It didn't take long for Gamora clean Rocket's head after she dressed Peter's, though the prideful bounty hunter flatly refused to have it bandaged, claiming that it wasn't that bad ("Pete's the one eatin' rocks!").
Together they had easily decided that it would be better to try to go back to the Milano instead of wandering forward and slowly losing their minds, so the top tunnel was their best bet.
Their Terran leader was definitely asleep, and so it was with care that Groot picked him up this time, cradling him as he started up the steep landslide behind his friends. The human shifted, but didn't awaken, and Groot wanted it to stay that way.
Rocket was in front of all of them, already climbing into the tunnel that had opened up above them. Drax and Gamora were a little slower, with the Zehoberei making her way up next to Groot, careful of her bad leg.
"Oh, GREAT." Rocket's tone was filled with annoyance and Groot resignedly wondered what was about to attack them now. "This tunnel don't even go the same way as the one down there!"
"You are right." Drax arrived before Groot and Gamora, standing at the top of the dark colored avalanche to peer into the tunnel with Rocket. "Perhaps we can dig."
"All the way to the Milano?" Gamora was panting as she pulled herself up next to the Kylosian.
"Or even better," Rocket was clearly about to say something sarcastic, and Groot was sure that Drax wouldn't understand it. "We could call up the mole things from Quill's dreams an' let them dig for us!"
"I do not see how that would be possible." Came the inevitable reply. "I do not think we have the time to train one, and they would likely desire to consume us once again."
Rocket's fur wasn't going to last much longer if he kept pulling on it like that, and Groot happily informed him of the fact.
Rocket glared.
Groot didn't mind. He could see from everyone's flowers that they were happy, and now that his best friend wasn't angry at him anymore, he couldn't help but feel good too.
"Could your broken scanner that you attempted using to find Quill discover the location of the ship?"
The look on Rocket's face had Groot stifling a chuckle, and the Flora Colossus could feel his chest vibrating with suppressed humor.
"Think really hard about what you just asked, Drax, starting with the word broken."
"What if we found a way to fix it?" Gamora offered, her own lips twitching with a fond smile.
"Well, then that'd be great, except for the fact that I ditched it next to the ship!"
"And that is from where I retrieved it." Drax pulled the scanner off of the back of his belt, and Rocket stared in surprise. Then his ears flattened themselves against the back of his head.
"An' how'm I gonna fix it? I don't got no parts."
"Rocket …" Groot warned, hearing the annoyance in the other's voice.
"What about your storage vial?" Gamora's smile was really fighting to be on her face now, and it seemed to infurate Rocket.
"The stuff in there is mine! I'm not takin' it apart!"
"The Milano is yours as well, and you take it apart daily." Drax's response was immediate, and the bounty hunter let out a large huff.
"Just gimme that!"
They all moved farther into the corridor as Rocket tore the scanner from the Destroyer's large hand, the storage vial quickly appearing in his other paw. He sat down with a growl, activating the vial and gathering the things he'd need for the scanner while his tail twitched behind him.
It was in this way that they found themselves taking a rest, sitting around as their resident mechanic worked. Gamora stood for a long time before settling herself next to Groot, her eyes flicking to the sleeping human still cradled in his arms.
"He's sleeping peacfully." Groot offered after almost a full minute of her staring at Peter.
"I do not like this." Drax spoke (he was still standing on top of their avalanche), misinterpreting the entire situation while Gamora's cheeks darkened, her eyes darting away. "We were recently separated from one another, but now we are separated from our home."
"Which might not ever fly again …" Rocket grumbled, but the Destroyer continued as though he hadn't.
"I do not know what those creatures were doing near our ship, but I believe that they may have knocked it from the ceiling purposefully."
A long silence followed his declaration.
"You think they're intelligent?" Groot frowned at the thought, recalling that the mole-creatures had seemed to be talking to each other right before they had attacked.
"Do you think they were chasing us for a reason?" Gamora seemed thoughtful, and Rocket snorted,
"Yeah, they wanna eat us!"
"I don't think that's what she meant." Groot shook his head at his friend, and Rocket's tail flapped in response.
"Do you think they could have been trying to communicate?" Gamora ignored the exchange between the two bounty hunters.
"Why would dumb creatures bother with the Milano?" Drax asked, his gaze intense and serious. "Dumb creatures would have attacked us more swiftly, especially if all they desired was sustenance."
"Then what was all that crap Quill was spoutin'?" Rocket adopted a high pitched whine, "'Hungry! Hungry! They're hungry an' they don't got no eyeballs an' I'm goin' crazy an' I can hear their krutackin' thoughts an' they wanna eat us!"
"Rocket." Gamora's tone was sharp, and the small bounty hunter shook his head.
"Are you sayin' that Pete's just lost it an' the giant rat-things might be friends?"
"You are the one who first mentioned losing things." Drax's tone was slightly indignant.
"Hey, don't get me wrong!" Rocket put his paws up in surrender. "I think Quill's crazy too! But if he's even a little bit right about those things, the only thing they want is to have us for dinner!"
"I do not blame them." Drax nodded. "You appear quite delicious."
"I'll show you delicious, ya flarkin'-!"
"How close are you with that scanner?" Gamora put a stop to the argument before it had begun, and Groot stopped snickering to admire how expertly she did so. Rocket's fur stayed puffed up, but he reluctantly turned away from the subject of his ire, glaring at the small machine he'd been working on.
"Don't rush me."
Quill chose that moment to groan, murmuring something as he shifted in Groot's gentle grip.
"Peter?" Gamora glanced over, and Groot shook his head.
