Chapter 16- Arriving at Drum island

Yeet. Chapter 16 here. Nothing much to say other than Luffy will be more realistic and more like the canon, but more smart and stuff (I'm really looking forward to giving him a brother complex ! :D). Basically, I'm toning down the OPness and upping the realisticness. I will be following the canon plot with some major and minor twists and changes. Okay, that's all. Onwards.

Disclaimer: One piece still belongs to Eiichiro Oda, sadly I only owe my OC's.

'Time had repeated itself, but with a different variable.'

Lucy's first impression of Wapol was your friendly old grandpa. If you get past the ridiculously thick eyebrows, he looks like your senile next door neighbor in crazy town. His entrance was… interesting, to say the least. After Zoro lazily pointed out a strange dude was standing on water, Wapol appeared demanding something called an 'Eternal log pose' for a place called 'Drum island'... then proceeded to eye the females aboard like a chunk of meat, demanded for their treasures, all while taking a bite out of the Merry. Of course, that earned him a first class ticket with the Gomu-Gomu Bazooka accompanied with icy glares from the ship's navigator and marksman.

" Serves him right! No one that damaged the Merry should be allowed to get away with it! Especially not when the great Ussop-sama is around!" The young marksman boasted proudly.

" Humph! Who gave that fat old man the right to eye us like eye candy? And talk about absurdity! I would never give up my treasures!" Nami huffed, " But, perhaps this Drum island is the winter island Luffy was talking about." She added, quickly dismissing the afterthought on the 'Eternal log pose'.

Sanji, who emerged from the Galley intime to hear the last thought, sighed, creating a misty cloud of cold and smoke. " I hope you're right, Nami-san. As much as I hate to admit, the shitty captain is losing the inner battle." The blond cook breathed." His fever is still rising and if it is allowed to continue, He might-"

Something in Lucy snapped. Using her rubber arms, she extended her hands, and grabbed the cook's collar, and pulled herself so that their faces were dangerously close. "Don't. Finish. That. Thought." She growled.

Her eyes slowly started to fill with unshed tears. They weren't tears of sadness. They were tears of frustration, anger and most of all fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear that she had failed him. Stumbling back, she choked down a sob. She had known. She had sensed it in his aura. Even during the encounter with Zoro, she had known. But she denied it. She didn't want to admit it. She wanted to believe her twin was invincible. But reality is harsh. Before she knew it, the tears had flooded her onyx coloured eyes and were marking a wet path down her red cheeks. Then she fled.

Ussop was reminded that although both she and Luffy were tough, they were fully capable of expressing fear. The young marksman was now back to his tinkering workshop, though he couldn't manage his usual excitement for his passion. He replayed the scene in his head, the one he had been a part of not too long ago.

Flashback

After the small ravenette left,Zoro had gone up and took her place, hand on the blond cook's collar. " Do you have any idea what you were about to say?! Do you have no faith?! Luffy won't let us down! He never has had he? Everyone on this ship should know that! Even you! The pathetic excuse for a cook!" He snarled, his voice echoing slightly in the still air.

Before the blond cook could retaliate, the fiery navigator cutted in. "Zoro is right for once Sanji. We have to believe that Luffy could win. If we don't believe in him, then who will?" She chided gently. "I know it's tough to see him like this, but we need to stand strong when he can't."

"Ya, come on Sanji! Would Luffy really leave us like this? He's the strongest man we know! He would never lose to this mystery illness, so stop being such a party pooper!" Ussop continued.

" Luffy would never let us down, Sanji-san." Vivi murmured softly.

Sanji seemed to falter at the voiced ressureances, but what he said next had made the ressurace sound meaningless. " You guys weren't there." He hissed. " You guys weren't there when Luffy broke down. He was delirious! He said for me to not leave him again! He cried in front of me!"

Silence then filled the frosty air.

Flashback end

Ussop sighed. After Sanji's report, everyone solemnly returned to their posts. Nami went back to the woman's cabin to continue her research about Grand line navigation. Vivi had followed her. Sanji headed to the Galley. The teen could hear the soft occasional noise of a knife meeting the chopping board. The familiar noise sounded somehow angrier, like it was reflecting its master's mood. The loud clunks of metal told Ussop that Zoro had picked up his weights again. If he turned around, he was sure he would see the swordsman swing his weights forcefully, all while being shirtless despite the chilled air. The young marksman could tell no one left the conversation happy. The sister of the subject had disappeared for a while now, though if you ask anyone they would just silently gesture toward the men's room. It had been only two days since Luffy had fallen ill, today being the second.

