The Holy Flock

By: The Great Duhmimchi

Some people seem to have a knack for finding strange things; strange things always seem to find Zane Legends. On this particular day though, strange things were far from the mind of this young fellow. Marvelous experiences awaited him in a brave new world: adventure, thrills, and excitement lay just on the other side of the seas. That is, if he can ever find away to cross them.

And so we reach our fist stumbling block on this road to adventure. Our dear friend Zane hasn't a way to reach the opposite shores. But firsts things first, Zane had been walking nearly all day, and if we know anything about the boy, it's that he has a healthy appetite-

"I'm so hungry," he thought to himself. "The shores of awesome adventure can wait, time to fill this belly!" But much to his dismay, when he reached into his sack to find a snack there was nothing but breadcrumbs. "Oh sausages!" he exclaimed. "Well, let's have a look around then."

The village that he found himself in was much like the rest of the port towns he had seen in his life. Small streets, crowded inns, and wall to wall full of people. It suited him. He always liked the hustle and bustle of bigger cites. This wasn't a big city by any means, but the people made it feel that way, and that was close enough.

"Well, c'mon feet, let's see what we can find." But just as he was about to descend from the hill overlooking the town a man called to him. "Hey, boy!" he said. "Looking to go aboard a vessel are ye?" Zane was taken aback; he did not even realize that the old shepherd was sitting not 10 paces away.

"I. . . .Um . . . . . yes, I am. How'd you know tha..." The man didn't let him finish.

"Oh, you look the part." The old shepherd replied. "I've seen my fair share or young men ready to go across the seas. Truth is, that's where I am heading myself," he said with a smile. "You're not looking for work by chance are you? I could use a hand getting my heard on board, and I would be willing to pay for your passage to Rome, if you would be willing to help."

A normal man would be suspicious of such an offer. But Zane Legends was no normal man. "I'll do it!" he exclaimed.

As Zane and the old man herded the sheep through town, Zane noticed that the villagers were throwing them strange looks. Not a very pleasant place, he thought to himself. I wonder why they.... But before he could finish his thought, his question was answered. A straggly fellow that looked as if he had just rolled out of a ditch that morning and into a tavern came walking toward them. "Finally shovin' off eh old man! Well pwaise the Gawds! We've ad quite enough o' you prophetizin' round ere!"

"I hope the rest of the world doesn't share your opinion Arnosh, or we shall all be in for a world trouble- for the end surely comes, and we must prepare."

The man simply swaggered off back to the tavern exclaiming "yea yea yea" under his breath. Zane stood there stunned. "I'm sorry, I....didn't know you were a....um, prophet," he said. "Do you actually speak with the Gods?" The old man laughed so hard he had to bend over and use his knee for support. "Do you think me mad boy? Of course I don't talk to the Gods, no man can."

"Oh," said Zane.

"My sheep to all the talking, I just listen to what they have to say. They are the ones who talk to the Almighty; everyone knows that the writings of the Prophets always have sheep in there somewhere. So I just listen, and tell everyone else. You might even say I'm a story teller of sorts."

After that the climb to the ships was very quiet. As they loaded the sheep onboard all Zane could think about was, well at least it's a gang plank and not stairs. After all the sheep were aboard they set sail, and the boat was on its way.

Just then, Zane remembered his empty stomach- which wasn't something that he normally could forget. He approached the old man warily, but before he could get the words to leave his mouth the old man broke in:

"I've been wondering boy, where did you get that scar on the side of your face, it kind of looks like two shepherds crooks back to back."

"Ya know, there's a funny story behind that. This one day I was minding my own business when all of the sudden. . ."

"A Great whale struck the ship!" The old man interrupted.

"No, that wasn't it at all, what happened was. . ." but he didn't have time to finish. It was then that Zane saw what the man was talking about. A giant whale was right next to the ship, nearly dwarfing the vessel with its massive body. Zane backed away slowly from the railing. He looked around frantically to see that the rest of the passengers had already fled downstairs to the cabins. NO! Not the stairs! I will have to take my chances with the whale.

Just then, the whale leaped out of the water and crashed through the railing of the ship and swallowed the old man and his flock whole. Zane was tossed onto his back from the power of the crash. As the whale was sliding down he could hear the old man screaming, "I wasn't trying to run away I swear! I only wanted to visit my relatives in the opposite direction. . ." The voice faded as the whale swam into the distance. But just before it was gone from sight Zane could almost see the shape of a halo in the mist that shot out from the creatures back.

"Hmm, well that was interesting. I never would have guessed that whales ate sheep."

And so we end this tale of our friend Zane. The day is over, and his quest continues: a journey to find adventure, distant lands, and something to eat.