"Drum Island"
He wasn't standing on the sea; he was standing on a huge underwater ship, and it surfaced. 'He' might not even be a man, in that green and purple bulky jester's costume. Though what sort of jester wore a quiver of arrows? The huge ship flew a black and white pirate flag, and the skull wore a crown and had an iron jaw. The figurehead was a hippo head. A hatch opened on the top and I recognized an old nemesis as he jumped the gap between the vessels and landed on Going Merry's deck.
"What is that thing?" Luffy asked Sanji.
I could understand the question, for Wapol looked like a huge triangular rice ball with a human face. His white winter furs barely covered his huge stomach, and he needed a bath.
"We want to go to the Drum Empire!" Have any eternal poses?" As a show of intimidation, my old enemy ate the blade of a real sword, as he waited for our response.
"No, we've never heard of that country." Answered Luffy, still looking at Wapol, as if wondering what type of creature he might be.
"So cruel. If you don't have it, I'll just take your treasure instead." Wapol's face expanded grotesquely as he bit into the Merry's wooden railing, chewed, swallowed, and proclaimed, "This is a tasty ship!"
According to my sources, Wapol had ran from the Blackbeard Pirates when they'd raided his kingdom, rather than protect his people. Baroque Works keeps track of dangerous independent criminals, and as a (former) courier, I too, made an effort to memorize descriptions of those who could easily kill me. As much as I hated it, Wapol was one of those people, and thus I was staying out of this confrontation.
"Hey! Stop it!" Usopp attempted to beat Wapol off with a wooden mallet, but the tool was eaten. Wapol almost took off a finger too. Usopp fell back over himself in his haste escaping, scrambling backwards like a crab, realizing though he cared about the work put into fixing the Merry, his life mattered more.
"Everyone be careful." I warned. "This parasite has the power of the Eat-Eat fruit, and his crimes include cannibalism and sodomizing hippos!"
I was ignored.
"Stop eating my ship." Luffy's order was also ignored. He attacked. Wapol started dodging, jumping around the Going Merry, taking bites from everywhere.
I didn't join the melee. I didn't want more than my lips to run silver. Zoro stayed out of it; edible swords. After a long sequence of keep away, Luffy nailed the wood-muncher with an open-handed push he call the 'Gum-Gum Bazooka', sending Wapol flying far off into the surrounding ocean.
His followers panicked, and the large metal pirate submersible changed course with the intention of saving Wapol before his hammer body could drown. I hoped they were too late. I hoped a Sea King got him.
My uncharitable thoughts were dismissed when Beth came rushing out of the girl's room, her face sweaty. "Nami's really sick, and I don't what to do!" Beth also looked feverish, but a paramecia fruit changes you; no more conventional diseases, and you recover faster because your body is different. Depending on the ability, fruits varied in this layer of protection, but apparently the Kilo-Kilo fruit allowed Beth to throw off whatever laid Nami low.
That could be wrong. I'd heard it second-hand at the Reverie conference when I'd foolishly gotten my own devil ability. I haven't been sick since; the 'wasting sickness' story my royal house publicized came from seastone locking my own dangerous ability. But I'm not a doctor. No one on the ship was. That was the heart of this emergency.
"Just feed her some meat, she'll be fine." Luffy dismissed the problem and smiled.
"Dumbass, that would only work for you! Nami is delicate." Sanji kicked Luffy on the top of his head a few times, then repeated himself to make sure the message was understood.
"So if we poured water on her, that wouldn't cure her?" Luffy asked, unharmed.
"No!" Sanji back-kicked Luffy, sending him flying, and he bounced off the mast. Shortly after, the weather turned snowy.
Regret and sadness rushed through my heart, but I could do nothing. I'd seen strange and exotic illnesses destroy weak people unprepared for the Grand Line. Among the 'Millions' in Baroque Works, sickness was the second leading cause of death. Nami might be a brilliant navigator, but I doubted she could win a straight-up fight with an Arabastan Guard, much less an average Grand Line marauder. She had no constitution.
"Vivi, stop crying. It's not like her she's already dead." Beth rubbed my back, comforting me.
I simply looked at her. Tears ran down my cheeks and fizzed as they hit my lips. The acidic transformation from brief contact wasn't strong, more like carbonation.
My resolve hardened.
I walked into the women's area, and saw Nami's reddened face sweating from fever. Beside her bedroll on the floor was a pile of cut cloth and a tub of icy water, for keeping her temperature down. I took a white washcloth. Gingerly, I wiped my tears away, and blew my nose. The now-rag partially dissolved from contact with my silver lips, and I tossed it into a trash bin.
