CHAPTER 7: Separated

"There is nothing here for you, Doctor Rodney McKay." Her voice was deep, resounding in the cove of rock they currently resided in. Rodney opened his mouth but found that…for once…he was speechless.

"Everything was destroyed." She smiled, the twinkle of her eyes almost taunting him. She had the answers he sought. But he knew now, from that look, that it wasn't going to be easy getting them.

"Why are you….normal?" He went for the tactless route. "I mean…c..compared to the othe….y..you're not crazy…er than the others. I mean." Why was he so nervous?

Her smile deepened and she took a step from the shadows. A flitter of sunlight lit up a few golden strands brushing across her forehead.

"Oh but I am."

The corners of her mouth practically stretched to her ears. Her eyes danced with a fire within than frightened McKay. This was no ordinary, run-of-the-mill psycho, he had decided. No, she was much more special. This was the Pegasus Galaxy after all. Crazy was considered normal here. Anything above that and you turned the other way sooner than later.

"Er…okaaaay."

The next three minutes were filled with a deafening silence and the two of them staring at each other without blinking. A glorified staring contest, that's what it was. Surprisingly, it was Risha who broke away first, her head twisting to the right, her long hair spilling down across her bony shoulder. She was peering out of the very corners of her eyes at the canopy above them. There was a brief rustling, but then nothing. She turned her attention back to McKay. He had taken the moment to rest his back up against the wall of a smooth boulder behind him so that he could be more at level with her. He had been feeling vulnerable, after all, lying there on his back, shaky, hungered beyond reason, and presumably abandoned by his teammates.

"Where did everybody else go?" He jutted his chin out, demanding an answer all the while trying to puff his body up to give himself more stature.

Instead, she rushed on hands and knees, sideways like an ape, and stopped mere inches from his face, staring deeply into his eyes with a look of cold steel. Her breath tickled his face, but he dared not move, instead allowing a small yelp in response.

"Just you and me." She smiled again, her eyes sparkling with playfulness.

Tired of this old charade, McKay decided it was time to change tactic. He would do what he did best. Annoy people. Not intentionally, of course: just make them realize who was superior.

"Great, so I get stuck with ape woman. Fantastic. Really, just makes my day. A planet without technology. Sheppard gets lost. My team abandons me. I suppose next you'll be telling me that we're all doomed and we have less than a day to live." He gave Risha the most nonchalant look he could master, smacking his lips and crossing his arms. She backed off, retreating to her previous spot in the shadows.

"Abandoned."

It looked as if it almost hurt her to say it.

"We aren't the Ancients and they didn't abandon you." Rodney wallowed in frustration.

Risha became silent then, sorrow and acceptance flooding into her expression. She knew this. Rodney could see that now. They remained quiet, sitting there, looking at each other as if trying to figure out how the other one ticked. Minutes passed. The wind buffeted the rocks around them, relieving them from the intense heat of the jungle. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of silence to Rodney, Risha spoke.

"John Sheppard has been poisoned."

Rodney stared at Risha and became momentarily speechless.

"He is your team leader, yes?"

His voice came back suddenly and he dared to lean forward.

"That's impossible. How could you possibly know that? How do you know his name?" His eyes wide, he snapped his fingers rapidly. Risha drew back a few inches, staring at his fingers with bewilderment. "I know! I was delirious, wasn't I? I must've muttered all those things. Ha! See, there's always an answer. A scientifically sound answer."

Rodney gave one of his most endearingly smug smiles. A shadow of something unfamiliar to Rodney passed over Risha's face then and she moved forward to be within inches of his own face. He reared back slightly as she invaded his personal space once again. Her eyes, one blue, one green, bore into him causing him to shiver as if they were the very touch of death.

"I see many things, Doctor Rodney McKay. Many things I do not wish to see. But I always see the truth. I see that you are scared, but you are not a coward. I see that you came here to find answers and power, but you will not find these things. I see that John Sheppard has been poisoned, but he is strong. I see many things, Doctor Rodney McKay."

Even as Risha finished her little tirade, she titled her head towards the sky, as if listening intently to a far away song only she could hear. Rodney's eyes flitted nervously from her to the canopy above. His muscles had gone tense as he sensed things were not as settled as they seemed in the forest surrounding them.

"What? What is it?" He implored, craning his neck and listening as hard as he could for any sound out of the ordinary. All he could hear were the usual forest serenades: rustling vegetation, scurrying little creatures, and way too much quietness for the likes of him.

"He found his boots."

Risha made it sound as though this was a little bit surprising as well as amusing. She smiled at McKay, turning her full attention back to him. Rodney quirked an eyebrow.

"He found his boots?"

"And his knife." Risha added, content with her findings.

'And his knife. How 'bout that. Hmm. Yes, well, you're really starting to freak me out now so I think I'll just be…."

Risha's hand had settled upon his arm as he had started to rise and he stilled his actions, staring back into those oddly clear eyes.

