Vagabond - 😴 On Twitter: "Y'all, @Mekachu04 Printed And Hand Bound A Copy Of Out Of The Darkness For

16. HighSchool

Kidd - 14 | Killer - 18

Tags specifically for this chapter:

Puberty found Kidd

meaning inconvenient erections

and some possible pining but he's not ready to explore that

additionally, note the ages,

and that they are still sharing a bed

Killer's working for one of the island's bigger bosses

Kidd is really smart

even if he's essentially illiterate

Killer's using his mob connection to get Kidd textbooks

... and to better their lives in other ways

Read at A03 linked above or here below cut

Drabbles from Pocket Jack's KiKi-tober Prompt list

It's impossible to ignore that things are changing between the two of them. Life is change, but Kidd didn't remember a time not living in Killer's pockets and now he's got more him time then he knows what to do with. Where Killer used to be, Kidd is either alone or bullying the other Heaps punks that think he's easy pickings since he's solo. They don't make that mistake twice, and Kidd has to admit, the occasional throw down is exhilarating. He might start pulling his punches and hoping someone will come back for a round two.

Admittingly, Killer used to ditch him often enough to go hook up with Victoria, sneaking back in at the eleventh hour and Kidd would roll his eyes and pretend he hadn't been sitting up waiting for him to come crawling into bed. When she'd kicked the both of them to the curb last year, Kidd thought that would the end of that. Except Killer still was disappearing on him during the day now.

Killer'd been an early riser their whole lives, so Kidd was used to waking up alone. The older boy - man now, Kidd supposed - wasn't a deep sleeper to start with and had always had trouble sleeping past sunrise. But he rarely went far before Kidd was also up for the day. Lately, the moment Kidd picked his head off the pillow, Killer was heading out.

He'd maybe see him for lunch, but unless Kidd asked him in advance to stick around, Killer was a ghost until evening.

Which was whatever. Kidd didn't care. Hell - it was maybe a little nice in the morning, ever since Kidd had come to the mortifying revelation that the only time he didn't wake up rock hard these days was because he'd creamed his pants at some point in his sleep. Which could have been awkward as hell considering that most places they squatted were too small or too drafty to sleep in any configuration other then curled up together, including the dingy shack they were holed up in now.

Still lazying in their little shared 'bed' now - a broken singles' mattress filled with paper trash - Kidd had to think very hard about not imagining what it was like to sleep next to Killer every night, to imagine Killer still in bed with him in the morning. With a whine, he drug his fingers down his face, pulling his head out of those thoughts, and forced himself up and to his feet. He either needed to deal with this or clear his head, and then get on with his morning.

Killer had left him a filled canteen of clean water, a couple hard boiled eggs, fresh baked bread and a new book.

Another part of their new normal; breakfast and a gift. Killer had fell in good favour with one of the bosses back when they still ran with Victoria, and without her taking up his free time, Killer had been taking on more errands for the gangs. Kidd wasn't real sure how he felt about all that yet. He was vaguely aware Killer had been involved with the gangs before they'd become a duo, but an island wide coup d'etat left him on the loosing side. He'd been pretty paranoid about the bosses since then, but Victoria had to go and change his mind about them all not being vicious warmongers. Boss Athair didn't ask for Killer's loyalty and paid more coin for a single errand then the both of them usually scrapped together in a fortnight.

Enough for three fresh meals a day. Enough to pay someone to actually wash their clothes instead of rinsing them in seawater and beating them on the rocks until they were 'clean' or fell apart. Every one of Killer's safe-caches had a full coin purse, and now even Kidd's did too. 

If it kept up, they might even be able to rent a real room next winter, in a real building.

With blankets or even a fireplace.

An actual bed, without bugs and weird smelling mold spots.

A bookshelf for the text books Killer kept finding somewhere.

School books belonging to some Cailean MacCeannard according to the front end page. Killer had several of the guys books by this point, a few clearly ancient primers, but then some more advanced stuff that was way more interesting, like one on that claimed to be the 7th edition of Heat and Thermodynamics, or the Fundamentals of the Theory of Electricity. Granted, Kidd only probably understood a quarter of what the books were talking about, Killer reading out large passages to him some nights since Kidd's reading skills were pretty lacking. Killer didn't understand most of what he said, but Kidd urged him on regardless, Killer's steady voice bringing the author's ideas to life for Kidd.

