Here's the next chapter everyone! I hope you all enjoy!
Chopper's my third favorite character. I hope I did him some justice in this chapter!
I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.
"Is Nami-swan going to die?!" Sanji cried.
They were currently in the women's quarters on the Going Merry. Nami laid in the bed with a wet cloth on her head. Luffy, Sanji, Ussop, Vivi, and Carue were with her. Zoro was outside, making sure no one would ambush them.
"She might be sick because of the weather." Vivi explained, though she was as nervous as the ones in the room. "The constant changes in the weather is known to cause this sickness. It's one of the toughest obstacles one faces on the Grand Line."
Luffy was worried. He would miss Nami if she died. Plus, if she dies, then chances are, they would all die.
Sanji continued his sobbing. He didn't know what he could do if Nami were to die.
"Don't you have anyone on board with medical knowledge?" Vivi asked.
Everyone except Carue and Sanji pointed at Nami.
Sanji just kept crying.
"How have you all survived for so long?!" Vivi sternly asked them.
"Pure dumb luck." "My awesome skills." "Nami-swan!"
"Sanji? Can't you just make Nami some meat? That's what makes me feel better."
"No, Luffy." Sanji stopped crying at the mention of food,"You're a bit special. Eating meat doesn't make one get better."
"I'm responsible for cooking Nami-swan and Vivi-chan delicious and nutritious meals." Sanji began to walk out.
"I give all the bad stuff to the rest of you."
"Hey, what kind of cook are you?" Ussop was going to check his food next time.
Sanji walked out. He had taken on a somber aura since everyone learned of Nami's sickness.
"Her fever is getting worse...if we don't find a doctor soon, we might lose Nami."
Ussop was shocked! She was this bad already?! They really needed medical attention now!
He couldn't help but notice that Nami looked almost as bad as his mother did when she had died.
Luffy frowned. This was bad.
He briefly considered trying to find Miss All Sunday for help. She was able to navigate, so she might be able to find them an island.
"We have to find a cure for Nami. That's the first thing we need to do." Luffy hid his eyes with his hat.
He didn't want to lose one of his friends.
"I don't think we have enough time for that." Nami spoke as she rose a little out of bed.
"Nami? You should rest, but what do you mean?" Vivi got closer. She wanted to make sure Nami wouldn't strain herself too much.
"Look in my desk drawer." Nami pointed towards it, "You'll find what I mean in the newspaper."
Vivi went over to the desk and opened the drawer. She pulled the newspaper that was in it out and read the headlines.
She read how many Alabastan troops had switched to a rebel faction. There was a civil war looming over the country.
"You see, Vivi? We can't wait any longer. I didn't show you because I didn't want you to worry."
Nami turned to face Luffy.
She remembered how he didn't want to show Gaiman the empty treasure chests. He didn't want to break his heart.
Nami hoped she didn't do the wrong thing.
"Don't worry, Nami." Luffy put a hand on her shoulder,"You're a very kind person."
Nami weakly smiled at Luffy as she felt how he had gently put his hand on her. It was different than how he usually was.
"Thanks, Luffy." She tried to get up, "Now, I better get up. That thermostat must be broken be-"
Luffy didn't let her stand.
"Luffy? Let go, please. How can I navigate from my bed?"
"No. You stay here."
Luffy could feel the heat from her shoulder. She was burning up.
"You're hurt at the moment. There's no need for you to get up."
"Bu-"
"No. If we need to navigate, I'm sure Vivi could do it." He looked over at Vivi, "Are you capable?"
Vivi couldn't say that she wasn't a great navigator. Luffy had hid his eyes from everyone, but she could see them.
He looked worried. This was the first time she had seen him like that.
Zoro sat on the railing outside. He had taken up navigation duties while Nami was sick.
They were currently headed in the right direction. He could tell they were by looking at that big cloud that floated in the horizon.
They just had to head towards it.
Vivi, Ussop, and Luffy came out from the women's quarters.
"Mr. Bushido! Are we headed in the right direction?" Vivi asked.
"Yeah, we are. We've been headed towards that cloud for a while now."
"What? Cloud? Are we headed in the direction the needle is point to?" They had given him the Eternal Pose.
He looked at the Eternal Pose in his hand. He forgot all about it. "It wasn't necessary."
"Stop and start heading south!"
"Nami?! You should be resting!"
"Sorry, Vivi. I couldn't just let you all follow Zoro's directional skills. Just hurry up and go south! There's something coming..." Nami held onto the door frame as she said this. She was too weak to do much now.
They had all listened to Nami. They did trust her more than they did Zoro.
A storm had just hit where they would have been if they had followed Zoro's directions.
Gratitude filled all of the Straw Hats. Nami had saved them again.
Vivi couldn't believe it! She didn't know anyone who was able to predict the Grand Line's weather patterns!
Nami was the best navigator she had ever seen!
Zoro didn't feel it though. They would have been better off following him.
A day had passed.
Nami couldn't stand anymore. She was mostly in a fever induced sleep.
"Aha! Mr. Snowman is completed!"
"Luffy! Don't you dare start another snow fight!"
Zoro was in the lookout post, searching for any land.
"Hey!" He suddenly called out to the two below.
"What is it, Zoro?" Luffy had just attacked Ussop's ice creations with a "Snowman Whip".
"Have any of you ever see a man standing in the middle of the ocean?"
"Have you gone insane, Zoro?" Ussop asked as he went to the side of the ship.
Luffy and Ussop just stared along with Zoro at the weird looking clown standing in the middle of the ocean.
A few minutes passed by.
"It's going to be cold today." The clown said.
"Alright, another weirdo." Ussop said, "Hey, Luffy? What sho-"
"Gum Gum Pistol!"
His fist hit the clown in the head, making him fall flat on the ocean.
The three Straw Hats continued to stare at the clown who had probably been knocked unconscious.
Suddenly, a ship emerged from the ocean.
The waves from it had forced the Going Merry to sway greatly.
