This is an idea I got a short time ago and have been working on. It is a Crossover with the classic game "Prince of Persia", and not the "Sands of Time" etc, but the older one, the original. A friend of mine, mariasha on the Highlander Official board is helping me on this one; she does the parts of Adara, the Princess, in first person and I do the parts of Methos, the Prince of Persia, in first person
Methos sat in the Bedroom of his small apartment in Rome, Italy. He had been thinking back of his many memories, lately; of adventures and wars, of passed loved ones, and bitter battles fought. He had looked through his on journal, lately, the one he had been keeping since ancient times. He did plan to share this journal openly, sometime, perhaps with the Watcher. When, he didn't know, perhaps when the Game was finished, if he made it that far.. He had written down almost every significant event of his long, Immortal life in there. Almost.. But there were some events that held a very special, sentimental place in his heart. For these, he had a second book, a sort of "black book" some would call it, written in a language he had developed all on his own. He now turned to a page from the Second Century, AD. And if one were to translate this story into English, it would go very much like this:
This is a story I hold very near to me, it is about one of my many wives. Adara was her name, Adara, Princess of Persia, and I was entranced with her beauty. First, let me tell of how I first found myself in Persia. It was around AD. 103, and I was sick of life in Rome. It was time to travel, once more. So I stowed away on a merchant vessel out of Naples, not knowing, not really caring where it would take me. Eventually, after three weeks of wrestling the dogs for scraps of food, we arrived at a port in Persia, on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. As I left the ship, I went further inland, and by nightfall, I had come to a very bustling city, filled with merchants, tradesmen, travelers, and many beautiful, exotic women, and adorned with a rich, brilliant palace. The first day I was there, I got a job working for a local carpet salesman. It wasn't my first preference, but it was at least something different. I was satisfied; at least that's what I told myself, but something else was beckoning me, something I couldn't really explain, but I did know that there was something going on that I didn't know about. For this reason, I had trouble sleeping, nights. On one such night, I wandered off towards the palace. There, up on a balcony, high up in a tower, I saw her, the most beautiful woman I had seen in over a thousand years. She was standing there, combing her long, straight, dark hair. It was a clear, bright, starry night, illuminated by a full moon, so I could easily see every delicate feature of her gentle, beautiful, face. The next night, I knew I would not sleep much, but it would not be from insomnia.
The next night, I went out again to see if I could spot her again. This time, I found an even better vantage point high on a roof near the palace. There I saw her, standing out on the balcony again, only this time, she wasn't combing her hair, instead was just standing there, looking out longingly, as if searching for something. Just then, she suddenly turned over and looked at me. At first, I was startled and slinked back into the shadows, but I felt compelled to go back and get one more peek. She was still looking at me, with what I almost wanted to call a smile. It wasn't as bright out tonight, but since she was now looking straight back at me, I got an even better look at her face. I gazed back at her, studying those beautiful dark eyes, not wanting this moment to end…
"HEY YOU!!" someone shouted. Oh great, isn't this why I LEFT Rome?-I dashed away, getting off the roof as quickly as possible. Once I got back down on the street, I turned to see my pursuers, twelve men, all with nasty looking scimitars. I may have taken them, but probably would have been "killed" in the process, which would mean leaving the city, something I was not ready to do at this point. I didn't think they had gotten a good look at me, so I would still have a chance to out run them-being an Immortal still had its advantages after all these years. After being chased for quite some time-these guys were in bloody good shape for mortals!- I finally ducked inside a small little shop and hid out for a few hours, before returning to my sleeping quarters. I did not go back there for sometime, though I knew I would soon; now I Really had a feeling something was going on in this town. For now though, I just worked, as well as I could. I wanted to save up as much money as I could, since I had left almost everything back in Rome. A few days later, I decided to return to get a look at this priceless gem that I had discovered. This time, I made sure to stay well hidden; I didn't want to frighten her, though I would give just ANYTHING to meet with those precious eyes again. Again though, that same look of longing, she seemed so trapped. I went back to see her again periodically over the next week, until one night when I got there , there were guards there waiting for me when I arrived. There were only five of them this time, and I knew I could take them. Besides, what choice did I have? So I drew my sword; the fight was fierce, they surprised me almost as much with their swordsmanship as they had with their speed. I must admit I rather enjoyed myself, as it had been far too long since I had had a good fight. I was soon able to best two of them, but I quickly decided that I had better lose this fight, so as not to be dubbed a murderer.
They still hadn't seen my face, since I kept it shrouded at night ever since I had been attacked the first time. I started making the battle look all the more dramatic, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, leading them across town. Finally, I let them corner me at the edge of a rather high rooftop, one that would be too difficult for them to easily climb down. I allowed myself to be stabbed. I fell back into space, but as I went, I made sure to slash my attacker once more across his stomach.
I revived several hours later in the same location, much to my relief, as I had been when I died. It was almost dawn, so I gathered myself, and returned to the carpet salesman's shop to start the day again. I did not return to the palace again, or even go out into the streets at night for many days. After more than two weeks though, I decided it had been much too long; I simply had to glimpse her once more. I sat out early that night, just after sunset, I had decided to try and get an even closer view..
