Another day, another update! Let's get this bread readers.

Yes I said that. No I don't regret it.

Enjoy!

"Looks like it's just you and me," Zoro said as he watched the rest of the crew leave Merry. Luffy had appointed him to stay behind and guard the ship, which he was fine with. He had to get some more training it anyway. Having to sit and wait for the rest to save him at Little Garden seriously rubbed him the wrong way.

With this, he turned to Karoo, who he had been talking to.

"Wanna train with me?" He asked.

"Quack."

"This country doesn't have a name," The man, who'd identified himself as Dalton, said. This made Luffy raise an eyebrow.

"So we aren't at Drum, then." He said. Dalton made a face at this.

"Well, we used to be called that." He replied. "But not anymore. Not since we lost our King." He didn't give them anymore information then that, so Luffy had nothing to go on. He just focused on carrying Nami as carefully as he could, making sure not to drop her. Johnny was carrying Yosaku, while the rest of the crew formed a circle around them as the people escorted them through the countryside. They passed what Dalton identified as a Hiking Bear, which Luffy thought was pretty cool. Bears were cool in general, after all. After a while the people got them to a town they called Big Horn, Dalton stretching.

"You guys can come rest and my house," he said. "And I'll tell you what you need to know."

"Are you sure about that Dalton?" Someone asked. "These guys are pirates, you know."

"I don't think they're quite like the others we have seen," Dalton told him. "Please, follow me." Ignoring the stares they got from people. the Straw Hats followed Dalton into his home, laying down Nami on a bed and Yosaku on the couch.

"Thank you for helping us," Nojiko said to Dalton with a smile. "We were really worried for a moment there." Dalton nodded.

"It's no problem," he replied. "However, actually getting your friends the help they need may be harder than you think. There's only one Doctor in this country, and she's a witch?"

"A witch?!" Usopp asked, sounding terrified. "Is she a monster too?" Dalton made a face at the sniper, but sighed.

"She's an interesting character to say the least," he said as he turned to the window. "Do you see the castle, up there?" Luffy looked out the window and looked up towards the very top of the mountain, seeing a building standing there.

"What's up there?" He asked.

"It's the castle the old King used to live in," Dalton said. "Now only Doctor Kureha lives there."

"Why would a Doctor live so far away?" Sanji asked. "Call her down here, we need some help."

"Not possible," Dalton said. "We have no way to contact her, and she comes down when she wants."

"That makes no sense," Nojiko replied. "Doctors are supposed to be available as much as possible!"

"She is a good Doctor, though." Dalton said in an attempt to reassure her. "She's been keen for someone who's 140."

"Sorry what now?" Johnny asked. Dalton ignored him.

"She comes whenever she feels like and treats any patients," he said. "Then she takes whatever she wants as payment. She is good, though."

"Sounds like a pirate," Luffy said flatly, still looking up at the mountain through the window. They didn't have time to wait for her, so did that mean they needed to go to her?

"She is a strange one to be sure," Dalton replied. "Some say she flies to the villages, and some say she rides a sleigh. Hell, it's even been said she lives with some strange creature."

"A monster?!" Usopp asked weakly. "She lives with a monster!"

"So because of this, no one wants to see her themselves," Dalton said. "Not only that, but getting up there is nigh impossible. All we can do is wait."

"This is exactly the type of thing that would happen to us," Sanji hissed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose in irritation. Luffy frowned and crossed his arms, thinking about their options. Waiting wasn't a good idea, both Nami and Yosaku were in a bad way. But from what Dalton said, getting to that mountain might not be the easiest thing in the world.

"...B-Big Bro Luffy..." Luffy snapped back to reality as he heard his name being called, looking towards the couch. Yosaku had opened his eyes, and was staring right at him.

"Yosaku!" Luffy said, rushing to his side as everyone else turned to look. Luffy knelt down to meet the eyes of his crew member, who was barely conscious. "How do you feel?"

"...T-Terrible," he replied. "Have w-we found a Doctor?" Luffy frowned, unable to answer positively. They had, but not the way they wanted. No, he couldn't say that. Yosaku didn't need to hear that.

