Chapter 5

So winter passed by, the snow melted and shoots of green appeared on all the trees. Spring erupted in glorious splendour as if the winter's sleep had rejuvenated and energized everything in nature. At Gurukul, the students prepared for the celebration of Holi - the first time it would be celebrated at Gurukul itself. Bonfires lit the night of the full moon, and as day dawned, the grounds were quickly filled with laughing and merriment as coloured water and powders were thrown on everyone.

Soon impromptu bands struck up music and the dancing started. People from the village joined in the fun, creating an instant fairground atmosphere on the normally calm grounds of Gurukul.

Raj was as involved in the merriment as anyone: dancing, singing, throwing gulal on anyone that came within his reach. He loved Holi; it signified the return of life and love to him, and he celebrated it with abandon. As always, Megha was dancing with him, drawing his attention wherever she went; slipping between dancers, peeking from behind trees, making faces at him to make him smile. He watched her until she showed him something he did not expect.

Adam, dancing.

Adam, rang-birangi. You could not tell what he looked like under all the colours. He was leading a wild dance, his normal group of sword-practicing followers mirroring his movements as if they had rehearsed it. And perhaps they had, Raj reflected. If you took away the sword and sped up the kata, it would be a dance.

Raj watched delightedly, amazed at how well Adam fitted in. He showed no sign of awkwardness at participating in such an un-western festival. Then Raj mentally kicked himself as he realized again that Adam had spent many centuries living in India, and that he knew more about where the festivals had originated than Raj probably did. It was hard to remember that Adam was in all ways extraordinary, because he actively strove to be as unassuming and inconspicuous as possible.

Just a guy.

Then, from one moment to the next, Raj saw Adam change from just a guy to something dangerous. A cornered predator, a drawn bowstring, the edge of a knife. One moment he was dancing, carefree. The next he had come to a wary halt, and was slowly scanning the crowd with his eyes; a tiger stalking its prey. Raj could not tell what had happened, but he knew that it was trouble.

He made his way to Adam's side, and when Adam ignored him, tentatively touched his arm. A split second later he found himself pinned against a wall, staring with fear at Adam's eyes; eyes that looked at him with no recognition at all. "Adam! It's me, Raj!" he gasped, struggling in vain to free himself.

At the sound of his voice, Adam released him. "Raj?" Adam gave him a distracted look, and resumed his scanning of the crowd. As he searched, he spoke softly. "Sorry, Raj. You'd better not touch me right now."

"Why?" Raj asked. "What happened?" As far as he could see, everything was the same. Except for one or two students who had seen Adam manhandle Raj and were now watching with large eyes, everyone else was still having a good time dancing and singing.

Adam, however, clearly felt something was wrong. "Someone's here, Raj." His gaze fixed suddenly on a man at the edge of the crowd. "There."

Raj looked but the only thing that distinguished the man from the other villagers was that he had the same animal-like wariness to his posture that Adam had. He also seemed to be looking for something or someone, but unlike Adam, had failed to find it yet.

"Who is he?" Raj asked.

"Head hunter," Adam said shortly. "He can sense me, just as I can sense him... I'm just a bit better at it than he is, or he would have found me already."

"Sense you?" Raj suddenly had the feeling that even if he lived a thousand years himself, he would never learn everything there is to know about his incredible guest.

"No time now, Raj," Adam said. "He's getting closer. Look, I don't want him to see me; it's better to be as anonymous as possible. Will you go and distract him while I get under cover?" Not giving Raj time to answer, Adam ducked behind some dancers and disappeared.

Raj, left in the lurch, had little choice but do what Adam asked, although he had no desire to speak to the man now that he knew this was Adam's enemy. Still, he would do what he could to help Adam, so he made his way through the crowd to where the man was still standing. "Can I help you?" Raj asked.

The man gave a Raj a quick look. "I want to speak to that foreign teacher of yours," he replied. "Where is he?"

Surprised that the man knew who he was, Raj shrugged. "I don't know. He was here earlier, but he must have left." Pleased with that answer, since it really said nothing at all, Raj decided to do a little fishing for information. "Why? Who are you?"

The question earned him a contemptuous look. "None of your business," the man said, turned abruptly and left. Raj saw him walking out of the gate and go down the road, where four others joined him after a while. Together they left Gurukul's grounds completely, leaving Raj to wonder what they were planning to do now.

Suddenly some of the fun had gone out of Holi for Raj, and he thoughtfully went inside to see where Adam had gone.

"He's left," Raj said when he found Adam sitting in his office, of all places, looking quite out of place with his green, red and orange coloured skin and clothes.

"I know," Adam said, looking up from his hands, which he was studying with intentness. "Thanks."

"Why didn't you want him to see you?"

"Because very few people know what Methos looks like," Adam answered. "Two or three friends and now of course you. Those guys outside might think they have Methos cornered here, but they don't know that for sure. I'm just Adam Pierson, after all."

