Warrior Souls
Part One
His life was hell, plain and simple. Every day for the past month or so, it was constant, fiery pain, and then moments when he thought he would pass out from it, and his inability to breathe. It had been going on for so long, that he'd forgotten when the metal monstrosity around his neck had come to be there……And, because of it, his strength was waning. At his side, an old friend worriedly lingered; blue eyes showing the emotion very clearly. His companion could remember the days when they had fought, side-by-side, and the seemingly invincible strength that had flowed within them then…..Bothered by this situation all the more, because of the man's rapid decline. Those selfsame blue eyes narrowed, when he remembered the day when the electricity had finally stopped flowing within the metal band around his friend's neck; the death-cries of the torturers as he'd torn them asunder with his claws, and the taste of their blood as he'd ripped them apart with his fangs. Even now, the thought of it sickened him.
"He needs help…..Won't last much longer…..Must find help." The creature thought, before taking off in search of someone who could either help his friend…..or give him a respectful burial.
……………………
Lightningtooth could only chuckle; when he heard a surprised yelp come from Harlock's quarters, and then a loud crash.
"Fell asleep in your chair again, I see. You need to stop doing that, old friend. You'll ruin your back that way." Lightningtooth chortled, as he trotted into the room; smirking when he saw the captain's booted feet disappear behind the desk, and then saw Harlock peer irritably around the corner of the piece of furniture at him.
"Tell me something I don't know." Harlock muttered, moodily, as he slowly got back up; his back cracking slightly when he stood up and stretched, and wincing at the sound of it.
"You have a bed, you know. Why do you keep falling asleep at the desk?" Lightningtooth questioned, curiously. At this, he got a shrug from the pirate captain in response.
"Habit, I guess." Harlock replied, as he made his way to the wine cabinet and pulled out the brandy; freezing suddenly when his hand brushed up against the ancient bottle of leftover sake, and when a vague feeling of pain emerged in his neck.
"Harlock?" Lightningtooth asked, when he'd noticed the change in his friend, and becoming minutely concerned. All in a moment, Harlock returned to himself; shaking his head to free it of the sensations he'd felt.
"The old wound left from that electrocution ring is starting to bother me again…..and I can only wonder why." Harlock murmured; his tone now very subdued and distracted, and his eye getting a troubled look in it.
"You haven't done anything to it recently that would cause it to hurt, have you?" Lightningtooth questioned; getting a shake of the head from the space pirate captain, as a response.
"Not that I can recall…..And the pain usually only strikes when I accidentally touch the old bottle of sake that's been left in here…..Why would there be such a connection to it? And why now, of all times, when there hadn't been anything before?" Harlock asked, bewildered by this, to say the least.
"If that's the case….then maybe someone or something is calling out to you through that jug. And, since you have experienced a similar pain, you can feel it from whoever it is, as well." Lightningtooth suggested; sensing that there was more to this than even Harlock realized.
"How can we know for sure?" Harlock again asked. This got a smile from the blue-eyed wolf.
"I might be able to trace the feelings to their source through you, by using you as my medium. I'm not the Doctor's TARDIS, granted, but I can get us there, no problem." Lightningtooth stated; smiling slightly when Harlock rolled his eye at this idea, and knowing that his friend knew that he would be in very hot water, when the crew found out and caught up with them.
"I can only hope you know what you're doing, and that the tracer in my belt buckle still works….." Harlock muttered, reluctantly, then picked up the jug. This time, the feeling of pain was weaker; hinting that whoever had been unconsciously sending it through time and space, wouldn't be doing so for much longer.
"We need to hurry." Was the thought shared by both Harlock and Lightningtooth, before the wolf's powers surrounded the both of them, and they were gone in a flash of light.
…………………………….
All was still within the clearing he had collapsed in, as late afternoon segued into evening. Very faintly, he could feel it when the temperature began to drop; the chill of winter beginning to make its presence known.
"Soon……there will be snow……Life will slumber beneath its own blanket…..until spring. What was it I used to say? Oh. That's right…..Cherry blossoms in the spring….."