Somewhere unknown…

Footsteps echoed through a dreary metal hall. The hall consists of clusters of overhead pipes and doors of all shapes,sizes and material lining the hard walls. There were no windows facing the outside world, only into rows and rows of rooms. The footsteps went deeper and deeper within the halls until they stopped in a room of glass. In comparison to the previous halls, this room was domed and was a window entirely. The windows showcase a beautiful view of the deep sea. Colorful fish and corals swam before any viewers eyes and light could be seen from the upper world. The mystical room was occupied by only one other body. A man. Then the owner of the footsteps spoke, his voice serious and dutiful.

" I have acquired the necessary information, sir." He reported.

The stranger viewing the luminescent scene outside, did not show any indication of acknowledgement. After a long pause, he turned toward the reporter. "That's great, my friend! I'm glad you're still on your toes!Just leave the files on my desk will ya?" He said in an oddly cheerful voice.

As the reporter turned to leave, the stranger called him back. " Oh ho ho, you're not going to leave now are you? I have a question for you dear friend! What do you think is a punishment fit for a fool?"

The reporter answered without turning back toward the speaker. "Fools often dig their own graves." Then left without another word.

The stranger watched his disappearing silhouette. "I doubt that would happen to this particular fool," he mused, " What punishment do you think is suited for you?"

"Mugiwara no Luffy."

The third day began with the usual routine. The navigator checked the weather and the cook prepared the crew's breakfast. From an outsiders view, it might look normal. But to the Mugiwara no Ichimi, it felt as if a thick blanket of tension had fallen across the once merry ship, pun intended. The situation was looking worse and worse by the hour, with the patient's fever rising to an incredibly dangerous degree of 42, rising steadily to the 43 marker. The only thing keeping the young captain alive was sheer willpower. The crew slowly, but surely trickled into the Galley for their morning meal. Even Lucy left her brother's side in order to stifle the growing hunger in her stomach. The young girl had skipped lunch and supper the day before and her hunger eventually won her over. Begrudgingly she took a seat at the table and silently started to eat. The rest of the crew just looked at their food blankly. Unlike Lucy, they had forced some food down their own throats the day before and now couldn't bear anymore. The only noise in the Galley were the small sounds from Lucy's fork connecting with the plate in front of her. The silence was then shattered as Sanji bursted through the door, panting and red faced from the cold. The cook had been fetching another bag of flour until something shocking made him abandon his current task.

" Island up ahead! A winter island!" He yelled excitedly, while waving his arms uncharacteristically.

Everyone stood up immediately, the force nearly knocking all the food off the table. They took no note of it and all rushed outside, coats replaced with new found hope. Outside they found 1) a sad, abandoned bag of flour with an odd dejected frowny face on it and 2) a clear sight of a large island. From the small ship, the island seemed massive as it had huge towering mountains capped with snow. In fact,it looked as if the entire island was covered in snow.

"Yuki," Nami breathed

The crew's hope soared at the sight. No doubt that this was the winter island their sick captain had mentioned! They cheered and made haste to tell a certain Alabastian princess below deck and set sail at full speed toward the island.

In a town at Drum…

A certain young man walks through the snow-bound island. The man had slightly wavy short black hair, reaching just below his ears, and had a hard built body. The most bizarre factors were the fact he was wearing a bright orange hat and was shirtless in the middle of a winter island. He didn't even seem cold! The villagers fumed at this, quite jealous that this stranger gets to defy nature's logic.

"Hey mister!," He exclaimed, waving toward a startled shopkeeper. "Have you seen this doofus?"

The shopkeeper looked closely at the waving poster in the young stranger's hand. On the front, there was a picture of a familiar-looking, grinning boy, barely seventeen, the shopkeeper reckoned, with a straw hat. What caught the keepers attention was the shroud of darkness that seems to be framing the boy. When he looked at the name and bounty, the poor man's eyes bulged out its sockets comically and proceeded to stutter a denial at the stranger.

