Stackman's Adventures (Chapter forty-three)

[bsftcs]

Between Colleagues

Being the forty-third chapter of Stackman’s adventures

In which the zenmaster strengthens Missy Hissy’s resolve and in which Cet tries to hide his uselessness for card games.

(Expatiating also upon the forty-fourth chapter of Bungleau’s Solo Warrior Saga).

Cet’s cry was still hanging in the air. There was a brief pause. Perhaps less than a second. Then the adventurers raised their weapons to strike again. There was no possible way they were going to heed his calling. First of all that would mean failing Stackman miserably. Secondly the only reward for joining Cet would be running around with an oversized head for the rest of the game and neither of the adventurers wanted to do that. There was not even a missing trait to be gained from joining him.

The adventurers were ready to let their weapons sink into Cet when out of the corner of their eyes they caught a glimpse Missy lowering the Mavin sword. She faltered. Her eyes were flickering. ”Oh no”, thought the valkyrie. The last thing she wanted was to have to fight her rolemodel. ”Missy Hissy”. The words were uttered by the zenmaster. The others looked at him in surprise. They had never heard his voice so solemn. ”Might I have a word with you”, he said beckoning at Missy. She looked at Cet again. Then she stepped backwards and then turned around walking towards the zenmaster. He led her out of the cavern.

The rest of the party stood dumbfounded and looked at the two leaving the room. The assassin used the unexpected respite in the fighting to play with his yo-yo knowing that Cet was not going to be the one to break the truce. The bard used the opportunity to practice some new grimace on the pharaoh but was stopped by the valkyrie who ordered him to open one of the two treasure chests in the room. These two treasure chests were the most likely in the game to contain the best of goodies. And sure enough a Lance of the Lady and an Eye of Heaven were the rewards for the adventurers. Having already plenty of Lady Lances the valkyrie saved this one in case Missy would want it, the five also left the last chest untouched for Missy to open. As the zenmasters’ conversation dragged they made themselves comfortable and played a few parlour games. At one point they asked Cet if he wanted to participate in a game of whist but he respectfully declined.

The zenmaster and Missy stopped in the hallway leading to the lava lake. The zenmaster looked Missy intently in the eyes for a while. ”You are a zenmaster now”, he said, ”that means you have greater power – much greater – but at the same time a serious responsibility comes with your new role”. ”You can no longer live the impetuous life of a barbarian or the carefree life of a bard”. ”You see, now you KNOW that life is a circle, and with that knowledge comes the responsibility of living a life in accordance with your conscience”. ”That means you must think extremely carefully about every step you take in your life”. ”In fact nobody said it better than Nivius when he told you that action once done cannot be undone”. ”On a side note it CAN actually, but that requires divine intervention in the form of the reset adventure trick, and you cannot be sure that will happen in your lifetime, therefore you have got to think this over now”.

”My conscience, you say”, said Missy thoughtfully searching her heart. It was difficult. As an assassin she had been used to do as she pleased without thinking of anything other than the immediate consequences. The zenmaster continued: ”What your conscience can bear you may not know in exact details, but you will know in your heart once you reach the limits”. ”Your best guide may be the sacred oath, you undertook, concerning the purposes for which you used the Mavin”. ”But this is much more important, for the penalty for breaking the sacred oath is non-existing, but if you act in disobediance of the unwritten laws of the zenmaster the consequences will be much more severe when your life comes to an end”. ”Just think of the demise of Dan Driff”.

Missy was striving to keep calm. On one hand she did not doubt what the zenmaster said. On the other hand she wanted to follow Cet just displease Kerah. Her heart was pounding. She suddenly realized that she was feeling hatred. The feeling in her was immense and the realization of it even more so. Her eyes glared as she finally admitted to herself that the feeling was hatred and that it was strong.

”But I have this feeling within me…”, she said looking inquiringly at the zenmaster. ”I loathe Kerah and all for which she stands”. ”And so you want to rectify the injustice done to you by joining the unholy pharaoh and committing another?”, replied the zenmaster. ”But this feeling…”, stammered Missy. ”That feeling can be tamed and subdued over time”, said the zenmaster. ”The feeling in itself is unimportant so long as it is not so strong that it drives us to action”. ”It is the action which is the harmful part that cannot be undone”. ”If only you knew the feelings I have had in my life…”.

As Missy thought about the zenmaster’s words she grew calmer and her respiration more regular. ”But what about my actions so far… the creatures I have killed?”. ”Is there one kill you can think of that was not in self-defence?”, asked the zenmaster. Missy paused for a moment and tried to think back. ”I do not think so…”, she said thoughtfully. ”Your words are sound… you seem to know a lot about the zenmaster’s ways that was not written in the four tomes”. ”Well, being the thirteenth zenmaster I…”, started then zenmaster. ”What are you talking about? I am thirteenth zenmaster”, ranted Missy. ”Well, that is just a little trick Sinsei Asami uses to make us fell more valuable”, said the zenmaster. ”Dan Driff was also the thirteenth”. ”Aaaargh, Sinsei Asami, that little…”, ranted Missy, but then she suddenly calmed down and looked at the zenmaster again. ”I still have a lot to learn, have I not?”, she asked now suddenly realizing what the zenmaster had said. ”We all have”, he replied, ”so what is it going to be?”.

”All right, then”, said Missy, ”so we are going to kill this Cet, right?”. ”That is correct”, replied the zenmaster. ”So what has he done that justifies this?”, asked Missy. ”Well, for starters he has incessantly sent his minions out to kill us for the past months, and now he has trapped us here in his tomb only to release us if we comply with his unacceptable demands”. ”That sounds fair enough”, said Missy. She stood for a while pondering the whole situation. ”I am with you”, she said eventually.

”You do great honour to your divine origins”, the zenmaster said and started walking back towards Cet’s den. Missy Hissy stood as if paralyzed. ”What do you know of that?”, she cried, ”I know no parents!”. The zenmaster eyed her. ”My dear Missy, life is a miracle; we all owe our lives to the gods at Ironworks who created us”, he said. ”You mean I am the offspring of one of the gods at Ironworks?”, Missy asked almost overwhelmed with the thought. ”Yes, and judging from your merits I would deem that it would also have to be one of the most prominent gods”, replied the zenmaster. ”But… who, and how?… I know no place of birth”, Missy almost whispered”. ”As to who, I cannot help you… But you were most certainly born at the Valeia Inn… All the famous adventurers of the Gael Serran always have been”, said the Zenmaster. The inn… Missy tried to recall her earliest of memories. ”There are a lot of things I need to know”, Missy said, ”and to that end I need to get out of here… And to that end I need to slay Cet”. Any shred of doubt was removed from the young adventurer’s face. ”What are we waiting for?”, she asked and started sprinting back towards Cet’s hideout.

[Bungleau]

Nice.... [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

And nice touch on the second and third thirteenth zenmasters. Almost like the proverbial 10th annual 29th birthday party...

[Lord]

Nice job . Now to read the next chapter posted .

edit: seeing how this is a book or story, or whatever, you may want to know the typo I picked up:

On the other hand she wanted to follow Cet just displease Kerah.

It should be 'just to displease'

[ 01-26-2004, 09:31 AM: Message edited by: Lord ]

[macoati]

**more maniacle laughter**

another chapter...another chapter

must read the NEXT chapter...

*the dawn begins to brighten winter's sky outside the bedroom window but inside the closet there is only a flashlight dimming to a candle's breath*

[ 01-28-2004, 01:26 AM: Message edited by: macoati ]

[Wyvern]

ooooo!!!!

This is so exciting and I have yet another chapter to read!! How good is that?? WAY GOOD!!!

Wyv