Epilogue Two

Posted on Thu Mar 28th, 2019 @ 7:31pm by Major Jacob Asher & Staff Sergeant Rhiannon O'Connor & Staff Sergeant Jeremiah Corvus & Civillian Shae & Civillian Dr. Jessica Andrews & Civillian Ravi Azad PhD & Civillian Selyna Braeden

Mission: The Lost Boys and Girls
Location: P3X842
Timeline: Day 2, Arrival +22 hours (Approx 6am Local Time)

[At the Camp]

(Oooh! Stop worrying about that cow! Ree will be fine! We're grown up! We finally get to do what we've been listening to Isbeil and Estin do for the last 25,000 cycles of the moon! Gods! You look fantastic! Look at the size of that thing! GET OVER HERE NOW!) {kissing noises and bushes rustling as Trestana drags Felimid off into the woods}

Versions of that conversation were happening in Irish Gaelic and Welsh, as partners who'd wanted to be adults for two millennia were finally able to enjoy each other's company.

Isbeil and Estin, who had not been denied the pleasures of the flesh and were therefore not as desperate, set to trying to wake up the members of SG-1. They started with Ree.

(Rhiannon) Isbeil said in Irish Gaelic. (Rhiannon, wake up, sweet child.)

"Huh?" Ree said as she groggily opened her eyes. (Isbeil!?!? You look...Damn. You look amazing! But if you're grown up, does that mean we're...?)

(I believe so,) Isbeil said. (But perhaps you should see to your friends?)

(Uh, right!) Ree got up, shook her head to clear it and began to wake people up. She got Jake up first, then went to wake up Jeremy, while Jake went to wake up Shae.

"Hey, big guy," Ree said. Why the Hell had it taken some weird disease for her to realize how hot he was? Well, something to ponder later. "How do you feel?"

"What?" he asked, seeing O'Connor's face and the sky. He felt...hurt all over. "Did Major kick my ass?" he asked, unsure what just happened. He remembered a flash of light, was that Major hitting him over the head? He tried to stand but grunted and fell back down as he tried to put weight on his injured foot.

"Whoa," Ree caught Jeremy as he fell and firmly but gently planted him on the ground. "The wolf bite is real, dumb--Crow--Jeremy. Let me look at it. Judging by the time of day, we've been out something like twelve hours. I'm going to give you another IV of antibiotics because of that gross bandage you've been sitting in and--ew--gross--yeah, gonna irrigate that--NO! Don't look! Let me get it washed out. Once I wash those critters out of there, you should feel less... itchy." Ree took off Jeremy's bandage, and irrigated the wounds four times, and then picked the last of something out with tweezers, before bandaging it up again and starting the IV antibiotics again. "I don't know what they gave us or how much, so I'm afraid to give you pain meds. You gonna be okay?"

"No!" Jeremy said, because of course he looked when told not to look. So yeah, he saw his leg crawling with disgusting, wriggling things, watched it being washed out along with yellowish pus. Watched and felt O'Connor pulling other wriggling things out. "No, I'm not okay!" But, then, like a bad late 90s movie flashback he recalled the Major calling him a selfish, cowardly dumbass. He lie back, staring straight at the sky and trying to forget about his foot and what was going on there. Tried not to think about it getting amputated and the loss of his career in the Air Force. Tried not to think of the stupidity that led to being in this situation. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine," he grunted and tried practicing lying. He was doing far too much of that at the moment but he'd show the Major who the coward was. "Wait...O'Connor! I feel...I feel old again!"

"Eh," Ree said. "I guess I feel less like calling you a dumbass, but more like--er--right so... I guess we're cured?"

"I wish Asher would," Jeremy said, pulling at grass, muttering, but a big part of him didn't care if he heard or not. "But I hope so, I don't want to go back to being that young again. It's terrible, and was terrible then wasn't it?"

Ree ignored the talk about what had happened to them. Her hormones were more normal, which meant she was as randy as any other 24 year old young woman, but the emotions she experienced lingered and she felt a little raw. She did address Jeremy's other concern.

