Chapter 9:

Drum Island (Part 2)

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Amy muttered as she and the rest of her traveling companions came to a stop just inside of a clearing, the blizzard finally lightening enough for the group to see their surroundings. Spread throughout the clearing were a whole troop of white rabbits, through these creatures had massive, razor-sharp teeth and the body shape of bears. These, as opposed the one that had taken a small chunk out of dinosaur-Coby's flank, were clearly full-grown lapans standing on two feet.

"I think it's worse than that," Sanji offered, gesturing with the hand that wasn't holding Carue toward the biggest of the lapans. This one stood a whole head taller than the others and had a scar stretching over one eye and down over its cheek. Not only that, but a smaller lapan with a blood-soaked chin was clinging to its leg. It made an odd 'graaahhh!' sound, pointing toward the pirates. "Something tells me we've already pissed them off."

"So, uh…" Coby began, still very aware of the wound in his side. "To be fair, we were attacked first. It was self-defense."

The lapan in the lead narrowed its eyes, its scowl deepening. It blinked slowly.

"If you want to stop us, I'd like to see you try," Amy growled, rapidly increasing her mass. The sudden shift cratered the ground below her, staggering a few of the lapans, though most didn't seem phased by the show of power in the least.

"If they won't move, then we'll have to make them move," Luffy commented, him and Amy stepping ahead of those carrying the sick. They were mirrored by a pair of lapans, the two indistinguishable from each other save for a scar on each, the scars mirror images of each across one cheek. For the sake of distinguishing, we'll call them Left Scar and Right Scar.

"Here they come," Coby warned as Left Scar and Right Scar charged, each launching toward their respective opponent with a single leap. Luffy dove to side, Left Scar landing where he'd been with a cloud of snow. Amy, on the other hand, chose to tank the blow coming toward her, crossing her arms as Right Scar's paw crashed into her forearms.

"You wanna fight with mass?" the blonde demanded, pushing the lapan away. The former agent cocked a fist back as the creature's momentum dug two furrows in the snow. "I'll give you mass! Master Fist!"

Amy's increased-mass punch cratered the ground where Right Scar had been, the bunny-like beast jumping away only moments before the impact. It landed nearby, beady red eyes narrowing at its foe. Clearly, this human would be more trouble than they had expected.

Nearby, Left Scar was having similar thoughts, being forced to dodge several stretchy punches courtesy of the human captain. Luffy pulled his arms back when it was clear his attack had missed, the fighters circling each other. The human's mouth curved downward, trying to rub some warmth back into his knuckles.

"Man, you rabbits are lucky," the teen complained. "You've got all that fur to keep you warm, but I get cold when I punch the snow. I wish I had fur."

"Groaaww," the beast rumbled, though Luffy could not tell if it was a response to his comment.

"Well, either way, I need you to get out of our way. We have sick friends and you're making us waste time." Luffy charged forward, jumping in a flip to attack with a call of "Gum-Gum Battle Ax!"

Left Scar, however, would have none of that, stepping out of the way of the rubber foot. Showing a level of intelligence many animals did not, the lapan grabbed the leg before it could return, pulling Luffy toward its fist. Luffy's face slammed into the creature's paw, the lapan dropping the human into the snow thereafter. Believing the human to be finished, Left Scar turned to provide some help to its companion fighting Amy only to stop when a hand wrapped around its ankle.

"We aren't done yet," Luffy grinned.

On the other side of the clearing, Amy was floating over Right Scar, her legs kicking at the lapan blocking their way. Though Amy's stature was considerably shorter than the native creature, her ability to float was an advantage Right Scar had not figured out how to counter yet. Amy was using this difference to its utmost potential, raining kicks down on the lapan without mercy.

"Get! Out! Of! Our! Way!" the blonde demanded, each word punctuated with the decent of a snow boot. The lapan growled out something Amy suspected was not a child-friendly word in its language, keeping its forearms up to protect its face. Right Scar's eyes narrowed, swiping a paw at the floating woman. As it expected, she retreated into the air, out of its range. The lapan was not daunted by this fact, having predicted it would happen.

Because of its forethought from how the last few minutes of the fight had gone, Right Scar waited until Amy was coming back down to make its move, lashing out with a left hook that caught the woman in the gut.

"Amy/Amy-chwan!" Coby and Sanji yelled as the blonde was launched across the clearling, slamming into and through several trees.

"Guh," the kilo-woman coughed, pushing a fallen tree off herself. A trail of red dripped from the side of her mouth. "That hurt, you bastard."

"How dare you hurt a woman!" Sanji raged, a fire lighting in his visible eye. "You bastard! When I get my feet on you-!"

"Gum-Gum Hammer!" Luffy's voice interrupted, the captain's twisted arms slamming Left Scar on top of Right Scar, leaving both in a daze. Sanji chews on his cigarette as Luffy walked over to them, wiping his hands and laughing with a smile.

"That was fun."

"I am conflicted," the cook muttered, considering it wasn't him that avenged the spilled blood of the beautiful woman.

"Animal caught me off guard," Amy complained, wiping her mouth as she reached them. "I guess I'm got some way to go before I can hold my own against this crew."

"I think we have more immediate problems," Coby warned, backing toward them. His words alerted his crewmates to the rest of the pack (herd… fluffle?), the rest of the fluffle of lapans that had surrounded them during the fight.

"Hehe," Grace giggled from Coby's back. "Warm red mix with cool whites. Wanna paint bunnies."

"We beat your champions," Luffy frowned, falling beck into a fighting stance. "What more do you want?"

"Screw this!" the chocolatier shouted, jumping into the air while lowering her mass. "If they won't give us a way, then I'll make us one! Ten Thousand Kilogram Press!"

"Amy, wait!"

But Coby's warning fell on deaf ears as the newest member of their crew dropped, cratering the ground and crushing one of the lapans that was between them and the mountain they needed to climb. There was silence for a moment, even the howling of the wind pausing in the wake of the woman's attack. Lapans glanced at each other before as one unit, they turned away and started running.

"Yeah, how about that!" Amy taunted. "That'll teach you to get in our way."

"You idiot!" Coby yelled.

"Shut up, you shitty dino!" Sanji bit back. "You should never insult a woman!"

"Well this woman just triggered an avalanche, stupid cook!" Coby shouted, rounding on Sanji with a line one would have expected from Zoro. "We need to-"

The ground shook, cutting Coby off as the rumble of falling snow grew in the distance.

"Everyone, run!" Luffy ordered, the four pirates booking it away from the sound. Had Nami been with them, she could have felt the air pressure change as the coming snow pressurized the air around them, but all the pirates present could sense was the wall of white that was starting to gain on them.

"I blame you!" Coby accused, side-eyeing Amy as she hooked her umbrella's handle on one of his horns, hitching a ride.

"That's fair," she conceded.

"There's a big rock ahead!" Sanji cut in, pointing toward said rock with his free hand. "Higher ground should help!"

"Getting in front of it would be better!" Luffy advised, his mind remembering many times back on Mount Corvo where getting in front of a rock saved him and his brothers, like the time with the snakes. Or the one with the gators. Or that time in the river. Snow works like animals and water, right?

"The snow is on my tail!" Coby warned, literally feeling the first splashes of snow on his tail, though the main body of the avalanche had yet to reach them.

Considering they did not have time to argue about how "brilliant" Luffy's plans could be, the pirates did as he said without question, leaping in front of the rock. Luffy, not being weighted down, was the first to arrive, shoving his back against their new buffer to make room. Sanji followed, shoving himself behind his captain as Coby hopped down from the top of the rock, shifting into his human form as he did. Luffy reached out, catching Gin, as Coby twisted around to do the same for Grace. In his moment of adrenaline, however, Coby had forgotten about his third passenger, the horn that she had hooked her umbrella to shrinking into nonexistence to leave her in the air.

"Amy-chwan!" Sanji yelled as the snow arced over the rock, the weightless chocolatier only having enough time for her face to show surprise and shift into anger before the wave of snow hit her.

"Pinky, you bas-!" The rest of her insult was drowned out as she was ingulfed in the avalanche, the thundering snow leaving a protective pocket around the three travelers.

"Amy!" Coby and Luffy cried, the latter grabbing Sanji before the all-but-burning chef could storm into the show after her.

"Shit!" Coby cursed, tucking Grace against himself as she shivered in his arms, keeping half an eye on the snowy waterfall as if his action would prompt the kilo-woman to suddenly reappear.

"Let go of me, you shitty rubber!" Sanji howled, fighting against Luffy's insane grip. "I need to go save her!"

"Amy's tough," Luffy shot back, also eyeing the snow. "I'm sure she'll be fine, but we have to push forward or Gin, Grace, and Carue might not make it."

"…Dammit," the chef hissed, chewing on his cigarette, his care for the sick in immediate danger warring against his chivalry telling him to go find the woman who would, in all likelihood, be totally fine considering her powers. Vivi had entrusted him with Carue's wellbeing, after all, and he could not let her down.

The avalanche slowed to a stop a couple minutes later, the last few dregs falling on the group like a cold blanket. Shaking themselves free, the trio and their charges gave a cursory glance around for Amy and renewed their trek toward the castle.

"Home sweet home," Wapol breathed, taking in the perpetually-cold winter air of Drum while systematically ignoring the sounds of battle dying around him. Off to either side, peasants who had tried to stop his arrival lay dead or dying, the more clever of the bunch falling one by one to his aides and soldiers. As the king studied the white expanse of his homelands, the landscape was marred by the dark form of a fleeing peasant. How dare he, leaving without bowing to his king!

"Chess!" Wapol yelled, pointing one finger at the retreating form. The archer nodded, knocking a single arrow before releasing it. The arrow flew true even in the wind, lodging into the back of the peasant. The man fell, his dark coat and the spreading pool of red below ruining the perfect white of the scene.

"Target terminated, Your Grace," Chess bowed, no sign of discomfort for the man he'd just shot down. "All rebels have been dealt with."

"That's what they get!" Wapol laughed, kicking a body by his foot. "They dare try to prevent me from returning to my own kingdom? I'm gone for only a few months and suddenly they think they own the place! The only appropriate punishment for such insolence in death!"

"Right you are, Your Majesty," Kuromarimo agreed. "No man may rule this land but you. It is your right."

