The Shepherd and the Scholar by abyssinia4077 (folklore challenge)

[abyssinia4077]

Title: The Shepherd and the Scholar
Author: abyssinia4077
Characters: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay
Disclaimer: The stargate universes and its characters belong to MGM. I just play with them.
Rating: PG
Summary: John and Rodney never meant to become folk heroes. They just wanted to get out of the damn handcuffs.

Comments

[mremre]

OMG that's so perfect! It's exactly how a Pegasus native would interpret the wild adventures of those crazy kids from Atlantis!

[abyssinia4077]

Thanks!
They're often so lucky - bumbling through and somehow surviving - so I thought the contrast would be fun.

[sholio]

*laughs* I loved the preview and I still love this story! I think my favorite part was the myth version of their defeat of the monster ... and how they actually defeated it.

[abyssinia4077]

I'm still not satisfied with it - I couldn't quite get the plot to tie up neat and decided to just give up and post since the deadline was pretty much hit.

But I did have fun with the idea of the minotaur being a hologram.

Thanks! I'm glad to hear you still liked it!

[namastenancy]

Very cute and nicely written. I really like stories written from the viewpoint of a Pegasus native many years hence.

[abyssinia4077]

Thanks!

You've got to figure - they visit a lot of planets, they must leave strange impressions among the villages sometimes.

[saphanibaal]

Mercedes Lackey once wrote a song called "The Leslac Version." This story brings it irresistably to mind.

What happened to everyone who was tossed into the labyrinth *before*? You don't mention any skeletons...

[abyssinia4077]

Hee :) I haven't heard of it, but I'm not surprised.

What happened to everyone who was tossed into the labyrinth *before*? You don't mention any skeletons...

I admit that was me being frustrated because I couldn't get the plot to quite work out right and just giving up and posting.
I *think* the catacombs were once some sort of Ancient device protecting the village from Wraith and the hologram monster was there to keep the villagers from poking where they shouldn't. I had lots of ideas for how the human sacrifice worked out - maybe the machine needed people interfacing with it or maybe it was just a mistaken superstition on the villager's part or maybe they get transported elsewhere.

*handwavey explanation* John and Rodney don't know this is an annual sacrifice so don't know not finding bodies is weird and simply didn't go to the tunnels where the bodies were. The storyteller believed the minotaur ate the people, so didn't find it weird that bodies weren't found.

Thanks for commenting!

[saphanibaal]

The song's... sort of a duet between the bard (telling a tale) and the warrior (who actually lived the events).

e.g.:
bard: With but a single blow the warrior brought him to his doom!
warrior: About that time he turned around -- I got him with a broom.

//I admit that was me being frustrated because I couldn't get the plot to quite work out right and just giving up and posting.//

Tell me about it -- "Miko and the Bears" is about half as long as I meant it to be.

[abyssinia4077]

Definitely never luck and always brave determination and perfection :)

Thanks for commenting. I'm glad you liked it.