The third and final flashback story which will be about Lazaro and Hernandez. Enjoy :)

There was a large bird village just a few miles away from New Mexico City, not far enough that the city could not be seen. It was a village that had plenty of sunlight and raining for adequate farming. Some spots in Mexico had too much sun to allow the farmers to do their job, but this very village was a blessed spot, apparently.

"Hernandez! What's the matter?!" Hernandez's mother asked in slight panic as she used a towel to whip the blood from his white feathers.

"I-I...fought again, mama," he replied with looking down, his huge beak not blocking anything.

"Darling, we already went through this thousands of time," his mama sighed. "Why did you fought this time?"

"They all looked at me like I was some kind of monster," he responded with looking up at her. "I hate when they do that! It's not my fault I'm a bird larger than all the others! Nor if I possess a big strength that they all want!"

His mother took him in a hug. "Hernandez, please don't cry anymore. I can't stand to see you cry."

"Darling, stop making that boy feel so crappy for a little brawl!" a male voice entered the nest. It was an adult pelican who was older than Hernandez and the same age as his mother. "I know you mean to well in trying to prevent him from getting hurt, but you don't have to derail his self-esteem."

Hernandez's mother huffed. "Dear, come on now. I'm trying to protect Hernandez. He's in serious pain which is something I'm trying to prevent him from experiencing! This is exactly why I have kept him sheltered!"

Hernandez's father just smiled and kissed her beak, making her blush. "Pain is indeed an uncomfortable experience, but it's a necessary one. You can't keep the boy under wraps forever. Because if you do, he'll never be able to face the world when he goes out there. Because if he doesn't go after the world...the world will force him to."

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't expect to safeguard him from the world's danger his whole life. Either he confronts it himself, or something or someone makes him. And it has a high chance of being painful. I'd rather pick the former option." He looked toward her. "If he cannot get the experience he needs to face the world, he will never be able to leave the nest you carefully built around him. This nest cannot last forever. It will crumble one day, and he will become completely helpless. Huge strength or not, he will be taken appart in no time." He then smiled at her. "Sorry, but I'd rather not let that happen. I want our son to be ready to face the world."

Hernandez's mother was quiet for a long time. She was proceeding at his words, trying to understand them. But before she could ask him a question, he had already moved on from her, much to her frustration. "Hey! Don't just walk past me and leave me with riddles!"

He cheerfully ignored her as he approached Hernandez and patted his head with his wing. "Don't listen to your paranoid mother so much, Hernandez. I know she's just being protective, but there is indeed a line between that and smothering. She needs to let you out of protective gaze all the time. You won't grow that way. I'm trying to get her to understand this, but she's too stubborn...but that's okay. I really love that part of her."

"At least, you're being honest," Hernandez's mother said with folding her wings and blushing slightly.

"Anyway, take it easy, son. Don't give up on making friends just yet. You just need a bit more time. You can endure it a bit longer. You don't need to be worried. Soon someone will stand by your side. Someone will pick you up when someone else knocks you down. And they'll never leave you. You can trust me on that, Hernandez." He smiled.

"Dad...?" Hernandez quietly asked as he then looked down at his wings. "Why was I born with such a big strength?"

His father looked down at him for a moment before smiling. "I honestly have no idea, son. Sometimes, problems cannot be solved like maths and are pure mysteries."

"I hate maths," Hernandez admitted.

"Me too, son, me too," Hernandez's father chuckled and patted his son's head again.

Nothing has changed. Hernandez continued to be a primary target of much bullying for the next weeks, as he always endured. He honestly wondered if what his father said had any truth to it at all. He had little hope in making any friend at all.

Then, HE came to change his life.

Hernandez has made a very bad call. He tried getting home, but a gang of birds have bee blocking his path. He wanted to fight them off with his strength, but he knew that would simply mean those bullies were right about thinking of him as a monster. So he just let them tie him off to a tree with his big wings being neutralized by tight vines.

They all laughed at him. "Come on, try to get out, monster! We wanna see what sound you make when you squirm and struggle!"

