Chapter Text
Power Gem
-Grand Line-
-Heart Pirates-
Penguin gives a mental sigh of relief as he finds exactly what he was looking for in the sleepy mining town they had docked at for a few nights, mildly attempting to keep the marines away after the whole Sabaody incident.
It had been difficult to sneak away under Law’s eagle eyed glower, the Captain still smarting over losing most of his brain cells when he had been dealing with the Kid and Strawhat pirate captains and attempting to make up for his ‘slip of mental awareness’ by being an overbearing mother hen.
Shachi, as older brothers do, had been teasing Law mercilessly about it, cooing to the increasingly murderous looking younger man that he was so proud that he had made some friends. For his bravery, or stupidity if you asked a long suffering Bepo and Penguin, he had ended up as the subject of the crew’s latest treasure hunt. The red head had been scattered around the Polar Tang while Law sulked, brushing out Lami’s fluff in his cabin with Nightlight sleeping unbothered by his Partner’s disassembly on the cushion pile in the galley.
“You’re welcome for the distraction by the way.” Shachi grinned, his head and one stray hand sitting on the galley table as the starting ‘found’ pile of parts. The hand flicking into a peace sign as the head grinned wildly.
“We’ve both been jumbled enough for our shenanigans to know that Law won’t leave the Tang until all parts have been found. I have Nightlight on watch.”
Penguin raised a brow in mild surprise, his own thoughts had been more occupied with the fact he was disappointed he hadn’t joined in on the teasing, rather than thinking it would be the perfect time to sneak ashore for their gift for Law’s birthday.
Bepo’s eyes immediately sparkle in realisation, clasping his paws to his chest excitedly, turning to Penguin and shooing him off to get changed, “I can help ‘Chi! You go ashore! Daylight can sense the radiation of stones!”
The lavender cat mews smugly from his side, her forked tail lashing to and fro eagerly, looking up at him with glimmering violet eyes.
Daylight trots at his heels, the picture of poised grace trailing behind her disguised partner who had wandered into town without his iconic hat and boiler suit. Instead, Penguin was decked out in casual civilian clothes, his wallet quite a few berri heavier than normal thanks to Shachi and Bepo’s contributions.
“Can you sense the stones, Day?” He asks his Espeon as she takes the lead suddenly, turning him this way and that down winding streets carved into the rock face as she locks in on the mystic signature of evolution stones in the distance. The purple cat like creature lopes up onto a stack of crates near a withering old man who lets out a croak of surprise, his aging Granbull growing wearily as Daylight purrs back at her Partner.
“Day! Don’t go scaring people!” He half heartedly scolds, the Espeon not looking the slightest bit chastised as she leapt down to twine around Penguin’s ankles. “Sorry, sir, I’m looking for an evolution stone specialist.”
“Well you’re in luck young man, I am the resident Stone Evaluator.” The man gargles wobbling along to the entrance of an inconspicuous looking shop. “What are you in the market for?”
“I need a Shiny Stone.” Penguin says simply, leaning on the counter casually as Daylight wanders the shop as she will, her tail twitching and eyes flashing blue every so often to keep track of marines and suspicious individuals that might be on to them.
“Hmm a rare treasure that.” The wrinkly man ponders, his eyes magnifying comically large when he flips his glasses down from dust covered hair to browse his boxes behind the counter, “For a sweetheart’s Roselia or Floette perhaps?”
Penguin smiles wanly, letting the man think what he will, fingers idly tapping the glass countertop and bemusedly eyeing the water stones underneath his fingers as fate once again puts him in proximity to those sapphire blue stones. Daylight purrs, pressing her head to his calf as he dwells a fraction too long on them, remembering that day that felt like a lifetime ago on Swallow Island in the cold North Blue that forever changed him, forever changed them as partners.
Absently, he reaches down and caresses an ear, the velvet fur under his fingers smooth and soft, “I wonder what could have been.” He murmurs, gently pressing a teasing finger to the tip of the Espeon’s nose when she reaches up for her chin to be scratched, batting his hand away playfully with a chirp when she leans back away from the shock of her nose being bopped.
“In my experience young man, the past is the past, you can’t change it, you can learn from it of course if there are lessons to be learned, but otherwise I chalk it up to the gift of life.” The old man chatters, Penguin jumping from his musing to watch as the man places three dusty looking boxes in front of him, covering the water stones from view, “Now, these are my largest Shiny Stones. Of course they also come with a pretty price tag too.”
“I wouldn’t expect any less.” Penguin sighs in mild despair, the prices on the boxes eye watering even after so many years of seeing chests of gold and wads of berri as big as his fist, bemused that even when his wallet was stuffed with bills many times greater in worth than those old jars on Swallow, it would still clear out his savings yet again.
