Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.
"One Piece." – Speaking
'One Piece.' – Thinking
One Piece. – Flashbacks
One Piece. – Devil Fruits and Techniques
*I felt that this chapter was lame as it was short so I decided to add some spice that I have been meaning to. Now I feel confident in this chapter adding to the story so tell me how you think of it now! *
Deadly Drinking Pirate
A Farewell of Flower Petals to a Reindeer
Previously on Deadly Drunken Pirate,
Once Chopper was done, Nami opened her arms; she didn't care if Chopper refused or not, he needed a hug. And he did see what Nami had in mind. Because he ran into her embrace, trying to avoid her bust and cried once he felt her smooth arms on her fur. It was a sad scene but it somehow made Nami fell like a mother or at least a big sister; with a little brother that is down on his luck and need support, something to cry on where hopefully no one will see.
Chopper never stopped crying but he when he heard Nami gasp, smelt a certain lingering alcohol scent and felt rough but strong arms around his body, he really let the waterfalls out. Even with all the tears clouding his sight, Chopper saw the familiar hat and raven hair; there was no mistake to it. Chopper not only had his big brother holding him but a big sister as well. It was the second-best present that was given to the little reindeer who had to suffer much.
It has been a few days since Wapol dared to return to the island of eternal snow. "I still think that it was reckless of you walking through a forest during a blizzard and what were you thinking of climbing this goddamn mountain!?" The Strawhats moaned and groaned. It was like they heard it for the thousandth time. It was Ace, trying his best to get this rant into Luffy's head.
"Ace, you are overreacting. I had Nami on back, sick and only several hours before dying. There wasn't the time to wait for the doctor coming, so the best option was going to the doctor. I also had two of my crewmates with me so there was no real danger." Luffy grumbled out. Too bad that Sanji and Gin were still in the 'machine room' so they couldn't hear that, to feel a little appreciated as Doctor Kureha 'treated' them.
"I can't believe that the captain had an older brother, and I have heard of him." Kuro said from his comfortable spot, on a chair with his legs bending and sitting on the toes of his feet. "'Fire Fist' Ace, Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. He is on the crew of a Yonko (Four Emperors), a pirate lord that is leagues above the Shichibukai (Seven Warlords of the Sea) as they are above the average level-pirate that sails the Grand Line." Kuro brought in great detail, and with a grim tone. He grinned to see that most of the Straw Hats in the room were reacting like he predicted; some are terrified at the thought while others were more interested in their new 'friend'.
"Luffy did mention something like that." Zoro spoke up. "Back in the town of the cactus mountains, while you all were sleeping in that party room, I had a drink with the captain and his girl. As for what were they doing up, I rather not say." Zoro dropped off momentarily to see if Luffy was aware of what he was saying; thankfully it was just a mild glare, to say 'say more about it, or more punishment'.
"What did Luffy say?" Usopp said, trying to get his nerves down. "We are going against one, Crocodile, and is this Shichibukai pirate anything like Mihawk?" Usopp felt proud with himself, talking about something so sensitive with a person like Zoro.
"He said that Crocodile is a good example of a Shichibukai but he used a really ridiculous name and compared that with Mihawk." Zoro actually answered without a hitch. "He said that both of those pirates can be considered equal in power…" His audience was already mind blown; especially after seeing the raw power that Mihawk used to overwhelm Zoro and in that stalemate against Luffy. "But the Yonko and his grandfather consider them to be like children to their power, that is how powerful they are."
"I am starting to see the picture with the Yonko but who actually is the Captain's grandfather and why is it signific-" Kuro started until he was cut off,
"Garp. Luffy's grandfather is Monkey D. Garp." Zoro said and this sparked more interest and uneasiness in the room's atmosphere. "Come to think of it, I even encountered that old man. He screams of real raw power that even Luffy is an ant compared to a dog." No one doubted Zoro, especially with a serious face like his, and no one said another word.
"But still, Luffy…." Ace was relentless to say the least,
"Ace, please, we don't need a worse headache listening to you for another thousand times." Nami said as she was still in bed, Kureha made sure of it. "Besides, you can relax since this is the day that the doctor promised to release me. Luffy won't be walking through blizzards or climbing any mountains soon. Not that I don't mind being on his back again~!" Nami had this dreamily look on her face while Luffy only blushed slightly and coughed in his hand. Ace answered only with a disappointed sigh and shaking his head in disbelief.
