"Luffing" is a term used in sailing to mean sailing with a headwind. Seems like too much of a coincidence for Oda picked it randomly, but maybe's there's a Japanese word that fits it better?

I know there's something a lot of you were looking for that isn't going to happen in this chapter, rather once everyone has a chance to talk. As always I thank you all for all your amazing support!

Sunny recognized the stantler-like creature as a reindeer as it came closer. It bright thing was a bright pink hat. My fire drew its attention, Sunny thought with a start. Because he had to dig to get to his friends, they were almost two feet below the snow drift. He wasn't sure if the deer had seen the fire itself or the steam it created hitting the frigid air, but he snuffed his fire, lying flat against Nami's stomach. The air around them immediately became biting again and he began shivering in earnest. If the other wildlife was as aggressive as the lapahn, he had to be more careful. He lay there, trying to sense the deer's movement and wait it out, but he couldn't sense anything until it was feet away in the snow.

Sunny jerked up in time to see the deer slow its half-trot and stare at the three of them with widening brown eyes. With a small puff of smoke, the deer disappeared and was replaced with a smaller one, that stood on two legs, wearing the same pink hat and a red scarf. It reminded him a little of a teddiursa, but was it replaced or had it changed?

"Ditto?" Sunny asked. The mystery creature gave him a sad look.

"It'll be okay, I just want to help," the tiny bipedal creature quickly checked them over, checking temperature and pulse. "She's really sick! She needs a doctor right away!"

Sunny moved onto Sanji, still too stunned to react with hostility, or anything other than watching with incomprehension as the bipedal reindeer panicked before catching himself, with tapping one hoof into the other with realization. "Oh right! I'm a doctor! Okay, I can carry her to the top of this mountain to get her to the castle! But I didn't think I can carry all three of you without a sled...Well, I can't. I'm sorry, maybe if-no but it would be really dangerous because they can't hang on..."

Sunny shook his head, reaching out to nudge Nami's limp hand. Her fingernails were blue. He pointed with his nose to the towering pillar-like mountain above them. "Sanji would kill me if I let a chance to get Nami to safety go by. I'll find...a way up." Sunny finally said.

The deer's face flicked with confusion, surprise, then worry. "You're telling me to bring her up? I can usually understand animals but... B-but I should really bring you along, I can tell you aren't suited for cold weather..." He fretted.

Sunny ignited again, ignoring the numbness that expanded through his paws in response of channeling his blaze outward. The bipedal creature stumbled back in shock before gathering himself. Then he untied the scarf around his neck, touching the ground in his smaller form and bundled it around Sunny, avoiding his fiery back. Then he changed back into a reindeer, shifting Nami onto his back with careful maneuvering.

"I'm heading to the top of the mountain. I'll bring her to safety and come back for you two as soon as I can." And he ran off, Nami on his back, into the snow.

Sunny felt oddly empty. It had been his duty to protect Nami and now she was gone. He didn't doubt the deer's intentions, but he didn't know how much time Nami had. But he couldn't worry about that now-not when Luffy was gone and Sanji was still down.

He clung to Sanji's suit so tight, he felt as if his paws felt as if they were frozen there. He was shaking from pain in his head, exhaustion, and cold, his head rested on Sanji's neck to listen to his slow pulse. All he wanted in that moment was Luffy to appear and smile and say that he had everything taken care of that they were gonna get Nami and set sail. Luffy, Luffy, Luffy! He thought as his eyes closed.

The next thing Sunny knew, he was opening her eyes to see a familiar face with a scar. Sanji was being lifted onto Luffy's back and Sunny being picked up. Luffy's face was scared and urgent. "Nami? Where's Nami?"

"He brought her up," Sunny murmured. "Up."

Luffy's eyebrows pinched. "The castle?"

Sunny nodded. Luffy nodded back, mouth setting in determination. It was the look Sunny remembered seeing only moments before he kicked ass. He put Sunny on his shoulder. Sunny was burning as warm as he could manage and Luffy sighed in relief when Sunny burrowed between Sanji's head and the back of Luffy's neck.

They were climbing the mountain.

