When I see Sanji's name I can't help think '3 pm' but apparently his name can mean 'tribute,' which...doesn't that hurt?
The blaze I mention is Sunny's ability, Blaze which increases fire-type moves at or lower than 1/3 health.
Lastly- I did some sketches of Sunny and the crew as thanks for some of the reviewers of this story who have just been incredible! I didn't get everybody so I'll be doing more - h-t-t-p-s- :/ / imgur dot com /a/kH5tEtJ
...or if that's too much of a nightmare, my name is RavenWingDark on that site, it's called Be Merry Sunny Sketches 1.
"This is the Whapol Kingdom you've arrived in, land of King Whapol. We weren't expecting a ship this morning, identify yourselves immediately." The guard demanded, raising his gun but not yet aiming it at the crew.
"This isn't Drum?" Vivi demanded anxiously.
"No, this is Whapol Kingdom, formerly Drum Island. You clearly aren't well-informed. What are you, merchants? Where's the rest of your crew?"
"We need a doctor, we came here to see him." Usopp explained, pushing aside the nervousness of the situation.
"We have a doctor but it's going to cost you and you'll have to be detained until you are brought before King Whapol to grovel." The second guard said a sick smile creeping across his face as he beckoned several more guards who were hanging back to the dock. Zoro grit his teeth. Vivi and Usopp looked at each other uneasily, agreement flashing between them. "Where's the rest of your crew?"
"It's just us. We lost the rest of our crew. The Grand Line was more treacherous than we ever expected," Vivi said neatly.
Sanji, standing against the door to the deck and listening in, stiffened. He'd heard 'King Whapol' from the corridor and gone on guard. Royalty wasn't something he'd easily trust, especially one that wasn't a beautiful princess. He walked back into the girl's cabin and scooped Nami up in his arms, stinging with misery that he wasn't doing this under better circumstances. "We're going out the back, we can't be seen." Sanji told his captain. "They're going to try and keep us here. We need to find the doctor ourselves."
Luffy grabbed Sunny. "What about Zoro and the others?" Luffy asked stubbornly.
"They're not the ones who need the doctor. Vivi-swan will keep them out of trouble."
The two head out the back door. Under ordinary circumstances, heading through the water would be the stealthiest option ordinarily but none of Sanji's companions would be able to handle it. The only option was to sneak around the dock in the foggy morning air. As Usopp noticed them moving around the ship, his story became much grander and verbose and the pirates were able to run into town undetected.
The air was cold in a way Sunny hadn't experience before, stealing away his drowsiness enough for him to gather what was happening. He hopped out of Luffy's hold and dove into his coat before scrambling back up so his head could stick out and sighed in relief.
Luffy reached out to touch Nami's forehead and his frown deepened dramatically. "We need to start knocking on doors!"
"No, that will attract too much attention. We still don't know what happened to make his Whapol Kingdom instead of Drum. The way the guards were talking, it happened recently, and they're charging for the doctor's assistance, which means he may not be freely living in town." Sanji slowed to a stop, transferring Nami and Sunny to Luffy's back gently. "Wait here, I'm going to see if I can get more information. Remember, Luffy, number one priority is Nami's safety, number two is also Nami's safety, number three is Sunny's safety and number four is everything else."
Sanji darted around the corner, crumpled his suit slightly and mussed his hair and began to walk in the opposite direction he'd come, just in case. He couldn't help but notice the clear damage to the town, boarded up windows, pieces of glass, broken signs, even a few buildings that had various levels of fire damage.
An older woman with an empty wicker basket was walking his way. Sanji gave her a smile. "Oh, Miss?" He inquired. The woman jumped in surprise, as if she were nervous but on seeing him, smiled back, a light blush on her cheeks.
"Oh my, sorry, I thought-well, it doesn't matter."
"Not a worry, Miss, I just was wondering if you could help me. I hit my head on my way home and I'm not sure if I have a head injury or not. Do you know where a doctor might be?"