A few yards away, something was beginning to happen; a sort of ripple was appearing in front of him.
"Stars in the summer……."
The vortex was widening; stretching itself to allow two creatures to pass through it…..One appeared to be a man dressed in a black uniform and cloak, the other, a huge, midnight-black wolf.
"Full moon in autumn……."
Within moments, the pair was standing within the clearing with him; their eyes widening in horror when they beheld his battered and obviously dying state.
"And the snow in winter……is enough to make……sake……taste good." The man thought; smiling vaguely at the next thought that crossed his mind, "I wish I had some…..At least then……dying wouldn't be such a wretched thing."
"Oh, by the Great Packs……" a voice murmured, in utter horror and shock; prompting the dying man into looking up. No sooner had he done so, did what appear to be a wolf approach, with his human companion following not far behind. Even as muddled as his mind was, he still tried to smirk, and say something to them; only managing a choking gasp, instead.
"Easy, friend. Don't try to talk." The wolf murmured; when he'd heard the strangled note in the gasp, and had turned concerned blue eyes towards his master.
"He's in worse shape than I was, before the Arcadia came to retrieve me from the hunters….." the man muttered, as he then carefully pushed aside a long, thick strand of dark hair away from the dying man's neck; his eye narrowing when he beheld what appeared to be a metal ring. The wolf's eyes narrowed as well.
"An electrocution ring. Damn, I have seen my fill of those." The man snarled, then gave the dying man a determined look, "Think you can sit up a bit more? I'm going to try and get this damned thing off of you." Without a word, the other man valiantly struggled into a more upright sitting position; the strain of doing so becoming readily apparent, as he struggled to breathe despite the ring digging ever deeper into his neck.
"Now, hold still." The dark-clothed man said, then started to un-holster the pistol on his hip. For a brief moment, the other man stiffened and gave him a look of obvious unease, then quickly calmed and closed his dark eyes.
"If there's no other way……then so be it." He mused. Either way, at the very least, he would finally be free of the wicked thing. Yet, before the dark-clothed man could even pull the trigger, another creature roared into the clearing; blue eyes alight with feral rage and determination to protect his lifelong friend.
"Whoa!!" the dark-clothed man yelped; leaping back so the creature's claws and fangs wouldn't tear into him. In a flash, the wolf was standing before him; gazing determinedly into furious eyes that were the same shade of blue as his own.
"Calm down, friend. We are not trying to harm your master…..Far from it." The wolf tried to say, in an effort to placate the huge, feline creature that stood bristling before him.
"Say what you will! Men such as your master have been torturing my friend for months on end! I will not let him put down my friend as though he were nothing more than a broken-down horse!" the feline raged; his fury at the dying man's plight very easily felt, as well as seen.
"That is not what we're trying to do, here." Lightningtooth tried to say; trying his best to talk his way out of a useless fight, and make the bristling feline see what it was they were trying to do. And then, in another mighty effort, the other man reached out to the great cat, and ran his fingers through its' dark, blue-striped mane. Calming at the touch, the cat turned and gave its master a confused look; moving aside only when it saw the determined glint in the man's ebon eyes, and saw him nod resolutely.
"This might be my only chance….." the man thought, as he once again went still, closed his eyes, and angled his neck in such a way to make the shot easier. Seconds later, the shot was fired from the pistol, the blast hit the ring dead-center, and the ring itself finally fell from the man's badly burnt neck. With a pain-filled groan, he fell forward into his unusual Good Samaritan's arms; struggling to pull as much oxygen into his air-deprived lungs as he could, and blearily looking gratefully up into the other's single eye as he did so.
"Thank….you….." he managed to whisper, through a painfully protesting throat. At this, he got a grim smile from the black-garbed man.
"It was the least I could do…..Since I know full well how painful those hell-cursed rings can be. I myself had experienced it, firsthand." The dark-clothed man replied, honestly, as he helped him lie back against the weathered stones; taking care with how he moved him, as he did so.