It wasn't long until Luffy and his charges made their way to the mountain. It was a sheer cliff and went straight up until it disappeared in the snow-filled sky. Sunny saw it go up and up and up and thought there was no way to do it. But Luffy tied Sanji to his back with a length of rope, resettled the scarf to cover Sanji's neck and Sunny, and pulled himself onto the rock wall. He moved his hands upward again and again, traversing the iced handholds, or stretching in the absence of them. It was slow, and the higher they got, the more the wind howled. Five minutes into the climb, Luffy kicked his foot into a crack and clung to the side panting, pulling a hand away and clenched and unclenching it.

Sunny pulled himself out of the scarf and very cautiously leaned forward on Luffy's shoulder. The fire-type didn't look down, he imagined he'd see nothing but a white, shifting void, but he felt unsteady already, he didn't know what looking would do to him.

Luffy's eyes shifted to him. "Cynda." He ignited his fire. Luffy grinned and held his hand at his back, near the low-burning fire for ten seconds until he sighed in relief, shifted his grip and did the same with the other hand.

Then they were heading skyward, Luffy blinking snow from his eyes, Sunny maintaining enough awareness despite his confused state to burrow under the scarf and come back out whenever Luffy started to slow or his pain seemed to worsen. Eventually, the fire seemed not to grant relief at all. Luffy didn't stop after that point, and kept climbing. The cliff was steep and smooth with ice at this point and several times, Luffy had to punch handholds, which wore on his endurance. But when Sunny looked up, he saw a change from the icy gray stone, light gray of the sky, not fog, but an edge. The end, within his view. It couldn't be more than thirty or forty feet.

"Luffy, we're almost there." At the same moment, Luffy's head lulls, and his grip fails, feet skidding, as if he had started to lose consciousness. Sunny nipped his captain's ear hard, he jerked and dug into the stone. "Don't give up now!"

Luffy shook his head and kept going. A little while further, and Sunny could see bare branches of a tree. Ten more feet and the edge was nearly within grip. Sunny couldn't tell if Luffy had even noticed in his single-minded determination to climb. His hands were shaking hard now and his fingers weren't listening to him and scraped off the rock, he lost his foothold.

So close, too close, can't fall- Sunny grabbed the spare end of the trailing rope tied around Luffy's waist. His leap forward had him kick upward against a tiny divot in the weathered wall with the same burst of speed he used to quick attack until he jumped the threshold of the mountain, spun and tugged on the taught rope.

He immediately began to drag, lock-jawed on the rope, until he was leaving skids all the way to the dirt and sending spoiled snow off the edge in his effort to hold. His toes touched the uneven edge of the cliff and his eyes burned from the bitter updraft whistling up the cliff. Luffy's hand moved upward. The wind carried his heavy, wet gasping, eyes glazed with exhaustion. "Cynaaaaaaqqqqquuuuuiiiiiiiiilllllllllllllll!" Burning limbs shaking, paw pads scraping against the edge as he fought to move back, Luffy's hand latched onto the edge. Then the other hand, and elbow, and the pressure disappeared from the rope as he pulled Sanji and himself to safety. Luffy lay a few feet from the edge, laying on his stomach, panting, Sanji still unconscious on his back.

Sunny looked around for the mysterious deer. He said he'd be here, waiting for them, hadn't he? It was nothing but a jumble of thoughts. Had those been his instructions? He didn't have the energy to keep anyone warm anymore, not even himself.

Luffy weakly struggled to pull himself along and Sunny did everything he could to pull them forward but the numbness made him stop where he was, and watch a moment, hopeless. No panic, no fear, he just watched Luffy's fingers inch slowly to try and drag himself further, breaths harsh.

Sunny started to walk again, this time alone, away from the edge. He didn't look back. Even with Sunny's staggering steps, it wasn't long until Luffy was out of view anyway. The snow wasn't melting off him quickly anymore. He did his best to walk in a straight line, but in the snow, if he reached another cliff edge, he wouldn't know until it was too late. Then his nose was inches from a heavy metal door.

Before we could do anything to gather himself, he felt a hoof on his back. The same blue-nosed reindeer on two legs. Sunny had been convinced he'd just gotten his fourth wind but as soon as he processed the unassuming figure who took Nami, he tried to open his mouth to speak. Everything went quiet, even the howling wind, and he tilted forward into the doctor's fur. The little arm immediately wrapped around him and he felt vibrations, like the creature was talking-a lot.

Then the arms suddenly filled out like he was being held by a very muscular, furry human and he felt the wind disappear as he was covered. The creature was talking still, now jogging.

