the Blind Guardian

The Kyln Chronicles: Vol. 1

"Why? You miss the walking tree?" Peter scoffed as he looked at Rocket with general distaste.

"So is that a yes?" Rocket asked hopefully.

"No. Of course not. She's just been in pain if you forgot!" Peter looked at me with a smile.

I returned his smile with a frown. I was not sore anymore, and I was walking by myself now. As I looked at Rocket, he looked up at me with hope.

"Rocket? That is fine with me," I replied with a small smile. I scooped him up in my arms then raised him to my left shoulder. He climbed on, and after a few seconds, situated himself on my shoulder with his legs hanging on my front and his tail down my back.

As I continued walking down the corridor, I stole a glance at Peter, who was walking next to me. I noticed when other prisoners came in the opposite way, he would move closer protectively.

We then reached the main prison quad, surrounded on all sides by metal walls and hundreds of prison cells lining each floor. Around us were hundreds of prisoners were either sitting by themselves, fighting others, or staring at us as we walked by.

We soon met up with Gamora and Groot, who walked with us to our cells. We all got stares, mainly pointed at Groot, Gamora and I. Groot because he was a large tree man, Gamora because she was reportedly akin to Thanos and previously worked with Ronan the Accuser. I was stared at because my hair was regaining its lavender and pink areas rapidly, then a large patch of color would just leave, causing me to gasp quietly.

Rocket looked at me each time, mainly because Quill would look at me as well, then immediately assumed it was Rocket's added weight on my shoulder that I was gasping, not my energy coming back, then vanishing.

Without warning, a piece of something made contact with my right shoulder just as another chunk of color dissipated. I winced, clenching my teeth, as both hurt a lot. I looked at the prisoner who threw it, flipped my favorite finger at him, the alien shrank back. I saw Groot looking at where the thing hit, and I smiled at him. The smile didn't last long though. Looking at Gamora, she was being pelted relentlessly and was on the receiving end of hundreds of profanities shouted by angry inmates.

Suddenly, a large blue alien nearly rammed into Peter, making me stop suddenly and then grab Rocket before he flew off. I offered him my shoulder again, but he didn't go on, so instead I cradled him in my arms.

"Check out the new meat! I'm gonna slather you up in Gunavian jelly, and go to town," the inmate then caressed Peter's face as he began to laugh maniacally. Groot grew out a trunk from his arm and shoved it up the blue alien's nose, lifting him up in the air. The inmate screamed as he began desperately groping for Groot's trunk, trying to pull it out.

Rocket squirmed in my arms, so I put him down. He looked pissed.

"Let's make something clear. This one here is our booty! You wanna get to him, you go through us! Or, more accurately, we go through you!" He finished as Groot yanked out his limb from the inmates nostrils, while said inmate began to cry, clutching his nose. Rocket and Groot walked off, with Gamora following close behind. I began to walk when I heard Peter.

"Yeah. I'm with them," he pointed at me and the rest of the group as he stepped over the blue monster clutching his nose like a baby.

Peter caught up with me as we walked towards our cell and sleeping area. He looked at my right shoulder, which had begun to bleed slightly. He looked alarmed, since I was unable to use my healing factor without hurting myself or others.

"You're bleeding, Desie," he said as he looked closer.

"It's only a little cut," I looked at him with a smirk. "Should I try healing it? It's not as severe as my other injuries."

"If I were you, I wouldn't, but you can if you want. I'll sit by you just in case something happens," he offered.

"Ok. It just hurts a little and I-" Another patch of color left and I let a cry of pain escape. Peter quickly turned toward me as I staggered, moving my arm forward to the wall as Peter caught me. I felt so drained and sore.