Death was easier than he'd expected. He supposed that being at peace had a lot to do with it. When he had messed up more than he didn't, dying for someone you loved was a lot easier than living with regrets. Yondu Udonta had left his mark. Not a bad way to be remembered. Of course, in the unpredictable vacuum of space, sometimes strange things happened.
Take for example, the fact that, though he had been set to stardust, Udonta was contemplating the nature of his own death. Or perhaps even the fact that he could feel warmth on his face. Anywhere else, these things might have been unusual. But the Universe? Well, she had other plans.
Now, as such things go, he had little control over just where it was she was taking him. Nor did he honestly know she was taking him anywhere, but a body moves far easier as stardust than it does a whole. Past the death and rebirth of planets. Through starlight and darkness. Beyond what it meant to be living, and what it was to be dead. She carried him, against the drag of time. One last chance. One last moment. Why? Well there would never be any way of knowing, but that was half the fun wasn't it?
When he opened his eyes, he was nearly blinded by the blazing light of a sun. A single great burning ball in the sky over his head, framed by golden stalks edging into his line of sight. Had he not just been contemplating his own heroics, Yondu might have just chalked it up to a night of heavy drinking. It wouldn't have been the first time he'd found himself sprawled in a strange location with a pounding headache. However, he did wake with a very clear memory of breathlessness and biting cold.
Besides that, his arrow was missing. The ground around him was littered with various items. Lilies, trinkets, ribbons and medals. His funeral rights. Honors. So he was dead? Then where was he now? It sure as hell wasn't heaven, if you believed in that.
So, if he had died and this was indeed the life after… what the hell did he do now? People always made it seem as though you actually had a damn clue.
Ruby eyes squinted upward, and for the smallest moment he almost closed his them again.
Everything was still. Not a breath of wind. He didn't even hear anything. Not one sound. For a man most accustomed to the drone of engines it left an uneasy feeling in his chest. At least aboard the Eclector, he was surrounded by the sound of his ship. The men chattered and joked and laughed and fought. There was never just silence. This was the sort that would make your ears ring. Almost to the point he was sure that had he in fact been alive, he might have heard the flow of his own blood through his veins. Was that a dull ebb and flow he could make out? Or just the empty settle of nothing?
"Do you have ANY idea how difficult it is to gather someone who's been turned to dust?" A soft voice questioned. Yondu's head turned to one side, a frown plastered immediately upon his face. Who the hell was that. "Honestly, it's barbaric!" The female's voice sounded irritated.
"The hell d'yeh want from me? 'M Dead!" The Azure male protested, blinking in an effort to see the hazy outline of the woman . Or what he could assume was a woman. Draped in a dark cloak that seemed to glitter with the depths of a black hole, the figure did not turn to face him.
" Do not /sass/ me," She stated bluntly, " Had it been any others choice you'd of remained /dead/ Yondu Udonta."
Even though the world around him focused up a little more, he still struggled to make her edges clear.
" You made a choice that you would not have in life before, and for that I'm allowing you a second chance. DO NOT squander this chance."
He was confused even more so than he had been before. Second Chance? What the hell did that mean!? Yondu grunted, trying to sit up but his body refused to cooperate. Instead he felt numb. Even wiggling his fingers seemed impossible. Actually, if he was being honest his whole body burned at the attempt of movement. The Centaurian fell flat against the ground again, features twisted.
" I did say I had to gather you from Star Dust, didn't I?" She mused with a snort, " It's going to take a bit for your body to start working properly again. That's what happens when you let them do that."
" Ain't got no damn idea what yer talkin about. Where the hell am I?" Yondu glared holes through the woman's back.
"Well you're obviously set on being dead. So let's call this your after life," Sarcasm laced those words and he could almost see the sneer.
" What do yeh mean? Yer bein sarcastic."
" Of course I am you stubborn man!" He could see her head shake through the loose folds of the hood, " I told you. This is your second chance."
Everything was quiet again. Who the hell did she think she was? People didn't just come back from the dead. That ain't how this worked.
" You were not supposed to die, we had not even anticipated that you would show. And we technically only accounted for one death. We got that with Ego instead of Peter. To be fair it was a far greater exchange. I only get one or two of these every few lifetimes. Do not waste my efforts."
"Course I'd show. Couldn't let that bastard just kill him now could I? Raised that boy with my own hands. Ain't that much of a dick…" Yondu mumbled.
That earned a chuckle.
" Live well Yondu Udonta, Make wise choices. We will meet again. I can only hope the next time it will be when you are ready."
With that, she flickered like a dying flame and disappeared. He was damn near more confused than he had been before!
