-THE BLUE NOSED REINDEER AND KEI'S SOFT SPOT-
SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEA.
A certain marine captain was sailing on the ship with his men. " Smoker captain! Smoker captain! I've just intercepted an intriguing signal!" One of his men said while walking up to him.
"What? TASHIGI! OI! TASHIGI!" He called out to her vice-captain. But there was no response
"HEY! TASHIGI! ARE TOU DEAF YOU SWORD FREAK?!!" He yelled furiously and soon a girl with dark blue hair and glasses came out tumbling.
"Y-Yes smoker captain! What is it?!" She said while running but instantly fell down from stairs.
" Just come here and listen with us!! ". Tashigi looked up to find a black transponder snail with them.
" Listen close. We just picked up this conversation between two men." he told and they went close to it to hear it properly. Some cracked up voices started coming from the snail.
".....me, Mr.0...... princess Vivi and the strawhat......Yeah! Mission completed.......further orders via letters as usual..... This is all. Good luck!" And thus it stopped.
"The signal is faint but there are four keywords in their conversation. Princess Vivi, strawhat, orders via letter and mr.0. Vivi, that's the name of the princess of Alabasta if I recall. She's missing right now " Smoker said while releasing a puff of smoke from his cigarettes.
"Isn't the Alabasta kingdom in the middle of a coupe too?" Tashigi questioned.
" Yeah but this is the only clue we have of the strawhat's right now. "
"So now we are ...." Tashigi trailed off.
"Yeah...contact the HQ and ask for an eternal pose" The marine captain ordered.
"Smoker captain!" One of his men came running." What is it now?" he asked.
"I was going through the bounty posters from here when I came across a familiar face." he said while handing him a poster. When Smoker looked at it, his eyes widened in shock. He jaw clenched and gritted his teeth together while the poster in his hand crumbled a bit.
"What?!"
Tashigi looked over his shoulder to look at the poster and was shocked as well.
"That's her!!!... She has a bounty?!!"
" That damn brat!!!! To think that she fooled us?!! The next time we see her, I'm gonna arrest her for sure!" He said furiously. This time, he fully crumbled the poster in his hand and threw it away.
~~~~~~
A blue nosed reindeer was treating the people he found outside the castle right now.
Their condition looked really bad to him. Doctorine was taking care of the orange-haired woman as her condition was worse than the others. The blonde guy which he treated first had many of his ribs broken.
Chopper had almost finished treating the Strawhat guy and so was going to treat the black-haired woman. He went towards her and checked her condition. Her body had gone pale because of the cold and she had frostbites at various places. He realized that her situation was as bad as the straw hat guy.
The reindeer started bandaging her hands. He still couldn't understand how they were able to reach here.
To climb a mountain this high, with someone on their back and barefoot........
As he finished treating her, he suddenly saw her hand move. Chopper looked at her face and saw that she was slowly waking up. Kei slowly opened her eyes and saw a stone ceiling above. It was still cold but not not as cold as before.
Her mind went back to remember what had happened to her and she soon realized that she had lost consciousness along with Luffy. She tried to move but her body started hurting, it felt like her whole body was sore.
The woman turned her head to the left as she could feel someone's presence and saw a blue-nosed reindeer. Their eyes locked while they kept starting at each other, realization dawning on them slowly.
That's.........Chopper.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
Chopper suddenly shouted causing Kei to slightly wince at the loud noise. He backed away quickly causing him to hit his leg on the stool beside Kei's bed.
This caused the bottle of medicine on top of it to lose it's balance. But before it could fall and smash, Kei turned her finger into a long vine and caught it while wrapping her vine around the bottle.
She placed it back on the table safely as Chopper looked at her in shock. Kei then looked at the reindeer hiding behind the wall. Kei observed him for a while with furrowed eyebrows and said-
" Isn't that.. backward? " The reindeer realized it in shock and started hiding properly. Kei started at him with sleepy eyes as silence engulfed the room.
Cute........
She awed in her mind but her face had a flat expression. Kei finally found the strength to sit up properly.
