Highlander drabbles - PG, gen, future!fic

[tigriswolf]

Title: that still moment between the thunder clap and the lightning bolt
Fandom: Highlander
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Diane Lockward
Warnings: spoilers for the Horsemen arc
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 550
Point of view: third
Prompt: bone

 

 In his dreams there’s a horse. She’s beautifully formed, dark eyes, pale as bone. Sometimes there’s a rider in a black cloak with a white crown on his head, but usually the mare runs free. Sometimes she’s a unicorn, sometimes she’s got wings.   A few times, she has both.

 He wakes with regret, leaving her behind. He misses her.

 Sometimes the rider has a scythe, but most often a sword. His face is painted blue. His hair is long and dark, eyes flashing. He has a name, and so does the horse, but no one living knows either.

 The most common dream involves a valley by moonlight, and a pale mare cantering along a river. The rider, in his cloak and crown, sword sheathed at his hip, calls a name that echoes into the distant mountains. The horse turns and canters to him, in a stride that has consumed nations. She nudges him with her nose and he rubs at her ears. He mounts with ease, the mare spreads wings as pale as her coat, and they fly from the valley.

 He’s wondered, more than once, what Dawson and MacLeod would make of his dreams. He knows that none of his brothers had such fantasies about the horses they rode.

 But then, they were very young. And the mounts of red and black and white, War and Famine and Pestilence—they were mortal, the horses and the riders. His brothers had numerous mounts in the years they rode together.

 And he, the pale rider, he had but one. As old as the ocean, as the sky. As old as him, his beloved steed from before horses were domesticated, broken to harness and rein. 

 She’s waiting, he knows. Waiting till he calls her from the dream. Waiting till she can run free once more, till she can take to the sky, till he wields his sword and she slays enemies with her horn and hooves, and they are feared the world over, people screaming their (false)names in anguish and in agony.

 Beloved, his pale mare whispers in the dream. Beloved, I’m waiting.

 They were and they are and they will be forever, old as the ocean and the sky, the pale horse (with wings and spiraling horn) and the pale rider (cloaked with crown and sword), and he is called Death, and his mare is called Hell, but they were and they are and they will be—

 And the man legend calls Methos wakes with a sigh as a pale horse canters in his mind.

 He grips his sword, gleaming and sharp, made from a material no man could know. One day, he thinks, caressing the blade and smiling as the sword bites deep, one day, beloved, we will be free again.

 One day, the pale horse and pale rider will return, and her stride will consume nations and his sword will slaughter the world.

 His younger brother proclaimed I am the End of Time. Death struck; Pestilence and War fell, like Famine before them. The steed and the rider, older than time, older than men, older than horses.

 Death has always been. And his vacation will soon be over, this life as a legend.

 You will fly again, beloved, he thinks, sheathing his sword.

 And he will ride.

 

Title: upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear
Fandom: Highlander
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: future!fic
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 310
Point of view: third
Prompt: verdant

 

Joe is old now. Pushing ninety… never believed he’d live this long. Duncan is asleep, slumped in the chair by the bed. Amy and her daughter are in the kitchen, getting coffee. He was surprised when they turned up, and continually surprised they’re still here.

 I called him, Duncan said yesterday. Left a message.

 Don’t worry, Mac, Joe rasped. He’ll come or he won’t.

 Joe doesn’t expect him to. The Old Man went wandering three decades ago. Hasn’t been back once.

 But Mac jerks to wakefulness, eyes wide. “He’s here,” Mac breathes. “Joe, Methos is back.” He bounces out of his seat, hurries to the door, and opens it to the Old Man’s smirk.

 “MacLeod,” he says. “Joseph.” His accent is Spanish now, his skin slightly tanned. His clothes are brighter than anything Adam Pierson ever wore, and his hair is longer, loose and brushing his shoulders.

 Mac claps him on the shoulder. “Wonderful to see you!” he says.

 Methos smiles. “Call me Alejandro.”

 “Alejandro,” Mac repeats warmly. “I’ll let you two catch up.”

 He leaves, gently closing the door behind him. Methos settles into the empty chair, sprawling like a cat. 

