A.n I own Nothing
Also I have decided to start Naming my chapters, from now one they will be named after the story arc they are part of. Some of these will not be official names rather names I remember them by the villian or the pirate crew the straw hats fought eg: Long Long Island arc will be The Foxy Pirates.
I will be doing this with Straw Hats Creed too.
Please Review
As soon as Usopp and Chopper got back to the ship they carried Robin to the shower room and Chopper turned on the cold water. He knew how to treat various conditions from extreme cold like hypothermia and frost bite; but he had never had to un-thaw a whole person who was completely frozen sold before and he prayed the same theory and treatment would work.
It wasn't long until the bath room was flooded, Chopper stood on a little stool so he would not be affected by the water flooding the floor. Connor and Usopp also helped by splashing the cold water all over Robins body as they were trying to thaw her out as quickly as possible. Chopper told Connor to use his sight on her and keep it on as long as he could, as Chopper had no way to tell if Robin was still alive in her frozen state.
"Why don't we use warm water...won't that make the ice melt faster?" Connor asked.
"She's very brittle, if we use warm water she could shatter or a limb could break...we have to keep her at a stable temperature," Chopper explained.
"But is she even still alive?" Usopp panicked.
"Yes, but her aura keeps going smaller and dimmer before coming back...but it's always not as strong," Connor said "Dose that make sense?"
"You mean it's fluctuating?" Chopper asked.
"If that what's that means then yes," Connor said.
"Why is it doing that?" Usopp asked urgently.
"I don't know," Connor responded "I've never seen an aura do that before,"
"Well make it stop, make Robin's aura stable," Usopp demanded.
"I can't, I can only see the life aura not control it," Connor claimed "Besides I still don't fully understand my sight...I only know what I've seen and what Edward told me but even then it's not much,"
"Well your useless aren't you," Usopp snapped.
Connor stopped splashing the water on Robin and looked down in sadness.
"Useless..." Connor whispered.
"USOPP!" Chopper yelled angrily.
"What all he's telling us is Robin is going to die. He's not helping at all," Usopp shot back.
"That is not helping, Robin is probably suffocating in there and I can't judge her state of health while she's frozen," Chopper scolded "the only way to tell if she's still alive is by Connor's sight. We know she is dying, the fact that she has an aura at all even if it's fluctuating is confirmation that Robin is still alive...SO WHY ARE YOU BLAMING CONNOR WHEN RIGHT NOW HE IS MORE USEFUL THAN YOU!"
The room was silent for a few seconds and Chopper tuned his attention to Connor.
"Connor keep your sight on and tell me if her aura disappears or stops fluctuating," Chopper ordered.
Connor nodded and he went back to splashing the water on Robin. Usopp looked at the two and he started to splash Robin with more water. After a tense ten minutes the top of Robins head was visible and only a thin layer of Ice remind as some of the Ice had fully melted away.
Chopper was relived at this and as more Ice melted Connor saw that the fluctuations in Robins Aura became less frequent. He informed Chopper but Robin was still not compleaty thawed out so they kept at it.
"CHOPPER!" Zoro's panicked voice came from outside.
Chopper, Usopp and Connor looked towards the bathroom door and Usopp went to open it, as soon as he did the water in the floor drained out into the next room and Chopper jumped off his stool and ran out, making little splashes as he ran through the water. Chopper came out on the deck and ran over to the railing where he saw Zoro, Nami and Sanji.
"Huh...only three of you?" Chopper asked "Where's Luffy?"
"He stayed behind to fight the Admiral," Nami claimed.
"WHATTTT!" Chopper yelled.
"It was a one on one fight," Zoro explained "We'll go back but first how do we unfreeze?"
"Oh right...you need to melt the Ice in a cool temperature," Chopper started "But Robins still in the bathroom,"
Zoro and Sanji instantly jumped into the sea and there cool ocean combined with the salt quickly melted the ice on their bodies.
"That works too," Chopper said.
"Okay what next?" Sanji asked.
"Stay there until the ice is all gone. Once the Ice is all gone, you need to massage the affected area and keep it warm," Chopper said.
"I'll get some towels," Nami claimed and ran onto the ship.
Zoro and Sanji stayed in the ocean for a few minutes and once all the Ice was gone, they boarded the ship; Nami had some towels ready for them and Chopper showed them how to properly massage there affected areas.
While he was doing that Usopp came out to see what was taking Chopper so long.
