Disclaimer: Do not own One Piece. All plot and OCs belong to Volleys-chan and I.
The Dragon Chronicles
Chapter 12 - Vivacious
"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."
-Walt Disney
Heat wasn't something that made Rei uncomfortable. In fact, Kasai dragons reveled in heat. Often enough when the sun was at its highest point in the sky, all the Kasai dragons would spread out and lounge on the high flat heating rocks near their community cave. Aisu dragons were the opposite and were often found soaking in one of the lakes or ponds on their side of the island while they purposely chilled the body of water as they did so.
But the fact was, Rei wasn't usually uncomfortable being hot, but at this moment, she felt like her very core was sweltering on fire. Her breaths were irregular as well as she fought to catch her breath.
She peeked an eye open, the best she could do at that moment and tried to take in what was going on around her. The world was blurred to her and all sound came to her ears in muffled, unidentifiable noise. Sound she closed her eye and was lost in her unbearable heat.
Once in a while, she was cognitive enough to gather her wits long enough to know that time had passed and her position and changed or that events were taking place in front of her, but she could not retain much more than that in her sorry, feverish state.
Rei truly was not sure how long things continued on like this, but by some kind fate, she was finally able to fade everything around her to nothing and sleep.
It was the smells which filled the area that summoned her consciousness from the depths of its slumber. It was unfamiliar to her, but soothing nonetheless. It reminded her of spices and the flowers her mother use to hang upside down in laundry area in order to dry and preserve the fragrant flora. It was a smell of sterilization meeting the comforts of a cozy home.
In truth, it confused her. She was use to the smell of the forge. Of smoke and fire and dry earth mixed with the scent of sweat and iron. She was use to the smells of the makeshift home she dwelled in which smelled like her furs and pelts along with moss and wood and earth and of Tatsuo and Ayane.
If she was smelling none of these things, then where was she? Because she was certainly not where she knew she should have been.
This is what forced her to try to open her weary eyes. She still felt hot, cooler than before but still uncomfortable and her head felt like it was pounding between a crossfire of being hot and cold at the same time. She felt exhausted to even manage to open her eyes, but she fought past the fatigue as she barely cracked an eye open.
She closed it within an instant as the artificial lighting of the room overwhelmed her hypersensitive senses. She let out a faint whimper as she turned and buried her face deeper within her bedding, the cold sensation now attacking the back of her head instead of her forehead now that she had moved.
"Hee hee hee hee." She heard someone chortle from over her as the cold object was moved away, relieving her of a fraction of her headache. "Looks like your fever's gone down, little girl."
The voice was unfamiliar to Rei and it forced her to turn her head and risk the lighting of the room to try to get a glimpse of this stranger. She had barely peered into old earth colored eyes and taken in the aged face of the woman standing over her before the woman gave her a chilling smile.
"Ya happy?"
Rei stared up at this woman as she tried to understand what had just been asked of her. Before she could respond, the woman touched the child's forehead with a single finger, causing Rei's attention to divert to the appendage now touching her.
"Mmmm, 38.2 degrees Celsius... That's tolerable." The woman muttered lowly before she pulled her hand away and took a long drink of the contents of the bottle she had.
"W-what?" Rei wasn't sure what was going on. She remembered going to sleep in her bedding of furs and pelts of her previous prey while Tatsuo and Ayane slept together on their pile of treasure. She was not sure how she got here, in this place with this strange woman poking her head and asking her strange questions.
"Prithee, who art thee?" Rei asked as she tilted her head where it rested.
"I'm a doctor." The woman informed her, her deep brown eyes meeting Rei's red ones as she spoke. "Dr. Kureha. But call me Doctorine."
"Doc-tor-ine..." Rei allowed her tongue to play with the new word out loud.
"Hee hee hee hee! That's right, little girl. Doctorine." Dr. Kureha smirked widely at that before she sat down beside Rei on bed. An actual bed, Rei realized, with an actual mattress and sheets and blankets. Not like her bedding that she had made herself back at Soshi Shima.
Her attention was directed back to Dr. Kureha as the woman pulled up her worn shirt up to reveal her stomach. Rei's eyes widened at the odd purple bruising that covered her lower abdomen.
"What tis this? This one doth not recall those there previously." She looked back up at the older woman, hoping to receive an answer.
The woman frowned at her for a moment, taking another swig of her drink as she dropped the girl's shirt before muttering under her breath. "It's Souken Shima all over again." She then properly addressed the girl in front of her. "If you are going to be here for a while, I'd rather not have to hear all that 'thee', 'thou', 'this one', 'art', and whatever else isn't modern all the damn time. It personally gives me a headache. Switch over, will ya?"
Rei blinked. "Huh?"
"Your manner of speaking." Dr. Kureha clarified. "You do know how to speak the human language a little more modernly than you are now, right?"
Rei blinked again before realizing what the woman was asking for. "Oh, yes... I... do... I... wasn't always living on Soshi Shima... This -errr- I merely adapted to their ways of speech over time."
Rei couldn't believe how odd it felt to go back to the way she had once talked so easily. It was like switching everything in her brain after working so hard to switch it over to the way she spoke now.
