Beneath her hood Aria glared at the matted mess of dreadlocks, snorting her disapproval. Still curiosity got the better of the hooded figure. Peeking ever so slightly around the stubborn warrior, she found the bright orange skin of the very loud stranger intriguing. The very odd creature appeared very hot and uncomfortable in its own skin, not to mention almost well ripened for a hunt. Still half hidden behind Ronon, the ex-runner's smaller friend wrinkled her nose at it. The corners of the shadowlike woman's mouth creped upwards as she watched the very noisy stranger jump back having finally noticed the ghost-like woman standing behind the intimidating figure. Only seconds later the orange skinned creature collapse again under his own weight, yelling in pain.
Ignoring the smirk of amusement from the giant behind her, the Ronon's tiny companion took a tentative step forward. Crouching to all fours Aria tested her injured limb. It was still a little ginger, and the feeling of something being lodged in the wound didn't help much with the sensitivity, yet that wasn't enough to deter the young woman from slowly moving closer. The sweat smell of fear spiked in the clearing as the frightened man wriggled away from the hooded figure as fast as he could. Suddenly she stopped advancing. Lifting her obscured face to the sky, the faintest trace of the metallic scent of blood caught her attention. Finally Aria noticed the tare in the orange skin on one of the stuttering creature's leg. A tear in the skin should cause bleeding. Pouncing on the curious injury, Doctor Rodney McKay was pinned between a tree and a strong shadow.
"No, no, no, uh, I'm uh, I'm fine. Seriously I'm fine." The odd creature continued to stutter until the young woman pulled a knife. Whimpering, the orange man finally stopped wiggling. After close inspection of the 'wound', Aria discovered the stretchy, strange skin wasn't skin at all. It was some kind of odd cloth. With quick efficient strokes the material was severed around the human's leg reveling a nasty rope burn. Before Doctor Rodney McKay knew what was happening a herbal poultice was applied to his leg and wrapped with surprisingly gentle hands. Judging from the sudden end to the whimpering, again the corners of Aria's lips turned up in a smirk as she guessed the rope burn was fading. "Wow, what's in that stuff? That's amazing."
"What's amazing, Rodney?" The hooded figure jumped as she recognized the voice of the armed man she'd seen earlier.
"The girl, she put something on my leg. It made the rope burn, um, go away." Ronon's little friend allowed the spastic stranger to pick himself up, but as he did so a gust of wind caught the end of the fur hood granting the noisy stranger a glimpse of the silvery blue irises that just seemed to glow just before she'd pulled her goggles down. "Wait, did you see that? That's impossible, oh god, I'm hallucinating. I knew I hung upside down for too long." Sitting back on her hunches, Aria watched Rodney pace back and forth rambling onto himself.
Fear gripped the ex-runner's companion. She didn't like being out in the open, and she defiantly didn't like that someone other than Ronon had been able to sneak up on her. Slowly the silent woman got to her feet. John looked at the only woman in the clearing. "I'm taking it you know her?" It was more of a statement then a question. With a side glance at his companion, Ronon nodded. "Then on behalf of the man rambling to himself, I'd like to say thank you for whatever you did for Rodney." Aria just stared at the out stretched hand. When nothing happened, he let his arm drop. "It's not going to take long for those darts to realize they got the wrong person. You're welcome to come back to our base and we'll see what we can do about getting you two back home."
The silver eyed young woman finally lost what little composer she had left. Hauling off and punching the big oaf in the arm, gloved hands flew. There was absolutely no way she was going anywhere near anything that harnessed the wingless birds the Wraith used. No, no, no, absolutely not. Ronon or no Ronon, this is where she was parting ways with these strangers. Turning on her heals, Aria darted for the trees. She never made it
***(*)***
Confused John Sheppard watched as the hooded figure crumpled to the ground after being shot by the former runner shot her in the back. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what was that for?" The earth military man pointed his P-90 at his former captor. Ronon made a show of putting his weapon away before shrugging. "That thing still set on stun, right?"
Gently the ex-runner scooped up his companion. Easily he shouldered his burden before turning back to the two Atlantis inhabitants, "We should go."
"Right. Major Lorne, get the jumper fired up. Let's get out of here before the Wraith come back."
End Chapter 4
