Title: The Children of the Ring
Author: Falcon Horus
E-mail: thot_bastet@hotmail.com
Category: action/adventure
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: The Nox
Summary: Just a small introduction into the youngster's world.
Disclaimer: Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.
Author's notes: Okay, first of all I would like to thank my new beta for beta-ing my newest fic! Thank you Shannon! Second, I hope you'll enjoy this and remember feedback is much appreciated. --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two girls, two boys and a big bad-looking dog were lying on the steps leading up to the Stone Ring. The two girls were lying on the left, the boys on the right and the dog in the middle. Alexandra and Laura were wearing blue trousers and a yellow T-shirt. Dominico and Marco, on the other hand, were wearing red trousers and a green T-shirt. The four of them were barefoot. They had long blond hair held back in a pigtail and bright blue eyes. They each had a small dagger tied up to a leather belt around their waists. They were obviously twins. The dog looked like a Husky but he was a tiny bit taller. He had white cheeks, black pointy ears and a fur with all shades of grey mixed together. In fact he looked a bit more like a wolf.
The sun was setting in the sky and long shadows ran across the small clearing in the forest. Birds were singing their eveningsongs and busy bees returned to their hives. Although night was coming quickly the four youngsters didn't move. They kept on staring at the sky as if they were waiting for something. They witnessed how the four moons and the many stars surrounding them replaced the sun.
"You think it's true?" Alexandra turned herself on her stomach and looked at the other three youngsters. Her gaze drifted to the ring and her eyes locked with the top-symbol. The four of them knew all the symbols by heart but weren't allowed to use them. They even had one particular symbol tattooed on their foreheads. It was one that wasn't on their ring, which had intrigued the four ever since they had been given the tattoo.
"The Scrolls have never been wrong before." Dominico moved a little so that he was able to look straight at Alexandra.
"But I mean ... it's been hundreds of years!" Alexandra straightened her back and moved into a sitting position, allowing the dog to rest his head on her lap.
"So?" Laura followed her sister's example and sat herself against the ring.
"Laura, if the Scrolls are right then everyone we know will be dead or hurt by dawn tomorrow!" Alexandra looked upset at the other three.
"Yes, but if They are right then four strangers will come and help us fight back." Marco smiled and shifted a little so that he too could see his brother and their two friends.
"And where do you think they will come from? According to Master Guido our village is the only one."
"I don't know that. I just know that if the Scrolls are right they will come but I don't know from where!" Marco shook his head a little. They knew the Scrolls and they knew the stories but they had never really believed them, as they had been legends from long ago. The four needed to see proof first before they would believe any of it to be true.
"Yeah well, I hope the Scrolls are wrong." Alexandra looked up to the clear sky and started to count stars until she dozed off into a peaceful sleep.
The other three quickly followed Alexandra's example and were soon playing games in dreamland. But somewhere after midnight the four youngsters were suddenly awakened by a distant sound, all thanks to their perfect hearing. Finn hadn't alarmed them but they knew he would hear the sound in a few seconds as well. The sound of a thousand bumblebees came closer and suddenly a black shadow flew overhead. The four dropped to the ground as one and Finn growled deeply, more out of fear than out of defense. Another shadow flew overhead, and another.
"The Wings of Death?" Laura looked at the two boys.
"The Scrolls are right!"
"What!" Alexandra looked from the three into the direction the shadows had disappeared. For a second she froze and then she started running, straight to the village. The three others followed her and they all hoped against hope that this was just part of some freaky dream.
By the time the four had ran up and down the last hill, they could see the thick smoky clouds rise up from the village. They could hear the Wings of Death fly by every few seconds, bombing the little town. Cries from wounded, dying and scared people rose from the rubble. The four ran into the village in search of relatives, knowing what they were doing was a very wrong thing to do. They could get themselves killed. If Master Guido would see them now he would kill them personally, as he had ordered them to stay out of the village during the Night of Eternal Life. But the very young do not always do as they are told, so Alexandra, Laura, Dominico and Marco were now dodging fireblasts. They seemed to be fine for a few seconds but one of the attackers had spotted the four running and soon fired only at them until he detected no more movement.
The moment the blasts hit the ground the four youngsters were thrown into the air and each landed in a pile of rubble. As they slowly faded away into their silent black worlds, rain started to fall, washing the blood and pain away from their faces and putting out the fires that were threatening to burn their fragile and broken bodies.
It was somewhere at noon when the sun had finally found enough strength to break through the clouds of rain. The rain had washed most of the blood and dirt away. Here and there smoke was still rising from ruins of crumbled houses. Those who had survived the brutal attack, and were able to move around, were holding onto dead or injured relatives and friends. The entire village was in shock and therefore didn't notice the four strangers that were taking in the view at the entrance.
