@miskatonicfollyā asked: š„
Send š„ for a random scene of my museās life (No longer accepting)
Rubbing sleep out of her eyes, a seven-year-old Ikkaku plodded down the creaking wooden steps from the second floor of the cottage into the kitchen. Sheād only woken up once last night, which was a record for her. Sheād thought sheād heard shouting and a loud bang, but when sheād gotten up to peer outside her bedroom window, all sheād seen was darkness and fog. Well, it was still better than her usual nightmares about the woods and spiders and rats in the walls. Maybe the cat Gramps had got for the lighthouse was doing his job warding away evil, even if he was a grumpy thing.
There was commotion in the kitchen, and Ikkaku tentatively poked her head around the doorway to find her grandfather whistling a jaunty tune as he fussed over whatever he was cooking on the stove. He must have heard her footsteps because he quickly looked over his shoulder and gave her a smile. āMorninā lass! Sleep well?ā
āUh, yeah, good enough,ā she said shyly, taking a seat at the old wooden table. Ikkaku still wasnāt used to cheerful greetings in the morning. Wasnāt used to anyone being happy to see her, really. Yes, Gramps had always been the exception to everyone else on the island, but even he hadnāt been kind and welcoming for the past year. Heād been too deep in mourning over Arashiās death. But he wasā¦happier now, she supposed. Ikkaku wondered what had changed.
Tomasu nodded before scowling at the smoke that had begun rising out of the frying pan. Damn it, third blueberry pancake heād burned so far. Heād fended for himself for twenty years ā surely cooking breakfast for his precious granddaughter shouldnāt be so hard! āGood, good. Nothinā woke ya during the night, did it?ā
āWellā¦I thought I heard a bang, but I guess it was just my imagination,ā she confessed, nose wrinkling a bit at the smell of burnt batter.
Giving up on the pancake, Tomasu set aside the mangled pastry for Neptune to chow down on later. The giant dog was busy patrolling the coastline, making sure the bodies theyād dumped over the cliffs last night didnāt wash in with the tides. The old sailor planned on taking Ikkaku beach combing later and the last thing she needed to see were limbs only half-eaten by the sharks. āAh, that was just me. There was uhā¦a bear got close to the lighthouse. Fired a shot to scare it off.ā
āBears come up here?ā she asked, surprised. She thought the black bears lived closer to the orchards around Bangor Crater near the opposite side of the island.
Giving up on cooking and instead throwing together a bowl of blueberries and cream for Ikkakuās breakfast, Tomasu quickly replied, āThereās one bear that still haunts me, lass. A demon polar bear lookinā for revenge!ā A blatant lie ā that beast had died decades ago and had been no real demon. Just a bear whoād eaten a fruit that had cursed him with the ability to hate. But it was still better than the truth.
Those damn fanatics had tried to sneak in and kidnap Ikkaku again. Third time since sheād come to live with him. Tomasu couldnāt believe the Joras had undergone such an overwhelming industrial revolution with leaps and bounds in technology, but still clung to the backwards belief that killing an innocent child would solve all their problems.
Dark eyes went wide as Ikkaku gasped. āThereās a demon polar bear after you?ā she asked, voice fearful.
āAye, but donāt ya worry, sweetheart,ā Tomasu reassured her, placing the bowl in front of her and dropping a kiss to her forehead. āThis olā sea dog too āem down once, and Iāll do it again tā keep ya safe.ā
āKeepā¦me safe?ā she asked tentatively, eyeing her grandfather with disbelief. No one wanted to keep her safe. She was a cursed child. Spawn of the Old Ones. She should have died in the womb, not her brother. Everyone said so. Everyone knew so.
Everyone but Gramps, apparently.
A large, warm, calloused hand ruffled her curls, and Ikkaku looked up to find her grandfather smiling down at her reassuringly. āYeah. Donāt listen tā what the crackpots back in town tell ya, lass; Iāve sailed the Grand Line and most of the North Blue and ya know what? Yer the most precious treasure Iāve laid my eyes on.ā
His smile widened behind his bushy beard, and Ikkaku found her heart swelling with an emotion she hadnāt felt since her grandmotherās death. āMore precious than a mountain full oā silver! Now, eat yer breakfast ā Iām gonna need yer help settinā up some bear traps later.ā