This palace couldn't be that hard to get into. After all, I had become quite nimble recently, especially since living in Rome, and some of the athletes and thieves had taught me a few acrobatic tricks. I searched around the perimeter of the palace until I finally found an area around the side where the walls had begun to deteriorate. There was a large crevice running down the wall from the top to about the middle. It was quite a stretch, but I leaped with all I had, and with quite a bit of pain to my hands, managed to catch myself in the bottom of the crack. Pulling myself up, I ascended to the top of the wall, being careful to keep myself extra low to keep from being seen. (To keep from being seen indeed, nevermind that I was now an intruder sneaking into the palace to catch a glimpse of the princess, a crime for which I could easily have lost my head! Sigh, the things a man will do when he is in love.) I hid down in the crack, and looked across to the outer wall of the main keep. There through a window, I saw her, only this time, she was nude. I realized after a few moments, that she was preparing for her evening bath, her few female attendants assisting her. Her body was just as impressive as her face, down to every part. I just sat there for all too long, staring like a stupefied boy. Methos, you fool! What are you doing!? Yes, I had to get away from there, maybe I could find a way over to that place where I had seen her so many times; obviously it was her own room, for I had seen her there often enough. I searched around to see if there was a way I could get over to the main part of the palace. It was a 20 foot drop straight down from the wall I was on, and there were guards down below as well. There were also guards on the walls either direction to the side. Then, I looked and saw a window ahead and to my right, about 8 feet to the side. The gap from my position on the outer wall to the wall of the outer keep was about 10 feet, though. It would be a stretch I knew, but I thought I might just be able to make it. The guard would also be a factor, for I would have to get out of the crevice and up onto the top of the wall, exposing myself. However, I noticed that if I timed it just right, they would both have their backs turned. I bided my time, and just at the right time, I quickly hoisted myself up onto the top of the wall, and then leapt with all I had towards the window. I did not think I would even make it, and I barley did; I caught the edge with my fingers as the rest of my body was mercilessly smacked against the wall. After a moment of recovering myself, I began to pull myself up into the window.
To my dismay, I immediately noticed that this window too, opened from the room where the princess was. I looked down the wall however, and noticed that the next window did not connect to this room. if only I could get there!. I surveyed my surroundings, and found that there was a long, metal flag poll sticking out from the wall straight above the window I was now on, as well as above the next one. Just then, recalling something some greek acrobats had taught me back in Rome, I got an idea. Was I mad!? Apparently, Yes! Hey, besides my head, what did I have to lose, right? Well, I thought, if I am going to do this, I better do it quickly. So I pulled myself up onto the window, and then, reaching up, grabbed hold of the pole, and began to swing, once I had gotten myself going fast enough, I released. SOMEHOW, I managed to barely grab the next pole. Once I had steadied myself I went into the window. I was now in a moderately large storage room. It was quite dark, the only light coming from the cracks in the door. I tried the door, and fortunately, it was unlocked. From there, I tried to sneak up to where I thought the princess's room was. However, at one point, I found myself walking down a long, unlit corridor, which on one side included a series of open arches, opening onto a beautiful garden. There, down in the garden walking alone, I saw her. This time, she was only wearing a thin, white, silken gown that held beautifully to her features. I just had to find my way down there. I went to the last archway, and found a palm tree, reaching up to just beneath it. I quietly climbed down the tree. I then carefully edged my way across the garden, cautiously sneaking closer to the princess, who was now standing by a small pool the reflected moonlight casting a subtle radiance on her face which came from beneath. I breathlessly inched my way up beneath a hedge near her.
"Adara, is my name." a beautiful voice said.
I nearly froze to death right there. I shamefully, fearfully crawled out of my hiding place among the leaves. I did not know much of their language yet, but I had certainly understood her.
"Apologies, Lady," was all I knew to say
The next thing she said, was something along the lines of this: "and does the stranger from a far place who watches me bathe, have a name?"
I must have turned 6 shades of red; I was so ashamed that she had noticed me watching her.
"I am Omar," I barely managed to get out. It was the name I had gone by since I had arrived in this region. I had overheard it as a name in a conversation down at the port. It sounded interesting enough, so I stuck with it.
"Well, Omar, It is brave of you to come here to see me," she said with a smile, her voice as equally beautiful as her face and body. I could tell that she already sensed I was having trouble with their language. "You know, she said, looking around with almost a giggle, "If they caught you, they would probably chop off your handsome head. However, noone has ever gone to so much trouble for me, before." Then with a sigh, she began to telling me of how boring it had been lately, since her father was away on a campaign, and then thanked me for coming.
I then knelt down and offered my sword, then said the closest thing I could in their language to: "I am at your service, Lady." With that, offered me her hand, which I humbly leaned over and kissed.
"Well, Omar," she said with a pleasant smile. "Please, tell me more about yourself."
I smiled inwardly. This was going to be a very pleasant night.