To Raise a Vampire

Stranded and Vulnerable

The Grand Line was terrifying for Luffy. Multiple days, on their way to the first island, Luffy was awoken from a sudden storm. Even being secure in his bed, it was scary. Especially the first time, when all of his books fell off of the bookshelf with a loud thud, startling the boy awake.

He had cried, the baby monitor picking it up. Luffy cried a lot now. Things were scary, and he wasn't in awe of the creatures in the Grand Line waters. Most of the time, the animals he did see were Sea Kings. Terrifying monsters that made Luffy want to go back inside.

The ship was sturdy, but Luffy was still afraid that it would break apart from a storm or Sea King attack. There had been no attacks from the monsters, and they mostly passed the ship after taking a peek at it.

Even here on the dangerous Grand Line, one of the brothers often slept with Lu for some of the day. Especially on days there was a storm. And they happened at night sometimes, too, so everyone would be tired waking up at 3 AM to the shouts of the captains and littlest one. To say the Grand Line sucked would be an understatement.

It took over a week to reach the first island. An island with a lot of cactuses, which Luffy thought was funny. Sabo stayed on the ship with Luffy while the others got provisions. Ace and those who embarked on the land learned that it was an island that was populated by bounty hunters. But, not being pirates or having wanted posters, the residents left them alone. Were friendly, even.

The Spade's sailor crew declined the offer to throw a party politely, and that was that. The ship was allowed to dock, and was unbothered, until the log pose set in less than a day. Luffy had wanted to stretch his legs and go on a walk, but his older brothers rejected this and kept him on the ship. Bounty hunters might see him and take him in.

They knew that was an unlikely scenario, but the brothers had become even more paranoid of Luffy's safety as they sailed in the dangerous waters. Luffy wasn't happy with this. He was the most grumpy he'd been his whole life. All because Sabo and Ace let go of the damn wheel. It was their fault they were in the Grand Line. Not Jojo's for telling the two about Luffy being upset.

The crew made it clear they didn't blame either of the captains, which was a relief. But they still blamed themselves. Luffy was their weakness and strength at the same time. Everyone on the ship knew that.

It was their fourth week on the Grand Line that the first pirate attack happened. It had been during the day, so Luffy was thankfully asleep, and the pirates were quickly taken care of without the boy waking from the noise.

Ace had been merciless. No one would scare his baby brother. He'd burned the ship to ash, Sabo and the others besides Aggie 68, who was guarding the entrance to the interior of the ship, beating the pirates senseless. They would protect their ship - their home - and keep Luffy safe and unafraid as best as they could. It was a relief to know that the crew had been able to easily handle a pirate attack. They didn't know or care if any of the pirates died by their hand. If not, they had probably been eaten by Sea Kings. Served them right, trying to raid a ship that wasn't even enemy pirates.

It was more stressful to pass a Marine ship than it was a pirate ship. But, the Marine ship passed harmlessly. After all, the Spades didn't fly a black flag. So they were thankfully left alone and sailed right past each other. Sabo had offered the marines at the side of the ship a polite wave, and said, "Have a nice day!" Best to seem like a good person than someone suspicious, even if they had no reason to be inspected by the Marines.

Storms continued to plague them, and would ruin Luffy's "night" often. He had trouble sleeping sometimes, and was only able to sleep the whole night when one of his brothers slept with him the whole time, or at least stayed in the same room. The captains' room was barely used at all anymore. At least one of them was always awake, with the other spending time with their baby brother.