#VLD Ulaz

[galraluver]

Happy Halloween Everyone! 🎃 👻 🍬 🍫 🍭

I've been seeing this meme everywhere for the past few years and I decided to make one.

[vldfix]

“voltron is a kids show!!” and then somebody kills themselves in the second season

[chibi-pix]

No. No, you guys definitely didn't teach her how to hack and get into tech. So, I apparently started this one a while back and with the dialogue from Spider-man: Into the Spiderverse. It was amusing to work with, especially for this AU. And the only reason I kept procrastinating was because I wasn't sure what take I should go with for Pidge. Finally figured it out.

Anywho! I hope y'all enjoy this one! Commissions are available on my Ko-fi. Until next time!

[adashulaz]

Soulmate au but Shiro and Ulaz are soulmates but Shiro is with Adam.

Adam doesn't have a soulmate, he has no red string of fate but Shiro does. However Shiro doesn't care and ends up getting with Adam and they end up engaged. This au still follows the canon so Shiro ends on the mission and yada yada.

Shiro and Ulaz meet again when Ulaz breaks onto the castle. This is where Shiro realizes that they're soulmates. So instead of Ulaz dying, he lives and stays with the Paladins. Shiro ends up in a dilemma because Ulaz is both sweet and attractive but he still loves Adam.

Cue ✨️poly✨️ stuff

Now, it's not something that happened quickly because one, Adam is incredibly confused and two, because Ulaz is also incredibly confused. Shiro is just praying it works out. It does but that doesn't stop a week or two worth of confusion. Adam is just confused as to how an alien is Shiros soulmate, especially an alien that might be a few thousand years old. Ulaz is just confused by how Shiro is Keith's brother but Adam is Keith's parent even though Adam is younger than Shiro by a year or two.

[onlythegoodpretzels]

Ulaz, ft. even more fur. These two getting into messes together is one of my many favorite Voltron things! I wonder if the others will rescue them before they escape themselves.

[nerd-of-marmora]

Part 8 of Kissartfebruary challenge by @violettenouvel , and back once more with the purple space kitties!! This was a lot of fun to do exploring the different ways to express affection through kisses and I had a lot of fun! This is what I have.

First was day 19, God they are such cheesy romantics, makes you wanna yell "OMG, GET A ROOM!!!!". But back with the tooth rotting sweetness of the space kitties being precious. It is proven that kisses are just as effective on the "Neck(back)", not just front, so give love where it is due!

Second was Day 20, and the question stands. Am I gonna continue drawing an older couple being cheesy af and still madly in love? Yes. Yes I am. Had to draw Duram and Aeryn again, and I don't care what anyone says, true love can withstand even against the testaments of time. I'd say they exchange kisses on the "cheek" daily.

Third, It's Moira's turn to make someone a blushing mess... Ulaz is usually the calm collected type, and Moira is the shyer of the pair, but she can have her moments of confidence. "Ears" are the most sensitive part, so it makes one a little nervous from the embarrassment.

Last and final drawing of them for the challenge is Day 26, Ulaz and Moira are back once more. Years ago I drew an angsty pic of their last farewell where Moira gave him a kiss on the "forehead" to wish him luck. So kinda redrew it again. Hope ya like and stay tuned

Art, Moira, Duram and Aeryn are mine

Kissartfebruary challenge by @violettenouvel

Galra and Ulaz belong to VLD franchise

[graphx]

Hiraeth!Keith oneshot (1)

read it all here!

trigger warnings// suicidal ideologies, war, blood, injury etc. (general Blade of Marmora stuff)

“GIVE IT BACK!”

Kolivan effortlessly dodged once again, Keith’s new sword that felt wrong in his hands barely grazing the long braid he wore that hung behind him. He adjusted his grip with a twist of his wrist but Kolivan simply backhanded him away, his strike not even grazing him.

“Emotions are a luxury we can’t afford,” Kolivan warned as he unbalanced Keith with a simple kick to the back of his knees. “You are attached to this blade; it is all you have left of your world. But that planet is gone, nothing but dust and rubble lost to the empty expanse of space. You must accept that if you are to survive here.”

His bones ached and throbbed but he still got to his feet, charging again like it was second nature. Kolivan punched him and he couldn’t tell where, the impact feeling all too similar to the rest of his body which he was sure was becoming a giant bruise.

With every hit he learned to roll with the impact better, getting up faster and faster, not allowing Kolivan a second to breathe. He punched while he deflected Kolivan’s weapon and missed. He kicked before he striked, learning and adapting based on what he saw Kolivan do. Not that it mattered. Keith hadn’t even managed to land one hit.

