No. 33

Prompt: Stargate Atlantis, Any,
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
- "Jabberwocky" (Lewis Carroll)
http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/706543.html?thread=93328111#t93328111

Ronon was down, taken out by a Wraith stunner. Lorne and the rest of his soldiers were spread out to the west beyond the trees, laying down cover fire so they could make it to the gate.

“Ronon!” Parrish shook him desperately. “Wake up. Please!”

“Grab his stunner,” Zelenka said. “Where is the beast?”

Parrish cast a wild look around them, but their little camp clearing was surrounded by dense foliage. Everything was rustling boughs, gunfire, and the sound of Wraith stunners.

Kusanagi was huddled behind Parrish, scrambling to pack the last of the equipment up. The data was the vital part of this mission. It had to make it back to Atlantis, even if one of them didn’t -

The beast broke through the trees with a roar. Parrish and Zelenka screamed and threw themselves backwards. The beast - scaly, brown, mottled, slimy, with open jaws, double rows of razor-sharp fangs slick with saliva, prowled toward them, ignoring Ronon’s inert form completely.

Parrish scrambled up the nearest tree.

“Wait for me!” Zelenka cried, and Parrish leaned down to offer him a hand, nearly overbalanced, screamed again.

“Miko!” Zelenka levered himself up onto one of the lower boughs and clawed his way higher. “Miko, leave the data. Come on!”

As if it understood, the beast swung around and stared at Kusanagi, its tail lashing. Its legs were thick and muscular, and the thing had to be at least twice Ronon’s weight.

Kusanagi stared at it, transfixed.

“Miko!” Parrish pleaded. “Come on. Don’t just stand there. Do -”

The beast lunged.

Kusanagi dove.

Hit the ground. Rolled. Came up beside Ronon. What happened next was a blur. The beast leaped for her, and she screamed, and Parrish and Zelenka screamed, and Ronon came awake roaring, firing his blaster, and the beast landed on the ground.

Its head landed several feet away and rolled. Kusanagi was left standing, holding Ronon’s sword, its edge dripping with green-black gore. She was panting and wide-eyed and her glasses were askew.

“What just happened?” Ronon asked.

“High school kendo,” Kusanagi said. And fainted.