Luffy, Luffy and Sanji are out there. Luffy won't make it. Sunny wasn't sure if he managed to speak out loud but he felt more vibrations from the creature and being shifted. There was maneuvering as well, and dragging, for how long, Sunny didn't know as his consciousness faded.

It must have only been for a second because the next thing he knew, he was waking up. He felt colder than before, but in the end, he'd felt numb and burning. The air was sharper than cooking vodka. And he was covered in bandages, laying on something soft and moving...

He opened his eyes even as the movement around him provided a muffled image.

The strange human reindeer was holding him in one arm and measuring ingredients with his other. He didn't notice Sunny until he squirmed, then he nearly dropped the beaker he was holding. "Oh, he moved-thank goodness!" Then like he suddenly remembered something, is voice got quiet, almost nervous. Sunny felt himself get shuffled and a large hand touch his forehead. "Temperature's coming up, too! Good. I was really concerned when you weren't responding!"

Sunny closed his eyes, trying to concentrate past the pounding behind his eyes and the numbing weariness that came with so completely overusing his abilities. He didn't think the dryness in his throat would let him speak, even if the reindeer could understand him, even if he had words to say.

He couldn't recall-just glimpses of the figure-it talking to him, maybe evolving, and Sunny was left alone in the cold...it was the coldest day he could remember in Pecha Cove and Vesper was really sick and dad...was really worried, right? And his little brother, Red, was hurt? But...had Pecha Cove ever snowed? He saw pink and white in his mind's eye-a pecha in the snow? His head spun even with closed eyes. He was shifted from his muddled thoughts when something touched his mouth. A moment later, he felt a trickle of warm water and opened his eyes to see the reindeer was giving him water through a large eyedropper. He drank gratefully, feeling enough for a moment to try and speak.

"Where am I?" He was drawing a complete blank on what happened and how he got there.

"Oh, you are awake-I wasn't sure. You almost didn't make it, but I knew you were going to be okay because your friends told me you were really tough. Can you open your eyes?"

Sunny didn't move, gazing blearily at the doctor. He focused on making sure he'd understood the last sentence. ...Yes?

When the reindeer didn't get a response he went on, a little disheartened. "Do you remember, you made it all the way up here to the castle so your friends could be treated. I went back to look for you but you'd made it up by yourselves."

"Oh," Sunny said, trying to catch up. There was a slight creak of a bed across the room.

"Is that Sunny?" A hoarse voice asked in a wince.

"Don't sit up!"

"Chopper, can I see him? I don't think he understands."

Sunny was moved to a bed, by the side of someone's supine form A moment later, something warm and heavy was on his head, scratching his scalp, behind his ears and base of his skull all at once. It grounded him somewhat as he relaxed into the touch. It felt nice, familiar, the same memory of the kitchen, a pan smoking as vodka was poured onto the vegetables with a loud hiss-flambé, Sanji's kitchen. And when the hand pulled away, it was sunflower yellow hair Sunny saw with a curled eyebrow-he pushed his head forward into the retreating hand with an affectionate nudge, soft nose tickling the chef's calloused palm. Sanji chuckled and scratched Sunny's head with his pointer finger. "Hey there, buddy. You were in shock for a minute there, you alright?"

"Quu..." Sunny purred gently.

"Wow, Sanji, you're really good with animals!"

Sanji smiled lightly. "I would say-that he's good with us."

Sunny turned to the reindeer, Chopper, with a sudden realization. "There was another reindeer, right? I talked to him." Was this a castle of reindeer? There at least three weren't there? Unless the previous one had evolved, but it was somehow speaking to Sanji? Sunny turned to look at Sanji when Chopper just looked at him in puzzlement. "Another reindeer took Nami, where is she?"

Sanji nodded as if he understood. "He wants to know how the others are doing."

Chopper frowned. "He said that? I can understand animals but I just hear him repeating a few syllables. Is there a pattern?"

"No, there really isn't-last week 'quil-quil' meant 'there's not enough hot sauce in my matcha' and just now, he used it to ask about the rest of the crew. He's impossible, but you can tell sometimes by how he says it," Sanji sounded a bit confused himself. This was one of the first premonitions of understanding the fire shrew and he suddenly understood the occasional communication euphonies the others got. Were they picking up tone and body language or was there something more? Sanji was pulled from his thoughts as the unlikely doctor suddenly remembered the question and gave Sunny the same information Sanji had demanded when he first woke up.