"Oh dear! Are you really alright? Well, no one's seen Doctor Kureha since King Whapol returned and she retreated to the Drum Rockies, so I wonder if he's forced her into the Isshi-20 like the others."
Sanji tilted his head, not having to play at his confusion. The Isshi-20? Was that a group of doctors? "And the injured in the fight?"
"Well, the worst of the injured, they've been mysteriously treated each night, and it's not her because she always demands to be paid for her services. Knowing what I know about our doctor, she won't agree to King Whapol easily, though, so I worry. She hasn't come down from the mountain since the Whapol returned." She continued, more quietly now, leaning in.
Sanji took a moment to make sure he was still looking bewildered and confused like he may have a head injury. He inwardly cursed himself for deceiving a woman, but this would be for the good of his crew and if they got Whapol out of the way, she would be better off as well. He could do this. He tightened his fist, nails digging into his skin. "A-and how many days ago was that? I just want to make sure I'm remembering correctly."
"Oh, yes. Well, it was three days ago. Three long days ago," she broke off somberly.
"Right, that's what I thought," Sanji said, looking up at the distance rock formation in the center of the island. "She's all the way up there?"
"Yes, Drum Castle. A beautiful building, she lives there now so I wondered why he had his military march up there the other day..." She broke off as if realizing she was freely making conjecture, and gave him a sad smile, and touched his cheek gently. "Sorry, I should be going. It's safest if you just go home and hope you're somehow healed while you sleep, dear. And leave the question-asking to Dalton. " And the older woman walked away.
Sanji huffed, lit a cigarette and exhaled for a moment to recollect himself. Luffy, unable to wait any longer, appeared from around the corner with his charges.
"The doc's not in town, Luffy. She's at the top of that mountain." He looked at Nami, morosely. There was no way she could make it all the way up. Maybe if Sanji alone went to get the doctor and Luffy hid with Nami...
"Nami, Naaaammmiiii, wake up!" Luffy had turned his head around to look at Nami and was slapping her cheek.
"LUFFY!" Sanji gasped in outrage as Sunny's eyes visibly opened in surprise.
"Wake up, now Nami, we'll have to climb this mountain, we gotta hurry, so you're gonna hang in there right?"
Sanji grabbed Luffy's hand to stop him from smacking her anymore but he saw that Nami's brown eyes were opening. She was breathing heavily, face flushed deep red, but she had a small smile on her face. "C-come on, c-captain, let's g-go." She reached out and grabbed Luffy's hand for a moment before releasing. Luffy grinned ear to ear.
"And you, Sunny?"
"Ready," Sunny said, pushing himself farther in Luffy's coat to try to get warmth, and only his nose poked out from Luffy's coat.
"Yosh, you guys are the best crew ever. Let's go!"
Sanji smiled slightly despite himself. No time to waver now. They had to climb that mountain. And they had to keep Sunny and Nami safe while doing it. He breathed in, looking down, then exhaled, flicking the cigarette and looking up with a look of determination. "Alright, then. Let's climb a mountain, captain."
Sunny jerked to awareness when he realized how cold it had suddenly become and that it was now snowing. Snowing for real this time, not Mr. 3's wax. It is pretty and falls from the sky slowly and it's bitterly cold. Sunny wants to enjoy it from afar. Soon, he gets worried about Nami's warmth and jumps from Luffy's coat to Sanji's shoulder, tucking himself back between Nami and Sanji and radiating warmth with renewed focus. He even felt Sanji relax slightly at the sudden warmth at his back as he trudged on. Sunny realized he wasn't sure why they were in all this tundra rather than a town they'd been in earlier but Sanji and Luffy must know what they were doing and were going to get Nami help as soon as possible.
Sanji was explaining to Luffy how women of winter islands had the most beautiful skin because the snow dyed their skin white and it was soft because they rubbed it to stay warm so he hid better between Nami and Sanji to prevent looking like one very strange looking cyndaquil.
"I'm gonna kick Whapol's ass after Nami and Sunny are cured," Luffy said.
