Chapter 15: Cold Day on Drum Island!

Dymon D. Ciara

Me and Luffy were running through the frozen forest. It was getting colder, but my coat kept me warm. We were in a heated debate about the sleeping schedule of people in snowy areas. I was optimistic. It wasn't like my mood was affected by the weather.

"No, Luffy," I said. "People in cold places sleep all the time. Of course, they don't die."

A small rabbit creature jumped to bite me. I moved my head and it missed. I didn't know where it came from, but it shouldn't lead to anything.

"But it's true. Someone in a bar told me in my village!" The rabbit came for Luffy. He jumped and it missed again. It should've left.

"Do you want to trust the words of someone who hangs out with a kid in a bar?" An extra thought gave me a smirk. "If you have any repressed memories I'll be there to talk." I was joking, I was sure the guy in the bar didn't do anything. He must've been a saint to deal with a young Luffy.

"What does repressed mean?" Phew, I didn't want to explain my joke in detail.

"It doesn't matter. But did you know-" I ducked to avoid the rabbit. It was getting annoying. "-that alcohol doesn't freeze. So everyone in cold places is an alcoholic because all their water will freeze in their throats and they'll choke to death." It was half true. If it was that cold, the saliva in your mouth would freeze your mouth shut.

"What!? That's crazy," yelled Luffy.

"Yeah, it's a mystery why people live in the cold."

The little rabbit kept attacking. It almost hit my head, then went for Luffy's leg, my arm, and his torso. It went on for a full minute with the annoying animal attacking sixty-four times.

"Get out of here," I yelled as I kicked the rabbit. It was only hard enough to send it out of sight. It probably didn't die.

"What was his deal," asked Luffy.

We continued up the mountain. We were lost in another meaningless conversation.

"Heeeeey," I yelled. "Snow! Fall!"

Luffy shushed me. "Stop, you'll cause an avalanche," he whispered.

"Oh! I didn't know that," I yelled much louder. "I wouldn't want to cause an avalanche!" Luffy kept trying to shush me, but he couldn't move much because of Nami. I just laughed. "Kshshshshsh! Come on, be rational. How can yelling cause an avalanche?"

"Because," Luffy stopped talking for a bit. "I don't know. It's just a thing people say."

"Right, because people are so smart. Have you tried looking in the mirror?"

We continued arguing for a while. The storm got worse and it got harder to keep a running pace.

A large group of giant rabbits stood in front of us. One of them near the front had the tiny rabbit from before. He had a well-deserved bruise on his forehead. The big ones were mad. I could guess what they were doing. "Why do parents have so much beef with me?"

I didn't want to fight. The cold was making my feet numb. This made me weaker by a factor of 'I suck at math, IDFK.' So I couldn't win by a long shot.

"Wow, polar bears," said Luffy.

The snow came down hard. Running was difficult. The snow reached my knees and I couldn't feel my feet. It was completely silent except for our footsteps and the wind of the storm.

When we saw the rabbits, they attacked. We barely got past them and ran up the mountain. If only Sanji was with us. He could've sacrificed himself.

I stopped with a heavy stagger. I barely kept standing. I turned around and saw nothing but trees and a set of footprints. "Wait," I told Luffy. He stopped. "I think we lost them."

"Finally," he replied. I looked back at him.

He was staring at me. Behind him was the large group of rabbits around ten feet above us on a slope. They started jumping.

"Oh crap, they're jumping," I said. "Do you have any idea what that means?"

"What does it mean," said Luffy.

The ground was shaking. Snow was billowing around the rabbits. They had a murderous look on their faces. Only an idiot couldn't connect the dots.

"I don't know! I was hoping you would know!"

"Maybe they're hungry," Luffy suggested.

"What could they eat in a frozen wasteland?" I thought for a second. "I know, us!" I grabbed him by the shirt. I didn't move him to not disturb Nami. "They're gonna eat us!"

"Ahh! We gotta run," he yelled. A horrified look appeared on his face.

We sprinted left as a large cloud formed above us. It was coming down on us. I finally figured out what those rabbits were doing.

"Avalanche," I yelled. "We can't get hit by it or we'll be buried!"

"What do we do?!" Luffy asked as if I knew.

"I don't know! Just make sure Nami doesn't get hurt! If she dies, this was all for nothing!"

"But how?!"

I looked around more. I needed to be urgent or we'd die. More importantly, Nami would die.

I spotted a large mound coming out of the mountain. It looked just high enough to keep us safe. I pointed to it. "Up there!"

We kept running. The snow seemed to go even faster. It sounded like multiple tumblers shaking in my head at once. It drowned out all other sounds.

The snow was twenty feet away and approaching. I could only see the mound. The cold was getting to me. Numbness traveled up my legs and to my knees. It would be fine if I kept my coat. I jumped with all of my might.

Then immediately fell into the snow. I had forgotten that I couldn't jump. Luffy wrapped his arm around me and made the jump with ease.

He helped me stand on the elevated platform. "Thank you," I said.

"You're welcome," he said with a large smile. It made me feel warm. I assumed it was his smile and not hypothermia. That fall in the snow let some into my coat and I felt it down my chest and to my feet.

The avalanche started going under us. Wait, it didn't go under us. We weren't high enough to escape. "Oh crap!" The snow hit us.

We were somehow launched into the air. I was taken completely off guard. It didn't make any sense. Why would falling snow shoot us into the sky? I contemplated this as I fell to my death.

Luffy grabbed me from the air and pulled me back to him. He was on a broken tree. We were riding the avalanche like a surfboard on a wave.

"If only you were this good in Little Garden," I said dismissively. He didn't comment.

We picked up speed. We were going farther away from the mountain. "We have to stop! Luffy, do something!"

"What do you expect me to do?!"

"You're the supposed captain! Act like it! If we keep going down like this, we'll never make it to the doctor!"

A growl made me look at a group of large rabbits coming from behind us. They were riding on broken trees. They started doing flips and jumps. They scratched at us while in the air. They almost hit us multiple times.

"What's with these guys? They're acting like we killed all their women!"

My chain of thought was cut off by Luffy. "Ahhh! We're gonna crash!" We were heading straight into a raised piece of land with a few stumps. Snow was going around it. We were going too fast to land on it safely.

I thought about it for a little too long. On one hand, the rabbits were gaining on us, on the other, Nami needed to be safe or we'd die at sea. I made my decision as I grabbed Luffy by the waist.

"What are you doing," he asked.

"Hold tight, Nami," I said before throwing them in the air. I figured that if they were in the air, Luffy could stretch them to safety.

I didn't see if they made it. Three rabbits caught up and swung at me.

I weaved through two of their arms as the third missed entirely. That guy was terrible. It was a wonder why he was there at-

A slash from behind cut my thoughts off. I could feel all of the cold from the snowstorm going in the cut on my coat. I was paralyzed in an instant. The rabbits tore away the rest of my coat and I fell into the avalanche.

It was warm. It couldn't hurt to rest my eyes a little.

TO BE CONTINUED...