***Author's Note: I do not own One Piece, Oda does, I do own the characters I made up in this story (ex: Ivy, Cecily (Shadow), and any other made up characters throughout this story that I might create). Also, please do not copy this story and claim it as your own***

Chapt. 54: The Nightmare Returns, The Mountains Approach, and The Blue-Nosed Monster?

"Did we lose those annoying rabbits yet?" Shadow wheezed, glancing back at where the bunnies are, only to widen her eyes upon seeing the rabbits start jumping up and down, turning towards Sanji with panic, "Sanji, please tell me those rabbits aren't trying to do what I think they're doing."

"Eh?," Sanji furrowed his brows, turning towards where Shadow was pointing a shaky finger at the rabbits, widening his eyes and dropping his cigarette, "Oh crap."

"What's wrong with those bunnies jumping up and down?" Luffy puzzled, tilting his head in confusion, watching the bunnies, "Maybe they're in a bad mood because they're hungry?"

"NO, THEY'RE IN A BAD MOOD BECAUSE YOU PISSED THEM OFF, GENIUS!" Shadow fumed, baring her teeth at Luffy, running beside Luffy and Sanji, "AND WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE BUNNIES JUMPING UP AND DOWN LIKE THAT IS THEY'RE TRYING TO CREATE AN AVALANCHE!"

"A what now?" Luffy frowned, running beside Shadow and Sanji.

"AN AVALANCHE!" Sanji bared his teeth at Luffy, seeing the snow coming down fast, "DAMN THOSE STUPID BUNNIES HAVE DONE IT NOW!"

"Ahh, why is there a whole bunch of snow coming towards us?" Luffy exclaimed with bugging eyes, running beside Sanji, seeing the bunnies snowboarding (or tree boarding?) up to them, grabbing a huge tree bark floating by them, grinning as he placed Sanji and Shadow on the bark with him, "YAHOO! THANKS ANNOYING BUNNIES FOR THE GREAT IDEA!"

"Luffy do you see anything that we can stand on that will be high enough so the snow can't get to us?" Shadow inquired, glancing around, spotting a cliff up ahead, and calling over to Luffy, "Luffy do you see that cliff up ahead? Pull us up onto it."

"Got it," Luffy nodded, grabbing the cliff, standing up on it, grabbing Shadow and Sanji and pulling them up onto it, "Guys, we've got a problem."

"What is it Luffy?" Sanji asked, widening his eyes when he realized that we weren't up high enough, spotting another tree bark coming down towards them, jumping back onto the tree bark and placing Luffy and Shadow along with him on it, "WE'RE NOT UP HIGH ENOUGH, SO KEEP STAYING ON THIS TREE BARK!"

"SLOW DOWN OR WE'RE GONNA CRASH!" Shadow shrieked, pointing to a huge boulder in front of them.

"THE NEXT TIME I SEE THOSE DAMN BUNNIES I'M GONNA TURN THEM INTO STEW!" Sanji glared, pushing Luffy and Shadow away from the boulder, "WE DIDN'T COME ALL THIS WAY JUST TO HAVE NAMI AND IVY DIE!"

"Rabbit stew sounds good," Luffy grinned, only to widen his eyes upon seeing Sanji crash into the big rock, and Luffy grabbed a hold of Sanji and carried him as well, "SANJI!"

(*********************************************************)

Back a little ways from the Going Mary

"I feel more like a popsicle than human," Zoro shivered, popping up out of the water, "Looks like I need to train my body more. I'd never thought there was so many fish in such a cold climate."

(*********************************************************)

Back at Coco Weed

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT WE JUST MISSED HER?!" Usopp exclaimed, mouth hanging open.

"Usopp, what are we going to do now?" Vivi inquired, biting her lip in worry, glancing at the little boy, "Did she say if she was heading somewhere else?"

"No, she treated my leg then she left," Tamachibi smiled up at her, "I was pretty out of it, so I didn't hear if she was planning on going anywhere else."