"Have you activated the tracer yet, Harlock?" the wolf asked, in a tone much more subdued than before.
"What do you think I'm doing now, old friend?" the dark-clothed man replied, as he pressed something behind his belt buckle, and a soft red light started to shine from it. And yet, even with this unusual turn of events, and the questions he had for the pair, his mind was becoming foggier by the minute.
"I only hope they hurry…..This warrior won't last much longer without medical attention." The wolf stated, worriedly; his voice beginning to echo within the other man's brain, until, at last, consciousness faded……and darkness fell.
……………………
Kei Yuki could only worriedly glance over her shoulder, from time to time, at the empty captain's chair, and the alien woman keeping vigil there. In only a few hours, they had discovered that the captain was missing from the ship, as was his wolf, and that said ship had just begun to respond to a familiar signal…..A signal only the Arcadia and a few other ships could pick up on.
"I hope nothing bad has happened to him, this time." Kei murmured, fretfully.
"Harlock is uninjured, so far…..But he's extremely worried about someone. He's hoping that we'll get there in time to help this person….." La Miime stated, sensing through her empathic connection to their missing captain that time wasn't on their side.
"Then let's go ahead and put the engines through their paces! All ahead full!" Yattaran shouted, getting an automatic compliance from the Arcadia that told them that the ship agreed with that, wholeheartedly.
"We're coming, Harlock. For whoever it is that needs the help, we're coming as fast as we can!" Kei thought, as they all put every ounce of effort into getting there in time to save just that one life.
……………………………
Harlock sighed as he restlessly fed dried branches to the flames of a small campfire; looking up when Lightningtooth approached his side.
"Still hanging in there?" Harlock asked, when he'd seen the grave look in the wolf's azure eyes.
"Barely. His throat wound is infected…..and it's causing difficulties in breathing. He also has an almost dangerously high fever because of it, as well. All told, I'm amazed he's even still alive. The wounds and the sickness they have caused would have killed a normal man, long before now." Lightningtooth replied, as he gave the ill man a look of deep respect before saying, "His will to live must be as strong, or even stronger, than yours' old friend."
"It is to be expected, from a man such as him. He looks to be a swordsman of some standing……and the way he looks reminds me of a description I had heard of another strong-willed warrior from a long time ago." Harlock mused, then added, "It's good to know that such men still exist in the universe……Warrior souls who refuse to know surrender."
"Then you know who he is, then?" Lightningtooth asked, as he gazed at the ill warrior from his position next to Harlock. The space pirate only shook his head.
"I can only guess, at this point." Harlock stated, "But there can't be too many human swordsmen anymore who would wear a mantle as elaborate as the one he's wearing."
"True." Lightningtooth agreed, as they both took in the sick man's appearance; he was a tall, muscular fellow, with tanned skin and long ebony hair. His clothes, though tattered, were Japanese in make, hinting at where he had originally come from, before ending up here, and in this sorry state. His mantle though, appeared untouched; the white material seeming to glow in the light of the campfire, and it's red lining and collar having taken on the hue of drying blood in the flickering light.
"Could those old legends Tochiro had told me been true? Could this man be the same one that has guarded Japan since ancient times?" Harlock wondered, as he watched the great cat slumber behind his master; pillowing the ill man's head against his side in an effort to make it more comfortable for him; his twin tails draped across his master's lap, as well. Then, to both Harlock's and Lightningtooth's relief, the sound of a ship finally came to their ears……The Arcadia had finally arrived.
"And not a moment too soon." Both thought, in obvious relief, as they watched the space pirate ship descend confidently through the atmosphere to land within feet of the forest itself.
"Captain! Do you read? Over! Please respond! Over!" Kei's voice pleaded, concernedly, over the comm-link.
"Reading you loud and clear, Kei. Alert Doc Zero and tell him to ready the sickbay. There's a warrior out here who needs medical attention." Harlock commanded, from his position near the fire.
