The Eclector had docked on Ark'eos 15 half past noon. Yondu had instructed Gamora not to leave the docks until the others had finished unloading cargo. If she was lucky there would be other cabin kids to play with.
The moment she stepped out of the airlock she's hit with an icy blast of air. Her jacket puts up little resistance as the wind blows through her. She shivers. The landscape in front of her is covered with a thick layer of white mysterious powder. Gamora had never seen anything like it before. It sparkles in the limited sunlight. The universe was full of unimaginable wonders. Her breath condensed into a small cloud. Gamora pulls her jacket snuggly around herself and pops the collar attempting to protect her ears from the biting cold.
She walks to the end of the gangplank staring at the powder intensely. It reminds her of the white sand dunes from her homeworld. The sand was soft and warm to the touch. Gamora stuck her hands into the powder. "No, don't!" Bruhl calls out a moment too late.
"It's cold!" Gamora shrieked and scurried back up the ramp. She runs directly into Yondu.
"Woah, easy," Yondu steadies Gamora, "what's the rush?" He glances in the doctor's direction.
Bruhl sets their jaw. Gamora can't tell if they were glaring at her or if that's just what their face looked like. Then he chuckles, "Kid genius over there stuck her hands in the snow." Hazira snickers under her breath.
Gamora tries to muster up a scowl but feels her face grow warm with embarrassment. She pulls her jacket around her tightly. Yondu narrows his eyes at her, "where are your gloves?"
Gamora shrugs sheepishly, "I only have what you gave me."
He looks over at Hazira, "ya think you can whip her up something?"
Hazira waves three of her gloved hands out, open-palmed, "Sorry hon, I'm off duty." Yondu's expression hardens into a glare and Hazira continues. "Even if I wasn't, I'm not sure if I'd have enough material to make new clothes."
"Fine, " Yondu grumbles before turning his attention back to Gamora. He knelt down and pulled off his gloves, "C'mere, lemme see."
Gamora takes a cautious step back, "are you mad at me?"
Yondu shakes his head, his expression softens a touch around the eyes, "No." She held out her hands. Yondu rubbed his hands together quickly and then squeezed warmth back into Gamora's fingers. "This weather is dangerous. If you're not careful you'll get frostbite."
"What's that?"
"It's damage caused by freezing, it's a good way to lose a finger." Gamora's eyes widened, she tried to pull away but Yondu was still holding her hands tightly. "You can borrow my gloves until we can get you some." He tugs the gloves over Gamora's much smaller hands.
They're made of red leather and have a soft fur lining. It's an expensive gift. "Thank you."
Yondu scoffs lightly and gives her a small shove towards the docks. "Now make yourself scarce, girl, before I putcha ta work."
She grins up at him, "Aye, sir." He trudged through the snow towards the cargo bay, where the deckhands are unloading crates and empty canisters. Gamora runs down the gangplank and jumps into the snow. She's surprised when she sinks up to her knees, she flails about trying to regain her balance but falls forward.
"Oh wipeout, " Kraglin cringed. Some of the crew laughed and Yondu turned to look back at Gamora. She scrambled to her feet and gives them a thumbs up.
"She's okay, " Jazinda says into her tea. They watch Gamora wade through the snow until she reached the beaten path. She spots another girl weaving through the crowd and catches up to them. "Is it okay for her to be wandering around by herself?"
Kraglin nods, "She's ain't by herself. She's with the other cabin kids."
"Safest place for a ship's brat to be is the docks," Yondu explains and gestures vaguely at the other ships unloading cargo. "They'd look after our brat the same way we would watch out for there's."
"Weren't you a navy brat? Your military wasn't like that?" Kraglin raised an eyebrow.
"Well, " Jazinda sipped her tea as her gaze drifts across the docks. "My father was in special forces, we always had private docking."
Kraglin eyes widened slightly. Yondu let out a breathy laugh, "special forces?"
"Mhm, " she hums.
"You mentioned being ex-military, but you weren't…" Kraglin trailed off.
