Written for SG1Friendathon and also for Gate Women's 11 in 11 Challenge. Special thanks to Majorsamfan, SG-Fignewton and MacBeth for their invaluable critiques and excellent advice on how to improve this story.
Prompt: Gairwyn and Kendra. First meeting.
The portal began to move just as Gairwyn rode past. The rushing sounds of the wheel as it whirled around clashed with the wind that howled in the storm. She stopped to see who would be coming to their village, shivering slightly as she waited. She herself would be warm and snug in her home if it weren't for Ingrid and her newborn babe. Still, she was the Mistress here and it was her duty to meet with any who came through the portal. She waited, worried and anxious, for she knew that only the Gods or Etins traveled through the gateway. She couldn't help but wonder if Ragnarok was at hand.
The lights of the portal flashed red until the center erupted into a bright pool of water. Gairwyn watched as a woman stepped out and stood on the dais as surveyed the land.
"Hail," Gairwyn said as she got down from the horse. The woman looked at her scornfully, but did not move. Instead she said in a deep guttural voice, "Do you know where the treasure is hidden?"
"Treasure?" Gairwyn looked around for a moment, taking in the mountains and the fields of her homeland. Happiness filled her and the answer came to her almost immediately. "There is treasure everywhere. You need only to look around you in order to find what you value the most."
The other woman shivered in the cold, then walked toward her, stepping off the dais as she did so. "I require your cloak. Give it to me."
Gairwyn debated the wisdom of denying the command. She did not wish to freeze, but if the woman was a God, it would an honor to serve her. She looked up at Thor's Hammer, then back at the woman, and decided to wait until Thor passed judgment.
The woman raised her hand to show Gairwyn a device that was strapped to it, but before she could do anything, Thor's Hammer sent out a beam of light that shot right through the visitor. Gairwyn watched with acceptance as the other woman screamed, her body twisting in agony, before being swept away, leaving nothing behind but the snow and the wind.
Just as well, Gairwyn thought as she got back up on her horse. It was good that Thor had taking things into his own hands.
Terror lurked within the walls of her prison. Someone or something growled low and deep in the distance, sending panic into every fiber of her being. Kendra tried to control her fear, finding it easier to accomplish when the demon within her tried to rationalize past the terror.
"It's just the wind," the demon said aloud while clenching the staff weapon. "Nothing more than the wind."
Kendra wanted to believe, but she was well aware of the warnings others had voiced about this planet. The Goa'uld avoided this place, and with good reason. Kendra and her demon were attacked by a light beam almost the moment they had arrived through the Chappa'ai.
"We should try to find the riches that are hidden on this planet," she said, the words soft and veiled as they swirled around in her mind. Words heard only by the demon. "We only need to find our way out and the treasure will be yours."
"Mine," the demon replied. "It will all be mine." They walked slowly through the labyrinth. Dark and damp, the cold seeped in as they moved further toward the Hall of Mjolnir, the place the warrior mentioned when they first arrived in the labyrinth. The rooms had light, a fact that Kendra appreciated. Terror dwelled in the dark and the light seemed to dispel the fear, or at least illuminated past the shadows that seemed to live forever in the dampness.
A noise from a distance distracted both Kendra and her demon. They were not alone, this was a certainty. "Perhaps it's the owner of the treasure," Kendra thought, knowing her beast would hear.
"Perhaps," the demon said aloud. Kendra shared those doubts, but she had learned long ago that the way to freedom lay within the demon's greed, so she pressed a little harder.
"The woman we met at the Chappa'ai spoke of a treasure that was yours for the taking," she continued. "If we don't find it, someone else will." The demon walked toward another door, while Kendra's thoughts filtered through. "The warrior known as Thor told us to find the Hall of Mjolnir and we will be free of this place."
"I know this," the demon snapped, its words echoing loudly through the vastness of the labyrinth. Kendra knew at that point she had pushed too far, and she pulled back to avoid the demon's probe as it tried to read more into Kendra's motives.
A noise that resembled a deep growl interrupted her demon's attempts. Terror moved back in for both Kendra and her demon, who seemed to stop breathing when a huge shadow grew taller along the walls of their prison. The demon then looked around, frantically trying to find another way out, only to stop and stare at the monster that stepped through the door.
"Your weapon will not work here, Goa'uld," the beast standing before them said.
"Unas," the Goa'uld said, as flashes of distant memories raced through Kendra's mind. Memories of a time long before her demon existed. "Your kind does not exist anymore. The Unas are worth nothing!"
"Yet, here I am," the Unas said, his arms spread out as if to taunt the demon. "You cannot leave here."
