The Youth Within The Arcadia.
Chapter One
"SHIT!!!" two youthful voices shouted, at the tops of their lungs, as their owners raced hell-for-leather down a hallway. Behind them, an enraged bird and a cat chased them (along with at least half of a pirate ship's crew).
"How'd we get ourselves into this mess?.!" one boy asked, as he leaped to clear one man who had been napping in the middle of the hallway.
"This was all YOUR bright idea!" his companion gasped, then venomously added, "Stow away, you said! Join Captain Harlock's crew, you said! BULLSHIT!!! It's gotten us into nothing but trouble!" And yet, at this point, all they could do was remember what had brought them to this rather humorous situation...
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All was quiet in the slums, as two children wandered through the center of what had once been an old warehouse. In the midst of the thick silence, the whispers of the pair seemed even louder, as they sat down to wait for someone.
"Breaking into that storehouse of 'questionable materials' had been a breeze! Who would've guessed that the security would be so easy to get past?" one boy asked, rhetorically, as he carefully handled what seemed to be a briefcase in his hands; not daring to even open it, for fear of ruining whatever lay inside.
"Got that right! And we got your mom's tapes with hardly any trouble! I hope they'll play on that player we'd managed to get." the boy beside him agreed, also gazing thoughtfully at the case, even as a broad grin was spread across his round face. As unbelievable as it sounded, these two eight-year-old boys had just indeed broken into a government building, stolen some tapes, and gotten away. And yet, the most incredible facts about them had yet to be discovered.
"So, did you two pull it off? Did you manage to get the tapes?" another boy, this one just barely a teenager, asked, as he emerged from the shadows; with other children and even some adults coming in after him.
"Sure did. They're all here, in this case. Good thing we went in tonight, since they'd been slated to be burned in the morning." the first boy replied, his tone sobering as he went on.
"With Arcadia's Voice finally returned to us, we can at last make some headway. The Arcadia Underground now, at long last, has some firm ground to stand on." one of the adults said, gratefully, as he began to set up the equipment that was needed in order to play the tapes, and make copies of them while they were at it.
"Was it very hard to get into the storeroom, Harlock?" another child asked, watching from a distance as 'Harlock' approached the apparatus and carefully opened the briefcase. The boy named Harlock grinned and shook his head.
"Wasn't even a challenge. My dad would've slept through it, it was such a breeze!" Harlock replied, with a laugh.
"Mine too, for that matter! The programmers for the electric locks must've been asleep when they'd set 'em. It was almost too easy!" the second boy, Harlock's compatriot, said, as they all watched the tape in the player begin to move; all of them falling silent when the first wisps of sound started to come from the rigged speakers close by.
"This...is the Voice...of Free Arcadia." a soft, feminine voice announced, from amidst the static; those words alone getting a cheer from the ragtag group. After eight years of silence, Arcadia once again had it's voice...and her words would once again reach out as far as the Sea of Stars.
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In the years following the space pirate Captain Harlock's banishment from earth, many changes had come about. Mysteriously, the Illumidas began to diminish; what was left of their occupation fleet on earth withdrawing for reasons still unknown to the planet's inhabitants. Suddenly finding themselves free, the people of earth at first vigorously rebuilt their world, and then, once they'd reached a comfortable state, slipped into ennui and complacency. Yet, there were a few who didn't agree with this new, lazy world order. These individuals called themselves the 'Arcadia Underground', after the deceased radio personality, whose Voice had just been recently recovered by two children. Even more amazing was the fact that these two boys were the unofficial leaders of the rebellion, as well as the figureheads.
"Ne, Harlock." one youth said, trying to get his companion's attention.
"Hmm? What's up, Tochiro?" Harlock replied, from his place on a caved-in rooftop. The two boys now lay on their backs, stargazing; a pastime that they found themselves doing even more often than before, since they'd recovered 'Voice of Free Arcadia's' tapes.
"You think we'll ever find our fathers? Are they even still alive out there?" Tochiro wondered, aloud.
"Sure we will! Our dads aren't going to die so easily, y'know. Mayu'd said she'd seen both my dad and yours' recently, remember?" Harlock replied, as he took his gaze from the distant points of light and glanced at his friend.
"Yeah. You're right about that." Tochiro said, before lapsing into thoughtful silence, once again. Then his eyes brightened.
"You're never gonna believe what was found yesterday, while we were stealing those tapes!" Tochiro whispered, excitedly. This got what could have been a curious look from the youth next to him, were it not covered in a false look of annoyance.
"What'd been found?" Harlock heard himself ask, despite himself.
