The howling winds, the snowy mountain and the chilling cold didn't bother Zoro and Sanji as much as the pained deep breathing coming from their captain was hurting and stabbing their hearts. But despite it all, the duo of the monster trio didn't fail to bicker on their journey to the castle.
"Marimo, if you collapse from the heat I won't carry you," Sanji spoke gruffly, his eyes set on the castle and determined to not lose the way.
"GRRR!!"
Zoro smirked lightly, hearing the concern concealed behind Sanji's gruff voice.
"You better keep up with me or you're going to get lost, swirly brows," Zoro replied skipping away from the path to dodge a big rabbit, with a light smile. He wouldn't admit it loud but Sanji's talking was helping him distract from his burning and aching back.
"GRRR!!"
"As if I am going to get lost, you moss for brains," Sanji rolled his eyes, kicking the same rabbit which was pestering Zoro a moment ago to a tree. "Or shall I say you to run straight and not go west?" Sanji deadpanned seeing Zoro take a turn.
BOOM!
The tree at which the lapin was thrown at broke from it's sharp teeth, making the poor lapin try attacking the duo once more.
"GRR!"
"The mountains are moving not me, love cook!" Zoro retorted not accepting his mistake as he got corrected by Sanji once again, dodging from the rabbit's path once more.
"GRR!"
"Yeah yeah," Sanji taunted with a teasing grin, pleased to make the moss head counter him. He skipped away from the rabbit this time, making it pissed off. "Like I'm going to believe you, directionless moron!"
"My sense of direction is fine! You're the one with a skewed compass," Zoro grunted in response, hoping away from the trajectory of the lapin.
"Says who?" Sanji teased Zoro once again and got pissed off by the rabbit who tried to get a bite off his leg once more. "Would you freaking knock it off?!" Sanji yelled in anger kicking the rabbit to a far away distance.
"Now look at who is getting all pissed off," Zoro teased Sanji. But even a part of his mind wondered what was wrong with the rabbit.
"Oh shut up!" Sanji rolled his eyes. "As if you know anything else than-"
"What are those things?" Zoro cut Sanji off as huge rabbits appeared out of nowhere blocking their path.
.
On the foot of the mountains, where the rest of the strawhats and Dalton were, a lady arrived.
"Dalton! I heard you were looking for Dr. Kureha?"
"Yes, but the patient is already-"
"That's good! She just came down to the neighboring village!" The lady announced shocking the other listeners.
"We need to stop them this instant!" Dalton spoke, getting up to ready his sleigh.
"It's of no use!" Nami stopped the man hurriedly.
"Yes, the problem is those two abnormally strong crew mates of ours!" Usopp added his two cents.
"There's no way we can catch up to them!" Nami finished. "We need to ask the doctor to return to her castle right away!"
"Yes, that's all we can do right now!" Vivi supported the duo.
.
"Dunno," Sanji spoke, his hands itching to grab a cigarette. "It jumped!" Sanji spoke moving away from the path of the rabbit as did Zoro with gritted teeth. "It's like a gorilla!"
"No, it's a polar bear!" Zoro replied back, holding Luffy tight. He can't let him slip off in this commotion.
"No, it's a goddamn rabbit!" Sanji retorted, holding a cigarette in his mouth but not lighting it. He hoped that it would calm his nicotine needs.
"But didn't you say it was a gorilla?" Zoro smirked with a teasing grin.
"Shut up! It must be the 'lapin' Dalton was talking about!" Sanji retorted in annoyance.
"I can cut them," Zoro spoke looking straight at the lapins.
"No way in hell you are going to do that!" Sanji retorted instantly. "We are at a disadvantage here!"
"Why can't I cut them off?! They are blocking our way!" Zoro grunted with gritted teeth.
"You may be unaffected but the impact of every cut you deliver or receive, will be transferred over to Luffy. And if it happens then I dunno anymore," Sanji answered. He doesn't even want to think that Luffy can die. The little ball of sunshine can't die and hence he won't let Zoro cut those damn beings.
"You don't need to say anymore," Zoro replied as his hands held Luffy close. He would not allow him to get hurt due to him. What first mate would he be to do so?!
So, Zoro kept on dodging each attack of the lapins while Sanji kicked the lapins who dared to near them.
"That's bad! They are coming all at once!" Zoro gritted, his hands itching badly for his swords but he swore not to fight, not right now.
"I'll cover you so run to the forest!" Sanji spoke urgently, without bothering to put a filter for Zoro in his words. "We need to shake them off! If we even fight them seriously, it will get to late!"
"Damn!" Zoro grunted, as he ran ahead with Sanji protecting his back.
The lapins looked too determined to snatch away Luffy from them, as most the attacks were directed at Zoro who was carrying Luffy.
