Disclaimer: Akira Amano owns Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

Prompt: Pirate AU – Pirate Captain Cavallone and seemingly hapless son of governor Kyouya out in the sea having adventures.

Summary: Hibari meets his familiar in the sea and begins to terrorize the Cavallone pirate crew for real, and Dino is afraid he might not just wake up tied to the bed anymore. Meanwhile, the governor of Namimori is not amused at all and wants his son back at all costs.

Written for D18 Exchange. No animals were harmed in the making of this story. And somehow, it turned a bit PotC-ish. Sorry ;_;

Never Let the Birds Fly

He should have expected it. He really should have expected it. If Kyouya managed to lock him up in the broom closet with just a flirty wink, he could also tie him to the bed and leave the poor Cavallone captain to his own devices.

Which was exactly what Kyouya did.

Dino groaned as he stared at the intricate knots tying him to the bedpost. Kyouya didn't even bother to choose a much comfortable kind of rope to the skin. The underside of his wrists were really chafed and felt so raw now, like skin being peeled bit by bit.

Sighing, Dino mused about his plight ever since he let that boy into his ship. Once again, the Cavallone Decimo of the Bucking Horse woke up tied to his bed, the one accountable for nowhere in sight. Kyouya would most probably be at the deck disciplining the entire crew with his broomstick again. Now that he thought of it, he really should keep Kyouya away from any sticks as soon as possible lest someone got whacked on the head undeservingly.

"Enzo!"

He looked around in search of his turtle, praying to every sea god that Kyouya didn't decide to have Enzo out with him to the deck. The kid was still unaware of Enzo's, well, hidden talent.

There was a slight shuffling next to his hips and then a green head poked out of the bedding. Salvation! Dino grinned widely at his turtle and jerked his head at the direction of his tied hands. "Enzo, I want you to cut me loose."

The turtle just stared at him with a lopsided grin or what looked like it to Dino's eyes. Maybe Enzo needed to bask under the sun more.

"Come on, Enzo! I know you can do it!"

And the turtle's face didn't change expression at all that for once, Dino thought maybe Enzo's age was finally coming up to him. He never thought turtles would also suffer hearing difficulty once they reach a certain age.

With slight reluctance, knowing that he might end up hurting himself again without anyone but Enzo around to keep an eye on him, Dino hopped and bounced on his bottom, trying to nudge Enzo with his hips. After a few hit to the hit on the bedside table, Dino finally got his turtle responding. It took Enzo so long just to its head and look at him, as if asking him just what his problem was, before the turtle finally decided to take pity on its poor master and set on to work on his bindings. Of course that took on some more ages with Enzo's terrible chewing speed that not even someone with Dino's patience could handle. Heaven knows why he keeps a snapping sponge turtle instead of a cockatoo like his father always told him.

Finally, the rope snapped under Enzo's insistent chewing. Arms and patience sore, Dino jumped out of bed and his cabin, one hand clutching his coiled whip, ready to confront Kyouya and his deadly broomstick.

He really should have kept Kyouya away from that blasted thing.

"Kyouya!" Dino yelled as he slammed the cabin door open. It was a clear, sunny day, the sky and the sea so calm it looked like paradise on earth and all of his men still in one piece.

Kyouya was nowhere in sight though, and that worried him a lot more than he would admit. A crowd of crewmen was gathered around the center mast, whispers and murmurs of awe echoing up to the stern where he stood that he figured immediately something was amiss.

Most of the lower ranking men quickly stepped aside when they saw their captain approaching. Dino still had to pull some shoulders though just to get through until he finally stood at its center and found himself staring at Kyouya and what seemed like a furry tennis ball.

Kyouya's face was of utmost seriousness, lips pouted and dark eyes narrowed. He didn't even pay attention to the crowd that had gathered around him. Hesitantly, Dino reached out to the boy. "Kyouya..."

Dark eyes narrowed even more – which Dino didn't think was really possible – and turned to glare at him that Dino had no choice but to step back. So maybe now was really not the time to disturb the boy.

Meanwhile, with Dino taking his place together with the crew, Kyouya turned his attention back to the little critter bouncing on the wooden floor. He used to have something like it back at home, only bigger and furrier, not to mention pink and not yellow. It had made a good substitute when his silly father had lost the polo ball. This one was smaller though, so maybe it'd be good only for tennis.

