It did not take nearly as long to get home as it had been heading out, they were all able to feel as Malco began to lose altitude. Forrest still holding Dazar close to her body, able to just barely feel his breath as she looked down. Able to see the top of the university dome. "Okay guys, you are going to want to get off as quickly as possible." She called back, John sitting just behind her with Rodney and Ronon back on the shoulders. "Why is that?" John curious, as the ground got closer and closer "Because Malco is not going to be in the best of moods." There was no response, as she shifted in the saddle gently taking hold of Dazar with one arm. *we are coming in now Cas, be ready.*
The pair was already below in the main hall. Castiel able to hear Malco's wing beats as he got closer. *we are ready as we can be.* he responded as he quickly wrote on the whiteboard. 'They are almost here, be ready." Carson nodding as he looked at the small arsenal they had to manage to round up and have ready. He had no idea what he was about to get himself involved in, but they saved his life, seemed only fair to try and return the favor.
Malco dropped into the hall, no gliding in as his large paws hit the floor. Forrest pretty much half shoving John out of the saddle as she slid down with Dazar in her arms. There was already a deep rumble from Malco, as the remaining two people worked quickly to get off as the dragon below them moved around. Forrest looked at the blood-eyed dragon, as he let out a loud roar. Causing most everyone to scatter away. "Castiel hold him back!" She commanded as she ran past her partner, setting Dazar down on the cleaned off floor. "Good job you two cleaning this up for me." She said looking to Carson who had knelt next to her. "How can I help?" She looked at him, then back over to see Castiel grown to full size. Keeping himself between Malco and Dazar. "I am gunna need you to hand me things. I will say sorry now I am not used to working with another human." She explained as she looked at Dazar. " Dazar, I need you to grow big, like Castiel normally is in here if you can. I can't get my hands to fit where you are hurt." There was a pause, but slowly the dragon grew to the size Castiel normally kept himself. "That's it, we've got you."
She quickly grabbed a pair of hemostats, now able to see the giant gaping hole in the ribcage of the dragon. "This is not good.." muttering as Carson looked over her shoulders as she worked. The light tan clothes she had been wearing now blood-soaked as she stuck her hands inside the dragon. "One of the main arteries has been severed, he has lost a lot of blood, but I may be able to stop that." She said as she felt the blood pooling on her knees. Using only touch, she found the broken vein, and quickly snapped the hemostats together on it. Pulling her arms out, she looked at Carson, "There should be a small set of what look like pliers, but they have some switches on them. Turn them on to four and tell me when they have a green light." She said looking at Dazar, his breathing getting shallower. Carson did as told, able to figure out quickly what tools she had been talking about. "They are ready." He said quickly handing them to her.
"Seems like one of his flight bladders has been ripped as well." She explained as she once again began to work inside the dragon. "I can cauterize the veins, then work at meshing the bladder back together. There may be some dama-" she stopped, freezing in place. She felt it, his body no longer rising and falling with each breath. "No.," she said as she quickly began to try and feel for any sign of the dragon breathing. But instead, she felt it against her hands. Dazar's heartbeat one last time before falling still. She sat frozen once more, eyes down looking at her reflection in his black scales as she realized she could do no more. The heartwrenching realization that she had started too late. There had been too much blood loss; they had just not been able to fly fast enough. "Forrest?" Carson's unique voice snapping her out of her trance. She leaned back on her heels, pulling her hands from Dazar. She looked at Carson, then able to see the other three men watching closely "He.. he's gone." She choked out trying to keep her composure, her head dropping as she looked down at the pool of blood on the floor. "He.. he lost too much blood I was too late." She closed her eyes, as a loud wail filled the air. Behind them, Malco had shrunk down, along with Castiel. The other male dragon bounding over to his brother, the low whines, chrips, and calls filling the room as he gently pressed his head to his brother's.
