Chapter 1: Prologue
The sun rose at Marlinspike Hall as the trees and grass sparkled after a rainy day. The air felt cool and fresh and the birds were singing and dancing through the air. The sound of nature seemed to be calling the people living inside Marlinspike Hall. The door opens and a white-as-snow fox terrier runs anticipated towards the enormous garden. Following the energetic dog walking out the door was a young man, with strawberry blonde hair and a unique and recognisable quiff. "Snowy!" shouted the young man. "Don't run off too far! Captain, are you coming?" asked the young man to his much older friend, who wore the attire of a sea captain.
The sea captain fell off the stairs "OW!"
"Are you alright, Captain?" he said helping him up.
"Blistering Barnacles! It's OK, Tintin. I just tripped! Even with the stairs finally fixed, I keep tripping over it!" Tintin and the Captain then proceeded to take a long stroll, taking advantage of today's beautiful morning.
Tintin, his dog Snowy and his friend Captain Haddock would often get themselves into danger or into a kind of trouble, mystery or adventure. But these were the days in which Tintin wanted to relax from his job as the young reporter, or get away from helping the police to find criminals. Probably it was too relaxing, Tintin thought, as no real adventure had come across them for a long time. Maybe something unexpected will happen like last year. Last year the three of them encountered a secret civilization, and the same year they went to the moon. But he was just a young reporter, everybody else thought. How is he able to get into these kinds of adventures? Suddenly, a postman on his bicycle comes towards them passing through the large gate. "Captain Archibald Haddock?" asked the postman.
"Yes, that's me," said the Captain.
"There's a letter for you." Then the postman left.
"Who is it from?" asked Tintin.
"I don't know… Let's see… BILLIONS OF BLISTERING BLUE BARNACLES!" shouted Captain Haddock running back to the mansion. "Bianca Castafiore is coming to Marlinspike today!"
Bianca Castafiore, the famous opera singer also known as The Milanese Nightingale, was someone the Captain detested. He couldn't stand her operatic singing voice and he couldn't stand the idea of Bianca having a liking for him. She had visited his mansion a few weeks ago and everyone remembers how well he enjoyed THAT visit!
"NESTOR! NESTOR!" called Captain Haddock to his loyal butler. "Yes, sir?" said Nestor in his usual nonchalant voice.
"I'm going away! Far FAR AWAY! Maybe for a week! Maybe for a month!"
"Let me guess. Madame Castafiore is coming to our residence again?"
"EXACTLY! If Castafiore asks about me, tell her I'm in a very long and busy trip!" He said while running towards the mansion in a quick pace. Tintin and Snowy followed him. "I want to pack my things immediately!"
"Yes, sir" said Nestor without changing his expression. Haddock was planning to go to Italy. The main reason he avoided visited Italy was to avoid Bianca Castfiore herself. Now he finally had the chance. Last time he tried to do the same, but failed miserably.
"Tintin! TINTIN!" called Haddock as he pulled out his luggage. "Tintin! Quick! Help me pack my luggage! I wonder where I should go first? Venice or Rome? Maybe Florence?"
Tintin said, "Captain, I know how you're feeling right now, but aren't you being a little too harsh? She is our friend, after all." The Captain pretended to ignore that. Tintin calmly said, "Captain, please. Just try to be nicer around her."
Haddock replied as he stuffed all his belongings into the luggage, "What should I care about her? What has she ever done for us?" Now he started to shove his whisky bottles and other alcoholic beverages into his luggage.
Tintin thought about it and then said, "What about the time when we were in Borduria, and we were hiding from Colonel Sponsz? Bianca helped us escape from him." As hard as it was for Haddock to admit it, in one of their crazy adventures, they DID manage to not only escape from the evil Colonel Sponz, but also find out where their friend was being held capture, thanks to Castafiore. After thinking about it, the Captain said, "I still don't know why she had to come again! At THIS moment! Why did it have to be me? WHY ME?"
