Shanks looked at the downed forms of everyone around him, and the upset form of Lark.
"...I am so teaching you how to properly use Haki, if this is what happens by accident."
"Wait, you know what that weird power is called?!" she said startled.
Shanks looked at her.
"You've used this before, deliberately?"
"I'm fairly certain that it's the only reason I survived childhood and why I'm a good seeker despite often being as blind as a bat without my glasses," she said bluntly. "It used to be really hit or miss...but I was really motivated to learn control."
Shanks was openly unhappy about that. On the plus side it meant they would have a lot easier time teaching her how to use it. The third one was going to be hit or miss though.
When everyone else woke up...and the Marines promptly tossed over the side after they capsized their boat... Shanks sat Lark down and explained things to her properly.
"It's called Haki. What you just used is a really rare one called Conqueror's Haki, which basically allows you to impose your will on everyone else. The there are two others, which are Observation Haki and Armament Haki. Watch Benn," said Shanks simply.
Lark observed some of the crew attack Benn, and recognition hit her as she realized what he was doing. More to the point, she recognized the way he blocked some of the attacks that would have badly injured him.
"Care to try?" asked Shanks. They would avoid the lethal blows, because Shanks would gut them otherwise, but everything else was fair game.
Lark was in the fray before they really knew what was going on, but once they figured it out there was all out war between them.
It was also pretty clear she had figured out Haki on her own, though her ability to use the third was wonky at best. Shanks was already visibly unhappy she had to learn how to use the first two without help on her own, in a world where it shouldn't be necessary. Worse, that she had been using it for years without knowing what it was.
If she had to learn Haki to survive growing up before Hogwarts, then Shanks was making a special trip to Surrey once the pathway opened up to kill Petunia and that fat pig of a husband, laws be damned. He wasn't going to be quick about it either.
Lark was looking at Shanks incredulously and with no little amount of exasperation. Really, it wasn't that big a deal and at least it was someone that was openly tolerable.
Shanks, for some bizarre reason she simply could not fathom out, was being overprotective over the issue.
Lark could only feel sorry for poor Ace.
Finally she had enough and grabbed Shanks' ear.
"Uncle Shanks, aren't you being a little ridiculous?"
Ace sputtered when she called him "Uncle", before he realized the resemblance between them wasn't a coincidence like he thought.
"But Lark, he was in bed with you!"
"Considering how much this crew drinks, it was going to happen eventually. Or would you rather it have been one of the crew or yourself who did it?" said Lark flatly.
Seeing the immediate shudder of the crew, mostly because of the fact Shanks would have cheerfully murdered them in their sleep had they been the ones to 'deflower' his niece, Shanks winced.
Poor Ace was just the unlucky idiot who got to her first.
"Besides, would you rather I had slept with a Marine?" asked Lark, raising an eyebrow.
Considering the amount of murderous intent coming off Shanks at the moment, that would be a 'no'.
Ace looked between the two confused.
"Are you pissed that I slept with your daughter or because I'm part of Whitebeard's crew?" he asked slowly.
Shanks sputtered.
"My uncle is just being ridiculously overprotective of me," said Lark in exasperation. "Honestly, I don't see what the big deal is. I know for a fact two of my dormmates lost their virginity by sixth year at the very least."
Lavender and Parvati had been quite vocal about the whole thing, to the mortification of Hermione and Lark. Even if Lark also knew of the massive stash of third-rate porn Hermione kept in her trunk since fifth year.
Shanks made a whining sound in his throat. He was not being ridiculously overprotective!
"You are acting like a total mother hen captain," chuckled Benn.
Lark just looked exasperated with him.
"Honestly, I would expect this reaction if you had been the one to raise me, but we only met a few months ago. That does not give you an excuse to be overly clingy towards me," she said flatly.
Shanks finally realized why he was overreacting to the whole thing. He just didn't want to see his little Spitfire hurt any more than she already was.
It did not help his peace of mind when Lark told him in a matter-of-fact tone that she had survived torture and prolonged exposure to the cruciatus curse. She was just glad she had lost her last shred of innocence on her own terms and with someone who was remotely tolerable.
Either way the fact that Shanks had a niece that was with him quickly reached Whitebeard's crew. It was only natural the old man would want to meet her.
Shanks...was a bit too high strung for it at the moment. So much so that he indulged in one of the few bits of magic he bothered to practice at all, and one of the rare things he could do without a proper wand.
He didn't miss his sycamore and phoenix feather wand, thirteen inches and surprisingly swishy. Nope, not one bit.
The second Lark saw the giant wolf on the deck with three legs and the familiar scar on his left eye, she didn't think twice about her reaction.
She promptly cuddled with the lupine creature taking a nap on the deck like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Benn took one look at the wolf, before ignoring it. It was a well kept secret of the crew that Shanks could turn into that...which still baffled many because he could swim just fine and seastone had absolutely no effect on him.
The wolf woke up about the time dinner was about to start, and noticed the Spitfire napping on him content. He licked her face, a gentle smile on his face.
Perhaps later he'd let Lark cuddle with his wolf form. But his little Spitfire was still far too skinny and underweight. It was going to take a lot of love and TLC to bring her up to a healthier weight class.
Shanks shifted back, and gently nudged her awake. Lark pouted at him, which made him chuckle.
"Maybe once you're feeling better I'll show you how to turn into your animal form too," he said.
"I already know how. It's why I was able to find you so fast... I just followed the connection," she said sleepily.
"Oh? And what can my little Spitfire turn into?"