"You are safe here, Doctor Rodney McKay. I will not harm you." Her expression and tone were genuine enough for Rodney to finally relax. She scrutinized the forest around them with her alluring eyes.

"Is there anything we can do?" His question had more implications than one and Risha didn't miss a beat. She shook her head.

"I am sorry."

Risha was sorry and Rodney began to develop a newfound respect for this strange woman. As much as it scared him, he realized that she maintained an intelligence he had never encountered before. It was an intelligence of the very raw nature of the universe: time. She possessed an internal sense toward living things that no other creature could match. He turned his full attention to her now and stared back into those inquiring eyes.

-------o-------

Teyla had set out by herself about an hour ago. Her thoughts drifted to Ronon and Rodney. She had left both men in the care of the "crazies" as Rodney had dubbed them. Taking a swig of "pure" water, gifted to her from these new people, Teyla could only hope that she was doing the right thing. She was the only one left uncompromised in some form or another and someone needed to apprise Atlantis of the situation.

Roshan had instructed her to follow the shoreline, no matter how rugged the terrain or rough the water became. If she entered into the shadows of the bordering forest, she was a target. She was safe on the shoreline.

"White is safe." Roshan had mumbled, while eyeing a woozy Ronon seated against a tree to their left. Roshan felt safe when Ronon was around, Teyla had sensed as much. In fact, Roshan and his clan had decided more by twitches of the eyes and face that Ronon would stay at the beach with them.

Rodney, whom they were unable to waken, was taken directly to Risha. Risha resided in a secret cove known only to the crazies. She would keep Rodney safe. She had healing properties, from what Teyla could discern from Roshan's continued rambling. That man was nervous energy. It unsettled Teyla.

Why they wouldn't let Ronon near Risha also unsettled Teyla. She could only surmise that they were frightened of the man, even in his weakened state. They probably felt safest having him out in the open where they could keep an eye on him.

Teyla moved with grace over a mass of jagged rock, black as night against the contrasting white sand. The rolling waves of the ocean smashed into rock not five feet from her careful steps.

The trek wasn't difficult and the gentle curve of the shoreline told her she had a long way to go. Her mind shifted to Lt. Colonel Sheppard. Where was he? Was he safe? There was little she could do for him now. The only power she had in this fouled mission was to call for help. She couldn't believe the trouble the team had landed themselves in. Then again, weren't they always attracting trouble?

A scent of burning wood reached her nose. She sniffed the air, turning her head towards the direction the breeze was currently rushing in from. She could just make out a faint cloud of billowing dirty white above the tree line. Her heart ached. Somewhere amongst the source of that smoke innocent people were succumbing to its cruelness.

Teyla quickened her pace along the shoreline. By her calculations, she'd be at the base of the mountain within a short shift of the sun…something similar to two hours of Atlantis' timeframe. She refused to allow death to paint this day. She would do everything in her power to stop it.

-------o-------

Ronon groaned.

He was tired.

He was hot.

And he really had to pee.

He shifted, hoping to roll to his right and stand. However, he somehow had forgotten the simple fact that his body refused to do so. Pain rippled across his body from the various abuses tolled upon him.

"Krellnac!" He muttered a cuss in his language.

"Still. Still as rock, you must be." A voice carried from above.

Ronon twisted his aching neck upwards so he could view one of the crazies perched on a low branch above him. There were small maroon pods half the size of Ronon's fist growing from the bark in a few random clusters.

"Who are you, Yoga?" Ronon wrongly repeated a saying he had heard Rodney squeal at one point or another. He shook his head slightly with a smirk: he was spending way too much time with the Lanteans. And he had a sneaking suspicion that Teyla felt similar.

"Yoga?" The crazy repeated, with a curious tilt of his head. The motion made Ronon dizzy.

Ronon wrapped a protective hand around his midsection and grunted as he struggled to get his legs to work. Unfortunately, his body had other plans. His legs were tingling. He didn't think that was a good sign.

But hey, he was a warrior. Ran from Wraith for seven years and before that, lost his entire livelihood. He could handle a little pain. He was a man of action. He did not sit. Not Ronon.

Making another attempt to get up, Ronon failed miserably. A small cry left his lips, followed by another curse.

Observing that his teammates were nowhere to be found, Ronon looked back up to the only person within the perimeter. The crazy blinked down at him with a lazy smile, chewing on the husk of one of those pods. A white gooey substance was pasted across his lips and fingers as well as the pod.

"Rodney? Teyla?"

Short and to the point: you often got answers quicker that way after all.

The crazy's smile broadened.

"Madcrazy with Risha. Pretty going to ship. Pretty. Pretty pretty pretty." The crazy continued to rant that one word over and over, scooping his fingers into the pulpy mass of the pod.

Ronon rolled his eyes. Where was his stun blaster when he needed it? And damn it: he really had to pee.

--------tbc-------