Fic update
Apr. 18th, 2005 08:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stargaterThe next part of Hiding in the Light is now up and part 1 can be found on my website. Part 3 is in the works. And I promise I'm not picking on Sam, it's just I had no other way of getting some parts in there that I wanted. I'm really not totally satisfied with the ending of this chapter, but I dwelled on it for weeks and decided just to go with this. Perhaps later I will edit it again.
Part 2 – Out of light the darkness comes.
Carter came up spluttering and choking on water, gasping for air. She tried to scan the immediate area to look for O’Neill. She knew he had gone over with her, but he was no where in sight. The strong undercurrent grabbed her again and quickly pulled her back under the ice cold water. As she was swept along, she felt something sharp slam into the left side of her face and then bounce off her forehead. The pain was immediately quelled by the freezing waters, but she struggled against unconsciousness while battling to bring herself back above the water. Finally breaking the surface, she spotted a low hanging tree branch reaching out over the water. She readied herself and reached out for it, grabbing on. She held the branch firmly in her grasp as the water raced around her, threatening to pull her back in.
After a few deep breaths of air, she scanned the area for Colonel O’Neill. She caught sight of his form bobbing in the water as he, too, was fighting to stay above the water. She yelled to him as he neared the branch and reached out, their hands interlocking. But the combined forces of the water and his weight tore her away from the branch and swept them both back into the water. O’Neill grabbed tightly onto the back of her flak jacket making sure they wouldn’t be separated; he wouldn’t let go of her again.
Without warning, a small waterfall dropped them into a freefall and deposited them into a deep pool of water. They came back up gasping for air, and they both spotted a small sandy bed in a cove off to their right. They made their way towards it, working hard to work against the still swiftly moving current. Eventually, they washed ashore and crawled out of reach of the water. Both laid back on the cool sand, taking in deep gulps of air.
“Well that was fun,” O’Neill finally said.
“Yeah, but I think I’ll pass on round two,” Carter replied. As they helped each other up, they realized that their little detour down the river had left them both exhausted. O’Neill stole a look at his 2IC noticing the scrape running across her forehead.
“Carter you’re injured. Come here and let me see.” He motioned, and she moved closer so he could inspect the wound.
“It’s no big deal, just a surface cut I think. It’s nothing that can’t be patched up quickly with a med kit,” she told him as he probed the cut with his index finger.
O’Neill nodded and turned to look around at their surroundings to seek a way out of the cove. Besides the river, it appeared the only other way out was climbing up and over the embankment they were under. He grabbed his radio, shook the water out of it, and hailed the other members of his team. “Daniel, Teal’c do you read?” he asked.
“Hey Jack, where are you guys? Teal’c and I were just about to head down to the river to look for you.” Daniel’s voice came back full of static but readable.
“Thank goodness for the U.S. Air Force and their equipment,” O’Neill murmured. Then he answered, “Carter and I decided to go for a little swim. We’re probably a mile or so down stream.”
“We are on are way, O’Neill. Are you injured?” Teal’c asked.
“I’m fine; Carter’s got a cut to the forehead, but it looks like we can bandage it up alright.” A strong wind suddenly whipped through the cove making him shiver. Carter sneezed. “Oh, and it’s a little chilly out here.”
“Ok Jack, we got everything packed up, and we’re on our way. Be there in a few,” Daniel replied. O’Neill clicked his radio in acknowledgment.
Nightfall was setting in fast, and it kept getting colder and colder. Why does it always seem to get colder when you’re soaking wet? he wondered. He shivered again and looked up at the overhang above them. It would be next to impossible to be able to get up and over it without any gear, so they were effectively stuck until Daniel and Teal’c decided to show up.
It wasn’t much longer before they heard telltale sounds of two sets of boots crunching though the underbrush. They kept in voice contact with Daniel and Teal’c to lead them to their location, and soon Daniel’s head popped over the ridge.
“Hey guys, whatcha doing down there?” he asked, amused. He tossed a rope line over the edge with Teal’c at the other end. Carter climbed up first, followed by O’Neill. When they reached the top of the cliff, they noticed that Daniel and Teal’c had lugged all of their packs and equipment with them.