"A ship! They'd found an old Solar Federation cruiser in a scrapyard about three miles from here! It's engines worked just enough for the rest to get it to the underground bunker! I'm gonna have to find the manifests inside its' computers to see which one it is, since it's I.D. number and name have been scratched off. But I might be able to fix it!" Tochiro stated, excitedly. This got a grin from the space pirate's son.
"A ship! Finally! Someday we'll be able to leave this hellhole for the stars!" Harlock said, happily, then asked, "How long before it's ready to fly?" At this, Tochiro's expression fell.
"It could take years to repair, Harlock. The damn Illumidas had made it crash and rendered it unable to fly...Tsuyomaru'd said that he thinks it'll take another seventeen years before she's ready to go." Tochiro sadly replied; sounding as though tears were brimming in his young eyes, as he spoke.
"Damn...Then we're gonna have to find our dads soon, if we're ever gonna see what the Sea of Stars is like." Harlock muttered, determinedly.
"But how'll we get on board the Arcadia? They'll never let us come aboard, since we're still kids!" Tochiro said, despairingly.
"We stow away. That's how." Harlock replied, simply. This got Tochiro to sit up and give his friend a look of absolute shock.
"ARE YOU NUTS?! There's no way we can stow away on that ship! Every attempt made so far had ended with the stowaways getting spaced or worse!" Tochiro yelped; getting a look of exasperation from his friend as a result.
"That's only if we get caught...Which we won't, if we do things right." Harlock stated, nonchalantly.
"You'd better be sure of this." Tochiro grumbled; hackles rising slightly when Harlock laughed softly at that.
"I was sure about that storeroom, wasn't I?" Harlock asked, rhetorically, as he gave his friend a sidewards glance, then added, "We won't know until we try."
"You're nuts." Tochiro muttered, as he again lay back down and stared at the distant stars; feeling something akin to excitement emerge within him when he thought of the prospect of stowing away on the Arcadia, and meeting their fathers for the first time.
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So here they were, running for their lives to escape from the pirate crew, and the enraged animals. They had succeeded in stowing away...but joining the crew was another story, entirely.
"This way! Hurry!" Harlock shouted, as they rounded another corner; just barely pulling Tochiro out of the hallway and into a small alcove before the 'mob' stampeded over him. For a few moments, the two boys stayed perfectly still, almost afraid to breathe, lest the sound of reach the ones chasing them.
"We need a better hiding place...Guess this wasn't the brightest idea, huh?" Harlock managed, from between gasps, when he was certain that the mob had passed.
"No shit, Harlock...You think? And where are we gonna hide, anyway? They're gonna find us eventually, if they keep runnin' around lookin' for us like that." Tochiro muttered, almost bent over double as he took in deep gulps of air. Cautiously, Harlock stuck his head out of the alcove; his eyes alighting upon one door in particular a bit further down the hall. This door was solid wood that was a rich reddish-brown color; helping it stand out against the metallic wall it was attached to.
"Let's hide in there." Harlock said, motioning towards that door as he spoke. Tochiro in turn took one look at the door and gave his friend an almost deadpan look.
"You're determined to get us killed, aren't you? That's the captain's room, you know. And you wanna hide in there? Where the Great Captain Harlock sleeps? We're sure to get caught if we do that!" Tochiro hissed.
"It's not like I'm sayin' we're gonna stay there while he's in there! It's just till everybody else has stopped lookin' for us. Then we can go back to our hiding place." Harlock replied, as he gave his friend slight, reassuring grin.
"But what if he's in there?" Tochiro asked, worriedly, liking this idea even less than before.
"Right now, I don't think it's likely...But we're gonna have to risk it." Harlock whispered, as he slowly led the way into the hallway and towards the door. Vigilant as always, Tochiro followed him; making certain there was no one around that would spot them doing this. Carefully, Harlock reached up and gripped the door latch; smiling slightly when he found that it was unlocked. The door swung open on well-oiled hinges, revealing a room quite unlike any the two boys had ever seen before. The room itself was richly decorated with oak and marble, and crystal clear transpara-steel glittered in the windows. Through them, they could see a vast starfield, and the blackness of space. Near one of the walls a bed was situated, and across from it, an oaken desk.
"Looks like we're gonna have some luck, this time. Nobody's here." Tochiro muttered in relief, as he almost sat down on the carpet; exhausted to say the least. Yet he immediately felt a surge of adrenaline when he saw something materialize behind his friend. To his eyes, it appeared to be a huge wolf!
"Harlock! Look out!" Tochiro yelped, as he leaped towards the other boy and knocked him away from the wolf. Harlock landed hard on his chest and stomach, the blow almost winding him. Yet he flinched when he heard Tochiro get the air completely knocked out of him and saw it when he fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. In a flash, Harlock was beside his fallen friend, and had his laser pistol out. The creature before him was a sight to behold; midnight black fur glistened in the light of the chandelier overhead, and piercing blue eyes almost seemed to suck the soul right out of him. A white scar could be seen on the wolf's face; trailing down from over his right eye, to his left cheek.
