Katie Holt laid silently on her bunk in the sleeping quarters of a spaceship owned by her brother's wife. Currently, they were taking a trip around the galaxy as a vacation from Altean duties. She was enjoying her time away from the tech facility and the stress of her internship along with high school. A book in her hands and her mind in another realm, Katie could not ask for anything more.

The door to the quarters opened up to reveal her niece, Delphie, clad in her favorite outfit--a puffy, star-printed skirt and a simple yellow hoodie. Delphine Holt was five years old with wavy brown hair and the pearliest blue eyes. Altean markings decorated Delphie's pale cheeks--colored light blue to match her mother's--and elfish ears poked out from her thick locks. Katie knew that when the girl was grown, she'd be beautiful enough to be a model or an idol.

"Aunt Pidge! Aunt Pidge! I can't find Cain or Lemia. We were playing hide and seek, but I cannot find them," the girl cried, tears secreting from the corner of her eyes. "What if I lost them? Daddy would be so sad and Mommy would be angry..."

Katie's peace was disturbed and her book had to be left. Standing up from the bunk, she squatted to her niece's level. She took her hands, holding them reassuringly with a soft smile. "I'm sure they just found a really good hiding spot. Why not let me help you find them? Then Mommy won't be mad and Daddy won't cry," Katie suggested, gazing down into her niece's wet eyes. Delphie nodded hurriedly, pulling her aunt along with her out of the entrance.

"Base is the entertainment room--where Lance is," the brunette Altean mentioned, pointing in the direction of that area, "We made the control room and resting quarters off limits to make it easier. I've checked the kitchen, the storages, and every hallway. I even looked around the base, but they're not there. I asked Shiro if he had seen them and he said no. Mommy and Daddy haven't seen them either."

Shiro was not technically family and neither was Lance. Shiro was Matt's best friend of five years while Lance was like a family to Allura, Matt's wife. The Holt-Shirogane pair met back in their school days during a partner project. Ever since the two were like brothers. Though, it was no secret that like the Holts, Shiro did not belong to Altea. The Holts were humans, their parents hailing from a marvelous planet called Earth, while Shiro came from a planet called Voltron. He never spoke of the planet he was born to nor did he explain why he left at such a young age alone.

"Why don't we get Shiro to help so we could cover more ground? Cain and Lemia will be located in no time with the three of us!" Katie offered, smiling down at her darling niece. Delphie thought for a moment to herself, little face contorted with ponderance.

Finally, she peered up at her aunt with unsure conviction. "He won't tell Mommy and Daddy, will he?" Katie shook her head lightly in response. Delphie's face brightened. "Then let's do it! Cain and Lemia here we come," Delphie cheered, clearly happier than when she came to Katie just minutes before. At the action, Katie gave an affectionate laugh, searching ahead for any signs of Cain or Lemia.

Lemia was a girl of short stature with dark skin and straight white hair. Unlike Cain or Delphie, Lemia was not born with the sigils of the Alteans on her face, and, in turn, was often bullied by those who did back home. Of course, as the Holt she was, Lemia did not let such foolery handicap her. The young girl, age six, took after her father's affinity to technology and intelligence. Lemia was always deep in a book or tinkering on some leftover scraps from her father's inventions.

Then there was the youngest, Cain, twin to Delphie and the first boy of Katie's brother and his wife. Cain was lanky and thin with milky skin and white, wavy hair that he kept short. Cain was the opposite of his sisters. Delphie was outgoing and joyous, Lemia was smart and elegant, but Cain? Cain was meek and timid, shy around anyone he did not know too well. The three could not be more different in Katie's eyes.

"Delphie, Katie? What is the matter?" Shiro's melodic voice asked, grey eyes gazing at the two in deep concern, "Delphie looks petrified and, Katie, you look like something is weighing you down."

Takashi Shirogane, a broad man of great height. A heartthrob back home, famed for a chiseled face, perfect eyelashes, and the enchanting markings of his homeworld lining his limbs. Shiro's usual long, silky raven-hued hair was tied back in a neat bun on the back of his nape with a purple ribbon. He and Katie rarely spoke, but he was a close friend of Matt, her brother and Delphie's father.