"Exactly! Now someone fetch Robson for me! It is time my people know I have returned!"

"There," Nami nodded, tying off a final knock that should keep the Merry from floating away and all the stuff on her deck from blowing off in the winter island's strong winds. "How are things looking, Usopp?!"

"I've got good news and bad news," the sniper responded from his place in the crow's nest. "The good news is that we're a lot closer to Dalton's village than our last spot. We might be able to make it in 15 minutes of we hurry!"

"And what's the bad news?"

"That Wapol guy is here and it looks like he's taken out the group that was watching the river. I-" Usopp cut himself off, turning away from where he was watching the so-called king in the distance with his binoculars. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Now is not the time for one of your fake diseases, Usopp," the navigator warned.

"It's not that," the man responded, doing his best to fight down the bile in his throat. "Wapol's men slaughtered the islanders. I-I just watched one die."

That announcement quickly soured the mood, Usopp silent as he climbed down the rigging.

"If that's true, then we need to get to town and warn everyone before Wapol get there."

"How?" Usopp asked. "Carue is the fasted one out of all of us and he's both sick and not here."

"I guess we just have to run," Nami answered. "You and I are both pretty fast and we can't just let that moron ruin everything on this island while our crewmates are sick. Let's go!"

Satisfied that they had all the plan they could given the circumstances, the pair disembarked and started off in the direction of the village. Luckily for them, the village was, as Usopp had said, much closer than before.

"Dalton!" Nami and Usopp yelled, both out of breath as they arrived at the village some time later. Villagers stopped, confused, as the pirates caught their breath. Nami walked up to the closest one as soon as she could, pointing a finger in his face.

"You, where is Dalton? We need to talk to him."

"He's in the town square," the nameless villager answered. "I don't know what your rush is, but I hope it's not that important. He's in the middle of training."

"Come on, Usopp!" Nami didn't give the native any thanks as she and her companion headed deeper into the village. Though Big Horn looked smaller on a map and in the distance, it seemed much larger once one got into it. The pirates were forced to ask for direction a couple more times before they finally arrived.

"One and two!" Dalton's booming voice ordered as the pair finally arrived at the town square, a dozen men of the village in a vague box shape as they mirrored Dalton's movements, the man himself on a small hill by a tree where his primary weapon, a staff topped with a fan-like blade, rested. The pirates assumed it was some sort of fighting style kata, but none they were familiar with. "Three and four! Keep it up! Wapol will return one day and we must be ready!"

"Maybe we shouldn't burst his bubble," Usopp commented, beginning to back out of the square. "I mean, maybe Wapol will decide to just go away on his own."

"Dalton!" Nami yelled, ignoring every word the sniper stammered in objection. Her shout caused the ragtag class to faulter, the dozen students and Dalton turning to the navigator.

"You're one of the pirates," Dalton stated, his eyes narrowing. His hand reached for his weapon, just in case he would need it. "You said you'd stay on your ship. Why are you here?"

"We have a problem. Wapol's here and he's killed all the guys you left at the river. He's on his way now."

"He's back?" one of the rookies hissed, a mix of fear and despair multiplying amongst the students.

"We're just getting back on our feet," another bemoaned.

"He's here already?" Dalton muttered. "Shit. We aren't ready. How long do we have?"

No sooner had Dalton asked than a scream pierced the air, everyone in the square jerking to look the direction it came from. The scream was followed by a massive crash.

"What are you waiting for?!" Dalton yelled, snapping the townsfolk from their stupor. "We must defend the village!"

Practicing what he preached like a true leader, Dalton tightened his grip on his weapon and ran, exiting the square before most could react.

"Good, they know," Usopp nodded. "We can leave it to them now."

"Come on, you coward," Nami responded, grabbing the sniper by the scruff of his coat and dragging him along as she joined the swarm of other defenders.

"Dalton!" the excited voice of Wapol shouted as the group rounded a corner to find both men facing each other. Though Dalton was tense and ready to fight, the former king was relaxed, chewing on something from atop his furry hippo. The building next to him, a two-story house that probably belonged to the family cowering across the street with Wapol's guards holding swords at their throats, had a massive chuck missing, as if the man had taking several bites out of it himself. "Dalton, it's good to see you! I guess you kept the country going while I was gone. Good. It would be really annoying if I had to watch the people rebuild everything."

"You are not welcome here," Dalton growled, aiming his weapon at the rotund royal. "Leave and never come back."

"How dare you say such things to your sovereign king!" Chess yelled, not nearly as excited to see the man in green. Wapol's expression soured, his smile falling into a scowl.

"You have five seconds to apologize to man and grovel for forgiveness, Dalton," Wapol frowned. "If you do, I'll consider welcoming you back as the head of the guard and not slaughter everyone in this town."

"You will do no such thing," Dalton shot back. "This island is under my protection and I will fight off anything that will harm them, including you. Your father was a man I respected. He was a real king, but you are not. This island no longer recognizes you as our ruler, so go away!"

"So that's how it is," Wapol muttered, his eyes shaded. "Then you're fired, Dalton! Men, kill him!"

Wapol's soldiers readied their weapons, but did not charge immediately. Their focus was on Dalton as the man's body twisted and grew, brown fur sprouting over his visible skin, horns growing from his scalp, and his feet shifting into hooves. Dalton glowered at the native-yet-invading army as a beast-man, the results of his Ox-Ox Devil Fruit: Model Bison. His new form caused the army to hesitate.

"You're a traitor and a scoundrel," Kuromarimo growled, advancing toward the Zoan with hair-covered fists. Chess knocked an arrow behind him, ready to back up the afro'd boxer.

"You two could never defeat me before and you won't now," Dalton growled, bringing his weapon up to preemptively cut down Kuromarimo's first attack. His blade slashed the ball of hair the man launched, both halves falling into the snow behind him. Only a moment later, the former soldier spun, his weapon spinning up to launch the boxer up and away in a spray of red.

"Kuromarimo!" Chess and Wapol yelled. The archer loosed a volley of arrows, driving Dalton back as two soldiers ran forward to drag the injured man back toward the bulk of the army.

"20 MDs!" Wapol yelled. "Get to work!"

"Start the operation!" nearly two dozen men in doctors' coats called, the men surrounding the fallen soldier. Within moments, they backed away, Kuromarimo standing as if he had never been injured in the first place.

"Now that's just not fair," Usopp complained, alerting both parties to their new audience. "Shit, they saw us!"

"Men, these citizens are traitors!" Wapol accused, pointing at the crowd. "They refused to come to the defense of their king. Shoot them down!"

"Everyone duck!" Nami yelled, herself, Usopp, and most of the villagers dropping to the snow as Wapol's loyal soldiers raised their weapons.

"No!" Dalton's shout was punctuation by gunfire and the screams of some villagers who did not react in time.

Time seemed to freeze.

"Guh," the Zoan coughed, a dribble of blood falling past his lips. He'd moved in a moment of adrenaline, planting himself between the slow citizens and soldiers, taking the bullets himself. With new holes in his arms, torso, and his left leg, the defender fell to one knee, refusing to go any lower. Even so, he was losing his strength, his Zoan transformation undoing itself.

"Dalton!" the people called, the students he'd been teaching only minutes ago rushing to guard him.

"No, stop," Dalton ordered, though his words didn't have the power they once did. He reached up, using the shoulder of the man on his left to stand. "Don't protect me. Protect yourselves."

"With all due respect, no," the human crutch grunted. "You've been protecting us all this time, so it's time we protect you. This is our town. Our island. We'd rather die than see Drum Kingdom come back."

"You fools," the Zoan muttered with an undercurrent of pride. "You damned fools. But I guess I'm the same, aren't I?"

"You're still alive and talking," Wapol grumbled, ripping a nearby mailbox out of the ground to bite into it. "Persistent people like you are the worst. Soldiers, kill them all!"

"Aaah!" Everyone flinched as one the former king's men screamed, the invading party turning as another two of their number fell in quick succession. They found a man and two women, the man holding a sword dripping with blood.

"Zoro!" Nami and Usopp grinned.

"You!" Wapol cried, pointing at the green-haired swordsman. "You're one of those pirates!"

"Oh, it's you," Zoro blinked. "Wait, this doesn't look like the castle."

"That's because we're back in Big Horn, you dumbass!" Amy yelled.

"Well, whatever," the pirate shrugged. "I could use a workout and fighting an army sounds like a good one."

(Several minutes before)

"Mr. Bushido, do you know where you're going?" Vivi questioned, hugging herself as if such an act would help her winter coat retain more heat. Zoro ahead of her did not seem bothered by the snow falling around them as he cut a tree in half only to walk through the spot it had just stood. Despite the crash and the twin sprays of snow the toppled tree caused, he made no indication that he noticed it.

"Course I know the way," Zoro assured, taking a left turn deeper in the forest of evergreens. "We're headed to the weed place the person mentioned. This is the way."

"How can you be so sure?" the princess blinked, slowly losing faith in the wayward swordsman. She had thought Nami and Coby's stories of his sense of direction were exaggerated, but the evidence to the contrary forced her to reconsider. "We should have asked for a guide."

"We don't need one," Zoro responded, getting down on one knee. He gestured forward. "Look, we're clearly on the path because we're following these footprints. The locals know the way to whatever it's called, and we just need to follow their steps."

Vivi blinked slowly, unimpressed, as the man in green rose and began moving again. What he failed to consider were the shape of the prints themselves; more specifically, the fact there were four sets of prints, two for a pair of men's boots and two for a clearly smaller woman, both respective groups exactly identical. Aggravating the point were the doubts she'd had 15 minutes ago yielding fruit in the shape of a Z-shaped slash on a fir off to their right, one she'd marked with her Peacock Slashers when they passed it the second time

That is to say: the prints were their own.

"Mr. Bushido, I don't believe this is the right direction," Vivi reaffirmed with more conviction. "Those are our footprints. We've been walking in a big circle."

"No, this is the right way," Zoro argued, pointing toward the sun. "The sun rises in the front and it's only 10, which means we need to follow the sun and the prints. That will take us to where we need to go."

Vivi blinked slowly before turning away from the green-haired swordsman, leaning against a nearby tree.

"I've entrusted the fate of my country and my people to a group of pirates run by morons," she moaned.