“Things we do for you Law.” He huffs to himself quietly, Daylight trilling in delight as the stones are revealed, selecting the biggest one of the three, the pale sea green glass like stone shining with an inner golden shimmer that casts pretty iridescent light shows on the ceiling before it is wrapped in thick brown paper and tied shut with rough twine.
He withdraws the wad of bills fetched from his wallet with a grimace that makes the old rickety man laugh, “I hope the person you give this to appreciates it.” the old man says kindly, Penguin holding the weight of the item as if it were finely spun sugar glass and stashes it in his pocket with a shy wobbly smile as Daylight leans against him in support with a loud purr.
He returns to find Law pacing the deck to and fro, face twisted into a furious scowl, Shachi and Bepo kneeling before him looking rather chastised while Nightlight chatters like a hyena to share his amusement, Lami sitting on his head cooing happily.
“How could you just let him wander off by himself?!” Law huffs and puffs after a few laps, Kikoku’s red tassels swinging with each turn of heel.
“Wow. Thanks for the vote of confidence.” He drawls, wandering up the gangway, shoulders hunched and hands in his pockets so Law couldn’t immediately behead him without most of his torso going too. Daylight primly leaping aboard to settle next to Nightlight and Lami with a chirp, nuzzling her Umbreon brother and tenderly licking the overjoyed Togetic’s cheek in fondness, “Relax Law. I was in and out, ten minute adventure.”
Their Captain growls as Bepo and Shachi perk up, high fiving each other before they are on their feet and bracketing Penguin who removes his hands from his pockets and shows off the wrapped item.
“It’s a gift.” The trio chorus, holding the present out so that all three of them have a hand touching the gift as they present it to their flabbergasted looking brother, big grins splitting their faces ear to ear as Lami flutters over to drape herself over Law’s hat with a cheerful twitter.
Defog
-New World-
-Heart Pirates-
Summer was making its presence known on the sea.
The morning was forever swathed in the murky drifts of haar, the warm air heated by the intense sun rolling over the cold sea, resulting in a fog that they had long started using as optimal cover for hunting enemy ships via radar.
Law hated the Haar, it had been common on Swallow in the brief summer, the curse of the sea swallowing the world with the breeze and draining him of his vitality. It was annoying, the sea fog rendering him weak enough to not be able to use his devil fruit but still able to be mobile and working.
As such he often lurked in his room aboard the Polar Tang in the mornings while the crew enjoyed the brief reprieve from the blistering summer sun overhead until the haar boiled away with his ventilation on full blast, putting the air scrubbers to the ultimate test as he would form and pop a ‘Room’ to keep tabs on himself.
But with Lami now able to freely fly with her broad wings of long feathers and fluff, she was too irritable to stay in one spot unless it was to settle into her nest, made painstakingly out of his old black and yellow hoodie that she had practically lived in the hood of as a baby Togepi and used as her resting spot as a Togetic.
So, much to his displeasure, he had to keep his door open and allow himself to be reduced to a normal human as the Togekiss drifted from her nest and zipped off down the corridor for her morning flight.
“I see we are regretting our life choices again today.” Penguin drawls sleepily from his perch up on deck when he finally drags himself out into the chilled fog that has seemingly erased the world, Lami’s loud whistling calls on the wind the only indicator a Togekiss was flying above them.
Daylight is lying at her partner’s side, currently grooming her shoulders irritably while Penguin holds her forked tail in his hand, smoothing and ruffling the satin like lavender fur while sipping his morning coffee with the other.
Law tries to look less put upon but that only makes his older brother chuckle, jumping when the hand ‘grooming’ his Pokémon’s tail abandons the task to reach up and grab his wrist to drag him to the deck floor.
Huffing, he does as he is bid, crossing his long legs and settling for resting his elbow on his knee to support his chin with his fist while Lami strafes along the length of the Polar Tang in a flash of white honey gold hued feathers and fluff, once again disappearing into the haar.
“I hate the sea fog.” He grumbles, as if it’s a new statement that Penguin hasn’t heard since they were snot nosed little brats on Swallow, “I’m normal and it sucks.”
“How low the mighty Lord of the castle has fallen.” Penguin replies blandly, but not without a smile tugging his usual frown into a bright grin, “How honoured we are that he has deigned to walk amongst the common man.”
“Shut up, you ass.” Law huffs, reaching over when the knee jerk reaction of using ‘Shambles’ to chuck Penguin overboard fails with a pathetic flare and pop of power under his free hand, to sharply jab the older man in the ribs.
