LET ME PROTECT YOU [Ace X fem! reader]

Chapter 1 // Stumbling upon a dead(?) man

The deafening sound of quarreling waves crashing against the sand and gleeful chirps of grasshoppers flood your ears as you stroll across the shore of Fallwind island, the only place you've ever known and also call home. The fresh breeze blowing the salty air through your hair guides your wandering gaze towards the longing horizon. It divides the brightly lit night sky spangled with tiny shining dots and the wide, glistening ocean surface, bathing in the milky light of the moon perfectly in half. Roaming past this familiar view, with your trusty sword rested on your hip, would've been comforting if it wasn't for the reason you're forced to trudge through the outskirts of your town so late.

There have been three separate attacks on your hometown, Kariko, this past week.

It's not like it is unusual for your island to be under attack by pirates, since it's quite central in the large scheme of trading islands, but three during a single week is a lot, even for your town. Sadly, this doesn't surprise you as the attacks have only begun occurring more and more frequently over these past few months, slowly creeping up on you and the other townspeople like a shadow you can't seem to shake off. You can't really help but worry, and at the same time also feel quite pissed since these attacks are the reason you're stuck patrolling in the middle of the night for the fourth time in one and a half weeks.

You barely have enough spare energy to do this job on a normal basis since you have a 13-year-old little sister to take care of during the day. Even though she's not your sister by blood, Mila's the only family you have right now. The two of you met nine years ago but have been inseparable ever since. Neither of you had anyone else to rely on, so you quickly became each other's brick. Even when your situation improved, you only found yourself appreciating the company of your sister even more. To this day, you're still continuing to have her back every single time she proudly stomps forward into chaos, no matter how tiring it might be.

You deeply sigh as you begin to feel the pain of the last four patrols in your aching feet as they sink deeper into the chilly sand with each step you take. You know this beach by heart, so you're aware you're not even halfway through your route, but it still sure feels like an eternity has passed since you stepped foot outside. You stretch your arms above your head with a loud yawn. As your drowsy eyes travel up to the stars, you silently plead that you get to have yet another peaceful walk where you won't have to do anything.

Just as that thought begins to fade away, your gaze, which has lowered and is now moving across the shoreline, notices an orange, cone shaped object being brushed by the waves and onto the sand. Intrigued, you lightly jog towards the curious item. As you walk closer it becomes clearer to you what that strange, orange object actually is and once you're finally beside it, you're eager to crouch down and pick up the completely drenched cowboy-shaped hat.

The strong smells of salt and crusty seaweed reach your nostrils almost immediately after the hat is in your hands. You can't say you're surprised, considering how it just arrived onto mainland after drifting on the sea for god knows how long, but you're not exactly ecstatic about it either. A chain of shiny red beads acting as a band around the hat's crown catches your eyes. They're guided to the front of the hat where you find two blue smileys intensely staring at you. One frowning and one grinning widely. Raising an eyebrow at this odd design you continue studying the hat. It turns out the hat is way more intact than you first thought, considering the treacherous road it must've passed, so it couldn't have been in the water for too long.

You hurriedly lift your gaze and stretch your neck to see if you can find trails of where the this peculiar hat could've come from. Could it have been from a ship passing by? There have been a lot of them recently. It could be from a pirate ship... But you've never seen a pirate wear such a goofy hat, though it does look familiar... Maybe it's from town. A lot of people loose things by the pier, so there was probably an unlucky guy today. 

Eventually you glance down at the two blue faces again, their eyes piercing straight through your gaze.

"Might as well put it on," you shrug. "It's a nice hat."

Spotting your reflection in the clear seawater, you continue trudging through the sand, wondering if orange might be your color.

Your mind is still pondering over the distinguished hat, when your eyes encounter the large boulder sticking out from the sand on the end of a peninsula. You let out a sigh of relief since this is the stone marking the halfway point of your patrol, meaning you'll soon be able to peacefully slumber again. That's until another faraway object in the shadows of the looming rock catches your eye. You squint, attempting to get a closer look, and see the large lump of junk laying perfectly across the shore to be in the splash zone of the raging waves.

Must suck to be that thing. you scoff. It must be getting sand and salty seawater everywhere. As you walk closer you eventually make out that the big lump of junk, getting owned by the waves, is laying down with his bare back turned against you...

"Holy shit, it's a human."