"You must be freezing, Toffee-chan...Being out here all night. I should have taken the watch from you..." Sanji expressed with a frown, having climbed up to the crow's nest where she sat. He had fallen asleep with the others in Nami's room, and had only just awoken when the sun was already high up in the sky.
Toffee only shook her head with a smile. "It's fine, really. The chilly air feels nice. And Usopp was up bright and early, so he kept Heartless-kun and me company,"
Heartless had taken to sitting in her lap, pulling the blanket around the both of them. He looked like he was being affected by the cold far more than Toffee for his entire body was shivering, and he even had little icicles hanging from his antenna's.
A bead of sweat trailed down the side of Sanji's head at the peculiar shadow, and he peered down at the marksmen who was hammering away at the damage Wapol had caused. It was crude work, but it looked like he almost had the large hole patched up. "Still, I won't be able to forgive myself if you end up getting sick too...Every day feels like it keeps getting colder..."
"Yeah. I noticed that too," Usopp spoke up while making sure the board he was placing was steady. "The temperature just suddenly decided to stabilize. Must be more of the fickleness of this place. This ocean, the Grand Line."
"Actually, that might not be the case," Vivi voiced, having come out onto the upper deck where she placed her hands on the white railing. "It probably means we're close to an island. Toffee-san, concentrate on watching the horizon. There's a winter island around here, I'm sure of it."
"Winter island?" Usopp muttered, only to yelp in pain when he ended up smashing his fingers.
"In meteorological terms, the islands of the Grand Line are classified into four types," Vivi continued. "These are Summer Island, Spring Island, Autumn Island, and lastly Winter Island. And each of these types of islands has four seasons of its own. So its basically like this: navigating through the Grand Line you must, at the very least...from the summer of Summer of Island to the winter of Winter Island...be able to endure a range of 16 different seasons."
"I never would have guessed there were islands like that on the Grand Line. But dealing with one season all year long must get tiring," Toffee pondered, knowing she had hated how muggy her own island had been. Even when it rained on the Isle of the Forgotten, it wasn't exactly pleasant.
Vivi nodded and sent Toffee a small smile. "Well, this is just what I know. There are still many undiscovered islands whose climates may not fit this classification."
"I see. And since there's so many of these islands crammed close together, the sea in between them couldn't possibly hold a steady climate," Usopp said, cupping his chin thoughtfully.
"Right. Therefore, when the climate becomes stable, it usually means that you are close to an island,"
"I do see something up ahead!" Toffee gasped out, handing the binoculars to Sanji, who was standing on the rim of the crow's nest, where he could look for himself.
"An actual island," Sanji murmured out, his face lighting up into a grin. This was just what they needed to hopefully help Nami. "ISLAND HO!"
"AN ISLAND?!" Luffy yelled out happily after having rushed out onto the deck followed closely by Zoro. He eagerly ran up to sit on his favorite figurehead where he could get a better view. "White! It's so white! I bet it's snow! An island of snow!"
Having come down along with Toffee, Sanji gave his energetic captain a tired gaze. "Oi, Luffy...I shouldn't have to tell you this, but we can't go on an adventure this time. We're here to find a doctor. After we have one look at Nami-san, we're going to be leaving right away!"
"Snows so fun...It's so white!"
"I don't think he heard a thing you said..." Toffee said softly with an awkward smile.
"H-h-hold on now, is this safe? If there's snow, couldn't there be snow monsters or something?" Usopp sputtered out, his body shaking from fear instead of the cold. "We don't even know if there's gonna be people here or not, isn't that the biggest problem?! OH NO. MY MUST-NOT-GET-ON-THIS-ISLAND DISEASE IS ACTING UP AGAIN!"
Sanji lightly face palmed at both Usopp and Luffy. Neither one of them was taking this seriously. "Guess I'll go prepare the dock..."
Toffee scratched at her cheek while watching Sanji walk off grumbling to himself before turning to examine their surroundings. She could understand Luffy's excitement. The island was beautiful. From its crisp clean snow to the skies of clear blue. With pine trees all around and mountains, that looked like cylinders, reaching high up into the fluffy clouds. She wouldn't mind exploring a place like this herself.
"Seriously, Luffy, you really need to put on a coat," Usopp mumbled to the gleeful teen who never seemed to have a care in the world.
"The temperature is -10 degrees!" Vivi added with a look of disbelief. "At that temperature, bears start getting ready to hibernate!"
Luffy blinked multiple times before wrapping his bare arms around his torso. "Ack! I forgot!"
"HOW SLOW CAN YOU BE?!" Usopp and Sanji screeched out together.
Having gone to get a coat for Luffy, Toffee giggled lightly when he practically snatched it out of her hands and quickly put the red and white furred coat on his trembling form. "Better?"