" Oh, bummer. I thought he would be in the area by now. Hmmm. Can you take a message for me? Ya, just tell the doofus on the poster, if you ever see him that is, that Ace was here and that I'll be waiting in Alabasta. Thanks!" The stranger chattered then decided to scare everyone within a kilometers range by flying away on a trail of fire.

Soon enough he became a speck in the sky and all that was left was a slightly burnt wanted poster and the startled looks on the local's faces.

Vivi was not surprised when the people at the coast of the island started shooting cannons at them. She couldn't say the same thing for the rest of the Mugiwaras though. Ussop instantly started panicking, Zoro, Sanji and Lucy busied themselves by deflecting any cannon that dared to near the ship. The princess warned them to not direct it to the people as they responded accordingly toward pirates. What she had not expected was the extreme negative comments toward them.

"Go away, Pirate scum!"

"We don't want your kind here!"

"Haven't you taken enough from us?"

Clearly, this island had been attacked before and by pirates at that. The princess mused. Before she could speak, Zoro retaliated first.

"Oi! That's uncalled for! We don't want your things! We just want a doctor for our captain! He's sick!" He called out, causing Ussop to nodded readily behind him.

A large man shouldered his way through the crowd and turned to address them with a spear pointed outward. "We won't fall for your lies again, Pirate! Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you, fool me thrice, shame on both of us! Please leave immediately!" He declared boldly.

Zoro gritted his teeth, clearly losing his patience fast. "Fine! We'll force our way through!"

"Zoro!" Vivi hissed. "You can't do tha-"

A gunshot sliced through the air. Time seemed to slow as the crew watched the princess collapse onto the deck. Nami and Ussop both gasped and rushed toward their fallen comrade. Sanji and Zoro both then lost the rest of their patience. The duo prepared to launch themselves toward the armed crowd. Just as they were about to leap, a blue blur came out of nowhere and tackled the green-haired swordsman, successfully stifling all his movements. The blond cook also stopped when he realized it was the fallen Alabastian princess.

"Chotto matte Zoro, Sanji! I'm fine! The bullet only grazed me! Don't hurt the people! Not everything can be solved with violence!" She cried toward the fuming duo, then turned valiantly back to the crowd, while still restraining a now still Zoro. " Fine! We won't dock! Just send us a doctor for our captain! No true doctor would refuse an ill patient, Pirate or not!"

Suddenly the weight in the princess's arms disappeared. She then glanced to see a kneeling Zoro. "I hate to admit it, but Vivi's right! Please we won't hurt anyone! We just need a measly doctor for an ill patient! I'm begging you! Please let us have a doctor!" The prideful swordsman begged, his head bowed low to the wooden deck.

Everyone was stunned. The crew had never seen the pride filled swordsman so pitiful! Though they all would have all done the same thing, what surprised them was that Zoro had done it first. The armed mob started to shift and murmur amongst themselves, a begging pirate was a rare sight after all. Amongst all the chatter, the princess's keen ears managed to pick up the words Pirate, trust, doctor and oddly enough Witch. The burly man that had spoken as their leader before sighed and spoke once again, this time with a less hostile tone.

"Alright pirates. I grant you permission to dock and see a doctor here, but be warned. One false move and I'll have you people removed immediately, sick patient or not!" He begrudgingly granted.

The crew cheered and made quick work docking. Soon after, they were trudging through the streets of the winter island with Luffy resting on Zoro's back. The poor teen's temperature had risen to 43 degrees in a short amount of time and didn't even stir when he was transferred to his unofficial first mate's back. When Dalton, the burly man at the harbor, also the unofficial leader of Drum, got a glimpse of the sick captain, he immediately felt guilty as the pirates were clearly telling the truth. Even from the small glance, Dalton could tell the young captain wasn't well. His face was as pale as the snow around them and his cheeks contrasted so much, it almost looked like small pools of blood staining pale snow. Any lingering suspicion then disappeared when he saw the rather sweet treatment the boy was receiving, though he did not stir even once throughout the walk. During the short journey, Dalton informed the group of the island's current situation.

