"Acute toxicity." Chopper said. The reindeer doctor checked Zoro carefully. The Samurai was pale and feverish.
"What happened to him?" Usopp asked as he looked over Chopper's shoulders. "No one else is feeling sick." The bucket next to him was evidence of the swordsman's illness. Zoro groaned in discomfort.
"I'm guessing it was the food. He was the only one who ate the tuna raw. Something might have been wrong with the fish that cooking took care of. Maybe a parasite or toxin. I'm running out of anti-toxin and anti-emetic medicine."
"Is he going to be okay?" Both the mechanic and the doctor looked at their sick crew-mate sadly.
"He should be fine. The biggest risks are dehydration and toxic shock. The barrels Sanji suggested are keeping us with fresh water and Nami says the snow will turn back to rain soon."
"Good. I'm tired of it slowing me and Franky down. We need to get busy with the repairs. But the cold and the snow isn't helping."
Chopper looked out the window and the winter world of Frigid Fort Island. "I love the cold. It's like home to me. It's beautiful."
"Yeah, but we can't work in it. And it's hell being stranded in it."
"Zoro's condition is stable but it is not looking good. He'll need a full round of treatment." The reindeer sighed. "We barely have a third of the medication he needs. And the fever has me worried. His system is battling the toxin. I'm hoping it isn't what I'm thinking."
"I thought you said you knew what it was, Chopper."
"I know what it could be. There are lots of food born illnesses. The worse this fever gets the less likely it is to be my first diagnosis of acute mercury based toxicity. And my second diagnosis is much worse. His drinking isn't helping either. I'm worried about liver failure. Or toxin build up."
"You're doing your best, Chopper." Usopp said. "I'm sure he'll pull through."
"Hopefully, Usopp, hopefully."
The swordsman was pale and sweaty. His breathing was thin and he didn't look like himself.
"I'll talk to everybody and let you get back to work. I'll go see what everyone is doing."
Sanji was kicking himself mentally. It was almost as painful as one of his legendary physical kicks. This was his fault. It was his Job to keep shit like this from happening. He should have inspected that meat. He should have thought about the risks of wild food. Sure fish was generally low risk but he should have checked. Sanji's black boot slammed against the rock shattering it. He felt the recoil shoot up his leg painfully and it was calming. He sighed his breath fogging in the clear icy air of frigid fort. He hated this. He was jittery and his focus had gone to shit when his crew needed him. He hated being fucking stranded again. He hated the dreams. The phantom hunger pains from his childhood. They had haunted his sleep for the past few days. And it was only getting worse. He had woken up from a fitful sleep sweating and cursing. He had expected to see that cliff and the endless sea. He had expected to hear Zeff screaming as the muscles tore bloody from his destroyed leg. The smell of human meat roasting at night hung in his nose as he woke. It had haunted him as he stalked the frigid deck that morning. It had kept the chef company as he had made the coffee. It had made him nervous the sound of the percolator. The drip drip drip of it had made him fidget. . IT.
"Shitty Fucking Island. Dumbass Rocks! Goddamn shithead samurai wanting raw fucking fish. Dumbass idiot shithead me for making it for him." Sanji could feel the muscles in his legs were screaming as he panted in the rubble along the edge of the woods. To say that the chef was handling the dire situation poorly was an understatement. The whole situation crawled under his skin. It was like an itch in the back of his skull a loud incessant buzz in his mind. He wanted to scream. Sanji sank to the ground his face red from the cold and exertion. He had fucked up big time he was losing it and he had almost killed one of the crew. He felt so helpless Everybody seemed to have a job. Chopper was keeping track of the lost supplies and cargo. Nami was tracking the weather and planning a coarse to get them to port before there greatly diminished stores ran out. Usopp and Franky were making repairs and gathering materials for repairing the thousand sunny. Even Brook was helping Nami. He had been an expert sailor and had years of experience on the open waters. He spent hours sitting with her pouring over the maps and charts playing his violin as he made suggestions. Zoro had been helping lug lumber and stone for repairs. Finally with his bones aching and his hands numb Sanji got up to head back to the ship and face what he had done. He saw the crew quietly huddled in coats and gloves. He felt them looking at them he felt the guilt. He felt the eyes on him as he breezed past. And he walked right into Chopper leaving the infirmary.
"Sorry, Chopper," Sanji muttered. "It's okay." the reindeer said. He looked up at Sanji and sighed. "I wasn't paying attention either. I'm running out of the medication I need for Zoro. I'm going to go see if there is some herbal remedies in the woods. ON my home island there was tons of Eldervine and Winter root on my home island. It's great for stopping vomiting. And I'm sure there are anti-fever plants as well."
"What about herbs and edible plants?"
"Of course. There has to be. There were wild greens and vegetables at home. I'm sure we can find some... and you can get some fresh air away from everybody. I know this isn't easy but it wasn't your fault."
