"Their probably eating him!"

Sabo watched unamused as his brother bit into the fish with a viciousness usually reserved for hunting dangerous prey. The fish wiggled futilely in his mouth further annoying Ace as he snapped it's neck with a single grind of his teeth.

"I've told you a hundred times they don't eat mermaids. That would be like eating each other and they don't do that either."

"Right because you know so much about humans."

"More then you apparently."

"Shut up."

It had been nearly two days since Luffy had been taken and the hopes that he would be returned were all but gone.

Ace took another bite of the fish ripping its body apart with his sharp teeth. The blood dispersed into the water around them like dust into air.

"I told him not to get too close to the ship. This is his fault."

"Luffy doesn't know any better." Sabo defended settling down onto one of the rocks besides Ace. He hadn't witnessed the cruelty of human kind the same way the two of them had. He had grown up hearing stories but apparently that wasn't the same as experiencing it himself.

"I'm sure he understands now."

"Fat lot of good it will do him." Ace muttered as he swallowed the rest of the fish. Sabo silently agreed.

He had been the first to spot the ship a couple of days ago. Food had been getting far too scare in these parts so it had been a welcome distraction. Unfortunately the guardsman saw Sabo during his scouting. They had warned Luffy to stay away from the ship unless he was with one of them. The last thing they needed was any more contact with the crew. Humans were far too persistent for their own good and when it came to mermaids they got greedy. But Luffy hadn't listened. Driven by his stomach he seeked out the ship to get more food. Ace had caught him several times eating the throw away scraps and dragged him away. The last time it seemed like the humans were actually feeding him like a goldfish. Ace had pulled him away so roughly that he had red marks on his arm all day. But the trouble didn't stop there, oh no. The humans had actually sent a shark man creature after them. For whatever reason it appeared he obeyed the humans rather than looking for freedom for himself. The three of them had watched from a kelp bed as he searched the patch of ocean for them. It wasn't hard. If there was one thing Fry's like them excelled at it was hiding. It was a life or death skill at their age.

Their tail scales were still a single color. In a few months he and Sabo would begin to molt. A mermaid molted its scales twice in its life. Both in childhood. The first was during the fingerling stage when the soft scales of babyhood would be replaced with the thicker and courser scales that marked the fingerling stage of eleven to thirteen year olds. The scales weren't permanent but more of a transition to their adult scales which they would keep for the rest of their lives. The temporary scales served as tops of sorts so the adult scales could grow undisturbed underneath while ensuring the young mermaid could still hide without fear of the flash of their adult tails attracting predators.

At the end of the fingerling stage the secondary scales would begin to fall off when the adult scales were finished growing. This happened throughout Adolescents or as Ace liked to call it fish-puberty. Fitting considering one of the purposes of their adult scales was mating.

Adolescents was a bit of an awkward stage for a fish, as puberty was for all creatures. It began when the first secondary scale was shed giving way to a single adult scale underneath. And it ended roughly three years later when the last fingerling scale fell and the adult tail was complete. That's when mating officially began and the mermaids needed their bright colors and flashy tails to attract a mate. Which they would keep for life.

But their adult tales didn't just look pretty. Unlike the baby scales which were soft and flexible the adult scales were hard making them more durable and suited for the harsh conditions of the ocean and hunting. Along with the scales the fins began to change around the fingerling stage as well as they grew more angular and elaborate. Around this time a tertiary fin would sprout up. All of this was to help with speed, reproduction, durability and power.

Ace had once asked Sabo why, if they were supposed to be so good at hiding, their tales were so brightly colored. They stuck out more than anything. Especially out here amongst the various shades of grey. Sabo had told him that they were a tropical species and much better suited to the reefs then out here. Which would have been great considering life was much easier there. In fact that's where they had lived out the majority of their hatchling years. None of them had a parent or pod to teach survival but with some trial and error they managed. It wasn't terribly hard as the reefs were brimming with life most of which was edible. It was in the reef near Dawn island that Sabo and Ace found each other and a few years later little Luffy. But it seems like they couldn't catch a break as a few years ago the reef was destroyed by all the trash the nobles dumped into the ocean. And they watched as what had been their home for years withered and died, suffocating under layers of human trash. So they left into the great blue beyond. From time to time they would stumble across another reef but it was much rarer and most of the time they were forced to leave either from predators, lack of food or being discovered by humans. Which led them here. In the middle of nowhere, low on food and with their baby brother kidnapped.