Normally Tintin would be asking himself that kind of question. Even before he met Haddock, he'd be stuck in an adventure with his dog or helping out on a case with the police just to get a story or to help someone. These adventures would often be dangerous. Sometimes even life threatening. Sometimes it lead him to being kidnapped or captured by the bad guys. But this young reporter would do whatever it took to help someone, to stop others from doing criminal activities, and most of the time even get a good story out of it. Somehow he was gifted with his bravery and powers of deduction, but also had luck on his side to get through it all. Eventually he met Captain Haddock and he could share his adventures with someone else. But why did these adventures come to him? Why was he always in danger? He didn't know and nobody else knew. All he knew was that he was meant for the job.
Suddenly, the noise from the car outside was heard. "OH CAPTAIN PUTLOCK!" No doubt about it, it was Bianca Castafiore. "Thundering Typhoons! I'm too late!" said Haddock.
Castafiore entered the house with great welcome, except from Captain Haddock. "Oh! Captain Hardback!" said Bianca. "It's HADDOCK!" said the Captain, which Bianca ignored as usual. "I am SO excited to come here and tell you the news!"
"What the news?" asked Tintin.
"I am making a tour! On a cruise ship named The Voyager! It's wonderful! The cruise ship has a theatre with various performers. I had the privilege to sing on the cruise for a few months! I just arrived yesterday to Bruges. The cruise will arrive in two days, and I'm starting that very day! So I decided to make a stop by at your mansion and pay a visit to the lovely Tintin and Captain Padlock."
"HADDOCK!" Haddock's face became red as if it were to explode. Castafiore ignored it again.
"And I was also wondering whether you'd like to come and hear me sing? It can be just for a few days on the cruise, or maybe one day. Perhaps you'd like to visit Cherbourg-Octeville in our next stop. Unless you have plans for this week, you can come with me to the ship in three days and I can give you a suite in the ship."
Before Haddock refused anything, Tintin said, "Well, we don't really have any plans. It'd be great to go to a cruise. It'd be my pleasure to hear you sing. What do you say, Captain?"
Haddock knew that Tintin couldn't help but be a gentleman. And Tintin would naturally say yes when given the chance to travel. He was indeed looking forward to something interesting after staying at home for quite a while.
As much as he couldn't stand her singing voice, he didn't want to be rude either. "I'd… love to go". Haddock said with reluctance. "EXCELLENT! Thank you, Captain Clapock! Thank you Tintin! Believe me! You will have the time of your lives!"
As Tintin and Haddock said their goodbyes to Castafiore, she entered her car with her assistant Irma. Tintin said to Haddock "you know, Captain, you could have refused the offer if you really didn't want to come. I could have gone on my own with Snowy."
"NOW YOU TELL ME? Ten thousand thundering typhoons! Why do I have to go along with whatever you say?"
Tintin remembers that in a way this is true. A few months ago Tintin was desperate to save a friend of his named Chang who was probably stuck in the mountains after a terrible plane crash, but Haddock refused to go with him because it seemed too dangerous, and there was a big chance that Chang wasn't even alive. Tintin told him with honesty that he wasn't forcing him to come along and that if he didn't want to risk his life, then he didn't have to come. But Haddock eventually came with him to the snowy and dangerous mountains. And with that they found Tintin's friend, safe and sound. It was a good thing that Tintin had such a loyal friend, not just to join him on an adventure, but to be there for him no matter what.
Tintin's flashback ended with Bianca saying inside her car "Oh goodbye, Tintin! Goodbye Captain Zippock!" Haddock tried to be a little calmer to Tintin's request. "I'll see you soon! OH! I bet both of you are VERY excited to come to the ship and hear me sing!"
Haddock said with big irony, "Believe me. I've already packed my things."
A/N: I hope you enjoy my fanfic, and my original character! I'll publish a new chapter every two days, and in the next chapter, you'll be introduced to my new character.