Chapter 13: The Blue-Nosed Reindeer

Steven opened his eyes very carefully. He rubbed his head and started to moan. "Ugh...I shouldn't have taken that left turn at Albuquerque...what happened to me?"

The half-Gem started to look himself over and noticed all of the bruises and cuts. "Ahh! What are these?! I don't remember getting hit this bad…or even fighting at all!"

Suddenly, memories of the past day flooded Steven's mind. His eyes widened, despite the pain it was causing. He noticed he was on a comfy bed in an unfamiliar room with faded bricks, clearly the inside of the castle that he and the others were searching for. "Did I...did we...?"

On cue, the door to his room flew open and Monkey D. Luffy practically jumped onto the bed so hard that Steven nearly flew off of it. He was covered with nearly identical bruises, but one couldn't tell from how easily he was moving about. They didn't affect him at all.

Bringing up the rear were Sanji and Damian, both of whom were bandaged up around the waist. Unsurprisingly, Sanji had managed to light a cigarette, but how any survived the avalanche was beyond Steven's comprehension. He had made his dislike of the smell and smoke well known, but he was technically their guest and Pearl taught him that he should respect the rules of the house...err ship.

"STEVEN! YOU'VE GOT TO TELL ME HOW WE DID THAT!" Luffy yelled.

"Ahh! Not too loud!" Steven covered his ears. "Wait! You guys are okay!"

"Please, a few scratches can't stop someone like me!" Sanji smirked. "Now spill the beans, kid."

"What?"

Damian smacked his hand on the bed for dramatic effect. "Is what he's saying true?!"

"I don't know..."

"IT WAS SO COOL! WE FUSED TOGETHER, GUYS!" Luffy was more excited than Steven had ever seen. "HOW WAS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!"

Steven's jaw dropped." You...you mean I didn't dream it? We actually fused?!"

Luffy nodded his head eagerly. Sanji and Damian exchanged looks. "What exactly IS fusing? You mean to say that you two became...a hybrid or something?" Sanji asked.

"Well..." Steven tried to choose his words carefully. "Fusing is the deepest connection a Gem can have with another Gem. If two Gems are in really...um...if they are focused and in tune with each other..."

"You aren't making any sense at all," Damian sighed.

"If two Gems really care about each other, they can dance together and become one giant person!" Steven figured it out. "Yeah! That's it! But since I'm half-Gem, I can fuse with regular humans...and I guess humans who ate Devil Fruit!"

"'If two Gems really care for each other?'" Damian blinked.

"'Dance?'" Sanji gave Luffy and Steven a disgusted look.

"Yeah! It was awesome!" Luffy smiled.

The two men shivered and looked back at the two innocent souls on the bed. "Does...does that not sound like ANYTHING to you, Luffy?"

He shook his head. "What part?"

'He's hopeless,' the two silently agreed.

"Still, I've only ever fused with Connie," Steven told them. "This was my first time with another..."

"JUST STOP!" Sanji and Damian yelled.

"...person beside her!" Steven finished before looking confused. "What? Was it something I said?"

"Are we just that terrible?" Sanji asked.

"Our minds are clearly in the gutter," Damian groaned.

*AGITR*

In a bed in another room of the castle, Petrea stirred awake. "A bed? How did I get to a bed? I...hmm?"

She looked down and noticed that she was bound by Seastone rope. It was not too tight or too restricting, but it appeared that it had seen a bit of a struggle to put on. She cocked her up and saw a crack in the ceiling. Thankfully, it seemed she did not cause any other damage to the unfamiliar room.

"Well, that's a positive thing. Still, I wonder where these Seastone ropes came from," she thought to herself. The chocolatier tried to sit up but the power of the rope caused her to slump back down. "I guess I'm stuck here for a while. At least there's a window..."

It was then that she looked over at the doorway and saw a most interesting sight: a blue-nosed reindeer wearing a hat. It was holding itself on the door and was staring intently at her.