"I noticed." Dr. Kureha scoffed. "It's a dragon thing. They've repudiated themselves from human society for so long that their understanding of the language is no longer current. There is only a few dragon islands that aren't withdrawn from the world around them, but they've managed to keep themselves hidden regardless."
"Thou art familiar with dragons?" Rei was genuinely surprised at the notion of a human knowing about dragons besides herself. The woman didn't grace her with a response at first, giving her a scowl and an agitated grunt, but Rei caught on quickly enough. "You are familiar with dragons?"
"Unfortunately enough. I am as familiar with dragons as they seem to be with me." She gave a snort of distain at the thought of the large beastial folk before taking another drink of her bottle. It was obvious she didn't want to go into much detail about her interactions with them. "Going back to your pervious inquiry, those bruises and your fever are due to an infection caused by an insect called the Kestia."
"Kestia?" Rei was astounded that a bug bite could make her so sick.
"It's an infectious species of tick that inhabits hot, humid jungles. The infection begins when the insect bites and bacteria enters through its mouth." Dr. Kureha explained simply for her young patient. "Once inside, the bacteria incubates for five days, causing the host immense pain. Symptoms include a fever of 40 degrees Celsius, widespread infection, Myocarditis, Arteritis, and Encephalitis."
"Myo..card...itis... Art..er..itis... and errr... Ence..."
"Myocarditis, Arteritis, and Encephalitis." Dr. Kureha repeated the words again, understanding the child wished to know what the words meant in layman terms. "Myocarditis is the inflammation of the heart muscle. Arteritis is the inflammation of the aorta, which is the artery that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Encephalitis is irritation and swelling of the brain. So in short kid, your body went through hell and back. You would have died if you hadn't been delivered to me in time."
The older woman glanced seriously into the little girl's gaze. "From the state of the wound when you got here, it had nearly been five days..."
Rei didn't like the tone the woman held as she informed her of that last bit of information. Tatsuo did say that her curiosity would cause her trouble, but she felt like she needed to know how close she had been to dying this time.
"How long do patients...usually... survive... without treatment?..."
Dr. Kureha stared at her for a moment before standing up and glancing at her medicine table, still messy from her rushed, emergency treatment. "They call it a Five-day Disease."
Despite the fact that she was already feverish, Rei suddenly felt sick to her stomach with dread. If she had gotten there any later, she realized, she would have died. Dr. Kureha continued to speak a moment later, quite aware of how the young girl was taking the news.
"Though I heard that Kestia became extinct a hundred years ago, you are lucky I still had enough of the needed materials to make the antibiotic. Enough for the first few treatments anyways." She took another drink before continuing, "I would ask you where the hell you had been to receive such a disease as that, but I'm well aware of the type of island the Kasai and Aisu dragons settled. No doubt you were probably in the middle of either taking a bath or changing your clothes when you were bit, hmmm?"
Rei almost instantly knew of the incident of which Dr. Kureha spoke of. She had been undressing at the time for a quick wash in the creek nearby the forge when something had bit her. She hadn't thought much of it then, since she did live out in the middle of a jungle with no modern means of survival besides the few things she had come with.
"Hee hee hee, after this scare, I doubt you'll have to worry about such a thing. Dragons are notorious for the amount of safety measures they will take to protect their young." Kureha decided preemptively to nip that insecurity in the bud. "Just be more aware when something bites you, alright little girl?"
"Yes, Doctorine." Rei nodded before letting out a tired yawn.
"Good girl." The woman doctor's lips stretched into her usual smirk. "Now, get some sleep. You're not fully recovered yet. I will be administering the treatment to you for a while longer."
"For how long?" Not that she wasn't grateful, she merely was curious about how long she would have to stay with the doctor.
"My guess is from the span of seven to fourteen days." Dr. Kureha informed her, taking another generous drink of her chosen beverage. "I've never had the opportunity to administer care to a patient for the whole recovery period. However, I do know that you'll need to stay put for at least three more days."
"Stay in bed for three days?" Rei didn't know what it was about that statement, but the idea of staying idle that long was not ideal. She could only stay inactive for a few hours tops, and that was if she was reading or sleeping.
"It's already been two days since then, but perhaps I should make it longer since you were already so close to death's door when I received you from your flying companion- Toshi, I believe."
"Toshi-sensei's here?" That caused Rei to sit up and focus her mind on sensing his. She was rather confused when the only other living being close by was Kureha.
"Lay back down." Kureha snapped as she shoved the girl back onto the mattress. "Your teacher isn't here at the moment. He's busy gathering the necessary items I requested in order to pay for your treatment."
"Pay?" Rei blinked. What kind of person makes a dragon pay for things?
"Hee hee hee hee. I'm not running a charity, little girl. Skills such as mine are extremely valuable and, in order to understand how much one's health truly costs, I require an exchange."
"Oh, like equivalent exchange?" Dragons followed the code of equivalent exchange, so she supposed, since Dr. Kureha's skills did not give her rank in the dragon society that was calling upon her, she would need to collect in a different way.
"Hee hee hee hee," Kureha looked so proud of herself. "At the moment, I very much doubt that your teacher thinks it is equivalent."
