Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
Revision Posted: 18-Jul-2009

Chapter Title: The Ethics of Immortals

"Duncan?" Fann asked quietly one morning as she watched him obsessively cleaning his favorite katana, several weeks after she'd started training with him.

He gently put the katana down on the workbench in his office and put away his cleaning tools before answering her. "Yes?"

"You've made it clear that you don't approve of Amanda training me as her apprentice." She paused but he didn't deny it, merely nodding his head in agreement. "Why are you still willing to help train me?" she asked curiously.

He looked at her for a moment longer before he spoke. She suppressed an involuntary shiver at the intensity of his gaze. If she didn't know better, she would have thought he had Cassandra's ability to measure a person's soul. "No, I don't agree with her decision to involve you in her schemes," he said. "But that isn't your fault. I'll do what I can to help you survive them until you are old enough to realize there are better things you could do with your life."

"And?" she prompted, thinking his answer seemed a little too good to be true.

"I think you need protection from her greediness. This," he said as he waved towards the training floor, "is as good a start as any."

"Greediness?" Fann frowned at what she was sure was misguided interference in her life. She'd known from almost the beginning that Amanda wasn't being the least bit altruistic when she'd offered Fann the opportunity to learn her trade. Training an apprentice was a lot of work for her and she expected to gain from their association. Greediness certainly wasn't a word Fann would have used to describe it. It was a business decision, of a sort.

"Yes." Standing up, he directed her out of his office and handed her one of the practice swords. "She decided that you needed her assistance and took it as an opportunity to pay off an old debt and get cheap help, all at the same time." He frowned distastefully.

"What's wrong with that?" Fann asked as she automatically took a position out in the middle of the floor. "She was clear from the beginning that she benefits from our relationship. Besides, I'm the one who agreed to become her apprentice. If I hadn't reminded her of that person she owed that debt to I don't think she would have even considered the idea. And Cassandra helped convince her," she added absently, as she mirrored his movements as they began warming up.

"You aren't old enough to decide for yourself something like that," He protested. She wondered if she'd imagined his surprise at Cassandra's involvement.

"You forget I'm not immortal. And I'm not foolish," Fann said. "I've had to grow up very quickly. I know exactly what being her apprentice means and what she expects from me."

"She should know better," he said, motioning for her to attack, effectively ending their discussion.

"Duncan?" Fann murmured as they moved together, slowly cooling off from their session, idly wondering why their movements seemed so synchronized.

"Yes?" he said.

"I've been talking with Joe and Adam." He raised an eyebrow at her. "What makes you so different from someone like Adam or Amanda?"

"What do you mean?" He frowned at her.

"Adam seems to be happy the way he is, just watching the world go by. Amanda isn't happy unless she can be out there somewhere, having fun." She waved a hand vaguely towards the door. "But you seem to spend a lot of time involved in the lives of us mortals..."

He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before answering. "Everyone is controlled in some way by their past. Their worlds were very different when they first became immortal."

"What do you mean?" Fann asked.

"Adam comes from a time when only the strong did well, and you became strong at the expense of others. By forcing everyone else to be less than you are."

"Isn't the world still like that?" Fann asked, trying to keep the cynical tone from her voice. She'd seen enough since running away to not have much faith in the benevolence of the rich and powerful.

He grimaced as if tasting something sour. "Yes, but the rules are different now. The powerful rule in more subtle, less personal ways. Adam outgrew the old ways but hasn't found a way to completely fit in with the way the world works now. So he just watches. The rest of us, mortal or immortal are just characters on a stage. He feels safer that way. More in control."

"That's kind of sad," Fann mused, chewing on her lower lip. "It also must be kind of boring." She grabbed a water bottle from the nearby bench. "What about Amanda?" She watched in amusement as his eyes lit up. Even when he was angry or frustrated with her, which seemed to be most of the time, Amanda had a special place in his heart.

"Survival." He looked at her. "It wasn't a place where there were many options for her. She was rescued by Rebecca but by then she was set in her ways. Bad habits are hard to break, especially for immortals. It has become a game for her. She lives for the excitement of outwitting people who make rules she doesn't think should apply to her. But you don't need to follow in her footsteps. The world isn't like that anymore."

