Chapter Seven
For a few moments, it seemed as though time itself had stopped; leaving the vengeance-driven maniac and the misplaced space pirate frozen in place. The thickening tension in the air made Marian shiver involuntarily. Harlock's stance was tense; she could see very easily just how hard he was struggling to stay upright, despite the pain in his chest and shoulder. In direct contrast, Alberich looked completely relaxed... in fact, almost lazy (but she wasn't foolish enough to believe that he would miss his targets, no matter how sloppy his shots might be).
"Your quarrel was originally against the gods, and then me. Why have you involved Marian in this?" Harlock questioned, his tone steely as he uttered those words. He bristled slightly when the maniac snickered, and then answered him.
"Why not? She is in league with you, thus my reasons for including her in your destruction." Alberich leered.
"In other words...'two birds with one stone'..." Marian mused, then growled, "You sick bastard." She tightened her grip around the Cosmo Dragoon when he glanced at her, in response to those words.
"Your woman is quite outspoken, Harlock." Alberich commented, then added, "How unfortunate it is, that she has to die with you. Such a pity." It was at that point that all hell broke loose. With a move that Marian almost couldn't see, Harlock dodged a blast from the dangerously close pistol; firing a blast from his saber as he did so (much to her shock...She honestly hadn't known that it had been a gun of sorts, as well!). Yet she followed Harlock's example and leaped to one side; just before another blast from Alberich's pistol scorched the ground where she'd been standing.
"Take this!" Marian shouted, then fired a shot from the Cosmo Dragoon when she saw how close Harlock had been to getting hit.
"I hope we can hold out against this lunatic...I really don't know how long Harlock will be able to continue fighting with his injuries..." Marian thought, yet bravely fought on, alongside the pirate; fiercely determined to protect him, if nothing else.
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"I don't much like the sound of that." the Doctor murmured, when the sound of distant gunfire reached his sensitive ears. They could hear the distinct sounds of two pistols and a gravity saber going off, and could faintly see the flashes from the muzzles of the weapons.
"Sounds like Alberich found him before we could..." Tochiro agreed, before both teenagers rushed off in that direction.
"Tadashi! Tetsuro! Come back! Don't rush into it!" Maetel shouted, trying to get the two headstrong teens to return before they could get hurt.
"Those two might have the right idea...If we wait too long, we could lose Harlock. Let's go." Emeraldas said, in her usual quiet tone; even though it had an edge of ice.
"Let's waste no more time, then!" the Doctor agreed, getting a unanimous agreement from the other two beside him.
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Marian could just barely hear the sound of the waves crashing against the rock-strewn beach behind them, as the firefight continued; much more concerned about the struggling space pirate beside her, than anything else.
"Thankfully enough, we're off the cliffs...So there's no threat of getting thrown to our deaths from there...But this shitty footing could be the death of us." Marian mused, barely refraining from yelping in surprise when Harlock pulled her down behind the relative safety of some of the larger boulders; watching as another shot from Alberich's gun impacted close to where she'd been standing.
"Thanks." Marian said, gratefully. She got only a nod from the exhausted pirate as a response, before he carefully eased towards her and held her close. Once again, she found herself with her ear to the pirate captain's chest; his heartbeat a soothing sound, despite the danger that loomed too close to them for comfort. When he finally spoke again, she could tell that she had reached one of those points in her life that a momentous decision had to be made.
"I don't think...you can go back...to how your life had been...before I came into it..." Harlock gasped, his voice rough with the pain he was feeling, physically and emotionally.
"I don't think so either." Marian quietly agreed, as he then looked down at her, his eye showing clearly his anguish at having disrupted her peaceful life, and the danger he had inadvertently put her into.
"I'm sorry for getting you involved in this. I honestly wish it could have been different..." Harlock murmured, guiltily.
"Don't be sorry...Despite what you think, I wouldn't change anything...True, what'd happened to Kiyu is still heartbreaking, it'd be even worse if I let you die by Alberich's hand. I made a promise to myself that I'd somehow get you back to your own time...and it's a promise I intend to keep." Marian reassured, bravely, then ruefully added, "Somehow." At this, Harlock allowed a slight, pained smile to cross his scarred features.
"If only it were possible to bring you back with me. It would be an honor to have you aboard the Arcadia." Harlock softly said, as Marian gave him a brief smile.
"And I'd be honored to be there." Marian responded; dropping her voice into a whisper, when the sounds of footsteps and Alberich's growled cursing neared their shelter.