It had been two days ago that Sabo and Ace woke up to an empty cave. Luffy was nowhere to be seen. They immediately knew he must be scrounging for food around the ship again. They caught up easily but a quick lap around its massive hull revealed no little brother. They called to him until they were blue in the face but he didn't come, even when they were practically begging. Fearing the worst the two had no choice but to follow behind the ship. The humans spotted them a few times. But they didn't think much of it, as getting Luffy back was the priority, until one of them freaking Grew Wings! And tried to confront them. Ace looked about ready for a fight but Sabo pulled him down quickly before he got the chance.

They had begun to circle the ship relentlessly after that and it was then they found Luffy. He was a few meters away on the sea floor tangled up in their fishing nets and crying his eyes out. His tail had been impaled on a hook meant to trap predators. It had just been a shallow wound at first but the more he struggled the deeper it went. By the time Ace and Sabo arrived it was impossible to dislodge. They tried their best to help him but there wasn't much they could do. The net was too thick to be chewed or scraped open and even if they could there was nothing to be done about the hook. Luffy was as good as caught. Of course they didn't tell him that. There's no way they could as he was crying the entire time already terrified. It was painful to watch. Sabo tried to comfort him while Ace snapped at him to shut up. It only got worse as the nets began to rise. They tried their best to stop it. They made sure the net snagged on every single rock and crevice as it dragged across the sea floor. They filled it with stones and even told the fish to swim down together. And when all else failed the two boys tried to pull the net themselves. Nothing seemed to help. The humans refused to lose the days catch. Finally they had been forced to give up or risk being revealed to the humans as well, which would help nobody. All though it was a horrid feeling to just abandon Luffy and let the humans take him.

Which led them to now. They had no plan, nobody to go to for help and no idea what the humans were doing to him. Maybe they really were eating him? The humans had stopped moving after they caught him, for what end neither of them knew. Although if they had to guess it was probably to capture the rest of their pack.

"You know what we have to do." Ace said seriously and Sabo frowned.

"We are not doing that! It's too dangerous."

"Luffy needs us!" Ace argued. "What kind of pod would we be if we just left him?"

"What kind of big brothers would we be if we rushed in and got caught as well? How are we going to save him if we are just as trapped?"

"The kind that doesn't abandon their baby!" Ace snapped angrily. "What? you propose we just sit around and hope the humans give him back! I thought you were supposed to be the smart one. Humans never give anything back. They are selfish greedy creatures."

Sabo fell silent as he thought over what Ace said. "So we go and rescue him then?"

"We go rescue him." Ace confirmed. Let the humans try to capture them. They would be ready.

XXX

"God he must be so bored in here." Haruta commented looking around at the still water of the baths.

"I'm sure he has bigger problems Thatch told him dryly as he put the basket, which was filled with fish, on the ground.

Namur, the current leading expert on mermaids was trying to help them take care of this youngling and track the other two.

They had all agreed to let the Fry pod come to them. There was no way they wouldn't. It was a better plan then going in there after them. Plus they had already proved they could hide extremely well so there was little use in trying.

Surprisingly enough Luffy, who was nervous around humans, was terrified of fishman and had never seen one before. How that was possible for a mermaid they did not know. Just another mystery stacked up with the orphan pod. When Namur came to help Thatch with the feeding Luffy had refused to come out, not even for the promise of food. He finally resurfaced hours later at the insistence of the doctor. Although he did little more than peek his head out of the water, take one look at the doctor's tools and dive back down.