“Okay,” O’Neill said. “Let’s set up camp here. It should only be for a few hours, and at first light we’ll head to the gate.”
Everyone nodded in agreement and went about busying themselves setting up camp. Once the tents were up, O’Neill and Carter changed into dry clothes while Daniel made hot coffee and Teal’c attended to the fire.
Soon they all sat around the wonderfully warm fire. Carter rummaged around in her pack searching for the candy bar she had stashed before setting off. She pulled out one of the small testing kits that had accompanied her to the river the first time. “I guess I won’t have much use for this anymore.” she said, eyeing the sample with disgust.
“Has anyone thought everything that’s happened so far has been just a little too convenient since we got here?” O’Neill asked. “I mean, there’s only supposed to be a few short hours of nightfall, and here it falling right when we are getting ready to head out. Carter first misplaces her water samples then loses them after our little swim downstream, and hey -- I thought there weren’t supposed to be any animals here. I keep hearing birds, or rather their wings flapping.” He made flapping motions with his hands. “What’s up with that?”
Carter nodded eagerly. “I heard the exact same thing, right after we both fell into the river and again right before we made it to the shore. I looked around to see if I could find anything, but I was a little preoccupied with trying to stay above the water at the time.” She shrugged and rubbed her hands together over the warmth of the fire.
“That is quite peculiar,” Teal’c said. “I have seen or heard no birds or creatures of any kind since our arrival.”
“Yeah, neither have I,” Daniel added. “In fact, everything seems abnormally quiet to me, eerily silent even.”
O’Neill grunted in annoyance and stared into the trees behind their camp. The silence became heavy, and everyone remained quiet as if listening for something to come charging at them from the woods.
When nothing did, O’Neill spoke. “Yeah, well let’s just get some rest so we can get the hell off this planet as soon as possible.”
Teal’c volunteered to take first watch, then Daniel followed by Carter then O’Neill. Hopefully daylight would come soon enough so that they wouldn’t have to make it through a whole round of watch duty.
Teal’c took up position near the fire, eyes roaming over everything in their immediate surroundings. He listened intently to the sounds of the forest around them and noted again the lack of sound of anything alive. He waited until everyone else had settled before making a perimeter check around the camp.
A while later, O’Neill woke to the sound of flapping wings. He lay still for a few moments, trying to determine its source. He crept out towards the fire which was still burning brightly and warm thanks to Teal’c’s constant maintenance.
“What is it O’Neill?” Teal’c asked, sensing his friends’ uneasiness.
“You don’t hear that?” O’Neill whispered.
Teal’c cocked his head to one side straining to hear anything. “I hear nothing,” he replied.
“I heard it, too,” Carter announced, coming up behind O’Neill silently.
“Thank you,” he said. “I’m starting to think I’m going nuts.”
At that moment, a large shadow swept over the camp a little bit too close for comfort. O’Neill and Carter instinctively ducked down, and O’Neill reached for his P-90 laying nearby. He scanned the sky above them but could no longer see their mysterious guest.
“Okay, I definitely didn’t imagine that,” he stated.
“No Sir, not unless we’re sharing the same hallucination,” Carter added.
By this time Daniel had emerged from his tent looking somewhat confused. “What’s going on?” he asked sleepily.
“Colonel O’Neill and Major Carter both have seen something in the sky; I have yet to locate anything.” Teal’c informed him.
Daniel squinted up at the sky and put on his glasses. “What did it look like?” he asked.
Carter shrugged. “It’s kind of hard to explain because it went by so fast. All I really saw was a shadow, but I definitely felt something fly overhead.”
“Yeah, it was a big shadowy thing that apparently only Carter and I can see or hear,” O’Neill said. He looked around and was becoming increasingly more irritated as these strange events kept happening.
“Shh wait, I think I hear it again,” Carter said. She pointed in the direction of the river.
“Ok, screw this. We’re packing up and leaving now,” said O’Neill.
