing to said doors as Hiccup nodded. “We lock it down, an’ we cut off all their firepower,” 

“Exactly,” Hiccup said, pulling out his bayard. It flashed blue as it transformed to dagger mode. “Now help me take out the guards in the control room,” 

Merida grinned. 

“How are the trackers holding up?” Tooth asked North from her position at the head platform. She was every bit the commander her father had been, and the old man smiled at the memory. 

“I see five paladins,” He said. “Two with a group of Balmerans, two in the middle of a secret Nightmare hanger, and one acting as bait because he’s too scared to leave his queen alone,” 

“I’m not the queen North,” Toothiana muttered, but he swore her cheeks had turned pink. “There's no Punjam Hy Loo to be queen of,” 

“There were Punjam’s offworld when the planet was destroyed,” North said quietly. “My family for one,” 

“I doubt they’d come back to a broken kingdom,” Toothiana said. “You and I are all that’s left,” 

“Bunny,” North added. 

“Bunny has his own people,” Tooth said quietly. “He shouldn’t be here with me anyways,” 

“Ready?” Hiccup whispered. Merida nodded and turned herself to face him. 

“Hold on,” She whispered back, and threw herself backwards. 

The vent cover below her slammed out of place and into a Nightmare sentry below, knocking him out. Hiccup grabbed ahold of Merida’s ankles, anchoring her to the ground and she flipped backwards, handing upside down as her bayard transformed into her bow. 

She quickly stunned the other two sentries before she and Hiccup climbed out into the control room. Merida closed and locked the door while Hiccup made for the computers. 

They moved fast - Merida taking up the scout position as Hiccup hacked into the controls and destroyed the door manuals. 

“Okay, so I’ve added three layers of passwords and firewalls that will completely shut down the doors if they even try to open them,” Hiccup smirked, turning back to Merida. 

“How’d you do it?” Merida smirked back. 

“Rewired it so only our DNA works,” Hiccup grinned. “Well, specifically Rapunzel’s,” 

Merida grinned. Hiccup finished typing, downloading another round of files. He’d done this at every Nightmare ship they’d found, still searching for his mother. 

“Jack, Punzie, our mission is done, we’re on our way ta’ you,” Merida said into her comms. 

“We’ve got the Balmerans,” Rapunzel answered. “Tracking your signatures now,” 

“Come on Hic,” Merida muttered, grabbing Hiccup and jumping back into the vent. The two paladins retraced their steps and kept to the shadows, sneaking back to the open tunnels. From there, it was just a matter of making sure they didn’t get turned around in the labyrinth of tunnels. 

“Jack?” Hiccup asked as they reached the main tunnel where they’d stashed their mini transports. “Rapunzel?” 

“Here!” The blonde cried as she and Jack appeared from the shadows, behind them were the Balmerans, a cluster of adults and children whose rocky skin had naturally camouflaged them with the planet. 

“We have to get everyone up to the castle,” Jack said. “They’ll be safer there until we can complete drive out the Nightmares,” 

Suddenly, the ground shook, and rocks started to fall from the top of the cave. The Balmerans yelled out in fear, sheltering their children. Jack grabbed onto his friends hands and held tightly, praying they wouldn’t be crushed. 

“Wot was that?” Merida asked in a hushed voice, eyes wide in panic. 

“The Balmera,” Jamie interjected, eyes also wide. “Something’s happening,” 

From the Castle, Tooth had started to get strange readings. Small blips had started to appear on her radar, and they were doubling by the tick. 

“North pull up the shields!” The princess suddenly screamed as a large mark appeared on the map. She grabbed for her communicator. “Bunny get out of there!” 

“What's happening?!” The Black paladin responded. 

Tooth looked up from her maps, heart sinking as she recognized the scene in front of her. One large Nightmare ship had just come out of hyperspace in front of her, with close to fifty fighter ships joining it. 

“We’ve been ambushed,” She whispered. “The Nightmares found us,” 

Chapter Text

Chapter Ten: 

North pulled the shields up at the last second, protecting the castle from being blown to bits by the Nightmares. The ship rocked from the impact, and Tooth was almost thrown off of her platform. 

“Defense formations!” The princess yelled. “Now North!” 

