Date: Sun, 14 Aug 1994 23:20:53 -0400 Reply-To: Highlander TV show stories Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Michael Smith Subject: In The Beginning This is our first collaboration, so be gentle when you flame us. Since Amy is on Vacation for a while, send any comments or flames to me. At my my normal email address: z006170b@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us. And now Amy Denton and I proudly present: In The Beginning...... A Story by Amy Denton & Mike Smith Darius was sitting in his office at the church when he felt IT, that faintly annoying buzz that signaled the presence of an other Immortal. He frowned for moment, thinking, Whoever it was, they were very old or there was more than one Immortal present. He had been Immortal for so long that he could almost tell how how powerfull an Immortal was, just by sensing him or her. He was not concerned, he knew that whoever it was not here to kill him. They couldn't, it was one of The Rules, "No fighting on Holy Ground". He sat for a moment, waiting. He heard footsteps in the hall accompanied by the low mummer of voices. . A moment later, there was a gentle knock on his office door. "Come in.", he said, curious to see what his vistors looked like. The door creaked open and in it stood a tall, muscualr man, with short blond hair and clear, blue eyes. The man wore a plaid, button-down shirt, a leather jacket, jeans and boots. Just behind him, stood an other man of medium height, not quite as muscular. He had short, dark brown hair, dark green eyes and a scowl that covered his entire face. He was wearing a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. Darius smiled when he realized the first man was. "Stephen!! What a pleasant surprise." Darius rose from his chair, crossed the room and shook hands with Stephen. "It's been a long time. How long has it been?" Stephen laughed, "At least, oh..." he titled his head back and thought for a moment, "almost 70 years. Yeah, that sounds right." They stood there for a moment, staring at each other, then Darius spoke. "Don't stand out in the hall, come in, come in. What brings you here? Can I get you something?" He waved the two men into the room. Stephen chuckled, "What? More of your infamous moldspore tea?" "You've drank it without complaint before." "That's before I knew what it was." "Well, if that's the way you're going to be." Darius smiled, happy to see an old friend. "Well, sit down. What brings you here?" "I had an overwhelming desire to go to church." Darius fixed him with a look of disbelief. "I'm sure there are churchs alot closer to you than this one." "Okay, here's the deal." Stephen shifted in his chair, trying to get comfortable. "Robert," he said, inclining his head at the scowling young man seated in another chair. "is new." Darius raised an eyebrow. "He got ran over by a minivan doing 80 down Main Street. Minivan nver slowed down." "That's certainly an original way to die. How do you know it never slowed down?" "Him." he said, pointing at Robert "he said so and it was on the news." "How did he find you?" "He appeared on my doorstep shortly after it happened. He was a mess. Scared the HECK out of my next-door neighbor, I'll tell you that." "Then what happened?" "What normally happens." Stephen frowned at Darius for a moment. "I took him in andstarted training him. Only problem is, he's driving my crazy with all his questions. It's like being around a two-year old!!! I can't take it anymore!!" Stephen stood up and started to pace, only he couldn't, the room wasn't big enough. Darius looked at Robert again. He looked very unhappy whatever the problem was. He looked back at Stephen again. "What kind of questions?" "Why? questions. Why no two-on-one, why no fighting on Holy Ground, why must it be done in private. Why, why, why? It's driving me crazy. I don't know why, I just know. Carlos didn't tell me why when he trained ME, how would I know?" He sat back down. "I doubt he would have known." Darius said almost to himself. "So you came all this way to ask me? I'm touched, really I am." Darius grimaced. "I'd figured that of all of us, you would be the one who would know. Was I wrong?" Darius smiled and rose from his chair. "Come with me, Stephen, while I put a kettle on to make some tea." At look from Stephen, he laughed " I promise, I make something normal." He started to walk from the room. Stephen followed. "How old are you?" Robert spoke for the first time since he and Stephen had arrived. Darius turned and looked at him. "Are you sure you want to know?" "Robert nodded his head. "About 2,000, give or take a 100 years or so." Roberts eyes grew big. Darius smiled at him. "Don't looked so surprised, there some that are older than I." He turned again and left, Stephen trailing after him. Robert was left alone with what he had just learned. "Now, truthfully Stephen, is he that bad?" Darius asked Stephen as they stood in a small kitchen, off to one side of Darius's office, waiting for the water to boil. Stephen gave an exagerated sigh."NO, he's not *that* bad. If that was the case, we wouldn't be here. It's just..." he paused for a moment "that he doesn't listen. It's not only the constant questions, he doesn't listen to the answers. He doesn't listen period!" Stephen threw his hands in the air. "Ah, so there's the problem. You know, not listening sounds like a trait that belongs to someone I know." Darius