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Shiro felt a sharp kick to his ribs and a voice muttering something he could not decipher. He opened his eyes disappointed to find he was still a prisoner on an alien ship. His eyelids felt like they were weighed down by stones and the last thing he wanted to do was be sent back into their gladiator ring to fight.

Sleeping in the prison cell’s cold hard floor was by no means comfortable, but after nearly a year in space he welcomed any escape he could get. He had dreamt about Earth again, like he does every time he has the chance to close his eyes. He dreamt of the green grass, golden sunlight, and blue skies. The gray walls and purple lights of the ship were a large contrast.

He was kicked again and this time he recognized the muttering as one of the guards speaking to him, telling him he had a visitor. The only ever visitor he got was a terrible old witch named Haggar. She was responsible for taking his arm and giving him the name Champion, for all the battles he won in the gladiator ring.

He dreaded seeing her again. She had been kinder, if you could even call her that, lately and it worried him. She had stopped torturing him for information, and instead only checked on the status of his robot arm before bringing him back to his cell. He did not take this as a good sign.

He could hear the telltale clack of Galra soldier boots making their way down the hall and closer to his cell. There were many of them today, they walked loudly unlike Haggar who seemed to drift on air.

They neared closer until stopping in front of his door to speak. He assumed it was his visitor dismissing the guards because he heard the sound of heavy footsteps leave in the other direction. Instead of the old witch entering the room, he was surprised to see a gorgeous and important looking man at the door.

He didn’t look like the other galra. He looked more like Haggar. His ears were pointed and he had dark skin. There were purple marks in the shape of sickles under his eyes, which had irises and pupils unlike the rest of the Galra. His irises were a dark almost purple gray, and his pupils were colored a lighter shade. His sclera was still yellow like the rest of them, but they didn’t seem to glow and were almost dulled. He was the most human looking alien he had met.

His guard bent to his knee and bowed his head, “greetings, Prince Adam.”

The man, who he now knew was Prince Adam, nodded his head. “I would like some time alone with The Champion, to see if he is worthy of battling against my own gladiators. You are dismissed.”

The guard stood again and put his hand over his heart in a fist. “Vrepit Sa,” he said before he left.

Now Shiro was left completely alone with the prince of an evil alien empire. Delightful. The Prince kept his eyes trained on the door until the sound of the guard’s footsteps completely faded. When they finally disappeared he pulled out some sort of communicator from a bag on his hip.

It was gray and purple like the rest of the Galra tech, but instead of the bright violet of the ship’s light, it glowed more of a bluish indigo. He couldn’t decipher what he was whispering into the communicator, and the Prince’s face was blank but determined, leaving no clues to go off of.

When he completed the message, he wordlessly pocketed the communicator and made his way over to Shiro’s cell. He typed a code into the panel next to the door, opening the barred cell. The silence in the air was heavy as he stood in front of Shiro, avoiding eye contact and staring at the shackles that held his arms above his head.

The Prince made eye contact with Shiro. “I am going to free you, and you are going to stay silent as I get you to the escape pods,” he whispered.

Shiro was in complete and utter disbelief. This had to be a joke, right? Some sort of cruel trick to see if he would act out. Something to give him the illusion of freedom. No, he wouldn’t be fooled. He would escape today one way or another.

The moment his hands were freed from his shackles, he activated his Galra arm and went for the Prince’s throat. The Prince only seemed shocked for a moment before easily deflecting his movement and restraining him.

“It is in your best interest to listen to me,” he continued, “as it is in my best interest for you to get back to Earth.” He clasped a different pair of handcuffs around Shiro’s wrists. “These are fake,” he explained. “That way in case if we run into anyone they are far less likely to question why I have you. If necessary, they will let you activate your arm if you need to fight.”

“Why are you helping me?”

“I can explain more on the pod when we are safe, but for now we need to leave.”

Shiro nodded in confirmation and with that they began down the halls of the Galra ship, on their way to the pod bay.