"This isn't good," Dalton frowned, sighing, "If we can't contact Dr. Kureha then your two friends lives will be in serious danger."

"Dalton are you looking for Dr. Kureha?" a random man sitting on a chair in the restaurant questioned, glancing over at Dalton, "I think I heard her mentioning something about stopping by Gyasta."

"Gyasta?" Vivi repeated, furrowing her brows in confusion.

"Dalton, where is Gyasta exactly?" Usopp asked, turning towards Dalton.

"Its village by the lake that's much farther up north from here," Dalton informed, with furrowed brows, "Ice skating is very popular up there."

"Why in the world would we need to know that ice skating is popular there?" Usopp sweatdropped, glancing at Dalton.

"Then we don't have time to waste," Vivi began, only to widen her eyes upon seeing a man walking through the restaurant all beat up, "What in the world happened to him?"

"DALTON THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE!" the man coughed, stumbling into the restaurant, "We have a huge problem."

"What's wrong?" Dalton spoke, rushing over to the guy, a look of worry on his face, "I thought that you were supposed to be on guard duty today?"

"I was, but this ship came out of nowhere," the man explained in a rush, "I managed to escape, but they killed all the other guards."

"You're not making any sense," Dalton voiced, furrowing his brows in confusion, "Who killed all the guards?"

"Wapol," the man panicked up at Dalton, "Wapol is back on the island."

"Wapol?," Dalton repeated, a look of rage upon his face, "Where is he?"

"He's at Big Horn right now," the man exclaimed, "You have to go there and stop him."

"I'm sorry you two, but I have something to take care of," Dalton apologized, glancing over at Usopp and Vivi, handing them a map, "Use this to get to Gyasta and you can take the sleigh."

"But Dalton…" Vivi began, only to trail off when Dalton was already out the door, "I hope he'll be ok."

"Dalton really loves his country," Usopp observed, watching Dalton run off towards Big Horn, "And the people respect him."

(********************************************************)

Back to…somewhere in the forest

"I must've swam too far away from the ship," Zoro shivered, walking around in the snow wearing only his green pants, seeing Kureha and her friend stopping in front of him in their sleigh, "Hey, old lady would you mind dropping me off at the nearest town? Woah, what are you doing wearing clothes like that? I've seen some pretty weird ladies in my day, but…"

(Kureha motioned with her finger for him to come over to her)

"BE CAREFUL HOW YOU SPEAK TO ME LITTLE BOY! I'M A 139 AND I'M STILL STRONG!" Kureha warned, punching Zoro, sending him flying, and directing her friend to continue pulling the sleigh, "Let's go, that boy is obviously some kind of freak."

"WHAT THE HELL IS HER PROBLEM?!" Zoro bared his teeth, a tick mark on his head, "DUMB OLD HAG!"

(*********************************************************)

Back to Usopp and Vivi

"Hey Vivi," Usopp called, glancing over at Vivi as the rode inside the sleigh, "Are you sure that we're going in the right direction?"

"I'm not quite sure," Vivi admitted, glancing up at Usopp from the map that Dalton gave them, "But judging from the map that Dalton gave us, I believe that we're going in the right direction."

"That's not very reassuring Vivi," Usopp stated, glancing over at Vivi, a sweatdrop on his head, "You're a princess aren't you?"

"What does being a princess have anything thing to do with getting to Gyasta Usopp?" Vivi frowned over at him, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Can't you do something?" Usopp questioned, "If we don't hurry to this witch-doctor before Sanji, Luffy, and Shadow get to her castle, then they'll leave once they see that she isn't there."

"I understand that Usopp," Vivi huffed in irritation, "But I can't snap my fingers and we'll be magically there. I'm a princess not a witch."

"So what?," Usopp countered, raising an eyebrow at her, "It's the same thing isn't it? They both can get the impossible done."

