"A temperature of 42 degrees?" Dalton whispered in disbelief. "How can that be?"
"We'd like to know ourselves," Nami answered despondently. "It's been steadily rising ever since we realized she had a fever." Dalton stared down at the girl in awe. The fact that she was still alive was almost miraculous. What kind of life force did she possess?
"It doesn't matter if she's a witch," Luffy said firmly. "As long as she can cure her, it'll be enough." Sanji nodded in agreement. Dalton pointed out the window to the direction of several tall, white mountains.
"Those mountains are called the Drum Rockies. You might see a large castle at the peak of the one in the middle. That castle is currently vacant of a king. Dr. Kureha lives in that castle. She's the lone doctor in this country, whom its citizens call a witch."
Luffy nodded in acceptance. He really didn't care if she was crazy. That witch doctor was able to cure Nami last time. She knew her stuff, and the same could be said for Chopper. Sanji seemed to accept this easily enough as well and spoke up, "Then let's call her! If we wait much longer..." he trailed off.
"I wish I could," Dalton said regretfully. "But we have no way to contact her." Sanji's eyes widened, and he quickly explained. "She essentially treats people according to whim. She comes down from the Drum Rockies whenever she feels like it, treating the sick and taking whatever she wants from their homes as payment. According to eyewitnesses, she flies down from the Drum Rockies on a sleigh pulled by an unidentified creature."
Usopp was conspicuously freaking out over this new information. Nami looked disbelieving and even Sanji was having trouble taking it in.
"I guess we're going up that mountain, then," Luffy said as if it was that simple. Dalton stared at him apprehensively, but nodded.
"How can there only be one doctor in this entire country?" Nami asked doubtfully. Dalton hesitated, then started explaining how the country's previous king had nearly brought it to ruin. The Straw Hats were shocked at the mention of the word Wapol, remembering the man that had recently attacked their ship. After Dalton went on to explain how Wapol had purged the country of its doctors and essentially monopolized the treatment of the sick, Nami informed him that they had run into Wapol at sea shortly before arriving here. Dalton looked distressed after hearing this, saying that the country could very well fall to ruin if he returned now.
"But why is the former king of the country out on the sea pretending to be a pirate?" Usopp asked. Dalton's teeth clenched.
"Because he abandoned his country," he responded. He went on to explain the situation that the country was in and how it all started. He explained that without warning, the entire country had been ravaged by pirates. At mention of the name Blackbeard, Luffy's demeanor changed drastically. His fists clenched and his entire body started trembling with what could only be rage. Nami and Sanji both noticed. Nami absently snuck a glance at Zoro, whose eyes were narrowed.
That just about confirmed her suspicions. They knew the pirate in question. But how did they meet them? Could they have originated from East Blue as well? Luffy and Zoro had known each other for two and a half years before the formation of the crew. Could they have had a run-in with them during that time? She debated whether to ask, but Zoro spoke up before she could. "If this country was invaded by the Blackbeard Pirates, then there's not much that could have been done," he said. Dalton turned to him questioningly. "Unless the World Government decided to commit an unreasonably large force for relief, there's really no way you could have fought back," Zoro continued. "As crazy as it sounds, a small group like that can take down nations."
Dalton studied Zoro closely, taking his words into careful consideration. "You sound as though you speak from experience," he said finally.
Zoro just shrugged. "You guys are lucky our captain reacts relatively well to hostility," he said. Luffy shot him a look that clearly said that wasn't necessary, and Zoro shrugged again.
"I...see," Dalton said slowly. He turned back to the Drum Rockies, deciding to change the subject. "If you're serious about going up there, I suggest you climb up from the other side. This side of the mountain is inhabited by large, carnivorous rabbits called Lapahns," he said.
"Don't worry about it," Luffy said as Nami and Usopp carefully covered Vivi in a blanket and tied her to Luffy's back. "I won't be climbing." Dalton blinked at this and wondered what he meant by that, while Sanji sighed.
"I want to go with you," he said. "But with the way you travel, I'll just slow you down." He looked at Luffy determinedly. "So, take care of Vivi-chan, Luffy!" Luffy nodded firmly, and then turned to Zoro.
