(A/N: Thank you so much to SimplySupreme, son of morgana, and Asuth20 for your reviews and messages. And to all those who favorited, followed, and added this story to their alerts as well. I hope you all enjoy this part, too. ^_^)

Toffee had actual stars shining in her pink eyes as she stared up at the overcast sky. Only a moment ago it and been warm and sunny, yet the sky had abruptly darkened and a gentle snow fall had begun to rain down upon them; the Going Merry already covered with the pure white ice crystals.

"So this is what snow looks like...I've only ever seen it in picture books before, so I never realized just how beautiful of a phenomenon it was!" Toffee gasped out in awe, holding out her hands where the snowflakes instantly melted once they touched the palms of her still slightly warm skin.

"I understand you're excited right now, Toffee...but I figured you'd be more concerned about this drastic change in weather like me," Nami mumbled, wrapping her arms around the green coat she had on to give her already shivering body further warmth. She hadn't wanted to go out into the elements in the first place, but Toffee had dragged her outside like an enthusiastic child. "I thought you had a bit more common sense than those other two carefree guys at least..."

The two guys Nami spoke of were Luffy and Usopp who had taken to building snowmen; the straw hat wearing male grinning as he placed the finishing touches on his lopsided snow creation, that looked like it was about to fall apart at any moment, where he chirped, "Okay! It's done! The man that came from the sky, 'Mr. Snowman'!"

Usopp let out a deep cackle and shook his head. "I've never seen such inferior snowcrafting. Behold! The Art of my soul! The Snow Queen!" he declared, proudly showing off a rather detailed model of a beautiful female in a fur coat sitting on a oval throne.

"That's amazing, Usopp! Although, I think Heartless-kun might have you beaten." Toffee mentioned, gazing at her shadow who had joined in with the building competition.

Usopp and Luffy's jaws practically dropped to the floor seeing a large and highly elaborate castle that the small shadow creature had built, and he stood upon one of the many towers of his fortress where he waved his clawed hand down at the two gawking men.

"That's awesome, Heartless! Snowman punch!" Luffy shouted with a cheeky grin, sending the thick piece of wood he had used as his snowman's arm straight through not only the head of Usopp's Snow Queen, but Heartlesses castle too.

"I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!" Usopp loudly declared, jump kicking Luffy's own snow creation's head into oblivion.

"AGH! MR. SNOWMAN!" Luffy screamed in horror, only to yelp even louder when Heartless had opened his hidden mouth, displaying not only a yellow tongue that matched it's eyes, but a mouth full of canine sharp teeth, which the shadow had painfully sunk into Luffy's arm.

Toffee winced and covered her parted lips seeing Luffy and Usopp, along with her shadow, get into a rather violent snow fight. Nami unleashed a groan beside Toffee from the childish sight before she took to dragging the grey haired woman back into the warmth of their lounge.

"Your shadow is just as insane as them...How can they be this hyper in this freezing weather?"

"I'm actually not sure where Heartless gets his energy from. I suppose my brother's could have corrupted him," Toffee admitted sheepishly. She scratched at her cheek when she noticed Sanji, who was shoveling snow on Nami's command, waving exuberantly at them with his usual heart eyes. "Shouldn't we help him...?"

"No. Sanji can handle it. Just keep at it until the snow stops, Sanji-kun!"

"Yes! Nami-swan~!"

I'm starting to believe Sanji has some masochistic tendencies Toffee pondered, not sure whether to feel bad for the cook or disturbed by this notion.

The sound of someone clearing their throat caught both of the girls attention, and they turned to see Mr. Nine who questioned bitterly, "Doesn't this ship have any heating?"

"I'm cold..." Miss Wednesday added, both of them sitting at the dining table with red blankets draped over them, their forms badly trembling.

"SHUT YOUR TRAPS!" Nami screamed out with a look of intense rage. "YOU TWO AREN'T ARE GUESTS! GET OUT THERE AND START SHOVELING!"

