"Swimming in that freezing water!" Johnny said in admiration. "No wonder he's strong." Both stared at the water again before the smiles slowly fade from their faces. "There's...no bubbles." Soon, both of them and Carue turned blue with worry. "BIG BRO!"
"QUACK!" Carue said as all three of them dove into the water right as Zoro resurfaced with a smile.
"There's ton of fish down there!" he said before diving again.
-In the Village"Welcome to our town of Big Horn." Dalton said. Everyone stared around at the snow covered village as various people and animals wandered around.
"Look at this place!" Luffy said, still as excited as the last time he was here.
"This in definitely a snow country." Usopp said.
"Cold as one too." Greg grumbled before sneezing. "Not a fan of cold weather?" Alvida said with a smirk.
"Finally!" Sanji said. "Now Nami-swan and little Grace can get well!" Dalton went around and putting everyone at ease before telling them to go about their lives. Vivi asked where the soldiers were, to which Dalton replied that there weren't any. After some walking and bowing to people, they entered Dalton's home before he introduced himself. While they got Nami and Grace into bed, Dalton asked if he and Vivi had ever met before, which she quickly denied before asking about the witch. After some talking, Dalton learned of Nami and Grace's critical condition before telling them to look out the window towards the mountains.
"What about...them?" Sanji asked before they saw a huge snowman looking inside.
"Mr. Snowman's Big Brother!" Luffy called out as he and Usopp were playing in the snow. "It's not match for SNOWZILLA!" Usopp called out in laughter.
"GET IN HERE BEFORE WE KILL YOU!" most of them shouted. After Luffy and Usopp joined them all, Dalton asked them to look out towards the mountains out the window.
"Those are called the Drum Rockies." he said. "Do you see the castle on top of the tallest one in the middle?"
"Hey, he's right!" Valerie said as some of them looked out the window to see a castle was indeed on the top of them tallest mountain.
"Why is that castle important?" Nojiko asked as she placed a cool cloth on Nami and Grace's heads.
"Dr. Kureha, the only doctor on this island, lives up there in that castle?" Dalton said.
"Seriously?!" Gin asked in disbelief. "Of all the places to live." Sanji said. "Well hurry and call her down here! It's an emergency!"
"Sadly, we have no way to contact her." Dalton said sadly.
"Say what?" Greg said in annoyance.
"And she's your only doctor?!" Sanji asked. "She's an exceptional doctor, but very strange." Dalton said. "She's 140 years old."
"140?!" Sanji yelled while most of them stared in shock. "Is she even alive?!"
"Yes. And she also likes plums." Dalton said. "Then what do the people do if they're sick or injured?" Vivi asked.
"She comes down every so often, seeks out patients, treats them, then takes whatever she wants from them." Dalton explained. "She sounds like one mean old hag." Usopp said through his drink.
"More like a pirate." Luffy said, still believing that to be true.
"How does she even get down the mountain?" Vivi asked.
"It's only rumors, but people say that they've seen her riding in a sleigh that's pulled by some creature down the moutain on moonlit nights." Dalton said. "Which is why they call her a witch." Dalton finished before Usopp started panicking about witches and snow monsters finding him. "She may be the only doctor we have, but I prefer to stay far away from her. Still, the only thing we can do is wait for her to come down here."
"That's just great." Alvida huffed. "How will we know when the next time she comes down is?" "Nami. Grace. Wake up you two." Luffy said as he gently slapped their faces.
"STOP THAT YOU MORON!" all of them shouted before Nami and Grace opened their eyes and looked at him.
"Hey you two, the only doctor in the county's on top of a mountain, so we're hiking up there." Luffy said in blank tone. Nami's eyes widened a bit while the others just stared at him in disbelief.
"Whoa there Luffy!" Gin said. "There in no shape to climb!"
"I'll carry them." Luffy said.
"They'll get sicker!" Vivi shouted. It soon turned into a screaming match before Nami's voice calmed everyone down.
"Nami?" Sanji said as Nami moved a hand up through the blanket. "I leave it all up to you Captain." she said with a smile as she held her hand out. Luffy grinned and gave her a high five before Nami felt another hand under the blanket holding hers.
"Is it...really okay...to do that?" Grace asked. Nami looked at her to see her eyes full of fear looking back.