"Right away!" Kei responded, before turning off her end of the comm-link. Within moments, some of the stronger members of the crew had emerged from the ship with a stretcher in tow. At their forefront were Doc Zero, Kei, and La Miime.
"Thank goodness you're both all right! But how did you two get here? Your fighter is still in the Arcadia's docking bay!" Kei said, when she was close enough.
"Long story. All I can say, however, is that it is thanks to Lightningtooth's power that we were able to prevent a lingering death from one of those damned rings." Harlock stated, as he watched the sickbay personnel carefully lift the ill warrior onto the stretcher (with the worried cat watching them very closely, as they did so).
"That warrior…..His mantle is known to me…..My people had had legends regarding such a warrior……But this can't be the same one. It has been thousands of years since he left the stars, never to return." La Miime mused, as Doc Zero inserted an I.V. into the man's arm, and then urged the men carrying the stretcher to hurry back into the ship.
"He's either a descendent of that warrior, or an inheritor of his sword style. We won't know until he awakens." Harlock stated, quietly.
"If he awakens. This looks pretty bad, Captain." Doc Zero murmured, doubtfully, then rushed after the men carrying the stretcher.
"We can only hope he does." Lightningtooth mused, as he watched the twin-tailed cat follow them closely into the ship; eyes showing only intense worry, at this point, for his master.
………………………
Hours later, they listened as Doc Zero gave them the report of how the warrior was doing.
"He's got severe cases of blood poisoning in his neck and wrists, and an almost fatally high fever. There's also a bit of fluid in his lungs, a side-effect of the infections. All told, I'm surprised he's still with us." Doc Zero muttered, grimly, as he eyed the bed where the warrior now lay. His wounds were now treated and bandaged, but he looked no better than he had before.
"I want an hourly update on his condition throughout the night, Doc Zero." Harlock commanded, and then turned to Kei, "Conduct a search for any recent missing persons reports that match his description."
"On it!" Kei replied, promptly, before rushing back to her post.
"La Miime, if you can, do you think you can find out who exactly he is, and how he had been captured?" Harlock asked, as he gazed at the compassionate alien woman.
"I will do all I can." La Miime promised, as she took a seat at the sick man's side, and gently took one of his hands in hers'.
"Why all this effort for one stranger, Captain?" Doc Zero finally asked, when the dark-clad man started to walk out of the sickbay.
"Someone who has been guarding the earth for as long as he has, deserves the least we can do……And, in an indirect way, if it weren't for him, the Arcadia would never have been built." Harlock murmured, as he remembered the tales Tochiro had told him; one story in particular returning to mind as he spoke.
"You mean at some point in the past, he'd saved Tochiro's life?" Doc Zero questioned, confusedly.
"Probably not the Tochiro we had known, but more than likely one of his ancestors." Harlock stated, as he walked out of the sickbay and down the hall; leaving Doc Zero standing there with even more questions than he had answers for.
"Could this man truly be that old?" Doc Zero wondered, then sighed in exasperation and turned to observe the man's vital signs. It was going to be a long night.
…………………
Through the corridors of the man's mind, La Miime wandered. All around her, she could sense the warrior's awareness of her presence; eying her with evident distrust from the shadows.
"It is all right. I came at the behest of my captain to help you. I am La Miime. Who are you?" she asked, gently. She received no immediate response, yet could only blink when the shadows abruptly disappeared, and she found herself in a sunlit forest clearing. A simple cabin stood on one side of it, with a potter's kiln close beside it. She turned to look when some movement came to her sensitive ears, and a tall man came striding into the clearing from behind her. Immediately she could sense the pride and strength of spirit within him, reminded in many ways of the captain she had sworn on her life to protect. With some irritation on his part, he went into the cabin, retrieved something from inside, and then came back out. To La Miime's surprise, he now held a jug of sake and two cups in his strong hands. He then motioned to the log situated in front of the kiln with a nod of his head.
"Even if it is only in the mind, sake is needed." The man muttered, with an irritated sigh; earning him some quiet laughter from La Miime in response to that.