"So how will seeing you confirm that you're Methos?" Raj asked, confused.

"It won't," Adam grinned. "But I don't want Adam Pierson and Methos to be linked in their minds. The only way they can confirm that I am Methos, is to take my head."

"Why not just tell them that you're not?"

"Oh come on," Adam exclaimed. "Why should they believe me? They want heads any way they can get them. They'll take mine on the off chance, too."

"Okay," Raj conceded. "You keep speaking of Methos as if he's someone else. But you're Methos, aren't you? I don't get it."

Adam gave Raj an amused look. "Trying to find out if you have a split personality problem here?" He smiled. "Let's see: On the one hand we have Methos. Methos is this guy who's been around longer than anyone on the planet. Three thousand years ago, he was known as Death, and spread fear and destruction all over the Middle East and central Asia along with his brothers, the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Every Immortal playing the Game wants his head, because since he's the oldest, he must be the strongest. Many of course don't believe he exists, or if he does, he's some hermit somewhere, too afraid of modern technology to show his face."

He held up his hand, forestalling Raj's obvious intention to ask a question. "Then there's Adam Pierson, best known for writing obscure papers on extinct languages. In his thirties; only died for the first time a few years ago. Wouldn't harm a soul. Will probably not get very old as he has none of the ambition needed to survive the Game."

He held up both hands. "Do they seem like the same to you? Methos and Adam ... Adam and Methos. Of course, I am Methos. But I'm more Adam Pierson now than I am Methos, if that makes any sense to you. And be grateful that I am, because Methos is not nearly as nice as Adam is."

Raj asked his question. "Death?"

Adam sighed. "I've told you three times now. I am Death, Raj." He shrugged. "Or I used to be. We terrorised the world for a thousand years. We raped and pillaged across three continents. Though I wasn't the leader, I was certainly the mind behind it. 'Death' was as good a name as any to describe me."

On Raj, a suspicion was dawning. "You're not sur, you're asur."

"A demon?" Adam asked with a terrible smile. "Perhaps."

Raj was at a loss. "Why are you doing this? Why are you telling me these things?"

"Because I want to see how far I can go before you can't stand it anymore," Adam replied earnestly. "I want to understand how you do it. How you managed to lose your love and then come and befriend her father, the man who caused her death. I want to know how you can listen to me confess the most terrible things and still know in your heart that I'm a good man." He looked at Raj. "Because you do, don't you?"

Raj took his time to answer. He had to evaluate all he had heard and correlate that with what he had seen of Adam. Finally, he identified the one thing that decided the issue. Adam's obvious pain and incredible effort to get someone to judge him and punish him for his deeds. "Yes, I do," he said. "I think that no matter what you may have been three thousand years ago, you have been striving since then to undo the things you have done. I think you have saved more lives since, than what you took. I think people can change; in fact, I know it."

He stood up to look out of the window. "You want to know how I see the good in everyone? There's nothing to understand, Adam. I simply choose to see the good in everyone. It's not hard at all."

Adam shook his head. "You astound me, you really do. Do you then just ignore the bad in everyone? Doesn't it bother you that you're talking to a killer?"

"Yes, it does bother me. It bothers me that you had to live through times that forced you to become something that you now so regret. It bothers me that in three thousand years you have not found a way to forgive yourself. It bothers me that over every day of your existence hangs the threat of violence... but that is true of everyone." Raj turned around. "As for seeing the bad... I am not naive, Adam. I know there are bad people. I know people do bad things, sometimes out of ignorance, sometimes out of spite, sometimes because they really are bad. But I don't go looking for that in life. I look for love, life, respect and responsibility. Four pillars, if you wish, to build on."

He smiled wistfully. "Megha taught me the value of life and love. Because of that, I knew I had to forgive her father. By denying him forgiveness, I was denying him love. I changed his life, Adam, by giving him respect based on love, not fear. And when you love someone, you assume responsibility for that person, because with your actions you can make or break a person's heart."

Adam listened silently, giving each word serious thought. Sitting there, splattered with gulal, he looked very young. Raj thought there did not seem much difference between Adam and any of his students, at that moment.

Finally, Adam stirred. "Raj," he said softly. "For one so young, you are very wise. Thank you. You don't know how much you've helped me."

"As long as I have," Raj answered. "It's not noon yet. Come dance some more."

Living unencumbered
By future and the past
I stand on an island
Around it flows time
People come by
Touching my heart
Reaching with their hands
To grasp my soul
I embrace them gladly
No longer alone
As the music starts

And so we dance
Weaving our futures
Into intangible knots
Tracing our lifelines
In whirling patterns
Connecting and joining
Then suddenly breaking
We sing our stories
And finding our partners
We wait for the morrow
That will never come

People come by
Touching our hearts
Reaching with their hands
To grasp our souls
We embrace them gladly...