Everyone busied themselves packing up what little was left out, and in a few minutes, they were heading towards the gate with flashlights in hand. They walked swiftly, quickly closing the gap between the remains of their camp and the gate. They could almost see it now off in the distance, shrouded in a haze of fog. It was still dark but dawn was starting to peek above the horizon.
O’Neill felt father than heard this time as something swooped over his head again. He turned quickly to bring his weapon to bear in front of him. Now he saw it, or at least all of it that he cared to. He could just make out leathery wings and a large head filled with rows of sharp teeth. Big teeth. Lots of teeth. And claws, large strong claws open and ready to make a grab at them. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before, and it was coming right for him.
Carter dropped into position behind O’Neill as they both opened fire on the strange beast in front of them. Teal’c and Daniel stopped and looked back to see O’Neill and Carter firing at absolutely nothing in the sky.
“What the…” Daniel murmured as he and Teal’c started back to help their teammates.
“Daniel, Teal’c!” O’Neill yelled. “Get to the gate and dial home, and do not turn back!
Daniel hesitated a moment.
“Now, Daniel!” O’Neill shouted again, his voice nearly drowned out by the continuous fire from both P-90s.
Carter moved towards the nearby tree line as another bizarre creature joined the first and somehow managed to elude both of their weapons fire. By this time, Teal’c reached the gate, dialed home, and punched in the iris code. The gate whooshed to life and illuminated the immediate area.
O’Neill had just reached the tree line with Carter only a few feet ahead of him when he heard it. He stopped and looked to his left down the rocky hillside into the small clearing below. In the shroud of dawn, he could make out the silhouette of wispy tendrils, snapping back and forth and protruding from a concealed body. In that brief instant, he saw one tendril lash out and snag Carter right out from in front of him. It happened so quickly, faster then the blink of an eye, and in an instant, both were gone. He turned immediately through the brush to follow.
“Daniel, Teal’c, something just grabbed Carter and I’m going after it. I want both of you through that gate now!” he barked into his radio.
“But Jack--”
“I mean it Daniel, and close the iris as soon as you’re on the other side. I don’t know what this thing is, but you won’t be much help if you can’t even see it. I won’t risk anyone else getting hurt. Go now!” he ordered.
O’Neill was quickly closing in on the small clearing he had spotted earlier. He heard the stargate shutdown behind him just as the twin suns showed themselves over the ridge.
Part 3 on the way!
Part 2 – Out of light the darkness comes.
Carter came up spluttering and choking on water, gasping for air. She tried to scan the immediate area to look for O’Neill. She knew he had gone over with her, but he was no where in sight. The strong undercurrent grabbed her again and quickly pulled her back under the ice cold water. As she was swept along, she felt something sharp slam into the left side of her face and then bounce off her forehead. The pain was immediately quelled by the freezing waters, but she struggled against unconsciousness while battling to bring herself back above the water. Finally breaking the surface, she spotted a low hanging tree branch reaching out over the water. She readied herself and reached out for it, grabbing on. She held the branch firmly in her grasp as the water raced around her, threatening to pull her back in.
After a few deep breaths of air, she scanned the area for Colonel O’Neill. She caught sight of his form bobbing in the water as he, too, was fighting to stay above the water. She yelled to him as he neared the branch and reached out, their hands interlocking. But the combined forces of the water and his weight tore her away from the branch and swept them both back into the water. O’Neill grabbed tightly onto the back of her flak jacket making sure they wouldn’t be separated; he wouldn’t let go of her again.
Without warning, a small waterfall dropped them into a freefall and deposited them into a deep pool of water. They came back up gasping for air, and they both spotted a small sandy bed in a cove off to their right. They made their way towards it, working hard to work against the still swiftly moving current. Eventually, they washed ashore and crawled out of reach of the water. Both laid back on the cool sand, taking in deep gulps of air.
“Well that was fun,” O’Neill finally said.
“Yeah, but I think I’ll pass on round two,” Carter replied. As they helped each other up, they realized that their little detour down the river had left them both exhausted. O’Neill stole a look at his 2IC noticing the scrape running across her forehead.
“Carter you’re injured. Come here and let me see.” He motioned, and she moved closer so he could inspect the wound.