"One more thing, Zoro!" Zoro looked at him, but Luffy was silent. After a few seconds, Zoro raised his eyebrows. Luffy just grinned at him. Eventually Zoro sighed and shrugged. The rest watched this display in a mixture of confusion and annoyance. Nami knew they were communicating something. She just didn't know what it was, or why they didn't want everyone else to know. The rest of them didn't really know what to make of the exchange. Nami sighed in exasperation.
Luffy gave Zoro a thumbs-up before he jumped high into the air. Dalton wondered for a split second what he was doing before he took another jump in mid air. Dalton's eyes widened. "He can fly? Is that a Devil Fruit?" Dalton asked.
"To be honest, I don't know how he does it," Usopp said. "But Luffy defies logic a lot. You learn not to question it." They watched as Luffy shot off into the air, going deliberately slow so as to not put too much pressure on Vivi, and eventually left their sight.
Soon afterwards, a villager came and informed Dalton that Dr. Kureha had been spotted in the neighboring village of Cocoa Weed. It took a few seconds for the rest of the Straw Hats to process this information.
Oh, fucking hell.
It was about 10 minutes later that Luffy reached the top of the Drum Rockies. Slightly winded, he took several seconds to catch his breath. "Damn, I really am out of shape," he said matter-of-factly as he walked towards the castle. He slipped through the open door, careful not to bump into it as he caught sight of the bird's nest on top of it. Taking a look around, he absorbed the familiar sight. A small smile came to his face as memories of chasing a xenophobic, talking, transforming reindeer around the halls of the castle flickered through his mind. He smirked deviously. With a little of his Observation Haki, Chopper wouldn't stand a chance this time. It wasn't even fair, really.
He trudged up the stairs through the indoor snow and called out once he got to the top. "Hellooooooo?" He waited a full five seconds for a response before wondering what the hell he was doing, and reaching out for any auras in the castle. He frowned. There was no one here. That didn't make sense. As he widened his search to the full range of the mountain he was on, he began to get nervous. Time was ticking away as Vivi's condition worsened and here he was standing in an empty castle in the middle of nowhere mountain. He could get back easily enough, but if Chopper and his mentor were out right now, his greatest chance of finding them was waiting right here for them to come back. He would inevitably get restless, and watching Vivi suffering as he waited here doing nothing would be torture, but it was the best course of action right now.
With a resigned sigh, he started to look for the nearest patient room. He quickly found a room with several beds and untied Vivi from his back, laying her down on one. "Hang in there, Vivi. We'll get you treated in no time." Vivi's breathing seemed to have become even more labored since he last checked. He took a deep breath and forced himself to take a seat. That didn't last long, though, and he ended up pacing around the room after about 10 seconds.Hurry, Chopper.
Dalton sighed. This was just bad luck. They had missed Dr. Kureha by a few minutes. She would be on her way back to the castle by now. "What do we do now?" Nami asked. "Should we just hope that Luffy is able to meet up with her?"
"That's about all we can do, Nami-san," Sanji said worriedly. "I don't doubt that Luffy will make it to the top, but I wonder if he'll actually stay there once he realizes that the place is empty. It would be bad if he came back down and wasted that much more time." He frowned. "To top it off, the only one of us who can somehow guess what that guy is thinking half the time decided to go for a swim in the sub zero seawater."
"About that," Usopp said. "Is he really going to be OK? Sub zero water is just as hazardous as it sounds, if not more."
"He'll be fine," Sanji said dismissively. "It's Vivi-chan I'm worried about." Just then, a distressed civilian burst through the door to the bar they were in.
"Dalton-san!" the man shouted in panic, "We have a disaster in our hands!"
"What is it?" Dalton asked. "Is Kureha bankrupting the populace again?"
"Wapol has returned!" At those words, Dalton's face went pale before his eyes hardened with resolve. He stormed past the civilian and out the door as Nami and Usopp watched in apprehension.
"And now he's gone, too," Sanji said, smacking his forehead in annoyance. As Dalton ran, his face gradually elongated, his hands and feet morphed into hooves, and fur grew from every inch of his body. Soon he had taken the complete form of a bison, charging through the snow with the swiftness and grace that only his years of experience in doing so could yield. Today, we end this, Wapol.
As Kureha and Chopper walked back towards the castle, Chopper froze. Kureha kept walking before noticing he wasn't following, and turned back to him. "What is it, Chopper?"
"I smell someone inside the castle," he said with trepidation. Kureha's eyes narrowed.
