See, quick update for a change:D See, it was a good thing i didn't drown over the weekend (despite having a leaky drysuit) of you'd have been left hanging... Hehe. Sorry, wierd mood. I'll let you get on with it! Thanks for the reveiws and thanks to Binksbabe for the beta'ing!
Within minutes of storming off he'd realised that he was being irrational and had been halfway through turning back toward the path when he'd spotted a few apples still clinging to the branches of a large tree. His stomach loudly punctuated the thought that he could murder a decent steak and he awkwardly pulled himself up and fumbled to knock a few loose.
Favouring his sore ankle as he jumped back down and almost falling over as his sword caught between his legs, Jack collected his prizes, holding them between his arm and his body before heading back the way he'd come. They were a touch overripe, and a little bruised and battered, but they were better than nothing.
His stomach was grumbling loudly as he finally found Karrena a short way along the rabbit path they'd been following earlier.
Walking sheepishly up to her he held out one of the apples he'd scavenged. "Sorry," he mumbled.
Still scowling at him, Karrena took the peace offering and muttered a quiet 'Thanks' back.
Falling into step together again, they started off, this time following the path that was gradually becoming more defined before them. The slight broadening and lack of over-grown vegetation suggested that the path was used semi regularly by people, and Jack guessed that it would eventually take them to a village or town.
As it began to warm up, Karrena paused to take her heavy robe off, bundling it up with the rest of her things. Seeing that she was struggling to hump the large package along under one arm, Jack stopped for a moment.
Karrena didn't look happy about it, but she relinquished her package without comment, watching in growing curiosity as he put it down and began to take everything out. Laying the heavy cloak out, he began to sort through her things, putting the deer-hide water flask and holstered knife to one side and neatly folding her unusual wooden box inside the few items of clothing she'd brought. Curious though he was about the padlocked box, he didn't comment on it, just made sure that it was securely wrapped and protected in her clothes, sensing that whatever it was it was important enough that it was one of the few things she'd both brought with her on the trip and had stopped to pick up.
Folding the sides of the robe in and then rolling the belongings up tightly with the sleeves kept out, he hooked the hood around the now neat bundle, relying on the pressure of the taut material to hold the hood wrapped tight for now.
Picking it up, he gestured for Karrena to come and stand by him. She hesitated and he rolled his eyes. "Oh for crying out loud, I'm not going to infect you with my unnaturalness." Still, she paused and he clenched his teeth for a second, stopping himself from losing his temper yet again. "Look, whatever you're afraid I'm going to do, I'm not going to. I just want to make things a little easier for you."
Bristling at the suggestion that she would be afraid of anything, she finally stepped up to him, staring defiantly at him.
Shaking his head minutely, he took the bundle and reached around behind her. Settling the pack so that the only loose end was resting against her back, the weight keeping it shut now, he looped the sleeves around her; one over her shoulder, one under the opposite arm. Tying the sleeves together in front of her, he stepped back and gave her an 'I told you so' look before stooping to pick up the flask and knife, handing them to her and suggesting that she hook them through the sleeves somehow so that they were within easy reach.
In the back of his mind, he knew that he shouldn't be so confrontational about it, but her sudden distrust of him just because she'd found out that he was cloned was grating on him. Just the day before, she'd been putting up with his bad tempered snarkyness in a way that very few people had ever managed; most recently that had been his team. Since then, he'd been going out of his way to be amiable, likable, and to fit in, and it had felt good to just once be able to go back to the way things had used to be, or at least something approximating that.
They carried on walking in silence, and Jack noted to himself that they had turned in a more northerly direction.
After a few hours more, the path they'd been following had disappeared, so they'd carried on north-east again before finding another, slightly larger path that would have allowed them to walk abreast, if they'd chosen to.
The all to familiar ache of muscles that had been restricted to only one pattern of movement for longer than they cared for began to make itself known to Jack and, judging from the permanent scowl that had affixed itself to Karrena's face, he guessed that she was beginning to long for soft seats and a nice meal. The sun was almost at its zenith now, and in his heavy leather and mail, Jack was sweating buckets, his throat feeling like it was lined with sandpaper and his head pounding.
Veering off the path into a shady, grass-covered clearing, Jack decided immediately that he was going to shed some of his gear for a while.
He gestured to the soft-looking grass. "Gonna rest for a few hours; wait until it cools down a little. I'd suggest you get some sleep."
Slinging his belt, sword, and mail, he left a knife in his right boot and the sword in easy reach before stretching languidly and taking the time to stretch out the muscles of his legs.
He sensed Karrena watching him as she slid her pack off and grabbed the flask of water, taking a few short sips from it. It made him uncomfortable, but he knew there was nothing more he could do but ignore it. He was too tired to start an argument, and the feeling of the cool breeze drying the sweat that covered him after several hours of wet, stuffy heat was too nice to spoil.
"Do you want some water?" Jack glanced up in surprise as she spoke to him. She had said nothing for hours and the sound of anyone's voice was suddenly unexpected.
He nodded, knowing that the sound of his own voice would sound equally incongruous. Taking the proffered flask, he slowly took several short sips, satisfying his thirst but not taking too much of the water; who knew when they would come across more.
He handed it back to her with a slight smile. "Thanks."
