Seeing Ronon's boyish grin flash back at him, he broke into his own wide smile and sped up after him. Knowing Ronon's long legs would undoubtedly get him to the summit first, he nevertheless ran his fastest. He gulped in mouthfuls of cold fresh air and exhilarated in the simple fun of the chase.
By the time Ronon reached the crest of the hill he couldn't even see Sheppard any more, but after a few deep breaths he could see a head of dark messy hair streaking it's way through the trees. A feigned look of annoyance covered Sheppard's face as he saw that he'd been beaten. Slowing down as he reached the top the of the hill, he turned around and folded his arms, an air of superiority crossing his dark features. Sheppard slowed down his stride only to speed up at the last minute and without warning flung himself at Ronon's midriff, tackling him to the floor. For an instant, Ronon's body stiffened out of reflex but he quickly swiped away the feeling of 'fight back!' his mind was trying to control his body with.
'Oof! Get off me!' he laughed rolling away to the side, but it was too late. Sheppard had taken advantage of Ronon's surprise and had scrambled up, only to stand on the summit proper.
'Looks like I won' he said looking down smugly on Ronon.
'You cheated!' spluttered Ronon, standing up on the grass.
'No, I took the tactical advantage' Sheppard's little smirk had it's desired effect on Ronon, and suitably goaded, he started forward to get his revenge. Though visibly relaxed, a small sound of a twig snapping reached his ears from down the hill. He ignored it, assuming a local animal had made the noise. Turning back to Sheppard, he growled playfully and jumped up to meet him. It was a surprise, then, when the unmistakable sound of people moving through trees came from behind him.
'I thought Rodney said this planet was uninhabited' Ronon muttered in Sheppard's direction as they both froze.
'It is...was' replied Sheppard quietly, his body tensing automatically for a fight.
Within seconds, they were both back to back on the top of the hill, Sheppard had his bowie knife in hand, and Ronon had picked out two of his short knives from his selection. They swung around in a circle as one but quickly realised they were completely surrounded by a large circle of armed men, the dark barrels of their rifles glinting in the pleasant sun.
'Please gentlemen, lets not do anything stupid now shall we?' came a deep voice from behind the rank of gun handling soldiers. This man was obviously the leader, and he strode forward with purpose, almost a spring in his step.
As he reached a safe distance he stood there and smiled. Looking at his face closely, you could see the smile didn't reach his eyes. The gentle wrinkles in his face and puffed out cheeks showed his middle age but nothing about him was distinct except a vivid white scar cutting vertically through his top lip and up his cheek.
'John Sheppard, Ronon Dex, put your weapons on the ground, away from you please' his tone indicating that this was the most sensible course of action.
'I don't think we've had the pleasure, you are...?' Questioned Sheppard, secretly surprised that this unknown man knew their names.
'It is only right that you know the name of the man who, 'brought you down' shall we say? It is Rashnan. High Inquisitor Rashnan...to my friends' He laughed a little then, obviously pleased at his own little joke. Sheppard took one more look around in the vain hope of seeing an escape route or way to get out, but there wasn't one.
'Boy, ain't that a fancy title' Ronon knew that Sheppard was stalling for time with this petty talk, but couldn't quite see what he was stalling for. Must be habit he surmised.
'It certainly is' agreed Rashnan.'Now, your weapons?' he asked, his tone hardening.
'Ok' agreed Sheppard, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. Ronon quirked his eyebrow at Sheppard but nevertheless put his knives on the ground and kicked them away just a second after Sheppard did the same, he knew he had more if he needed them.
'get on your knees' came Rashnan's next order. They both complied, knowing they were hopelessly outnumbered. As their wrists were grabbed from behind and tied firmly with rope they looked up into the infuriatingly pleased face of their captor.
'Search them for hidden weapons. Everywhere' he ordered his men. 'Oh, and don't forget the larger gentlemen's hair' after a few minutes of patting them down, a small pile of assorted knives littered the floor.
'You brought all those on a vacation?' Sheppard asked Ronon, even though he wasn't really surprised.
'You never know' stated Ronon simply, feeling deep unease. They had managed to find all his knives. Even the one concealed in the sole of his right boot.
'Silence please friends, you are being quite anti-social' Rashnan frowned at them, as though they were at a dinner party and had been caught using the wrong fork for the starter.
'Take out the chips' he ordered next.
'What?' Sheppard exclaimed, at a loss that these people seemed to know more about them then they knew about their captors. Strong arms gripped them from behind, pushed their arms sideways, exposing the soft flesh of left upper arms. Two soldiers appeared in front of them armed with knives and after feeling for the small bump that gave away the location of the trackers, cut open a small incision. Trying to pull away, they gritted their teeth as, one after the other, fingers probed inside the wounds and pulled out tiny blood smeared objects. Their leader accepted the two offerings and swiftly dropped them to the floor and ground them with the toe of his boot.
'There, that should mean we aren't disturbed any time soon' he smiled maliciously.
'Who are you, what do you want from us?' growled Ronon.
'All in good time my friends, all in good time.' He waved some more of his men over to the team-mates, who were subsequently blindfolded.
'Goodnight' chuckled the voice of Rashnan, as a sharp pain was felt in both their necks. A fiery warmth crept through from the point of contact. By the time they realised they'd been injected with something, their worlds collapsed into darkness.