#THIS LOOKS SO CLEAN HONESTLY I AM LIVIN FOR THIS ART

[skyplayssplatoon3]

Splatfest Art: Splatoween 2024!

[Source: SplatoonJP]

[ive-got-99-problems]

In The Woods (Rocket x OC)

Max, the hunters, and the characters in the town, the rest belong to Marvel! <3

The art is also done by me.

Whose ready for a long chapter?

------ Chapter 9, Fireflies ------ He still suffered from the dreams that night but was immediately comforted when he awoke with Max by his side, her arms wrapped tightly around him, keeping him protected from the outside world. He would often wake up before falling asleep again and by nine am he was tired of it and decided to get up. He gently pushed himself away from Max, her arms heavy on his waist. He froze when she began to stir, but instead of waking up she just moved her arm so she was grabbing onto her pillow instead of Rocket.

Rocket sighed in relief and jumped off the bed before making his way to the bathroom. He quickly took a shower and dried himself off, his fur standing on end as he tried to brush them down. He then made his way to the kitchen and went ahead a grabbed two bowls of cereal, he knew Max would be up soon so he might as well get her breakfast ready too. It wasn’t long after pouring the milk in when he heard footsteps approaching, he looked up to see Max.

She was still in her pajamas, or at least what Rocket hoped was her pajamas. It was a maroon-colored oversized T-shirt that hung over her lower thigh and her hair was a tangled mess. She stretched her arms out, causing her shirt to ride up which made Rocket instinctively look away.

“Morning Rocket,” she yawned, “Did you sleep any better?”

“Yeah, thanks,” he muttered as he passed her the bowl.

“Thank you,” she whispered before taking a bite, she looked up at him. He still was avoiding her gaze as he ate, she frowned, debating if she should even bother taking. “I missed you this morning.”

Rocket furrowed his brow and looked up at her, “What do you mean?”

Max looked down at her bowl, a light blush misting her cheeks, “When I woke up, I uh, I missed see you next to me.”

Rocket’s cheeks darkened into a deep red, his gaze snapping away, “O-Oh,” was all he could manage to say.

Max looked up at him, trying to read his face and see if she had made him uncomfortable. He didn’t seem to be too phased by the comment so she just ignored it.

“Hey, so I was wondering, maybe we could go hiking today?”

“Hiking?”

“Yeah, you know, walking around the woods and exploring?”

Rocket winced, “Eh I don’t know Maxie.”

A shiver ran down Max’s spine as he said her name, she always loved it when he called her that. “Come on Rocket, it’ll be fun and we don’t have to stay out for long if you don’t want to.”

Rocket was silent for a moment, debating if this was a good idea or not.

“Ah fuck it,” he breathed before turning to her, “Yeah, alright, we can go hiking.”

Max smiled big and let out a tiny squeal before rushing back to her bedroom, “Alright, let me just get ready!”

“Um, do you want to finish your cereal?”

“No I’m alright, thank you!”

Rocket couldn’t help but laugh at her excitement, it had been a while since he’d been as excited as her. He cleaned out their bowls as Max got ready, quickly dashing back and forth from her bedroom, to the bathroom, to the closet, and then into the kitchen.

“Let’s see, let’s see, am I forgetting anything?” She questioned as she tapped her lip with her pointer finger.

“The kitchen sink?” Rocket snarked as he saw the large backpack she had beside her feet, “You sure you’ll be able to carry that?”

“Huh, oh yeah, I do it all the time,” she said with a wave of her hand and a smile on her face, “Let me just get us some water and then we’ll be off!”

Rocket felt bad letting Max be the one to carry such a large backpack up all the hills, but when he offered to carry something she just waved him off.  They walked alongside the creek before crossing it when they came across a series of rocks that formed a natural bridge. Rocket was never really a nature person, Groot was more than enough nature for him. But he did have to admit, the fresh air, the chirping of birds, and the light breeze were very nice.

"I wonder if we'll find any of your family out here?"

Rocket cocked his head in confusion before finally realizing what she had meant, "Haha, very funny," he spoke sarcastically with a roll of his eyes.

She laughed, "Have you ever been face to face with a raccoon before?"

"Yeah I have, it was somethin, I honestly don't get why Quill calls me that all the time, I don't even really look like 'em."

"Whose Quill?"

Rocket froze for a moment, his sudden quietness causing Max to stop and turn to him.

"Rocket, what's wrong?" She asked as her face contorted into a worried expression.

"It's uh, it's nothin Maxie, Quill was just someone I knew long ago," was all he could say before walking past her.

She frowned and followed behind him, walking in silence for a few minutes before she decided to try and lighten the mood, "You're right about the raccoon thing, you're too handsome to be a raccoon."

Rocket froze, his face darkening, "I um, t-thanks."

She smiled, a strange thrill coursing through her veins as she caught him off guard. "Come on, we should keep moving."