"We have," He replied with a smile. "Rest easy, you won't have to wait much longer."

"A-Ah, that's good...Did we make it to Alabasta yet?" He asked.

"No, not yet." Luffy said. "Don't worry about that, focus on staying alive. We need you." Yosaku managed a weak smile before his eyes closed again, presumably falling asleep again. Luffy stared at the man quietly for a moment before he sighed and took a deep breath, standing.

"I'm taking them to the Doctor directly," He said as he turned to everyone else. "We can't wait."

"Did you hear me?" Dalton asked. "It's not possible to get up there."

"Did I say I cared?" Luffy countered, surprising Dalton. "Nami and Yosaku have run out of time, and I'm not waiting."

"Luffy, it's not possible." Sanji said. "I don't like it anymore than you do, but-"

"I'll come too," Nojiko said, cutting Sanji off. "I'll carry Nami." Luffy nodded.

"Thanks," he replied.

"Hey, don't leave me out!" Johnny shouted. "I'm coming too! I can carry Yosaku!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Luffy replied, walking over to Nami. "Hey, Nami. Are you there?" Despite how pained she looked, the navigator managed to open her eyes. "We're gonna get you to the Doctor now. But I need you to trust me, okay?"

"...Why'd you even have to ask?" She scolded weakly, raising her hand up slowly. "Of course I trust you." Luffy smiled brightly at this, accepting the high five he was offered.

"That's the spirit! Let's go find this witch!"

"Stand still," Vivi said as she tightened the straps. "I need to make sure that they're secure." She tied the knot was hard as she could, securing Yosaku to Johnny and Nami to Nojiko. Both needed their hands free, so carrying them like this was really the only way they could accompany Luffy. "There, that should be tight enough."

"Think so?" Nojiko asked, testing the fastening to make sure it wasn't loose. "Well, it feels good."

"Then let's go!" Luffy said. "We don't have time to stand around talking!"

"Are you guys sure about this?" Dalton asked as the two joined Luffy. "It won't be an easy trek by any stretch."

"We can't wait any more," Nojiko replied.

"We won't either!" Johnny shouted. "We need to help them!"

"Wait you guys!" Usopp shouted, running up to them. "Nojiko, I have something for you!"

"Huh?" Nojiko asked, sounding confused. "What?" Usopp smiled.

"Remember I took one of your old pistols cause you took Mr. Five's? Well, I had an idea for it, and I outfitted it! I present to you, the first Usopp Brand Grappling Gun!" The new weapon was pressed into Nojiko's hand, who stared at it in surprise. The flintlock had been modified significantly, it's barrel being much thicker and now had a hook hanging out of the end of the barrel.

"Wow," Nojiko said as she broke into a grin. "Does it work?"

"Of course it does, I made it!" Usopp replied with a smirk. "I know it won't get you guys to the top, but there's at decent amount of rope in there! Let me know how it goes!"

"We will," Nojiko replied with a smile as she pocketed the gun. "Nice work, Usopp. Can you modify my holsters so I can hold it better?"

"Of course! I'll get on that once Nami and Yosaku get better." Usopp seemed very proud of his work, and Nojiko's compliment seemed to fill him with even more. Dalton just smiled.

"Well in that case, you should take the route to the east. It's relatively free of Lapins and easier to-!"

Dalton was interrupted as Luffy let out a battle cry, both Nojiko and Johnny following close behind as he sprinted off towards the mountain in the distance. Vivi watched with a weak smile as they disappeared into the snow, Dalton looking surprised.

"Yeah he's not good at waiting," she said to him. Dalton sighed and chuckled.

"I can tell," he replied. "But when one cares so much about their crew, waiting can feel like hell." With this, he turned back to his house. "Would you like to come in? It's pretty cold out here."

"I'm okay," Sanji replied, eyes glued to where the Captain had disappeared too.

"Me too!" Usopp said, trying to look tough despite the fact that he was shivering. "I can wait too." Vivi smiled.

"I guess we're waiting," she said to Dalton, who smiled as well.