said teasing, his eyes twinkling. "I was never THAT bad." Then at the look from Darius "Was I?" Darius chuckled to himself. "You only heard what you wanted to hear. Which wasn't a lot." Stephen opened his mouth in protest but didn't say anything. "I had this discussion with Carlos, a few times. There were times when I didn't think you'd make it through the training, that Carlos would have killed you just to get some peace! I'll tell you what I told him. This happens." "That's it? Those were you're words of wisdom?" Stephen asked. "In a nutshell, yes." At the look of annoyance on Stephen's face he added "Don't worry, I'll explain. What I meant was this 'period' of ignoring the teacher happens all the time." He paused. "Look at it this way...how did you handle the fact you were immortal when you found out?" "I thought Carlos had lost his mind or that I had lost mine." "He," Darius said pointing to his office, "is probably thinking something along the same lines. What happened to him is a *big* schock. Of course, he's going to ignore you. He thinks you're crazy." "Okay, you've mananged to successfully explain that part, but what about his constant why questions. I *know* I never did that. I just accepted the rules for what they were." "No threats of bodily injury?" Darius joked. "One or two." Stephen replied. "Well, as for the why questions, I can help you on that part." He turned toward the stove, where the tea kettle was wistling. "What would you like?" He said gesturing toward the kettle. "I don't care as long as it's not that moldspore stuff." Darius laughed "All right, I won't use that." He turned and picked a out a small brown bag, which he placed in the kettle. "What is it?" Stephen asked supsicously "A surprise." Darius said mysteriously. "So you can help with..." Stephen gestured toward the office. "Yes. I think I can squeeze you in. It won't take long. Well, let's not keep him waiting. He might decide to leave and you wouldn't want that, now would you?" Darius's eyes were twinkling again. "He better not leave." Stephen growled. "I've got better things to do with my time than to tear Paris apart looking for him." "Come on. Carry the cups please and try not to drop them." "I'm not a kluntz." Stephen said offended. "You used to be." Darius retorted, then left. Stephen and Darius walked back into Darius's office to find Robert, his back to them, poking into one of the 4 bookcases that lined the small office. Darius smiled to himself, looked at Stephen, put the tea on the table in front of him, then spoke "See anything you like?" he asked. Robert started, almost dropping the book he was holding, he turned, staring at Darius guiltly, while he tried to put the book back on the shelf. "It's all right. You won't break anything. Your welcome to read whatever you find. What did you find?" Darius leaned over the table to look at the book in Robert's hand. "Oliver Twist?" He quirked an eyebrow at Robert "Didn't know I had that one. No matter." He smiled at Robert, trying to gethim to calm down. "Why did you pick that one?" He asked, curious. "I've never liked Dickens that much. He spends too much time on detail. This," Robert said, waving the book,"is one of the only ones I really liked." Darius nodded his head to show he had heard. "Please sit down. I didn't mean to startle you. I would've thought you felt us coming." Darius frowned for a moment. An Immortal that could not sense other Immortals would not be around for long. "I was doing my best to ignore it. Looks like I succeeded" Robert smiled briefly. Stephen snorted and rolled his eyes and promptly was elbowed by Darius. He glared back him but did nothing else. Darius meanwhile had returned to staring at Robert, who started to squirm. "Trying to ignore it??? Ah, you should never try to ignore it. One day it could save your life." Darius commented. "Suppose I don't want it saved." Robert muttered, the scowl returning to his face. "You really don't like this do you?" "NO!" Robert shouted, jumping up from the chair "I don't want this. I want my life back the way it was. I don't want to go around whacking people's heads off with a sword. It's not normal. It sounds like a plot from a bad fantasy film." He stood in front of the other two men, fists clenched, breathing heavliy. In the space that followed, nothing was heard, save Darius's soft chuckling. Robert glared at him, wondering what *he* found so funny. Stephen just sat there and stared at the two. Darius could handle himself, he wasn't worried about him. It was Robert he was concerned about. In the six months he had trained him, he had seen many emotions on Robert's face. Fear, anger, boredom, pain. Today, though, right at that moment, he saw hopelessness on Robert's face and he didn't know how or if he could ever erase it from his face. Robert looked like he was about to burst into tears, something Stephen had no desire to see. Darius stood and put a hand on Robert's trembling shoulder. He didn't say anything, he just looked at Robert. A few moments passed, then Robert sat back down, Darius sat back down as well. Darius spoke first. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. Your description of immortality and The Gathering was " he searched for the right word "...unique, to say the least but you're right. What we do is not normal, what we *are* is not normal. Prehaps if you had a few answers to your questions you might not be so upset. What would you like to know?" Robert stared at Darius, a hundred questions running through his head. He thought for a moment, then smiled as he settled on a question. "What's in there?" he asked pointing at the tea pot. Of all the questions Darius had been expecting, 'what's in there?' was not one of them. "Tea. Would you like some?" "What kind?" "A mystery." Stephen snorted again, this time staying safely out of Darius's range. Robert glanced at Stephen, who shrugged his shoulders, then back at Darius. He nodded his head 'yes'. Darius poured Robert, then Stephen, then himself some tea. He then settled back to watch everyones reaction. They were both surprised to find it was Earl Grey tea but it was good, at least Robert thought so. After the tea was drank, Darius waited for Robert to start asking. "Anymore earth-shattering questions?" he asked, eyes dancing. Robert thought for a moment "Why do we have Holy Ground? What constitutes Holy Ground?" Now there was a question Darius had been waiting for. He looked at Stephen before he spoke, Stephen was sitting up obviously awaiting the answer. He thought for a few moments, stood up and started to pace. Stephen and Robert looked at one another. He finally spoke. "We have Holy Ground to keep us safe, as strange as that may sound." He rubbed his hands together. "It's like a criminal running into a church and claiming sanctuary. If a murderer ran in here, right at this very moment and claimed sanctuary, the police could not touch him. Actually, I'm not sure how that really works but do you see my point?" Robert nodded. "If we had no Holy Ground, then we would have no chance to heal or regroup. Holy Ground gives us" he paused again "breathing room. Does that answer your question?" Again Robert nodded. "As for what makes up Holy Ground, it's any place that is held sacred by any religion. Indian burial grounds, Baptist church, Catholic church, Druid standing stones. Any place that has religious significance to some group is Holy Ground. Okay?" Robert nodded again. "Next?" Robert seemed to have gotten a grasp on what Holy Ground was. He was starting to look a little more relaxed but he still had that *look* on his face. Daius sat in his chair waiting for Robert's next question. Stephen stood and streched, then sat back down. A quiet fell over the office, masking the sounds from the outside world, even the church bells that tolled the hour seemed far away, as if the very walls of the office were waiting to here what Robert would say. Robert, his brow furrowed in concentration, finally spoke. In the quiet, his voice seemed to bounce off the walls of the office. "How did it happen to you?" he asked, looking Darius straight in the eye for the first time. "You mean, how was *I* turned into an Immortal?" Darius asked, not wanting to misunderstand. Robert nodded. Darius chuckled to himself, rubbed his chin, got up, walked over to the window, looked out and finally came back and sat down in his chair. "I was a solider in the armies of Caliniter, a great general." He stopped looking at the expression on Robert's face. "I know what you're wondering. If he was such a great general, then why has no one ever heard of him? The answer is, he was poisoned by his own private aide. He didn't live to become famous. Satisfied?" Robert nodded. "Calinter had taken it upon himself to invade Spain (?). I don't know why but then I wasn't suppsoed to, *I* was just a foot solider. Well, the day of the battle came, we met on a large field in southern Spain." His frowned for a moment, thinking. "I don't remember where, I should, but I don't. There must have been at least 1,000 men on that field, most belongining to Caliniter. We stood on a small hill before charging onto the plain. I remember looking across the field to the other side.." he paused, lost in his memories. His voice dropped an octave and both Robert and Stephen had to lean forward to hear. Darius continued, his voice still low "...I remember seeing a man dressed all in red, with white hair and a white beard, sitting on a white horse. He looked up the hill and looked right at me. At least, I thought he was looking at me. I couldn't really tell from that far off" Darius eyes were no longer focused on Robert but were now focused on a spot somewhere over his right shoulder. "I didn't have much of a chance to wonder who he was for the battle cry was sounded, we charged down the hill and I..." Darius paused again, smiling "...found myself on the wrong end of a broadsword. It was over for me before it ever really started." Still smiling, Darius focused on Robert's face again. "I didn't even feel it. The next thing I know, that *man* was standing over me. We were in an other part of the field far away from the battle. I panicked, sat up and grabbed for the closet thing to use as a weapon." "What'd ya find?" Robert interupted. "Nothing. I couldn't even find a rock to throw. I thought I had gone to hell." "Why?" Robert interupted again. "Because the man standing in front of me, certainly did *not* look like an angel. We stared at each other for a moment and then he introduced himself." "Who was it?" This time Stephen interupted. "Juan Sanchez Villa Lobos Ramierez." Darius grinned at the two men. Stephen almost fell out of his chair with shock. Robert looked confused, again. "Are you telling me," Stephen sputtered "that Ramierez found you?" "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying." "Pardon