Today's book was Nonlinear Magnetohydrodynamics and Kidd had not the foggiest what that was suppose to mean, but he flipped through it, studying the diagrams with little context, but still fascinated as he munched on one of the eggs. This one lacked Cailean's name, but did have a some Marine Base Library Stamp on it and it filled him with glee to read the "Library Copy. Do not Remove from Premises" embossed on the title page.

"Mine now," he cackled to himself.

Day 28 : New places

Alt Title: Reunion

Arriving to Elbaph at last.

Sorry i'm a little late XD

Original Prompt list by gratefulcheeses

https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stitchfiddle.com%2Fen%2Fc%2Fsi98t4-5xvnke%2Fquickview&t=OTBlOGUwYzE0MWE5ZjIyYjI4MTJiMDk2MzRhN2I0MmFmM2RjZmFhNSw5ODdhMzJiODZjYTMzZGYxZDIwZTI3NmI1N2YxNDFkYWQ0MGFjOGJk

Google Docs

Copy_of_AZ_LG_on_22_-_Stitch_Fiddle.pdf

Illustration by @wargoddess9

The swirlies on azi's jacket are meant to be French knots. I dunno how to illustrate that in a pattern, sorry

Cross stitch pattern available as a pdf through Google drive or using the stitchfiddle site if you want to set your own print settings or can't print it at all

Untested pattern.

been trying since 2009, this is the first time I've ever gotten close, much less actually made it all the way. hopefully will get some of it cleaned up and on ao3 sometime in the next few months.

the big question, is do i take a break or not?

Day 29: 40 years

finally getting back to working on Kidd Pirates Month (january)

Original Prompt list by gratefulcheeses

This blog is dedicated to things i create. My scrapbook is @mekachuo4​ 

For public reblogs, please follow soyala04

Tumblr Page & Post Banners made @d-angel00

About:

I’m Mekachu, a queer adult from the united states and married to wargoddess9

I like to cross-stitch, write fanfic, and bind books

My main fandom go-tos are One piece, Good omens, pokemon, and all things hockey.

WIP GAME Sneak Peaks - feel free to ask about any of them, any time

Kidd Pirates Month 2025 Master List

KiKi’tober 2024 Master List​

Also on:

DreamWidth

BlueSky

A03

World Anvil

Discord

self proclaimed antis, publicly stated minors (17 and under) and Generative AI content creators will be blocked

20. Metal Trinkets

Kidd - 7 | Killer - 11

Tags specifically for this chapter:

Children in danger

Sometimes, Kidd is still a child

Killer doesn't understand playing pretend

He's so confused but he's trying

Read at A03 linked above or here below cut

Drabbles from Pocket Jack's KiKi-tober Prompt list

Kidd had a cute chubby face that meant people didn't feel guilty giving him things, and he had been slow to grow and was still very small looking for seven. He was also quick tongue and lacked any of Killer's hesitancy when it came to demanding attention. Everything about him was loud, and he just could stand in crowded streets and adults would stop to see what he needed help with.

He'd pretend to be lost, or spin them some other fantastic story, and Killer would lift items from their bags or coin purses from pockets. And then later they'd awe at their spoils and feast like Kings. Sometimes the items could get pawned for coin; sometimes they kept them, if they were small enough. A neat watch that Kidd would break almost immediately because he tried to take it apart, a box of luxury chocolates that they gorged themselves on - too sweet and rich for them in the end - and once they even pilfered a doll that ended up being far more trouble then it was worth.

Children's toys were a complete unknown to Killer; Children's games in general were a mystery to Killer, and Kidd long declared him the absolute worst at playing pirates when he'd spend most of their game correcting Kidd on the names of the parts of their non-existent boat. "No, that would be the backstay."

"It doesn't matter!"

"… but it does?" Poor Killer just could not wrap his head around Kidd's point of view, and if Kidd had anyone else to play with he'd probably have left to do so.

But, Killer was also his best friend, and Kidd thought it important that someone teach Killer how to play. So when the doll had appeared in one of the packages they'd lifted, Kidd had wanted to keep it. The problem was, playing with just the one doll between the two of them was difficult, and trying to teach Killer how to play dolls with just the one was proving to be impossible. He'd intently watch Kidd demonstrate, but when it was his turn, Killer would freeze up, and just cradled the dainty little doll like he was afraid to break it.