"Ah! So warm!" Luffy hummed out happily, grinning over at the gray haired girl. "Thanks!"
"You really shouldn't help that dumb ass out, Toffee-chan..." Sanji said with a sigh, scowling at the dark haired male who was hopping around the ship chanting 'snow' over and over again like the kid he was.
Vivi smiled at the antics of the others, moving closer to the bow of the ship, where Zoro stood, when hearing rushing water. "It's a waterfall created by the melting snow. I think we can dock the ship somewhere around here,"
"Okay. Someone has to go look for a doctor," Zoro announced, peering back at the others. "Actually, we'd better find some people first."
"I'll go!" Luffy declared, throwing his arm up into the air as if he were answering a question.
"I'm going too!" Sanji exclaimed a bit more fiercely than he needed to do so.
"Would it be alright if I went along?" Toffee asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Great! Get going!" Usopp cried out, crossing his arms over the brown and white furred coat he wore.
Without any of them realizing, the ship had been surrounded, and a man's voice called out, "That's far enough, pirates!", he and the other men holding guns that they pointed down at Luffy and the others from the snowy banks that were on either side of their vessel.
"Oi, here's some people," Luffy said flippantly.
"But...they don't look very happy to see us..." Usopp murmured, glancing around nervously.
An imposing tall male with slicked black hair and a goatee stepped forward with a stern glare. He was clearly the person in charge here. "Pirates. We hereby demand that you depart this shore...immediately."
"We came here to find a doctor!" Luffy tried to explain.
"We have a sick person on board!" Vivi chimed in.
None of the islanders seemed to believe these words. This was understandable. Pirates were normally seen as a threat, and weren't the types of people you could put your trust on. Still, Toffee thought the people here wanting to blow up the ship, if they refused to leave, was a bit excessive. She wondered if they had trouble with pirates in the past for displaying such animosity?
"They really hate us. And we only just met..." Sanji sighed out with disappointment.
"Keep your mouth shut!" one man snapped, firing at Sanji's feet and causing him to jump back a little.
This move caused Usopp and Vivi to let out startled cries. These people really did mean to kill them if they didn't leave. Though noticing Sanji about to lunge at the man, Vivi gasped and ran in front of the blond haired male to stop him.
"Sanji-san, wait!"
Another gun shot resounded off, and the Straw Hats eyes widened in horror when Vivi was falling to the ground, no longer appearing to move. From the startled look in the mans eyes, it looked like he hadn't meant to hit her, but fear had overcome him and his finger had instinctively pulled the trigger. Yet this hadn't registered with the angered captain.
"VIVI?! WHY YOU...!" Luffy screamed, his look of pure rage causing some of the men to actually step back from fear. Others quickly raised their weapons, getting ready to shoot down the rest of the pirates. About to rush at the villagers, Vivi, who was somehow still conscious, latched onto the straw hat wearing male.
"Please stop! You mustn't fight them just because of this!" the princess cried out shrilly. "I'm fine! It only grazed my arm!" Releasing Luffy, Vivi bowed lowly to what she knew to be frightened individuals. "As you wish, we will not dock here. But please, will you summon a doctor? Our nakama is suffering with a severe illness...Please help her! I beg of you!"
"Vivi..." Luffy whispered, staring down at the blue haired woman in alarm.
"Your a failure as a captain, Luffy," Vivi uttered out, her head remaining lowered on the hard wooden floor. "Acting rashly all the time solves nothing! If you fight them...what will happen to Nami-san?"
Luffy stared at the blood dripping from the princesses shoulder without blinking, slowly turning to face the villagers. "I'm sorry. I was wrong. Please call a doctor," he asked, getting down onto his own hands and knees where his beloved hat fell from his head. "Please...save my nakama."
After a long moments pause, the stocky dark haired male spoke, "I'll lead you to our village. Follow me."
They got through to them Toffee couldn't help but think with mild surprise, a soft smile soon forming on her lips. Vivi really understands the feelings of others...I'm sure she'll be able to clear the unrest in her homeland if she can only speak to her people. We just have to get her there.
Zoro had decided to remain behind to look after the Going Merry along with Carue while Sanji had taken to carrying Nami on his back. They ended up having to trek up a slight hill, and the thick snow made it slightly difficult to walk, causing them all to move a bit slow as the Straw Hats followed after the villagers.
"I should warn you. Our country only has one doctor, a witch,"
"A witch?" Usopp questioned, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"What the hell? This country sure is weird," Sanji couldn't help but comment. "What the hell country is this anyway?"
"This country does not yet have a name."
"A country without a name? Can there be such a thing?" Vivi inquired with a small frown.
