Child of the Mind

By Ldynwaitin

Chapter Six

Making Friends

Once he heard Ying Lee shouting that something was happening to Daniel, Yong didn't hesitate. He flew out of the butcher shop. He saw Daniel on the ground, and the men in the market beating him.

Daniel flinched with each hit, he cried out, "I was not hurting him, I was not."

Reaching Daniel, Yong leaped in the air and kicked one of the men away. Fisting his hand, he slammed it into a man's back. Gasping in pain, the man stumbled away. Spinning around, he slammed the side of his hand into a man's side. The man clutched his side and backed off. Squatting he spun around, he slammed his leg into a fourth man, knocking him on the ground. The man scrambled away. Yong stood protectively in front of Daniel.

"No one touches him again!" Yong warned them.

The other men moved back, Yong's fighting skills were well known. Yong was breathing hard, he held both fists in the air. He stared at the men that beat Daniel. "You will stay away."

"He was hurting the boy, Yong," one of the men angrily shouted, as he nursed his back. "Guotin told you to watch him. He is dangerous."

"I do not believe it," Yong said, "Daniel would not hurt anyone. Where is this boy you said he hurt?"

The old man walked up with Mah. "He was squeezing him."

"Daniel did not hurt him," Ying Lee said in Daniel's defense. "He was helping him."

Mah was crying, Yong took the destressed boy by the shoulders. "Tell me, Mah. Was Daniel hurting you?"

Mah touched his throat. "I swallowed the ball. I could not breathe." He pointed to Daniel. "He got the ball out, then I could breathe again." Mah looked at Daniel. "He saved my life."

The men in the market slowly stepped back. Yong touched Daniel.

Daniel cringed, "Don't hurt me anymore. Please, don't hurt me," he cried. They all sadly looked at Daniel as they heard him crying like a hurt child.

Yong squatted in front of Daniel. "Daniel, it is me. You know I would never hurt you."

Daniel slowly looked up. Yong saw such hurt and anger in his expressive eyes. "I was trying to help, Mah," he explained. "Not hurt him. I helped him. Then they hurt me."

Ying Lee stepped up. It broke her heart to see him cry. "Daniel, you saved my brother." She made sure to say it loud enough for everyone to hear. "He would have died if it was not for you."

Daniel painfully stood up. He didn't like how everyone was staring at him. He bowed his head at Ying Lee. "He is a friend, I had to help him."

Daniel saw four men nursing their wounds. He pointed to the men. "Did you do that, Yong?"

"I made a promise, Daniel," Yong softly said. "I promised to protect you."

Daniel nodded his head, "Yes you did." He wiped the tears on his face. Smiling he said, "Then I am very thankful that I am your friend."

Yong happily smiled back. "Yes, Daniel, and I am yours."

One of the men in the market stepped up. "I am a healer. What did you do to get the ball out? I have never seen that done before."

Daniel shrugged his shoulders. "It is something I knew how to do. If you press the diaphragm." Daniel pointed to his stomach. "It helps push out enough air to get the ball out."

"Diaphragm," the healer said. He looked at Daniel with different eyes. "That is a word only a healer would know."

Once again, Yong saw an intelligence in Daniel's eyes. It was there a bit longer, but then it was gone. Daniel grinned widely, "I am happy you are better, Mah."

"I am much better, Daniel." Mah massaged his throat. He was never so frightened. He was unable to breathe. If it wasn't for Daniel, he would have died from a stupid game.

"When you can, blue-eyed giant," the healer said. "I would like you to teach me how you got the ball out."

Daniel gently smiled at the healer. "I am, Daniel. And I will tell you, when I feel better." He held his head, "Yong, I think my head is starting to hurt again. Can we go home?"

Yong smiled with pride. He said he wanted to go home, his home. He gently took Daniel's hand. "Come, Daniel. I will take you home."

Daniel looked at Mah. "Ying Lee said you are too old to play that game. I think you should stop."

Mah held the ball. He solemnly said, "I will not be playing that game anymore."

"Good," Daniel said, with a quick nod.

Yong decided to take Daniel back to his house. He would come back later for the meat. Halfway to his home, he heard someone call to him. The butcher ran to him with a basket.

"Gui," Yong said. "What is it you want?"

"This is your cut of the kill," Gui told Yong, as he handed him the basket. He whispered to him. "I put in something extra." He looked up at Daniel. "Thank your giant, for saving my boy." Mah and Ying Lee stood next to the butcher.

"You are very welcome, Gui," Daniel said. "You can call me, Daniel."