"Feng-Huang. Took me forever to figure out what bird I was..." she said, becoming a bit more awake.
Shanks stared at her.
"Feng-Huang, as in the Asian varient of the Phoenix which is said to be practically saint like and if one takes a liking to you is a sign you're a good ruler? That one?" said Shanks.
Lark looked at him.
"How do you know that? It took me ages to find information on it!"
Shanks chuckled.
"Mythology and the history behind the older stories to explain how things got blown out of propotion often took the place of fairy tales when I was growing up. Like how Zeus was likely a wizard who took advantage of mundane women who didn't know any better, or how Hel from Norse mythology was likely a witch who suffered a horrific potions accident and the idiot peasants at the time immediately mistook her for a death goddess for her horrifying appearance. Dad would have taken over for the History of Magic position if that old bastard hadn't decided it was perfectly acceptable to keep a ghost on instead."
"Considering Binns puts everyone in his class to sleep, and it's rare for anyone to bother taking the secondary exams for it..." said Lark.
Shanks snorted at that. He had fallen asleep with Binns and it was only the love of history and the stories that could be behind what everyone was told that had allowed him to pass both those tests. He was the only one who even bothered taking the NEWT's for it in his year, he knew.
Lily didn't have enough exposure to their father to develop a love of history and the truth hidden in the legends, but Shanks had tried his best.
Much to the amusement of the crew, Shanks relented and turned back into his wolf form after dinner...and they were treated to the sight of Lark happily grooming his fur and nails. It was clear she absolutely loved animals of all shapes and sizes.
On the plus side, Shanks now had a surefire way to help his niece with her nightmares and bad memories. Just letting her cuddle with him at night seemed to chase the worst of them away, letting her sleep soundly.
Besides, no one would claim he was up to anything nefarious with a teenage girl if he was in his wolf form the entire night.
"There's a phoenix on the railing," said Thatch.
"I thought Marco was doing reports in his room?" asked Izo.
"He is," said Thatch.
That had the cross dresser's attention. Sure enough, Marco was still doing reports...and yet there was an amused phoenix on the railing of the ship with a letter of all things.
Finally, one brave idiot went to take the letter and package off the bird.
That idiot was Ace.
Ace walked up to the odd looking phoenix and was about to take the package when it trilled...before promptly walking right up his arm to settle on his shoulder perfectly content with it's new roost.
Something about the odd noises the bird was making soothed his inner anxiety. The fact it was preening his hair didn't hurt either.
It was then that Marco came out to find out what the fuss was about, and saw the bird.
"Am I hallucinating, because I'm fairly certain I'm sober at the moment."
Ace snickered.
"This handsome fellow...OW!" started Ace, only to get pecked on the head by the annoyed bird for his trouble. "Sorry, lovely lady brought something."
The phoenix huffed, and gave Ace a gimlet eye for good measure for getting her gender wrong. A few of the men snickered.
Marco accepted the paper...and read it out loud. The second he realized who it was from his blood pressure skyrocketed.
Damn that Shanks.
Ace was already snickering at the content, though he wasn't the only one highly confused when Shanks said that he was sending his mysterious 'niece' with a special present to Pops.
Lark was a very beautiful girl, at least that was Ace's opinion once he was sober enough to remember her. Vivid green eyes brighter and more brilliant than any emerald he had ever seen, familiar red hair that was apparently genetic in Shanks' family, pale skin littered with signs that she had lived a hard life and had come out swinging, and a voice like an angel.
There was a sense of passion, mischief and adventure about her... it was so obvious why Shanks and his crew all called her Spitfire.
Ace took the package to Pops. Shanks liked the older pirate too much to put a bomb or something in it.
It was a book. One Pops seemed to recognize pretty quick, if the broad smile on his face was any indication.
"What the hell did he mean he sent his niece with the 'present'?" demanded Marco irate.
The phoenix on Ace's shoulder was obviously laughing it's ass off about something.
Right before it turned into a great ball of fire...revealing the same girl he had met by accident while drinking.
(And unleashing the ire of an overprotective Shanks on his ass for sleeping with her. If he was this protective of his niece, then Ace could only hope Shanks was that overprotective of his baby brother Luffy.)
"Surprise!" she laughed, before promptly taking pictures of everyone's gobsmacked faces. "Uncle Shanks is going to love this."
"What...HOW?" asked Ace, voicing the question on everyone's mind.
She gave him an amused, but flat look.
"You didn't really think Haki and Devil Fruits were the only mysterious powers in the world, did you? Though to be honest I was highly skeptical when Uncle Shanks told me he knew a man who had eaten a 'phoenix' fruit in the first place."
"Gra-ha-ha-ha! So that's the brat's secret. I always wondered why he acted too mature for his age!" said Whitebeard.
Though really, Shanks had always acted childish enough to fool people into thinking he was simply a little 'mature' for his age, or had seen/read far too much for a child to understand.
Whitebeard clearly remembered the highly amusing conversation he had with Roger when he went to give Shanks and Buggy the 'Talk' about how children were made.
Shanks knew far too much on the subject, whereas Buggy had been rather clueless until afterwards. Either way, Roger had gotten very, very drunk at some of the things Shanks had shared during that conversation.
Lark found the Whitebeard crew almost as entertaining as the Red Force. She got the most amusement flirting with Ace though.
(Unknown to her, after the visit Whitebeard started calling Shanks to tease him about potentially pairing up Ace with Lark. Shanks was in a foul mood for weeks because of it, to Lark's confusion and Benn's amusement.)