Slowly and carefully, Kyouya stretched out both of his hands for what will be his new tennis ball – not that he expects he can play tennis in this stupid pirate ship – and waited. He waited and waited some more, and the tiny ball of fluff bounced and rolled around. It rolled in circles some more like an oversized marble until it faltered when its fur – no, feathers hit Kyouya's fingers. Kyouya had to suck in the excitement that suddenly sprung up in his chest when the blaring image of what he thought to be an endangered species flashed in his mind.

Dino must have sensed his sudden change of mood as well. The idiot of pirate captain was about to step forward again and if Kyouya hadn't glared at the stupid herbivore until he turned into a stone of embodied fear, the critter would have bounced away. Or worse, jumped off the ship.

After another roll that reminded Kyouya of Baba's meatball, the critter finally bounced up Kyouya's fingers before settling on his palms. Slowly, Kyouya cupped the creature and smiled fondly at it. He still didn't know if he was smiling at the butt or the head of the creature, but who cares. At least he didn't need to tame this one anymore with a polo stick.

Suddenly, the critter bounced and jumped on his palm and then it flipped back. Kyouya's eyes widened considerably as he watched the creature transform into something that was definitely inot /ia tennis ball. Two black, beady eyes stared at him curiously and Kyouya blinked back widely. And then two wings popped out from the creature's sides and before Kyouya could drop the bird in surprise, it hopped onto his arm and continued doing so until it reached Kyouya's shoulder. There, it stayed perched on Kyouya's shoulder and chirped like any ordinary bird.

For some unknown reason, Kyouya felt like he had finally found his soul mate and allowed himself a smile in the midst of stupid the Bucking Horse's crew.

When Dino saw Kyouya smile at the bird chirping madly, he knew something bad was about to happen. Something really, really bad – something that might be worse than what the broomstick from Hell had brought to his crew. It was like watching a very bad omen come to life, and somehow, Dino wanted that bird out of the ship at once.

And he voiced his thought exactly as he had thought of it to Kyouya, which, as expected, was answered with a harsh glare and an angry growl. It would have been adorable, seeing Kyouya act like a mother bird, if only that blasted bird from Hell wasn't grinning like the Devil when Dino glanced at it.

Kyouya ignored him for the rest of the morning, choosing to pamper his new pet instead of antagonizing him as the norm. Usually, Dino would have wished for Kyouya to just sit still and act like a hostage and not the spoiled, rebellious brat who had run away from home, slipped into a pirate ship and demanded to be the captain of one of the most notorious pirate crew in the seven seas that he was. But now, seeing Kyouya act so human because of a bouncing fur – no, feather ball?

Dino blanched immediately at the thought. Impossible. Kyouya was a brat before anything else. He will always be that annoying kid pampered by his father who made it his duty to terrorize anyone who crossed his path under the excuse of disciplining. (And Kyouya will always be that adorable kid who makes Dino feel like the kindest and most merciful pirate captain that has sailed the seven seas too, not that Dino has to admit this to anyone.)

Yeah, Dino nodded with certainty. That bird is just a bird, not some sort of extraterrestrial creature from unknown galaxy that conveniently landed in his ship to steal Kyouya away. He shouldn't be getting so worked up over this. Besides, he should be worrying more about the Navy and whatever insane plot they must have cooked up since Kyouya sneaked into the Bucking Horse and pretended that it was Dino who forced him to be a part of his crew.

Dino's eyebrow twitched at the memory of it, of the gaping Navy officers and Governor Hibari's look of utter horror when Kyouya boldly announced his decision to become a pirate and join the Cavallone's crew. Although the entire experience was worth more than any amount of gold, Kyouya was, frankly, a bit more than he could handle.

Oh, fine. Kyouya was definitely more than he could handle. From day one, Kyouya had brought terror onto his ship and turned more men into whimpering cowards with his eyes alone than an angry Dino or an oversized Enzo could. Not only that, Kyouya made a broomstick the most feared object in the ship that Dino thought none of his men feared him and his whip anymore. He had to admit, that was a really big feat for a fifteen year old kid like Kyouya.

