What?!

By Ldynwaitin

Chapter One

Making new friends

Colonel Jack O'Neill took off his hat and wiped the sweat from its band. Placing it back on, he said, "Daniel, tell me again why we came to this sweatbox to uncover that giant sweatbox?"

They were surrounded by a thick growth of Jungle. Daniel Jackson was currently cutting away vines that grew on the wall of a large black box.

Daniel's head dropped. Putting on a forced grin, he said, "For the fourth time, Jack. I saw it in a dream."

Jack looked around. "Why wasn't the dream about a place with an endless beach and central air?"

Daniel continued cutting vines. Jack hadn't stop complaining from the moment their boots touched the ground. "Sorry, Jack, hopefully the next one."

"Is this going to be a nasty side effect of your ascending? Because I think they should have put on a warning label."

Daniel frowned. "Not sure, Jack. Look, as you can see, this dream came true. If I hadn't had that dream, we never would have found this place."

"That's right, sir." Major Samantha Carter said. "It wasn't listed in the addresses we have in our database. Our M.A.L.P. found no DHD at the stargate. That's why we needed to bring our own."

Daniel pulled down a cut vine. "It's a mystery, Jack. It appears this box has only been here for several hundred years. But we've found glyphs on the box from the Aztec and Mayan culture that dates back thousands of years. We've uncovered symbols of," Daniel pointed to the carved pictograms. "Itzamna, Mayan god of heavens. Quetzalcoatl, feathered serpent, an Aztec and Mayan god, and Tonatiuh Aztec sun god."

"Quest a coat?," Jack said. "Wasn't that the name of that smokey guy that Nick saw? Where we found that giant pyramid and you did a great impression of the invisible man, I might add, excellent."

"Ah, that was what he said he was. Anyway, I'm not sure yet what this box has in connection to the pyramid. If any."

Daniel knocked his knuckles on the box. "We're also here because of this. It's a large box made from an extremely dense metal."

"Yes, sir," Carter said. "We had a hard time scraping a sample. We still haven't been able to analyze its molecular structure."

"Ah, so it's a mystery in a mystery. Things that makes those eggheads at home go crazy. Love that."

"Happy you're happy, sir," Carter said, with a smile.

Daniel pointed to a large tree that had fallen on the box, a hairline crack went down the box. "This fell years ago. The crack is too small for us to see what's inside. I'm hoping I can decipher the glyphs and find out before we try and crack it open."

Jack squinted his eyes, as he looked up. "Daniel, you've been at it for hours. Tony is about to set here soon."

Daniel pulled down another vine. "Tonatiuh," he grunted.

"Yeah, him too. We should be getting back to camp."

Daniel continued to work on cutting more vines from the box. "I'll be there, Jack. Almost done getting the vines off this section."

Jack cupped the brim of his hat. "Well if you'll excuse me, I'm going to camp and take a well needed shower."

Daniel waved his machete, "Don't use up all the hot water."

"Oh, was that a joke? Sorry, it's too hot to laugh. Carter, are you coming?"

"Yes, sir. I know sweating is supposed to be good for your complexion, but I think I'm well past done."

As they left, Teal'c looked at Daniel with concern. "Daniel Jackson, do you wish for me to stay with you?"

"You can go, Teal'c. I won't be long."

"Then keep your gun ready, just in case. We still have not explored the entire planet. There may be predators that we are unaware of."

Daniel patted the gun at his hip. "I'll keep an eye out." Once Teal'c left, Daniel sighed with relief. "Finally, I can get something done."

Pulling off the last vine, he took a step back. Taking several gulps of water, he stared at the glyphs etched into the metal box. He couldn't believe what he was looking at, he saw symbols of all the major gods from the Aztec and Mayan culture. The vines he just pulled off exposed writing, this was what he was looking for.

He poured his water over the writing and cleaned off dirt collected in the carvings. He stared at the carved words. Taking out his recorder he pressed a button. "Okay, the writing now exposed on the box appears to be of Mayan origin. But what is it doing here, on a planet millions of lightyears from earth?" He studied the ancient writing.

"First words are, Hach-K'as xtaabay. Great, that means dangerous demon. Like I never heard that before." He went on to the next line. "Ba'te'el mukik, trouble entombed. Trouble, trouble, or is it dilemma?"