“It’s no big deal, just a surface cut I think. It’s nothing that can’t be patched up quickly with a med kit,” she told him as he probed the cut with his index finger.
O’Neill nodded and turned to look around at their surroundings to seek a way out of the cove. Besides the river, it appeared the only other way out was climbing up and over the embankment they were under. He grabbed his radio, shook the water out of it, and hailed the other members of his team. “Daniel, Teal’c do you read?” he asked.
“Hey Jack, where are you guys? Teal’c and I were just about to head down to the river to look for you.” Daniel’s voice came back full of static but readable.
“Thank goodness for the U.S. Air Force and their equipment,” O’Neill murmured. Then he answered, “Carter and I decided to go for a little swim. We’re probably a mile or so down stream.”
“We are on are way, O’Neill. Are you injured?” Teal’c asked.
“I’m fine; Carter’s got a cut to the forehead, but it looks like we can bandage it up alright.” A strong wind suddenly whipped through the cove making him shiver. Carter sneezed. “Oh, and it’s a little chilly out here.”
“Ok Jack, we got everything packed up, and we’re on our way. Be there in a few,” Daniel replied. O’Neill clicked his radio in acknowledgment.
Nightfall was setting in fast, and it kept getting colder and colder. Why does it always seem to get colder when you’re soaking wet? he wondered. He shivered again and looked up at the overhang above them. It would be next to impossible to be able to get up and over it without any gear, so they were effectively stuck until Daniel and Teal’c decided to show up.
It wasn’t much longer before they heard telltale sounds of two sets of boots crunching though the underbrush. They kept in voice contact with Daniel and Teal’c to lead them to their location, and soon Daniel’s head popped over the ridge.
“Hey guys, whatcha doing down there?” he asked, amused. He tossed a rope line over the edge with Teal’c at the other end. Carter climbed up first, followed by O’Neill. When they reached the top of the cliff, they noticed that Daniel and Teal’c had lugged all of their packs and equipment with them.
“Okay,” O’Neill said. “Let’s set up camp here. It should only be for a few hours, and at first light we’ll head to the gate.”
Everyone nodded in agreement and went about busying themselves setting up camp. Once the tents were up, O’Neill and Carter changed into dry clothes while Daniel made hot coffee and Teal’c attended to the fire.
Soon they all sat around the wonderfully warm fire. Carter rummaged around in her pack searching for the candy bar she had stashed before setting off. She pulled out one of the small testing kits that had accompanied her to the river the first time. “I guess I won’t have much use for this anymore.” she said, eyeing the sample with disgust.
“Has anyone thought everything that’s happened so far has been just a little too convenient since we got here?” O’Neill asked. “I mean, there’s only supposed to be a few short hours of nightfall, and here it falling right when we are getting ready to head out. Carter first misplaces her water samples then loses them after our little swim downstream, and hey -- I thought there weren’t supposed to be any animals here. I keep hearing birds, or rather their wings flapping.” He made flapping motions with his hands. “What’s up with that?”
Carter nodded eagerly. “I heard the exact same thing, right after we both fell into the river and again right before we made it to the shore. I looked around to see if I could find anything, but I was a little preoccupied with trying to stay above the water at the time.” She shrugged and rubbed her hands together over the warmth of the fire.
“That is quite peculiar,” Teal’c said. “I have seen or heard no birds or creatures of any kind since our arrival.”
“Yeah, neither have I,” Daniel added. “In fact, everything seems abnormally quiet to me, eerily silent even.”
O’Neill grunted in annoyance and stared into the trees behind their camp. The silence became heavy, and everyone remained quiet as if listening for something to come charging at them from the woods.
When nothing did, O’Neill spoke. “Yeah, well let’s just get some rest so we can get the hell off this planet as soon as possible.”
Teal’c volunteered to take first watch, then Daniel followed by Carter then O’Neill. Hopefully daylight would come soon enough so that they wouldn’t have to make it through a whole round of watch duty.
Teal’c took up position near the fire, eyes roaming over everything in their immediate surroundings. He listened intently to the sounds of the forest around them and noted again the lack of sound of anything alive. He waited until everyone else had settled before making a perimeter check around the camp.