She nodded, opening her mouth as if to speak but then closing it again.
"What?" Jack asked, slightly warily but Karrena just shook her head and turned away. Shrugging dismissively, Jack quickly settled himself on what looked to be a soft piece of ground and allowed himself to rest, hoping that he was tired enough for nightmares not to bother him now.
Opening her eyes to the more diffuse light of the afternoon, Karrena wondered what it was that had woken her. Glancing over at Jack, she saw that he was lying on his back, closed eyes moving rapidly in an intense dream.
Glancing around but seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she decided that it was only the pressure of her bladder that had awoken her. Glancing indecisively at her belongings before leaving and heading away for a little privacy.
As she began her return to the clearing, she caught a flicker of movement ahead of her and frowned, wondering if Jack had followed her. Heading onwards again, this time more cautiously she headed for another clearing that she'd passed through on her way out.
Rounding a particularly large tree at the edge of the clearing, Karrena felt as if her heart had stopped. Sitting in the middle of the clearing was an enormous tawny lion.
"Aslan," she breathed, feeling drawn forwards until she stood before him.
"Welcome, child," He said in greeting.
Karrena was lost for words, consumed with both joy and fear at seeing Aslan himself.
"You need not be afraid," He continued, sensing her fear. "I do not judge people by what those in their past have done."
Karrena looked away, ashamed of what he knew. Without realising it, she had glanced towards the clearing where Jack lay, and by some coincidence, she could see him through the trees, now twitching violently in his sleep, thrashing about.
She frowned, and the Great lion rose on silent paws and followed her gaze. He seemed again to sense what she was thinking. "You have nothing to fear," He reiterated, this comment this time obviously about Jack.
An indecipherable look crossed her face, and she turned back to Aslan. "Is…is what he said true? Was he really created…" she paused, unable to remember the term Jack had used.
"It is."
This time the abhorrence on her face was unmistakeable, but it was quickly replaced with fear when a deep rumbling growl broke from Aslan's throat, sending her reeling backwards.
"All life is sacred!" He practically roared at her. "Though similar to that of General Jack O'Neill, his soul is unique; a soul is not a thing that can be cloned. His soul is his own, as is his identity." The Lion let out a massive sigh. "He would do well to accept that himself."
Still reeling from his original admonishment, Karrena barely took in the last part of what he said, turning the information over in her mind. When she finally looked up and met His eyes, she saw an unimaginable sadness there.
"You must trust him. He stays by your side now because he cannot leave an innocent person, whatever betrayal he suffered at their hands."
Before Karrena could say anything more, Alsan bent down and gave her a rasping kiss on the forehead, his presence comforting her. "Rest now, child. You will need your strength."
Immediately she began to feel incredibly sleepy, and before she knew it, she was sitting bolt upright in the clearing, wondering again what had woken her, and if her conversation with Alsan had been a dream. Seeing the giant pawprint that even now was fading as the grass sprung up again, she knew it was not.
She was interrupted again as a cry rent the air, telling her what had woken her up again.
Thrashing around on the grass, Jack was obviously in the throes of a nightmare. She edged closer to him, wondering if she should wake him.
"I DON'T KNOW, DAMMIT! HE DIDN'T SHARE IT WITH ME-ARRRGHHH!"
Closing in on him and seeing that his thrashing had reopened the cut on his head, Karrena decided that she had to wake him up.
"Jack!" she called, reaching out to grab him by the shoulder.
His eyes flashed open, and he pushed her violently away before recognition kicked in. At a flash he was at her side, apologising profusely as blood trickled down his face. The cut was bleeding in only the way that head wounds can and he wiped at it distractedly, not really seeming to realise what it was.
"Oh, god, I'm sorry. I was…I didn't…Are you alright?"
Karrena nodded, a little shocked by what had happened. "It's fine. You were having a nightmare, and I woke you. It's my fault."
"No, it's not, it's that bastard snake-head Ba'als fault." He slumped backwards and sat on the ground to give Karrena room to pick herself off of the floor.
"You're bleeding," she told him, pulling a handkerchief out of a pocket and folding it before holding it to his head. Although the sight of the many dead people had made her sick, she wasn't unaccustomed to the sight of blood. She'd helped fix up young adventurers more than enough times and had gutted more animals than she could remember, but the fact that it was people; humans and talking beasts that were dead was just so much worse.
Jack gave her a strange look. "At the risk of pissing you off…why the sudden turnaround?"
Frowning over the phrase 'pissing you off,' Karrena shrugged. "I saw Aslan," she explained.
"Ookay…" Jack was frowning again, and she couldn't tell if it was because he didn't understand or because he was angry.
"He reminded me that all life is sacred." She paused for a moment. "I'm sorry."
Jack scrutinised her for a moment in a way that made her feel slightly uncomfortable, but then he nodded, his acceptance given in his eyes.
Taking the handkerchief from her hands and holding it in place himself, he glanced at his wrist. "Must be about four P.M. by now. We'd best get moving before we lose the light completely."
Karrena nodded, accepting the command and beginning to gather her things again, tying her pack on herself this time and offering Jack a little water before she tucked it away for ease of carrying, following Jack with more confidence this time.
So? Let me know what you think of the Aslan part, please, because he's really hard to write so I'm not certain i've got it right. Danke very muchly:D