DISCLAIMER: One Piece is the property of Eiichiro Oda and TvTokyo; I do not own One Piece or any of its characters. This is a purely fan-made Fiction.
"Curse it! Where is he? Even if he's a reindeer he'll freeze to death in this blizzard!" Dalton sighed for himself as he looked around the massive, snow-coated tundra that stretched out for miles in front of him. The man gave off a slow, deep sigh, followed by a slight coughing; he had spent the entire day trying to locate Chopper, ever since he was told he had run off into the wilds after the confrontation with Wapol after Dr. Hiriluk's death. He knew how much the quack doctor meant for the reindeer; he was his mentor, after all. And, by the look on Chopper's tear-soaked face when he tried calming him down, even more than that. Dalton still pushed on through the harsh winds and whipping snowflakes, trying to find him in time before he'd break down of hypothermia. Sighing again, his already bulk body changed shape and size, horns grew on his head and fur coated him underneath his green tunic as it stretched to accommodate to his new size, turning to his human-bison form before he continued his search.
'C'mon Chopper… at least give me a hint of where you are…' Dalton thought while groaning slightly from the force of the wind, pushing against it with all his might. His hoofed feet sank into the snow as he walked, and his eyes peered as best as they could through the fluttering snowflakes around him, trying to locate the reindeer, or at least a hint of where he was. He was about to just give it up and walk home, but then, he could hear something faint and distant. A whimper. A cry of pain and, by the sound of it, sadness. 'That must be him!' taking no time for second guessing, Dalton dashed through the wintery weather, making his way towards the sound, which he soon found out came from a big, deep cavern. He looked inside. Nothing but darkness as long as his eyes could reach. He went inside, reverting to his human form since the warmth of the cavern would be enough, and then brought out a lantern from a satchel he carried on his back, lighting it with a match before looking around. The lantern's light illuminated most of the cave's inside, but still no sign of the source of the whimpering. He could still hear it though; it was faint, but it was there. Dalton pressed onward, walking deeper into the cavern, and then, he found him; lying in a heap on the cave floor in his child-looking Brain Point, knees huddled up to his face while tears ran down his face, was Chopper. The little child looked scared and sad at the same time, and a red liquid was also seen tracing down his right leg. A bite wound, by the looks of it. "Chopper?"
The man's loud, yet still calm voice, startled the reindeer, but he was too tired from the running and crying, so all he could do was to weakly look up at the source of the voice, recognizing the man and just turning away from him. "W-W-Why are you here…" he sobbed softly, ignoring the fact that he came closer to him, kneeling down beside him.
"I'm here because I was worried of you." Dalton stated sincerely, opting to move a hand up to Chopper and stroke his fur, but he retracted his hand, thinking he needed some time to recover. "What you did back at Wapol's castle got me worried… you really seemed to care for Dr. Hiriluk… don't you?" the reindeer simply nodded and whimpered more to the question.
"H-H-He was…" he began, but his tears choked his voice to only a few inaudible sobs.
"Come again?" Dalton asked, not wanting to sound rude.
"H-He was… m-my… m-my father…" Chopper said finally, his lips quivering and his eyes streaming with tears. "H-He was the only one that cared for me… e-e-everyone else hated me…" he turned to Dalton, a bit of anger flaring deep inside them. "Y-You hated me too… d-didn't you?" Dalton sighed as he remembered; before Wapol became king of Drum Island, he was the village Sheriff, and the day that Chopper had come to the village in his Heavy Point – the only form that slightly resembled a human – he had ordered the villagers to shoot him and hunt him down.
"Chopper, it was an accident." He heard himself say as an excuse, cursing himself for saying something so stupid. "Had I known it was you back then, I would've ordered the villagers to pull back and stop."
"N-No… you hated me…"
"Chopper, I did not hate you!"
