Guardian Angel (Guardians Of The Galaxy Fanfiction)

Whisper

Ashen had only been asleep half the day when her crate opened. New food and water was thrust in. She wrinkled her muzzle at the stench but she wasn't a fool. She was starving and although the rations were small they were better than nothing.

She hauled herself over, the pain in her back and shoulders beginning to ebb a bit. It was being replaced by numbness but she agreed that being numb was better than being in pain.

She looked at the slop that she was forced to call food and lowered her head into it. She lapped it up and scowled at the taste. Each bite made her want to throw up the last but she just closed her eyes so she didn't have to see what she was eating. When she finally managed to finish it all she moved onto the water. She lapped at it thankfully. Although it tasted bitter and she was sure some kind of larva was growing in it she appreciated it. She left just a little bit for later before she rose to her paws and paced around her crate a bit.

She pricked her ears as she heard singing. She had just learned what music was from Grenade the other day when she had arrived since most of the Terrans listened to music when they passed out the food and water. It was all older as Grenade told her and she didn't mind it but she would never try to sing or dance. She had no moves and certainly didn't want to embarrass herself.

However the singing was coming from beside her. It sounded like a female and from the sound of the pattering Ashen was sure that she was trying to dance. She snorted in amusement as she continued singing. She had heard the song before. She was pretty sure it was called Ain't No Mountain High Enough. A strange name for a song if you asked her but it had a nice beat that made her tail want to sway but she didn't allow it.

She was pretty sure that the original song had a male part but this female was doing the song pretty well with just one of her. Once she was finished Ashen tapped her paw against the ground, knowing that this was what Terrans did to applaud one another when they did something right. She knew she wasn't doing it right but she couldn't do her two paws together so this would have to do.

"You're a great singer," barked Ashen and she was a bit startled by the gruffness of her own voice. Maybe she was just tired.

"Y-You think so," stammered the voice and Ashen decided it was definitely a she.

Ashen nodded then realized the she couldn't see her. "I do. I mean I haven't been here long and I just learned what music, singing, and dancing were a few days ago but you seem to have the knack for it."

"Thank you very much er-"

"Ashen," Ashen replied with a dip of her head. "My name is Ashen."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ashen," purred the voice and Ashen knew that the she was a feline. "I'm Whisper."

"How long have you been here Whisper," inquired Ashen, realizing she asked the same questions to almost everyone she met.

Whisper shrugged. "About a moon, maybe. Give or take a few days," she replied and Ashen heard her sit back on her haunches. She must have not had surgery recently.

"That's a while," commented Ashen as she laid down, her shoulders bunching a bit.

"Yeah I guess." Ashen heard her walking around her cage. "It's not awful here. I mean the food sucks and the surgeries and experiments aren't cool but it's better than where I came from."

Ashen highly doubted that but she wasn't about to argue. "Where did you come from?" As soon as she said it Ashen regretted it. If it was worse than where they were now and Ashen hated it here then wherever Whisper had come from must be heck.

Ashen heard Whisper extend her claws and run them across the bars. "I came from an illegal breeding program that breeds us for er edible purposes."

Ashen gulped. "You mean...Terrans a-ate you?" She barely finished her sentence without her disgusting food making a reappearance.

"Yeah so at least here they don't eat us so I'm good with that," meowed Whisper as she stalked around her crate. "I don't like them doing all this experimenting crap on us but at least I'm alive."

Ashen sighed heavily. "So how many surgeries have you had?"

Whisper thought for a heartbeat, using her claws to tap them against her chin. "About seven I'd say. One or two a week."

"That's awful," breathed Ashen. She knew that soon that it would be happening to her but that didn't mean she didn't feel sympathy for someone who had already had it happen to them.

Whisper blinked her green eyes and raised her tail and rubbed it over her shoulder. She felt the metallic cybernetic implants and scowled, despite herself. She then moved her haunches to her haunches. She felt the cybernetic plates and knew that wires traveled from her haunch to her paws. She stood up on her hind legs, just like a Terran would and crossed her front paws. Her whiskers twitched as she realized that she was acting more like a Terran now than her true species but it didn't bother her. These Terrans wanted to make advanced creatures for a reason. She was sure thought that they just didn't expect it to go this far.

"So I haven't seen you around," confessed Whisper as she lowered back down on all fours and lashed her tail, angered that she actually enjoyed walking on two legs. "Are you new?"

Ashen tipped her head, thankful that Whisper couldn't see her. "Yeah I just arrived a few days ago. Not exactly the life I want to live here."

Whisper shrugged. "Well yeah but you do make some friends here."

"I have made one," Ashen barked. "Well beside my brother."

"And who's that," asked Whisper in interest as her ears pricked.

"Grenade," replied Ashen with a dip of her head. Ashen wasn't sure if Whisper would know who Grenade was since there seemed to be at least a hundred different creatures just in this room.

"Oh I know Grenade," purred Whisper as she waved her tail. "He was the first one to talk to me when I arrived here. He helped me find a group of like minded companions to hand around with."

"Oh maybe my brother, Grenade, and I could meet them," Ashen suggested hopefully. She thought the more creatures she befriended the better.

"Sure," purred Whisper as she swayed her tail. "My group only has two of us counting me now and we're always on the look out for new friends."

Ashen felt pleasure fill her heart and she smiled. "Alright then tonight after we all get we'll meet each other."

"Sounds good," yawned Whisper as she blinked her eyes. "Now if you don't mind I'm going to get some sleep now."

Ashen shook her head to clear it. "Er yes of course." Ashen decided that rest wasn't a bad idea since she really couldn't so much else in her small crate that only had about enough room for her to take a few paces. So instead of exhausting herself by pacing like she was many other creatures doing she rested in case she needed a sudden burst of energy.

Another one of her favorite hobbies now was studying others. She studied how they walked, how they spoke to one another, even how they slept. She noticed that shyer and more cautious creatures slept in small intervals so they were awake when the majority of the others were sleeping. They were generally smaller. The larger and more confident creatures held themselves that way. They slept when they wanted and didn't care what they said or how they acted. They were asking for trouble in Ashen's opinion.

When she finally became tried of analyzing she closed her eyes and drifted off.