"Thank you, Daniel." Gui lovingly placed his hand on Mah's shoulder.

Yong nodded his thanks. He took Daniel back to his home. Zi was sitting on the porch. She smiled at first, then she saw how pained Daniel was walking. She ran to them.

"What happened, Daniel?" She gently touched his face. She saw blossoming bruises on his face and hands.

"Yong kept his promise, Zi. But a little late," he sighed. "I am glad I am his friend." He took her hands and softly said. "I am fine, but I think I will rest for a while. My head is hurting again."

He slowly walked into the house. "Yong, what happened?"

Yong stared at Daniel. "We had some confusion in the market. But in the end, Daniel made some new friends, and I think some of the villagers may not be afraid of him anymore." He showed her the basket. "It has a little extra, thanks to Daniel."

"What did he do?" she asked.

He put his arm on her shoulder. "I will tell you inside."

Cameron took the binoculars from Teal'c. They were taking turns using them. So far, they hadn't seen a sign of Daniel. Cleaning the lens, Cameron continued to look at the market. He slowly scanned the area. Sam saw him suddenly stiffen.

"Cam," Sam said. "What is it, what do you see?"

Cameron blinked his eyes. Looking back through the binoculars a large grin grew on his face. "Carter, I think I see maybe three."

"Daniel?" Sam said. She squinted her eyes and focused on the market. "Where is he?"

"He's in the center of the oriental bazaar. Some guy is leading him through the market. I never realized how small the people on this world are, Daniel looks like a giant next to them."

Sam could faintly make out a head bobbing over the villagers. She now knew it was Daniel.

"What is he doing, Cameron Mitchel?" Teal'c asked. "Does he look well?"

Cameron focused his binoculars to a higher resolution. He saw a fresh bandage around his head. Looking into Daniel's eyes, he shook his head.

"He looks good, but he still has that same puppy dog look in his eyes. The guy is leading him like a child. He's still not right."

He kept his focus on Daniel. He tried to explain to the others what he was seeing. "The man pulling him is talking to him. He walked into a house and left Daniel outside. Daniel is looking at some children playing some game with a ball. They're spitting it up in the air. Man, these kids have got to learn some better games. Well, well," Cameron said, with a growing smile. "Looks like some girl is smitten with our Daniel."

"I guess he hasn't lost that," Sam said.

Cameron saw Daniel and a girl in pig tails looking at the boys playing with the balls. "Wait, something is happening. Daniel is running to one of the boys. He's grabbing him. I think he's doing the Heimlich on him. Yeah, the kid spit out a ball. What the hell!" Cameron angrily shouted.

"What's happening, Cam?" Sam asked. She saw to the right of the market people gathering. She couldn't see Daniel's head anymore.

Cameron tightly gripped the binoculars. "The men in the market, they're beating him. I think they thought he was hurting the boy."

Cameron's anger grew as he saw Daniel attacked, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. "Wait," Cameron said. "The guy he was with, the girl got him. He's beating up the guys picking on Daniel. Go, ninja! That guy can fight like Bruce Lee. He got four of the men off Daniel."

Cameron focused on Daniel. He swallowed down a knot in his throat as he saw Daniel crying.

"Cam," Sam said. "Is he all right?"

"Yeah, Carter. He's, uh, fine. Bruce Lee is talking to Daniel. He's standing. I think the people realized that it was a mistake. They're all looking guilty. One of them is talking to Daniel." Cameron slowly closed his eyes with relief, "There it is, I see him smiling."

"Then he is fine," Teal'c stated.

"A bit bruised, but he's okay. Bruce is taking his hand and leading Daniel away."

Cameron brought his binoculars down. "Well that answered a lot of questions."

"Yes," Sam said. "We know he's alive, that he's inside that walled town, and he made a good friend."

"It also helped us cut down our time searching for Daniel," Cameron said. "Now we only have to search half the village." Cameron pointed to his left, "They went thataway."

Teal'c clutched his staff. "Then that is the way we will find Daniel Jackson."

Cameron looked up in the sky. "Sun will be setting soon. I think we should head out to that tree you saw, Carter. Let's go get our Daniel back."

They were all relieved. Daniel may not be healthy, but he was alive. And that was all that mattered.

It was dark, and Yong was ready to go to sleep. He wanted to check on Daniel first. He saw him sitting up in Junjie's room. A lit candle sat by his side. He was reading the scroll he bought for him. Yong saw his eyes begin to droop. His head slowly drop.

Yong gently moved Daniel to lay down. Daniel yawned, he sleepily said, "Thank you, Yong. For buying me the scroll."