Jazinda raises one eyebrow and the corner of the mouth twitched up. "Wouldn't you– " A snowball hit her in the chest. "Hey! That's cold!" Gamora giggled and ducked behind a pile of crates. Jazinda thrust her tea into Kraglin's hands. "Permission to squash some station rats, boss?" Yondu chuckles and waves her off as another snowball hits her in the head.
Jazinda stalks over and sweeps the snow off the crates onto the unsuspecting children hiding behind them. The cabin kids run in all directions. She snatches up Gamora by the waist. "Ah! I've been captured!" Gamora wails melodramatically before smashing a snowball on Jazinda's head. The other kids throw snowballs at Jazinda. Two find their target, three more miss completely.
"Child shield!" Jazinda yells while holding up Gamora to fend off the snowballs. She shrieks and threw up her arms to protect herself. The kids stop throwing snowballs long enough for Jazinda to arm herself. Nobody escapes the snowy fury.
"I'll save you, Gamora!" A half badoon girl hits Jazinda in the face with a snowball. She drops Gamora into the snow and yells in surprise. Gamora runs towards her friends. The girls weaved between the cargo as they ran down the docks. They pause occasionally to check that Jazinda is still following them and to throw more snowballs at her.
After running for a while, Gamora realizes she can't hear the voices of the other kids. They stumble to stop. L'wit, her new friend, is laughing and breathless. Gamora leans against a lamppost and looks around. There are rows of vendors selling just about everything. The deckhands are unloading goods and setting up booths for the vendors. Something smells unbelievably good. Despite being the only kids in the area, no one seems to pay them any mind. "Where are we?"
L'wit shrugs, "this is where all the traveling merchants sell their cargo."
Gamora watches someone cracks open the shell of a crustacean, and feels her stomach growl. "I want one of those."
L'wit wrinkles her nose, "Why? It's not local." She grabbed Gamora's wrist and lead her over to a vendor. "Two mapple pies please!" She pays for them and hands one to Gamora. "These are way better."
Gamora blinks in surprise but accepts the gift. "You must stop here pretty often."
L'wit bursts into laughter. She nearly drops her pie "yeah, you could say that." They finish eating and she points back towards her ship. "We should go back. Aunty would get mad if she knew I left the docks."
Gamora can't imagine Yondu would be happy about that either. "Right." They walk back through their tracks. There's someone standing at the edge of the docks, he's staring at them. L'wit stands up a little straighter and leads Gamora away.
"Hey!" They lunge over a crate to intercept them. They're not wearing any kind of uniform, not crew, a local maybe. "Why are you two wandering around alone? Are you lost?"
"Nope," L'wit taps the patch on her shoulder. "I'm on official Drifter business."
He doesn't let them pass. There's a blaster on his hip. "You're one of the Drifters girls." He takes a step closer to Gamora trying to get a better look at her. She scans the area for some kind of weapon. "But you're not Badoon at all, " Gamora can feel her heart pounding in her chest. "Are you, Gamora?"
"Get away from me." She snatches up a shovel and swings it at his head.
There's a loud thunk when the shovel finds its mark. The girls scream as the bounty hunter falls. He smacks his head on the side of a crate and falls limply to the floor. Gamora drops the shovel in a panic. L'wit briefly hugs Gamora, "Are you okay?"
Gamora nodded her head vigorously. "I'm okay! I'm okay!" After they had both calmed down, they turn to look down at the bounty hunter. "Do you think he's dead?"
L'wit picked up the shovel, "there's one way to find out." She held it out for Gamora.
"Why do I have to poke him?"
"You killed him."
"I didn't kill him!" Her voice rises as she protests. Some of the patrons are staring at them, but none intervene. "We–We don't know that he's dead! I'm not a murder!"
"Okay, okay, okay, " she waves a hand dismissively. "We'll poke him together." Together, they held the shovel and poked the bounty hunter with the handle. They poke him once. Then, twice. Gamora is uncertain how this will help them determine whether the guy is alive or not. It just seemed like the thing you do.
A voice cuts through the noise of the market. "Hey, stop poking that dead homeless guy!" Jazinda stalks over to them.
"Jazinda!" Gamora drops the shovel and runs towards her. "It was a bounty hunter! He had a blaster and–"L'wit screams. The crowd scattered, people are yelling.
