[RL WITH SULU][backdated to 03-20] Shoreleave: Part 2
Ianto had thought that one day on the planet had been exciting enough, but the prospect of another, when Sulu had mentioned it, had been too good to pass up. They'd had such a nice time on the beach, after all. It was only fair that they do a little exploring, let Sulu look for the alien plants that he would want to and get to watch the other man
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Ianto wasn't all that self-conscious about the fact that he'd been pretty much the opposite of cool, the day before, when Sulu had been showing him the planet and the ship in that little shuttle craft. Or, to put it in better terms, scaring him with his daredevil piloting skills, rather. He did feel slightly silly for it, because he knew Sulu and he trusted him not to kill him in a crash, or anything like that, but he'd always feel safer when his feet were on solid ground and not moving quite as fast as they had been in that shuttlecraft.
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"C'mon," he said finally, reaching out to grab Ianto's hand and move towards the distant sound of running water, "Let's go find something for me to freak out about then, huh? Since it's so intriguing."
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He laughed as Sulu took his hand, though, letting himself be pulled along for a moment before stepping up his pace to walk beside Sulu as the two of them picked their way through the underbrush of the jungle. "Yeah, alright, let's. It is rather intriguing, after all. I enjoy the idea that I'm not the only one embarrassing myself, or anything." Even though he really wasn't embarrassed, nor would Sulu be entirely embarrassed for geeking over plants. They trusted each other too much for that.
"I think I hear the river that you were looking for," he remarked casually, as they made their way in the direction of the sound of running water. "Shouldn't be too far off, not when we can hear it like that, yeah?"
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He continued to try and clear their path as they walked; he had no interest in cutting away the overgrowth - that was a little too adventure-story for him, and he didn't want to be that kind of guy in front of Ianto. Well, okay, maybe he did, but he still was sort of embarrassed by how much fun he could have tromping around a forest, looking for rare and alien plants. It definitely altered his cool, put-together image, that was for sure, and even if Ianto knew he was a complete nerd, that didn't mean he wanted to completely show it off. So, no Treasure Island, cutting a path out for them antics here. "And by the way? I wasn't even close to pretending to crash into the ship."
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And the mention of the flying from the previous day, Ianto shook his head, chuckling. "If you weren't even close to pretending to crash into the ship, then what were you doing to start off with? Speeding towards it only to pull back at the last minute and fly us all around the outside of it. Because, near as I can see it, generally when you go towards something and then pull back away from it again, that's sort of like playing chicken and, yes, pretending to crash into the ship, as far as I'm concerned," he said, good-naturedly.
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Pushing away the leaves of a large, spineless sort of aloe looking plant, Sulu spotted the riverbank only a dozen or so yards beyond. The plants growing out along the river's edge were tall, wavy things that looked a bit like cattails, only with budding purple flowers and dark blue stalks. "See, that's what I'm looking for," he said, grinning and letting go of Ianto's hand to move forward and examine them. He looked at the river and his grin widened more, waving for Ianto to come look. "See?" he said, gesturing to the crystal clear river and the large group of fish that looked more like feathery eels than anything, only - well, more friendly, he supposed. "Fish. They're probably the biggest things on the planet," he added, noticing that some of them were almost the size of a medium sized dog.
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Ianto smiled as Sulu all but skipped ahead of him to look at the plants, pointing out the fish in the river, at which Ianto had to do a double take. "...oh my god, they're enormous," Ianto said, stepping forward to get a better look at the fish in question, making sure that he was staying safely out of the way in case...who knows, he were to fall into the river or in case they jumped out and...something else happened. Ianto was nothing if not practical, even when visiting and exploring new and exciting places such as this one.
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"And yeah - they're definitely the biggest thing we've seen on the planet so far. I bet they'd be great for barbequing," he said with a grin. Actually, that was pretty tempting - maybe they could catch one and have an old-fashioned roast later. Of course, he'd have to check them and make sure they weren't poisonous, but he sincerely doubted it. They probably tasted like catfish.