"Hello there, little guy! Did...did you help me get here?" Petrea asked.

"ACK!" the reindeer gasped. "YOU SAW ME?! I WAS PERFECTLY HIDDEN!"

"...but...but you are hiding the wrong way," Petrea pointed out. The reindeer blinked and immediately tried to rectify his mistake. "...there is no use trying to change it. I already know you are there."

"Hush, human!" the reindeer said angrily. "Are...are you feeling any better?"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, CHOPPER?!" an elderly voice called from behind the reindeer. "GO CHECK ON THE OTHERS!"

The reindeer jumped and ran away, leaving an elderly woman wearing short clothes and sunglasses alone with Petrea. Undecided if she was worried or confused, Petrea figured it was better to stay quiet for the present moment to gauge the situation. She might feel like garbage, but she could still muster enough energy to attack this woman if prompted.

"Ah, the girlie who would have brought the house down if I wasn't prepared is awake!" the woman laughed as she drank her drink. "Let's feel your forehead."

She put a single finger to Petrea's head before she could try to react. "Hmm...not too bad. It's getting better, but you still need more rest."

"Who...who might you be?" Petrea coughed.

"Me?" she smiled. "My name is Doctor Kureha, but you may call me Doctorine. And no, I will not tell you the secret to my youthful beauty!"

"...I didn't ask about that..." Petrea shook her head. "Um...is there any way you can remove..."

"Oh, that's right. You can't touch those, can you?" She started to untie the ropes very gingerly. "Outside of Chopper, you are the first Devil Fruit user I have treated in quite some time. I mean, Dalton has his abilities, but he is very rarely sick..."

"'Devil Fruit?' So, that reindeer...?"

The doctor hit her on the back of the head. Petrea went to rub the bruised spot. "WHAT KIND OF A DOCTOR HITS HER PATIENTS?!"

"Think, girlie! That was a talking reindeer! We aren't exactly that far into the Grand Line. Those kinds of things are not that common here!"

The woman sighed and took another swig of her drink. "He accidentally came across a Human-Human Fruit. Go figure. He was already an outcast to his own people thanks to his blue nose, but now he's got nobody but me. The only other person who cared for him was a fake doctor who died some years ago. But enough about that," she dismissed the memory. Kureha moved her hands from the ropes to Petrea's neck and examined the bug bite. "I have to say; how you got this must have been an interesting tale. This is a bite from a Kestia bug. Its venoms typically start affecting a person after five days. You are lucky that you came my way."

"Why?"

"Because Kestias have been extinct for years! Where the hell did you come from? Prehistoric times?!" Kureha took off her glasses. "The important thing is that you got here when you did. If you wasted even two more days, you'd have been as dead as a doornail."

The shock of realizing how close to death she nearly was startled Petrea. "I...I was going to die?"

"Unfortunately. Thankfully, your idiot friends managed to get you to me in time..."

For all of the self-loathing Petrea was feeling, this sudden brush with death caused her to realize how little she wanted to die. 'This just proves it. I need to stop hating myself and start focusing on what matter most, like helping Vivi and...' "Steven! 'Straw Hat!' Damian! Sanji!" the former Miss Valentine panicked aloud. She looked around and saw no trace of them. "Where...where are they?!"

"Calm down, you ninny, or else you'll get sick again!" the doctor hit her once more, much to Petrea's chagrin. "Your friends are resting in the room next door...though I think I heard them running around before. No manners at all."

"Steven could use some lessons in etiquette," Pretrea admitted. "Wait, Steven! Were...how many people came up the mountain?"

Kureha raised her eyebrow and chuckled. "It seems like you are just as confused about that as I was. The two black-haired punks...how did they do that?"

"So, I wasn't just imagining things," Petrea gasped. "They...they fused!"

"'Fused?'" Kureha scoffed. "I'd say it was unprecedented, but Devil Fruits can do strange things these days…like add rocks to belly buttons I suppose."

