((Btw, I have some prompts hanging around from other memes, if you'd like to play with those, too. I'd need to figure out how to get the style patch set up on my musebox, though.))
Surely they haven't been missing for more than a day and a half - at least, Chaka hopes they haven't. "None of this makes any sense. I could understand you being taken, but why both of us?" He has no idea what kind of group would want both him and Daniel out of the way - but then, if it was just about getting them out of the way, it didn't make any sense to strand them together rather than just killing them. Whatever is going on here, he's starting to suspect the answers are in whatever it is they're walking toward.
Daniel shakes his head. "I don't know, Chaka. But it can't be anything good."
His steps were getting a little slower as a dry wind was picking up. It completely obliterated their footprints behind them. Now they couldn't even see where they had been, they had no choice but to keep going forward. Daniel was tiring in the extreme heat, hoping that it was just an illusion that the object in the distance didn't look to be any closer than before.
Chaka is wondering the same thing - but then, he's used to operating in much more temperate regions, where there are always objects in the foreground that can be easily used to judge distance and scale. It's more difficult on the barren surface of an alien world, and the object could be miles farther away than he had estimated. The prospect of having to walk that far in this heat isn't a welcome one, but it's not like they have a choice. For now, he keeps his head down against the wind, pulls the collar of his tunic up over his nose and mouth to keep out the dust, and presses onward.
Eventually, the object does begin to grow bigger on the horizon, and they can begin to make out details. It's definitely a crashed spaceship of some kind; the design is vaguely reminiscent of a Tel'tak, but much more primitive, and the sun is gleaming off its cockpit canopy. Chaka's never seen anything like it before; he tilts his head, trying to figure out exactly what it is he's looking at. "What is that thing?"
At this point, Daniel is lagging behind. It's been too long since he had lived on Abydos but even so, this heat was unbearable.
He tries to lift his gaze to see what they were walking towards, his feet feeling like he was trudging through sludge even though it was just sand. "It's a..." Daniel shakes his head, trying to come up with the word. His brain just isn't working as well in the heat. He motions with his hand in a form of charades. "...flying ship?"
Chaka recognizes the gesture - it's more or less the same one he used to try to convey the concept of spaceship - but this time, the words make more sense. "So we might be able to use it to get out of here?" At least that's something - if they don't both die of heatstroke first. Unas may be a lot more physically robust than humans, but they don't thermoregulate as efficiently in hot weather, so while Chaka's faring better than Daniel for the moment, he's also in more danger than he knows
( ... )
In the instant before the reality of the situation sets in, Chaka finds himself thinking about how nice it would be to do the same.
Then, he's crouching by Daniel's side, hauling him up out of the sand. "Come on - it's only a little further. We can make it." He drapes Daniel's arm around his shoulders and attempts to get to his feet - and, with a few tries, finally succeeds. However, there's little more than determination keeping him there, so whether they actually make it to the craft is another matter.
As far as Chaka is concerned, if he never sees another desert again after they make it out of this one - if they make it out of this one - it will be too soon.
Daniel groans as he's picked up off the hot sand, trying to regain his footing. He felt like he could literally self combust from the inside out. What he wouldn't give for a transport to Antarctica right now.
He tries to help move them both in the right direction, a group effort to make it there.
When they finally collapse in the shade of the crashed spaceship, Daniel's only got half of his wits about him, going on about heat stroke and emergency procedures...all in English though.
...and he was probably imagining that container of water, right? The one stuck inside the space ship.
Chaka understands considerably more English than he speaks, but between the medical terminology and the fact that he's on the verge of heat exhaustion himself, he's barely getting a quarter of what Daniel is saying by the time they stagger into what's left of the ship's airlock.
At least the bottle of water isn't Daniel's imagination, and it's not the only water on the craft, either - Chaka can smell more of it nearby, along with a faint, disturbing scent he can't quite manage to place. However, his most immediate concern is seeing to Daniel; after he checks the bottle's contents to make sure they really are water, he brings it to Daniel's lips. "Here. It's probably safe to drink."
He coughs the first mouthful back out but the second is a little easier. It's a moment or two before he even realizes he's drinking real water, feeling a little less disoriented now that they were out of the sun and he was getting some liquids. He looks up at Chaka and sighs with relief. "We made it..."
He pushes the bottle at Chaka, half empty, not wanting to take it all. It very well may be all that they have for all he knows. "You drink too...bad as me."
"I'm not the one who collapsed." Still, he takes the bottle and drinks most of its remaining contents, leaving a bit just in case Daniel needs more. Noticing the floor of the craft is considerably cooler than the air, he opts to sprawl out on it, instinctively maximizing heat transfer by pressing his chest and stomach against the floor, while he waits for his eyes to adjust to the comparative darkness inside the ship. Once they do, he notices that the ship has several compartments; the door to the one immediately downslope from them is partially open, and it looks like there are faint ripple reflections on the ceiling. At least they're not out of water yet.
Daniel takes some slow breaths, feeling better and less overheated. He squints and frowns at the ripples inside the ship. "...am I seeing things? Or does that look like..."