Kneeling by Nami's bedside, I took the log pose off of her arm. "Don't worry, we'll find help."
I walked out, straight to the wheel, and turned course for the nearest island. Drum Island. A winter island close to Arabasta that I'd heard stories of, but never visited. Stories that featured two people - the cowardly Wapol who I both feared and hated, and the impossible mercenary doctor Kureha, who could cure anything for the right price. And the 'right price' would ruin kingdoms.
The Merry-Go was absurdly close to Drum Island, and I only steered the helm for two hours before pulling into a semi-frozen bay. No crazy Grand Line weather fluctuations hit during that journey, a lucky break. The landscape around us consisted of pine trees and snow covered cliffs. As we put the damaged anchor (Wapol had eaten the entire left arm) down, the local welcoming committee announced itself with a gunshot.
People in ragged winter coats made of animal furs, most carrying rifles, stood on the shore edge of the natural harbor in a semi-circle, their guns pointing unflinchingly at our ship. "Pirates piss off!" and "Your kind isn't wanted here!" were shouted, along with other, harsher insults. They were obviously familiar with the raiding type of pirate.
Shots were fired. The ship received light damage. Luffy, now wearing a weather-appropriate red jacket and scarf, looked ready for a fight. I knew everyone would follow his lead.
"We're looking for a doctor, we have sick people on board!" I yelled at them, desperation coloring my voice.
"It won't work on us, evil pirates!" They replied.
"SHUT UP!" Sanji shouted it as loud as he could, and looked ready to kick ass.
"Wait Sanji-kun." I stopped him with a body check, barely holding him back.
But then someone shot me. My attention wasn't on the people with guns, and I could have easily died, despite my training at Whiskey Peak, despite study of the six arts, and despite my mysterious abilities. Someday, I really wanted an immunity against bullets, and I thought of Nami's mother Bellemere. We'd all changed into winter clothing, and because my warm blue fur jacket made me bulky, the shot grazed my arm.
Everyone reacted. "How dare you!" Yelled Sanji, directly into my ear, as I held him back. "Don't mess with us!" Called Luffy. The metallic sound of unsheathed swords came from where Zoro stood, and Beth jumped high into the air. I could feel the situation escalating too far as an armed villager called out "Get ready!" and the sound of rifle breeches clicking sounded, a clumsy uncoordinated drum roll.
"Wait!" I screamed. "Don't fight. The bullet missed me." Actually it hadn't, but it wasn't inside of me. I covered the rip in my coat, near my right elbow, where my blood dripped. "We won't go into your village! Our friend is in critical condition… please help us help her." I prostrated myself on the deck in a deep bowing posture.
"Vivi…" Luffy acknowledged my plea, and moved next to me.
"If you do something now, everything will worsen." I whispered. "You still don't understand what being a good Captain means. Think about it, if we fight, what will happen to Nami?"
Luffy assumed the posture of supplication next to me. "It's my fault, I'm sorry!" He begged. "Please call a doctor. Please help my friend!"
Zorro put his swords back in their sheathes. Beth landed gracefully on the deck; thankfully she didn't start laughing when she'd jumped. The guns on us were lowered.
"I will show you the way, just follow us!" Called down one of the ambushers, likely their leader.
"See, they understood us." I smiled at Luffy, my arm bleeding.
"Yes, you've done a good job." He smiled back.
Volunteering to get Nami, I went into the convalescent area and found a cowering Usopp. "Quick, help me bandage this, and don't tell anyone!"
"Mmmhp." Said Nami.
Understanding came, and I returned the log pose to her arm. This comforted her.
Usopp bound my wound, and soon the entire crew (minus Zoro and Caure, who were guarding the ship) followed our would-be-attackers through the woods of Drum Island. Ironically, they took us to the village they were so hellbent on defending from 'pirate scum' minutes before.
I kept my hands full carrying Nami, for I wouldn't let the chef have an 'accidental' molestation opportunity. Really it was to occupy my hands and stay away from Dalton, the local group's leader. My palms itched to caress him, for he had eaten one of the fruits of the Devil. He reminded me of Pell. I could feel that uncomfortable longing, a spiritual arousal. During our journey to Big Horn Village, I felt another similar pull, but it vanished soon. It also felt Zoan.
My self-introduction consisted of, "I am a mysterious woman, and until my friend feels better, I'd rather stay that way."
