Imagine the whistle and fall of a nuke, which is then accompanied by the crash of the said object - then imagine the nuke was not a missile, but a trio consisting of an alien-raccoonoid, a god, and a teenage tree humanoid.
Which was basically the same thing, except, there was a lot more groaning and a little less "blowing up the world".
"Welcome to Needa-veil-lord!" Rocket cheered sarcastically as he sprang to his feet on the foreign terrain, then promptly fell over again.
"Nidavellir," Thor grunted, rolling over at a slower speed on the tough, rocky ground. The fall itself had not been too damaging, but the crossing of the Bifrost...even though the god had assured them he was familiar with it, he looked slightly nauseous.
"I am Groot!" Groot defended himself while he examined his body for injuries, which translated as, "At least this isn't as bad as jumping across half the universe!"
He then plucked his broken arm off with the air of a teenager picking at a scab and promptly began growing the limb back as he discarded the old one behind him. Rocket had to duck to avoid the severed wooden object.
Rocket made a face as he picked himself up again. "Yeah sure, this wasn't as bad as the 700 jumps... But you're still gonna have to work on this, buddy."
Groot gave Rocket the finger, stunning him a bit from his knowledge of profanities. Recovering from his initial shock, Rocket retaliated with one of his own which the teenager smugly ignored.
"We are about half an hour's trek from the main forges of the dwarves we're looking for. I suggest we make haste." Thor's deep voice rumbled from above the pair; the lost monarch brushing himself off from where he stood.
Without a second glance to the two guardians, the thunder god turned around and began walking away; leaving his two smaller companions scrambling to catch up with him.
*******
"How much further?" Barely ten minutes into their trek, and Rocket was already complaining. Groot was riding on Thor's back; the latter having sympathized with him as becoming a new Yggdrasil-induced Bifrost was no small feat for a novice.
"I am...Grrrroot." Groot turned his head from Thor's shoulder and informed his companion, which translated as "We're a third of the way there...so stop whining!"
"Easy for you to say, you're not even walking," Rocket muttered under his breath. Turning to Thor, he asked, "Can't you fly?"
"Fly, yes, I could." Thor nodded. "But to do so, I would need my hammer - or summon lightning. The dwarves are not fond of my lightning. They say it charges up the forges and metals so that everything they touch gives them an electric shock."
"Screw 'em!" Rocket exclaimed, stopping in his tracks. "We're just going in this direction, right?"
"Yes, and into a mountain," Thor replied. Groot turned slightly to see what his friend was doing, his eyes widening at Rocket's plan. He poked Thor's cheek with an abnormally long finger, causing him to look over his shoulder.
"The dwarves don't do well with unexpected visitors-" Thor started, eyeing the strange device on the alien halfworlder.
"See you there!" The furry guardian winked at Groot, and saluted Thor; ignoring his comment. Then, with a quick twist of a gadget on his wrist, Rocket blasted ahead with a jet-like contraption strapped to his back.
"I am Groot..." Groot murmured, watching Rocket's retreating figure.
Translating the teenager's words as "he's going to get in trouble", Thor nodded grimly.
"That, he will."
*******
The stone fortress of the dwarves, carved into a mountain, was a stunning sight for both Thor and Groot. Surrounded by a defensive border fronted by a pair of intimidating gates, twin watchtowers soared into the murky sky, crafted from what looked like ivory and granite.
Thor climbed the uneven steps to the gate and knocked thrice, loudly, on the gate. He then immediately took a step back, for not two seconds later, a massive guillotine blade came down and had to be reeled up again. Groot whimpered, shrinking behind Thor's back.
"Wie gaan daarheen?" A hoarse voice bellowed.
Dwarvish was a rusty tongue for Thor, but he translated the gist of it to 'state your name' and cleared his throat in response. "I am Thor, son of Odin -"
"I am Groot!" Groot piped up from Thor's shoulder.
"Wat het jy nodig?" The male voice continued gruffly, hostility obvious in his voice.
"A weapon from your forges," Thor responded calmly as an answer to the dwarvish version of 'what do you want'. As the guillotine blade suddenly began to fall down again, the Bifrost pair yelped and jumped away. A deep, grinding growl sounded from the dwarf behind the gate, causing his visitors to tense up and look at each other.
"Tannil-huli!" The voice had obviously been angered. But to simply utter profanities didn't seem to be the reason behind his exclamation...
Hastily translating the dwarf's words using his rusty knowledge of dwarvish, Thor came to a realization a second too late-
They were opening the ground beneath them.
With simultaneous shouts of surprise, the Bifrost pair fell into the yawning mouth of the pit opening beneath them; their backsides hitting a smooth, obsidian-like tube that spiralled downwards.
The hole in the floor, now above them, snapped shut; leaving the two in complete darkness.
Freefalling...
Then twisty, stomach-churning turns like a strong night at the tavern...
Next, we went up; straight down, and around a corner that seemed to defy gravity.
Repeating over...and over...and over...again.
This slide was built to confuse and bruise, but...if the dwarf-guard had wanted to kill us, he would have dropped us into some equivalent of an alligator pit - right?
