A Fairy's Tale (Eustass Kid & OC)

Chapter 41: When Red-Heads Collide (Part 1)

"Heyyyya, Kiddo! Been awhile, huh?"

Kid's blood ran cold.

"How the fuck..."

"I can be pretty resourceful when I want to be, my auspicious fellow ginger. How's the arm? Or the shoulder, I should say."

"Burning," Kid hissed, drawing another laugh from the older pirate. He wasn't lying, either; his absent arm tingled and itched. His left shoulder throbbed in some sort of fucked up pavlovian reaction to his voice. The response was so visceral and intense that he had to physically stop himself from clutching at it.

It. Fucking. Burned.

"I'll bet. Been eleven years now since my arm got snacked on, yet the sight of a sea king still shivers my timbers to this very day. Sorry about that; you have my sympathies," Shanks offered in an unapologetic manner that didn't hold the slightest hint of sympathy. "Now, I'm sure you're a busy boy, so I won't take up too much of your time. Just a quick little question:"

Kid's stomach tightened. He had a pretty good idea of what was about to be asked.

"I heard a juicy little rumor that you recently acquired a cabin girl. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, now would you...?"

Kid glanced back at Loklynn. Heat, sitting beside her on the medical cot, had wrapped an arm around her shoulders to cover her mouth as soon as he realized who had called. She was struggling against his hold and trying to shout muffled demands for her release against his hand as he tried his best to keep her from siccing a Yonko on them.

The captain jerked his head toward the door, wordlessly telling Heat to get the fuck out and take her with him. The bluenette nodded back shortly and began dragging Loklynn away with incredible difficulty; Judging from Heat's wince of pain and the trickle of blood welling up from behind his palm, she wasn't making it easy on him.

"We don't keep any frails on our ship, Red Hair. Too much trouble," Kid sneered in what he hoped was a steady tone. The snail's smile didn't waver, only grew.

"Geez, didn't take you for a mysogynist," the man teased with a small sigh. "Well, that's a relief. Otherwise, I would have had to take up arms and hunt you down... Pun definitely intended, by the by. You're catching these, right?"

"Quit pussy-footing around the fucking bush, asshat!" The young captain snapped heatedly. The snail's eyes glittered. "Why the fuck did you call?!"

"You're even less fun than the last time I saw you. What's with the cold shoulder, Kiddo?" Shanks drawled. "You really shouldn't be so bitter, you know; holding grudges is bad for your blood pressure."

Kid roared and slammed his metal hand through the wall with a resounding crash, silencing the snail and sending woodchips flying. The crew didn't react to this; it was par for the course on their ship.

They only flinched when a dark chuckle floated from the transponder in response, a cold and mirthless sound that raised the hackles of every man present. It settled over them like an icy pall in the silence as they hung on tenterhooks in dread of his next words.

"Fine, you've twisted my arm," he spoke coolly as the smile finally dissolved. "I know loklynn is with you, Kiddo. Now, are you gonna hand her the snail, or will I have to sail all the way over to Sunnyway in person?"

Fuck. Capital 'F,' Fuck.

He didn't know how the hell Shanks had found them, or how he knew about Loklynn, but It was still way too soon to try facing an emperor again.

Before Kid could think of any way to maneuver the situation in his favor, he was interrupted by the sounds of a scuffle out in the hallway. He closed his eyes and groaned in frustration as the raspy yelp of pain and scrambling footsteps told him that Loklynn had- unfortunately but unsurprisingly- gotten away from Heat. There were a few seconds of scrambling footsteps along the corridor before Heat let out another yelp that was followed by a crack, a thud, and a groan. She'd obviously kicked him back, but damn... Heat was seven feet tall and weighed over two hundred and sixty pounds, while Loklynn was a five-nothing waif with physical trauma and the structural integrity of a toothpick; was this sudden burst of energy just from hearing Shanks' voice? It was like she was the one who'd been brought back to life.