THE NEXT EVENT - by Kolyaaa!
CHAPTER NINETEEN: THE MOLEMEN
A/N: Okay, so I am still here. Do you know why? Your feedback. Give me more and I won't go away again.
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Teyla and Sheppard sat side-by-side on the mound of dirt, gazing out beyond the green light. Teyla clutched another glow-stick, ready to activate it if necessary. She'd dropped her other arm to touch the weapon at her hip – the bandage remaining adhered to the awful bite on her face.
They said nothing, listening to the shuffling in the darkness just beyond the dome of green light. Sheppard strained, hearing what might have been voices whispering. Finally, he drawled out a slow, "Okay… so… you creatures out there…ah… what do you plan to do? I mean, if you can communicate…"
Sniffling and snorting commenced, and Sheppard held his arm tightly, ready to jump to his feet if he had to. Then suddenly, something lunged. Teyla drew her weapon as the thing flapped, and something was thrown over the glow-stick – snuffing out the light.
John let loose the hold he had on his arm, to still Teyla's hand. "Don't fire," he ordered, finding her in the darkness. He could almost feel her ire at being restrained. They waited.
In the black, something sighed and a voice seemed to mutter, "That's better."
But Teyla snapped her second stick and they were again bathed in a green glow. Shapes that had drawn closer, howled. Five creatures ducked, pivoting away as they hid their overly huge eyes.
One reedy cry came out of the darkness, "Aw buggar!"
Another, in a deep voice declared, "She's got another of those wretched things! I think I hate those things."
"Blast!"
The rest chorused with a round of unhappy murmurs.
From nearby, an older voice warbled, "Can't you just put it out, love? Be sensible, eh?"
Teyla continued to hold the glowing rod out in front of her, catching sight of hunched backs, as the softly furred creatures huddled together, averting their eyes and nattering unhappily.
"How rude," the one with the deep voice complained. "Bebbil asked kindly enough, but they just do as they please. Do you know who Bebbil is?"
"Tossers," one commented with a bit of a lisp. "Not at all kind."
"I'm with Dabbo. They seem very unmole-like," the reedy one whined.
"Very un-mole-like, indeed," three or four echoed. They sounded pained as they scrunched closer together in their misery.
"Douse it," Sheppard called to Teyla. She gave him a forlorn look, but tucked the glowing stick into her pocket and they were plunged again into darkness.
"Hurrah!" the reedy voice called out of the black.
"Hurrah! Hurrah!" other voices joined in.
"See, they are kind. Most unlike the horned beast and the small biting things," Bebbil commented.
"Right as usual, Bebbil," Dabbo lisped.
"Och! I don't like the little biting things!" the deep voice declared.
"Nobody does, Nobis."
"You're not going to bite us, are you?" the reedy voice inquired.
"Good question, Ally!" Nobis commended.
"Yeah! Excellent. An answer! We need an answer!"
"Ah," Sheppard started, staring hard into the blackness and seeing nothing, but he could hear the creatures shifting about anxiously. "Well...I don't plan in biting anyone. How 'bout you, Teyla."
Sounding relatively sure of herself, Teyla replied into the dark, "I have no designs on biting."
"You don't have a pointy horn do you?" Nobis called.
"Or wings – big flappy wings? You got any of those?" a feminine voice called.
"No wings. No pointy horn," Sheppard assured.
"Course they got no wings, Mang, can't you see that?"
"The bright hurt my eyes," Mang complained. "I can't see a thing."
"Hate the bright," Dabbo complained.
"How 'bout this," Sheppard tried. "We keep the bright glowy thing put away, and maybe you could help us get out of here. You'd like that wouldn't you? We'd get out. The bright thing would go away, and everyone would be happy and we'd all get back to our happy little lives, right?"
"Sounds like he's talkin' down to us. Eh, Bebbil?"
"Seems such."
"Seems like he's got a bit of an attitude, don't he?" Mang commented.
"We only ask that you allow us to leave," Teyla tried to negotiate. "We will do you no harm."
"Yeah," Ally, said shrilly, "'Cept you put a hole in the roof!"
"And dumped your big boxy thing in the grand hall," Bebbis whined.
"Another big hole," Dabbo complained. "Like we need that!"
"Let the bright in," Nobis complained. "I don't like the bright. Who do you think fixes things like this? Yeah, me and Dabbo, we have to do it all."
"And who do you think gets to clean that up all the dirt you dumped?" Mang added.
"Wait a minute," Sheppard held out his hands in a placating gesture, wondering if they could even see the movement. "Did you say you found a big boxy thing? Like, really long and boxy?"
"It's bigger than all of us put together," Bebbil explained. "And it come right down in the last temblor. Why'd you put it where you did? Couldn't you tell it wasn't the safest place for somethin' o'that size to be put? 'Mazing that glass window didn't break."
"They just don't think, do they?" Mang added, making a tsking sound. And a couple of voices made cooing sounds of agreement.
Sheppard furrowed his brow and turned toward Teyla in the darkness, bumping into her nose as she did the same to lean in toward him. He offered a quiet, "Ooops, sorry," before adding, "You think they're talking about the jumper?"
"Jumper?" a voice that Sheppard couldn't identify called out. "You think you can wear it?" And laughter followed.
"Is it a ship?" Teyla asked, her voice pleading, hoping that she could get a straight answer out of the group.
"What she talking about, Mang?" a voice whispered not far from them. "That thing ain't gonna sail on the lake, is it?"
"Oh," Mang said softly. "I love the lake when the bright is gone. It's so nice at night. Is it supposed to be on the lake? 'Cause if it is, it's not in the right place."
"Not right at all," Dabbo confirmed.
"Can you just show us what you found?" Sheppard asked tiredly. "Just lead us there and we'll take care of it, okay?'
"Gettin' pushy again, ain't he?" Bebbil commented. "Well, come on then. Don't have all day."
And the mole creatures started to shuffle away in the blackness. Sheppard and Teyla slowly scrambled to their feet, and stood warily for a moment in the darkness. Teyla reached out one hand, trying to find the wall of the tunnel while she kept the other hand on Sheppard's shoulder.
"What's the delay?" Dabbo asked from a short distance away.
"They're from the bright," Mang reminded. They heard her paddle up next to them, and Teyla felt a warm, large hand encompass hers. "Come on, love. Let's find your big boxy thing and put things right."
And the group shuffled off into the darkness – Teyla trusting the mushroom shaped creature to lead her, as she kept a firm grasp of Sheppard's shoulder.
TBC
A/N: I have trained the leathery lizards to run across my back. I get a massage and the lizards get coffee as a reward. It's all good
A/N: MORE FEEDBACK. Come on... I deserve it. You have the time. What else could you possibly be doing?
