Light. Ouch. Move. Ouch. Breath. Allright.....no, wrong. Ouch. What happened?
A horse? No a Laska?, no.....Loshati! Ouch, not so fast. What am I doing
here? Where am I? Wait, wasn´t there a fire around here? Too fast! Too
fast! Up too fast! I think I´m going to be sick.....maybe.....possibly.....no,
I´m not! Good. What the hell was I drinking anyway? It wasn´t water. Note
to self: Do not drink on foreign planets. My head.....not so bad. Maybe being
hungover isn´t so bad afterall. Did I just seriously say that? No. I
thought it! Nevermind.....pretty stupid idea. Right, back to practical
matters. Up.....Ok, not too bad. All right, why am I wearing only one shoe?
It´s not actually a shoe you know.....I know! It´s a....well a.....a shoe! What
difference does it make anyway! I´m still missing one! Missing.....we are!
Aren´t we? No, we´re just.....delayed, we´ll be back. I hope. No! No! I know
we´ll be back! Yes, that´s right.....no, wait, wait, not right, not right!
Too much light, my head is spinning.....just like last night. Oh my g-.....well
I certainly hope I did nothing wrong, probably not, I never do anything
wrong. Why is that? Speaking of that.....what is that noise? Oh right.....just
the rest of the guys.....I mean team! ´Cause I ah, would never forget Sam.
She´d kill me if she knew about this, maybe.....wait? Isn´t that a bit too
close for military comfort? Stop staring! Stop staring! They would both
kill me if they caught me staring.....maybe Sam wouldn´t, no wait.....nah! She
wouldn´t kill me.....well, this is
awkward.....Silence....silence.....silence.....sort off, who the hell is snoring so
loudly anyway!?! I wonder.....NO!! It can´t be.....I never would of thought
those kinds of sounds.....right, back to more practical matters. Uhm.....my
head!.....is still attached, although you wouldn´t really know it.....but not
too bad, hmm.....I´m hungry. Wait, wasn´t I just hungover? Apparently not!
I´m hungry I wonder if-
"Oh-my-head....."
Daniel looked down at O´Neill as he squirmed for a bit and waited until he´d managed to sit up to greet him. All he got for his perfectly cheery "Good morning" was a half wave which he didn´t really know if it meant –Good morning to you too- or –Get lost-. In any case, Daniel poured himself a glass of water and started drinking. It wasn´t long before O´Neill joined him. He´d stopped complaining, surprised his hangover had been so.....quick. Both men sat in silence, trying to piece together what it was that had happened last night. O´Neill remembered something about time.....and a lot of hours. Daniel had fared better, he remembered most of what he´d been told, or at least he thought he did. They didn´t know how long they sat there, all they did know was that all of a sudden a disheveled looking Carter wearing no shoes whatsoever joined them at the table. She eyed both men wearily. She had no clue what had happened either. Teal´c was the last one to get up, but he seemed neither hung over, disheveled nor having trouble remembering anything that he´d done the night before.
A boy suddenly interrupted their perfectly achieved awkward silence. He came into the tent, as if it were his own home. He bowed quickly to the four people inside and simply told them, "They are back!" Then, he rushed outside.
"Well, he certainly doesn´t look hung over....." said O´Neill, with a bit of envy leaking out in his voice. Daniel looked confused, Carter distressed. Teal´c just raised an eyebrow. It wasn´t long before they started hearing a lot of people moving around outside. Curiousity finally got the best of them and they got up and went outside.
All of the people in the camp were gathered at the entrance, the same one SG-1 had used the previous day. People were coming. It was a small group: an old man, a boy, two girls and a young man, who looked to be about the same age as Kaia. O´Neill jumped and said something about having the "Hell scared" out of him as Laska joined them and greeted them. Laska didn´t understand, he frowned but said nothing about it. Daniel asked him what was going on.
"The –vrigda- are back. Kaia´s –vrigda- survived the battle yesterday."
"Vrigda? Is that some sort of group or team.....?"
"Yes, you are a vrigda, all of you. That is Kaia´s vrigda."
"Okey and, how does this vrigda work?"
"There must be one of each of our four people, sometimes there is also one human, but not in this case. They are led by the best, Kaia leads them, along with Vozem."
"Vozem? Who´s that?"
"The Niseos, the other like Kaia."
"Ah.....the young man?"
"Not so young as I understand your years but yes.....that is Vozem."
