Story Notes: I wanted to put this in the last chapter, but with it being the end of the first half of the story I wanted to add a bit of tension. I also forgot to add certain characters as they will be coming in later chapters, and I wanted them to be there genuinely and not just pop up suddenly without reason or explanation. Please, Read, Follow, Review and Favourite.
Chapter Summary: Tintin makes a bold decision, and Haddock arrives in Japan, getting a big surprise after meeting the Thompsons.
Suggested Music
1. Sir Edmund Burton - Steve Jablonsky
2. I Love You, But I'm Letting Go - David Chappell (See YouTube - This is a mix of three pieces of Instrumental Music)
3. And We Run - Within Temptation
4. The Fields of Ard Skellig - Eliott Tordo Erhu
Tintin's strength faded as air seeped from his aching lungs.
Is this how it ends?
Trapped underwater, unable to breathe waiting for the end to come...
He squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to push out the sting.
Someone moved beside him.
His eye's snapped open.
Great snakes!
What is that!
Tintin flinched trying, to get away from the movement.
White flashed in his peripheral vision.
Snowy!
As Snowy gnawed at the rope wrapped around his wrists, Tintin held out his hands, using every bit of himself left to aid his faithful companion.
The rope snapped open in moments.
Unwilling to stay underneath the water any longer, he quickly swam with the ankle restraints on, following Snowy as they swam along the length of the harbour. Swimming under the slats, he came up not too far from where they pushed him in, trying to gulp in as much air as he could manage, without making a sound.
Snowy emerged slowly, swimming to his master and licking his face.
"Good boy," Tintin breathed, still trying to calm his desperate lungs. "Good dog,"
Tintin edged back to the entrance, glancing down at the gang. They still stood there, watching and waiting.
He couldn't hear them. As they stepped away and disappeared, he assumed that they thought he was dead. Breathing in relief he slumped, letting his head rest against the pillar. He waited for a further ten minutes before even attempting to clamber back onto dry land, terrified they would be waiting. After another five minutes, he struggled onto a jetty and fought to release the bindings around his ankles, with Snowy's help. For a brief moment, he couldn't move but knew he couldn't stay around the docks. Pulling himself to his feet he struggled to a pile of boxes, hiding away underneath the tarpaulins. Snowy snuggled in close, providing the comfort he needed but nothing could erase the guilt.
His mind turned back to his friends and Chang.
He burst into tears as Hiroko's words reverberated in his ear.
He met the same fate as his father.
I pulled the trigger myself.
Your friend is dead.
"I've failed him. I've let them down," Tintin sobbed.
They killed my friends.
Mr Wang.
Chang.
Tintin couldn't move. His body and spirit wouldn't allow it.
What can I do?
Nothing!
I'm useless!
Tintin's breaths deepened as he started to absorb the situation in a new light.
They think I'm dead. I have one last chance. That's all it could take.
Tintin stood, gritting his teeth as he pictured Hiroko in his head.
I'm going to bring them down, every single one.
This is for Mr Wang and Chang,
This is for my friends.
x
Haddock glanced around the airport, sighing as the familiar figures of Thompson and Thomson appeared at the entrance.
I need answers now.
After waking up at the Wang residence to find Chang, Tintin and Didi missing and Security all around the house. He found Tintin's note by his bedside. It gave him some information but not everything, and it didn't explain Didi's absence. He wasn't surprised by Tintin going after the Kanzaki Brotherhood, it was in his blood, but right now, he felt like he was too far behind to catch him up.
I'm not leaving him to fight on his own!
Why do you have to be so stubborn?
In anger, Haddock almost ploughed through the Thompsons.
"Where are they?" Haddock snapped.
"Haddock, we .."
"No excuses! Thundering Typhoons, where are they?"
They both glanced at each other before speaking.
They are hiding something, Haddock thought as his eyes narrowed at the pair of them.
Come on! Blistering Barnacles!
"We don't know," Thomson replied, stepping back slightly.
Haddock grit his teeth, nearly exploding as his rage bubbling over the top of his head.
"Come on! You must have some idea," Haddock shouted.
"We know Tintin's last known location, but sources are a little unreliable. No one wants to stand in the way of the Kanzaki Brotherhood,"
"Where was that?"
"Osaka Docks,"
x
Haddock stormed from the car to meet an entire group of policemen searching the area. He glimpsed the boat and the divers in the light of the setting sun and froze.
No!
Please no.
He can't be!
No! Think positive.
Haddock continued to peer down the area that the police were scouting and spotting someone in Chinese dress. As the person turned, Haddock froze and started to stride towards the individual.
"Didi! You have got to be kidding me!"
"Captain Haddock?"
It appeared that both of them had an unwavering desire to protect and save their friends.
"Blistering Barnacles! What are you doing here?" Haddock exclaimed loudly regardless of the police presence.
"My brother is missing and Tintin's feared dead, I couldn't just sit back and watch it play out. I made a promise to Tintin I couldn't keep,"
"What was it?"
"To stay with my mother. I couldn't just sit at home while he risked his life! What did Tintin say in the note,"
"Everything. He explained the Kazaki Brotherhood kidnapped Chang, and he'd pursued them to get him back,"
"But you came anyway .."
"He's my friend .. and my chosen family. He didn't say anything about staying put, so here I am,"
Haddock and Didi smiled, but just as Didi opened his mouth to speak a shout echoed from the search party on the Dockside.
"Didi! We found something,"
Haddock and Didi rushed down the side as a policeman pulled a rucksack from behind several barrels.
Haddock's eye's widened at the sight. Didi couldn't quite absorb it.
"Tintin's bag, he took it with him when he left," Didi whispered.
Haddock's bit the edge of his fingers as the policeman examined the bag and withdrew a note.
"That's not Tintin's writing," Haddock mused, narrowing his eyes at the rough scrawl.
Sent to the bottom of Osaka Harbour, H.
"NO," Haddock yelled, gripping his hair as hard as he could. He turned to scan the entire harbour wanting to burst into tears.
Eventually, he did.
Haddock walked away from the police to lean against some containers.
They killed him!
Blistering
They killed my best friend!
Haddock screamed as loud as he could, repeatedly slamming his foot into anything he could find.
Nothing could quell his grief.
Nothing.
Will Haddock find out Tintin is alive and about to take down the Kanzaki Brotherhood? Tune in next week to find out. Please, Read, Review, Fave and Follow. Sorry, It took so long for an update.