"I'm behind you if they get in our way captain, but this looks like a complicated political situation, we shouldn't bite off more than we can chew before we know what we're up against." Sanji pointed out. Luffy stared at him blankly as the continued trudging in the snow. The trees were becoming more scarce as they continued.
"But Sanji, I always bite off more than I can chew, you just got to swallow it so you can eat more."
Sanji bit back a sigh, thinking that the implications of Luffy's statement fit him in more ways than just eating.
"Sanji, why is the ground moving like that up there?" Luffy said suddenly, pointing at distant movement a little further up the mountain. They felt a faint vibration at their feet. Before Sanji could think 'avalanche' he noticed that the white moving shapes came with muscular furry bodies, bunny ears, and sharp teeth.
"What are those?" He demanded. "Sunny? Are they-?" Sunny raised his head to look at the approaching figures as Sanji and Luffy took defensive and offensive stances.
Sunny shook his head quickly. "No, those aren't. I don't know what they are." But they kept approaching at full speed.
Sanji looked to Luffy. "I can't fight without hurting Nami, do you think you can hold them back?"
Luffy cracked his knuckles, loud in the freezing weather. In moments, the lapahns were close enough to have attacked with a gomu-gomu no axe attack. Startled, they split off, quickly becoming indecipherable from the snow in Sunny's vision. Luffy worked on beating them back though he didn't seem as limber in the cold weather and his movements and stretching it stiff and slow. Sanji maintained a smooth, slow jog in the snow while his captain moves the giant rabbits back and darted back in time to block an attack Sanji couldn't dodge in time, throwing the arctic creature away. Sunny couldn't help but think its body type wasn't unlike his parents' powerful builds. They couldn't be underestimated.
But the creatures keep popping out of nowhere and the snow has gotten much heavier that even Sanji was having trouble watching where he was going and they hadn't made it to the base of the sheer mountain yet. Just as Sanji stumbled, another was on him, intent on the slower target. Sanji froze as he resisted the urge to send a flying kick its direction and instead positioned himself to take the brunt of the hit. Luffy kicked another lapahn a foot into the pack snow and turned around to shout the cook's name, arm already stretching again.
The lapahn's maw of sharp teeth neared Sanji. Sunny stepped across Sanji's shoulder and reached out as once it was within reach. The small creature's mouth bit down hard on the lapahn's muzzle with ferocity and strength the cyndaquil didn't look to have in his mild, tired expression. He let go of Sanji's shoulder and took a deep breath. Then he exhaled flames as strong as he could make them and they escaped his mouth, blasting across the lapahn's face as it screeched.
Sunny dropped heavily to the iced snow, not heavy enough to fall through, facing off the creature who was holding its burnt snout in pain. All the lapahn were now starting to jump and stomp in place.
"Sunny, stay back! You can't fight in your condition," Sanji immediately protested, trying to bend down to scoop Sunny back up. Instead, Sunny ignited his back. It sputtered for a moment before coming to life. Adrenaline had hit him. He felt fine for now. It would only take a minute. Luffy was still fighting. Between the two of them, they would drive them off and the four of them could get to safety. Fire melts ice. He would strike back if only he could balance properly with all the shaking in the ground.
"A-AVALANCHE!" Luffy yelled. The ground moved below their feet and the numbing sound that almost resembled crashing waves.
They barely had a chance to run as the snow quickly overcame them. Sunny knew his and Sanji's wild charge away was separating them from Luffy, who was kicking away the fleeing lapahn that got too close to the group but the panic settling Sunny's heart kept him running as far and as fast as he could. It wasn't enough of either-the sound of crashing sound got louder, the ground shaking and vibrating so much it dizzied Sunny's senses, and there was white above him, he felt himself being tossed head over rear in powdery white-ness over and over again until he felt his head connect with something cold and hard.
After that, he was only distantly aware of not flipping, because he still felt like he was. It took him nearly a minute to realize he'd come to stop because of it. He twitched each of his legs and felt them sluggishly respond and he shifted. There was heavy weight above him and white all around. His warm breaths reverberated back to him quickly. He was buried.
