A Fairy's Tale (Eustass Kid & OC)

Mihawk (Part 5)

Not me realizing that Loklynn looks like a water bender ^^^

...Present day...

"I want a name, Shanks."

The who of it hardly mattered at the end of the day, Mihawk knew that. The identity of whoever was holding Saoirse, came secondary to the fact that she had been hurt in their care. Mihawk was already burning with the urge to kill, the only question was where his wrath would be unleashed. Shanks gave him the answer with a reluctant sigh:

"...Eustass 'Captain' Kid."

Eustass Kid.

The syllables echoed over and again in Mihawk's head with a glimmer of familiarity as he mentally scrawled the name at the top of his kill list. He recognized the name from a roster of high-risk rookies the papers had been so dramatically doting on. His first mate too, if Mihawk wasn't mistaken. Crowned 'Super Novas' by the press, there had been nine in total before his latest mission had cut him off from the world. Mihawk found out about Saoirse's bounty from Shanks, but it was only after receiving his first news coo in six months that he discovered it was a cool six hundred million, more than enough to earn her a spot on the Nova roster. The bounties of Roronoa and his excitable captain brought the Nova head count up to twelve, and it was with more dismay than pride that he'd realized her bounty was the highest of the lot.

Now he was being told she was on a ship with two of them, both of whom led a crew that was famous for its cruelty and civilian head count. Shanks must have seen exactly what he thought of the information through his end of the snail.

"Look, Mihawk, I know how you feel, but you have to-"

Mihawk slammed the receiver back into the shell of the snail, hardly in the mood to entertain whatever platitudes his old rival was attempting to soothe him with. As soon as the connection was severed, he shot up from his seat and growled out loud in a rare fit of pure frustration. His fingers tightened around the shell, his muscles coiling like the string of a taut bow as he reared his arm back in preparation to throw the Red Haired snail straight into the ocean.

But just before he released it, Mihawk froze. He cut his eyes at the mollusk in his hand; The eye stalks were swiveled toward him, wide and terrified as its body quivered pitifully inside its shell. He got the impression that the thing would plead for its life if it could.

'Polishing transponder shells. That's how you're going to spend your time?'

'Well you're not gonna do it, so I will. How can you not wanna pamper him, he's so cute! Just look at those little eyes!'

Mihawk briefly closed his eyes and huffed, his jaw flexing as he remembered her holding the creature up to him proudly. The mollusk had indeed looked pampered, its bugging eyes half-lidded in relaxation. That wasn't the first thing Mihawk noticed, though.

'...Loklynn.'

'Hm?'

'What in the blazes did you write on my blasted transponder snail?'

A bright, slightly sheepish giggle had been his only answer. Presently, the swordsman turned the mollusk in his hand until he could see the words emblazoned on the side:

'Stalk-Eye Mihawk.'

He had tried in the past to scrub it off, but the title was granted immortality by the accompanying coat of lacquer. As if it mattered, the damn thing had grown on him anyway; A soft 'tch' escaped him, and he forced himself to relax and lower his arm. He dropped roughly back into his chair with a heavy sigh, allowing the frightened snail to join its kin in the glass tank beside his chair.