Rocket slowly nodded, was she giving him hints, did she actually have a thing for him? Rocket's mind raced for what felt like hours as they walked, the possibility of someone liking him seemed so outrageous, especially when it came to a human. His mind started to wander with what-ifs, like what if she actually did like him and he decided to stay here with her? What if they settled down and started a family, oh God, what would the kids look like?!

Rocket stopped with an 'oof' as he bumped into Max's leg, she was staring off into the distance.

"Maxie, what's wrong?"

"Shh," was all she said as she held her hand in front of him, signaling him to stay.

Rocket frowned, his ears twitching as he tried to strain his ears to hear something. He was so distracted with his thoughts that he missed the laughter that ran out through the forest. He looked over Max's leg and froze, it was the hunters. Max started to back away slowly, praying to God that they wouldn't notice them. She began walking backward and Rocket didn't realize it, he yelped out in pain as she stepped onto his foot.

She jumped off and Rocket fell to the ground quickly sliding under the brush as the hunters become aware of her presence. They all turned to her, they're guns drawn, only to become less defensive when they realized it was just some girl.

"Jesus kid, don't scare us like that, could've blown your head off," the one laughed as he holstered his gun.

Max laughed nervously as the other men began to do the same, "Sorry, I didn't think anyone else would be out here."

Her body was tense, none of the hunters really worrying her expect one, the one from the grocery store.

"What're you doin out here all by yourself?" The same man from before questioned, "You huntin, hikin?"

"Uh, hiking, just thought I'd come out and get some fresh air. What uh, what're you guys doing?"

He shrugged, "Just huntin, hangin out, y'know that type of thing."

"How's that raccoon of yours?" The man from the store questioned.

The men turned to look at him and then Max, "You got a raccoon?"

"Yeah, brown one, wears a red scarf."

Fear started to seep into Max and Rocket could tell, he was starting to worry about her safety. He didn't remember seeing her pick up her gun, so it was more than likely she was defenseless. He thankfully had his but he didn't want to forever scar her for killing a group of humans in front of her, even then she could still get hurt if he did that.

"Oh, he's fine, I left him home today, didn't want him wandering off."

The men stared at her for a second, the main hunter furrowing his brow as he stared at her, "Red scarf huh?"

"Y-Yeah, he loves that thing, has always carried it around since he was just a baby."

The hunter nodded slowly, sucking his teeth as he pulled out his knife and looked at it, "Ya know kid, lots of weird shit has been happenin over the past couple of years, more strange things like space ships landing over in the Avengers base, aliens comin from holes in the sky, people turning to ash, talkin raccoons, lots of weird shit."

"Talking raccoons?" She scoffed, "I mean, aliens are one thing but talking raccoons?"

The hunters didn't seem to be amused by her jokes, "Guys gotta make a livin kid, aliens cost a fortune, if you know anythin, it'd be wise to tell us."

She frowned, "Why would I know anything? All I do is hunt, fish, and-"

"Fish?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"You wouldn't have happened to see anything while fishing, have you?" Another hunter questioned.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, "No, I haven't, now I need to be getting going-"

"You're Jack's kid, right?"

Max turned sharply to look at the man from the grocery store, she glared at him, "Yeah, so what?"

"I knew your dad, he was a good man, did whatever he could to take care of you. Even if it meant killing some innocent creatures."

Max's face started to redden, "You know nothing about my father, he was never like any of you assholes."

"You sure, why do you think your mom left?"

"Because she was a bitch," her voice became hoarse, "My family affairs aren't any of your goddamn business anyway!"

Rocket stared up at her, her face was red and tears started to prick her eyes. Rocket had enough, he pulled out his gun and shot the man in the shoulder, the forest was loud with yelling as the other hunters rushed to grab their guns while others tended to the injured man. Max picked Rocket up from the bush and started to run deeper into the trees, a few of the hunters following.

"What were you thinking, Rocket!?"

"Had to get you out somehow!"

"By fucking shooting a guy?!"

Rocket lept out of her arms and tumbled to the ground, Max stopped to stare as he stood to his feet and shook off the leaves and dirt.

"Oh, I'm sorry, next time I'll be sure to stand aside and let them fuck with you," he snarled.

They turned to look back as the men shouted, informing the others that they had Max and Rocket in their sights. Max growled and grabbed a hold of Rocket's hand and started running down the incline.

"I had it handled."

"Oh yeah,  yelling at a guy with a gun is handling it."

"It's better than just straight-up shooting the bastard!"

Suddenly the ground below them fell out beneath them and they began to tumble down a steep incline, they kept rolling for what felt like ages before Max slammed into a tree and Rocket rolled to a complete stop. He sat there paralyzed for a few minutes as he heard the men yelling, the leaves that he and Max rolled along must've covered their bodies enough for the hunters to not see them. Once the forest fell into silence and Rocket stood up and shook off the leaves.