"The major thinks you're smart," Ree said. "And he doesn't like being wrong about things. You think he's proven right every time you do something dumb, so you try to try to prove him wrong by proving that you're not dumb. Okay, try to follow me here. He doesn't like being wrong, right? And he thinks you're smart and he's mad that you keep proving him wrong, right? So maybe instead of trying to prove him wrong about how dumb he thinks you are, why not try to prove to him how right he is about how smart you are? He'll feel great because he was right about you being smart, instead of feeling bad because he's wrong about you being dumb. Plus, you really can't prove a negative anyway, and all this effort to prove that you're not dumb is making you look, well, dumb."

"I haven't done anything stupid though!" he said, before his eyes fell onto the bandaged foot. "Okay, not that much anyway. Certainly not a lot. I don't know, I just wish..." he shrugged and let it drop. "Maybe I'm not cured cause I'm feeling like I'm being pretty stupid again. Did you put this as a thirty minute bag?" Jeremy asked as he looked at the the tube leading to the crook of his arm. He was getting antsy just sitting there.

"Yeah," Ree said. "Thirty minutes." She looked Jeremy straight in the eyes. "Crow--Jeremy, I've got this. Just relax."

Jake found a blanket and draped it over Shae in case she decided to change and then began to pet her head. "Shae?" he said, softly. "Shae, it's Asher. Can you wake up for me?"

Shae was coming around slowly; the sedatives left her a little groggier than the others because she was already fatigued from her heat, but thankfully she no longer felt hormonal, so at least that was one less thing to make her miserable. Still, she'd never been sedated before, so it left her head feeling a little funny, but that feeling wasn't lingering for long. She finally opened her eyes and looked up at Asher, whimpering in confusion.

"Hey there," Jake said. "You'd know better than me, but I think we were shot with a Zat'nik'tel and then, judging by how foggy I feel, given a sedative. There's a blanket over you if you want to change. If you want to wait until we go and get your clothes, I'm about to head to the altar to see what's going on there. Do you want to try and stand up?"

Shae nodded slowly and closed her eyes for a moment. She had to really focus on the change because she realized that she was hungry, so hungry she was shaking slightly, and her body was still resisting the change slightly because of the stitches closing the bite wounds that littered her body, some of which she could tell right away were infected. She wasn't able to make the full change back to human, she was just too weak, but she at least made it to her human-hybrid state.

"I don't feel so good," Shae said weakly.

Jake smiled and adjusted the blanket so she would be warm. Let me get you some water. He reached for his canteen and then remembered that Jeremy had knocked his out of his hand. He scowled and went over to Jeremy and took his canteen off of him. "Sorry. Turnabout is fair--" Jake noticed then that Jeremy's bodycam was missing. He checked his own vest and found that his was missing, too. So was Rees. He keyed his mike, which, surprisingly, the Zat strike hadn't fried. "If anyone at the Altar can hear me, let me know how you're doing and let me know if you still have your bodycams. Everyone down here is missing theirs."

Jake brought the canteen to Shae, opened it, and handed it to her. "Here. Drink slowly. If you're hungry, I've got some of the kids...well, I guess they're not kids anymore, in mind or body. Anyway, I've got some of their pemmican you can have."

"No!" Shae said as she sputtered on some water; it was hard to resist the urge to just drink the whole canteen because she had been ravenously thirsty even before being knocked unconscious, and now she felt so parched, but she knew he was right, she had to drink slowly or she'd make herself sick. "No, please, no; their food tastes fine, but I really, really want, need, something fresh," she said, then paused to drink a little more. "I know you probably want to get back through the Chappa'ai as soon as possible, but I may need to go hunting before we leave."

"Okay," Jake said. "We've got some time. I need to figure out what happened here. I need to take a run over to the altar. Rest here. I'll come back on and check on you soon and I'll bring your clothes, or if you're feeling up to it, you can come up and get them."