She saw around her and noticed that Luffy and Sanji were there as well, sleeping in beds and they had bandages wrapped around their body
" D-Does your body still hurt?"
Kei heard Chopper, still hiding behind the door ask cautiously. At this Kei looked at him in confusion "huh?" She then looked at her body and realized that Chopper was actually treating her.
"Uh, yeah, it's a little sore but it's not that bad." At this, Chopper looked at her in surprise.
" You........aren't you weirded out that I'm talking like a human," he asked curiously but cautiously.
He rarely had made interactions with humans and had stayed here with Doctorine most of his life. For him, she was the second and one of the only people who had accepted him.
Everytime a human sees him for first time, they either call him a monster or be really surprised by his appearance and ability to talk. It made him fell like he was not normal and made him feel like an outcast from the human society.
But this moment right here, is the first time when a human didn't seem surprised or feared by his out of the ordinary appearance. First time, when a human acted this calmly from his ability to talk despite being an animal.
"Not really," she said casually while shrugging.
" Aren't you scared?! "His voice raised
a bit this time.
She looked at him and stayed silent for a few seconds. Though the corner of her mouth slowly turned up to reveal a small smile.
" How can I be scared, you are so cute."
The reindeer's eyes widened slowly and he suddenly felt heat rushing to his face at the compliment.
" B-Baka!! CAlliNg mE cUte.. WOn't mAke me HAPPY!!!.........you BASTARD!!! "he said while waving his body and dancing with a smile on his face. (Baka= idiot)
Typical Chopper.
When Chopper realized what he was doing, he immediately composed himself and said-
" A-Anyway, I've already treated your friends, so they are fine now. You are still injured, so you need to rest. " Kei seemed to think about it a little.
" Yeah.... You're right. I'm gonna go back to sleep." She said and laid back on her bed while closing her eyes.
After all, she wasn't really the most energetic one like Luffy and she felt really lazy to stay awake or do anything. The cold weather was perfect for sleeping in warm blankets. The reindeer stayed in his place to make sure she was asleep and then went to continue his work.
~~~~~~~
*
Later*
Kei was sleeping peacefully in the room but that peace didn't last long when she suddenly started hearing some really loud voices.
"WAIIIIIITTTTT!!!!!
MEEEEAAAAAATTTT!!!!"
" LUFFFFYYYY!!!!DON'T LET HIM ESCAPE!!! I'M GONNA MAKE SOME DELICIOUS MEAT STEW OF HIM FOR NAMI-SAN AND KEI-CHAN!!!"
Yelled Luffy and Sanji.
Followed by it were Chopper's scream and some crashing voices. Kei grunted and flipped on the other side while closing her ears with her hand in an attempt to ignore the voices and sleep peacefully.
"DON'T RUN!! MEEEEAAAATTT!!!!"
" WAIT LUFFY!!! DON'T EAT HIM YET!!!!"
" I'M NOT SOME FOOD!!!"
Only More screams came.
A groan left from the back of Kei's throught and she suddenly sat up. Several irk marks had appeared on her forehead and her eyes were now shadowed.
She slowly stood up and started walking towards the noises. She soon arrived in the room where Nami was resting. Kei saw Luffy and Sanji trying to eat chopper but they didn't notice her as their back was faced towards her. She started heading towards them, Nami and Doctrine noticed her but didn't say anything.
When she reached them, she lifted her arms in the air, her hands balled into fists, and smashed them on Luffy and Sanji's head. This caused their face to smash in the ground.
"Shut up!Can't you see someone is trying to sleep here peacefully!" She yelled furiously.
"Ahhhhh!! Don't hit them, they are still injured!!! And you don't move, you're injured too!!!!" Chopper yelled in worry.
"Don't worry, they have a lot of energy since they can still keep shouting and running."
Kei said while still glaring at them. Sanji and Luffy now had huge bumps on their head. They looked up to see Kei's pissed face glaring daggers at them as she gritted her teeth in annoyance.
"Kei!! Are you alright?!!".