"Malco I am so sorry." She managed to spit the words out, as she watched the tears fall from Malco's eyes. Carson had backed away, moving over to the other three men in silence as the three sat on the floor before them. He had no idea how to help, and he doubted he could as he looked at the massive pool of blood. To him, the dragonCastiel next to Forrest as their heads stayed bent down. The grey dragon's tail gently resting on her shoulders as they listened to the sorrowful sounds of Malco. John leaned over to Carson, "How many animals on Earth cry actual tears?" The doctor looked over at him. "I have no idea." Finishing his statement as Forrest slowly stood up, Castiel at her side. She turned and looked at him the three men, only to be met with the massive wall that was Ronon. "You knew they were there." She looked up at him, "What are you implying?" John now moving towards the facing off pair. "You knew those men would be there; you had something planned for us. What?" She was taken back, the accusations making absolutely no sense. Castiel now, standing directly behind her, his lip curled back in a slight snarl. She took the challenge, glaring up at him. "If I wanted you dead, or captured by them I could have done it by now. I could have been on Malco the instant we were outside with the power cells and been gone. That is not what happened, what happened was people moved in at some point. They watched us go in and take the cells and decided that was not gunna fly. Now you all are alive, and Dazar is dead." There was fire in her words, as she looked up at the man nearly double her size. John pulled on Ronon's shoulder "Easy buddy. She has a point." He was met with silence before Ronon turned and walked off towards the room.
John smiled weakly, "sorry about that." He nodded before walking off after him. Leaving Rodney, Carson, and Forrest standing in the hall, the two remaining silent, as Forrest looked at Castiel. "Cas said he had food made for you. Nightfall has already started, you are better off staying the night here once again." She explained, Rodney about to say something but was quickly shut down by a glare from Carson. "That sounds great." The scientist openly annoyed as he turned around to start walking for the room.
Forrest hung back, looking over at Malco as he lay next to Dazar. Her guilt agonizing as she turned back towards the hall, only to be met by Carson. He said nothing, but began to walk alongside her. The silence holding for a moment, before he spoke. "I know how it feels to lose one." The tone gentle, and understanding as she glanced over at him. "I should have tried to stop the bleeding once we got out of the base. If I had stopped it, then he would be alive." He had no response to it, considering he did not know the exact details of what had happened. "Do not beat yourself up too much. As much as we try, and do what we feel at the time to be correct, we can't save them all." She nodded, "Well, now I have one of your group ready to rip my head off at the drop of a hat." Carson shook his head "He'll be fine, just protective that's all." She paused in the doorway, looking at everyone as they retook their seats. Ronon having moved closer to John only glared at her as she spoke. "I need to go change, Cas will help you guys get situated for food." She turned back around in the doorway before anyone could say anything. Leaving Carson to watch her walk away. Sitting down on one of the chairs this time, he looked at Castiel. "Will she be alright?" He nodded his head, as he handed the doctor a plate filled with some kind of stir-fry.
Accepting the plate, he looked at the other three. "So what happened?" John looked up, tipping his head towards Rodney who still had his backpack hugged to his body. "Found three of them, the one causing the pulse now turned off. We went to leave and came under fire. Forrest said some kind of Plasma bolt hit Dazar." "I thought she said there had been no one there." Ronon crossed his arms. "So she says." The three looked at him, John speaking first. "If she had wanted us dead, or whatever you seem to think she wanted to do, Dazar would be alive. She could have gotten rid of us very quickly. I doubt she is trying anything." " Aye, from what I have been learning they are not a violent race, I doubt Castiel here could hurt anything really. Unless Forrest was in danger." Ronon shook his head "Say what you want; I don't like it." There was a silence. Carson looked out the door, In the silence of the room, they could hear the faint calls Malco made. The sounds were haunting, and everyone could feel the pain behind them. "Now what do we do?" he asked as he tried to block out the sound. "We get the jumper rolled over and working then we leave." Rodney stating as he wolfed down the food. "Rodney have you not thought at all about what just happened? You think Malco will be so willing to help roll the jumper tomorrow?" Rodney looked at him in silence, quite distraught by the realization that their help may not be so helpful come morning. "We can't just leave. That dragon died to get you all away from the base." John shifting in his seat as he listened. "So what are you suggesting Doc?" Before he could even speak, Rodney glared at him "Oh I know where you are going with this. You want to bring her back don't you?" Carson returned the glare "As a matter of fact yes, I was going to suggest it." "So you want to bring Forrest, and two fill sized dragon's back to Atlantis? Elizabeth gets angry enough when we bring a single person home with us. But two dragons? She might just drop dead when she sees that." Listening to the two men fight, Ronon and John looked at one another. "Never seen him this fired up," Ronon said as he tipped his head towards Carson who looked about ready to strangle Rodney. "Same, I'm kinda impressed." John responding as he stood from his chair and moved to stand between the two.