Zoro held on for dear life. He was in a bad position if the ship were to move like it was.
"Hey! What happened?!" Sanji yelled as he came out.
He paused. Then he reached into his pocket, pulled a cigarette out and lit it.
"So," He took a puff and blew smoke out,"what's going on here?"
"We've been boarded." Luffy replied.
"I see." Sanji looked around.
Guns were pointed at every Straw Hat on the deck. Zoro had yet to come down from the lookout post.
He watched as some fat hippo started eating a steak on a knife.
Luffy was worried about Nami.
He thought she should hang out in the cold due to her high fever, but everyone said that was a stupid idea.
The fat hippo was talking, but he didn't want to pay attention. He had too much on his mind.
"..before I steal all your treasure, I'm a bit hungry."
The fat hippo took a bite out of the Going Merry.
Luffy went mad as he tore through the pirates the hippo had brought on board.
He shoved a bunch of people overboard into the freezing water with a "Gum Gum Scythe", his outstretched arms nearly clearing the deck.
Many of the agents also fell over, foam coming from their mouths as Luffy's terrifying presence was too much for them.
"Hm?" The hippo turned around.
The scariest monster he had ever seen had his arms stretched behind him.
"Gum Gum Bazooka!" The arms came forward and smashed him in the gut, the force making him fly away from the ship.
The pirates that had invaded them left in a hurry, carrying their fallen comrades with them. It looked like they were headed off to rescue their, most likely, drowning captain.
Sanji and Zoro stopped their attacks when they saw the hippo fly. There was no need to continue as the enemy lost the will to go against them.
"If we throw some water on her, would that help?"
"Are you out of your mind?!" Vivi and Sanji hit Luffy as hard as they could.
Luffy slumped to the floor. Vivi was just as scary as Nami was now.
They were currently sitting inside the women's quarters again. None of the Straw Hats wanted her to be alone.
Sanji went outside to be the lookout. He couldn't let his Nami-swan and Vivi-chan be in anymore danger.
Plus, he could be trusted more than Zoro could be.
He absently scratched at himself again. It was getting worse...
Any day now, he would probably be in a worse situation than Nami.
Nami woke up. She still had work to do!
She was about to remove her bed covers when she noticed something off.
Everyone besides Sanji was currently sleeping in the women's quarters.
Zoro was leaned against Carue as he snored.
Ussop had hunched himself near her desk. It was a bit warmer over there.
Vivi was laying on her bed, the lower half of her body was on the ground.
Luffy was laying near the wall, he was slumped over.
Judging by his position, he had been hit over there and he just fell asleep where he laid.
She couldn't get up. Nami decided to just try to sleep some more.
She couldn't push herself when her family was worried about her.
"Island?!" Luffy shouted.
He was still in the women's quarters with Zoro. They had decided to watch Nami as they weren't needed at the moment.
"Hey, Nami! Did you hear that?! There's an island! Maybe there's a doctor over there!"
Luffy fidgeted in his seat. He looked like he wanted to say more, but restrained himself.
"If you want to go look at it that badly, just go." Zoro told him.
In a flash, Luffy had run out of the room. Zoro just sighed.
'Looks like it's me and the witch.' He thought.
He looked at her face. She was sweating and appeared to be in pain.
Zoro was a swordsman and one of the top fighters in the Straw Hat Pirates. He was a force of nature!
Yet, he felt so weak when he looked at Nami. She was suffering and he couldn't do anything for her.
He gripped his swords tightly. At that moment, Zoro wished he had learned how to treat sick people.
"There's so much snow!" Luffy enthused, "I'm so happy!"
"Hey, Luffy, aren't you getti-"
Luffy tuned him out. All of this snow was so great!
"This is our village! We won't let you in! Just get out or else we'll shoot you!"
The Straw Hats met the local villagers. They didn't seem too welcoming.
"They just met us, but they act like they've hated us for hundreds of years or something..."
"Shut up!"
A bullet was fired and it almost hit Sanji.
He began to get angry. Nobody liked getting shot at.
"Wait! Sanji-san! Please don't get angry!" Vivi got in front of Sanji and began to hold him back.
She knew that he might've kill a few of them for doing that.
Vivi felt something hit her shoulder and she dropped to the ground. Raising a hand to it, she looked at the hand and discovered that blood had coated it.
Someone had shot her.
She thought that she was in shock, as she couldn't feel the pain, but she could certainly feel the fear.
Vivi focused on the fear of losing Nami and gained some courage.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She heard a monstrous roar and looked over at Luffy.
He stared at the crowd with his abyssal eyes. He had already transformed and stood there staring at the crowd.
Many of them actually got to their knees. Vivi could tell that they had done it due to the killing intent Luffy exuded.
It was almost enough to make her freeze in place.
"Wait! Don't fight them!" She tackled Luffy. He didn't budge an inch, but he started to look at her, some of his features coming back.
"If we fight them now, what do you think will happen to Nami?" She bowed down towards the villagers.
"Please, we won't go into your village. Our friend is sick."
Luffy looked at her impassively.
He slowly turned back to normal and bowed as well.
"I'm sorry. It's my fault."
The other Straw Hats didn't know what to feel.
They felt ashamed that their captain had to bow to these rude people!
But they also knew the circumstances Luffy was under. He couldn't start a fight.
Not with Nami so close to death.
"Please...call a doctor. Please help my friend."
It also unnerved them on how Luffy knew the word please.
This was more serious than they had thought. Luffy never used please.
One of the villagers stepped forward. He was the one that had warned them to go away.
"I'll lead you to the village. Just follow us."
"See, Luffy? They understood our plight." Vivi was glad.
She didn't know how much longer she could stay conscious. The bullet pained her.
"You did great, Vivi." Luffy replied.
He still had the impassive look on his face.
Even he didn't know why he had done this. He should have just torn the villagers apart for hurting Vivi.
But, she was his friend and she didn't want him to hurt them. Didn't mean he forgave them though.
Zoro looked at his feet.
"Um...they're cured. Right?"
