Ameliorate ✦ One Piece

63

The inside of the tavern was warm, at least, and it was something. It was crowded too, every table and bench taken up by people who had clearly been using the place as a gathering point before the Straw Hats arrived and would likely continue to do so after they left. But that left limited space for the crew themselves. With all the isolated rooms taken up, the host had managed to scrounge up some space for them in an isolated corner. It held one bed, pushed close to the fireplace and a set of benches set up around it. They'd settled Nami into the bed as soon as they could, and Akira had made no argument about taking one of the benches for herself.

It was where she stayed from the moment she'd been lowered onto it, lying down and fading away. Her head had found Sanji's lap somewhere along the way as he sat beside her, his fingers gently brushing through her hair as she slept. Though the peaceful rise and fall of her chest did little to subside his worries. Despite the multiple blankets which had been draped over her, he could still feel the way she shivered every so often, still cold despite the warmth of the space around her.

The rest of the crew gathered in the area, silence falling over them as Usopp sat besdie Vivi on the opposite bench, his hands careful and precise as he worked on fixing up her arm. The only noise really came from Zoro, the sound of his repeated footsteps being the only noise—aside from the crackle of the fire,—that filled the space as he moved and paced. Not wide, nervous loops, but rather just short movements back and forth through the small area which they occupied.

Luffy stood at the window, occupying the same spot which he'd taken up for himself from the moment they came in. With his back to the room, he stared out the murky glass, eyes focused on the snow-covered mountain beyond it.

Sanji looked around the quiet group, taking in their tense and worried faces. The way Vivi and Usopp often glanced over at Nami, checking on her as if Dalton's words continued to ring through their heads, had Sanji reaching over, pulling back the covers and folding down the collar of her jacket to reveal the black lines beneath.

The branching patterns had turned darker against her pale skin and spread wider, now reaching over her shoulder and starting to form a path at the base of her neck. "Luffy," he spoke up, his voice quiet in an attempt not to wake either of them, but still holding a severity that had everyone's eyes turning to him now. "We can't wait till morning."

Zoro's pacing stopped as he came to rest against one of the wooden poles holding up the roof, arms crossing over his chest as he looked at their captain's back. "What do you want to do, Luffy?" He asked. The one thing they were all painfully aware of was that time was running out. And because of that, a decision had to be made.

Luffy turned away from the window and looked back at them. He didn't look like someone who'd just been interrupted in the middle of a thought, but rather like someone who'd gotten to its conclusion already. "If we can't go around the mountain," he said, "then we go straight up."

At first his words were met with silence, every member of the crew pausing and looking at him, waiting for more information which would change the meaning he seemed to be getting at. But when none came, their eyes widened in shock and surprise.

"You want to climb it?" Usopp was the first to really question it. "That mountain? You want us to climb that?" He pointed unnecessarily in its direction. "Nami and Akira can't make that. None of us can make that," he protested the plan.

But Luffy wasn't one to budge easily.

He crossed the room and made his way to Nami's bedside, crutching down and putting himself at her level as he called her name. it made her stir slightly, turning her head towards him with slow effort. "The only doctor here lives on the top of that mountain," he started to explain. "We're gonna have to climb it to get to her. I'll carry you on my back." It was succinct and short, but there wasn't much else to say. "Are you okay with that?"