Chapter Two
It was the end another rather long day aboard the Arcadia, as most of the crew settled in for some much-needed sleep. As a rule, Harlock didn't normally stay awake all night, but some things (like the ship's log), needed to be done before he could rest. And then, to add to his restlessness, there was the fact that his newfound son was on board, as well. The boy now slept in his bed, since his quarters hadn't been decided on, as of yet.
"Maya...Why didn't you tell me?" Harlock wondered, as he gazed at the slumbering child's face. Very easily he could see hints of himself and his late wife mixed into the boy; the light brown, almost blond, hair that fell messily over eyes that, when open, were the same color as his father's...Eyes that held the same fighting spirit as both parents, and the proud family line he'd descended from.
"He's a true Harlock, that much I can't deny...But how could he have survived all that time alone? Is the rest of the family dead as well? Or did Maya just not have enough time to send him back to Arcadia?" Harlock inwardly questioned; knowing without even asking that Young Harlock probably didn't even know, either.
"Yet, he had to have been told by someone who had known Maya, since he knew who his mother was, as well as who I was...but who could have told him?" Harlock again wondered, as he then sighed and irritably ran a gloved hand through his thick brown hair.
"Stop thinking so hard, my friend. I'm starting to see smoke coming from your ears." Lightningtooth quipped, jokingly, as he trotted over to the desk. This got a deadpan look from Harlock as a response.
"I get enough of that kind of sarcasm from Tochiro and Emeraldas, old friend. This is definitely a sign that you have been hanging around them for far too long." Harlock mumbled, as he closed the log and sat back in his chair. At this, Lightningtooth gave him a feigned look of hurt.
"What can I say? I am this way because of the company you keep, after all." Lightningtooth then stated, with a smile.
"Not commenting on that one." Harlock muttered, as he leaned back in his chair and stretched slightly. He turned to look when he heard some movement from the bed, and was a little surprised when Young Harlock slowly sat up; rubbing his eyes as he did so.
"Young Harlock?" Harlock questioned, seeming even further surprised when the boy didn't answer him, climbed out of bed, stumbled over to him, and climbed up onto his lap; settling his head on his father's chest as he did so.
"Jus' for t'night..." Young Harlock mumbled, sleepily; promptly drifting off again. For a few moments, Harlock was at a complete loss for what to do next, then he sighed and relaxed.
"No matter how independent he may act, he is still only an eight-year-old boy. A boy who has missed his father terribly." Lightningtooth murmured, as he watched Young Harlock grip a fold on his father's shirt tightly in his small hand.
"True. Yet, when I was his age, I took family for granted...thinking I would never be without. He and Tochiro Jr have been alone for eight years. What could it have been like for them?" Harlock wondered aloud, as he started rubbing Young Harlock's small back.
"We'll probably never know, since those two are both too strong to whine about the pain they must have endured. At least now, they have the chance to experience some stability." Lightningtooth said, quietly; a softer look appearing on his face when he noticed how at peace the boy now looked.
"But for how long, I wonder?" Harlock sighed; not bothering to hide his troubled expression from the wolf.
"As long as it is possible for you to do so. Young Harlock needs you; not only for the stability he has missed, but also for the things only you can teach him." Lightningtooth said, firmly.
"True…..But I dread having to perform the rite of passage……Maybe that explains part of the reason why my own father had been away from Arcadia during that time." Harlock murmured; remembering very clearly that day when he'd inherited the 'Harlock Scar'. Lightningtooth allowed a slight sigh to escape from between his lips, and gave his friend a vague smile.
"I remember it as clearly as you do…..Since I was the one to give your grandfather a new scar that day, as well." Lightningtooth admitted, a little sheepishly, then said, "But that is still two years off. Maybe you'll have the chance to explain it to Young Harlock, and let him choose whether or not he wants to go through with it."
"Maybe." Harlock agreed, as he glanced at the slumbering boy's face, and tried to imagine it with the scar running across it.
"In any event, I need to see what my own son is up to. It's past his bedtime, and he still hasn't returned to this room." Lightningtooth muttered, as he turned to go and look for his own offspring.