"There's a path ahead! We can climb from there!" Zoro commented seeing Sanji kick another one of the relentless lapin.
"Alright! Go on ahead!" Sanji answered as he saw Zoro using a large lapin as a staircase to jump on the hilly road.
"They're still after us!" Zoro growled, wanting to cut them so bad, but his hands were tied.
"Just keep running, Mosshead!" Sanji replied back.
.
On the shores of the Drum, a ship finally surfaced from the ocean. The inhabitants of the ship giddy that they finally reached their homeland while those on the shore protecting the Island laid sprawled on the snowy ground, bleeding and wounded.
The leader of the group was none other than the fleeting leader or king known as Wapol, who had left the Island on the arrival of the Blackbeard pirates with his tail between his legs.
"Your majesty! I have an urgent news!" A man of his came running towards him.
"What is it?!" Wapol shouted in annoyance.
"There is a pirate ship docked by the river!" The man pointed out to the caravel ship which was docked on the shore.
"What?! Whose pirate ship is that?!" Wapol growled in anger.
"It looks like the Strawhat Pirates!" The man pointed out sweating a little.
"Strawhat?" Wapol repeated, hearing the name for the first time. "Those scum have quite the nerve to step foot on my Island! Find and kill every last one of them at once!"
.
In the village where Dr. Kureha was once seen, the Strawhats along with Dalton appeared but the news that the old witch had already left reached them. Not only that but the news of a terrible monarch's return embraced Dalton.
"I won't let him as do he pleases," Dalton spoke determinedly as he dashed out of the village to Big Horn where Wapol was last seen headed to. They have scores to settle.
While Wapol on the other side had already reached Big Horn and was announcing his greatness to his people.
"Your majesty, we got reports that the Strawhat pirates have headed towards the Drum Castle!" One of Wapol's men spoke as he kneeled before the king.
"Why is that?!" Wapol asked in annoyance as he sat on his vehicle, which was a giant hippo.
"They seem to be looking for Dr. Kureha as she had made the castle her new home," The man responded back.
"What?! That hag is living in my castle?!" Wapol shrieked in rage. "How dare she! I will devour her with those pirates!"
"That's as far as you will go!" Dalton materialized striking Wapol on his head with his metal spade, which was a double edged sword.
But to Dalton's poor luck, Wapol was instantly treated by the 20 doctors who he had under his control and Wapol's subordinates attacked Dalton, planting their spears within him.
.
"What the heck are they trying to do now?!" Zoro grunted in annoyance seeing the lapins jumping at a place.
"They stopped chasing after us but now they're up to something else..!" Sanji spoke chewing the butt of his cigarette. "W-Wait! It can't be..! They couldn't possibly be trying to..!"
"What are you babbling, you stupid cook?!" Zoro asked seeing Sanji's grit his teeth and his unlit cigarette falling on the ground.
"Start running!" Sanji answered instead of bickering with Zoro.
"Run? What? Your brain is finally going-"
"FUCKING RUN ZORO!" Sanji shouted, cutting Zoro off, and showing the severity of the situation.
"But where?" Zoro asked looking around. They need to climb up the mountain and the lapins were in their way. They can't go back!
"Anywhere is fine! Just as long as it's far away from here!" Sanji shouted, ushering Zoro to run. "BECAUSE THERE'S A FUCKING AVALANCHE HEADED RIGHT FOR US!"
"Those freaking rabbits! Damn them to hell!" Zoro gritted out as he began running back.
"Keep Luffy safe no matter what!" Sanji yelled out to Zoro, whose hands on Luffy's legs tightened.
"I know! Only if I could cut down the avalanche!" Zoro gritted his teeth at the helplessness.
"Don't even think about it!" Sanji retorted instantly. There was no way Zoro could cut the avalanche. Even the try wasn't worth Luffy's discomfort. "There's a cliff over there!"
"A cliff?!" Zoro asked looking at the direction which Sanji was pointing to. True to his words there was a small cliff on their right side.
"We gotta get up on higher ground even by a little bit!" Sanji shouted above the sounds of the merciless crashing and breaking of trees by the avalanche.
"IT'S COMING!" Sanji shouted, seeing the avalanche coming closer and closer to them. But by sheer luck, they landed on the cliff... but the cliff was still too low.
The snow swept them away, tossing them to the air.
"FUCK IT! WE ARE BEING SWEPT AWAY!" Sanji shouted in anger.
"The heck should I do now?!" Zoro yelled to himself in anger. That's when the tree which had crashed due to the snow came to his view. "Sanji! Grab on!" He extended his hand to the cook, who caught his hand without a hesitance and pulled him to the tree scrap.