He was staring at the scars he had gained by almost cutting his legs off.
The rest of the Straw Hats left to go to the village. Since he was still injured from Little Garden and Whiskey Peak, he had to stay behind.
Carue was with him. The bird didn't want to go.
"Alright!" Zoro got up. "I've got enough strength and will to swim in the winter!"
He took his jacket off and looked at the freezing water.
Without another word, he jumped in.
Miss All Sunday couldn't help but sigh as she watched Roronoa Zoro jump into the freezing ocean.
He must have fallen on his head a few times, but if he wanted to go in...
'He can go in.' She thought.
This was unexpected. To be here.
King Wapol used to rule this area when it was called Drum Kingdom.
Looks like it was just Drum Island now.
Not that it matters. She never liked Drum Kingdom.
They had built a Facility here, but due to the Doctor Hunt, it had been shut down.
Drum Facility was only built because of rumors of a monster.
Miss All Sunday hoped to see this fabled monster. It would be interesting.
The villager named Dalton led the Straw Hat's ground party to his house.
He seemed to be a nice guy. He was also very polite.
The house was a modest little home. Dalton started a fire while Sanji set Nami down in the bed Dalton had loaned them.
"42° Celsius?"
"Yes, Mr. Dalton. She's doing very poorly."
"If it rises any more, she will die."
"That's right,but we don't know what caused this and how to treat her."
"Hey! It doesn't matter what caused this, we need to find someone to cure it!" Sanji was getting impatient. They needed to find this doctor!
"Just tell us where we can find this "witch"!"
"Do you see the mountain outside the window?" Dalton pointed towards the window while checking Nami some more.
"You mean th-"
Sanji looked through the window to see the scariest face he had ever seen. He fell back on his behind.
"Alright! Mr. Snowman is complete!" Luffy had built a giant sized Mr. Snowman outside the window.
"This is the snow monster, Shilora!" Ussop showed off another one of his masterpieces.
"You bastards! I'm going to kick your asses!" Sanji was angry at them for surprising him.
Sanji went outside and after a few minutes, came back in with a beaten Luffy and Ussop. They sat on the ground apologizing repeatedly.
Dalton began to tell the group about the 140 year old doctor who had remained on the island. She was a rude hag who healed only those that could pay her price. She also had a weird creature she lived in which scared anyone away from where she lived and she only came down when she felt like it.
Sanji and Vivi stood in silence. If she only came down when she felt like it, then Nami might n-
"Hey! Nami! Wake up." Luffy slapped Nami lightly on her face.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Everyone in the room angrily yelled. That was certainly not the way to treat a sick person!
Nami woke up, her eyes almost shut as the pain was too much.
"Nami. The doctor won't be coming down, so we're going to go hiking up to them. Do you understand?"
"You bastard! Are you planning on carrying Nami up the mountain?!" Sanji was scared. He could only see this as the path they could take. Nami couldn't wait for a doctor.
"That's crazy! You would have to climb that tall mountain up there!" The mountain seemed to just shoot up from the ground. In weather like this, it would almost be impossible.
They were silence by the sound of Nami's small laugh.
"I see." She muttered, "Then I leave it to you."
After some brief discussion, Sanji decided to go with Luffy. He knew Luffy wouldn't be able to do much if he was going to carry Nami.
He was going to say that he should carry her, but he couldn't.
That rash got worse. Sanji wasn't sure if he would be able to use his legs after some time.
"Luffy! If you drop Nami even once, she'll die!" Ussop needed Luffy to understand this point. He knew him too well and figured that Luffy didn't know that.
"Only once?" Ussop was right, Luffy didn't know that. If he dropped her once, that was instant failure.
They set off towards the mountain.
"Remember you two!" Dalton was yelling,"Don't anger the lapahns!"
"Alright! Let's go, Sanji! Before Nami dies!"
"Don't say that, asshole!"
"It's getting cold."
Luffy and Sanji were almost to the mountain. It appeared they had to go through a blizzard to get to it.
"Then why didn't you wear more clothes? Even with everything I have, I can still feel the cold."
They kept running, Luffy didn't answer him.
A baby lapahn saw them and started to attack. Luffy and Sanji didn't even notice it as they dodged its attacks.
"Hey, you shitty captain! I asked you a question."
"Did you know that people that lived in this cold don't sleep?"
Sanji let it go. Luffy sometimes tuned them out when he thought they weren't saying anything interesting.
"Oh? Why is that?"
"Because they'll die if they do."
The lapahn increased the frequency of its attacks, but was still unable to hit the three Straw Hats.
"Are you crazy? How would they be able to live?"
"I don't know. I'm not a doctor. It's true though."
"Where did you hear that, Ussop?"
"Nah, someone in my village told me about it."
Lunging towards Sanji, the lapahn bared its teeth. Sanji ducked and it went flying into a tree, breaking it in half.
"Then why does Dalton have a bed in his house?"
"That's easy. That's for when he dies."
"That doesn't make any- whatever. Did you know that girls in cold places have very smooth skin?"
"Why?"
"Because they have to warm themselves up by rubbing their arms like this. And their legs like this...and the rest of themselves..." Sanji was already kind of gone. He was fantasizing.
"Then why is their skin white?"
"Because it absorbs the color of the snow."
"You're crazy."
"That's strange coming from you." Sanji brought his left leg back,"By the way..."
Sanji punted the lapahn into the distance.
"How long was that thing going to follow us?!"
"What thing?" Luffy looked at Sanji weirdly. He didn't notice anything different.
"You didn't see that white rabbit?!"
"No." Luffy was too deep in thought. Plus, who could see a white rabbit in all of this snow?
They went some meters and found a wall of white lapahn waiting for them.
"...they're white creatures. They must be polar bears."
"I think these are the lapahn that Dalton talked about. This might be hard..."
Miss All Sunday had just finished fishing Zoro out of the river. It seems, despite his strength and will, the water was just too cold for him.
Carue was watching her from a far distance. It didn't matter that he had seen her, he couldn't talk.