"I agree. Thank you." La Miime said, as the white-mantled warrior poured some of the drink into one of the cups, and handed it to her. Yet, he couldn't help but stare in amazement at her when she downed the contents of the cup in one gulp, and then held it out for some more.
"I thought there was more to you than met the eye……Aside from the obvious." The man stated, as he then refilled her cup; this time out of respect for her ability to handle the drink. La Miime offered him only her version of a smile.
"I am descended from a race who survives on alcohol alone." La Miime admitted, this time sipping the drink a little more leisurely in order to make it last.
"Sounds like some youkai I had met a long time ago." The warrior said, then looked directly at her, "What do you wish to know?"
"What name do you go by? And how were you caught by those who had tortured you so badly?" La Miime asked. Her questions earned her a slight grimace from the warrior as a response.
"I was, and still am, known as Seijuro Hiko the Thirteenth…..the last heir of a kenkaku known as Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. I have been alive since the Sengoku Era; a fact that the Machine Men weren't very willing to overlook. Originally, I was captured while trying to free a few others from a yarou known as Kichigai." The warrior growled; the memory of that event returning the 'wounds' to their places on his body. At this, La Miime's eyes narrowed; remembering only too well how close to death Young Harlock had been, after his run-in with the insane, mechanized doctor. With every ounce of her own willpower, she forced the residual anger out of her heart, and placed a soothing hand on Hiko's white-mantled shoulder.
"You're free of that, now." La Miime reassured.
"True. Yet I can only wonder where I am now……It doesn't feel as though I am on a planet, anymore……And I can feel the presence of what seems to be a disembodied spirit." Hiko said, his words amazing the alien woman to no end.
"He's sharp. But I guess I should've expected that, from one of the strongest swordsmen to ever live on a pre-Mechanized Earth." Another male voice said, as it's diminutive owner appeared before them.
"Tochiro!" La Miime said, in surprise and a little happiness; glad that she was going to have some help in keeping the warrior from slipping into death.
"You resemble your ancestor a great deal……But I can only hope that you had become a better shot." Hiko muttered, as he gave Tochiro a deadpan look. Tochiro only smiled good-naturedly in answer to the jab.
"Hell yeah. I wouldn't have survived very long, if I hadn't been. Nor would I have been able to have built the handgun that had saved your life a few hours ago, either." Tochiro stated; getting a nod from the mantled warrior in agreement.
"Though I never would have guessed that a gun could save my life…..I've had some bad run-ins with them before." Hiko muttered, as he poured some sake into the leftover cup, and handed it to Tochiro.
"It all depends on who uses them. I only made but a few Cosmo Dragoons, and those guns have saved the lives of their masters and their loved ones about a hundred times over." Tochiro stated; grinning as he accepted the cup, and noticed Hiko's somewhat skeptical glance.
"The guns have wills of their own?" Hiko asked, as he set the sake jug down on the grass beside the seat. Tochiro only inclined his head, and smiled.
"You doubt it?" Tochiro in turn asked, rhetorically.
"Not really……Though I am more familiar with that being said of swords. Very rarely have I heard of a gun taking on a will of its' own." Hiko murmured, thoughtfully, then gazed seriously at the pair before him, "What sort of man is this captain of yours', anyway?" At this, La Miime and Tochiro exchanged a glance, and nodded.
"He's one of a dying breed, my friend. You'll rarely find a man of honor like him, in this day and age." Tochiro said, seriously.
"I rarely see them in any age. Only once in a great while…..do I see someone that has what it takes to be a true man…..And then, sometimes, he's fed to the dogs before he can become what he is supposed to be." Hiko said; the sadness in his voice only giving the pair a glimpse of the despair that had been lingering deep within him for so long.
"You're speakin' from experience…..You've seen that sort of thing happen way too often, huh?" Tochiro questioned, with true sympathy for the ancient warrior before him. With a sigh, Hiko nodded.