"YES YOU DID! YOU AND THE ENTIRE VILLAGE HATED ME!" Chopper's sadness was suddenly cast away in a momentary rage, his form bulking up massively as he turned to his Heavy Point and grabbed Dalton by the collar of his tunic, smashing him against the rocky cave wall. The man grunted out in pain, but he had taken worse beatings before, so he was in no serious harm. He glared up at Chopper's rage-filled expression, not feeling any bit of fear or hesitation. Only remorse and regret.
"Chopper… had I known it was you… I would not have ordered the villagers to do such a thing…" he repeated, still looking up at him. "Damn it Chopper, come to your senses! Your father… Dr. Hiriluk… he was a great man. And he still is! He's not dead, Chopper… he'll never be dead as long as you remember him…" he recalled the thing Hiriluk had said when facing Wapol and his men;
'Hey… when do you think a person dies? When a bullet from a pistol pierces his heart? No. When he is struck by an incurable disease? No. When he eats a soup of deadly poisonous mushrooms? No! A man… dies when people forget him.'
Chopper flinched a bit as Dalton told him what Hiriluk had said at the moments before his death, the words sinking into him slowly before he finally understood what they meant. Letting go of Dalton's tunic, he backed off, turning slowly into his Brain Point again before sitting down, just staring emptily at his hoofed feet. He took his time, before he finally spoke;
"D-Did… did Dr. Hiriluk really… n-not blame me?"
"No… he never blamed you for giving him the poisonous mushrooms…" Dalton said honestly, sitting next to Chopper. "Not once. Now, c'mon… I know you're the doctor, but I need to check your wound." Chopper hesitated once, before he nodded and moved his leg a bit to show the wound. It was nothing too serious, but the bite was rather deep, possibly by a wolf. Dalton took out some bandages from the satchel and tied it around his leg, tying it rather tightly, but not too tight, so Chopper could still bend and move his leg. "Better?"
"Y-Yeah…" Chopper mumbled, glancing at Dalton and giving him a faint smile. "T-Thank you… that was really nice."
"Don't mention it. It just pains me to even imagine how you feel right now…" Dalton muttered back, a bit of sadness in his voice. "To lose someone so closely related to you… it must be agonizing. I could clearly see the rage and sorrow inside of you when you attacked Wapol and his men. I had to stop you back then, because I could not bear to see another soul lose its life back there… and… I had promised Hiriluk…"
'Very soon, a monster will be coming. He is my son. Please, don't hurt him.'
"H-He called me… h-his son?" Chopper said quickly, his tiny ears perking up and his eyes looking fully up at Dalton.
"Yes… he said you meant more to him than anything in the world. It was a promise I had to keep, no matter what Wapol and his men would do to me…" the tall man replied, smiling down a bit at Chopper. "I hope you can forgive me… for all I did… and did not do in the past… I'm sorry." He petted Chopper's back a bit, and the little reindeer smiled back softly before he laid his head on Dalton's lap, nuzzling it softly.
"I forgive you, Dalton… now that I know that my father is not dead yet… I'm happy." He smiled, and soon afterwards, he fell into a deep slumber. Dalton stayed awake for a while to make sure no other animal lived inside the cave, and to watch over the sleeping reindeer. Soon enough, he leaned down to give Chopper's forehead a soft, gentle goodnight-kiss, and then leaned back to the cave wall to rest as well. Eyes still open, he relaxed and looked up at the cave ceiling, remembering what had happened back then, and a frown came to his lips as he remembered how Wapol had laughed out and openly mocked both him, and Hiriluk. He could not stand it anymore; ever since Wapol had claimed the throne of Drum Kingdom for himself, he had placed the country in a state of decadence, and as a soldier of justice, Dalton could just not take it anymore.
'Wapol…' he thought for himself before he began dazing off to sleep. 'I will no longer serve you. I will rebel, just like Hiriluk did before me. And after me… well, there will always be someone to inherit the will of Hiriluk…' and then, he fell asleep, his one hand wrapped around Chopper's body to keep him close and warm.