" Kei-chan!! I was so worried about you!!" Luffy and Sanji said.
"I'm fine but I would've been better if you two were not shouting and running around like maniacs." She snarled but then sighed in defeat. She looked to her left and saw Nami sitting on a bed. She approached her and asked, "Nami, Is your fever gone?"
Nami looked at her and smiled." Yeah, I'm better than before. But the fever has not gone fully, they said that I'll have to stay here for 3 days " she said, the smile on her face soon disappearing as he hung her head low.
"Oh..." Was the only thing that left from Kei's mouth.
__________________________
Luffy, Sanji, and Kei were now sitting at the table, eating food that the doctrine gave them.
" Kei-chan, Luffy told me that you carried me till here on your back." Sani said, which caused Kei to look at him.
"Yeah" At this, Sanji suddenly slumped down on the table with a gloomy look.
"You don't have to worry, it was not that hard....." She tried to say.
"I wish......" Sanji muttered something that she couldn't hear properly.
"Huh, what?"
He suddenly lifted his head and started messing his hair.
"WHY WASN'T I AWAKE WHEN YOU CARRIED ME!! THAT TOO ON YOUR BACK!!" he yelled frustrated.
Why did I even bother to console him.... ?
She thought while sweat-dropping and quietly started eating her food again. They had finished eating when Luffy suddenly shouted-
"Become one of my crew!! Please, old lady!!" Doctrine lifted her finger in an attempt to silence Luffy and said-
"Did you just say ' old lady'?"
"Yeah, I did old la...-"but before he could complete his sentence, she kicked him in his face
"Watch....what you say!!" And Luffy went flying towards the wall.
" I'm still in the youthful 130's" she said while crossing her arms.
"Woah..... What an incredible old hag..." Sanji said which resulted in him getting kicked towards the wall as well.
"You said that even when you knew the consequences" Kei commented on a cup hot coffee .
"Are you telling me to be pirates? Don't be ridiculous! it'll be a waste of my glorious time!" Doctrine said.
"Who cares? Let's go on an adventure old lady!"
Luffy said while slamming his hands on the table with a huge grin that now displayed his two-three broken teeth along with blood running down his nose.
"Hey, hey, I just told you to watch what you say, didn't I?!" Doctrine complained.
Suddenly there was some silence, Kei looked up to see Luffy and Sanji look somewhere and turned in the same direction to see Chopper hiding behind the wall but in the wrong way.
Silence consumed the room as they just starred at each other.
"Ah!" Their jaw dropped in unison at the realization.
"WAAAAIIIITT!! MEEEEAAAATTT!!"
And thus their cat and mouse chase started again. But this time even the Doctrine joined them.
"HOLD IT, BRATS!!".
Another sigh left from the black-haired woman at this.
* Later *
Kei was with Nami and Sanji when Doctrine told them about Chopper's past. When Nami tried making Chopper join the crew she wasn't happy.
She told them how he was removed by his own group of reindeers for having a blue nose and devil fruit powers. About how he was treated badly by the humans as well. She even told them about his and Dr. Hiriluck's strong bond and how he died.
Even though Kei knew this, hearing it from her was still wrenching. After all, living alone and being treated as an outcast for something you can't control isn't easy.
The fact that the person most close to him was killed by a human as well had left a deep scar for him. Suddenly Chopper came bursting into the room.
"DOCTRINE! There's a problem! Wapol is back !"
~~~~
Kei remained with Nami while everyone else went down.
" Don't you want to go down too ?" Nami asked since she and Kei were the only one in the room.
"Nah, they will be fine by their self."
Kei said casually while shrugging her shoulders. She looked at Nami to see that she was looking out of the window but her eyebrows were pinched together with the corners of her lips tugging down.
She looked troubled.
" Are you worried that you won't be able to get out of here for three days?"
Kei asked suddenly causing the navigator to snap out of her thoughts . This caught Nami a little off guard as she didn't expect the question.
".......yeah. If we don't leave today, we will be too late to reach Alabasta." She said while looking down at her fingers which were fumbling with the blankets.