me," Robert spoke up "who is Ramierez?" "Who *was* Ramierez, is a better question?" Stephen said. "Okay, who *was* Ramierez?" "That's kinda of hard to explain but he was famous to all Immortals. You either knew him or knew *of* him. He was killed fighting the Kurgan, almost got him too. Sorry, Darius didn't mean to interupt." Stephen looked at Darius for a moment. "That's all right, you did a good job of describing him, sort of." "Whoa, wait a minute!" Robert waved his hands to get their attention. "Who is the Kurgan? Or should I say, who was the Kurgan?" "Never mind Robert, we'll be here all night, if the Kurgan has to be explained to you. That's not an insult, it'll just take a while." Stephen answered. "You were saying Darius...?" He looked back at Darius who resumed the story telling. "He looked at me, introduced himself, and then told me *I* was Immortal. When he said that, I *knew* I had gone to Hell. People were *not* made into Immortals, they just weren't. It took him a few days to convince me. Even then I wasn't sure. That's how I learned the rules. He answered my "why?" questions. He told me almost everything. He even told me how Holy Ground was kept holy." He looked at Robert "You asked about Holy Ground. Well, the reason it's kept holy is because not even the most evil of Immortals will fight on it, not even" he paused "the Kurgan. Not even he would fight on it." Robert glared at Stephen, who shrugged his shoulders. "Ramierez told me about the only two Immortals to fight on Holy Ground. After one defeated the other and beheaded him, instead of receiving the Quickening, the Quickening killed him. Therefore, no Immortal has fought on Holy Ground since." Darius stood and streched, then looked at Robert. "Does that answer you question?" Robert just nodded his head. "Anything else?" Darius asked. "Why do we use use swords?" "A sword is the quickest and surest way to make sure the head has been removed from the shoulders." Stephen shuddered at the frank way in which Darius described the death of one Immortal by another Immortal. "Stephen," a slight warning note crept into Darius's voice. "I would have thought had gotten over your squemishnes by now." "Well, I haven't. It's not something I like to spend a great deal of time thinking about." Stephen stood, streched and walked over to the window, looking out at nothing in particular. Darius watched Stephen for a moment before turning his attention back to Robert. "All right, what next?" Robert chewed his lip for a moment, contemplating. "What is the Quickening?" Darius opened his mouth to reply but closed it without saying anything. Stephen turned from the window and looked at Darius, who looked back at him. Darius stood and started to pace around the small room. Nobody said anything for several minutes. Robert stared at both men. "What? What'd I say?" Darius stopped pacing, put his hands behind his back and stared at Robert. He glanced briefly at Stephen before speaking. "The Quickening is hard to explain. Every Immortal has an oppinion of what it is. Some think it's the power of the Immortal. Some think it's the knowledge. Others think it's the power *and* the knowledge. Still others think it's something completely different. I believe the Quickening is the power, knowledge and something else. Stephen however," Darius paused, waving a hand in Stephens direction, "may think it's something completely different. Isn't that right Stephen?" Stephen nodded. "I think it's the power and the knowledge and that's it." He paused for a moment, trying to figure out what to say next. "However, a particularly strong Quickening can change an Immortal." "You mean turn a good Immortal into a bad one?" Stephen nodded. "Or it can change a bad Immortal into a good one." Darius spoke up. "Like what happened to me..." He stopped talking. A little surprised by the looks on their faces. "I wasn't always a man of peace, you know." He said, in a slightly lower tone. "No, I didn't." Stephen interjected "Tell us, please." Darius sighed and was silent for a few moments, wondering if he should tell them. He hadn't meant bring up what had changed him but the situation had presented it's self and 'why not?' he thought. He took a deep breath and started to talk. "Let me explain." He paused a moment more, gathering his thoughts. A sad smile driffted across his face and when he spoke, it was as if he spoke from a far away place. "I was a general, a *great general*," he smiled briefly. "a very long time ago." He paused again, looking at Robert as if seeing him for the first time. "And I do mean a _very_ long time ago. I had led my armies across Europe, attacking anyone who got in my way, no one could stop me. Many tried but no one succeeded. How do you kill someone who's Immortal? I led my army to the gates of what is now Paris, in front of them stood a priest; the oldest living Immortal at the time. I didn't know that though. I thought I could kill him, take his Quickening and be on my way. I was wrong. I killed him, recieved his Quickening and was knocked unconsicous be the force of it. I was out for over a day." "Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute." Stephen waved his hands causing Darius to stop. "Yes?" "You took the priest's head and the Quickening, in front of mortals?? How did you *ever* explain that one and if you were out for over a day, how come no one tried to take