"We won't be buried in snow now," Zoro spoke holding the tree with his legs and Luffy with his hands. He can't risk letting the still idiot swept away. It wouldn't be beyond Luffy that he somehow managed to get into trouble even while sleeping! He can't risk leaving him unattended.
"At this rate we are gonna be right back down at the foot of the mountain!" Sanji shouted in anger. "Why now? When we're right at the base of the chimney shaped cliff?! Damn those rabbits, I swear I'll make rabbit stew out of them if I ever see them again!"
Respecting Sanji's words, the lapins appeared, surfing on the snow in a similar fashion to that of Zoro and Sanji.
"AGHH!!" Sanji shouted.
"WHAT THE HELL DO THEY FUCKING WANT?!" Zoro growled in anger.
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH THOSE JERKS!?" Sanji shouted.
"GRR!!"
A lapin tried to take a chunk out of both Zoro and Sanji, who hoped off the log and safely landed back.
"Zoro! In front of us!" Sanji spoke with wide eyes.
"Crap, it's a rock!" Zoro spoke in shock. What were they supposed to do now!?!! He wants to get his sword but for fuck's sake he couldn't! "We're gonna crash!"
"Not on my watch!" Sanji spoke with a grin, throwing a shocked Zoro away from the log.
"What the hell!?" Zoro shouted at Sanji, and twisted his body so that Luffy won't get any impact of the fall.
"Move on without me!" Sanji spoke before crashing with the rock.
"SANJI!!!!!" Zoro shouted seeing him fall on top of a lapin and get buried under the snow. He felt helpless holding Luffy with one single hand and the other hand holding the same rock which hit Sanji for support when the snow came tumbling to swipe him away too.
"Dammit..!" Zoro cursed before hitting a tree rock and losing consciousness.
.
On the other side, in the town, Big Horn, Dalton and the other villagers laid beaten and as a prey for the incoming avalanche while Wapol and his men headed for the Drum Castle.
Vivi, Nami and Usopp were running in full speed from where they were headed for another town where Dr. Kureha was said to have gone.
"Do you think they might have also encountered that...?" Nami asked shivering at the very thought and running as fast as she could.
"Stop sprouting nonsense!" Usopp answered back. He didn't want to think about that.
"We are gonna be crushed!" Vivi yelled.
.
The unusual day with no snow but an avalanche was not enough to the phenomenon that was happening on the snowy mountains of the Drum Rockies. Caged by towering walls of snow and laying on the ground, a strawhatted teen, Luffy, finally woke up.
Luffy's head was spinning too fast for him to even control. The voices of his crew was the one that got him up in the first place. They needed him. And that was enough for Luffy to force open his eyes and bottle up his sick body. But opening his eyes, Luffy regretted as he froze at the sight of the snow which began melting with one touch of his. Frozen with fear, bad memories and the past nightmares washing before his eyes, Luffy gulped. He needed to get up...
Zoro and Sanji needed him. He didn't need to be a crybaby right now. He wasn't a crybaby in the first place. He needs to protect his crew. He is the captain of the Strawhat Pirates. The man who will be the freest one ever lived. Luffy kept on repeating in his mind, taking deep breaths which Iva had taught him.
Feeling confidence and determination, Luffy stood up with wobbling legs and found a blanket falling down. Shivering at the sight of the charred blanket and due to the cold, Luffy picked it up before forcing his way to Zoro and Sanji. Their Haki was flickering, which was enough for making Luffy panic.
"Zoro? Sanji?" Luffy called out once, but when they didn't respond and their Haki continued to flicker, Luffy got down to his knees, the snow melting around him, and used the blanket to tie his friends on his back.
Staggering at the weight, Luffy stood firm. Despite his own hazy vision, depleting strength and the fact that he felt cold, Luffy took a step forward. Unknown to him, his eyes started glitching red and his hair turning pale at the edges, before turning pure white and slowly moving towards the crown of his head.
Despite feeling bile rise up from his mouth and the fear in his eyes as he took each step in the melting snow, Luffy forced himself to keep going on. His heart beat being the only constant help as he felt it growing loud. The beat forcing him to dance on it's rhythm and not stagger.
His friends needed a doctor more than him. He couldn't stop even if his legs felt weak or his chest heaved with pain.
He couldn't stop and abandon them. He would never.
He kept on walking with the little strength, trying to get himself stable, when he heard cries of a baby for his mother. Without even thinking, Luffy walked to the baby lapin who was using all his strength to get his mother out of the snow in which she was trapped. His dizzy eyes saw the baby lapin's red eyes filled with tears, begging him for help.
"Don't worry," Luffy whispered picking up the mother lapin from the snow and plopping it beside the baby lapin who immediately clung to his mother, who bowed to him.
