========================================================================= Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 10:24:40 -0500 Reply-To: Mike Breen Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Mike Breen Subject: REVENGE AND REBIRTH III - Cast The First Stone, Part V The response to my little experiment was _overwhelming_! I'd like to thank _everyone_ who took the time to vote on weather Rebecca lives or dies. Some of the comments were interesting, and I've included them at the end of the next part. And as to weather she lived or if VonHoffer took her head... well, you'll just have to read on... This also has the Ninja Scroll cross over. I've had to alter a few things to crowbar it into the HL universe, namely, how the main good guy "killed" the main bad guy at the beginning of the story. BOSTON, MA, UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY, 1996 Patrick was greeted by an empty house. From the level of dust on the table, the lack of dishes in the dishwasher, and the amount of food in the refrigerator, it looked as if Rebecca hadn't been here since the fight. Patrick stripped his coat off, took the sword out, and tossed the coat in the corner. It was completely ruined, but that didn't matter one bit. Rebecca was gone. Patrick collapsed on the couch, numb from shock. After several minutes, a single tear spilled from his eye. At that moment, Patrick knew, _really_ knew, how much Rebecca meant to him. And it was too late to tell her. But VonHoffer's days were now numbered. Patrick would hunt him down to the ends of the earth if he had to, but it _had_ to end. Patrick had let this go on far too long, and far too many people had paid the ultimate price. It would end _here_ and _now_. Patrick got up and headed towards the bathroom. He needed some closure before he headed down the path towards revenge. He showered, changed clothes, put his sword beneath his other coat, and walked towards the Park Street Church. He stopped at Bernard's park bench and sat down beside him. Bernard stopped playing and said, "You're alive!" "_I'm_ alive." "What's that supposed to mean?" "Rebecca..." "Yeah. No one's seen her since you disappeared. But maybe she'll turn up. You would have felt her go if she _did_ die, wouldn't you?" "If I was alive at the time, yeah. But I was floating face-down in Massachusetts Bay when it happened." "Patrick, you sound like you're sure she died. What proof do you have besides an empty house and the fact that no one's seen her for almost two weeks?" "That's not enough? Last time I checked, that was _more_ than enough." "Maybe... maybe she's just in some sort of danger. I wouldn't put it past VonHoffer to capture her." "Yeah, _if_ he hadn't shot me. But why dump me in the ocean with the possibility that I'll be floating for years if you're only gonna capture somebody. No, VonHoffer's plan was to get rid of me for a few years, and when I emerged, everything I knew would have been gone. Society, technology, I would be a stranger, a relic from the past. Having Rebecca gone would only be the icing on the cake. That would make it easier for him to take me down." Bernard was silent. Patrick lit a candle and knelt down. He whispered, "Ever since I met you, you've been messing up my life. I know you've always taken a kind of perverse pleasure in it too. And you always had a talent for telling me just how stupid I can be sometimes. It's only been a few hours since I found out but... I miss you _so_ much..." He felt the presence of another Immortal behind him. "Touching, O'Brien," VonHoffer said. I'm surprised you're back so soon." "This is Holy Ground, VonHoffer. We cannot fight here." "I know that. I of _all_ Immortals know that." "Then why _are_ you here?" "I was just checking on things. Your time is coming, O'Brien." "Sooner than you think." "If you insist. Two AM tomorrow morning, on the BU Bridge." "I'll be there." VonHoffer turned and left. Patrick needed some time to think, but the refuge of Holy Ground seemed confining. He gathered his coat and left the church, and walked across the Common towards the garage where he kept his car. He got in the car, started it, and drove off. BLUE HILL RESERVATION, MASS, UNITED STATES - FEBRUARY, 1996 Patrick sat on the cold, hard, ground and tried to squeeze the image of Rebecca out of his mind. He was unsuccessful. Whenever he closed his eyes, he saw her face laughing, crying, angry, sarcastic. He saw her as a new Immortal living in a poor French town. He saw her as a scruffy traveling woman by his side, exploring the mysteries of the British Isles. He saw her as an aide to the Queen of Spain. He