"C-come on, Nami! There's no need to be so harsh on them. Maybe their not used to this weather either..." Toffee tried to reason, only to pull out her notebook to nervously hide behind it when Nami turned her demon-like expression on her. However, the sudden flash and crackle of lightning caused both females to jump from being startled.

"Now lightning? What's up with this weather?!" Nami exclaimed, looking out a rounded window where a fierce storm had blown in along with the snow. "Just a while ago the weather was warm. Then for no good reason, it started snowing. Now there's thunder and lightning. The seasons are spinning out of control. It's just like Crocus-san said..."

"This is the Grand Line," Miss Wednesday spoke up with a snide smile.

"You have no idea what you're doing, do you?" Mr. 9 scoffed out with a roll of his eyes.

"And you're not even steering the helm. You sure that's a good idea?"

Nami blinked at Miss Wednesday's warning. "I just checked our heading a second ago."

Toffee jumped when Nami let out a sudden shrill scream, following the orange haired female back onto the upper deck where the navigator glanced down at the Log Pose, a navigational device that Crocus had given her, exclaiming in a panicked tone, "Turn the ship around 180 degrees! Hurry!"

"Why are we turning back?" Usopp questioned.

"You forget something?" Luffy added curiously.

"The ship reversed direction and we're heading the wrong way! I only took my eyes off the Log Pose for a second...And the waves were so quiet..."

"Are you really a navigator?" Miss Wendesday inquired, her words causing Nami to growl at the smiling blue haired woman. "On this ocean...The wind, the sky, the waves, the clouds...You can't trust any of it. The only thing you can trust is the direction the Log Pose's needle points. Get it now?"

Nami's only answer was to kick Miss Wednesday and her partner outside, demanding they get to work helping them out. The others began to fun around frantically, following the orders Nami yelled to them. Their actions caused the wind and weather to dramatically shift as it was once again sunny, feeling like spring instead of winter.

The only one who wasn't running around like a headless chicken was Zoro who had some how slept even when snow was covering his form. Luffy had soon stopped assisting himself to observe what now lay before them, and he grinned when spotting some dolphins.

"Oi, there's a pod of dolphins over there. Let's go see them!"

"So cute! I want to ride one!" Toffee chirped, lightly bouncing on her feet with her shadow jumping up and down right beside her when the pod of aquatic mammels started leaping above the waters surface.

"Yeah! That sounds fun!"

"WOULD YOU BOTH BE QUIET!" Nami roared, not understanding how the two were so calm when they could have ended up in dangerous waters they may never have been able to escape from! It didn't help that they were still in trouble when Usopp called out that not only were the waves picking up, but they were coming up on a large iceberg.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS OCEAN?!" Nami shrieked out, placing her hands on her pallid cheeks when a thick fog also rolled in, causing the ship to take on some damage from scraping the huge chunk of ice.

Toffee ran over to help Nami grip onto the halyard when the sky had once again darkened, the now hot gale force even more fierce than before. "Th-this isn't good! Your sail's gotten a huge rip in it! I'll try and fix it if I can!" she offered since Usopp was having to deal with leaks down below, so Toffee quickly used the mast to climb up and reach the torn material once she had been giving the supplies.

"Thank you, Toffee!" Nami said gratefully, wincing as everything seemed to be going wrong. It would be a miracle if they managed to make it out of this alive.

When it seemed like they weren't going to survive the nightmare, the waters and sky had eventually grown calm and most of the crew had fallen limply down somewhere on the ship, completely drained from the arduous ordeal. That's why Zoro, who had slept peacefully during the chaos, was confused by the sight that greeted him.

"Oi, oi. Aren't you guy's being a little lazy on a nice day like this?" Zoro voiced with a raised brow, turning his attention on Nami. "You know where we're headed, right?"

Nami didn't answer, merely glowering at Zoro along with Usopp and Sanji. Zoro shrugged, not the least bit bothered by their odd behavior and turned to glance at Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 instead. "Why're you two on board?"

"We're heading for their town," Luffy spoke up, the only person who still seemed to have any energy left. "The place is called Whiskey Peak."