Luffy bit his lips and continued forward, his body staggering a little and yet following the constant drum beats of his beating heart.
"Don't worry," Luffy whispered once more, smoke coming out of his mouth. "It's my time to protect you two now."
"YOUR MAJESTY! LOOK THEY'RE RIGHT AHEAD!" Luffy heard someone shouting, wondering if that someone might help him and his friends. A hippo soon blocked his path carrying three people on it.
"Halt right there! How dare you commit numerous despicable grievances against my regal self!" One man with tin face yelled at the face of Luffy, who hissed at the loud noise.
"Move it," Luffy whispered, wanting to hold his throbbing head.
"Mahahaha! What are you freak? Changing your irises like a freak show?!" The tin man, also known as Wapol questioned Luffy, who looked confused at the statement.
Luffy announcing the man and his hippo who was quivering at his sight, worthless, moved away from the man. He couldn't waste time. The little energy which he has in his body was waning away at an alarming rate. Before that he needs to get Zoro and Sanji to the top of the mountain. Before he falls unconscious...
The three men on the hippo got off from the vehicle as it refused to move a step, having frozen in fear. Two of those men tried to pursue Luffy who was aware of them but chose to walk, to focus ahead 'cause he felt some lapins already jumping to save him.
"Thank you," Luffy made sure that his words reached the lapins who began blocking and fighting the men.
Feeling himself getting enough stable and his flickering energy coming to a halt, Luffy skipped off from the melting snowy ground. He choose to sky walk to the top, risking it all.
A doctor. That's what Zoro and Sanji need. They have lost blood and Zoro seemed to have more hidden injuries.
"Need a doc. A doc," Luffy chanted, his heart beat beating erratically in the rhythm he so much loves. The only thing that was keeping him from remembering his previous nightmare.
The heat from his body felt like crazy but yet the cold was giving him shivers. He was feeling like he would freeze. With all his strength, he kept on sky walking with Zoro and Sanji on his back huddled in the large blanket which he had tied around his body. Directing all the heat from his body inside, he hoped that he doesn't burn Sanji or Zoro... if he does he doesn't know if he can forgive himself for harming them.
Luffy's face stretched into a smile as the top of the mountain appeared through the hazy smoke, which was coming out due to the collision of heat and snow.
'Just a few more steps away,' Luffy grinned faintly, but that was when his energy reserve decided to fuck over him. His steps faltered, his balance shattered and a sharp pain traveled through his body, making him groan in pain and start falling down and down and down and down and down from the sky.
Luffy's vision began to swim wildly, blackening at the corners. He could feel his energy and all his strength beginning to sap away. He felt himself getting sleepy.
"Zoro! Sanji!" Luffy called his friends name, trying to gather strength and hold on to the mountain. He can't let them die. He can't. His nails bled, the skin of his finger tore, his legs got scratched, his whole body screamed in pain and his head felt like blasting off but he held onto the mountain as tight as he could.
His flickering red eyes, halted to scarlet red as he looked determinedly at the top of the mountain. He needed to reach there. He needed to at any cost.
His heart beat got louder, screaming with pain and wanting to protect. His hands moved up holding on to the mountain and pulling his body up. The weight of his own body had already felt too much heavy on him and now holding his friends with him, Luffy can't help but wish to go back to sleep. But he couldn't.
Nothing seemed clear. The only thing which was guiding him with the lack of his proper vision were the winds whose voices he could hear even above his drumming heart. The unconscious bodies of Zoro and Sanji kept on motivating him to keep moving, to keep fighting against the dizziness and sleep.
"A little bit more," Luffy hissed in pain as he pulled himself one more time. The mountain cliff just a hand away from his reach. His strength began to cease and Luffy knew he couldn't anymore do this. "Don't d-die on me."
Luffy's head felt like bursting off the moment he removed his right hand from the mountain to untie Zoro and Sanji. Using all his remaining strength, he tossed the blanket like sack on the cliff, making a smile curl up on his face.
They are safe. Luffy hummed as his left arm gave up. His body lurched backwards, about to be cradled or smashed to the ground...
...Only to be saved and caught by a furry hand which pulled him up in an instant.
.
On the foot of the mountains, Nami and Vivi were carrying Usopp who had gotten buried under the snow.
"Come on, Usopp! Get up, you moron!" Nami chided pulling one of the hands of Usopp mercilessly dragging him on the snow.
"Hang in there, Usopp!" Vivi added helping Nami.
"Don't wake me up. I'm in a middle of a good dream. I can see a flowerbed and river so beautiful they look like they belong in heaven," Usopp spoke wavering off in his voice.
"That's probably 'cause you are in heaven!" Vivi shouted at once, clapping Usopp's face.
"Damn idiot! Get up! We need you!" Nami yelled slapping Usopp's face repeatedly.
