Date: Mon, 19 Feb 1996 16:10:41 -0500 Reply-To: "Sean A.Simpson" Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: "Sean A.Simpson" Subject: And So It Begins 2/2 Here's part two. =============================================================================== Highlander is produced by Rysher Entertainment, and is a copyright thereof. This story is not intended as a challenge to that copyright. This story (c) 1996 Sean A. Simpson. This story may be freely distributed provided that this statement, and the above statement concerning Rysher Entertainment, is included, and that text below is complete and unedited. =============================================================================== "Ah, the Gathering. It is the time when all of us who are left shall be compelled to fight one another to the death. According to what has been passed down from mentor to student for as long as any living among us now can remember, we shall be called to some distant city where we shall fight until there is only one left." "My God. Why?" "It is how it is. In the end, there can be only one. That one shall be the last of our kind, and he shall receive the power of the Prize. No one knows what this Prize is, but one thing is known: whoever wins it will have all the combined Quickenings of every Immortal that ever lived. All the experience, power, knowledge...everything. Most of us believe that this power will make the Immortal like a god among men, and that he will have the power to rule the world unopposed. That if an evil Immortal were to win the Prize, the world would enter into its darkest hour, and that mankind may never once again see the light. Even if one of the most honorable of us were to win the Prize, no one knows what he might do with that power. "But such talk is speculation at best. We can only make wild guesses as to our fate and how it intertwines with the fate of the world. "Now, to continue with my story. I was telling you of my time in Sumer. "It was there that I first heard the stories of Gilgamesh, and of his hunt for immortality, and the story of Utnapishtim, a man granted immortality by the gods. I asked Attanegeshi if this man might have been one of us. He told me that he did not know, but that the river valley was flooded from time to time, and that such a man might have been chosen by the gods to be the first of our kind, and that from him all the rest of us come. "'Are you saying he was our ancestor?' I did not understand. 'We cannot have children, and all of us who knew our parents know that they were mortal.' "'Not a physical ancestor, but that we, too, are blessed by the gods.' he replied. 'Or cursed, some might say. It is only a guess that his blessing is ours to share. What I can tell you is that many years ago, when I was still a young Immortal, we lived together in a city on the shores of the western sea. There we exchanged our knowledge and endeavoured to become wise. Even then our traditions were in place, and we spoke of the Gathering, and would not fight on holy ground. We speculated about the Prize. But none knew how old these stories are, and none could tell where they came from. "'The answers you seek are not mine to give you. Indeed, I have been searching for the answers to those questions for my entire life.' "Since then, I have been searching for an answer to those questions. What are we? What is our purpose here? Why can we not fight on holy ground?" Here I interrupted. "Have none of you ever fought on holy ground?" "Attanegeshi told me a story about a battle between Immortals on holy ground. He said it was told to him by his first mentor, and that even he did not know how true it was. "An Immortal, whose name meant Two Snakes, was hunting another Immortal, who was called Walking Ghost, because he desired revenge. Walking Ghost, seeking sanctuary, came to a temple, and there awaited Two Snakes. The hunter came to the temple and, discarding the rule, attacked Walking Ghost. "As other Immortals have discovered, they were able to fight without consequence. Two Snakes finally disarmed his quarry and ran him through to disable him for the final blow. "When Two Snakes' sword penetrated Walking Ghost's skin and drew blood, though, it seemed as though the world had caved in on the two Immortals. Howling winds swept through the temple, and the many artifacts and objects that had been in the temple began to rise up and careen into the two combatants, striking them unconscious. "When Walking Ghost awoke, what he saw shocked and amazed him. "The temple was completely intact. His sword was in its sheath at his side. But nearby, where Two Snakes had fallen, was a dessicated corpse. The sword that had been the hunter's trademark, with hilt shaped like two snakes intertwined, was corroded and crumbling. It was as if all the Quickening that had infused Two Snakes and his weapon had been sucked out and into the temple, rejuvenating it. "As if the temple had taken Two Snakes' head. "No one knows if this is true or not, or if what happened to Two Snakes is what will happen to any Immortal who attempts to take another's head on holy ground. What we do know is, there is no Immortal now who would attempt to kill another on holy ground. Angus paused, and then continued with his story. "I studied with Attanegeshi for three years, until I took my first head. After that he sent me out to see the other cities of Sumer, and to learn from the people in them. Thirty years later, when I was in Ur, Attanegeshi was beheaded by a brash young Immortal who got lucky. I hunted him down and took his head. "Not quite fifty years later, I left Sumer to visit the village of my birth, where I heard tales of the man 'denied the land of the dead.' I remained in Egypt, traveling from city to city for a little over a century. Eventually, though, I grew bored, and left Egypt to see the larger world. "I was in the Americas long before any European dreamed there was something beyond the Atlantic besides dragons. I saw the Roman Empire in all its glory. I saw the Fall of Rome. Aye, I was in Rome when the Visigoths overran it, and I cannot say I was sad to see it fall. I was in China when the fighting arts of the Shaolin were developed, and I am a ninjutsu sensei. I have fought in armies of people I would have readily had as enemies. I have fought for causes I didn't believe in, and I have fought without a cause. I am not proud of everything I have done, but my life is the best I could make of it. But these are all stories for another time, another place, another lesson. "I have loved women, married them, and watched them grow old and die before me, from my first wife, Isiri, to my most recent, Debra. I have been a foster parent to many children, sending them out into the world with the education only a millenia-old parent can give, and still feeling as if I could have done more. All of my life I know I could have done better or more, but regret is something I had to abandon a long time ago, lest it overwhelm me." "But why are you telling me this?" "That will become clear in time." Angus picked up his coat and prepared to leave. "I will tell you one thing, lad. Your life may be much, much more than you imagine it could possibly be." ********* >From the journal of Terence O'Brian, dated 2/12/96 (continued) I did not know what he meant then, and there is still much, much more that I don't know about him. Four thousand years is a long time to develop yourself, as he has said many times. I am still struggling to deal with what the impact of Immortality means to me. I had to leave my family, my friends, everything that meant something to me. Angus has never steered me wrong, though, and so I trust him now. I have not yet taken my first head. Angus has made it clear, though that the Gathering is upon us, and that very soon for me it will be a matter of kill or be killed. Angus says that he may not live long enough to complete my training, but he has confidence in me. He has given me the name of another Scottish Immortal who can complete my training should one of the Immortals hunting his head succeed. "Perhaps," he says, "perhaps, Terry, you shall survive to the last. Should it come down to you and I, I shall tell you now, I will not be disappointed if you are the one who takes my head. I hope, though, that we never have to fight." I hold that hope in my heart as well. =============================================================================== Questions, comments, flames, etc. send to stsas02@moravian.edu. =========================================================================