"You see, we recently have been attacked by pirates." He explained gesturing to some of the rather run down buildings. " They pillaged our village and caused a lot of damage here. This island was once called the Drum kingdom, after the late king. However, he fled the island at the first sight of danger and left all of us to our own destruction."

Vivi gasped. " What a horrible man!"

Dalton nodded grimly. "In fact, we were rather grateful that the king left. He was a horrible king to his people, to go as far as stealing all of Drum's doctors for himself. In order to keep this short, he forced all the doctors to serve him only. The doctors that refused either fled or were killed. When fleeing, he brought the band of doctors with him."

They stopped in front of a small cabin. Inside, was a cozy campfire, a small desk, a small couch, a rather comfortable rug and a small wooden bed. " It isn't much but it's the best I can offer you at the moment." Dalton admitted as Zoro gently transferred his frail captain onto the small couch.

Nami smiled. "It's wonderful. But, didn't you say the king took all the doctors? If so how are you going to help Luffy then?"

The rest of the crew nodded readily, shooting questioning glances at the large man. "You better not be laying a trap for us." Lucy groweld uncharacteristically. The once cheerful ray of sunshine had became a dark cloud of paranoia over the few days, filled with worries for her twin.

Dalton hastily shook his head. "Of course not! We people here are honourable! Yes, it is true our late king took all the doctors, but we do have one doctor left."

Vivi narrowed her eyes. "Is this the witch doctor I've been hearing about?"

"Yes, it is. Her name is Kureha. She's a fantastic doctor, but everyones a bit afraid of her rather… unusual ways of healing. The only problem with her is that she lives at the very top of the highest mountain on the island. She only comes down to the towns whenever she feels like it and often demands a ridiculous amount of payment." He explained, an involuntary shudder ran through him as he thought back to the houses that were picked clean after her previous visits.

"So, we have to do is take Luffy up the mountain and see this witch doctor?" Sanji inquired.

"Yes, her last visit was quite recent so I doubt she would be coming down any sooner." Dalton replied. "But the mountain's are quite dangerous. Even in good weather, there are vicious snow lapins living on the mountains. They are not fond of humans. They would surely try to stop you. Will you still take the risk?"

Lucy turned from her spot next to Luffy, and gave him a rather determined stare. "Of course we will! Luffy needs to see this witch lady, and if she's on that mystery mountain, then that's where we will go!"

The rest of the crew gave him equally determined stares of their own, then they began to plan. " So, who will bring him up?" Vivi questioned softly.

Before anyone else could speak, a certain small ravenette interjected. "I'll go."

"Then I'll go as well! I can't let my angel Lucy-chwan go unprotected!" Sanji declared before anyone else could speak.

"Alright then, it's settled, I suppose. Sanji-kun and Lucy will take Luffy to the doctor. Everyone else stay in town and resupply." Nami ordered with a tone of authority. Everyone agreed readily except a certain green haired swordsman who grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'Ero-cook' and 'Witch', which earned him a rather large lump on the head from the fiery navigator before the cook could retaliate. They both then began to compically yell at the 'Marimo' while Vivi and Lucy giggled in the background. Usopp Just stood in the corner, shaking his head with an exasperated expression plastered across his face, though even he couldn't force a happy grin down. Dalton watched the exchange with a small smile tugging at his lips. Something about this group of ragtag teens felt warm. They were a lot like family. In fact, they seem even closer than most families the older man has ever seen. Any family bond could be torn apart quite easily, but something told him that this one was unbreakable.

"Yosh! Let's go!" Lucy exclaimed excitedly.

"Haiii!" The rest of the crew cheered.

Done! Finally! TT

This chapter took me a long time to write (Mainly due to the lack of motivation). Also about my schedule. Yes, I can post longer chapters since I only update a month, but keep in mind just because there is a months gap between chapters, doesn't mean I'm always writing in between. I only write when I have the motivation and time to do so. I also don't know what exactly is a 'Long chapter'. This chapter was about 3500 words long and took me about seven days to write with like a 20 day brainstorm/ resting period. Basically my point is, I don't use my full time for writing. Last thing before I disappear is that I'm still looking for an editor or just a proofreader. They only need to read over the chapters when I finish writing them to check for spelling and grammar and maybe content mistakes. That's all. PM me if you want to apply for the spot. Till next time.

R&R