Kei thought some part of her understood how Vivi felt because she too went through hell just so that her hometown could be free.
" Don't worry, everything will be fine in the end. After all, we will get a doctor in our crew by the end of the day " Kei said suddenly. Her eyes widened when she realized what she just blurted out.
SHIT!... I said it out loud by mistake!!
She thought in panic. Nami just looked at Kei in confusion.
"How do you know that ?" She asked.
" I ......... Just have a gut feeling about this...." Kei said in an awkward tone while scratching the back of her head. Suddenly Luffy burst into the room
"Clothes!! Clothes!! Clothes!!".
Thank god that was close.
Kei thought in relief while releasing a sigh. Luffy went towards a nearby chest and started searching for something.
Nami-" What's going on outside? it's noisy ..."
Luffy-"Ahh, it's a fight"
Nami- "I see....you guys are okay right?"
Luffy-" Yeah, so stay in bed."
Nami-"You can use my clothes"
"What? your clothes are ugly" Luffy protested with a dissatisfied look.
"They are cooler than yours." Nami commented.
" Really? well I guess it's alright if they are warm. "He said with a shrug.
And thus Luffy went outside wearing Nami's jacket.
"You gave him the jacket so can fool him in owing you a debt, right? You know that jacket is not gonna come back in one piece." Kei pointed out.
Nami chuckled slightly at this. "Oh, have I been caught?"
Kei stood up from her chair and took her coat which was hanging on the chair.
"Are you going down?"
" Nah, just gonna take a stroll around the castle." Kei said while wearing her coat. She went towards the exit on the left while Nami went back to sleep.
The woman entered a passage and started walking. She passed through many doors but most of them were closed. After a while, she came across an open door.
She peeked inside it and soon realized that it was a laboratory. Inside the room, in a corner was a high shelf of books, it all looked like medical books. In front of her were tables where many test tubes were placed. Each test tube had different color substances.
Maybe this is the place where Chopper studies and makes medicines.
She slowly closed the door and continued walking. Soon the passage ended and Kei found herself in front of a tower, it had stairs around it which were leading upwards.
It's a good thing she brought her coat with her as it was freezing cold over there. There was snow everywhere, even though she was still inside the castle. She could feel the cold breeze hit her face which made a shudder go through her spine.
Normally in such a cold, I would've gotten sick, so I'm surprised that I'm still fine.
She thought pulling the coat tighter. She went near the tower and started climbing the stairs. Her finger traced through the stone walls of the tower. As she was climbing the stairs, she suddenly heard someone's voice.
"What the heck is going on here?! Is this really my drum castle?!!"
Kei thought the voice was familiar, that's why she looked down the stairs but she instantly regretted it.
There he was, Wapol. He looked towards Kei and their eyes locked.
"YOU!! YOU ARE THAT STRAWHATS FRIEND RIGHT?! YOU CAN'T GO UP THERE!!" Kei just looked at him with her stoic face. Silence hung in the room as she stayed silent.
.
.
.
.
.
.
She ignored him and continued walking.
" WHAT?!!! HOW DARE YOU IGNORE THE GREAT ME ?!!"
Kei heard him yell but she still ignored him. Suddenly, from the corners of her eyes, she saw something coming towards her.
She turned her head and saw a big mouth with huge teeth trying to bite her but she dodged it instantly and landed safely on the ground. They were now standing face to face.
"HOW DARE YOU IGNORE THE KING?!! THIS IS MY CASTLE AND YOU ARE IN MY COUNTRY!! DEFYING THE KING MEANS DEATH PENALTY, THAT'S THE LAW HERE!!" he yelled furiously.
This caused Kei to chuckle at his stupidity and Wapol to look at her in confusion.
"What's so funny?!!"
"Your face."She dead panned.
"But other than that....." Kei started while leaning on one leg and placing a hand on her hip.
" I'm a pirate you know. So things like law and orders mean nothing to me. Pirates don't follow anyone's order except for their captains, they are free to do what they want and go where they want." The black haired woman said as a smirk formed on her lips.