"This couldn't have happened to long ago, Sir!" A tall blond woman looked from the view in front of her to an older man, obviously the leader of the four, and back to the warzone. One of the strangers, a tall black man with a golden tattoo on his forehead, moved further into the village to examine something he had seen on the ground.
"Teal'c, you got something there?" The other three followed him to take a closer look at what the man had found.
"I am uncertain O'Neill, but I think this village has been attacked by deathgliders."
"What!" The older man's head shot up and he suspiciously looked around, searching for any remainders of the enemy. They jumped slightly when they heard a branch braking in half but sighed when it was only a big dog that came running past them out of the bushes.
"Colonel, we might need some extra help and a medical team would be nice too!" The older man turned to the only woman in the team and nodded.
"Carter, go back to the Gate and fill Hammond in on our situation! Jonas!" The youngest team member looked up to O'Neill. "You're with Carter!" He nodded and followed Carter back to the Gate.
The two men left behind started to walk around, making themselves useful by helping free people from the rubble. They also started a headcount until the one called Teal'c interrupted his leader. He had found the four youngsters and figured that his friend would find them highly interesting, certainly when he saw what Teal'c saw.
"Teal'c!"
"Over here O'Neill!" The other man's head peeked over a small wall and when he saw his friend, walked past it. When he noticed the four youngsters he stopped dead in his tracks. He was used on seeing dead or badly injured people, but with children his stomach always made a flip-flop. The youngster's faces were deadly pale and still covered in some blood that hadn't been washed away by the rain. Their clothes were either soaked with blood, or burned into their pale skin. He could tell that if they weren't given any painkillers they would be in excruciating pains when they woke up ... unless they were dead.
"Are they dead, Teal'c?"
"No, I can feel a weak pulse in all four of them." O'Neill closed his eyes for a second and sighed deeply. When he opened them again his gaze fell on their foreheads. He moved closer and cleaned one of the girls' foreheads so he could have a better look at what he thought he had seen.
"Isn't that..."
"The symbol of the Tau'ri!" Teal'c looked from the girl to O'Neill and back. O'Neill's radio cracked a little and the woman's voice was heard.
"Sir, you there?"
"Go ahead, Carter!"
"SG-2, 3 and a medical team have arrived, Sir! We'll be back at the village in about half an hour!"
"Step on it, Carter! These people need help!" O'Neill looked at the four youngsters and silently prayed they wouldn't die in the next half-hour. He somehow knew they were special to these people and he knew they had some valuable information to share, like how they got the symbol of Earth on their foreheads.
"Yes Sir! Carter out!"
After a while O'Neill figured that the medical team would do a triage so he and Teal'c started to place all the deceased ones in one half of the already small marketplace. They were surprised to see that the locals didn't stop them from doing so. Soon the entire marketplace was full with dead people. O'Neill looked at his watch for the umpteenth time and sighed. A half-hour had passed and help hadn't yet arrived. He was just glad that they hadn't yet had to move the four youngsters to the marketplace.
He just wanted to check the youngsters' pulse again when he heard some familiar voices enter the village. He walked back to the marketplace, leaving Teal'c with the four kids, to meet up with Carter and the others. He found them looking at all the dead men, women and children in front of them. Some of them had already turned away, just to make sure to keep their lunches inside.
"Sir?" A petite brown-haired woman had noticed O'Neill and looked up at him. "How bad is it?"
"3/4th of the villagers are dead. The rest are badly injured or lightly injured. There are four youngsters over there who look the worst, at least from the ones that are still alive."
"Okay people, listen up!" The group turned at once to the petite woman, glad to look at something else than the dead ones. "The ones that are able to walk go there!" She pointed to the entrance of the village. "And give them the first aid they need most! I'll take a look at the ones who can't walk and triage them! Get to work!" The group started to split up. "Michaels, you're with me!" A young dark-skinned man nodded. "Colonel, where shall we start?" The woman had a pretty good idea where he wanted her to start but asked anyway.
"Follow me, Doc!" Colonel O'Neill guided the woman to the four youngsters. The dog, he had first seen at the entrance, was sitting next to them, looking as sad as ever.
"Oh my God!" The Doc hesitated for a second, trying to get her already upset stomach under control, but then started working on keeping the two twins alive. She once in a while ordered Michaels something to do and finally requested four boards. The dog had watched her every move and had once in a while growled a little but had never done anything to stop the Doctor from helping his friends. O'Neill knew that the dog wouldn't leave his friends alone and that he would step through the Gate if necessary.
One by one the badly injured were given first aid until all of them were ready for transport. About an hour later the four SG-teams, about 35 survivors and one dog were ready to go to the Stone Ring to make a journey they wouldn't easily forget.