saw her as a Japanese woman, searching for a loved one to inform him of their mutual Teacher's death. He saw her as a forward-thinking woman of the 1700's, pleading for the Colonies. And as a Victorian woman, wife of a businessman, and his trusted aide. He saw her as mob boss's woman and executive assistant. And he saw her as a late-20th century artist trying to get "discovered." But mostly he saw just _her_. Their cycle of attempting to build a life with a mortal but always _always_ fated to return to eachother. And now she was gone. And Patrick had no one. He felt the other Immortal approach and hoped it was VonHoffer coming to finish the job. "Patrick-san?" Patrick turned and saw Kagero standing behind him. "I'd rather be alone now." "What you want and what's good for you are not necessarily compatible. I believe it was _you_ who told me that," Kagero said, sitting beside him. "How the hell'd you find me?" "Simple logic. You've always been a nature lover, and I figured you'd had enough of the water for a while, so that eliminated the beach. Yoshihiro told me that the two of you trained here a few afternoons over the summer. I arrived and started hiking until I began to feel you. From there it was easy. This is a lovely spot." "Would be even nicer without all the damn beer cans and used condoms. Well you're here. I've got an urge to get drunk, but I'm meeting VonHoffer in a few hours. That bastard is gonna die tonight." "Patrick... I'm sorry. I liked Rebecca a lot. She was quite special." "She was one of a kind." "Do you want to talk about it?" Patrick didn't answer. He couldn't get the image that he had been seeing since Joe told him that Rebecca hadn't gone to his house out of his mind. The image of Rebecca's headless corpse, her sword-shorn hair spread out around it, her head lieing somewhere near, her eyes staring up lifeless, and VonHoffer joyously absorbing her Quickening. And since he never saw it happen, that made it all the more painful. He squeezed his eyes shut. "Patrick?" Kagero said. "I just..." "I know. There was only one person I ever loved that much." "Jubei?" Kagero nodded. MOTISUKI, JAPAN - JULY, 1607 He watched the funeral barge float out to sea. He also watched the lone ninja jump his horse off of the cliff and into the water, swimming towards the ship. Events had definitely taken an interesting turn. He couldn't act until the ninja was aboard, so he kept one eye on the ship and the other on the barge. He just hoped she wouldn't revive before then. Patrick O'Brien, once known as Hejan Sheng, now known throughout Japan as the "gaijin samurai" sat on the cliff, thinking. He, himself had been after the Immortal named Himiro Gemma ever since he found out that Gemma was beginning a play for power. If he had succeeded in crowning himself Emperor, even from the shadows, the secret of Immortality would be compromised. Interestingly enough, he had stumbled across the three who the eight Devils of Kimon were after, Jubei Kimagabi, ninja and master swordsman; Kagero, lone survivor of the Koga Ninja; and Dakuan, an old man who looked as non-threatening as a monk. But looks, as everything else, can be decieving. Keeping to the shadows, Patrick followed their progress. Once he got close enough to sense a faint tingle from one of the three. One of them was a pre-Immortal, but he couldn't get close enough to tell which one, and for him to reveal himself would have been to compromise his own secret. Then when Gemma surprised Kagero and stabbed her in the back, he knew, or at least had an inkling, of who it was. When Kagero died several minutes later, the tingle was gone. In the shadows, Patrick dispatched several of the ninjas Gemma had sent after Jubei, then, still keeping to the shadows, followed he and Dakuan to the docks. Which brought him to the cliff he was sitting upon now. He toyed with his close-cropped beard, still hoping that she would remain dead another few minutes. Jubei had abandoned his horse and was now swimming towards the ship. He had reached it and was climbing up the sides when Patrick and Jubei both saw Gemma toss a man overboard. Jubei climbed through a portal and was aboard. Now was Patrick's chance. He stood, jumped, and arched into the water. He had to act fast. He swam hard out towards the small funeral barge. He grabbed the bow and began swimming back towards the shore. From above, he heard a large intake of air. He was too late. "Wh-What?" came the voice from the barge. "Don't ask any questions until we get back to shore. You're still weak." Kagero sat next to Patrick on the cliff, staring at the burning ship. "I was dead," she