Good morning :D This chapter was finished faster than I thought..I hope it will be more exciting than the last one..

Enjoy ;D

Disclaimer: I don´t own One Piece, Oda-sensei does!

Chapter 7 - Hell of a brother

"Wooow, it was absolutely fantastic! I´m so full..!" Luffy patted his stomach.

"Yes, it was really tasty. I enjoyed it..the first meal after fourteen hours!" Usopp said while he was standing on his dogsled.

They had started half an hour or so ago. The weather was still sunny and relative warm, the optimal weather for the trip to the Yukon.

"Nami, how long do we have to drive?" Sanji asked the orange-haired girl who was a bit behind him.

"Hmm..I think it´s not too long. Maybe we´ll reach it tomorrow, it depends on whether the weather is fine." she answered the blond´s cook question.

"Okay"

The five friends saw a few wolves near the forest which ate a dead reindeer so they weren´t interested in Nami and the others. The huskys grumbled at them, but that was everything that happened. The rest of the trip was easy although the snow reached almost their knees. But the dogs were used to it, consequently they were really fast.

In the evening they rested. The nakama were sitting on the fire they lit and warmed themselves up. Sanji was making dinner, meat and, thanks to Nami, a few half-frozen mikan (1).

"They are really yummie with the meat!" Luffy cheered happily. He put the mikan on top of the meat the cook had put over the fire and ate them together.

His friends were eyeing him like he had grown a head bigger.

"What? Something wrong?" He blinked irritated.

"Uh..no, no!" Usopp meant and began to eat his meal, seperated..

After that they laid back into their sleeping bags and soon fell asleep. Chopper snuggled himself near Luffy who was still awake watching the seemed to be so far away. He sighed and petted his little dog who was happy about that. But there was someone else who wasn´t sleeping as well.

"It is a beautiful sky, ne?" Nami whispered.

"Yes..it is" Luffy answered, still looking to the sky. "It looks...so much bigger and..nicer than the view you get from a city."

The orange-haired girl smiled at that. "That´s true. In the city there are so many lights..you can nowhere else see so many stars as in nature.."

"And maybe we´ll see a northern light! They are said to be so beautiful! I really wanna see one."

"Me too." Nami yawned deeply. " I´m so tired..let´s get some sleep, we need it."

"Say, Nami, Zoro is always carrying these three swords. I mean, I think it´s pretty cool! But there is this white sword and when I asked him to touch it yesterday, he..well, let´s say, he wasn´t pleased to hear this.."

Nami´s lips formed a small smile. "Don´t take it personally. It is Kuina´s sword and it is really precious to him." she whispered.

"His sister´s sword?" Luffy turned to face Nami who was a bit surprised. "You know who Kuina was?"

"Sanji told me.." the boy looked back to the stars. "I see. So it is his personal treasure, ne?"

"You could say that." The girl yawned again.

"G´night." Luffy murmured.

" Night, Luffy"

The next day was as sunny as the day before. It was the perfect weather for a journey.

The five quickly packed their things and after a short breakfast the nakama started. Nami had informed them that they could reach Yukon today if the weather was as nice as now.

"Woow, it´s getting exciting!" The strawhat boy grinned and Usopp joined. He was driving aside Luffy.

"And maybe there is my family! I can´t wait to meet them again!"

"Come on, don´t fall back! You´ll get lost!" Nami yelled from ahead.

"HAAII!" they answered back and their dogsleds became faster.

And Nami was right: the same day in the evening the small group reached the famous Yukon. It was a big river and it was half frozen. It was winter, the coldest time in Alaska.

"Brr, Sanji, could you lit a fire? It´s cold." The eighteen-year old girl bibbered.

"Sure, Nami-sw-" but the cook was cut off by shots.

Luffy, Nami, Sanji and Usopp flinched. Zoro stopped in his movements and looked around, trying to find the one who had shot.

"Wow, what was that?" The blond asked.