"That's only in fairy tales, in real life it's a lot more difficult to get things done," Vivi narrowed her eyes over at Usopp, handing him the map, "You take a look at the map if you don't think that we're going in the right direction."

"Don't be ridiculous," Usopp bickered, "I wouldn't be able to figure out where we are with all this snow everywhere."

"So you're saying that you don't know how to get there either then?" Vivi narrowed her eyes further, looking back at the map.

"Yup, you're right," Usopp grinned, sticking his nose up in the air, "I have no idea how to get there either."

"And you're proud about that fact?" Vivi sweatdropped, glancing up from the map, and taking a look at their surroundings, "If we keep going in this direction, we'll be bound to run upon a sign that points to Gyasta."

"Right," Usopp nodded, neither of them noticing the sign that they just passed which pointed to the direction of Gyasta and that they were going in the wrong direction, "There's no way that we'll miss that sign."

"Why is the ground shaking?" Vivi pondered, glancing up from the map, only to widen her eyes when she figured out what it was, "I hope this isn't what I think it is."

"What do you think it is Vivi?" Usopp whimpered, glancing over at Vivi.

"IT'S AN AVALANCHE!" Vivi shrieked, pointing to the snow that was coming towards them.

(********************************************************)

Back to…who knows where

"25 thousand, 6 hundred 31…what's that rumbling?" Zoro counted, doing pushups, only to get up when he heard that rumbling sound, and he got trapped under the snow, "Oh crap, AHHHH!"

(********************************************************)

At Big Horn

"It seems like the Straw Hats aren't here," Wapol mumbled, eating the villagers' houses, "Listen well my citizens, everything is my food."

"Your majesty, once you have finished eating there is something that I learned not that long ago," Kuromarimo called up to Wapol, "It seems that those Straw Hats have went up to your castle."

"It appears that they are searching for Doctor Kureha up there," Chess continued, "And while you were gone from your castle, she made the castle her home."

"THAT HAG IS LIVING IN MY CASTLE?!" Wapol fumed, calling down to his subjects, "MY LOYAL SUBJECTS WE LEAVE FOR THE CASTLE AT ONCE!"

"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" a loud voice boomed, striking Wapol with a sharp fan-type weapon, "YOU'RE TYRANT RULE ENDS HERE WAPOL!"

"Who's that?" Kuromarimo muttered, a glare on his face.

"I'VE BEEN CUT!" Wapol wailed, rolling around on the snow, "I'M GOING TO DIE!"

"That's precisely the reason why I've come here," Dalton announced, standing in front of Wapol and his two henchmen, "And I'm going to make sure that you do die."

"Look its Dalton," a random villager whispered, staring at the scene with wide eyes, "He's come to save us."

"Dalton, so you're alive." Chess noted, putting an arrow into his bow.

"Dalton, how dare you hurt his majesty." Kuromarimo hissed, getting into his fighting stance in front of Dalton.

"He's not dead, even though I wish that he was," Dalton glared, narrowing his eyes at them, "Besides, doesn't his majesty have his own personal group of doctors?"

"That's right," Wapol called, bolting up and yelling at his doctors, "Get over here and fix me MD-20."

"This is exactly what I was talking about," Dalton glared, a dark look on his face, "You make everyone beg on their knees in front of you in order to get the help of the doctors, such things disgust me."

"I thought that I was a goner for a minute there," Wapol sighed in relief, wiping an imaginary sweat off his brow, turning towards Dalton, "That's one of the laws here in Drum Kingdom."

"HOW DARE YOU CALL THAT UNJUSTICE A LAW!" Dalton shouted, a dark pissed look on his face, "I WORKED FOR YOUR FATHER WHO WAS A GREAT MAN AND I HAD HOPED THAT YOU WOULD SEE THE ERROR OF YOUR WAYS, BUT I CAN SEE NOW THAT IT'S POINTLESS!"

"Dalton you dare…" Chess began, only to get cut off by Dalton.

