Introductions All Around
It starts with a roar, aggressive and threatening, and ends with a confused choke. That’s what wakes Yondu from his deep sleep, and what startles him so badly that he almost drops the tiny cargo off his chest. “Flark!”
Within seconds, Yondu has his feet beneath him, the yaka out of its sheath, and the cub… well, the cub’s tucked in one arm and his other hand holds a knife.
Except the tiger – the huge, six feet, thousand plus pounds of tiger – doesn’t do anything but stare at him, head tilted to the side. It looks more confused than Yondu feels. He takes a small step backwards, and the big cat follows the movement. Slowly. Non-threateningly. Yondu isn’t sure whether to kill the larger animal, but it’s his little cub that makes the decision. “MEW!”
The big cat leaps backwards, ears perked. It releases a mournful noise, and the tiny cub waves a paw at it. “MEW.”
“ROAR!”
“MEW.”
“ROAR!”
“MEW.”
“Enough!” Yondu shouts, drawing both sets of eyes back to him. “Do I assume you’re his momma?”
The large tiger looks so affronted that Yondu bursts out laughing at the lunacy of the situation. “Okay, not his momma, then. His daddy?”
The big cat shakes his head, shakes it again, and then…
And then…
The cat’s fur ripples, disappearing into naked flesh. The animal vanishes, replaced by a young man with pale skin, giant blue-grey eyes, the same sharp teeth, and a mohawk. “I am his kin-of-the-same-mother,” the boy says. “I am Krah-a-gah-la-hin, -or swift-knife-in-tall-grass. You hold P’a-eye-ah-tah, or He who is lord of the stars. Who are you, and why do you carry my kin-of-the-same-mother so?”
“’M Yondu Udonta,” Yondu says. “Ain’t sayin’ what it means. I found your brother about to be squashed by that pig thing over yonder. Saved him, fed him, and gave him a cuddle. Why’s he out here alone?”
The boy scowls. “He slipped away and I’ve been tracking him, Yah…yah…Yahndu.”
“It’s a bitch to pronounce,” Yondu says. “I ain’t even sure I’ll say your name right. Kraglin? Is that close enough? An’ the cub is Peter?”
Kraglin tilts his head in the same manner he does as a cat. “That name is pleasing to me,” he says. “And close enough to my own.”
Before they can continue their conversation, Peter squirms loose and Yondu sets him down before he can hurt himself. The tiny cub shifts into skin the same way his brother did. “I Peter!” the little boy says, grinning proudly. “I like Peter. Kraglin, he fed me like Father did! Bites!”
Kraglin glances up sharply at Yondu, and Yondu arches an eyebrow. “Somethin’ wrong?”
“It is unusual for others to treat cubs-not-theirs with kindness,” he says, quietly. “So it seems I am twice now in your debt. Once for my bro…brother’s life, and once for your care.”
“Ain’t nothin’,” Yondu replies, uncomfortable for some reason. He can’t help but flick his eyes over the lovely, naked boy in front of him. Kraglin, not Peter. “Glad ta do it.”
“I have not seen one like you before,” Kraglin says. “Where do you come from?”
Yondu points up. “From the stars, boy. M’ ship’s crashed close to here. I was tryin’ ta get ta higher ground ta see where I landed.”
Kraglin’s eyes go wide. “A star-wanderer? The elders have foreseen such things, but I never imagined… if you mean to do us harm, I will kill you!”
“Whoa there, kiddo,” Yondu says, holding up his hands. “’M not lookin’ to hurtcha. Ain’t got a way off this rock, my ship’s outta commission. Broken,” he clarifies, when Kraglin gives him a confused look. “Gotta fix it an’ then I’ll go.”
“I would offer you shelter in our village,” the boy says. “But I would ask. That is. I would…”
Kraglin trails off, staring at the ground. “I was not supposed to lose him,” he says, finally. “My people, they do not know he slipped away from me.”
