Scarce

Cheryl W.

Author's Note: You guys rock! Thanks for the wonderful reviews and encouragement for this story's start!

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Chapter 2: Fatal Folklore

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For carrying seventy pounds of gear and not being a beefy guy, the Colonel could run like a freaking cheetah. Evan was having trouble keeping him in sight when the Colonel veered off to the east after another scream came. But the scream ended in that too familiar abrupt way that had him and Sheppard sliding to a cautious stop. The urgency was gone. The man was dead. They both knew that.

Predicting that they were close to where the man was, Sheppard shucked off his two packs, advanced forward silently, Evan at his back. When John crouched down behind a tree trunk, Evan broke off to his left and mirrored Sheppard's stance behind his own tree. The corpse was 30 yards ahead, sprawled on the ground like a ragdoll, head and one leg at an unnatural angle. Scanning the surrounding area, there was no sign of the man's attacker but John had his suspicions it had big teeth and had done some beastly roaring earlier.

Not really wanting to be the star in another Pegasus creature feature, John took more time than he wanted to waiting, straining his ears to hear anything moving in the forest around them. Nothing kicked up his spidey senses, well except for the torn apart man in the forest flooring. Though there was nothing he could do for the man, John didn't believe in letting the body there to be ravaged by the local wildlife, more of the local wildlife. Not to mention, he wanted to get a look at the man's injuries, know what they were dealing with, because if the beast hadn't gotten his breakfast fill with this guy, it might be eyeing them up for their elevenses meal.

Signaling Lorne to circle around east, John went west, came across a swath of over head broken tree limbs and brushes and turned up ground. Not to mention the paw prints stamped in blood, clearly the exit route for the beast. Standing up from his inspection of the prints, John had to stand on his tip toes to touch the broken section of the tree branch. Doing the calculations in his head wasn't reassuring. Regardless if the beast was like Bigfoot on two legs or down on all four paws, his head must reach the eight foot range. So not good.

Tapping his radio, he called to Lorne, "Major, I found the beast's exit trail on the west side."

Lorne's response was instantaneous, "I have a trail over here too. How do you know it left that direction?"

"Bloody paw prints and…" John bent down, poked something with his gun barrel and fought down being sick as he realized the bloody stump was a hand, "…Body parts."

"Should I come to you?" Lorne asked, standing up, already estimating the Colonel's location while instinctively relinquishing control of the situation to his leader.

"No," Sheppard grimly said, no reason to pursue the beast, it had already done its damage. "Meet me at the body."

"Will do, Sir."

A few minutes later, Lorne and Sheppard were crouched down by the corpse. It was a gruesome sight even for the hardened warriors to take in. The beast had not used its teeth or its claws sparingly. It was amazing the man had lasted long enough to scream not just once but twice. But as John used his gun barrel to lift the man's ravaged shirt, took in the man's shredded chest, he knew the man was dead the second the beast attacked. Every strike was a fatal wound. But what was maybe more troubling was the fact that the beast had abandoned its prey, had maybe just killed for pleasure, not survival. For the man's only weapon lay by his side, a sword, not even christened with the beast's blood. The man apparently wasn't much of a threat to the beast, so it wasn't fear that had provoked the attack.

"Do you recognize him from one of your visits here?" John asked of Evan as he reverently reached out and turned the man's face toward the Major so he could attempt to make an ID from the man's slashed and bloody features.

"Hard to tell…he might be one of the men I met," Lorne acknowledged. "Maybe one of their farmers."

John was about to discuss how to handle the body when noise from the north had he and Evan stilling before darting off to the east to hunker down in the vegetation. As the noise grew closer, they could identify movement through the forest and then two voices, engaged in low hisses of alarm. A moment later, two men broke from the foliage and staggered to a stop at the sight of the dead man. One man, older with grey hair, cursed and the other young man stumbled back a few steps from the corpse.

"They are villagers I know, sir," Lorne whispered to Sheppard, letting his CO decide their course of action.

Sheppard nodded grimly, before he called out, "I'm here with Major Lorne from Atlantis. We're coming out." Then he stood up, kept his gun in hand but lowered it harmlessly to his side as did Lorne who flanked him. The two village men were turned to them too stunned to speak at the events surrounding them. Approaching the two men, John offered gently, "I am sorry for your loss. We got here too late to help him."