After a few while of slapping, Usopp finally woke up.
"Is it me or is my face swollen a bit?" Usopp asked touching his face which felt as if millions of bees have stung him at once.
"Shut up, you idiot! We need to find that witch!" Nami iritatedly spoke, while Vivi chose to look away in embarrassment.
"Look! There!" Vivi spoke pointing her hand towards the crowd. "Those houses look familiar!"
"We're back at Bighorn Village!" Nami spoke nursing her temple.
"What's going on?" Usopp asked nearing a villager.
"The avalanche buried Dalton! But those bastards won't let us dig him out of there!" The man pointed out to the group of men who were carrying guns.
"What?!"
"Beat it, peasants! Dalton's already dead so deal with it!" The uniformed men shouted.
"As if Dalton could die that easily. Aren't you his former subordinates?! Don't you have a shred of compassion for him?!" The crowd asked in retaliation.
"We're servants to one man only and that's King Wapol!" One of the uniformed men shouted back. "Those who go against the King are dead!"
"Usopp, we need to do something," Nami whispered to Usopp. "We can't let Dalton die."
"But what can we do?!" Usopp whispered back. "I'm not Zoro or Sanji or heck Luffy! I'm- I'm just a sniper!"
"But we need to do something. We can't let him die!" Vivi retorted, keeping her voice low.
"I might have a plan," Nami spoke with a gulp, gesturing them to a house.
.
"Doctrine!" Chopper shouted laying the kid whom he had just caught on the snowy floor, only for it to melt away.
"Who're they, Chopper?" An old lady, who wouldn't admit that she is old, asked Chopper drinking down a bottle of ale and coming out from the castle.
"He climbed up this mountain with his bare hands!" Chopper spoke seeing the kid who was wearing a strawhat, tank top and shorts in the cold winter, shiver in cold and curl up on himself. His blackish white hair seemed to be waning away to leave a pure black mop of unruly hair.
"What?! Drum Rock's peak is 5000 m tall!" Doctrine commented as she approached her little assistant.
"Despite the chilling cold, he is burning and shivering at the same time," Chopper told Doctrine about the kid's condition.
"This one's lost a lot of blood," Chopper spoke, opening the blonde haired man's shirt. "Not to mention, 6 broken ribs, a cracked spine and burns on his shoulders."
"Another one's got second degree burns all over his body except his face," Chopper spoke, getting the green haired man's t-shirt off of him. A note rustled past it and when Chopper picked it up, it highlighted the heading 'Things to know to keep you sane' to him. Chopper wondered if it was for them.
"The worst one here is this kid. He's on the verge of death," Doctrine commented checking the boys' forehead, which at instant gave her burns. The temperature was too high to be even recorded by a thermometer. She wondered how the kid was even alive or if he was a human in the first place. But at least she got to know the source of burns on the blonde haired and the green haired men.
"Doctrine!" Chopper gasped, as his eyes blew wide at the information. "We can save him, right?! Please, Doctrine?!"
"P-Pweasee sa-save dem (Please save them)." The boy spoke, his teeth clattering and crawling through the snow, which was evaporating, caught Doctrine's hand, who could feel the hot and his shivering body at the same time. "D-Deyr m-my freens..(They're my friends)."
"Don't worry. Both of your pals here will be fine," Doctrine spoke with a small smile on her face after her shock resided.
"Chopper let's get on work," Doctrine spoke, hauling the kid up in her arms. The burning heat won't stop her from saving the kid.
When they got inside, Doctrine laid the kid on the bed and Chopper did the same for the other two men.
"Check the other two while I'll handle this kid," Doctrine spoke preparing a test tube and injection to take the boy's blood to further inspect what disease he has.
"Yes, Doctrine!" Chopper got to work, as he applied salves on the green haired man's body.
"What the hell?!?" Doctrine gasped, as the blood which she collected came golden-red in her tube.
"That's..!" Chopper's jaw dropped to the floor, and his hooves felt the piece of paper which he had carried in, all the while his eyes were on the kid.
"Doctrine!" Chopper spoke at once seeing the paper which had something about blood and Chopper hoped it was about the kid. "I found this on his clothes!"
Chopper passed the note to Doctrine, who kept aside the blood test tube and read its content.
"There's almost no proper information written on it!" Doctrine mumbled looking at the boy and then at the list. "At least it isn't any unknown disease."
"Doctrine, if you may, then can I treat him?" Chopper asked looking at the ground and then to the kid whose name was Luffy.
Doctrine raised her eyebrow at that, seeing Chopper taking a step on his own. Filing it to ask him later, Doctrine gave him a wide berth to look after at the kid, while she bandaged the green haired and treated the blonde haired men.