Sunny managed to push the hard packing snow around him up enough to stand and used his nose and front paws to tunnel to the surface. It was a few feet of a climb but hardly challenging, even with the aching pain in his head, exhaustion and cold in every limb. His head broke the surface and he had to screw his eyes shut for a few moments to adjust to the reflecting light on all the new snow. Actually, he wasn't as cold as before. He very much didn't feel well, but his fire had risen to the occasion, blazing back to life inside of him, providing a barrier against the cold that his short fur wouldn't have. Sunny registered that it wasn't as much of a positive as it should be. He stumbled onto the ice and snow mix, which crunched but didn't bow under his weight. His breath was heavy and emitted steam like he was readying a smokescreen. He longed to snuggle back into Nami's coat.
Nami. He jolted back to awareness and began retracing the path he'd tumbled as best he could, dipping his nose into the drifts to pick up his own scent trail. His shaky legs had only taken him a fourth of how far he'd fallen before he noticed how low his stamina had gotten. He was huffing and panting and pausing to lift a paw for a moment until his body could return warmth to it.
That's when he felt a twitch several feet beneath him, as light and as instant as a hop from a field mouse. He jumped in shock and the only reason he didn't bolt instinctually was the light-headed sensation he was feeling. So he started digging, expertly pulling up large sprays of snow with each paw stroke until he caught sight of Nami's coat.
His nose twitched in anxiety and excitement and he redoubled his effort and widened the hole.
They have to be alright... In a minute he'd uncovered Nami and Sanji's unconscious forms but no matter where he dug near them, there was no scent of Luffy. He must have been separated from them. Sunny reached over to shake Nami. "Time to wake up!" Nothing, Sunny moved to Sanji and jumped on the cook's chest several times before stumbling off and into the snowdrift, belly up. "Oh Articuno! Abombasnow's left fist!" Repeating every icy curse he'd heard from his father as he rocked back and forth to momentum to get back up and to his friends. He was sweating, was that normal, or was that just the snow he'd melted? He couldn't tell at this point. He wasn't even really sure why they were out here anymore. Or why the background trees and mountains seemed to be spinning slowly around them.
"Sorry, you're not giving me a choice!" Sunny reached out and bit Sanji's nose. The chef flinched but didn't wake up. What was that pink snow near his head? It was like someone had spilled wine back there. Had the cook been carrying something like that? Why were they out there? Why was he trying so hard to wake them up? He stared out into the snow for a moment, then two, before gathering his wits again. They'd die if they stayed out here. They looked pale and snow was starting to cover their coats and hair.
Sunny grabbed Nami by the back of the coat and pulled as hard as he could but he couldn't get any traction in the snow, his paws only creating small trenches and bumping into Nami's coat. Finally, he sat, winded, on the navigator's chest.
Where was Luffy? Luffy said he would keep them safe, where was he? They weren't safe right now, they were laying in the snow.
No matter what he did, he wasn't strong enough to move them. He wasn't big enough to cover them and keep them safe. He heard stories about pokemon having amazing strength in moments when everything had gone wrong but he still felt like the soft, clumsy, eighteen-pound cyndaquil he'd always been. And this, without a doubt, was when he needed strength the most, freezing in the snow with two of his beloved sleuth hurting and another missing. He shivered and his back fire re-ignited with blazing energy. It was all he could do. He pushed warmth outward. He could keep them from freezing for a little longer. Until Luffy found them.
Snow melted and streaked down his face. His head swam, desperately searching for a head of black or green hair, but there was nothing but snow. Minute by minute as Nami's breaths quieted despite Sunny's best efforts to keep her comfortable.
He had just surged his fire again when he saw a lean brown figure in the distance, something bright sitting between a pair of antlers. It was upwind and in the steady snow the cervid was too blurred to fully discern. It stopped, stared, then slowly began in their direction.
I'm making another set of sketches so more people can be included. And if you have a favorite moment, let me know and I'll see if I can sketch it!