DISCLAIMER – Stargate: Atlantis is not my property. It belongs to MGM/UA. I am writing this story purely for the enjoyment of myself and others. I am not getting monetary compensation in any form.
RATING – The overall story rating is T
A/N – I stopped putting the spoiler warnings in, since there are no obvious ones in this story. So, thanks to all for bearing with me through that last chapter. The comments were helpful. I appreciate any feedback I get, and I take all suggestions under advisement.
There's some Czech in this chapter, but as always, I've provided a translation at the end.
Anything in «double-angle quotation marks» represents something written in Ancient.
All mistakes are mine, as I have no beta at this time.
The Song Of Silent Rivers
10. Shadow and Enlightenment
Shadow was tired. She was tired of sitting on cold, hard floors and she was tired of answering questions. The dark-haired woman Shadow had come to think of as the Leader had asked a lot of questions. Shadow had tried to tell the Leader everything she'd wanted to know, but some of the questions Shadow had not been able to answer. She could not explain how the devices in the Ancestors' hidden place worked, and she did not wish to tell about the death of her village, and she absolutely refused to tell how she had been able to conceal herself. Her treasure from the Ancestors was her secret. She would only share it with someone she trusted. Perhaps if the man from the river asked, she would tell him. She might tell the Healer, for he had been kind to her and had given her no reason to be afraid. Shadow's father had been a Healer. He had begun to teach Shadow the healing arts, and he'd taught her the language of the Ancestors. Shadow's father had been the wisest man in the village, and everyone had looked to him for guidance. Shadow wished she could seek his counsel now, but many seasons had passed since her father's death, and on this strange world with no forests she doubted she could even sense the presence of his spirit.
Shadow told the Leader that if the people of this world wanted to see the things in the Ancestors' hidden place, Shadow would take them there. That seemed to please the Leader, and she smiled in a way that made Shadow think of a forest cat sunning itself by the river. The Leader also seemed happy when Shadow told her about all the fruits and plants that grew in the forest. Shadow would show the strangers which ones were good to eat and which were good for making medicine. They could take some things back to their own strange village, if they wanted.
When Shadow thought she could not possibly answer another question, the Leader communicated something Shadow did not expect. The dark-haired woman smiled; not the forest cat smile, but a real, human smile. She lifted the writing instrument from where Shadow had placed it on the floor.
«Thank you, Shadow. You have been very helpful. Thank you also for saving the life of my friend.»
Shadow wanted to accept the Leader's thanks for what it was, but she did not trust the dark-haired woman. She remembered a story her father had told her, about a hunter who tricked his prey into trusting him before he killed it. Shadow did not know why she thought of the story now, but her instincts were still telling her to be careful.
«I wish for my life in return.» Shadow wrote.
She thought the Leader would be angry with her for writing that, but Shadow was further surprised when the Leader seemed confused by her words.
«Your life is yours.» the Leader told her. «No one will harm you here. This is Atlantis, City of the Ancestors.»
Shadow read the Leader's words several times. She was scarcely able to believe this strange place was the City of the Ancestors. She showed the words to the Healer, wanting him to assure her it was indeed true.
«Yes.» The Healer wrote. «True.»
Letting her caution flee away, Shadow threw her arms around the Healer and embraced him. She felt the vibration of his laughter through her whole body when he returned the embrace, and she was happier than she had been for many seasons. To think that the City of the Ancestors was real, and she was here this very moment was amazing to her. Her father had told her the Ancestors sent their great city to the bottom of the sea when they had lost their battle against the Wraith, ten thousand seasons ago. No one in Shadow's village had really believed the city would rise again, yet here it was.
Thinking about her village made Shadow sad, despite her joy in learning that the lost city of the Ancestors was real. Not for the first time, she wished she could see her father and her grandmother again. She wished she could watch the village poet caress his instrument by the light of the evening fire. One of the village elders had written down some of the poems for her, and she liked to imagine the pictures and stories in her head while she watched the poet with his instrument. She missed them all, even the cantankerous old man who used to chase her through the village with his stick when she stole the biggest fruits from his best tree.
Shadow rested her head against the Healer's shoulder and closed her eyes. She felt tears stinging her eyes. She didn't want to weep, not in the presence of the Leader, but she could not stop herself. She was ashamed of herself for weeping. She had lived for nineteen seasons and she should have been too old for such things.
She felt the Healer's hand on her head. He stroked her hair in a way that her father had used to do. In that instant, she knew the Healer did not judge her for her tears. Perhaps here, people were not looked down upon for falling short of the expectations of their village. Maybe, in this place, people were measured by qualities other than strength.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Hush now, love. Everything's all right."
Carson sat on the floor with Shadow half in his lap. He patted Shadow's hair while the lass cried against his shoulder. Her tears had been just as unexpected as her fierce hug had been, and the only explanation Carson could come up with was that the events of the past several hours had finally caught up with her. She was exhausted, that much was certain. He hadn't been keeping track of how many minutes had passed while Shadow and Elizabeth had been communicating with each other, but it seemed to him as if they'd been at it for quite a long time.
Carson had been concerned at first that Shadow would be too afraid of Elizabeth to carry on a sensible dialogue with her, but once Shadow had realized Elizabeth really meant her no harm, they'd seemed to get along fine. It was the mention of Atlantis that had set off Shadow's current emotional storm.