After a while, Chopper's voice came up.
"Doctrine, I've detected an antibody reaction." Chopper announced as he shook the test tube slightly. The golden blood seemed to be evaporating albeit slowly but surely leaving the red blood. A part of Chopper felt that the blood should have been completely golden not a mixture.
"Oh is that so?" Doctrine asked, bandaging the chest of the blonde haired man. "Then tell me, what's the cause?"
"Kestia," Chopper replied back.
"Alright, I'll leave the treatment to you," Doctrine worded out, seeing Chopper nod happily and get on to his work.
.
On the other side, Usopp was laying on the snowy ground, panting heavily along side the unconscious guards.
"I'm never going to follow your plans!" Usopp yelled at Nami, clutching his heart, feeling the scare it felt.
"We will see next time!" Nami commented with a happy grin, emptying the pockets of the guards, while the other villagers where busy digging Dalton out of the snow.
"Shouldn't we leave them alone?" Vivi asked with a sweatdrop seeing Nami pout when she found not much on the fifth man who she was robbing.
"All you care is gold! I could have died!" Usopp shouted with a whimper.
"But you are not dead," Nami spoke in a sing song voice. "All I asked you to do was introduce yourself, was that too tough? You know, it wasn't my fault that you chose to tell that you are the Brave Captain Usopp of the Strawhat Pirates."
"But you knew that they were hunting us!" Usopp cried out, getting up with the support of the wall near him.
"On the bright side, your snipping skills really did good. Shouldn't we appreciate about that?" Vivi questioned, remembering how Usopp, even if he ran away at first but forced down his fear to shoot odd bombs at the men.
"Even you Vivi?" Usopp asked curling up.
"Be happy that we saved your ass," Nami flipped off her hair. It was her who began discreetly sending men from the villagers to take off the opposing enemy one by one as Usopp acted as the bait. "Moreover you are the best bait! You could run fast enough to beat them at least!"
"Whatever," Usopp grumbled.
.
Inside the Drum Castle, Sanji was the first to wake up soon followed by Zoro. Doctrine seeing them up so soon, couldn't hide her shocked expression.
"How is Luffy?" Sanji asked immediately seeing the granny. He assumed her to be the doctor, thinking that Zoro had managed to get them up.
Doctrine smiled, as she touched the forehead of the still sleeping kid. "His fever has gone down a lot. It's 57°C right now. I assume it's near his normal temperature."
"How do you know?" Zoro questioned with slightly wide eyes. Does she know what's wrong with Luffy?
"This note," Doctrine spoke as she brought forth the note from her pockets and tossed it back to the green haired man. "To be honest, I was going to call him a rare case but then it saved him from being opened up."
"What do you mean?" Zoro asked narrowing his eyes, his hands going to his katana. Sanji even gritted his teeth, noting the hidden words behind the elderly woman.
"Nothing much. I'm Dr. Kureha or you can call me 'Doctrine' and rest be assured I don't mean any harm to your friend," Doctrine spoke with a smile on tow. She felt good knowing that they were protective over the kid.
"What had happened to him? When will he get up?" Sanji asked, his eyes fixed at Luffy's sleeping form. No longer could he hear the labored breath or the hot waves from his body, and that was enough for Sanji to relax even if by a little.
"This," Dr. Kureha tilted the side of the kid's face to show his neck where a bite was. "This was the cause of his fever. He was bitten by kestia, a poisonous insect that lives in the tropics." Then she began explaining them how the insect injected poison on it's hosts body and left the bacteria to grow. "It would have been over in five days 'cause at the end of the fifth day he would have died."
Zoro and Sanji's eyes widened at the news.
"That's why we need a doctor in the crew," Zoro muttered, gripping the sheets tight in his hand, making Sanji nod. They needed to wait till Luffy wakes up to make that decision.
"But I believe that something else added to his fever." Dr. Kureha added to her earlier words, taking a seat beside the sleeping kid. His face wasn't much flushed but his scrunching eyes and painful expression told her it was better for him to sleep for a while more. A gut instinct telling her that this patient won't sit patiently the moment he gets up.
"What do you mean?" Sanji asked, clenching the bedsheets.
"Who was it that brought us up here?" Zoro asked looking down shamefully.
"The kid," Doctrine answered without a beat. Sanji's eyes widened looking at Zoro, while Zoro's eyes clenched shut feeling embarrassed that he wasn't able to help Luffy at all. "It was a miracle itself that he was able to move though his hair color seemed to have changed due to it."
"Huh?" Zoro asked looking at Luffy's hair which was black. He remembers seeing it white once and wonders what might have truly happened.
"He had white hair before I suppose?" Doctrine questioned seeing the green haired and blonde haired look at each other before shaking their heads.
