Suffer the Little Children...

Posted on Thu Mar 14th, 2019 @ 1:35am by Major Jacob Asher & Staff Sergeant Rhiannon O'Connor & Staff Sergeant Jeremiah Corvus & Civillian Shae

Mission: The Lost Boys and Girls
Location: P3X842
Timeline: Current

Isbeil watched as the travelers split off into two groups. One was taking the path that led to An Altair, where An Rud was kept. The Thing. Na Cailltean knew that An Rud was more than just a thing. It was An Rud that had caused An Tinneas Mòr, the Great Sickness that had killed the parents and families of Na Cailltean and would have wiped out all of the their people, if Daoine An Éan had not brought Na Cailltean here to this place, and the device, too, and made it so that no one who came here could ever leave...unless they solved the mystery.

Isbeil hesitated for a moment before sending the little ones, Rigard of the Cunava and Matina, another Gaul, to shadow the group headed for An Altair and An Rud. They had the bodies of eight year-old children and were small and quiet. They could follow without being seen and observe the strangers. Isbeil gripped her spear tightly. She had almost made up her mind to kill these and take their goods, clothing, and weapons, when Felimid got her attention again. Once more he signed "Mercy". Damn him! Fine. Isbeil relented. She signed that she, Estin, Felimid, and Trestana, all armed with spears and daggers, would approach the strangers, and that Sanicios and Morgaine were to cover with their bows. The group emerged from the forest, Felimid and Trestana leading the way, with Isbeil and her loyal partner Estin following behind.

"Contact!" Ree said when she saw the armed children approaching. She didn't point her weapon at them, but she kept it at low ready. "Four of them. Two boys two girls."

Shae tightened her grip on her bow, but did not raise it. Something wasn't right here, children in survival mode would not just come out like this, they should be more wary and cautious, instead they walked with too much purpose. And she could see the markings on the children quite clearly now, and they were definitely not paints, those were proper woad tattoos.

"They're well fed, healthy," Shae remarked cautiously. She attempted to greet the strange children, working through a few different languages until she found one that got a response. "Fàilte" she said, a welcome or greeting of sorts.

Felimid grinned and called to Isbeil over his shoulder. "Faic, Ceannard, is dòcha gu bheil iad a ’bruidhinn do chànan!" The word for Welcome was the same in both his language and Isbeil's, and he wasn't sure from how the pretty one said the word which language it was. It never hurt to speak to his Chief in her own tongue, so he spoke to Isbeil in the language of the Picts.

See, Chief! Maybe they speak your tongue!

Isbeil snorted derisively. "Tha e nas coltaiche mar sin a ’seinn òran neo-fhaicsinneach a bhios tu a’ bruidhinn! Feuch ri bruidhinn rithe!"

It sounds more like that sing song nonsense you speak! Try talking to her!

Felimid laughed and trotted over to Shae. "Beannachtaí!" Felimid pointed to himself and puffed out his chest. "Felimid! Cad is ainm duit go maith?"

Greetings! Felimid! What is your name, pretty one?

Trestana rolled her eyes. While their bodies weren't quite old enough for the kind of partnership the older "children" had, she and Felimid were partners. She loved the scamp, and so tolerated his silly flirting with travelers, if for no other reason than he hadn't had the opportunity to do so in many, many cycles. So she did nothing more than roll her eyes...for now. Besides, what could he do besides flirt?

"Kuso! They would have to speak the one language I am not so good at," Shae remarked. Actually, they seemed to be speaking different but similar languages, but she listened carefully to the boy's words, especially his enunciation and inflection so that she could match his dialect. "The eldest girl seems to be in charge," Shae related to Jeremy and Ree. "The boy speaking says his name is Felemid. I'm going to try to introduce us."

Shae paused to work through what she knew of the language, and doing her best to match the vowel pronunciation, she again spoke.

(I am Shae, my companions are Crow and Ree,) Shae said slowly and carefully, gesturing to herself and then her teammates as she named everyone. (We sent a device, we saw you, so we came to help.) This was hard, she would need to hear more before she could get a better grasp of their dialect.

Trestana snickered, Isbeil looked even haughtier than she had before, while stoic Estin was...stoic. Felimid laughed out loud.

"Cén chaoi a bhfuil sé iontach! Tá siad tagtha chun cabhrú linn!" Trestana said. (How quaint! They've come to help us!)

"Bí deas," Felimid said. (Be nice.)

"Gu leòr!" Isbeil barked in her own tongue. (Enough!) "Ciamar a chunnaic iad sinn? An inneal aca?" (How did they see us? Their machine?)

Felimid signed to Isbeil to wait and turned back to Shae. He gestured to himself and his companions. (We are The Lost Children.) He pointed to Isbeil. (That is Isbeil. She is our Chief. She wishes to know how you saw us. Was it through your machine? The one you sent through The Gate?)