"He's still asleep."
The Flora Colossus looked down at the Terran, his gaze lingering on the bandage he wore. There were still traces of the black eye and split lip that he'd received from his treatment with the RSR, and yet he appeared to be fairly peaceful.
It was ruined when he scrunched up his face, muttering something once again. It grew slightly louder, and Groot realized that he was repeating the same word over and over again.
Gamora had pulled herself to her feet then, leaning in to assess him for herself. "Peter?"
In his peripheral vision, Groot could see Rocket and Drax exchanging a serious look.
"What?" Groot leaned in to Peter, trying to catch what was being said, and suddenly the human's eyes snapped open.
"EAT!"
"What the-! Don't do that!" Groot pulled away from the frantic human while Gamora gasped.
"Peter!"
"Quill?" Rocket had looked up from his place with the scanner, and the Terran stared at all of them with wild eyes.
Groot gasped as he saw the same thing as Gamora.
"Quill, your eyes are glowing purple." Drax's brow was furrowed, and Peter began squirming in Groot's arms for the second time that day.
"Hungry! They're so hungry! All they can think about is eating!"
"Peter!" Gamora put her hand on his arm, and held fast when he tried to pull away.
"The hell're ye screamin' about, Quill?" Rocket's tail had begun flipping back and forth almost acrobatically, and Groot could hear the sharp edge of worry in his tone.
"The moles!"
"Peter, you need to calm down." Gamora still hadn't moved her hand, and Drax seemed to be shifting in his place behind her. Groot was relieved to see that his eyes were slowly looking more normal, yet there was still a thin sheen of purple.
"I believe we have a problem …" Drax's voice was hesitant, and subsequently ignored apart from Rocket's retort.
"Ya think?!"
The human was trembling, sweating and shaking. "Coming! They're- ugh!" His eyes closed, and Groot could feel the spark of energy from the Terran's transplant. It seemed to calm him down almost immediately, and the Flora Colossus wondered how many times it had shocked him before then.
Peter was shaking so much, in fact, that Groot felt his whole body vibrate. Gamora's eyes widened.
"… lost it …" Rocket was muttering as he worked furiously, and Drax spoke up once more from his place to the side, his voice firmer now.
"I believe that I am experiencing an earthquake."
"Pfft. Impossible!" Rocket waved a his tool in the air as he said it. "If you c'n feel it, why can't-"
"I feel it too." Gamora stood, her voice urgent.
It was then that they all felt it, a powerful shaking from the ground that seemed to emanate from the avalanche that they had caused earlier to escape the creatures. It was probably why the Kylosian had been the first to notice it.
"No!" Peter shouted, but became limp once again when his implant acted even more powerfully than before, a low groan escaping as his eyes closed.
"The quaking seems to be originating from underneath us." Drax stepped away from the cave in, and Rocket swore quite suddenly.
"We gotta get outta here!"
"What's causing it?!" Groot stood from his place, and almost fell when there was a distinct sound of moving earth. Suddenly, from farther down the pile, there was a pop, and the black paw of one of the creatures came through.
"It's the frikkin' mole things!" Rocket all but howled as he absorbed his work materials into his vial, pulling his oversized gun out again. "They dug through that whole krutackin' pile! Ya gotta be flarkin' kiddin' me!"
"I do not know how to kid you, but there is no time to do it now." Drax spoke succinctly, and Groot shifted the limp human in his arms, preparing himself to pick up Gamora once again. "We must run."
Drax picked up Rocket, who didn't protest as he positioned himself on the large Kylosian's shoulders and took aim at the emerging creature below them. Groot picked up Gamora, who grabbed Quill's hand(?).
Then they were running once again. Rocket's blasts were echoing in the large tunnel (for the tunnel above the one that they had left was indeed larger) along with their footfalls and breathing.
Peter was murmuring, shifting in his sleep, and Groot pushed himself harder. Fear gripped him as he considered that they would be chased until they were killed, and then the Guardians of the Galaxy would be no more. It was thinking things such as this that spurred the Flora Colossus to continue in his dead sprint, almost passing Drax.
It was also thinking in this way that distracted Groot from noticing the trembling of the walls and cavern before him, leaving him completely unprepared for the ceiling to crumble from above him as a hole was blasted into it from the other side.
More attackers? From above?
"Oh, you gotta be-!" Rocket's voice rang from his left, and Groot was suddenly backtracking, trying to get away from the falling debris. Gamora cut a chunk in half before it hit him, and Rocket shot one before it crushed he and Drax.
"Get the eaters! Get the eaters!" Shouts erupted from the hole over them, and shots rang out. Groot felt one pass him closely as more shrieks followed.
"PROTECT THE ODO!"
They must have found the miners, then.
Okay. Honest opinions of this chapter? (Help a girl out here)
It was harder to write, though I couldn't tell ya why, so I would LOVE to hear any and all thoughts on it (especially criticism if you've got some. Don't be shy. I think I could use a little humility ;)
Ahem. So. I guess I left off on another cliffie, didn't I? *looks away* Yeah ... I … I'll try to get the next one up nice 'n quick, no sweat!
*sweat drips down back of neck*
But hey, thanks again Feather32 for the kind review! Good to hear that it's makin' sense so far! Oh, and yeah, the Mole-people totally had eyes until like ... the last second, so ... I guess that did make 'em a little freakier, huh? ;)
I love you all, and I love that you love Guardians of the Galaxy!
WE ARE GROOT!
(oh and btw, the next chapter might get a little … tense. So prepare yourself for some feels.)