The Forgotten Paladin

Chapter 7: Liberation and Lost memories

I had no nightmares last night. I didn't sleep either. The comfort of my own thoughts kept me company; the thought of training didn't seem like the best idea, after my spear fried. I push the questions of how it happened out of my head as Coran's voice blasts through the speakers. 

CORAN: "Everyone to the bridge! The Balmera is a few doboshes away!" I can imagine the groans of the paladins as they emerge from their rooms in a sleepy daze. I tie my hair in a ponytail and grab my ear piece which Pidge made for me. So I know what's happening, since I'm finally able to be a part of the action today. One fear, I can't quite push out of my head: 'what if I get a strange vision and ruin everything?'. I can't help it from invading my peace of mind, the pressure builds on my chest and I feel the blood ease from my fingertips as I pick anxiously at them. I am grateful that I can finally help, but I am also worried. 

ALLURA: "Paladins, we will be arriving soon at the Balmera. So focus. "

HUNK: "Remember, we can't shoot directly at the Gulra. This Balmera, it's like, alive. And from what we've seen, it doesn't look very good." 

CORAN: "Yes, it's an atrocity what the Gulra have been doing to this grand beast. Stealing its crystals, it's very life force without ever performing the energy rejuvenation ceremonies to heal it."

HUNK: "After seeing Shay's people enslaved, it made me realize how bad Zarkon really is. And we're the only ones who can stop him." 

SHIRO: "Okay, so we can't go into the tunnels guns blazing. Plan B. We figure out how to draw the gulra up to the surface and battle them up there." 

HUNK: "Wait, I know! If we attack all of this big mining stuff on the surface, the gulra troops will have to come out to defend it. Then we beat them up, head down to the tunnels, Voltron saves the day!"  Wow, it's almost like I could see it happening. Except a lot more mistakes and screaming. 

SHIRO:" But, how will we know how many are left down in the tunnels?" 

ALLURA: "We can track the Gulra and the Balmerans using Biothermal Life Indicator Point Technology."

PIDGE: " Oh, BLIP tech!" We all stare in confusion. "It's an acronym." 

ALLURA: "One of you will need to fly around the Balmera and drop the sensors into the shafts on each side." A magical hologram whirrs up and shows what we're meant to do. "Then we'll be able to see where the Gulra and the Balmerans are. There are already sensors built into your suits."
I look in part disappointment and confusion. I have no suit. If I have to go down there, there's a high chance I won't come back from this mission.

KEITH: "What about Y/N?"

ALLURA: "What about her?"

KEITH: "She has no suit. If she goes down there, she'll be blown to pieces." 

ALLURA: "We can make her a suit after this mission, for now we have some paladin armour she can borrow."

PIDGE: "I can drop the BLIPS, I just modified the Green Lion with the invisible maze's cloaking ability. I should be able to fly around undetected." 

Listening was never a strong point of mine so my mind wondered off into the world of my own imagination. I know I should be listening to their plan since apparently I'll be taking part but I'm not sure if I want to go down there, EXPOSED. I have no lion, armour or proper weapon. 

SHIRO: "Y/N? Are you okay with what you have to do?" I snap back into the conversation and look nervously around the room. I give an awkward nod of agreement. I feel everyone's gaze on me as I soak into my own embarrassment. Red seeps up my face, I avert my gaze to the ground.

KEITH: *whispers* "You have to go to the Balmera and gather the Balmerans to a safe place."
I look at him in disbelief at the thought of going down there with nothing to defend myself with. 

CORAN: "I'm sure you'll be fine! Gulra blasters don't do that much." I stare in shock at his statement. 

Y/N: "Coran, are you trying to reassure me or annoy me?" 

SHIRO: "It's okay, there shouldn't be any gulran down there, we'll let you know if any come your way." I feel his hand on my shoulder and somehow everything is at ease. 

◈◈◈▣▣◈◈◈▣▣◈◈◈

Holding on for dear life to this small glider, I fall slowly down to the scarred surface of the Balmera. My feet land shakily on the ground, knees wavering I edge through the tunnels clutching my small dagger in one hand and an electronic map in the other. The darkness surrounds me as I stumble round winding corners and avoiding tangling vines. 

PIDGE: "Y/N, there are two gulra soldiers heading your way, they aren't very strong so you should be okay, once they're defeated, radio back so we know you're okay." 

I feel sweat threating on my face, pressure rising in my chest as I am now holding my dagger with both hands as I edge round another winding corner to face not two, not three, but 50 gulra soldiers. I try to back away but my entrance is blocked by a door that slams shut against my back. I'm thrown forwards onto the cracked ground in front of the mountain of sentries and soldiers. My radio cracks and spurts as the tonnes of ground above me interferes. 

I'm in some deep shi-.

SENTRIE: "Prepare to die. Any last words?" The robotic words echo through my ears as my heart pounds through my head. Ricocheting against the walls of my head. My eyes begin to burn, that familiar feeling returns, but it's slightly different. No vision invades my reality, just a feeling of anger and rage. A feeling not of my own. I am no longer in control of my own actions, it's like someone else's feelings have taken over. 

A shock runs through my spine, bouncing through my veins until my fists are lit up like fireworks. Sparks of lightning striking the ground. Suddenly, the sentries run towards me in fury, I feel my fist blasting towards the ground and lighting up all the sentries charging towards me who were now fried to a crisp. I stare around in shock as everything is literally shocked. I stagger through the piles of charred armour, grab a gun and start sprinting out through another tunnel. 

PIDGE: "Y/N is everything ok? Your com went silent. Y/N?"

I am too stunned to speak that I just sit in a crater in the ground, my breath catching in my throat. I stare down at my arm which is completely burnt, bruises forming from my hand to my shoulder. My shaking legs rise up, lifting the weight of my fear with them. 

PIDGE: "Guys, I think something happened to Y/N. She isn't responding."

KEITH: "We shouldn't have sent her to the Balmera with nothing to defend herself."
LANCE: "We gave her a dagger though."
KEITH: "Are you hearing yourself right now?" 

SHIRO: "Stow it guys, someone has to go down and help her, we're a little preoccupied being stuck in the core." 

ALLURA: "We're a little tied up at the moment." Explosions burst around the castle of lions as panic explodes in the minds of the paladins. 

What more could possible go wrong? 

◈◈◈▣▣◈◈◈▣▣◈◈◈

What do you guys think of this chapter? I hope you like where the story is headed!