"Good luck." Harlock said, with some sarcasm of his own returning to his voice. Lightningtooth's expression deadpanned.
"Thanks." Lightningtooth mumbled, before trotting out into the hallway and closing the door behind him.
…………………….
"Why'd you go and do that again for, Mii-kun? Y'know you're gonna get chased by Masu-san whenever you try to steal the Captain's dinner."
Lightningtooth couldn't help but smile, when he heard the sound of that youthful voice. And he almost laughed when he saw the sight before him; there sat his son, with a rather ashamed-looking bird and cat before him. The cat's fur was standing on end; almost as though he'd been given a nasty shock of static electricity (and knowing the Arcadia as well as he did, he wouldn't doubt it). The bird, likewise, also appeared disheveled, with feathers sticking up every which way.
"Mrr-ow!" Mii-kun argued; getting a shake of the head from the pup as he did so.
"No excuses, Mii-kun. If you're not careful, the Captain's gonna find a way to make you walk the plank, even if we are in space!" the pup muttered, then turned to the bird, "And you, Tori-san, have no excuse either! You've been aboard the Arcadia even longer than Mii-kun! You should know better than that, by now!"
"But……but….." Tori-san stammered, yet got cut off by a wave of the pup's paw.
"No 'buts' Tori-san. If this keeps up, the both of you are gonna get spaced…..and I don't think it'll be the Captain doing it, either." The pup warned. This earned him a comical set of nervous looks from the other two animals, and then they both sheepishly went off down the hallway in opposite directions.
"Good job, son. You handled that quite well." Lightningtooth commended; smiling when the pup jumped slightly, and then turned to face him.
"You really think so, Dad?" the pup asked; his tail beginning to wag when he sensed his father's approval. Lightningtooth nodded.
"Yes. Now, let's get you to bed, shall we?" Lightningtooth asked, his smile not fading in the slightest when a sheepish look crossed the pup's face at the realization that bedtime had been quite some time ago.
"Okay." The pup agreed, as he followed his sire back to the Captain's room. The sight that greeted them was one that brought an unreadable smile to the older wolf's face; Harlock was still reclined in his desk chair, with his feet propped up on the desk itself, sound asleep. Young Harlock was now situated on his chest, his head resting just over his father's heart; lulled into deeper slumber by the heart beating under his ear. La Miime had just come into the room and was, even now, draping a blanket over the two; a gentle 'smile' touching her golden eyes as she did so.
"Who's that, Dad?" the pup asked, curiously, as he pointed out the slumbering boy.
"That, young one, is the Captain's son….and this is the most peaceful I have seen the Captain since our days in Arcadia. Finding his son has indeed been good for him." Lightningtooth murmured, as he watched La Miime place a kiss on the elder Harlock's brow, and one on Young Harlock's cheek.
"He'd always seemed so troubled before……His sleep haunted by nightmares…..But tonight, it seems that the nightmares will stay away." La Miime said, agreeing wholeheartedly with the wolf when he'd said that the elder Harlock seemed more at ease than before.
"Let's hope so. With this problem of the Mazone cropping up, he'll need to be as rested as he can get. It wouldn't do to have him get captured again." Lightningtooth said; baring his fangs as he remembered the incident in question, and how long it had taken for the burns on Harlock's wrists, legs, and neck to heal. He'd always cursed himself for not having been there to help rescue his friend, and wished he could have gotten back in time to rip one of the hunters asunder for torturing him as badly as he had.
"Very true." La Miime murmured, as she sat down and started playing a gentle melody on her harp, the sound of it deepening the hold slumber had over the father and son, and encouraging dreams of better times to emerge. Stifling a yawn of his own as he did so, Lightningtooth guided his own son towards the large basket in the corner of the room; no sooner lying down when, he too, found himself sound asleep.
…………………….