North quickly moved the castle into the defensive positions, putting up extra layers as the fighter ships started to attack themselves. 

“No!” Tooth screamed, grabbing her communicator as she hit the ground. “Paladins! We need Voltron!” 

“Tooth!” Bunny answered. “What’s going on up there?!” 

“Nightmare ships have surrounded us!” Tooth griped, pulling herself back upright. “I repeat - do not engage without Voltron!” 

Back on the surface of the Balmera, Bunny was torn. Save his team or fly back up and protect Toothiana? Even back when he’d flown with the original paladins, Bunny had never had to face abandoning his team. As much as he hated to admit it, he was in the same boat as the other new paladins. 

Completely unsure of his actions. 

“We’re locked in!” Merida cried once the rocks had stopped falling. “We cannae get to our lions!” 

“What's the plan?” Hiccup said to Jack as the rest of the paladins joined the hunt for an exit. “I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t want to die in a hole while the rest of our friends get murdered by Nightmares outside!” 

“There is a way,” A low voice from the Balmerans said. 

“What?” Jack asked. 

“There is a way,” An elder repeated. “Pippa…” 

The younger Balmeran girl took a breath and stepped forwards. 

“I-I can’t do it,” She whispered. “But you can,” 

“Me?” Jack asked. Pippa shook her head. 

“No… you,” 

She pointed at Rapunzel. The blonde turned, eyes wide and unsure. 

“W-what?” She whispered. 

“You’re Coronian,” Pippa explained. “Which means you can tap into the Balmera’s quintessence,” 

“Okay,” Rapunzel said, straightening up. “Show me,”

Jamie and Pippa took Rapunzel to a cave wall, and all three placed their hands on the stone and closed their eyes. As Rapunzel’s mind calmed, she could suddenly feel the influence of the Balmera in her body. It was a warm feeling, like a hug from an elderly family member. Through it, Rapunzel could feel every cave, tunnel and occupant of the planet. 

“Help us…” She whispered. The tunnel shuddered again, and a new tunnel - right where she’d had her hand - fell open. 

“Woah,” Hiccup breathed. “That was pretty cool,” 

“Let's go!” Jack yelped, jumping into the newly formed tunnel. “Thanks Balmera!” 

“Yeah,” Rapunzel smiled. “Thank you,” 

They made it to the surface just as Tooth reported on the Nightmare ship. It had opened its hangar doors and some large pod had been deployed down to the Balmera. Just as she finished relaying the information, it had landed in front of them. 

It was huge, and instead of Nightmare gray - was a deep muted red color. The paladins had only just gotten back to their lions when it seemed to… unfold. 

“What’s going on!?” Rapunzel asked nervously. “Guys, are you seeing this?!” 

“Quiznack…” Hiccup breathed. “That's an android!”

“How do we stop it!?” Merida yelled just as the robot’s eyes suddenly lit up. “WOAH!” 

The red lion swerved into a roll, barely missing the beam of energy the robot had fired. 

“Paladins!” Tooth interrupted, appearing on all five of their screens. “This is the bigger problem! North and I will be fine!” 

“We need Voltron!” Jack yelled, also rolling to avoid the lasers. “Bunny - where are you?! ” 

“Here!” The Black Paladin yelled, bursting through the clouds into view. “Formation!” 

The others rushed towards Bunny, falling into the Voltron formation as quickly as possible. With the familiar lifting feeling and flash of light, the five lions had combined into the enormous robot - but the mysterious Nightmare android was still larger. 

“We can’t attack this thing head on,” Hiccup relayed into his comms. “It’s going to react too quickly,” 

“We need ta trick it then,” Merida said. “An’ catch it off guard,” 

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Jack chimed in. “Lets go!” 

Voltron sprung forwards, sword swinging to attack the giant robot. The swing missed, sending the paladins reeling as they were caught in the back by a laser blast. 

“Quiznack!” Rapunzel cursed. “How do we stop this!” 

“I don’t know!” Bunny replied, and they kept running from the giant robot’s attacks. It seemed whatever they did, the larger robot avoided or didn’t seem harmed by. With a few more good blows from the android itself, Voltron could be crucially damaged. 

“We can’t stop it!” Jack yelled as they avoided another blast by only a few feet. “It’s too powerful!” 