Keith had been told all his life by his father that he could do anything if he just set his mind to it. His dad had never lied before but Keith was starting to doubt it all the same. He wanted more than anything in the world, no the universe, to beat Kolivan, to get his knife, the only thing he had left, back and he would spill as much blood as he needed to get it back-

He had convinced himself that the reason he was failing was because this knife wasn’t his, it was similar but wrong, it fit into his hand wrong, it set against his belt wrong, it was too heavy and too light and at the same time, and it was all wrong. Kolivan could be beaten, he could escape, he could go back to a home that wasn’t there if he could just win but that was wrong too.

Keith could listen to his dad’s raspy voice again if he could hit harder. He could watch the sky bleed from twilight to dusk again on the porch if he could just move faster. He could feel wind in his hair and the ground rushing past him on his dad’s bike if he could just win.

A daze had taken over him, a delusional obsession deep in his gut that he believed with every fiber of his being that if he just did enough he could go home. He didn’t want to remember the fleets blocking out the sky, his father’s panicked voice, the tremors shaking the ground, the running, the smoke, the fire illuminating the blue glow of two crescents beneath cheeks as blood mixed with ash and his knife gleamed a little duller.

He had run away from it all, taken to a ship he didn’t recognize, pressed against people he didn’t know, drowning on dry land trying to breathe above the crowd towering over him-

And then Kolivan was there, a firm presence at his side that was wrong. It shouldn’t have been claws against his shoulder, it should have been his dad’s calloused hands. It shouldn’t be a pale multicolored face with a scar that ran down the side, it should have been his father’s with a nick above his eyebrow. He wanted to run, to feel sand under his feet, and run away as fast and far as he could because everything was wrong and nothing was going to change that. 

More than anything he was angry. More than that he was exhausted and he couldn’t run from that anymore as he sank to his knees, gasping for breath. It was a tiny rebellion, to show emotion when Kolivan had just told him not to. He glared up at him with all the fury his soul could produce, only for the taller Galran to kneel beside him.

“What do you want, Keith?” Kolivan asked indifferently, observing him with golden eyes.

“...I want my knife… back… it’s not… yours!” Keith heaved, scrambling to his knees.

“If you defeat me your weapon will be returned to you. But you must first learn how to defeat me. Knowledge is greater than power.” Kolivan stated so nonchalantly like it was simple. “You are powerful, you have survived through many endeavors, but you still cannot win. But you still must do what needs to be done.”

Keith’s gaze followed Kolivan’s blade as he dropped it, the sound echoing as soon as it hit the floor. He stared up in disbelief but he only waited. Keith watched the Blade lose its glow, no longer in Kolivan’s grasp. The insignia in the crossguard grew dark as he looked on impassively, waiting for the action Keith would take.

“You should have killed me by now,” Kolivan said calmly, like he knew Keith wouldn’t move. It snapped him from his shock, lunging for the hilt and crossing it with his own to rest barely an inch from Kolivan’s neck. Humiliation burned under his skin that he had to bend over to reach his height, but he still didn’t move, eyes not leaving Keith’s.

“You are granting me mercy. That was your first mistake,” Kolivan’s form blurred right in front of him and he didn’t even get the chance to nick him as Kolivan swept his legs out from under him. His stance mirrored the one Keith had taken not seconds ago, both swords hovering over his neck. Keith glared down at the swords, meeting Kolivan’s stare without flinching. It wasn’t like he had anything to lose.

“You are not powerful enough to grant mercy. You must permanently deal with your enemies to ensure they don’t hurt you or anyone else. Power is the ability to choose. The Blade of Marmora doesn’t have that option.” Kolivan lowered his sword. “Neither do you.”

Keith was quiet, no longer meeting his eyes. He only heard Kolivan sheath his own blade before setting down Keith’s own.

“Each blade is unique to every member. It is tied to your life force and bloodline. You should make your own in the forgery. Use the Luxite provided there sparingly, it is hard to gather these days.”

Before exiting Kolivan stopped, turning back to him. “Choose a new name. Your previous title has very obvious origins. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that your species is now very coveted by Alteans and Galrans which are currently the most powerful species in the galaxy. If you are to help the Blade of Marmora avenge your planet you must become one of us. Embrace your new duty to the universe… A purpose is a very important thing here. Don’t lose sight of your own.”

It took Keith a while to realize he had even left. The words and empty warnings floated through the empty space of his mind as he laid, motionless, on the floor. What did he want? What purpose did he even have here? What was even the point of getting off this shiny, cold floor?