"You are very welcome, Daniel, you really do love to read?"

Daniel nodded his head. "Yes," he softly said. "I think I did." He hugged the scroll. "When I see the words, it makes me so excited. The scroll tells the story of when Lord Yu came here. What happened to him?"

Yong had a second blanket with him. He covered Daniel with the blanket.

"He rarely came to our world, Daniel. Qi has ruled here long as anyone can remember."

"The flowers, Yǒngyuǎn," Daniel yawned. "I think it means, forever."

"Hush, Daniel. Sleep now. We will talk about the flowers tomorrow."

"Okay," Daniel sighed. Closing his eyes, he went to sleep.

Yong gently smiled at him. "Sleep, Daniel. Do not worry, Zi and I are here for you. Always." He blew the candle out. Standing, he quietly left the room.

Zi and Yong heard a banging on their door. Waking up, Yong looked out his window. He saw that the sun was just beginning to rise. The sky was painted a brilliant orange.

"Who do you think it is?" Zi asked Yong, as she pulled on a robe.

"I do not know."

Leaving their bedroom, they saw Daniel standing in front of Junjie's room. Rubbing his eyes, he said, "I heard a noise."

"Stay here, Daniel." Rushing to the door, Yong opened it. He was surprised to see two of Guotin's guards standing on his porch. One of them was Ru.

"Ru, why are you here?" Yong asked him.

"Two reasons, Yong," Ru said. "The first, someone said they saw strangers climbing down the walls last night. They were large, like your giant. Guotin thinks they may be his friends."

Yong looked back at Daniel. He saw him yawing and rubbing his eyes, he gently smiled at him.

Yong shook his head. "There is no one else here, only Daniel. What was the second reason you are here?"

Ru looked behind Yong. "Guotin told me to tell you that you need to bring the giant to the Lords home. Lord Qi and Zhong arrived late last night." He bowed his head. "I am sorry, Yong. We did not tell them, it was some of the other villagers that saw him. They know your Daniel is here. They want to see him."

Yong nervously bit his lip. He whispered, "Ru, I promised him that he would not be harmed. I do not know what Lord Qi will do to him." Ru stepped aside. Yong saw five men behind him. They each had Lord Qi's symbol on their foreheads. "I am sorry, Yong. But he must go."

With Lord Qi's guards here, Yong knew there was nothing he could do to stop them from taking Daniel. He slowly nodded his head. "I will go with him."

"And me," Zi said.

"No, Zi. You cannot come. I do not know what will happen."

"Yong," Zi said. "Daniel needs people with him that he trusts. I want to let Lord Qi know that there is nothing to fear from him." She looked at Ru, "We need to dress first. We will all go with him."

Yong and Zi quickly dressed. Coming out of their bedroom they saw Daniel talking to Ru.

"Yong," Daniel called out. "Ru said that he grew up with you. He said he beat you at spit ball all the time."

Yong squinted one eye, "I think Ru remembers it differently from me."

Daniel laughed. "Did you lie, Ru?"

Ru started looking uncomfortable. From the few minutes he spoke to Daniel, he realized that this giant was nothing to be feared. "Yes, Daniel. I may have lied a little."

Yong took in a deep breath. "Daniel, Lord Qi is here. He wants to see you."

"Oh," was all Daniel said. His head bowed down, he nervously began scratching his thumb. "I remember what you said to Guotin. You said you were afraid what he would do to me." He looked up, Yong saw Daniel's eyes shine with unshed tears.

Yong gently wiped the tears from his eyes. "Daniel, do not fear. Zi and I will go with you. Do not worry, I have a good feeling."

Daniel brightly smiled, "Then I will be fine."

"First, let me see your head wound," Zi said. She removed the bandage. "I see that it has healed very well." There was not even the hint of a scar left. She finger-brushed his hair. "You look very handsome now." Daniel proudly smiled.

Yong nodded his head, "Let us go then."

They walked onto the porch. Throwing worried glances, Zi and Yong followed Ru. Daniel walked between them.

As they walked through the waking village, they did not see the three sets of eyes staring at them from behind a house.

"Cameron Mitchell," Teal'c whispered. "The men with Daniel Jackson, they look like Jaffa."

"I know," Cam said. "But Bruce Lee is with them. That may be a good thing." Cameron looked around. "This place is starting to wake up. We won't be able to get out in time."

Sam pointed to Yong's house. "They all left. We can wait inside for them to return."

"Good idea, Carter," Cameron said. Quietly, they moved behind Yong's house.