Daniel moved to the last line. "Ma'-no-he' bik. Well I hoped not to see this, do not open up. Yes, I will not open, said an archeologist, never. So, Dangerous demon, trouble or dilemma entombed, do not open. Fantastic!"

He turned off his recorder. Taking out one of his protein bars, he took a big bite. As he started eating it, he heard what sounded like a whimper, it seemed to come from behind the box. Grabbing his machete, he quickly hacked his way into the jungle. Minutes later he found what made the sound.

He saw a small creature entangled in a thick growth of vines. They had encountered this vine before, Sam got caught up in one when they first came here. If not for Teal'c's quick reflexes she would have been pulled into the vines center, where a giant red flower would have eaten her alive. Jack immediately designated it, Audrey3.

This poor creature was whimpering and wailing as he saw the vine dragging it to a bright red flower.

One of the vines suddenly lashed out and snaked around his right hand. He hissed, as sharp thorns cut into his palm. He quickly cut the vine wrapped around his hand. He was shocked to hear it screeching. Shaking the vine off, he stepped forward. Pulling his gun out he shot at the vine that was wrapped around the creature. The vine screamed as the bullets cut into it. Once the creature was released, it jumped into the air.

"Here, come here," Daniel shouted. He motioned for the creature to come to him. He led it away from the carnivorous vines. Daniel stop running, once he reached the box. Spinning around, he was happy to see the creature sitting in front of him, it was panting hard.

"Daniel, we heard shots. You okay?" Jack said on his walkie-talkie.

"I'm fine, Jack. Just shooting at an Audrey3."

"When are you coming to camp?"

"I promise I'll be there before Tony sets."

Tucking his walkie talkie away, he tried to get a closer look at the creature he saved. It wasn't a large creature. About the size of a small cat. It had large green eyes, hanging ears, a long neck and legs, but a stubby body. Its skin was purple with large black spots. Jack designated him, Dino.

"Are you all right, little fella? I hope you aren't hostile," he softly said, as he slowly walked up to the creature. It sat up and rested on its long tail. Daniel stopped and smiled; the creature looked like it was grinning. He could see a row of sharp teeth.

"Are you friendly?" Daniel slowly stuck out his hand'

At first the creature hesitated. It glanced back at the vines. "Don't worry, you're safe here. I won't let it hurt you." The creature walked up to Daniel.

Dino placed his head on his fingers. Daniel smiled as it sniffed his hand. Its tongue stuck out and licked the thorn punctures on his palm. He was surprised to find the sting in his palm died down. Sitting down, Dino silently stared at Daniel.

Daniel looked at the punctures, as he sat cross legged on the ground. He hoped its saliva didn't have anything in it that could hurt him. Suddenly the creature ran up to him. It curled up in his legs. Cautiously he petted it. The creature made a sound that was a cross between a hiss and a purr.

Daniel searched in the surrounding Jungle. "You alone, Dino?" The creature sniffed the hand that held the protein bar. He showed the bar to him. It quickly took a bite. It made cooing sounds, as it ate the bar.

"I have to tell whoever made these bars, that aliens love them." Daniel was about to give the creature another bite, when it suddenly jumped out of his lap and hopped into the jungle.

Daniel stood up. "Stay away from Audrey3!" he shouted.

Walking back to the metal box, he packed his equipment in his backpack. Taking one last look for the creature, he began to make his way back to camp.

He reached camp just as the sun was going down. Jack was walking to his tent, holding a wet towel. "Ah, nothing like a cool shower. And that was nothing like a cool shower."

Daniel went to a trunk where they kept the medical equipment. As he opened the trunk, he checked the puncture marks on his hand. He dropped the lid when he saw they were gone.

"What's wrong, Daniel?" Sam asked him.

"Audrey3's thorns got me in my hand. But they seemed to have healed."

He examined it carefully. There was nothing there to indicate he even hurt himself. "That's funny. It couldn't have healed that fast, maybe?"

"Maybe what, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c said.

"I saw Dino."

"We've all seen him," Jack said.

"Audrey3 was going to make him her next meal."

"The shots," Jack threw him a stern look. "Don't tell me."

"I saved him, he even let me touch him."

Jack shook his head, "Daniel, you just cannot not touch."

"I couldn't let Audrey eat him, Jack."

"Just don't tell me if we see him at SGC, that he followed you home."

Daniel looked at his palm. "When he saw my wound, he licked it. Do you think he healed it?"