"It's almost like a Harlock's scar!" Harlock thought, wonderingly; returning to reality with a jolt, when the wolf did the unthinkable.
"You shouldn't even consider it." the wolf growled; the fact that he had spoken almost enough to make Harlock drop his gun in shock.
"W-what? D-did you just speak?.!" Harlock asked, in disbelief, "What the hell are you?.!" At this, the wolf gave him it's equivalent of a smirk.
"Protector and friend of Captain Harlock...that is what I am, boy. And you'd do well to remember that." the wolf warned, as he took another step towards him. Fearing for Tochiro's life, Harlock did the only thing he could do, at this point; he held his ground, took aim, and fired. With a snarl, the wolf dodged the shot; yet he was inwardly impressed by the youth's stubbornness and determination not to be driven from his friend's side.
"Quite like the Captain, in that respect. Maybe he has what it takes to become a member of the crew." the wolf mused, before knocking the boy into the wall with his massive head; listening as the air was forced from the boy's lungs, and he sank to the floor seconds later. Then a thought occurred to him; the boys even resembled the captain and his closest friend, in that respect!
"Could it be...?" the wolf wondered, as he approached Harlock and inhaled the boy's scent. Instantly, he recognized the scent of the Captain's blood within the boy...and the blood of his mother, as well.
"Harlock...Maya...so they did have one child together, did they?" the wolf murmured, more than a bit subdued by this finding. Then he turned his attention to Tochiro. Again, he could smell both parents' scents mingled into one in the boy's blood.
"This child even smells like Tochiro and Emeraldas..." the wolf muttered; his eyes narrowing when the implications of this became all too clear.
"Neither of them are going to like this...Not one bit...And here Tochiro had thought he was the father of just one child..." the wolf mumbled, before allowing a piercing howl to burst from his throat; calling for his friend with an urgency in his tone that hadn't been heard in years.
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Captain Harlock could only sigh in exasperation, as he tried to make sense of what his crew was trying to tell him. Standing before him, his angry crew were breathing out threats and curses at the ones who had evaded them.
"Are you all trying to say that we have a stowaway on board?" Harlock asked, irritably, as he leaned against a wall, crossed his arms, and gave his crew his version of a deadpan look.
"Not just one stowaway, Captain! Two! And both of 'em are kids!" one man said, angrily (this one being the one that had been sleeping in the corridor just moments before).
"But how the hell could they've gotten on board? We didn't see anyone else come aboard when we visited the earth a few days ago." Tochiro murmured, seeming just as confused about this as he was sure Harlock undoubtedly was. Before anything more could be said, a throaty howl was heard from the direction of Harlock's quarters.
"Lightningtooth..." Harlock muttered, his eyes darkening as he drew his gravity saber and then charged in that direction, Tochiro not long in following.
"What the hell is going on here? Why is all of this happening now?" Harlock wondered, as thoughts of the imminent Mazone invasion returned to the forefront of his mind...and wondering deep down if these two children were really what they seemed.
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With a groan, Harlock returned to consciousness. His chest and stomach hurt from the hard impact with the wolf's head, yet didn't let it be known that it was still causing discomfort.
"Ow. And people on earth had thought I was the one with the hard head!" Harlock groused, as he opened his eyes and blearily looked around. To his surprise, the wolf was sitting before the both of them with a seemingly puzzled look on his lupine features. His mind still a little muddled from having been bashed into a wall, Harlock made a move to stand up and check on Tochiro, only to freeze in place when the wolf started snarling at him.
"Stay where you are, if you wish to keep breathing." the wolf said, fiercely. Too dizzy to really argue the point, Harlock sat back down and leaned against the wall; breathing deeply in an effort to quell the sick feeling moving so suddenly had brought to him. Finally, when he was able to think straight again, Harlock looked directly at the wolf again. This time he noticed something he'd missed before; the wolf seemed to be wearing some sort of collar around his shaggy neck. A skull and crossbones pendant could just barely be seen, glinting from time to time in the light of the chandelier above them.
"You'd said...that you're Captain Harlock's guardian...What'd you mean by that?" Harlock questioned; wheezing a little bit, since talking hurt his slightly bruised lungs.
"The Captain saved my life when I was just a cub. I owe him much for that, thus I am willing to give up my own life for him." the wolf replied, calmly, as he lay down in front of the pair and silently added, "And you, young one, bear such an eerie resemblance to the Captain as he had looked when he was but a boy."