"I…He wasn't….they…" the younger blond haired man stammered, eyes purposefully tracking to the woods and not the body at his feet. The older man didn't respond to them, simply crouched down by the corpse but did not reach out to the fallen man, though by his expression, John knew he knew the man well and felt the sorrow greatly.

When the older man spoke, John didn't think it was to them, more to himself, heard the recriminations in the tone. "They aren't supposed to be here …not so soon in the season. It's not…time, we couldn't know…Damn it, Seisen." Then the man bowed his head a moment, seemed to gather himself together then he stood, turned to face John and Evan. "The beasts usually don't travel our lands when the weather is warm."

"So more than one beast did this?" because John had heard the plural in the man's description.

But the man gave a negative shake of his head. "No, it's the work of one. If the pride had all attacked…" here he swallowed, looked again to his fallen friend, "they would have dragged the body back to their den."

"We'll help you get this body back to your village," Sheppard offered, wasn't prepared for both men's eyes to fly to him in panic.

"NO! It must not be moved!" the younger man exclaimed, his fear palpable, slashing through his sorrow.

Sensing he was stepping on yet another Pegasus custom, John backpedaled, "Sorry, we …I " he amended his pronoun, no use in dragging Lorne into his faux pas, "I meant no disrespect to your customs of burial."

It was the older man who replied. "We do not bury those the creatures have marked. We must leave Seisen here…as tribute."

Sheppard tried to school his features but some of these customs were abhorred to him. "Tribute? Do you think…I mean do the beasts only kill one person a season? Does that…do they…." How did you ask some backwater natives if they thought they could throw a guy to a beast munch on and it would go away thinking they paid their penance for the season?!

But the older man's answer was grim. "They kill as many as cross their paths."

"But you…seek to…honor the beast?" John tried his best to not sound disrespectful, like he thought they weren't off their rockers.

The villager spat in the ground. "Honor?! No, I would kill them to the last. You do not know…" The man stopped himself, like he almost divulged a tribal secret.

Hoping his prior connection to the two men got him somewhere, Lorne spoke for the first time. "What is it we do not know, Rikus? We are only trying to help you. If we are to be allies, it does not have to be only against the wraith."

Still, Rikus, the older man, didn't speak, the younger man, Ulon did, however. "If we move the body, they will follow it. If we…bury it, they will find it and dig it up. If we get the beast's scent on us from touching the body…they will track us as their prey and kill us and everyone around us."

"Oh great," John mumbled rubbing his left hand on his jacket because yes, he had touched the body. And no, McKay wasn't there toting some hand sanitizer he could borrow.

Evan didn't miss John's action, internally chastised 'you just had to touch it, sir,' more worry there than exasperation. Because John had turned the corpse's head so he could ID it, so he didn't have to touch it. Damn the man and his idealist notion to protect everyone, even those who were supposed to protect him because that was Evan's job, no, his honor, to protect the Colonel's life above his own. 'Yeah, bang up job, blindly leading him into a creature feature, stand there and let him get some beast's scent on him meaning he was chum in the water…forest, for these things. Marvelous, Evan, really outstanding work so far.'

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Since Beckett was absolutely no help, McKay sought out his other teammates to see if they knew Sheppard's location. Which they disturbingly didn't. Not a one of them had seen John that morning, not Ronon on their usual run and not Teyla at their practice and not Rodney at breakfast. So now they sat at their usual lunch table brain storming.

"How about that balcony he likes to go to and thinks we don't know about it?" Rodney suggested but Ronon was shaking his head already.

"Checked before my run, he wasn't there."

Teyla clasped her hands on the table top. "And I checked with Dr. Weir. She tried contacting him on his radio but got no answer."

Rodney perked up with a new idea. "How about joyriding in a jumper? He does that sometimes when he needs to think."

But Ronon shot that suggestion down too. "Nope. Only jumper leaving today was for a supply deliver mission."

"Then where can he be? Rodney did you try his locator?" Teyla asked of the scientist.

"Course I did. Would I be wasting my time worrying if I could locate him?!" Then realizing the sharpness of his tone by Teyla's upset expression, he said with regret and worry, "Sorry, just…where is he at?"

Teyla nodded her understanding. "I wanted to talk to him…tell him I didn't condemn him for his actions against Kolya."

Ronon shot her a sharp look that brought her up short. "Really? That was how you were going to discuss it with him? Say "his actions" instead of saying him killing Kolya? Seems good you couldn't find him to convince him of something you can't even convince yourself of. Makes me understand why Sheppard doesn't want to be found."