your head or control of your armies? None of this makes any sense." "If you had waited a moment more, you would have found out without interrupting. May I continue?" Stephen shook his head. "What I was saying was the force of his Quickening knocked me out because it was unlike anything I had ever experienced." Darius sat forward in his chair and put his hands on his knees. "As for how I could explain away the 'light show' they had just seen, or how come no one tried to take command away from me or decapitate me, the answer is simple. My second in command was also an Immortal." Darius sat back in his chair and watched the reactions of both men. Robert's eyes grew wide and Stephen, from his place by the window, quirked an eyebrow and made a face. "Who was this other Immortal?" Stephen asked. "*That*" Darius replied looking Stephen straight in the eye. "is none of your buisness. I would rather not say and I hope you won't press me on it." The two men stared at each other for a moment untill Stephen raised his hands in gesture of surrender. "Just curious." "All right now, where was I? Oh, yes. My second in command was also an Immortal. He made sure nothing happened to me. I paid him well. *He* talked to the men, not me. I have no idea what he said, I never asked. Things changed though, after I woke up." "How so?" Robert asked, spellbound. "When I woke up, I had absolutely no desire to continue the violence I had started. I wanted to disband my armies and I did. I spared the city. No one knew why. *I* didn't know why. My second-in-command was furious. He couldn't understand and I couldn't explain. From that day forward I was a man of peace and have been so to this day. A lot of Immortals after hearing of my change, wanted my head, so I became a priest." Darius frowned for a moment, thinking. There was silence for a moment, then Robert spoke first. "Cool." Darius laughed. "Yes, I suppose you could say that. Anything else?" "Is that why you're always on Holy Ground?" Robert asked. Stephen, who had standing behind Robert's chair, smacked him in the head. "Robert!" he admonished the younger man. Robert yelped, rubbed the back of his head where Stephen had hit him, turned and glared at him. "Stephen, that wasn't nessesscary." Darius said, staring at Stephen, who returned the look. "The answer to your question is yes and no. All right, next?" Robert still rubbing his head, looked unwilling to give up on the subject but at a look from Stephen, asked something else. "What's it feel like?" "The Quickening?" Robert nodded his head. "On that question, I'll have to defer to Stephen. It's...been a while for me." Stephen snorted but he came back to his chair and sat, streching his legs out in front of him. "You want to know what it feels like? It *hurts*. It *really* hurts. It's like being in the middle of a lightening storm. It's not a pleasant experience and not one I enjoy repeating but when it's you or him, there's no question. Once you experience your first one, you'll know what I'm talking about. Any more questions?" Robert was silent again. This time for several minutes as he mulled over several questions he considered asking. Finally he shook his head. "No, I guess not. Well...I do have one more. How do you handle the loneliness? You know, the knowledge that everyone you care for is going to die long before you." Stephen whistled. "Boy, you don't ask any easy ones, do you?" He glanced at Darius. "Your turn." "It all depends on who your talking to. Every Immortal handles it in a different way. You're going to have find out the answer to that one on your own, I can't help there. Is that all? Need to find out anything else?" Robert chewed his lip but shook his head "no". "Good. I was begining to run out of answers." Darius smiled again. "Did any of this help? Feel slightly better?" Robert grinned and nodded his head. "Good. That's what I'm here for." Darius stood and streched. In the background, the church bells tolled the hour. He glanced at a clock on the desk. "Goodnes. Where did the time go? I've got to prepare for a Mass. You're welcome to stay." He started collecting the cups and the pot. "Well... I'd like to but I booked kind of an early flight. I didn't know when we would be finished so I left it open. I'd like to show Robert some of Paris but I can the travel agent, push back our departure time. How does that sound Robert?" "Sounds good to me." "Great. I can try the sermon out on you two. I put 6 people to sleep last week. I got to get that down to 2 or 3." Darius said with a straight face. "Oh, great." Robert muttered. He was promptly elbowed by Stephen. "Let me put these things in the kitchen and I'll try not to bore you." The barest hint of a smile could be seen on the corners of Darius's face. "Need any help?" Stephen asked. "No, I think I can manage. You'll hear if don't" Darius said dryly, walking from the room. "Is he something?" Stephen asked looking enormously pleased with himself. "He's amazing. How does he do it?" "No one knows and," Stephen leaned closer to Robert. "you're *not* going to ask." "All right, all right!" Robert properly chastised sat in silence for a moment. "Now, who is this Ramierez person?" Stephen just looked at him. "I thought you said you didn't have any more questions." "Well I do." "Later Robert. I'll tell you all about him, later." The End !!! =========================================================================