"The unexpected side-effect of being alive for so long……is seeing so many generations come and go……What goes through those fools' minds as they throw away their humanity and trade their souls for machines? What makes them think they would really want such a fate?" Hiko mused aloud; almost repeating, word for word, what Young Harlock had asked of Kei, not so long ago.
"Couldn't begin to tell ya, my friend. All I can say is that you'd found some way to survive without a mechanized body, and that was why the Machine Empire wanted you out of the way. They didn't want anybody to know that they could live just as long without them." Tochiro said; getting a slight, pained smirk from Hiko for that.
"Not that that was intentional. The only reasons that are worth mentioning to explain why I am still around was because my Baka Deshi had refused to kill me, and that I am too damn stubborn to die on my own." Hiko muttered, the statement getting a good-natured laugh from Tochiro as a response.
"Then you and Harlock are more alike than you think! He'd said basically the same thing about being stubborn to me a short while before I got sick and passed away!" Tochiro laughed, remembering the conversation (and the rather foul mood his friend had been in, at that time), very clearly.
"Is your apprentice still alive?" La Miime asked, gently. She got an arched eyebrow from the white-mantled swordsman in response.
"If he isn't, then I would be rather disappointed in him." Hiko muttered, then sighed and stood.
"What's up?" Tochiro asked, somehow knowing that something had attracted Hiko's attention.
"I think someone has come to call you away from the conversation." Hiko stated, as he glanced at La Miime for a moment, and nodded back in the direction she had come.
"Harlock may have found something……Maybe a lead on the whereabouts of your apprentice?" La Miime suggested, as she also stood and prepared to leave.
"Perhaps. But I won't hold my breath. The connection between us has become rather tenuous, of late……I just hope he hasn't been caught by that yarou, or fallen prey to that space disease that had been running so rampant here, lately." Hiko quietly said, his worry for the other man's wellbeing just barely being allowed to come to the forefront.
"Don't worry. If anything, he's probably just laying low; trying to avoid notice from the Machine Empire." Tochiro stated, grinning when a slight feeling of hope mixed with the despair they could both feel from the ancient warrior.
"Feh. It was how he'd survived before, during the first eleven years of the Meiji…..I just hope his common sense has improved." Hiko muttered, with a slight sigh of exasperation as he remembered so many other occasions when it had proven to be the exact opposite.
"We'll soon see." La Miime stated, as she gently withdrew from the warrior's mind, and returned to her own.
…………………………
Harlock was waiting patiently on the other end of the room, when La Miime returned to herself.
"Well? What were you able to find out?" Harlock asked, quietly.
"He is the man from the legends Tochiro had told you. His name is Seijuro Hiko the Thirteenth." La Miime murmured, as she gazed softly at the wounded man, and then turned her golden gaze to him, "Were you able to find anything out, Captain?"
"Not much. Kei is still searching through the reports for anything matching his description……Though there have been signs that someone knows he's missing." Harlock stated, continuing when he saw the curious look in La Miime's golden eyes, "Apparently, shortly after I destroyed the satellite Kichigai had been using, someone else demolished the factory that had manufactured those rings…..And the description of one of those men seemed to stand out above the rest. A small man with bright red hair, and a faded cross-shaped scar on one cheek." Harlock said, noticing when the warrior's face twitched slightly; proving that he'd heard the description.
"Does anyone know the whereabouts of the man with the cross-shaped scar now, Captain?" La Miime asked, when she'd sensed the hope rising within the wounded man beside her.
"No. All that has been found of him were just a few sightings in the last decade. Nothing that would tell anyone where he is or where he's going….." Harlock muttered, yet allowing an eyebrow to rise when a slight, relieved smirk appeared on Hiko's pallid face.
"Sounds a bit like your own comings and goings, of late." Lightningtooth murmured, jokingly, ignoring the dry look Harlock gave him, moments afterwards.
"Hiko's relieved just to know that much, Captain. He had even told Tochiro and me that he was beginning to doubt whether his apprentice was still alive…..That their connection had become very weak." La Miime said, gently, as she brushed a delicate hand against the warrior's fevered brow.
