Sam opened her eyes. She was hungry. She sat up and found O´Neill on the floor. He was looking down. For a brief moment she was confused, then worried, then she remembered. He´d helped her. He´d saved her life. She wanted to say something but she couldn´t. O´Neill´s voice came, quiet and monotone.

"It was nothing Carter."

She put her feet down on the ground. Finding it strange that she was suddenly so comfortable being barefoot.

"Sir....."

"Carter.....", he looked at her, but only for a second. "Don´t."

"But sir....."

"Damn it Carter-"

Behind Sam, Daniel stirred. She immediately turned to face him. It was really weird. She knew that Daniel was wondering if there would be any Jello left in the mess.....she shook her head and turned back to O´Neill. This time, he looked straight at her. He was confused and worried. Sam understood that but she just didn´t work like he did, she wasn´t about to bury what had just happened between them She was about to say so when Daniel spoke up.

"Am I interrupting anything?.....Guys?"

"We´re fine, Daniel." Answered Sam.

Daniel knew they were lying. He could sense it. He knew it was only a matter of digging a little deeper and he would know everything but, something like a voice told him to stop. It wasn´t right. He sighed. He didn´t really need to know anyways, he could probably guess what the problem was. There was only ever one problem between those two. He put his feet down and got up. He couldn´t help it. He felt good and hungry. Very. He was about to suggest they go out to find Kaia when someone came in. It was Iablaka.

Iablaka had been very angry when she learned what Kaia was trying to do. If she was truly honest with herself, she wasn´t sure if she was angry because she thought it was a stupid idea, or because Kaia hadn´t asked for her help. How dare she! Iablaka carried half the spirit of Bolshoi as well! It wasn´t until she´d learned it had almost killed Kaia that she began to change her mind, and her feelings. At first, she´d been suspicious of the strangers, then she´d grown to dislike them. They were being treated like guests, they were nothing but humans from another planet! Iablaka had to admit now she had been a little harsh. The truth was, she was angry at Kaia. She´d denied her the right of passage to the Padeos, even though Iablaka felt ready. Kaia had simply shaken her head and told her no. She wasn´t ready to be Padeos. She was too young and she was to proud. Iablaka was still annoyed at it. Kaia was just another human! It shouldn´t be up to her to decide! The young girl knew all of her arguments were useless, she would never have the courage to confront Kaia outloud and besides, Kaia was the head of the house of Bolshoi and even though Iablaka would never be part of that house, she had to respect the judgment of her teacher.

She went up the stairs now. The tension in the room was visible. Iablaka tasted it in the back of her throat. Bitter. Angry. With one look she knew from where it was coming. She felt sorry for these humans. They had to keep a lot of feelings in check. Everyone knew about it. It wasn´t as if Jack and Sam had hid their feelings in their heads. Now Iablaka sensed something else.....there had been a conection. Iablaka knew from experience it was something you did not get over quickly. A similar thing had happened to her and Malinki. She´d almost died once, he´d helped her, he was beside her when she woke up. He saved her life and in the second she opened her eyes and found his, they were both in each other´s heads. She smiled weakly at the strangers and asked them, politely, to come with her.

-Strangers- thought Iablaka. They no longer were, not really. They followed her silently, but their heads were rushing. They were still not very accostumed to being aware that those around them could sense their every thought, and that if they wanted to keep something from being public knowledge, they should say so, even in their heads. Iablaka took the liberty of looking inside of them for a bit. They were all confused, fascinated and worried at the same time. She recognized many of the feelings, having felt them herself when she first came under Kaia. It suddenly hit her, they were not all that different from each other. Iablaka forced herself to try to understand them, even the Jaffa, especially now that they were Kaia´s kin. Iablaka shuddered a little at that, she was willing to accept the strangers and all but, because Iablaka was not Padeos and did not have a house, these four strangers had just become her superiors. She wondered how long it would take for them to remember that. She fought with herself, she should tell them, but she wasn´t ready to follow behind them, not yet. Kaia trusted them completely, Iablaka still preferred to doubt their skills in battle. Iabalaka stopped thinking. She felt a prescence. It was the woman, Samantha. She quieted her mind and blocked the intruder. They kept walking until they came outside. Everyone else was already there.

It was a shock to see Kaia. She looked a pale blue and couldn´t breath properly. She sometimes coughed and would pass out. Vozem was there, he didn´t resent the strangers for bringing this upon the woman he loved but, he did very much doubt they understood what she´d risked for them. Stari was there, still speaking with Teal´c. They had found they had much in common. Malinki was sitting opposite Vozem, but he rose and turned as soon as Iablaka came out. He smiled at her. She smiled back. Alma and Koshka were uncharacteristically quiet. Something weighed heavily in their minds. Daniel could sense it.

It was a strange feeling. Being able to read minds and all. It was all made weirder by the fact that there were so many rules surrounding this ability. He hadn´t really understood before now, but now he knew: it was very dangerous to simply go about reading people´s minds. He was most shocked by Kaia though. It wasn´t just that she looked bad, he could feel exactly how she felt. All of a sudden he didn´t feel so hungry anymore.

Food was offered in any case. In fact, it was forced onto the strangers. Even Teal´c. He had undergone no transformation but, his sedation had been necessary, other wise the dragon´s spirit would of sensed him as a threat and killed him. Kaia didn´t explain why she´d wanted Teal´c there, neither did Stari nor Iablaka. O´Neill sensed it had something to do with the fact that the rest of SG-1 had been comforted by the Jaffa´s prescence, even if he had been just as drugged as they were.

They ate in silence. Taking in everything. It was incredible, they were aware of so many things all at the same time. The strangest part was knowing both the present and past, it was sometimes hard to distinguish between the two of them. Yet, as the night wore slowly away, they all began to get a handle on their new abilities. By the time the sun came up, Kaia only looked a little pale, and the other three felt confident enough that they could keep, at the very least, their newfound psychic abilities in check. When the first ray of sun hit the Padeos´ lands, a great horn sounded. No one needed to ask what it was. It was time to move out, by midday, they would be engaging the enemy.

Kaia awoke and smiled. She blinked a few times and streched. She looked at Sam, Daniel and O´Neill. She was glad they were alive and well. They all felt it. Her eyes rested on O´Neill a second longer than the rest. In his head, she warned him of locking down his feelings, of trying to deny them. O´Neill turned his mind into a blank, but still, Kaia´s voice lingered, it was there for a few mintues, then it was gone. He was alone again, in his head. He much preffered it that way.

They marched out soon after that. The encampment was four hours away and Kaia insisted the four new members of her vrigda receive, at least, basic training on how to use the weapons. It wasn´t because they would not know how to do it, it was simply because their bodies were not used to it, their minds would leave them behind and that could be a deadly mistake, especially if the enemy was the Sailen people. All the other people outside the vrigda stared at the strangers, who were now their people too. Everyone knew what Kaia had done, some of them approved, others didn´t know what to think. It was surprising how few actually opposed what Kaia had done. SG-1 passed next to the council. They suddenly, instinctively, knew what each of them was, their houses and their histories. The dragons accepted them as part of their people, it was Kaia they feared. She posed a threat to them. She had grown powerfull and they feared her radical ideas would break the fragile relationship they now had with the humans.