Before the dark haired male could answer, Usopp let out a loud scream, his face completely blue from seeing a huge bear that easily towered over all of them. Though it was oddly enough walking on two legs and was even holding a pick ax, using it as if it were a walking cane.
"A hiking bear. It's not dangerous. Just bow to him in the mountain climbing manner,"
"Um, I think Usopp might have fainted..." Toffee mentioned after having bowed, walking over to the long nosed male who was laying sprawled out on the ground. She gave Heartless a scolding look. He had grabbed a rather large stick and was poking Usopp with it. Seeming to get bored with this, he banged the stick rather harshly on a nearby tree, and the impact ended up making a pile of snow fall on top of the sniper.
"You can be a little terror sometimes, you know that..?" Toffee sighed out since Usopp had ended up panicking and went running off screaming after the others about being under attack. Her little shadow companion seemed to think this was the funniest thing ever for he was unleashing silent laughter from behind his clawed hands, having even fallen over on his back. Her brothers really had been a bad influence on him...
Eventually coming to a quaint little village, their guide explained. "This is our village, Bighorn,"
"There's some pretty weird animals walkin' around here," Luffy viewed through pursed lips.
"Just what you'd expect from a Snow Country!" Usopp exclaimed, having pulled down his goggles to protect his eyes from the harsh elements. Seeing Toffee eagerly drawing in her little logbook, Usopp clicked his tongue. "Your attached at the hip with that thing, aren't you?"
"I guess I am. One of my many bad habits," Toffee admitted, finding the cylindrical buildings with there conical shaped roofs to be really cute. And the unique animals here seemed to be used to help the villagers. A woolly hippo-like creature was transporting some people around, and Toffee found herself smiling seeing kids giggling as they rode upon the slightly large mammal. This place seemed peaceful, at least.
The man known as Dalton, who seemed to be rather popular with the villagers from how they greeted him and listened to his advice, led the group to his home. It was nice and cozy inside-if a bit on the small side-and he had even offered his bed for Nami to rest upon. His first appearance might have come off intimidating, but the man was a good person overall.
"Forgive me for not introducing myself. My name is Dalton. I am this islands Captain of the Guard. Please excuse our hostile reception," he introduced, placing the large brown bag he wore in a nearby chair. He suddenly turned his attention on Vivi. "May I ask you something? I believe I have met you somewhere before."
"I-I'm sure it's just your imagination!" Vivi stuttered, quickly averting her gaze away from Dalton's. "More importantly, could you tell us more about this 'witch'? Earlier, Nami-san's temperature rose to 42 degrees."
These words caused Dalton's suspicion to drop, and he unleashed a startled gasp. "42 degrees? If it rises any higher, she will surely die..."
"That's why we hoped we could find help here. None of us know what's causing her sickness or what we can do for her," Toffee brought up sadly, staring at the heavily breathing girl.
"There's a doctor here, right? Where's this witch of yours?!" Sanji demanded, feeling frustrated that the longer they waited, the more danger Nami would find herself in.
"The witch. Do you see the mountains outside the window?"
"Yeah. Those freakin' huge-" Sanji started to say, only to let out an alarmed cry when two snowmen, crafted by Luffy and Usopp, blocked his view. "YOU DOLTS ARE DEAD!"
"They're just trying to keep their minds off our dire situation, I'm sure," Toffee spoke softly, playing with her necklace.
"You don't need to defend those two, Toffee-chan. They're just idiots," Sanji grumbled, opening the window to destroy both snowmen with some well placed kicks; this making Usopp and Luffy sulk as they came back in, grabbing cups of cocoa to sip on instead.
Letting out an awkward cough, Dalton continued, "Those mountains are the Drum Rockies. You can see a castle atop the peak of the tallest, central mountain. It is a castle without a king,"
"Is there something about that castle?" Vivi asked, moving to stand by Sanji to look out the window for herself.
"The woman the people call a witch, the sole doctor of our country, Dr. Kureha lives in that castle."
"What? Of all places, why does she live all the way up there?!" Sanji cried out, his cigarette hanging so far out of his mouth it was amazing it didn't fall to the floor. "Fine, just call her down then! This is an emergency!"
"Even if we wanted to, there is no way of contacting her," Dalton explained, closing his eyes when his reply further angered Sanji. "There is no denying her skill as a doctor, but...she is a rather strange woman. She has lived a long life of nearly 140 years."
"I didn't know humans could even live that long..." Toffee said in awe. No wonder the people here considered her to be a witch. Living such a long life seemed almost magical in itself. Then again, she had been so used to seeing people die, sometimes at incredibly young ages, Toffee never considered such a possibility...
"Well, they say she likes those umeboshi," Dalton claimed with a shrug, his rather casual reply making Toffee let out a little "Eh?!".