Delphie walked over to the older male and pulled on his loose black tunic. "Can you help us find Cain and Lemia? Please, Shiro?" the little girl begged, eyes wavering with fear and tears. In an expected response to such a display, Shiro could not refuse the girl and agreed to assist the pair.

With an arched eyebrow, the friend of her brother peered at Katie in the eye with a questioning stare. "Why exactly are we seeking them? Earlier Delphie asked if I had seen them... Has something happened to them?" Shiro whispered inquisitively to the nineteen-year-old brunette as Delphie led the way around the ship, the little girl calling out the names of her siblings.

They were turning into a room when they heard a click right behind them, a sound Katie recognized to be an Earthian gun, cutting Katie's response off. Shiro swirled around immediately following the sound while Katie's first instinct was to grab Delphine and hide the child behind her frame "I was wondering when that brat would finally bait out my prey," a crispy, thick voice remarked from the rear of them.

Turning her head, Katie was met with an unfamiliar face--a man with muscles rippling over his body with each slight movement he took. Covered in black, only the cold, dark eyes of the mystery man could be seen. Shiro took a defensive posture, half-shielding Katie and, in turn, Delphine. "Who are you?" Shiro commanded, eyes slit as he bored the man down with a vicious glare.

The unknown man laughed, raspy and empty, at the question. "Well, I'm here to kill you, little Prince, and collect my payment," he blurted, a sinister smile showing through the cloth that covered his mouth. Shiro made a move to attack but stopped when the man in all black yanked Lemia out from behind him and shoved the gun to the side of the girl's head. "Wouldn't want any harm coming to this kid, right? Tell me, whose is she? That tanned man's? The Altean chick's? The scrawny brown-haired dude's? Because depending on the answer, this just might be more satisfying to me... Or, is it the little miss behind you to which this kid belongs," the man ventured, eyeing Katie up and down, "Oh, or better yet, your's? Do tell me, Prince."

Shaking. Katie was shaking. Lemia was in danger and this man was speaking utter nonsense. Delphie clung tightly to her from behind and Shiro was frozen still in anger before her. She knew she had an Altean gun hidden under her traditional clip-on shawl and, perfectly, the mysterious man's eyes were solely settled on Shiro's frustrated expression. Moving slightly, masking her small movements with a turn of her body, Katie grabbed the small weapon out of its sling across her back.

Two seconds. It took two seconds for Katie to fully whip out the Altean gun and shoot at the man. The first one hit the man in the shoulder, causing him to drop his own gun in shock. The second went directly into the control room behind him and landed in the panel board. The third struck the man once more, this time a mere inch above his heart. Fearless, Katie fired one last plasma bullet, it grazed the man's ear and embedded itself in the glass of the control room. She attempted to shoot once more but the gun was jammed. Katie threw it down in anger and backed up a step, making sure Delphie was thoroughly hidden.

Thankfully, Shiro had sprung to action after the first bullet, kicking the Earthian gun into the room with Katie and Delphie. Then he tackled the unknown man and freed Lemia from the man's grip. Shiro was swift to detain the man while Katie, in a moment of pure delight, rushed forward and enveloped Lemia in a warm hug, followed by Delphine in tears.

"No one moves," a new voice ordered followed by the same click from earlier. There was another dangerous person on board and this one was a woman. Gazing up to meet the new presence, Katie found Cain sagged in the woman's grip, unconscious and bruised on his left cheek. The adrenaline had fully kicked in now and Katie's protective instincts were flaring. The nineteen-year-old glared distastefully at the newcomer, fear struck in her chest.

This woman held another Earthian gun and displayed her sand-colored hair without any covering. "Let him go or I will shoot whoever I feel like and right now, it's this bitch," the blonde spat, gun pointed straight at Katie without a wavering thought.

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Hello, guys. I have created yet another book! I have high hopes for this story and I hope you find it superior to my other pieces. I hope that I have evolved in my storytelling and writing ad a whole. Stay safe and be clean!
-ThatOneServant