"Fuck, Maxie, that was close," he sighed as he brushed off the rest of the leaves. He frowned when he didn't hear a response, "Maxie?"

He looked over to see her sitting up against the tree, blood slowly oozing from the side of her forehead.

"Fuck, Max, are you-"

"I'm fine," she muttered as she pulled away from him.

Fear began to rise in Rocket, he quickly began to search for her discarded backpack. When he finally found it he dug through it and pulled out the first aid kit and a bottle of water. When he returned to her and tried to put a bandage on her head she pushed him away again.

"Rocket, I said I'm fine, it's just a scratch."

"I don't care, I-"

"Rocket!" She snapped as she glared at him, "Leave me alone!"

Rocket backed away from her, taken aback from her sudden outburst.

"I just want to go home," she said, her words softened as she looked at the ground, it almost sounded like she was going to cry.

Rocket shook his head, "Fine, fine, let's just go home."

Rocket remained quiet as Max put on her backpack, she didn't even look at him when she passed by. Rocket followed her close by, his ears constantly twitching as he listened for the hunters. While he was listening he watched Max, her frame slouched and her hair constantly falling into her eyes. Rocket began to get worried as the sun started to set and their surroundings weren't looking any familiar, though he didn't want to make Max more upset by questioning her.

"Shit," he heard her whisper as she suddenly stopped and pressed her hand to her head, "We need to stop for a second."

"What's wrong?"

"The bleeding is getting worse," she mumbled as she shrugged off her backpack.

"Here, you rest, I'll get the bandage," Rocket said as he opened her backpack.

She sat down with a huff, her arms wrapping around her legs as she watched him. She looked tired and upset, her vision passing through him as she went deep into thought. Rocket approached her slowly, gently cleaning off the wound before putting the bandage on.

"You ok?" He questioned, his eyes flicking down to hers.

"Yeah, I just, I just can't stop thinking about what that asshole said."

"About your dad killing animals? I mean, you do that same thing-"

"He wasn't talking about normal animals Rocket, he was talking about you."

Rocket tensed up, "O-Oh, I uh, didn't realize that."

She shook her head, "My dad would never do that, and the shit about my mom, he has some fucking nerve bringing that up."

"He was just trying to get to you, Max," Rocket sighed, "It's hard to ignore but you have to try." She just hummed and gave a shrug, a small smile slowly forming on Rocket's face, "Bet you're glad I shot him now, aren't ya?"

She laughed, "Maybe a little."

He smiled before sitting next to her with a sigh. The sun was slowly setting, Rocket knew they should keep walking but his legs refused to let him stand. His eyes snapped to the side when he saw a small light flicker, and then another, and then another. Soon small lights started to flicker all around them, Max staring up at them as they fluttered by.

"Fireflies," she whispered, her brow furrowing, "They shouldn't be out this time of year."

"Guess the guy was right about the weird shit."

She let out an amused scoff, "Yeah, guess he was."

They both stared up into the night, watching as the fireflies slowly drift around them.

"I used to catch fireflies with my dad when I was little, we'd keep them in jars and light up the porch with them."

"Sounds like you had a lot of good times with your dad."

She smiled, "I did."

Her smile caused him to smile too, the light of the fireflies casting a soft glow onto her face. His eyes locked onto her soft skin as she looked up into the evening sky.

"What about you?" She questioned as she turned to him, "What did you use to do with your family?"

Rocket frowned, "Oh, I um, I didn't do much, Quill used to listen to a lot of music and shit. Groot liked to dance to it."

"Groot?"

Rocket grimaced at the name, actually hearing his name sent him into tears. Rocket tried to hold it back but after avoiding the heartbreak for as long as he had, he couldn't hold back anymore. He let out a sob, resting his face into his hands. Max's eyes widened as she watched him break down, she rested her hands on his back.

"Rocket, are you ok?"

"Y-Yeah, I-I," he paused to let out a cry, "Groot-Groot was, he was my best friend, and I failed him!" He sobbed as he curled into himself.

"Oh, Rocket," Max sighed as she pulled him into a tight embrace, "Rocket, you didn't let him down, you didn't let anyone down."

"No, no, I did, I-" he hiccuped, "He died and I was supposed to take care of his son, my son! And he's gone, I should've done more, I should've treated him better, I-"

"Rocket, you need to calm down, you did nothing wrong. You couldn't have stopped whatever happened in New York, no one could, we just have to move on," her own voice beginning to break, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for what you're feeling Rocket, you didn't let him down, he'd understand what happened and he'd be proud of you for taking care of his son."

Rocket cried into Max's shirt, it beginning to stain with tears and snot as he gripped onto it. In the back of his mind, he knew she was right, he knew that Groot would've been proud at how much Rocket had opened himself up to the team and to others, that he would've been proud to see him take care of baby Groot and that he would've understood why Rocket couldn't have saved him. But the pain was too much, the pain of losing everyone again was too much for Rocket, he needed this, he needed to let out the pain.