Stunned by Ronon's displeasure with her and her planned words to John, Teyla started to speak, "Ronon I didn't mean…" but Elizabeth showed up at their table, a triumphant look on her face.

"Mystery solved of why he's not answering his comm. In all the commotion I didn't bother to look at my calendar," she stated with a smile, as if that explained everything.

"And what? It's the official 'John Sheppard goes missing' holiday…because that seriously comes around more than once a year. Like bi-monthly," McKay quipped earning him a glare from Elizabeth causing him to shut up.

Elizabeth drawled out her words, "John officially asked for vacation on this day." And she smiled in relief but her explanation seemed to cause Sheppard's team to tense up, not relax like she thought they would. "He made the request a month back but you know how hectic things are here, neither of us put much stock in him actually getting to be on Atlantis that day and getting the day off."

"So he didn't…ask yesterday …or this morning for the day off?" Rodney asked, wanted reassurances that Sheppard's absence had nothing to do with yesterday's happening or words Rodney might have said in, you know, anger and worry and panic to his team leader.

Sensing there was something going on with the team that she didn't know about, Elizabeth eyed the three people who had panicked at John's absence of only two hours, here on Atlantis, without any known threats hanging over the city or John. "Ok, all three of you, the conference room. Now," she barked then turned and left the mess hall.

Sharing looks like they were getting called to the principal's office, the teammates got up and reluctantly followed Dr. Weir's lead. A few minutes later as they took seats in the assigned room, it felt wrong that Sheppard wasn't there. That the doors closed and it was just them and Elizabeth. A tingling of dread coursed down Teyla's spine as a random fear popped into her head that this could be their future. Them missing John's presence.

Staring down her subordinates, Elizabeth demanded, "Ok, what wasn't in your report about your mission that I need to know about."

"Just boring details, nothing command would care about," Rodney mitigated, really didn't want to have to report verbatim what he had said to Sheppard.

"Well command might not care but apparently I should," Elizabeth shot back. "Is there a reason why all three of you were worried when John wasn't around this morning? And for that mattered, why didn't he mention his day off to any of you?"

Sighing, Teyla knew it was best to explain things to Elizabeth, that she would not hold the Colonel at fault for whatever reactions each of them expressed yesterday to John. "We expressed our ….disquiet at John's actions yesterday."

Elizabeth stilled, it was the first time any of John's team spoke ill of him. "Disquiet?" she repeated her voice a dangerous edge to it as she trolled for more answers before she reamed them out for insubordination or disloyalty or both.

"She didn't approve of Sheppard killing Kolya, thought we should just let him go on his way," Ronon tersely accused. "Give him yet another chance to kill Sheppard at a later date."

Turning blazing eyes onto her teammate, Teyla growled, "That is not what I meant or intended by my words to John and you know that, Ronon."

"Sure sounded like your intent to me…and to Sheppard too by the way he chose to not tell you he was not going to be around today," Ronon shot back.

"He didn't tell you either, which I assume is because you belittled his honorable choice to give Kolya a fair fight," Teyla volleyed to Ronon.

Ronon's fist pounded the table as he sat up, eyes searing into Teyla's. "Damn right I didn't like it! He could have died…trying to be….honorable!" spitting out the last word like it was a curse.

Not to be left out, Rodney pointed out caustically, "You're both forgetting that before his O.K. Corral impersonation of Wyatt Earp he stood there and let Kolya's men shoot like 100 bullets at him. With a personal shield that he knew had to be low on juice after the whole dynamite thing. And it was, flickered out just as the last bullet bounced off him then Kolya's men were reloading and he was just standing there like a cardboard target practice, this time totally vulnerable."

"Why am I just hearing about all of this now?!" Elizabeth demanded.

But Rodney looked at her with true innocence. "It was in our reports."

"No, no it wasn't," Elizabeth denied, certain she'd remember these details.

Rodney helpfully gave her a recap of the report. "Yeah, we all reported we were captured, Kolya used us as bait to get Sheppard there, Sheppard used Lucius' personal shield to face off with Kolya, Kolya and Sheppard went for their guns at the same time, Sheppard was faster and oh yeah, the townspeople rallied around Kolya and his men with pitchforks and brooms and some guns. See it was all in there."

Elizabeth was appalled at their idea of full disclosure. "Please tell me this isn't how you report all your missions?!"