"You know Rodney; you are now outnumbered. I agree with Doc. The least we should do is offer it to them." He said looking around, realizing Castiel had slipped out of the room at some point in time. Carson smirked at Rodney, before Ronon spoke up. "As much as I hate to admit it, I agree with McKay. I do not trust her or the dragon thing. They can talk without us knowing, makes you wonder what could be said" Rodney laughing "Ha!" John shook his head "Well you two can go celebrate agreeing on something, but I say the invitation will be made. You both can live with it." They glared but stayed silent as John looked at Carson. "I can try and talk to her later, or tomorrow morning about it. See what she thinks on this. She has been alone here for ten years; if she stays, it will be the same thing for however long she lives. Giving her a chance at something else is only fair. She is the one that got you those damn things." Pointing at the backpack at Rodney's feet. The scientist only glared back, before looking away as the door opened. Castiel walking back into the room dragging his whiteboard with his tail. He looked at them all, before standing still. "Castiel is she okay?" Carson asked again as the dragon once again nodded his head, before quickly writing out 'She will be okay, just needs some time alone for now. You all can get some rest now though if you wish.' He set the marker down, and hopped up onto the bed that he and Forrest customarily shared. There was a silence, seeing as they all understood what had been written. "Just all of you try and rest, and we should be home tomorrow." John saying as he sat back down. There was nothing else said as they moved back onto the makeshift beds they had been made. The three men finally starting to feel how body sore they were from the day's flight.
Carson did not know what time he woke up, other than it was still dark within the room and no light filtered through the window. He sat up, yawning as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Looking around, he was able to see the others fast asleep, but Castiel nowhere in sight. He was shocked at how cold it felt now, having slept the entire night before he was not aware of how drastic the drop in temperature was. He sat up, as a smell waved over him. The faint smell of a campfire filling his senses as he looked at the cracked open door. "Dragon left about three hours ago." Ronon's voice making him jump, as he looked over to where the other man lay on his back. "Have you been awake this entire time?" "Told you I do not trust them." The doctor shook his head, slightly frustrated by the newly developed mistrust. He was curious, standing up and pulling the blanket up over his shoulders as he slipped out of the door quietly ignoring Ronon's gaze. He walked down the dim hallway, following the smell of the fire out to the main hall.
He was able to see the small campfire, along with Dazar's body and Malco. Just beside them was Castiel, with Forrest leaned against him looking into the flames. He paused for a moment, before slowly making his way over to where the pair sitting on the floor. Forrest looked up to see him, offering a light smile. "Can't sleep?" She asked, watching as he shook his head. "No, woke up and could smell your fire. Made me curious… Do you mind If I join you?" She nodded, motioning him to sit down next to her. He did, slowly leaning back against Castiel's warm body. "How is Malco?" he asked, looking at the red marked dragon fast asleep with his head pressed against his brother's. "Honestly I slipped him some sedative.. just to get him to rest. He pushed hard getting us here as fast as he could. I already treated the wind blisters on his wings." She explained taking a deep breath. Nodding, he looked at Malco's wings, able to see the now dressed lesions. Eyes falling to Dazar, he quickly noticed that the blood had been cleaned away and the wound closed up. "Amazing job on closing him up. Can hardly tell that it had happened." Attempting to cheer her up in some small way or another. However, her face did not change much as she sat next to him, leaned against a sleeping Castiel. "So are you not able to sleep? Or keeping an eye on Malco?" he asked curiously, as he looked into the fire with her. "A bit of both, and that a vigil must be sat for Dazar tonight." She explained trying to hold in a yawn. He stayed silent for a moment before his curiosity got the better of him. "May I ask why you have to?" Forrest smiled at him, then began to explain.