((Sorry for the delay, this vacation has been... kind of the opposite of relaxing @_@))
"I think it is." He gets up to examine it more closely - though, that faint, unknown scent seems to have activated his instinct for caution. There seems to be no sign of animal activity anywhere inside the craft, but just to make sure they're really alone, he tosses a small pebble into the puddle in the other compartment. Nothing moves except the water, and judging by the sound of the splash and the way the ripples spread out, it's too shallow for anything dangerous to live in. Satisfied, he enters the compartment, and crouches by the little pool to splash water over his face and throat.
By its scent, the water is runoff from a storm, and judging by the evaporation marks around it, the rains ended maybe sometime between three weeks and a month and a half ago; in this climate, it's difficult to tell. However, it is awfully convenient for them.
[ooc: no problem! take your time, it's not going anywhere]
Daniel moves forward too on his hands and knees to stare at the pool of water. "Not exactly a typical oasis..."
He's a little more cautious, pulling out a small vial from a pocket to scoop in the water and test to see if it was safe. When he was satisfied it was, he splashes some on himself too with a sigh of relief. "We might make it after all."
"I don't think whoever put us here was trying to kill us. I think they're trying to make us do something with this spaceship." He tries the word out to see whether it's the right one, figuring Daniel will correct him if it isn't. However, what's foremost on his mind now is figuring out what that unrecognizably faint but somehow familiar scent is - though, to do it, he'd have to poke around the craft a little more, and he's beginning to suspect that might be a bad idea. On the one hand, they'd at least know a little more about what they were dealing with - but on the other, it could well be playing into the hands of whoever left them here. "Don't suppose you saw any sign we were being watched."
Sure felt like longer.
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Surely they haven't been missing for more than a day and a half - at least, Chaka hopes they haven't. "None of this makes any sense. I could understand you being taken, but why both of us?" He has no idea what kind of group would want both him and Daniel out of the way - but then, if it was just about getting them out of the way, it didn't make any sense to strand them together rather than just killing them. Whatever is going on here, he's starting to suspect the answers are in whatever it is they're walking toward.
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His steps were getting a little slower as a dry wind was picking up. It completely obliterated their footprints behind them. Now they couldn't even see where they had been, they had no choice but to keep going forward. Daniel was tiring in the extreme heat, hoping that it was just an illusion that the object in the distance didn't look to be any closer than before.
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Eventually, the object does begin to grow bigger on the horizon, and they can begin to make out details. It's definitely a crashed spaceship of some kind; the design is vaguely reminiscent of a Tel'tak, but much more primitive, and the sun is gleaming off its cockpit canopy. Chaka's never seen anything like it before; he tilts his head, trying to figure out exactly what it is he's looking at. "What is that thing?"
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He tries to lift his gaze to see what they were walking towards, his feet feeling like he was trudging through sludge even though it was just sand. "It's a..." Daniel shakes his head, trying to come up with the word. His brain just isn't working as well in the heat. He motions with his hand in a form of charades. "...flying ship?"
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Just got to...keep going...
Or fall down flat on his face. That works too.
Maybe he'll lay here for awhile and just melt away.
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Then, he's crouching by Daniel's side, hauling him up out of the sand. "Come on - it's only a little further. We can make it." He drapes Daniel's arm around his shoulders and attempts to get to his feet - and, with a few tries, finally succeeds. However, there's little more than determination keeping him there, so whether they actually make it to the craft is another matter.
As far as Chaka is concerned, if he never sees another desert again after they make it out of this one - if they make it out of this one - it will be too soon.
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He tries to help move them both in the right direction, a group effort to make it there.
When they finally collapse in the shade of the crashed spaceship, Daniel's only got half of his wits about him, going on about heat stroke and emergency procedures...all in English though.
...and he was probably imagining that container of water, right? The one stuck inside the space ship.
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At least the bottle of water isn't Daniel's imagination, and it's not the only water on the craft, either - Chaka can smell more of it nearby, along with a faint, disturbing scent he can't quite manage to place. However, his most immediate concern is seeing to Daniel; after he checks the bottle's contents to make sure they really are water, he brings it to Daniel's lips. "Here. It's probably safe to drink."
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He pushes the bottle at Chaka, half empty, not wanting to take it all. It very well may be all that they have for all he knows. "You drink too...bad as me."
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It looked like water. A lot of it.
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"I think it is." He gets up to examine it more closely - though, that faint, unknown scent seems to have activated his instinct for caution. There seems to be no sign of animal activity anywhere inside the craft, but just to make sure they're really alone, he tosses a small pebble into the puddle in the other compartment. Nothing moves except the water, and judging by the sound of the splash and the way the ripples spread out, it's too shallow for anything dangerous to live in. Satisfied, he enters the compartment, and crouches by the little pool to splash water over his face and throat.
By its scent, the water is runoff from a storm, and judging by the evaporation marks around it, the rains ended maybe sometime between three weeks and a month and a half ago; in this climate, it's difficult to tell. However, it is awfully convenient for them.
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Daniel moves forward too on his hands and knees to stare at the pool of water. "Not exactly a typical oasis..."
He's a little more cautious, pulling out a small vial from a pocket to scoop in the water and test to see if it was safe. When he was satisfied it was, he splashes some on himself too with a sigh of relief. "We might make it after all."
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