A Fairy's Tale (Eustass Kid & OC)

Chapter 25: Little Liar

"Hnnnngrrrrrrfffff... rrrraaaaaggh..."

Shanks and Rayleigh had to hold in laughter at the sounds Loklynn was making. It was a wonder how easily Haki came to her if this was what her concentration looked like. She looked constipated but still somehow adorable; what a gift she had.

Rayleigh had decided to stay until they arrived at the next port, which would be a few weeks out. They both agreed it might be a good idea to have not only Shanks, but Shanks' teacher instructing her as well. Rayleigh was the best of the best when it came to training, and with her devil fruit, she'd need all the help she could get.

"Fffffrrrrrgh! Rrrrrgh! Gahhh!"

Tamping down on another snicker, Shanks approached and put a hand on her shoulder. "Okay, okay. Let's take a step back, Kiddo."

She sat heavily on the deck and crossed her arms with a huff, mouth twisted in a disgruntled pout. "It's hard," she whined.

"Just start over, nice and slow. Don't lose your patience after just half an hour," Rayleigh soothed her. "First step again: close your eyes, clear your mind. Like falling asleep, right?"

Loklynn, still pouting, nodded and let her eyes fall shut. She actually had no problems with that part, surprisingly. Most kids wouldn't be able to sit still and stay still for so long (he certainly hadn't been able to), but she took to meditation like a champ.

As Rayleigh settled down beside her and closed his eyes to join her, Yasopp caught Shanks' eye and beckoned him over.

"What's up?"

"Soooo... Benn, Snake, and Punch and I were talking, and I think I have an idea about the whole, 'baby's first boot camp,' thing you guys have going on here."

Shanks raised an eyebrow an motioned for him to proceed. If he and Rayleigh together hadn't managed the slightest bit of progress in almost a week, then he was willing to try anything... short of throwing her overboard to see if it was instinctual, which was Lucky Roo's suggestion. Loklynn, unfortunately, had overheard this and ended up almost drowning herself a few days back.

"Okay, You know how Benn and I have an easier time with Observation and Armament Haki if we have a gun in our hands?"

"Huh. Yeah, I guess so."

"Well... what if we do the same here?"

Shanks Balked. "We're not giving the child a gun!" He whisper-yelled, shooting a look over his shoulder to make sure Loklynn didn't hear and get any ideas. To his relief, she was still meditating serenely.

Yasopp jumped back, hands raised as if Shanks had just pulled a gun on him.

"Of course not, Yeesh! I'm talking about this," he held up the slingshot, and Shanks gave an almost pavlovian scowl at the sight. That thing was the bane of his existence, and he was still mad at the sniper for making it.

"Go on..." Shanks bit out suspiciously.

"It might be easier to visualize encasing the pellets with energy like we do with Haki... rather than, you know, just Summoning up a vague idea of what her power is supposed to look like."