Peter glanced around the small, dimly lit cave. He was safe, for now. Maybe. Nothing could be certain. His crew was scattered. He managed to keep Groot with him, but that was easy as the little sapling fit neatly into his satchel. The others though, they were going to be tougher to find. He had no clue where the others might be.
In the explosion that separated them, shit had really hit the fan. Everything went everywhere, and they lost sight of each other. Someone had lied to them about this world, some guy on some trade station that had told them about the planet. He forgot to mention that the planet was geologically unstable and unable to hold or support the weight of a g-class spaceship. The land simply gave out underneath them. Anyone who managed to get out was lucky, but Peter didn't want to contemplate the odds of weather all of his friends had made it or not.
The planet was more than just unstable. The shifted poles caused unpredictable, insane climate conditions as well as volcanoes, meteorites and extremes of all kinds. This place really was a hell hole of biblical proportions.
Peter silently vowed to hunt down who ever told him to go here in the first place the second he got off the god forsaken planet. He couldn't get too bitter though, as a sudden rumbling about in his nap sack distracted him. He pulled out the sapling Groot, eyeing him carefully. He seemed to be ok, tiny leaves spread out to absorb every bit of light in the little cave.
Peter smiled slightly. So far, two out of five had made it. All he had to do now was find the other three and get the hell off this planet. Sure, the odds weren't great, but those odds were based on the performance of a normal individual. Drax was too strong to not have pulled himself out of the wreckage before the rock swallowed it up, Rocket too fast, Gamora too agile. All that he needed to do was reunite them and the rest would fall into place.
Quill raised himself up, checking through the mouth of cavern. The sky was a dark hue of backlit orange and swirling grey clouds. Best case scenario it was going to rain, worst case scenario, it was going to rain acid. Peter wasn't an expert on planetary weather patterns, but he was much more familiar with being cast away or shipwrecked than the average interplanetary bear.
In the past, Yondu had abandoned him on not one, but seven uninhabited planets to test his abilities as a Ravager. Sure, he didn't do it to anyone else, but Peter didn't resent his pseudo father in the slightest. It made him stronger, it won him respect. It had nearly become a competition. Mind you, competitive survival was by no means a fair game to anyone, but it made for one hell of a sport. He and another would be placed on a planet, who ever was still alive to be picked up a fortnight later was the winner. None of them had ever actually died, but it helped add to the drama of it.
Despite having experience in this department, Peter Quill had never seen a planet this bad. It was going to be one hell of a challenge to say the least. Other planets had been forested, frozen, or even a complete wasteland, but never this horrifically. Carnivorous predators, stagnant waters, the ground and even the goddamned sky were all trying to kill you. Peter squinted, eyeing the sky suspiciously for what it might have in store for him.
He was promised gold, treasure and credits of all kinds when he was first 'informed' about planet hell. The man leaned against the bar, spinning yarns about a lost planet practically bleeding treasure. He should have known it was just some asshole trying to get laid, but hey, Peter was a space buccaneer and space buccaneers do not simply pass up even a hint of spoils to be had.
The storm outside began, telling in that moment whether survival or death were to be had. Peter whipped his jacket out into the rain, and pulled it back in almost immediately. The lack of holes being burnt into the leather was a great sign. After a few of Peter's quick tests, the liquid revealed itself to be nothing more than the gift of life that is water. Thank the fucking lord, this was a planet with water. Peter caught more of the water in his jacket, pouring it into Groot's tiny pot.
The outlook would have looked bleak to some, but to Peter it was just another adventure. One more story to tell and one more memory to look back on. Everyone would be fine because that's how things work in Peter's head. He tugged the jacket from the water, draping it over a rock. Fire would have to be made, but that wasn't much of an issue really, after all, Peter was experienced. The others, not so much, but they would be fine.