Toshi felt thoroughly confused. To be honest, this whole thing felt like one confusing mess. But how he ended up here of all places was truly beyond him.
That stupid witch sent him flying across the Red Line to New World in search of 'a small boat, quite possibly a one man fishing boat, with no flag, possibly no sails, and definitely with rowing oars in the middle of the deadliest part of that section of ocean with a single, small woman aboard'. He had asked her to be more specific, but all she did was cackle at him and tell him that was a specific as she could get. She had no clue where this boat might be, in truth, and, more importantly, if that woman would be there at all. After that, she handed him a list and a little white paper bag, ordering him to deliver these items to that particular woman and that would be his payment for Rei's treatment.
So, fly across the Red Line he did. He flew to New World and had to guess the vague whereabouts of this particular boat. He had guessed a location near Red Line, where the weather was most unpredictable and deadly, and boarding the Calm Belt. He had to trust his instincts when he went east and he had even shifted to a more human like form, the smaller form that Tatsuo and Ayane took nearly everyday, to avoid unwanted detection from human islands he was forced to fly over. He hated this smaller form. It was uncomfortable since he was unaccustomed to using it all the time and it dredged up memories he would have rather forgot.
But, despite his irritation and inclination to throw his hands (since he was taking a more human form) up into the air and yell 'screw it' before flying back to Kureha and giving her a piece of his mind, he pushed through it until he found himself in the middle of no where, standing on the rim of a fishing boat, staring at the form of a short, petite woman snoozing in the middle of a massive black fur pelt.
Her hair was black as a raven's feather, glinting rich hues of red and blues in the sun. Her hair was chopped in a strange manner, the bottom length almost as long as she was while the rest was feathered anywhere from the bottom of her earlobe to a inch past her chin. Her form was small, but he could see how toned she was despite her flexible, agile form. What's more was the numerous amount of scars that littered her visible skin. Old scars, new scars, faded scars, prominent scars, Toshi could tell she wore them with pride. And, even though she was littered with scars, there were none upon her face, the last noticeable scar located upon the side of her neck.
She looked dainty and delicate all while looking completely fierce and unbreakable.
He wanted to wake her, ask her if she was the person he was in search of, but he felt hesitant. Was he sure this was the right boat, in the middle of no where, with no flag, no sails despite there being a mast, and two rowing oars tucked to the inside of the boat with a small woman on board? Not only that, but how would she react to seeing someone like him on her boat? He didn't exactly look human, despite the fact that this form was based on the human's skeletal frame.
Well, he figured, how unlikely was it that he was wrong? A thousand to one was his figuring. And why would that witch Kureha send him here if his presence would cause a problem? So despite his hesitation, he cleared his throat loudly in hopes to stir the woman from her sleep.
"Hmmph?" was the drowsy reply of the boat's occupant as she flinched instinctively to the noise and blearily opening one of her eyes.
It was at that instant that everything became clear to Toshi as to why Kureha had sent him to find this particular woman.
"Oh," she murmured sleepily. "Just a dragon man." With that, she rolled to her side, completely prepared to go back to sleep once more.
An instant later, she jerked upright, fully awake as she suddenly screamed "SHIT!" Toshi had been well prepared for her to freak out because it was obvious he was a dragon, at least to her. However, when she instead rocketed herself to the side of the boat and looked into the water below, Toshi was once more lost in confusion.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit," she chanted as she looked for any visible signs of something in the ocean beyond. Toshi merely blinked his teal eyes in confusion as he was actively ignored. Before long, she turned her frustrated gaze towards him. "You bastard! You scared away all the fish!" She instantly deflated as she sulked listlessly against the edge of her tiny boat. "It took me forever to get them comfortable with my presence, too."
"This one… apologizes?" He wasn't sure what else to say.
"You should be sorry!" She was instantly fired up again as she shot her angry yellow gaze his way. "Do you know how long I was out here, trying to get the fish use to my presence?"
"No... not really..." Toshi never noticed fish being frightened of his presence before, but it wasn't outrageous of an idea that anything with a powerful aura would frighten them off.
"Well neither do I!" She huffed irritatedly as she sat back in the middle of her pelt where she had once been sleeping. She scowled at him as she crossed her arms, muttering dead words upon her tongue.
Toshi felt somewhat responsible for her dilemma, plus he wanted her in a more amiable mood for what he was to deliver to her, so he cleared his throat and spoke to the raven head. "This one can harvest thee fish, if thou art in need of provisions."
The woman scoffed as she jeered her head to the small cabin behind her. "I have plenty of food."
"Then thou art not in need of substance? Why fish then if thou art not in need of food?" Toshi almost wished he hadn't asked when her expression relaxed and she gave him her honest answer.
"Because fishing is the ultimate extreme sport, duh!" There was only absolute seriousness in her simple explanation.
"Fishing, truly?" Toshi could not understand. She gave him a solemn nod and for the life of him, he couldn't understand what was so extreme about fishing. "What sort of fish art thou fishing, if it is to be called 'extreme'?"
Her expression never changed, just that serious honesty remaining on her face as she replied as if it was the most obvious fact in the world. "Sea kings."
"In a fishing boat?" Of all the absurd things...