"A RULER WHO TURNS HIS PEOPLE INTO HIS HOSTAGES ISN'T A KING AT ALL!" Dalton seethed, glaring at Wapol, "IT'S A CRIME TO DO THAT!"

"You done now?" Wapol spoke in a bored manner, putting his pinky up his nose, "Chess, Kuromarimo, kill him."

"Of course your majesty," Chess smirked, spotting villagers holding weapons coming, putting arrows into his bow, turning towards Dalton, "The three of us worked closely together Dalton for a very long time, so I know your weakness, Haha."

"DALTON, WE'VE COME TO HELP!" a group of villagers shouted.

"Huh," Dalton uttered, widening his eyes in panic, running towards the villagers, and standing in front of the villagers, "GET AWAY!"

"Why Dalton?" the villagers muttered in horror, rushing towards Dalton as he fell to the ground with arrows sticking out of him.

"You care too much for people," Chess cackled evilly, putting his bow away, "That is your weakness Dalton."

"He always had a soft heart," Kuromarimo smirked darkly, "Too easy really."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Wapol bellowed evilly, "A fitting end for someone like him."

"Your majesty, now that Dalton has been taken care of, let's head after the Straw Hats," Chess advised with a smirk, only to frown upon feeling the ground shaking, "Why's the ground shaking?"

"RUN FOR IT!" a villager shouted, pointing out towards the mountains, "THIS VILLAGE IS GOING TO BE BURIED BY AN AVALANCHE!"

"CHESS, KUROMARIMO, GET ON!" Wapol ordered, kicking his hippo as they got on, "Switch to Serious Mode Robson."

"Your Majesty, please let us on.," the MD-20 pleaded.

"No way, get your own hippo," Wapol laughed, glancing back and getting bugging eyes upon seeing the avalanche right behind then, "ROBSON HURRY UP! AHHHH!"

"It's too late your majesty." Kuromarimo stated as they all got stuck under the snow.

(a few seconds later you could a giant mouth making a hole in the snow)

"Oh so it was you three that tasted nasty," Wapol commented, spitting out Chess, Robson, and Kuromarimo, then turning towards the mountain with a dark look, "IT MUST HAVE BEEN THEM!"

"Them who your highness?" Chess puzzled, blinking rapidly.

"Did you not just say that the Straw Hats were climbing up the mountain?" Wapol recalled, a tick mark on his face, "Those damn Straw Hats must've been the ones who caused that avalanche just now."

"Uh," Kuromarimo sweatdropped, before grinning up at Wapol, "Great deduction your majesty."

"Brilliant as ever, your highness," Chess praised, smirking up at Wapol, "Shall we go after them then?"

"Of course we are," Wapol sneered, getting on top of Robson's back, and riding towards the castle with Chess and Kuromarimo following on the sides, "I'm gonna teach them what a fight in the snow is really like."

(*********************************************************)

Back up on the mountain

(a baby Lapin was attempting to dig his mother out of the snow, glancing up when it saw Luffy, growling at him when he came closer, cowering in fear when Luffy moved his arm towards him, only to blink rapidly when he didn't feel Luffy hit him, opening his eyes to see that Luffy had saved his mom, and they watched Luffy walk away)

"There you are," Wapol called with a smirk, "I'm gonna make you pay you damn Straw Hat."

"Huh?" Luffy turned around open hearing a voice call out to him, tilting his head at them in confusion, still carrying Nami and Sanji, glancing down at Shadow, "Who are these weirdos?"

"I don't know I've never seen them before," Shadow shrugged her shoulders, walking past them with Ivy on her back and Luffy walking beside her, "Who cares, we need to hurry up to the mountain."

"Right," Luffy nodded, walking alongside of Shadow, only for the both of them to stop as Wapol blocked their path (he was riding his hippo), glancing up at him, and glaring at him, "Move it."

Shadow growled at Wapol, considering she shouldn't talk around enemies.