The chocolatier chuckled a bit. "No, it's not like that at all. Steven...well, Steven...he's kind of special..."

"Backstory? Not interested," she dismissed her. "Now, you get some rest! You still have at least ten days before I can clear you out of here."

Petrea's eyes widened. "'Ten days?!' But I feel so much better! We need to get back on our path to Alabasta! I need to make up for..."

"Again, I don't care about your story. All I care about is your health. There are two ways you will leave this room, girlie: with a clean bill of health or in a body bag. Take your pick, or would you rather I use the ropes again?"

*AGITR*

"So, you're telling me you both were so focused on saving us that your wills LITERALLY merged together?" Sanji asked, still trying to figure out just how this happened.

"Well, yeah!" Steven nodded. He knew that it was a hard concept to understand, but he thought he explained it well enough. "We care for you guys!"

Damian punched Steven and Luffy in their already bruised shoulders. "Damn kid."

"What was that for?!" the half-Gem asked. "That hurt!"

"For caring too much, you idiots! You could have died and Petrea would have killed us!"

"You could have...WHAT IS THAT?!" Steven excitedly pointed to the door.

The males followed Steven's line of sight and saw a blue-nosed reindeer wearing a hat peeking in at them from the door. On cue, Luffy's mouth started to salivate. "FOOD!"

"What?!" Steven jumped back. "No! You can't..."

"Now that you mention it," Damian patted his stomach. "I haven't eaten in hours. I could use some food."

"Reindeer stew, anyone?" Sanji eyed the beast eagerly.

The reindeer started to back up away from them and ran away. The Straw Hats and Damian started right after him. "GET THAT MEAT!"

"Nooooo! Don't hurt him!" Steven jumped out of the bed and his eyes started to water due to the pain. "Gah! No! I can't stop! COME BACK, LITTLE REINDEER! OW! OW! OW!" He ran as fast as he could to stop his friends from hurting the innocent creature.

He saw them running right past a vaguely familiar older woman and Steven came to a sudden halt, tripping onto the floor in a pratfall. "Petrea! You look great!"

"Kid!" the old woman said shocked. "Who let you out of bed?! You still look terrible!"

Petrea just kept staring at the boy. Steven felt himself blush, even though it hurt to do so. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"How can I not stare at you?! You are covered head to toe in cuts and bruises! You should listen to the doctor!" Petrea tried to cover her shock and adopted a stern tone. "Stop worrying about me and get to bed!"

"But they are gonna eat the reindeer! I have to save him!" Steven looked conflicted between staying with her and going after Luffy. Finally, his heart told him what to do. "Okay! I've got to go! I'll be back! Bye-bye!" he rapidly spoke, running back toward the reindeer with the pink hat.

Petrea just blinked and stared at Kureha. The doctor merely chuckled and took a long drink. "I can see what you mean about those etiquette lessons. Time to give them some lessons of my own."

Kureha got up and cracked her knuckles. At that moment, Petrea did not envy Luffy or the others. This was one woman not to be messed with.

*AGITR*

Chopper ran as fast as he could through the castle away from the salivating human garbage that was chasing him. He was used to people calling him a monster and ostracizing him, but being confused as food was a new one. These humans were just like all the others beside Doctorine and the dearly departed Doctor Hiriluk: careless and mean.

Still, the reindeer was intrigued. The two black-haired humans started out as one person and became two. Were they always two people who turned into one occasionally or a single person who accidentally became two? The medical work he and Doctorine did on them did nothing to answer that question, but it piqued Chopper's medical curiosity. Did this have to do with that weird rock on the one human's stomach? Was it just a Devil Fruit power?

