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They continued to follow, spotting new tracks before others did. They realized they were heading towards a cave.

Be careful/, Rosha thought. /There might be wild animals.

I never would have thought about that.

Ha ha.

Jolinar wished she had more than a spear as she approached. Her sarcastic joke wasn't so amusing as she saw the tracks change from walking to being dragged. Blood. Lots of blood. Then she saw a large cat…dragging Faron to the cave by the back of his neck.

/Shit/.

Faron moaned.

Shit! /Rosha echoed. /He's still alive. We have to help him.

"Ah!" Jolinar yelled to distract the cat off him.

The cat quickly dropped him, then growled as it crept to her.

"Hey!" Said the hunter assigned to them, having followed.

The cat turned to him.

"Grab Faron," he ordered, stomping his foot to keep the cat's focus on him. "Be careful. They sometimes hunt in pairs."

The cat was so focused on him that it seemed to forget Rosha. There was no sign of another cat. Jolinar was able to slip by, kneeling by Faron.

He's bleeding out. /Jolinar quickly bandaged his neck with supplies that Bash had given her. /I don't think he'll-

/The another cat! /Rosha suddenly realized before they were pounced.

They were knocked down with a heavy weight. Jolinar felt a tooth sink in in her side as Rosha suddenly became quiet.

Rosha?!

It had been instant.

Rosha!

She felt herself shaken and dropped, then heard muffled sounds of fighting.

Rosha.

She ached. A few centimeters over and she would have died as well. She left before she could be finished and to see what was going on. She saw two men fighting off both cats. Another search group found them, but the cats were distracting everyone.

Faron moaned. "Talia. I'm…sorry."

He clearly had the same regrets that Jolinar did, knowing he was going to die.

/You'll see her again/, Jolinar thought impulsively. As if helping him would save Rosha. As if he knew what she was thinking and had agreed.

The cats were chased off with the hunter having died. A few minutes later, Bash knelt down by Faron, examining him quickly. Then he went to Rosha.

Jolinar watched him check her breathing and pulse.

/You won't find anything/, she thought sadly, then was surprised when he checked the back of her neck.

"They're dead," he muttered as Faron was lifted on to a stretcher.

/He knew/, she realized.

"They?" Asked another woman.

"Nothing." He gestured. "We'll take her back to Yra."

Jolinar worried about what they would do to Rosha's body. Bash was a good person though. She was certain he would be respectful.

I will tell them/, she thought. /I will return to our husbands, and I will tell them that you died saving someone's life. That you were strong and brave, and that you didn't hesitate to do the right thing.

-x-x-x-

Faron sat on the bed, feeling guilty.

"Faron?" His wife came in.

"Two people died to save me. A friend and a stranger." He shook his head. "My life isn't worth two."

Jolinar hoped she wasn't accidentally influencing him.

Talia sat by him.

"I never should have gone hunting with them."

-x-x-x-

Once Faron was healed, Jolinar fully retreated to heal herself. As a result, she wasn't fully aware of what was happening as Faron went through the stargate. She realized that he and Talia wore the same nice clothes that they had worn for the hunter's funeral.

Her heart stopped as she realized what that meant.

All the possible funerals practices crossed her mind, and she realized she had to know. The hunter had been left on a fancy alter, high enough so that most animals couldn't reach him. He was still there…rotting.

She didn't want that to be Rosha's fate. Unfortunately, Faron didn't know Yra funeral rites.

There was already a small crowd when he arrived, which surprised Jolinar.

She saw her, and her pain affected Faron in a way that surprised him. Talia took his hand.

Rosha was in a small boat, one that wasn't made to last. She wore simple robes, at least from what Jolinar could see. The boat was filled with many colorful flowers.

"You are drowning her?" Talia asked.

The wording alone was enough to explain Nasyan funeral rituals.

"Water is neutral," answered a Yra.

Jolinar realized it was Nib, the first man who had helped them.

"We don't know her beliefs." He gestured. "Water will allow her to chose her afterlife."

Faron said nothing, but Jolinar knew he didn't approve. It bothered him as much as leaving a body to rot had bothered her.

Bash was making the final preparations. Jolinar wondered what he was doing, and that influenced Faron to walk over. She hoped he wouldn't mind.

Faron wasn't sure what Bash was doing, but Jolinar realized that he was making sure Rosha sunk with the boat. Now closer, she could also smell oils and spices…and Rosha. As well as she had been treated, it had been days.

Jolinar felt sick, blocking his scent for now. She had smelled bodies before, but never that of a host.

"What if she's…still in there?" Faron asked, not realizing he was combining Jolinar's grief with his beliefs.

"If she is, the water will gently coax out the spirit, where she may stay in the lake for as long as she needs, until she is ready to travel to her chosen afterlife."

That almost sounded relaxing. No wonder a water burial was considered neutral.

Faron went back to Talia, wondering why he cared so much about the stranger's funeral.

"They are doing what they believe is best," Talia said, thankful that his life had been saved.

He didn't respond.

When it was time, Bash spoke for Rosha, though he didn't know her real name. He seemed to acknowledge that without actually saying it. He never really said anything outside of what he knew, which was very little.

The boat was pushed out on to the lake. It began slowly sinking, as it was made to do. Jolinar retreated as it went under, not bringing herself to watch, no matter how irrational that was. When she looked again, the flowers were spreading across the lake.

People gave prayers and best wishes as they left. Faron remained. Jolinar wasn't sure if she was influencing him or if it was because Rosha had died saving him. He had stayed for the hunter as well.

"Until today, I didn't even know what she looked like."

Talia had stayed with him.

-x-x-x-

A few months later, Faron was looking over the lake. He had come to trade, but something made him want to come to the lake. He wasn't sure why? Guilt?

Jolinar hadn't meant to influence him.

"How did she die?"

Faron looked over.

Jolinar jumped. The Ashrak! Only a few feet away! He had a new host, as they jumped around frequently. That expression though. The callous tone in his voice. That was him. It had to be him. He took a drug that prevented her from sensing him, which thankfully also kept him from sensing her.

Thankfully, she had just about the most subdued host in the galaxy, so he barely reacted despite somehow knowing that this stranger was bad news.

"Many have been put to grave in this lake," he replied, honestly not knowing who the Ashrak was asking about.

"The stranger. I believe she called herself Martash." He had obviously been asking around.

Faron didn't reply.

"She was…a friend."

/Liar! /Jolinar screamed.

Faron frowned, thinking he just somehow knew that.

"Please."

"Ger Cats, which is…not unusual."

"I've never heard of those."

"Hm." He turned to walk away. Somehow, he knew that naming the animal had been dangerous.

/Now he knows she didn't die on this world/, Jolinar thought to herself.

"Was anyone near her when she died?"

Jolinar cursed. He knows. Scanning the lake for naquadah would have told him. He would have found just enough to confirm that a host recently died without the symbiote. Thankfully, her body was long passed the ability to be resurrected. Otherwise, he'd certainly drag her out, and no one would be able to stop him.

"I wouldn't know."

"I thought you were part of the hunting party that was attacked."

It sounded like he already knew about the cats anyway.

Faron almost laughed. He wasn't sure why. The guilt gnawed at him. He had to find humor in the words. Otherwise, he would cry or scream. He looked back to him. "Do I look like a hunter?"

The Ashrak looked over him with a serious expression, then walked away. Faron's calm ignorance and subtle lies had been enough to throw him off the trail.

Jolinar knew though, he was closing in on her. If she made a move now, any sort of move, he would know. She would get this host killed too, but…if she stayed completely hidden, if she was patient… She might have a chance.

The Other End