Sorry it took so long…I'm having some major computer problems.
Speaking of which, I just realized that Sam became a Major sometime AFTER Daniel cut his hair…in the 3rd season or something. Oops. My bad.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with Stargate: SG-1. However, I do own Ashitaka and the bandit people, as well as this basic idea.
A Tale of Two
Chapter 2: Ashitaka
Jack paced the edge of the bar-lined cell, visibly pissed. They'd been over-powered, robbed of their weapons, and seperated as fast as any Ga'ould trap. Once they'd arrived in this make-shift jail underneath the Council's palace, he'd been given a medical examination to make Doc Fraiser proud. He still felt flash-blinded by the 'penlight' they'd shone into his eyes a couple dozen times…
Now he was back in this miserable excuse for a holding cell, with no idea where or what had become of his team. And he was Not Happy about it.
There was a creaking screech of the barred door opening wide. The Colonel's head snapped up, facing three of the guards. The leader jutted his head down the hall. "Come along." he said calmly.
"To where?" Jack snapped, irate.
"Just come." the other two guards pulled him out, and they began marching down the hall.
Said hallways were very dimly lit, badly enough that Jack couldn't see his own hand in front of his face. Somehow or another his guards could, however, so he decided to keep his big mouth shut His ears picked up the noises of others coming their way, and in a few moments they were joined by two more groups of three… Who or what, he could only guess…and hope.
Quite suddenly, the little caravan stopped and a door opened wide. Noon-time sunlight streamed in, and for a few minutes Jack was blinded. His arms raised on reflex and he squinted against the light.
"We apologize for the mistake." the leader mumbled distastefully. "The initial examination has cleared you of all charges. You're free to go. Please do not hold this against us."
With that, he gave Jack a rough shove and he stumbled back into the light. The Colonel tripped and hit the ground rather hard, taking a few moments to realize that two others had landed beside him.
He looked up against the sun, still blinking. "…Carter? Teal'c?"
"Here, sir." Sam reported, still recovering herself. "It's just…a bit hard to see."
"…Damn dark in that place." Jack muttered sourly.
Teal'c turned his head, looking this way and that. His body suddenly stiffened in the familiar, tense, battle-ready stance. "O'Neill." he called suddenly. "There is no sign of Daniel Jackson."
Jack straightened immediately, eyes darting around. Carter…Teal'c…but it was true. No Daniel. Not even a broken pair of glasses or lump of rock. "Where is he?!"
"…They must still have him." Sam whispered, slowing coming to realization. "The police or whoever they are…They must still have Daniel!"
Jack spun back to where they had come, but there was nothing but the blank stone wall of the duel-style palace. He touched it experimentally, then slammed his fist against it to make sure it was solid. It was, and he nearly broke three of his knuckles in the test.
"Sir, it's probably some sort of…secret entrance, to keep people from getting in or out." Sam reasoned, feeling along the edges of the stones. "With stone this thick, it'll be impossible to find it from the outside."
Something caught Teal'c's eye, and the ever-observant Jaffa crossed to examine it.
"We have to find a way in!" Jack snapped. "We can't go back without Daniel!"
"O'Neill. Major Carter." a calm, unemotional voice came from the side. "There is something here you should see."
"Sir, we can't break him out of jail, especially from another planet!" Sam insisted. "We could ruin any chance we have at a diplomatic relation!"
"Major Carter…"
"I don't care, Carter!" Jack exclaimed. "There's been no explanation, no trial, no…"
"O'Neill!"
"What?" the two military officers turned.
Teal'c was standing just a few meters away, looking at something pinned to a tree at the edge of the woods. "I think I have found the reason these people have arrested Daniel Jackson."
