Not Quite the Lord of the Rings
by Lothithil
Not Quite The Lord Of The Rings
an SG-1/LotR crossover guest starring the DarkElf
Part Three: First Contact
The
short hairs on the back of Jack O'Neill's neck were standing up; it
took every ounce of his military discipline not to turn around and look
back. They were being followed, just as Teal'c had suspected. Whoever
or whatever it was, it was damned stealthy.
At the first turning
in their survey, O'Neill called a halt. The four of them shed their
packs and stretched. The Elf that had been so carefully following them
squatted down in the bushes, unperceived though their eyes passed over
her. O'Neill wandered away to the right, speaking something about
'attending to the call'. Teal'c moved off in the other direction as if
to investigate a thicket of young trees. Morlothiel was about to follow
O'Neill when the activity of the last two members of the team attracted
her attention.
"What is that, Sam?" Daniel knelt down on the grass, peering intently at something on the ground.
Sam
leaned over to take a look, then hunkered down next to him. "I've never
seen anything like it." She extended her hand as if to touch it, but
Daniel grabbed her arm and held her.
"No! What if it's dangerous?"
"It
doesn't look dangerous. It's pretty." Sam leaned closer to see better.
Her head completely blocked Morlothiel's view of the object of interest.
"Too pretty, if you ask me," Daniel answered, pulling Sam back.
Morlothiel's
interest was peaking. She craned her neck, trying to see around the
crouching figures of Daniel and Sam. What could have caught their
attention so? But try as she might, she couldn't see anything.
Daniel
let go of Sam's arm when she threatened to break off his fingers. She
reached down to pick something up, then suddenly let out a cry of
surprise and pain.
"Sam! Oh, my god..." Daniel threw himself
down beside where the woman had fallen. Alarmed, Morlothiel stood up,
drawing her sword. Whatever it was, she could not leave these two to be
injured while their warriors were away. She came out of the swath of
grasses where she had been hiding, prepared to fight.
There came
no more warning than the sound of a shadow, and suddenly the Elf was
surrounded. Teal'c and O'Neill were behind her and to each side, and
Daniel and Sam were now standing in front of her. All except Daniel
held an intimidating object in their hands. Morlothiel froze.
Large
grey eyes fixed upon O'Neill,and the tip of the gleaming sword dropped
toward the ground. In a clear voice, Morlothiel spoke, "To cause harm
to your companions is not my intention."
"I know. We don't want
to hurt you, either." The black circle of the barrel of O'Neill's P90
moved slightly as he redirected the weapon. "What say we get
introduced? I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill. That's Teal'c; Major Carter;
Doctor Jackson."
"Daniel," said Daniel, indicating himself with his hands. "We are peaceful explorers."
Morlothiel said nothing and did not move. She held O'Neill with her gaze.
O'Neill stared back. "What?" he said finally, when no one had moved for a full minute.
"You
speak for your people, but I cannot judge the truth of your words." She
turned her eyes toward Carter and Daniel. "You have tricked me with
falsehood into revealing myself. These are the actions of the Enemy.
Yet you do not behave as His creatures do, nor have you attempted to
slay me. Therefore, I will wait."
O'Neill let his P90 hang
from its harness and removed his field goggles. "Look, I'm sorry we
tricked you. We've had dealings with some nasty invisible creatures
before, and we have to be careful."
Brown eyes. Morlothiel met
them with her own. She sheathed her sword with a fluid movement, then
offered them an elaborate bow. "I can see now that we are not enemies.
I will therefore freely offer my names, and trust that you will use no
sorcery with them." O'Neill's eyebrows shot up at this, but he said
nothing. "I was called Morlothiel in the North that is now sunk beneath
the sea, and Dínfaloth in the Uttermost West. You may address me as you
wish."
O'Neill scrunched up his brow. "You can call me Jack. Can I call you 'Morry'? I'm kinda bad with long names..."
Morlothiel gave a small smile. "For short speech, you may call me 'Loth."
"Loth?" O'Neill tasted the name experimentally.
"Yes. The meaning of that word is far more complimentary than your first choice."
"Oh."
To the surprise of his companions, a visible flush reddened O'Neill's
neck. He cast a glance toward Daniel and said out of the corner of his
mouth, "Did I just call her something bad?"
"I... don't know,
Jack," Daniel answered, who was wracking his memory for a reference.
"Not in any of the languages I know, anyway."