"Sir."
"Major, they are holding their own."
"Not for long Jack, look" Daniel pointed to a second group of Jaffa charging to join the fight.
"Right. Stick close together, especially you Teal'c. Don't want them to confuse you for one of the bad guys before we get a chance to explain." Jack said as he readied himself to join the fight.
"Indeed."
"All right, let's go people!" Jack said as he broke cover and lead his team down the hill firing at the advancing Jaffa.
SG-1 made their way do the hill to where a group of dark skinned me were effectively fighting off a group off Jaffa, with nothing more then swords. Granted they were extremely sharp swords, they appeared to be slicing through the staff weapons as if they were made of wood. The group stopped fighting when they heard SG-1's weapon fire, only long enough to witness several of the newly approaching Jaffa fall. The native men gave a cry and resumed their fight as they were joined by SG-1. They appeared to be gaining the upper hand when Daniel was hit with a zat blast. Jack quickly disposed of the Jaffa who shot Daniel then continued firing while kneeling next to Daniel as Sam and Teal'c tightened the circle around them.
Soon the few remaining Jaffa fled leaving the local men cheering. Sam looked away from the fleeing enemy back to the cheering men, her gaze resting on one of the men on the outskirts of the group, near the tree line. She thought she saw something in the trees just behind him. Standing and moving closer she noticed it was a Jaffa ready to attack. Sam brought up her P90 and fired, nothing happened. She was out of ammo.
"Shit." Sam muttered as she charged at the Jaffa as he zatted the native. Using her gun like a club she swung at his head. He ducked and backhanded her, knocking her to the ground. Things seemed to slow down for Sam as she shook her self from the daze. She could see Teal'c running toward her, she then noticed that the Jaffa had retrieved a Zat and was aiming at the fallen man intending on killing him. As she pushed herself to her feet she grabbed the man's sword and sliced through the zat.
As the Jaffa ran Jack lowered his weapon and sat on the ground. His left biceps had been grazed by a staff blast and was throbbing fiercely. Teal'c placed his weapon on the ground and proceeded to tend to Jack's wound. They heard Sam's muttered curse and turned in time to see her charging the Jaffa. Jumping to their feet they grabbed their weapons and trained them on the large man, but Sam was there already, attacking him using her P90 as a club, they had no clear shot. Teal'c took off after them but watched as Sam was knocked to the ground. They saw as she grabbed a sword and sliced through the zat causing the blue energy to travel up the sword. Sam seemed to freeze in place before falling to the ground. The Jaffa standing over her didn't have time to process what had happened as Teal'c finished him off with a staff blast to the chest.
"Ah, what's going on?" Daniel moaned.
"Nice of you to join us." Jack said his eyes never leaving the downed Major. "Can you walk?"
"Think so."
"Good, come on."
Teal'c knelt beside Sam and gently placed his fingers on her neck. He was relieved to find a steady rhythm beneath his fingers, however the smell of burnt flesh had him concerned. He moved to her hand, still wrapped around the sword, only to be stopped by several of the locals.
"You will not harm him." One of them said, his sword was drawn but he did not appear ready to attack.
"No he won't." Jack said as he and Daniel moved through the crowd and next to Teal'c.
"He is Jaffa. If you do not fear him you must be his master."
"No!" Daniel held up his hands as the rest of the men drew their swords. "We're explores! We fight the Goa'uld, Teal'c fights by our side!"
"Maybe they speak the truth? The did help us win the battle, and this one saved Phillip's life."
"Mmm, for now we will trust you, but you must relinquish your weapons."
"Oh I don't think so." Jack said, taking a slightly more defensive stance.
"Ah, Jack…."
"No Daniel. We need to get Carter back to the SGC."
"You will come with us. Our healers have much experience treating this injury."
"Our healer's not too bad herself. Besides Carter's not the only injured." Jack moved his hand away from his wound to allow the man to see the staff blast wound.