Stealing a second doll had so far not worked out for them - Kidd was starting to suspect Killer wasn't trying to find them another one - so Kidd took it upon himself to make one. He'd already been making little abstract things with the scrap during slow spells or when he couldn't sleep but he didn't want to wake Killer up. Killer didn't sleep though the night very often as it was, so when he did pass out during the day, Kidd was more than happy to keep watch and let him rest. Granted, making a doll was a little harder since it needed to look like something when he was done, but Kidd was pretty proud of how it was coming along.

He'd been out looking for new pieces when he'd spotted a dozen City Men in the Heaps. They'd come by from time to time to dump their trash, but normally the only ones coming this deep were ditching a body or looking for someone. Heap-folks learned to avoid them; pretend you don't see them, they pretend they don't see you.

These men didn't seem to want to follow the script, because one pointed directly at Kidd, "That red yokel, that's one of them!"

"Killer! Run!" he'd yelled back to their hovel, taking off in the opposite direction, hoping they'd follow him instead. Kidd knew the Heaps like the back of his hand, he could run this place blindfolded if he needed too. And as long as Killer wasn't nearby, Kidd was happy to -wreck- shit up without worrying his friend getting caught in his still sporadic control over his magnetism. He could -attract- things towards him without hurting himself anymore, but -repealing- was still like firing a scattershot and he hadn't figure out at all how to aim it.

Unfortunately, only about half the men took the bait, and all Kidd could do was pray Killer had enough warning. Frustratingly, the man who'd pointed at him had not been one to follow.

Kidd was small and fast, and he new all the best paths to run along, and which were filled with tripping hazards. And alone, he was free to -pull- and -push- piles to his whims to trip up or even bury his tag-alongs.

Once he was sure he'd lost his tail, he made his way back to the last place he'd seen Killer and started looking for the older boy - only to hear cursing and swearing beckoning him toward their shelter.

"WHERE IS IT!"

Kidd stuck his head over one of the lips of trash. The leader of the group was screaming at Killer who was ignoring him completely to fight with the man who was trying to keep him in a head lock. The three of them were covering in blood splatter and the man looked like he had a child size shoe print across his face. The other four men that had stayed behind with him hadn't fared so well, bodies twitching and discarded in the rubble.

Kidd froze when he recognized the knife the man was threatening with was Killer's own blade, and its very sharp point was being waved far too close to Killer's own face.

"Where is the Duck House?!"

"I dun what that means!" Killer had gasped out when the man's free had grabs a fist full of his hair, and the other man finally got his forearm successfully under Killer's chin and against his neck.

"The Duck House!" The man screams again, and the knife is going for Killer's face, and Kidd -pulls- in a panic, the blade sinking in to the trash pile as he ducked back down to hide behind once more. The two men turned and looked in the opposite direction, reasonably believing someone shot something to disarm them. There are no devil fruit users on Kutsukku after all. Those are just Grand Line myths the Marines use to trick people.

Killer however, uses the distraction to mule kick the man holding him in the groin, and is running the moment his feet hit the ground. Kidd wants to send the knife back to him, but he's terrified to hit Killer with it by mistake.

The grunt is still huddled in on himself, and his leader screams and picks up some scrap to throw after Killer. Kidd -pushes- that off course but remains otherwise crouched and hidden. He knows that Killer knows he's nearby, and no doubt will double back, so he stays down, listening, waiting. Watching.

He watched the two men tear into their home, the makeshift walls light enough for children to put into place no match for adults as they are ripped away. He bitterly watched as their meager things get tossed aside, just more trash in these men's way.

They tear apart blankets, rip open the 'pillow' Kidd and Killer share, throw clothes aside regardless of the mud. The parts to the watch Kidd was still trying to figure out get scattered, lost forever in the scrapyard.

Killer slid down next to him, panting softly, eyes a little manic from adrenaline but hands soft and steady has he checks Kidd over for injures he doesn't have. Kidd keeps watching the City Men as they destroy everything.

Finally, they make a triumphant noise, and the leader is holding out the doll relevantly, her porcelain skin dirty from her time with Kidd but intact. The man is grumbling about the state of her dress, and Kidd and Killer shoot each other dumbfounded looks.

But this doll is apparently worth the lives of most of his crew, and they go to leave, their treasure reacquired. The leader can't help but twist his heel into one of their shirts as he walks by, grinning at the sound of ripping cloth.

