Falco started to come back to himself slowly. He had his eyes closed feeling his body hurt. He was lying on a bed on his left side, still back bound and still having that accursed ring around his neck. He moved slowly on his head as the point where his neck met his head, hurt badly. He cursed the hunter for knocking him out so easily. He quickly regretted moving his head and neck, as the burn mark where the torture ring was, screamed in pain as it rubbed against the ring a little. He cringed in pain and slowly opened his eyes. He looked dizzy around and quickly noticed that the hunters had taken his cape as well as his hidden extra knife. Pulling his sore body up into a sitting position, he looked around. As expected he was in a cell, plain and simple, the only thing in his room were the bed he sat on. A small window to his left showed that they were out in the stars again. He struggled against the cuffs for a little while, biting in him how much it hurt to do so, as his wrist had some faint burn marks where the cuffs where. After struggling for a little while he had to rest, he was out of breath as the ring also choked him a little, not to mention the burn marks under the ring did not make it any better. His body was still sore from the currents from the ring.
Curse those hunters. This is not good. He though looking around again. His grey brown eyes looking for something that was not there.
"Fritz!" He called out hoping his son where in a room next to him.
"Fritz! Are you here!?" Hearing no answer, He cursed silently. He could feel his hate boil inside him as he thought of how they had treated his son.
Fritz, please be unharmed. He thought to himself, hoping that his son were alright. He could do nothing to help his son now. The memory of his son, laying on the ground bound and bleeding from being hit like he had been, made Falco's blood boil in anger, but he calmed down knowing that the hunters needed Fritz to keep him quiet and working with them.
He could only hope they did not hurt him any more. He tried to stand up but his body hurt to much and he had to sit back down.
Damn! Harlock were right. This damn thing hurts not only my neck but my entire body. Curse that Kichigai that made these damned things. Good to know he is dead, but it does not change my situation... What I would give now for having one of those trackers on me that saved the Harlocks, when they went through this. If I live to tell the tale of this, I'll make sure Kai makes a few of them. He smiled faintly. Even in this dire situation he could still get himself to smile thinking about his crew. Still, thinking about his crew also made him sad and worried. He knew how worried Kai would be by now as well as the rest of the crew. He wondered if they had figured out what had happened to them. He believed they had as he remembered well Clio's special gift of sensing things.
Falco sighed resting his back at the wall. His neck burned in pain as he did so and he lifted his head again, growling in pain.
He looked around. As he had been out cold he had a feeling that he had heard a voice calling him, but there was nothing that could have called him around him. He looked out on the stars wand wondered when suddenly a voice called his name. Falco jumped in shock as he had not been prepped for that at all.
"Falco! Please answer! Can you hear me?" The voice called again and this time Falco noticed that it was inside his head. Falco looked around not sure what to think of it.
"Hello?" He asked carefully out in the room, looking around for a reason for this voice.
"Finally, I was getting really worried there." The voice apparently exhaled relived.
"Who are you? How did you get into my head?" Falco asked standing up for a few seconds before his body screamed out and he had to sit down again. As of now he could not stand upright at all.
"Long story that on how. Lets just say it's a gift I have. The mind speak is a gift all of mine kind has." The voice answered. Falco looked around again.
"Where are you really?" He asked a little woried, wondering if he had gone mad.
"Out side our cell door." The voice answered calm. Falco looked to the door.
"Then why do you not came in?" Falco asked. So far he was not sure if he was dreaming this, or if the hunters were just mocking him, but the voice sounded familiar in they way it spoke and he could not really detected any hints of evil intentions in it.
"Sadly, if I could, I would but it appears that this door only opens to humans." The voice growled.
"Then what does that make you then?" Falco asked now even more curios on who this was. And especially what he was.
"A friend." The voice said laughing a little. "I am one of Lightingtooth's clan, and as you are a friend to the Harlocks you are a friend to us as well." The voice said. Falco smiled for the first time since Fritz had disappeared, as he realized that he might have a friend on board the ship, but suddenly a darker relization came to him.
"Do you belong to any of the hunters?" He asked worried.
"Hell no, none of my clan would ever serve evil cowards like these." The voice growled. Falco could nearly hear a hint in his voice saying that he was insulted.