"Well, what else do you take on a fishing excursion? A submarine?" She tsked at him as she shook her head. "Honestly, don't you dragons know? You can't go fishing if its not on a fishing boat."
"But thou art fishing for Sea Kings. This vessel will not be able to contain even a small portion of thy catch, if thou art not swallowed whole for taking on something ten times the tenth power of thy size!"
"It's more like ten times the thirtieth power my size, if we wanted to to be more exact." She informed him as she waved off his concern. "Don't worry, I go fishing all the time. It's more about the kill than the food, so I let the marine life take care of the remains. More than often, dead Sea King remains attract the attention of more Sea Kings, so, its really a win win to me."
"Thou speak as if thee do this often."
"It's because I do. Fishing is the ultimate extreme sport. I already told you this." She laid back on her black fur pelt, closing her eyes for a second as she relaxed a bit before peeking open an eye at him. "But I don't usually get busy-body dragons on my boat, scaring away all my fish. Why are you here? And why are you bothering me?" She gave him a dark look as she asked her next question. "Your not here to steal my fishing secrets, are you?"
"No!" Toshi was starting to feel really exasperated. "Why would this one steal any of thy fishing secrets?"
"I don't know, why are you trying to steal them?"
"This one assures thee, he's not." Oh, there was a headache beginning to throb at the back of his head.
"Sure..." She drawled skeptically as she eyed him with disbelief. "That's what you want me to think. The moment I'm not looking, that's when you'll strike. But too bad for you! I don't have any fishing secrets! Ha!" The look on her face was one of pride and triumph.
Toshi stared at her for a while before speaking again. "...Art thou unsound of mind?"
"I like to call it medication dependent. It makes me sound less unsound, which is important to sound sound if one has a job like I do. People don't like the sound of dealing with a person whom is unsound of mind." She nodded her head as if it was absolute truth of the world- which, honestly, Toshi couldn't help but agree with. He currently wasn't liking the idea of dealing with her now that this knowledge of her sanity was given to him.
"And art thou currently partaking in thy medicine?" If she was... Oh dear ancestors above help him.
"No. I ran out some time ago. I'm waiting for my prescription to come." She glanced up at the sky. "Any day now."
Toshi suddenly remembered the white paper bag that accompanied the list. He reached within his yukata and pulled it out for her to view. "Would this be of what thee speak of?"
"Ah! My prescription!" She held out her hand so that he could give it to her. She gave him an earnest grin as he gave her the small white paper bag. "I've been waiting for this!"
Toshi expected her to open up the bag and take one of her pills, but instead, she tossed the white bag inside the cabin. She continued to watch him with rapt attention, as if she had not just thrown her medication into her cabin without any inclination to take it.
"Art thou not going to take thy medicine?"
"I don't take my medication on weekends."
"Today doth not a weekend, but a weekday. Tis Wednesday."
Without even missing a beat, she repeated her last statement. "Yeah, like I said, I don't take my medication on weekends."
Toshi reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to prevent his headache from getting worse. He decided it best to get to the point of his visitation. "Thou knows of whom hath sent thee thy medication?"
"Of course, yeah, the dear young doctor, Kureha-chan." The woman nodded as she smiled fondly. "She's still quite in the prime of her youth, don't you think?"
"As one with a spirit of a Koudo dragon, she is quite young, despite her unusual aged appearance." Toshi conceded. "But to the people of the island of which she was banished upon, she is beyond their understanding of age."
"Treeheehee." She giggled with a cheshire grin upon her face. "Indeed she is. It probably did not help that she came into her inheritance of lineage quite late in life." She sobered up, as her expression turned serious once more. Perhaps even more so than ever before since their conversation began. "But tell me, dragon, why have you come to my boat? Surely not to play delivery boy to a woman whose lost the favor of your kind."
"This dragon went to the witch Kureha so that he could beseech her to tend to his young student. She fell ill with a disease that we could not treat ourselves. His payment was to deliver thy medicine to thee as well as this list." He procured the list from his yukata and handed it to her.
"Quite odd. Young dracos don't often fall prey to disease." She muttered before scanning the list to see what was written upon it. "Hmmm. Your student was bitten by a Kestia tick?"
"Yes, did Kureha inform thee within the contents of the note?"
"No. Kureha made no remark of what your student was ailed with. However, she has marked the herbs and roots needed most for the treatment. I merely recognized them as the ingredients all found within the serum to counteract the poison of the Kestia tick." Gold eyes found their way back to Toshi's face. "But what I cannot understand is how a draco caught such a disease. Do their scales not protect them from such things anymore?"
"Tis true. The student in question is not born of dragon form. She is a child of forgotten lineage. One of whom bears the spirit of a dragon but takes the form of a human." Toshi confessed. "She was given to our care by one whom comes from the line of lightning."
"A Denkou dragon? But their island are almost as withdrawn as your island." The woman scoffed, anger evident in her words. "You cannot expect me to believe such heresy as that! Your kind withdrew from the world of men, vowing never to interfere with their ways or to interact with their kind. Your people even washed their hands of us left in the aftermath! How come I should believe that your people would take compassion on a child, regardless of spirit, born of human decent?"