She tried to sense the various creatures on the island.
The ability was getting stronger. It was able to discern different people rather than just whether it was human or not.
Sanji and Luffy were currently fighting what seemed to be a massive horde of large creatures. Nami was on Luffy's back.
It seemed that Nami wasn't doing very well. Her presence was weakening.
Sensing for the other Straw Hats, she was able to find Ussop and Vivi. They were with some people, so Miss All Sunday thought she should investigate a little.
An ear formed near the two.
"I heard you were looking for a doctor, Dalton?" A large woman was talking to the three. Dalton must have been the large man near Vivi and Ussop.
Miss All Sunday giggled a little. Ussop was bowing to the large woman. He must have thought she was a Hiking Bear.
"Yes, we have just sent a patient to her mountain."
"Well, she's in town now."
Miss All Sunday didn't need to form eyes to sense the shock the three had experienced.
She had a worried expression and looked to where Luffy and Sanji had headed off to.
They really had made her too soft.
Making sure Zoro was comfortable, she set off towards the mountain.
They were too far away for her to use her powers.
"Are you kidding me?! Why are they so fast?! Are they gorillas or something?!"
"No, they're polar bears!"
"Be quiet, Luffy!"
The lapahns charged at them again, forcing them to move further away from the mountain.
"Listen, Luffy. Don't fight them. If you were to get hit, Nami would receive the same amount of force."
Luffy paused. He couldn't even fight?
"...Alright. I won't fight. But how are we going to get through?"
"Thanks for your confidence in me, Captain. I'll take care of these guys."
A lapahn was about to smash Sanji with the hands it held over its head, but Sanji stepped to the side, turning as he did so and he kicked the lapahn with a side kick.
It flew some distance, but began to recover. Meanwhile, Sanji discovered that his kicks weren't as powerful due to him sinking into the snow as he kicked.
'This is going to be troublesome...' He thought as he looked at the horde of lapahn that blocked their way to the doctor.
"We need to get out of here, Luffy!"
He turned and spotted a ledge that might slow the lapahn down.
"Luffy!" Sanji pointed towards the ledge, "Get up there! I'll follow!"
"Alright!"
A lapahn had jumped in Luffy's way and Luffy used the lapahn as a ladder to jump higher towards the ledge.
The lapahn looked confused, Luffy didn't put any force in his legs as he jumped off of it.
Sanji kicked off the lapahn that was in the air and it went crashing down. Sanji managed to get to the ledge and started running along with Luffy.
'Lapahn are good jumpers' Sanji thought as he watched the horde jump to where they were.
Dalton had just been injured badly by one of King Wapol's men, Chess.
Three arrows were sticking out from his chest. He had just saved his men from suffering this fate.
He looked at King Wapol and noticed he was laughing along with his subordinates.
To think he had once called this man his king.
He had just given directions to Vivi and Ussop to Gyasta to try to find the doctor.
Hoping that they had made it, he started to lose consciousness.
Before fading away, he heard King Wapol and his men talking about going to the castle.
He hoped they would die in an avalanche or by vicious lapahns.
Luffy and Sanji stared at the lapahns that were jumping up and down in one position further up the slope.
The lapahns had stopped trying to attack them and they had moved ahead and started doing this.
Suddenly, Sanji's cigarette dropped from his mouth as he realized what they were doing.
"This must be a joke! I can't believe what they're doing..."
"Why? What are they doing?"
"They're going to cause an avalanche! Let's run away from here, Luffy!"
"What? Run where?!"
"Anywhere that's not here!"
The two started running for their lives as thick white waves of snow rushed towards them.
"What are we going to do, Sanji?!"
"I don't know! I know that the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth most absolute things we have to do is to protect Nami-swan with our lives!"
"I know that, but what do we do about this?!"
Luffy suddenly got an idea.
"Sanji! Hold my hand!"
"What?! Why?!" Luffy grabbed his hand anyway and jumped on a tree.
The tree broke, and Luffy rode on in like a snowboard.
Sanji followed him shortly after being dragged on.
"Luffy! You know how to do this?"
"No! I don't! Oh no, look over there!"
Sanji looked to where Luffy had pointed and saw the lapahns snowboarding on trees as well.
"What the-?! Hurry, Luffy!"
They began to duck and weave through the many lapahns that tried to clobber or bite them.
Soon after the lapahns appeared, they had another problem.
"We're headed straight for that rock! We're going to hit it!" Luffy panicked. They couldn't stop and he couldn't think of anything he could do to get them out of this situation.
Sanji had an idea though. He couldn't let Nami or even Luffy get hurt anymore by these overgrown monster rabbits.
He picked Luffy up and threw him with enough strength so he would almost come to a stop in the air.
"Sanji! What are you doing?!"
Sanji looked at him and smirked.
"A man must always be gentle to the ladies." He reminded Luffy to save Nami in his own way.
The tree that Sanji was on hit the rock hard. It sent Sanji flying towards the ground, but the rock was in the way.
His head smashed against the stone and blood gushed from his head. He fell limply into the snow as it carried him away.
"Sanji!" Luffy had grabbed onto the rock after he had fallen to it.
He shot his hand out to try to reel Sanji back in, but Sanji's glove came off as Luffy pulled.
Luffy could do nothing but stare as his friend was taken away from him by the snow.
Luffy set Nami down where it seemed safe. He tucked his hat underneath one of her arms and set out to find Sanji.
They had already been walking for so long in the cold, but it would take another hour to find Sanji.
After he found Sanji's leg sticking out of the ground, he began to dig him out.
The snow bit at his hands, but he was able to pull him out and bring him back to Nami.
Sanji didn't seem to be doing so well. His breathing was labored and he looked really cold from being under all of that snow.
Time was shorter for Nami. Her fever had gotten worse and she was struggling to breathe as well.
Luffy carried Sanji under his right arm and Nami on his back. He began the long trek back up the mountain.
It was another few hours before he had arrived where they had been before the lapahn attack.