said. "Yes," Patrick said. "You were." "I'm like _him_," she indicated the burning ship. "Aren't I?" Patrick figured it was no use mincing words. She already knew about Immortals, although sketchily. At least he didn't have to kill himself to prove it. "Yes," he said. "Himiro Gemma is one of us. Jubei can't kill him, but if he manages to keep him underwater he'll stay there until someone finds him." Patrick then went on to tell her about the Game and the one way they could be killed. "I..." Kagero said. "Then take my head now." Patrick was afraid of this. In his nearly three quarters of a century in the Orient he had discovered one major difference between the people of Asia and his native Europe. European Immortals, including himself, eventually welcomed the gift of Immortality with open arms, even though later they would sometimes develop a longing for mortal life. Asian Immortals, however, and especially the Japanese, looked upon this as a curse from the gods. A stain of dishonor. Having somehow not lived honorably or died with honor, they were cursed and frowned upon by Buddha, and not allowed to die. No matter how long she lived, be it decades or centuries, Kagero would _always_, in the back of her mind, think that she somehow brought shame upon herself for not dieing. "You were a poison taster, were you not?" Patrick said. "Yes." "Did you ever wonder _why_ all that poison never killed you, but instead turned inward and invaded every part of your being until even the touch of your lips could kill someone?" "Every day." "I don't know if this is the reason, but perhaps your pre-immortality somehow prevented you from dieing from something that wasn't a violent death. Perhaps that is the reason it turned inward. I wouldn't doubt if the poison was now completely eradicated from your body." He could see she wasn't convinced. Finally, he said, "Your destiny is to be a warrior for good and to help rid the world of all the Gemmas. I cannot kill you because of this. And since you _are_ a warrior, I cannot kill you because to do so would be a dishonor. I do not slaughter children." "You think I'm a _child_?!" Kagero got up and unsheathed her shortsword. She came at Patrick. Without even standing, Patrick unsheathed his katana and in two swift swings, had disarmed Kagero and gave her a good cut in the side. With the blood seeping through her tunic, she sank to her knees. Seconds later, her head snapped up and she looked at her side. "The wound..." she said. "It's healed completely without even a scar," Patrick said. Off in the distance, the ship exploded and began to sink. She looked towards it and said, "Jubei..." "You cannot go after him, however much you love him. He thinks you are dead, and it would be better for him to go to his grave thinking he is joining you." Kagero nodded briefly, then said, "You said you don't slaughter children, and from your skill I can see that I _must_ be a child to you. How old _are_ you?" "Four hundred and fifty, just about." "Four hundred..." "My Sensei is over a thousand. My first Teacher was over two thousand. You will easily live that long if you keep your head." Kagero looked at her blade, still sitting on the ground, and at Patrick, unscathed from her attack and said, "Will you be _my_ Sensei?" SHIKOKU, JAPAN - APRIL, 1609 Patrick and Kagero settled on the sparsely populated island of Shikoku. For two years they trained, Kagero trading her short blade for a katana. It was peaceful, and Kagero was able to forget the events that lead up to the awakening of her Immortality. Then one day in the springtime, it all came back to haunt her. They were outside sparring on a mat each giving the other good-natured nicks which healed quickly. Kagero let her guard drop ever so slightly and Patrick took advantage of it, disarming her and sending her crashing to the mat off-balance. "Very good technique," came a voice from behind them. Patrick whirled around and Kagero was on her feet, sword back in her hand. They were face-to-face with a small old man dressed in a robe and a straw hat, holding a staff with two metal rings on the end. Kagero gasped and tried to hide behind Patrick. "Very skillful attack. You must be the gaijin samurai I have heard so much about." "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, old man," Patrick said. He turned to Kagero and said, "And it's so nice to see that _your_ death was just as permanent as all of Gemma's were." "I'm afraid..." Kagero said, "That you have me mistaken for someone else." "Nonsense," the old man said. "You remember your old comrade in arms, Dakuan, do you not? And if you forgot me, how could