The cold hit them like a wall.
The moment the gangplank dropped from the Going Merry onto the snow-covered shore, the warm air of the cabin vanished and was replaced by a biting wind that stabbed through clothing and skin alike. Powdered snow skittered across the ground in thin streams, whispering over ice-covered stone streets.
Sanji pulled his coat tighter.
"Damn… is this the normal weather on an winter island? This is murder weather."
Bartolomeo's teeth clattered loudly. "H-how do people even live here?!"
Only Cassandra didn't react. She stood at the railing, watching the town in silence, breath faint in the frozen air. Her eyes moved slowly from roof to roof, then to the mountain looming behind the settlement. It was a towering white spire clawing into the sky.
Behind them, Nami coughed violently from inside the cabin.
Vivi flinched. "We should hurry up and find a doctor."
Luffy jumped onto the snow, sandals sinking halfway down. "Then let's get a doctor!"
He started walking immediately toward the village.
Cassandra didn't follow.
Sanji noticed first.
"You're not coming?"
Cassandra shook her head once.
"I'll stay."
Luffy blinked. "Huh?"
She adjusted her coat slightly, eyes already drifting toward the mountains.
"Someone should watch the ship. Last time you stayed behind, this time it is my duty."
Bartolomeo looked surprised. "But… doctor"
"You'll find one even without me. Also what will happen, if the guys from before return and see our ship unguarded?"
Her tone was flat and final in her decision.
Vivi hesitated. "Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Nojiko studied her for a moment… then nodded.
"Alright."
Luffy grinned. "Okay! Let's go! If you guard the ship, then everything will be okay!"
The group headed toward the village, boots crunching through the snow.
Sanji paused briefly beside her.
"Try not to freeze."
Cassandra gave a faint smirk.
"Try not to get lost."
They left.
Soon the Going Merry stood alone in the frozen harbor.
The snow swallowed them up to their knees.
Luffy, Sanji, Vivi and Bartolomeo walked deeper into the town, boots crunching loudly in the frozen street. Frost clung to the wooden houses. Their windows were shut tight and the curtains were drawn.
Luffy cupped his hands around his mouth.
"HEY! We need a doctor!"
The wind answered with a cold howl.
No one came out.
Bartolomeo glanced around nervously. "Why is it so quiet…?"
Sanji exhaled smoke slowly, eyes scanning the rooftops.
"They're watching us with caution, I presume. We are pirates after all."
Vivi noticed faint movements behind curtains. Silhouettes retreated the moment, she turned toward them.
She stepped forward, raising both hands.
"Please! We're not here to cause trouble! Our friend is very sick!"
A door creaked open just a fraction down the street.
An elderly woman peeked out, her eyes wide with fear. The moment she noticed Luffy's straw hat and the flag of the ship on the dock, she slammed the door shut.
Bartolomeo flinched. "Hey! We're not dangerous!"
Sanji muttered, "As if they would believe that. You look way to scary, to be trusted"
Luffy walked up to another house and knocked loudly.
"Excuse me! Doctor please!"
The window shutter snapped closed immediately.
Another door locked.
Another curtain fell.
The entire street retreated from them, like they had a deadly disease.
Vivi clenched her coat.
"…They're scared of us."
Sanji shook his head slowly.
"No… this is more than that."
A loud metallic clatter echoed somewhere nearby. Hurried movement filled the air suddenly, like armor being hastily gathered.
Then came loud and hasty footsteps.
Multiple people were coming.
Bartolomeo stiffened. "We're surrounded…"
From between the buildings, armed men in heavy winter uniforms appeared one by one, rifles in hand. Their coats bore a snowflake emblem.
They kept distance, but their aim was steady.
Luffy blinked.
"Are you guys doctors?"
No one laughed.
The men looked nervous, but determined.
One of them shouted, voice tight with tension:
"Don't move!"
Vivi raised her hands quickly. "Please wait! We're only here for medical help!"
More soldiers emerged from behind rooftops and alleys, slowly forming a circle around them.
Sanji flicked his cigarette aside.
"…This is going badly."
The soldiers didn't approach, but none lowered their weapons.
Then very heavy footsteps crunched through the snow from the far end of the street.
The soldiers parted slightly as a broad figure approached through the falling snow.
They straightened, as a tall man stepped forward.
He was broad-shouldered and carried a massive double-headed weapon across his back. It was a strange weapon part axe, part spade, built for power rather than elegance.
It looked crude, but strangely fitting for this snow covered island.
His expression was stern, but not cruel.
"I am Captain Dalton," he said evenly. "You will leave this country."
Luffy tilted his head.
"We just need a doctor."
Dalton's gaze flicked to Sanji, who carried the sick Nami, then back to Luffy.
"This land has suffered enough from pirates. We do not take risks anymore."