"Hey where's Luffy?" Usopp asked when he noticed that everyone but the rubber captain was back.
"He stayed behind," Zoro answered.
"And you left without him?" Usopp yelled.
"It was the captain's orders," Sanji explained "he sent us back while he challenged Ajokii to a one on one fight,"
"AND YOU LISTENED TO HIM?!" Usopp screamed "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT!"
Sanji instantly sprang up and grabbed the sniper by his overalls and pinned him against the cabin wall.
"Listen to me, Luffy gave us an order. We did not want to follow it or leave him there...but he is the captain and the captains orders are absolute," Sanji yelled.
"THAT DOESN'T MATTER, LUFFY COULD DIE...HOW COULD YOU JUST GO ALONG WITH THAT...DON'T YOU CARE ABOUT HIM AT ALL!" Usopp shouted.
Zoro cast a weary glance at Usopp; before anyone could say anything else Connor came out.
"Chopper Robin is..." started but stopped upon seeing the situation that was happing.
Sanji looked at him and let go of Usopp.
"What's going on?" Connor asked.
"Nothing, what were you saying about Robin?" Chopper asked as he walked up to Connor.
"Oh right, Robins completely thawed and her aura has stopped fluctuating...but it's really small and barely there," Connor said.
"UH...Right we need dry towels and clothes...Connor go get all the winter clothes sheets and blankets we have," Chopper ordered.
Connor nodded and he was about to head to the cabin where Nami kept the winter gear but suddenly he felt his brand pulse and he stopped. Connor looked over towards the Island in fear, he knew what it meant since everyone but Luffy was on the Merry.
"Kid?" Zoro asked.
"M...M...My brand just pulsed...Luffy's been defeated," Connor said in fear.
"Let's go cook," Zoro said and he sprang up.
"Right," Sanji agreed and the two bolted off the ship.
"Wait you shouldn't be doing any extreme movements," Chopper called out after them.
But it was too late as Zoro and Sanji ignored him, they were either already out of ear shot or they just didn't care.
With Ajokii
Ajokii sat in front of a frozen statue of Luffy, who looked quite angry. Ajokii was surprised that Luffy had lasted as long as he did against the Admiral since most pirates normally run away or get frozen in the first few minutes. Still despite the victory Ajokii was at a loss on what to do now.
He knew he should go after the rest of Luffy's crew and finish Robin off, but seeing as Zoro was the only other one with a bounty he suppose he could let the other pirates off with a warning.
"Well...this is bit of a pickle isn't it?" Ajokii asked Luffy.
Luffy however did not respond in anyway.
"You challenge me to a one on one fight, even with the outcome enviable you still did it," Ajokii started "I'm a firm believer in honour but if I go after your crew now...well it would be violating the rules and honour of the duel we just had,"
Again he didn't get a response from the frozen statue.
"So I have to wonder...did you challenge me to save your crew or did you actuality think you could beat me?" Ajokii asked.
Still Luffy did not react in anyway.
"Oh well...it's too much effort to think about complicated matters like that," Ajokii sighed "I suppose I'll let them go,"
Ajokii then stood up.
"But as the victor of a fight to the death I am entitled to take your life," Ajokii said darkly.
Ajokii stared at the frozen statue for a moment and then he glanced off into the distance.
"Hm...your crew are on their way," Ajokii stated.
He then bent down and pickle up he jacket.
"Oh well I guess they can have you back, we're even now okay," Ajokii said "I'm letting you go as repayment for the Crocodile incident but don't think it will happen a second time,"
Ajokii tuned and began to walk off.
"Not that spareing you will do any good, as long as you keep Nico Robin around your living on borrowed time," Ajokii claimed.
Suddenly he stopped.
"Oh I had a message from Smoker for you," Ajokii remembered.
He turned around contemplating waiting for Luffy's crew to show up so he could give it to them and they could pass it on; but he decided against it.
"Ah you what never mind...you wouldn't understand it anyway," Ajokii claimed and walked off.
A few minutes later Zoro and Sanji arrived and looked around at the frozen battlefield, their eyes instantly found Luffy and Ajokii was gone.
"There he is," Zoro said and they ran up to the captain "He better be still alive,"
Sanji smashed the ice holding Luffy in place with the leg that Ajokii didn't freeze and he and Zoro carefully picked Luffy up.
"Let's get him back to the ship," Sanji said urgently and the two ran back to the Merry as fast as they could.
