CATEGORY: Drama, Adventure

SPOILERS: None
SEASON / SEQUEL: Anytime in season three or four

RATING: PG / K+
CONTENT WARNINGS: None

SUMMARY: SG-1 run into a native tribe, which sacrifices women to the Thunder-being and select Major Carter for the next ritual.
DISCLAIMER: This story is written entirely for entertainment and is not intended as an infringement against the copy written material that belongs solely to Showtime, MGM/UA, Gekko Films, et al. I'm only playing with their characters and will return them as soon as the story is finished. The following story is the property of the author and is not to be copied, or published without the express, written consent of the author.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This story is based on two versions of the legend of The Maid of the Mist. I gave my opinion on which legend I consider to be right and which I consider to be wrong plus added a little Stargate-fiction to the right one, otherwise I had no story to tell. It has no intention to insult anybody, to betray one's culture or what-so-ever. Any mistakes concerning the true legend are mine and not made on purpose. This story is meant for fun only. Please let me know what you think.

Written in 2001 and posted on my own site, Heliopolis and Jackfic. So if you've read it before, that's entirely possible!

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Colonel Jack O'Neill motioned his team to take cover, holding up one finger in front of his lips to keep them quiet.

They all knelt, keeping their heads down.

O'Neill crawled forward up the hill and peered over the top. From that position he had a perfect view over the valley that lay spread out beyond the hill. His instincts had been right on track; he'd sensed the presence of people before the team had reached the top.

The valley was green, with some huge trees scattered throughout providing shade from the sun. A river crossed the valley, the banks sandy and dry. On the other side of the river were plenty of bushes, while this side contained a group of smaller trees. O'Neill could spot orange and yellow fruit hanging amongst them.

There was also a camp on this side of the river. A tribe of natives inhabited it. Their homes resembled Native American teepees. They were each made of a circle of large poles, bound together high above the ground. The teepee coverings were made of layers of animal hides. A group of women was settled around the campfire, they seemed to be cooking. Children were playing in the sand near the river. A small gathering of men was occupied with the horses, a couple were fishing in the river and some were sitting in the sun, sharpening tools or weapons, the Colonel couldn't really tell.

Major Carter, Teal'c and Daniel Jackson silently joined him and studied the scene in front of them.

"Well, they look familiar," whispered Daniel. "They could be descendants of any Native American tribe. I'll have to do a closer examination to determine which they resemble most."

"This is interesting," Carter added softly. "How did they get here?"

"I would like to know if they're hostile first. What do you think, Teal'c?" Jack looked at the Jaffa.

Teal'c raised his shoulders. "I have never met people like these, O'Neill."

"Daniel?"

"There's only one way to find out, Jack," Daniel answered. "Most Indian people are very friendly, unlike the way they're pictured in some juvenile books."

Jack tapped on his cap. "So I'm not going to lose the few hairs I have left up here?"

Daniel shook his head. "I don't see scalps anywhere. Tribes who were known to do that usually exhibited them outside their tent, as a visual prove of their qualities and achievements."

Jack shivered. Although he'd never come across activities similar to that, the stories about those rituals were scary, horrible and disgusting. As a kid, he'd had plenty of nightmares about scalping as a result of reading those particular stories plus watching the old-fashioned western movies.

Suddenly, a sound from behind them startled him. O'Neill turned and aimed his gun. Carter and Teal'c reacted similarly. It took Daniel a little longer to respond.

"Shit! Where did they come from?" hissed O'Neill, unpleasantly surprised to find he and his team were surrounded by a group of the Native warriors.

"I did not hear them approach either, O'Neill," Teal'c stated, a worried frown over his face.

The Natives were aiming their spears at the team. Jack's mind raced, assessing their situation and looking for a way out. He had not lowered his gun and neither had Teal'c or Carter.

"Uh, hi," Daniel broke the silence. He raised his hands slowly in the air. "We mean you no harm."

The group of Natives stood motionless, still aiming their spears at SG-1.

Daniel lowered one hand to point at his chest.

One of the Natives immediately reacted by making a low sound, his spear moving closer to the archaeologist's chest.

"Now, hold it!" O'Neill barked, aiming his gun at the man.

Daniel forced a smile on his face. "It's all right. I wasn't going to hurt you. I'm Daniel Jackson. These are my friends…" This time, he kept his hands where they were and just nodded with his head in the direction of Teal'c. "That's Teal'c, this is Sam and that's Jack. Who are you?"

"We are the tribe of the Ongiaras," one of the warriors said.

Daniel very slowly lowered his hands again. "Okay. It is nice to meet you. Think we can put our weapons down now?"

The man stared at him unresponsively.

"Jack?" Daniel's voice urged the Colonel to lower his weapon first.

The Colonel hesitated briefly, and then shrugged. "Well… yeah, okay. Just keep your eyes open." With that, he lowered his gun. Sam and Teal'c followed his example.

The Natives responded by lowering their spears. Daniel stepped forward and offered his hand to the one who had aimed the spear at him. The man accepted the gesture by raising his own hand flat next to his ear. Daniel quickly repeated the procedure.