"Well this is great, your vrigdas seem to work much in the same way as our team does." Daniel turned to O´Neill, who was not as fascinated as the archeologist, "This is amazing! They have basically the same basic division for command.....they work in small teams, or at least some of them do, and they might even have a similar chain of command and maybe even some of the rules and regula-"
Daniel´s rambling was cut very short as he saw something which brought down his whole theory about the similarities between SG-1 and this vrigda: Kaia had just separated herself from the crowd, she had ran towards her team, jumped into Vozem´s arms and was kissing him, quite passionately. Daniel looked over at his teamates, who shared his surprise, even Teal´c was taken aback. Both his eyebrows were raised. No one else seemed to notice this. Laska turned to them.
"Is something wrong Daniel?"
"Uhm.....no it´s just that in our planet.....there are certain rules about military officers being so.....close."
"I do not understand. You are not allowed to form bonds of affection?"
"Ah well it´s not that.....it´s just that, -that-", he pointed in Kaia´s and Vozem´s way, "kind of affection is just.....off limits."
"It is a strange place then where you come from. Are not your soldiers separated from the rest of your people, do they not fight away from their own homes and lands?"
"Well yes, sometimes.....they do try to avoid civilians.....sort off."
"Then if they are isolated from the rest of your people, how can they not allow certain feelings? One cannot control what the heart feels and it would be quite inefficient to expect two people to hide or ignore any feelings.....when the heart is at peace, the mind can truly reach balance and in the case of our warriors, they do all the better in battle." Laska chuckled at the still stunned faces of the four strangers before walking towards the Vridga. When he got close enough, all the members of it stood straight and still and bowed in the ways of their people: Kaia, the old man and Iablaka, with their palms up; Vozem and the boy, making a half circle with their arms; the two girls, simply lowering their heads. Laska greeted them and then pointed at the four strangers, and the Vrigda came closer.
The old man simply stared at them but said nothing, the two girls hung back, as did the boy but, Vozem did speak to them. He seemed just as ready to trust them and help them as Kaia had.
"You are the four who came through the Stardoor.....", his eyes only stopped briefly on Teal´c, "You are humans.....Kaia says you are great warriors."
This only added to their confusion, because as far as SG-1 remembered, they had yet to fight anyone on this planet. Kaia smiled and came forth, "Do not worry, it is all here." She pointed at their heads.
-As if that explains everything- Thought O´Neill. Kaia turned at once to him, she didn´t stop smiling and she spoke more to Vozem than anyone else.
"This is their leader. He is not too certain about trusting us yet and he seems to be mostly confused."
O´Neill didn´t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. In any case, Vozem bowed to him in the way of his people and then asked them to come with him. He was, unlike Iablaka, very curious about them, although he carefully avoided discussing Teal´c or pointing out the obvious differences between the Jaffa and the rest of SG-1. Vozem questioned them about a lot of different things, but it wasn´t until they were back inside a tent that he started asking them specific things about their world, about themselves, and about the Stargate. They didn´t have much time though, in only the time it took Vozem and the others to eat something and find horses, they were all ready to move again. SG-1 was led back to their tent to change clothes and gather their things by the same boy who had come into their tent earlier, they were given no more than ten minutes to be ready. When they came out, they saw that there were horses ready for them. The team sighed internally, they really weren´t up for another seven hour ride on horseback, they enjoyed walking a lot more (it was less painful and a lot easier to handle). They were reassured by Kaia that they would be home within six days and that if they made good time it would be sooner, but none of it made SG-1 feel any better. Hesitantly, they got back on the horses. They weren´t really so happy or fascinated anymore, they were back on the horses again, running again, struggling to stay on, they had to share them again and, they weren´t wearing any shoes.....again.
"Oh-my-head....."
Daniel looked down at O´Neill as he squirmed for a bit and waited until he´d managed to sit up to greet him. All he got for his perfectly cheery "Good morning" was a half wave which he didn´t really know if it meant –Good morning to you too- or –Get lost-. In any case, Daniel poured himself a glass of water and started drinking. It wasn´t long before O´Neill joined him. He´d stopped complaining, surprised his hangover had been so.....quick. Both men sat in silence, trying to piece together what it was that had happened last night. O´Neill remembered something about time.....and a lot of hours. Daniel had fared better, he remembered most of what he´d been told, or at least he thought he did. They didn´t know how long they sat there, all they did know was that all of a sudden a disheveled looking Carter wearing no shoes whatsoever joined them at the table. She eyed both men wearily. She had no clue what had happened either. Teal´c was the last one to get up, but he seemed neither hung over, disheveled nor having trouble remembering anything that he´d done the night before.
A boy suddenly interrupted their perfectly achieved awkward silence. He came into the tent, as if it were his own home. He bowed quickly to the four people inside and simply told them, "They are back!" Then, he rushed outside.
"Well, he certainly doesn´t look hung over....." said O´Neill, with a bit of envy leaking out in his voice. Daniel looked confused, Carter distressed. Teal´c just raised an eyebrow. It wasn´t long before they started hearing a lot of people moving around outside. Curiousity finally got the best of them and they got up and went outside.
