Voltron: Legacy

Chapter 24

It took almost a month for Sareth to find a place that she judged safe enough to land, a smuggling port on a remote asteroid, run by some unilu crime gang. She quickly found the main tavern, strode in, and immediately got noticed.
"Hey, kid." The unilu bartender snapped. "Get outta here, this ain't no place for a little girl."
She climbed up onto one of the barstools. This took a bit of effort, since it came almost up to her armpits. "Is that so? Well, too bad you think that. I'm looking for work. I can fight, I can fly, and I've got a few other skills that don't hurt either."
He snorted. "Yeah, right. Go play with your dolly, kid."
"Eh, leave Little Miss alone. She's not doing anything to you." This voice came from an older man who seemed to be part of the same race as Ezor, with his bright red skin and colorful tail-like head appendage. Unlike Ezor, he had an impressive grizzled mustache, a carved ivory spiral threaded through a hole pierced in one earlobe, and a big laser pistol in a holster on each hip. He leaned on the bar.
"So you're looking for work?"
Sareth nodded, crossing her arms. "Have you got some?"
"Depends on if you can really pull your weight, Little Miss. If you're going to be whining for Mommy at all hours and taking up cargo space, then no."
Sareth's chin lifted in a stubbornly defiant expression.
"I don't whine, Mister Whoever-you-are."
"Do you tattle to the law about every little thing your crew does?"
"If I was any friend to the law, I wouldn't be here, would I?" Sareth snapped.
The man nodded. "You're a feisty one. You've got a point, too."
He reached out a hand.
"I'm Captain Jobar Ironbones. If you join my crew, you get bunk, food, and a cut of any pay we get from a job or any loot we nab. What you don't get is any special treatment just because you're a kid. I was your age when I started as a cabin boy, this kinda thing just happens."
Sareth shook his hand firmly, meeting his gaze and not looking away.
"I understand. When do we leave?"
"Not for a few hours. You should grab your things and load'em on board the Red Dancer, that's my ship, before then. And what's your name? I can't be forever calling you Little Miss."
"Sareth."
"No last name?"
"Not one I care to use, no."
"Alright then, Sareth Nobody, welcome to my crew."
Things fast-forwarded through Sareth's introductions to the rest of the crew, their ship, and her bunk, into her first night on board. She lay flat on her back under the ratty covers, staring up at the curved metal ceiling. She couldn't sleep, and I somehow knew she was thinking about her parents. Or rather, trying not to think about her parents, shoving her fear, sadness, and uncertainty to the back of her mind. Her parents were gone, they couldn't protect her any more, and she had to focus on surviving right now. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and curled up in a tight little ball.
"I can do this." She whispered to herself over and over again. "I can do this. I have to."

Then, back in the present, the holo screen went dark. Allura waved her hand again and it vanished.
"Sareth spent the rest of her life after that fighting to survive, and eventually to get revenge on the ones who had stolen her parents, her childhood. Does she remind you of anyone?"
I thought about it, and then it struck me. Sareth reminded me of, well, me.
She'd lost her parents. She'd never had the time to grieve them properly because she was too busy just surviving.
But given the chance, she was willing to do anything to fight for what she believed in. Just. Like. Me.
I didn't realize I was crying until Allura reached out to brush the tears from my cheeks.
"Do you understand now?"
I nodded. "Yeah. If, if things had been different, we might be on the same side right now."
"Or you could just as easily have taken her path, if it was necessary to save your sister."
The way the Princess said it, it was a statement rather than a question.
"I guess so, yeah." I admitted reluctantly. "What do I have to do? I can't just forcibly make her understand how wrong this is."
"Actually, that's what I had planned for you to do."
I blinked. "How?"
"It's . . . difficult to explain. You have to feel through her mind, become one with her as if she was a part of Voltron. Once you're there, you'll know what to do. I'll guide you."
On impulse, I hugged the willowy altean woman with all four arms.
"Thank you. I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't for this."
She looked a bit flustered, but hugged me back.
"I'm sure you would have figured something out. Now, we must hurry."
She put a gentle, lightly callused hand on each side of my face, fingertips on my temples. I closed my eyes as she did, feeling a swirling rush of power seep into my bones, permeating every corner of my body with raw, glowing energy. I gasped as my mind seemed to expand, until I was connected not just to my friends and Voltron, but to the entire Universe. I could see and feel the invisible connections between everything, and it felt like I suddenly knew the answers to every question ever asked. Something had clicked, and I was one with the cosmos.
"This is what it feels like for me." Allura's voice said, guiding me back to my own body. "I'm sending you back to your friends now, and you must act quickly. Open your eyes."