The Guardians gathered around the plank, Yondu's body lying beneath strips of colored cloth. In the crematory's heart, a bulbous, rust-pitted unit pulsed with swirling cosmic energy instead of flame.
They lifted the plank together, steady and slow, then slid Yondu inside. The light curled over him, colors rippling like liquid stars. No one spoke. Quill's hand lingering on the door before he closed it.
Kraglin stepped forward, holding something in his hands.
"Pete," he said quietly.
Quill turned. In Kraglin's palms lay a small music player.
"Cap'n found this for you in a junker shop. Said someday you'd come back to the fold. It's called a Zune, got three hundred songs. Everybody on Earth listens to it now."
Rhino looked up at that Moment, hearing the Name of his homeplanet.
Quill nodded, a flicker of gratitude passing over his face.
Kraglin turned but Peter stopped him.
"Wait"
He said, Then he held out Yondu's arrow.
"Rocket rebuilt it. I think Yondu would want you to have it."
Kraglin's lip trembled. "Thank you… Cap'n." He said and took it, hands shaking.
Out in space, Yondu's ashes streamed from the crematory vents, glittering as they scattered into the black.
Everyone deals differently with Loss and that showed, as the crew quickly dispersed, everyone somehow doing their own thing.
Rocket, Drax, and Mantis stood at the viewport, watching the tiny fragments drift into a slow, luminous storm.
Quill sat on Yondu's bed, scrolling the Zune until he found Father and Son, pressing play, as the chords filled the room.
Suddenly Groot climbed onto his lap, Quill not even realizing he was there. Quill handed him an earbud, the little tree pressed it to his ear, eyes widening at the clarity of the sound. Quill didn't look away, listening to the song, smilingly watching Groot's reaction.
Rocket's gaze shifted from the flight deck. Movement among the drifting ashes caught his eye. His expression softened.
"They came."
In the Captain's Quarters Groot tugged at Quill's shirt, pointing him toward the window, both of them watching in awe.
One by one, colossal Ravager ships emerged from the dark, encircling the Quadrant. Their lights blinked in coded sequences, swirling through Yondu's ashes in shimmering patterns. In the void, the display became a vast, shifting firework.
Drax tilted his head. "What is going on?"
"I called Yondu's old Ravager buddies," Rocket said. "Told 'em what he did."
Quill stepped up beside him with Groot on his shoulder, still listening to the Music. Gamora joined them, her gaze fixed on the view as she took Groot.
"It's a Ravager funeral," Quill said, voice emotional.
Kraglin stood alone in the Hallway, the lights reflecting in his eyes. A wide grin broke across his face. With a sharp cry, he struck his fist twice to his chest, the Ravager salute.
The Guardians stood together at the viewport, the kaleidoscope of Ravager lights washing their faces in color. Outside, Yondu's ashes mingled with the swirling display, dancing in the Void of space.
Rocket's voice came softly.
"He didn't chase 'em away."
Quill's gaze didn't leave the lights. "No."
"Even though he yelled at 'em."
Quill shook his head.
"And was always mean."
Another shake of his head.
"And he stole batteries he didn't need."
Quill glanced at Rocket, this small, scarred creature who knew as little about belonging as a boy whose own people had sold him into chains.
"Of course not," Quill said.
On Gamora's shoulder, Baby Groot reached for Drax. The big warrior took him without hesitation. Groot yawned, curling against Drax's chest. A massive hand began to pat his tiny back in a slow, gentle rhythm.
Gamora's eyes lingered on them, Drax and Groot, Rocket, Mantis, even Tenno, the newest one, all of them. A strange, improbable family. She turned to Quill, love quiet in her expression.
"What?" Quill asked.
"It's just… some unspoken thing."
He slipped his arm around her. She leaned in, letting her weight rest against him.
Mantis smiled, her eyes brimming. She gasped softly, overcome, as she gazed back out the window. "It's beautiful."
"It is," Drax agreed. Then, after a beat,
"And so are you… on the inside."
No one replied to that. They turned back to the spectacle, standing together as the Ravager funeral blazed across the stars and the dust of an old friend danced in the light. For a fleeting moment, the swirling colors seemed to take the shape of an arrow.
Rocket saw it…
and slowly the tears came.
Tenno POV:
I leaned against the wall, looking at the funeral in awe.
A truly beautiful tradition, but right now not the thing truly on my Mind.
In reality it was Earth,
the Planet my ancestors came from, and seemingly also Quills home Planet.
"I should have known, I mean, everyone here seems somehow humanoid, just thought that it was the only way biological life forms could somehow become sentient or something like that.
I Never actually bothered to take a longer look at Quill, who was now that I was looking, so incredibly obvious a Human.
"Quill could I speak to you for a Moment"
I said, waiting for him at the Captains quarter's entrance.