When Zoro and Sanji got back to the ship Chopper freaked out that he had another frozen crew member to deal with. Unfortunately Robin was in a critical condition and required Choppers constant attention. He told Zoro and Sanji to take Luffy to the bathroom and like Robin run a cold shower and splash him with water to thaw him out. He also told them to get Connor to help them so he could keep an eye on Luffy's aura.
Zoro and Sanji were quick to obey the doctors' orders and Usopp also helped while muttering how Luffy was an idiot and never should have challenged Ajokii in the first place. Nami assisted Chopper in dressing Robin in almost all the warm clothing they had, though Chopper had to cut off Robin's current attire and it was unfortunately beyond repair.
Once Luffy was thawed out Zoro brought the captain to Chopper, he used the remaining warm clothes and blankets that were saved for him. He got Usopp to set up a make shift bed for the two frozen crew members in the cabin and the men's quartes(since it was the biggest room) and banished the crew to the deck while he worked.
Chopper spent the rest of the day treating Luffy and Robin and on deck there was a very tense atmosphere. Zoro and Sanji paced the deck while Nami tried to get them to rest as they're now thawed limbs, Usopp was very jittery and Connor just sat quietly out of everyone's way. in the late afternoon Chopper finally emerged from below deck and the rest of the crew looked at him in anticipation.
"Robin and Luffy..." Chopper started "There stable,"
The tense atmosphere instantly faded as smiles appeared on all of the Straw Hat's faces. The news was a welcome relief.
"So they're going to recover?" Usopp asked hopefully.
"Yes, they will need to stay warm and a few days of rest but they will be fine," Chopper assured.
"That's a relief," Nami said happily.
"Yeah it is, good job Dr Chopper," Zoro praised.
Chopper instantly started doing his embarrassed happy dance.
"I won't be happy just because you ass holes praise me," Chopper said.
"He sure looks happy," the rest of the crew muttered.
Sanji walked over to the doctor.
"Chopper is there anything I can do to help with Robin-swans recovery?" Sanji asked.
"We'll need a lot of hot drinks and soup when they wake up," Chopper instructed "it should be very nutritious,"
"Right, I'll get on it," Sanji said.
He then turned to Connor who was still sitting out of the way.
"Come on you're going to help me," Sanji said.
Connor looked up at the cook, he nodded and stood up.
"Uhh...cook," Zoro started.
"It's fine, I'll need chunky vegetables anyway," Sanji claimed as he and Connor walked into the kitchen.
'I suppose it will be good to keep the kids mind off things for now,' Zoro thought.
Once they were gone Usopp slumped to on deck as the events of the day finally hit him and he could not take anymore.
"Uh...today was the worst," He muttered.
Zoro looked over at the sniper in concern.
"You alright?" he asked.
"Yeah...just glad everything's okay now," Usopp claimed.
"It was a rough day," Zoro agreed.
"Yeah...hey are we going to meet more people like Ajokii?" Usopp asked.
"Probably, I bet there are pirates out there as strong as him," Zoro claimed "not to mention we'll meet up with Mihawke again,"
Usopp didn't respond he just stared up at the sky and Zoro narrowed his eyes for moment.
"Your just tired," Zoro assured "you should get some rest,"
Despite the good news Robin and Luffy did not wake up at all, Sanji with some minor assistance from Connor had made a big pot of chunky vegetable soup. When Luffy and Robin did not wake up Chopper assured the rest of the crew that they just needed a lot of sleep and the soup and hot drinks Sanji had prepared would have to wait until they did wake up.
Thankfully all Sanji had done was make a vegetable broth without any dairy or cream in it so it could be kept in the fridge for some time; though he did give out small bowls of soup for dinner.
That night the crew decided to all sleep in the same room, when Connor woke up that night the first thing he did was use his sight on Luffy and Robin while they slept; he was relieved that not only was there aura stable but it was also stronger than what it had been when they were frozen. Connor sat there watching Luffy and Robin for a while and thought over the day's events, he then glanced at Usopp.
Making a decision he turned off his sight and stood up, he snuck out of the Men's quarters like he did every night. Only instead of staying on deck to look over the ocean like he normally would, Connor headed for the cabin. Once inside he turned on the light and started looking around for the early learning books Robin had bought.
He found them easily enough and picked up the alphabet picture book and one of the simple story books. Connor sat in the middle of the room and opened the story book to the first page; he looked at the first letter and then found it in the alphabet book. He said the letter out loud and made the letter sound.