All of the people in the camp were gathered at the entrance, the same one SG-1 had used the previous day. People were coming. It was a small group: an old man, a boy, two girls and a young man, who looked to be about the same age as Kaia. O´Neill jumped and said something about having the "Hell scared" out of him as Laska joined them and greeted them. Laska didn´t understand, he frowned but said nothing about it. Daniel asked him what was going on.
"The –vrigda- are back. Kaia´s –vrigda- survived the battle yesterday."
"Vrigda? Is that some sort of group or team.....?"
"Yes, you are a vrigda, all of you. That is Kaia´s vrigda."
"Okey and, how does this vrigda work?"
"There must be one of each of our four people, sometimes there is also one human, but not in this case. They are led by the best, Kaia leads them, along with Vozem."
"Vozem? Who´s that?"
"The Niseos, the other like Kaia."
"Ah.....the young man?"
"Not so young as I understand your years but yes.....that is Vozem."
"Well this is great, your vrigdas seem to work much in the same way as our team does." Daniel turned to O´Neill, who was not as fascinated as the archeologist, "This is amazing! They have basically the same basic division for command.....they work in small teams, or at least some of them do, and they might even have a similar chain of command and maybe even some of the rules and regula-"
Daniel´s rambling was cut very short as he saw something which brought down his whole theory about the similarities between SG-1 and this vrigda: Kaia had just separated herself from the crowd, she had ran towards her team, jumped into Vozem´s arms and was kissing him, quite passionately. Daniel looked over at his teamates, who shared his surprise, even Teal´c was taken aback. Both his eyebrows were raised. No one else seemed to notice this. Laska turned to them.
"Is something wrong Daniel?"
"Uhm.....no it´s just that in our planet.....there are certain rules about military officers being so.....close."
"I do not understand. You are not allowed to form bonds of affection?"
"Ah well it´s not that.....it´s just that, -that-", he pointed in Kaia´s and Vozem´s way, "kind of affection is just.....off limits."
"It is a strange place then where you come from. Are not your soldiers separated from the rest of your people, do they not fight away from their own homes and lands?"
"Well yes, sometimes.....they do try to avoid civilians.....sort off."
"Then if they are isolated from the rest of your people, how can they not allow certain feelings? One cannot control what the heart feels and it would be quite inefficient to expect two people to hide or ignore any feelings.....when the heart is at peace, the mind can truly reach balance and in the case of our warriors, they do all the better in battle." Laska chuckled at the still stunned faces of the four strangers before walking towards the Vridga. When he got close enough, all the members of it stood straight and still and bowed in the ways of their people: Kaia, the old man and Iablaka, with their palms up; Vozem and the boy, making a half circle with their arms; the two girls, simply lowering their heads. Laska greeted them and then pointed at the four strangers, and the Vrigda came closer.
The old man simply stared at them but said nothing, the two girls hung back, as did the boy but, Vozem did speak to them. He seemed just as ready to trust them and help them as Kaia had.
"You are the four who came through the Stardoor.....", his eyes only stopped briefly on Teal´c, "You are humans.....Kaia says you are great warriors."
This only added to their confusion, because as far as SG-1 remembered, they had yet to fight anyone on this planet. Kaia smiled and came forth, "Do not worry, it is all here." She pointed at their heads.
-As if that explains everything- Thought O´Neill. Kaia turned at once to him, she didn´t stop smiling and she spoke more to Vozem than anyone else.
"This is their leader. He is not too certain about trusting us yet and he seems to be mostly confused."
O´Neill didn´t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. In any case, Vozem bowed to him in the way of his people and then asked them to come with him. He was, unlike Iablaka, very curious about them, although he carefully avoided discussing Teal´c or pointing out the obvious differences between the Jaffa and the rest of SG-1. Vozem questioned them about a lot of different things, but it wasn´t until they were back inside a tent that he started asking them specific things about their world, about themselves, and about the Stargate. They didn´t have much time though, in only the time it took Vozem and the others to eat something and find horses, they were all ready to move again. SG-1 was led back to their tent to change clothes and gather their things by the same boy who had come into their tent earlier, they were given no more than ten minutes to be ready. When they came out, they saw that there were horses ready for them. The team sighed internally, they really weren´t up for another seven hour ride on horseback, they enjoyed walking a lot more (it was less painful and a lot easier to handle). They were reassured by Kaia that they would be home within six days and that if they made good time it would be sooner, but none of it made SG-1 feel any better. Hesitantly, they got back on the horses. They weren´t really so happy or fascinated anymore, they were back on the horses again, running again, struggling to stay on, they had to share them again and, they weren´t wearing any shoes.....again.
