The Light Ones carried her. Kale, because it was his responsibility to he said, and the others because they were the same height – give or take – as Kale, and that kept the stretcher level, which kept Mitchell from rolling off and maybe hurting herself further. Sheppard and the others walked with their guns out and ready, scanning the trees, but Aron assured them that the Light Ones would know if there were any Dark Ones close by.

The Light Ones walked casually next to the stretcher, their pale eyes watching the forest and their feet making little noise on the forest floor. Some walked ahead, moving branches out of the way for the others, some walked behind as rear guard. All were dressed in rough-spun trousers and plain tunics of a dull grayish color – probably the color of the wool they'd made the shirts out of in the first place. They didn't have shoes, but they didn't seem to mind – certainly none of them were limping like Sheppard knew he'd have been after ten minutes of walking barefoot through the shrubby forest.

OOOOOOO

They entered the clearing from the opposite direction they'd entered it from only two days before, and they were noticed immediately. Of course there were ten of them now where before there had only been five, and five of them were all well over seven feet tall, and most were eight, which meant they pretty much towered over everything, and stuck out rather clearly once they entered the clearing.

Cautiously, the door to the house that they were closest to – not Cay and Rella's – opened, and an old man peeked out, looking at the group with suspicion. Mitchell didn't recognize the man but Talon did.

Koren

"That's Koren, Major," she told Sheppard. "Go tell him that these guys are friends and see if he'll send for the others."

"Koren!"

Sheppard walked forward while the others stopped, his hand up in greeting and a smile on his face to tell the old man that there was no danger. At the sound of his name – and recognition of Sheppard once he moved away from the small group – the old man came out of the house and walked over to meet Sheppard, his eyes on the tall Light Ones.

"Major Sheppard? We were sure you'd been killed when you and your friends didn't return last night."

"We ran into... some friends..." Sheppard said, smiling and taking the hand the old man offered. "They're definitely someone you and your people should meet as well."

"They're not dangerous?"

"Not to you or your people," Sheppard assured him. "If you'd send for the others, we'll introduce you."

"What happened to Colonel Mitchell?"

"She broke her leg."

"Bring her inside and I'll send the boys for the neighbors..."

Koren turned and walked into the house again, calling for his wife and leaving the door open in invitation for Sheppard and the others.

John turned and waved the others over, and the two carrying Mitchell followed him into the dim interior of the house, which was roomy enough for all of them to fit easily – although the Light Ones had to duck to get through the door. As they went in, several young men – mostly Koren's sons – edged cautiously past them and out the door, apparently running off to collect the neighbors.

"What happened to you?" Koren's wife, Lira, asked, coming over to the stretcher as it was brought into the house. She frowned when she saw the bandaged shoulder and the heavily wrapped leg, but noticed that Mitchell's color was good, so she wasn't in shock or anything.

"Broke my leg," Melony said, accepting a cup of water gratefully. Being carried was dusty work, apparently. "It's already set, but I'd appreciate getting it propped up and sitting someplace that won't move under me."

"Of course you would." Despite the intimidating size of the newcomers, Lira was all business when it came to injured folk – and no stranger to that, since she had seven boys, after all. "You lot set that stretcher down, carefully, and help Colonel Mitchell into this chair."

She ordered Ford and McKay to start moving furniture out of the way – which they did, reacting automatically to her authorative manner – and soon the room was cleared except for several chairs and a low-slung couch, which was where she installed Melony, with her leg propped up on a stool. Kale was seated next to Melony on the couch, and Aron was next to her, with the other Light Ones all on the sofa as well. Sheppard and the others arranged themselves on the chairs, and all of them were served a cup of tea by Koren, who assured them that the neighbors would be arriving soon.

OOOOOOOOO

They did, too. The house that Koren and Lira raised their seven boys in was a large one compared to some of the others, but even this house was filled to overflowing in less than an hour as neighbors and farmers from even further away came in to see the Atlanteans again and the strange people they'd brought back with them. Cay and Rella showed up and Rella immediately started mothering over Ford's cut and bruised forehead, which made the young Lieutenant blush as he assured her again and again that he was fine. Eventually, he mentioned casually that Sheppard had broken his wrist, and Rella and several other mothers – and young women who found Sheppard attractive – all gathered around the Major, tisking and trying to comfort him. He threw Ford a look that clearly said he'd pay, and then spent the next few minutes assuring them all that he'd be fine.

"We want you to meet the people we found," Melony said finally, drawing everyone's attention to her and the 'people' that were sitting next to her. She smiled, and gestured to each of them, introducing them to the folks gathered and also serving to relax the atmosphere even more. Obviously she wouldn't be sitting next to the Light Ones if they were dangerous, even the children in the room knew that.

Once the introductions were done, Melony looked at those gathered.

"You folks don't know this, but the humans on this planet – your ancestors – were once well aware of the Light Ones, although they weren't called that back then. I'm going to have Kale tell you the history of his people, like he told us, and then we'll see if there's any interest in you folks to renew that relationship."

There were assorted nods – everyone loved a good story, anyways, and the fact that this one involved them made it even more interesting. Melony nodded to Kale, and he started telling them the story that Lora had told Melony and the others.