"Tis true that normally we will not take on human children, regardless of lineage, but an exception was made in her case by our esteemed leader." Toshi snapped at her with a frown on his lips. "We art not heartless. This child was brought to us after enduring much hardships due to her uniqueness."
"That makes little difference." Gold eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I have heard of your new leader, Katsumi the Fire-eater. I heard that she slay her own mate because he dared to openly question her authority and ideas as well as the previous leader because he too did not agree with her."
"Thou know little of our customs if thou thinks that is all to the story." Toshi couldn't help but telling the stranger. "It is imperative for the Alpha to be supported by those around them. Tis a deep sign of betrayal when thy own mate speaks openly against thee without once speaking to thee privately about their concerns. As for the previous leader, it was a great sign of disrespect towards to one whom supersedes them as Alpha to question their leadership. When thou art Alpha, thou canst not afford mistrust within the herd. An Alpha's power must be absolute, not chastised at every turn."
"Ok, fine. Good point. I don't like it when my authority is usurped either without legit cause." The raven head conceded to his points. "But she's never been known to take in humans. I've heard that she will test them, but regardless of whether they pass or fail, she will make them leave thereafter. She has no sympathy for humans."
"Perhaps thou art correct." Toshi frowned more. This small woman's points were right on the mark, which was disturbing in a way since the woman had already admitted she wasn't entirely sane. "Tis none of thy business, however, for her change of heart about the child."
"Humor me." The woman drawled as a cheshire grin took to her lips once more. It was almost a fitting look, seeing as she was as mad as the fictional character of which he was incline to draw comparison with. When that line didn't work, she turned serious once more. "As a concerned member of a forgotten people, I need to understand this, Dragon-san."
Toshi didn't know why, but his instincts told him to trust the crazy female. "Indeed, she hath never had sympathy for humans, not since the events that took place nearly 900 years ago. However, she doth understand the importance of repaying a favor."
"What? Did she owe that Denkou dragon a favor or something?"
"Perhaps she did. That would not give her enough motive to sway her though. Nay. She owed a favor to this dragon before thee."
Realization overtook the raven head's expression as she looked at him in another light. "You were one of the few that sympathized with us. You were one of the ones who took on a-"
"Nevermind that." The memories of long ago were too painful to recall. "Forget that this one hath said anything upon the matter."
She stared at him for a moment, before her eyes seemingly glazed over and her face went blank. Toshi wondered what it the world she was doing until she suddenly seemed to snap back into reality, blinking as she took in his form.
"SHIT!" She screamed as she quickly went to the edge of the boat, chanting the word once more. "Shit, shit, shit, shit!" Toshi felt like he nearly had an aneurysm when she wailed "MY FISH!" in despair.
"That is not what this dragon meant when he said to forget about what had been said!" Toshi couldn't help but shout agitatedly at the younger being and she moped on the side of her boat for the loss of her Sea Kings again.
"Treeheehee," gold met teal as the woman glanced at him from over her shoulder. "You should be more specific when talk to one whose 'unsound of mind'."
"Art thou truly mad or art thou going along with what has been put into question." Toshi could not understand her. She seemed insane one moment and totally cognitive of what was going on the next. A paradox.
"I truly have days where I am not in my right mind, but I also have days where I can rationalize my insanity away for a time. The curse of sorts for one so intelligent that madness descends upon the mind." She moved towards her cabin and fetched a brown leather satchel and began to dig through its contents.
Toshi didn't need to ask her what she was doing, it became apparent when she started pulling out herbs, roots, and other items that had been written on the list.
"This isn't all of what she's asked for, but this'll be what she needs to finish treating your human student plus a little more." She explained as she started putting the items into a few paper bags that she had within her cabin. "Tell Kureha-chan that I'll deliver the rest of the items on a later date. I have to go find a few of them, since I'm currently out of stock and they're rare."
She held out the bags to Toshi, who took them warily. "Art thou sure that thou can do such a task? Even this dragon knows that the list given was filled with herbs that art dangerous to harvest due to their location."
"Treeheehee." She giggled with an amused look on her face. "Worried about little ol' me? Don't worry, its my job. I find things that no one else can, regardless of how impossible it might seem. That's my specialty: retrieval and delivery. A courier of sorts, I suppose."
"Thou art talented in finding things?" Toshi couldn't help but asked.
"Yup! What? Need me to find you something, Dragon-san?" Gold eyes filled with curiosity at the idea of a dragon commissioning her to find something.
"This one hardly doubts that anyone can find what he hath lost."
"Oh?" Her grin widened as she perked up even more. "Is that a challenge, Dragon-san? I love challenges! Speak! Tell me what you want me to find!"
"And what of the payment? Thou art not like thy associate Kureha, this one hopes." If he had to do something totally outrageous again, he'd-
"Nah," she waved off. "Just a favor owed to my family upon completion. One that we can use at anytime we deem necessary. Don't worry, our head is a very understanding woman; she doesn't ask the impossible from those who favors are due."
Toshi thought about it as he tucked away the paper bags, making sure they'd be safe on the long flight back. He glanced at her expression, one of excitement and hope, and decided, against his better judgement, to go with his gut feeling and tell her.