"You mean we're giving them a lift. It's not like we owe them anything," Zoro brought up, but seeing Luffy was fine with it, he leaned down to examine the two strangers for himself. "Well not that I care. Still, those look like faces that have nasty ideas...What were those names again?"

"Please call me Mr. 9..."

"I'm Miss Wednesday..."

"Really? I've been thinking about those names since I first heard them. Maybe I've heard them before, maybe I haven't," Zoro continued with a scary grin that caused Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday to break and into a cold sweat. "Well either way-"

The light green haired male was cut off when Nami gave a hard punch to the top of his head, flames around her figure as she glared harshly down at him.

"YOU! I hope you enjoyed taking that little nap of yours...Snoring away, no matter how much we tried to wake you..." Nami said lowly, adding even more painful hits and bumps to the swordman's head when he gave her his own nasty look back. "Stay on your toes, everyone. Who knows what might happen next? I can finally grasp the fearsomeness of the ocean. I understand why they call it the Grand Line...But it hasn't even begun to see my navigation skills! Bet on it!"

Despite Nami's confident speech Usopp couldn't help but mumble out, "Will we...really be okay?"

"It'll be fine. Something good'll come our way. And if you want proof...Look! The first leg of our journey is complete!"

Toffee stood up, scooping her little shadow, who had been using a hand fan to cool off her tired form, into her arms as she glanced ahead in amazement or relief along with the others when a mass of land could be seen ahead. And what stuck out the most about it was the huge cacti scattered about.

"So this is Whiskey Peak..." Sanji voiced with a faint smile, sticking his hands into the pockets of his black pants. "Sure is a weird-looking island."

Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 jumped up on the railing of the ship, saying their rather odd and possibly threatening goodbyes before diving backwards into the ocean like a couple of seals and swimming away rather fast for two people who had previously been exhausted.

"Why didn't they just wait till we docked before disembarking?" Toffee asked with a sheepish smile since jumping into the ocean, with no telling what sort of creatures resided in it, seemed pretty silly to her.

"There's something obviously very wrong with those two." Usopp spoke up with a sigh and shake of his head.

"Who cares! We're here!" Luffy cheered out excitedly.

"There's a river mouth up ahead. Looks like we can disembark there," Nami said, motioning to the muddy banks that were on either side of the slow moving channel.

"You don't think there'll be monsters and stuff here, do you?" Usopp brought up shakily.

"Could be. This is the Grand Line," Sanji answered nonchalantly.

"If we meet some monsters, we can just leave, right?" Luffy mentioned with a grin, not seeming concerned either.

"No we can't. Don't forget there's a certain amount of time we have to stay on this island," Nami voiced. "We have to let the Log Pose adapt to this island's magnetic field. Or else we can't continue on to the next island. The time it takes to adapt is different for each island. Therefore, some may take only a few hours, but others may take days."

"What?! So even if we want to get off this 'Monster Island', we might not be able to leave for DAY'S because of the Log?!" Usopp cried out, looking completely panicked.

"Well if that happens, we'll worry about it then. Let's just go!" Luffy laughed out, his carefree words causing Usopp's shoulders and head to droop.

"Luffy has a point. Just thinking about it isn't gonna get us anywhere," Zoro agreed with his captain.

"And no matter what happens, I'll protect Nami-san and Toffee-chan!" Sanji added, giving a thumbs up and charming grin.

Toffee gently patted at Usopp's shoulder when he began to mumble about catching a disease that wouldn't allow him to go on the island. "Don't worry. Heartless-kun can scare off any possible monsters we might see! Who knows. They might even be just as cute the way my little monster shadow is~" she finished off, nuzzling her cheek against Heartlesses.

"I'm pretty sure your the only one who thinks that weird things cute, Toffee..." Usopp muttered with an indifferent expression, his words causing the silent shadow to stick his tongue out at him.

There was a hindering fog surrounding the ship as it leisurely drifted down it's course, and Luffy strained to make out something that he swore was hidden within the thick mist. "Something's moving."

"People?" Sanji muttered, his eyes widening when he could make out the dark silhouette's. "There are people on shore!"