He was so busy contemplating just how the fish would taste roasted over a fire and checking the readings of his tricorder that he didn't notice the soft noise of something moving in the trees across the river. Even if he had - it was probably nothing.
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But then something rustled in the trees along the river, and though it was soft, it was definitely the sound of something other than the wind. Ianto, standing closer to the other side and less preoccupied than the other man, heard it quite clearly. He took a step back, a step closer to Sulu, because really. He'd heard what birds sounded like, and they didn't sound like that, and Sulu'd insisted that there were only birds and fish there, and fish didn't move in the leaves, so. "...did you hear that?" he asked, cautiously, his eyes not leaving the treeline where he'd heard the rustling even as he inched his way back to where Sulu was.
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Then, the trees rustled again, the bushes by the riverside visibly shaking as something moved about them. Sulu paused, not as worried about it as Ianto was but still a bit cautious. "It might be one of the antelope-type things the ensigns have seen," he offered tentatively, because while it was the most likely explanation, saying it was just a deer was usually the first part of things going horribly wrong in these situations.
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Speaking of deer...the trees rustled another time, and a creature stepped out of the underbrush and into view, a creature that was vaguely antelope-like in looks. Ianto breathed a sigh of relief, letting himself relax a little bit as he did so. He turned to Sulu, looking slightly apologetic as he did so. "Sorry," he said. "Guess you were right. It's hard not to be a little jumpy, when you've got a job like Torchwood. Obviously I'm just paranoid though, I'm sorry about that." He turned to look back at the deer-like creature in question, as it slowly eased it's way out of the brush towards the bank of the riverway.
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When the strange little deer-like creature came out of the brush, he relaxed almost immediately, grinning over to Ianto as the other man apologized. "Don't worry about it," he said, "It's not like I'm going to hold it against you. Being afraid of the little antelope thing, and all." He couldn't help but tease a little - after all, the thing looked like something you'd want to take home as a pet than something to be afraid of.
That was, it looked adorable and cute until just about the time when the sound of thunder broke through the treeline, the antelope looking up just in time to get snatched up in the jaws of something roughly the size of an elephant, and almost seal-like in shape. Except for the teeth. Those were more like a shark's. His hand was reaching for Ianto's before he'd really had time to process the fact that there was something much bigger than an antelope chewing on a cute woodland creature and looking around at them.
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Just as Sulu was reaching for Ianto's hand at that moment, Ianto was throwing his out to grab Sulu's, his heart in his throat, because that thing was a lot bigger and more terrifying than he was really prepared to handle in that moment. He simply threw his hand out to grab Sulu's, and without a second thought was tugging him as fast as he could in the opposite direction. Maybe running was a bad idea, but Ianto sure as hell was not going to just stay put and watch as it came after the pair of them as well.
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As they ran, Sulu gripped Ianto's hand, pulling and being pulled as they sprinted through the thick underbrush. This was bad - very bad - if only he could risk being distracted so that he could grab his communicator and call for help - but he didn't want to risk falling over. As it was, he was sure he'd trip before too long. "Keep going!" he shouted to Ianto, as though the other man needed any encouragement in that particular field.
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Ianto didn't need to be told twice not to stop running. He quick shot a glance around, not behind them, but at the area, searching for anywhere that they might be able to escape from this thing. Maybe there was somewhere small, some... There. Up ahead to the left, a section of the forest where the trees were packed closer together. Maybe...maybe it would slow the thing down? Stumbling slightly, Ianto yanked Sulu off in the direction of those trees, hoping that it would work and that Sulu would understand why he was, since he really didn't have time to stop and explain himself.
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When Ianto pulled him towards a thick cluster of trees, Sulu staggered but kept his footing, following him without really getting why they were going in that direction. Ianto seemed to have a plan and, well, considering Sulu's plan was to run until they could get away, anything sounded better than that. Then again, the cluster could provide a sort of fence between them and the thing, if it couldn't break through. Maybe that was what Ianto was going for - if so, that was a pretty solid idea.
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