Sanji's cigarette glowed faintly in the falling snow.
"We're not asking for charity. We just need directions."
Dalton stepped forward, planting the butt of his weapon into the frozen ground.
"Turn back."
Vivi clenched her fists.
"Our friend will die!"
Something moved behind Dalton's eyes, but it hardened again just as quickly.
"Then you should not have brought her here."
The soldiers raised their rifles.
Dalton lifted a hand.
"Hold."
He walked forward alone.
"If you wish to pass," he said calmly, drawing his massive weapon into both hands, "you will go through me."
Snow spiraled between them.
Luffy grinned.
"Okay!"
He lunged forward.
Dalton moved first, despite his massive size.
His weapon swung in a powerful horizontal arc. Luffy barely ducked in time, as the blade carved through the air above him, slicing a wooden signpost clean in half.
Luffy darted in from the side, delivering a sharp kick toward Dalton's ribs.
Dalton twisted, letting the blow glance off his armored shoulder, before countering with the blunt end of his weapon.
Luffy blocked with his forearm, still sliding backward across the ice.
"…He's not just swinging wildly," Sanji muttered. "He is clearly a seasoned fighter."
Dalton stepped in again, this time striking downward with force meant to break bone. Luffy stretched backward to avoid the impact.
The blade struck the snow with a violent crack, splitting the frozen ground open.
Bartolomeo charged recklessly.
"Don't hurt Luffy-senpai!"
Dalton pivoted smoothly, using the flat of his weapon to knock Bartolomeo sideways, without even looking at him.
The message was clear.
Dalton was a seasoned and disciplined fighter.
He wasn't fighting to kill.
He was fighting to drive them away.
Luffy bounced back onto his feet.
"You're strong!"
Dalton's jaw tightened.
"I have to be."
He lunged forward, thrusting the tip of his weapon toward Luffy's midsection. Luffy twisted, following with his signature move.
"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"
The punch struck Dalton square in the chest.
This time, Dalton slid several meters back through the snow, boots digging trenches behind him.
The soldiers gasped.
Dalton exhaled slowly.
"…So be it."
He drove the weapon's head into the ground.
His muscles tensed and then his body began to change.
Bones cracked loudly.
His shoulders broadened violently.
Dark fur erupted along his arms and neck.
Horns curved upward from his skull, as his frame expanded into a towering, muscular bison-human hybrid.
Steam rose from his body in the freezing air.
The weapon looked smaller in his massive grip now.
The soldiers stepped back instinctively.
Bartolomeo swallowed.
"He just got bigger…"
"A Zoan Devil fruit," Sanji muttered.
Dalton lowered his stance, hooves digging into the ice.
"My name is Dalton. I am captain of the kings guard and ate the Ushi Ushi no Mi, Model Bison. As long as I draw breath, I will not allow pirates to trample this kingdom."
Snow exploded beneath him, as he charged far faster than before.
Dalton's charge shattered the snow beneath him.
The distance vanished in an instant.
Luffy barely raised his arms, before the massive bison-man slammed into him.
The impact sent him skidding backward across the frozen street, plowing a trail through packed snow, until he crashed into a wooden wall.
The building groaned, but held.
Bartolomeo froze. "Luffy-senpai!"
Luffy shook his head, stood up and grinned.
"That was awesome!"
Dalton didn't smile.
He turned and swung his weapon in a wide arc. Luffy ducked under it and countered with a Gomu Gomu no Whip to Dalton's side. The impact landed, but barely slowed him down.
Luffy was really surprised by Dalton´s change.
"Wow you are way tougher now!"
Dalton brought the haft down. Luffy crossed his arms to block and slid several meters across the ice.
The soldiers hesitated, unsure whether to interfere anymore.
Vivi stepped forward desperately.
"Please! We don't want to fight you!"
Dalton ignored her.
He charged Luffy again.
This time Luffy stretched his arms back.
"Gomu Gomu no Bazooka!"
Both fists slammed into Dalton's chest.
The hybrid giant staggered. The snow exploded around his hooves, as he dug in, stopping himself instead of flying backward.
For the first time since they met him, Dalton's expression changed.
These weren't ordinary pirates.
Even so this boy looked lanky, he was physically very strong.
Sanji grew a bit inpatient.
"We don't have time for this."
Nami started to cough very loudly. Her fever got even worse, because of the cold wind.
Luffy nodded to Sanji.
"Yeah. I will finish this quickly and find a doctor."
Dalton breathed heavily, steam pouring from his nostrils.
He looked at them again.
He didn´t saw the greedy eyes of pirates, that wanted to plunder and rob.
Dalton saw desperation and the determination to do anything, to save their sick friend.
The same kind he'd seen before.
He slowly straightened his posture.
His muscles shrank, fur receded and horns shortened, as he returned to human form. The transformation left cracks in the snow, where he had stood.