"Excuse-!" Zoro and Vivi stumbled as a deep rumble echoed over them, coming from the direction of the Drum Rockies.

"That was your stomach, right, Mr. Bushido?" Vivi questioned, praying to Ra, Anubis, and any other god of the Alabastian Pantheon that might listen to her.

"That wasn't me," Zoro responded, killing her hopes. Like a pair of rusted gates, the swordsman and princess turned to the mountains where an unbroken wall of white was charging toward them.

"AHHH!" the pair screamed, one voice considerably louder and shriller than the other. They turned away, pushing each other as if that would make them go faster in the end. As a result, Zoro and Vivi grabbed each other's arms as they fled from the avalanche, keeping them together.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Vivi cried to the heavens, dragging Zoro away from his collision course with yet another tree. "My first time seeing snow, and it's going to kill me?!"

She did not receive an answer and, no mater how fast the two might be, she and Zoro were not faster than the avalanche coming for them. The two barely managed to reach a river slowly winding through the forest before the falling calamity of snow engulfed them, sending both ass-over-teakettle, their entire worlds reduced to nothing but snow and cold.

Vivi was the first to emerge from the snow as it settled, sitting up with a deep gasp that resolved into a coughing fit as she cleared her lungs of the frozen water that had invaded her insides. Zoro groaned below the snow nearby as she finished, the swordsman righting himself from where he'd ended up facedown.

"That was not fun," Zoro commented as if he was caught in an avalanche every other day. For all Vivi knew, this might not have been the first time for him. "Well, at least it didn't kill us."

"Didn't kill us?" Vivi echoed. "How can you be so calm about this?! Our friends are sick and the only doctor on this island might not get to them in time because of this stupid snow and your terrible sense of direction!"

"I'm not that bad!" Zoro yelled back, clearly insulted.

"Holy shit, it's cold!" another voice shivered, Amy pulling herself out of the snow. "Damn that stupid Pinky. When I get my hands on him…"

"Amy!" Vivi blinked, rushing to the blonde's side. "Are you ok? Where did you come from? I thought you went up the mountain with the others."

"I did," the Devil Fruit user frowned. "Some stupid rabbits attacked us and the fight caused the avalanche, and then Pinky let me get caught in it."

"I'm sure didn't mean to," Vivi tried.

"Yeah, well, we're gonna beat them to the castle," Zoro boasted, still insulted at Vivi's comments about his getting lost. "Just watch! I'll get us to the castle in no time!" Without waiting for Vivi or Amy to say anything, Zoro pulled himself out of the snow and started walking.

"Hey, wait!" Vivi cried, the man forcing the blonde and the blunette to chase after him in his attempt to prove himself. "Zoro, stop! You'll get us more lost!"

The swordsman didn't respond, his drive to show that he could get places pushing him through the snow. Within minutes, buildings and other structures rose out of the horizon.

"I told you I'd find it," Zoro bragged.

"But-"

"Dalton!" a multitude of voices cried, startling the pirate and the princess. The two glanced at each other before hurrying forward, coming upon the confrontation between Wapol and his men and the villagers.

"You're still alive and talking," Wapol grumbled, ripping a nearby mailbox out of the ground to bite into it. "Persistent people like you are the worst. Soldiers, kill them all!"

"Not on my watch," Zoro frowned, unsheathing Wado Ichimonji to slice across the back of the closest soldier who screamed at the sudden pain. He cut down two more before the rest of the army turned to see him.

"Zoro!" Nami and Usopp grinned.

"You!" Wapol cried, pointing at the green-haired swordsman. "You're one of those pirates!"

"Oh, it's you," Zoro blinked. "Wait, this doesn't look like the castle."

"That's because we're back in Big Horn, you dumbass!" Amy yelled.

"Well, whatever," the pirate shrugged. "I could use a workout and fighting an army sounds like a good one."

"You dare stand against us?" Kuromarimo questioned. "We are the guards of King Wapol of Drum Kingdom! You will fall agains-!"

"Screw this, I'm not dealing with a crazy hippo like that," Wapol complained, grabbing Chess and Kuromarimo just as the rumbling of the avalanche reached them. The king hoisted them up onto Robson and kicked his sides, the fluffy hippo crying out before running past the trio away from the coming snow.

"King Wapol!" the 20 MDs called, but the ruler ignored them and their plight, leaving them and his army behind.

"Hold it!" Amy yelled, jumping to get in the way Wapol and Robson, increasing her mass as she did to act as a roadblock, but the hippo, in an unexpected twist, extended its legs to jump over her before the blonde could react.

"Avalanche!" a villager cried, snow swallowing buildings and people as it thundered through the streets. Amy jumped, decreasing her mass to float over the snow, her eyes widening.

"How…?" the former agent questioned, forgetting about the king who had avoided her. Logically, they should not have arrived in Big Horn before the avalanche did, but it was only arriving now. It didn't make any sense! Unless… could Zoro's lack of direction actually bend time? As the contemplated and questioned, the snow below her settled into a flat sheet of white broken only by the tops of buildings and trees. "I hope everyone's ok."

"Why are we doing this again?!" the angry voice of the princess demanded, her head of blue hair popping out of the snow. "That's twice I've been in an avalanche in the past few minutes and I'm not happy about it!"

"Yeah, they're ok," Amy decided, settling onto the snow beside the princess so lightly that said princess jumped.

"Don't do that!" Vivi demanded, taking a swing at the blonde who ducked. The others under the snow started to move, their groans and complaints compounding into a cacophony of movement. "What happened to Wapol?"

"The snow caught him and his aides outside of town, but I don't think that will keep them down." Amy blinked, the populous of the town going into a frenzy, digging through the snow in search of someone. "What's with them?"

"You have got to be kidding me," Sanji frowned, himself, Luffy, and Coby staring up the vertical cliff face of the tallest of the Drum Rockies. The 90-degree slope was riddled with ledges barely a fingers-width wide and the wind howling past them did nothing to assure them the rocks and snow would feel good. "That's one big-ass mountain."

"How are we supposed to get up there?" Coby questioned, shivering in the frosty wind that blew past them. "Dalton said it was the tallest mountain on the island. If the castle is up there, then there's no way they climbed up every time. There has to be another way."

"But we don't have time to find another way," Luffy scowled, staring up the mountain as if it would bend for him by sheer force of will. What light forced its way through Drum Island's ever-present clouds was already fading into the evening. With it went what latent heat the light offered, the pirates noting subconsciously that staying in the open at night would be a risk they couldn't afford. "And what is there isn't another way and Gin, Grace, and Carue die because we went looking? No, we're doing this, impossible or not."

"Still, I can't even try to climb like this," Coby commented, causing his captain to realize the roset was still in his Zoan form. Luffy let out a short laugh, taking Gin from the triceratops' back so Coby could turn human to carry Grace. Together, the two worked to secure their respective passengers, each taking one of Coby's scabbards to act as straps. before Luffy approached the mountain for the second time. He reached forward, grabbing a ledge above his head to begin their impossible task.

Sanji growled, staring at his free hand that wasn't holding Carue as his need to keep his hands from danger warred with his chivalry to uphold his promise to Vivi. Sighing, he decided that, at the worst, he'd be dead or still have one hand, which would be a price he would pay if it meant protecting Vivi's smile. And maybe he could get a kiss from Amy for his bravery! Women think men with scars and damage are attractive, right? His questionable logic cemented, Sanji followed in Luffy's example, kicking the wall to plant his feet to compensate for only using one hand.

Not having nearly as much training as Luffy or Sanji, even if Zoro was doing a damn-near attempt to make him catch up, Coby couldn't make the climb with only his hands. Taking stock of his personal options and studying the cliff, the Zoan noted that the Drum Rockies seemed to be made of stacked, chipped, and exposed sedimentary rocks, meaning each layer had some space. Praying his plan worked – and that Zoro would never learn the details despite the fact that it seemed like something he would do anyway – Coby drew his Sabaku no Kiba and drove them into the cliff between the layers. Using his weapons as improvised climbing handles, the young swordsman drove the swords into the cliff and pulled himself up, one step at a time.

"Ow," Grace moaned, still drifting between wakefulness and unconsciousness. Hearing her voice for the first time since their trek began resolidified his resolve.

They climbed for what felt like hours, but with only the howling wind and the growing pain in their muscles contested by the numbing cold, they had no way of knowing how high they were or how long they climbed, rising one step at a time. The higher they went, the more the wind and snow tried to force them back down. Blood dripped from their fingers as the rough stone wares away their gloves, freezing on contact with the outside cold.

"Captain?!" Coby yelled, his hands all but frozen to his swords. "Can you tell how much further?"

"I think we're almost there!" Luffy yelled back, though he had no idea how far they had come or how much further they needed to go. His response distracted him from the climb, the next ledge Luffy reached for not as sturdy as the others. It broke under his grip, the rubber-man's fingers carving bloody trenches into the cliff until he came to a stop almost 20 feet below.

"Luffy/Captain!" Sanji and Coby shouted, unable to do anything to help. "Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine! Keep going!"

That incident was the closest of several close calls, each threatening not only their lives, but the lives of their sick crewmates, and that was not something the pirates would accept. Every passing minute brought them closer to the peak of the mountain or their collective demise, whichever it may be shrouded by the haze of snow. Finally, the shadow of the peak formed out of the snowcloud.

"There it is," Coby panted, his arms shaking worse than any workout Zoro has ever put him through. His eyelids were frozen open, a small comfort considering that if he shut them, he might fall asleep. Sanji wasn't much better, his teeth chattering behind his blue lips.

With Luffy in the lead, the trio pulled themselves over the edge, rolling onto their sides with their charges safely away from the edge, or in the case of Coby, on top of them as he formed a human barrier between Grace and the snow on the ground.

Sanji and Coby were already asleep, or at least, Luffy hoped they were asleep since he couldn't hear their breathing over the wind. His own vision was starting to fade as his muscles screamed. Something moved, Luffy hoping that whatever or whoever it was is friendly.

"H-Help… them," Luffy pleaded, reaching for the figure. "They're sick. Please, help…" Darkness finally engulfed him, the pirate's hand falling to the snow.

