Of Flight and Fish

Chapter 1

"You're a golden eagle?" asked an energetic boy in a straw hat.

The tall, burly red head turned to the boy and spoke gruffly, "Yeah, you a starling?"

"Mh, close. My mother was a swift and I'm told my father was a starling, " the boy gave a cheeky grin with a laugh.

The larger of the two let out a growl and fluttered his wings uneasily, "I didn't know you were a hybrid, Strawhat."

The boy shrugged, "So what shall I call you, eagle?"

"Eustass, Kidd. Whichever you prefer, " Kidd turned his yellow eyes to the sea from their perch.

"Kidd, weird name," he hummed as he sat on the ground, "I'm Luffy."

Kidd nodded and spread his wings, "I should be on my way, coming?"

Luffy jumped up with a nod before spreading his own shiny black wings.

Birdmen have their own wings like different types of birds. There are many differences and likenesses to them. Kidd had strong, bronze colored wings while Luffy had elegant and gleaming, black wings.

The two flew from the sea stacks towards an island nearby.

The island was quaint and held a decent population of birdmen. They flew over some fishermen who held nets between them as they flew to pull the fish up to land in the village square.

Kidd neatly folded his wings as he looked around sharply.

"Looking for someone?" Luffy asked after haphazardly lowering his wings after the flight.

Kidd sneered, "Maybe."

A few soft wingbeats were heard behind the two.

Luffy turned completely to face the newcomer while Kidd just snarled quietly, "Took you long enough, Killer."

"Sorry, " came the reply from the mask of the blond.

Luffy looked between the two, "Who and what is this guy?!"

Kidd laid a heavy hand over Luffy's shoulder to still him, "Killer, he's my partner of sorts. Like a mate. He's a Mauritius Kestrel."

Luffy continued to gaze up at the birdman curiously, "Mates? Like you're together?"

"Ye-. Wait what?" Kidd peered down at Luffy, "No, not like that. Friends."

"Oh, I see, " Luffy grinned and looked to Killer.

Killer had watched the exchange in silent amusement before deciding to speak up, "Will this hybrid be traveling with us, Kidd?"

Kidd paused before looking to Killer skeptically, "How'd you know he was a hybrid?"

Killer gave a slight shrug, "I know both well."

Kidd gave the response a moment to sink in before answering the earlier question, "As long as he sticks around I suppose."

"I'm just traveling, I have a dream, " a sudden air of seriousness took over Luffy which received Kidd's and Killer's attention immediately.

"Which would be what, Strawhat?" Kidd asked cautiously.

Luffy looked Kidd straight in the eyes who noticed the flash of wildness and power, "To be the Sea King, I want to rule the islands and the birdmen."

Killer looked to Kidd knowingly, "That is a good dream."

"You think so?" Luffy brightened with an excited grin.

"It is, my dream is the same, " Kidd spoke truthfully with a grin of his own, "I guess that makes us rivals then, Strawhat."

-

The three decided to stay on the island together and Luffy hadn't chosen another path to take that would take him from the two 'mates'.

The overstuffed hybrid is currently snoring away on the floor of the spare house they were staying in while Kidd and Killer stayed up by a fire in the center of the stone floor. They sat beside one another, wings and shoulders presses up against the other and simply enjoyed the familiarity.

"He sure eats a lot, " Killer casually states while fiddling with his gauntlets.

"He does and is noisy, " Kidd gave a halfhearted scowl.

Killer turned to Kidd and pulled back enough to move behind him, staying seated.

"I like his energy, similar to yours but its own, " he seated himself between Kidd's wings and began to preen the small sensitive feathers close to where wings and back meet.

Kidd suppressed a shiver, "What are you doing?"

Killer kept his attention on Kidd's wings and his work, "Haven't done it in awhile."

"No shit."

Killer chuckled and continued to preen.

They sat in comfortable silence, keeping watch over Luffy and preening one another's feathers and catching up on times.

--@--

KIDD

"MMMEEEEAAAATTTT!"

The annoying brat was awake and just about bouncing off the walls of the small house. The poor thing was already groaning with the effort of keeping itself together.

"Killer, " Kidd called tightly as he looked outside, "Is lunch done yet?"

Killer's voice could faintly be heard from the open doorway, "Almost, but you're impatience is almost worse than his. "

A low chuckle followed and slowly dispersed.

Suddenly Kidd found himself lying, washed up on a beach of some desolate island. He sat up and found his wings damp and heavy from sand and water. He brushed off his torso while cursing himself.

"This is the first crash I've had since leaving the nest, bullshit. "

Kidd stood to take in his surroundings: above him sea vultures circled but they were just birds, the island was a small sand dune with nothing to show, and the sea was blue and empty as ever.

He looked down and noticed there were drag marks in the sand. Leaning down and balancing with his wings outstretched, he lightly touched the marks and followed the trail back to the water with his eyes.

A sharp pain overtook Kidd's mind and his vision blurred until it became white and the sky was all he could see above him. But something was off, the clouds were falling upwards and all Kidd could hear was a steady heartbeat.

With a shake of his head, Kidd dispelled the image of plummeting from the sky and noticed something in the water. He quickly moved down the beach to get a better look and saw someone beneath the water.

As he got closer, the person popped up above the water and Kidd could see tattoos over their tan chest and his short, dark hair that complemented his grey eyes. The sight was odd but beautiful with the lack of wings. Kidd stumbled as he left the beach and entered the water for a better look and noticed the person had no legs, just a fishtail.

Surprise was seen mirrored in the person's gaze before Kidd woke, breaking away from the dream.

--@--