"The lore is probably as old as the dragons themselves. But, it is said that the soul of a dragon belongs to the earth. That they are said to be living manifestations of our planets spirit. So the lore goes, that when a dragon dies the soul remains dormant in the body, trying to determine where it is supposed to go. The problem is, that dark spirits from above will try to take the dragon's soul. It is found that if living beings stay close to the body for the first night than those spirits will not come and try and take the dragon's soul away. It is also told, that if the earth and the dark spirits fight too much, the soul will become tormented, and become viable within the living world. When this happens, the body of the dragon is possessed. There will be one to three extra heads that grow off from the neck, black and rotting but alive. The heads control the body and will destroy anything they find. They are called Black Scales, and it used to be said the other reason not to go beyond the wall was because Black Scales plagued the wild." Carson stayed quiet, rather taken back by the legend she had just told him. "Sounds lovely." But she laughed lightly, "I have no idea the truth to that. I doubt it but it is part of the Dragon's lifestyle, so I honor it for them." Smiling, he did not say anything as he looked over at her. The way she spoke was captivating, and her way of life so interesting. "Forrest; have you ever thought of leaving here?" he asked it in a curious tone, watching her for a response. "Um, yes. I do every day. I have been here doing the same thing for the past ten years, and none of it is useful. I can do so much for the dragons, but it leaves me wondering what I could have been able to do had the world not been destroyed." She explained as she ran her fingers aimlessly through the fur on Castiel's tail. Her eyes following the swirling mint patterns on his scales.
Carson smiled, as he looked at her. "I have talked to the others Forrest, and we would like to offer you, Castiel, and Malco the option to come back to Atlantis with us." Her head spun around, dark green eyes meeting his own. He was able to see now how there was still dried blood on her face and her hair. "You mean that?" He nodded his head "We can bring you with us to the city with no problem." She looked forward, her eyes landing on Malco as he slept. "I can say now Malco will not go. He acts as a leader to the remaining dragon population. He would not leave them behind.." Trailing off as she sat thinking. "I don't know… as much as I want to leave, I feel like I owe it to the dragons here to stay and help them as much as I can." She explained. While silent for a moment, he quickly had a response "We could always bring you back here now and then to check on things." He paused. " I'll be honest Forrest, Castiel explained quite a bit of your people's medical information to me. I am fascinated and would love to be able to learn it. But, learning does require a teacher. I could learn a lot from you and Castiel. I would be honored if you would join the medical team back in Atlantis. I know I can easily convince Dr. Weir of that." She smiled, not sure how exactly to take his compliment. "Of course Cas tried to explain everything." "Well, these stitches you used to me are wonderful. I did not quite understand what he said, but my understanding is they are matched to the body?" He asked curiously pulling away from the more pressing conversation. "They are bio-matched to the person they are used on. Designed to deliver antibiotics and pain relievers as they dissolve, helping the body heal." He was captivated, listening to her explain them. "That is wonderful; I would love to know how you create them." She stayed silent, before taking a deep breath. "Can I give you a for sure answer in the morning? On if I go or not?" Nodding his head, he smiled "That is perfectly fine." There was a silence between them, as Castiel took a deep breath and shifted in his sleep. Causing Carson to move slightly away. "You need to go rest; I know you feel fine, but this cold will zap it out of you fast." She said as she smiled. He had to admit; his body did not agree to the cold, even with a dragon to lean on. "I guess I can do that." He stood up, wrapping the blanket tightly around his body. "Goodnight." He said as he turned around, heading back down the hall. "Night!" her voice calling back as she watched him walk away and disappear into the darkness.
*You know Malco will understand.* Forrest jumped, as Castiel's voice entered her head. *take it you got all of that.* *you know it* She sighed, moving up closer to the dragon's shoulders as he bent around, setting his head in her lap. She smiled, scratching him lovingly behind the ear. *I feel guilty leaving him; he has done so much. Dazar gave himself for us.* *us.. not as in you and me. But for those four to also have a chance to go home.* Those words echoed in her head, realizing very quickly he was right. *do you want to leave here?* She asked him, looking down into his bright blue eyes. *Sometimes you just need an adventure to cleanse the bitter taste of life from your soul.* Oh, how he loved to speak in profound, meaningful quotes. *I'll take that as a yes?* She joked as she enjoyed the warmth of his body curled around her own. *Oh yes, I would love to see the city that floats on water that they talk about. Do something with what we know and help others. Our code concedes with this little sister. All shall be helped. So why not try and help? * she stayed silent, thinking deeply on what he meant, Considering he was right. *well, I guess we will find out our answer in the morning then?* A deep sigh escaping the dragon. *I guess we shall. *