Disclaimer: Not mine, just playing.

This had been floating around in my brain for a while after watching the movie and after a few stopped and started attempts this came out, I mostly just wanted to ruminate on what could have happened between the fall of her sisters and Valkryie ending up on Sakaar since we didn't get much on that front.

All of this is just conjecture on my part that I doubt has much canon merit but I wanted to tap it out anyway.

She doesn't know how long she lies on the ground for, dazed, in shock.

She's lost everything.

Her sisters, gone.

Those she trained with, danced with, laughed with, fought side-by-side with, broken and bloody on the ground.

The images wont stop, playing over and over in her mind, her sisters falling one by one.

She should have been faster, stronger, if she had gotten to the murderous beast surely she would have been able to stop her. Or at least die along with those she loved more than her own being.

Tears pricked at her eyes, a sob leaving her throat, echoing out into the empty wastes.

Footsteps approached and she closed her eyes, the fight long-gone from her body.

Hela take her so she may know peace.

She felt a body beside her but no blade came, no pain.

She opened her eyes only to see her king kneeling above her, his tired, weary eyes staring down at her with pity. She wanted to punch it from his face, this was all his fault. His mouth moved as he spoke, she didn't hear it, white noise lost into the cold void, empty condolences and platitudes that would do nothing to bring her sisters back.

She hated him.

She drifted for weeks, months, she wasn't sure really.

All she knew is that she was alone in this world, the decadent golden halls of Asgard were cold and harsh as they spiralled above her. There was no home for her here, only cruel reminders at what others had gained for her loss.

Her name was touted among the people, praised for her bravery, her cunning at surviving the murderous witch.

It all fell deaf on her ears, there was no honour in her survival, no pride to be found.

She couldn't remember when she had taken to visiting the taverns, drowning herself in mead that tasted bitter on her tongue, fighting off any suitors that came her way. There was no soothing her broken heart with the flesh of another. It wasn't the body she wanted, that one had died saving her.

Only it didn't feel like salvation.

It felt like torture, to live on with the knowledge that she had a long, long life ahead of her without those she loved most to share it with.

The mead stopped working after a while, and soon after she left for the Bifrost.

She hadn't intended on getting lost, not exactly.

She had been... curious maybe.

Wanted to know what would happen if she simply fell off, wanted to know where she would end up.

She hadn't expected the sudden flash of pain and light, hadn't expected that the universe would throw her unceremoniously into a literal trash-heap of a planet.

She awoke groggily, the landing doing less to affect her bearings than the mead flooding her system. Up was down and down was up, but she righted herself fast enough to see a vessel heading her way.

She was used to battle to know when trouble was brewing and when a group of creatures stepped out and demanded to know what she was she didn't even think before swinging her fists.

If anyone on this shit-hole thought they were going to take her they had another thing coming.

It was hardly a flawless victory, she had managed to break the blade she had carried with her for centuries.

But her opponents were gone, thrown into the garbage they came from or left broken on the ground. She had even managed to steal their vessel, flying off into the outskirts of the city before abandoning it. She knew better than to ride-around in someone else's property.

She skulked low for a few days, found out what kind of place she had been thrown into, and discovered that it was capture or be captured.

Swiping a bottle of liquor someone had carelessly left on a counter she squared her shoulders.

So be it.

Months drifted by, she started by only capturing those with bad-rap sheets on their bounty, she still had enough of her soul left to care.

The alcohol was good here so she spent most of her payments on it. Hoping that maybe if she drank enough she could forget.

It never quite worked so she only bought more.

She stopped caring who she caught eventually.

She needed the money.

And not just for drink, the small, shitty little ship she was using wasn't enough to net her the bounties she was after, she needed something faster.

Something better.

She gained a reputation eventually, the scrapper who could net the biggest and baddest cast-offs that ended up in this garbage heap.

So much so that the man who ran this place started noticing her, started paying her more.

It meant that she could buy more alcohol so she didn't care if his smile was too wide, too fake to ever be truly friendly.

She was getting what she wanted so fuck it.

Fuck everything.

She got the same appreciate looks here as she did in Asgard but this time she looked back, didn't let herself think why she hadn't all those centuries ago.

Both men and women coveted her and she coveted them back.

Nights that were filled with endless pleasure and fun, but left her empty and hollow the next morning.

She just needed more drink to fill the void, that was all.

Her life became and endless routine.

Capture promising contenders for the games and drowning herself in drink to forget why she was even here.

She lost track of how long her life had been this way, certainly longer than it was supposed to be, she was sure of that.

She didn't let herself dwell.

She bagged her most curious find yet, a large green man, stronger than almost anything she had faced before.

(But she didn't think about that).

They tore up half the trash-wastes with their fight but eventually she won, chest heaving as she stood victorious atop her fallen foe.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this alive.

She was paid handsomely for her find, the Grandmaster oh so proud and simpering towards her.

He did love new, shiny things the most.

She took her payment and returned to her ship, a new case of alcohol dangling by her side. She punched the engines on and flew up, high enough to see past the swill and sewage that covered the ground for miles and out onto the water that sparkled in the starlight.

She left her chair and sat on the windows looking out at the view, swigging from a bottle as she watched the play of light across the ocean's surface.

Maybe one day she would finally stop feeling so empty.

She could see a ruckus forming on the other side of the trash-wastes, a group of scrappers had gone to collect whatever had fallen not so long ago.

It hadn't been big, barely large enough to warrant any notice, but the commotion it was stirring was enough to capture her interest.

A creature that was able to casually throw around five people like it was nothing was right up her alley.

She got a better look as she landed, saw the red cape and armour that she'd almost forgotten entirely. Taking a swig of her drink she kicked out the ramp and made her exit, a wide grin pulling at her lips.

This was her lucky day