"Your girl is as bad as you are." Ace soon wished that he whispered much softer when he suddenly felt a rapier poking him in the neck. "Not that it is a bad thing."
"Nami is my navigator as well as 'my girl', so yes there is nothing wrong with that." Luffy said with an edge in his tone. "So if you still have something to say about us, as the 'big brother', then say it. We have all day."
To everyone in the room, it was hard to see who is the real big brother. Luffy certainty knows how to get his point across and Ace is supposedly three years older than the straw hatted captain. One thing is for sure, those two have just redefined the term.
Just then,
"COME BACK HERE BRAT! AND WITH THOSE TWO! THEY HAVEN'T FINISHED HEALING YET!"
That practically shook the entire castle, including the patient room where the Straw Hats and brother-to-the-captain were waiting in. Luffy then got up and opened on of the doors, just in time for Chopper in his reindeer form to crash through. With Sanji and Gin thrown off his back, sliding right into the other side of the room. After promptly closing it, Luffy turned to Chopper.
"I can guess how she took your decision Chopper. But did you really have to go overboard by getting these two idiots out of their healing machines?" Luffy asked, ignoring the mutters from the blonde cook and man demon saying that that it wasn't.
"Luffy! We all need to go! The Doctrine is on a rampage and I have no idea why!?" Chopper then ran off, trying to sound frantic realistically. But the pirates felt like humoring the reindeer by taking their word seriously. "Hurry!"
"Luffy, do you mind~? My shoes have been stolen~!" Nami felt like being a drama queen and just wanted to be on her boyfriend's shoulders again. The captain didn't comply, Luffy was willing to be a slave to all but her needs. "So where are we going, darling~?"
Luffy took no notice of the teasing and answered in a serious tone. "I think I have a good idea. Chopper's running away from Drum Island."
XXXXX
Meanwhile,
"Where is that stupid reindeer!?" Kureha was on a rampage alright, and with about a hundred weapons strapped to her back. Swords, guns, spears, clubs, etc. "I never taught him to disobey my word, and especially to run off with two stupid kids that haven't been healed yet! WHAT KIND OF DOCTOR DOES HE THINK HE IS!"
"Perhaps one that wants to go for his dream." Kureha then turned over to Dalton, still healing himself but is good enough to walk and stand the cold climate outside the castle. "And I did notice that your sled is not in your shed like always…"
"Running away!? On my watch!? NEVER!" Kureha then shouted off and sprinted off towards the main exit of the castle, leaving behind the pile of weapons behind. Also, she left Dalton with a grin on his face.
"I know that the sled is gone because I saw it being dragged…to the back door." Dalton shook his head that he inheritably tricked Kureha into a wild goose chase and just went off to his own plans.
But while no one was looking, Kureha had actually settled in her office after disregarding all that extra baggage. "Chopper, you really are leaving. I never thought that in my hundred and 10 years as a doctor that I will feel this way for someone sailing away, not passing away. You brat and your stupid big brother had actually made me soft. And I will never forget that day."
Flashback Begins!
"You want me to do what!?" Kureha looked barely any different, but it was only a few years compared to her lifestyle extending a century. And she was looking at oddest par she had seen, which is saying something for how diverse and bizarre the world can be when it came to bringing two individuals together.
"Please Doctor. Chopper needs someone to take him in. I will be sailing with my teacher all the way to the New World. My little brother will be in great danger!" Luffy was still in his training years and apparently, he had been to Drum Island before. Meanwhile, Chopper looked worse to wear
It was like the little reindeer had went through hell and back, only to get a rude and painful welcoming. Luffy heard everything about what happened while his teacher was stationed on the island. It seemed that the 'quack' doctor that made his living off of bad healing and stealing money had made Chopper his companion and looked after the young reindeer.
But the doctor did all this since he was dying of an incurable disease. He was planning to die as someone that no one will miss. He will be in his dark little corner, all alone like he always was. But Chopper had changed his view on living.
Then came that faithful day when Chopper had finally decided to repay the doctor for taking care of him. He will get a certain mushroom that the doctor said that he need, after completing a miracle that the doctor had tried for thirty years. That was while Chopper was beaten to a pulp, rugged down and even lost one of his antlers. But this was the start of a great tragedy in Chopper's life.
Because what Chopper didn't realize, in all his innocence and childish view on reality, was that getting the mushroom and feeding it to his caretaker actually doomed the quack doctor. That mushroom was poisonous, killing the eater within an hour. And all Chopper had to say was that he saw the skull and crossbones next to the picture of it in a medicine book; and after this doctor said the symbol wasn't danger but the will to conqueror the odds, to find a cure when help was never given.
