"So, General what is this—whoa," Cameron commented, staring wide-eyed at the dragon statue. "That's big."
Teal'c followed his gaze, an impressed twinkle in his eye. "Indeed."
Jack grinned. "It's kinda cool, isn't it?"
Sam rolled her eyes but Cameron nodded enthusiastically.
"So Jackson's wrong," he said.
"It's stone, Cam," Sam pointed out.
"What am I wrong about and why?" Daniel asked, coming through the brush with Vala.
"You're not wrong," Sam said, sighing. "At least, not yet."
"Wow, what is that?" Vala asked, bouncing closer to the statue.
"A dragon," Jack answered.
"A dragon?" Adria repeated, Tomin right behind her. She took in the statue and threw a smirk at Daniel.
"So. Dragons don't exist, do they?"
Daniel gaped at her. "It's stone!" he yelled. "Just because I make a statue out of…" he frowned at Jack, "something outrageously fantasy."
Jack shrugged. "Yoda."
Teal'c shot the general a glare. Daniel's frown deepened.
"Something's that's not Earth culture," he added. Jack shrugged.
"Nothing's coming to mind."
Daniel shook his head irritably. "If I make a statue of something completely fantasy, that doesn't mean it's real!"
Adria simply regarded him coolly and turned back to Jack.
"Tell us your story."
Jack nodded and did so, Sam helping every once and awhile. After they were done, Vala looked to Daniel.
"It's the dragon form the drawings."
Daniel nodded and explained their theory. Cameron huffed unhappily.
"T and I didn't find anything." He glanced at Tomin and Adria. "What about you two?"
"We did not find anything, but we have a theory."
Jack leaned back slightly. "Then let's hear it."
"We believe the dragon came through the village, having just raided someplace else. The fountain caught its eye and it decided to take that for its treasure, accidentally dropping the Ancient chair device." She looked to Jack. "You say there was nothing on the dragon's back. Perhaps its underbelly?"
The general shrugged. "Can't exactly get to its underbelly."
Adria looked at Daniel triumphantly. "Added to the fact it trapped Colonel Carter, how can you say this dragon is merely stone?"
"One: your theory is just that. A theory," Daniel started, bristling angrily. "Two: you haven't seen if there is treasure underneath it. Three: Sam getting trapped could be complete chance! There could be mechanics inside the statue, making its claws unsheathe every so often to scare people off!"
Sam nodded. "He has a point."
"Thank you!" Daniel exclaimed. "All of this is pointless! We should be getting home."
"Home?" Cameron repeated. "Jackson, a village was wiped out!"
"And it has nothing to do with us!"
"Since when does that stop you?" Vala asked. Daniel stared at her hard.
"Since half of the thoughts running around in my head aren't my own," he replied, voice low. And then, without a further notice, he stormed back to the ship. Vala stared at his retreating figure, surprised.
"Hey!" Jack suddenly yelled. All heads turned his way to see Tomin, throwing Sam up against the dragon's platform. Tomin unsheathed his sword and Jack automatically wrenched it out of his grasp, grabbing him by the scruff of his collar. The Ori warrior blinked quickly, a look of confusion on his face.
"Who are you?" he asked. Sam, rubbing the back of her head, walked closer.
"What do you mean, who is he?"
Tomin glanced at her, the confusion worsening. "What am I doing here?" he continued. "The last thing I remember is, we were in the village…."
"As ordered, dragon came, killed the villagers, yadda yadda, we've been through this," Jack interrupted. Tomin looked back to him, eyes darting between the general's face and hand, still clutching his collar.
"General, let him go," Adria said quietly. "He's not going to hurt anyone now."
Jack stared hard into Tomin's eyes before slowly, reluctantly, letting him go.
A/N: I love reviewers and live for constructive criticism!