"Bullshit," Sanji said. "It's totally my fault," the chef said. Cook however did meet Chopper with his huge yellow bag slung over his shoulder. He couldn't undo it but he could keep it form happening again and he could help make it right.
"I can't believe it happened," Robin said. "Mr. Bushido must be in horrible agony. A parasite might be shredding his insides as we speak. Destroying his stomach and intestines turning them to mush... and..."
"Robin," Usopp said. "Don't say things like that. It's creepy." The gunner cringed at the way Robin talked about the morbid pain their friend was enduring. It's probably salmonella or toxicity from not cooking the fish. That's what Dr. Chopper said. It's why Zoro was the only one affected."
"Sanji must feel horrible," Nami said. "I know him and Zoro fight a lot but I can't imagine him wanting him hurt. It was an accident. I can't even look at him right now. He's just not himself and I don't know what to say to him. I'm worried about him."
"Poor Zoro," Brooke agreed. I worry greatly about him. About both of our friends. But everyone we need to have faith. Zoro is strong and Chopper is a skilled doctor." Brooke's careful strokes on the strings were soft but rose hopefully into fluttery light music. " I do not think we will lose him to a bad luncheon plate. We must also be understanding of Mr. Sanji's pain. I know how hard it is to cause a friend to be injured. I have experienced it. But accidents happen. He's our friend and we can't blame him for something he didn't do."
"True," Robin said. "No one thinks it's really his fault. It's been a hard few days. And he is suffering in other ways as well. Nicotine withdrawal is a personalized type of hell."
"I remember when my mother tried to quit," Nami said. "Bellmere was so angry and … and she wasn't herself for a while. She snapped at me and my sister for every little thing. She almost hit me for wasting a drink." Nami looked wistful curling her long hair under her winter hat. "She didn't succeed. She tried to quit again when she caught Nojiko lighting a few smokes she had stolen in the shed. Yeah he deserves a little slack."
"Don't you guys remember. Something like this has happened to Sanji before," Luffy said. The strawhat boy grinned wide sitting crosslegged on the bench near the heater. "When he was little, remember? With Granpa Zeff. He was so cool. A real Pirate Lord. Red Boot Zeff. He saved Sanji;'s life on a deserted island. And he taught Sanji to fight." Nami and Usopp both looked at each other in shock. The captain was unaware of how painfully right he was. And he did not even make the mental leap of considering the effects such a similar situation could have on their ship's cook.
"Oh God. Luffy, You're right. Oh Shit I wasn't even thinking about that." the redhead said. I'm … I'm going to go check on Zoro. See if he's still stable while Chopper is gone." Brooke's song changed to a mourning piece. It felt heavy and made the crew think of the color blue on the cold barren island.
Chopper's hooves clicked quietly on the icy ground as Sanji followed him into to forest. It was eerily quiet. The doctor had chosen his most animal form. It felt right here. This was his climate. It was where he felt most right in this form. He lightly jumped up the rocks heading for the thick forest. The shady evergreens made it feel eerie and spooky in the forest.
"This forest is so old," Chopper said. He stopped and smelled the scarred base of a tree. "It's so beautiful." Then Chopper's head suddenly shot up and dashed ahead through the trees. Sanji ran after his bolting crew mate. He used his long powerful legs to run through the dense woods. He pushed branches away from his face and climbed over roots and rocks. "My kind were here." Chopper said. His ears dropped sadly and he snorted making his breath puff from his muzzle. "Females in season."
"Reindeer?"
"Yes," Chopper said. "But its old marking. Ancient." Chopper kept walking scenting the air and following trails only visible to the beastman. He bashed limbs out of the way with his thick antlers. The reindeer was large and powerfully built. His tail flicked as he hunted. "I smell something. Eldervine and chamomile. Maybe even some witchaide." A quick flick of his tail and Chopper was gone again.
"Chopper! Stop! We don't know what's out here. Stop rushing." Sanji was breathing hard as he tried to follow the animal's path. The blonde human however was nowhere near as nimble in the winter woods as a reindeer. He listened for every sound but heard nothing in the frozen forest. "OI! CHOPPER! Where are you?" He couldn't just keep running blind he'd get lost. He needed to keep focused on the trail. He needed to track. Sanji was a cook. He was intimate with food and how to acquire it he was an expert tracker and hunter. He saw the marks of the antlers. And he saw the packed earth from the hooves so he had at least been going in the right direction. He followed the signs and soon the forest thinned... unnervingly quickly. And then he saw it. The Giant Icy walls of Frigid Fort. And he sank to his knees as he saw it. Chopper battered and broken by the old trap. His pack on his back a few feet from what looked like an overgrown herb garden near the walls of the fort. And then suddenly Sanji started to laugh. In the empty forest. He laughed leaning against the ice wall staring at the body of another friend he had killed.