(The Gate? Yes, I call it Chappa'ai, they call it Stargate. They explore and I am their guide. They send machine through, and while The Gate is open, they can see what it sees. They saw you and brought supplies to help. Is there anything you need?) Shae said. Her speech was still a little rough, but it was getting a little easier. But she was beginning to think there was a lot more to these children than what she could see, because they did not speak like children at all!

Felimid turned back to Isbeil and winked and gestured at himself with his thumbs. If he was an Earth boy in his late teens, early twenties, Rhiannon would have thought he was trying to say She's so into me! I got this! Rhiannon looked puzzled as the girl that looked to be about Felimid's age did an absolutely terrible job of not giggling, Isbeil rolled her eyes, and the other boy just looked...stoic...guarded. Like he was ready to protect his chief from any danger.

Felimid smirked at Shae and spoke to her in his sing-song language. (Is there anything we need? Well, me lovely, that depends! What, exactly, have ye got?)

Even Shae caught onto that wink and Felimid's confidence. She turned to her team to start sharing what she had learned. "Okay, so I told them we saw them through the MALP and brought supplies to help them. The eldest girl is Isbeil and she is their Chief, and they call themselves The Lost Children. I think..." Shae paused in her translation to make sure she had it right. "Yes, that is right. I should note, they are not speaking like children, and one of the other girls seemed mocking when I said we came to help. Anyway, Felimid wants to know what we have."

"Food, medical supplies - which will be limited to O'Connor and I - blankets, we have some clothing but not exactly as they're wearing, time was a bit too limited for that. If we need something else, we can try getting it from base. Plus," he reached into one of his tacvest pockets and pulled out a rectangular bar in dark brown wrapping. "I've got some chocolate and Mama Edith sent some cookies that I've saved for them."

Then, he opened his radio. "Sierra Golf One, Sierra Golf Four," he said into the open mic. "We've made contact, of a sort."

"Sierra Golf Four, Sierra Golf One Niner," Jake replied. "Copy that. You guys okay on your own for a bit?"

"Affirm on that for the moment, One," Jeremy said, "situation appears doable at this time but there are some irregularities. Will update with further when known."

"Copy that," Jake replied. "Oh, I had the SERE guys through some tools and other stuff they thought might be useful into one of the crates, so you have that to offer, too. Will await further updates. Sierra Golf One Niner out."

Trestana's eyes narrowed when Jeremy started the conversation on his radio. "Cúramach, tá cainteoirí aeir acu." (Careful, they have air talkers.) The "girl" tightened her grip on her spear.

Felimid nodded. "Leithscéal as Trestana. Ní fhaca muid cainteoirí aeir ar feadh beagnach dhá chéad timthriall na gealaí. Le do thoil, taispeáin dúinn cad atá le tairiscint agat." (Apologies for Trestana. We have not seen air talkers for almost two thousand cycles of the moon. Please, show us what you have to offer.)

While Shae was talking to Felimid, Jeremy got a call telling him that Jake and Hawk had found more bodies, as old as the ones by the gate, but in piles, and to watch themselves.

"Copy, Major," Jeremy said, simply, almost sotto voce. He wasn't sure if O'Connor had her radio on and operating so he quickly gave their standard hand signals: Major cautions found more bodies his location. Then, while still watching them: Caution front. Possible combatants disguised as friendlies because they didn't have clear enough hand signals for "these kids sure don't stand around like children and seem to be very comfortable with those weapons they're carrying." He wondered why, after the last eighteen years of war in the Middle East that hasn't be developed yet, considering some of the tactics the insurgents and hajji used to attack the allied troops.

Ree nodded and kept her weapon where it was at low ready. They were just kids...right? And the bodies they'd found, they'd been there for more than a century. Isbeil and the stoic kid standing next to her looked to be the oldest, and they couldn't be more than fourteen? Fifteen? Certainly not more than sixteen. So couldn't possibly have been responsible for the bodies the Major was talking about...right?

(Two? Two thousand?) Shae said as Jeremy reported in. This couldn't be possible! "He says they are familiar with communication technology but have not seen such in almost two thousand cycles of the moon, and if this world is anything similar to Earth, I believe that would come out to more than 160 years."

Now Ree was getting nervous. "160...years?!? How long have they been here?"

Shae nodded at the question and returned her attention to Felimid. (How long have you been here? How old are you?) Shae asked the boy. (I'm sorry, that was rude of me to be so blunt, it's just a surprise to us to hear how long you said it's been. We saw children and thought this was an urgent situation, but clearly we were mistaken. Tell us or don't, either way the supplies we brought are yours. We have blankets and clothes, our type of clothes, it was all we could get on short notice, but we can have clothes like yours made if you have the need, and there is food and medicine, but my companions will handle the medicine."