"Please. It is very difficult to removed the sword from the hand without causing further damage. I swear on my mothers name we will not harm your man."
Jacked looked from the man-he assumed was the leader of the group- over at Sam, she was on her side facing away from the group. He hopped they wouldn't freak when they discovered she wasn't a man. Then the native's words actually registered in his mind. "What do you mean 'remove the sword from the hand'?"
"When you slice through the smaller weapons the blue light causes your hand to melt around the sword. You can not let go, even if you try. There are only two safe places to cut through the larger weapons, but no safe place to cut through the small." The leader explained. "Although we learn at a small age not to attack the small weapons it still happens often. Our healers have learned how to remove the sword without damaging the hand."
"I believe we should trust them O'Neill."
"I don't think so. Fraiser can…."
"Milo, come, show them."
A young man approached Jack and held his hand out, palm up. There were faint lines, maybe ten of them, spread across his hand. Other then that his hand appeared perfectly fine.
"I guess I can't argue with that." Jack relieved Teal'c of his staff weapon. "T you carry the Major, and we KEEP our weapons."
"Very well."
Daniel moved to the opposite side of Sam and carefully lifted her arm and the sword as Teal'c picked her up. Once he had her settled in his arms Daniel placed her hand on her chest, lodging the sword next to the radio on her vest.
As they headed away from the Stargate Jack pulled Daniel to the side. "What are you thoughts on these guys?"
"I'm not sure Jack. Their looks remind me of the plains Indians of North America but their weapons and language suggest differently. How often do we come across people with names like Phillip? I'll have to see more before I can give you anything more."
"That's fine and all, but do we need to worry about them finding out Carter's a woman?"
"I don't think so." Daniel looked around the group. "It appears all of their warriors, well at least all of these warriors, are male. It would only be natural for them to assume we are all male as well. If you remember, the one swore on his "mother's" name. That shows they hold women in a high regard. They may find it strange but I don't believe we need to worry about them harming her."
"Still," Jack sighed and he and Daniel caught back up with Teal'c, "I want one of us with her at all times until we're sure they aren't going to freak."
The group was approaching a village made up of several mud huts. "Milo, run ahead and retrieve the healers."
By the time they reached the village there were several men and women of various ages waiting to treat the injured warriors. A woman, maybe twenty years old, stepped up to Jack and began to apply a thick cool cream to his injured arm.
"Hey!" Jack jumped back, his arm already feeling better where the cream had been applied, "I'm fine, help Carter."
The girl looked from Jack to Teal'c then back to Jack clearly confused. "Only Shala can help him. I will fix you."
Jack watched as Milo lead Teal'c into a nearby hut. Daniel tried to follow but was stopped. "Hey why won't they let Daniel in?" he asked the girl as she continued to spread cream over the burn on his arm.
"Shala allows no one in when she is working." The woman replied without looking up from her work.
"Great."
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Teal'c entered the surprisingly cool hut behind Milo, there were several steps inside when Milo turned and left without saying a word. Teal'c stood for a moment, unsure what he was expected to do, when an elderly woman approached him.
"You are the Jaffa who fights the Jaffa?"
"I am."
"You will place him on the bed then leave."
"I will not leave Major Carter."
"I assure you he…." The woman stopped directly in front of Teal'c. She was only a few inches shorter then him and could easily see Sam. "this is a woman."
"This is Major Samantha Carter, she is indeed a woman."
"Please place her on the table." The old woman tugged on Teal'c's arm. "My name is Shala."
Teal'c gently placed his charge on the table then stood watching as Shala removed Sam's cap. She ran her hand gently across Sam's face then through her hair before turning and looking up at Teal'c.
"Amazing." Shala looked back down at Sam, "How can you allow such a beautiful creature to do battle?"
"On her world many women choose to fight along side their male counterparts. Major Carter is a very capable and skilled warrior. I trust her with my life."
"How can one so small, so delicate…."