"I just hope we both survive long enough to see you return to the future, Harlock." Marian mused, before they both assumed ready positions, and prepared to fight their way back to the road. They were both therefore stunned when two teenaged boys appeared on the scene; firing what appeared to be laser pistols at Alberich as they went. And she heard it when Harlock muttered a shocked epithet in German when he recognized the two youths that were racing towards them.
"Tadashi! Tetsuro!" Harlock shouted, as the pair skidded to a halt before them.
"Captain!" both teens shouted, as relieved smiles appeared on their youthful faces.
"Perfect! Two more!" Alberich cheerfully sneered, as he fired more blasts at them; his shots increasing in accuracy at a frightening pace.
"Down! Both of you!" Harlock growled, as he grabbed the pair by the collars of their jackets and threw them behind the boulder; taking another blast for himself as he did so.
"Harlock!" Marian screamed, when she saw the laser's impact; blood flying from his face as it scorched its' way through the patch. All else became a blur as she dropped the Cosmo Dragoon from suddenly nerveless hands, rushed forward, and attempted to catch Harlock as he fell back. Stumbling under his weight, Marian turned and snapped out a command to the stunned teens behind her, "Cover me, dammit! He'll die if he gets hit again!" Numbly, Tadashi and Tetsuro did as they were told; firing as many shots as accurately as they could at the maniac, and providing Marian with a tiny margin of safety so she could lay the badly injured pirate captain down and see to his newest injury.
"W-what a...nightmare..." Harlock mumbled, almost incoherently. Marian could only nod in agreement; her stomach lurching violently within her, when she saw the blood coursing freely down the right side of his face.
"Shh...I know. Just hang on. Please. Hang on." Marian pleaded, as she removed his scarf from around his neck, pressed it to the right side of his face, and applied as much pressure as she dared in an effort to stop the bleeding. She could feel it when he shuddered in pain, and could only guess that both kinds were at their highest points.
"How is he?" Tadashi asked, anxiously, from over his shoulder.
"Not good. He's about to go into shock." Marian replied, as she slowly placed the pirate's head in her lap.
"Damn! I hope Tochiro, Emeraldas, Maetel and that Doctor get here soon! We can't hold out here for too much longer!" Tadashi shouted; inwardly cursing himself for having rushed into the situation and making it even worse.
"You're gonna have to! Harlock's life is depending on you now!" Marian snapped, angrily, as she again took up Harlock's Cosmo Dragoon and gripped it defensively.
"She's right, Tadashi! We can't give up now!" Tetsuro cried; gritting his teeth as he tried to keep Alberich in his sights.
"I hope Emeraldas and Tochiro are able to help us stop this guy soon! It's getting so dark that we can't see where the hell he really is!" Tadashi mused, worriedly; glancing out of the corner of his eye at the now strangely-still pirate captain, and hoping that help wouldn't get there too late.
Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)
Within the TARDIS, Rose Tyler could only wait anxiously for the Doctor and those with him to return. Her anxiety really wasn't helped any when he'd told her to find as much first aid supplies as she could before they returned.
"Let's see...It looks like it's all here. Is there anything I'm missing?" Rose murmured, to herself, as she checked the white boxes over again, just to be sure.
"You might want to check on the bags of IV fluids. Make certain that they are up-to-date, and that they are in reach if they are needed." an unfamiliar voice stated, calmly.
"Right!" Rose agreed, as she leapt to her feet and began to move towards the storage area of the TARDIS again...only to pause when she realized that she should have been completely alone!
"Who's here?" Rose asked, edgily. To her shock, in the spot where she had been kneeling, there sat what appeared to be a huge black wolf!Even though he was sitting down, his head was even with her waist; his midnight black fur and wise blue eyes shining in the artificial light of the control room.
"Where did you...? How did you...?" Rose asked, dumbfounded by this, to say the least. The wolf patiently shook his head, and then gave her an urgent look.
"That isn't important right now. Where is Harlock?" the wolf in turn asked, his concern showing itself freely in his eyes and voice.
"The Doctor and the rest are out looking for him..." Rose replied, even though she could hardly believe that she was actually talking to a wolf!
"Open the doors. I'm going out as well." the wolf commanded, in a tone that told Rose that he wasn't going to take no for an answer. With a nod, the stunned girl did as she was told and opened the doors of the time machine; no sooner doing so when the wolf uttered a howl, and then charged into the darkness beyond.
Author's Note!
So sorry about the too-short chapter, minna, but writer's block is starting to try and get it's teeth into this fic again! Hope the next chapter is a bit longer! (And notice the homage to Ligthingtooth's stories in here and read them as well!)
hint, hint
Gemini14
