Darkness on the Horizon
III: Dreams of Nothingness
Written by Takato Metallium
Plot: AU, dark, slash (Luffy/Zoro and Sanji/Usopp), Chopper/Kuina nakamashippy, one-shot. Tony Tony Chopper dreamed to be able to create a panacea that could cure any disease. Instead, the opposite is born – a deadly poison that can spread through the air…and kill anyone who breathed it.
Disclaimer: I disclaim all rights to One Piece, as it belongs to Eiichiro Oda-san. If I owned OP, Sanji and Usopp (not to mention Zoro and Luffy) would've had sex already. 'Fraid not, kiddies. I only own the fanfic, the idea and not much else.
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Drum Island.

Chopper had never dreamed he would return to this place. He trudged alone through the snow in Beast form, blue backpack strapped between his shoulder blades, the Going Merry fading in the distance. A lot of expanse lay between where he was and Kureha's castle, and although he did not desire to get there in any hurry, he had only four days to complete his mission.

The small reindeer was terrified by the changes his captain had gone through after finding One Piece. Luffy had become a cold, demanding creature of wanton bloodlust, and expected each of his crew to perform a 'special' kind of task before he knew he could trust them till the end completely.

Chopper kept his head up even though he sometimes didn't agree with what his captain was demanding, fulfilling his duties as the ship's doctor religiously and burying himself in his work. He missed the days when he had been able to run around on deck or listen to Usopp's stories, missed the days where he was able to sleep without worrying whether or not he would die the next day.

But more than anything, he missed the days with Kureha, and even before then, the days with Hirulik. Those days he missed especially, terribly, painfully. Memories of his 'father's' death rode heavily on his shoulders and gave him nightmares he would rather soon forget…

The cracking of a branch behind him made his ears twitch and Chopper swiveled his head around, frowning when he saw nobody. However, he soon spotted a small hand clutching at the large trunk of an oak tree, and a gentle smile curled around his muzzle.

"Kuina-ojousama, please…go back to the ship. Senchou-sama will…worry about you." It was the only wording he could find without making himself even slightly scared – Luffy's moods these days were unpredictable; he might even kill him if anything happened to the green-haired angel he called his daughter.

The small girl poked her head around from the tree trunk, straw hat half covering her face and Wadou Ichimonji hanging at her side – Zoro had passed on his long-favored sword to the young mistress of the Going Merry, training her in the arts of Nitoryu and Santoryu. Dressed warmly in a thick jacket, pants and mittens, Kuina waded her way through the snow over to her doctor, breath frosted over by the cold air. "But I was worried about you, Chopper-san," she whispered, lowering her head as she stared at the snow, seeing it for the first time. "You looked so lonely…I thought I would accompany you. I know otousama can be harsh but he really…"

Chopper should have taken her back to the ship right then. He knew he should have taken her back and delayed the start of his trip by another day. Foolishly, however, he turned in the snow, motioning with a crane of his neck for her to get onto his back behind the blue backpack. Kuina smiled brightly – a smile that reminded him of her father from way before – and clambered on, holding tightly to the backpack.

"Hang on, kiddo," he whispered, turning around and with an almighty kick of his back legs was pelting through the snow again at top speed towards Kureha's castle, heart lightened slightly but at the same time dreading what could happen.

Fate had an odd way of hating him so…

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He was saddened to learn that Kureha had passed onto the next world five years ago. Chopper stood in Tanuki form at the grave that pronounced his 'mother' dead to his reality. He lowered his hat in respect, feeling Kuina take his hoof as only an innocent child could. Sighing deeply, the blue-nosed reindeer turned, slipping himself out of her hold and setting about to business.

"Chopper-san," the young girl began, but stopped when he looked back at her with haunted eyes. Eyes that spoke of a lot of things she had yet to understand and most she already did. Her physician then shook his head, turning to his backpack.

"Leave me be," he whispered, hoofs clinking against every little piece of equipment in his backpack. "Please, ojousama, go back to the ship." Chopper closed his eyes, feeling a wetness pass through his fur as he brought out the explosive shell Usopp had been ordered to create for him. He shivered when he felt her touch him again, this time her small palm braced against his back.

"Chopper-san, I'm not letting you do this alone," Kuina murmured, running her mitted hand lightly across brown fur. She leant against him, her chest pressing against his back as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "Not when you've done so much for me in the past. I want to help you…"

"You and I both know that the best thing for you to do is go back to the ship," the reindeer said firmly, his voice only wavering slightly. Still, he said nothing more and continued to set about his work with a small weight pressed against him and smiled slightly, grateful for the warmth.

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Dalton hissed in pain, clutching at his chest as he leant against the side of the castle. His face was flushed and the former captain of Wapol's guard had not been feeling his best for the last couple of days. In fact, most of the villagers had grown sick, some of them dying within the last twenty-four hours or so.

He breathed heavily, eyes drooping as he swallowed thickly. Someone had spread poison through the air, that much was certain as he slid down the castle walls into a semi-squatting position. Eyes blurring, Dalton crawled through the cold snow, finally collapsing as he neared Kureha's grave.

He was hallucinating, he was sure of it. Her 'son' had left over nine years ago with that group of pirates who had finally stopped Wapol, yet now the little reindeer stood in front of him with solemn eyes in full Beast form, a small gas mask covering his muzzle. The reindeer looked at him one last time before turning, and Dalton was sure he saw a small green-haired girl on his back, breathing heavily.

A small, sardonic smile managed to curl its way onto Dalton's lips as he nodded slowly. 'I understand.'

With one last gasp of breath, Dalton succumbed to the poison that had been spread through Drum Island's air as Kureha's former assistant galloped away, now faced with a new mission.

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At full-pelt, even with Kuina's comfortable weight on top of his back, Chopper managed to make it back to the ship by mid-afternoon. Once he had arrived, his captain had only given him a cold stare as the first mate gathered their child from between his shoulder blades. The small girl's face was tinged with red and blue, her breathing shallow. Chopper bowed his head, unwilling to let his captain see the tears welling in the depths of his eyes.

"Get to work," Luffy had hissed as he turned away, red jacket nearly slipping from his shoulders with the motion. "I expect Kuina to be at full health by tomorrow afternoon."

It was asking too much…he shouldn't have been able to do it…but somehow his ladyship was now lying on the bed she normally occupied, an empty bowl sitting beside her. Morning sunshine poked through the window through the chilly, poisoned air they still inhabited, falling upon the sleeping form of the ship's doctor.

Chopper was startled awake by the feeling of two hands brushing through his fur, before they faded as though they had never been there in the first place…

– Fin –

NEXT –Darkness on the Horizon IV: Children She Could Not Touch