Luffy sensed this and spent a good several hours consulting Chopper who seemed to never run out of tears. Then came the quack doctor's death, drinking a liquid explosive that blew himself up in front of a certain metal tyrant and formerly his castle. It was foolhardy, that this quack doctor fell into an obvious trap, but no coward will end his life to leave something behind for the witnesses.
That is why Luffy decided to up his training with his teacher and also convince Chopper to give his life to learn medicine and how to be a doctor, to help and cure others no matter how sick they are. But Chopper will need a new caretaker and a teacher for real this time, which brings the duo to the 'witch' doctor herself.
"Brat, why would I take in a blue nosed reindeer that walks and talks and got that quack killed!?" Kureha was stubborn and so was Luffy.
"Because he went out like a man and you have enough honor to do what his dying wish was!" Luffy retorted. "I know that he asked you to take care of Chopper and he is going to be a doctor so that's why!"
"You don't know anything about me or that quack! You are just a brat with a reindeer in your arms that is just about to die! Why aren't you asking me to at least heal him!" Kureha argued back and then Luffy got serious.
"If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. If you teach him how to fish, he will eat for life." Luffy quoted out of the blue. "So, teach him how to be a doctor!"
"You don't get to decide the fate of this reindeer! You are just a brat!" Kureha was surprised that Luffy had the guts to keep the argument going; most men were too scared to even argue back. "Besides, this creature might learn medicine but he was the one who poisoned that quack to death! And he was dying from an incurable disease in the first place!"
"NO!" Chopper then got out of Luffy's grasp and shouted into Kureha's chest. "An incurable illness didn't kill him! It wasn't bullets! Or bombs! Or poison! It was that no one will remember him! But I do and he didn't die!" Chopper shouted out what Kureha could have sworn to hear that old fool again. "I will be a doctor and I will cure everyone who is sick! Because there is no such thing as an incurable disease!"
Flashback Ends!
Once Kureha had finished her little memory trek, there was a knock on her door. "Doctor Kureha? We are ready and waiting. We still need your call." Kureha smirked at the sound of the townspeople that she had been pushing around sounding so excited. Wiping her tears, Kureha got her bearings together and answered the door.
"Then you will get my call when it is due. Now show me what you brats have finally finished!" The elderly doctor had a reputation to uphold and yet her visitors wouldn't have it any other way.
XXXXX
As of for the brats themselves, Chopper had pulled it off; he actually found the King's Gourd on his own. It was exactly like Luffy told him so the reindeer was confident that he was going the right way. "Your ship is so cool Big Brother!" Luffy chuckled, it was cute as ever to see Chopper react that way; and he is supposed to be the age of a human teenager but still with the heart of a child. Thankfully he had the mind and knowledge of a real doctor, no more winging it for the Straw Hats.
"Well come on then, we are burning sunlight by just standing here." Luffy said, carrying his comfortable girlfriend still. Everyone else got out of the sled, with Sanji and Gin still out of commission to walk but not to complain about being held like a sack of potatoes. "Say, what did we miss?" Luffy then talked while looking down, at the otter who stayed behind with Zoro and Kuro before they decided to come along to the castle. Everyone almost forgotten about him.
"He says that it has been quiet except for the commotion he can hear clearly on the top of the biggest mountain." Chopper suddenly said and the otter looked up in awe and shock. Chopper, thankfully, noticed that soon enough. "Yes, I used to be an animal until I ate this fruit that allowed me to speak human but understand both. I hope we can be good friends."
The otter then did something that no one could even picture. From under his tough exterior and sunglasses, the otter cried out in tears and hugged Chopper. The reindeer sure was surprised but did what Luffy always did for him, return the favor and also the hug. It wasn't too heartbreaking but who can deny the sight of creature finally revealing a side of being hurt and shunned for who knows how long?
After that surprise moment, the Straw Hats went back to work on the ship, to get it ready to disembark off the island. They did pick a good time since the Log Pose was now pointing to a direction other than at Drum Island. It was just another matter of time that the Log Pose will restart again and the Straw Hats will lose sight of the next island. Of course, they didn't have any time for detours and can only hope that the Log Pose is pointing a lot like the Eternal Pose that was savaged back on Little Garden.