"You will not keep me here," the demon said through Kendra's voice. "I will leave this place."
"There is no way out."
"I will find it."
The Unas stood still for a moment, staring at them with malice. "You will not escape," it said. "I will end this now."
The staff weapon in Kendra's hand failed to engage, a fact that seemed to frighten her demon more than ever. They were helpless in the face of certain death at the hands of a monster and the Goa'uld within her took flight.
They ran past the Unas, ducking to avoid the swipe of its claws. Panic spurred them through several rooms, racing through the tunnels as the Unas growled and shouted in the distance. It would follow them, of this Kendra was certain. But for now they had time to stop and think.
"I now see why it was thought a treasure would be safe here," Kendra's demon said as she tried to control the trembling that wracked their body. The room they finally stopped in was much the same as all the others, until Kendra noticed the sign of the hammer that rested above the door at the same time her demon did. Fresh terror filled them both, as the demon worried they would be forced to start all over again if a beam of light came out of that symbol. But the door opened up, seeming to offer them sanctuary.
"You will not be allowed to leave here," the Unas said from behind them, causing Kendra's heart to beat relentlessly from the scare. "I have not had fresh meat in a long time." Kendra's demon backed up a few steps to put distance between her and the beast, while Kendra dealt with the second thoughts that ran through her mind. She did not want to die this way.
"There is only one way out," the demon said, as he swept his hand toward the doorway under the symbol. He advanced toward them as he spoke, causing the Goa'uld to take another step back.
"He is offering us the way out," Kendra told her demon, as a new plan formed. The demon was too panicked to think past Kendra's motives, a fact that Kendra used to her own advantage. This was the only way to freedom, even if it meant death. "The Unas wants us to stay here for him to devour, but the way out is right there. We must run if you want to find the treasure. It is the only way."
"You will die and I will feast," the Unas taunted. "You cannot win."
"He wants the treasure for himself," Kendra said to the demon in her mind.
"No," the Goa'uld said, determination building up within. "You will not win Unas. I have come too far to give up now."
The Unas lunged, prompting Kendra's demon to run toward the portal that led to their freedom. The agony was more than Kendra could withstand as waves of heat and energy convulsed through her body. Her screams mixed with the screams of the Goa'uld rang through her mind and ears, while the demon writhed and whirled in her body to find a release from the torture. An eternity of pain that pulsated through her being, never letting up as the demon fought for control and for life.
The battle ended as suddenly as it began. Kendra opened her eyes and looked up into the darkness of the tunnel she landed in. A raging howl sent shivers of fear down her spine and she turned her head to see the Unas on the other side of the door, screaming out his rage and disappointment. She sat up quickly and scooted back as far as she could, ending up with her back to the far wall of the tunnel, never taking her eyes off of the beast as she did so. Terror had her trembling again, but something else had happened. She stared at the angry Unas in amazement as she realized that she was alone. The demon was gone.
"Come back," the Unas said from the other side of the portal. "You cannot escape."
Kendra wasted no time. She stood up on trembling legs and ran down the tunnel searching for the real treasure she had come to find - the freedom that was finally hers.
Snow covered the fields, the woods and the village. Gairwyn stood in her doorway and watched as her husband and son led the horses through the whiteness that seemed to cover everything. She pulled her cloak more tightly around her to ward off the chill of the wind as Alward yelled at one of the horses to keep moving. She waited until the men and horses were safely in the barn before turning to go back into the warmth of her home.
"Mistress Gairwyn!"
She turned at the doorway to see hunters from the village walking alongside a cart. It was too soon for them to return, she thought as they waved at her. Alward came out of the barn at that moment, and Gairwyn exchanged worried glances with him. Perhaps something had gone wrong.
She squared her shoulders and turned toward the men again. As Mistress of the village, it was her duty to face the trouble with her usual sense of practicality. She pulled the cloak tight again and walked over to meet the hunters, arriving at the same time as her husband.
"What is it," she asked. She walked around to the back of the cart and saw a woman covered from throat to foot in a heavy blanket. "Who is she?"
"We know not," Omar said. "We found her wandering through the woods in the mountains, half frozen and ranting wildly about demons and monsters. We brought her here to you when she collapsed." He turned to Alward and said, "She may be an Etin."
"And you brought her to my home," Alward said with an angry glare.
Gairwyn recognized the woman now that she got a closer view. Surely not an Etin, she thought as she traced her finger over a cut in the woman's head, noticing the faint red line that indicated blood had been rinsed away. "No Etin ever survived Thor's test," she said in an effort to reassure herself and to calm them all. "Bring her into my home. I will tend to her."