He saw what seemed to be the same lapahn baby that had attacked him and Sanji earlier, creating this whole mess.
It was trying to dig an adult lapahn out of the snow. Its paws were stained red and its fur was matted with its own blood as it continued its dig for the adult.
After seeing Luffy, it started to growl and hiss. It protectively got in front of the adult, even if it knew that Luffy could murder the both of them.
Luffy walked right past the baby and pulled the adult free with a harsh tug. It might have hurt the adult, but it was still alive.
Luffy walked away. He couldn't think about food at a time like this. His friends needed help now.
His limbs became numb after he had finally found the mountain leading to the doctor's castle.
Chanting "doctor" to himself to remind him why he had to push himself so hard, he stopped.
He had to take his sandals off due to him needing as much grip as he could get.
He put Sanji's shirt in his mouth, making sure that his teeth wouldn't bite through the shirt or Sanji.
Nami seemed to be warm enough, but he tied the jacket that secured her to him a bit tighter and around his waist.
Starting to climb, he noticed that the wall of the mountain was really smooth, and it was hard to even move up an inch.
Ridding himself of those thoughts, he kept climbing.
It must have been three hours since he started climbing, but he didn't dare look at the ground. He just needed to keep climbing.
One of his nails broke off and he screamed in pain.
Sanji slipped from his mouth and fell to the cold earth below.
Luffy stretched his head to where Sanji was falling and bit into the cloth.
Luckily, he didn't bite Sanji, but it was rather hard holding Sanji like this and not falling from the mountain.
He slowly brought his head back and kept climbing.
Whenever one of his nails would break, he would have to grimace and shut his eyes.
The cold just made his wounds hurt more as he kept going.
"Finally...I made it..." Luffy was on the verge of passing out.
In front of him stood a giant castle that had been at the top of the mountain.
After climbing for so long, Luffy had forgotten how cold it really was.
His skin had a bluish tint to it and some of his extremities were purple.
Luffy didn't even know what frostbite was as he stared at his wounds.
His head fell to the ground and he passed out. Even after making it this far, he could go no further.
"Isn't that the little brat that's disrespected me so many times?"
Wapol had arrived at his castle with his two henchmen, Chess and Kuromarimo.
"Mahahaha! Look how weak he is! Couldn't even climb up a mountain!" He said as he sat on Robson, his White Walkie, who had actually carried them all up the mountain.
"Chess! Kuromarimo! Go and bring them to me! I'm hungry." Wapol ordered. He was drooling heavily as he stared at the three Straw Hats bodies.
"Yes, My Lord!" They jumped forth, intending on watching their king eat these fools.
Hands sprouted forth and pushed them all off the mountain.
Before Wapol fell off. Black hands sprouted from within his body and caused him much pain before he hit the ground.
Miss All Sunday stood still as she realized what she had done.
She had saved the three from a fate more horrible than death.
They really did make her soft.
She made sure her coat was fastened as she spawned hands to wave over the people she had felt within the castle.
Looks like she was going to have to help them a bit more.
"Thank you for helping me, Vivi." Ussop said as they continued walking towards a village.
They had been hit by the avalanche, but Vivi managed to get away while Ussop had not.
Vivi managed to wake him up from his frozen slumber. He would have died if not for her waking him up.
"Don't mention it!"
Vivi had slapped Ussop so many times to get him to wake up that his face was unrecognizable. Bumps were everywhere on his head as he rubbed them.
"Why do I have these bumps on my face?" He asked while he rubbed.
Vivi had not told him that she had hit him.
"Oh! It must be the frostbite, you know it seems hard to live in a land like this!"
The snow ahead of them suddenly erupted, sending Vivi and Ussop to the ground.
Zoro stood there, half naked.
"This is bad! I'm cold! Where am I? Oh well, I'll just consider this to be part of my training."
"Zoro!" Vivi screamed. Not only because he was half naked in freezing degree weather, but she did not expect to see him there.
"What are you doing here?!"
"Oh? Vivi? And uh..." He couldn't tell who the other one was.
Taking a closer look, he realized that the man had a really long nose.
"Ussop!" He guessed. "What are you doing here?"
"We should be asking you that question!"
"Oh, I found myself on the deck after I tried swimming. I think something held me under the water."
"That would be ice, Zoro. It forms on top of the water."
"Well, I decided to go fishing since I was hungry. I chased after this one fish and it led me here. I tried to walk through the forest, but it seems people don't build villages anywhere."
"You're so stupid."
"Whatever. Can I borrow one of your jackets?"
"No."
"A shoe then?!" Zoro was getting desperate. It really was cold.
"Sorry!" Ussop told him, "You did this to yourself!"
"Hey look! It's the village! It seems the avalanche hit it pretty hard." Vivi pointed to the village which had many bright lights.
"Hey, Zoro? Were you looking for the village underneath the snow?"
"Shut up! I was hit by the avalanche too! I had to dig my way out!"
They saw the villagers being harassed by Wapol's soldiers. They seemed to be keeping medical attention from reaching Dalton.
Zoro hit one of the soldiers in the head. Everyone began to warn him to run away so he wouldn't get killed.
Zoro instead stole the clothes off of the man he had, maybe, knocked unconscious. Having clothes was so good!
He looked back to see the soldiers point their weapons at him.
Zoro considered this to be a part of his training as well as he began to destroy the soldiers that dared point their weapons at him.
Nami woke up in a strange room.
It had weapons all over the walls and there was a fireplace at the foot of the bed she was in.
Books lined the walls as well, but a lot of them seemed to be missing.
She noticed something walking near the bed.
"Who's that?" She asked as she rose out of bed completely.
The thing panicked and rushed to the doorway, intending on hiding itself.
Nami looked at the miniature reindeer as it tried to hide behind the door, but instead was standing in the middle of the doorway, hiding a part of its face.
"You're hiding the wrong way." She was used to stuff like this though. Actually, this was pretty tame.
It began to panic once more and hid itself. Its hat and antlers were still clearly visible.