"Everyone. On your guard." Nami cautioned, her brows creasing.

A quivering Usopp had pulled out his slingshot and Zoro had his hand resting on the hilt of his blade just in case. Expecting that they would possibly be attacked, none of the group anticipated that they would instead recieve joyous cheers coming from a gathered crowd of both men, women, and children.

"Welcome to the Grand Line!"

"Welcome to our town!

"The town of celebration...Whiskey Peak!"

These were the various cries that were shouted to the crew, confusing the Straw Hats. It wasn't often that people were happy and excited to see a pirate ship. Most citizens did their best to avoid them, yet this town had chosen to surround the crew and Toffee once they had stepped onto their island.

"Mah-mah-maaah~! Welcome," a tall male dressed in gentleman attire with blond hair that resembled a powdered wig greeted. "My name is Igarappoi. I am the mayor of Whiskey Peak."

"I'm Luffy. Nice to meet ya. Old man, your hair's way too curly,"

"This is a town of spirit brewing and lively music, Whiskey Peak!" Igarappoi continued, not seeming bothered by Luffy's rather blunt statement. "We take pride in our hospitality. We have an entire ocean of spirits for your enjoyment. Would you care to join us in a celebration and share stories of your adventures? We would be delighted to hear them."

"OUR PLEASURE!" Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp all exclaimed jubiantly together, wrapping their arms around each others shoulders and dancing around.

"Three stooges," Nami muttered, placing her hands on her hips. Remembering something, Nami held up her wrist where the Log Pose was attached. "By the way...how long will it take for the Log to adapt to this island?"

"Log? Let's not talk about such formal things. Take a well deserved rest from your travels, please!" Igaraoppi declared, surprising Nami when he placed his hand on her arm and pulled her close in a side hug. "Now everyone! Prepare for a celebration! A song for our adventurous guests!"

The crew was led further into the lively town and into one of the largest buildings. Lots of delicious food and drink was prepared for the group, the sound of festive music being played that people danced and sung along to.

While most of the crew was ecstatically joining in with the merry-making, Toffee had taken to sitting on one of the couches, slowly sipping from her drink while she watched Nami and Zoro take part in a drinking contest that would win them 100,000 beli.

"What do you think, Toffee? This seems like a pretty nice place to settle down, right?" Nami giggled out, already on her 14th drink. And while there was barely any alcohol in the beverage, or at least, this is what Igararoppi claimed, it still seemed to be making the teenager more giddy that usual.

"I...suppose," Toffee said softly where none of the townsfolk would overhear her. "Something feels off about this town for some reason. My papa used to say that sometimes there's a hidden meaning behind a smile and kind face. Especially if that smile is worn by so many people in a situation that seems too good to be true..."

"Sounds like your dad was just a paranoid old man." Nami mused with flushed cheeks and a cheeky smile, causing the men to go bug-eyed since she was on her 20th drink when many others had already collapsed after their 10th.

Toffee just frowned since maybe her family had made her a bit too overly cautious over certain events and people around her, but there was still this nagging feeling in her gut that wouldn't go away. It didn't exactly help when she noticed Zoro eyeing the people around him occasionally despite drinking pretty heavily himself.

A sigh ended up escaping the grey haired girls lips when Zoro's head impacted with the table, showing he had passed out, so she couldn't discuss with him about how she felt...Realizing she was probably appearing suspicious not enjoying the hospitality that she was being showered with like the others, Toffee pretended to eat the food, giving it to Heartless when people weren't watching. Drugs didn't affect him like they would her if the food had been tampered with...And thanks to her brother's, she knew her limits when it came to alcohol, so she started to spill most of her beverages once she had reached her breaking point...So if anything was amiss, she'd make sure to discover it. The crew had been so kind to her. The least she could do was make sure they remained safe.

The party eventually died down and Toffee had stretched languidly out on the couch, faking that she had passed out once noticing the Straw Hats were no longer active. Only when she was certain the room had emptied did Toffee stand up.

