This is the continuation from the first chapter into the second chapter of this story:
In the dead of a cool, summer month night everything was peaceful and all was well on the huge vessel known as Thriller Bark. Giant ocean waves gracefully brushed up against the island's shore while the wind rustled the leaves of the mysterious, dark forest's trees.
A group of Wild Zombies were stargazing next to the graveyard where the Soldier Zombies snoozed quietly in their graves. Even the General Zombies patrolling the two separate mansions thought that this night had been very relaxing so far. So far meaning that they were secretly preparing themselves for yet another ear piercing cry to fill the cool night air with screams of horror.
Indeed, these type of screams had been occurring since six weeks ago, and that had been just the time when the island's late mistress had died under mysterious circumstances. Nearly none of the zombies knew why she had died but all they knew is that for the past six weeks screams had flooded the entire island ever then. Some even wondered if they were the cries of their late mistress' ghost haunting the island, and on an island full of zombie servants, the theory wasn't too hard to believe.
The cries of horror that everyone had been preparing themselves for suddenly made another return and blocked out the natural background music of the night within mere seconds. Being the middle of the night, anyone who was sleeping was woken up by the ear drowning noise but at least they weren't right next to the source of the sound unlike one person in particular.
Once more, Gecko Moria was abruptly jerked awake by his crying infant for the second time that night, and tiredly yawned as he groggily reached out her crib that was placed beside him. His fingers carefully moved around the bedding of the crib as not to knock the child around as they blindly searched for her crying form. His index finger was then latched onto by the little baby, and he retracted his hand with his daughter now taking up all the space in the palm of his hand.
While his three servants- Gyoro, Nin and Bao- quickly worked to warm some formula for their tiny master, Moria held the baby in his arms and tried a rocking motion with them to attempt to calm her down. It wasn't appearing to work since she was continuing to make such a ruckus over her not getting her mealtime when she wanted it.
She continued to cry loudly but was not wailing so hard like before she was held safely in her father's arms. Although, she certainly had her father's sharp set of lungs to make it seem like there was no difference between then and now, but thankfully her voice was quite softened when she was not crying. Still, since her birth six weeks ago, her voice has gotten a lot stronger and no one was really overjoyed to see it reach the same levels of loudness as her father's own voice. The part where if she reached the same levels of her father was still a what if however.
It was about half a minute more until Ashlethen finally calmed down enough to not be shedding anymore tears and she could finally see what was before her. Ashes looked at the other figure's eyes which were gazing down into her own, seeing her light reflection in the darkness of her father's eyes. She broke the eye contact and her eyes then shot to Gyoro, Nin and Bao, who were finished preparing her milk and were handing it up to her father. The young babe went to whine when her father gave her a look and simply said, "Hush," and it was enough for the child to not make another peep.
Again, Moria yawned and tiredly let his wrist fall a bit, letting the tip of the bottle lower down towards Ash's mouth that seemed to be longing for it. Ashes could only take the milk. She was so hungry even after all she had drank earlier that night. The bottle was put against the lips of the little baby who latched right on, even but some. "Feeling greedy tonight aren't we, Ashlethen?" The Shadow Lord asked with a smirk. He let his daughter drink a lot more milk then necessary. Making the girl strong. He forced his arm away finally.
Ashes' face turned into an upset scowl when her bottle was suddenly yanked away from her. She had started to breathe in and out deeply preparing the waterworks. She was still a little bit hungry. The milk had tasted so well to her. And she wanted more.
Her scowl did not go unnoticed. He brushed the pad of one of his large fingers brush against her cheek, "You've had your fill. Actually, maybe a bit more than I normally give you, so you're fine right now, little one." Came the voice of her father.
Seeing as she had no say in the matter of whether she got more or not was not up to her it seemed. That still didn't stop a few whines of defeat escape past her milk coated lips.
Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted from his arms and placed right beside his long stretch of neck. After being set down, Ash wriggled around trying to adjust her new spot when one of her father's approached and brushed a few hairs from her face. It then proceeded to stroke her back and calm her down.
It worked since the little child then reached out and touched the side of her father's neck as if she was attempting to wrap her little arms around it and give him a hug. She gave a pathetic yawn before resting her head against his neck and snuggling into it.
In her first few weeks of life, being close to her father was the best thing she'd ever known. It was better than both playing with the three zombie servants and napping combined to her. Of course, being a newborn, she absolutely loved being with her father. He was the only person she'd ever known in her life so far, and even though she hadn't done or had known much at that time, she knew that if they were separated then she wouldn't know what to do. Cry, maybe? But Ash had only woken up to see that her father wasn't around one time so far, and when she cried he showed back up in an instant to tend to her.
With loving thoughts in mind, she then moved in even closer to her father, feeling his pulse and hearing his heart beat repeatedly. Ash loved the way his heart sounded. It soothed her when she was upset or just needed something to fall asleep to. She nuzzled closer to it, like if she moved just a bit then she'd be in a perfect state of peace.
After a few minutes of gazing down at his daughter, Moria sighed and laid back to try and attempt to sleep once more. However, his mind kept him awake with thoughts of that of Ashlethen's mother and if she was here right now. She would know how to handle this situation with the young baby much better than he could ever hope to, but she wasn't here right now and that left him being a single father who didn't have any clue what he was doing. Of course, Moria didn't think that for one second he was doing something wrong or poorly. It was just the fact that he wasn't his child's mother and he couldn't substitute for her when the time came that Ashes really would need a mother. Like when she became a teenager…
Tearing his train of thought away from when his daughter would be a teen, Moria looked down once more to see Ashlethen sleeping peacefully. She'd been gently lulled to sleep by the sound of his heartbeat. Maybe there would be silence for the rest of the night after all. Good news for him and the rest of the inhabitance of Thriller Bark.
Moria smirked just a little bit and allowed his body to relax itself as his mind was slowly making its way back around to sleep mode. His hand came up to where his daughter was and covered her protectively before the words, "Goodnight, little one," escaped through his lips.
Ashlethen's ears perked upward at the sound of her father's voice, and she seemed to pick up on what he told her. However, silence was her only reply right now as the sound of steady breathing lulled her, coaxing her to succumb into a deep slumber. Sighing in content, she once more snuggled into her father's stitched neck and attempted to mouth the words he had told her before slipping off into his own dreams. And just like her father, Ashes did just the same.
Until the third chapter then, good people!