The figure, a mass of brown fur taller than any of the now-unconscious pirates, stared at the group in shock, approaching slowly as if cautious that they were only faking inactivity. This caution, however, was tossed out the window as the figure's eyes fell on Gin, Grace, and Carue, each panting and sweating despite the freezing temperatures.

"Chopper!" a woman's voice called from somewhere behind. "What is it?!"

"Patients!" the humanoid called back. "I think they climbed up the cliff!"

"What?! That shouldn't be possible! That's a three-mile climb!"

"But they're here! What do we do?"

"…Bring them in," the woman responded after a moment's hesitation. "We'll question them after they're healed."

"Yes, Doctorine."

The first thing Grace noticed as she started to wake was the painful pounding in her head to the beat of her own heart. Her hands rose, pressing her palms against her forehead in an attempt to ease the pain, only for her fingers to poke a bag of ice resting on her head. Knowing it was there allowed her to relax a little. Through the pain, Grace vowed to make a paint to kill pain, but that would have to wait.

The pain meant she was still alive. If she was still alive, that meant that someone brought her to a doctor who agreed to care for her. Where she was, however, was still a mystery to the young-looking teen. Taking the bag of ice off her head, the teen sat up to look around the room.

She was tucked into a bed while dressed in her normal clothes, though her hat, smock, and shoes were missing and her hair had come out of its usual twin braids. Her smock was resting on a nightstand beside the bed, Similarly, her shoes waited beside the bed on the floor. Her hat, however, was nowhere to be seen and she hoped it was back on the Merry.

Natural light poured in from a window to her left, lighting the room's gray, stone walls and floor, though much of the walls were hidden by bookshelves between two doorways. Next to one of the doorways to her right, the one without an door at all, was a desk covered in medical supplies and a single, open book. Grace's bed was closer to the middle of the room, a bed to her left holding the sleeping for of Gin. Based on the bag of ice on his head, he was sick as well. His coat and tonfa sat on a table on his other side. In the corner sat Vivi's duck, snoozing away on top of a blanket.

Finally, the most notable thing in the room – to her – was the pink hair resting at the base of her bedside. Coby was still dressed for the cold, his head resting on the sheets by her hip, close enough for her to touch. His head rested on his arms, his breathing slow. Considering his current state, he wasn't sick, so he must have been one of the ones to bring her here. Confusion bubbled in Grace's stomach, no one except her parents or Amy ever having sat at her bedside, much less gone to such lengths for her. It was a foreign feeling; one she would have to devote some thought to understanding in the future. Idly, she noted that even with the ability to cause emotions in others, Baroque Works had still stunted her own, apparently.

Her ears catching the rhythmic pitter-patter of feet on stone, Grace allowed her assassin's experience to take over, laying back into her bed to feign sleep and replace the bag of ice as if she were still out of it. She waited with her eyes closed as the footsteps walked up to and stopped at her bedside, checking her heartrate and temperature. Making a sound to themselves, the doctor moved to Gin's bedside.

Now that the focus was not in her, Grace opened one eye to study the one whom their crewmates had entrusted them. The first thing she noticed was that the creature was not human, though her experience in the Grand Line caused this to only be a mild surprise. They were about three feet tall and covered in brown fur, walking on two legs and each appendage ending with a small hoof. A pair of antlers sprouted out of a pink tophat, the creature's left antler apparently held on by a small, metal band. The creature was shirtless, but wore a pair of maroon shorts with a small tail sticking out of the back, and a lucky turn showed the creature's blue nose. The medically-trained animal – the result of Devil Fruit BS, probably – checked Gin's pulse as Grace silently studied it.

Gin shifted, the animal doctor freezing in place as the pirate sat up, blinking slowly while his back of ice fell into his lap. His unfocused gaze settled on the creature.

"A tanuki?"

"I'm a reindeer, you jerk!"

Of course it was a reindeer, Grace wanted to say, though she kept silent. Racoon-dogs don't have antlers. Obviously.

"Oh… ok." Gin relaxed in the way only someone not totally aware of their surroundings could, quickly falling back asleep. The deer stared at him carefully, eyes brimming with caution and curiosity.

"Ugh," Coby moaned at her bedside, the sound making the deer jump, scrambling to hide. Grace closed her eyes again, listening carefully. "Ow, my neck. Oh, Chopper, good morning."

"It's not morning!" the creature – Chopper – responded. "And don't talk to me so easily! We aren't friends, you jerk!"

"Are you here to check on them? How are they?"

"Their vitals are stabilizing," Chopper answered. "It's clear that Doctorine's medicine is working. There isn't anything else we can do except let them rest."

"Thank you for all your help." Grace could almost hear Coby bowing.

"Your thanks doesn't make me happy, you idiot~!"

Grace sighed, slowly shifting as she faked waking up. The first thing she saw was Coby's expectant face, his eyes a little unfocused since he wasn't using his powers. Chopper was down at the foot of her bed, most of his body sticking out while his tow hands and one antler were behind the baseboard.

"Grace! Are you ok? How do you feel?"

"Like Mr. 3 beat my head with a wax hammer," Grace answered slowly. "What happened? Where are we?"

"We're in Drum Castle on Drum Island. You, Gin, and Carue all got sick, you we found this island and carried you all up here to Doctorine. It's been a few hours since we got here."

"It's was Doctorine's medicine that cured your infection," Chopper offered, still failing to properly hide. "Actually, she'll want to know that you're awake."

Like a bat out of hell, Chopper ran from the room, calling for Doctorine as he went.

"Shut up, Chopper!" a woman's voice yelled from the direction the deer had run. The voice's owner walked through the door with Chopper on her heels. She was an old woman with graying hair and a hooked nose dressed in clothes unbefitting of her age. She had two pairs of glasses on her, one a pair of sunglasses and the other for reading. Her gaze settled on Grace, bypassing Coby. "You're awake already, huh? I'm this island's doctor, Kureha, and you're in my castle. How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thank you."

"You're insanely lucky, you know? The infection you, scruffy, and the duck here had was known as the Five-Day Disease carried by only the supposedly-extinct Kestia beetle. Based on how bad you were when you came in, you were on the third day. If you'd gone to any other doctor, you wouldn't have made it." Kureha walked over, grabbing Grace by the hand to show the ugly purple bruise that covered the back of her right hand. "This is the bug bite that almost killed you."

Grace paled as she realized just how close she came to death.

"You didn't tell us that!" Coby gaped.

"Of course I didn't!" Doctorine shot back. "I didn't need you or the other two musclebrains causing a panic. And you, girl. Where did you even manage to find a Kestia beetle? They all disappeared a hundred years ago."

"An island with other things most people think don't exist anymore," the former assassin responded.

"Really though. Where did you get bitten, an island of dinosaurs?"

"Um… yes," Grace answered sheepishly. "Giants, too."

"Dinosaurs and Giants?" Chopper asked, stars in his eyes. "That's so, so cool!"

"Don't you go getting any bright ideas, Chopper," Kureha muttered. "So prep the next dose of herbs for the patients before I use you for target practice again."

"Yes, Doctorine!" Chopper scampered out the door.

"He's sweet," Grace offered as Coby seemed to remember that he could see again, narrowing his eyes and they shifted into their dinosauric forms. He blinked, the world coming into focus. "How did you find him?"

"That's a bit of a long story," Kureha replied, dragging out a chair to sit down. "Chopper was raised by an old coot named Hiriluk who found him after he ate a Devil Fruit-"

"MEAT!" The call echoed through the castle, followed closely by Chopper's screaming and the banging and clatter of the deer being chased.

"Goda dammit, you're all supposed to be in bed," Doctorine grumbled. "How are you all able to move so much after climbing that mountain?"

"A lot of determination and too much training," Coby offered with a chuckle. "Our friends needed us. We couldn't let them down."

"If there were more people like you all in the world, there might not be as much death."

"What do you mean?"

Kureha didn't respond, studying the pair of teens as she contemplated something, even as the sounds of Chopper's panic in the hallways continued to echo.

"You lot are pirates, right?"

"Um, yes?" Grace blinked, sitting up a little straighter. "We are the Straw Hat Pirates."

"Tell me about your crew."

"Our captain, Monkey D. Luffy, will be the King of the Pirates," Coby responded without a moment's pause. "We all have big dreams, and we've chosen to follow them together. Nothing will ever tear us apart."

"Idealistic, but I can tell that you believe that. And how does your crew feel about monsters?"

"What kind of monster?" Grace asked.

"Get awaY FROM MEEEEeeeee!" Chopper's cry rose and fell as he ran past the door, Luffy's footsteps hot on his trail.

"If you mean Chopper, I wouldn't call him a monster," Coby offered with a shrug. "My teacher is a lot scarier that your apprentice, and the sorts of things we know we'll face are a lot bigger than a deer with a Devil Fruit."

Kureha mulled over the answers for a moment before letting out a hard sign, her breath condensing in the cold air.

"I have raised Chopper for long enough that there's nothing left for me to teach him. What he wants – and what he needs – cannot be found here. At the same time, there aren't a lot of people who would accept Chopper for what he is."

"Doctorine, are you telling us to take your apprentice with us?" Coby questioned.

"I'm not going to tell him to leave, and I'm not telling you to take him, but you seem let the type who will understand his story."

And so, with the deer's concerned screams in the background, Kureha told them of the man who Chopper called his father, the quack who took a monster under his wing, and the one who gave his life just to help a rotten kingdom.

"There's a hole in Chopper's heart," she finished, standing up from the chair, "one my medicines can't cure. Whether he'll accept the treatment for it is up to him. Now, if you'll excuse me." The aged doctor stepped out of the room; the castle's halls suddenly filled with her voice. "Get away from my apprentice, you morons! You're on bedrest!"

"I thought hospitals were supposed to be quiet," Coby commented, trying to ease some of the tension that had formed as he and Grace listened to the story of Doctor Hiriluk.

"Honestly, I don't know how Gin is sleeping through all this noise."

At the sound of his name, Gin muttered something in his sleep and rolled over, hugging a pillow to his chest like a child might hold a teddy bear. On the other side of the room, Chopper burst in, shutting the door behind him while trying to catch his breath. Luffy, Kureha, and Sanji all ran past the door, if their shouting was any indication.

The deer doctor and the two teenage pirates stared at each other, an awkward silence creeping over them, only broken by the quiet, dream-fueled mutterings of Gin.