"What? All the facts are in there, same as this time," Ronon stated, not seeing a problem with their reports this time or any of the times before. After all, they just followed Sheppard's lead on the narrative.

Pulling her chair up closer to the table, Elizabeth pinned Rodney, Ronon and Tyla with her no nonsense penetrating look. "Ok, so let me get this straight. You all felt John was reckless with his own well being and expressed this displeasure to John."

"Not in so many words," McKay tried to deny but at Ronon's raise eyebrow at his deflection, he confessed, "Ok, yes. But like you heard, we all played a part in it." Ronon nor Teyla spoke to defend themselves.

In silence contemplation, Elizabeth mauled over the situation. "And each of you thought John was avoiding you today on purpose? That your …disagreement… was enough to fracture your relationship with John?"

"Fracture isn't the right word, maybe put a strain on is more accurate," Rodney again tried to facilitate a softer version of events.

"It's true, I wasn't there, granted, but I don't doubt seeing John play gunslinger was horrible to watch…" As Rodney opened his mouth, Elizabeth added just for him, "As was him using the personal shield against greater odds when its power strength was in question." That seemed to mollify Rodney who clamped his mouth shut while Teyla solemnly nodded her head and Ronon simply leaned back further in his chair, eyeing her up silently which she took as the Satedan's version of agreement. "So I'm not going to reprimand any of you for expressing your displeasure for Colonel Sheppard's recklessness as I believe each came from a place of genuine concern." She raised her finger when Rodney was about to interrupt her again. "But I need to know if you can get past this because John…he's not likely to change. He takes risks and makes personal sacrifices and while we don't always like that...we have to respect it…respect him. If any of you feel you can't accept this, it's no disgrace if you wanted placed on a different offworld team."

That suggestion took the air right out of the room.

At Elizabeth's suggestion, the din of outrages voices was loud and instantaneous.

McKay's voice was nearly shrill in his incense. "Don't be ludicrous! I never said I wanted off his team. You know how many times I've saved his butt?! Without me there who knows what trouble he'd get in and couldn't get out of!"

Ronon's response was a threatening litany of words. "You wouldn't take me off his team. You do that and there's no reason for me to stay on Atlantis."

Teyla tried to be diplomatic, as usual but even her tone was tinged with effrontery that Elizabeth had suggestion what she had. "Dr. Weir, all of us have the highest respect for John. I personally would never consider transferring to another team."

Elizabeth had to resort to a two fingered whistle to regain control of the room. When silence fell at the unexpected noise, she fell back onto her diplomatic pose. "Ok, now that we have cleared that up…" her eyes swept the three persons under her glaze meaningfully, "have a good day." And she got up,, headed for the door, only allowing the smile to emerge on her face when her back was to John's very loyal teammates.

"Wait! You played us!" Rodney caught on first. "You were never serious about taking us off his team."

Devilish smile unhidden, Elizabeth turned around, truthfully answered, "Nope," then made her exit for real.

"Ok, well.."Rodney announced as he stood up and Ronon was clamoring to his feet as well. But Teyla remained seated, spoke before her teammates left.

"I know I stopped John from attacking Kolya in the village when Kolya first arrived but that did not mean I didn't wish the man dead," and there was hatred in her tone, backing up the emotion of her words that had both Rodney and Ronon stilling, eyes holding hers, seemingly waiting for to explain her conflicting actions. "Yes, it was about collateral damage but it was also about protecting John from himself. I did not want him heaping guilt on himself for anyone else being hurt in the village should we engage Kolya and his men. But I in no way wanted John to think he needed to give Kolya a "fair fight", to give that …that man another chance to hurt or even kill John." Then her voice turned reproachful and shamed. "I blame myself for John's actions…that he could have been killed trying to maybe "earn" or "keep" my respect. It makes me unwell."

"Our respect," Ronon corrected quietly, "he did it to keep our respect." Because Ronon had seen the look in Sheppard's eyes after they had rescued him from Kolya's sick Wraith feeding game, the shame. Like Sheppard had thought he had done something dishonorable by reacting to immeasurable agony at the Wraith's hand, by being seen by his friends and Atlantis staff in such agony.

"Respect which he never lost, the idiot," Rodney grumbled.

Eyeing her two friends, Teyla hesitantly asked, "Are we…ok?" because she had sensed it wasn't just John who had been keeping his distance from her, that Rodney and Ronon had too because of her actions on the planet.