"I don't think so," Wapol smirked smugly, ordering his two henchmen, "Chess, Kuromarimo, kill those three unconscious one first since they're ignoring me the most."

"What did he say?" Luffy hissed, getting ready to fight only to glance down at Shadow, who was lightly shaking her head no, and they started running away, "Dammit, YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO REGRET THIS LATER!"

"FLAMING ARROWS!" Chess chanted, smirking as he shot an arrow at Shadow's back, only to have it blocked by one of the Lapins, "What the…"

"STATIC ELECTRIC HAIR BALL PUNCH!" Kuromarimo chanted, smirking as he dashed towards Luffy, only to have a different Lapin block the attack before it could connect to Nami, "What…"

"Did…did those things just…protect them?" Wapol stuttered, bugging eyes, his jaw falling open, "But that's impossible, Lapins never form bonds with humans."

"Hey Luffy," Shadow smirked over at Luffy as they ran past Wapol, giving a nod towards the group of Lapins who were giving them a nod, "Isn't that the Lapin that you saved earlier?"

"Huh," Luffy grinned, looking back at the Lapins, and giving them a thumbs up and a nod, "Yeah, they are. THANKS GUYS!"

(the two Lapins that had blocked the two attacks from hitting Nami and Ivy gave them a thumbs up and a grin)

"Looks like you made some new friends, Lu," Shadow grinned over at Luffy, standing in front of the mountain, "Looks like we've made it, now all we have to do is climb this sucker."

"They were pretty amazing weren't they?" Luffy grinned back at Shadow, turning his head to look at the mountain, glancing at it with one of his rare-serious faces, nodding in sync with Shadow, and they started climbing up the mountain.

(*********************************************************)

Back to Vivi and Usopp

"That avalanche must've buried us under the snow," Vivi muttered, popping up out of the snow, glancing around for Usopp, pulling him out of the snow by his nose, "USOPP WAKE UP!"

"Just give me a second Vivi," Usopp mumbled, lying on the ground, "I'm having such a lovely dream, where I'm in a world far away from here sitting in a field of flowers with a river next to it."

"YOU'RE CROSSING INTO THE AFTERLIFE!" Vivi shrieked, shaking Usopp's shoulders, "YOU NEED TO GET UP!"

"Look at all the Usopp pirates," Usopp mumbled, "All 74,000 of them and their all brave warriors of the sea."

"OK YOU NEED TO WAKE UP! DO YOU HEAR ME!" Vivi screeched, slapping Usopp on the face repeatedly, "WAKE UP! USOPP! USOPP! USOPP! USOPP!"

"You've saved my life Vivi thank you," Usopp thanked, (it took Vivi about 2 minutes of slapping Usopp across the face repeatedly to get him up), "I just have one question for you though, why does my face feel like its swollen?"

"Eh," Vivi chuckled nervously, accidently walking on Zoro, who was lying in the snow, "That's just the side effect of living in the snow country haha."

"Oh," Usopp shrieked upon seeing Zoro pop out from the ground, "AHHHH! M-M-MONSTER!"

"That was a close one, but why did I dream about a field of flowers?" Zoro grumbled, dusting snow off himself, glancing up at Vivi, then glancing over at Usopp with a sweatdrop on Zoro's head and staring at him for a good 30 seconds (apparently his face was so swollen that Zoro had no idea who he was until he saw the nose), "Oh it's you Usopp, why are you guess out in the snow?"

"THAT'S WHAT WE WERE GOING TO ASK YOU!" Vivi and Usopp bared their teeth at him.

"I was doing some strength training and I guess the ship must've moved because I couldn't seem to find it anywhere." Zoro answered, holding his arms across his body.

Meaning you got lost again, Usopp sweatdropped, looking at Zoro with narrowed eyes and mouth down (like his expression in Alabasta), "Strength training in only in your pants when it's freezing cold outside? You're real stupid aren't you?"