Vivi folded her arms with a skeptical look. "But then what happens when the people of this country become sick or injured?"
"She comes down from the mountain of her own free will. She searches for patients, treats them...and then takes whatever she wants from their homes as compensation before leaving again."
"Sounds like one mean old hag," Usopp mumbled
"Oi, oi! She sounds like a pirate!" Luffy added, looking a little insulted.
"But, how does such an old woman get down from the mountain?" Vivi further questioned.
Dalton's features creased and his dark eyes moved to stare at the floor. "It's just an odd rumor, but...several eyewitnesses report that on moonlit nights...she takes to the sky in a sleigh and rides down. That is the reason she is called a witch. They also say a strange creature comes with her, the likes of which they've never seen."
Usopp fell onto his back, shockingly not dumping his drink all over himself. "I knew it! I just knew there was one! An abominable snowman! From the snowy peaks! I just knew there'd be one!"
Ignoring Usopp's complaining, Dalton went on, "She may be our only doctor, but that old woman does not wish to have close relations with us. All we can do is wait for the next day she decides to come down from the mountain,"
"Sonova...We don't have time to just sit here and wait!" Sanji protested through clenched teeth. "While we do, Nami-san is..."
"Oi, Nami? Can you hear me," Luffy sung out, slapping at her cheek, his actions making Vivi, Usopp, and Sanji snap at him. He grinned when she opened her eyes. "Listen, you can't see a doctor unless we climb a mountain. So we're going mountain climbing."
"Are you insane!" Sanji shouted. "What are you trying to make Nami-san do?!"
"It's okay. I'll carry her," Luffy answered simply.
"That will only worsen her condition!" Vivi cried out.
"Luffy does have a point. We need Nami to see a doctor as quickly as possible, and this seems to be the only option," Toffee mentioned, causing Vivi and Sanji to look at her in surprise. "We'll just have to make sure Nami's extra secure while Luffy traverses up those steep slopes."
"I understand what your saying, Toffee-san, but this is too much stress to place on Nami..." Vivi maintained.
"No...They're right. I have...to get better soon," Nami managed to say through strained pants. "Soon...for Vivi's sake. Take care of me, Captain."
Hitting the hand Nami had lifted out from under the covers, Luffy chirped, "You got it! Leave it to me!"
Heading outside once it had been decided, Usopp groaned out, "I've had it. As soon as the captain says something, the navigator goes along with it!"
"Are you sure you'll be okay, Nami-san? This trip may take hours..." Vivi continued to express her worry. They had made sure Nami was wearing extra layers of clothes, but seeing her flushed form appearing as if it were struggling to breathe while she rested on Luffy's back, greatly concerned the princess.
And Vivi felt more troubled when Luffy seemed more concerned with having meat to take with him...
"Don't worry. I'll do my best to keep an eye on them. I used to climb trees and mountains with my brothers all the time," Toffee reassured with a smile, pulling the hood of the dark blue jacket she wore up around her face.
"Yosh! Then I'm going to!" Sanji decided, furrowing his brows.
"Listen, Luffy. If you trip and fall even once, Nami will die," Usopp warned. "That means you definitely better not hand Nami over to Toffee. Understood?"
Toffee couldn't help but feel offended, even if Usopp made a good point...and she rubbed at the back of her neck when Vivi and Usopp decided to remain in the village with Dalton, who informed Luffy that they needed to take the opposite slope due to creatures called Lapahn that inhabited the path. These animals were a ravenous type of rabbit, and they could possibly die if the three of them happened to encounter the ferocious sounding mammals.
"Rabbits? But we're in a hurry," Luffy remarked, not seeming bothered by the information. "We'll be fine. Right?"
"Yeah. I'll kick 'em," Sanji agreed firmly.
"Kick them? Impossible! You will be rushing to your deaths!" Dalton cried out. These kids clearly didn't understand just what sort of danger they'd be bringing onto themselves.
"We'll be fine. Let's go, Sanji! Toffee!" Luffy exclaimed, gripping onto Nami before rushing off. "Before Nami dies!"
"Don't say such a goddamn ominous joke, you shithead!" Sanji growled out, rushing after the male.
Toffee shook her head at the two of them, turning to quickly bow before Dalton. "Thank you for your hospitality. And don't worry. Those two have some pretty monstrous strength themselves."
Dalton watched the petite girl dash off to catch up with the two males, frowning as he couldn't help but wonder if they would really be alright? Vivi and Usopp had mentioned the main concern was if Nami's strength would hold up long enough until they reached the doctor, and the two chose to remain outside in the blistering cold, staring in the direction where their comrades had left. This caused a smile to form on the captains face, and he sat down on the snow, to keep the two admirable pirates of all things, company.