Ronon nodded. "Yeah, we were all a little messed up after witnessing Sheppard's actions." Knew it had been a few hours with that gunfight planning in his head until sleep came, until he convinced himself Kolya had lost, John was unharmed, that whatever different scenario his mind kept coming up with when he closed his eyes, it wasn't the truth.

"Messed up as in never want to watch Tombstone again, then yes, I agree," Rodney said, he too had had the day's events rerunning in his head the night before on a merciless loop, and never any showing ending benignly with Sheppard unscathed. Maybe that was why he was so keyed up not being able to find Sheppard this morning, wanted to latch eyes onto his friend to make all the nightmares fade away into lies.

Glad she was again on good terms at least with two of her teammates, Teyla stood but then posed to them, "You do realize we still have no idea where John is."

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It rankled Sheppard to leave a man behind, had not been his code, ever, except here in Pegasus it had become a painful reality, that the dead and doomed had to be abandoned so others did not die. Still, it seemed merely superstition that was fueling the villagers' practice of not properly burying their dead. And that wasn't setting well with him. "These beast aren't …like invisible, maybe a manifest of your fears?" he asked half in jest because after the whole sanctuary six months fighting a similar beast, the question seem logical.

Rikus, however, seemed highly offended by it. Pointing at Seisen's ravaged body, he snarled, "Does this look like our imagination?!"

"No, course not…just had to be sure," Sheppard apologized, sort of, because he had gotten pretty torn up by his invisible beast but he didn't mention that. Noted that his question earned him 'really sir, aren't you adding insult to injury' from Lorne before his second in command tried to restore decorum back into the situation.

"Can you describe the beasts, give us an idea what we're up against, how to kill them?" Evan asked, knowing that intel was the best thing he could get right then, especially if Sheppard had unknowingly made himself a target for the beasts.

Ulon spoke in hushed tones, like speaking the words louder would make the boogey man come alive. "Massive, moves very quickly, claws and teeth that tear flesh and shatter bones."

Evan forced himself to nod, like the information was new, not something he and the Colonel had already surmised. Unable to ask if he looked like any earth animals, he was left to stupid childish descriptions. "Does it have fur, walk on all fours, able to see in the dark?"

It was Rikus who bluntly overrode more of Loren's questions. "No one who has seen the beast has lived."

At that, Evan shared a look with Sheppard, probably thought his CO was thinking the same thing he was. Some variation of a parrot's voice going 'dead men tell no tales' and when John's eyes twinkled, Evan had to look away before he sniggered, at so not an appropriate moment as standing over a corpse of a man the two villagers had called friend. Clearly his throat to make sure there was only seriousness in his tone, he addressed the two villagers. "We left our supplies a little ways back on the trail. We'll go get them and come back here."

Then the Major and the Colonel turned in synch and walked back to the supply packs allowing them to confer in private. "Great, a bigfoot legend," Evan sarcastically drawled, not in the mood to confront the legend with just him and Sheppard, not even considering the villagers to be any help if things got…well big and furry.

"Well a legend didn't use that guy as a chew toy," Sheppard pointed out, not liking the state of the corpse or the massive paw prints around the body and the way the creature had cut a path through the thick woods like a battering ram. "Good news though…maybe their theory about the beasts tracking their scent on a corpse might be hokum too."

"That would be really nice but I'm not holding my breath," Lorne retorted, didn't plan on letting his guard down, was even then scouring their surroundings for threats, as he knew Sheppard was as well.

"You're supposed to cheer me up, remember?" Sheppard taunted his second in charge.

"Sorry, sir, forgot I was supposed to be pretending to be you this mission," Evan replied, a definitely tinge of snark in his tone.

"I think I've been insulted…or complimented, not sure which," Sheppard shot back as he picked up one pack was reaching for the other when Lorne lugged it onto his shoulder along with the other one, signaling that the roles had been switched. This was now officially Sheppard's mission. "Sure, now that we're dealing with mythical creatures you want me to take lead," John snarked.

"I'm just wisely bowing to your superior experience and knowledge, sir." The twinkle of mischief in Loren's eye telling John his 2nd in command was taunting him more than brown nosing.