"So…" Coby began. "You like pirates?"

"No!" Coby responded immediately, defensive. He crept forward, cautiously touching Coby with one hoof, eyes suspicious but curious. "You guys are pirates, right? With a flag?"

"And a ship," Coby confirmed. Chopper poked him again. "Do you want to become a pirate?"

"No, that's stupid! Not even if I wanted to! I'm a monster! I'd never be able to sail with humans."

"Who said we were all human?" Coby countered, Grace silently watching the back-and-forth the same way one watches a game of tennis. "Some of us are downright abnormal."

"What do you mean?" Chopper tilted his head, his curiosity overtaking his fear.

"For one, our captain can turn into rubber," the roset offered.

"The one that wants to eat me?"

"Yeah, he does that," Coby chuckled. "He ate a Devil Fruit when he was younger. Devil Fruits do a lot of weird things. I have one, too."

"Really?" Chopper jumped away, the suspicion returning to his eyes. "Do you want to eat me?"

"Coby's too nice for that sort of thing," Grace offered. "Besides, the dinosaur he turns into only eats plants."

"A d-dinosaur?!" the animal doctor gasped. "That's…" He caught himself, trying to suppress how impressed he was. Seeing a chance to sway Chopper even a little, Coby focused on his face, allowing his powers to take over. The reindeer watched as the human's head stretched and morphed, turning green and growing horns until he looked like a sort of prehistoric… tricera-tour? Mino-tops? Either way, he looked monstrous to any normal observer.

And that was the point. Chopper had met Dalton in passing, the only other person he'd met with a Zoan Fruit, and Coby gave him the same sense of kinship, not in the sense of one's family, but in the way of meeting someone familiar in ways no one else could understand.

"As you may have realized, I ate the Dragon-Dragon Zoan Devil Fruit: Ancient Model Triceratops, so yes; I can turn into a dinosaur. You have a Fruit, too, don't you?"

"Uh, yeah," Chopper muttered. "Some sort of human Fruit. Doctorine says there are different kinds, so we aren't sure what mine is."

"That sounds awesome," Coby admitted, Chopper giving him a shocked look. "I mean, only someone who isn't human could really use powers like that, and you became a doctor, too. That's pretty cool."

"I don't want your praise~!" Chopper danced, his words and actions not quite matching.

"See? We've got lots of monsters."

"But…" Chopper tried to protest, still unsure. "But I have a blue nose."

"You can't really think the color of your nose would deter us, do you?" Coby blinked.

"It's cute," Grace offered.

"I… Well…"

"CHOPPER!" Kureha's voice yelled, cutting him off. "YOU BETTER HAVE THOSE HERBS READY!"

"Gotta go!" the deer squeaked, hurrying away.

"I like him," Grace muttered.

"How long until Luffy starts trying to recruit him?" Coby asked.

"A day?"

"I'll give it two hours."

Dalton awoke to the comfort of his own bed, a fire crackling away in the fireplace and a dull pain in his leg. Looking around, there was nothing out of the ordinary, but still he felt like something was very wrong, the pain in his leg a very good indicator of such. Suddenly, it all came back to him.

The pirates

The avalanche.

Wapol.

Forcing himself out of bed, Dalton took note of the healing scars on his chest, but he chose to disregard both them and the pain he was in for more important matters. Shrugging on his coat and grabbing his weapon, Dalton staggered out the door.

The pirates stood just outside Dalton's home, watching as the 20 MDs patched up the citizens of Drum from whatever injuries they had received from Wapol's tirade through the town and the subsequent avalanche. From what the doctors had said, Dalton's surgery, while dangerous and rather risky since some of the bullets had not exited his body, had gone off without a hitch. They had said that the island's self-proclaimed protector wasn't due to wake up until any time after the Straw Hats left, no matter how few days that may be.

Their conversation about Luffy and the others ground to a halt as the sound of ragged breathing made its way out of the house. Dalton leaned heavily on the door frame once he reached it, the short walk from the bed to the entrance sapping most of her energy. Despite his slouched posture, his eyes were sharp, daring anyone to challenge his health.

"Dalton!" Vivi cried. "What are you doing up already? The doctors said you wouldn't be awake for another two days!" Her yelling ended up attracting the attention of several villagers who were either passing by or waiting for treatment for non-life-threatening injuries.

"No," Dalton urged, pushing off of the doorway. "I don't have time to rest. I have to stop Wapol. What kind of protector would I be if I couldn't?"

"A human one," Vivi answered in a stern voice, her hands falling to rest on her hips.

"I'm not human," the Zoan insisted.

"You are a man with a Devil Fruit, but you are not invincible. Now get back in that house."

"I can't. Not while he is still on the island."

"He went toward the mountains," Nami commented with a wave. "Even if you were in top shape, you wouldn't make it in time. Let Luffy and the others handle him."

"No! He's our problem. Not yours."

"He became our problem when he attacked our ship," Zoro rebuffed, "so we'll handle him our way."

"As much as I hate to say it, Luffy and the others can handle it," Amy huffed. "Between him, Sanji, and Pinkie, he's got enough muscle to beat that tub of lard easily."

"So you do think Coby's strong," Nami teased.

"I will throw you into the ocean,"

"Still," Dolton shook his head, "I won't, can't, rest easy until he's dealt with."

"Fine!" Usopp responded. "I, the great Captain Usopp, will carry you up the mountain, then!" Though the sniper's shout echoed through the street with an air of confidence, the knocking of his knees proved that such was a front.

"You?" Amy laughed. "My little sister could probably carry him further while she was sick than you could at full health. Kyahaha!"

"Even if we are going up the mountain" Nami spoke up, "which is only a maybe, we still don't know how to get up there."

"You could take the trolley," one of the villages commented.

"What trolley?" Dalton questioned, spinning to face the an even as he winced in pain. "There hasn't been a connected trolley since Wapol left."

"Well obviously someone reconnected one," the man shot back. "You can see it from here." He pointed. In the distance was a curved line connecting the top of the mountain to a point somewhere in the east.

"Damn," Amy hissed. "If we'd seen that earier, we could have saved ourselves so much trouble!"

Ignoring her, Zoro lifted Dalton off the ground and began carrying him off, similarly ignoring the man's protests.

"Where are you going?" Nami asked.

"The trolley," Zoro huffed. "Obviously."

"It's the other way," Usopp commented.

"What?" Zoro gasped. "Someone must have moved it."

True to their expectations, the sun had barely started to dip over the horizon when Luffy stopped yelling "Meat" and started yelling "join my crew!"

Well, the full phrase was "join my crew, monster!" which proved to be somewhat counterproductive.

"I wanna be your friend, monster, so come sail away with us!"

"Get away from me, you psycho!"

"Will those two ever shut up?" Grace whined, chewing on a rice cracker Coby had stolen from the pantry for her. Carue quacked, equally annoyed.

"I wasn't around for Luffy trying to recruit Sanji, but I hear it was something like this," Gin offered, munching on a piece of bread with meat and cheese shoved inside it. "We aren't going anywhere until Chopper gives."

"At this rate, we'll be here a while," Sanji sighed, side-eyeing the food in Gin's hand. The chef had been horrified at the order, even if Gin had called it a comfort food, but made it anyway. If it wasn't for his sense of comradery and that the former Krieg Pirate had almost died, he would have called the "pepperoni roll" an affront to food everywhere. Luckily, all three of the patients had already eaten very nutritious meals before their snacks, and that was enough to sate him.

"Yeah, you get used to this," Coby offered, pointing one thumb over his shoulder. "He'd tried to stop Luffy's enthusiasm, but to a similar lack of effect as every other attempt he'd made in the past.

"It's good to see you all doing so well," Kureha commented, leaning on the doorframe as she watched the pirates interact. "I've still got it, but now we need to cover the topic of payment."

"I was afraid of that," Gin frowned, suddenly glad and disheartened by the fact that Nami was not there. Setting her penny-pinching skills on the old doctor would be a sight to behold, but not necessarily one he wanted to see. Without her there, they were at a serious disadvantage.

The chase in the hallways came to a sudden, screeching halt followed by the sound of a rubber body being slammed into a stone wall. That several of the people in the room had heard the sound enough to learn to differentiate it from other, similar sounds spoke volumes, but that observation was overshadowed by the yelling that filled the silence.

"Doctorine! Doctorine!" Chopper called. "We have a problem! I can smell him! Wapol's back!"

"Is he now?" Kureha questioned, her expression barely shifting, as if the return of the former king were news to go alongside a particularly-rotten tomato found under the stove; foul and surprising but not unexpected. "Let's go meet him, then."

Kureha, Chopper in his Walk Point exited the castle, Luffy, Sanji, and Coby quickly joining their entourage. On the edge of the plateau, the previous king and his two advisors stood.

"Ah," they heard Wapol sigh, the metal-plated man staring at his childhood home with a smirk. "Drum Castle. It hasn't changed."

"Uh... Your Majesty?" Chess asked. "What is that flag flying?" The archer pointed toward the top of the right tower where a pirate flag with cherry blossoms flapped in the ever-present wind.

"I don't know," Wapol frowned, his good mood soured. "Whatever it is, it's ugly. Shoot it down."

"No!" Chopper yelled. Faster than anyone else could react, Luffy rushed forward.

"King Wapol!" Kuromarimo called out. "It's that Straw Hat!"

His warning came too late, however, the pirate's fist connecting with the king. The force sent Wapol tumbling into Robson, transferring his momentum to the snow hippo. The poor animal let out a long, panicked UUUUUUUh as he was sent over the edge into the snowstorm. Wapol, as concerned about the fate of his lifelong pet as he would be about stepping on an ant, simply stood, glaring at the pirate that dared to strike him. Already, a bruice was beginning to form on his face.

"You will not touch that flag," Luffy stated, cracking his knuckles. "I don't know whose it is, but a pirate's flag is a promise to risk his life for his freedom."

"You moron!" Wapol laughed. "Flags mean nothing!"

"I'll make you regret those words!"

"Captain Luffy," Coby said. "There are four of us and only three of them. We have the advantage."

"Monster and I will take Waffle."

"My name is Chopper!"

"My name is King Wapol!"