A second bounty hunter had stepped out of the crowd. They grabbed L'wit by the scruff of her coat. She was waving her weapon around wildly. "Even if I can't collect the bounty on your little friend. I'm sure the empire will pay well to have one of their stolen pets returned."
"Let me go!" L'wit kicked and screamed.
"Amateurs," Jazinda rolled her eyes and drew her weapon. "Hey asshole, now what?"
They looked at Jaiznda's weapon and her eyes grew wide with panic. The bounty hunter points the weapon at L'wit, "You–you're gonna let me go, or, I'm going to shoot the kid!" Her hands are shaking.
"No, you won't. If you kill the girl what's going to keep me from tearing you limb from limb?" Jazinda takes a step forward.
The bounty hunter tightens her grip on L'wit, "Stay–stay back! I'm not kidding!" A crewman wearing the same uniform as L'wit was slowly creeping up behind the bounty hunter.
"What was the rest of your plan here?" Jazinda chuckles darkly and moves a little closer. The bounty hunter's hands are shaking.
The crewman hits the bounty hunter with the handle of their gun. Her eyes roll back in her head. L'wit yelps as the bounty hunter starts to fall. Jazinda grabs L'wit away before they hit the ground, she set the girl down lightly. L'wit gives the bounty hunter a good kick and blows a raspberry.
The crewman spits and holsters their weapon, "damned hunters. Are you alright?" He brushes some of L'wit's hair out of her eyes.
She nods and wipes her nose on her sleeve. "Do we have to tell Aunty?"
The crewman looks at her with sympathy and glanced back the way he came. A ferocious looking Badoon woman in a long coat with wool lining stalks towards them. "I think she already knows, leaf'let. Yous made quite a racket, " they said. L'wit ducks behind the crewman trying to hide.
Her aunt surveys the scene and stops just short of the unconscious bounty hunters. "Report, now."
The crewman clears his throat, "Hunters went after our girl, this ravager took out one and helped me take out the other, sir."
Gamora pointed at the bounty hunter, "I hit him with a shovel!" Jazinda hushed her.
"I wasn't aware there were ravagers on our turf, " she raised an eyebrow at the man next to her.
He fiddled with his tablet and then replied in a quiet voice, "they only docked an hour ago, sir."
L'wit peered out from behind the crewman. "Aunty, Gamora is a friend. Don't make them leave."
She regards the child quietly with a hardened glare, "You are in no position to be making demands, leaf'let. Did I not tell you explicitly to stay on the docks?"
L'wit dropped her gaze to the ground. "Yes'm."
Her aunt looks at Jazinda. "However, if the rest of your crew shares your integrity I might consider allowing yous to stay."
"I'd be happy to pass that message along to our captain, " Jazinda replied.
"No need. I'll let them know myself," She looks at Gamora curiously. "Unusual for a ravager clan to keep a cabin girl."
Jazinda matched her tone, "Unusual for a Badoon to let their daughters live."
The woman chuckled, "common misconception. Only the lucky ones get to die." L'wit shifted uncomfortably and the crewman held her close. "I'll see you around, ravager."
Jazinda took Gamora by the hand and lead her away. "Bye L'wit! See ya later!" She waved back and managed a small smile. They make it about halfway back to the Eclector before Gamora starts complaining that her feet are cold. Jazinda carries her the rest of the way back.
~~•˖✧•✯•✧˖•~~
"One mapple cider please!" Gamora stood on her tiptoes to peer over the bar. She was wearing her ravager jacket over her yellow pajamas.
The bartender looks confused, "Are you lost?" He glanced around the bar, "where did you come from?"
"From up there, " she points back to the elevators that lead to the hotel rooms on the upper floors.
A brawl breaks out next to them. One man smashed a bottle over the head of his enemy. Blood splatters across the already sticky floors. Someone yells for them to "take it outside!" As the rest of the bar patrons cheer for the show. The fight is over as quickly as it starts. Gamora doesn't react at all. She smiles up the bartender patiently. They rub their eyes and leaned against the bar. "Right. Okay. You would tell me if you were a ghost? I'm not being haunted by some creepy dead girl?"
