DD
"When does anything ever go well for Sheppard or McKay?" Ronon snorted at the idea.
"True," Teyla conceded. "Perhaps it is best if we see if we can find Rodney."
Ronon nodded and stepped in to offer Teyla an arm to lean on if she needed the support, and she gratefully took advantage of it. Teyla’s knee throbbed with each step she took, and unlike her Satedan teammate, she was willing to admit to her injuries. It was obvious Ronon was hurt worse than he admitted, and she did her best to keep her weight from becoming too much of a burden for him, easing up when she noted his brow furrow in pain.
They made their way across the lava field to the jungle and headed back into the trees in search of their teammate. The climb up the slope was not nearly as steep as it seemed, and neither would have broken a sweat if they had been in top condition. But Teyla would have liked nothing more than to be in the infirmary back on Atlantis and gladly accepting whatever pain medication Jennifer offered to her. Her head pounded from the hit she had taken when she fell, and occasionally a bought of dizziness would have her gripping Ronon’s arm even more. It was no doubt a concussion, but she had experienced worse in the past, so she concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and continuing the ascent up the hillside. It was enough, however, to keep her less than attuned to her surroundings.
At one point, Ronon caught her before she went down after tripping over a root. Teyla gave him a grateful but slightly embarrassed smile at her uncharacteristic clumsiness.
"I will be thankful when this mission is completed," she admitted even as she straightened and took another step.
"I don’t think you’ll be the only one," Ronon assured.
Teyla looked him over once more. "I take it your challenge was the delma of water?"
"You know, I hadn’t even thought of that, but I suppose that’s as good as any."
"So you had an option of which delma it could have been?" Teyla prodded, seeing as Ronon seemed reluctant to tell her exactly what had happened to him.
"Yeah, there were a couple I could choose from."
It was obvious Ronon was not going to reveal what he had been through, so Teyla changed tactics. "I am fairly certain mine was rock."
Ronon shrugged, his eyes flicking toward Teyla uncomfortably, and she knew he knew what she was up to. "Yeah, I’d say that’s a safe bet."
Teyla sighed in frustration but did not broach the subject again, even when they stopped for a short rest when they came across a stream and drank the cool water eagerly. Both of them were anxious to keep moving, and they continued to climb upward until they had reached a cliff face and Ronon studied it curiously, apparently trying to decide which way would be the best way to go to get around it.
"Wait here," he directed, apparently wishing to scout ahead and not wanting to drag Teyla and her injured leg with him.
Teyla did as she was told, happy for the chance to lean against the rock face and rest her knee. Ronon returned a few minutes later with a frown.
"What it wrong?" she asked in worry.
"I found Atlantis tread boot prints… and blood," he reported.
Teyla’s stomach flipped at the news. "John or Rodney?"
"I’m thinking McKay."
"Can you track him?" Teyla knew it was a ridiculous question, and Ronon’s snort was all the answer she needed.
"Come on, let’s go."
Rodney’s path was obvious enough that even she could follow it easily, and she was relieved to see that the blood was rare, indicating that his wound was not as serious as she had first feared. His path, however, was rather convoluted, but it did eventually lead to a second set of prints that could only belong to John. Teyla crinkled her nose in disgust at the fetid smell that permeated the area where they had met up and gladly followed Ronon as he continued on the trail of the two men.
Even with John and Rodney now together, the trail didn’t become any straighter. If anything it seemed to grow more convoluted, and the closeness of the tracks suggested one was supporting the other. As much as Teyla would have thought it was John supporting a bleeding Rodney, Ronon came to the conclusion it was the other way around. Which just raised the question, what had happened to John that an already injured Rodney would have to help him along?
Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good and Teyla’s already cloudy thoughts became so engrossed with her worries over the two men that it took Ronon pulling her to a halt for her to realize she heard voices in the distance. Ronon stopped her before she could move in the direction of her teammates, pointing out another set of tracks, these belonging to a large four-legged animal with claws.
They proceeded at a much more cautious pace, following the tracks of the predator that was apparently on the hunt for some human prey. John and Rodney’s voices grew louder with each step they took.
"You want to rest for a minute?" Rodney asked with a concerned tone.
John’s voice slurred slightly as he told Rodney, "We should keep moving. Never know when another dragon might show up."
"Or giant predatory cat-thing." Rodney’s voice held a touch of panic.
The low growl of the animal had Ronon moving faster and Teyla hobbling to keep up while remaining as silent at possible to remain undetected.
"McKay…" Sheppard spoke in a quiet warning.
Rodney responded with an equally quiet, "Don’t move."
The cat roared loudly and Teyla finally caught up to Ronon to peer around him and through the leaves to see the large mottled tan and brown creature with tufted ears that fell flat against its spotted skull. Its long whiskered lips peeled back to reveal four long incisors as it started forward a step toward where John and Rodney stood frozen in place.
"We can back away," John suggested in a mumble that Teyla could barely hear. "Go back to the trail."
"Or we can ease around it and keep looking for water," Rodney whispered back.
Ronon, however, decided neither option would work for their teammates and pulled his knife to take matters into his own hands.
Teyla grabbed his arm and mouthed, "What are you doing?"
Ronon mimicked a stabbing motion and Teyla gave him a look that said he was insane if he thought he could kill the animal with little more than his bare hands. Ronon simply rolled his eyes.
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