Written as a fic exchange for the Sheppard H/C community on Live Journal. It was my first ever fic swap, and the first time I have written in a while. I quite enjoyed writing it. Hope you enjoy reading it :D
Prompts: 3 things you want (words/phrases/plot points): exhausted Sheppard, illness, Ronon friendship
Leave me a comment or I will shrivel up and be forced to live as a dried up prune...
The largest city on the planet of Sabnu is the huge bustling hilltop haven of Nasheta. It is home to over half of the planet's population and holds the largest concentration of its famed Carri fruit. Nasheta is almost as beautiful as Atlantis herself. Though it lacks the magic the floating city exudes, it makes up for this failing with sheer size and complex architecture.
The residents of the planet built their capital city many miles from the Stargate for safety reasons.
Through the years they had been attacked by Genii, slaughtered by Wraith and fought many an unsavory being that came through their gate hoping to get their greedy hands on their much talked about and prized Carri fruit. The large red and juicy fruit was also the reason that the Lanteans had became allies with them three years ago. The powerful natural healing properties and also, once fermented, highly explosive tendencies of the fruit, and the fact it is indigenous to only this planet, makes it a highly sought after commodity.
The Stargate itself was located at the bottom of a large ravine, an old scar on the landscape and the only thing that remained of a once great city, now overgrown with tall, thick-trunked trees and foliage. The original city of Nasheta had long ago been destroyed in a huge battle with a cruel and terrible race that had almost obliterated the people of Sabnu. When the people had recovered and the devastated population grew back, they took to the higher grounds and built their magnificent city amidst the protection of the mounds of rock and forests. In order to give advanced warning of any incursion from the Gate, there was always the presence of two sentries who guarded the gate on a three day rota.
Yesterday, the leader of the Nashetan council, Maya Rui, had made a personal call to Atlantis to ask for their help. The computer grid that controlled their city and transportation had stopped working and as a result, their only mode of transportation had come to a grinding and spectacular halt. When the system failure occurred, one of only five much needed sky crafts (or Wannabe Jumpers, as McKay called them; Wannabes for short) had lost power and slammed into the hillside, exploding in a ball of flames.
Due to the hilly and deep, dense forests, the crafts were vital to the every day running of the planet. Used for the transporting of people and vital products between cities and villages, they were also used in harvesting and deforestation.
And so Sheppard and his team had answered the urgent call while escorting Maya Rui back home.
What should have taken a day by land, took the Jumper a mere fifteen minutes to travel from the Stargate to Nasheta. It had taken even less time for McKay to take one look at the very old, very complicated computer control system and decide that they had to return to Atlantis to bring back more equipment if he was to fix it. Maya Rui had requested that McKay also have a look at one of their Wannabes, to see if there was any way they could get at least one airborne.
Deciding to take a look at the one sitting nearest the Puddle Jumper so as to save time, McKay was shown inside by one of the mechanics. The overly eager man had accidentally set off the crafts harvesting mechanism which slammed into the side of the Jumper while McKay watched on, seething. He had exited the Wannabe quickly to go and inspect the Jumper for damage, but with the exception of a scratch or two, it appeared to be relatively unscathed. Not that the clumsy mechanic had gotten off easily. McKay almost made the man cry with his loud and cutting admonishment, and John's angry glare had the mechanic looking at anything but him.
McKay had told Maya Rui that it was probably for the best if the Wan..sky crafts stayed grounded until he could have a proper look at the system, but promised to return in the morning with a full diagnostic kit and Zelenka.
With everyone comfortable in the Jumper for the journey back home, Ronon grumbled about the trip being a waste of time while Rodney argued back that he hadn't known that the entire grid had collapsed and if he had, he would have brought everything he needed on the first journey.
Teyla rolled her eyes as the two men continued to snipe at each other, and John smiled at her as he took the Jumper into the air.
Sheppard flew over the tree line as they approached the Gate, waving down to the two gate sentries, Thedila and Canor, before he felt the Jumper shudder and tilt into a nose dive. He fought to regain control of the craft, but it would not respond to anything he did and fell downward like a massive, heavy brick. The impact had rattled the inside of his skull, but neither he nor his team had suffered any injuries. Except, of course, his ego.