Keith could have pondered those questions for the rest of his life. He could give up, right here, and never move again. The others probably wouldn’t even notice, if they even cared enough to. Who could blame him? A kid, alone, literally thrown into an unknown universe. The only planet he had ever known was destroyed before his eyes by a war he couldn’t even hope to understand. What could one helpless kid abandoned by the cosmos itself hope to do?

It was at that moment Keith decided he didn’t need hope. His dad had died helping people, and Keith would die doing the same thing. He wanted to avenge his planet, his dad, his home, his memories, even if he had to give up all of them to do it. Remembering would only tether him to the moment he lost it all. He didn’t have time for that. 

He forced himself to move, to crawl, to spite the world itself. The Blade of Marmora wanted to use him? Keith would use them right back to fuel the supernova of rage building in his chest. He would shed all the blood he needed to, enough to drown the stars themselves. He would destroy, maim, shatter and crush anything that got in his way. He would burn the sun itself even if it would only leave him with ashes.

It was enough. It had to be. It wasn’t like he had anything else.

[lonestarfangirl2014]

Honestly when I listen to the klingon warriors anthem Sung by this guy it gives me galra empire/blade of marmora vibes.

[dewi205]

What if…

Since Keith can sense Quintessence maybe he can also manipulate it.

Keith can see and feel the way quintessence moved when Allura, Haggar, and the druids use it. So he self taught himself how to use it.

The following is a headcanon of an abandoned fanfic (We Rescue Each Other by Angelicat2 [13/?])

While being tortured and experimented on by Haggar, Keith learned to enhance his senses one by one and also speed up his healing processes. He enhances his hearing the most since he can eavesdrop on the conversations around him when he is paralyzed on the medical table. Using this method he manages to self-teach himself how to manipulate quintessence and absorb other people’s quintessence. Every time he gets r*ped he takes 10-15 deca-phobes of their life and leaves them a virus within their quintessence’s to kill them faster. While in the room with Shiro he also trained his quintessence manipulation Bu speeding up Shiro’s healing and stopping most of the pain from the wounds (this is without Shiro’s knowledge simply because Keith forgot to tell him). When they get rescued by Ulaz and transported to the Marmora base Kolivan doubts Keith and Shiro’s loyalty. Keith doesn’t want Ulaz to get in trouble for saving them and therefore abandoning his mission to get into Haggar’s inner circle so he asks what information they need and proceeds to give them everything he overheard while being experimented on and even on what Zarkon accidentally revealed while he was (in a room) nearby. He got the Marmora enough information to have multiple operatives removed from their undercover missions and posted elsewhere. Shiro is enamored with his competent half-Galran boyfriend.

[galraluver]

How would Morvok, Sniv, Ulaz, and Regris try to impress a reader they’re interested in? Would they talk about their exploits or do something they’re skilled at?

That is an interesting question. Here's how I believe they would go about impressing the woman of their dreams (aka all of you, the readers)

_________________________________________

~ Ulaz ~

~ Honestly, Ulaz is the kind of person who would observe you first to make sure that you're interested in him before he tries to impress you

~ To him, romantic relationships should take time to develop in order for the romantic tension to build up, but once he's 1,000% positive that you have a crush on him he spends more time with you

~ Ulaz likes to show off his skills to you whenever you're around and he's always careful not to make any mistakes, the last thing he wants is to embarrass himself in front of you

~ If the castle is parked on some planet, Ulaz definitely goes out on a hunt so he can impress you with his hunting skills

~ He's also always there for you whether you need someone to talk to or hang out with, in order to show you that he's interested he's always present while he's around you

~ Ulaz also impresses you by learning about the things you love or are passionate about, that way he can do those things with you on a regular basis

~ Will definitely get a little shy and blushy if you do or say something, anything, that implies that you're very interested in him

~ Ulaz is a hopeless romantic and will impress you with various romantic gestures, but he won't love bomb you or come on too strong bc he doesn't want to overwhelm you

~ He's also affectionate with you, which works like a charm while he's trying to impress you

~ Another thing Ulaz does to impress you is fire dancing; he's never done it before, but with how flexible he is, he does it perfectly without setting himself or anything else on fire

~ He's also got regular dancing skills, which are extremely impressive

~ With time, he learns how to make you swoon for him and all of his methods work because it isn't long before he begins courting you

_____

~ Regris ~

~ Regris is still a young adult, younger than Ulaz, and even though he's serious most of the time he can get a little awkward around you, his love interest

~ Regris doesn't know what to do or how to impress you, so he does several hours of research to see what humans liked and found attractive