"He is observing us." Zoro merely answered, looking in one direction.

"Huh? Who? Where?" Luffy turned into the direction the green-haired one was looking but the strawhat boy couldn´t see anyone, neither did Usopp.

"Oh-my-god...he is going to kill us for sure!" the scared Indian hid behind Luffy. His legs were shaking.

Chopper, who stood near the strawhat boy, snarled and bared his teeth.

"Wh-who is there..?" Nami was afraid and took two steps back towards the river. There was a short tensed pause. Then there was a deep and dangerous voice heard from behind some bushes.

"I´m asking the questions, little bitch! Who the fuck are you?! Do you wanna steel my claim?!" the strange man asked, still hiding.

Sanji´s visible brow twitched at the word ´bitch´. How could this guy insult his beautiful as a bitch?!

Luffy frowned.

"We don´t want to steel anything! Stop insulting Nami!" he yelled angrily.

"SHUT UP, you rats! How dare you and give me damn orders?!" Now the man took a step forwards so that the five nakama could finally see him. He was a skinny and tall man with black hair. He had two scars above his right brow and was pointing a rifle towards the small group.

"I´m Grizzly, and you are in an area that belongs to me. I´m shooting everybody, every animal, dead that dares to take a step on my ground." He smirked evilly. Now the five friends noticed an empty bottle of whisky in Grizzly´s other hand. He threw it away and laded his rifle.

"Prepare to die." His glance fell on Nami who stood there, unable to move. "Oh, wait, you are sexy..I guess I can use you..but your little friends are useless.."

Now Sanji reacted. That guy said just too much.

"You fucking bastard! Don´t you dare and touch my cousin!" the blond was furious and before one of his friends could react, he jumped forwards and tried to kick into Grizzly´s face.

"SANJI! DON´T!!" Zoro shouted after his brother. He and the other three finally moved after the blond, triying to stop him, but it was already too late. They froze on the half way as a loud ´BANG´ echoed in the river valley. A few birds got roused and quickly flew away. What followed was silence. Just the rush of the river was heard.

Zoro´s eyes widened at the sight before him. Sanji fell to the ground and didn´t move anymore. There was blood. And the strange man, Grizzly, stood there, laughing.

"SANJI!" Nami shireked with tears in her eyes.

"Sanji! Hey!! Say something!!" Luffy was shocked, too. "Asshole! What did you do?!"

Usopp wasn´t able to open his mouth, he could just watch. Chopper barked angrily. The four quickly runned towards the bleeding cook.

"Didn´t I tell you I would shoot you dead?? Stupid brats! You are just too pathetic. Harharhar! Now it´s your turn to die!" Then he pointed his rifle towards Nami and the other three.

"You BASTARD!!" The twenty-years old man shouted in anger and jumped forwards, so fast that even Grizzly couldn´t see him. And before mentioned man could even move a single inch, Zoro had already ripped him into his stomach. Blood spreed, but this time the right one lost it. The man collapsed onto the frozen ground.

The blond cook was surrounded by Luffy, Nami and Usopp.

"Sanji! Oi! You still with us??" Luffy gently poked him and he finally got a quiet answer.

"O-Ouch! I´m okay, don´t worry.." Sanji slowly sat up and leaned against a tree, coughing.

"Ahh, thank godness you are alive..." Nami sighed reliefed. "But you are hurt, let me see your wound" she ordered and leaned to Sanji who lift his jacket and shirt. The girl carefully inspected his stomach.

"I need to tread it. That jerk luckily didn´t shoot your belly, he hit your side. But it´s bleeding a lot. Usopp, give me the dressing material, it´s in my bag onto the dogsled." She ordered and the Indian did, without an answer, what she told him. A few seconds later he was back with it and Nami quickly disinfected Sanji´s wound.

The cook hissed at the touch.

"Sorry, Sanji." Nami apologiezed. Then she gently bandaged her cousin. Luffy watched this.