Dalton had reinforcements from other villages, or another of the island's independent defenders had checked out the situation. That's how I rationalized that extra ping on my devil's radar. It made me glad I'd specifically instructed Carue to "stand guard over the pirate ship, no matter what." He could handle wandering villagers, even if they had guns.
Like kids, Usopp and Luffy played around during the hike. The long-nosed dumbass swore he saw a talking monster, but it turned out to be a harmless white hiking bear. We bowed respectfully as we passed. Weighing in at nearly a ton and are twice my height, hiking bears are gentle creatures provided you don't startle them.
Upon our arrival, Dalton assured his villagers we were harmless, and allowed us into his home. We put Nami into the bed. The more irresponsible crew members built snowmen outside, and Dalton told us about Kureha, the 140-year old ancient Doctor-witch.
Some details were new to me, but it was obvious Kureha's home was our destination. Right now, she lived on the castle on top of the mountain known as Drum Rocky. I was definitely going. Staying with Dalton would infect me with his non-paramecia power. Part of me desperately wanted to embrace that fatal uncertainty, but I controlled myself.
The toughest decision on whether to go or stay fell clearly onto Sanji. He could go with Luffy and I, which included two females, or he could stay with Beth (who hated the cold) and Usopp in a cozy winter retreat. Whatever Beth whispered convinced Sanji. He stayed behind.
"Let's go Vivi!" Luffy shouted, as he and I set out toward the mountain at a sprint, Nami tied securely to his back. Almost, I wished Carue had come with us; he'd have made a great beast of burden.
We ran into the hills, and it became colder and snowier. I noticed a small rabbit with large teeth following us, and surreptitiously kicked it away when it tried biting me. But then a large group of bear-sized fanged rabbits appeared in front of us.
"Ah, polar bears." Luffy misidentified the Lapahn, or Rapan, or whatever Dalton had called the local carnivores. I didn't care enough to correct him.
"There's only about a hundred of them, but because of Nami, only one of us can fight. If you get too vigorous, she'll get jostled and hurt. It might kill her, as weak as she is now. Run for the top of the mountain. I'll cover everything; I can handle it."
One of the rabbit-bears jumped at me, and while I didn't have super-strength, I easily redirected the attacker's muzzle through a pine tree. These guys had power and speed, but my Kung-Fu outclassed them. I took a stance, stretched my shoulders.
Then all of the monster rabbits jumped us simultaneously, and we started running for the forest up on the mountain. "Tornado Devish!" I yelled as they swarmed, tossing them left and right, protecting Nami. If Luffy was surprised by my skill, he didn't show it, but he also never made an attack of his own. I estimated I could defend for about ninety minutes.
After ten minutes of running combat, during which I wounded two dozen creatures enough for them to give up, we heard a series of distant explosions. The attacks stopped. The rabbit-bears disappeared, back into their burrows or caves or wherever they laired. Thirty seconds later we found out why, as the avalanche came at us. We dashed away from it.
"Vivi, what do we do?"
"Protect Nami, while not dying ourselves."
"How?"
I looked around desperately, and saw a terrain feature that might save us.
"That cliff! There! The avalanche will break around it." I took off, running as fast as I could. Somehow, Luffy was right beside me.
We were indeed safe from the avalanche, which split around the outcropping, though the snow was so high, we had to climb a tree to avoid being washed away. Thankfully the trunk held. What we were unprepared for though, was the giant carnivorous rabbit-bears skating on the avalanche and tossing boulders at us.
One of their boulders was on target in their brief opportunity, for the fast moving snow swept the animals down the mountain and out of range.
I had no choice. I let go of the pine tree and jumped, adjusting my weight, speeding my rotation, calling on my winds. I had not mastered Rankyaku, one of Rokushiki, also called the Tempest Kick. I could not produce enough force for a slicing vacuum. But my imperfect void projectile attack was enough to deflect the boulder away from Luffy and Nami and leave a respectable dent on it's surface.
Dreadfully out of position from generating the blast, opposing physical forces pushed me back. Momentum. I maneuvered my body upright in mid-air and reduced my weight, drifting gracefully down on top of the continuing avalanche. Instead of getting pulled under, I snow-surfed, barely balanced. Beth's weight ability helped me not sink into the flowing snow.
"Get Nami medical attention, this won't kill me!" Whether Luffy heard me, I don't know. It required my full concentration to balance on the unstable movement of the rushing snow, while dodging trees and large boulders. After finding a rhythm, I examined the coming obstacles and grabbed a tree branch on this absolutely huge pine, and then waited the rest of the disaster out.