~ He begins working on various tech projects specifically made for you; whether it's something to make your life easier or something akin to an mp3 player that holds thousands of songs with headphones, you can bet he'll make it

~ In order to really woo you, Regris tries writing a poem and giving you flowers

~ He's definitely not a poet, but his attempt to impress you definitely confirms your suspensions about him being romantically interested in you

~ Regris definitely tries to impress you with his fighting skills

~ Just to be clear, he might try fighting someone if it impresses you unless you don't want him to

~ He also likes to impress you with how sweet and cuddly he can be, but he also treats you well just as any future significant other should

~ Regris once tried to perform a traditional dance for you from his father's people, but even though he probably messed up a few steps he could tell that you were still impressed

~ The fact that he can use his tail to lift things is impressive enough, if the two of you are out shopping he uses it to carry some of the bags

~ Thankfully Regris eventually figures out how to impress you without being awkward about it and is successful in showing you that he's romantically interested in you

_____

~ Morvok ~

~ Morvok knows that he's not the highest ranking commander in Zarkon's military, but he can be charming and to him, he thinks he's the best

~ The problem is that when he's around you he gets shy and blushy because he's never been around such a beautiful woman before

~ However, he makes it his mission to impress you after he catches one of the foot soldiers in his ranks flirting with you

~ Instead of fighting off a monster or bringing you the biggest kill he can find, Morvok impresses you with how charming he can be

~ He definitely brags about how many planets he's successfully conquered and how big his territory is, although he leaves out the part when he needed help conquering one planet in particular

~ Morvok also doesn't tell you about how the paladins defeated him, it's too embarrassing bc of the whole ‘Victory or Death’ thing

~ Because of his size, he's avoided most dangerous situations throughout his life, although Morvok knows how to play a few different instruments and he impresses you by showing off his mad musical skills

~ While he's around you, Morvok becomes a little more humble since he doesn't want to scare you away

~ Ultimately, whether you and Morvok end up together is up to you

~ He is cute and fun-sized tho, and he's huggable too

_____

~ Sniv ~

~ One would think that Sniv would keep pestering you when he realizes that he's romantically interested in you, but he doesn't want you to resent him if he comes on too strong

~ However, he does get more lovey and affectionate

~ In order to impress you, Sniv proudly tells you of his exploits and how many planets he's conquered in order to snag a place at the main hub

~ He also brings fresh kills for you on a regular basis and he shows off his fighting skills

~ However, he understands that humans are different and he impresses you by also showing off his sensitive side and how much he truly cares about you as a person

~ Sniv learns about your interests, even the fandoms you're into so that you both can ‘fangirl’ together when one of your favorite artists/directors comes out with something new

~ Another thing he impresses you with are his dancing skills when Zarkon throws a royal ball for only his highest ranking commanders and their plus ones

~ He's funny, too, and knows how to tell hilarious jokes to make you laugh

~ Expect him to make the fur on his head look extra fluffy because he wants to impress you in every way imaginable

~ With how impressive and charming he is, Sniv easily manages to impress you

[porquenolostodos]

Why Ulaz Makes Me Extra Sad

I just feel like more than anyone, my boy Ulaz would've really appreciated peacetime. The more I ponder my favorite Blade's brief appearance, the more I feel like he's not even the military type, like if he had his druthers he'd be running a little clinic within walking distance of a nice teahouse where he'd go sit in a corner booth and read.

[chibi-pix]

Sometimes the best place to sleep is next to your giant alien papa. Ulaz probably loves nights where his baby girl just wants to rest with him. Pidge feels safe and warm next to him.

Okay, so, apparently this has been a WIP since August of 2022. Which makes sense at to some details were missing, like the line for Ulaz's knuckles and the line under the mouths for lips. It was the previous style where my lines were a 4.0 pen for lining, not a 2.3 that I use now. But, I'm glad I dug this out and finished it. They look so lovely and content.

Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy this one. Commissions are available on my Ko-fi. Until next time!

[hear-the-black-lion-roar]

Goretober 2024 Day 3: Bite

tribble combat music starts playing in the background

Galra indeed don't kiss. The mouth-to-mouth contact is reserved solely for a parent feeding their cub using, you guessed it, a pair of internal jaw/pincer-like structure that sometimes reacts instinctively even in the adulthood when something is shoved in the mouth far enough and grabs onto it in an attempt to pull it in the throat.

[onlythegoodpretzels]

"We'll get it out."

Followup to this sketch!

Been coloring this for a while! So many people to shade. But I finished it in time for @augustofwhump's Day 7 prompt: Promise.

