After the rebellion shown by my new pet, I was surprised that Yondu didn't order me to dispose of it right then. I was partially to blame, I should have kept it in my ship until it was ready to mingle with the rest of the crew.
As Yondu hauled Peter in the ship, along with the other we saw outside of the Collector's tower, he gestured to me and a small group to go down to retrieve them.. My cat followed close behind me as I led the four others down to the cargo hold.
"Where is that thing from?" J'vul asked me with a tone of contempt. Her and her mate, Horuz were always criticizing Yondu's decisions and I didn't really care for either one too much. J'vul was one of the very, very few females allowed on the ship, and that was only based on her mating to Horuz. How Horuz even managed to find a mate is totally beyond me, he was pretty contemptible inside and out.
"Terra." I gruffly replied. I was just waiting for her to say that me being to keep the cat was the worst thing Yondu's allowed.
"It's not going to be wandering around our bunks is it?" Gr'jrl's question had an air of uncertainty about it. He was always a bit more timid than the others, still one of the newer members.
"No, I'll put it in my personal quarters." One of the many privileges of being First Mate was getting personal space. It was small, yes, but came in handy at times like these.
J'vul looked down at my cat. "Looks weak, but rather tasty," She grinned and nudged it with her gun, which was quickly swiped out of her hands by the cat's massive paws. I saw claws extend and then promptly disappear once the paw was placed back on the floor. Was it just my imagination? The cat let out its strange threatening hiss again, its ears pinned back again and tail lashing.
"Don't do that again." I stepped up next to the cat and stared into J'vul's shocked face. I knew that J'vul and Horuz could cause problems that could get my cat destroyed if they antagonized it. "Just leave it be, or you will answer to me."
After issuing this order. I swiftly continued to the cargo hold, walking around J'vul as she bent down to grab her gun. I saw Ardig snicker at her as he passed her by. Upon reaching the bay door, I aimed my gun, preparing for any kind of attack from Peter. While waiting for the door to open, my cat came up and wound around my legs, not growling for once. The doors opened and Peter instantly looked over to us.
"Welcome home, Peter!" I greeted him with a smirk. The five of us then went over and grabbed the two prisoners to bring them before Yondu.
While escorting Peter back up to Yondu he noticed my new pet.
"Kraglin, why is there a panther following you?"
I was confused. "Panther? I thought it was a cat."
"A panther is a kind of cat," Peter explained. "Although, this one looks different from the pictures I'd seen on Earth. Just watch yourself, they're really dangerous and wild, probably not the best choice for a pet."
I glanced down at the creature being discussed; it let out a soft growl at Peter's words. "C'mon, pal!" I pleaded at it under my breath. I didn't want it getting into any more trouble than it may have already caused. The black cat looked up at me and ceased its threat. The look it gave me afterwards was one of pure annoyance. How much of our conversation could this creature actually understand?
The captain ordered two other crew members to restrain the woman, Gamora, and I took my position by Yondu's side. I chuckled to myself as we endured the same chastising speech given to Peter, who actually argued back a little this time. Right when Yondu was about to teach him, and the crew, a lesson Peter revealed a way for us to get the stone back in our possession. I was rather skeptical at first, and I could tell that Yondu was as well. After reaching an agreement of sorts to work together to save my home planet, we were lurched forward as our ship was hit by something.
I looked at Yondu who gave me a look to follow him and we both bolted to the window above us, my cat quickly trailing us. We burst through the door to see Peter's ship, The Milano, hovering in front of us. Tiny flares were firing off and glancing off our ship's hull, giving us nothing more than a small shake with each impact. The panther by my side tensed up, its tail curled around one of my legs, and started emitting its low growl yet again, as it kept wildly looking around, presumably for something to attack.
"The shot was not damaging at all, sir." Our main flight controller, Ardig, laughed.
A voice rang out, informing us of a demand to return Peter and Gamora. As the furry creature started to count down from five, Peter flew forward to relay his safety. Within minutes The Milano was in our cargo hold with its three passengers holding conference below us.
As the time came to listen to the grand plan that they had to share I listened attentively while watching the screen.
"You, Kraglin, and Rocket will blow a hole in the side of The Dark Aster, at which point, Yondu and I will enter."
Wait a minute, "Won't there be hundreds of Sakaaran soldiers inside?"
The shirtless musclehead next to me responded fearlessly with, "I think of Sakaarans as 'paper people.'"
I found this wonderfully hilarious and gave him a friendly hit on the arm, while laughing. He responded by glaring at me in such a way that my smile was instantly replaced by a look of fear. This was worsened when my cat decided to lunge forward with a huge growl a take a swat at Drax.
Drax gave a bewildered look at he looked down at his hand. Snagged by the claws (wait, these mysterious claws again?) tiny pinpricks of blood started to well. The imposing man let out a bellowing laugh. "Such dangerous company you keep! This one is fearless, I see!"
"That dumb thing is weirdly loyal, watch yourself pal." Rocket chimed in from where he was standing near the screens. My cat flattened its ears and aimed a hiss at the small creature. I sighed and reached forward to grab my pet by its collar to stop it from flinging itself towards Rocket.
Truth is, although it was starting to seem as though the panther would protect me from any threat, it still made me nervous. It was so wild and a little unpredictable but, being First Mate, I had to seem in complete control of it. As I held onto the spiked leather I was a little surprised when I felt its growling subside and the creature calm down.
I will try to update this every week or so. Two chapters at a time at first. I have quite a few in my backlog, it's all a matter of editing them. If you spot any inconsistencies or contradictions please let me know and I will fix them.
~F2tM