Note: Sorry 'bout the late update guys. Here's chapter seven, an' I hope it's satisfying enough ta cover for my lack of posting. XP

SEVEN

The mountain's rocky terrain was tough-going, but Jack made no complaints the entire way. In fact, he was unusually quiet, which unnerved both Daniel and Sam. Teal'c didn't appear bothered by it, but as usual it was pretty hard to tell with him. He remained behind Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter, careful to watch their backs and searching for any bit of danger from anything. The team had seen a little of the planet's wild creatures on their hike, but none that seemed as though they'd be a threat. Most of the creatures witnessed were bird-like and amphibious in origin, almost like a warped version of the animals on Earth. They'd yet to see anything resembling mammals though, not including the O'runakans themselves.

It was some time before the Colonel showed signs of tiring, and by then they were nearly half an hour from reaching the higher mountain peaks. Sam was hopeful they'd soon find the plants in which they were searching for, though she was worriedly studying Jack as they travelled, knowing that he would need to rest for a short time. "Sir," she spoke up finally, knowing it was time. "Sir, we need to take a break."

Jack grunted and briefly shook his head without turning to look at her. "Negative..Carter... We're almost..there," He had his eyes clenched shut while he stumbled along on auto-pilot. He knew his mind was playing tricks on him, and he had to fight not to cry out and begin shouting things that would sound completely off-the-wall to his teammates surrounding him. Several times Jack fought the urge to lash out and strike at a foe along his side, one he knew, deep down, wasn't truly there.

Sam could sense his inner struggle, and against her better judgement, she signalled ahead to Daniel to keep moving, cancelling their momentary rest. After a moment she noticed Daniel's pace quickening suddenly, and though she was eager to know what he'd seen, she wouldn't leave the Colonel's side. Not like she could anyways, she was carrying his IV bag.

"Hey! I think I found the Das'ira!" Daniel shouted excitedly as he jogged ahead, tripping slightly on a few loose rocks but hurriedly righting himself and clumsily continuing along.

"The dazzy-whatty?" Jack shot Sam a half-focused, confused look.

She just smiled, her eyes twinkling faintly with hidden hope. "The Das'ira," Sam corrected, staying close beside the Colonel as he quickened his pace. "The plant that should cure you,"

"Ah," He returned her explanation with a short nod and continued concentrating on walking without tripping over his own feet.

Teal'c moved ahead of Major Carter and the Colonel, confident that there'd be no danger of reaching Daniel before them. As he strode determinedly ahead, an eyebrow rose in his usual way while he observed the archaeologist's discovery. "Daniel Jackson, that indeed appears to be the Das'ira that Arcana described to us."

Nodding eagerly, he glanced back toward Sam and Jack as the two approached slowly. "This is it," Daniel told them, knelt beside the plant. He licked his bottom lip while studying the bright orange petals for a moment.

"Okay, so how do we use it to cure the Colonel?" Sam asked after helping Jack take a seat, his back leaning up against a rocky cliff-face.

Daniel recalled what Arcana had told him and Teal'c. "We've got to crush up the leaves into paste and have Jack eat it.."

"Sound's easy enough," Jack mumbled quietly from where he sat. He looked up with slightly-fogged eyes to stare at Sam where she stood beside him, his IV bag still hooked to her pack. Closing his eyes, his head dropped and he quickly swiped his brow, gritting his teeth while he fought a dizzying sensation, images swirling around in his brain.

Sam sat down beside him, taking out her canteen to offer some water.

"Jack?" Daniel's voice was low and full of concern.

After a moment, Jack just rose his head and squinted in Teal'c and Daniel's direction. "You guys gonna...cook me up a..gourmet meal..or what?" He called out softly with a weak version of his patented smirk.

Nodding with a faint smile at Jack's familiar humor, Daniel tilted his head toward Teal'c, noticing that the Jaffa was already mashing up the Das'ira leaves in a small cooking tin from their packs with a rock. Since Teal'c was busy cooking up the cure for Jack's illness, Daniel made his way over to the Colonel and Sam. He sat down on a short old tree stump and leaned forward against his knees. "After we give Jack the plant, we should probably rest for the night, have something to eat. It's getting late and I'm pretty sure none of us have eaten since we left the base."

