It's been a long time since I've written a fanfiction, so please bear with me if this starts off a little rocky. This is my first Voltron fic and I'm hoping to keep everyone in character as well as I can! Please note that this does take place in Season 2, right after the Space Mall episode. Spoilers to follow.

Enjoy!

Pidge and Lance whined as the two suddenly came to the realization that their new earth game wasn't useable in the Castle of Lions. With a smaller whisper the two packed up the system as the rest of the team looked on, chuckling at the sight.

"When we get back to Earth, we'll play it. It'll be a game night! I'll make pizza, wings..." Hunk said, patting Pidge's back with a smile. "It'll be loads of fun."

"Sounds like a plan," Pidge replied, smiling as they placed the neatly packed system on their chair. "The power glove will have to wait until we defeat Zarkon."

"With that in mind, we all should be getting back to the training room," Shiro suggested, watching his fellow Paladins. "I understand you all had an interesting time at the mall but we have to be ready for anyth-" Suddenly, Shiro was cut off as a shot from an unknown score narrowly missed the nose of the Castle, its defensive system kicking in.

"What in the world?!" Coran exclaimed, scrambling to the monitor and pulled up the surveillance system. "It came from under us, just give me a tick, I can pull up a visual." An image of a damaged ship came up onto the screen, Coran zooming in for more details. "It looks to be a... bird of some kind. A very ugly bird, might I add," He said, stroking his mustache as they inspecting the image. It was a hybrid of several ships, the main hull looking to be Galra.

"They're hailing a transmission," Allura spoke, an alarm showing up on her screen. "It's a mayday signal." She frowned as she turned to the Paladins. "I want you all to suit up, we can't be too careful. This could possibly be a ploy to get inside and get the lions." The Paladins nodded as they ran off quickly to suit up, Allura connecting the call. Flickering onto the screen was a man wearing a snake mask, the interior of his ship looking dingy and damaged.

"This is Allura, Princess of Altea. We received your call. Why did you shoot at us?" She demanded, watching the man.

"It was not my intention to intimidate you," He spoke, his voice muffled by the mask. "However, It's urgent... its all I could think of. My friend is severely injured and the Gull has taken too much damage."

"You wish to board our ship?" She questioned. "How many of you are there on that ship? It's much too large for just two people."

"There's nine of us on board," he replied, seeming to glance behind him. "I'm sorry, but we can please hurry this up? My friend really needs help, he's in a lot of pain..."

"Where are these other seven people? Why can't they care for your friend? It just doesn't add up," Allura said, eyeing the man as the five ran back into the bridge. "Paladi-"

"Please!" The man pleaded, taking off his mask to reveal his face. A long scar covered the left side of his face, the left eye looking to be sewn shut. The whites of his good eye were pitch black, his purple iris filled with concern as he pushed his long dark purple hair from his face, showing slight violet tinting on his pale skin. "You're highness, please... I beg of you..."

Allura's breath hitched in her throat as she looked at him. "You're a Sylt?" She breathed, staring at him. "How is it possible? Your people shouldn't be alive!"

"My race isn't of concern!" His voice rose as he slammed his hand on the monitor, his brow furrowed. "I need to know! Will you let me onto your ship or not? If it bothers you so much to know who else is on this ship, I, Mateo, will gladly detail. But just please help us!"

Allura took a long look at him, standing in silence as a whimper came through the transmission, echoing in from in the Gull. "... Alright, you may come aboard," She spoke, opening the bay doors. "If this is a ruse, you will be sorry."

"I can assure you... it's not," He replied before he shut off the transmission, the screen disappearing. Allura and Coran, with Paladins in tow steadily and quickly made their way down to the Bay Area. Stepping inside one of the elevators, Coran and Allura seemed to be off, nervous in a way. Shiro looked around at his fellow teammates and back at the two Alteans as they waited to reach their desired floor. He cleared his throat before he spoke, getting the attention of the two.

"What's going on with you two? You seemed... shocked when that alien revealed himself," Shiro asked, looking for the answer his team wanted. Coran glanced at Allura as he turned around.

"We... didn't expect it, that's all," Coran replied, trying to end the conversation there.

"What's a Sylt?" Hunk prompted, looking at Coran with some worry. "Should we be concerned about this?"

"What? No, no! A Sylt is-" Coran began, Allura cutting in curtly.

"They were exiled Alteans," She said, walking briskly out of the elevator as the doors opened, everyone scrambling to keep up with her. "My father was against the killing of criminals, so he exiled them to a nearby dwarf planet called Sylt. It's toxic waters and dense jungles made it almost uninhabitable, but it was prefect for them."

"So it's kind of like if Australia was a planet?" Lance added in, earning a nod from Coran.

"Yes. The Alteans that were originally exiled there adapted to its environment and evolved," Coran added on as they approached the bay doors. "They became more amphibious, similar to your earth frogs... but that's all we know of them. It's been 10,000 years since we saw them last. Many things about them could have changed."

"We'll get our answers soon enough," Allura said, opening the doors. As the seven of them entered, they were greeted by the smell of corroded metal, the Gull looking even worse in person then on the monitor. As the cabin door opened up, smoke wafted out of the inside, coughing following.

"Is everything alright in there?" Shiro called as he quickly ran over, Keith and Lance in tow as Pidge and Hunk started inspecting the damage to the ship. He stepped inside, covering his mouth from the thick smoke.

"Just get the kids out first!" Mateo yelled from the cockpit, grunting. Shiro looked at Keith and Lance with worry as they all stepped inside the cabin, going further inside. Sure enough, five alien children were cowering in a corner, all of them garbed in prisoners uniforms from the Galra ships. Lance carefully kneeled down to them, holding out his hand.

"It's going to be okay," He spoke gently, his vision blurred due to the smoke. "Come one, we're going to get you guys out of here." The children looked up at him with fear, one of them soon reaching out and taking his hand. Shiro and Keith followed suit as Lance picked up one of the smaller kids and lead them out of the ship. As they stepped out of the Gull and over towards Allura, they noticed something about the kids.

"They're all different aliens..." Allura commented, looking over them as Lance and Keith lead four of them over to her. There was two young Balmerans, an Olkari and a smaller cat-like alien. "Where did you al-" She began until Shiro came into sight, the words now stuck in her throat. Confused by her sudden silence, Keith and Lance turned around, the two suddenly seeing the cause of her shock.

In Shiro's arms was a small Altean girl with short blue hair. Allura stammered as she and Coran stared at the two, completely dumbfound at the sight. Mateo came out from the Gull, carrying his unconscious friend off the ship, the man also garbed in prisoner wear. As he walked over, the children ran over to him, all of them looking concerned as he struggled to carrying the bleeding man to Allura. She gasped at the state of his friend, Lance running over to give him a hand.

"I know you have questions," Mateo spoke, looking up at her. "I promise, I will answer them. First... help me save Deimos."