Then they were rejoining Rikus and Ulon who had put even greater distance between themselves and the corpse, like they feared a strong wind would come through and waft the beast's scent onto them. And John felt it was only fair for him to make a full disclosure to the two clearly terrified men. "Alright…I have something to confess." He felt more than saw Evan stiffen at his side, his officer already guessing his intentions and not liking it. But John plowed ahead. "I touched the body." Part of him wanting to see what the two villagers were made of, how they reacted to the new information, if it were just the dead they abandoned or the living too. Needed to know if he could trust these men to have his back and more importantly, Evan's back if the beast made another chow run.

At John's statement, Rikus said what might have passed for a curse or a prayer in their hometown while Ulon retreated three steps back from Sheppard.

"I didn't know about the scent thing or the 'don't touch the body' rule," John pointed out, using his 'let's not overreact to this' flippant tone of voice.

Ulon however wasn't taking John's hint, was definitely into overreacting, turned and latched onto Ritus' arm. "We must go. Now!"

Ritus, for his part, seemed conflicted, must have been desperate for guidance because he seemed to be asking advice from the clearly fainthearted Ulon. "We wish to make them our allies, how do you suppose we build their trust? By leaving them to the mercy of the beasts?"

Ulon, however, wasn't shy about giving his advice. Eyes holding Ritus but finger pointing accusingly to Sheppard, he darkly predicted, "He is a dead man. His trust you do not need to worry about losing or gaining."

Sheppard muttered under his breath to Lorne, "Nice. It's almost like McKay's here to cheer me up."

Feeling his anger surging at Ulon's disrespect of the Colonel, not to mention him writing Sheppard off already, Evan knew his tone was bordering on disgust, "Yes, we are trying to be allies, to join forces to go up against the wraith. How can we trust your courage when you run scared now?" Fighting hard to not scoff at the word courage when describing the two men before him.

Instead of Ulon, it was Ritus who tried to excuse their reactions. "You do not understand these beasts. They have wiped out three entire villages to our far north and many people from our own villages and neighboring villages. They are merciless and cunning and relentless."

"So are we," Sheppard proclaimed before he amended with an amused smirk, "Well, not the merciless part."

Understanding what Sheppard was implying, Lorne suggested, "If some other hunters join us from your village, we could hunt down the beast that killed Seison, maybe run off the rest of their pack. Let us talk to your leaders and …."

"Impossible," Ritus harshly refused. "Your friend can not come to our village. Not tainted as he is."

To this Sheppard objected, "Hey, I admit my hygiene has been suspect on one or two tours or missions but I showered this morning" knowing full well they weren't talking his body odor.

Ignoring Sheppard's attempt at levity, Lorne suggested, "Ok, if Colonel Sheppard," stressing his rank because these idiots didn't get to belittle his CO like they were, "can't go to your village, bring your hunters here. If we work together, we can…"

"Only more will die," Ulon did his darkly predicting thing again. "Maybe our whole village is eaten."

"Fine. I won't go near your village but Major Lorne will go talk to your leaders, get a hunting party organized," Sheppard stated as if it were set in stone. He was expecting the villagers to argue with him…not his second in command.

"No, sir, I'm not leaving you alone," Evan defied his superior's proposal, regardless of the ramifications to Sheppard's opinion of him or the determent to his career path.

Not one to let insubordination stand when he figured he was in the right, had a way to save lives, Sheppard growled to Lorne, "Role playing is over, Major. I'm giving you an order!"

But Lorne wasn't backing down, not when obeying entailed leaving the Colonel alone in a woods maybe teaming with beasts who might think the Colonel smelled like bacon or, as the case may be, long pork. "With all due respect, Colonel…"

"We can stop the attacks, if we act now," Sheppard asserted, trying to get Lorne to think of the big picture, of the villagers' safety, not his CO's safety, or lack thereof.

"Why do I think this is all leading up to you being bait?!" Lorne challenged, didn't like that Sheppard actually smiled at that very terrible idea.

Ritus watched the two soldiers' interaction and found himself bolstered by their courage and a little amused by the deterioration of the Major's strict military edict. His impression of the Major on their first visit and the two previous was that the man didn't even know how to break out of his military persona of concise but polite dialogue, objectives first, emotions, if he had any, never revealed. But that impression was faltering now, and he could see the man behind the military posture, that his superior, the Colonel, had a way of shattering the Major's calm and he was willing to risk his superior's wrath out of a true concern for his leader…and obviously, friend. It was this insight that swayed Ritus. The Major wasn't a façade of composure, after all, was a man who believed strongly, would honor those he gave his loyalty to. Like the Colonel…and like them.