"Your friends are resting. Nami- well she's really sick from a bite from a Kestia bug we thought was extinct. If Doctorine hadn't been able to make an antidote-" the doctor bit his lip before continuing "but she should be recovered fully within a week! Oh, and, you"-Chopper gestured to Sunny- "your body was actually slowly burning off the virus, your waking temperature was too high to host the disease. It would have only affected you like normal when you were sleeping a lot. Depending on how much you were up, you likely would have eventually recovered. Nami on the other hand…" The doctor trailed off. "But Doctorine was able to synthesize a more effective serum from the blood sample we took. Sanji broke ribs and had a concussion like you, and your other friend was exhausted and had frostbite. He-actually, he was eating and his sleep and he tried to eat me before my yelling woke him up." Chopper shuddered.

Sanji and Sunny blinked in surprise. "He stopped trying to eat you when he woke up?" Chopper let out a shriek of fear at the implication and cowered next to a table leg for a moment before gathering up his doctor persona again when Sanji asked another question.

"You said 'Doctorine' she's the one who healed us? The townspeople called her a witch." Sanji said.

"Doctorine is resting right now, but yes she made the anti-virus, she's an incredible doctor!"

"And the coup that happened the other day?"

"Several months ago Whapol was the king of this island but was driven off. Three days ago he showed up again his army defeated the townsfolk in Big Horn. A-a lot of people got hurt. But Doctorine and I are the only doctors on the island. It used to be full of them but he exiled all but the twenty best."

"Where are the others then?"

"He kept them for himself. And if any of the people wanted their services, they would have to grovel at Whapol's feet and pay all they had for their services." Chopper explained. Sanji ground his teeth. "Doctorine refused. He wants to take over the castle, and after his own exile, it seems like most of the doctors left him. So he wants this castle back and he wants Doctorine under his service. But Doctorine had me break the gondola and snap the cable so he hasn't been able to get here. He's given Doctorine one more day to decide to serve him and by the time he gets the castle, if we don't give it up, he's gonna take it by force, and Doctorine will…" Chopper buried his face in his hands. He carefully wiped at his eye with his arm.

They were interrupted by a low gurgling noise Sanji and Chopper realized had been from the quietest participant of the conversation. The shrew pokemon's head perked up as he was startled by his stomach's growl.

"Sunny, are you hungry?" Sanji asked.

"I am!" Sunny realized cheerily.

Sanji gave him a bright smile. "Good, I'll just-" He winced, a second before Chopper changed to his larger form and pushed him down again gently.

"Don't move! I can get something for him, but well-what is he?" Chopper blushed and covered his mouth after realizing what he had said could have come off as rude. Sunny looked to Sanji to explain for him.

"We aren't quite sure but he has fire power and definitely isn't a normal animal."

"But you...isn't he a monster? And you all treat him like a friend? Why?" Chopper said in an even more meek voice. Sunny noted Chopper was saying it as if it were a bad thing, but he was a pocket monster, so Chopper was the closest anyone had ever come to naming him. Sunny nodded his head eagerly. Chopper didn't catch Sunny's affirmation as his hooves covered his eyes in bashful nervousness.

Sanji frowned slightly, but finding no ill intent, he sighed and relaxed back into the bed. Sunny settled back and laid his head down, pressing against his leg. We really put too much on Luffy and Sunny's shoulders this time, Sanji scratched his chin in thought. I'll have to cook them the best feast they'd ever had as thanks for protecting Nami-swan.

"You would have to ask our captain about all that but yeah, from what I understand, everyone on the crew was freaked out when they first found a blue rodent had stowed away. But he's smart and brave, he wants to help Luffy achieve his dream, and he can even fight. By the time I joined the crew, he was more or less a crewmate. Not to say he isn't a handful, but he's more mature than Marimo. Anyone who sticks by us like he does-is nakama, that's what our captain would say, anyway. He probably is some kind of monster, though."

Chopper pulled his hooves from his face, his eyes watering. "I-I'll go get him some food," he said, running off.

Frankly, I'm pretty stoked about this next chapter, and some real Chopper and Sunny bonding, so don't expect to be waiting too long for an update!

Let me know what you think-things have been going much different than in canon on Drum.