Sleeping in had never been a habit, during his days in the military; and it had seemed even less so, when he'd become a space pirate. And yet, Harlock found himself waking late enough to hear the sounds of his crew milling about outside of his quarters; going about their usual daily routines. At first, he was a bit bewildered as to how this could be, and then he felt an unfamiliar weight on his chest. His son was still curled up on his chest; dozing beneath the light blanket that had been draped over the both of them. He also noticed that the boy seemed to have a death-grip on his shirt; seeming determined to not let him leave him alone again.
"Your son too, eh?" Tochiro Sr. asked, as he quietly entered the room.
"Tochiro Jr. did the same last night?" Harlock questioned, in turn. At this, Tochiro nodded.
"Yeah. It seems almost as though those two are afraid we're gonna abandon them again. They'd probably never admit it in a million years, but those years alone must've been hell for 'em." Tochiro murmured.
"That seems to be the case." Harlock agreed, as he slowly sat up; carefully wrapping his son in the blanket, and disentangling the boy's hand from his shirt as he did so. Almost immediately, Young Harlock began to rouse up, yet quieted again when his father spoke to him.
"I'm not leaving, son. I'm just going to the bridge for a while. Rest easy." Harlock murmured; seeming amazed when his words had a calming effect on the boy. As gently as he could, he laid the sleeping child back on the bed, and then glanced at the basket where Lightningtooth and his own son slept. The adult wolf had awoken when Tochiro had entered the room, yet had only watched silently as the captain did what he could to reassure the boy. With a slight, knowing smile, Lightningtooth then carefully picked up the slumbering pup by the scruff of his neck; walking towards the bed and laying the pup down beside Young Harlock once he was close enough.
"Let me know when he awakens." Harlock ordered, getting nods from both Lightningtooth and La Miime for that.
"Will do. If anything, you'll know before we can call you, since both boys have a penchant for causing trouble." Lightningtooth chuckled, as a deadpan expression again graced Harlock's scarred features.
"As we all know only too well, now." Tochiro agreed, with a smirk and a shake of his head.
"How upset is the crew?" Harlock asked, even though he dreaded the answer.
"Actually, a lot of 'em calmed down after they learned who these kids are. The few who were still complaining may have actually seen the scary side of Yattaran afterwards." Tochiro explained; grinning when he saw a curious look appear in Harlock's eye.
"How so?" Harlock questioned, as he led the way to the door; heading for the bridge so the conversation wouldn't disturb Young Harlock.
"Yattaran actually threatened them with taking away their sake for a week, and gluing 'em to the walls if they made any moves against those two. Needless to say, the First Mate has things well in hand." Tochiro chortled, and as a smirk appeared on Harlock's face, as well.
"The only thing I am worried about, then, is how to get modeling glue off of the walls, if he does carry through with his threat." Harlock muttered, with a sigh. Such was the life of a pirate, in the Sea of Stars. A weird lifestyle that had even weirder ways of handling things, sometimes.
…………………………….
When Young Harlock finally woke up, he found, first of all, that something fuzzy was sleeping almost right against his face. Upon opening his eyes, he was a bit surprised to see that a black puppy was curled up there.
"Hey, where'd you come from?" Young Harlock quietly asked, as he sat up and carefully placed the pup in his lap. At the movement, the pup roused up and blinked at him confusedly for a few moments, then seemed to grin at him.
"Morning! I'm Keikai! Who're you?" the pup asked, almost flooring Young Harlock with the fact that he could talk, as well.
"Phantom Harlock IV……though I guess everybody will be callin' me 'Young' Harlock, now." Young Harlock said, not withholding the smile that came when the pup held out a paw to shake in greeting.
"I see you're finally awake, young one." Lightningtooth said, smirking slightly when Young Harlock gave him a bit of a wary look.
"You're not gonna bash me into the wall again if I get up, are you?" Young Harlock asked, distrustfully.
"Certainly not! You're a member of Captain Harlock's crew, now! The same goes for your friend Tochiro Jr. as well." Lightningtooth stated, then added, "In case you have forgotten."
"What I haven't forgotten is how much that head of yours' hurts." Young Harlock muttered, dryly, then asked, "Where is Tochiro, anyway?"
