Clarity
Yondu whistles softly and feels his arrow’s acknowledgement. If nothing else, he’s got protection, but he’s not keen on the two kids getting hurt by their own people. “Get in the pod,” he says, suddenly. “Go explore.”
“Really?” Peter asks, excitedly.
“Yeah, quick.”
Peter and Kraglin both scramble into the pod; it seems the older boy’s willing to play this out by Yondu’s rules. Suits him fine; he’s a Ravager for a reason. Without a second to spare, Yondu stretches out on the ground, back to a huge tree, and yawns as the first giant paws come into the crash site. “Well hey there,” he says, the picture of indolence. “How y’all doin’ today?”
If Kraglin’s thousand pounds and fangs were threatening, the elders were downright terrifying. To sane people, anyway. Yondu keeps his body relaxed only through years and years of experience. The elder clan members were closer to ten feet long and a few thousand pounds each. Three of them stop, sniff the air, and turn to glare at Yondu. “Ya must be the boys’ family,” he says, waving. “Nice ta metcha.”
One of the huge males shifts into skin. “Who are you?” he demands. “Where is my son?”
Son. Not sons. Yondu hates him already, though he doesn’t let it show. “Don’ know about your son, but I’ve got two boys visitin’ here. Thought they were brothers.”
The man doesn’t get the opportunity to respond as a high-pitched, “Father!” breaks through the growling. Peter’s voice draws the man’s attention away from Yondu, and Yondu watches as he strides towards the downed pod. “That’s Yondu, he’s my new friend!”
Stars keep the boy, Yondu couldn’t have asked for better. “Thanks, Petey,” he teases, making the boy giggle. “Yer my new friend, too.”
The man picks Peter up and puts him on the ground, running hands over the little boy’s arms and legs. “You are unharmed?”
“Uh-huh! Yondu killed a porlacun and cooked it and fed me! He even gave me the heart, Father! An’ then he let Krah-a-gah-la-hin and me go exploring in his ship! He’s so nice, Father, can he stay with us please while he fixes his… what is it called, Yondu?”
“It’s a pod,” Yondu replies. The two other cats watch him from their leader’s sides, but no longer look as hostile. “I came from the stars. My craft’s broken, but I can fix it… just need some time and a place to sleep.”
“You shall have it,” the Clan Chief announces. “But I have been ill to you, friend Yondu. I am “Eyyh-goh-ann-unn, Clan Chief.”
“Yondu Udonta,” Yonda replies. “Ego, huh?”
Ego wrinkles his nose, but Peter cuts him off. “He cannot say our names Father! He calls us Peter and Kraglin.”
Somehow the mention of the older boy’s name brings him to Ego’s attention. The older man turns a glare to the boy, making Kraglin cringe back into the pod. “I would have thought you’d be smarter,” he sneers. “To bring P’a-eye-ah-tah near a star-wanderer!”
“He didn’t let me, Father! I had already gotten lost by then!” Peter says, trying to help.
Kraglin flinches as the older man’s eyes go wide. “What?” he asks, in a cold voice.
“Hey, the little guy wandered a bit, but Kraglin was seconds behind him,” Yondu interrupts, still easy-as-you-please. “No way was the kid in danger with his older brother around. He scared the shit outta me when I first saw him, all teeth and protectiveness.”
Ego reaches into the pod, grabs Kraglin in a move so quick Yondu doesn’t see it until Ego’s slamming the older boy to the ground. “Hey!” Yondu shouts, alarmed. “No need fer that!”
Suddenly, Kraglin’s comment becomes clear: “It is unusual for others to treat cubs-not-theirs with kindness,” the boy had said. And now Yondu understands.
“You lost P’a-eye-ah-tah?”
“No!” Kraglin gasps, rolling to his back. He holds up his hands. “No, Clan Chief, I swear to you…”
“I can smell your lie,” Ego replies. He raises a hand and claws sprout from his fingertips. One roll of his shoulder brings the back of his hand into Kraglin’s mouth. The boy sprawls to the side, spitting blood. “I should have ridded the Clan of your foolishness so long ago…”
“Father, no!” Peter cries, and runs forward to throw himself on Kraglin’s body. One of the other tigers catches him, pulls him away, allowing Ego to aim a kick at Kraglin’s ribs. “It wasn’t Krah-a-gah-la-hin’s fault!”
“Get out of the way, my son,” Ego says, continuing the abuse. “I have decided, and my word is our law.”
“Please, no!” Peter screams, as one of the other tigers easily draws him back. “No! No, please, please!!!”
Ego raises a hand and Kraglin… Kraglin doesn’t move, ready to accept his fate, and Yondu gives in and growls, “Aww, hell no.”
Ego’s in no way ready for a radioactive arrow to slam through the meat of his back, pinning him to a tree a few feet away. While the Clan Chief dangles, roaring in outrage, Yondu doesn’t give the other two tigers room to react; he draws his blaster and shoots them both, then shoots Ego repeatedly until the roaring stops. Yondu recalls the arrow to its sheath, and then hurries to check on Kraglin and Peter. “Boy!” he snaps, cupping Kraglin’s face in his hands. “Boy, can ya hear me?”
Kraglin’s eyes don’t focus, but his groan of pain lets Yondu know he’s alive at least. “Flark. Peter!”
Peter’s curled up in his tiger form, mewling with his little paws over his face. “Shit,” Yondu says. He rushes over to the other boy, kneeling in front of him and sighing when Peter cringes away from him. “Peter,” Yondu says, speaking as clearly as he can. “Peter, he was going to kill your brother, I didn’t have a choice. Kraglin needs help. Won’t you come with me?”
The tiny cub continues mewling but doesn’t fight Yondu when Yondu picks him up and stashes him in the pod. He turns his attention back to the older boy, who’s ribcage is already turning a violent shade of purple-green. “Kraglin, can ya hear me?”
“Y..yes.”
“’M gonna haveta move ya, boy,” Yondu says. “Can ya move yer arms?”
The boy tries to move and groans, but gets his arms up. “Good boy,” Yondu says. He crouches, picks the boy up as carefully as he can, but he can’t stop from hurting Kraglin’s ribs. He lays the boy in the pod next to Peter and climbs in after him. It’s a tight fit, but they make it. Yondu starts up the activation sequence and, thank Stars, the pod roars to life. “Okay. Kraglin, I need ya with me, boy. Is there anywhere in this jungle ya know I should avoid?”
“Not south,” Kraglin groans. “Another tribe. But… but west, the desert, no one goes there. It means death.”
“West it is,” Yondu says. “Hold tight, boyo. I’ll patch ya up when we get somewhere safe.”
Yondu hits the thrusters, lifts the pod into the air. Even in agony, Kraglin scoots closer to look out of the window. “Don’ hurt yerself,” Yondu advises. “If we ever get off this rock, yer gettin’ plenty o’ time to look at the sky.”
Kraglin nods as Yondu pilots the shuttle towards the desert in the west. The sands stretch for several hundred miles, but fortunately he’s got enough power to get them beyond the edges of the arid land and back into jungle terrain. Yondu checks the power cells; four percent life. “Look for an open space,” he commands, and Kraglin nods. “We gotta set down or we ain’t gonna be alive long.”
“There!” Kraglin says, pointing. Sure enough, Yondu sees a sparse patch and a reflective lake. “There.”
Yondu steers the pod towards the space, sets it down as the engines cough out their last gasps of power. “I do not know this land,” Kraglin says.
“Well, get used to it,” Yondu replies. “We’re gonna be here awhile.”