Sam shrugged her shoulders. "Anything is possible. Perhaps this creature has the ability to heal its wounds."

Jack lingered in the entrance to his tent. "Let's hope you don't wake up in the morning looking like Barney."

"Thanks, Jack, I'm going to sleep well with that on my mind."

"Anytime, Daniel. See your purple hide in the morning."

Daniel tried not to think about it as he went to sleep that night. He hoped that Dino's saliva only healed the wound.

The next morning Daniel was eager to get back to the site. Holding his hand up, he was relieved to find it wasn't purple or deformed, just his normal hand. He quickly dressed. Exiting the tent, he saw that the sun had not risen yet. The others were still asleep. Except for Teal'c, he rarely slept.

Daniel quickly fixed himself a cup of coffee. "Teal'c," he said between gulps. "When Jack gets up, tell him I'm going to the site. I'm eager to try and figure out what those carvings are doing here."

"Do you wish me to go with, Daniel Jackson?"

"No, I'll be fine. And don't worry," he patted his gun. "I'll be careful."

He rushed down the small path that led to the site. He didn't tell Teal'c, but he really wanted to get there early to see if Dino would be there. Coming to the site, he searched around the area.

"Hey little fella, you here?"

He grinned when he heard the creature cooing. He was sitting on a pile of cut vines. Daniel took out a small protein bar. "Brought you breakfast."

He walked up to the creature. Stopping in front of it, he held the bar out. It quickly took a nibble of the bar. Daniel waited for it to take another bite. It opened his mouth and took a bite, but this time it nipped one of his fingers. Daniel pulled his hand back and shook out the sting.

"That hurt," he said.

"Sorry," he heard someone say.

Daniel spun around. "Who said that?"

There was no one else here, only Dino. Looking at the creature, he saw it smiling at him. Sitting up, he heard the same voice say, "Me."

Daniel blinked his eyes and shook his head. "Wait a minute, did you just say something? If you did, wiggle your ears."

"Holy buckets!" Daniel shouted. He nearly jumped out of his skin, when he saw Dino wiggle his ears.

"This is fun." Daniel heard in his head. "I can wiggle this too."

He was about to turn around, when Daniel said, "No, that's all right." Sitting down, it stared at Daniel. "I can hear you inside my head."

"Your language was easy to learn. Holy buckets! I like that."

"I'm sorry, I never thought you were intelligent. My name is Daniel Jackson, we come from a planet called Earth. We're explorers."

The creature sat up. "Hello, Daniel Jackson of Earth. I am, Coyotl, I'm an explorer too."

Daniel warmly smiled. "Call me, Daniel. Coyotl, we've been on the planet for days. Why didn't you try to talk to us before?"

Coyotl looked back, "The others, I don't like them. Jack, he throws things at me. The one you call Teal'c, he's always frowning, so serious, no fun at all. But you, you saved me from being eaten."

"Sam's not bad," Daniel said in defense.

"No, but I like you. You have curious eyes. I like that. I am curious too, like you."

"Are you alone? Are there others like you? Do you know anything about this box?"

Coyotl walked closer to Daniel. "So curious." He looked up at Daniel, "So curious to learn all things. Like me."

"Daniel, where are you?" Daniel heard Jack say from his walkie talkie.

He punched the button on his walkie talkie. "I'm at the site, Jack."

"Well get your butt back here pronto. Carter said she just received some readings of a hell of a storm headed our way. We're packing up and going back home until it passes."

"Okay, Jack. I'm on my way."

"Are you going away, Daniel?" Coyotl asked him.

"Yes, there's a bad storm coming, but I promise I'll be back. We can continue our conversation then. I'm anxious to learn more about you." He just couldn't believe that this small creature was so intelligent.

"I want to know more about you too," Coyotl said. "Take me with you. I don't like storms."

Daniel pursed his lips. Jack warned him about this. "I'm sorry, Coyotl, but I can't. Jack would kill me."

"I don't want you to die. Are you taking that with you?" He looked at a small chest.

"No, not this time."

Coyotl's eyes sparkled, as he said, "Open the chest."

Daniel blinked his eyes. Walking to the chest he opened it, Coyotl crawled inside. "You need to bring this chest back for studying. Let no one stop you."

Daniel nodded his head, as he closed the chest. He picked it up and carried it back to camp.