"He'll be here shortly. Masu-san had managed to save you and Tochiro some breakfast." A woman's voice gently said, as its' owner entered the room with a tray of food. Of course, Young Harlock was a bit bewildered when he got a good look at the woman in question; she had no mouth!
"Who're you and how'd you do that?" Young Harlock asked, in a rush; childish curiosity overwhelming the lessons in politeness that had been drilled into him in the not-too-distant past. At this, the woman seemed to 'smile' with her eyes, as she laid the tray on the desk.
"I am La Miime…..As to the second question, what did you mean?" the woman in turn questioned, as she tilted her head slightly to one side in slight confusion.
"How could you talk without a mouth?" Young Harlock again asked.
"It's just how I am, young one." La Miime replied, airily, with a slight shrug of her dainty shoulders.
"Oh…." Young Harlock murmured; fighting the urge to flinch when she reached out to him and brushed a few strands of his unruly hair off of his face.
"He's leery of being touched, that much I can see. But why, I wonder?" Lightningtooth wondered, then asked, "Young one, why did you stiffen when she touched you, just now?"
"Livin' in an orphanage is hell……Especially when the people runnin' them are demons wearin' human skin." Young Harlock mumbled, shamefully. He looked up when both Lightningtooth and the wolf pup beside him snarled softly under their breaths, and even La Miime's gentle golden eyes hardened a little bit upon hearing this.
"That explains so much….." Lightningtooth seethed, hackles rising at the thought of the orphanage keepers abusing the two boys; giving them even more of a reason to run away, begin their resistance movement, and then find their fathers.
"Did they beat you?" Keikai asked, as he looked up into eyes that had been, just moments before, so filled with life. Young Harlock nodded.
"With belts, sticks, anything they could get their damned hands on….. They would even use their fists, sometimes…..Tried to make us examples before the others….. So none of them would stand up for us…..We'd tried to convince Mayu t'come with us…..but she'd said she didn't want the only people who gave a damn to worry about her." Young Harlock stated, sadly, then added, "Tochiro'd even said that it felt like we'd fed her to the dogs, the day we ran away from there."
"But you didn't abandon her, Young Harlock. Not by a long shot. As long as your thoughts, and those of Tochiro Jr., are with her, then you haven't completely abandoned her." Lightningtooth said, firmly, as he placed a paw on the boy's leg, and gave him a stern look.
"You really think so?" Young Harlock asked, as he looked at the older wolf with a look on his young face that was far too familiar to him.
"Yes. Now, you'd best eat your breakfast before it gets cold. I will be back in a moment." Lightningtooth said, as he quickly departed from the room; rage building within his heart at what he and La Miime had learned, and the resolve he now had to keep the boys on the ship at all costs.
…………………
To say that both fathers were upset by these findings was an understatement. He could hear Harlock snarling something in German under his breath, and could see that this posture was stiff with barely-contained rage. Tochiro, in the meantime, was silent, but Lightningtooth could sense that he was thinking of some very painful deaths for the keepers of one orphanage in particular.
"Shit. It's no wonder they'd come lookin' for us." Tochiro finally said; his voice taking on the same hard edge Harlock's now had.
"And that orphanage where Mayu lives now is the only one in that vicinity…..From the sounds of things, my friend, it seems you can't keep her there for much longer." Harlock growled, angrily.
"You're right about that….But where could we take her that would be any better? I don't think Emeraldas would be able to bring her aboard her own ship…." Tochiro murmured, worriedly, then added, "And we haven't heard from her in days."
"Then we'll have to focus on reaching her, before anything else can be done about this, or the Mazone problem." Harlock said, darkly; before walking back towards his quarters.
"I just hope we're able to find Emeraldas before something happens…..It isn't like her to be out of touch for so long……" Lightningtooth thought, a bit worriedly, as he glanced at Tochiro, and felt the concern he had not only for his wife's safety, but also for his daughter's wellbeing, as well.
Author's Note!
Not a very exciting chapter, granted, but it's a step in the right direction! (There's also a bit of foreshadowing in this chapter about Ligthingtooth's newest fic 'Unbreakable Will of Love' as well!) Hope this was an all right chapter!
Gemini14