“Wait!” Hiccup interrupted. “Look!” 

The robot had fired another blast from its mouth, and the blue light was slowly dying away. Within seconds, it had started to glow again, getting brighter and brighter before another shot fired. 

“There's a load up time!” Hiccup yelled. “We hit it, the combined firepower could blow up the inside!” 

“But how!?” Jack demanded. “Bunny! You’re the senior officer here, any old tips?!” 

“We never fought anything this big!” Bunny protested. “So no, I don’t!” 

“WAIT!” Merida shrieked. “My lion - it’s telling me something!” 

“What?” Jack yelled. 

Merida looked down at her controls, closing her eyes as the red lion’s thoughts started to appear in her head. Suddenly, she was in a completely different battle, with another - an older - set of Paladins. During the vision, she watched as her bayard was shoved into an open port, and a new weapon materialized on Voltron’s scans. 

Her eyes flashed open. Merida grabbed her bayard and shoved it into the port, with a woosh and yells from her other paladins, Merida watched as a larger version of her bow appeared. 

“Blimey…” She whispered. 

“It’s charging up!” Rapunzel yelled as Voltron turned back towards the giant robot. As she wanted them, the bowstring pulled back and a large laser arrow - similar to Merida’s - materialized. They calmly aimed towards the robot’s mouth, and their minds simultaneously cleared - like when they’d first combined into Voltron. 

“Fire!” Hiccup yelled, and the arrow released, firing right into the robot's mouth. There was a moment of fear and anticipation, but both shots combined and the robot exploded, slumping down on the surface of the Balmera. 

The paladins erupted into cheers. Voltron dismantled and the five pilots steered their lions back to the surface where the other Balmerans were waiting. For many, it was their first time above ground, and the children were already running and playing in the new landscape. 

“You have saved us all,” The elder said, thanking the paladins. “But… the battle was long for the Balmera,” 

“We’re sorry,” Rapunzel apologized. The others noticed how the land seemed duller and older, like it was sick. 

“It was not your fault,” The elder said, kneeling and drawing her hand across the Balmera’s surface. The path brightened a little, tiny crystals peeking through the dirt, but it dulled quickly. “It had been decades of hardships from the Nightmares, with no thanks for the Balmera’s work,” 

“So it’s going ta’ die?!” Merida protested. “No! We cannae give up!” 

The elder shook her head, and the rest of the Balmerans seemed resigned as well. 

“You can save it,” The elder finally whispered. “Like how you opened the tunnels, the Balmera will let you save it,” 

“How?” Rapunzel whispered. The elder gestured for the blonde to come closer, and Rapunzel knelt, putting her hands flat against the ground and closing her eyes. 

And then, she wasn’t on the Balmera with her friends. She was younger, only a few years old with a young couple that held her closely. The woman looked just like her, only with dark chestnut hair, and the man smiled lovingly at the pair. 

It was her parents. Her mother smiled at her again, brushing a loose strand of her daughter's hair back and started to sing. 

“Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine,” Rapunzel whisper-sung. “Make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine…” 

The other Balmeran’s knelt to join the Coronian, and the paladins watched in awe as the Balmera seemed to heal. Jack only had eyes for Rapunzel, and his mouth dropped open as her hair began to… glow. 

“Another weird Coronian thing,” He whispered. The blonde had been a wild card from the start, but it seemed that she could keep on impressing. 

“Heal what has been hurt, change the fate's design,” Rapunzel continued, singing from memory. “Save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine…” 

She opened her eyes, surprised to see new crystals popping out of the dirt, the ground changing to a healthier color, and the Balmeran’s on their hands and knees as they poured their gratitude into the Balmera’s surface. 

“What once was mine,” She finished. 

“You have given us a new life,” The elder thanked, smiling at the paladins. “We shall be proud to call Voltron our allies,” 

“Thank you,” Bunny said, bowing his head. 

“Did you know that your hair glowed?” Jack whispered, grabbing Rapunzel’s hand as she stepped back to join him and the others. “Because it does,” 

The blonde smiled and pulled a strand out to look, but it had dulled back to her normal color. She shook her head at the blue paladin, still smirking. 

“Paladins!” Tooth’s voice was still staticky on the comms, but she sounded more stable. “We’re getting readings of another ship,” 

“Is it Nightmare?” Bunny asked. 