All this for a doll. Killer looks pissed, and Kidd can't blame him. Two on two - they could still mess this man's day up. But Kidd is also frowning at the blood dripping from Killer's nose still and touching it seems to drain all the blood-lust out of Killer's body. He just looks forlorn.

The men are getting way, but…

Kidd climbs to the top of the heap, and holds his hands out in concentration. Everything crackles around him, but he's not -calling- for anything nearby. No… he wants something much farther away. It's hard to pick the -song- of any specific piece of metal, they all -sing- pretty close to the same frequency.

Kidd finds the right song and he -calls- for it, across the yard, a large shuttering network of pipes welded together as part of a crane at some distant point in its life. It vibrates as Kidd isolates its sound, "Attract…" he muttered, concentration on just it.

The beam starts towards them. But more importantly, it starts rolling toward the men picking their way out of the Heaps, standing just below it. Killer jerks his arms down, and Kidd looses is focus on it, but it's already moving. Rolling down the hill as more clutter follows it down.

The men don't stand a chance.

Killer is draped around him, loosely pinning Kidd's arms to his sides, both boys watching and the Heaps buries those who dared cross into Her Realm uninvited.

They'll pick over their home and see if anything is salvageable, and then they'll find somewhere else and start over. Kidd never does find all the watch pieces, the tiny parts eaten by the endless yards of trash accumulated under their feet. The doll - a Duck House Doll, apparently, whatever that was supposed to mean - was destroyed along side the City Men with the trash slide, leaving Kidd with just his mostly finished doll that was meant to go with her.

He had left the unfinished project behind with the rest of their unsalvageable belongings.

A lifetime later, after Killer left him to go be a yesman for one of the City Bosses, and it was clear he wasn't coming back, Kidd had raided every cache Killer had left behind in a rage. He was angry and he just wanted to break things, and he had no more of a goal than to destroy anything the tied Killer to Kidd's turf.

Most of the caches were clothes, mostly warmer winter gear, knives, a full coin purse and usually a handful of little trinkets Kidd had made over the years. The last one Kidd would raid angry was more of the same, with one glaring exception. Inside the metal box to protect Killer's things from the elements was a well balanced dagger, it's hilt unlike the style mostly found on Kutsukku, and a flintlock pistol, polished and clean but without ammo. Both looked unused - new. The two weapons framed the last item, a long forgotten metal robot doll smiled back at him, clunky arms wrapped purposely around the drawstring coin bag with it's crudely stitched skull and crossbones.

5. Laugh

Kidd - 20 | Killer - 24 | Heat - 25 | Wire - 26

Tags specifically for this chapter:

Violence | Death

minor little reference to food scarcity

Outsiders think Killer is the safest one to make fun of

because he'd not as intimidating at first appearance

that's their mistake

Read at A03 linked above or here below cut

Drabbles from Pocket Jack's KiKi-tober Prompt list

"Why aren't you laughing anymore? Here I was under the impression you thought our vice captain was funny?"

Wire was already a towering man, and his face was perpetually set to an expression of not giving any fucks. He was still wearing that bored look as he knelt down next to one of the horrified men that was pinned down by a trident prong through his leg.

Out of the four of them, Wire was never really sure why Boss Killer seemed to generate the most whispers and mockery when they went out on the town. He was almost normal looking compared to the rest of them, even if he was a little on the shorter side, and personally Wire thought he was still too skinny. And yet...

He hadn't even taken his helmet off this time when the captain of the man now pinned under his weapon had made a wisecrack about it when the barmaid had arrived with the first round of their food. Captain Kidd had heard it, teeth grinding when he turned to glare, but remained where he was when the woman made a frightened sound next to him and nearly dropped one of the plates. Heat had caught it, no harm no foul, and she'd run back out of miasma of brewing tension that was filling the tavern.

However, Boss Killer just pushed his untouched plate of fettuccine at Captain with a shrug, muttering something about not being hungry. Which was not necessarily unusual, as both he and Heat had noticed that Boss Killer tended to order extra food specifically for Captain in some weird dynamic they had where Heat was pretty sure he was trying to trick Captain to a more balanced diet. In general, the Kidd Pirates had all dealt with some from of food scarcity and still had the habits of never wasting it, even if it wasn't something they particularly liked to eat. Captain Kidd was still the best reflection of that - he would eat anything put in front of him, even if he bitched about it the whole time.

"Don't know why they even bother bringing a plate out for the toy solider," one of the men at the other table had remarked, followed by ruckus laughter.