"Chopper and I will take Waffle," Luffy amended. "Sanji, take the clown guy. Coby, the other one's yours."

His orders given, Luffy shot forward once more, Chopper not that far behind in his Walk Point. Chess took aim at them, loosing a trio of arrows, but said arrows were snapped midflight courtesy of Sanji's steel-toed shoes. Coby charged the man with the afro.

"This is my opponent?" Kuromarimo asked himself, his eyes watching Coby without interest. "They send a little kid after me? I'm insulted. Kuromarimo Fluff!"

The hairy boxer punched toward the pink-haired boy, somehow releasing balls of curly black hair with each attack, but Coby sidestepped each of them easily.

"Do not underestimate me," the pirate warned, shifting into his Hybrid Mode. The king's advisor, shocked by the sudden change, only barely avoided the sword descending on him at the last second. The weapon missed his skin, but the left half of his hairstyle fell to the snow.

"You little shit!" Kuromarimo growled.

"Be careful with the insults. The last person to call me that fell into the ocean."

"Die!"

The man attacked with a flurry of hair-covered punches, Coby blockeach with his Sabaku no Kiba blades. He was lucky, his blades not able to carry any static prevented the hair from sticking, an advantage Kuromarimo seems unprepared for. Coby twisted under a right hook, swinging his tail into the boxer's side. The man grunted as the force sent him skidding backward across the snow and ice, holding his stomach. Coby took his chance.

"Five Point Style: Meteor Swords!" Pushing off the ground, Coby launched himself at his opponent, twisting himself through the air with his swords and horns pointed the same direction. Kuromarimo leapt back, taking a dangerous gamble in his attempt to avoid damage, but he still caught the tail end of the attack. One of Coby's horns stabbed into his left arm.

"Son of a hippo," Kuromarimo swore, his instinctive twist tearing a larger chuck out of his arm as he pulled away from the horn. Coby backed away slowly, blood dripping down his face where is froze again his green-scaled skin in a terrifying vison. Kurmarimo's eyes widened as he realized he had underestimated his opponent.

In response and fear, the advisor punched Coby with his good arm as fast as he could. Fueled by adrenaline, there were simply too many attacks for Coby to cut through all of them, each one that got through only opening him to more. The boy pulled away in an attempt to buy time, the hair obscuring his vision, but this was an advantage his opponent could not miss. Kuromarimo advanced, continuing to punch the dinosauric human without giving him a chance to pause.

"Ha. They thought a kid could beat me just because he had a Devil Fruit? What a joke! I'll kill you first, then I'll move on to your sick friends inside."

"You won't touch them!" Coby roared, dropping to the snow with a spin. His tail shot out, sweeping the boxer's leg out from under him as Coby jumped back, cutting the balls of hair to pieces.

"Is that so? Who's going to stop me? My king has ordered that they die, and I have sworn to do his bidding until the day I die."

Coby's hot rage cooled instantly, his voice coming out in a whisper barely heard over the wind. "Captain Luffy has a policy on killing, you know."

"What does that matter?"

"Killing is only allowed if someone specifically threatens our friends," Coby recited, rolling his wrists and cracking his neck. "I don't like it, but if you're threatening my Nakama, then I'll stop holding back. Cretaceous Charge!"

Coby sheathed his blades and crouched, his form growing into his full Dino Mode. The icy wind bit into his scales, but his focus was on the threat before him, said threat now considerably less confident. The pirate pawed the ground, letting out a roar before charging. Kuromarimo tried to deter him, but the ancient beast batted the hair attacks away with his horns since their velocity overpowered the static electricity that Kuromarimo used to get them to stick. The closer Coby got, the more fear started to swell inside of the black-haired man.

"King Wapol!" Kuromarimo cried. "Help m-!"

Coby shrunk into his Hybrid Mode just before impact, all three of his horns stabbing into Kuromarimo's chest. The man coughed blood, the red liquid splashing on the teen's face for the second time of the fight.

"Never threaten my friends," Coby growled, tossing his skewered foe with a flick of his head. Kuromarimo landed on his feet near the cliff, but his footing was unstable and his breathing was labored. Blood oozed from his wounds and stained the fresh snow, at least one, if not both, of his lungs punctured. His hands rose, red running over the skin as he fell to his knees and clutched his chest.

"You…" he coughed. "You will remember this, boy."

The snow shifted below him.

In an instant, Kuromarimo disappeared over the edge, his body vanishing into the snowstorm below. Coby watched, shrinking into his human form, as the weight of what he did carved itself into his soul.

The man had been a terrible person. He had threatened them and paid the ultimate price for it, but still, Coby could not believe what he'd done.

The roset dropped to his knees, staring into the white void where Kuromarimo had disappeared.

"I killed him," Coby whispered, his own voice like a gunshot breaking through silence, and he knew that, at some point, he would have to do this again. "I killed him."

For his Nakama, it would be a sin he would bare. To protect them, he would do anything.

"Chopper and I will take Waffle," Luffy amended. "Sanji, take the clown guy. Coby, the other one's yours." Luffy shot forward once more, Chopper not that far behind in his Walk Point. Chess took aim at them, loosing a trio of arrows, but said arrows were snapped midflight courtesy of Sanji's steel-toed shoes.

"Wh-what?" Chess questioned.

"I will be your opponent while my captain deals with your shitty king."

"You shut your mouth, peasant! Our king is greater than your sorry captain!"

"Veau Shot!" Sanji flashed forward, kicking Chess in the gut. Quickly, he backhandspringed away as the king's second advisor swiped at him with an arrow as if it were a knife. Said arrow was then notched, lit on fire through some unknown means, and fired a mere second later. Several more burning arrows followed the first, forcing Sanji to weave his way through the projectiles. He avoided any major damage but did receive some minor cuts and burns, one painful arrow cutting a gash into his left arm. Chess continued to shoot fire arrow after fire arrow.

"Dammit!" Sanji hissed, narrowly avoiding a flaming arrow to the knee. "How many damn arrows do you have?!"

"Like I'd tell you," the archer spat. Sanji, having had enough, spun through another pair of arrows and rushed forward for another attack.

"Slice Shoot!" he declared, his leg hooking the bow and tearing it from Chess' hands.

"Shit!" Chess hissed, the bowstring tearing into his fingers as it was ripped away from him. Blood dripped from his hand as e watched Sanji spin, roundhouse kicking the bow over the side of the cliff and out of their fight. "You bastard. Fine! Let's see how you handle my Chess Hammers!"

From within his outrageous outfit, the man pulled two large wooden hammers, each the size of his own head, and raised them to the sky. Sanji leapt away as the king's advisor brought them down, carving a crater into the snow.

"Looks like I'll have to take this a little more seriously," the blond pirate muttered, kicking the hammer only for Chess to push him into the air.

"Hold still and get squished already!"

"Not a chance, you multicolored eggplant!"

Chess, though he clearly had the strength to wield the overweight hammers, didn't have any technique to come with them. For the most part, his strategy was the swing them every which way and hope to hit. It was a tactic that had worked before, but never against an opponent as acrobatic as Sanji, each failed attack only serving to make the jester angrier. Finally, Chess overextended on a vertical swing, stumbling forward. Sanji took his chance.

"Three-Point Carve!" The blond's right leg snapped up, bringing an ax kick down on Chess' left arm, shattering the bone within. Before the man could react, Sanji had moved on, his other leg breaking through the other hand's hammer's handle. To finish, the chef spun around, planting the back of his heel into his opponent's face. Chess staggered backward, blood flowing from a broken nose and his left arm hanging limp at a bad angle.

"Damn you!" he sputtered, throwing the broken hammer away. "Damn you to Hell!"

Sanji said nothing, bringing a cigarette to his lips. The chef reached into his pocket, producing a lighter which he used to light his cigarette as if he had not just ruined a man's arm. Chess, enraged by his foe's blatant disregard of his power and clearly in pain, pulled out his next pair of weapons. Or, one of the pair.

"Chess Ax!" The weapon in question was painted red with a head-sized hole in the body of the blade. Chess grimaced, putting up a pained grin. "These are my strongest weapons! Weapon! No one that I have ever met in life-or-death battle has lived to talk about it! Do you know what that-?"

"Third-Rate Mincemeat! Flank!" The chef's leg slammed into the soldier's side, cutting off his monologue before he could even try to attack. The jester swiped at him with his lone ax, but the blond dodged to the right and retaliated. "Arm!" Chess dropped the ax. "Shoulder!" Sanji's leg came down on the man's right shoulder, dislocating it and rendering his other arm useless as well. "Leg!" Chess went down, his left leg pulled from under him. "Rib!" The man coughed blood, a couple of his ribs fractured. "Chin!" Chess slid over the snow, Sanji running to keep up. "Cheek!" Chess was blasted sideways, spinning. Sanji flipped. "And finally: Crush!"

The chef came down with a spinning, ax kick to his adversary's lower back. Bones crunched under Sanji's foot, the poor jester gurgling weakly before succumbing to the pain. Sanji stood over him, calmly smoking as a dinosaur's roar echoed over the plateau.

"Chopper and I will take Waffle," Luffy amended. "Sanji, take the clown guy. Coby, the other one's yours." He shot forward, Chopper not that far behind in his Walk Point.

"Come on!" Wapol yelled at them. "I'll take you both on!"

"Good!" Luffy yelled back, "cause that's what you're getting! Gum-Gum Pistol!" The rubber-man's arm shot forward with a right hook, but Wapol was ready this time. Unsurprised, he batted the attack to the right. Chopper ground to a halt. Coby had mentioned this power of his captain's, but hearing about a power and seeing it were just too different.

"Wh-what are you?" he asked, staring wide-eyed at the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates.

"Me?" Luffy grinned, his smile wider than any the deer had ever seen before. "I'm a monster!"

"It doesn't matter what you are!" Wapol interrupted, his distaste for being ignored rising to the surface. "You're going to be my next meal soon!"

The previous king ran forward, his speed at odds with his apparent size and his mouth stretching to an impossible size. Luffy dove out of the way as Wapol's gigantic mouth crashed down right where the rubber-man had been standing only a couple seconds before, scooping a chunk of snow into his gaping maw.