Felimid hesitated and looked back at Isbeil, who, after a moment turned to Estin. Estin, stoic as ever simply blinked twice, then nodded. Isbeil turned her gaze back towards Shae. She looked even haughtier than before, if that was possible.

"Amhail deireadh an timthrialla dheiridh, bhí muid anseo cúig mhíle is fiche seacht gcéad caoga sé thimthriall!" Isbeil said, almost daring Shae to challenge her statement. (As of the end of the last cycle, we have been here 25,756 cycles of the moon!) Isbeil let that sink in. (We were here long before you, and we will be here long after you. We are Na Cailltean, the Lost Children, lost, forgotten, but not gone. Never gone. We are eternal.) Isbeil smiled cruelly at the expressing on the faces of the strangers. (When you have overcome your shock, perhaps my tribe could look over what goods you wish to offer us? We may find something useful.)

Shae's voice was caught in her throat as Isbeil's words rolled around her head; the girl's dialect was different and her accent stronger, so it took Shae a little longer to work everything out, especially having to work out the age of the 'children'. "They have been here more than 2,000 years," Shae said in shock. "25,756 moon cycles... She says they are eternal..."

"Are you the she?" Jeremy asked, looking at the one that seemed to be the leader. "The she of Earth stories? The faeries, pixies, elves?" It made sense. If Ra of Egyptian mythology were a snake headed alien, then couldn't some of the other gods from Earth be the same? Wait...if they were the she, then, would that mean. No...it couldn't. No way. Not the "oh, holy grail" he muttered to himself.

Though Shae didn't understand what a 'she' or faeries were, but she understood what he was getting at; after all, Japanese kitsune mythology had developed from her people.

(He wishes to know if you are 'she',) Shae stated, though if she had to guess from Isbeil's earlier statement, this probably wasn't the case, but she was here to facilitate communication, so that is what she did.

Felimid's jaw dropped, Isbeil started tittering and then laughed, Estin smiled and shook his head as one would to a foolish comment from a foolish child. Trestana couldn't contain herself at all and burst out laughing. Morgaine and Sanicios, now convinced that these travelers were just too stupid to be dangerous to anyone but themselves, jumped down from the trees they'd been hiding in. They left arrows in their bows, but held them in a nonthreatening manner as they approached grinning. The travelers thought they were...fairies???

Felimid recovered quickly. (Alright, alright, settle down. No, lass, we ain't fairies--)

Before Felimid could continue Estin spoke for the first time. (We are the Lost Children and Isbeil of the Picts is our chief! I am Estin of Bretagne, those are Sanicios of the Gauls and Morgaine of the Demetae, the foolish one is Felimid of the Eriu, the giggling girl is Trestana, of my birth tribe. Our "youngest" Rigard of the Cunava and Matina, also of the Gaul were sent to monitor your comrades. We were not unintentionally lost. We were brought here by the Bird People, along with The Thing, to save all our peoples. We are forgotten, but we are not gone. We are eternal!)

Felimid looked at Estin and raised an eyebrow, then turned back to Shae. (I have to tell you that he hasn't strung that many words together at a time in about fifty cycles of the moon. Anyhoo. No, we ain't fairies. If we was, we'd have magicked a solution to the wee problem of being stuck here.)

(To be honest, he was the one who wanted to know, I don't even know what a fairy is,) Shae stated, feeling more at ease now that their posture wasn't so threatening. She then took a moment to repeat the introductions to her team. "They say that them being 'lost' is by design, that they were brought here by the Bird People along with 'The Thing' to save their people. I do not know what the Bird People are, this is a name unfamiliar to me."

"Bird people?" Jeremy asked, "Do they mean they were flown here in a craft or do they mean...that Irish god guy...the one that sounds like a breakfast cereal? The reason the ravens can't leave the Tower of London or it all burns down or something?" But then something clicked for him. "Wait, did I hear Breton? Britain? Gaul? Morgaine? Like Morgana Le Fey? Eriu? Isn't that another ancient name for Ireland? They were brought from Earth? Then we can just take them back through the Gate and they'll be the 'Found Children', though several thousand years too late."

He was getting into more lore she was not familiar with, but Shae was working this through her head trying to figure out how to translate; she might have to work up to the suggestion the children-non-children come back through the gate with them. "I don't think they're from Earth. Well obviously, they're human so their people once came from Earth, but... I don't know, call it a hunch, I don't think these children came from Earth, but I can ask them if they would like to come back with us."

Ree quickly radio'd Asher to tell him he was probably being watched, then just as quickly tried to put the brakes on Jeremy. "Wow, Crow! Slow your roll! Let's find out more about why they're here before we start talking about bringing them with us!"