Sam nodded absently, but her focus and attention was fully on Jack. Her brows were knit together with her concern for him. "Daniel," she said without looking up. "Can I see your handkerchief?"

"Yeh..uh, sure," Daniel leaned to one side, reaching in his pocket. He pulled out a clean handkerchief and held it out to Sam. "Here,"

Tipping her canteen, Sam soaked the cloth before folding it up and using it to mop the sweat from Jack's brow. "Don't worry Colonel, you'll be back to normal in no time," However, she was unsure if that was even true. She didn't know how quickly, or effectively, the plant would cure Jack. Sam could only hope it was quick and with little to no side effects.

"Nn," Jack moaned, his head tilting to one side while his eyes snapped shut and he grit his teeth in an attempt to force back incoherent mutterings.

"I have finished with converting the plant to paste for O'Neill," Teal'c announced while striding over to the rest of the group. He handed Major Carter the tin of Das'ira paste.

There wasn't much, but Sam spooned what was there into her hand and brought it to the now barely-conscious Colonel's lips. As his mouth parted slowly, she gently fed him the paste as Daniel moved to his right side so that he remained sitting upright.

Once he'd ingested the brightly colored paste, Jack was soon feeling the effects of whatever alien drug the plant had introduced to his system. His head rocked slightly as he fought the overwhelming drowsiness, thoughts spinning a mile a minute. Vision blurring, Jack managed a weak mumble of, "See ya later kids," before slumping to his side and passing out.

Sam's eyes widened with slight alarm, and she fixed Daniel with a horrified look. "Is this supposed to happen?"

Daniel rose both eyebrows, making a face while he looked from Teal'c to Sam. "I - uh - I dunno... Arcana didn't mention anything about side effects, or what would happen once the cure was given." He shrugged helplessly.

Kneeling down, Teal'c pressed two fingers to the side of the Colonel's neck. Tilting his head to the side, he stared at Carter with a look that could have possibly been reassurance. "O'Neill's pulse is strong, yet fast. I believe he will be fine Major Carter,"

She managed a tight smile while carefully moving Jack so that his IV wouldn't be interrupted. Sam sighed softly and sent Daniel a pleading look. "Hey, could you get a couple of the blankets so we can make him comfortable? I have a feeling we're not going anywhere tonight, and I'd like to keep a close eye on the Colonel."

"Yeh, no problem Sam," Daniel smiled warmly at her and got to his feet, jerking his head to the side in a motion for Teal'c to join him. "Teal'c, you wanna get a fire going? It's gonna get a little cold. I'll take out a few MREs."

The large Jaffa nodded silently, taking hold of his staff weapon. He trudged off to gather some dry twigs while Daniel went for the blankets and some food.

-

It was dark by the time Jack had regained consciousness enough to be somewhat coherent. Sam was worried, but Daniel assured her that Jack would be fine once the Das'ira paste went all the way through his system. After Teal'c had propped the Colonel up enough to lean against the cliff face, Sam sat herself beside him and put half a plate of what looked somewhat like meatloaf on his lap. "Here Sir, try and eat some of this,"

"Mm, MREs," he murmured sarcastically, his voice soft and tired. Jack's eyes were barely open. He was sweaty and shaking, not quite feeling much better than he had before, but his mind was a bit more clear.

Sam gently bathed the Colonel's face with the wet handkerchief before trying to get him to eat. Her brows furrowed as she gazed upon him symapthetically. "Eat as much as you can, then you can go back to sleep. It's late, but you need something in your stomach." She shifted, reaching for Jack's canteen that was laying nearby. Bringing it to his lips, she tilted it slowly, allowing the Colonel time to sip at the water without getting too much too fast.

He licked his lips and sighed gratefully. "Thanks," he murmured softly, eyelids drooping. Despite the fact he was feeling more clear-headed than he had been, Jack still had no desire to eat anything. For awhile he didn't say much, just picked at the food (if you could even call it that) on his lap. There was a glazed look in his eyes while he robotically brought small portions of food to his lips, just managing to get it down.

Monitoring him closely, Sam noticed her CO's lack of interest in the meal. She frowned faintly, sending worried glances in question toward Daniel. She expected the archaeologist to know what effects the Das'ira would have on the Colonel.

