The entire council and several of the hunters followed Mitchell and the others as they walked out of the village and towards the forest.

"You weren't always afraid of the forest, were you?" Melony asked them curiously as they walked. "I mean, your houses are made of wood, so you must have gone into it before…"

Chanin shook his head.

"The forest has long been our salvation," he said. "It provided us with animals to hunt, fresh plant life for our meals, wood for our fires and building materials whenever we needed them. No longer, though. Now it is our ruin."

"How long ago did this start happening?"

"We lost our first hunter several weeks ago, but at the time we didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary. Accidents have happened before…"

"But when we sent off a search party to find him, they came back with stories of unusual noises and glimpses of something running near them that they could not get a good look at," Mina added.

"That could certainly be a Wraith," Rodney said to Mitchell – as much as he hated the thought of one or more running free through the woods. Especially woods that he was about to enter.

"If it's a Wraith – or more than one – why is it hiding in the forest?"

"It's dangerous to be a Wraith right now," Duck said from his position at Melony's left. "Maybe it heard what happened to its buddies and is hiding out…"

"Maybe."

"But you're not convinced," Boyett said, making it a statement and not a question.

"No." Melony turned to Chanin and the others as they reached the edge of the forest.

"If we don't return, others will come after us, looking for us. Tell them what happened, please."

"Please," Chanin said. "Do not go into the forest…"

"We can't leave without knowing what happened to our people," Mitchell told him, appreciating the concern. "Hopefully we can find yours as well."

"Then I wish you luck…"

"We all do," Mina added.

The way she said it so fervently made Melony wonder if maybe one of those missing was related to her, but there was no way she could – or would – ask. Instead, she hefted the staff weapon and turned, heading into the forest with Duck and Boyett right behind her. After only an instant's hesitation, Rodney followed as well, his knuckles white on the P90 he was carrying.

OOOOOOOO

"Looks like we found out who was responsible for all the missing villagers…" Ford said, watching as Ronon Dex skinned what looked like a large rabbit. Luckily, he was on the other side of the camp, because it wasn't an operation that Ford especially wanted to watch.

Sheppard followed his gaze, shifting uncomfortably as he once more tried to loosen the ropes binding his hands.

"You think?"

"Who else?"

Teyla looked over as well, and shook her head.

"I do not know…"

"What's not to know?" Ford asked. "They said the people started coming up missing only a little while ago. It's not like this place has been lived in all that long. We're probably next."

"Well there's a cheerful thought," Sheppard said, sarcastically. "Thanks, Ford. I feel much better now."

Dex came over to them, carrying the carcass of the creature, which was now cut into smaller pieces. These he spitted on the ends of long stakes, then jammed the other ends into the dirt around the fire, leaning them in so they would cook over the heat without being in the flames.

Only then did he turn his attention once more to his prisoners.

"I didn't hurt the missing villagers."

"You know about them?" Sheppard asked.

"I've seen the search parties."

"And…?"

"And what?"

"What happened to the missing people?"

Dex shrugged.

"I'm not sure."

"But it wasn't you." This was said sarcastically. And the sarcasm was lost on him.

"No."

"Then who?" Sheppard made a show of looking around him. "I don't see a lot of other people out here in the woods, hiding in secret camps, grabbing everyone who happens by."

Ronon scowled.

"Not everyone. Just you."

"Well aren't we the lucky ones…"

"Our friends will come looking for us," Teyla said, before Sheppard could say anything else. "They will have already realized we are missing."

"I'm not worried."

"Well you should be," John said. "Her boyfriend isn't someone you want to cross."

Dex didn't reply to that, although he did give Teyla a quick glance. A moment later he turned his attention back to the meal he was preparing, and they knew that the conversation was over. At least for the time being.

OOOOOOOOO

"Are you sure it's wise to be walking around here with the sun setting…?" McKay asked. They were only about a half-mile into the forest, but it was already so thickly overgrown that the waning sunlight was having trouble filtering down through the canopy.

"I'm certainly not going to wait until morning," Mitchell said. Who knew what could happen to Sheppard's team by then? "Any luck with that locator?"

Rodney looked down.

"There are a lot of life forms here…" he said. "Mostly animals, of course – hopefully herbivores – and it's having a difficult time sorting through them."

"So much for using Ancient technology…" Duck said.

"It's better than wandering around randomly, Sergeant," Rodney snapped. He was frustrated because the device wasn't working as well as it should have been. And worried about the others – although he was trying to hide it. "Something is interfering with the sensor, I think."

"Like what?"

"No clue. Something."

"Let's keep our eyes open," Melony said, interrupting. Mainly because she couldn't hear anything over the sound of the two of them talking, and she was trying to listen for anything that might be sneaking up on them. "I don't want to be here any longer than necessary."

"We should be able to handle any Wraith that might show up," Boyett said. His sidearm was a zat, as was Duck's. They were proven Wraith killers.

"I'm not worried about Wraith," Mitchell said, looking around. "Wraith are a known equation."

Rodney nodded his agreement. As awful as the Wraith were – and he still wasn't convinced that there were any out here – they were at least an enemy they'd seen before, and knew they could kill. Lord only knew what they might run into, though, and sometimes the unknown was a lot worse than the known.

He looked down at the device once more, and pointed to the right.

"Let's try that way."