As the snow passed below my perch, my bullet-grazed arm started hurting. A medium pain. I may have aggravated my wound by tossing those damn gargantuan bunnies around.
Waiting five minutes for the snow to settle, I jumped down, flinched as the landing jolted my arm, and started moving up the mountain. I found Luffy, still with Nami on his back, pulling a killer rabbit out from a snow pile. A baby toothed bunny immediately climbed into the arms of the 'rescued' creature.
They saw me about the same time Luffy did, but rather than attack, the rabbits left.
"I told you I'd be fine. Let's go."
Luffy grinned. "Ah, so you did."
Some time later, we encountered the base of the mountain pillar known as Drum Rocky. Luffy immediately wanted to climb, but I knew I my wounded arm would have a terrible time supporting my weight. Plus, what if something or someone attacked while we struggled for toeholds against the mountain's sheer surface?
When I shared my concerns with Luffy, he didn't understand.
"What else can we do, but go up?" As if this settled the matter, Luffy proceeded to take off his sandals, balance Nami on his back, and stuff his footwear in his mouth. He mumbled around his sandals 'Dn werry Nomi, ockto sen' which I took to mean Nami would soon see a doctor.
"Stop, Luffy. If I can't make you understand with words, I'll just have to show you." I stepped away from both of them, and released one of my peacock slashers, using only my uninjured arm. With my other hand, I braced the attacking arm and whipped the cable expertly against the rock face. A smooth line of stone crumbled, creating what looked like a small stone shelf.
Luffy shrugged. I resisted the urge scream at his ignorance. It was really my fault for holding my powers secret, a habit I cultivate. Still, because I liked Nami and needed this crew, revealing my capabilities was an easy decision.
"That is a handhold ledge. If you put Nami down, and throw me up the cliff, I can make them. Provided you can gently stretch up, I can tie a brace for Nami and myself with my slasher cables, and we can save hours of climbing time."
"But when I throw you, you'll fall back down." Ah, the obvious.
"I've spent years training, and while I can't perform the Geppo technique well enough to walk on air, I can control my fall, no matter how high, if a sturdy mountain side or wall is near me. Now make Nami comfortable in snow-free area, and let's do this. Toss me up, I'll make a handhold, drift down and land on the brace. Then stretch up to the handhold with me on Nami's brace and toss me again. We'll probably only need to do it twenty or thirty times, and it'll go fast."
My plan worked, despite heavy winds and snow near the top areas. The weather was in a short lull after the avalanche; it would get much worse shortly after we finished the climb, a full-blown snowstorm. If we'd gone Luffy's slower way, snow-gales would have pounded us during the upper ascent.
I admit I was uneasy being close to a devil fruit user who had an 'unabsorbed' power that could potentially cripple me. But I'd internalized enough paramecia already that whatever mechanism my mysterious ability operated by didn't force an involuntary transfer. It made me extra stressed, extra focused. I'd hyper-extended joints and over-stretched muscles while training my Kung Fu, and I was really scared what would happen if suddenly my skin stretched but my muscles and bones didn't. Or if suddenly my bones stretched and my skin remained constant.
Luffy didn't catch my uneasiness, or if he did, thought it was only concern for crew member.
Ten minutes and we scaled the mountainside. When we got to the top, I had Luffy throw me, only to pass straight through a snow bank that looked deceptively like solid ground. I didn't panic. I simply controlled my fall, all the way down Drum Rocky. I did cheat the Geppo; normal disciples can't adjust their weight or adjust their mid-positioning with small wind blasts. As I passed by a surprised Luffy, perched against my highest ledge, I yelled for him to go down for Nami. He reached the bottom before me, using a weird technique he called the 'Gum Gum Balloon'. It made him look like an expanded puffer fish.
At the bottom of the cliff, I secured Nami against me with slasher cables, and tied us both against the wooden travois Luffy had been using to carry her. Thirtyish careful stretches later, we arrived at the top of the mountain, with extra care in avoiding summit snow.
Then we walked into the castle. No one was home. We yelled out "Doctor" for like ten minutes before we settled Nami in a bed and raided the kitchen. Perhaps if we'd have been caught in the avalanche, or if Luffy had spent hours using only his fingers and toes against the cliff of Drum Rocky, Dr. Kureha might have been waiting for us.
Instead, upon her return, she thought we were thieves.