Date: Sun, 1 Jan 1995 01:55:19 -0600 Reply-To: Joshua A Reyer Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Joshua A Reyer Subject: Dragon's Luck, Part Four X-cc: Chandra Reyer Dragon's Luck Part Four By Joshua A. Reyer The adventures of Daniel Crosby. No movie or tv series characters. I'm using the movie universe rules for the Game. Please e-mail comments. ************************************************************************* Honjing Village, China 1608 A.D. "Come now, Crosby," Wei Lao Nan said, patting his young friend's arm, "you must rerax." Daniel stood, his hands on his knees, panting from their long run into the village. With a small effort, he pushed Wei from him. "No!" he said, with a vehemence that surprised him. He couldn't shake this feeling of danger, of anxiety. He looked around, the village spinning before him as he whirled. "Fan guei," Wei announced, surprised. "What?" "Fan guei. Westerner. Foreigner." He pointed, and Daniel saw him. A tall man, almost six feet. His hair was swept far back, and tied in a ponytail. He was dressed in black, and he carried a sword. "The Quickening! I'm feeling the Quickening..." Daniel murmured to himself as realization dawned. "He's an Immortal!" Dropping his pack to the ground, he reached down and grabbed his sword. He started toward the man, but the man smiled and shook his head. His smile was not reassuring at all. He jerked his head toward a small hut. Quickly, flowingly, he suddenly moved into the hut. "Stay here," Daniel ordered Wei, and followed the other Immortal into the hut. It was empty. Warily, Daniel looked around. There was a small hole, at the bottom of the far back wall. It was just big enough for a man to fit through. Suspecting a trick, Daniel crouched and looked for signs of his enemy's presence. He could still feel him, so he must have been somewhere near by. With a sudden rush, Daniel dived through the hole. The house was built on a small rise, and Daniel fell down a slope as he cleared the hut. He heard a swipe, and heard the ring of steel as a sword crashed to the ground, just missing his feet. In an instant, Daniel was back on his feet, and facing his opponent, his sword ready. His opponent stepped away from the wall, and assumed a ready stance. "I am Grady Quaice, of London," the man said. Sensing a ritual, Daniel also declared himself. "I am Lord Daniel Allanson Crosby, also of London." The title was an empty one, Andrige now held the family title. Still, Daniel hoped it would intimidate Grady, if only a little bit. "Ha!" Grady spat. "You still fancy yourself a noble? Well, *my lord*, this is a katana, the finest crafted sword in all the world, and it says that I'm the equal to you in every way." "We'll see," Daniel answered, swinging his sword. Grady easily sidestepped and parried. He led Daniel forward, taking him farther than Daniel had meant to go. Daniel stumbled, but quickly regained his footing. He found Grady was now behind him. Grady attacked with a speed that surprised Daniel. But Daniel was an excellent fencer, if even this wasn't his usual weapon. He parried two strikes, while Grady forced him back. Grady stepped up the speed, taking control of Daniel's sword by repeatedly banging it this way and that. Finally, he brought his sword down in a vicious forward stroke. With a crash, Daniel's sword broke, and the hilt was jarred from his hand. The fight had lasted all of fifteen seconds. With a smile, Grady placed the edge of his sword at Daniel's neck. "Why, you're not a lord. You're a whelp. I should of seen that when I followed you into town. I doubt you've lived even five years as an Immortal. Actually, I should say you *were* a whelp." He swung the sword back, and cut. Daniel took a half-step back, and tripped. Grady's blade whistled harmlessly over Daniel's head. Realizing he was saved for the moment, Daniel kicked up into Grady's stomach. Grady cursed and fell back. Daniel rose and ran back up the rise, toward the hut. He heard Grady calling to him. "We'll meet again, whelp! And then I'll kill you quick!" Daniel paid the words no heed, and as he scrambled through the hole in the hut, he encountered Wei, who was looking for him. "Come on, Wei!" he shouted, grabbing his friend by the arm and hauling him out of the hut. The ran to the far outskirts of the village, until Daniel could no longer feel Grady's presence. "Aiya, Crosby!" Wei declared, irritated. "I travel with you no more. You run too much." "I'm sorry, Wei," Daniel apologized later. "I know you've gone through a lot for me. It's just that....I have many enemies, but I don't know how to fight that well. That's why I'm looking for Ying Chen." "Mei guanxi," Wei answered, laying out his bedroll. "What is important is that we shall find Ying Shi fu tomorrow." He layed down. "What you say about fight, it is interesting. Tell me, Crosby, how old are you?" "Twenty-eight. Twenty-nine next March." "Aa! It is as I suspected. You are a Dragon! Very fortunate." "A Dragon?" "Yes. You were born during a Dragon year. Those born during such signs are very lucky. I do not know the English word. Means like, Fate." "Destiny?" Daniel asked dubiously. "What does 'des-teen-ny' mean?" "Fortune." Daniel shrugged. "Fate. Life, all set out." "Yes! Life all set out. Dragons have big des-teen-ny." "Is this another one of your religions?" "Not quite. Is about...aspects. Fate. Des-teen-ny." "You mean astrology. Well, I don't know about that. I know that in England, I'm a Piesces. Guess I'm compatible with Libra, or something like that." Daniel rolled out his bedroll. "Aah, Crosby. You want to maybe talk about Chinese and English astrology?" Wei smiled. "Bu xie," Daniel grinned, using a Chinese phrase he'd picked up. "I know better than to get into philosophical debates with you." ************************************************************************ Chinese Glossary- Mei guanxi (may-gwan-she): Never mind (lit. not a problem) Ying Shi fu (eeng-shir-foo): Master Ying. Also spelled and pronounced "si-fu". Bu xie (boo-she-uh): No thanks (needed) Please keep in mind that the pronunciations are rather rough, and that there are many nuances in Chinese pronunciation that are hard to put in print. Finally, a couple of requests. Dragon's Luck is far from over, but I'm already looking ahead to the stories after that. I feel I have two options. One is to write much like I am now. Each consecutive story would span the time Daniel spends in a given place. Time spent when nothing much happens in Daniel's life would be breezed by, like the year Daniel spent on the English ship going to China. The other option is give Daniel's life a more episodic spin. The stories would be brief scenes from Daniel's life with a definite antagonist. Kind of like a Highlander ep that took place in entirely in the past. Great numbers of years would likely pass between stories, and ultimately the entire series would be shorter. I would not be averse to writing either way, so I would appreciate it if all those on HLFIC-L who have liked story would give me their vote either way, especially those who have taken the time to personally e-mail their comments (you know who you are :-)). Lastly, I'd appreciate if those who also belong to the Martial Arts/Sword in TV/Film list (again, you know who you are) and anyone else would comment on the action scenes I write. Especially in a story like this, a bad action scene can really ruin a story, so I'd like to get it right. Thanks for the time. Enjoy the story and please e-mail comments, or post to HIGHLA-L. Akemashite Omedetoo! Gong xi! Gong xi! (Okay, so Chinese New Year is still a month away, but the sentiment is the same!) Happy New Year! Joshua A. Reyer, humble author. =========================================================================