"What do you mean?" Sam raised an eyebrow, coming to the Jaffa's side. Her eyes scanned the parchment notice, then widened in surprise. "Oh my god…"
Jack crossed over to the other two, still a bit cheesed off. The heavy parchment was nailed to the side of the tree, a large, well-drawn close-up in the very center. Around and under it, in large, detailed letters, were the message:
WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE
THE BANDIT LORD ASHITAKA
Also know as 'the Thief of Fair Eyes'
For crimes of escaping imprisonment, murder, robbery of the Counsel's riches, attacking national guards and vandalism of national monuments.
REWARD: 100,000 pieces for capture of the Bandit Lord himself.
10,000 pieces for each member of heathen gang
Jack looked up and examined the picture closely. Hair that was not quite dark and not quite light, a bit longer than 'short'…calculating, serious look…wide, pale eyes…
His mouth dropped open. "Damn…"
"…He looks just like Daniel." Sam whispered.
. . . . . .
It took a few moments for Daniel to realize he'd regained consciousness. He was lying face-down on a pile of hay, a few of the pieces poking into his face and eyes.
He pushed himself up and tried to look around him, but the darkness and the fact that they had taken away his glasses made it rather hard. He could vaguely make out the formations of a light-filled, barred window…the bars of a cell door, which he'd seen from the inside a few too many times for someone with no official crime record…a small jar… and the pile of hay which lay on now.
…What had happened? He closed his eyes a moment, trying to re-align his senses.
He, Jack, Sam and Teal'c had been taken by a very large group of the local guards…police, you could call them…into the Council's palace. But the way in had disappeared as soon as they entered, leaving him confused as to weather they were actually in the place at all.
He had been yanked away, pulled down another of the long halls. Jack, though bound, had protested loudly and with very colorful language at the way they were treating his team. One of the guards had kicked him in the stomach and, naturally enough, put an end to it.
The next thing Daniel remembered, he was in some strange sort of examination room. People in white that he had to suppose were doctors had entered, and forced his eyes unnaturally wide so that they could shine in light…Lots of it. And not the quick little blast-with-the-pen-light he was used to Janet using whenever he got hurt. This went on long enough that he was afraid he would go completely blind, and by the time they finished, his eyes were streaming tears in a desperate attempt to re-moisten them. He'd been seeing many colors for a very long time afterwards.
Actually, he hadn't had a long time to realize the colors, because only minutes after the light was gone, someone had struck him very hard up the side of the head. He lashed out in what little reflex he had acquired in the last two years, but the disarming fact that his hands were still cuffed made it a bit hard. After that…well, from the raw pain he was getting in his face, and the fact that his left eye was nearly swelled shut, he assumed that they must have beaten him over the head until he fell unconscious.
Friendly folks.
He felt along the ground, searching for his glasses. But there wasn't a trace of them, or anything else except cold, hard stone. He ran his fingers along the walls until he reached the bars of the cell door, the leaned forward to peer into the hall.
"…Jack?" he called. "Sam? Teal'c?…Anybody?"
For a moment, his words echoed in a melancholy way against the hard stone. He strained his ears to catch any calls from his friends. There was nothing.
Then, he caught the noise of heavy footsteps pounding down the hallway. Out of instinct he moved back when it got close, peering up at the guard with squinting eyes.
The man scowled down at him, dark eyes narrowed in distaste. Daniel gave a bit of a half-hearted smile, trying to get his attention. "Um…Hello."
The guard glared at him, dropping a bowl into his cell with a growl. The lumpy, white substance that splashed out looked disgusting and smelled even worse.
"Eat up, you rat." the guard hissed. "Though I don't know why we'd even bother wasting food on your likes."
Daniel picked it up, grimacing at the smell but trying to fake appreciation. "Yes… uh…thank you." he gulped. "This is very…uh…very good."
The guard growled at him again and kicked the bars, the vibrations echoing against Daniel's ears. The archeologist groaned, feeling his head spin groggily in protest to the sound. By the time he looked back up, the guard was gone.
"…Great." he sighed, setting the bowl of…gruel…down in the corner for later. He leaned back against the wall with a sigh. "Why do things like this always happen to me?"
TBC…