"I do not believe Major Carter to be delicate." Teal'c interrupted, becoming slightly agitated at this woman's attentions. He would much prefer she proceed with removing the sword from his friends hand.
Shala turned and lifted Sam's uninjured hand. She then pulling Teal'c closer she opened his hand and sandwiched Sam's hand between their hands. Teal'c raised an eyebrow and followed Shala's gaze down to their joined hands. Slowly she removed her hand smoothing Sam's out against Teal'c's. Teal'c looked at Shala then back at Sam's hand in his own. It looked small and indeed delicate in contrast to his larger calloused hand.
Shala stood and retrieved a large bowl of liquid from another room. She returned and placed it in a dip in the table next to Sam's fused hand. Then, carefully she placed Sam's hand and sword into the clear liquid. Teal'c lunged for the bowl when it started hissing and bubbling as if it were boiling hot.
"No!" Shala stood in his way. "She will not be harmed. The fleesner eats away the fort metal of the swords handle but does not harm the flesh."
Teal'c cast a worried eye at Sam, looking for any signs that she was in pain.
"Are you mated?" Shala asked as she observed the interaction.
"Not to Major Carter."
"Yet you are fiercely protective of her. I have never seen nor heard of this quality in a Jaffa."
"She is my friend. I will allow no harm to come to her. Just as I will no harm to come to O'Neill or DanielJackson."
"Yet you are here and not with the others." Shala grabbed the blade and gently twisted it back and for the until it came free of the handle. Holding it up she explained. "The blade is made of a hard metal, the fleesner can not harm it."
"Why have you not removed Major Carter's hand?
"The metal and flesh are forced to bond when struck by the blue light. The fleesner will stop bubbling once every last bit of metal is dissolved…." Shala was stopped by a soft moan, Sam was coming to and was in obvious pain. She placed her hand on Sam's shoulder to keep her still as the fleesner finished it's job. "Hush child."
Between the pain and the strange voice Sam panicked. Her eyes snapped open and she was half way across the table before Teal'c could stop her.
"Major Carter," Teal'c grabbed her just as she started to fall from the table. Still not seeing through her pain she tried to fight him off. "Major Carter! It is I, Teal'c. You are safe here."
"Teal'c?" Sam looked up at him then sagged in his grasp, squeezing her eyes shut. "Oh god, it hurts."
"I believe you electrocuted yourself on the zat'nic'atel."
"That explains a lot." Sam took several deep breaths trying to push back the pain. Opening her eyes once again she looked around the room, "Where are we? Why aren't we back at the SGC?"
"The men we aided insisted we bring you here to allow Shala to remove the sword from your hand. O'Neill agreed."
Sam looked down at her hand, amazed to find it wrapped around what appeared to be an extremely corroded tube. When she tried to open her hand pain shot up her arm.
"You must not do that!" Shala finally spoke up. "You will damage your hand."
"Don't worry, not planning on it." Sam said through gritted teeth.
Sam's body was beginning to protest her sitting position, every muscle ached as if she just finished sparing with Teal'c. Ignoring the pain she looked around the room, it was fairly large yet empty, the only furniture was a chair and the table she was sitting on. One thing was missing, something to cause panic to well up inside her. Panicked she jumped off the table, "Where's the Colonel? And Daniel, he was hurt, I remember him going down."
"Major Carter, DanielJackson is well, he recovered from the zat'nic'atel before we began our journey here. He and O'Neill are outside, they are safe."
"They're okay?"
"Indeed."
"Sure?"
"I give you my word, they are alive and safe."
"Good." Sam whispered as her adrenalin rush wore off and she passed out.
Teal'c scooped her up as she fell and placed her back on the table and again emerged her hand in the bowl next to her. Shala moved next to Teal'c staring down at Sam in awe.
"Her hair is the same as our golden wheat fields, her eyes as clear as our waters, and her sprit rivals the elements themselves." Shala's eyes grew wide as she backed away from Sam. She looked at Teal'c before dropping to her knees, "She is Ganar!"
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