Vala felt a sharp pain in her side. Her eyelids opened slowly, they felt heavy. Her head was fuzzy and throbbing; everything seemed to hurt. Her clothes were making her skin ache and the hair across her face was painfully draining. She could still feel her heart beating, thundering through her body. As she woke she could feel herself losing control and the rage taking over. She felt like she was waking up to a bad dream, not that her nightmares had been very comforting.
"Wake up!" she heard Daniel's voice yell.
She jumped up and rolled to the other side of the bed; having Daniel that close hadn't helped much. "What the hell are you doing?!" Vala yelled at him.
Daniel just grunted. "My turn," Daniel said pointing to the bed. "You watch!" He pointed to the door.
Vala wanted to kill him. She wanted to pull off Daniel's arm so she could beat him to death with it. Instead she pulled her hair and groaned. She found her way to the door and mumbled something about paranoid men. She would have to leave Daniel alone for at least a few hours.
She knew when he fell off to sleep because his snores filled with room like a heavy drone. That snore was the most grading sound she'd ever heard. How the hell had Daniel made it through those hours without killing her?
Vala glanced over at him. She was trying to hang onto her sanity. She loved Daniel; he was her best friend. He was the first person who had given her a chance and trusted her. He believed in her, which was one of the most surprising things Vala had ever experienced. She didn't really want to kill him. Did she?
She turned away and tried to think of something else. The artifact! Yes this elusive artifact that was supposed to help them overthrow the Ori and save the universe from galactic obedience. Right. Aside from that she couldn't say anything for sure. She couldn't even remember what the damn thing was supposed to look like. Frankly this could all be for nothing.
Vala shook herself at the thought. This had better be for something.
She tried to clam herself down. There were worse things in life then being a little mad? Mad as in crazy. She hugged herself; she was getting cold. Last time hadn't been this hard. There hadn't been this much pain to work through last time. Last time she had just been angry, and homicidal, and maybe just a touch stark raving mad. This time there was pain, and the pain was a driving force.
She paused, Daniel's snoring was making her grind her teeth and grinding her teeth was painful. Stupid Daniel for his snores! All she could think about was taking a pillow and suffocating the life out of him.
Why had he been going on about children? So what if there weren't children? Probably hiding them so Vala and Daniel didn't eat one accidentally. What was wrong with her? She had to stop thinking about violent, malicious, savory thoughts that brought blood to her mouth in anticipation of just one single…
She got up and started pacing. How could Daniel have lost the antidote? She was going to go crazy. She was crazy.
There was only one way to deal with it. There was only one thing she could think to do.
By the time Daniel woke up Vala had lost count of the number of jumping jacks she had done. She felt more tired then she had been before she fell asleep. She had only added to her own physical pain, but Daniel was still alive and that was something.
Daniel looked at her and grunted. It was bright out at last. They hoped at least one of the villagers would be awake enough to talk to them. They also hoped they wouldn't try to kill said villager. "Let's go see if we can find out why the villagers are so immune…"
Vala just nodded. She avoided looking at him, somehow looking at him made her want to rip out his throat with her teeth. She followed him outside.
The village was like every other they had seen; clusters of thatch roofed houses; an open market in the center of the village; and to the back end a large field filled with tents. Daniel had only been able to speculate as to the nature of the tents.
"Hello good neighbors," said a man approaching them with a smile. "You're evening helped to relieve your anxieties?"
Daniel shrugged and tired for a smile. "Not so much."
Vala finally lifted her eyes and glared at him.
Daniel tired his best to ignore her. "We have been wondering why there aren't any children?" No beating around the bush. Not this time.
The man looked at him like he had just said the most absurd thing in the world. "Of course the children cannot come out," the man said his look of amazement never changing. "Such practices were outlawed many years ago. Do your villages permit such acts?"
Daniel tired to calm himself. This man was extremely irritating. "Are villages are far away, and the…"
"Madness!" Vala interjected.
"The experience of your culture is quite different," Daniel finished.
The man stared at them. He shook his head. "I have heard tale of such places where the Tolyen did not occur. Places where the madness was not born into you."
Daniel suddenly felt hopeful. "The Toylen? The Madness? What is it? You understand it?"
The man smiled. "Come." He turned expecting them to follow. "You must speak with the Matrisa."
Daniel grunted and tiredly followed the man. His legs were heavy and his head was hurting. The only thing keeping Daniel going was the thought that Vala was probably worse off.
"Matrisa?" Vala whispered to Daniel as they followed.
Daniel suppressed the urge to yell at her for ignorance. "I think he's talking about a matriarch."
They followed the man, not talking, not even looking at each other, to the back of village. They entered one of the tents. It was filled with many lights and a large assortment of pillows and silks. The smells felt calming, but they did nothing to ease the pain. Had Daniel been in his regular state of mind, he probably would have blushed like a good little boy. Had Vala been in her regular state of mind, she would have very much liked this room.
A woman, no more then thirty entered from the side. "Parlo?" She said looking at the man. She looked worried to see him there. "Why have you come? Is there trouble with the rights?"
Parlo shook his head. "No, Matrisa. These are the visitors," he gestured towards Vala and Daniel without looking away from her. "They wished to be instructed in the Tolyen."
The woman looked at them. She gave them a sizing look before smiling. "Please sit."