"Ow...Stop th' world...I wanna get off..." a weak voice muttered, as its' owner dizzily started to sit up, took one look at the wolf, and just about jumped out of his skin.
"Relax Tochiro...So far it doesn't seem like he wants to eat us..." Harlock said, as his friend crawled over to him and gave the wolf a distrustful look.
"So you say..." Tochiro muttered, then sourly added, "So far, you've been pretty wrong on just about everything." The wolf couldn't help but snicker when he saw the vaguely insulted look appear on Harlock's young face, then banished his amusement and gave both children a stern look.
"Be that as it may, it will be up to the Captain to decide what should be done with you two." the wolf stated; ignoring Harlock's comment about his 'eating them' with the grace and patience a saint would have been jealous of. No sooner had he said that, did two men enter the room behind him. In silent wonder, the boys could only stare at the faces of the men that had sired them; they weren't looking at wanted posters anymore...These two men were the real thing. The wolf uttered a bark of greeting to the pair, standing and trotting over to them as he did so. The man known the universe over as Captain Harlock was an imposing sight; he had his gravity saber in hand, ready for a fight, and a pistol was holstered on his right hip, completing the image of a battle-ready warrior. The elder Tochiro was also a man not to be taken lightly. They could both just barely see what appeared to be a holstered pistol peeking out from under his tattered brown robe, and the hilt of a katana could also be seen. For a few moments, they stood staring at one another in disbelief, then Captain Harlock spoke; breaking the uneasy silence.
"What is your name?" Captain Harlock asked, his gaze solely on Harlock as he spoke.
"Phantom Harlock IIII, sir." Harlock replied; noticing when the captain stiffened, and his eye narrowed.
"And you?" the elder Tochiro asked, in turn.
"Oyama Tochiro Jr." Tochiro said, a little nervously. For a few long moments, both men were silent; then they glanced at one another, nodded in silent agreement, and walked over to the wine-chest that was situated right beside the desk.
"Gonna pull a La Miime, old friend?" the elder Tochiro asked, when he saw Captain Harlock pull one of the wine bottles out of the cabinet and uncork it; not even bothering to find a glass, as he did so.
"What do you think?" Captain Harlock grumbled, in response, before taking a good swig of the alcohol. At this, the wolf could only sigh and shake his head.
"If you keep that up, my friend, you'll drink yourself into an early grave." the wolf murmured; smirking slightly when Captain Harlock gave him a dry look.
"I think the situation calls for it. It isn't every day that a man finds himself to be a father." Captain Harlock muttered, before putting the wine bottle to the side, and then glancing at Harlock again.
"Who was your mother, Phantom?" Captain Harlock questioned, a bit shakily.
"Maya, the Voice of Radio Free Arcadia..." Harlock replied, hesitantly; noticing when Captain Harlock's face paled a little, and when he shook his head as though to clear it.
"As hard as it is for me to believe it...I have the feeling that I am hearing the truth...How old are you?" Captain Harlock again asked.
"Just turned eight, sir." Harlock answered.
"Eight years old...and you and your friend had somehow managed to throw the Arcadia into complete chaos. If that isn't proof that he is your son, old friend, and the other is Tochiro's son, then I don't know what else could prove it." the wolf murmured, jokingly, as he returned his gaze to the captain of the pirate ship.
"But they can't stay here, Lightningtooth. They must return to the earth." Captain Harlock stubbornly said.
"We can't go back." Tochiro quietly said.
"Why can't you go back, kid?" the elder Tochiro asked, curiously; having noticed the oddly grim looks that were crossing their young faces.
"We're the leaders of an underground resistance movement...Or we were, before we stowed away." Harlock stated, boldly; not breaking eye contact even once from the captain's single brown eye.
"You mean...the movement calling itself the 'Arcadia Underground'? You two actually led it?" the elder Tochiro asked, shocked when he realized what this meant.
"Hai." Tochiro confirmed, a little guiltily. And yet, this earned both him and Harlock a grin from the diminutive engineer.
"Hear that? Not even ten years old and already they're outlaws! Chips off the old blocks!" the elder Tochiro laughed, as he swept his son into an embrace, and then playfully ruffled the boy's hair. As Harlock watched, the ice seemed to melt from around the man he knew was his father, and the look in that single eye softened a little bit.
"So it would seem, old friend. So it would seem..." Captain Harlock sighed, then kneeled before Harlock and held out a hand in greeting, "Welcome aboard, Young Harlock. You're fighting under my flag, now." At this, Harlock smiled, reached out, and gripped his father's hand as strongly as he could. He was now a member of his father's crew...What more could he ask for?
Author's Note!
Okay, as Ligthingtooth had alluded to in her story, here's Young Harlock and Tochiro's past! Hope this was an all right attempt!
Gemini14