Foreshadowing Destiny
Chapter One: The Beginning of a Nightmare
It had started as a simple visit to a grave; that was the only way to explain it. Young Harlock gazed solemnly at the screens before him; silently remembering what had happened just months before, when he had last been here.
"Kinda hard to believe that it had taken you into the past, and let you meet your grandfather, huh?" Tochiro murmured, his tone subdued by the sight, as well.
"It is…..but even he'd said that impossible things can happen in space. It's just the first time I've seen something like what had happened to Dad, firsthand." Young Harlock agreed, quietly.
"Yeah……So, are you and Fang still gonna go out there and pay your respects?" Tochiro asked, as he watched his friend leave the DeathShadow's wheel, and as Fang followed close behind him.
"Might as well." Young Harlock said, yet grinned when he looked up and saw the Queen Emeraldas appear as well.
"I guess we'll meet up at the Pirate Islands in a while, then. See ya!" Tochiro shouted, before racing off at top speed in order to get to his fighter and fly over to the other pirate vessel.
"Let's just hope he doesn't end up getting into trouble in the meantime. Right, my friend?" Fang asked, jokingly, as he and Young Harlock also made their way towards the hangar.
"That's a miracle that'll never happen, Fang." Young Harlock muttered, with a laugh, as he picked up his flight helmet and walked to his personal fighter.
"True enough……But then again, you had said something similar before we'd met Falko and Fritz, remember?" Fang reminded; snickering inwardly when Young Harlock directed a vaguely chagrined look to him for that.
"I was hoping you'd forget that." Young Harlock mumbled, with a sigh, as he climbed up into the cockpit, opened the co-pilot's seat for Fang, helped him get into it, and then he sat down and fastened himself in.
"All right, Yattaran. Open the bay door." Young Harlock said, when he'd sealed his cockpit, and watched as Tochiro approached the launch platform first.
"Aye, sir!" Yattaran replied, and then promptly did just that. Seconds later, both fighters were ejected from within the DeathShadow's docking bay, and they went their separate ways.
"See ya in a few hours, Harlock!" Tochiro shouted, as he rocketed towards the Queen Emeraldas.
"See you then, my friend." Young Harlock replied, before veering off and heading towards the Discoverer. Little did either of them realize just what was heading their way…..and how it would shape the rest of their lives.
Vvvvvvvvvvvvvv(Divider)
Harlock sighed as he gazed out the window of his cabin at the stars. So much was happening, and yet nothing was changing, at the same time.
"Here I am……remarried, about to become a father again……and yet I am no longer aging. How could this be?" Harlock wondered, curiously.
"Don't try to figure it out, old friend. You'll fry your brain." Tochiro Sr. chortled, his comment getting a slight smirk from Harlock as a response.
"True enough. Though I suppose if I had been meant to understand it, even Hiko wouldn't have to wonder about it." Harlock mused, ruefully.
"Harlock?" Marian called, "Arcadia to Harlock! Are you still with us?" Marian's voice asked, as she came alongside her husband and smiled up at him.
"Somewhat…..Just thinking, is all." Harlock replied, then gazed warmly at her.
"Really? Or were you having a private conversation with Tochiro again?" Marian asked, staying close to Harlock's side, as he moved away from the window. At this, Harlock could only laugh and shake his head.
"A bit of both, actually." Harlock admitted.
"I see…..Is there something bothering you again?" Marian questioned; a hint of concern appearing in her hazel eyes at the thought of something troubling the man she loved.
"Not 'bothering' per se…..Just a bit of the usual worries a man would have, when he finds himself about to become a parent again…….Only this time, it will be from the beginning." Harlock said, as he gingerly touched Marian's swollen belly; smiling when he felt the baby within her kick in response.
"Yes. And you'd better be prepared to change diapers too, or I'll be the one keelhauling your ass by the time everything's said and done!" Marian warned, good-naturedly. At this, Harlock only rolled his eye and gave her a feigned look of dread.
"I have the feeling you'll want to keelhaul me anyway, before this is over." Harlock muttered; inwardly dreading the day when the child would be born, and the pain he knew Marian would end up going through because of it. Yet, his thoughts were disrupted when the comm link on his desk beeped, and he reached over to answer it.
"Yes." Harlock said, in answer to the call.
"Sabu here, Captain. We're approaching the Pirate Islands now." A man's voice informed, and got a nod from the space pirate captain in response.
"Very well. Harlock out." Harlock stated, then moved to retrieve his cloak from his chair and put it back on.
"The ship doesn't seem quite the same without having Kei on board, does it?" Marian asked, as she watched Harlock thoughtfully turn and gaze at the two model ships he had on the mantle.
"It doesn't……but it couldn't be helped. She had been ordered to complete bed-rest till the twins she's carrying are born..." Harlock said, sighing as he did so, "I can only hope Darghund doesn't get wind of this….."
"That's all we can do, for now." Marian murmured, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that Harlock worried almost endlessly over her safety, and that of anyone else in his crew who was in a similar precarious position. And the situation wasn't helped much, since Lightningtooth was also waiting for the birth of Angel's newest litter; spending more time on Luviji than at his master's side.
"Who woulda thought I would see the day when Harlock became a worrywart?" Tochiro Sr. quipped, getting what could only be an exasperated sigh from Harlock as a response, and laughing at his friend's expense. Yet not even the spirit of the Arcadia's engineer could guess just what was about to happen…..nor could he sense the tragedy that was about to occur…..
Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(Divider)
Falko looked aside, as a faint signal started to register on one of the computers in front of him.
"What's going on?" Falko asked, when he'd noticed the familiarity of the signal's source.
"I don't know…..It sounds like it's being jammed somehow….." one man replied, as he turned and gave the captain of the Atlantis a bewildered look, and then returned his attention to the consol in front of him.
"Can you trace where it's coming from?" Falko asked, as an uneasy feeling began to emerge within him.
"I think……Wait a minute……Oh no……" Nausicaa muttered, in horror, her face paling as she said that.
"What is it?" Falko again asked, tensely; becoming even more alarmed when Nausicaa started to cry.
"It…it's the DeathShadow…they've just been attacked…..and Young Harlock is missing…..They don't know where he is….." Nausicaa sobbed, as the true horror settled itself upon her, and as tears poured down her cheeks. As Falko's blood froze in his veins, he could only wonder what had happened, and how such a strong ship could have been taken unawares.
"And I can only wonder how Harlock will handle such a cruel blow?" Falko wondered, then gripped the helm wheel even tighter to steady himself, and spoke again, "Adjust our course. We're going to help the DeathShadow get back to the Pirate Islands."
"Aye, aye, sir!" the crew on deck responded, before hurrying to do as they were told.
"Young Harlock…Please still be alive." Falko thought, hoping against hope that the younger captain had survived whatever misfortune had befallen his ship, and that that same misfortune wasn't about to visit the Arcadia, as well.
"I think we'd better be glad that Fritz had decided to stay on at Luviji, this time 'round. Ne, Falko?" Kai asked, as both he and Mind gave the pirate captain some uneasy looks. Falko nodded in agreement.
"Yes…..Though I can only hope that I won't have to tell him about the death of any more family members. The loss of his mother had been bad enough." Falko said, solemnly; his eyes narrowing at the thought of what the grief would do to his now eleven-year-old son…..