"I will wait for you, then," Shae said, holding the canteen to her chest like it was her lifeline. She could tell even without standing up that she was too shaky to be on just two legs. "If the children come around before you do, I may go hunt with them so that I'm not hunting alone," she said, mostly for his assurance that she would not be reckless about her need to hunt.

"Not that I mind watching you run around naked, Little Fox," Jake said. "But for the sake of good order and discipline, if you can, try to wait until I bring you your clothes."

"I will wait," Shae replied, nodding slightly, then she returned her attention to the canteen so drink a little more.

[At the Altar]

Isbeil had sent Estin up to see to the other strangers. He was surprised to discover that the Thing was gone. He went about waking them all up.

"If anyone at the Altar can hear me, let me know how you're doing and let me know if you still have your bodycams. Everyone down here is missing theirs." Jake's voice came over everyone's radio.

[Camp]

"Oh, man!" Jeremy said, forcing himself into a sitting position with his right leg straight out and the other bent. He saw his boot was ruined, that would need replacing. So would his trousers. Now he'd lost his bodycam? Lost issued equipment? That was going to be paperwork for days. Not to mention the inquiry. "Do we have to go back?" he asked. Wait...twelve hours? That put it...the next day? It was getting worse and worse because he had his appointment with the shrink today. His ordered appointment.

[Elsewhere]

Slowly, Ravi awoke face down on a bed of moss. He rolled over and stared at the trees hanging above his head. What had actually happened? The last thing he remembered was a CDC guy pulling something out of a pouch. And then... we’ll, he must have run into the woods to escape or wandered in sometime in the night or something because he had no idea what had happened after that. “Damn!” he hissed as he sat up.

Checking himself over, he found blood on his shirt. He peeled it off and checked his torso over carefully, but found nothing. So it wasn’t his blood. That was both reassuring and unsettling. Either way, he wasn’t putting it back on.

He heard voices not far off. Well, they were slightly farther than most people would be able to hear, but Ravi’s ears were sharp. He began heading towards them.

[CAMP]

"What the biscuit?" Jeremy said as he noticed Ravi stumbling around near the tree line. He started to go to the engineer when he was laid out flat again, O'Connor mumbling something about remaining where he was until the banana bag was finished.

"Ravi!" Jeremy called, wondering how the scientist even got there. Were the others trying to kidnap the members of what Asher called "the Brain Trust"? He sat up, twitching to make sure the man was okay but remained where he was at the look from O'Connor.

Ravi blinked and turned his head at the sound of Jeremy’s voice. “What happened to you?” he called back as he jogged over.

"Wolf attack," Jeremy said. "Grabbed hold of my ankle and treated me like a Kong toy. Probably going to become a werewolf now," Jeremy joked with his friend. "You sit there," he said, indicating a spot very close to where he was. "I may not be able to stand on my own two feet, but I can still make sure you're okay."

Which reminded him that the others were at the altar. "I hate to put all the work on you, O'Connor," he said, "so if you'll let me go I'll help you check over the others at the Altar and camp."

"We're at the camp," Ree said, looking at Jeremy like he had three heads. "What are you talking about? I think you hit your head when you fell. Stay here, treat Ravi's hand. I'll go check on the people at the Altar."

"I'll go with you," Jake said. "Grab your carbine. We don't know if our friends are still here. I kinda doubt it, but let's be careful anyway."

Ree nodded and grabbed her pack and her gear and followed Jake up to the Altar. They didn't run into any CDC people, but they'd left their gear behind. Ree and Jake checked through it.

"I don't know, sir," Ree said. "This all looks like US government issue sciency medical stuff to me. If they were Jaffa like you suspected, how'd they get all of this stuff?"

"That, Sergeant," Jake said. "Is a very good question. Let's go see who's awake up there."

[Back at the Camp]

Ravi hadn’t even realized he’d cut his hand, but it was a pretty nasty cut with dried and clotted blood all over it. “Maybe that’s where the blood came from,” he commented as he sat facing Jeremy. “It doesn’t even hurt.”