The soldiers lowered their weapons in confusion.
Dalton rested his weapon against his shoulder.
"…You didn't draw blood," he said.
Luffy frowned. "We didn't come to hurt anyone."
Dalton studied their faces, then looked toward the harbor, where the Going Merry waited silently in the snowfall.
"…You truly only seek a doctor."
Vivi stepped forward, hopeful.
"Yes!"
After a long pause, Dalton sighed.
"There are no doctors in this country anymore."
The words hit harder than any blow.
"What?" Bartolomeo whispered.
Dalton turned slightly, looking toward the towering mountain behind the village. Its peak was lost in clouds.
"Only one remains."
His voice softened.
"An old witch."
Sanji raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding."
"She lives in the royal castle at the summit." Dalton pointed toward the impossible height. "Her name is Doctor Kureha."
Vivi stared upward in disbelief.
"That mountain…? You expect us to climb that?"
Dalton's eyes were serious again.
"If your friend's life matters… you have to."
Snow fell harder now. The wind carried it sideways through the silent village.
Dalton stepped aside.
"I will not stop you."
The soldiers parted as well, a bit uncertain but obedient.
For the first time since entering the town, a path to save Nami opened.
Snow gathered along the deck of the Going Merry, slowly burying the footprints left by the others. The harbor had grown silent again after their departure.
Only the wind remained, dragging fine white powder across the wood like shifting sand.
Cassandra stood alone at the bow.
Her eyes followed the faint trail the crew had left toward the village, until it disappeared behind drifting curtains of snow.
She didn't move.
"They'll manage."
She couldn`t be sure the story would play out, as it did in canon, but she had faith in her comrades.
Cassandra knew better than anyone, how tenacious this crew could be.
The Grand Line allows only survivors to reach its end.
If she solved every obstacle for them, they would remain weak. A crew that relied on one blade, would shatter the moment that blade broke.
Luffy needed his own battles to grow.
Sanji needed problems, he couldn't kick away immediately.
The others needed to learn fear and how to act through it.
She rested her hand lightly on the railing.
"I am not their shield, or their caretaker."
The wind howled louder between the mountains.
She stepped back onto the center of the deck.
Instead of drawing a sword, Cassandra removed her gloves and set them aside. Next came the coat, folded carefully despite the freezing air. Steam rose faintly from her skin, as she flexed her fingers.
She opened the neat manual again briefly.
The Six Powers were techniques, that forced the body beyond its natural limits.
Her thumb stopped at a marked section.
Through them she wanted to learn Life Return, a technique of total bodily control.
The ability allows to command muscles, blood flow, digestion, even manipulating hair at will.
Cassandra had plans, to develope new techniques based on it.
She closed the book.
She lowered into a stance, then moved.
With a sharp step forward, the deck cracked under her foot.
Not fast enough.
Again.
She focused on her legs, forcing every muscle fiber to fire at once. The next step blurred slightly, snow puffed outward from the sudden acceleration.
Her breathing stayed calm.
Again.
Again.
Afterimages began to flicker faintly behind her. Her Soru was incomplete. The technique still wasted motion and leaked unused energy.
She stopped abruptly.
"No."
Speed wasn't the goal.
She needed to learn the control of her legs.
She exhaled slowly and stilled completely.
Her heartbeat echoed in her ears.
She focused on it, slowing it deliberately.
…faster.
…slower.
The rhythm resisted her like a wild animal. Pain pulsed in her chest, as her body rejected the unnatural command.
Cassandra could now understand, that anybody who wants to learn these techniques.
That was also the reason, why not every Marine in the four seas can use them.
She ignored the pain, the training brought.
Again.
Her stomach growled violently.
She tightened her abdomen, forcing it silent.
Her breathing faded, until it was barely visible in the cold air.
Minutes passed.
Then she moved again. This time she was not fast, but precise. Every step placed perfectly, every shift of weight deliberate. She leapt and landed without sound, then kicked downward.
The air cracked beneath her foot. It was a weak Geppo attempt, yet it was progresse.
She dropped back to the deck.
"…Closer."
Her body trembled now. Not from the cold, but from internal relieve.
Armament Haki was still way beyond her.
Cassandra was more aligned to learn Observation Haki, because of her bad eyesight and will have to put way more time and energy into learning Armament Haki.
So feeling the progress of learning some new techniques, filled her with joy.
Muscles twitched under her skin, as she tried to command deeper systems.
She raised her arm and held it perfectly still.
A single snowflake landed on her fingertip.
She kept it there.
Her pulse slowed further.
The world quieted.
"This is the path…"
To overdrive the body safely, she first had to own it completely.
Only then could she burn it.
She could not remember the exact plot of the Drum arc, but she knew, that she now had time to train.
Or thats what she thought.