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The Supernatural characters belong to Kripke Enterprises and the CW, not me. Stargate Atlantis belongs to MGM and its creators, Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, again, not me. No money is being made from this story. It is for entertainment only.
Star Born
Chapter 14
Lost in the Dream
From Chapter 13:
Ronon looked down into De's green eyes and reached down to take the child's hand. "Ready to go, Castiel" he said.
Castiel turned back to Teyla. "I want you to understand that no one intended this to happen to the children. They would have been allowed to grow up and learn about their world before the burden of the avatars would have been placed on their shoulders. They are much too young for this knowledge. I promise that they will be allowed to grow up in their new home in peace. It was only the violence of the attack on their village that caused the avatars to descend prematurely. This should have never happened."
"Go, Castiel," Teyla responded. "You should leave before the Atlantians arrive. I personally expect to be inside drinking tea when they get here."
Castiel lifted his hand and placed his fingers lightly on her head. Pains that Teyla didn't even realize she had disappeared and a feeling of peace and wellbeing flooded her senses. In a moment she was the one who watched them disappear and heard only the soft movement of giant wings.
Chapter 14
The Angel Castiel carried them all away. It was only a fraction of a second to the humans. To Castiel it was hours. He scoured the Athosian jungle searching for the island escarpments that Teyla had described.
He found them half way around the planet almost exactly opposite Atlantis in its ocean. The islands were so far above the plain that clouds formed between the jungle far below and the island worlds far above. Those worlds appeared above the clouds like the backs of giant animals. Castiel picked one of the largest ones; full of vegetation, and small furry animals. There was a large rainfall lake. It fed numerous streams that eventually fell over the side of the escarpment becoming waterfalls that tumbled on to the plain below.
Those waterfalls were so high that a few of the smaller ones actually turned into no more than heavy mist by the time they reached the ground.
Castiel had brought them to the side of the lake. The children were very excited. They laughed and ran along the shore throwing pebbles into the water making wave rings. Castiel noticed that there seemed to be fish in the water. He wondered about these cloud worlds, so isolated from each other but still so full of life. There were no recording Angels stationed on this world so there was no one to ask about the history of the broken jungle plain.
Ronon was also pleased at their position. Evidently this landscape was very much like his home world. The Satedan was relaxed and sat down on the shore. He clasped his arms around his raised knees. He was smiling and laughing at the children's antics. All three of Castiel's charges were enjoying the Cloud Meadow.
Cas sat down beside Ronon. "It is a lovely place, is it not?" the Angel said.
Ronon agreed. "You have chosen well, Angel. It is good that Teyla knew about this place." The Satedan continued. "It is highly defensible. The only access is by air and I'm sure we can create a safe place for the children, camouflaged from the air. It is possible that the Atlantians will attempt to search for the boys."
"The Atlantians have life sign detectors on their ships. Can we do anything about that?"
Castiel considered the question. "I can shield the boys currently as they are small and won't wander too far from me. When they age, however, it will be more difficult. I may be able to do something for them but hopefully disappearing for a few years will discourage the hunters. We will just have to see what the future brings."
Castiel rose and spread his wings. He called De and San to him and they ran laughing up to their Angel. He took their hands in his own. "Come and walk with me." Castiel said. "I want to show you this world."
They followed one of the streams that ran out of the lake for more than a mile. The further they got from the lake the more the vegetation thinned. Finally, after about a half hour walk during which Castiel had to pick up San and carry him, they came to the edge of their plateau.
The small stream plunged over the edge and they stood and stared out over a deep abyss. They looked down on the cloud tops. Far away another Cloud Meadow rose from the mists. Dark shadows indicated others even farther away. The children stood and stared. "You see why you need to be careful this close to the edge" Castiel said to them.
"It's a very long way down and you don't want to fall off the edge of your world." The boys shook their heads solemnly. De reached up and took San's hand. "I'll be sure to watch out for San."
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Their first night was spent lying on the warm sands beside the lake. Castiel sheltered them all under his out spread wings and kept watch in the night. There were night hunters on the plateau however none seemed large enough to threaten the children. The Angel recognized a number of animals similar to the ones he had seen on Earth. There was a dark striped animal similar to an Earth cat that prowled the edge of the jungle preying on small nocturnal creatures that crept out to eat under the moon. There were night birds, one of which was very much like an Earth owl that also hunted these small creeping animals. Just at dawn there was splashing in the lake that seemed to mean that there were fish larger than the small flashing ones Castiel had noticed near the shore the day before. The children had tossed their pebbles into small schools of the silvery fish, scattering the shoal.
Also just after sunrise it rained. The cool droplets rolled off Castiel's wings and his charges stayed dry. The children awoke and huddled up against the Angel, watching the rain fall. Castiel gathered the boys in close and tried to keep them warm. Ronon woke at about the same time but he stayed on the sand, seemingly unaffected by the chill in the air.
Castiel was beginning to find the life cycle of these Cloud Meadows engaging. He watched as the clouds sank downward as the day progressed, creating the misty clouds that hid the jungle floor from their sight. He thought this might even be a daily occurrence. The search for a permeant shelter for the boys moved up the Angel's list of things to do.