And now that Kyouya had that neckless bird with him, the Bucking Horse was definitely going to experience more than just the daily chaos a broomstick can bring.

Lieutenant Kusakabe observed the map spread out on the wall of Governor Hibari's office. He had never seen the governor more focused or serious on anything since this quirky event that was his son running away with some pirate captain. Or, as the governor would like to put it in his own words, brainwashed by a seadevil spawn.

Kusakabe did not want to be the one who had to break the news that Kyouya Hibari was just not the innocent and gentle kid the governor blindly thought he was. Oh, well. No harm done in letting the governor believe what he wants to believe. He knew Kyo-san well enough that he was certain the kid had no plans of coming back (unless he got bored of it, as usual) and he also knew the governor was not cruel enough to force his son to return. And besides, it wasn't like the governor was the most creative person in the world.

As of the moment, the governor was pacing around the room like a caged lion, plotting and muttering about the demise of a certain pirate captain for kidnapping his sweet, adorable Kyouya— Kusakabe quickly turned a deaf ear to that before Kyo-san's spirit drops and murders him.

The governor would have looked convincingly fearful if only he would just stop from picking a toffee every time he was near the bowl of sweets. The sight only made Kusakabe sigh tiredly. He really could not blame Kyo-san for running away.

"Lieutenant, will you please call Baba and have her replace this bowl? I want the one from Kawahira's Sweets."

This was definitely going to be the job of his life. Literally.

For the second time that day, Dino groaned in frustration as he twisted in his bond vainly. That bird must definitely igo/i. "The blasted bird is more than just a bad omen."

Romario grunted in reply. Enzo was locked inside a jar half full of sand, probably bawling in turtle language.

Kyouya had not only tied and locked him up in the broom closet; he had managed to drag Romario and Enzo into the trap as well. Without Romario or Enzo out there in the deck to keep things in order, it'd be matter of seconds before Kyouya have total control over his crew.

"I have to say, Boss. He is one creative kid."

Dino snorted indignantly. "You mean crazy."

"Well, that too."

"I swear this is the last time I'm going to pick up some run away kid."

"I can't say you 'picked' him up, Boss. We're the one who got forced into this right from the start, not him."

Dino moaned in pain when he twisted the wrong limb and only made the knot tighter and worse. "Damn it! iWhy/idid it have to be my ship? Why can't it be Tsuna's ship? Or that crazy pineapple freak from Kokuyo Island? Why, Romario, iwhy/i!"

Romario chose not to answer that and instead work on undoing Dino's mistake. He let his captain rant in solitude while he stretched his legs, hoping he'd be able to free Enzo from its glass cage. That turtle had a developed nasty case of claustrophobia from being constantly left behind in the captain's cabin since birth. Locking him up in that tiny jar is as bad as throwing him into the sea.

After a few good twists that would probably make him cry in pain later, Romario kicked the jar hard, sending it flying and shattering when it hit the butt of an old, rusty cannon. Enzo jumped out of the jar and landed next to them, its eyes wild and jaws snapping like a mad turtle. Well, at least that would save them quite a lot of time.

Some angry, turtle chomps later, the two figureheads of the Cavallone crew freed themselves from their prison and ran straight for the deck. Dino hoped he wasn't too late to save his crew from the broomstick wielding terror that was Kyouya Hibari of Namimori. It would be the end of him if the renowned Cavallone Decimo went down the history lane as the only pirate captain being defeated by a fifteen year old brat and a broomstick and a featherball from God knows where.

Luckily enough, when they arrived at the deck, all seemed well... seemed being the operative keyword. Dino can never mistake those shivers and trembles of unadulterated fear when he himself feels it every night before going to bed, the root of said fear lying right next to him.

Kyouya was seated on a barrel with the neckless bird from Wonderland nestled in his dark, messy hair. On normal occasions, Dino will step back and coo at the picture, but this wasn't a normal occasion. No, this was a very dire and cataclysmic event in the entire seafaring history of the Bucking Horse, thus this was no time for Dino to be frozen in his spot and ogle the adorable image Kyouya made.

Yeah, that kid can really work his charms real good.