Snippet of WIP fic for it under the cut, ft. more promises and Shiro flashbacks.

***

“Ok. Ok, let’s get this off.” Hunk balked for a second, but he managed to reach for the muzzle. Ulas winced but held rigidly still as Hunk ran his fingers tentatively over the surface.

“This isn’t what muzzles are for,” Hunk said into the quiet. “On dogs, I mean. They don’t keep their mouth closed, its only to keep them from biting. They need to be able to pant. This…this is just…cruel. What’s it even for?”

Shiro forced himself to see the mechanism rather than just blur over it. He might know. He might know, and he didn’t want to know, but he might. “Most Galra don’t pant like dogs do.” He shivered. “And they are cruel.”

Curved bars matched the shape of Ulas’ head and neck tightly, holding the heavy cage in place. Tightened automatically, too seamless to pry under. The muzzle’s central panels were dark and opaque, emblazoned with the imperial sigil over where they sealed the wearer’s mouth. The only holes for air were two narrow slits in front of Ulas’ ears, whistling softly as he breathed.

The higher bar, the one that curved under Ulas’ eyes and across the back of his head, was a disturbingly familiar, magenta-ish metallic color.

Dizzy something ached in the back of Shiro’s head, where the crescent scar jagged across his neck. “There’s two components here.” He tried not to wince, and moved slowly as he pointed. “This section, is a prisoner head collar. Across the skull under the eyes.” Hunk froze, fingers shaking on the bridge, but Shiro made himself keep going. “The muzzle was anchored to it. Maybe activated from it.”

They were looking at him, both of them. Katie’s face was torn between furious curiosity and blazing anger. Hunk looked sad and scared and like he knew ---

Shiro couldn’t not blink. He couldn’t not lose the thread, suddenly blotted out by phantom ---

Pain dug into his neck, the sound of his own muffled cries in his ears, hard edge biting into his hair.

Galra words. Over him. “Face down, and it stops.”

He hadn’t. He’d snarled and fought, scrabbling against hard metal, dragging against the awful snap of the shortening chain wrenching on his head. He’d kept his knees under him, his chest off the ground.

“Prove you know the word, olka. Or do you want me to make this worse?”

VRRRR

Pressure crushed suddenly into his jaw, the panels of the muzzle grinding into him from all sides. Pain jagged and sudden, shallow spikes extruding into his cheeks and under his chin.

He screamed.

“Coryx! Enough! You already confirmed ---.” 

“If I wanted your opinion, Ulas ---

“Shiro!”

Shiro blinked, torn suddenly in between. He was down on his knees and he was standing with his arms curled over his face. He was howling into a gag and he was heaving gasping, whimpering breaths in empty air. It was dark, purple, and it was bright, blue.

Ulas the Galra pushed another dark form over him, armored, unbattered,, and Hunk his friend stared up at him, hands out, pale with worry. There were Galra yellow eyes behind Hunk.

He couldn’t keep Hunk safe here! He had to get him out!

“It’s ok. Shiro? It’s ok.” Hunk’s eyes shimmered, like he’d been crying. “I promise. It’s not on you. It’s not going to hurt you again.”

The panic tilted, unbalanced, as the reluctantly focused. Hunk didn’t sound scared. What was going on? At first Shiro only saw the damn head collar, muzzle extended. Not --- not on him. He could see it and all its awful crosses. 

The strap dug wrong into fur, biting into Ulas’s face. The same face. Ulas sat curled in on the table, face narrowed, eyes sharp. He swiveled his ears forward and Shiro realized with a start they were even rounder now. “Shhhhr,” Ulas wheezed, face drawn with pain from trying to talk. “Mkkkkkr.”

The memory had a tail, a faint echo that barely clung on now. Hands on him, holding him pinned. Unhooking the tension dragging him down. Makur, stop. You’re exhausted.

Ulas’ voice. Shiro knew without even having heard it.

He shuddered, lowering his hands. He didn’t want to know anything else right now. He nodded shakily to Hunk. “S-sorry. I’m ok. Let’s just…get this over with.”

Katie watched him, her face clouded with things she wasn’t saying. Like a trap he might fall into someday. But instead she said, “Yeah, now that you pointed it out, I can trace the interface signals between those two pieces.” She waved a small detector wand near Ulas’ jaw. “They are real chatty.”

A small panel lay on the table next to her, with bent metal and detritus next to them. It looked like while Shiro was freaking out they’d made some progress. He cursed being so easy to make useless.