“Not only that,” North said. “It’s identified as a main command ship. It’s Pitch himself,” 

“Our alliance holds now,” The elder said. “The Balmera and its people will help defend out home,” 

As she spoke, Balmerans had started to run towards the abandoned cannons, and sharper crystals had begun to poke out of the soil. Bunny turned to tell the paladins to get back to their lions, but they were already on the way. 

He smiled and ran back into the Black Lion himself. For a bunch of anklebiters, they’d learned fast. 

“The castle’s defenses are holding strong!” Tooth chimed in. “Paladins?” 

“Are we ready?” Bunny yelled. Across his screen, four more screens showing the others popped up. Everyone seemed to share the same determined look. 

“FORM VOLTRON!” 

Chapter Text

The dark expanse of the Anitor system suddenly lit up in a whirling purple and blue wormhole, dropping two large robotic lions into the empty space as it disappeared. One of the lions was huge, mostly black in color, while the other was tiny in comparison, and a bright red. 

“Alright, looks like the signal’s even stronger out here,” The pilot of the black lion said, tapping across his screen and squinting. “That moon, down to our left,” 

“Copy tha’,” The red pilot answered, and the two lions dipped down towards the surface. 

Hiccup smiled and let Merida and Red take the lead, pulling Black behind them, even though his lion could move just as or faster than hers. 

Sometimes he missed the maneuverability of the green lion, but there was a lot of power that came with flying the black one, and Hiccup knew that he’d grown enough to handle it. 

The paladins had changed some since they’d first joined together as Voltron. Jack and Rapunzel still flew Blue and Yellow, similar to how Merida kept fast to Red. The original paladin for Black - E. Aster Bunnymund - had stepped down though. He’d found a different calling manning a different sector of allied rebels, which had left a gap in the robot hero. 

Everyone was surprised when the Black Lion chose Hiccup to replace Bunny. The two pilots were completely different, but it only took a few months for everyone to realize why the lion had made its choice. 

Hiccup wasn’t the scrawny kid who’d snuck himself into the Garrison to find out what had happened to his mother anymore. Space had done wonders for him it seemed. Hiccup shot up, now suddenly taller than Merida and Jack instead of barely clearing Rapunzel. He’d also filled out muscle-wise, even though he was still twiggy. Everything about him seemed older and more focused, making him a perfect leader. 

After a few missions with the new team (Tooth having taken over flying Green), there had been an influx of missions that didn’t require the entire team, but needed one or two lions. So, the entire team had agreed to split up for the next few months, with repeated check-ins back at the castle for breaks. 

This was one of those missions, but it also had a nice bonus for Hiccup if things went well. 

He’d been tracking a Nightmare who’d been accused of heading a trafficking ring in the darker parts of the galaxy. This guy worked in the shadows, but was known for being able to get the rarest of specimens. 

Including humans. 

Hiccup had brought Merida along as backup, referring to her as his ‘red right hand’. The two of them landed their lions on the moon - Keane. After locking their systems down and activating some camouflage tech, the two paladins met up outside, their white and colored armor partially covered by dark cloaks to conceal their identities. 

“Come on,” Hiccup said, following the tracker on his wrist, leading the duo towards a cave system and slipping inside. 

They walked for a bit, following the dull beep of the tracker until it looked like they were right on top of the drop zone - except nothing was there. 

“What do we do now?” Merida asked. 

“Wait a sec…” Hiccup muttered, fiddling with his system before looking up confusedly. “I have no clue,” 

“Does the air feel… heavier ta’ you?” 

“Heavier?”

Merida shrugged, but the two paladins understood each other. The air did feel heavier, and even with their weighted boots to keep them down despite the lack of gravity, it had gotten harder to maneuver with all the stones coating the floor. 

Well, that hadn’t happened fifty feet back. 

“Gravity!” Hiccup grinned, looking up at Merida with bright eyes. “You’re a genius Meri!” 

“So we’re in a patch o’ random gravity?” 

“No, we’re right above a station full of artificial stuff!” 

He kicked some of the rocks away, quickly landing on a keypad that only took a few minutes to disengage, revealing a circular hatch that led into the base. 