"no, I was awakened by the young cub's howles on wolf howl rock. I live there... As I wandered out to see what that sound had been, I saw you falling asleep, and how your son and the cub wandered of. As they did, I noticed the hunters in the woods and followed after them, sensing danger." The wolf said and explained what had happened as Falco had dosed of.
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as Fritz and wandered around suddenly one of the hunters had steeped out and grabbed Fritz. Young Silvereye had jumped up at the large and and bit him making him let Fritz go. As Fritz tired to run back to his dad, another hunter had stepped out in front of him and tried to grab him.
"Dad!" Fritz had called out as he ran away from the hunter, the scream that made his dad wake up. As Fritz ducked out of the way from the first hunter again, young silvereye attacked the hunter again but got grabbed over his back as he bit down on his arm. The hunter pulled the cub of and held him in a death grip. the cub whined in pain.
"Run Fritz!" He called to his master. Fritz ducked out from the second hunters try to grab him but tripped in a root and fell. The third hunter was quickly up to him and pulled him back up to his feet. The wolf had been ready to jump down on the hunters and rip them apart.
"Fritz! where are you? answer me!" Falco's voice called out, stopping the wolf in his tracks.
"Dad! Help!" Fritz managed to call out before the hunter covered his mouth with his hand.
"Fritz!" Falco had called.
"Good, just keep following us. You'll be struggling in our web soon." the hunter holding Fritz laughed as he dragged the struggling boy with him.
"What do you want to do with this one?" The biggest one asked holding the cub up.
"We'll bring him. he might be useful still." The leader hunter said as they left. The wolf was shaking from his place in the tree and growled jumping through the trees trying to find Falco and lead him to his son. Just as he had found him silvereye's howl lead them both to the clearing where Falco had surrendered to save his son. The wolf had been ready to bust in any minute but he got to shocked to do anything as the hunters tortured Falco.
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"I am throughly sorry, I should have busted in before. Then neither you or your son would be in this mess now." The wolf whined low and shame full.
"No, we would be in worse mess if you were not here. At least we have one friend on this ship." Falco said meaning every word of it.
"At least I Can tell you that Fritz in unharmed, as far as I know, and that Harlock and his son has been made aware of the situation." The wolf said bringing hope to the pirate.
"Fritz is okey?" He asked feeling his hope light up again.
"Yes, for now, I could hear him speaking to the cub, in the cell they .." The wolf cut himself of.
"Wolf?" Falco asked uneasy by the sudden silence.
"I need to go. The hunters are coming. I will check on your son." The wolf said and started to leave.
"Wait! What is your name?" Falco asked. The wolf stopped uneasy by the question.
"The only name I like is that of my kin's tounge, and that you can not manage to say." The wolf said.
"Then what does it mean?" Falco asked suddenly. The wolf sighed.
"My name that my father gave me, is translated into Great Mind." the wolf said. Falco smiled faintly.
"Thank you, Mind." He said making the wolf froze to the spot. Again he had been named by a human, but this time it felt differently. He was more happy for this name then what his two late masters had named him.
Was it like this when Harlock named Lighting? The newly named wolf wondered to himself. The sound of the hunters coming made him snap back to reality.
"I'll be back later. hold out Falco." He said and ran down the hall, disappearing just out of sight before the hunters turned the corner.
Falco smiled looking out to the stars. Mind had brought hope to the still new pirate as he knew that the wolf would at least help Fritz if anything would happen to him.
Suddenly a sound out side his door made the pirate jump a bit. He forced his body to stand up. and moved over to the window. There was no way he was gonna make these hunters believe that they had won over him yet. As his Harlock blood refused him to show any signs of weakness in front of an enemy, he stood in front of the window turned to the door, ready to met the hunters.
The door slided up and in came the three hunters. the green dressed hunter grinned as he saw Falco stand there. his brothers on the other hand looked a bit surprised seeing how strong and proud Falco still looked. the biggest one, dressed in the black suit, looked most surprised as his eyes looked at him. the third one on the other hand, the man dressed in the gray suit only looked surprised for a few seconds. Falco growled seeing the first hunter grin.
"well well, you finally came to again. I almost got a little worried that our precious cargo had been damaged. I don't think our contractor would like that very much." he smiled and moved a little closer to Falco. Falco's eyes narrowed but he said nothing.