One big sea away from the teetering Bucking Horse, Namimori's esteemed Royal Skylark (orchestra and sweets inclusive) set sail for the rescue mission of one particular Kyouya Hibari whose greatly estranged father, Governor Hibari Senior, desperately demanded to be saved from the dirty paws of notorious sea pirate, the (evil) captain of the Bucking Horse, Dino Cavallone the Tenth.

The governor even tagged along, though Kusakabe had the feeling the governor just wanted to get out of his office and have a go in commanding the Royal Skylark. Knowing the governor, Kusakabe was not that far off the notion.

Taking post on the forecastle, the governor ordered half of his men to search for the Bucking Horse. "You can't miss that ship even with a magnifying glass!"

Kusakabe really wanted to refute that claim but thought better when he remembered the Kyo-san's murderous face whenever he criticized his father's irrationality only to be waved aside. For the umpteenth time that day, Kusakabe sighed and prayed for a miracle from the gods.

"Lieutenant!"

"Sir?"

"Fetch me another bowl."

One of his greatest regrets, Kusakabe realized as he grudgingly went to do the governor's bidding, was turning down Kyo-san's kind offer of running away with him. Damn him and his sense of duty.

"So..."

Dino held back the urge to scream and gritted instead, glaring sulkily at his right-hand man. "Don't. Remind me."

"You have been outwitted by what you initially thought to be a helpless brat—"

"Argh!" Dino finally screamed, kicking a barrel of something he couldn't bother to remember, not when he was tied to the mast ithistime/i, thanks to Kyouya's damn creativity. "Why are you spared from this!"

Shrugging, Romario removed his glasses to brush off some imaginary dust. "Sense of self-preservation, perhaps? I notice you lost yours since that kid joined the crew."

Truth to be told, Kyouya didn't join the crew, Romario had put it. No, definitely not. That kid hijacked the Bucking Horse and held its entire crew, lovesick captain included, hostage.

"You're not going to help me out of this, are you?" Dino gestured with his tied hands. Romario smiled softly and said, "Sorry, Boss. Self-preservation purposes."

The blond captain was about to kick another barrel into the sea in fit of rage (and sexual frustration; Kyouya was unforgiving, apparently) when Kyouya appeared from the captain's cabin – his cabin! – with a bowl of fruits (where did he even get that, Dino wanted to ask), his avian lackey floating in the air. Then upon closer inspection, Dino noticed in horror that bowl had more than just some tropical fruits.

"Kyouya..."

"What?" the boy asked, bored.

"Is that..." Dino gulped, stretching his neck as far as he could to correct his worst fear. "Enzo?"

And then Kyouya grinned wildly – almost cruelly, Dino thought – and grabbed the turtle by its shell and held it like he would a bunch of grapes. He almost shrieked when Kyouya tossed the poor turtle like a ball.

"Kyouya! Be gentle!"

Dark eyes glared at him in anger, and that was the last thing Dino saw before something real hard hit him square in the forehead and then there was nothing but stars twinkling brightly. Vaguely, he heard a plop somewhere behind him, but he was so out of it to do the math. Only when he recovered from the hit did he realize what that sound actually was.

Romario stood, dumbstruck, his jaw so off its hinges it could have dropped. That tiny seedling of fear Kyouya had planted in Dino's soul ever since he snuck into the Bucking Horse burst into a huge tree.

"Mommy."

Teen feet below them, the earth shook.

Kusakabe was jostled out of focus when the ship suddenly rocked real hard. When he looked around to see it wasn't just him, he found almost all of his men on flat on their bums.

"Was that an earthquake?" he heard the governor ask a few yards away from him, but Kusakabe was too preoccupied to answer. No, his attention was definitely not anywhere else on the ship. It was on the huge shadow on the surface of the sea, bubbling and sending waves after waves against the side of the ship and rocking it. The shadow was getting bigger and bigger, and so were the bubbles.

It didn't look promising, that was for sure.

"Lieutenant, sir..."

Kusakabe held up a hand to cut off the tailor sailor and continued watching the shadow. It didn't look like an oil spill, but it wasn't moving either other than upward.

"Sir, I really think you should come and see this."

