One Piece (Love Story) [Part Two]

Chapter Three Hundred and Forty Six

-Chapter Three Hundred and Forty-Six-

"Still cold?" Zoro softly asked, resting his chin atop my head as he encircled his arms around me and pulled me in close.

"Hm..." I only hummed as I snuggled my way back against him as far as I could, face dipping low into the collar of my new coat as the tips of my gloved fingers just barely poked out from the sleeves and gripped at his arms.

"That noise sure was loud, huh? Bet it was Sanji" Luffy remarked at the loud crash we had heard in the distance. "Hey, Crocotaur, you still don't want to tell me where the rest of my crew is at?" he asked Brownbeard whose back we were currently catching a ride on.

"Keep dreaming, but you're not going to get a word out of me, alright...?" the hulking man panted, sounding practically out of breath. He sported two large bumps on top of his head and though we had intimidated him into taking us to where we needed to go, he still stubbornly refused to answer any of our captain's questions.

"Fine then, but can't you run faster at least?" Luffy asked. "My friends could be in real trouble right now—we got to get to that big building before someone gets hurt."

"Like me or my crew you robbed?" Brownbeard snarkily shot back. "You're nothing but a bunch of thugs! And now you got to humiliate me like this!" he huffed.

"You're just crying 'cause you got your ass beat" Zoro scoffed as his grip around me tightened. "Don't pin this on us, you're the one who attacked—man up, manadile...cracoman...whatever..." he grumbled.

"Brook, you don't even have skin—you're sitting there shivering, but you can't be cold, right?" Usopp questioned. "Did you just steal that coat because you wanted to fit in?" he asked.

"No, he stole it because stealing is fun" I said as I poked my head up for just a moment before quickly burying it back down into the collar of my coat the second I felt the cold air nip at my face.

"What if I did? Is it so wrong to want to share in the suffering of my friends?" Brook asked. "Cold is a state of mind after all, you don't need skin for that" he argued.

"All the people who have died of hypothermia would beg to differ" I said.

"We've been able to keep ourselves warm, but I fear the others might not be so fortunate" Robin worriedly frowned. "If they get frostbite, they could lose any number of limbs" she sighed.

"Good thing Chopper's a reindeer then, so I'm sure he's doing just fine" I said.

"That's enough! Just spare us your gruesome concerns, okay?!" Usopp snapped. "Also, Skylar, you could try acting a little more concerned for the others!"

-Later-

"Don't stop now, Crocotaur! We're almost there!" Luffy grinned as a building finally started to come into view.

"What is that?" Robin suddenly asked as she looked off to the side.

"What is what?" I asked as we turned our heads.

"A ship?" Usopp questioned as he stood up and moved onto Brownbeard's shoulder right next to Luffy. "Yep, sure looks like a warship" he confirmed upon closer inspection of the ruined ship that was cleanly split in two and messily scattered about the snowy land.

"So the Navy's on the island?" Luffy asked.

"What? Are you sure?" Brook asked. "When did they get here?" he pondered.

"I'm guessing they weren't here originally when you were here earlier" I said, watching as the skeleton shook his head.

"Hey, look! We got company!" Usopp suddenly pointed as he raised his hand and squinted his eyes, looking towards the man who was walking by in the distance.