Captain had nearly snapped his fork in half, but Boss Killer calmly rose first. The two of them shared a look, before Captain relaxed, sitting back in his chair. He calmly looked around the room, and caught the barmaid's attention. She looked like coming over to see what he wanted was the last thing she wanted to do; and instead of beckoning her over, Captain Kidd held up a hand to shoo her away.

She grabbed the bartender and the two of them disappeared to the back of the house with the cook.

Smart woman.

One of the men laughing had gotten up to make like he was stiffly marching in place, and Wire admitted, he did look like those little trinkets some of the winter islands like to sell that was dressed up like a rank and file solider. He didn't really understand why they thought that a good insult for Boss Killer unless they though his mask implied he was some kind of animatron.

Boss Killer strode over, not pausing for a second in his forced casual saunter, and grabbed the back of the man's head and slamming it down amongst the half empty plates of his laughing crew.

The whole tavern was so quiet a pin drop could be heard. Boss Killer said absolutely nothing in his own defense, turning pointedly to turn to the crew's supposed captain. The man's face was twisted red and furious, spurting as he failed to form words.

"Laugh," Captain demanded, "My toy solider did something funny, after all."

Heat chuckled at least, stretching out his neck and shoulders, preparing for the fight to come. Wire causally finished eating the last bit of his diner.

Boss Killer let go of the twitching man on the table, standing up straight over the table's leader, daring him to retaliate.

The man took the bait, pulling a pistol from his hip; Captain narrowed his eyes, but Boss Killer was faster, twisting around so the bullet passed harmlessly by and smashing his knee into the man's temple.

And the fight was truly on, Captain flinging the metal silverware out as impromptu shrapnel as he casually got up to cover Boss Killer's back, Heat bouncing up on their own table to kick a plate across the way and into one of them who'd been laughing's face. Wire grabbed his trident from where it had been resting out of the way by the wall, and used the pole to bat one of the angry men away with a blow to the face.

And then the tavern devolved into blood-lust and chaos. Apparently it wasn't just the two of their groups that had beef with each other and fights between other groups started immediately.

So long as they didn't get involved with theirs, Wire thought dryly.

And with little overlap they had not. Those who'd laughed at the mocking found themselves being turned around and shoved right back at the foursome when they tried to use the havoc to sneak away; The Kidd pirates had clearly called dibs and no one was too interested in meddling in that.

It was a great brawl. But, like all fights, a man's stamina only lasted so long, and the price of laughter had finally been paid.

Now the fighting had continued out into the streets, but that was someone else's business at the point, The Kidd Pirates having proven their point and dealt with those who'd harassed them; the rest was all the other parties, and Wire hoped they enjoyed their night as sounds of the brawl faded into the night.

The hall was in shambles, a massacre with abandoned corpses scattered about, and Captain Kidd frowned, dropping a few more gold coins on the abandoned bar counter as he helped himself to another bottle or four of whiskey, plopping them down at their original table and kicking his chair back upright.

Wire absently-mindedly tapped his weapon on the ground to try knock some of the blood and gore off the ends, before retaking his seat, Heat back at his side, legs crossed under him, looking content.

However, once Boss Killer sat back down, Captain dropped a bare palm to the top of the helmet. The two said nothing for a moment, Heat coughing as he found anything else to look at for the time being, and Wire glanced around to confirm they were really alone.

"fwa.. Fine." Boss Killer chuckled, "Whatever Captain wants," and let Captain pull the metal off, ducking his head down and messing with his bangs once it was free, trying to tame them back from the sweaty mess they'd clumped up in.

"Eat your fucking pasta." Captain said as he set the helmet on the table, fishing through the assorted tableware until he found a fork that was probably clean - or at least hadn't been one used to murder anyone in the last hour, and stabbing into Boss Killer's discarded fettuccine with it.

Day 25 : Bounty

A long, long time ago, somewhere in the South Blue.....

Killer was a stoic, massacring badass, no quarter given and deadly enough to be hailed as one of the top in the worst generation. So much so, the Marines had to write 'Captain' on Kidd's poster just to clear up confusion on which of the two was the more dangerous.

GGD - Chapter 5 (probably)

Killer: Kidd?

Kidd: ... we're changing course

Killer: ?

Kidd: i gotta go flatten a marine base

Original Prompt list by @gratefulcheeses

WIP. (at WIP) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ2mkCdlN8P/?igshid=p1mkeolo4n02