"I guess knowing your friends are so sick it's hard to calm down huh?" He asked, sitting down. "Mind if I sit with you?"

"Not at all," Sanji replied. "Meanwhile, wanna tell us why there's only one Doctor on the whole island?" Dalton frowned at this, looking down at his feet.

"We used to have more Doctors." He said. "Back when we were still a somewhat prosperous Kingdom. Of course, we lost all of that when we were raided by pirates."

"Pirates?" Usopp asked, Dalton nodding. "That's why you tried to scare us off. Pirates attacked you before."

"Yes, exactly." Dalton said. "But it's so much more than that. This island lost everything because of those pirates. We're only barely able to hold on as we are, all because of that damn Blackbeard." Vivi didn't recognise the name of the pirate who had taken Drum down, but the fact that he had was enough to scare her. "I don't know how he did it. With only five members, he destroyed everything."

"Five?!" Usopp cried out. "Holy crap! I sure as hell don't want to run into that guy!"

"You sure don't," Dalton replied, looking upset. "That's not even the worst of it. When the Kingdom found out just how much devastation Blackbeard had brought...That bastard King Wapol escaped with the royal army, leaving the whole country to fend for itself!"

Wait.

"D-Did you just say Wapol?" Vivi asked. Dalton nodded.

"The form King of Drum Island," He said. "When Blackbeard and his gang were wreaking havoc, he fled like the coward he is!"

"Isn't that the mouth guy that attacked us out at sea?" Sanji asked. Vivi nodded.

"It was," she said. "Those guys he was working with called him Wapol."

"You saw him?" Dalton asked, looking surprised. Vivi nodded.

"We did," she said. "He attacked us while we were on our way here. He wanted an Eternal Pose to come here." This only made Dalton frown.

"So he's trying to get back here," he said. "I'm not surprised, but that's not good. If he comes back here, he will surely try and take the throne back. And that's not good."

"Doesn't sound like it," Usopp said. "But don't worry, Luffy sent him flying. I doubt he'll find his way back here any time soon."

"Did you guys know that people who live in the snow never sleep?"

"Big Bro that makes no sense."

"No it's true. If you sleep in the snow you die."

"Why did Dalton have a bed then?"

"To prepare for when he dies, clearly."

"Can you guys focus?" Nojiko demanded, interrupting the moronic conversation. "Of course people who live in the snow sleep Luffy, that's not how that works."

"Are you saying that guy in my village lied to me?" Luffy asked, looking sceptical.

"Yes that's what I'm saying!" Nojiko shouted. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"Well why not?" He asked. Nojiko suppressed the urge to hit the Captain over the head, slowly realising why Nami could be so violent.

"Shut up and focus," she replied as she turned her eyes forward again. "We need to keep our eyes on that mountain. Moreover, come up with a way to get up there."

"Didn't Big Bro Usopp give you a grappling gun?" Johnny asked.

"It's no where near long enough to get us up there," she replied, watching a rabbit with razor sharp teeth pull at Johnny's pants. "So we'll have to come up with some way to utilise it well."

"Hm, well I guess we could-hold on." Johnny stopped himself and turned around, punting the rabbit away from himself. "Sorry, that thing was bugging me."

"Yeah I've seen a few," Luffy said. "Annoying little guys."

"I think we have bigger problems," Nojiko said as she came to a stop, "Literally." Standing in front of the trio was a pack of wild animals, that seemed to resemble both bears and rabbits at the same time.

"What are those things?" Luffy asked.

"Dunno," Johnny replied as he placed a hand on his chin. "Are they rabbits, or bears?"

"What does it matter?" Nojiko asked, sweating a little as the creatures began to growl. "They clearly don't like that we're up here!"

"Leave it to me!" Luffy shouted. Nojiko watched as the Captain charged forward without a care in the world, engaging the creatures in battle. "Gum-Gum Whip!" Before any of the creatures could react, Luffy slammed at outstretched leg into all of them, sending them flying in various directions. They quickly recovered and tried to pounce on Luffy, who was far to fast for them. He bounced around like a maniac as the creatures tried to catch him, but it was clear he was making it too hard.