 Joe sighs, trying to get comfortable, and Methos leans forward. “Don’t fight so hard, Joe,” he says softly. “You’ve earned a rest.”

 Joe chuckles, says, “Everyone else tellin’ me to hold on… ‘course you’d be different.”

 Methos shrugs. “Tell me what I can do.”

 Joe looks at him, at the kid who was once Adam Pierson, a shy smartass, and is still Methos, the most dangerous man in the world.

 Who came to visit him on his deathbed. Who saved his daughter and never held Joe’s betrayal against him.

 “Will you tell me a story?” he asks.

 Methos smiles. “Listen, dear child,” he says, voice thick and deep like chocolate, “to the tale of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon…”

 

Comments

[marbleglove.livejournal.com]

These are wonderful! They're also remarkably cheerful given that they're about the apocalypse and major character death respectfully.

After the first drabble, when the second started with Joe on his deathbed, I wondered if he was going to die and then find Methos there waiting for him. But I loved the fact that Methos (not Death) came, and that Joe can still see Methos behind the person who was Adam and is now Alejandro.

[tigriswolf]

Thank you so very much!

[e313.livejournal.com]

oh, yeah, same here. as soon as i started the second drable i thought joe would die and he would find methos waiting for him with a welcoming smile as death.

[enviropony.livejournal.com]

I love both of these. I've always liked to imagine of Methos as more than just a man who took Death's name, and to imagine that his eternal partner is an immortal horse is just awesome. :-) And visiting Joe on his deathbed, contrary as ever, willing to do whatever Joe wants... that's our Methos. Nice work!

[tigriswolf]

Thank you for reading!

[rhianona]

These are both quite lovely. I like that there is a reason Methos was known as Death -- that he is Death long before there were the Horsemen and long after. And that he yearns to once again ride his horse. Very nice.

And the second one is a perfect encapsulating picture of the relationship he and Joe have. I love that Joe sees behind his masks and know that Methos is dangerous and deceptive and that he understands death and mortality in a way the others do not.

[tigriswolf]

Thank you so much!

[chinae.livejournal.com]

I'm having a hard time leaving a comment because as I re-read these two drabbles, all I can think of is 'This is awesome!'

Sigh.

Yes, my fangirl is showing its geek side.

[tigriswolf]

Thank you so very much!

[trobadora]

Wow. I don't often enjoy fic in which someone dies, but that ficlet of yours is fantastic. Really tugs at the heartstrings. ♥

[tigriswolf]

Thank you!

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

Really enjoyed this.

[tigriswolf]

Thanks!

[lita-of-jupiter.livejournal.com]

the immagery is powerful and moving in both drabbles... though since I am discworld fan I kept expecting the mare's name to be binky =)

[tigriswolf]

Thank you so much for reading!

[mackiedockie.livejournal.com]

Very nice. I like the way the fics dovetail, and I get an interesting yin yang feel between the two.

[tigriswolf]

Thank you for reading!

[elistaire.livejournal.com]

These are wonderful! I enjoyed both of them, although both have such very different sensibilities to them.

[tigriswolf]

Thank you!

[springwoof.livejournal.com]

wonderful! Love the one with Joe especially. I like that he *sees* Methos, and Methos sees him truly in return. And the "tell me a story" is pure Joe...

[tigriswolf]

Thank you for reading!

[e313.livejournal.com]

i love the idea of Methos as THE Death. and the story of him visiting Joe to say goodbye though he hadn't bn back for so many years is moving.

[tigriswolf]

Thank you so much!

"And his vacation will soon be over, this life as a legend."

[brightknightie.livejournal.com]

I just followed the hl_flash link over to these two ficlets. I enjoyed reading them. The first, "that still moment," is pleasantly demanding in its oddity. The second, "upon earth," is pleasantly comforting in its normalcy. Thank you for sharing both.

Re: "And his vacation will soon be over, this life as a legend."

[tigriswolf]

Thank you for reading both!

[rinsbane.livejournal.com]

These are both wonderful. The first gave me chills - this icy promise to come. Love the idea that he really is Death. They both capture different but true facets of Methos and who is is or can be.

[tigriswolf]

Thank you so very much!