Chopper ran in while the king's mouth was full, switching to Heavy Point for the force it provided. Wapol's head, which had grown to accommodate his oversized mouth, made an excellent target. The reindeer punched the man as hard as he could, his fist causing the tyrant to spin once and collapse with the ringing of a bell.

All three combatants paused, none moving for a moment.

"That," Chopper muttered, "was very disappointing." He turned to the black-haired teen. "Now what is up with your body? No normal person could stretch like that!"

"I ate the Gum-Gum Fruit when I was a kid," Luffy explained with smile. "I'm made of rubber." To drive home the meanings of that statement, Luffy grabbed the inside of his cheek and pulled, stretching it the same way he had when introducing his powers as a child.

"Huh," Chopper shrugged. Coby was right, Devil Fruits really did do a lot of weird things.

"I've got you now, Straw Hat!" The announcement was the only warning Luffy had before the light vanished from his vision. He could barely hear Chopper calling his epithet, but he was more preoccupied with the large, blunt things trying to squish him. Plus it was all slimy and not at all pleasant. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Luffy could recall this happening once before.

"I'm not going to be some snack for you!" the pirate yelled, bracing himself and slowly forcing Wapol's mouth open from the inside. Light petered in as the king's lips were forced apart, Luffy straining between his rows of teeth. Finally getting enough room, he quickly jumped out, Wapol's teeth slamming together with his immense jaw strength.

"Son of a hippo!" Wapol cursed. "Do you know how much that hurts, you bastard!"

"This guy's tough," Luffy scowled, shaking saliva off his arm. "And gross."

"Straw Hat," Chopper whispered, sliding up beside the pirate. "How much damage can you do in three minutes?"

"A lot. Why?"

"That's our time limit." The animal doctor brought out a small, yellow pill that he placed in his mouth. "Once I eat this, we'll have three minutes before I can't fight. Rumble."

"It doesn't matter what you eat!" Wapol declared, his arms turning into cannons. "I'll just eat you before you can do anything!"

"The Rumble Ball," Chopper told Luffy, "is a drug that increases my Devil Fruit powers for three minutes, giving me seven different transformations. The clock is ticking."

"Then let's go! Gum-Gum Whip!" Luffy threw his left leg out, the stretched appendage coming around toward their opponent. Wapol turned his legs into springs and jumped up to avoid the attack, a move that Chopper took advantage of.

Being in the air was good for not getting hit by Luffy's attack, but it was in no way cooperative for aiming his cannon-arms as Chopper approached in his Walk Point, said deer hopping out of the way of each cannonball the king tried to fire at him. Once he was close, the doctor's form changed, shifting into his Jump Point with a shout, only to change again when he and the former king were eye-level.

"Arm Point!" Chopper yelled, his arms becoming ridiculously over-muscled as he readied them for an attack. "Carving Hoof Diamond!" Chopper's hooves met Wapol's crossed cannon arms, leaving a diamond-shaped imprint while throwing the man away.

Luffy attacked next with a cry of "Gum-Gum Battle Ax!" Unfortunately, Wapol had fought his own share of fights and was no amateur. Using the reflexed he'd gained fighting his own soldiers, Wapol caught the pirate's foot in his mouth and spun him around, sending the stretchy pirate flying toward Chopper.

"Guard Point!" Chopper called as the Straw Hat captain neared. His form shifted, fur growing until the deer seemed to only be a large, brown, furry ball. The hair caught Luffy, padding the collision.

"Thanks," Luffy panted, sliding to the ground. "What now?"

"Throw me," Chopper ordered, shedding his furry form. "Throw me as hard as you can."

"Works for me." He picked up the small doctor. "Gum-Gum Cannon!" Much like performing a Gum-Gum Bazooka, Luffy thrust his hands forward, launching Chopper forward faster than his own legs ever could even in his Jump Point.

"Horn Point!" Chopper's shape changed again, his antlers growing as he moved through the air toward Wapol. The king only laughed as the reindeer headed his way.

"Haha! I always did enjoy fast food!" He opened his mouth, ready to catch the doctor inside and swallow him.

"Not this time! Heavy Point!" Chopper shifted into his largest form, his hands and feet catching and holding onto the king's teeth. The horns had been a feign, the king realized much too late. Wapol tried to close his mouth, but the Devil-Fruit-using reindeer held firm. "Straw Hat! Now!" Luffy dashed toward the two, throwing his arms backwards for an attack.

Neither Luffy or Chopper were ready when Wapol's tongue turned into a cannon.

"Tongue Cannon!" the tyrant called. The aptly-named attack gave results through its surprise factor, a cannonball slamming into the reindeer's solar plexus. Chopper coughed hard, blood dripping between his teeth as he crashed to the ground. With his dazed and in pain, Wapol turned on Luffy, decking him with a right hook.

"Even his tongue?" Chopper gasped from where he'd landed.

"You fools! My Chomp-Chomp powers go further than you think! Anything I eat becomes part of my body!"

"This just got a lot harder," Chopper muttered, shrinking to his default form, Brain Point. "And we have less than a minute left. Straw Hat, can you hold him off for 30 seconds?"

"Sure thing, Chopper." He ran forward once more. In response, Wapol tried to take potshots at him using his Tongue Cannon, but Luffy avoided the first few before deflecting one that would have hit Chopper with a Gum-Gum Balloon.

"Scope," Chopper declared, placing his hooves together. His mind fired into overdrive, every piece of information about their opponent collecting into a solid analyzation, looking for his weakness.

"Gum-Gum Barrage!" Luffy yelled, rushing toward Wapol with, as he had said, a barrage of attacks. "Whip! Pistol! Battle Ax! Sickle!"

Wapol dodged each attack, his scowl growing with every chunk of rock and ice Luffy's attacks tore up from the ground. His fist grew, the skin and glove turning into bricks, but Luffy was simply too nimble for Wapol to properly hit, only landing grazing scrapes. In contrast, Luffy's fists found purchase on Wapol's head and body multiple times, but this was only data to Chopper.

"Is it the body?" Chopper asked himself as Wapol managed to catch Luffy's arm between his teeth. "No, that's not it. The legs? No. Arms? That's not it either. Wait... That's it! Straw Hat! Force his mouth open and hold him still!"

"Okay!" Luffy chose not to question the command, trusting the creature he'd decided would join his crew. Luffy's right arm was stuck in his opponent's mouth, but that only meant he had more leverage. The teen twisted himself around the man, locking his legs around the king's shoulders where he would have a harder time dislodging him, and pried the royal's mouth open with his free hand.

"'Ow 'are you! Let 'e go!"

"No way, Waffle! Chopper, now!"

The deer rushed in, dodging the cannonballs Wapol tied to use. After only two, however, Wapol ran out of ammo and resorted to flailing his arms in a desperate attempt to free himself.

"Arm Point!" The reindeer pulled his oversized arms back for maximum impact. "Carving Hoof Cross!"

Chopper's hooves slammed into Wapol's uvula. He gagged, the force of the attack hitting his weakest point without hindrance. The hit did not knock him out, but it came damn-near close.

"Let me handle this, Chopper," Luffy insisted, jumping off the dazed, dethroned king as the Zoan Type user shrunk back into his preferred form, the effects of his Rumble Ball timing out. "I'll send him so far; he'll never see this island again."

"Okay." The reindeer doctor backed away slowly. The king staggered, barely conscience.

"GUM-GUM... BAZOOKA!" Luffy's arms snapped forward, the crack of the sound barrier breaking almost lost in Wapol's pained yell with the impact. For a moment, the shockwave raced through Wapol's girth before time caught up, launching the man into the distance until he was little more than a twinkle in the sky. Again.

"He's..." Chopper began. "He's gone. Th-Thank you, Straw Hat."

"It was nothing," Luffy waved off, already wandering over to where Sanji stood in some feet away. "After all, that's what friends are for."

"He called me his friend," Chopper whispered to himself, unaware that Kureha was approaching him. She stayed quiet, knowing in that moment that she had lost her apprentice.

"Chopper," she said, careful to keep her voice neutral. "Are you hurt?"

"I have some internal bleeding, I think," Chopper admitted with a cough, the adrenaline from the fight wearing off. "He shot me with a… tongue cannon, but it's not life-threatening."

"Good. I'm glad you're ok."

"…Doctorine?" the reindeer muttered, mulling his words over. "I want to go with these pirates."

"Why the Hell would you want to do that?" she demanded despite already knowing his reasons.

"Doctor Hiriluk always said that I'd have to go out to sea at some point, that there's only so much I can learn on one island." Kureha was about to respond, but the words never got out as a door in the snow opened, spitting out several people. The first to exit was a girl with orange hair, the rubber captain blurring through Kureha's vision as he moved toward her and the group that followed.

"Nami!" Luffy yelled, wrapping the girl in a hug. She happily hugged him back.

"Zoro-sensei," Coby greeted, rather subdued after having won a fight. Remembering that, he quickly tried to wipe the blood off his face, shivering at both the cold and the memory.

"Nami-swan! Vivi-chwan! Amy-chwan!" Sanji noodled.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Usopp muttered, no one giving him such a warm welcome.

"You!" Kureha yelled, the "young" woman matching up to Dalton who was leaning on another villager. "What the Hell do you think you're doing moving with those injuries? Bed! Now!"

"Oh, guys!" Luffy grinned, detaching himself from his girlfriend as Doctorine dragged Dalton away. "I found us a doctor!"

"Excellent!" Vivi beamed.

"Great," Amy nodded. "How is everyone? How's Grace?"

Nami glanced down, something glittering in the snow catching her attention as glittery things did after her years of thieving. Closer inspection revealed the thing to be a key. Nami had no clue what that key might unlock, but it had to be worth something. Checking for anyone watching, she quickly snatched it, dropping the key into her pocket before following the group over to meet the doctor Luffy had chosen to recruit.

Chopper shuffled nervously as the group approached him. Having chosen to follow Luffy meant that these people, these pirates, would be his family from that moment forward and he was having second thoughts.

"Alright, Chopper," Luffy began. "This is the rest of the crew. We've got Zoro, Coby's teacher, Usopp, our sniper, Amy, Grace's sister and the other Devil Fruit user I mentioned, and finally my girlfriend Nami, our navigator. Traveling with us for the time being is Vivi, the princess of Alabasta. Guys, this is Chopper. He's a reindeer!"