"Wow, you´re doing a great job with that! Where did you learn that from?" he asked with interest.

"My mother was a doctor. She told me a few things." the eighteen-year-old girl answered.

`Was´? Is she dead? Luffy thought, but he didn´t want to ask.

Chopper was busy with sniffling on the strange man who still laid on the floor.

"D-did you..kill him?" Usopp carefully asked Zoro who cleaned his bloody sword. The oldest of the group was sitting besides the corpse, looking in Sanji´s direction.

"He deserved it." was the merely answer the Indian got. The green-haired-man looked very pissed. After a short awkward silence the long-nosed boy sighed.

"You..think it´s your fault, don´t you?"

Zoro quickly stood up and almost shouted:

"I´m his older brother and I should have protected him! Of course it is my fault, damnit!" the older of those two was facing the shocked Indian. Usopp didn´t except Zoro to burst out all of sudden and took a short step back. Nami, Luffy and even Sanji turned their heads towards the angry swordsman.

"Zoro..." Nami whispered.

"Hey, you moron, what are you talking about?! It is this asshole´s fault!" Sanji said. His brother didn´t move.

"Besides that, I´m old enough to look after myself, I don´t need you to protect me!" The cook shouted now to get his brother´s attention but he immediately regreted it.

First, because he was shot and his wound hurt at the sudden yell. Second, because Zoro suddenly looked with a cold and sad expression towards Sanji who gulped at the dark aura.

"Yes, I can see that." came finally a calm but angry voice. Then his voice grew louder. "Dammnit, Sanji!! You could be death now, and you know that! You all know that, stop looking at me like this, I know that I should have done something...!" He clenched his fists. "I´m a HELL OF A BIG BROTHER!"

"Zoro... please, calm down, we-" but the young woman couldn´t finish her sentence, Zoro turned around and ran away towards the forest.

"ZORO!" Nami and Usopp shrieked in unison but Zoro was already gone.

"This..Idiot!" Sanji cursed and clenched his fists.

"We have to follow him! It´s getting dark and he has a fucking bad a sense of direction!" the eighteen-year old nervously stood up and looked in the direction where her cousin was gone to.

"And what if there are more guys like Grizzly?? They´ll kill him!" Usopp gasped when he thought about it.

"Chopper and I will go find him." Luffy stood up and grabbed the black bandana Zoro had left on his dogsled and gave it to his dog to sniff on it.

Sanji, Nami and the Indian were silent for a few seconds. "Luffy, that idea isn´t that bad although it´s coming from you..." Sanji was surprised. He and the other two had known the strawhat boy long enough to know that he isn´t the brightest, so they were really taken aback by that flash of genius of Luffy´s.

Said person pouted at that and Nami fell into her ´aww, Luffy-sure-is-a-cutie´ modus which made Sanji jealous and Usopp sighing.

"Hey guys, this is serious. We must find him fast!" the Indian remembered his friends.

Nami blinked and came back to reality. "Oh shit! Usopp´s right! Okay, Luffy and Chopper go searching for Zoro and we should prepare for the night. Besides that, you need a rest Sanji!"

Said person grinned at the idea of being with Nami almost alone at night. "Gnehehe, everything you say, Nami-swan!"

The girl murmured something about ´idiot´ and turned to Luffy.

"Okay, then you know what to do! And be careful! You should take a gun with you." With that she went to her dogsled and took a small but dangerous gun out of her bag and handed it to the seventeen-year old. "You should hurry, okay?"

"Thanks, Nami, I´ll be careful, don´t worry!" Luffy smiled and followed Chopper who had an idea where Zoro went to. "Let´s go, Chopper!"

And slowly the black-haired boy and his dog disappeared into the dark forest.

"I hope they´ll be save..." the Indian worried. The other two agreed silently.

Ahh, sorry to leave it with that! I´ll hurry to update soon! ;D And I hope the five aren´t too out of character..

If you have any questions, ideas or something else, then tell me :D

Ja mata ne