Penguin squirms away from the pain, chanting ‘ow’ over and over whilst Daylight gives a sharp trill of laughter, “Do you think Lami will be okay up there? Bepo was saying there could be something on the long radar that we need to avoid.”
“She’s never given us away before, no matter how loudly she sings.” Law shrugs, casually leaning to the side as said Togekiss nearly takes him out with a broad wing to the back of the head when she swoops low to buzz them, still not used to her new large size, her coo of playful joy coming and going almost too quickly to hear properly. “Besides, she’s a big girl, she can handle it.”
Penguin’s face grimaces into a frown, no doubt remembering the last time Lami had ‘handled’ a random pirate vessel they had been hunting a week or so ago, the ship had gone up in flames in moments, the newly evolved Togekiss not quite having mastered her power boost to her Flamethrower and Dazzling Gleam at the time.
Law had been beside himself with pride over her, while Penguin and Shachi had very quickly had to strip the vessel of its valuables double time before it took its spoils and blinded crew to the bottom of the ocean.
“You still set on Punk Hazard?” Penguin asks after a moment of silence, earning himself a put upon sigh, frown quickly becoming a scowl.
“You know I am.” Law replies, internally wincing at the sharp click of Penguin’s tongue as he bites back exactly what he thinks of that, “You’re the only one so far that hasn’t called me out.”
Penguin seems to deliberate a moment, head tilting back to look up into the sky that doesn’t exist beyond the pale disk of the sun shining through the haar, hand placing itself in his partner Pokémon’s fur as if to ground himself, “You will not change your mind, this is different from your usual stubbornness.”
“I prefer you when you are goofing off with Shachi.” Law says in return, admiring Lami’s silhouette gliding above him in the murky sky as he flops back to fully rest his back on the deck, “It’s a job that needs doing.”
“One that we cannot help with?” Penguin asks, a calm facade to the explosive temper that he knows lies underneath.
“I wouldn’t survive it if any of you didn’t.” Is what he says, through gritted teeth and bleeding heart.
“It isn’t any better if you go and get yourself killed either.” The elder man says simply, eyes no doubt narrowed and calculating under the lip of his hat, “All the same, how do you want me to react?”
“Screaming, crying, throw a few fists?” Law suggests, holding a finger up for each of the reactions he has received thus far, the bold letters of DEATH on his fingers unfurling like a prophecy as he counts it out.
“Couldn’t be me.” Penguin shrugs, with some attempt at humour, draining his coffee mug and setting it aside, following Law into lying on the deck, his Espeon clambering atop him to stare down at them both, “The thought crossed my mind though, I haven’t knocked you out with a frying pan lately, it’s overdue. I have a proposal though.”
With a low sigh, Law rolls his eyes, his frown tilting into a soft smile as Lami lands at their heads cooing curiously, her off-white fluff with her bright blue and red horns loud against the dull sky, “Let’s hear it then.”
“I want Daylight to teach Lami psychic attacks.” Penguin says, hands already up and messing with Daylight’s cheek fur, earning happy purrs, “We have a suspicion of who is on Punk Hazard. I want you to go in with some sneaky advantages.”
Law barks a laugh, reaching up himself to scratch behind Lami’s horns which gets him a soft trill, squinting as the sun finally seems to break through the thinning haar around them in wide gentle beams of golden heat, catching his partner’s feathers and haloing her in gold. He heaved himself back to sitting upright, flexing his fingers as he feels the tingle of his devil fruit returning to him the more the fog burns away, “Let’s get to work then.”
Telekinesis
-Swallow Island-
-Swallow Island Gang-
“I hate you.” Shachi whimpers as they all stare up at the high ledge where a nest of Swellow shrieked down at them, the pair of angry birds bracketing a bewildered looking Lami that warbled in mild distress at having been separated from Law, “I can’t believe you are making me go up there.”
“It’s your fault they managed to grab her in the first place.” Law hisses, shivering in Bepo’s warm hug, drenched from his unintended dip in the ocean as they all raced to grab Lami back from her kidnappers who had mistaken her for their own egg, “What even possessed you to hold her up above your head?!”
“She was enjoying the up!” Shachi flapped in protest, Nightlight snarling up at the duo whose shrieks had turned into agitated chittering.
Penguin frowns up at the bird Pokémon, Daylight giving a hiss, her needle like claws massaging the dirt as if she were just waiting on permission to tear the Swellow apart, “We can try and stack ourselves? Whoever is on the top is not going to have a good day though.”
“Or, better idea we can dry out Law by a fire and come back in an hour.” Shachi argues back, mimicking Law’s ‘Room’ and ‘Shambles’ motions with his hands.