"Is it...?"
"It's not Wapol," Chopper said with certainty, guessing her question. "There are two people. I've never smelled either of them before."
"Well, let's go see who they are, shall we?" Chopper hesitated for a second before nodding. They made their way through the door, Chopper tilting his head up to make sure the birds were OK, and went up the stairs. From there, Chopper led them to the nearest patient rest area, and let Kureha lead the way from there, nervously walking into the room after her. The intruder looked like he had been expecting them, and a mix of happiness and relief spread across his face at the sight of them.
"Hi, there," he said. Chopper didn't respond, and Kureha, who otherwise would have reacted to his presence with hostility, took one look at the presence on the nearest bed and calmed down.
"It's OK, Chopper. It seems he's brought a patient." The man nodded.
"I'm Luffy. This is my crewmate. She's extremely sick. Could you take a look at her?" There was a hint of well-hidden worry in his voice.
"That is my job," Kureha commented idly as she looked over Vivi with a trained eye. After a few seconds and a touch to Vivi's forehead she frowned. "Her symptoms are unusual," she began. "I've never seen a patient with an illness like this before, but I have an idea of what's afflicting her nonetheless," she said.
Luffy's eyes widened slightly. She already had a potential diagnosis? He'd known this woman was good after the first time around...despite her quirks. But he hadn't known she was that good. The only other one he could think of that could do something like that was...well, Chopper from the future. Law came close, but he was more of a surgeon than anything.
"So, can you treat her?" Luffy asked.
"I believe so," Kureha concluded. "I just need to check through some notes to make sure my diagnosis is correct first. Come, Chopper." As Chopper followed her out, he glanced over his shoulder one last time at Luffy. Luffy grinned and waved, and Chopper hurriedly kept walking.
Wapol panicked, kicking and screaming as he clutched the wound across his midsection. "Damn you, Dalton! What the hell do you think you're doing, raising your weapon against your king!?"
"You are not longer this country's king, Wapol, just as I am no longer its officer! We must leave the past behind us!" Dalton yelled with conviction. "This land has no need for relics of the dark age!" Wapol's soldiers took a chance and started shooting at Dalton, only for the bison man to leap, vault, and spin over their fire in a surprising display of speed. They were cut down in seconds.
"What kind of arrogant nonsense are you spouting?" Wapol asked scathingly, ignoring the defeat of his lower ranked men. His confidence seemed to have been restored now that Chess and Kuromarimo were standing off against Dalton. As the 20 MDs patched up his injury, the pain made way for outrage at his once-loyal subject. "Who do you think you're talking to, fool!? This is my kingdom you are living in!"
"No," Dalton said as he raised his weapon once again. "You have no place here. A kingdom that would abandon its people to their fates is better off destroyed."
"And who is going to destroy it, Dalton?" Kuromarimo asked in an annoyed, smug tone. "The three of us once acted as the Kingdom's Three Heads. You should know very well that you cannot beat both of us."
"And besides," Chess said as he pulled out three arrows, "We know your weakness all too well. Your compassion will be the death of you." Dalton broke into a sweat as he followed the aim of the arrows back towards the civilians who had rallied themselves to aid Dalton in the battle that he should, by all rights, be fighting alone. Without a moment's hesitation, he flung himself in the path of the arrows that he knew full well were meant for him even if aimed at the kingdom's people. The civilians watched in horror as blood stained Dalton's coat around the arrows embedded in his torso and he fell to his knees, reverting back from his hybrid form.
"You're a fool, Dalton," Wapol stated. "You were once my greatest officer, and look what kind of death you've chosen. It's truly a waste," he said as Chess readied two more arrows aimed at his vitals. The civilians ran to stop him, but weren't nearly fast enough. "Oh, well," Wapol said dismissively as Chess let the arrows fly.
Dalton's execution was interrupted by a sudden whirlwind of ice and snow that seemingly came out of nowhere. The arrows disappeared into the small blizzard, and two metallic clinks signifying the meeting of metal against metal could be heard over the spin of the snow, which forced Chess to shield his eyes. Just as quickly as it came into existence, it died down, and a lone man stood in front of Dalton with a single sword raised.
"Whew, just in time," the green-haired man said with a grin. "I almost got lost during my endurance training. Lucky I locked onto some auras."