Ree could think of a word that would very accurately describe a situation where eight kids would taken from their homes and marooned on an uninhabited planet to save their people: Quarantine.

"No, hold on! Wait!" Jeremy said, maybe getting a bit too excited as he looked around. "Bird people? People with wings? Morgana le Fey? Breton, Gaul, Ireland? Eternal children!?" Jeremy let his rifle drop as he continued to take everything in. "Don't you see, O'Connor? It fits, doesn't it? Even...oh, holy of holiest grails!! It all fits! No, think about it it!" he said tapping his head forcefully then tapping his chest above his heart as he continued. "Modern religious scholars have started to come to the believe that the Holy Grail wasn't actually a cup or a dish or platter like they thought for all that time but..." he took a deep breath as he turned to stare wide eyed at the kids. "But the 'cup' that held the 'blood of Christ' was actually his children with Mary Magdalene! After Christ was crucified, the theories suggest, their Uncle, Joseph of Arimethia, brought them to somewhere in England, near Glastonbury Tor. Where the fabled land of Avalon was supposed to exist. A fairy tale land that hid the Holy Grail! And what happens to those who come across the Holy Grail? Eternal life! These kids are saying they're two thousand years old. Two thousand! Which correlates with the birth, life and death of Christ! Think about it!" He was getting more and more excited as the possibility...as the facts were fitting together. "We've found Avalon! And that thing? It's the HOLY GRAIL!"

Shae blinked at Jeremy, utterly confused by his ramblings; yeah, she wasn't even going to try to translate any of that to the 'kids'. "I don't understand anything he just said; is he sick or something?" Shae asked Ree.

Ree shook her head in annoyance. "No, he's not sick. He's just being an idiot. Crow...Jeremy, think! We have the same training, so you should know this. What's a medical term for separating people from a population to save that population? Starts with a Q."

"Quarantine?" He said, shaking his head. "No, they say they've lived for two thousand years. Sick people aren't..." He stopped as he considered. There was..."In the files, the old team. The first SG1," he struggled to recall. "Didn't they go to a place where...where the people were infected so every day was like a year to them? Where they lived for a hundred days. What if...what if that same Goa'uld did the same here, only slowed the aging? Every year as a day? But they look healthy! What makes more sense? A virus that give you immortality or the legends of Christ being another lie of the Goa'uld?"

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Rhiannon said. "Shae, will you please ask these...kids, or whatever they are, how bringing them here saved their people?"

Shae nodded, eager to do something that got them away from whatever gibberish Jeremy was rambling on about. (Many apologies for my companion, I am not sure what he's going on about,) she said candidly to the 'kids'. (My other companion, as do I, wish to know how bringing you here saved your people.)

Felimid's expression grew serious. He looked at Isbeil, who sighed, then began to speak in the language of the Eriu, Felimid's language, having realized that Shae was more familiar with that than the language of her birth tribe.

(We were once of different tribes but shared a world,) she said. (The old stories told us that our people were brought to that world by Gods of old. But that means nothing to us now. Our peoples found The Thing, the one that your friends likely examining now. Our tribes fought over it. No one knew what it did, but it was believed that it contained powerful magicks, magicks that would give those that controlled it the power to become Gods. But it brought only strife. Eventually, someone, no one really knows who or from what tribe they came, made The Thing do something, and nearly wiped out our people. People, even children, seemed to become younger in their minds. Infants died almost immediately, followed by young children, then teenagers, then young adults. The Great Sickness it was called. It spread quickly in the areas closest to The Thing, leaving some of the outer settlements mostly untouched. Then we were visited by the Bird People. They began to separate out the sick from the healthy. In doing so, they discovered that while we carried the Great Sickness, we were unaffected by it. They realized that being near either us or The Thing spread the Great Sickness and so removed we eight as well as The Thing from our world and placed us here. A few brave adults came here to help prepare us to survive on our own. They did not last long. Soon, like everyone else, they simply lay down and died, while we lived on...and on...and on, but did not grow older. We have been as you see us now since we arrived on this world. The Bird People said the Great Sickness killed by making you so young in your mind, that your mind simply died. They created a place to store The Thing and wrote everything they knew about it. They hoped that if anyone came through An Geata to this world, they might have at least a chance to survive. But no one has yet been able to lift the curse of the Great Sickness. The bones of those that tried litter the forests here.)

Isbeil looked Shae in the eyes. (The Bird People did something to An Geata. It will not let those who have the Great Sickness, or those who carry it, like us, leave this world. In order to leave this world, you must first lift the curse. I am sorry, youngling. Na Cailltean, my Lost Children and I, will do our best to make the passing of you and your comrades as easy as we can.)

Oh no, this was not good!

"Asher... Asher! Call Asher and the others, he needs to be here to listen, now!" Shae said urgently.