"D-Doctrine!" Chopper called out, entering the room, feeling eyes on him. Chopper gulped it down wanting to stay with the kid despite the eyes on him.
"Yes, Chopper?" Doctrine asked with a smile, seeing the other two who have yet to introduce themself looking at her apprentice with curious eyes.
"Um, it's time for his medicines," Chopper spoke rushing off to the kid and climbing up on the bed.
"What is he?" Sanji mumbled out first, making Chopper freeze and come down of the bed, only to be shielded by Doctrine herself, allowing him to continue his work.
"I believe you brats haven't even introduced yourself," Doctrine interjected first.
"I'm Sanji," Sanji answered immediately.
"Zoro," Zoro grunted out.
"And he is Chopper, my apprentice," Doctrine spoke. "How about you two rest while we take care of your little friend?"
"Captain," Zoro corrected the woman.
"You guys are pirates?" Doctrine asked as she saw the two teens lay down and Chopper's curious eyes. She could sense them not wanting to leave the room at all if possible until their captain was up. Strange, a kid was a captain.
"Yeah," Sanji answered, seeing the reindeer look at him and Zoro and then back to Luffy.
"And decided to follow a kid?" Doctrine asked with raised eyebrows.
"He's 17," Zoro grunted out, looking other way.
"What?! He's 17?!" Chopper squeaked first. "The doses I have been giving him to were of for a 10 year old!"
"I thought he was at least 13," Doctrine spoke in her defense, breaking a smile on the faces of Sanji and Zoro.
"I'll need to change his medicines soon!" Chopper hurried off.
"You want to know who he truly is, huh?" Doctrine asked looking at the teens following Chopper's little form. "He's Chopper, an average blue nosed reindeer."
"But reindeers can't talk," Sanji interjected.
"But with one catch. He ate the Hito Hito no mi: Model Human, which granted him with human abilities," Doctrine answered.
"Hito Hito no mi?" Zoro repeated, remembering clearly that Luffy's fruit name started with the same name, but at the ending was 'Model Nika'. A part of him questioned if that implied that Luffy wasn't a human... But he crossed it off as too silly.
"Yeah. I poured in all my medical skill and knowledge in him," Doctrine answered, a fond smile coming up on her face.
"He's a doctor?" Sanji asked with wide eyes, never having thought of that possibility.
"The doctor who treated your not too little captain," Doctrine answered with a laugh as Chopper entered and climbed up on the bed, to open Luffy's mouth to give him medicines.
"Thanks for treating him," Zoro and Sanji spoke in unison to Chopper, who flinched before freezing for a moment.
"I don't need to hear any words of thanks from a human!" Zoro and Sanji heard Chopper getting giddy and saw him doing a happy dance despite his words, making Zoro grin a little and Sanji laugh.
"Chopper," Doctrine called out for the reindeer who was applying a herb on the bitten part of the teen's neck. "It's my first time seeing you voluntarily treat a human."
Zoro and Sanji raised an eyebrow at that, wondering what was the old woman up to.
Chopper's hands continued to help the teen, despite his jumbled emotions.
"Even before I saw those two, I felt someone needing me. Like they were in great danger. I could hear the drums and they make me feel like someone too important was out there. And then I saw those two and heard the beats of drums beginning to cease," Chopper stopped, framing his next words. Those emotions were too jumbled. "When I caught him, I felt the need to respect him, to care for him without a single thought and deed. I can't help but still feel weirdly enticed to him."
"I see," Doctrine mumbled, Chopper's words confirming that the boy was not a human to begin with. No human could do what Chopper mentioned.
'That's Luffy effect,' Sanji thought, not giving it much thought. Luffy was weird but still that was under his Luffy effect... right?
Zoro, on the other hand, noted every word and emotions which he could see on the reindeer's face. He was ashamed that he couldn't help Luffy but Luffy had to help them in return. It didn't help that he didn't know much about Luffy in the first place. He needed to find and keep any clue which he gets.
Chopper was about to say something when a hand grabbed him and pulled it towards him.
"EEK?!" Chopper squeaked feeling himself crushed to the chest of the teen. He wanted to struggle free of the grip and yet he felt himself not wanting. He felt himself wanting to crave for the touch of the being who was holding him.
"Chopper?!" Doctrine questioned looking at her apprentice disappearing in the blankets.
"Luffy? Are you awake?!" Zoro and Sanji asked at once, giving up their blankets and getting on their foot to reach the other side of Luffy's bed.
"Mhmm," Luffy answered peeking out at his crew with a grin and bringing the reindeer before his eyes. "You are cute."
"I'm not cute! Your words don't make me happy at all!" Chopper wiggled in Luffy's hands.