Hunk hesitated, but when Shiro came back, he followed. Ulas didn’t turn his head, jarringly pliant as Hunk reached into a small opening in the neck loop of the muzzle. “There’s lots of conduits in here. And I still have no idea what energy source they use.”

He should stay quiet. He should focus and do what he had to and not jab at any of the rest. But Shiro watched Ulas shudder, and couldn’t. “Tell us if it hurts you,” he ordered quietly in Galran, confused again with how steady his voice came out. “I want to know.”

Ulas twitched, blinking rapidly. Then, as Hunk worked, he began to make small, soft sounds, back of the throat, no attempt to make them into words.

Not very bad then. Despite himself, relief chilled up Shiro’s shoulders. He knew Galra could shriek if they were in pain.

Hunk paused, looking queasy at the sudden feedback from his work. “Is he…um…ok?”

Shiro nodded, swallowing hard. “Quintessence can be intense if it touches skin. Be careful if something splashes.” Tingles across his tongue were something he needed to not think about right now.

Hunk’s eyes widened. “You know what this is? What state of matter is it? Does it sublimate?” He bit his lip. “Wait, I think…”

Before Shiro could answer, the muzzle lit up, awful purple lights. The snap smell of sweet and glass itched along Shiro’s mouth. Ulas flinched, sitting suddenly straight, hoof cloves lurching sharply apart. “Whoa!” Hunk wrenched back, hands fluttering in the air like he wanted to help but was too scattered to know where. “Well it’s on, but it’s expecting some kind of cue? Like a key?”

But something jarred in Shiro’s head. He’d tried to remember this, over and over and over again. “Wait, Hunk, keep it…Ulas, grax.” He caught Ulas’ arm with one hand, curbing and steadying him at once, and reached for his head with the other. Ulas yelped, dragging away from Shiro’s hand for a second. Then he seemed to catch himself, and, slowly, painfully, he come back.

The muzzle’s awful edge loomed centimeters in front of Shiro’s fingers. Some part of his brain was trapped in a screaming circle, convinced if he touched it somehow it would crawl up him and find his scar, bite into it again.

Shiro tapped the muzzle in sequence, thumb and forefinger. He tried to be gentle, and he heard how each key hurt in Ulas’ faint, louder sounds. Jaw. Side. Center. Jaw. Jaw. He let himself slide between which finger and which place quickly, without thinking, just where they ought to go.

Neck.

Neck was last.

Vrrrrrr.

Shiro froze, still touching the back of Ulas’ neck, his entire body locking rigid. The sound made him want to swing at something --- anything --- make it go away. Force it farther from the parts of him it wanted to capture. Hunk startled, pulling out of the guts of the collar as the contraption clacked and shifted. The tight bars glinted hungrily, shimmering as they woke up.

“Hell yeah!” Katie swarmed forward triumphantly, suddenly too close. “Shiro, you’re a genius! I need you to write that down later!”

Ulas reached up as the muzzle began to fall, but stopped as Katie caught it. It kept whirring and unknitting, bright lights glaring like eyes.

It was unlocked. He’d unlocked it. Something about that shook Shiro so hard it was hard to see the parts reconfigure. But he shuddered --- why weren’t the muzzle panels dematerializing?

But he saw Ulas’ face crumple in pain when Katie pulled to ease it off his head. “Wait!” Shiro caught the crest just as Ulas whimpered, ducking to follow the pull. The jarring urgency cluttered so far into him it felt like he needed to run somewhere. Spikes. Were there spikes?

Hunk and Katie stared at the two of them. Katie let Shiro brace the muzzle, eyes wide, and Shiro realized he’d spoken in Galran again.

“Wait. Something’s wrong.” Shiro blinked hard, trying to stay present.

It’s ok. Faelbar’s voice filled up his entire body. We are not hurt.

Shiro wanted to tell him, yes, he knew that, but for some reason it helped anyway. It helped him keep his voice steady, keep the panic roiling somewhere in his fingers from shuddering out into Ulas when he asked, “What? Where?”

Ulas blinked hard, clawing the air between them in small, reflexive motions. This close, Shiro felt a faint double-shudder in his breaths, like something was garbling up his throat. How long had it been on him? Katie hadn’t said how she’d found him, only that it had been bad.

“Show me.” They needed to know. He needed to know.

Slow, tentative, Ulas caught the edge of the muzzle near Shiro’s hand. His fingers were jarringly, confusingly big. He nudged against the edge, angling his head slightly back and forth, figuring out the right way to move with whatever was hurting him. Then, with a wet, ragged pant, he pulled back, the straps scraping deep furrows in his fur as they dragged by.