“I’m not leaving my partner out here with a storm on the way.” Law growls like an angry cat, “Now get up there Shachi.”
The red head whines loudly, like a kicked dog before kneeling down to Daylight’s level, staring into the cat like Pokémon’s violet eyes, “Please don’t drop me. I know you are still getting used to levitating things, but if you have ever respected me as a friend please don’t drop me.”
The Espeon huffs in annoyance, her forked tail lashing, head tilting up imperiously, red forehead gem flashing as she turns her head to look up at Penguin.
“Just try and be gentle, Day, I believe in you.” Penguin grins, flashing her a thumbs up that doesn’t fill anyone with confidence, least of all the worrywart, mother hen that Law had turned into over his Togepi.
Bepo smiles nervously, more holding Law so he doesn’t strangle Shachi and to squeeze and cuddle the other teen to settle himself over the sudden turn their afternoon had taken, “I have a feeling this isn’t going to end well.”
“Don’t say that in Law’s earshot Bepo, he’s neurotic enough as it is.” Shachi cries accusingly drawing a sad ‘Sorry!’ from the Urshifu/Beartic cross as Law resumes his struggles to be free of their youngest brother’s embrace, likely to just attempt to clamber up the high cliff face like a squirrel out of spite.
“Okay, let’s just try this.” Penguin calls, petting Daylight, Nightlight trotting forward to howl up at the Swellow in a last attempt to get Lami back, only to skitter back when twin blades of air are aimed in his direction, “Before the birds slice and dice us please.”
Slapping his cheeks in what appeared to be an attempt to psych himself up, Shachi turns to the determined Espeon whose eyes now flicker with a neon shimmer of royal blue, “Okay, Day! Get me up there!”
“It could have been worse.” Penguin tries to soothe diplomatically later that evening in front of the fire, Law shaking as he sneezes, so close to the warmth he has almost set himself on fire at least twice. Lami is cheeping happily from the couch where she is securely settled between Nightlight and Daylight as Shachi holds an ice pack to his head, his face covered in plasters, two of his fingers bound with bandages and splinted together.
Bepo nods valiantly in agreement as both Law and Shachi glower at them both, going back to repacking their first aid kit with haste as Penguin hands out the bowls of soup he had made, softly chanting a sad ‘sorry’ under his breath.
Happy Hour
-Zou-
-Heart Pirates-
He wakes to find Lami sprawled over him like a blanket, her broad wings lax covering his arms from the chill of the night that was setting in. It reminds him of raven black feathers cocooning him as a child against the cruelty of the world, of a man whose memory he has finally avenged.
She coos in her sleep on the exhale, her fur puffed up to keep the heat in and share it with her partner. He admires the tiny flecks of blue and red confetti that pattern her chest, but finds himself unwilling to wake her. With a puzzled frown, he tilts his head to see Bepo staring into the dimming embers of the communal fire the Heart Pirates had built to light their celebration, still nursing a wooden tankard as Penguin softly whistles Lugia’s Song to Daylight, the psychic cat swaying to the tune while they toss some more wood onto the fire, the sudden surge of heat a welcoming balm.
Shachi is brushing Nightlight down, the golden circles adorning his shoulders and haunches throbbing with light with each brush stroke.
“Is the Captain still out?” Shachi asks suddenly and Law snaps his eyes shut unwilling to be subjected to the plethora of questions his brothers will no doubt grill him with now that Lami has effectively immobilised him.
“Lami’s got him pinned. He’s not going anywhere.” Penguin snickers, his words a little slurred, pleasantly buzzed by the sounds of it.
“He’s missing happy hour.” Bepo says sadly, forever a sad drunk much to Shachi and Penguin’s dismay when they got him drunk on his birthday one year.
“Think he will actually start sleeping better now that his one man revenge mission is done?” Penguin asks curiously, “Also, we will need to make sure we keep in contact with the Strawhats, he’s found some new friends! I didn’t think he could do that!”
If he weren’t pretending to sleep so he didn’t end up in a drunken group hug, Law would immediately begin a several hour lecture on why that was the stupidest idea he had ever heard.
“Ha! Who cares? I’m just glad he’s home.” Shachi says with a cackle, raising a flagon in toast, “Swallow Island Gang is back together boys!”
Penguin whoops, throwing his arms up in celebration, both Nightlight and Daylight letting out happy cries in chorus as Bepo’s depressed but full hearted drawn out ‘yay’ makes Law let out a huff of amusement, opening his eyes to find his brothers already peering down at him, their beloved faces warming his heart.