Archaeology, Natural Disasters and You [Closed]
The trip down revealed that Taleen was going to be of several things, none of which were pleasant. Arid, pale with a light dusting of red from the rocks, and yellow-white grass that extended in plains all the way towards far off mountains . There was a giant gash in the land near the orb landing area, which resolved itself into a massive canyon as
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She was, however, glad to help set up camp first. That gave her enough time to think about her options. Eventually, she ended up overlooking a large cave decorated with the remains of a civilization long gone in a language she could never really hope to understand.
Now it was just a question of what she should do next. Sofia had had her share of venturing into caverns and finding both treasure and lost civilizations, but somehow she had a feeling that this planet was definitely not like her own. But she couldn't deny that coming across something fantastic would certainly make her day.
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Taleen was massive, and so were the canyon and ruins. 'Massive' didn't do either justice, he thought, as he looked out on the plains and the canyon, and Daniel didn't think he had words in the English language or any of the other languages he knew that could do it a service. It didn't mean he couldn't appreciate it though.
Was that-? It looked almost like the ruins in Petra. Just a glimpse of geometric shapes cut into a wall, and it was enough to get his attention. He clampered down some rocks, then slid the rest of the way down the gentle slope in a controlled fall. He hit the ledge easily, only to find someone had beat him there. It was a young woman with a mass of green hair. Sofia. The soldier who'd helped him with his bag on his first mission. Too bad the mission had gone sour fast. It wasn't her fault. Even though she was meant to be their bodyguard, there wasn't much you could do if they spiked your drinks.
He only hoped this one was different. Outside of an imminent natural disaster, Daniel didn't think it could get much worse. Of course, saying it out loud had always lead to problems in the past, so it might be something better kept to himself.
"Incredible, isn't it?" Daniel said as he came up. He dusted off the BDUS. "I don't think anyone's set foot on this planet since the battle site."
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But this was neither here nor now. She looked at the BDUS in curiosity before speaking again. "It is a shame of what this planet's situation will do to everything."
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It probably helped they were already planet side and not waiting around packing.
"It is," Daniel agreed. A tiny smile tugged at his mouth. "Unless you can stop those meteors somehow. Then we could stay longer."
Maybe he had enough spare energy to indulge in some wishful thinking. If things were just that easy, they wouldn't have had to pass half the finds to the other SG teams to finish up. Probably. Call him greedy, but there was something disappointing about coming onto something incredible and only having time to graze the surface, before SG-1 had to move on. Even though he wouldn't trade being out on field missions for anything, sometimes Daniel envied those who worked solely from the base.
Daniel reached into one of the tactical vest pockets and pulled out a light. Shining it downwards the cave, he leaned over. Doctor Song had things under control for now, so it should be okay. "Feel up to a little exploring?"
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"I wouldn't mind at all," she admitted, peering behind him curiously. "If you wish, I could also case a blazing spell and use the flames to help us light the way downwards." It wasn't an insult at his pocket light, really! Just when you'd been casting fire spells you put them to good use. Like...lighting up caves. And cooking up supper. And roasting monsters. Sofia was a very simple lady.
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Daniel started into the cave, then remembered himself. He should probably let the others know where they were going, just in case something happened. He toggled the omnicom on and left a note for everyone on the dig, saying where they were and what time they were going into the cave. Honestly, he preferred not to assume the worst off the bat, but the SGC was slowly getting inside his head. Radio check ins must be the first symptom of assimilation. An obsession with a perfectly pressed uniform must be the next stage.
Luckily Daniel hadn't quite gotten there yet. He turned, stepped into the darkness. Beyond the initial exterior and the carvings, the cave's entrance was narrow, which wasn't a problem, and with a relatively short roof, which was a problem. Daniel hunched over. Being six foot, for today, was a serious draw back. The caverns would get bigger if he was lucky.
"So who is the Zenithian Dragon?" Daniel asked. "Is Dragon a title or is he really a dragon?"
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Being nearly six feet herself, Sofia also had to duck and wished she still had the Wand of Transformation in her possession so they could be both turned into cats. The ability to see in near darkness and be small could have come in handy right about now.
"He is called the Master Dragon by most of the Zenithian, I believe. I do not know if that is his true name. But he is a dragon, yes." Why would he be called a dragon if he wasn't one, people from other worlds sure were odd sometimes.
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The tunnel began to widen and gain height as they went in. Daniel straightened the moment he could. His back gave an embarrassing pop.
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"Is your back alright?"
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So a sky figure. Most dragons were, or they were of the earth. Made sense. He twisted from side to side, working out the kinks, and settled. The flashlight went to the rest of the cave. "A benevolent ruler, I hope."
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"From what I was able to see during my time there, not only a benevolent ruler, but a wise one as well. The people on Zenithia appeared to be afraid of humans, but he was willing to lend us his strength to save the earth."
She couldn't see that much ahead due to the size and waiting to see if anything interesting showed up.
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The Doctor came up behind her and joined her peering into the cave. It opened up into the wall of the ledge, probably going deeper into the cliff-face and given how old it probably was, there was no telling just how stable it was or what they could find in there. The Doctor found that cave loads more interesting than watching Otter Soother Daniel Jackson picking away at some sort of animal skeleton and glancing at his new companion, he assumed she must've felt the same to have the good sense to choose a cave over the rest of the dig site.
"Excellent choice," he said. He shoved a hand in her direction. "The Doctor and no, I don't think we've met. I would've remembered lovely green hair like yours. Now, this cave! It looks like it could use a good exploring."
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"I am Sofia." She should comment about his compliment about her hair? Confusing. It was odd feeling this confusing about anyone. But yes! The cave! Like a sweet melody of familiarity in its unfamiliarity, it allowed her to unfocus on this strange man and his particular hairstyle (like she was one to speak).
"Rather dark," she continued as they peered onwards. She held out one of her palms and whispered "Frizz", causing a flame to dance in her hand. The now orange-light tainted rocky cavern beckoned them in. She waited for the Doctor to go in because ladies first.
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He smiled at her, shameless, and decided that as the resident Doctor here, he probably ought to go in first...if only because he had loads and loads of experience wandering into deep dark caves and with no idea what was inside. Besides; if there was anything inside, he needed to be able to warn Sofia. The Doctor crept in, a spindly shadow ahead of Sofia as he glanced around. It was easily several degrees colder inside, the cave narrowing down to a branch of tunnels with pictographs carved into their surfaces. Glancing back at Sofia to check where she was, the Doctor then turned to the cave walls and ran a finger over the closest set of pictographs.
He muttered to himself, as if he could read it.
The Doctor had no idea what they said. He just liked to to think out loud.
"Is that what your species does? Spontaneous (but safe) combustion?" The question came from nowhere and he still poked at those pictographs as if they were talking about all that history and Time in the cave.
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"Actually," she responded, watching the shadows dance upon the many carvings, "this is a simple spell. I am simply magic-tuned like some humans and most Zenithians are. I since learned that many other humans from other worlds cannot cast magic at all."
She traced a hand over one of the large floating ships that seemed to be attacking from above.
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"No, humans are funny like that. Some are telepathic, others can't even speak basic Cat or Dolphin. I suppose it makes it interesting," the Doctor smiled at Sophia, one hundred percent serious. "I've love to see what you consider complex, sometime. Now! These carvings. What do you make of them?"
He stopped pretending he was interested in the pictographs at his end, instead cocking his head and watching Sophia running a hand gently over a relief of some sort of battle. Some of the stone flaked away at her touch, although most of it remained intact.
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