"You make them sound arrogant," Fann said, watching him closely, ignoring his not so subtle comment.

"The older an immortal gets, the more arrogant they can become," He told her. "It is hard to see that laws and codes of conduct should apply to us even more than to mortals when all we have to do is outlive the ones who make the laws."

"And you?" Fann asked. "What makes you tick? Why aren't you like them?"

"I am the son of a clan chieftain," he told her, striking an exaggerated pose in the middle of the training room. "It is in my nature to help those in need."

Fann blew a raspberry at him in response. "Uh huh..." She giggled when she saw him wink.

"I am younger than they are. The world was already changing for the better when I became immortal," he told her, his expression now serious. "Too many immortals have given up. They see no benefit to being an active part of the mortal world. But if I can teach the things I have learned about life to mortals the world will surely become better. Helping even one person to live up to their potential makes it worthwhile."

"You really are like a Boy Scout, aren't you?" Fann said, not expecting an answer.

"No," he disagreed. "I have faults like everyone else. I've been drawn into a number of Amanda's schemes over the years. I make mistakes, misjudge people. It would certainly be arrogant to think myself perfect. But if I didn't even try to help people? I will have betrayed those who made me who I am."

"Even Amanda?" she asked, trailing him into his office.

"Even her," he said, nodding at her surprise. "Everyone has something to teach, if we are willing to learn. I may not like where she is leading you... but I cannot fault her for trying to help you, no matter what her schemes may be."

She arrived at the dojo earlier than normal the next morning. Duncan was always amazing to watch she thought as she secretly observed him fencing with Adam. She knew that she'd surprised him with how quickly she'd learned but she wondered if she would ever live long enough to be more than a pale shadow of his grace with a sword.

Or even as proficient as Adam, who seemed to be able to demolish the defenses of everyone he fought. Almost as if he'd invented most of the moves she and others used. Not that he seemed to be in any hurry to teach her anything he knew.

"Adam?" She said once they'd stopped, hoping to catch his attention. She'd noticed that he tended to ignore her except when absolutely necessary.

"Yes?" He said, giving her a considering look.

"Why won't you train with me?"

"I see no point," he told her. "I don't have a death wish."

"Death wish?" she said, puzzled.

"I'm sure that Cassandra has convinced you that I'm evil. And I have no desire to risk my health against one of the Chosen."

She stared at him in astonishment. "Why would I think you're evil?"

"She's seen your bar tab, Old Man?" Duncan said, joining them.

"Funny, MacLeod," Adam growled at him.

"Why do you think she's one of these Chosen people?"

"It took me a while, but it finally came to me where I'd seen someone like you before," Adam said to her before turning back to MacLeod. "Rumor has it that they are mystical warriors. They and their mentor show up, prevent something evil from happening, and leave, if they are still alive."

"So you've fought them?" Fann asked curiously. Most of his past was a mystery to her. Amanda had felt she didn't need to know more than that at one point he'd been a member of a group of immortals who'd come to be feared in a large part of the ancient world.

"No," Adam said, shaking his head. "We never attracted their attention. We might have been dangerous but we were human and they had bigger things to fight back then."

"So how do you know she's one of them?" MacLeod said. Fann could feel him looking at her intently.

"I've had several other occasions to watch one of them in action. Even though she doesn't fight the way they did, she has the distinctive attitude of one. And unlike you MacLeod, they don't just think they are doing the right thing. They know they are doing the right thing."

"I'm not one of those Chosen," Fann told them firmly. "Cassandra says they die young. And I don't have a death wish either." Nodding to them both, she headed to the dojo's locker-room to prepare for her training session.

"Why is she here if she's one of these warriors?" she could hear Duncan ask Adam.

"Does it matter?" she heard him reply. "You don't have to worry about her. I don't think Amanda could corrupt her if she tried. Just make sure she's as well trained as you can make her before she leaves."

Smiling to herself, Fann finished changing. Coming from Adam, whose picture belonged next to cynic in the dictionary, that was something even MacLeod wouldn't ignore.