If anyone noticed the tracks of tears, then no one questioned it.
"Join my crew," Luffy stated with a wide smile as he sat up and leaned on the bedside, trying to forget his recent nightmare. "Come with us to the seas! We will have lots of adventure together!"
Chopper's eyes widened at that, even Dr. Kureha stood their stunned.
"At least we will finally have a doctor," Zoro sighed with a grin of his own.
"You are a doctor too?" Luffy questioned seeing Chopper's wobbly lips and teary eyes. "Did I say something wrong?" Luffy prodded at the reindeer tilting his head a little.
"I'm a reindeer..! I cannot travel with you and these humans!" Chopper cried, trying to wiggle free from Luffy's arms. "Aren't you scared of how I look?! I'm a reindeer but I talk and walk on two legs!"
"So?" Luffy asked tilting his head. "I don't see a problem."
"And my nose is blue too," Chopper spoke, his eyes gaining tears and body shaking.
"It doesn't matter!" Luffy smiled wide.
Chopper's eyes blew wide, his lips quivered and his body made an extra effort to leave the arms of the teen.
"Leave me alone!" Chopper spoke gathering his voice and rushing out of the room.
"Wait!" Luffy cried, as he tossed off the blanket and wished to rush for the reindeer who felt sad. Did he made someone else sad again..? Luffy bit his lip, his nightmare rushing through his mind.
"You are not leaving the bed at any circumstances, kid!" Dr. Kureha chided throwing Luffy back to the bed before he could even leave. "And trying to abduct my reindeer while I'm here, huh?"
"But he-"
"Give him some time," Dr. Kureha commented. "You have only woken up right now from a deadly disease! Don't you even think to rush out of the bed!"
"I feel fine!" Luffy whined, and then looked at Zoro and Sanji for some help.
"Do you have a kitchen?" Sanji asked instead, his hands in the pocket.
"Right to the corridor," Dr. Kureha answered seeing the man walk away to the said place. Probably to cook something.
"Zoro?" Luffy asked looking at his first mate, asking for help.
"Can you leave us alone for a moment?" Zoro asked looking at the old granny. "I won't let him leave."
"Make sure he doesn't leave the bed." Doctrine spoke leaving the room.
Zoro looked at Luffy who was about to leave his bed.
"Sorry captain," Zoro bowed instead, low. "I couldn't help you." Zoro gritted his teeth. "Instead you have to carry us here in your feverish state. I failed as a first mate. I'm so so-"
"If Zoro failed then so did I," Luffy answered, cutting off Zoro's words. "I kept my secrets to myself not sharing to anyone and when I seriously feel ill, you guys have to carry the burden."
"Don't say that," Zoro interjected.
"Then Zoro even shouldn't!" Luffy spoke, his cheeks puffing like a chipmunk. "We are even then!"
"I really can't understand your logic sometimes," Zoro laughed, finally feeling his shoulders lighten a bit but not completely.
"Shishishishi!" Luffy giggled, the remnants of his nightmare beginning to fade away. "Does Zoro have a plan to get me out of here?"
"Sit tight for now. I think the Shitty cook is bringing some hot meal for you," Zoro spoke with a light smirk.
"Food?" Luffy asked with starry eyes.
"Yeah, food!" Zoro confirmed and true to his words, Sanji soon appeared with Doctrine in his tow, who has carrying a beautiful dessert in her hands and eating from it.
"Food!" Luffy whooped making Sanji smile and present the delicious and nutritious food to Luffy, who began gobbling it down excitedly.
"Not bad," Doctrine praised the man.
"Thank you," Sanji grinned. "I have kept some desserts for Chopper in the kitchen. I wanted to find him but I can't seem to see him anywhere."
"He is in the forest," Luffy pouted. "And is sad."
"Hey, kid," Doctrine spoke seeing the genuine concern in his face. "Do you think you can heal the wounds on his heart?"
"Whaddya mean?" Luffy asked with filled mouth.
"You can take him if you want but I'll have you know it's going to take a lot more than a warm smile and an invitation." Doctrine spoke, her eyes looking straight at those brown doe eyes. "His heart's severely wounded. A wound not even a doctor can fix it."
With that Doctrine began telling them about Chopper's past, how he was abandoned by his own parents 'cause of his blue nose and lastly due to him eating a devil fruit.
Luffy kept quiet, listening to the pain of the little reindeer named Chopper. How he desired for companions but got chased away by both his own herd and the humans in his human form. His hands tightened on his spoon as he heard that all Chopper wanted was friends to live with but yet got called monster and chased away.
"Neither a reindeer nor a human.. he's had to endure a life of loneliness since then," Dr. Kureha finished the story looking back at the teen. "Can you pirates, possibly hope to fix that scar of his heart?"