After the sickening, yet rather exhilarating ride in the dark slide; the pair noticed an amber light signalling they were nearing the end of their unexpected ride.
Somewhere throughout the ride, Groot's arms had slung his body around Thor's neck, and his legs flew out in front of them. Possibly terrified to break them now, the teenager curled up the best he could to Thor's chest.
Thor and Groot shot out of the slide with a yell, the thunder god trying to summoning the winds to soften their fall. The pair tumbled to the floor, the king holding Groot to his chest so he wouldn't be crushed from the impact.
Hitting something firm, Thor closed his eyes and waited.
Distantly, he heard voices:
"Vader, vader! Kyk wat het ek gevind! Wat is dit?"
"Eh, my liewe Niroth! Twee kom van die tannil-huli! Moet ons kyk?"
"Hey! I'm precious cargo here! Keep your filthy hands off of me!"
"It's the halfworlder," Thor whispered to himself. "Rocket." And seemingly, Groot's personal guardian. Perhaps adoptive father?
Wait. Where's Groot? Lifting his head, he came face to face with a...
"Bilgesnipe!" he gasped, sitting up and scooting back. The huge, scaly, green creature lay in front of him, its eyes rolled back in its head, and all its limbs flopped uselessly at its side.
"Do not fear, newcomer. She is quite dead." Looking up, Thor saw a stout man - no more than a meter tall, so presumably a dwarf, judging from his height and heavy accent. He had a braided white beard streaked with golden strands from his youth, and the fluffy hair crowning his head was pulled back in a messy ponytail.
"Your friend over there -" The bearded dwarf pointed to the belly of the dead bilgesnipe, "is playing with her liewe kit."
Thor stood, his hair nearly brushing the ceiling. Spotting Groot wrestling with the small, green creature, he started towards him. A hand on his knee stopped him.
"Bilbee is a carnivore, so you need not worry about your plant friend." The bearded dwarf smiled briefly, then turned his gaze from the young pair's horseplay to meet Thor's. "Children are very precious, no matter the kind. You see, I have one of my own." The dwarf gestured across the room to where a shorter dwarf stood, poking a furred creature chained to a weight.
"Oh, that...that is also a friend of mine," Thor stated, upon realizing the creature was Rocket. As much as he was tempted to leave him behind, the alien meant a lot to Groot. And Groot was a friend of Thor's. "May we have him back?"
"Oh, we were wondering if he could be eaten." The dwarf stated nonchalantly. "Most certainly you can have him back, if he is a friend."
"Thank you."
Raising his voice, the dwarf shouted, "Niroth! Laat die gevangene los, hy is 'n vriend."
The younger dwarf's mouth shaped into an 'o' and he quickly undid Rocket's shackles; apologizing in dwarvish. Rocket rubbed his wrists, happy the dwarves had thought his gun-loaded backpack was a part of him and had neglected to take it away. Sadly, they had smashed his jetpack to pieces...
"Ey, where are my manners?" The bearded dwarf turned back to Thor. "This is my son, Niroth, and I am Nalib."
"The furry one is Rocket," Thor gestured, "the young one is Groot-"
"I am Groot!" Groot called, waving, before being tackled from behind by Bilbee.
"-and I am Thor."
"Son of Odin?" Nalib questioned. When he received affirmation, Niroth made a face.
"Son of the thief, who stole Mjolnir from our king? Who had my ancestors bow to his toes as they kneeled in the bloed of their breathen? You will not be welcomed here," the young dwarf seethed.
So this must be why father never let us visit Nidavellir, Thor thought. Hela's voice rang in his ears:
"Where did you think we got all the gold from?"
And the answer, clear as day - ruthless pillagery.
"- need not fear Asgardians no more, my liewe Niroth." Nalib was consoling his son. "You have heard too many stories from the elders."
"Then why is he here?" Niroth's face remained scrunched and despising.
"We are here, my fellow four-footer, because there's a big mad titan coming to destroy half the universe," Rocket explained, as if he were speaking to a small child. "He's looking for some powerful pebbles that will aid him in that."
"Infinity Stones." Thor corrected, deciding to explain their situation himself. "The Mad Titan means to collect all six of the stones, each which would benefit him with its infinite power. If he should succeed, half our world will cease to exist. So, we plan to stop him."
Niroth sneered half-heartedly, still partially convinced that Asgardians were the ones to blame. "You plan to stop him so you can save your world, and subdue the rest later."
"No, young dwarf." Lowering himself to the dwarf's eye level, Thor chuckled sadly. "Ragnarok had come upon Asgard. Hela killed many of your people, and nearly all of mine. Surtur has destroyed my world. Asgard is no more. Niroth, we are both not strangers to loss, you and I."
Niroth lowered his eyes, knowing he had spoken out of turn.
"I am not stopping Thanos to save my world." Thor gently placed a hand on the dwarf's shoulder, causing the small lad to look at him. "I am stopping Thanos so I can save ours."
The lost King of Asgard leaned in, the eyepatch on right eye accentuating the intensity in his left.
"So will you be against me...or will you help me?"