Seeing her worries, Daniel moved over beside them and patted Jack's shin. "Hey, Jack," He spoke low and softly. "You doin' alright?"

"Yeh," he plastered a half-hearted grin on his face. "Fine Danny-boy, just peachy," Giving up on the food, Jack tossed it on the ground beside him and pushed it away. He sat there leaning against the cliff face and blinking tiredly, his head jerking up every few seconds. Within a few more minutes Jack opened his mouth to speak. It took several seconds before any words actually came out though. "Think I'm gonna...go back to sleep..now,"

Sam and Daniel immediately aided the Colonel in laying back down on the nearby blankets, but Jack's eyes were firmly shut even before his head was down.

On the other side of the fire, Teal'c was performing kel-no-reem, but keeping himself alert for anything dangerous in their vicinity. He was remaining silent, though he was truly concerned for the man he had come to know as something of a brother to him. O'Neill was resilient beyond anything he'd seen of most humans, but he knew that even the Colonel had his limits, whether he chose to believe it or not.

-

Daniel sat by the dying fire watching Jack toss and turn for half an hour while Sam packed up camp and Teal'c did a perimeter check since he was slightly on edge for some reason, claiming that he sensed a strange presense close by. Daniel moved closer to his friend, lightly reaching out to touch Jack's shoulder.

Flinching from the unexpected contact, Jack swung an arm sideways, catching Daniel with a backhanded smack on the wrist as the younger man jerked away.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there Jack," Daniel said calmly, leaning back until he was sure the Colonel was fully comprehending what he saw.

"Daniel?" Squinting his eyes, Jack waited for the face in front of him to come into focus.

"Hey," the archaeologist offered him a smile. Daniel tilted his head to the side, regarding his friend carefully. "How are you feeling?"

Jack's brows knit together before his features were overcome with a look of realization as though he just noticed how much better he was. He smirked suddenly. "Great, actually." Sitting up, Jack rolled his shoulders and neck in attempt to get all the kinks out. He was a little stiff, but that was expected from lying on the cold, hard ground all night. He also noticed there was no longer an IV line in his arm, and figured it must have been removed earlier that morning, or during the night.

"Good, I'm glad." Daniel nodded over to him, then finished with putting out the fire. He stood and began gathering up his own blankets where he'd slept. Sending Jack a sly look he added, "Now you can help us pack up."

Jack smirked with a silent nod. Standing, he stretched his lean frame and took a deep breath before kneeling down to roll up his bedding.

-

Sam jogged back toward the cliff face where Daniel had left the Colonel before going off with Teal'c. She smiled when she spotted a perfectly fit Jack wolfing down an MRE for his morning meal. "Morning Sir," It made her quite happy to see that the color had returned to his face and he no longer appeared to be ill.

"Mornin' Carter," Jack greeted, briefly looking up from his food as he finished off the last remnants of what may have been mac an' cheese.

"Feeling better Sir? You look really well," Sam sat down on a nearby rock close to where the fire had once been.

Jack grinned. "Yeh, I'm feeling much better, thank you Major. You're not lookin' too bad yourself," He added with a smirk as his 2IC's bright blue eyes widened, flashing with embarassment.

Sam could feel her cheeks warming, turning a bright pink. She forced herself to look down while a strangled giggle escaped past her lips.

Still grinning smugly, Jack changed the subject to make her feel more comfortable. He had to admit that he did enjoy her bashfulness at the moment though. It was rather endearing. "So Carter," He went about putting away the empty MRE container and clipping his light pack to his vest. "We about ready to head back down the mountain? Where's Danny an' Teal'c?"

"They should be around any minute now Sir," Sam made a quick visual sweep of the nearby area before shrugging toward the Colonel and heading down the slight incline.

Jack was soon following her. However, he came to a skidding halt when he heard the loud rustling from the nearby trees. He froze, tentatively shooting his gaze toward Sam. "Carter," he called out a warning cry, remebering he was weaponless. A hand automatically went to retrieve his knife, and that's when Jack realized they must have taken that from him during a moment of insanity. His eyes flickered briefly to his left forearm, the bandage now covered by the sleave of his jacket. Before he could fathom what may have taken place, Jack went directly into Colonel-mode, leaving previous thoughts behind.