When they had managed to get out of the Jumper, which had been hampered by the fact the rear hatch just did not want to open, they discovered that the Gate itself was damaged by the impact.
"No no no no no!" Rodney had shouted as he walked towards the Gate.
A large, ragged, wire-filled hole had opened where the Jumper had collided with the Gate and McKay shouted a barrage of angry words into the air that shocked Thedila and Canor.
John could tell from Rodney's face and abrupt manner that they were in for the long haul.
Unless they fancied a four month long trip to the nearest Stargate, they were now left stranded on this planet until McKay either fixed this Gate or the Daedalus had time to come and fetch them.
The Jumper itself was having intermittent power outages and McKay wasn't very happy when it failed to even move a few centimeters before powering down again, so the four month route home was out, as well. His mood did not improve when he discovered that the Jumper would not power up enough again to even close the rear hatch, leaving them exposed in a clearing of a deep dense forest.
That had been earlier, but it was late now and getting dark. Not for the first time in the last four hours, John wished they had just spent the night in Nasheta.
They gathered around the fire that Teyla had built to stave off the chill from the coming night. Ronon sharpened his knife while John kicked at the ground, waiting on a report from McKay of his progress. Canor was cooking a sweet-smelling soup over the fire, promising a culinary delight for their stranded friends. Far from being disgusting, Canor's soup proved to be a little more of an acquired taste, though it seemed that Ronon savored the food a lot more than John did. Teyla smiled and thanked Canor for the "sweetly delicious" soup, but she didn't fool John, he could tell she thought it was as sweetly delicious as a bowl of chopped lemons with salt.
McKay had kept on working on the Gate and Jumper until his fingers had stopped responding to the commands his brain was shouting, so he joined the others at the fire, shaking his head in response to John's questioning look. He slurped down a bowl of Canor's soup and smacked his lips happily.
"For the love of a strong coffee," he mumbled as he sat down next to the fire. "Give me an hour to rest, then I will work on the Gate again."
"Work on it in the morning," John replied firmly. "In the meantime, everyone, get some sleep. I'll take first watch."
This was not met well by Thedila and Canor who spoke of the honor of being the Gate Guards. They insisted that one of them would stand guard as always and John decided he would not argue with them. He had gotten to know them well enough in the past few years to know that they would not budge on the matter. In the end, Thedila and John took the first watch together while the others settled down for the night.
As Thedila hunched over the fire, John stood warily peering through the dimming light. He was constantly on edge after Thedila reiterated old warnings they had heard many times while visiting Sabnu. Never wander into the woods, especially at night. Never go off alone, always go in pairs. Stay to clearings and well beaten paths, avoid even the tree lines.
These warnings were in place to keep people safe from the other large population of the planet.
They called the animals Moha. John had never seen one before, but from their descriptions, they were massive tiger-like beasts with grinning teeth-filled mouths and dagger-like scales that ran down their spine to end in a long, whip-like tail. Although they kept mainly to the deeper parts of the forests, there were occasions they apparently ventured out towards clearings, especially if they realized there was a large enough group of walking, ready meals to play with.
John knew the Moha were watching, he could sense them around him, hidden by the trees, and also by the nervousness of Thedila whose head constantly turned to view the area.
Moha never really ventured near the Gate clearing, but Thedila had assured them that there was a huge possibility that the scents from the area would prove too much for the beasts to ignore.
Teyla, Ronon and McKay slept in the shelter of the Jumper while Canor slept by the fire as he was used to. The noises began just after nightfall. John could hear the forest around them come alive as the darkness deepened. There were growls in the tree line, footfalls in the darkness. Every noise had John and Thedila on alert, continually aware that at any minute they could be attacked by the denizens of the Forrest. Thedila passed a comment that the beasts smelled the extra meat sacks around the place. This did nothing to cheer John up, especially having been referred to as some animal's nicely packaged dinner.
Hours passed and his mind wandered as tiredness wearied him. He yawned and pressed his eyelids together to try to stop the sting in his tired eyes. He heard a noise and quickly opened them again, his eyes coming to rest on a huge beast, just a few feet in front of where he stood.
Standing there still and silent, it stared at John Sheppard with hunger-driven longing, eyes never leaving him. Thedila slowly stood up from the fire, his weapon trained on the beast, his tongue clicking quietly in signal to Canor who wakened and quickly stood next to him.