"That's very rude, I'm not creepy!" The bartender takes a cautious step away from her, "or dead!" Gamora adds as an afterthought.
Yondu makes his way over to them, "She's with us."
"She the ship's girl?" When Yondu nods, the bartender visibly relaxes. "Don't see too many little girls 'round here. Best be keeping an eye on her."
Yondu shrugs, "I was. Why'd ya think we're talkin'?"
Gamora crawls onto the chair. She swings her feet carelessly, "I want mapple cider," The bartender moves to prepare her drink.
"Gamora!" L'wit yells over the noise of the bar. Her aunt follows a step behind her, with two crewmen in tow. She sits down next to Gamora at the bar.
The bartender sets a mug of hot mapple cider down in front of L'wit, "your usual, miss."
"Thank you!"
"You spoil her rotten, Sept'rig," her aunt snatched up the mug before L'wit could touch it.
"Hey! Hey, that's mine!" L'wit latched onto her aunt's arm trying to get her drink back. Her aunt holds it out of her reach.
"If you wanted one you could have just asked, ma'am." The bartender sighs as he starts making another one.
The woman shakes her arm trying to get L'wit to let go. "The captain isn't a tree L'wit, " the tired crewman pulls the kid off her aunt.
"You must be the Drifters, that I keep hearing about, " Yondu said.
She chugs the rest of the cider, much to L'wit's disappointment. "Captain Drak'ma, charmed I'm sure." She raises an eyebrow at him, "I recognize the blood red uniforms of the outcasted ravager clan. You've stirred up quite the buzz, Captain Udonta."
"What have you heard, exactly? " Yondu asks hesitantly.
"That you and your entire clan were outcasted for transporting children, " she replies.
Jazinda elbowed her way into the conversation, by literally pushing Yondu aside. "Yeah, that's what I heard too. Do you know if he can he still call himself a ravager, now that they've ousted him?"
"Who was talking to you?" Yondu said and was ignored.
"What else can they do to him if he does?" Kraglin shrugged.
"Kill him, blow up his ship, throw him back to the Kree, make him an enemy of the guild," Jazinda starts counting things off on her fingers.
One of the Drifters piped up, "She does have a point. If anyone can just go around saying they're a ravager it defeats the point of having a guild in the first place."
Yondu pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. "That's enough! Shut up already!"
"Touched a nerve there?" Jazinda chuckled, "Aw and here I thought you felt nothing but bloodlust at ten billion percent."
"I am going to peel the skin off your bones and use it to make a new jacket, lizard," he growled.
"Hey!" Gamora put her hands on her hips and stood up on her chair. "If you two can't play nice I'll have to separate you," she said in her best Grown-Up impression. Yondu rolled his eyes at her.
Drak'ma laughed and the others seemed to relax. "Interesting crew you've got here." She claps Jazinda on the shoulder, "I don't think I've thanked ya proper for helping out our girl. Sept'rig, their next round is on me." The other ravager's cheered.
Yondu studies her carefully, "you know what I did and you would still buy me a drink?"
Drak'ma shrugs, "why wouldn't I? We smuggle children all the time."
Kraglin choked on his drink, "you what?!"
"Sure, plenty of people within the badoon empire will pay good money to make sure their daughters get out safely."
Kraglin relaxed and Yondu went still and quiet. Jazinda made a face, "I don't think that's the same at all, actually."
"No? Hm." Drak'ma blinks her inner set of eyelids. Her forked tongue flickers out of her mouth. "For saving our girl, you have our favor."
Yondu nods, "good to know." He finished his drink and watched Gamora play with L'wit. They were building a tower out of the coffee creamers. She looked happy. "That girl, " he nods at L'wit, "is she really your niece?"
Drak'ma looks back at L'wit and sighs, "Does my answer matter?"
Gamora pulls the little blue robot out of her pocket to show it off to L'wit. She spots Yondu staring at her and makes the robot wave at him. His robot. He rolls his eyes and huffs, "I guess not."