"What are you doing anyway?" She couldn't help but sweat. Why did it even attempt to hide?
"Shut up, human!" It yelled, "By the way, are you feeling better?!"
Nami screamed. She wasn't expecting it to actually answer her.
Luffy woke up in a warm bed.
It felt pretty nice, but how did he get here?
He slowly looked up out of the bed. He could see Sanji snoring peacefully in another bed.
That was great! They were alive!
But where was Nami?!
He tried to run out of the bed, but noticed something was keeping him down. He couldn't see what it was because the blankets were in the way.
"Please, stay in bed." He heard a familiar voice,"You are very impressive, Luffy."
He looked towards the voice and saw Miss All Sunday sitting in a chair next to a table. The table was piled with books. It seemed she like to read a lot. She was looking at him with a curious expression, as if she was trying to figure something out.
"What the? Where did you come from?! Where are my friends?!"
"Don't worry. Your friends are alright. Navigator-chan's condition is being cured. If you had waited two more days, she would have died. Cook-san has sustained some injuries, but they can be cured. If you had waited one more day though, he would have been in serious trouble."
Pausing, she closed her eyes.
"Well, I don't think there is a cure for that kind of condition, but Roronoa Zoro is alright as well."
"Did you help us get in here?"
"Yes, I brought the doctor and her assistant from the castle."
"Oh! Thanks very much!" He smiled at her.
She returned one of her own. "You're welcome. Now, I'll go get the...nevermind. It seems as though he is already here." She looked towards the doorway.
Luffy saw meat on legs and decided he wanted to eat it.
He struggled even more as he attempted to get up.
"Luffy? That's the doctor's assistant. He's here to help you."
"Hm? Really?" He looked at the meat on legs more closely.
It seemed to have antlers, a hat, and a blue nose. It was rather short. It also looked very terrified to be there.
"Y-You were suffering from lots of frostbite, Mr. Luffy. The other injuries weren't serious." The little assistant seemed to stutter from fear. He trembled as he looked at Luffy.
"Oh? You're a doctor? Ah! Thank you for saving my friends!" Luffy grinned at the reindeer.
The reindeer flinched and started blushing, waving his arms as he did so.
"Your thanks mean nothing, you stupid idiot! Idiot!" He looked a bit like he was dancing.
Luffy could hear Miss All Sunday giggle at the display. The reindeer looked very happy for some reason, though his words sounded mean.
"His name is Chopper. It seems he ate the Human-Human Fruit."
"Really? What are you able to do, tanuki?"
"I'm a reindeer!" Chopper suddenly grew huge and fierce looking.
"Woah! You can transform?! That's so cool!" Luffy was having a good time. His friends were alright and this guy seemed interesting!
He wanted him to join his crew!
Nami sat back as she listened to Dr. Kureha, the witch the villagers talked about, tell her of Chopper's story.
She was impressed that such a little guy knew so much, but she felt really bad for him.
To have been rejected by not only his own parents, but his species? To then try to fit in with humans and driven away with guns and stones?
It seemed too sad for such a kind little guy.
He couldn't even take a compliment. It seemed he had never received one before.
Dr. Kureha had told her to take him with her, but only if she could cure his heart.
She didn't even know how to cure her own heart, how could she begin with someone else?
"There was one man though," Kureha spoke up from their moment of silence,"His name was Hiluluk. He was a fake doctor who gave Chopper his name and called him his son."
"I watched Hiluluk for a while. We used to be colleagues. He was a nice guy, but too stupid to cure anything."
"He had come across Chopper when he had been hunted by the villagers. He tried to treat Chopper, but was beaten till he was near death." Kureha paused, but then started to laugh,"He then got up, undressed himself completely, and told Chopper that he would never hurt him! Stupid idiot..."
Kureha actually looked pained. Nami wouldn't know, but Kureha and Hiluluk had actually been a couple before, but that was before the Facility. That had changed them both forever.
"Chopper told me that the first thing he woke up to, was inside Hiluluk's dwelling. On the table was a simple loaf of bread."
"He told me that bread was the first thing anyone had ever given him. It was the best loaf of bread in the world as he cried his eyes out."
She told Nami about their future adventures. Running into town and causing trouble. They were always messing with "It's Twenty", the only doctors left in the Kingdom that would only serve Wapol and anyone who begged him for help.
And about how they could always be seen laughing.
It all changed one day when Chopper had completely recovered from his wounds. Hiluluk had forced Chopper out of their home.
"Chopper, that idiot, actually cut his head with an axe just for Hiluluk to help him." Nami could be heard gasping,"Don't be surprised, girl! How would you take it when your father had just changed from being the kindest person you had ever known into the monsters that had rejected him his whole life!"
Kureha didn't speak for a while.
"He came to me to ask what was wrong with him. I told him about how Hiluluk had been suffering from a disease. He wanted so badly to help him." She sighed, "In the end, Chopper screwed up and gave Hiluluk a poisonous mushroom. He would die in the next hour. Instead of waiting to die, he went right up to Wapol and his castle! This was the very castle he had died in front of! And he proclaimed that a man would never die as long as he was remembered! He chose to die by his own hand than to force his son to have killed his father!"
"I always liked his enthusiasm. His compassion. Even if he was suffering, he always worried about everyone else. After he died, Chopper came to me and asked for my help to make him the greatest doctor. The kid's grown on me a bit." Kureha smiled fondly as she remembered the past.
"I'm the second person to have called Chopper, "my son"."
Miss All Sunday had already heard of Chopper's story. She had asked for it from Kureha before everyone woke up.
Dr. Kureha and Dr. Hiluluk were both World Government doctors that had come to Drum because of the Drum Facility.
Kureha was an excellent doctor, always able to treat the patients, even if she did hurt them a bit.
Hiluluk was bad at healing, but was great at experimenting. He never liked his job, and he would even experiment on himself to protect his patients. He was originally a thief, but was able to turn his life around.
Sadly, he had worked for the wrong people.