John heard Ronon grunt beside him knowing that the ex-runner, ever on the alert, had heard the animal approach.
They watched as the huge beast raised its head to look at the dark sky above, an obvious nonchalant attempt to lull them into a false sense of security. The beauty of the beast was not lost on them. As large as a small car, it was clearly built to kill. They could see the powerful muscles stretching and moving beneath the tight black and copper fur, the thick sharp claws on its huge paws adding to its already menacing appearance. It seemed to purposely show them the teeth that glistened in its massive jaws as it yawned before bringing its head back down to stare at them again.
"What do you think?" John whispered.
"It's going to attack," Ronon muttered, gun raised beside John's.
The words were barely from his mouth when the beast launched itself from its standing position. From behind it, two more Moha appeared and followed the others lead, leaping into the air towards the four men. John and Ronon's guns blasted loudly, yet both missed as the beasts twisted in midair, making the men scatter before them. Thedila and Canor managed to take one down, their aim more accurate with their experience when faced with such a fearsome animal.
Teyla and Rodney were on their feet in an instant, guns raised as they exited the Jumper. They were just in time to see the mighty beast turn in front of John and Ronon, its long tail whipping in a large arc before running off into the trees, roaring angrily. Thedila and Canor followed as far as the tree line, weapons firing into the woods as they attempted to scare the beast and its pack away.
As the creature had turned, John had staggered back with a grunt, holding his thigh. It felt as if his leg had been torn open but his fingers felt only a small scratch beneath the torn and ragged material of his BDU's.
"You OK?" Ronon asked as he saw John check his leg.
"Yeah, tail caught me."
"Have you ever seen such a beast?" Teyla asked as she made her way closer to them, but John held a hand up to silence her, his attention having been caught by a hand signal from Thedila as he and Canor crept warily back towards them. Then, he saw the movement that had alerted the Gate Guard.
"McKay, get the hatch shut, now!" He shouted, the urgency in his voice raising alarm in the other three.
"But...but..."
"NOW!" John shouted, gun raised again.
McKay was quick to connect his laptop to the Jumper's system and attempted to close the hatch, his hands flying over its keyboard with much panicked muttering. John's eyes were wild, watching, waiting on the next attack.
"THERE!" He aimed his gun and fired at the trees just as four huge Moha came leaping out of the darkness with the largest leader in front.
Having anticipated the way they twist in the air when attacking, Ronon blasted one away, while John managed to take down another before they had even landed in the clearing. Teyla was firing at right angles, catching more of the pack who sought to get at them from the sides of the Jumper.
"MCKAY!"
"I'm working on it!" Came the shout through gritted teeth.
There was a clicking noise as the hatch tried to close, but the sound let McKay know exactly what he needed to do. His hands were a blur as he finally found the problem and fixed it amid the gunfire that rang in his ears.
"GET IN!" he shouted as the hatch began to rise. Teyla was closest and first in, she laid down covering fire as the four others quickly joined her. The hatch door closed to within two inches of being fully closed and then stopped, but it didn't matter they were safe. They all stood for a moment, panting and wide eyed, then the nervous laughter started that made them realise just how close the encounter with the Moha had been.
The laughter died down as they found themselves exhausted. Finding a comfortable place to lay down, it was not long before McKay, Ronon and the two Gate Guards were asleep. Teyla was about to close her eyes when she noticed John rubbing his fingers over the scratch on his thigh.
"John, you are injured?" She asked quietly, so as not to disturb the others.
"It's just a scratch, nothing to write home about." he said leaning back into the pilot's seat for a rest.
"Let me look at it anyway." She insisted as he pulled off his Tac vest.
She looked at the wound despite his eyeroll and huff. There was a thin line that ran across his thigh, a scratch as he had said. He smiled at her with that cocky grin of his and she smiled back, relieved.
"Let's get some rest." Teyla said as she went back to her sleeping area.
As the others slumbered, John sat in the pilot's seat and stared out of the view port at the star dotted sky above. Sleep was dulling his mind and he yawned and thought about the Moha as he scratched his leg before his head tilted back and he, too, fell asleep.
TBC...