“You go,” Merida said, pulling her cloak aside for easy bayard access. “I’ll guard the door,” 

Hiccup slipped inside the hidden chamber, using a grappling line that reeled itself in once he hit the ground. He looked around quickly, and headed straight for the consoles in the middle of the room. 

He plugged in a data loader he’d made especially for this job, then tapped the right button to start the download. 

Everything was going well… and then he heard it. 

Hiccup turned around just in time to see a masked and hooded figure lunge for him, the electric staff in their hands buzzing with electricity. 

He ducked, and the staff crashed into the console above his head. 

“Quiznack,” Hiccup muttered to himself, dodging each of his attackers strikes as he fumbled for his bayard. He kept it in dagger form, twirling it quickly to parry. The masked fighter was too quick for him to get to his commlink and signal Merida for help, so he hoped to Odin that she was paying attention. 

Their fight moved away from the console board and out into the open, but the step down caught Hiccup’s foot and he tripped backwards, landing hard on his back. Before he could react, the marked fighter used their staff to knock his helmet off and out into the room, where it clattered across the floor. 

They twirled the staff and brought it down - but stopped an inch from his neck and gasped. HIccup heaved and slid backwards, hands scabbing for his bayard. 

The masked fighter dropped their staff to the ground, then fell to their knees before grabbing his face and yanking it closer. Hiccup was super confused, but this was at least better than dying. 

Their thumb ran across the small scar Hiccup had on his jawline - something that had happened when he was a kid who’d been too clumsy for the soldering equipment his Uncle Gobber used to build model ships. 

“Hic-cup?” A broken voice croaked. His eyes went wide. The masked person slowly moved her mask off of her face, revealing a middle aged brunette woman with identical green eyes to the Black Paladin. 

“Mom?!” 

The Haddocks crushed into each other and wrapped their arms around each other in a tight hug. Tears peaked from the corners of Valka’s eyes, and she pulled back to take a look at her son. 

“You’ve gotten so big!” She cried. “You were so little last I saw you, now you’re getting to be as tall as your father!” 

Hiccup was by no means as tall as his father, but he appreciated the sentiment. 

“I’ve been looking for you for so long!” He said. “They said you died!” 

“How did you even get this far into space?” 

“Voltron?” Hiccup said awkwardly. “My cadet squad back at the Garrison accidentally found the Blue Lion,” 

“No…” Valka breathed. “You know the paladins?” 

“I am a paladin!” He smirked. “You’re looking at the newly official paladin of the black lion,” 

Valka grinned proudly, but was cut off as a deep laugh echoed throughout the chamber. The two humans exchanged a look as a large Nightmare Soldier stepped out from the shadows at the back of the room. 

“What a touching reunion,” He snarled. “Now I can turn in two wanted criminals instead of one rebel rouser,” 

Hiccup and Valka glared, faces identically ready in that way that made it seem completely genetic.  

“The Black Lion as well,” The Nightmare grinned, “Will be an extra special prize for the emperor,” 

“Stand back Hiccup,” Valka said, brandishing her staff. 

“Stand back Mom,” Hiccup said at the same time, extending his bayard from dagger to sword form. The two looked at each other again, then shrugged. 

“Let’s show him what a Haddock is made of,” Valka challenged. The Nightmare snarled, ready to pounce. Mother and Son braced themselves, but the monstrous man suddenly shook violently and crumbled to the ground, spasming like he’d just been electrocuted. 

With a light thump , a red and white armored figure landed on the ground, and pushed back the hood of her cloak as she straightened up - bayard bow still buzzing from the shot. 

Merida leaned down and scooped Hiccup’s lost helmet up with her other hand, examining it for a second before lobbing it back at her leader. 

“Yeah, yeah, Haddock’s may be the stuff o’ heroes and chiefs,” She smirked, cocking her hip and looking at the duo as a loose curl of her hair bobbed to a stop over her forehead. “But Dunbroch’s are made o’ stronger stock,” 

“Thanks Meri,” Hiccup blushed a little. “You’re my right hand for a reason,” 

“Course ah am,” She grinned. Valka giddily watched the interaction between her son and the redhead, then brandished a hand towards her. 

“I’m Hiccup’s mother dear,” She yanked the younger girl into a hug as well. “And you need to tell me everything I’ve missed!”