"That's not the point," Zoro bared his teeth at Usopp, "NOW WOULD YOU SHUT UP AND GIVE ME YOUR COAT!"

"Not a chance.," Usopp refused, looking at Zoro with a bored expression.

Maybe Ivy and Nami got sick from the mental exhaustion of dealing with these two?, Vivi thought, a sweatdrop on her head as she watched the two bicker back and forth, and the three of them started walking towards the nearest village.

"Then how about your shoes?" Zoro pleaded, walking beside Usopp.

"Nope.," Usopp deadpanned, glancing ahead while they walked.

"Just one of your shoes then." Zoro begged, walking alongside Usopp.

"I said no," Usopp intoned, turning his head towards Zoro as they walked into town, "You did this to yourself."

"I hate you," Zoro narrowed his eyes at Usopp, only turning towards a villager, "What's going on here?"

"What's going on here?" the villager repeated, turning around only to get bugging eyes upon seeing Zoro dressed in only his pants, "WHAT'S GOING ON WITH YOU?! WHY ARE YOU ONLY WEARING PANTS?!"

"Dalton's stuck under the snow and they won't let us help him.," another village spoke.

"Hmm," Zoro frowned, glancing at the guys, only to smirk upon seeing what they were wearing, "Hey Usopp, those are our enemies right?"

"Yeah…" Usopp confirmed, turning his head towards Zoro, only to narrow his eyes in dread upon seeing the look in Zoro's eyes, "Uh-Oh, I know that look."

"Zoro what are you going to do?" Vivi spoke slowly, only to have her jaw drop open upon seeing Zoro already beat one of Wapol's army soldiers unconscious, and Zoro was wearing the guy's coat.

"This is so warm," Zoro smirked, patting the coat, "I like this thing."

"THAT'S WHY YOU KNOCKED OUT ONE OF THEIR SOLDIERS?!" Usopp bared his teeth up at Zoro, smacking the air with his hand, "WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MINDS BEATS SOMEONE UP FOR THEIR COAT?!"

"I recognize you," a different Wapol soldier glared, standing in front of Zoro, failing to realize that Zoro had already taken his weapons from him, "You were on that ship from earlier."

"You're a little slow aren't yah," Zoro smirked, holding the guy's weapons in his hands, smirking deeper upon seeing the guy searching frantically for his weapons, "Looking for these?"

"When did you?" the guy sputtered, widening his eyes and every single Wapol soldier fell unconscious as Zoro attacked them.

"HAWK-WAVE!" Zoro smirked, standing behind all the soldiers, "How disappointing, I'd thought they would put up more of a fight."

(*********************************************************)

Back at the top of the mountain

"Hang in there just a little bit longer guys," Luffy mumbled, glancing over at Shadow as they climbed up the mountain, and seeing the top in front of them, "We've finally made it."

"Yeah," Shadow wheezed, lying down on the ground in front of the castle, only widening her eyes upon seeing Luffy start to fall off the cliff, "LUFFY!"

A creature rushed towards Luffy and grabbed him before he fell.

"Our…friends…help…them…" Shadow wheezed, grabbing onto the creatures arm before blacking out.

"Hey…help…my…friends…first…before…me…" Luffy pleaded, looking up at the creature, before blacking it himself.

These two…went so far for their friends?, the creature thought before running into the castle and bring Kureha out with him, "Doctor, there's a person and a talking wolf carrying three sick people up the mountain."

"What, they carried them up that mountain?" Kureha looked up at the creature, running outside with the creature following close behind, "Two have severe frostbite, one has a spinal fracture, and the other two have, how about I let you tell me what those two girls have?"

"Kestia," a child-like voice stated, "I'll go bring the two girls in and get started on their treatment since theirs is the most serious of all the others."

"Not bad," Kureha smirked, nodding her head, bringing the other three inside behind the creature, "I'll handle these three then."

"Right.," the child-like voice agreed, walking into the castle.

TO BE CONTINUED…