"Now get out of my way, you hippo face!" She snarled this time. He looked angrier now.
"YOU-!!"
He yelled and came to attack her. He opened his mouth wide open and jumped at Kei but before he could reach her, she bent down and pulled her fist back.
Soon, her hand transformed into a wooden fist and with all her might, she punched him in his guts. This caused Wapol to fall on the ground with a thud.
The impact on Kei's hand made her winced a little as her body was still sore but she paid it no mind. Wapol stood up again and gritted his teeth in anger.
His body is really hard.
Kei thought while her arm turned back to normal. Suddenly, he looked somewhere else which caused Kei to look in that direction. She saw Nami standing there with a blanket around her.
"Kei?"
"Nami?" At that moment, Kei saw Wapol going towards her at full speed.
"SO YOU ARE A FRIEND OF THAT STRAWHAT AS WELL!! I'll BEAT YOU UP FIRST!!" He yelled. At this, Nami started running in fear while he chased her.
"NOOOOOOO!!!!!" She yelled with tears logically streaming down her face. And it seemed like her luck ran out cause she soon fell to the ground and Wapol got ready to attack her. Kei was going to go help her but someone beat her to it and kicked him in the face.
"I FOUND YOU!!"And it was Luffy. Wapol crashed into the wall behind him.
Kei went towards Nami and asked while giving her a hand. "Nami, are you okay?"
"Yeah " she replied while getting up with her help.
When Nami looked at Luffy, she smacked him on the head.
" Luffy....why is my jacket all beaten up?" Nami asked with a dark aura around her.
"Ahh!!" Luffy yelled in realization while looking at his coat which was dirty and torn up.
"How much do you think I paid for this jacket?!!28,800 berries!!" Nami yelled furiously.
"I'm sorry but that guy shot a bomb at me!! I couldn't help it!!" He protested.
A smirk formed on face of the oranged-haired woman at this.
"Geez....but oh well. I'll forgive you. I didn't expect it to come back in good shape. As a payment for the damage, you owe triple that amount and. The total is 100,000 berries. Consider it a loan."
Luffy's jaw dropped.
"Ahh!! Don't tell me you expected this to happen?!!" At this, Nami just laughed evilly.
"That's it, you bastards!!" Wapol shouted again on his feet.
"Darn! His body sure is made tough....." Luffy said.
Wapol started saying something about the arsenal having many weapons and him becoming stronger, though Kei paid it no mind. But it looks like he didn't have the key so he started running towards the stairs.
"Ah! He's running away!! Wait!!" Luffy said while going after him.
"Nami-san!! Kei-chan!!" The girls suddenly heard Sanji yell and saw him crawling towards them like a spider in full speed.
"Good! You both are safe!"
" We are okay but you don't look okay." Kei commented with raised eyebrows.
"What happened?! Why are you crawling like that Sanji-Kun?" Nami asked in a worried tome while bending to his height.
"Nami-san, you are that worried about me?! If I get enveloped in that warmth......" Sanji said with heart in his eyes as he looked towards her chest.
"DON'T!"
Nami said as she buried his head in the snow.
Kei started to walk towards the exit as her wish to go up had now disappeared.
When she reached out, she could see the Doctorine and Chopper standing outside. It was a bit cold inside but outside , the temperature was now extremely cold causing Kei to slightly wrap her arms around her.
" Seriously, you and your friends are the same, walking around neglecting the doctor's order. "the doctrine said with arms crossed over her chest as she leaned her back against a wall.
" I'm fine now." Was the only thing that Kei said while walking. She reached Chopper but he was looking at the top of the castle so she looked there as well.
"He........
he called me his.....friend," he said while still looking upwards. There was silence for a few seconds as Kei mulled on his words.
"Is that so........
Well, he does want you to join the crew and when it comes to Luffy, he is very stubborn." She said, looking up while smiling.
"Hey......how did you turn your hand into a vine ?" Chooper suddenly asked remembering the time when Kei caught the medicine bottle.