"I am Chief Eagle Eye. Where did you come from?"

"We came through the Stargate," Daniel answered; visually relieved the tension was gone. Taking in the man's frowning, he made a circle with his hands. "The Chaapa'ai… the big circle."

The man nodded, apparently understanding it now. He pointed at the valley. "Please, join us at our camp." With that, he started walking them downhill into the valley.

---oo---oo---

They'd spent the evening around the campfire. The Chief had told them about his people, their habits and their way of life.

Daniel had tried to explain where they came from, telling the Natives about the people on Earth and their habits. Major Carter had told the tribe about the Stargate, and they'd soon found out the tribe had never traveled through it, nor had they seen anybody coming through.

They'd received their own teepee to spend the night in and despite the fact that the Ongiaras turned out to be very friendly O'Neill scheduled the night watches.

The sun rose early, just after five. The Ongiaras got up to start their day; the women re-lit the campfire to make breakfast while some men fanned out through the valley to collect fresh fruit.

Daniel had the last watch and walked silently through the camp, softly talking to some of the men, gathering more information about the culture. When it was nearly time for breakfast, he woke the others. Soon they were all enjoying the morning meal; some sort of soft tortillas and lots of fresh fruit.

Later that morning the team watched as the Ongiaras stuffed a large canoe full of fresh fruit. One of the women walked up to the riverbank, her arms full of flowers and she spread them around and over the fruit in the canoe.

All the Ongiaras gathered on the riverbank. They took position around the canoe, forming the shape of a horseshoe and started singing.

The team silently approached the group, exchanging glances. Jack asked Daniel if he had any idea of what was going on, but the linguist shrugged his shoulders.

"Seems like some kind of sacrifice, maybe to appease their Gods," he whispered.

Out of respect they didn't step any closer to the singing group but watched them quietly. The singing faded and Chief Eagle Eye snapped his fingers. Two other men stepped forward and pushed the heavily laden canoe slowly into the river.

All of the Ongiaras knelt, bowing their heads to the ground as the current caught the canoe, dragging it away until it was out of sight. Everybody rose, turned and headed back to the camp, leaving the team to follow.

Later that day, Daniel stepped closer to Chief Eagle Eye.

"Excuse me, Chief Eagle Eye," he started. "What was that all about, with the canoe?"

"We offer this to Hinum, to please him," the Chief explained.

"Hinum?"

"The God of Thunder. He lives in the caves."

Daniel frowned. "The caves? Which caves?"

"There is a great fall a couple of miles downstream. Hinum lives in the caves behind the falls."

"Hmm. What happens when you don't send him the offering?"

The Chief looked shocked. "We must! Hinum will be very upset if we don't! And when Hinum is not satisfied, my people will die!" With that, the Chief turned and left, leaving Daniel thinking the ritual over.

---oo---oo---

The next morning, they were all startled awake by some loud weeping. The Ongiaras rushed towards the woman who had been crying out loud and the team followed to find out what was going on.

"My husband! He's dead…" The woman sank to the ground, hands pressed over her face to cover her tears.

Chief Eagle Eye stepped inside her tent to check on the man. When he came out, his face was pale and grim, wondering why the Thunder God was still upset with them.

"Hinum was not pleased," he said and quickly came to a conclusion. He pointed at SG-1. "It's all your fault! Tie them up!"

O'Neill responded incredibly fast and drew his gun. One of the men immediately jabbed him with his spear, while three others pressed spears against the chests of Sam, Daniel and Teal'c to keep them from moving.

Jack gasped. He felt the spear entering his right side, tearing his skin, muscles and tissue away. The tip of the spear tore up the skin on his back as it came through completely. The shock spread through his body, his right arm went numb and the gun fell to the ground. The wounds were bleeding at alarming rate and the blood was quickly soaking the Colonel's pants. O'Neill's face lost all color as he sagged to the ground, drawing his left arm protectively around his waist. "Oh, God," he groaned.

Daniel struggled to approach him, but was held back by the spears.

Sam turned her head towards the Chief. "He's bleeding to death! Please, let me bind that wound!"

The Chief gave a short order to one of the women and she ran off to one of the tents. She returned with a bag and knelt beside the wounded man. Carter pleaded again, "please?" The Chief nodded and Sam rushed forward, kneeling beside her CO, taking his pulse.

Jack was breathing rapidly and sweat ran down his pale face. He wanted to lie down, but with the spear coming out on his back, he was afraid it would damage him even more. So he stayed seated, steadying himself with his left arm. He flinched, moaned, and clenched his fists as the woman shifted him so she could reach the wounds.

"Hold him," the woman told Sam and Carter took position behind her CO, leaning him sideways against her chest so he wouldn't fall over and gently stroked his hair.

The woman took a knife and cut off the long shaft of the spear. She took some bandages out of her pack along with a small bottle. She drenched the bandages with the dark thick fluid and quickly pressed them on the exit wound on his back. Even though she carefully avoided putting pressure on the top of the spear, the Colonel groaned and tried to withdraw, to move away, but Sam managed to hold him down.