"That's good, that it doesn't hurt now, but I'm going to have to clean it and see what happens from there. I should still have some painkillers left in my kit..." Jeremy shook his head. "Which I left back at my tent ten yards over there," he said indicating the kit. "Okay, not a problem, it's ten yards. Can you give me a hand up?" he asked Ravi as he manipulated the banana bag off the stand O'Connor used and clipped it to a loop on his blouse.

“You stay put!” Ravi ordered, getting to his feet. “I will get it. Where is it?”

Shae, now feeling much better now that she was rehydrated, finally started to become aware of her surroundings. Holding tight to the blanket that concealed her nakedness, she drew closer to Ravi and Jeremy, her steps slow and unsteady, and there was a visible tremble of weakness in her small body as she joined the two men. "You two okay over here?" she asked out of genuine concern. Something reeked, causing her face to distort in disgust. "Aa wa ga kamisama! What is that smell!"

Jeremy looked around as he forced himself to a standing position. He recalled Asher accusing him of making them one person short and he was damned well going to make sure the Major ate those words. He wasn't going to let something as stupid as a few animal bites let the Major be right about him. He wasn't selfish and he sure as hell wasn't a coward. "It's over there, the big pack just outside the tent," he said, remembering he placed it there before the wolf attack. But, he turned to Shae, "I don't know, what's it smell like?" he asked, not smelling anything out of the ordinary.

"Ugh, like something is rotting," Shae commented as she rose to her paws to give him a little extra support. She was so unsteady, but between the two of them they were more stable than trying to stand or walk on their own.

Jeremy shook his head, "My pack is right over there," he said, checking the antibiotics bag. Yeah, he told O'Connor he didn't do anything stupid? And what did it get him? An infected foot. And they weren't getting back through the Gate anytime soon either. Hopefully these antibiotics were strong enough to knock it down until it could be properly dealt with. But, still, he soldiered on, taking large steps with the uninjured foot only to do small steps on the injured foot.

Once they were at the camp, he sunk to the ground and told Ravi to sit next to him. "Good hunting," Jeremy said, trying not to sound bitter.

"You probably should not be walking on that," Ravi insisted in an oddly well-practiced dad voice as he sat next to Jeremy once more. "You could do more damage. I imagine the smell is either my injury or his. Or maybe one of the dead wolves," he said in reply to Shae's query.

"Thank you for reminding me of that unpleasantness," Shae remarked when he mentioned the wolves. Shae helped Jeremy to sit back down, then settled down as well to assist, just in case assistance was needed. "How did you hurt yourself?" Shae asked Ravi.

"Yes, dad," Jeremy said, rolling his eyes at the engineer. Though, somehow, it made him feel a bit better to be 'scolded'. But he took Ravi's hand and begin debriding the wound, letting the clotted blood and gunk flow to the ground. "Looks like a pretty good gash, but salvageable once we get back to Command and medical. In the meantime, I'm going to pack and then bandage it. In two hours we'll repeat the process. I'm also going to give you a bag of antibiotics to make sure you don't get an infection either." He looked over what Ravi was wearing, to see if there was a way for Ravi to wear the bag or if he'd have to strap it. "But I'm also curious, how did you hurt yourself? Any idea?"

"Shae just asked that," Ravi replied. "And to answer that, I have no idea. Although..." he held up the shirt he still held in one hand. "This may be my blood after all. I was afraid it was from a torso wound at first, which is why I took it off. Then I did not want to put it back on when I thought it was someone else's."

Shae leaned in closer to Ravi and gave the shirt a sniff. "It is your blood, and dried to the same degree as what was on your hand," Shae confirmed, then blushed. "Sorry, I realize that must be odd for you to see, but my sense of smell is quite good."

"That... I did not even question that a fox girl would have a good sense of smell," replied Ravi, slightly flustered that it had exactly failed to be weird in the slightest. "Curious. I do not know if this means I have accepted all the weirdness or if I have also become weird."

