Greetings, all. Aerandir asked me to post this here a little bit ago, but I couldn't seem to log in, so sorry it took so long. This is the first in a series from a little challenge I've undertaken for October. I just asked my tumblr followers for Leijiverse prompts revolving around themes of Halloween, fall, or horror, and I've been posting a little drabble based on them every few days as I complete them. I've still got a few more I could do if you guys want to send me any prompts. I'm figuring I'll post them all here in one big chapter fic, even if they're not all Harlock themed.

Ahh anyway, this was a little practice one I made the prompt for: Monono sees fall for the first time. I hope you like it. I was trying to get the hang of description, since I feel like that's one of my weak points.

Tadashi hated the cold. He hated everything about it. He hated the way it sunk down below his skin and numbed his fingers and toes. He especially hated how it made the ground hard, because then he couldn't dig when he needed to.

But he didn't hear the captain say that he should grab a coat. He was too stunned by the sight of the planet they were landing on. "It's orange!" he cried in awe.

"Well duh. It's fall," Rebi giggled.

"I've heard of that!" He jumped up from his seat, placing his hands on the console and leaning forward to see more of the nearing area. "It's, um, between winter and spring, right?"

His sister playfully stuck out her tongue. "No, silly. It's winter, spring, summer, fall." She recited them as she counted each one of on her fingers, nodding once she was sure she'd gotten them all right.

"Oh...it's so orange," he repeated.

"Tadashi didn't experience all the seasons on his planet," Dr. Ban explained as he walked up to the girl and attempted to put her coat on her. She wriggled away in protest, running up to her brother.

"How does that work?" she asked.

"We just had winter and summer I guess," he shrugged. "Dad said the planet had been suitable for habitation when they first settled, but everything died off over time. The temperatures were so extreme that nothing could grow. But I've heard of fall. It's so pretty. I didn't know you could have different-colored leaves like that."

He'd became so infatuated with the color scheme, the way everything looked so warm and fiery, that he never properly noticed when Rebi was finally wrestled into her coat and Kei pulled on a second layer. The colors tricked him into imagining it was warm, and as soon as he stepped out, he found himself shivering.

The air wasn't as painfully cold as it had been on his planet. It was more of a sharp crispness that smelled clean yet earthy, like dying leaves. His breath escaped with small clouds on the air. It was cold out, but the trees still stood, covered in fiery leaves.

"We should be departing within five hours," the captain warned. His cook was staring every which-way around the area, paying him no attention. "Tadashi," he called.

"Captain, can I go look around for a bit?" the boy begged, his eyes bright with excitement. Oh, sure, he had things he had to do for the ship, but he could get those done later. Right now he just had to go see some of those trees up close. There was a huge forest right next to them, and he just had to take a quick walk through it. It was important.

Harlock thought about saying no simply on the grounds that there wasn't much to look at, but he certainly wasn't going to steal a bit of happiness from the boy if that was what Tadashi wanted. "Just make sure you go to resupply," he reminded him with a light smile.

Tadashi would get around to resupplying. First he just had to see these trees. Greenery had been rare enough on his planet, but he'd gotten used to seeing it on others. He'd never seen leaves like this though. They were beautiful.

He waded through the swarm of brown and red and gold that had already fallen to the ground, his steps like crashing cymbals to his own ears. Fall was so quiet when he stood still, but as soon as he moved, it broke the spell. He'd pause his walk to feel the silent peace again, only broken when the wind would whistle around him and send chills across his skin. He was cold, but it didn't bother him. He'd been through worse. A little cold wouldn't hurt.

As soon as he was close enough, he jumped up to grab a leaf from a low-hanging branch. Then he turned it over in his hand, examining every inch of it. The veins of orange spidered across its skin. So pretty.

He did the same for a yellow and a red and any leaf that looked interesting or different. Soon enough he had a pocket full of them, and he wasn't entirely sure which direction he'd come from. It wasn't worrisome to him. He'd reach an exit eventually, but he honestly wasn't interested in finding one.

His fingers were numbing though, and he could no longer feel his toes. He sniffled every few seconds to keep his nose from running, but he never would have admitted being cold. He'd been somewhere way colder, so he could handle this, even if he'd been wearing something warmer at the time...

It was easy to hear someone moving through the sea of leaves, so he saw Mr. Tochiro coming despite how his outfit blended in with his surroundings. He also saw the man trip on something hidden under the leaves and fall on his face. Running up to him, Tadashi helped haul him back to his feet. "Be careful, Mr. Tochiro! The doctor just fixed your nose from last time."

"I know-I know," the engineer huffed, lightly smacking the boy's shoulder. "Gosh, kid, you're turning blue."

"I feel fine," Tadashi argued, his lips trembling as he shivered.