If only more men like Hiluluk were alive, maybe the world would be a different place?
After Wapol's Doctor Hunt, they had both fled and tried to help the Drum citizens.
Kureha might have taken a lot of things from the villagers, but she needed to. The money and supplies were essential to survive.
Hiluluk was not as lucky. He wasn't good at curing anyone and was called the Quack Doctor. He survived by providing for himself.
He had found Chopper, was close to death, and had nursed him back to health.
Miss All Sunday thought it was amusing how someone could pacify another just by stripping naked in the cold.
Hiluluk taught Chopper about medicine. About friendship. About family.
And he taught him that a man does not die until he is forgotten.
Kureha told her about Hiluluk's disease, and how Chopper had tried to cure him, but he gave the doctor a poison mushroom that would kill him in a hour.
Hiluluk chose suicide rather than have his son believe he had killed him.
And how Chopper had seen him die and being unable to do anything about it.
It was noble of the man, but sad.
She couldn't help but like the long-dead doctor.
Kureha and Chopper had gone outside to face Wapol, who had come back to take his castle away from Kureha.
She had kept Luffy nearby as they listened to Kureha tell Chopper's story. Normally, Luffy wouldn't have listened, but Miss All Sunday knew that they didn't have time for Luffy to find reasons to recruit Chopper.
Well, aside from him being a cool shape-shifting monster.
His hat covered his eyes as he listened. He had decided. Chopper would become his doctor.
Miss All Sunday let him go and watched as he ran outside to confront Wapol.
She wondered how he would greet the mad king?
"Gum Gum Bullet!"
Luffy's fist crashed into Wapol's face, sending him flying towards his hippo.
The hippo stopped Wapol's flight, but it sent the hippo flying into the distance, never to be seen again.
Chess and Kuromarimo just stared in shock! Their boss was hurt badly from just one punch!
"What's the deal with all of you weaklings?" Luffy began to pick his nose.
Maybe he should just let other people deal with them from now on? He was going to be the Pirate King too fast at this rate.
"Weak?! Don't call King Wapol weak!"
"Yeah, whatever."
Chopper just stared at the strange rubberman for a bit. He had just hurt the one man that had terrorized Drum Island for so long.
He couldn't help but feel a little awestruck.
The feeling only diminished slightly when he pulled a booger out and flicked it away.
The clown and the marimo pulled Wapol up.
"How dare you harm the Drum Kingdom's King! King Wap-"
"I don't care! I've decided that I hate you all very much!" Luffy stretched his face to make disgusting faces at them.
People like these sickened him.
"Wait, King?! You mean he isn't even a pirate?!"
"No." Kureha spoke to him, "He only went to the sea because he abandoned his people and his country so he could save his own worthless life."
"I'm so sick of you! Baku Baku Shock! Wapol House!"
Wapol turned into a big stove like thing.
The bystanders, excluding Chess and Kuromarimo, were confused about what he was going to do next.
He then started eating Chess and Kuromarimo.
"What the hell?!" "He's eating his crew mates!"
Kureha stayed silent as Chopper and Luffy expressed disgust at the action.
"Witness the strongest fighter in the Drum Empire! Chessmarimo!"
Luffy could only think of how stupid the two looked coming out of Wapol.
'I didn't know that's where babies came from.' He thought.
Wapol started talking weak-speak, about how he would control the area, kill everyone, an-
Wapol shot the flag that was on top of the castle.
Chopper looked furious, but also frightened. The flag seemed to mean so much to him.
Luffy jumped to the top of the castle. He put the flag back up.
"Hey! You stupid idiots!" Luffy yelled out,"How dare you shoot this flag?!" He looked down to sneer at Wapol and his subordinates.
"You became pirates without preparing to risk your lives! You don't understand the meaning behind this flag!"
"What's so important about the flag?" Wapol had a ignorant look on his face,"That's just a decoration for pirates."
"That's why you're such a worthless piece of shit!"
"What?!" Wapol finally noticed the flag was put up again, "Who told you to put that flag back up?! Didn't I tell you that this all belongs to me?! Die with that flag that you care so much about!"
He shot another cannonball at Luffy. He just stood there, holding the flag.
Chopper didn't want to see this man get hurt!
He remembered how even near death, he had grabbed Kureha's sleeve.
"Please...save them..they're my friends...!"
"Please! Get down from there!" Chopper tried to warn the nice man.
"Who would let you destroy this flag!" Luffy shouted in rage just as the cannonball reached him.
"This pirate flag is a symbol of faith!"
The cannonball exploded, obscuring Luffy and the flag from sight with smoke.
"Mahahaha! Stupid fool! That will sh-"
"See?" Luffy's warped voice could be heard behind the curtain of smoke.
"This flag will never be broken!"
"I don't know who's flag this is...but this flag is a promise for life!"
"SOMEONE LIKE YOU DOESN'T HAVE A RIGHT TO JUST DESTROY IT AND LAUGH!" Luffy roared, incapacitating Chessmarimo.
Chopper stood there staring at Luffy.
'This is a real pirate.' He thought of all the stories Hiluluk told him about pirates.
The man embodied the just images that had been painted for him by his father.
'He's great...'
"I'll destroy and laugh at anything I want to! Just like that quack doctor that monster keeps talking about!"
Chopper popped a yellow pill into his mouth.
Suddenly, he was already in his deer form, running at Wapol.
Wapol tried to shoot him, but he dodged to side each time.
When he approached him, Chopper turned into a human and latched onto his face.
"Doctor...! Doctor even thought about saving your life!" Chopper raised his fist in preparation to hit Wapol.
Chopper couldn't help but remember all the times Hiluluk cared so much about everyone. How he had never hurt anything or anyone to get what he needed. How, instead of using a real gun, he used an anesthetic.
He dropped his fist.
"I won't hurt you." He said,"So just get out of this country!"
"Chopper! What are you saying?!" Kureha was shouting, "Do you think he'll understand?!"
