Shifting Eyes

CHAPTER 12

After Drax stormed off, I was torn between comforting my prison buddy or comforting my escape buddy. Which I suppose could apply to Drax as well, but what else could I call Rocket?

Before I have time to make a decision, a Krylorian woman comes into the quiet bar and requests Gamora, no doubt a representative of Tivan. My only question is where is Namlin?

I follow the group reluctantly as we trail the formal woman who looks much more content than Namlin or I ever looked being enslaved by Tivan.

We reach the familiar doors of my former master and I feel an undeniable sinking feeling low in my belly. I have the compelling urge to run away immediately, but I take a deep breath in instead as Carina, as we have now learned is her name, leads us into Tivan's collection room and main office.

Everyone looks up at the tall cages as the distant rumbling of Fluffy catches my ears. I briefly wonder how Tivan has kept her fed all this time and I feel a ping of satisfaction at the image of him cowering before Fluffy.

"Okay, this isn't creepy at all." Rocket mumbles from beside me as he eyes an animal in a cage as we pass it.

Carina places her hands in front of herself like Tivan trains us and quickly walks ahead to address the whole group. "We house the galaxy's largest collection of fauna, relics, and species of all manner."

She leads up to the front of Tivan's desk and pauses for dramatic effect. "I present to you, Taneleer Tivan, The Collector."

He turns around, quickly examining the group in front of himself, as they do as well. When his gaze passes over me, I can't help but shrink and avoid eye contact.

Everyone walks forward, unaffected by his scrutiny.

He pulls down his glasses and meets eye-to-eye with Gamora.

"Oh, my dear Gamora," He gives her hand a kiss and I glance at Quill as he bristles uncomfortably.

"How wonderful to meet in the flesh."

Her eyes narrow as she watches him, "Let's bypass the formalities, Tivan. We have what we discussed."

His eyes flicker back at the word 'we.' He analyzes the group even more and his gaze sits heavy on Groot.

He straightens as he asks, "What is that thing there?"

"I am Groot." He responds, and I think I understood what he said for once.

Tivan prowles his way to him as he keeps intense eye-contact. "I never thought I'd meet a Groot. Sir," He says raising onto his toes in excitement, "You must allow me to pay you now so that I may own your carcass. At the moment of your death of course."

I raise my eyebrows, but refuse to be surprised because this was a common occurrance.

"I am Groot."

"Why?" Rocket butts in, "So he can turn you into a frickin' chair?" He sounds rightfully agitated, but I worry for Tivan's reaction.

Without missing a beat, Tivan asks Groot; "That's your pet?"

Everyone tenses at the words, when something similar set Rocket off in the bar, where he held Drax hostage.

"His what?" Rocket asks, as he reaches behind his head to pull out his gun for the second time tonight.

Gamora interjects, gaining Tivan's attention as I try to reason with the trigger-happy Rocket. "Rocket, please don't. You don't know what he's capable of," I put my hands out like I'd seen Quill do when he calmed down Rocket before.

"I don't care, no one talks to me like that," He starts to walk ahead, but I lean down and push against his tense shoulders.

"Rocket, you're still a little tipsy and quite frankly, unstable. When we get what we want—" I pause to look behind myself to make sure Tivan and Gamora are still locked in their conversation to be able to hear me. Seeing they're discussing something but still close, I lower my voice. "Maybe you could mess him up a little bit before we leave this God-forsaken planet. I'll even help you a little." I add on with a small smile and the idea of revenge on Tivan.

"Oh, you're evil. I like it." Rocket places the gun back into its holster and we turn back to the conversation at hand.

We observe Quill trying—and failing—to give the Orb to Tivan, before he walks over to his desk to place the Orb in a special device.

"Oh, my new friends, before creation itself, there were six singularities." While everyone else stood at his desk, Rocket and I begin to make our way up. But what I see in one of the cages stops me in my tracks.

"Namlin!" I hiss out, relatively quiet. I peer back at Tivan in fear to see he paused his monologue to stare at me with a strange look on his face. I begin to look around the whole room in false curiosity to cover my tracks. He squints his eyes but turns back around to talk to the others.

Rocket had stopped with me and saw the whole exchange. Now he's only looking at me with curiosity, but I can't focus on him as I glance back at the cage Namlin is chained and shackled in. She tilts her head in confusion before her eyes go wide and she quickly shuffles to the clear walls to of the cage toward me. Before she can pound on the reinforced glass, I put up my hands to stop her.

I place a finger to my lips, which I learned in prison means 'quiet', and hope that she understands. She nods when she does and I flash my eyes over to see Tivan is still distracted. I work quickly to find the locking mechanism in the cage.

"You know her." Rocket's quiet voice catches me off guard and I look down at him as if remembering he's still there. He says it as a statement, as if he already knows the answer.

"Y-yes I know her," I don't elaborate further and continue searching for a way to free her. What we would do once she is free, I don't know, but it's not fair to see her locked up when I am free.

I hurriedly look back at Tivan to see him showing the others images of giants destroying planets.