You can easily claim that it's due to character development from the future, but I still feel I should point it out: Zoro would never admit that he got lost, would he?
"You! You're one of those pieces of trash we met on our way here!" Wapol screamed in fury.
"That's my line," Zoro said casually. "Aiming for those who can't fight to get a hit in on someone you can't beat? Pathetic."
Wapol ground his teeth in anger. "Chess, Kuromarimo," he seethed. "I want to see this commoner dead at my feet." As the civilians got over their shock at seeing a pirate defend their country and started to haul Dalton's unconscious form away, the two officers wordlessly got ready for a fight, and Zoro smirked.
"I guess we can't all get what we want."
Vivi slowly opened her eyes and blinked as they watered under the glare of the light. She felt...surprisingly well. She slowly sat up, noting that it was far easier than the last time she attempted it, and took a look around. She spotted a small, strange creature that looked like an odd mix between a deer and a raccoon...except it was bipedal. And it was sorting books on a shelf. Sorting books...? Could this thing be...? Deciding to forego all attempts to classify the creature, she quietly addressed it. "Um, excuse me?" At the sound of her voice, the creature quickly spun around and jumped backwards into the bookshelf, knocking everything over. Vivi winced as it came crashing to the floor. The creature then shot for the doorway, but instead of leaving, it hid behind it. Well, sort of.
"I think you're doing it wrong. You're supposed to face the other way," she said politely. Not that I'm an expert on the subject, she added mentally. The creature quickly corrected itself, hiding its body behind the door with its head sticking out in a mix between fear and curiosity. "I can still see you, I'm afraid," she said in slight amusement. "In fact, I saw you from the beginning."
"Shut up!" the creature yelled suddenly. "I don't take advice from humans!" He paused. "By the way, how's your fever?"
"Much better, thank you," Vivi replied, suppressing her initial reaction. This confirmed her suspicions from before. If it, or rather, he, she assumed, could sort books on a shelf, then he had a degree of intelligent thought similar to that of a human. But if he could talk as well, then that meant that despite his appearance and his evident scorn for them, he was a little human himself. "If you don't mind me asking," Vivi began slowly. "What kind of animal are you?"
His eyes widened and he broke into a sweat at hearing that. Evidently deciding he would have no more of this, he called out. "Doctorine!"
"Keep it down in there, Chopper!" a low feminine voice called out. A woman of gray hair and old age walked into the room, and the creature made a break for it. The woman snickered. "Looks like your fever has gone down quite a bit, girl. How are you feeling?"
"Better than I have in days," Vivi replied. "Are you the one who treated me?" The woman poked her in the forehead rather than responding.
"38 degrees, not bad," she muttered before taking a swig of the sake bottle in her hand. Vivi was impressed that she could discern her exact temperature with a touch.
"And no," the woman continued. "Chopper is the one who nursed you back to health."
"Chopper?" Vivi asked in confusion. "Is he...?"
"He's that little reindeer you startled," the woman confirmed. "I'm Doctor Kureha, his mentor. You can call me Doctorine."
"Doctorine, would you mind telling me..."
"What? You want to know the secret of my eternal youth?" she asked with a grin.
"Um, maybe later," Vivi said. "Where am I exactly?"
"Drum Kingdom," Kureha replied. "More specifically, the castle atop the Drum Rockies."
"Drum Kingdom..." Vivi repeated. She knew of the country, but not much about it. Was she here alone? Where was the rest of the crew?"
"If you're wondering about the one who brought you here, I had him relocated to another room." Kureha supplied.
"And...who was that exactly?" Vivi asked sheepishly. Kureha grinned in amusement.
"A young man named Luffy. Wears a straw hat. He was quite the character. He ascended the mountain like it was no big deal. When I asked him how he did it, he replied that he flew. I was skeptical, but how else could he get up here without a scratch?"
Vivi's eyes widened. So, Luffy had brought her here. That meant the crew had found a new route and Luffy had brought her to a doctor personally. "My, you must have really been out of it," Kureha said. "But I guess that's to be expected. You were bitten by Kestia, after all."
"Kestia?" Vivi repeated.