"We will bring our hunters here," Ritus announced before Lorne had the chance to rail at his commanding officer that him being bait was not acceptable, at all.

Stunned both soldiers looked to Ritus, must have looked uncertain they had heard him right because he repeated, "I will bring our hunters here. Together you believe we can hunt these beasts?" This he directed to Lorne, knowing the man had a personal stake in killing the beast, astonishingly more so than the Colonel who the beast might target.

Surprised and relieved at the help from this quarter, Lorne stepped toward Ritus, "Yes, I do," an agreement and a promise he intended to keep, especially in light of the villager solving the dilemma of following orders and leaving Sheppard on his own.

"It will take some time to reach our village, convince our hunters and return but I will do so before midday," Ritus made a vow of his own.

"No! Ritus you can not endanger our people like this!" Ulon raged.

Grabbing Ulon by the shoulders, Ritus bluntly said, "We are already in danger now that the beasts have returned. Who knows who could fall this time for you know Seisen might not be the last. If the beasts have returned early in the year because of hunger, then we do not know what it will take to sate their appetite."

Processing his friend's logic, Ulon reluctantly replied, "I still think it foolishness…but I will not speak against you with the hunters or the council."

Ritus nodded and then he gave a nod to Lorne before he began to hurry toward his village. Ulon, shooting a dark look to Sheppard, then took up pace with his friend. Swiftly finding he and Sheppard alone in the woods, Lorne remarked, "See, not bad people after all."

"Right, they're going for help…and didn't invite us along for the old 'safety in numbers' shtick and they left us out here without telling us how to kill this thing or even what to expect besides teeth and claws. I'm not voting them most sought after allies just yet," Sheppard drawled sarcastically as he was doing a slow 360 turn, listened hard for sounds in the forest that indicated something bigger than a chipmunk.

Evan couldn't fight back a sigh of resignation as he rubbed a hand through his hair. "Yeah, not my best work in picking out an ally."

Hearing the self-recrimination from his second in command, John turned to Evan, reminded him, "Hey, I'm the one that befriended a Wraith to make a jail break so I don't think you should count the 'worst ally picker' award is a shoe in for you."

Evan couldn't help but chuckle. "Right, sir. Besides you like to win at everything."

"Yes, exactly," John agreed with a smirk, was about to suggest they set up some kind of booby trap for the beast around their perimeter when shrieks of fear and pain echoed off the forest for a second time that day. "Oh crap!" John exclaimed and then he and Evan were running in the direction Ulon and Rictus had gone not five minutes before.

Even before they saw the attack, they heard it, animal roars and tree limbs cracking, cries of terror and agony the ground under John and Evan's feet shaking at the thud of the beasts impacting with the ground. Then the two Atlanteans were upon the scene, both already firing into the three jungle cat like beasts that were using their teeth and their claws to brutally tear Ulon and Rictus apart. But the bullets ricocheted off the beasts, their hides suddenly glimmering like metal, the spikes trailing from their head down their spines phasing from invisible to visible, their massive fur covered heads down, intent on their meals, the sound of the gunfire pissing them off more than the impacts thudding and bouncing off harmlessly on their flanks and even their heads. One lifted its head, showing its teeth red with Ulon's blood and looked to the new meals making the noise it didn't appreciate. It roared its displeasure and its promise to quiet them. Even as bullets pelleted it, it turned and started a menacingly slow but determined lope toward John and Evan.

"Run!" John shouted to Evan, emptying round after round in the approaching beast, could have sworn that even his hits to the black soulless eyes were deflected. Determined to give Evan enough time to get away, he stiffened his stance, wouldn't move until Evan was long gone. And, if he really smelled like catnip to the beasts, and they could track him, than Evan was better off on his own. Besides he had a fleeting moment of hope the he could take out the beast up close and personal.

"Not without you, sir!" Evan countered, knew Sheppard well enough to know the thoughts going through his leader's head.

"This isn't a time for insubordination!" John growled, the beast now twenty paces away and gaining speed. Could imagine its tongue darting out, licking its chops at its new dinner entree.

"No, it's not!" Evan agreed, as he latched onto John's shirt and yanked him backwards as he started to obey his CO's command and run. He had just had added a small addendum of physically dragging John along with him.

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TBC

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Hope our boys are fast runners (evil grin). Thanks for continuing to read this story!

Have a great day!

Cheryl W.