"Or that you're having a schizoid break and all of this is just part of your schizophrenic delusion," Jeremy said, gripping Ravi's hand tightly in his bent knee. "This will hurt. Not what I'm going to do to your hand but when you wake up again in the hospital."

"Very funny," replied Ravi with a grin, but he braced himself for the pain anyway. "What are you doing any-aaaaargh!"

Holding Ravi's wrist tightly with one hand, he finished packing the wound with cotton, then began wrapping it, "It'll be okay, you'll be okay," Jeremy said, "I've got some painkiller right here," he said as he brought up the small single use vial. "You have any medication allergies?"

"Not to my knowledge," replied Ravi. "Have you got an epi pen in there, just in case?"

"Are you kidding me?" Jeremy asked as he jabbed the ampule against Ravi's arm and held it there while the medicine pumped into the flesh. "Do you have any idea how much those things cost now?" He pulled out a tube, "Fortunately, I got ahold of instructions to make my own. So I've got that."

"I know how much they pay me and you are telling me they cannot afford an epipen?" Ravi replied with a slight grin.

"Maybe it's because of how much they pay you," Jeremy said, scowling. How much did they pay Ravi? Cause he certainly wasn't making much as a Staff Sergeant. But, he got free room and board, and if he wanted to wait around in standby from heck, he got free travel. So there were perks. "Tell you what, take a pay cut and earmark it for supplies for the underpaid, overworked, under\appreciated and other prepositionally conjunction staff sergeants."

"That sounds uncomfortable," the white-haired Kitsune woman remarked with a frown. Then Shae leaned forward to place a hand on Jeremy's arm in an attempt to offer comfort. "I appreciate what you do," she said sincerely.

"Or I could simply purchase a couple of epipens," Ravi offered. "That way we can be sure the money is used for its intended purpose."

"Thank you, Shae," Jeremy said, shaking his head, "for being appreciative and not maligning my character and insinuating I would do something underhanded with money earmarked for medical supplies." Jeremy finished the bandage wrap and taped it off. "Especially while I'm bandaging your wounds."

"I know you are a medical person, but you should have someone check that 'prepe-thing conjuration', and I really hope it's not contagious..." Shae said as she watched Jeremy work.

Jeremy stopped and just stared at Shae for several long moments. Then, keeping his face straight, "Nope, only transmitted through contact with dogs. Long as you're not a...dog..." Jeremy said, deliberately trailing off as if he just realized a mistake he made.

“I didn’t mean you!” Ravi pointed out to Jeremy. “I meant whoever is in charge of procurement. Are you in charge of procurement? Because that would probably be the best idea anyone has ever had.” It was said in a tone so sincere, there was no doubt he was being completely honest. After all, even though he had only known Jeremy for a short time, he could think of nobody more honest, including his own mother!

"Oh," Jeremy said, turning slightly red in shame at presuming an insult. "I'm sorry for taking offense. No, wait, sorry, that's 'procuring' offense!" He gave a weak smile, hoping the joke would smooth over yet another one of his stupid actions.

Ravi gave him a grin. “No harm done,” he said simply.

[Altar]

Jake and Ree arrived at the altar and found Estin silently helping the others sit up and get their bearings. The first thing he noticed was that the device was gone.

"Shit," Jake said. "Looks like our so-called CDC friends may have taken off with the device." He saw Shae's clothing where he'd left it, but it had been rifled through. Sure enough, even her bodycam was missing. "Ree, send Estin here down to Shae with her clothes."

Ree nodded and translated Jake's request. Estin nodded and took the clothes and trotted off down to the camp to find Shae.

Jake went over to Jessica. "Easy, Jess," he said. "Nice and easy. When you're ready, I need to know what happened up here. There was a flash of light. Was that something you did? The kids, they started changing and screaming in pain. I heard what I thought was a weapon, a Zat'nik'tel, if I remember the video files on the few that were recovered in 1998. But I wasn't fast enough. I assume they took you out when they took everyone else out?"