Tochiro cocked a brow, his eyes disbelieving behind his thick glasses. "Well Harlock was worried you'd gotten lost. You know you need to be back on the ship with all the restocking done within the next two hours if you're going to make dinner in time."

"Aww, but look at how pretty it is," the boy pouted. "I can restock in a bit. Just let me look around a little longer. I keep finding new leaves!"

"Alright," Tochiro sighed as he rolled his eyes. "Just a little bit longer. I'm not going to be the one getting in trouble because you stayed out here too long. Now the sun's setting, and it's going to be getting colder out." Removing his hat, he pulled off his cloak and threw it over the boy's head. "It's not going to be good if you freeze to death, so when you decide to leave, go toward the sun. That's the direction of the town where our supplies are, alright?"

Tadashi nodded, adjusting his new blanket. He could have just plopped down right there and huddled in it until the ice disappeared from his skin. Alright, maybe he'd been a little cold. "Thanks, Mr. Tochiro!"

"Have fun, kid. Don't get too lost."

After Tochiro left, Tadashi found a river and a fallen tree and other fun things to look at. He wasn't sure what he'd do with all the leaves he'd collected, but he liked having all the little trophies. Maybe he spent a bit too much time wandering around, and maybe he was way past his curfew. He glanced toward the setting sun. Alright, he'd head back. Hopefully the captain wouldn't be too mad.

As he followed the sun, sinking down below the skyline and lighting even more of the world up with warm hues, the trees stopped around an open field. Inside it were dozens of odd roundish orange things. Tadashi walked up and curiously nudged one with his shoe. It appeared to be a plant, probably a vegetable if it was edible. There were lots of small ones and a few the size of his head. If they were edible...could he take them with him? Maybe they could have strange orange plant for dinner. He was getting to really like the color orange.

Pulling off a glove, he poked one a few times. The skin was smooth to the touch, cool like everything else. They sounded hollow when he knocked on them. He absolutely had to take one with him. They were too odd not to.

One in particular stood out, and it had to be the one he took with him. It was as wide as the captain's wheel, huge and fat and orange. He went up and grabbed it, trying to haul it up. Of course it was a bit heavy, but he'd be damned if he was going to let that stop him. Maybe he could roll it to the ship. He just needed to put it on its side.

But after all his tugging and pushing and struggling with it, all he managed to do was pull it back, where it promptly toppled him over and rolled on top of him. It felt heavier when it was crushing him. Still...he was holding it off the ground. He'd obviously won, and he couldn't give up now.

After a few minutes trapped under his prize, he again heard someone approaching. This time he couldn't see whom around the massive orange thing blocking his view.

"Are you having fun?" the smooth voice of his captain drawled.

Tadashi had lost none of his enthusiasm. "Yeah, can we take this with us? I need it."

"You do?"

"Yessir."

"What for?"

"For cooking and things."

Harlock tried to hide the amusement from his voice. "Do you know what that is?"

"No, is it edible?"

"It is."

"Then I need it."

"Alright, hang on." The captain carefully pulled the gourd off his squished cook. "It's called a pumpkin, Tadashi. You know you were supposed to be back half an hour ago. Luckily Kei restocked without you."

The boy glanced around as he sat up, the last part of his captain's speech lost on him. "Punkin?" he echoed curiously "Can we take them all with us?"

"No, but we can each carry one, I suppose, and not this one." He knocked on the massive one that had nearly crushed his cook. "You could make a pie with them." Harlock found it difficult to be angry with how happy his crewman was. It was also difficult to be angry when thinking of pumpkin pie.

Tadashi ran and grabbed the next biggest one he could find, falling on his haunches as soon as he'd managed to pick it up. With a sigh, Harlock went and took it from him. "Get one you can carry," his captain advised.

The boy puffed his chapped cheeks. "I'm stronger than I look."

Harlock ruffled his messy hair. "I know."

Once they each had a reasonable pumpkin, they headed back. Tadashi was starting to feel more like curling up with a mug of hot tea than cooking dinner, but he was going to miss the forest of warm leaves.

"Hey, Captain, is there gonna be a fall on Arcadia?"

His captain nodded, sure of it.

"Will it have punkins?"

Harlock breathed a laugh. "Well, you can always keep the seeds and make sure."

"Okay, we'll have lots of punkins! We'll have a huge garden, and we'll have all these leaves and trees too!" He continued chattering excitedly about his Arcadia, his nose and cheeks a shining pink, his breath appearing in foggy wisps. He barely took notice of the cold.

Gosh, fluff is really not my forte, but I do like boys being dorks. The next one is Maetel-centric fluff fic about baby Maetel's Halloween escapades, or lack thereof.