Sam spun around at the Colonel's shout, then she heard the rustling and positioned herself, aiming toward the trees with her P90 at the ready. "Got it covered Sir!"

Jogging up to her side, Jack's eyes remained intently focused as brush-hidden figures emerged. He was both relieved and alarmed to find Daniel stumbling out of the woods, a calmer, yet still quick-moving, Teal'c close behind.

Upon seeing the familiar faces of her friends and teammates, Sam lowered her weapon slightly, still wary of Daniel's expression.

"We gotta get out of here, NOW!" Daniel waved them off as Teal'c backed out of the woods, aiming his staff weapon in their wake and blasting it several times.

"What's goin' on?" Jack asked him calmly, wishing he had a weapon handy.

Daniel nervously spread his arms wide as he continued stumbling from the woods toward Jack and Sam. "Big," he explained, panting, "Big...THING!"

Jack and Sam both winced as a loud screeching noise followed one of Teal'c's staff weapon blasts.

"They are indeed large and powerful creatures O'Neill," Teal'c told them as he made his way over. His staff weapon was still pointed precariously toward the treeline.

"They?" Jack's eyes were wide and suspicious. "As in more than one of these big...things?" he questioned, repeating Daniel's description.

"The Trao'chi? Is that what's out there?" Sam asked, glancing to the side of the large Jaffa and trying to peer through the trees to find something.

"I think not," Teal'c shook his head. "The creatures do not seem as Arcana described."

Daniel was hunched over, catching his breath. He looked up slowly. "They look almost like a mix between rhinos and lions from Earth, but much more intelligent and dangerous," he told them, yet again ignoring Jack's repeating question. "Two were after us, and one of them knocked down a tree like it was nothing!" He spun to look toward the woods nervously.

"We must go," Teal'c said sharply.

Jack just nodded and swung his arm in a wave. "Alright campers, let's move out before the big bad...thing,gets us,"

"We've got to return to the village," Daniel said quietly as they all got moving. He adjusted his glasses. "I have to find out what they know about these creatures,"

"Linos," Jack piped up with a grin.

Daniel eyed him strangely as Teal'c kept walking at the Colonel's side, one eyebrow slightly raised. "Linos?" The archaeologist repeated.

"Yeh," Jack just nodded and kept trudging down the unsteady path. "You said they were like a mix between lions and rhinos... Hence, linos." He tilted his head to one side with a slight shrug and an indifferent expression. "Or if you prefer, linocerous." Jack grinned.

Sam laughed quietly at the Colonel's explanation as Daniel rolled his eyes with a shrug.

They'd been hiking down the rough mountainous terrain for an hour or so when Jack suddenly halted, holding up a hand in a signal for the others to stop. "Hold up," he barked lowly, taking a look around.

Teal'c readied his staff weapon. "I heard it as well O'Neill,"

Sam took a tentative step closer to Teal'c. "Heard what?"

There was a loud rustling, and the ground began to tremble slightly beneath their feet. The next thing they heard was a low snort, and the tramping of heavy feet.

Daniel's eyes widened in recognition of that sound. "Oh no,"

"Move, move!" Jack shouted, ushering his team along the path as it narrowed around a small cliff. He was aware of Teal'c watching their backs, aiming his staff weapon toward the trees just as the enormous creatures emerged. "Daniel, toss me your sidearm!" Jack quickly caught the airborne weapon, then spun and began shooting at the beasts. "Teal'c! Back, now!" He laid down some cover so that the Jaffa could make his retreat, hoping that the large animals wouldn't be able to follow along the narrow cliff edge.

Teal'c shot one of the beasts twice with his staff weapon before it was grounded with a loud thud, then he headed for the path along the cliff edge as requested by O'Neill.

As Teal'c got past him, Jack fired at the remaining creature, hitting it several times. The animal continued to charge, baring sharp fangs and lowering his head, a flattened rhinocerous-like horn aiming directly for the Colonel. Though he continued shooting, and the beast was slowing slightly, Jack could not have prevented what happened next. He backed up as much as he could in the brief moment in which the animal plowed into him. Gasping, Jack was hit square in the chest and propelled backward, sliding off the cliff edge before the beast skidded to the ground lifelessly, heaving it's last breath.

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