"Sure, what's up Tenno" he asked, as he walked past me, starting to change his clothes, as I decided to look the other way, he seemingly having no feelings of shame, probably because he grew up around Ravangers.
"I couldn't help but overhear your little talk with Kraglin, you come from a planet called earth right? Mind sharing when you were last there and how it was?" I asked, the suspicions I managed to gather over the days now peaking to an extreme.
He looked at me, then shook his head with a smile.
"Why?
Are you curious about my homeplanet?" He asked as he put on his red coat and closed the buttons.
I just nodded in return.
He smiled again, this time wider then before, probably happy about finally getting someone interested in his stories, the rest of the Team probably being most likely already bored by him telling them all the same things over and over again.
"Well, let's see... Last time I was on Earth I was 8 years old, so 26 years ago, give or take some months." He began, scratching his beard.
"I was living in Missouri, America, together with my Grandparents. He took care of me since I was born, sadly my grandmother died not long after they took me in, probably because of taking care of my mother so much at her age, who was deathly sick because of brain cancer. And my father, well you've met my father" he said while chuckling.
"Then Yondu picked me up and took me in, taught me everything I needed to know about being a Ravager and more importantly, how to survive out here in space" He continued, walking towards me smiling.
"But you wanted to know about earth" he said and walked out the door, making me follow him through the corridors.
"Earth is a really cool place, mostly blue, green and white. It has many different species of animals, some we have on board and also quite a few you've never heard off, there are humans on earth as well, but not as advanced as us in the whole spacefaring thing, they live mostly in Europe, America, Africa, Australia, Asia and in India, China and Russia, sorry, that are the names of the big landmasses" he said as we entered the common area, where everyone was gathered.
Gamora sat on the sofa, watching something on a Data-pad, Drax sat on a bench, Mantis laying in his lap as Groot tried to climb him like a tree, Rocket sitting in front of the window looking out into space.
"Let me guess, you're showing our new crewmen around, trying to manifest your position as captain in his mind" Gamora said without looking up.
"Yeah, figured he would want to know more about us, seeing as he is part of the team now and just for the record, he came to me" Quill answered with a smile.
She nodded, still focused on her screen.
"The rest of the SOL system is not really that interesting" Quill continued, moving over to the sofa and sitting down next to Gamora.
"There is the earths Moon that we were on once, but didn't really returned to for all my knowledge, but as I said, I wasn't there in a long time, so I can't guarantee that"
He said while Gamora started leaning her head against his shoulder as she kept on reading.
"It's been quite a while since i've been home myself, I wonder if it changed" He said and looked outside at the stars passing by.
"What do you think Tenno?" He asked me, looking back, clearly wanting an answer, probably to have a topic to talk about again, while all the others were otherwisely doing something.
I leaned my head and thought for a while.
"Ordis, from what we heard right now, could everything that we know from our history have happened from the point on, he left earth those years ago" I asked Ordis via coms.
"Well operator, according to his age, which was 8 years old when he was abducted, from what little information I can gather from his story, it should be possible to assume that everything could have happened that he was talking about" he said and after some seconds added "And before you ask, no, he didn't lie, I checked his vitals. Iam currently going over the events from our Past and the Math is clear on this one Operator, it is 100% impossible for everything that happens in our SOL systems past to happen in the Time he left his home"
I sighed deeply as I tried to process what I just heard, then turned to Quill, who was waiting expectantly.
"To be honest, I don't know anything about your Earth or your SOL System, so I really can't say if things changed" I said to him, technically not lying to him, trying not to let my thoughts get the better of me.
Quill nodded and shrugged, starting a conversation with Rocket about his resemblance to the raccoons from earth, which led to a heated argument, while I thought about the consequences of my discovery and the possible explanations of them.
1. There were two Star systems in this Universe, somehow having the same night sky, so the same universal coordinates, having the same biological evolution around the whole planet, just one being way more advanced then the other, but somehow not having any contact with jump points or other alien species at the same time and way more history to speak of, which was highly unlikely.
2. I went back in Time, which wouldn't explain the jump points or alien problem though, so also unlikely but at least possible as I knew of a warframe with the power over Time, so the Void could have the same abilities too.
3. The only option that would explain pretty much every problem I came in contact with till now. The many Worlds Theory or Multiverseal Theory to be exact.
But how would this even be possible?
Would that mean the Void connects the universe's and is some kind of road between them?
Was there a reason for all of this? Or was it just pure chance?
What did that mean for me, would I ever see Lotus again?
These questions and more swirled around in my head, making me dizzy and confused as I tried to find answers, the most probable answer seeming to be the third one.
I shook my head to get rid of these thoughts, still thinking about the possibilities of these theories when Kraglin entered the room.
"Hey Cap'n, we got a call from Yondu's Ravager buddies, they want to come aboard and do something together with us, what do you think?" He asked the rest of the Crew, the others jus looking at him uncertain, while Quill looked happy about that proposal.
"Sure thing, bring them on board."