sixthiterationlogs | Took My Faith (OPEN)

WHO: Carolyn Lam
WHERE: The Fountain and the Inn
WHEN: December 15th
OPEN TO: All
WARNINGS: None yet but will update if needed

Water. That's the first thing that Carolyn Lam thought about as she came to. She was in water and for the life of her, she couldn't figure out how she got there. One minute she had been at her desk at the SGC gong over the medical tests for one of the teams and then she was suddenly immersed in water.

Breathe.

She had to breathe. Kicking her legs, she propelled herself up as she fought to hold her breath. She could see what looked like sunlight dancing across the surface, at least she hoped it was the surface. And she kicked a little harder, trying to hurry her ascent. She couldn't die in the water, she had to... And then she was breaking through the surface and sucking in a deep breath as she floundered for a moment.

Cursing in her mind, she paddled to the edge of, God, she didn't even know. A freakin fountain? She sighed as she threw her arms over the ledge and held on for a moment, trying to catch her breath. Holding on didn't last long because it was colder than the water and she knew she needed to get out before she caught hypothermia. Somehow she gathered the strength to pull her entire body out of the water and she very ungracefully rolled off the ledge and onto the ground.

She didn't even care. She was out of the water and that was what was import for the moment. She knew she needed to move, needed to find some sort of shelter before she began to try and figure out where she was and how she could contact the SGC, but first, she just needed to catch her breath. She wouldn't close her eyes, she would just rest there for a few minutes.

Somehow she had ended up at the Inn. If anyone had asked her how she had got there, she wouldn't have been able to answer. But, she was warm and sitting before a fire with a blanket wrapped around her. There was a bowl of some sort of stew in front of her, but... She wasn't so sure it would be a good idea to eat anything in this strange place.

Instead, she was looking around, watching the people who were also in the Inn. They didn't look weird, or primitive but they didn't exactly look like they were space age either. No one she could hear was talking about a God or anything... Which was strange because she was pretty sure some Goa'uld had managed to beam her out of the SGC and plop her... Well, where ever she was.

Carolyn knew that once she was dried, she was going to have to explore and try and figure things out. She was also going to have to try and find a gate. Hopefully there was one there. But if a Goa'uld had dropped her there... There had to be a gate. God, she hoped there was a gate because she wasn't sure how she'd get off the planet if there wasn't one.

Her stomach grumbled, breaking her thoughts. She looked around quickly, really hoping that no one had heard and then she was reaching for the bowl of stew. Her nose wrinkled a bit but... Oh, she didn't know.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Benedict has been here a long time. Not as long as some, but nearly so, and in his many months living down on the Surface in this backwards little habble, he's learned a few things.

Chief of which is to keep an eye on the damn fountain every minute of the day, just in case someone comes popping up through the water. It's a habit that's become all the more important now that Winter has settled upon them once more. He'd had a hard enough time the first go-round, and he hadn't had to deal with the shock of his arrival on top of the horrible frigid weather. His vigilance has paid off before, and it looks like it's going to pay off again today, for as soon as the thought crosses his mind, he sees a body haul itself out of the fountain and roll onto the ground in front of it.

There may not be much snow on the ground, but it is hard with frost nonetheless, and his boots crunch loudly as he leaves the Inn, the blanket he'd set aside precisely for this purpose clutched in his hands. He can't tell if the person is male or female at this distance, but it hardly matters, hypothermia can strike anyone.

"Madam," he starts, having ascertained that the newcomer is, in fact, female, "I beg your pardon, but you must get up. You'll freeze out here like this."

He offers her a hand, the other extending the blanket temptingly, and tries not to shiver too obviously. If he's cold, she must be absolutely frigid.

Hypothermia would set in if she didn't open her eyes and start moving. Stupid Goa'uld. Think. Anybody just laying there on the ground on a day like this without a coat would be picked up for a insane. Carolyn was always good at taking care of herself, why wasn't she moving? Brain freeze. She really needed to get up and move because she was already shivering and her teeth were beginning to chatter.

A voice broke through her thoughts and after a moment she was able to make herself open her eyes. Though it was hard to focus on the person leaning over her and she squinted and weakly lifted her hand to shield her eyes. She was too cold to form a coherent sentence, and for the first time, dimly, she realized that she could have very well died out here if this person hadn't come along.

She opened her mouth and tried to form words but it wasn't really working but after a few more attempts she managed to get out, "N-no, I'm a d-doctor..." Like he cared what she was. He might not even know what a doctor was. Some Goa'uld controlled planets didn't. Was he holding a blanket? She shifted her hand a bit, trying to see better. It looked like it. "S-so cold," she offered instead.