Jessica moved and stood up. "Ugh.. Jesus H. Christ." She held her head. "I hate those things." Salara continued. "I'll never understand what twisted pleasure the Goa'uld receive in watching a being suffer; Major, but now we have more questions than answers. Who were those doctors, and where did they come from? Did the General send them?" Salara mentioned. "For now, we must return to the SGC, and perhaps it is time I gifted the Tau'ri with biological sensor technology for the MALPs to detect future biohazards. I very much do not want to die before I am done writing my Memoirs."

"Focus, Jessica. What happened with the device?" Jake said. "There was a flash of light. Was that something you did?"

Jess spoke. "i think I activated some kind of interface on the central obelisk. Then I don't know what happened, Some energy hit me from behind and jumped to the obelisk like some kind of lightning rod. I then fell unconscious."

"Okay, take it easy," Jake said. "Ree will see to you in a moment."

The first sense to come back online was tactile. Selyna felt grass beneath her hands. Next was hearing. Nearby, she could hear soft voices, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. Third came smell, and what Selyna smelled most strongly was blood. But whose was it? What had happened? She remembered the wolves coming. She remembered putting herself behind the standing stone. But after that... what? Her head felt foggy, as though she'd taken a heavy sedative.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and turned her head. Nearby, she saw Jake and Jess. Ree was a bit further off, just beyond the other two. She tried to sit up, groaning slightly as that movement made her head swim and ache. "What...?" She had tried to ask what had happened but only managed the first word.

Ree went right to Selyna. "Easy, Doc," she said. "Let me get a look at you. Do you remember anything about what happened up here? Down at the camp we think the bogus CDC guys attacked with a Goa'uld weapon. Major Asher thinks they may have been Jaffa--that's a bit of a longer story. Basically, the CDC guys weren't from the CDC and it looks like they put the whammy on us after that flash of light that we're guessing came from the device and seems to have cured everybody happened. Then they took off with the device. At least they weren't here when we came to. Oh, and the kids are adults now and most of them are off screwing in the woods somewhere because they've been waiting 2000 years to get it on."

Selyna tried desperately to process everything Ree was saying, and she got most of it. She figured she got the important bits anyway. She groaned slightly. "Sorry, Ree. All I remember is... the wolves. There was a fight. I got behind that standing stone. Then... I think I remember the light flash now... then... nothing." She sighed, frustrated at her foggy state. She was a genius, dammit! "Wait, did you say they were adults and we're cured? What the hell happened? I think I missed that memo." she grumbled only half-heartedly. She was happy they were cured, but she wished she knew how that happened. And the CDC guys... Jaffa... absconded with the thing. Damn! That meant that some Goa'uld had it now! Well, there was nothing she could do about that just now, so she just let Ree look her over and hopefully give her answers to her questions.

"Yeah," Ree said. "We're not sure."

Selyna frowned slightly. "Give me a sec, Ree?" she asked, closing her eyes to think. When she stopped trying to process outside stimuli while collecting her wits, it worked much better. Her brain started to de-fog, and she began to remember more. She opened her eyes again ande looked at Ree. "There was the fight with the wolves. Then we worked for a bit, something like 20 to 30 minutes; that I can't be sure of exactly since I tend to lose track of time when I'm working. But then, there was a big flash of light, and I heard Valenti say that" she paused to get it right "Jess had shut it off and the infection seemed to be going away. Then... that must be when they rendered us unconscious. It all stops there."

"Thanks, Doc," Ree said. "You hear that boss?"

"Yeah," Jake said. "I heard. I need to talk to that damned hologram. Hello? Hologram?"

The hologram attempted to appear again, but fizzled out, just like last time.

"Alright," Jake said. "Now that's weird. Anyone see it do that before?"

Jessica spoke. "I think someone damaged this computer. If so, now's the time to activate the Stargate and make our departure. Salara dose not feel any viruses in my system Major, I assume whatever has happened, as purged the virus completely from us." Jessica mentioned. "Those CDC people. They seem familiar somehow.... I was so busy trying to explore this obelisk, I couldn't put it together until now. Why are they familiar?"