Anxious, Kusakabe followed the sailor to the back of the ship and up the short flight of stairs above the captain's cabin. A great distance away from them was the shadowy figure of a very large ship, almost as large as the Flying Skylark, if not bigger. A sick feeling dropped onto his guts when he recognized the symbol of its flapping flag.

"Notify the governor," Kusakabe instructed without looking away from the approaching pirate ship. Upon closer inspection with his spyglass, his speculation was proven true.

It was the Bucking Horse. But before Kusakabe could fully alert the entire ship and the government, the ship shook again, the force stronger this time, sending everyone tumbling to the other side as the ship almost tilted on one of its side.

"Sir! We're under attacked by a sea monster!"

What—

"It's the World Turtle! The World Turtle!"

Just what the fuck is happening?

"This is why I told you to never take Enzo out of my room!"

"What? You always take him out!" Kyouya argued back scathingly. Dino was about to snap back when the ship rocked again, sending all of them stumbling. "You were the one who didn't tell me this will happen!"

"Because if I did," Dino glared at him, scowling, "You'll be throwing him into the sea!"

Kyouya seethed in silence. Then he abruptly stalked away. Dino couldn't bother to know where anymore, not when he heard Enzo making another roar, creating a rather large tsunami rushing towards them.

Shit, Dino swore. It just couldn't pick a better time, could it?

"Boss?" Romario asked, awaiting a command. Dino just nodded at him; his right-hand man knows it best in times like this.

Trying his damnedest to maintain his balance, Dino hurried to the edge of the forecastle and uncoiled his whip. Enzo was standing on the sea with its back facing him. He could only pray Enzo wasn't that mad – well, okay, he can't blame the turtle for raging like a turtle with PMS. Enzo had every right to be angry after being thrown like a – well, like a ball.

Luckily, Enzo didn't notice his presence until his whip wrapped around the turtle tightly, and with a strong pull, Dino threw the other to the other side of the ship and watched Enzo transform to a smaller size. It landed on the crow's nest with a loud clonk.

For what felt like a very long while, every soul aboard the Bucking Horse was still and silent like the dead. Even Dino was hesitant to move, waiting until a full minute passed. He would still have to dry Enzo manually to fully return the turtle to its original size, but for now, he'd wait until it calmed down. Not a single one of them dared to move, fearful of the crew turtle.

Until Kyouya suddenly strode forward and pulled the lever that would lower the nest down. Unsurprisingly enough, it sent all of them panicking.

Dino stared at Kyouya with slack jaws and asked just what the hell was wrong with him. Can't the kid do anything without endangering the whole crew?

In turn, Kyouya gave the stupid pirate a smouldering look, not turning away until the nest was had reached full descent. Slowly, with the same care he demonstrated earlier that morning, he picked the equally stupid large, flailing turtle the size of his torso and quickly dropped it on the deck floor. This time, Kyouya didn't linger behind. He didn't want to deal with more of this stupidity. Seeing a sponge turtle in action was enough.

He quickly walked away, the broom closet in the hull the only place he had in mind. "Kyouya," Dino's voice softly spoke, his tone tender and gentle – words that Kyouya rarely used and would hate to admit ever using. But when he turned around to face the pirate, he couldn't help but associate them.

And then he saw the approaching Navy ship in front of them that none of Cavallone's even noticed.

The next chain of events was something Kyouya had no clear memories of, as hard as he could try to reckon. All he remembered was being pushed aside and suddenly, almost all of the pirates of the Bucking Horse crowded around him, forming a huge shield with Dino at the front.

Not one envoy was sent from the Navy's ship. Only guns and cannons, and then something hard hit him at the back of his head. The rest of what Kyouya could remember were screams and explosions as he felt his eyelids droop against his will before darkness claimed his sight completely.

Once again, Dino woke up bound and chained, only this time, it wasn't exactly what he had in mind and had been avoiding for the good portion of his pirate life. A few hours from now and he would be saying his first and last hello to the noose. Briefly, Dino wondered how Kyouya was doing, if the boy was happy with their current predicament or not. The kid, after all, had always wanted to be a pirate captain, if there was any clear indication from his constant tricks on Dino.

He almost chuckled at the thought of Kyouya terrorizing his crew with a broomstick again. Ah, how he wished to see the sight of it again before he faces his executioner.