Wapol just smirked. He could do whatever he wanted to the monster.
Chopper didn't have time to think as he was forced into Wapol's mouth and chewed up.
Luffy was surprised, but tried rocketing toward Wapol.
It was too late. Wapol swallowed. Chopper was eaten.
"Chopper!" Luffy could hear Kureha's scream.
After going through so much...
Luffy remembered all the times he was unable to do anything. For the patients. For the mayor of Orange Town!
He wasn't able to help Shushu!
He wasn't able to save Sabo!
Wapol was shocked when a white monster started to tear his mouth open.
The thing jumped inside. Wapol started trying to chew him up, but found that he couldn't.
He felt teeth and claws. The thing was not only eating him but also tearing him up!
Wapol tried to spit him out, but the thing was just digging further into his throat!
It was too late. The beast was now in his stomach.
"No! Stop!" Wapol was screaming in pain.
His stomach exploded in a shower of gore, sending blood flying everywhere.
The white monster climbed out with a weakened Chopper in his arms.
Chopper looked to be hurt, not only from being chewed, but his skin was burning from the stomach acid.
Smoke trailed off the both of them as the acid ate away at their skin.
Wapol fell over. He never knew someone could actually tear him apart from within.
"Please! Doctor!" Chopper could hear the man screaming still as he was beginning to lose consciousness.
"Help my friend!" Those were almost the same words he had used for the ones he brought up.
'He's really a nice guy...' Chopper finally blacked out, the pain of the acid was too much for him.
Luffy waited outside while Chopper was attended to.
He stared at the body of Wapol.
The mad king was still alive. He had used his power to reconstruct his body before passing out.
Luffy grabbed his face, and spun him around sideways in the air.
"Gum Gum..." He waited until his arm had gained enough momentum.
"...Flail!" He let go and watched Wapol fly through the air.
That'll teach him.
'Hopefully, he'll land in the ocean.' Luffy thought as he watched a lift arrive from somewhere.
Chopper had run away from the nice man and his friends.
He forgot why he was running, but it had something to do with him being called evil again.
The nice man was just chasing him to chase him.
"Hey! Reindeer! Where are you?!" He shouted, "I want you to join my crew!"
"Just come and be a pirate with us!"
"Hey, maybe he doesn't want to come with us?" Zoro told Luffy. He had never even met the reindeer.
"What? No way. He's coming with us."
Luffy was adamant. He didn't want the little guy out of his sight anymore.
He seemed way too vulnerable to leave him by himself. He reminded Luffy of the people he couldn't protect.
He was going to start working on that, starting with Chopper.
Luffy had to call a few more times before Chopper finally showed himself.
"Ah! Reindeer! You want to be a pirate with me, right?!"
Chopper wondered how he could tell.
"I'm sorry, but I can't become a pirate with you."
Luffy's expression turned emotionless. Zoro watched the exchange along with Ussop.
"Why? Don't you know that being a pirate is fun?"
I really want to...I do."
"But I'm a reindeer! I have hooves and antlers! I have a blue nose!"
"I want to be a pirate, but I'm a monster! I'm not able to be friends with humans!"
"I can't join you...but if you come by someday...then..maybe..-"
"SHUT UP AND COME WITH US!" Luffy shouted in the air.
He couldn't stand the pain in Chopper's voice. It sounded so broken.
It sounded like his voice when he had hoped some of the other patients would be friends with him.
He saw the tears in Chopper's eyes, but knew them to not be tears of sadness.
"Okay!" Chopper screamed as tears fell down his cheeks.
He really wanted to go with them! They were some of the first humans to have accepted him!
Miss All Sunday watched everything that had happened. She now stood next to Kureha as sakura colored snowflakes fell from the sky.
"Goodbye...my stupid son!" Kureha muttered to herself, a few tears falling from her eyes.
They had both seen how Chopper wailed into the night as he saw Hiluluk's dream of sakura blossoms in this snowy land.
Miss All Sunday thought it was cute. It actually brought some tears to her eyes, though she didn't shed any.
She had always had a soft spot for children. Possibly because of her abused childhood.
In any case, she knew she would never be allowed any, so she relished any chance she got to see a child.
It just so happened that the newest Straw Hat was one.
"We protected him, you know?" Kureha spoke suddenly.
"Pardon?"
"You've asked many questions, but I've never mentioned the most important thing that happened."
"The Facility had been going on for some time. Even after the Doctor Hunts. Me and Hiluluk, we protected that kid. If the government found out there was a loose Devil Fruit eater out here..."
"They would have taken the chance to try to restart the facility."
"Yes. My son was lucky enough to not be subjected to that hell."
They stood in silence for a bit.
"I know you're following them. I would like to ask you to keep him safe from them."
"What makes you think that I can keep him safe?" Miss All Sunday didn't like where this was going. Kureha wasn't stupid nor naïve, so why did she expect her to be able to do such a thing?
"That's because I know you've been part of one."
Hands formed around her neck and clasped dangerously tight.
"Hold your horses, you didn't let me finish." Kureha looked over at the Devil Fruit eater.
She looked scared. That was something Kureha didn't expect.
"...Don't remind me of that place. It was not a pleasant experience for me."
"I can imagine. A pretty girl such as yourself would be subjected to terrible things."
The hands disappeared. This woman wasn't going to do anything now.
"I just want you to protect him from that same hell. I promised Hiluluk that he would never have to go through such a thing."
Miss All Sunday didn't answer her for a while.
"I'll try my best, but don't expect much. The Straw Hats are officially my enemy."
"Heeheehee...was that young man you saved your "enemy"?"
Miss All Sunday allowed only a little surprise to flash through her eyes as she stared at Kureha.
"I'm still young, girl. I have eyes and ears. I heard and saw everything."
"And it's hard to miss the belonging in your eyes, girl." Kureha began to walk away. She waved a bit to tell her "goodbye".
Miss All Sunday slowly walked back to where Banchi waited.
Belonging or not, she would eventually have to fight the Straw Hats.
Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Good night...