Ronon rose and took the children to the shore of the lake The Satedan asked Castiel to lend him his sword and Castiel was amused to watch the tall man wade out in the lake and proceed to spear fish for their breakfast. He came back to the shore with his catch and built a small fire pit in the sand. The humans had fish for breakfast.
Castiel rescued his sword from Ronon. "My friend," he said to the tall alien. "You seem very comfortable out here."
Ronon smiled. "You might not know, Angel," the Satedan said while putting another piece of fish on De's leaf plate, "I was captured by the Wraith and for seven years they used me to train their trackers. I had a beacon implanted in my back and I spent those seven years running on various planets, living off the land and being captured over and over. I know very well how to live off the land."
Castiel was pleased. He could never teach the children theses skills. Ronon was the perfect companion and teacher.
"I am going to survey possible shelters," Castiel said.
"How are you going to do that?" Ronon asked and then was silenced as Castiel arched his wings overhead. "That was a stupid question," Ronan said and turned back to supervising the boy's breakfast.
Castiel lifted into flight and swept high into the sky. From his lofty vantage point he scanned the Cloud Meadow. He remembered the movements of the world that he had observed from his silent post on Earth. It seemed apparent that some portions of the Cloud Meadows were the remnants of volcanic cores left behind by erosion. Such plateaus were seen on Earth and well known, especially in the American deserts of the South West. Escarpments were also created by the movement of the tectonic plates. Where the plates met often up thrusts were violently created. These Cloud Meadows were the remnants of extremely violent events of the world long past. Gathering such clues he began to search for caves and he found what he expected.
On the opposite shore of the lake was a relatively shallow set of cliffs which were riddled with caves. He landed and inspected his choices. He found one close to the base that was deep enough to provide shelter and whose entrance was high enough to prevent flooding. It even had a natural chimney in the back that could be used as a smoke hole. He was very pleased with his discovery and returned to the al fresco breakfast party on the other shore.
Castiel gathered his charges and brought them to the place he had chosen. The children were as pleased with this location as they had been with the other. The addition of the cave was a new place to play. Castiel invited Ronon to sit with him in the entrance.
"I wish to return to Teyla and see how the meeting she was expecting with the Atlantians transpired." Castiel said. "Please make a list of articles that you believe are immediately needed here and I will endeavor to bring back as many of them as I can."
After a moment of searching for writing materials Ronon made a list of necessities. He used an Angel feather to write with, Angel blood for ink and Castiel's tunic as paper. After the list was complete Ronon stood and called the boys to his side.
"While you are gone I and my hunters in training are going to see what this place has to offer by way of food. " Ronon smiled at the boys. "First we are going to capture a small animal to be our friend and tell us what is good to eat and what is not; and when you return we hope to be able to offer you our prizes from the search."
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Castiel returned to Teyla's village but remained unseen. He wished to know exactly what he was exposing himself to before becoming visible. He had only fled with the children the previous day and had no way to judge how long it would take for the excitement to settle. The village appeared calm and none of the vessels called Puddle Jumpers were in evidence.
He made his way to the home where he had left Teyla and observed the human announcement of his arrival. Such a thing was not natural for Angels. Angels usually only went where they were either summoned or ordered. The idea of an angel deciding to go somewhere of its own volition was not normal at all. He stood at the open door until he was noticed.
An older woman came forward. "You're Teyla's friend, aren't you?" she asked.
Castiel considered if the description of friend was applicable then remembered that he was attempting to learn human ways. "Yes, yes I am Teyla's friend. Do you know where she might be?' he asked.
The old woman patted his arm, startling him considerably. "You just go on in and sit down. I'll fetch Teyla for you."
In a few moments Teyla was there.
"Castiel," she smiled. "I didn't expect to see you so soon. How is everyone doing? Are you settled in the Cloud Meadows?."
Yes, thank you for your concern," Castiel responded, attempting to mimic the human social interaction. Ronon is very pleased with the location and the children seem to like everything they see."
"I have here a list that Ronon made." Castiel pull the tunic seemingly out of thin air. The soft white sheath settled on the ground into front of Teyla, the lettering glisten as if made of silver. Teyla picked up the piece of cloth.
"Yes, I can see to it that these things are found immediately." She responded. "We have them all in abundance."
"How did you r expected meeting with the Atlantians turned out?" Castiel asked her.
Teyla smiled. "Pretty much as expected; they were very upset that the children were gone and even more concerned when I told them that I had no idea where you might have taken them." Teyla paused.
"You are quite the mystery to them, you know, Castiel." She smiled and ran the tunic through her hands, rubbing the soft material between her forefinger and thumb. "According to the Atlantians, beings like you are myths, fairytales, and fantasies. Those are only a few of the words they used to describe you. Your kind doesn't routinely appear on Earth, I gather."
"The people of Earth gave up on my kind, as you say, a long time ago. On Earth they only way to see an Angel is to believe in Angels. The people of Earth lost their faith a long time ago."