The doctor was understandably not pleased but after a lot of yelling and threats to come in after the kid he finally gave up. As much as they needed to make sure his tail was healing properly there wasn't much they could do to force Luffy. Not only would it be superbly embarrassing if they attempted to catch him but it would mean invading Luffy's safe space and breaking the very fragile trust they had built. So the doctor lamented to leave it for now. They would have to work out a way later.

Thatch and Marco had dissuaded the crew from trying to see him. As entertaining as the Merfry's were proving to be they were scared enough without the rest of the crew making it worse. Most of them accepted that with grumbles, only Haruta demanded to come with Thatch. He pointed out that he had been the first to see Luffy and he could be useful. Thatch finally agreed, if only to get the boy off his back. So the two of them had prepared and carried the food to the baths. Marco was tied up with his duties and couldn't sneak away but told them to give the Fry his best.

"Buddy come out," Thatch called across the large pool and was met with silent stillness.

"We have food."

The boy submerged a few feet away from them, he swam toward the basket excitedly but Thatch grabbed it and moved it further from the edge before it disappeared forever.

"Not so fast kid."

Luffy pouted the loss as he looked at Thatch pleadingly.

"Awww," Haruta said from besides him.

It was only then Luffy took note of the other boy who was staring at him in wonder. Haruta was one of the few crew members who had never seen a mermaid before.

Luffy froze, his hand extended halfway to the side. He glanced quickly to Thatch before backing away from them.

"Don't fret bud. This is my friend Haruta. He threw the apple remember?"

Luffy nodded slowly his big eyes fixed on Haruta as if he was trying to figure out if he was a threat of not. He only came back when Thatch offered him some fish.

"Are you up for another little chat Luffy?"

Luffy shook his head as he swallowed the fish whole.

"Can I go home yet?"

Thatch frowned sympathetically at him. Namur had confirmed what Marco said about the dangers of being separated from the pod. He knew how much it must be stressing Luffy out.

"Not till your tail heals remember."

Luffy flapped his tail looking at the bandages near the base thoughtfully. "When is it going to heal?"

"Probably quicker if you let the doctor take a look. That's a question you will have to ask him."

"Okay." Luffy said quietly and he was so disheartened Thatch gave him another hand full of fish to raise his spirits.

"So you said you don't have any parents. Did you guys ever have a caretaker or something?"

Luffy shook his head.

"So you three really have been alone your whole life?"

"I'm not supposed to talk about this." Luffy reminded him once he finished chewing. He waited impatiently for Thatch to give him more. The rate he ate them was incredible.

"What do you want to talk about then?"

Luffy looked around them. "Why did you build this thing? Can't you just swim to where you want to go instead?"

Haruta and Thatch shared a look and they both had to stop themselves from laughing. This kid was clueless.

"We would drown," Haruta told him dryly.

"Ohhhh," Luffy said. "Ace told me it was because you were Lazy.

"Who's Ace?"

But Luffy had apparently said too much and with a small splash of water he was gone.

"He has an uncanny sense of when the fish are gone." Haruta said looking at the empty basket.

"Tell me about it," Thatch agreed.

XXX

Luffy heard the click of the door as the humans left. He didn't know what it was but he did know the door wouldn't open for him. He had already tried countless times.

He swam a few laps around the water. It was much shallower then he was used to and there wasn't enough space to go very fast. Not that he could move easily as every time he flexed his tail wrong it really hurt. There wasn't very much to do aside from swimming in circles and hiding from the scarier looking humans. He liked it when they fed him. Which they did often. But the times between he was miserable.

He spent most of the first day calling nonstop to his brothers. But for the first time in his life they didn't respond. Now he just aimlessly swam and occasionally played in the tiny waterfall. It was about the only thing in here that moved. At the top of the waterfall there was a small pool where the water was the warmest. Luffy used that as a temporary nest and would curl up to nap and sleep. He thought it was safe because the humans thought he wouldn't be able to get up there himself. He knew this because they had told the scary shark-human so. As if he wasn't scary enough he corrected them by saying Luffy was capable to jump far higher distances then that.