Hernandez didn't replied. He didn't said anything. He wasn't planning on giving them the pleasure of entering their games. This annoyed the apparent leader of their gang who lifted his wing and curled it like a fist, ready to throw another punch. Hernandez closed his eyes and waited for the impact to connect.

SLAM!

Hernandez slightly opened his eyes and then they widened in shock. The impact sound wasn't from his skull but rather from his attacker's as he received a violent kick to it which knocked him away and out cold.

His savior was a little puffin around his age, but far from his size. "I hope you're not bullying someone weaker than you! Because that's a really good way to get on my bad side!" he declared in annoyance with a mad look.

The group of birds who have probably bursted out in laugh at the little bird, have he not knocked their leader out in one kick before. "Hey! Who do you think you are to kick our leader like this, shortie?!" one of them asked as they all surrounded the puffin.

This last one gave a glare that was mixed between amusement and pure anger. "First, you bully someone, now, you mock my size? Congratulations, you just committed the two things I despite the most. I'M GONNA KICK YOUR FEATHERED BUTTS!"

Hernandez just watched as the little puffin fought all the gang of bullies by himself, using some kind of kick-based fighting style. He was pretty agile with it. He knocked down many of them, but the number's game eventually caught up and he took a beat down. However, refusing to give up, he took all of them down after a long and brutal fight.

He was currently laying down on his back, covering of bruises and panting in exhaustion and pain and surrounded by the unconscious bodies of the bullies. After staying like this for a long moment, he managed to open his eyes and look up at Hernandez in a backward position.

"A-Are you alright?!" Hernandez asked in concern for him.

"Don't you 'are you alright?' me, pal!" he exclaimed with a stern yet tired tone. "A bird as huge and muscled as you shouldn't have to get beaten like that! Why didn't you fought back; you could have easily pushed them back like dust or broken those vines around you like twigs. Why didn't you do anything?"

Hernandez was rather surprised by his reaction, but quickly looked down. "I-I can't. They all think I'm a monster. If I fight back, I'm simply making them right which is a pleasure I don't wanna give them-"

"Are you serious?!" the puffin suddenly cut him off as he rolled onto his back, tired of looking at him backward. "You let yourself take a beating simply because you don't want to LOOK like a monster to the others? Is that a joke?"

"...No?"

The puffin sighed. "Who cares about what they think? Those jackbutts always though I was nothing but a small useless bird who should go live with penguins in Antarctica. Yes, here I just kicked all of their butts with just my legs, didn't I?"

"Yes, but-" Hernandez started, but got cut off again.

"No buts! No excuses! I don't want to ever see you let any bully kick your butt on purpose, or I'll be the one to do it afterward, got it?" The little puffin's words and orders caused Hernandez to look at him with a surprised look.

He then just sighed and stood up to go free him from his vines. "Listen, I'm not planning on calling you 'Big Guy' all the time, so what's your name?"

"Hum, it's Hernandez," he replied.

The puffin then gave an actual smile for the first time. "Well, Hernandez, my name is Lazaro and I have an offer for you; you have the size, but you don't want to hurt while I lack the size, but have the will. What do you say we play like this: you will give punches for me and I will give kicks for you. If you understand what I mean."

Hernandez just remained silent as he slowly realized that his father's words were coming true: he was really making himself a friend. A huge smile forming on his giant beak, he held his wing to shake Lazaro's flipper, officializing their friendship.

Back to the present, Dominic kept looking as his four students were doing their warm-up trainings. As he though about all their personal reasons for wanting to train with him - Alex wanted to be such a great fighter that Yukio would hear his name from heaven, Vladimir wanted to become a great captain like him, and Hernandez and Lazaro wanted to keep getting stronger and protect each other - the old eagle couldn't help but smile as he really didn't regretted creating his dojo.

Putting his feelings aside, he took out his sword to get his students' attention. "Alright everyone! Warm up time is over: time to start for true!"

And we're done with the flashback chapters! The reason I made them is because I felt my OCs were underdeveloped and wanted to open them more before we could continue the story.

Do not worry though for we will return to Blu and the others in the next chapter.

Except that, what did you though about the flashback chapters? Which one did you like the most? Lemme know :)