Well, at least she's still conscious, that's something.

"Doctor or no, you'll still freeze solid if you don't move," he points out, quite sensibly in his mind. She should know better than to lie about in this weather soaked to the skin if she's a doctor, but he doesn't say anything to that effect, because he's well aware of how disorienting the damn fountain can be. At least he popped out of it in the middle of Summer, so he was able to lie about in a daze for as long as he wanted.

She doesn't seem to be twigging to the idea that he's offering her help, and since he doesn't want to stand out here in just his shirt any longer, he decides to take matters into his own hands.

"Forgive me," he says, and then reaches down further to clasp the hand she lifted to shield her eyes in his own, hauling her up to her feet as if she weighed next to nothing. When he's more or less certain that she's steady enough so she won't fall over immediately, he drapes the blanket over her, wet pack and all. "Come, we'll go inside and you can dry yourself and warm up. I'm sure you have many questions that need answering, but that can wait until we're out of the elements."

She knew that she needed to move, but working up the energy to actually do just that wasn't very easy. Just keeping her eyes open was using more energy than she had at that moment. She wanted to tell him that she'd get up in a moment but her mouth just wouldn't seem to form the words she wanted to be saying - which was highly annoying.

"Wha- WHOA!" she cried out in surprise as he easily hauled her to her feet. Part of her, the very stubborn do everything on her own part, wanted to pull away but even she knew that she needed his help at the moment. She does sway for a moment when he releases her but she managed to stay upright, which is a point in her favor she was sure.

She stared at him, obviously a little confused. Go inside? She was quickly shaking her head and she clutched the blanket around herself before turning to look over her shoulder at what appeared to be a fountain. "N-no. Have to f-fin the gate. They'll... They'll b-be looking f-for me." She couldn't just go off with this man, as nice and helpful as he was seeming. She had to find the gate so she could contact the SGC. She had to.

"T-thank you f-for your help, b-but I have t-to go."

He feels a little badly for startling her the way he clearly did, but it's cold, and he's not wearing a coat, and she's soaked through. He doesn't have time for gratuitous niceties, practical matters must be dealt with first.

"Madam, there is no gate." He doesn't even know what she's talking about, really, but he knows that for a fact. He also very much doubts that anyone will be looking for her; oh sure, they might look for her on their own world, but it's highly unlikely that anyone is going to come here to rescue her. He's been here over a year without hide nor hair of anyone he knew from his Spire showing up, and even those that were lucky enough to find their friends and loved ones still wound up stuck here like the rest of them. "There is just the fountain, and there is no exit at the bottom."

He takes half a step back and turns just enough to indicate the Inn behind him, windows glowing with warmth and smoke curling from the chimney. "I will answer any questions you might have, but first, we must go inside."

No gate? She continued to stare at him, obviously confused and possibly not believing him. There was always a gate, well, maybe not always but normally there was! Maybe it was buried, or maybe the Government had hidden it away - both of those things had happened before. So it was probable that this man just didn't know about the gate.

Or maybe he was suppose to divert her from looking. He was trying awfully hard to get her to go with him. Her gaze darted past him to the inn he was indicating to. It did look warm and inviting. And she was so cold, even with the blanket, which wasn't offering all that much of warmth. So, she could go and get warm, dry up some and then head back out to look for the gate.

"O-okay," she finally agreed before taking a few wobbly steps towards the inn. "B-but only f-for a l-little bit."

Helen could tell that the woman had some sort of trepidation about eating and while she could understand that, not being the most trusting herself, sometimes the needs of the body outweighed the better judgment of the mind. At least in this case, she could ease the woman's mind about the safety of the food.

"The food isn't provided by the ones who bring us here, by the way. It's all hunted and prepared and cooked by us. I don't know if that makes you feel better or not but...there you have it."

Carolyn's eyebrows perked up and she turned her head to look at the woman who had just spoken. She looked oddly familiar. Kinda like Samantha Carter, but... The woman obviously wasn't Colonel Carter, because for one, Colonel Carter didn't have an accent and she wasn't brunette. But the longer Carolyn stared at the woman, the less she reminded her of the blonde SG-1 member.

After a moment she finally smiled, slightly, and looked back down at the stew. "So... Who exactly are the ones? Do they have a name?" Obviously skipping the food part and focusing on the more important issues. Though her growling stomach would say otherwise about its importance.

"That, unfortunately, is the question of the year. We haven't ever been able to get a look at them," Helen said. Her voice was laced with disappointment because she'd been trying to find out who held them captive for over a year now and she wished she had something to tell the woman other than I don't know.

"I can explain some things about this place, naturally, but not the most important thing. I'm quite sorry."

Took My Faith (OPEN)

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