"Those must be the Lapins I heard Dalton mention briefly before we left," Nojiko said, recalling the man say something about this path being not so free of them.

"Atta be, Big Bro!" Johnny shouted from beside her. "Teach those things they have to pick one thing or the other!"

"What does that even mean?" Nojiko asked, confused. She wasn't able to hear an answer sadly, as a growl alerted her to a problem. Turning, she saw a group of the bears had wandered up to them, clearly intent on devouring them too. Thinking quickly, she readied her pistol and aimed it at them, hoping the threat of it was enough. Sadly it didn't seem to be the case, as the Lapins attempted to pounce on them the first chance they got. Nojiko fired off shots into the legs of the few who came for her, causing them to halt and veer away, licking their wounds. Johnny was not so lucky, as he couldn't really draw his sword and fight with Yosaku on his back. Thankfully Luffy came to his aide, punching the creatures in the face before they could devour the swordsmen.

"You two need to leave this to me!" He said. "I don't want Nami and Yosaku to get hurt!"

"There's way to many to guarantee that!" Johnny replied. "What do we do?!" Luffy gritted his teeth at this, not answering for a moment.

"Leave it to me!" He finally shouted, cracking his knuckles. "Both of you make a dash for the mountain. No matter what happens, don't turn back! I can handle this!"

"Are you sure?" Nojiko asked weakly, Luffy nodding. "Ugh, fine! We'll leave this to you!"

"Gum-Gum Pistol!" Luffy reengaged the Lapins, punching open a hole in the pack. Seeing the opening he had created, Nojiko ran as hard as she could through the snow to make it through. She sensed that a few tried to eat her, but Luffy forced them away with violent attacks. Before long the sounds of battle began to fade into the distance, both of the pirates putting distance between them and their Captain.

"Do you think Big Bro will be okay?" Johnny asked, looking over his shoulder.

"I hope so," Nojiko replied, unable to answer him. "But we have to trust him."

"I really do hope they don't see any Lapins," Dalton said, drawing everyone's attention. "They're rather vicious creatures."

"Are they that dangerous?" Sanji asked, lighting himself a cigarette.

"Very much so, yes." Dalton replied. "Plus they attack in packs, so I hope they're okay."

"Well Luffy went with them, so I think they'll be okay." Usopp said. "I just hope that my grappling gun helps them! I really want to make some more things like that, so I hope it goes well."

"What are Lapins, anyway?" Vivi asked, ignoring the sniper.

"Large vicious bears," Dalton replied, making Vivi frown. "They also resemble rabbits, but none of the cuteness crosses over."

"I hope they aren't too big of a problem," The Princess said, looking worriedly towards the mountain range.

"Hey! Dalton!" The group turned to see a woman walking up to them, calling Dalton's name.

"Yes Maria?" Dalton asked.

"The pirates were looking for the Doctor, right?" She asked.

"That's right, why?" Sanji asked.

"Well I received word that she just showed up in Cocoa Weed Town!" Maria replied with a smile. However, none of the others were the least bit pleased with this information.

"Seriously?!" They all shouted in tandem.

Meanwhile, in the aforementioned Cocoa Weed Town, a small boy was crying out in pain. This was much to the chagrin of his father, who wanted him to be quiet. Despite this the boy continued to whine, now receiving threats from his father to quiet down or go outside. Before long the doors to the bar burst open, surprising everyone inside. Standing in the doorway was a feminine figure, with a reindeer standing by her side.

"Do you hear that, Chopper?" The woman asked. "The father is so cruel, telling his son to be quiet or go outside." The reindeer did not reply, just watched quietly.

"Dr. Kureha!" The father said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"What was that?" Kureha asked. 'You want to know my secret to my youthful appearance?"

"No one asked you that!" The bar shouted angrily. Kureha laughed at this.

"What else would I possibly be here for?" She demanded. "I've come to treat the sick. Now, tell me what's wrong little boy!"

Feel free to leave me a review! Or don't! Or maybe! Or perhaps!

I need a hobby besides writing, I've got so little to do.