" Me? Well...I have had the power of a devil fruit, so basically, I can change my body into and manipulate things like wood, leaves, vine etc " she said, demonstrating him by making he hand turn into leaves. He looked at her in surprise.
"Wow!!" He said in aww causing Kei to chuckle.
*BOOM*
They suddenly heard a huge noise and saw that an explosion had appeared on the top of the castle.
Doctrine-" Are you worried about him?"
Chopper -" I'm not worried about him at all! He's a pirate!"
Wapol could now be seen stuck on the top of the castle between the walls.
Chopper-"Doctorine........."
" Yeah....
it seems....that it's finally come......the end of the long nightmare." Doctorine said while looking at the top of the castle.
"End......." Chopper mumbled as he didn't take his eyes away from Wapol and Luffy.
From here, they could now see Luffy's stretched arms, which went way back.
"GUM-GUM NO ................BAZOOKAAA!!!"
" Doctorine.........the Drum kingdom is..........
about to fall!"
And thus, Wapol was sent flying in the air by Luffy.
~~~~
"Hey,! let go"
"Alright! I got your back!"
Kei heard some familiar voice say and turned around to see Zoro and Usopp.
"Zoro?Usopp?" She said while walking towards them.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
The trio heard and looked up to see Luffy flying towards them at full speed. They crashed on the snow together with him and were now buried in the snow.
" WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR, YOU JERK?!!" Zoro and Kei yelled in anger.
"So it's you guys, Hahahahha. Since I recognized Zoro clothes, I thought you were one of them!" Luffy said with a grin.
"Luffy-san, are Nami-san and
Sanji-san okay?" Vivi asked appearing behind him.
"yeah, they are fine now!" Luffy said with a grin causing Vivi to sigh in relief.
Vivi-"ahh! I'm glad to hear that!"
Usopp was saying something about how he climbed up till here but he was ignored.
~~~~~~
Luffy had been chasing around Chopper like crazy telling him to join the crew again and again.
"Hey you guys! Are you
happy?" Doctorine asked with a grin to the villagers who had come up with Zoro, Usopp and Vivi.
"Take that injured guy to the medical ward." she said, talking about an injured Dalton lying on the ground. Everyone was a little scared of her but did as she said.
"Ahhh!! You are that damn old hag!!" Zoro said in shock recognizing her, which resulted in him getting beaten up and lying on the snow, face first with bumps on his head.
"Do you guys ever learn ?" Kei said while sweat-dropping.
"And you."
Kei heard her say so she turned to look at her. Suddenly, she felt someone punch her hard on the head and she dropped to the ground, her face buried in the snow.
"RETURN TO THE MEDICAL WARD!!" Doctorine yelled furiously. Kei could feel a bump forming on her head too.
~~~~
It was still afternoon when Kei had slipped out of her bed while doctorine was busy taking care of Dalton. She didn't really feel like sleeping anymore and had started wandering around the castle in boredom. Chopper was still running away from Luffy.
Nami had already informed Kei about how they were leaving tonight without informing Doctorine. As she walked through the same dark passage as before with her footsteps resounding, she came across the same room she did before.
Chopper's laboratory.
Though a confused look formed on her face when she saw the door slightly open because she clearly remembers closing it. She approached it and tried to open it without making a noise. Though since the castle was really old , the door made a creaking sound informing the person inside of her presence.
She suddenly heard some crashing and fumbling noises. When she looked inside the room, she saw Chopper hiding behind one of the leg's of the chair. But, of course, in the wrong way. By looking at the test tubes and books scattered on the tabled, she guessed he was working on a medicine or something like that.
Looks like he was still shy and closed off from Kei but she didn't really mind or blamed him.
"So this is where you have been all the while, huh...."
She said as she stepped in the room and closed the door behind her.
"W-What are you doing here?!"
Chopper asked cautiously as he saw her walking towards one of the chair near the table and making her self comfortable by taking a seat.
"I was bored, so thought I would take a walk around here."
