The Young Life of Blaze Aster Emyrada/Quill (Raziah Quill Emyrada[deadname])

 About a week after Dad brings me onboard the Eclector, I'm working with Tullk on his ship called the Rising Star and he gets a message from Yondu. "Ah'll be back, Wee Lass. Ya keep workin', ya 'ear?"

 "Got it." He pats my head and runs out of the hangar while I keep working.

 "SNACK!" I jump and turn to see Taserface, Scrote, Narblik, and Halfnut.

 "What do you want, fugly?"

 "You ain't got no one around to protect you now, do you?" He sneers and I glance around quickly.

 "I don't need anyone around to protect me."

 "Your voice tells a different story," Keiko says shortly from the stairs of an upper level and walks out of the hangar, leaving me confused as to why she was even there.

 "Time to have our snack, boys." Taserface grabs for me and I roll away quickly, hitting him with a tool. "Why you little-! Get her!" The three of them start to surround me and I back up.

 Narblik lunges for me and I jump to the left, letting him hit the wall. Scrote grabs me by the wrist, gripping tightly, and I bite him harshly. "Son of a-" He kicks me away and I roll right over to Halfnut, narrowly avoiding a heel to the head.

 "Grab her, you useless idiots," Taserface yells and I run as fast as my legs will carry me, hearing their feet pounding after me. I skirt around a corner and narrowly avoid knocking Keiko down. "You! Where did she go?"

 "That way," She says and their feet pound closer to me. I skid around another corner and quickly scale the wall, climbing into a vent that I had discovered the cover was broken on. I barely make it inside before they're underneath it.

 "Where is she?" Taserface snarls and I carefully crawl further into the vents.

 "The Captain's coming," Keiko warns as she walks by and they make themselves scarce. I continue to crawl through the vents to try to find my way back to the hangar.

 I don't notice the vent narrowing until it's too late and I can't move forward to the vent opening just ahead or back into the vents, no matter how much I squirm. "Come on," I whisper and try harder.

 I stop with soft pants and start to count the seconds as Mom taught me to do when I'm waiting for something, trying not to cry because I'm not scared. "One... Two... Three... Four... Five... Six... Seven... Eight... Nine... Ten... Um... Ten plus one... Ten plus two..."

 I get to, like, a zillion ten plus tens and go silent when I hear feet beneath the vent. "Where the 'ell is tha' Girl?" Yondu barks and I whimper softly.

 "Cap'n, think Ah 'eard summin'!" I shift and kick the vent wall.

 The vent opening in front of me goes dark and I look toward it, seeing the Leathers. It creaks open and Oblo's head pops in. "Wha'cha doin' in 'ere, Shorty? Ya know ya ain't 'sposed ta be in 'ere playin'."

 "I know but I saw an orloni crawling through so I thought that I'd follow it to catch it and deal with it but then I saw something shiny and it was just the vent but I was lost by then so I tried to go back and I saw the orloni again so I followed it and-"

 "A'ight, a'ight! Jus'... Shuddup," He sighs and looks at me. "Ya stuck?" I nod and he reaches in, carefully turning my body.

 "OW!"

 "Yer fine." He pulls me out and I rub my sides a bit. "Ya need a shower or summin'. Ya got dust an' shit in yer 'air." I ruffle it to get it out and sneeze, making them roll their eyes.

 "Git back ta work," Yondu says simply but catches me by the collar when I try to walk away and the other three look at us. "Now!" They go off and I look at Yondu as he crouches in front of me. "Wha'cha doin' in the vents, Girl?"

 "I already told-"

 "Tha's a lie an' it ain't a good 'un. Wha'cha doin' in the vents?" I rub my wrist a bit and he catches it, looking at the bruises on it from Scrote. "Who did tha'?" I don't respond and he looks at me. "Girl, 'ere are ya choices. Ya tell me an' Ah take care 'a it or... Ah whoop ya an' ya tell me so Ah can take care 'a it. Wha's it gonna be?"

 "But-" He cuts me off with a biting swat to my ass and I whine.

 "Tha' ain't a choice. Wha's yer choice?"

 "Taserface ganged up on me with Scrote, Narblik, and Halfnut... Scrote did this to my wrist... So I ran and hid in the vents... But then I tried to get out and got stuck instead..." He looks at me and I run a hand through my hair.

 "C'mon." He tugs me along with him and I follow. He puts me in his Captain's chair and leans down. "Stay. 'Ere."

 "Yes, Sir..." He walks off and I stay as I was told to.

 "Kid, wha'cha doin' 'ere?" Kraglin asks as he comes in and I shrug.

 "Cap told me to stay here. So... I'm staying here..." He nods and looks me over, looking at his wrist come as he gets a ping.

 "Ohh. Ah see." I look at him, confused, and he ignores it. "C'mon. Yer able ta keep workin'." I follow him to the hangar and see Tullk, Horuz, and Oblo cleaning up something on the floor.

 "Um-"

 "'Ey, Wee Lass! C'mon an' 'elp me out 'ere," Tullk cuts me off and I go over, kneeling to help him clean it up. "An' we can finish m'ship, a'ight?"

 "OK..." He ruffles my hair slightly and I look at him, suspicious. "Dude, the hair. It's unruly enough." I brush it out of my face and he chuckles. "Do I even want-?"

 "No, ya don't," Yondu says simply and I nod, continuing to help them clean it up. "When yer done, make sure tha' Girl eats summin'."

 "Aye, Cap'n."