"Very well. This one would like thee to find what he has lost long, long ago..." Toshi began to explain his story to strange, small woman.
Red eyes watched in wonder as snow fell on the other side of the window. It probably shouldn't have been such a novel thing for her to see, but despite the presence of Aisu dragons upon Soshi Shima, there was hardly ever snow. The island was too tropical for such an event, even though the half of the island the Aisu dragons were often found on was covered in random patches of ice and frost, there was never anything like snow.
"Please, Doctorine!" Rei couldn't help but beg as she pressed a hand onto the cold window glass as she turned her body slightly to look at the older female. "Can't I go outside for just a little while?"
"No." Kureha instantly snapped as continued to work at her desk, mixing and grinding herbs to create a prescription for one of her few clients. "You still have a fever and you are not use to the island's constant climate. You'll conk out before you can even fully open the door, brat."
Rei scowled as she turned her attention back to the window. "I would not."
"Who would know better? A child or an adult with a doctorate's degree thrice over in medical sciences?"
"I'm not like most children though."
"Which is why you'll pass out." Kureha pulled away from her work to give the girl a warning glare. If she kept on arguing, she was going to find herself dodging a flurry of scalpels again. When Rei turned to look at her with an inquisitive glance, Kureha knew she was going to have to better explain this. "You are not accustomed to extreme cold and due to your affinity to Kasai dragons, you are not suited for the cold. Unless Kasai dragons are braced for cold climate, they have a very difficult time functioning in it, just any heat dependent creature."
"But Aisu dragons don't have a problem with the cold..."
Kureha returned to her work as she spoke. "They have the opposite problem, usually. But since they thrive on a tropical jungle, they learn to adapt unconsciously to the problem over a long period of time."
"Do all dragons have that problem?"
"No, only Aisu and Kasai. They are affected by the temperature of their climate since their powers are directly related to heat. But then again, Koudo dragons do not fly and Amatsu dragons have a hard time in breathing in low elevations. Each dragon type have their own troubles and trials to overcome them."
"How do you know about Amatsu and Koudo dragons, Doctorine?"
Kureha tsked as she rolled her eyes. Children were too curious for their own good at the wrong time. She needed to get this done and having to multitask was slowing her down. However, it was better than the girl whining that she was bored, which had resulted in a showdown of scalpels and pillows. Now, she had to repair a good portion of her pillows that would never be the same after all the goose feathers had escaped.
"I use to live on their island a long while back." She replied. "But due to some... differences I moved back to my home island. Just as well, I have always liked the weather here better anyway."
"Oh." Rei could pick up the woman's unwillingness to continue talking about the subject, so she returned to watching the snow outside. She and Kureha fell into a quiet lapse of time before Rei spoke again. "Doctorine, there's a man outside coming towards your home."
"Shit," Kureha grumbled lowly as she looked at her watch. "That damn quack is early. Tch, probably wants to bum off my supplies on top of his bi-weekly appointment." She got up, turning her attention to the little girl sitting on the bed that was pushed up against one of the windows within her home. "Shift your appearance, kid, I don't want him seeing your unusual features, and then lie the hell down like you're suppose to be doing."
Rei blinked in confusion for a moment before she remembered that her horns, wings, tail, claws, and long dragon ears were still out. She had forgotten about them since it was second nature to her now to move about with them out. She didn't even knock things over with either her wings or her tail anymore, always aware of where they were in accordance with what was in the area. Rei shifted her appearance to that of a normal little girl, reluctantly lying down on the bed and pulling the covers over her right before the door opened.
The man she had seen early entered the home within the tree, shutting the door quickly behind him before the chill of the air outside affected the warm indoor environment. There was still a rush of cold air as he closed the door, sweeping across Rei's face since it was not covered by the bedding. She couldn't help the shiver at how cold the bite of the wind was upon this island. Maybe Dr. Kureha wasn't making up a tall tale about her heat tolerance at all.
"Good afternoon, Kureha! My what a wonderful day, is it not?" The man greeted the older woman with a smile as he rubbed his hands together as if the warm them from the cold. He barely managed to dodge the two or three medical knives thrown his way.
"Shut up, you Quack Doctor," she glared at him before pointing at the examination table. "Sit you ass down and let's get this over with. I don't want to have to deal with you longer than I have to. I'm busy today."
"My, you're so mean!" The man wailed as he did as he was told, a pout on his face as he stared at her dejectedly. "I even came early and everything."
"I don't care," Kureha snapped as moved around, gathering the necessary items she would need. "You only came early because you want to (what was it you said last time?) borrow ingredients for your useless medicine again."
"My medicine is not useless! It merely has unforeseen side effects!" The man bristled at the mention of his own apothecary skills lacking. "Plus, I need more ingredients so I can find the cure to this kingdom! It has fallen gravely ill, you know Kureha!"
Kureha scoffed as she began his check up, not at all impressed by his words, unlike the little girl eavesdropping unintentionally upon the conversation the two adults were having. "This kingdom is sick? So what? The whole damn world is sick. You do know to which government Wapol belongs to, no, you Quack Doctor?"