X---------------X---------------X
Author: Falcon Horus
E-mail: thot_bastet@hotmail.com
Category: action/adventure
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: The Nox
Summary: Just a small introduction into the youngster's world.
Disclaimer: Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.
Author's notes: Okay, first of all I would like to thank my new beta for beta-ing my newest fic! Thank you Shannon! Second, I hope you'll enjoy this and remember feedback is much appreciated. --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two girls, two boys and a big bad-looking dog were lying on the steps leading up to the Stone Ring. The two girls were lying on the left, the boys on the right and the dog in the middle. Alexandra and Laura were wearing blue trousers and a yellow T-shirt. Dominico and Marco, on the other hand, were wearing red trousers and a green T-shirt. The four of them were barefoot. They had long blond hair held back in a pigtail and bright blue eyes. They each had a small dagger tied up to a leather belt around their waists. They were obviously twins. The dog looked like a Husky but he was a tiny bit taller. He had white cheeks, black pointy ears and a fur with all shades of grey mixed together. In fact he looked a bit more like a wolf.
The sun was setting in the sky and long shadows ran across the small clearing in the forest. Birds were singing their eveningsongs and busy bees returned to their hives. Although night was coming quickly the four youngsters didn't move. They kept on staring at the sky as if they were waiting for something. They witnessed how the four moons and the many stars surrounding them replaced the sun.
"You think it's true?" Alexandra turned herself on her stomach and looked at the other three youngsters. Her gaze drifted to the ring and her eyes locked with the top-symbol. The four of them knew all the symbols by heart but weren't allowed to use them. They even had one particular symbol tattooed on their foreheads. It was one that wasn't on their ring, which had intrigued the four ever since they had been given the tattoo.
"The Scrolls have never been wrong before." Dominico moved a little so that he was able to look straight at Alexandra.
"But I mean ... it's been hundreds of years!" Alexandra straightened her back and moved into a sitting position, allowing the dog to rest his head on her lap.
"So?" Laura followed her sister's example and sat herself against the ring.
"Laura, if the Scrolls are right then everyone we know will be dead or hurt by dawn tomorrow!" Alexandra looked upset at the other three.
"Yes, but if They are right then four strangers will come and help us fight back." Marco smiled and shifted a little so that he too could see his brother and their two friends.
"And where do you think they will come from? According to Master Guido our village is the only one."
"I don't know that. I just know that if the Scrolls are right they will come but I don't know from where!" Marco shook his head a little. They knew the Scrolls and they knew the stories but they had never really believed them, as they had been legends from long ago. The four needed to see proof first before they would believe any of it to be true.
"Yeah well, I hope the Scrolls are wrong." Alexandra looked up to the clear sky and started to count stars until she dozed off into a peaceful sleep.
The other three quickly followed Alexandra's example and were soon playing games in dreamland. But somewhere after midnight the four youngsters were suddenly awakened by a distant sound, all thanks to their perfect hearing. Finn hadn't alarmed them but they knew he would hear the sound in a few seconds as well. The sound of a thousand bumblebees came closer and suddenly a black shadow flew overhead. The four dropped to the ground as one and Finn growled deeply, more out of fear than out of defense. Another shadow flew overhead, and another.
"The Wings of Death?" Laura looked at the two boys.
"The Scrolls are right!"
"What!" Alexandra looked from the three into the direction the shadows had disappeared. For a second she froze and then she started running, straight to the village. The three others followed her and they all hoped against hope that this was just part of some freaky dream.
By the time the four had ran up and down the last hill, they could see the thick smoky clouds rise up from the village. They could hear the Wings of Death fly by every few seconds, bombing the little town. Cries from wounded, dying and scared people rose from the rubble. The four ran into the village in search of relatives, knowing what they were doing was a very wrong thing to do. They could get themselves killed. If Master Guido would see them now he would kill them personally, as he had ordered them to stay out of the village during the Night of Eternal Life. But the very young do not always do as they are told, so Alexandra, Laura, Dominico and Marco were now dodging fireblasts. They seemed to be fine for a few seconds but one of the attackers had spotted the four running and soon fired only at them until he detected no more movement.
The moment the blasts hit the ground the four youngsters were thrown into the air and each landed in a pile of rubble. As they slowly faded away into their silent black worlds, rain started to fall, washing the blood and pain away from their faces and putting out the fires that were threatening to burn their fragile and broken bodies.
It was somewhere at noon when the sun had finally found enough strength to break through the clouds of rain. The rain had washed most of the blood and dirt away. Here and there smoke was still rising from ruins of crumbled houses. Those who had survived the brutal attack, and were able to move around, were holding onto dead or injured relatives and friends. The entire village was in shock and therefore didn't notice the four strangers that were taking in the view at the entrance.