At least, she had been certain that she was alone until a large and strong hand covered her mouth that made her eyes grow large and her body instinctively squirm to try and break free.

"Don't scream. It's just me," the familiar voice of Zoro spoke out quietly. He smirked, able to see the confusion in Toffee's eyes even in the barely lit room when she turned to face him once he had removed his hand. "The others might have been fooled by this charade, but I saw through these so called 'hospitable' townsfolk the moment we stepped foot on this island. I'm honestly amazed someone as naïve as you was able to read the situation."

"Th-that's not very nice!" Toffee murmured with a wobbly smile. "Learning to be overly cautious has it's advantages I guess...Anyways, what should we do?"

"Find out just what it is they want with us. Of course, I already have a good idea." Zoro said, the smirk still on his tanned features. He headed toward the back with Toffee following him, the swordsman knocking out any people they happened to run into, where they eventually found themselves outside and heading up to the roof.

It wasn't surprising to see Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 make their presences known, the two conversing with Igararoppi. Toffee would admit she was a bit surprised that the nun Nami had been drinking with was actually a rather buff female, yet the fact that they had sinister motives for the Straw Hats had been perfectly clear from the beginning.

"Hey," Zoro spoke up once Igararoppi told the others to capture the crew alive. "Sorry to interrupt...But could you let them sleep a little longer? They're tired from the afternoon's voyage."

"Mr. 8! Miss Monday! The one wearing a haramaki and the grey haired girl have escaped...!"

"We know..." Miss Wednesday sighed out in irritation, frowning up at the roof where Zoro sat and Toffee stood.

"Fiend! You should have been completely unconscious!" Igararoppi growled out, furrowing his brows.

"I was a bit concerned about that girl...She was acting a bit more standoffish compared to the others..." Miss Monday muttered with a deep frown.

"Heh! No true swordsman, no matter what the circumstance, allows himself to be overwhelmed by drink," Zoro claimed with a large grin. "And it would be pretty pathetic if this girl fell for your tricks. Assassins are masters of sneak attacks themselves."

"D-don't just blurt out what I used to be! I'm trying to get away from that title!" Toffee complained with a panicked look since she noticed a few of the men and women looking a little startled by this statement.

Zoro merely rolled his eyes at the woman, smirking in amusement when more people had showed up. And most of them had a weapon in their hand. "I see what's going on here...This is a nest of bounty hunters. You deceive merry pirates just as they've made it into the Grand Line...and then take them for all their worth...Looks like theirs roughly 100 bounty hunter's here. I'll take you on...Baroque Works!"

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT NAME?!" Igararoppi screeched out, looking unsettled along with Miss Wednesday, Mr. 9, and Miss Monday.

"A while back when I was still in this line of work, your organization sent a scout to talk with me. I refused of course. The members know nothing about each other, and call each other by codenames. And of course the Boss' location and identity are a puzzle even to the members. A criminal organization that faithfully carries out it's orders. Baroque Works."

A shadow fell over Zoro's face and he uttered out with an intimidating grin, "Was it supposed to be a secret?"

So that's what he meant back on the ship when he was confronting Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9...Maybe he was trying to protect the crew, but it seems like it would have been better to tell them about such a dangerous group Toffee pondered with a small smile.

"Oi, Toffee. There's no need for you to fight. I can handle this group of low lifes myself," Zoro spoke up, his words causing the pink eyed female to gaze at him in wonder.

"I-I know...But I wouldn't feel right if I did. Just try not to make things too bloody, okay?" Toffee said quietly, a small bead of sweat trailing down her hair.

"Sorry. Can't promise that. Just have your weird shadow cover your eyes if things get too scary."

Toffee just laughed awkwardly at the males concern? Placing a strand of her hair behind her ear, her pink eyes closed when Igararoppi commanded the bounty hunters to kill Zoro and her. She might not be strong like the swordsman beside her, but Toffee knew this wasn't the time to show her weakness; vanishing on the spot when Zoro did the same.

Speed compared to power did have it's advantages. She'd make sure they never even saw her attacks coming.