The funny looking man gave Dr. Kureha a serious look at her words. "If the world is so sick, Kureha, then why do you do nothing to aid to its cure? You are a greater doctor than me. Why do you stay your hand when you could be helping?"
Kureha stole a quick glance over to Rei before returning her angry stare at the man, tearing harshly as she gave him a shot and getting a whimper in reply to her unkind handling. "Hee hee hee hee. Because, the world would never be able to pay my price." She teased before turning serious. "I learned a long time ago that the world requires balance and I am not brave enough to pay the cost of saving the whole damn world. The price is more than even I would charge for such a task. No, it is better to leave such things to braver men and women, ready to bear the burden of changing the world for the better."
As Rei listened to their conversation, words given to her by Katsumi bubble from her lips. "Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame."
Both adults looked her way. The man was startled by her words, now aware of her presence that he had not been aware of earlier. Kureha looked at her with a thoughtful expression, as if contemplating the true weight of those words. The man wasn't startled for long and soon had a kind smile on his face as he gazed at her.
"Oh, and who might this child be, Kureha? A patient of yours?"
Kureha snorted, looking quite irritated that Rei had made herself known. Perhaps she had been hoping to avoid the man knowing about the red eyed girl, since her presence there was difficult to explain. "Yes, she is one of my patients. You are not my only one, you know. But she is suppose to be resting, not chatting amiably like a friendly fool."
Rei ignored her as she sat up in her designated bed and waved shyly at the man. He was laughing heartily at Kureha's words, not at all put out by her hostile glare as he did so.
"Ah, so it's not just me that she's mean to. I am surprised she even has patients with how horrible her bedside manners are!" He laughed at her expense, only to wince when she smacked him upside the head.
"I have patients because unlike you, I don't screw up their medicine and cause them to hop around like frogs, you quack."
He pouted as he muttered, "I was certain that frogs eye would be the key to the serum too..."
Rei wasn't sure whether to be concerned or laugh, but, for some reason she found herself laughing at their antics combined. They almost reminded her of Tatsuo and Ayane and how well the two of them got along. The man beamed at her laugher, happy to see her smile and blush shyly as she laughed. Even Kureha wasn't adverse to hearing the child laugh.
"Where are my manners? I haven't even introduced myself to you! I am Dr. Hiluluk, future healer of Drum Kingdom!" The man finally introduced himself, tipping the rim of his top hat as he did so.
"I'm Rei." She told him in reply, nodding her head in return to his gesture. "It is very nice to meet you."
"Likewise, Rei." He smiled before turning his attention back to Kureha. "So, how am I this week? All good to go?"
"Yes," Kureha drawled as she turned towards her desk. "You won't be dying this week or the next. Come back in two weeks to see if I'll say the same thing then."
"Ah! Good!" He was smiling brightly at that. He paused for a second before putting on a curious look. Kureha groaned as she recognized it and knew the question to follow. "By the way, I am sort of running low on supplies... Would it be possible for you to give me a few things that are on my list." He procured one as he spoke.
Rei was already expecting Kureha to say no and threaten him with her scalpels, much like when Rei attempted to ask her for something, but much to the young girl's surprise, Kureha merely snatched the list aggressively out of his hand and muttered darkly about wasting good ingredients. Hiluluk grinned as he gave her a sweet 'thank you', only to get a withering glare in return from the old crone.
As Kureha was busy finding the requested ingredients, Rei decided to use the time to ask Hiluluk about what he had said earlier. She had not fully understood what he meant when he had said that the kingdom of Drum was sick. But the way he and Kureha spoke, It didn't seem as though he was specifically talking about the people, but the kingdom as if it, itself, was the one that was sick.
"What did you mean by cure this kingdom? The way Doctorine was talking, it doesn't seem like you meant the people in the kingdom, but the kingdom itself...How can a kingdom get sick?" She cocked her head to the side as she stared at him with curious red eyes.
"To be honest, I am not very sure myself," Hiluluk admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck. "It is very complicated and quite political I am very sure. It has to do with the current reigning sovereign and their rules and empathy and-" The older man realized that he was starting to ramble about things he wasn't exactly too sure about himself. "Ahem... Let's just say, our kingdom's decline into aliment started a while ago, without anyone noticing."
Rei frowned. So the sickness originated from their leader? Whoever he was, he must not have been competent like Katsumi-san was if he left his kingdom fall ill. The more they talked about this ailing kingdom, the more it sounded to Rei as if the people were gravely demoralized through the incompetence of their king. They had no hope and fell into a despair, much like she had when she had been kidnapped.
"Okay, so the kingdom is sick because its people have lost their faith and hope in their country." Rei reiterated for the old male doctor.
He blinked in shock, realizing what the girl had said was exactly on the dot. Doctorine chuckled quietly at his surprised stupor at how perceptive and well spoken her young patient was.
"Yes." Hiluluk nodded slowly still in a bit of shock. "Exactly."
"Well, how do you plan on curing the kingdom then?"