“Aww, kid,” Yondu says, grinning. “Ya don’ want me tellin’ no one ‘bout Peter’s adventure, do ya.”
“His Father would kill me,” the boy says, and somehow Yondu doesn’t get the feeling the kid’s exaggerating. “If he were aware I allowed the future leader to wander off alone.”
“Leader?”
“Yes. His Father is our Clan Chief,” Kraglin says. “He married my Mother when my Father died. Peter is my responsibility to protect, and I did not… I had not even realized he was gone, I fell asleep…”
“Hey, hey,” Yondu croons, watching the boy’s shoulders shake. “’S ok, Kraglin. Everybody makes mistakes.”
“Not the Clan Chief. Not with his cub. I care for Peter, if anything would’ve happened…”
“It didn’t,” Yondu replies, firmly. “’S all okay now. C’mon, ya wanna see my ship ‘fore you take me to yer clan?”
“I… truly?”
“Go!” Peter yells, and holds his arms out expectantly to Yondu. “Up!”
“Oh no ya don’t,” Yondu says, poking the little boy in the belly. “Ya got four feet, ya brat. Use ‘em.”
Peter pouts, but shifts to his tiger form. Yondu allows himself a moment to ‘aww’ and then gestures to Kraglin. “Ya gonna do the same? I’ll take ya to the pod.”
It only takes a second for Kraglin to regain his huge furry form. Yondu huffs. “Not sure if I wanna pet ya or not,” he replies. “Got some big teeth there, boy.”
Kraglin gives him a toothy grin, steps forward very slowly, and rubs his head against Yondu’s chest. Yondu laughs and scritches the boy behind his ears. “Aww, kid. Ya still got the mohawk,” he says, toying with the fluff on Kraglin’s head.
The tiger knocks into him, then makes a ‘lead on’ gesture with a paw. Yondu travels through the jungle leading the cat processional, laughing quietly. He’s glad the crew can’t see him as he picks Peter up and carries him along. Especially as the little boy cuddles into his chest, purring. Fearsome pirate, indeed. Ha.
When they reach his ship, both boys transform back to skin. “It’s so big!” Peter says, bouncing forward to stick his head into the pod.
“Actually, it’s small,” Yondu replies. He scoops Peter up and holds him so the boy can see inside the pod. “That’s where I was layin’ as I traveled through the stars. But the ship, it was as big as the jungle.”
“The whole jungle?”
“Yeah. And there are other planets out there made out of the heads of the gods,” Yondu says. Both sets of eyes turn to him, fascinated. “Where the grounds get so cold ya can’t walk on ‘em. Or where it’s always dark, an’ ya never see the stars at all.”
Peter stares at him in awe; Kraglin with sadness. “Father named me lord-of-stars,” Peter says. “The stars are where Kraglin’s Father lives.”
Oh. No wonder the kid looks upset. Yondu’s reminded of a time where his dam told him the story of the gods in the stars, back before he knew better. “My people. I ‘member they had a belief that when someone died, they became a star, and the star would burn till all their family joined them. And then the star could burn out, ‘cause they’d be at rest together.”
Kraglin’s head raises and Yondu sees the glistening tears on his cheeks. “My Father would be waiting for me alone,” he says. “We are both alone.”
Yondu doesn’t get to ask him what he means, because the ground shudders beneath them and roars break the sounds of the birds. “What the flark?”
Kraglin sucks in a fearful breath and Peter spins to the source of the sound. “Father comes!” Peter says. “He brings the Clan!”
Yondu and Kraglin meet eyes above Peter’s head. “Donchu worry, kid. I got yer back.”
“It’s not you I’m worried about,” Kraglin says.
And it’s heartbreaking; Yondu remembers his dam sellin’ him to the Kree for credits, because he wasn’t wanted either… “I won’t let ‘im hurtcha,” he says.
Kraglin’s head snaps up. “W-what?”
“Trust me,” Yondu replies. “I got this.”