The Golden Lion

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Ten thousand years ago...

"Father!" Allura cried while being guided into a sleeping pod by the king, "Please, don't leave me! Altea needs me!" Alfor glanced to Coran getting into his own pod. He saluted Alfor, then sent himself down under the floor. An explosion was heard from outside the castle.

"I will see you again, my dear. Your sister and I must take care of Zarkon and keep you safe. You're the heir to the throne - and you're right. All of Altea depends on you. For that reason you must live." Alfor stated. Tears clouded Allura's eyes, and she lunged forward to hug her father one last time before her slumber. Alfor hugged her back desperately, because he knew this could very well be the final hug he shares with her.

"I love you so much! You must make it out of this alive, I don't know what'd I do without you! " She wept as she pulled away and backed into the pod.

"I love you too, Allura. I will see you again."

The doors to the pod pulled shut and she was sent down with Coran. Little did they know they were going to be down there much longer than anyone could have anticipated.

Alfor turned around and hurried back outside to his younger daughter, Catori. She couldn't bear to say goodbye to Allura, so she stayed to help the other paladins fight off Zarkon and his fleets. Catori is also a paladin, and a very important one. She pilots the golden lion. This lion is what makes Voltron as powerful as it is, caused by its paladin's special power regarding quintessence. Catori can wield quintessence, in a way. She uses it to fight and aid Voltron more than anyone else is able to.

Voltron can be formed without the presence of the golden lion, but it will be much weaker without her power. Catori is the only soul who can pilot it because of her special bond with the lion and her powers- which was why it was completely necessary that she participated in that battle even though Alfor despised putting his daughters in danger.

It's also why Catori witnessed Alfor die less than twenty feet away from her.

Impaled through the chest by someone he once would've trusted with his life.

As it happened, Catori lost connection with everything else going on around her. She wanted to be filled with rage and power, but exactly the opposite happened. Grief hit her like a tsunami overtaking her entire body and she fell to her knees. All of a sudden she felt helpless. Her power drained, but she didn't have any motivation to use it anyway. She met her father's glassy eyes as he too dropped to his knees, then collapsed forward. His eyes never closed again and he stared into the distance, seemingly at his planet which was being crushed to ruins. Zarkon began making his way over to Catori. Time was going in slow motion and many thoughts were bouncing around in her head. Her eyes panned the landscape and she looked around at her planet that was a storm of fire and battle. What was the purpose of fighting at this point? The lions were safe, ejected to other planets, but it didn't matter because most of the paladins were dead. Catori looked back to Zarkon, expecting him to sentence her to death along with her father. She didn't mind the thought of death after all that's happened, but then her mind flickered back to Allura, helplessly waiting in a pod for her sister and fathers return.

By the time she got her motivation back it was too late. Zarkon didn't stab her with the sharp end of his sword that was still coated in her father's blood, however. He whacked Catori with the handle of it so hard she blacked out.

...

"This is not the end. Voltron will have a revival if we do not find the lions first. Fortunately, you retrieved the girl, who is strongly bonded to Voltron," Haggar explained to Zarkon, "She will prove to be very useful, but she should stay in the exact condition she's in until we need her. She cannot go to waste." Zarkon pondered for a second before humming in agreement.

"If that is how it must be, then put her in a containment unit."

"As you wish, my lord."

...

Ten thousand years later, Catori was yanked out of a deep sleep she didn't even remember falling into. Her mind was in a daze and she face planted hard onto the floor.

"Get up!" a scratchy voice commands. Catori wobbled and tried to gain her balance. She wasn't aware of what was going on yet.

In an instant all the memories rushed back. She tried to summon her quintessence, but failed. It was then she noticed some odd bracelets on her wrists.

"What have you done to me?! What's going on?!" she yelled desperately. Haggar's voice boomed over hers.

"Silence! You will be sent into the arena at once!" Am I supposed to know what the arena is? Catori thought to herself, Whatever it is, it doesn't sound fun. Plus I still have no clue what's going on...

Well, I know that my father is dead. Allura and Coran are nowhere to be seen. Where the quiznak am I? Who is this... lady? How long have I been out for?!

Catori was unaware of the fact that she was about to face a champion in a battle to the death.

A/N: Did you like the first half of the prologue? It's taking super long to formulate a cohesive plot, but I'm getting there. Only the prologue will be written in third person, but that's less a choice and more because I realized after I wrote the whole prologue that I wanted the book to be in the character's point of view. Thanks for reading! Updates will be frequent for the first few days this book exists to get the show on the road.