"my name is hunter Hitteki, these are my brothers." he pointed to his two brothers fist at the grey dressed man and then to the black dressed man. "Hunter Haraise and my youngest brother Hunter Kataki. We are the Hunter brothers." Hitteki grinned. Falco could feel a chill go up his back, recognizing the Hunter brothers name. he had heard that name many times, during his time as a Captain under the mech war. They had been famous for a long time not just for their track record of capturing even the hardies of prey, it would seem that the only people that they never captured were the Harlocks and Emeraldas, but mostly they were infamous for their cruel way of treating their prisoners. Many of the prisoners had been half dead when the hunter brothers came to claim their bounty for them. Falco could feel his blood turned cold, not out of fear for himself but he feared what the brothers would do to his son. His face was not showing anything as he held his face in a stone mask. Hitteki grinned again.
"I know you have probably heard about us. Luckily for you, our contractor pays more for you alive then the Mech empire does for you dead. He wants captain Harlock most of all but it would seem you did something to tick of our contractor pretty badly. He contacted us a few days ago doubling all the bounty on Harlock and his friends and doubling the bounty on you especially." he grinned.
"I heard some where that you are a relative of Harlock." Haraise said, the Grey dressed man looked at him with a look of skepticism. Falco did not answer him but kept his look at Hitteki.
"No way that he is. He does not even have the scar, they say all Harlocks have that scar." Kataki growled. It was easy to see that he did not like Falco at all.
"And yet his son does. it looked pretty new as well." Haraise said looking to his elder brother.
"Falco is a distant relative. His son must have been given the scar as they met Harlock and his son." Hitteki grinned. Falco's eyes narrowed but he still said nothing.
"hey, pirate. Why do you not say anything?" Kataki growled, apparently angered by Falco's silence as he came towards Falco.
"Kataki... calm down. Getting upset is not gonna help." Haraise said looking to his brother with a hard look. Kataki stood infront of Falco now. His black eyes was narrowed and his face showed just how angry he was. His eyes narrowed even more as Falco looked coldly back at him. Suddenly with a yell of anger Kataki striked Falco with a hard right that sent the pirate to the ground. Falco growled in pain as he turned around, forcing his body up in a sitting position.
"Now, now Kataki. That is enough." Hitteki moved up to his brother in front of Falco. Kataki was breathing hard, his black eyes glowed in hate but he was calming down.
"I feel better now." He growled and moved away from Falco. Falco struggled himself back up and looked to the hunter brothers coldly.
"Well now, don't look like that. We have to keep you under control. like your son. We had to discipline that boy of yours a little." Hitteki grinned. Falco's eyes widened.
"what did you do?" Falco's voice turned icecold. the hunter grinned and looked to his bothers. Haraise smiled and oved up to a panel on the wall. Opening it with a key he had he got a screen to come out from the wall.
"This was a little while ago." Hitteki grinned. the screen changed a little and showed a room not to unlike the room Falco was in. Fritz sat on the bed with Silvereye beside him. From what Falco could see he saw that the cub still had rope over his mouth and Fritz was still bound on his hands. The hunters came into the room. he could not hear what was spoken but suddenly Fritz ran into Hitteki, as Silvereye jumped towards the other two. Silvereye was knocked to the ground and Kataki steeped on the cub holding him down. Hitteki knocked fritz to the ground and pulled up the control. Falco saw his son suddenly twist in pain, he could also se the hunters laugh. The screen went dark before Falco could see what state his son were in. Falco shook in anger.
"What did you bastards do to my son!?" Falco growled angry. Hitteki laughed.
"Getting worked up over it will not help you. I told you we had to disciple him a bit." Falco growled and ran into Hitteki. As his arms were bound behind his back ther was not much he could do but to slam into him and hope to knock him out. The hunter fall over with Falco over him. Haraise suddenly pulled up an control as well and again the ring around Falco's neck, burned his neck before the currents took over, sending him into a world of pain yet again.
"Fritz..." Falco cursed to himself.
Authors note:
not the longest of chapters but I ran into a smaller writers block with this one.. so I have to shorten it down here and hopefully the next will be a lot longer.
tell me what you think