Elizabeth was still sitting on the floor, too. She watched Shadow with an expression of confusion and worry creasing her features. "I just told her where we are," Elizabeth said. "I thought she should know."
"I think she's overwhelmed. You must remember, she's been through a lot since yesterday," Carson said. "She's still getting used to the idea of not being on her homeworld. Who knows what her people believed about Atlantis and the Ancients? She might think she's walking on sacred ground."
"I'm hoping she'll tell us what she knows about the Ancients," Elizabeth said.
"Aye, and you're not the only one, but don't expect her to tell you any more today. The poor lass is completely worn out."
"Yes…yes, I can see that."
Carson offered Elizabeth what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "You did well, Elizabeth. You know, I have to confess I had my doubts, but you really did very well with her. I think she'll learn to trust you."
"I hope so," Elizabeth said. She looked away from Carson and Shadow, and appeared to become very interested in a random spot on the floor. When she finally spoke again, her voice was subdued. "Carson, there's one more thing I want to tell Shadow."
"What is it?" Carson asked.
"If I write it for her, will you make sure she sees it?"
"Of course. I'll be certain to tell her it's from you."
Elizabeth collected the notebook from where Shadow had dropped it. She carefully wrote her message, and placed the paper beside Carson on the floor. She climbed to her feet and deposited the pencil on the desk.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
"Think nothing of it," Carson said.
He watched Elizabeth walk out of his office. When she was gone, he looked at what she had written.
«I did not mean to frighten you. Please forgive me. I am sorry.»
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Radek awoke to the pleasant awareness of someone holding his hand. He'd been dreaming of Prague and his childhood, of walking in winter through the old city with his mittened fingers warm and snug in his cousin Dušana's grasp. In his dream he'd talked with his cousin about going to America. They made up stories to tell each other about what they would do when – not if – they got there. Radek said he wanted to see the Statue of Liberty. Dušana wanted to learn to ride a horse. They both agreed they wanted to see the part of America where it never snowed and fruit trees flourished in the middle of December. For the first moment after waking up, Radek was certain it was still his cousin who held his hand.
"Amerika is do téže míry jeden pohádka," he told the person he imagined was Dušana. "Skoro příliš nádherný až k domnívat se."
"Oh, you think so, do you?" The voice that spoke to him sounded amused, and definitely did not belong to his cousin. "If you think America is that wonderful, I'd love to hear what you think of Atlantis."
Radek opened his eyes to find Elizabeth Weir smiling at him. He felt his face grow warm when he realized he'd spoken the words aloud that he'd thought were only in his head. He offered Elizabeth a smile of his own, albeit a lopsided one. "Atlantis," he said, "is better than a fairytale, but I can't help dreaming of Earth sometimes."
"I think we all dream about Earth sometimes," said Elizabeth. "I didn't mean to wake you. I just came to see how you're feeling."
"Better," Radek said. "Not wonderful, but better. Maybe I should ask how you are feeling? You look tired."
"I'm a little tired. I've had a busy morning."
"Am I allowed to ask what you were doing?"
"Actually," said Elizabeth. "I had a very interesting conversation with a good friend of yours."
"You talked with Rodney? Yes, I can understand how it would tire you," Radek said. Almost every conversation he ever had with Rodney McKay made him feel mentally weary for one reason or another. "What did he say?"
To Radek's surprise, Elizabeth laughed. "I did speak with Rodney this morning, but he's not the friend I was referring to. I meant Shadow."
"She is remarkable," Radek said.
"Yes, she is. I was able to learn a lot from her about her homeworld. Apparently, there's some sort of Ancient structure near her village. She's offered to show it to us."
Radek had the feeling that he'd missed some vital bit of information while he'd been drifting in and out of sleep. The world he had visited with Colonel Sheppar and the others was an uninhabited world. Aside from Shadow, they had seen no signs of human life at all. They hadn't seen a single structure, and they certainly hadn't discovered any sort of settlement.
He frowned. "There is a village?"
"Shadow says there's one."
"What else did she say?"
"She knows which plants on her world are valuable in making medicines. Knowledge like that could be very useful to us, don't you think?"
"Perhaps Carson is best person to ask about that," Radek said. "We did not see a village when we were there, Elizabeth. Are you certain you understood?"
"She mentioned her village several times."
"Will you ask her to show you where her village is?"
"I want to discuss ii with the senior personnel and get their opinions, first," Elizabeth said, "but yes, I definitely think another team will be going back to M4X-382 to have a look at Shadow's village."
Inexplicably, Radek wished he could be included for the return mission to M4X-382. Of course, he understood he wouldn't be going. It was because of him that the original mission had failed in the first place. Still, some part of him wanted to go back there and complete the undertaking he'd set out to do. More than that, he wanted to find the village where the mysterious girl who called herself Shadow had come from. He wanted to meet her people, and he wanted to know how they managed to keep themselves so well-hidden. Perhaps they understood something about Ancient technology that the expedition from Earth did not. Radek was eager for any opportunity to learn. Sometimes his thirst for new knowledge even overrode his myriad fears, and he could be convinced the end result would be worth the risk.
If you go," he said to Elizabeth, "promise you will tell me all about it when you come back."
TBC
--------------------
Amerika
is do téže míry jeden pohádka – America
is like a fairytale
Skoro
příliš nádherný až k domnívat se
– Almost too wonderful to believe