Scary as he was the shark man had brought him some live fish to keep him company. Once the humans had left once again he had enjoyed chasing them, even if it really hurt. He had left one alive to keep him company. Luffy wanted to talk to it but its brain was too tiny to understand him and thus made for a lousy companion. The shark man had also given him a red ball that he batted around with his tail and some animal bones which he hoarded in the nest.

The three boys had built an amazing nest back at the Goa reef. It was full of shiny human things and they were very proud of it. That place had felt like home. Luffy was devastated when it got destroyed. As he was every time they had to leave a nest and lose all their stuff in order to migrate. He knew the same thing would happen here and he would have to part with his collection once again. Only this time he would be grateful rather than remorse. For what end did humans need an ocean room Luffy did not know. But Ace was right when he called them crazy.

Luffy had spent a little time in tide pools when he occasionally got trapped during low tide. He didn't mind it so much because he knew the tide would return eventually and until then he would nap or play with the sea anemones. But this was different because there were no anemones, or starfish, or little crabs or seaweed. The only thing he had were a few bones, a ball and a fish. And although they did make him feel better it felt like there was a black pit in his chest that grew worse every day. He just wanted to be back with his brothers.

XXX

"You're terrible at this."

"Shut up."

Sabo sat on one of the rocks at the sea floor sharpening a pointed rock to a point. Ace was beside him flat on his back like he was throwing a fit and panting.

"I don't have the practice you do."

"I'll say."

He was of course refereeing too the pair of human legs that had replaced Sabo's tail. It had taken him less than half an hour to turn his blue tail into two pale legs.

"This was your plan not mine." The blonde so helpfully pointed out. "I wanted to stay in the water. We are sitting ducks on the surface."

"Staying in the water isn't going to help Luffy. And he sure as hell isn't going to grow a pair of legs on his own." Unlike the older two Luffy had never learned to use legs. They didn't even know if he could do it. Apparently it was very rare. But for the sake of the plan they hoped he could. After all he was like them so it should theoretically be possible.

"How long can you hold it?"

"Half a day," Sabo told him.

"Shit really?"

"It was only when I had to." No body mentioned why Sabo had been forced to stay in human form longer then he should have. A lot of it was about practice. Now it was probably under ten hours.

"What about you?"

Ace looked down at his tail. The scales were beginning to recede to make way for skin but he still had a long way to go before he could walk on them.

"My record if five hours. But I don't think I can do that anymore."

"If we get caught we are screwed."

"We just have to make sure we're not caught then." Ace said forcing the rest of the scales to retract. He smiled, wiggling his newly revealed toes in accomplishment.

XXX

So there you have it. Luffy and his brothers are halflings (more on this later). His brothers are staging a plot to get him back. I will have hopefully have the third chapter up soon. I just started a new job and school is starting up again soon so I expect the updates for all the stories are going to get more scarce so I will do my best to write as much as I can until then. Thank you guys so much for the support. I am so happy you seem to like this odd ball little story.

Kyekye: Thank you!

KingCreations:

Tobalerone: Thank you! It went into it a little more here but the last time they just hid. So rather than forcing them they are waiting until they come to the WB's to talk. Hopefully Jinbe later! Because that would be so cute.

Guest: thanks!

Blackthorn Ashe: He is so cute. Ace is very angry. Angry enough to storm a ship. Namur is like the head zoologist in charge of Luffy's exhibit but in the ocean Sabo and Ace can and have, hid from him so they are waiting for them to confront the WB's first. Thanks for the review

myzmsandraa99: Yes Luffy is really sad And he is going to get sadder each day. I think the injury is like breaking both of his ankles. He can still use his tail but not very well. Ace and Sabo realized immediately and they are doing there best to help! And all three are adorable Thak you for the review. Mermaid OP fanart is so cute.

Riverway14: Thank you

Kirigakure Shura: Thank you! Luffy and co are adorable, thank you for thinking so. And soon the Wb's will agree.