Slinktober 2023-Discontinued

1. Brook

Author's Notes

I gave this some heavy thinking and while I did state that each piece of Slinktober would be a stand-alone piece per character, I maintain the right to connect stories together as I see fit. As it stands, I am linking the Strawhat pieces together as one whole story—told from eight different perspectives.

The bit that holds all eight pieces together is Brook. I present to you all, Day One of Slinktober.

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Laboon's Slinky Composition

It was a typical day out on the Grand Line, morning saw the bright sun with not a cloud in the sky to dull its shine but by noon everything had changed. First it was a cloud here and then a cloud there and then they were grouping together and the next thing everyone knew, the sun was gone, the sky fully obscured by angry looking clouds. And then, as if to add insult to injury, the clouds had the audacity to dispense over a foot of snow onto the deck of the ship.

Now, anyone who travelled the Grand Line knew to pack for the temperamental weather phenomena. Any ship's crew worth their salt would know to pack clothes for all four of the seasons. This crew being no exception even though they complained, or in some cases shouted exuberantly, about the snow—they were all prepared. Well, all but one.

The ship's musician stood out on deck as the rest of his crewmates threw snowballs at each other or built snowmen. He stood idly by a tangerine tree, no winter coat or boots, snow clinging to his afro and a worn, bent out and rusted child's toy held lovingly in his hands as he remembered a day long gone by...

52 Years Ago

The Rumbar Pirates were two months in to their repairs just inside the Grand Line, after having trekked through Reverse Mountain. Laboon happily swimming about the ship as the pirates played on their instruments and sang songs off the cuff. All but one.

Soul King Brook sat on the rail deep in thought. Laboon stopped swimming in front of him and splashed some water against the side of the ship, as if asking in whale speech for Brook to play him a song.

"Yohohohohoho! Laboon, one of these days we'll have to teach you how to play an instrument, then you can play for us. Yohohohoho!"

Laboon splashed his fins as Brook laughed, not really understanding what the pirate was saying but liking the cadence of the laugh all the same. Yorki, the captain of the ship, came up to Brook and slapped him on the back, "you know damn well we can't teach the little fellow an instrument, the little guy has no hands."

Everyone laughed. That was a fair and valid point, Laboon certainly appreciated all the music from the sorrowful power ballads to the drunken sailor shanties all the way to the lyric-less instrumentals of Brook's violin. Guitars, piano, drums, violin, vocals, you name it, Laboon loved it. Sometimes he'd join in with his whale song and sometimes he'd splash his fins or tail in time with their rhythms. He was a precious being, no one could ask for a better pet or friend.

But, he couldn't play a melody just for them. He couldn't compose his own music for his friends, he was permanently relegated to being the audience. Brook thought his captain's words over and an inkling of an idea was beginning to form. Nudging his captain, "hey, what if, Laboon could compose the music for us to play?"

"I don't see how, but I'm curious. How could he compose a song?"

It's a good thing a cloud passed in front of the sun as Brook smiled because Crocus' eyes were not prepared to handle the light that would have glinted from his teeth. "We teach him."

"And how do we do that?!"

Reaching into his pocket, the Soul King pulled out a slinky.

Yorki was starting to wonder what was in his whiskey bottle last night, he could have sworn Brook just whipped out a child's toy as if that answered Laboon's compositional dilemma. "Huh? How is that toy going to teach Laboon music? It's not a musical toy...is it?" Yep, he was definitely drunk off his gourd, there was no way he was perceiving any of this properly.