"It's an extinct species of tick that carries a lethal strain of bacteria. If one is bitten by it, symptoms of the infection include a fever of 40 degrees or above, intense pain throughout the entire body, and death after 5 days. You were on your third day it seems." Vivi gulped as she rubbed the spot on her neck that she had once dismissed as a simple mosquito bite. "Honestly, you're lucky I kept the antibiotic to that strain of bacteria. It's been extinct for over 100 years. I'd love to know how you spent your week," Kureha continued. "Were you running around on a prehistoric island or something?"
Vivi gave her a small, sheepish smile. "I'm afraid so," she admitted. Kureha threw back her head and laughed.
"Is that so? Well, hopefully you at least covered up. That can help sometimes, though I guess it didn't quite do much for you in this case since you were bitten on the neck."
"I see," Vivi said. "Then, if the illness has been treated, I suppose I can get discharged soon?" she inquired, thinking about how long it would take to get to Alabasta now.
"Depends what you mean by soon. Even if the bacteria has been killed and the fever has gone down, your body is still in a delicate condition, and the infection still needs to be monitored. With most cases of Kestia treatment a patient would have to take 10 days to heal even if they survived." Vivi's eyes widened in horror upon hearing this. "But don't worry, that 100-year-old medicine pales in comparison to my modern day treatment. You'll be fine to leave after three days at most."
"Three days? I can't wait that long," Vivi said. "I don't mean to be ungrateful, but seeing as we're in a rush, I'll take my chances." She attempted to get up from the bed as she said this, but Dr. Kureha stopped her, swiftly grabbing a scalpel and pushing her back down onto the bed, holding the blade against her neck and shocking her out of her wits.
"There are only two circumstances under which I discharge my patients," she said with a low voice. "When they're healed, or when they're dead." She smirked. "So, pick one."
Vivi's gaze hardened. "I don't care if you threaten me," she growled. "My country is awaiting my return. I can't afford to stay here for three days!"
"Well I'm sure there's a story behind that," Kureha said. "Not that it interests me, but will you be any use to your country if you're dead?" she asked as the blade of the scalpel gleamed in the light. Vivi gritted her teeth, knowing the logic was sound, but this was pretty difficult to accept considering how irrational Doctorine was being about her discharge. She was about to speak when a voice made itself known in the doorway.
"You're not really going to kill her after she just got better, are you?" They both turned to the doorway (in Vivi's case, as much as she could without getting her throat cut), to see a familiar presence.
"Luffy-san!" Vivi exclaimed.
Kureha scoffed. "Well, that depends on her," she said in a bored tone before getting up and tossing the scalpel back onto the table. Vivi sat up, wondering how she could get out of this mess when Luffy spoke up again.
"Actually, it depends on me," Luffy said with a smirk. "I won't let you kill her that easily you know."
"Oh?" Kureha said, smirking back at him. "Quite the confident brat, aren't you?" Luffy shrugged.
"If I thought you were really going to do it, you'd know why by now," he said simply. Kureha scoffed again.
"Whatever, brat. Like I said, she leaves when she's fully healed or not at all. And I'll be taking all the money on your ship as payment for my services, unless you can somehow change my mind in the next three days."
"I'll get right on that," Luffy said. "By the way, we're going to have company soon." Kureha raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean company?"
"Feels kind of like a hippo riding another hippo," Luffy said cryptically. Kureha's eyes narrowed at the description. Just then, Chopper burst through the door, looking panicked.
"Hey, what's up, Chopper?" Luffy said jovially. The human-reindeer hybrid ignored him and addressed Kureha. "Doctorine! Wapol's coming up the mountain! I can smell him!" Kureha stared at Luffy in suspicion. He had caught on to Wapol's approach around the same time as Chopper. Possibly even before. Either that or he'd already known he was coming. She didn't really want to think too much about the latter option right now.
In the outskirts of Bighorn, Zoro looked down at the bloody, beaten forms of Chess and Kuromarimo in annoyance. "It's like just anyone thinks they can fight me these days," he said to no one in particular. "At least in the New World people generally had a feel for someone's else's strength. I can't believe I had to fight these idiots to get the message across to that dumbass king." He grunted in annoyance. "And to top it off I let him get away." Zoro sighed, thinking back on Luffy's unspoken orders. Don't take out the hippo guy he says. Leave him to Chopper he says. What is that idiot thinking? Well, he didn't feel like trying to puzzle out Luffy's whims right now, so he started walking back to Bighorn to check on the other Straw Hats.