"Here, hold this. It will stop the bleeding," the woman said, and guided Sam's hand over the bandage until she'd positioned it how she wanted it.

Sam worriedly looked at her CO. His eyes were closed, his lips tightened, he was breathing through gritted teeth and he moaned softly. Needing one arm to steady him and the other to keep the bandage in place, she couldn't do more than whisper soothingly in his ear as the woman prepared another bandage, draped it around the shaft of the spear and pressed it on the entry wound.

The Colonel's body jerked but the woman pressed him back down and Sam felt him going limp in her arms as he finally passed out.

When the wounds weren't bleeding anymore, the woman took the knife again to cut his clothes away before applying a clean bandage around his waist, leaving the remaining part of the spear where it was, wrapping the bandage carefully around it.

Chief Eagle Eye nodded approvingly at the woman then addressed his men. "Tie them up and prepare the woman."

Two men dragged Daniel towards a tree, pushed him until his back was pressed against the trunk and jerked his hands backwards, around the girth of the tree. His hands were bound there and one of the men used the remaining rope to tie his chest securely against the trunk. This left Daniel standing, unable to move any part of his upper body and he was forced to watch how it took four men to repeat the procedure with Teal'c.

Carter stayed seated, supporting her CO as she held on to him, checking his pulse and listened to how his breathing eased now that he was unconscious. She wiped his face and looked at the woman, who was gathering her things.

"What kind of stuff is that?" she asked, pointing at the bottle the woman had used on the dressing.

She didn't look up from her work. "It is a mixture of healing herbs. It has the ability to congeal blood; that is why it stops bleeding from wounds like that. It also has a disinfecting quality. I am sorry, but that is all I can do for him. I am not qualified to remove the spear."

"We just need to take him home," Sam answered worriedly.

A small group of women approached and motioned for Sam to come. She was unwilling to leave the Colonel, but when one of the men stepped closer with his spear aimed at O'Neill's chest, she quickly held up her hand. "Okay, okay. Hold it, I'm coming!"

Carter shifted carefully and lowered the Colonel to the ground, positioning him on his left side, his knees bent so he wouldn't roll further. She touched his cheek briefly. "Hold on, Sir." She could only hope he could hear her. Then she exchanged worried looks with Teal'c and Daniel, only now noticing the position they were in. Sighing heavily, she rose to her feet and followed the women.

Another canoe was dragged onto the riverbank. Some men carried loads of fruit and positioned them in the canoe. A couple of women approached with arms full of flowers and draped them over the fruit.

"What do you think they meant by 'prepare the woman', Teal'c?" Daniel whispered worriedly.

"I believe they are sacrificing a woman to the Thunder God, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c stated, hoping that woman wouldn't be Major Carter.

"Yeah, I think so, too. And I think I also know who that woman is… Oh, Lord, what are we going to do?" Daniel started pulling on the ropes but it was useless. The bindings didn't give an inch.

"Unfortunately, we cannot do anything," Teal'c hissed, frustration evident in his voice. Like Daniel, he had been trying to break the ropes but found it of no use. The ropes were secure, strong and unbreakable.

Major Carter was led forward. She was now wearing a white doeskin robe over her uniform and she had a wreath of flowers in her hair. She stared at Daniel and Teal'c, giving them a weak smile. Carter looked at the unconscious form of her CO one last time before the men took her by her arms and walked her to the canoe.

The Chief had spoken to her before and told her what a great honor it was to be sacrificed to save others. She should be proud, he'd said. He'd also told her in no uncertain terms that he would order his men to kill her leader, if she didn't do as asked.

Daniel and Teal'c didn't know what the Chief had said to Carter. Teal'c was fighting against his restraints and Daniel yelled, "Run, Sam! Run!"

Carter didn't run, though. She was actually planning her escape. The Ongiaras didn't restrain her when they seated her between the offerings in the canoe and she planned to jump out of the little vessel as soon as she was out of sight. Hopefully she could reach shore before the current dragged her over the falls. Then she could decide whether to 'gate home to get some reinforcements or attempt to free her team-mates herself. She just prayed the Colonel had that long.

The ritual repeated as the Ongiaras formed a horseshoe shape around the canoe and started singing.

Nobody seemed to notice that O'Neill started stirring. Moaning softly, he tried to assess his condition and his surroundings. His memory fell back in place and he quickly opened his eyes. He took in the bandage around his side and wondered what it was that woman had applied on it. It still hurt, but not as badly as before. He lifted his head and soon his eyes found Daniel and Teal'c, before moving to watch the singing group.

Carter!

Damn!

He stared at Daniel, who mouthed, "they're sacrificing Sam to Hinum."

Jack struggled to get up. "The hell they are…" he protested, swaying unsteadily as the world started spinning dangerously fast.

The singing faded, the Chief snapped his fingers and two men pushed the canoe forward into the river, while the others knelt, bending forward. Jack stumbled in the direction of the Ongiaras but reached the group too late. The canoe entered the water and the current took it away.

---oo---oo---

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