A/N: Hi and sorry it's taken so long to post this. I've been having internet connection problems which has been irritating to say the least. I've been going through fanfiction withdrawal. :)
Chapter 38 – A New Chapter!
After two days, Jack and Sam were sitting on a hill overlooking a valley in which there was a farming village. It was late in the afternoon and they had spent an hour observing the village and the surrounding area with their binoculars. There was no sign of Jaffa or Goa'uld presence anywhere. It was just a small, seemingly untouched town of simple people.
Jack spoke first, "Well, there goes my hope of finding a nice big space port to fly off this rock. Or even just someone advanced enough to challenge your mind for a bit while we wait for Danny and T to show up."
Sam had been thinking along a similar line. It's not that she wouldn't enjoy spending some time in what appeared to be a nice idyllic village, but a space port would have been nice. "At least we've found people."
They watched the village until twilight started making it hard to observe the people, then made their way back to where Rover was hiding. They had found a small opening in a hillside that opened into a small cave. It was big enough for the three of them to rest comfortably, while the opening that led to it was small enough where they all had to crawl a short distance to get inside. It was the perfect place for Rover to stay while they found out what kind of people were in the village. The opening was too small for an adult dragon to fit through, should one happen along, and also small enough where they didn't think an adult human would bother to enter while they were away. They just had to convince Rover to stay there while they went into town the next day. He was being rather stubborn that he needed to stay with them for their protection.
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"You can't come with us. It might be dangerous." Jack continued the argument with the dragon.
At this, Rover started to growl, deep in his throat. He crouched low, curling his upper lip to show a row of sharp teeth and extending his claws, scratching them on the floor in as menacing a stance as he could. After a moment, he snorted a small ball of fire towards Jack. He was far enough away that the flame dissipated before coming close to his friend. Sam realized that Rover was trying to look like a threat, but knowing him the way she did, all she could see was that he looked cute, kind of like a puppy that tries to threaten a fully grown dog by barking its squeaky, puppy bark at it. Jack got the point. Not quite successfully hiding his smirk, he continued. "I know, you can be dangerous too, but we don't know what these people are like or what kind of weapons they may have."
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"Sam and I have our weapons and we've fought through some pretty bad odds before. If need be, we should be able to take care of ourselves."
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It finally dawned on Jack that Rover had never seen their P-90's in action, he'd only seen the zat, if he was even paying attention when Sam used it against the one dragon slayer. He had been busy attacking the other slayer at the time.
"OK, you see this?" He held up his gun for Rover to see. "It probably doesn't look like much to you, but it is deadly... to people at least. Under the right circumstances, I could probably kill or disable everyone in that village with this if I had to. And Sam's an even better shot with hers."
Rover walked up and sniffed at the gun, then he tentatively licked it and shook his head at the taste. He looked back and forth between the gun, Sam and Jack, still not believing they would be adequately protected without him.
"Besides, we're human, like them, and a lot more apt to be accepted than you would be. I'm sorry to have to break this to you, but humans can be pretty ignorant and short-sighted at times."
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"They don't know any better. If all they know of dragons is stories told by people like that slayer, they won't know how great you are. There's a reason your mom told you not to come out this way."
Rover visibly sagged at the reminder. Caught between the warning and the desire to protect his friends, he sent one last glare towards Jack before picking up one of his rocks and walking over towards the cave opening to lay down.
Early the next morning, Jack and Sam set off towards the village. After another long discussion with their young charge, they had managed to make him agree to wait in hiding. They promised him they would mentally keep in touch and call him if they wound up in danger in any way. As they approached their destination they saw a man tending a field and walked up to him.
"Greetings friends. I do not think we've met before. I am Jonan. Welcome to Ixnia." The fair haired man smiled at them. His skin was deeply tanned and leathery from working in the fields for many years, but he had a twinkle in his eye to match his friendly greeting.
Jack nodded. "Hi, uh, greetings. Yeah, we're new to Icky... uh, to your town. I'm Jack, and this is my wife, Sam." At this Sam nodded and smiled at their new acquaintance. Jack continued. "We were hoping to find a place to stay, maybe find some work. How are things around here? Everything as nice as it looks?"
"Ah yes, there is always work to be done for people willing to put in a good day's labor. You should talk to Thalor. He has the largest farm and owns the fabric mill. He treats those that work for him fairly and should be able to provide a place to stay as well. If he doesn't have work for you, he will know someone who does."
"That sounds like a plan. We'll see if he can offer us anything." After speaking with Jonan for a few more moments, they found out they could find Thalor at his mill near the center of the village. They wished each other well and continued on their way, nodding and smiling at anyone they happened to pass along the way.