Selyna frowned at Jess's words, but her own were for Jake's question. "Yes, we all saw it. Well, myself and the others here did anyway. While you were gone with those CDC people to set up their camp." she told him, slowly standing and giving Ree a grateful look. "It did seem odd since it was working fine before they arrived." she mused thoughtfully. Had they done something that had damaged it? But if so, how? And how could the team undo it?

"Damn," Jake said. "Okay, well, let's all pack up our stuff and get ready to move out. I'm guessing we were out 12 hours, so we could all use a meal. Shae, Estin, and Isbeil have gone hunting. When they return, we'll eat then we'll go."

[Camp]

Estin trotted up to Shae with her clothes. When Shae started at his new form. He held up his hand.

(It is I, Lady,) he said. (Estin, loyal companion to Isbeil, leader of the Lost... hmmm... we're likely going to need a new name for ourselves. Pardon! Your leader asked me to find you and give you these.) The comely young man held out Shae's clothing, which Jake had neatly folded again, her boots, her bow, and her arrows.

(Thank you, Estin,)Shae said softly, placing her hand on the ground to indicated that he could set her belongings there; she was uncertain if she could take her things without dropping her blanket because her hands were shaking so terribly. (You are looking well. I hope the change did not hurt too much,) she said, having recalled that she heard the kids screaming before they were all rendered unconscious.

(It was so painful we all blacked out, Lady,) Estin said. (Thank you for asking. I remember dreaming about pain--and then, suddenly, I was waking up. The pain was gone and I--all of us had new, fully grown bodies. The younger ones are taking advantage of their new bodies to experience the pleasures of coupling that they have been denied so long. Isbeil and I were not completely denied such things before, and we are their leaders. We are letting them have their fun while we see to you and your comrades.) Estin grinned uncharacteristically. (Then we will go somewhere and discover what our own new bodies can do!)

(I am happy for you, all of you,) Shae said with a smile. (If you have seen to everyone else and have nothing left to do, would you be willing to accompany me as I hunt? I do not feel fit to defend myself if I come up against anything dangerous, but I need fresh meat.)

(It would be my honor to accompany you, Lady,) Estin said. (Please allow me to fetch my bow--which was designed for someone smaller than me--hmmm--Isbeil and I made what we jokingly called 'warbows'. We couldn't even string them. They would be just about the right size and weight for us now. They're stored near here. I'll just go and invite my lady, my chief to join us. I think, under the circumstances, if I were to suddenly run off with such an attractive and exotic woman without inviting her along, she might get just a little jealous.)

Estin took off. Some time passed and he was back, with Isbeil. She and Estin were wearing new kilts. They were from old blankets, but they were big enough to cover everything. They each had a bow and quiver full of arrows. The quivers were capped and at their right hips, not open over their backs. No movie archers here. They each had a small handful of arrows ready.

(We made these when we thought we might grow,) Isbeil said. (And so made arrows to match them. I remember this bow being impossible for me to even string, but now--it is an honor to be invited on your hunt, Lady Fox.)

While Estin ran off to get his bow and his lady, Shae looked to Jeremy and Ravi. "I will be going to hunt with them; do not worry, Asher already knows of my intent," Shae said to them, then adjusted the blanket around herself; soon she wouldn't need it.

Then Estin returned with Isbeil and they showed her their bows; they were not 'warbows' as she recognized them, but they were quite impressive and well made. (Those are beautiful bows. I, however, will not be using mine today,) she said to them, then began to change, and soon the great white fox crawled out of the blanket. She still had patches of fur missing from when Ree gave her a trim to stitch her wounds, but she was still quite the sight to behold. She looked to Isbeil and Estin to lead the way.

Isbeil and Estin had seen her before, but she was unconscious then. Seeing her awake and on her feet was another thing entirely.

(Would you like to lead, Lady Fox?) Isbeil asked in her formal way.

Shae nodded and then trotted off to the forest with Estin and Isbeil following close behind.