Of Flight and Fish

Chapter 4

The whole situation with the merman, Law, bothered Kidd. He wasn't entirely sure why. Why had he 'saved' him? And how had he let the stupid fish get beneath his skin so easily? Too many questions were swimming around Kidd's head and made him dizzy. Maybe a little emotional too, but he would never admit that.

Once he had fled from the pool, he had been fighting with himself of what he was going to do. He had it planned out upon leaving but had become preoccupied. Kidd wasn't sure if he could return to the village yet or should just begin their plans for taking the place over. But the fish was in the way. Or was he?

Kidd let out a frustrated growl and drew his knives, slicing up the large tropical leaves as he flew past them. Anger came quick and releasing it was destructive. A gleeful grin overtook his facial features and madness nearly took his sight. But he was careful. Kidd could control his anger to his advantage. He should keep it that way.

-

LUFFY

Luffy had been zooming around the forest collecting fallen branches with the agility of his swift heritage. Killer had set a job for him to choose a perfect spot to build their castle in which he was praised for finding a patch of the largest trees to build in.

Birdmen typically build huts off the trunks of trees and the height of the buildings signify their use. Such as sleeping huts towards the top, food towards the middle, and occasionally salting barrels and or tools at the bottom. The bottom can also be used for storage. The huts are also connected tree by tree with a simple rope bridge for those who are unable to fly or prefer walking.

Now Luffy was collecting building materials as village volunteers cut and transported the wood. Branches were preferred to allow ventilation in the walls and could be covered with mud and palm leaves as needed.

Luffy laughed as he dove to catch a limb, "Toss 'em higher, guys! "

A collective shout told Luffy they heard but may not follow through. He shook his head with a carefree grin. After hauling a full load, Luffy flew back to the castle site to drop the building materials off.

Once the materials were set down, Luffy flew over where he had spotted Killer. He was curious as to why the kestrel was on his own when he and Kidd couldn't be separated easily. Luffy knew this from experience. More like experiments.

Killer had begun building the outer walls. Luffy wasn't sure of the exact plans but he knew how a house was built so a castle would just be bigger. It made sense.

"Where is Kidd?" Luffy landed running and pin wheeling his arms before coming to a stop.

Killer spared him a look before abandoning his current work. He landed the complete opposite of Luffy, gracefully. He took off the leather gloves he was wearing to work and set them in a back pocket.

"With a new toy, last I saw."

Luffy tilted his head curiously, "Does it have to do with what the villagers have been whispering about this morning?"

Killer gave a nod before beckoning for Luffy to join in the work. The boy happily joined in to build their new home. The new task took his full attention and any questions he had were forgotten. They didn't see Kidd that night.

-

ZORO

Zoro had stared at where the net disappeared with Law for a long time. Unable to pass the shock of seeing the merman's panicked gaze as he looked to Zoro before being taken. That was when the sun was high in the sky.

As a mershark, Zoro didn't quite act the same as others to certain situations. He has heavily instinct based and now his instincts were calling for him to help Law. They also wanted other things and thankfully were only subtle about them. Zoro still had a few things to figure out about the other merman.