you forget the ninja Jubei Kimagabi? The fact is that I know about your kind so you need not be so secretive around me. As a matter of fact, I know all about _you_, samurai O'Brien." "How?" "Let's just say it's my business to know." "He's a government spy," Kagero said. "And you just gave yourself away, ninja girl," Dakuan said. "By telling the gaijin samurai I'm a government spy you identified yourself." Patrick ignored this, but would point it out to Kagero later. He said, "The Tokugaua shogunate knows about us, then?" "Nonsense," Dakuan said. "Just because _I_ know about you and the epic battle for the Prize to be awarded at the end of time dosen't mean the government knows. I know how you value your privacy and had not certain events transpired that forced my hand, I would have left you to your training. But as it turns out, someone discovered Himiro Gemma and melted the golden encasement he was trapped in. He intends on killing ninja Jubei _and_ you," he pointed at Kagero. "Jubei is... alive?" "Yes, Jubei is very much alive, and not far from here." "And... Gemma wants to kill _me_ too?" "It was probably his intention to come back for you after you had revived and take your head. Both Jubei and Gemma are here on Shikoku. So I need both of your able assistance." "We have to keep her away from Jubei," Patrick said to Dakuan later that evening in private. "We can try, but love _does_ do strange things. I think it will perhaps be better for all involved if we told Jubei everything." Patrick shook his head and said, "I don't think so. Kagero will leave this place until it is done. I'll send her to..." "Yoshihiro Ammamoto?" "You know of him too?" "And of Nakano the Sorcerer, and of Mei-Ling Shen. And of Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez." "_How?_ No... don't tell me. You make it your business. How many _others_ make it their business? Are you a member of some clandestine organization recording our comings and goings?" "Don't be rediculous," Dakuan lied. "I alone know of your secret. No one else." "How did Ramirez die?" Patrick said, dropping the subject, since it was obvious that Dakuan would never tell Patrick just _how_ he knew about Immortals. "I have heard two conflicting stories. One was that the Kurgan came looking for Ramirez's latest Student and found Ramirez instead. He killed him. The other is that this Student took his head." Patrick closed his eyes. He had put it off long enough. Soon he would have to leave Japan and head west once again. Soon he would have to avenge his Teacher. And he _hoped_ he wouldn't have to face the Kurgan. "Now _you_ tell _me_, Irelander. Has the ninja girl's change in status eradicated the poison from her body?" "Yes, actually. It has." "And did you test this?" "Well..." "_Did_ you?" "Actually, I _did_ kiss her, full on the lips. She wanted to know, and since any death of _mine_ would be temporary at best..." "Yes, yes. I understand," Dakuan said, grinning. "It wasn't like _that_." "Of course it wasn't." Dakuan and Patrick were at the cabin now. They had left Kagero packing for her trip to Ammamoto's. She was to leave the next morning. When they approached the cabin, Patrick could not feel Kagero inside. "Kagero?" Patrick said, knowing that she had left. "This could only mean one thing," Dakuan said. Patrick nodded. "Love does strange things," Dakuan said. "It would seem that our hand has been forced." "Where is Kimagabi?" Patrick said. "We will go there tomorrow." "We'll go there tonight, old man." "Think about it, Irelander. Wouldn't it be better for him if he knew everything?" "I admit I lied to Kagero. It wasn't for _his_ sake I wanted her to have nothing to do with him. It was for hers." He sat by the fire, sharpening his sword, getting ready for the night's rest. Looking up, he heard a quiet snap off in the forest. Jubei stood and unsheathed his katana, saying "Show yourself." She stepped into the dim light cast by the fire, and said one word, "Jubei. " "Ka... Kagero? Am I to die soon? Is that why you are here? Will I be joining you?" "I'm no ghost, Jubei." She extended her hand towards his, and, confused, he took it, twining his fingers around hers. The flesh was there and _real_, Jubei could even feel the pulse at the bottom of the palm of her hand beating against his. Kagero was alive. Jubei tossed her hand aside, turned away, and said, "You're like _him_, aren't you? You're like Gemma." "Yes, but..." "Then get out of my sight, monster. I don't ever want to see you again." "But Jubei..." "LEAVE!!" Tears welling in her eyes, Kagero turned away and said, "As you wish, Jubei." <<>> (c) 1996 Mabnesswords