She explained as she propped her elbow on the table and placed her chin on her palm.
"If doctorine sees you walking around without permission, she will beat you up..... Y-You know since you are still injured!!"
He exclaimed in an attempt to shoo her away, though she simply just moved her gaze at the window in the room and looked at the scenery outside. Her eyebrows knitted together for a second , showing she was considering what he was saying.
"I mean..... I'm not really working or something. So I think it should be fine......"
Kei said and that's when she noticed small snowflakes falling outside the window. When Chopper saw she was distracted, he went near a chair and quietly climbed on it. With his hooves placed on the table, he slightly peeked from above it and looked towards Kei. Only his eyes, along with antlers and hat were showing, while other half of his face was covered behind the table.
Kei's eyes were lazily looking at the snowflakes since it was somewhat calming for her. With furrowed eyebrows, he finally but hesitantly asked her-
"Are you here to convince me to join your crew too?"
Kei seemed to think about it for a second and said-
"Not really. It your choice."
Kei could kind of see where Chopper's hesitance was coming from. After being shunned by humans for so long, someone suddenly appeared and said he wants him on the crew.
His thoughts about how he looked prevented him from trusting people, so of course it would take him some time. Both her eyebrows suddenly perked up as a thought crossed her mind and she said-
"You remind me of Rudolph."
Chopper tilted his head in confusion and asked-
"Rudolph ? Who's that?"
Kei turned to look towards him and blinked a few times.
"You don't know Rudolph?"
She asked in surprise to which Chopper just shook his head in denial.
Guess some stories from my world don't really exist here.
Kei thought about it for a second and soon, the corner of her lips slightly tugged up into a small smile.
"Well, there was a song, it was basically a story, which I used to sing when I was small during Christmas every year. It tells about Rudolph, who is a reindeer just like you. Wanna hear about it?"
She asked, as she remembered how her school used to make them sing that song for Christmas a lot of times. Chopper's ears perked at that and he finally stood up straight with curious eyes, his face fully shown to her. Taking that as her signal she continued-
"There used to be a reindeer named Rudolph among a herd of Reindeers. Though he was different from other Reindeers since he had a really red shining nose."
"A shining nose...."
Chopper mumbled as his curiosity increased even more.
"Yeah, but because he was different, the other Reindeers would always make fun of him and tease him. But one day, Santa visited the herds of reindeer in search of a reindeer that could carry his sleigh. Out of all the reindeers he could choose , do you know he chose?"
"Who?"
"Rudolph."
By slamming his hands on the table, he asked in surprise, "Why? Why would he choose Rudolph out of all the group of normal Reindeers? Why did he choose him even though he had a shining nose?"
Kei eyes wandered as she seemed to think about it for a moment while Chopper desperately waited. When she finally found an answer , she looked at Chopper and said-
"Because he had a shining nose."
Chopper's eyes widened as he mulled on her words.
~~~
Night had fallen and snowflakes were still falling from the sky. Everyone was outside the castle except for Nami and Vivi as they were bringing Sanji out of the castle. Luffy was still trying to convince Chopper to join the crew.
"Hey reindeer!! Let's be pirates together!!" Luffy yelled everywhere hoping Chopper could hear him.
"Hey, Luffy, just give up. He hasn't shown up even after all our efforts to find him." Usopp said while making a snowman.
"He doesn't wanna be a pirate " Zoro tried to convince him.
"That's not true. I wanna take him with us!" Luffy insisted.
"LIKE I SAID, THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT, RIGHT?!!" The swordsman yelled furiously.
"Kei, at least you explain it to him." Usopp said while turning to Kei. Because while others where trying convincing Luffy to give up, the black-haired woman stayed silent.
"Hmmm, why?" she asked while lifting her head to look at him as she was sitting down on a small rock covered with snow.
"Why you ask.......he doesn't wanna join us you know." Usopp explained.
"You can't say that for sure".
Usopp looked a little confused as to why Kei said that. Nami and Vivi were now dragging an unconscious Sanji out of the castle. Suddenly, they saw Chopper come out of the forest.