"This couldn't have happened to long ago, Sir!" A tall blond woman looked from the view in front of her to an older man, obviously the leader of the four, and back to the warzone. One of the strangers, a tall black man with a golden tattoo on his forehead, moved further into the village to examine something he had seen on the ground.
"Teal'c, you got something there?" The other three followed him to take a closer look at what the man had found.
"I am uncertain O'Neill, but I think this village has been attacked by deathgliders."
"What!" The older man's head shot up and he suspiciously looked around, searching for any remainders of the enemy. They jumped slightly when they heard a branch braking in half but sighed when it was only a big dog that came running past them out of the bushes.
"Colonel, we might need some extra help and a medical team would be nice too!" The older man turned to the only woman in the team and nodded.
"Carter, go back to the Gate and fill Hammond in on our situation! Jonas!" The youngest team member looked up to O'Neill. "You're with Carter!" He nodded and followed Carter back to the Gate.
The two men left behind started to walk around, making themselves useful by helping free people from the rubble. They also started a headcount until the one called Teal'c interrupted his leader. He had found the four youngsters and figured that his friend would find them highly interesting, certainly when he saw what Teal'c saw.
"Teal'c!"
"Over here O'Neill!" The other man's head peeked over a small wall and when he saw his friend, walked past it. When he noticed the four youngsters he stopped dead in his tracks. He was used on seeing dead or badly injured people, but with children his stomach always made a flip-flop. The youngster's faces were deadly pale and still covered in some blood that hadn't been washed away by the rain. Their clothes were either soaked with blood, or burned into their pale skin. He could tell that if they weren't given any painkillers they would be in excruciating pains when they woke up ... unless they were dead.
"Are they dead, Teal'c?"
"No, I can feel a weak pulse in all four of them." O'Neill closed his eyes for a second and sighed deeply. When he opened them again his gaze fell on their foreheads. He moved closer and cleaned one of the girls' foreheads so he could have a better look at what he thought he had seen.
"Isn't that..."
"The symbol of the Tau'ri!" Teal'c looked from the girl to O'Neill and back. O'Neill's radio cracked a little and the woman's voice was heard.
"Sir, you there?"
"Go ahead, Carter!"
"SG-2, 3 and a medical team have arrived, Sir! We'll be back at the village in about half an hour!"
"Step on it, Carter! These people need help!" O'Neill looked at the four youngsters and silently prayed they wouldn't die in the next half-hour. He somehow knew they were special to these people and he knew they had some valuable information to share, like how they got the symbol of Earth on their foreheads.
"Yes Sir! Carter out!"
After a while O'Neill figured that the medical team would do a triage so he and Teal'c started to place all the deceased ones in one half of the already small marketplace. They were surprised to see that the locals didn't stop them from doing so. Soon the entire marketplace was full with dead people. O'Neill looked at his watch for the umpteenth time and sighed. A half-hour had passed and help hadn't yet arrived. He was just glad that they hadn't yet had to move the four youngsters to the marketplace.
He just wanted to check the youngsters' pulse again when he heard some familiar voices enter the village. He walked back to the marketplace, leaving Teal'c with the four kids, to meet up with Carter and the others. He found them looking at all the dead men, women and children in front of them. Some of them had already turned away, just to make sure to keep their lunches inside.
"Sir?" A petite brown-haired woman had noticed O'Neill and looked up at him. "How bad is it?"
"3/4th of the villagers are dead. The rest are badly injured or lightly injured. There are four youngsters over there who look the worst, at least from the ones that are still alive."
"Okay people, listen up!" The group turned at once to the petite woman, glad to look at something else than the dead ones. "The ones that are able to walk go there!" She pointed to the entrance of the village. "And give them the first aid they need most! I'll take a look at the ones who can't walk and triage them! Get to work!" The group started to split up. "Michaels, you're with me!" A young dark-skinned man nodded. "Colonel, where shall we start?" The woman had a pretty good idea where he wanted her to start but asked anyway.
"Follow me, Doc!" Colonel O'Neill guided the woman to the four youngsters. The dog, he had first seen at the entrance, was sitting next to them, looking as sad as ever.
"Oh my God!" The Doc hesitated for a second, trying to get her already upset stomach under control, but then started working on keeping the two twins alive. She once in a while ordered Michaels something to do and finally requested four boards. The dog had watched her every move and had once in a while growled a little but had never done anything to stop the Doctor from helping his friends. O'Neill knew that the dog wouldn't leave his friends alone and that he would step through the Gate if necessary.
One by one the badly injured were given first aid until all of them were ready for transport. About an hour later the four SG-teams, about 35 survivors and one dog were ready to go to the Stone Ring to make a journey they wouldn't easily forget.
X---------------X---------------X