For a moment Shiro saw his face, so familiar it made him freeze. Long, shallow, inhuman snout, bony, wide forehead, light shimmering off the strange flat span between his eyes and nose. Shallow gouges scraped and scabbed across jutting cheekbones which were incongruous with the hollow cheeks and narrow chin under them.

But Ulas held his mouth open, and then Shiro wasn’t seeing anything else, because a narrow chain snaked between his teeth. As he moved, Shiro felt rattling in the muzzle. It was attached.

Tense, unsettled feeling tingled up Shiro’s fingers. He didn’t recognize this. He didn’t know if it had ever…

Ulas reached some sort of end on the chain. He paused again, orienting, and then leaned away, extending a tapered orange tongue. His hand tremored next to Shiro’s.

No wonder. The chain anchored to a dark eye bolt connector pierced six centimeters from the tip of Ulas’ tongue. Yellow winked around the studs where it had tugged against him. 

Shiro tasted bile. Shit. He’d sounded muffled and pained even when the muzzle let him speak, before the druids changed whatever stopped him short. It must have been there, punishing him for every word. And now it sat tethered so close to the muzzle he couldn’t speak at all.

“Fuck no wonder you couldn’t talk.” Katie’s entire body tremored with fury.

“Wait, that --- that’s what it’s for? That’s awful!” Hunk covered his mouth with his hands, clearly vividly imagining the sensation. “What is wrong with these people?”

Galra who speak against the empire don’t exist. You won’t ever find one.

Shiro wasn’t sure who he remembered saying that. He didn’t want to know. He held still in a way he didn’t recognize, sweat pricking on his neck that he was holding the other end of something that painful. Ulas mumbled wordlessly, falling back forward, trembling from the effort of holding the chain weight.

Damn it. Shiro didn’t think he had piercing scars on his tongue. But now he’d have to check.

“Katie, bring one of those casings.” Shiro was startled by how calm he sounded. The palpable panic in the other two made him very still inside, like if he touched it it would explode. “Hunk, what do you have to cut this?”

Thankfully, having something to do was right for both of them. Katie snatched the nearest capsule of Altean medical something with its square edges. Hunk balked a step away, but he leaned forward, peering at the inside of the muzzle. Shiro didn’t dare glance down himself, keeping all of his attention on Ulas.

“Here.” Katie held the tin out to Shiro.

“It’s for him. Hold it horizontal.” Shiro blinked, forcing himself to meet Ulas’ eyes. He didn’t want to. Something about the tether in his tongue, and how Shiro could feel it dragging even right now, and how clearly trapped it meant he’d been when Katie found him.

He was the one Shiro was supposed to meet. Supposed to find. The voice shouting to him to run in his night terrors.

But he hadn’t been looking. Hadn’t be sure he would. If Katie hadn’t found him… “Bite down on this. We’ll get it out.”

Ulas slowly lifted his ears. This time when he tried to answer it was visible, his tongue bending but then snapped down by the chain. “Uhhzzz.” He winced, and stopped, instead parting his teeth and tilting carefully so Katie could slide the metal jam into the crook of his jaw. She stared, mouthing numbers quietly to herself. Shiro had no idea what for, he just had to assume it would come up if it were important. 

“Shiro?” Hunk grit his teeth, hand fluttering forward but stopping short of touching the metal rim. “I…none of my repair kit tools will be small enough for this.” Instead of looking just upset, he looked…angry? “Maybe the Alteans have something. I’ll find Coran, and --- “

“No.” Shiro blinked, momentarily dizzy, as repercussions and tradeoffs cluttered off his head. Where had that come from? Had he always been thinking like that? “I don’t want them seeing this.”

He kept his worries to himself, that Allura might decide she liked this safeguard, that he would have to explain to an alien sovereign about what humans would and would not do. But not well enough, probably, judging by the sharp, suspicious look Katie shot at him.

Hunk frowned. “They wouldn’t,” he said softly. But he crossed his arms nervously and didn’t keep heading toward the door.

Maybe. Shiro wasn’t sure what he thought was likely anymore. He shrugged. “I can do it.” He flexed his hand, the mechanisms whirring softly.

Hunk swallowed. But he didn’t argue. “Do you have that kind of dexterity with that thing?”

“You can melt metal?” Katie grinned wildly at him, before she caught up with what she said and frowned just a intensely. “That doesn’t sound safe like this.”

“Cut.” Shiro pressed his fingers together, forcing himself to consider. The Alteans felt dangerous. But so was he. It was sort of refreshing to get direct blunt questions like that instead of people being careful. Usually Hunk tried to tiptoe around it. “Yes. I do.” Shiro paused, expecting more from the certainty, some memory, some data. But, no. Nothing. He just knew.