The Quack Doctor beamed at that question, knowing full well what the answer to that would be. "People say there is no cure for a sick country. That the only thing that awaits is for it to end. But they're wrong! I will create a medicine that can save this country!" He proclaimed boldly, meaning every word of it. "You see, many years ago in a country far to the west, there lived a great thief. He suffered from a severe heart condition, one that was said to be incurable. He sought treatment from all the greatest doctors in the land, but none could cure him.
"Because of this, he became filled with rage, realizing he was going to die. The man, however, happened to pass by a certain mountain one day and he saw a scene he had never witnessed before! It was an entire mountain covered with the most beautiful sakura trees he had ever seen! The man was moved greatly by the scene before and that was when something miraculous happened! He went back to the doctor the next day and to his great surprise he was told this: 'You appear to be in perfect health!'
"I believe a miracle occurred through a simple, yet wonderful medicine! The man had been so moved by what he had seen that it cause a sort of transformation within his body!" Hiluluk stood as he continued his long monologue, getting fired up as he continued to speak out his convictions. "So I believe that there is no illness in this world that cannot be cured! No matter what anyone says about, I, as a doctor, shall save this country!
"And do you know how I remind myself of this dream?" He grabbed the leather bag he had brought with him and showed her the Jolly Roger imprinted upon it, slapping it to emphasized his point. "I hung a flag with a skull and crossbones to fly in the face of all disease! I see the skull as a symbol of my conviction that defies the impossible! When the flag flies, I will fight like a pirate!"
"More like fight like an imbecile." Kureha corrected under her breath as she finished collecting the things upon his list.
While Rei easily heard the old doctor woman's comment, she easily ignored it, too in awe of the man before her. His enthusiasm and conviction moved her. Though he was different than Gin, she was reminded of the woman because she too spoke surely of what believed and fought heartily for what she thought was worth dying for. Though Hiluluk was nothing like Gin, with being a bit of a screw-up and not as coordinated as the wily pirate woman, he brought her to mind regardless.
"I wish you the best, then, Hiluluk-sensei." Rei smiled up at him warmly, truly hoping the best for the man's endeavors.
Hiluluk stared at her for a moment, surprise evident in his face once more, almost making Rei wonder if she had said something wrong. She had gotten very good at not speaking archaically after the first day or so, but was it possible she had messed up and had not said it in a modern tongue. Before she could mentally review what she had said, Hiluluk suddenly beamed even brighter than before as he blissfully looked over at Doctorine.
"Did you hear that, Kureha! She addressed me with my proper title! She actually called me a doctor!" He looked near tears, being how happy he was.
Rei suddenly got the feeling that he wasn't addressed as such very often... if ever. Kureha shot her a quick, irritated looked that nearly screamed 'look, see what you did' as she fixed a grumpy glare at the man. "She's a little girl. I hardly think she's qualified to discern what makes a man a doctor and what makes him a quack."
"My, you really are so mean sometimes!" Hiluluk wailed as he gave her a sad pout, but deep inside he was still giddy about the girl's comment.
"And you are a quack." Kureha snapped as she shoved the paper bag of ingredients into his face. "There. That's what you want. Now get out and stop tainting my patient's mind with ludicrous notions. She's a child, regardless of how smart she is and is still susceptible to bouts of stupidity. Do not make it any worse, you quack."
"Fine, fine." Hiluluk conceded, "I'm going." He turned to leave, calling over his shoulder. "I'll see you in two weeks, same time, alright?"
"If I must." Kureha grumbled as she went back to her work at her medicine desk.
Rei watched, slightly disappointed, as Hiluluk walked to the door. He stopped short of opening the door to look at Rei and to give her a wink. "Good luck recovering Rei. You were a joy to chat with." Nudging his head over to the older woman, he added, "Also, good luck with the witch over there. She's a bit of a sourpuss, but she has a real heart of gold, if you look hard enough."
With that, he made his exit, running as fast as he could as Kureha threw projectiles at him from at her door, shouting profanity at the cackling man.
Rei couldn't help but giggle. Doctorine was quite shy about her true feelings, despite her blunt and gruff exterior. The girl instantly stopped giggling when Kureha turned her irate glare her way. Well... maybe not shy. She wasn't shy about expressing herself at all, Rei soon learned as she got an earful as she dodged a barrage of scalpels yet again. Perhaps it was more like 'tough, tough, tough love'.
A war of pillows and scalpels began once more.
Souken Shima-Creation Island
Koudo-Earth
Denkou-Lightning
Amatsu-Heaven
A/N: Happy New Year a month later! We apologize for this update to be the latest thus far. It's been busy with holiday visiting with family and friends along with work. Volleys-chan got a full-time job, which took away from writing. Now onto the chapter. We've figured Rei would have been the patient that Kureha treated for Kestia before (spoiler alert for those starting into One Piece!) Nami got treated.
So, how many of you were surprised at which canon characters we chose?
A little note, I miscounted that there would be two canon character appearances in this arc, there is actually four, including Kureha and Hiluluk. So look forward to two more canon characters. ;) Can you guess who they are? Virtual cookies to those who can. :)
One last note, I've finished the two year training arc I've mentioned back in chapter 6 as well written the reunion at Sabaody Archipelago. Now, I'm working on the Fishman Island arc, so more comedy relief and epic scenes you can look forward to. ;)
See you in the next chapter.