"Wow! The guys were right; you are a good artist!" Usopp did his work and decided to try at drawing and painting, using the landscape and the mountains on the island as the model. "I am amazed, Yokogao (1)." The otter nodded and went back to work; Usopp shrugged the response of indifference and continued his own art before he loses sight of his model.
Elsewhere on the ship,
"You are a doctor?" Chopper was sorting out his little blue backpack with everything a doctor will need when outside the office and patient room. Once he did that, most of the crew were surprised once again today.
"Yeah. I was the one that helped the Doctrine heal Big Brother, Big Sister and those two idiots." Chopper responded with a childish innocent tone that made all but Gin and Sanji awe at the cute sight; Gin huffed while Sanji glared at the reindeer, threatening to make Chopper back-up meat within his mind.
"But how exactly did you get the old lady to let you go?" Ace asked, still having his cloak on for some reason. And everyone felt the urge to gush at Chopper who just openly blushed and looked nervous before answering,
"Well…"
Flashback Begins!
"Hey Chopper!" The reindeer was sneaking around but flinched to hear the loud sound of his second caretaker and teacher in medicine. He silently scolded himself for thinking so lightly of Doctor Kureha. That woman is one of kind alright. "Where the hell do you think, you're going!? Don't you have herbs to crush?! Machines to maintain!? Needles to clean!? And selves to sort out!?"
"…maybe you do! Because I am leaving!" Chopper shouted out while not very convincing in his tone. "And I mean it! I promised Big Brother that when I got strong enough to beat Wapol, I will go on adventures with him!"
"MUST WE GOT THROUGH THIS CRAP AGAIN!?" Kureha had a short fuse that just set off a chain reaction explosion. "That brat nearly got himself killed on this mountain! All for a couple of idiots and a girl who couldn't wear her clothes in a jungle! He is not worth it!"
"He is a D!" Chopper felt that was ridiculous but Kureha actually went silent to that 'piece of trivia'. He then noticed her smirk,
'He is a D too huh? Just like with that big-time brat who got himself executed, that reckless fool Gol D. Roger!' Kureha thought to herself. "Okay I will take it back about the mountain climbing but he still is a bad influence! I may have taught everything I know about medicine but you still haven't got the experience yet to be a real doctor! You are still a child!"
"I know!" Chopper argued. "I am thankful for taking care of me and teaching me medicine but I have a dream and I can't achieve it if I stayed. Big Brother is going to sail with me to help me find the cure for all illnesses and diseases!"
"I keep telling you, ungrateful brat, that there is no such thing!" Kureha retorted. "I still can't believe that I let myself take you in after that fool's speech and you actually spilling your guts about an impossible dream!"
"Big Brother doesn't care and neither should I! But I want to see what the world have to offer! I want to learn more about medicine and become an even better doctor!" Chopper fired back. "Big Brother has an impossible dream but he is going for it so I should too! I want to be a man and I want to sail!"
"If you are not going to change your mind…." Kureha found it no use to play it safe with words, but with the rough way left to do. "Then I will have to drag you to the machine room and nail you to my wall! HEY COME BACK!" And just like that, Kureha will chase Chopper throughout the castle until the reindeer will reach the patient room, with an old lady on the hunt for blood and with a hundred weapons to do it.
Flashback Ends!
The little reindeer was about to go on until Luffy's arm stretched to pull Chopper from his backpack. "You don't want to miss this Chopper. It is about to begin." Chopper could have asked what his big brother meant when the whole crew saw it for themselves.
The cloud above the mountains and white land of Drum Island used to be cold and merciless white. But then something was fired off the biggest mountain, from the castle on top. It was like a large rocket or firework cracker. But when it exploded, what was in that cloud was not fireworks. It coated the large cloud in the Sakura petal pink.
"Your teacher and guardian seemed to want you gone Chopper. But that was so you can start sailing and see this before you go." Luffy then said. "She really is an amazing woman don't you think. I personally can't think of a better present for my little brother." Chopper was amazed and tear-stricken. The sky above Drum Island was not the usual white clouds filled with snow to fall. Instead, it was the Sakura flower petals that a great man said to be a very effective cure; and it healed the last hole in Chopper's heart.
End of Chapter 20.
*What do you think? *
1. I had hoped for a good name for the Mr. 13 otter that hasn't been seen in the manga since the cover story years ago. I tried the Japanese words for 'artist' or 'drawer' but Mr. 13 did the job as not only spy, scout, messenger and delivery animal but mainly the profiler for the enemies to Baroque Works. So, I gave him the Japanese name for 'profile'.