Not that he was really going to let himself be hanged, of course. He was Dino fucking Cavallone, the descendant of the great Enzo Cavallone, the captain of the Bucking Horse, the sworn elder brother of the Vongola Decimo, and the one and only – well, human person left alive with human dignity intact (albeit shredded) after a close encounter with Kyouya Hibari. There was no way in hell he'd let some toffee-addicted, wig-wearing, drama queen governor send him off to the next world!

Twisting his wrists and making a huge mess out of his chains, Dino began the first step of his craziest escape plan ever made. Now if only he could remember where he had hidden that sunflower seed...

With his new medal pinned to his lapel, Kusakabe watched the slow ascension of Dino Cavallone to the platform. He was only present for diplomatic purposes and under the heavy demands of the governor. The execution of Dino Cavallone didn't draw the same kind of audience though like most public executions of pirates.

The crowd was clearly divided, shown clearly by the empty row separating the two groups of common folks. Kusakabe was a tad uncertain why the left side were mostly children and women crying while the other side were angry men spitting and yelling raucously.

"Ah, finally," the governor sighed beside him, smiling graciously that he was sure would make Kyo-san erupt in rage, "The moment we've all been waiting for."

Well, that was not a nice thing to say about a dying man, pirate or not. The governor wasn't pleased, to put it lightly, when they couldn't find Kyo-san in the Bucking Horse. He had called Cavallone the Tenth every single derogatory word ever known to mankind before settling on sentencing the proud pirate captain to death. "The rest of those barbarians will surely follow you to Hell," the governor had said before the guards had thrown Cavallone back to his cell.

Remembering the serious but cryptic look on the Cavallone's face, Kusakabe kept his frown to himself, not wanting to draw more attention. His shiny badge had already done a marvellous, if not unnecessary, job of it.

He only hoped they'd be able to find Kyo-san soon before the governor goes insane and hunts down every pirate in the world.

Dino Cavallone was already on platform, facing the crowd with an empty face as the masked executioner pulled the noose over the pirate's dirty blond head before pushing him to step on the trapdoor. The executioner then took a step back and reached for the lever that will pull the trapdoor open.

Kusakabe inhaled deeply and stilled his beating heart, and it did still for almost a minute as a great shadow suddenly swooped down on them. The governor gave a loud scream of fright. People everywhere around them were running around and screaming as if some monster had fallen from the sky, and when Kusakabe looked up, he found no sky. Instead, he found a flying ship — and Kyo-san.

"Kyouya!"

He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe it at all.

Dino felt his face cracking into a huge smile as he watched Kyouya jumped down from the Bucking Horse and landed on the platform, and he choked back a laugh after realizing Kyouya was wearing his captain's hat. Enzo was perched on Kyouya's shoulder, and Dino returned the turtle's lopsided grin with one of his own.

"Couldn't live without me, could you," Dino couldn't help but say as he grinned at Kyouya. The boy only glanced at him squarely before holding Enzo up with both hands, and the turtle did its usual job of chomping ropes.

Shrugging, Kyouya threw the ropes away and blasted off the chains cuffing Dino's wrists using Dino's own revolver. "I personally think it will be boring if I have no one to bite. Your men aren't up to my taste."

Dino barked out a laugh. "I thought you wanted to rid of all the herbivores in the world?" And Dino at that very moment on that if he ever recalled that particular moment to Kyouya in the next few years coming, Kyouya would deny ever smiling.

"I still need you to bite you to death to make that ship mine."

Dino grinned widely and grabbed Kyouya by the waist, smashing that lithe body against him despite the loud protest. And without looking back, the Cavallone captain returned to his crew with his hapless hostage on tow and made his great escape.

Now finally back floating on the sea and not on the sky, Dino watched the slow descent of the sun over the horizon. He didn't expect that the boy will take part in the plan. Then again, he didn't want to share one of the Bucking Horse's secrets with Kyouya. He was more afraid of what Kyouya might do once he knows.

"Treat! Treat!"

Dino glanced down at the fat bird hopping on the railing and rubbed its belly.

"Cavallone! Where's Hibird! Give her back now!"

Smiling, he scooped the bird up and let it nestle on his head.

"You did a good job. I owe you one."

END