He repeated this for every letter in the word like Robin had taught him and put it together in an attempt to sound out the word and say it correctly.
The next day Nami decided that with both Luffy and Robin still out of commission they would not sail for a few days until they both recovered. During the day Chopper would take care of Robin and Luffy, with Nami aiding the doctor. Sanji and Usopp went out and stocked up on whatever they could get off the Long Trees.
Meanwhile Zoro took Connor with him to start his precision training, the long thin trees provided lots of thin branches and materials for him to use. The Swordsman had picked up Connors sword when he had gone back for Luffy as Ajokii had tossed it aside at some point after the crew had retreated to the ship.
"Okay here's good," Zoro said.
Connor looked around, they were in clearing not far from the ship but far enough that they would not be bothered and there were a lot of very thin tall trees around.
"What are we doing out here?" Connor asked.
"Training," Zoro answered.
"Training….but don't we normally do that on the ship?" Connor asked.
"Yeah but this is special training," Zoro said "We're going to be working on your precision,"
"Precision?" Connor asked.
"Yep, its strength and blade control," Zoro said.
"Oh…but
"No you can't, you've been helping Pervo Cook make dinner right?" Zoro asked.
"Yeah, he has me peel and cut vegetables," Connor agreed.
"Have you noticed the vegetables you peel always come out chunky and there's not much left to use?"
Connor nodded, he was still not good a peeling or cutting the vegetables.
"That proves you don't have precision, if you did that wouldn't happen. So we're going to work on that," Zoro pointed out.
"But…I don't see what that has to do with sword play," Connor said.
"If you can master precision with a blade you can use it in cooking, like I said it's all strength and blade control. Plus precision is useful in combat as well, especially if your aiming for a certain area on your foes body," Zoro explained "the more precise your blows he more damage you can do,"
Connor nodded in understanding, he thought he had grasped all the concepts of sword play but clearly there was still a lot more to learn, he wondered if Zoro would going introduce him other aspects of sword play as well.
Zoro walked over to a nearby tree and cut it down in one swing of his sword. He then cut the tree up into smaller thin round carrot sized pieces.
"See that, that was using precision," Zoro said.
He gestured for Connor to come over and the boy did so, Zoro bent down and picked up one of the pieces.
"Here's what you're going to do, you're going to take one of these pieces and peel the thin layer of bark off the wood with your sword," Zoro said.
Zoro used his own sword to demonstrate and in a few seconds the bark was all gone and what was left behind was a smooth piece of wood.
"Just like that, if you can do this then you can do what I just did to that tree," Zoro said.
He picked up a second piece and tossed it in the air, as it fell Zoro sliced at it and when it landed the bark fell off leaving behind a second piece of perfect wood and the bark landed on the ground in a perfect spiral.
"You can do that too," Zoro said "But I don't expect you to be able to do that on your first try,"
Connor stared at the two pieces in amazement.
"So want to give it a try?" Zoro asked.
"Yeah," Connor agreed enthusiastically.
"Right first up give me your sword, you won't be using it," Zoro said and held out his hand.
Connor hesitated and reluctantly handed his blade over to Zoro.
"If I'm not using my sword how can I do the training?" Connor asked.
"You'll use this," Zoro said and he pulled out a small dagger "you'll start with this as it will be easier to use and once your confidant you can then do the training with your actual sword,"
Connor nodded and took the dagger; there was nothing special about it. It was just a plain old everyday dagger.
Zoro would train with Connor for most of the day and he made a note to work precision into their normal training routine when they were out at sea as well. Connor would also continue to help Sanji in the kitchen preparing meals for the crew.
At night the crew sleeted in the same room as Luffy and Robin. When Connor would wake up, he would go back to the cabin and practice reading. It was defiantly harder without Robin to help him pronounce the words but he was determined to get through the book on his own.
On the second day after the Davy Back Fight and Ajokii both Luffy and Robin finally woke up, Sanji had a lot of food prepared and it was a good thing too as being frozen had done nothing to his enormous appetite or his hyperactivity and Chopper found it hard to keep the captain in bed.
Robin however was more than content to stay in bed and rest; she only ate the bear minimum, though she did enjoy all the hot drinks Sanji would bring her.
After four days of rest Luffy had fully recovered and Robin was well on her way but would need another day or two. Nami decided with the captain back to full strength it was time to leave and on the morning of the fifth day the Merry set sail.