" Hey! Let's be pirates together okay?!!" Luffy said excitedly with a grin. Chopper had his head hanging down.
"But.......
But I'm a reindeer. I have antlers and hooves!!.....
I even have a blue nose!! It's true...... that I wanna be a pirate, but.....
I'M NOT EVEN A HUMAN!! I'M A MONSTER!!..." Silence took over as Chopper tried to calm down and Luffy just listened.
"I cant become your friend!! so.......
I just came to say thank you. I do appreciate you guys. Thanks for asking me to join you. I'll stay here, but... One day...if you like it...stop by aga....." Chopper tried to say, his voice slowly breaking.
"SHUT UP!! LET'S GO!!!"
Luffy shouted with hands up in the air happily. Chopper looked at him in surprise. This caused tears to form in the reindeers eyes and he started crying his heart out. A smile formed on all of the Strawhat's faces knowing what it meant.
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The straw hats have been waiting for Chopper outside the castle so that he can say goodbye to doctorine. Usopp had gone to prepare the ropeway. Suddenly, they saw Chopper running out of the castle with a sleigh on his back and he was being attacked by none other than doctrine.
Chopper-"Everyone!! get on the sleigh!! We are going down the mountain!!"
"WHAT?!!!"
Everyone shouted in shock. They either way sat on the sleigh on Chopper's back and went from the ropeway towards the village in full speed. When they reached the village they immediately started gliding down the mountain.
" That felt good!! hey!!do it again!" Luffy said while laughing wholeheartedly.
"You idiot we are setting sail right away!!" Zoro said while smacking him on the head.
After a while, they stopped when they saw something glow in the sky. When everyone looked up, they saw that the sky was in a shade of dark blue color but that was not it.
In the sky along with the white snowflakes were the pink snowflakes which looked like cherry blossoms petal. The mountain they were in just a few minutes ago was filled with them. In the night, the shining pink petal made it look like it was a huge cherry blossom tree.
The dark blue sky with white and pink shiny snowflakes falling everywhere made Kei and others aww at the scene. And only one word could be used to describe it,
' beautiful'.
Seeing this, rapid tears started to flow down on Chopper's face and he started crying. It was Doctorine's way of saying goodbye, after all, it was a research that Dr. Hirluck spent his whole for. The night couldn't have been more perfect than this.
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Everyone were in the ship right now and Chopper was sitting on the railings while looking at the sky. But that didn't stop Luffy from partying. He had stuck up two chopsticks between his nose and mouth while dancing. Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp were laughing at him while having a drink.
" it's a joyous day!" Luffy said while laughing merrily.
"The moon Is out and cherry blossoms have bloomed!! "Zoro said in a good mood as well.
" Chopper!! Hey Chopper!! You son of a gun!! How long are you gonna daze like that?!" Usopp called out to him.
He pulled Chopper towards him with agrin and handed him a drink. "Drink."
"Come here and sing." Sanji said while throwing a shoulder around him and clashing their mugs.
"Here stick this up to your nose." Luffy said handing him a set of chopsticks.
Chopper somehow escaped from there when Nami clapped him on the shoulders."Are you surprised! You made friends with some crazy good right?!" She asked while Nami and Kei looked at him with a smile.
"Friends....." Chopped mumbled while looking up to them.
"Right. But since you are our friend now, you will have to get used to it soon "
This made him smile a little in happiness. Chopper stuck up the chopsticks Luffy gave up his nose.
"Don't!!" Nami yelled furiously.
'Ah, he got influenced so easily ' Kei thought not wanting Chopper to turn out like them.
The place was in chaos, food was being thrown here and there, loud laughs could be heard as Luffy and Chopper continued to do silly things. Usopp suddenly picked up his mug of juice in the air and shouted-
" LETS TOAST TO OUR NEW FRIEND!!!"
Others picked their glasses happily in the air as well, a smile forming on their faces,
"YEAH!!"
"CHEEEEERS!!"
TO BE CONTINUED.