~~•˖✧•✯•✧˖•~~
The next morning Yondu took Gamora out shopping to buy warmer clothing. A fresh layer of snow had fallen during the night and none of it had been shoveled yet. The snow in the marketplace goes up to Gamora's knees. She lags behind Yondu walking in his footsteps, where the snow is packed down. Yondu notices Gamora is fidgeting with the toy robot. He raises an eyebrow at her, "You're still carrying that thing around?"
"Uh-huh, Robot is special," Gamora replied.
Yondu sighs a little, "Come on, ya gotta have better toys than that old thing."
"Nope, " she shakes her head. "I made some paper dolls and I have two good pieces of chalk left but that's it. Robot's arms and legs move, and her eyes are really pretty. And you gave her to me. So Robot's the best one."
Yondu furrows his brow and looks at Gamora critically. She just smiles and she makes the robot wave up at him. "Odd girl." He opens the door to the clothing store. "Listen, this close to the badoon empire they might not sell clothes for girls, "
"Woah," Gamora yells in delight and takes off running. She runs around the clothing rack, touching all the different materials. She pulls one of the jackets off the rack, "look at all this stuff!"
It draws the attention of the store clerk. "Can I help you?"
Yondu snatches the jacket out of Gamora's hands and puts it back on the rack. She makes the robot wave at the clerk. "Yeah, ya got anything that'll fit her?" He puts a hand on her shoulder to keep her from running around.
They smile and wave back, "of course, we work with the Drifters all the time, sir." The clerk points to the back, "over there."
Yondu lets go of Gamora and she runs to the back of the store. There's a small section for girls clothing. It's not a lot but it's more than Yondu was expecting. He watches Gamora rifle through all the sweaters on the rack. She pauses on a yellow sweater with white and pink stripes. "I can really pick out whatever I want?"
Yondu nods, "We're going to be here for a while, you'll need warmer clothes." Gamora's hands drift down to the price tag. She glares at the sweater before continuing down the rack. Yondu mutters a curse under his breath, "I just told you it was fine!" Gamora jumps when he raises his voice. He pulls the sweater off the rack. "Did you like this one?"
Gamora drops her gaze to the floor. "Yeah but it's expensive. You're already spending a lot of units on me."
"Only cause you keep sending your whole damn paycheck home ta your mama," Yondu growls at her. Gamora's mouth dropped open slightly. "Ya thought I didn't know?" She clamped her mouth shut and looked down at her robot. He sighs heavily, "Those units are supposed to cover your living expenses."
"Mama is really sick. She needs the money more than I do," Her voice is barely above a whisper. Yondu smacked her upside the head. "Ow! Hey, what was that for?"
"You had no problem taking my trinket for free, but as soon as units or your mama comes into the picture ya get all whiny! It's annoying!" Yondu huffs and stuffs his hands into his pockets. "Let me worry about the price, you just find something you like." It took a little bit of coaxing, but he managed to get Gamora to pick out more clothes. He bought her a new pair of gloves, three sweaters, winter boots, and a scarf.
They left the store and Yondu leads them back to the hotel. Gamora pretends the little robot is running along shop's windowsill as they walk. Something inside catches her eyes. There's a doll with soft green skin and long red hair like hers. Gamora stops in front of the window, her breath fogs up the glass. They sold dolls just like it on her homeworld. She had always wanted one. "If you want that doll I'll buy it for you, " Yondu said.
Her eyes widened. She squeezed the robot in her hand. "You don't have too. I have enough as it is."
Yondu shakes his head, "It's okay to want more than you have. Someone out there always has it better than you."
He stalks inside the shop and plucks the doll off the window display. "Wait, Yondu!" Gamora hurries after him. She tries to block his path to the checkout counter. "I'd feel greedy for taking anything more."
"You're a ravager now being greedy is part of the job description."
"No, I can't–" Yondu shoved the doll into her hands. She stares down at the doll. Her expression softens, she brushes the hair away from the doll's face. "She's pretty."
Yondu tosses his transmitter onto the counter, "How much for the doll?"
"Oh the window display isn't for–"the clerk watches Gamora hugs the doll tight against her chest. It's like she's afraid if she lets go of it someone will take it away from her. Like it's too good to be true. "You know what? I'll make an exception." Yondu bought the doll for Gamora and she carries it all the way back to the hotel.