He glanced at Hunk. That was a lot to trust someone’s tongue to. But, then, it was also the least massive responsibility they’d been handed recently.

Hunk set his shoulders. “What can I do?”

Hell he deserved to be so far away from anything like this. Shiro swallowed down the guilt. Two jobs, only one of which he thought Hunk could manage. “Help him hold still.” As Hunk crossed cautiously to Ulas’ other side, Shiro caught Katie’s eye. “Hold this steady?”

She grit her teeth and barked, “Yes.” Her hands were small and she perched on the edge of the table, both of which helped her be stabler than either of them. Katie looked very pale. “It’s ok,” she told Ulas firmly as she took control of the chain.

He didn’t shiver this time when Hunk reached around him. His entire frame sagged minutely, like the support reached much deeper than just bracing his neck and shoulders.

Shiro looked from one grim face to the next. “Ready?”

Hunk and Katie nodded.

Ulas pinned his ears back and let his tongue droop loose. His yellow eyes tracked Shiro’s face, not his hand.

Eerie. Shiro wasn’t sure how he knew where eyes with no pupils were looking. But he did. He lit his arm, the cold rushing through his shoulder like a warning. It lurched him viciously, suddenly alert, ready to fight. 

Reaching between the muzzle and Ulas’ pinned tongue splashed awful light across the gashes in his face. This close Shiro could almost smell them. It glimmered on his tongue, and edged the scabbing there. Shiro caught the chain, feeling desperate puffs of air on his fingertips.

He had to do this exactly right. A mistake would burn, he thought, best case, or cut, worst.

But the chain was slippery, trailing yellow and clear rivulets from Ulas’ mouth. And the links were small with complex jagged edges. Reaching for it, Shiro felt the barbs, the twists. It was designed to hurt even without pulling. It spun between his fingers before he could get a good grip, shrieking at the heat.

Ulas’ eyes lurched too orange, too dark, and he keened. Involuntary motion dragged his tongue back. The piercing clacked when it brought him up short.

No! They didn’t get to make this worse. THis was something he got to do with the arm that helped.

Shiro snarled and crushed down hard, the kind of hard that made his brain balk, ready to feel pain from the metal. But he wasn’t soft like that, not anymore. The chain sliced cleanly off the muzzle.

For a moment, Shiro was too stuck to see anything other than the chain, the muzzle, and how blood beaded up on Ulas’ tongue as he flinched back. Shiro’s fingers ground into the face plate almost of their own accord, while pain screamed out of his jaw and nose. Memory or not, he could barely tell.

Someone. Someone made him want to destroy this thing. Right now SHiro couldn’t quite put a finger on a face or a voice or anything like that. Just the fierce, burning hatred loose in his head.

Ulas shuddered, hand coming up to catch the links trailing down from his mouth. It looked like a snake trying to twist into him, and he made a faint, pitched pain sound that jittered all the way up Shiro’s spine.

Give it to me, Faelbar hissed. I’ll crush it. Shiro had the echoing, massive feeling that the lion knew what the pain felt like, because Shiro had. That he wanted nothing more than to wipe the horrible thing off the face of the universe.

That helped. At least he could make this one let go.

[findmeinthefallair]

I'll always have the frustration that the super unique track that plays while they fight Ulaz was never released

It's so fucking good that it can replace my morning coffee. Like there's already an incredible variety in the OST but this track particularly stood out

[nerd-of-marmora]

More pieces for the Kissartfebruary challenge by @violettenouvel , featuring more Voltron OC shenanigans! The days are mixed a little but here is the list

First is Day 5: Stolen with Duram and Aeryn. A moment in their younger years, when the pirate had successfully "Stolen" the Doctor's heart.

Ulaz and Moira are back for Day 8: Shy in the second piece. Moira can be quite shy when it comes to helping out someone close to her, and rather than put her on the spot, best to say nothing and accept the gift.

Third is Day 11: Interrupted which is basically the meme "Why do I hear boss music?" Once more with Younger Ulaz and Moira shenanigans with a surprise feature of Duram the ever watchful father. I don't think he took too kindly to finding out that his daughter is involved with some young Galran trainee he is teaching to be a medic, even if he knows he has good intentions. Aeryn tells him to give some space, but Duram can't help the protective nature, and he would be damned before he gives up his duties as a father. So no problems with "Interrupting" their quality time by keeping an eye on them.

Art and OCS are mine

Kissartfebruary challenge by @violettenouvel

Ulaz belongs to Voltron franchise