A while later, O’Neill woke to the sound of flapping wings. He lay still for a few moments, trying to determine its source. He crept out towards the fire which was still burning brightly and warm thanks to Teal’c’s constant maintenance.
“What is it O’Neill?” Teal’c asked, sensing his friends’ uneasiness.
“You don’t hear that?” O’Neill whispered.
Teal’c cocked his head to one side straining to hear anything. “I hear nothing,” he replied.
“I heard it, too,” Carter announced, coming up behind O’Neill silently.
“Thank you,” he said. “I’m starting to think I’m going nuts.”
At that moment, a large shadow swept over the camp a little bit too close for comfort. O’Neill and Carter instinctively ducked down, and O’Neill reached for his P-90 laying nearby. He scanned the sky above them but could no longer see their mysterious guest.
“Okay, I definitely didn’t imagine that,” he stated.
“No Sir, not unless we’re sharing the same hallucination,” Carter added.
By this time Daniel had emerged from his tent looking somewhat confused. “What’s going on?” he asked sleepily.
“Colonel O’Neill and Major Carter both have seen something in the sky; I have yet to locate anything.” Teal’c informed him.
Daniel squinted up at the sky and put on his glasses. “What did it look like?” he asked.
Carter shrugged. “It’s kind of hard to explain because it went by so fast. All I really saw was a shadow, but I definitely felt something fly overhead.”
“Yeah, it was a big shadowy thing that apparently only Carter and I can see or hear,” O’Neill said. He looked around and was becoming increasingly more irritated as these strange events kept happening.
“Shh wait, I think I hear it again,” Carter said. She pointed in the direction of the river.
“Ok, screw this. We’re packing up and leaving now,” said O’Neill.
Everyone busied themselves packing up what little was left out, and in a few minutes, they were heading towards the gate with flashlights in hand. They walked swiftly, quickly closing the gap between the remains of their camp and the gate. They could almost see it now off in the distance, shrouded in a haze of fog. It was still dark but dawn was starting to peek above the horizon.
O’Neill felt father than heard this time as something swooped over his head again. He turned quickly to bring his weapon to bear in front of him. Now he saw it, or at least all of it that he cared to. He could just make out leathery wings and a large head filled with rows of sharp teeth. Big teeth. Lots of teeth. And claws, large strong claws open and ready to make a grab at them. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before, and it was coming right for him.
Carter dropped into position behind O’Neill as they both opened fire on the strange beast in front of them. Teal’c and Daniel stopped and looked back to see O’Neill and Carter firing at absolutely nothing in the sky.
“What the…” Daniel murmured as he and Teal’c started back to help their teammates.
“Daniel, Teal’c!” O’Neill yelled. “Get to the gate and dial home, and do not turn back!
Daniel hesitated a moment.
“Now, Daniel!” O’Neill shouted again, his voice nearly drowned out by the continuous fire from both P-90s.
Carter moved towards the nearby tree line as another bizarre creature joined the first and somehow managed to elude both of their weapons fire. By this time, Teal’c reached the gate, dialed home, and punched in the iris code. The gate whooshed to life and illuminated the immediate area.
O’Neill had just reached the tree line with Carter only a few feet ahead of him when he heard it. He stopped and looked to his left down the rocky hillside into the small clearing below. In the shroud of dawn, he could make out the silhouette of wispy tendrils, snapping back and forth and protruding from a concealed body. In that brief instant, he saw one tendril lash out and snag Carter right out from in front of him. It happened so quickly, faster then the blink of an eye, and in an instant, both were gone. He turned immediately through the brush to follow.
“Daniel, Teal’c, something just grabbed Carter and I’m going after it. I want both of you through that gate now!” he barked into his radio.
“But Jack--”
“I mean it Daniel, and close the iris as soon as you’re on the other side. I don’t know what this thing is, but you won’t be much help if you can’t even see it. I won’t risk anyone else getting hurt. Go now!” he ordered.
O’Neill was quickly closing in on the small clearing he had spotted earlier. He heard the stargate shutdown behind him just as the twin suns showed themselves over the ridge.
Part 3 on the way!