"I just wonder how much of that is because of what had happened to him? He may have a strong spirit, but there's still the infection to overcome…..The worst of it being in his throat." Harlock mused, as he grimly walked out of the sickbay. Would the warrior even be able to survive, after all he'd been through? Or would the infection claim him?
………………….
It was a long, slow process, to gather enough strength to awaken. His body felt weighted down, and he could feel the pain in his neck and wrists keenly.
"Never would I have imagined that such pain could be possible…..from just three pieces of over-glorified metal…..It seems I now know what an attack from the Mugenjin would have felt like….." Hiko mused, as he laboriously opened his eyes; finding himself staring at a sickbay's ceiling.
"Ah, so you've 'returned'. That's good." A voice said, from beside him. Painfully turning his head to the side, Hiko was a bit surprised to see the same black wolf as before sitting on the floor beside the bed he was now lying in.
"Where…..?" Hiko rasped, a wince forcing itself onto his features when the effort sent stabbing pain through his throat.
"The Arcadia's sickbay. You've been in here for almost a week now…..Doc Zero has been doing all he can to help you fight the infections." The wolf responded, quietly. He smiled slightly when a confused expression appeared on the warrior's face.
"If…..I'm indeed….in a sickbay….then why….do I smell sake?" Hiko asked, braving the pain to voice his question.
"Doc Zero uses sake to treat wounds, on this ship." The wolf stated, inwardly chuckling when a scowl appeared on Hiko's pallid face at this.
"Such a waste…..It's of a high quality…..too good to use on wounds…." Hiko muttered, as he forced himself into a sitting position; wincing slightly with the effort shortly afterwards.
"Finally, a patient with good taste!" a voice chuckled, as its owner came into sight. At this, Hiko only smirked.
"There…..are some….who would argue that point." Hiko managed, bravely ignoring the searing pain that tore through his throat upon saying that.
"You'd be right about that." Doc Zero agreed, with a sigh, then asked, "Care for a drink, then?"
"After…..what I've been through….I could certainly use one." Hiko muttered, his tone hiding the eagerness he had for a well-earned drink. The wolf beside him only watched as Doc Zero grabbed one of the bottles of sake that sat nearby, poured some into some cups, and handed one to the wounded swordsman. Without hesitation, Hiko accepted the cup and downed it's contents; hissing slightly when the alcohol burned the inside of his injured throat on its way down.
"If I may be so bold to ask…..Who was it you were trying to rescue, when you got caught?" the wolf asked; deciding against even mentioning the evil doctor in passing.
"Old allies…..A few others…..who had lived through…...those long years…..with me. The mechanized men…..wanted to know why….we were still alive…..And what it would take….to kill us." Hiko growled; his eyes narrowing in pain and anger at the thought, and fingering the bandages wrapped around his neck as he said that.
"I see….They wanted to know why you and a select few have been able to live outside of time…." The wolf murmured, discomfited by this, for a number of very good reasons, "It seems Captain Zero was right……"
"What do you mean?" the great cat's voice asked, as it entered the sickbay and gave them all an unreadable look.
"A short while ago, my master's son and a friend of his were captured and almost killed by Kichigai. When they came to after their rescue, Zero, one of the men who had been tortured, had said that the Machine Men could very well use the rings to make humans give up their bodies, in order for the pain to stop. My own son, who had heard this firsthand, had been so disturbed by it, that he'd told me of the conversation a few hours later." Lightningtooth replied, somberly.
"It all makes sense, now." The cat mused, angrily; his eyes narrowing at the thought, and a slight snarl escaping from between his lips as well.
"Well, all I can suggest now is that you rest up for a while longer. When you feel up to it, you can go ahead and get up." Doc Zero said, getting a nod from Hiko as a response (even though the action alone must have hurt like hell).
Author's Note!
Yes, I know, this qualifies as an impossible crossover, but I just can't picture one of my favorite characters growing old and dying! Hope this was 'all right' otherwise!
Gemini14