The men nodded and one of them picked up the woman despite Alward's glare. Gairwyn gave her husband a reassuring nod then followed the man into her house.
"She must have wandered around for days," Gairwyn said as she set about the task of gathering the supplies she would need. Her husband and son followed her in to the house and she took advantage of the help. "Alward, my basket is by the fire." He nodded and went to get it, while Gairwyn sat down next to her patient. "Etin or not," she said as she reached over to feel the woman's forehead, "We will make sure she survives this."
Several days passed before the woman was well enough to answer Gairwyn's questions, although the whispered pleas and nightmares told the story in bits and pieces. She learned that the woman's name was Kendra, that she had survived a monster in a labyrinth, and just as important to Gairwyn, that she was no longer an Etin.
Gairwyn came to sit next to Kendra's bed on the fourth day, smiling slightly when she saw that her patient was awake. "You are safe here," she said. "You'll soon be well enough to leave."
Kendra smiled back, her eyes clear of the fever that plagued her during the past days. "Thank you," she said simply. "I owe you so much."
These words eased the fear in Gairwyn's heart. From what she had heard of Etins, they would have demanded to be tended, not thanking their host. "You owe me nothing," Gairwyn said. "I am pleased that you are better."
Kendra nodded then reached over to grasp Gairwyn's hand, holding it tight and smiling softly. They sat that way for a moment or two as the sound of thunder rolled in the distance until her new friend said, "I had a vision of Thor when I was in that... labyrinth. He spoke to me and told me what I need to do to cleanse the demon from my body." She looked toward the window for a moment, then back at Gairwyn. "It may not be for me to understand why," she added. "But I can hear him even now in the thunder that echoes across the sky." She paused again and then said, "Thor is pleased as well."
Gairwyn nodded, but didn't respond. She patted Kendra's hand and got up to get some soup for her patient.
"I have asked so much of you," Kendra said.
Gairwyn shook her head as she ladled the soup into a bowl, wishing she could convince Kendra that her gratitude was unnecessary. She smiled at her new friend as she brought the soup over to the bed. "Eat. You will need your strength."
Kendra stared at her for a moment then nodded in response. "Thank you."
They sat in silence as Kendra ate. And although there was much to learn, Gairwyn was content to wait to hear the whole story. In the meantime, she would make sure Kendra was well tended, while making plans to talk to Alward about the home that was abandoned when Jorund died last spring. It would be good to have someone living in that home again. She smiled at Kendra at that thought. It will be even better if that someone was a friend.
Kendra walked alongside her friend as Gairwyn pointed out landmarks and shared stories of her heritage. Snow and wind rattled against the window panes of the buildings they passed, and she stopped to stare up at the wintry sky. The trees in the distance framed the gray colored clouds, dotted with snowflakes flittering down, but Kendra had already focused on the melody that filtered into her mind. A group of women were singing a tune, a song filled with praise for the land, the stars and their Gods. It was a beautiful, haunting song and she listened to the words while the wind chafed at her skin.
"It is called the Winter Song," Gairwyn told her. "They sing of the Gods and of the storm we must weather through when food is scarce." Gairwyn looked toward the people who gathered together to sing and Kendra saw pride in her expression. "They sing of friendship and working together to survive." She turned to Kendra and smiled. "It is the way of our people."
"Our people," Kendra said, a sense of peace filling her as she realized the meaning of Gairwyn's words. She was already considered one of them, something that never would have happened had she not been delivered from her demon. She looked up at the sky and smiled. She had so much to be grateful for, and now that she listened to the winds, she understood why she was here. Thor had brought her here to this world to gain the peace she needed, but also to help protect his people.
"Yes," Gairwyn said with a knowing smile. "You are one of us now, even if the others do have their reservations of what you used to be." A woman passed by and nodded at them, while Kendra pondered Gairwyn's words. "Tomorrow, I will take you to a home that was abandoned a few years back. It can be yours if you want it."
Kendra smiled at her friend, knowing she would accept the house, sight unseen. She already loved this place and the people, making her home among them seemed to be the right thing to do. Thunder rolled above, and Kendra looked up into the sky, her eyes searching for something she knew she would never see, at least not while she was alive. Still, it helped to know that Thor agreed with her.
The words of the song rang out loud and clear on the frosty air as the singers walked past. Kendra stayed where she was, unsure of her welcome, yet strangely at peace. Gairwyn smiled at her and Kendra knew it was time - time to let go of her past and live for the future. She smiled back at her friend and turned to walk with her as the words to Winter Song echoed in her thoughts. Thoughts that were hers and hers alone.