"He's so cute!" Nami and Vivi gushed.

"Shut up~!" Chopper sang, suddenly bashful rather than nervous. "You saying that doesn't make me happy~!"

"Ok, cool, but can we get back to if my sister is, you know, alive?"

"She's fine, Amy," Coby responded with maybe a little too much sass. "Doctorine and Chopper took care of their infection and the rest of us took care of Wapol."

"Are you ok, Shrimp?" Zoro questioned, something in his apprentice's voice off.

"I will be," Coby tried to wave off. "Just… tired. Hard fight, you know?"

"Sure," Zoro nodded, silently making a note to ask Coby about it in a more private setting.

"More importantly, doctor!"

"Oh, uh…" Attention swiftly returned to the reindeer whom Luffy had introduced but given almost no information about. "I'm Tony Tony Chopper, a reindeer with a Human Fruit? A-And a blue nose?"

"And we're glad to have you," Nami insisted with a calming smile. "Once you go pack your stuff, we can get out of here. Vivi's country is in danger."

"Her country's in danger?" Chopper gasped, having heard none of that before. "What are we waiting for?"

"Get back here, Chopper!" Kureha yelled, weapons of various shapes and sizes whizzing past the fleeing reindeer's head. Nami had bribed the woman into letting them leave with the key she'd found outside, said key having turned out to be the key for Wapol's armory which she had been trying to open since she moved in. Chopper had said he wanted to give Doctorine a private goodbye, so the rest of the Straw Hats had used the time to smuggle Grace, Gin, and Carue out of the infirmary and were waiting for their newest member outside.

Their small conversations broke as the doors of the castle burst open, Chopper pulling Kureha's sleigh while swords and other sharp things stabbed the group in his wake.

"Get in the sleigh!" the deer yelled as he ran toward them. Deciding that there was no time to question their sudden getaway, most of the crew grabbed a spot in the vehicle while Amy floated, pulled along by Gin holding her parasol. Without a moment's pause, Chopper reached the rope the trolley had come up on and jumped, precariously balancing himself and the sleigh as he ran down.

"This is awesome!" Luffy laughed, Nami, Coby, and Usopp screaming into the night.

Kureha finally stopped at the edge of the mountain, panting as she watched them disappear into the snow.

"Are you sure that was the best way to see him off?" Dalton questioned beside her, leaning on the crutches she had insisted he use. "Seems pretty harsh to me."

"Any softer and he'd be homesick before they reached Alabasta," Kureha answered, wiping away a tear before it could form. Not that she was crying! Moisture just had a chance of freezing in the cold and she couldn't have that. "Now what are you doing out of bed? Get back inside! And you guys! Get some cannons out!"

The pirates stopped in a clearing several miles away from the mountain where Chopper could catch his breath, the mountain – though not the castle – just visible through a break in the trees. Chopper wasn't the only one out of breath, the rest not quite use to the cold winter air. The boom of a cannon rang out, causing the pirates to flinch.

"What the Hell?" Zoro questioned, grabbing his swords. "Is that old hag trying to shoot us from up there?"

"Impossible," Nami denied. "Cannons don't have enough range, even with higher ground. Plus, they couldn't see anything through that storm. They're more likely to hit one of the towns."

"Could it be another avalanche?" Coby fretted. More cannonfire echoed from the mountain and only then did one of them notice a change.

"There, look," Grace ordered, pointing to where the castle should be through the snowstorm.

The cannonballs had exploded, the pink powder they were filled with sticking to the snow around them. The top of the mountain was covered in pink, giving it the appearance of a giant cherry blossom tree.

Though the others didn't see the meaning behind it, Chopper cried for 15 minutes.

The Merry had been right were Nami and Usopp left her, the crew, now all healthy and with one more member, quickly unfurled the sails and sailed to the ocean. Only Chopper, having no nautical experience, was idle, already staring back as Drum Island started to fade into the distance.

"Oh no!" he blinked, catching the attention of the crewmembers nearest him.

"What's wrong?" Coby asked, stepping up next to the panicking reindeer.

"I left my medical bag behind! I usually wear it, so I didn't even think about it!"

"You mean this?" Nami held up a blue bag with a white X, the accessory sized for Chopper's smallest form.

"Yes, but... Where did you find it?"

"It was in the sleigh. I thought you'd packed it."

Chopper's eyes widened, the deer taking the backpack and staring back over the water.

"Doctorine," he whispered.

"To our new crewmates!" Luffy cheered, a mug of some drink already in his hand. The shout broke the atmosphere, turning all attention on the captain. "You all know what this means? We didn't do it after Mini garden-"

"Little Garden," Coby corrected.

"That's what I said. Anyway, we didn't do it them, but we have to now! To Amy, Grace, and Chopper, our newest crewmates! Let's party!"

As was seeming to become the norm for the Straw Hat Pirates, their party lasted well into the night, several hours' passing leaving most of the crew somewhat out-of-it.

"Hey, Gin," Zoro slurred, trying his best to not spill what was in all likelihood his 15th mug. "I need ya to do somethin' fer me."

"What's it?" the former Krieg pirate asked, barely holding his composure better than his inebriated friend. He'd drunk only half as much as the swordsman, but his words were starting to slur. "Wha'd'ya need?"

"Ya said ya did tattoos, right?" Gin nodded, shaking some of the alcohol from his mind. "Then I want'cha ta give me a tattoo right here." Zoro pointed to the bicep on his left arm and downed the rest of his mug. "I want'cha ta give me a skull with two crossed swords behind it... and a sword in its mouth... and my bandana."

"Sure. Ah can do that," the scruffy pirate answered. Setting his alcohol aside – because continuing to drink while tattooing was almost as bad as doing so with a cold – Gin retrieved his tools and got to work. The process attracted the attention of many others, leading everyone to get their own tattoos, each unique to themselves.

Luffy simply got the symbol of the Straw Hat Pirates on his left shoulder blade.

Nami's skull had Beri signs for eyes and was sticking its tongue out. It went right in the middle of her existing tattoo.

Usopp's had a long nose, his bandana, and a slingshot. It went on his left arm.

Sanji's went on his left shoulder blade and had his signature eyebrow, a chef hat, a crossed fork and knife, and a cigarette.

Chopper chose to get Doctor Hiriluk's flag on his right shoulder blade, growing himself into his Heavy Point to give Gin more room to work with.

Coby decided on a triceratops skull with crossed swords, also on his right shoulder blade.

Grace received a skull with her pigtails and crossed paint brushes on her left arm.

Amy decided on a skull with her usual hat, lemon earrings, and an open parasol behind. She had it placed on her left arm like her sister.

Even Vivi got swept into the inking; she ended up with a small skull wearing a tilted crown with her bright-blue hair in a high ponytail tattooed on her upper right arm by the shoulder, where it could be easily hidden.

Finally, the time having given him a chance to sober up some, Gin finished with his own tattoo on his left arm: a skull with his headband and crossed weighted tonfa.

Just like that, every one of the humanoid Straw Hat Pirates, official members and otherwise, had their own personal jolly roger that would never come off. They proudly showed off their new ink to everyone else and the world, challenging whatever would come to just try to tear them apart.

"Coby," Zoro stated as he approached his student near the figurehead of the Merry. Many members of the crew had already turned in, though Sanji was sleeping on a chair in the kitchen and Luffy was draped over the cross sail. Everyone else had gone inside the ship and not returned, leaving the two swordsmen alone. "Beri for your thoughts?"

"It's noth-"

"Don't give me that," Zoro denied, cutting him off. "Something's been bothering you ever since we caught up at the castle. What is it?"

Coby did not respond, staring over the water while leaning on the railing. The waves gently lapped at the hull, but the starlight reflecting off the water glittered, Coby's mind superimposing snow over the dancing light.

"I…" Coby gulped. "I killed a man today, Zoro-sensei."

Zoro's eyes widened, staring at the back of his student's head. He had been training the boy – who was only three years his junior – for the better part of three months and Zoro hadn't thought he would have the ability to kill another person yet. Not because he lacked the skills – Coby's drive was similar to his own as a child – but because there was a subconscious desire to protect everyone. Whoever the roset had fought either pissed him off beyond all reason or there was some other circumstance.

"What happened?"

"I was fighting one of Wapol's advisors, the hairy guy named Kuromarimo. He underestimated me because I was younger than him, and then he threatened to kill Gin and Grace. I just… I couldn't let him do that. I stopped holding back and ended up stabbing him with my horns and he fell off the mountain."

"And you feel guilty," Zoro deduced. "He said something."

"He called for help," Coby admitted slowly. "Right before I got him. And before he fell, he told me that I would remember this. Those were his last words. Was I… Could I have done something different? Could I have saved him?"

"What does it matter?"

Coby turned at Zoro's question, eyes smoldering with anger. Zoro didn't let his expression shift, only causing his student's emotions to flare more under the effects of the booze he'd drank.

"What does it matter?! I want to become a hero, but I killed a man! If I could have saved him, if I had been able to defeat him nonlethally, isn't that what a hero should do?!"

"Could you have beaten him nonlethally?" Zoro echoed. "Luffy wants us to try, but we can't always do that. If you could have won easily, he would still be breathing, but he isn't. He tried to kill you, and if you would have died because you were holding back, then you couldn't protect anyone else. There's no point wondering about the What Ifs. You can only train harder so you aren't faced with the same questions in the future.

"I've killed plenty of people, Coby. Swords are not a weapon for mercy and when I was alone, I didn't really care about the lives of the people I hunted. I don't care about being a good person like you do, but if you want to act like a hero, then you need to have the skill to back it up. You need to be able to tell when an opponent is reaching their limit. You need to know how to spot their weaknesses. You can't change the past. It happened. You can only strive to be better in the future." Zoro waited for a couple minutes, just to see if Coby would respond, but the roset remained silent. Assuming he'd gotten his point across, Zoro turned, deciding that he'd take watch tonight while Coby mulled over his thoughts.

Killing was an inevitability, one Coby would have had to face eventually. Perhaps it was better it happened now before he got it into his head that he could avoid it forever. After a half-hour, Zoro managed to make his way to the crow's nest, and Coby remained by the figurehead for the rest of night under Zoro' watchful eye.

End of Chapter 9

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-SwordOfTheGods