The other thing that surprised him was a conversation he overheard between Doctorine and the humans. She had caught up to them and started to scold them about their foolish choice to leave their beds. The one with the rock in his stomach apologized a lot, but the one with the hat asked the Doctorine to join his pirate crew! Pirates: just like Doctor Hiriluk always admired! He was close to finding these humans to be a bit better than the rest, but they had managed to see through his perfect hiding spot and started up the chase again.

There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but survival took priority at this point.

He managed to double back around to the room where the sick Devil Fruit user and the Doctorine were. He tried to back away before the strange human woman noticed him. He was one with the room. Silent.

"Oh, it's you again!" the woman miraculously noticed him. How could this be?!

"AHH!" he tried hiding once more. There was no way she would find him now! 'Ha! Take that, human!'

"…you aren't very good at hiding, are you?" she chuckled. "Why don't you come out? Doctor Kureha told me you helped out with my treatment."

'What? Doctorine told her that?' "…you…you aren't afraid of me?"

"Kyahahaha! How could I be afraid of a cute little thing like you?" she smiled. "I'm Petrea. Your name is Tony Tony Chopper, right?"

The reindeer backed away in surprise before regaining composure. This "Petrea" must not know how the compliment really made him feel. "Shut up, you bastard! What gives you the right to call me cute?"

"…you are an odd one, aren't you?" Petrea smirked. "So, I've apparently got a long time to recover. I might as well get to know you a bit while I'm here. I'm curious: what made you want to be a doctor?"

"I…I just want to help end all diseases! It's what I've wanted for the past five years!" Chopper did not want to talk about Doctor Hiriluk to this "Petrea," but he did want to ask her something. "…are…are you really a pirate?"

The blonde-haired woman's eyes widened and seemed to think about it. "Well…everyone else kind of is. I'm more…more of a guest than anything. But for the present moment: yes. Yes, I am a Straw Hat."

There was something about the way that she said it that caused Chopper to become intrigued. She seemed to be affirming something deep in herself…something she was struggling with internally. 'Did…did I just help her?!'

"'Straw Hat?' Is that your pirate group?"

She nodded. "The one with the black hair trying to eat you is the idiot captain. Give him time. I haven't known him for very long, but he can be carried away by both his sense of loyalty and, seemingly, his stomach."

"He scares me," Chopper admitted. "So...if you are a pirate, does that mean you have a Jolly Roger? A skull and crossbones?!"

"Of course they...I mean, we do. It's a skull with a straw hat on it. Who would have guessed? Kyahahaha!" she laughed at her own joke. "So, you're a cute little talking reindeer-doctor who likes pirates? That's quite a resume."

"Shut up, you asshole!"

The blonde woman was quiet for a moment before she spoke again. What was going on in her head? "You know, they could use you…" Petrea paused and corrected herself. "We could use you. What do you say? If 'Straw Hat' asks you (which I know he will the second he realizes you can talk), why don't you join up with us?"

'What? What does that mean? Does she…does she…?' "Join up…as a pirate?"

"That's what I said! 'Straw Hat' was an idiot not to get a doctor by this point. You would make my time on the ship more bearable and secure. So, what do you think?"

Before he could answer her, the door flew open and the terrible trio of humans entered in. The one with the straw hat pointed at him and yelled "THE MEAT! GET HIM!"

"With pleasure, captain!" the blond-haired man rubbed his hands together.

Chopper gave a quick assessment of the situation and realized there was only option left: "RUN AWAY!"

He started to run but something caused him to stop in his tracks: the boy with the rock in his stomach had managed to cut in front of him and put his arms around him.

"No! No eating the cute reindeer!" he stood his ground. Then he paused and looked at him. "Wait…did…did you just talk?!"

"WHAT?! HE CAN TALK?!" Luffy clapped his hands eagerly. "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO BEFORE?!"

"You didn't give me a chance!" Chopper argued. "I'm a doctor! Don't eat me, you idiots!"

The reindeer looked into the eyes of the young boy and was surprised to see that his irises had literal stars in them. "Ah! What are those?! Are you sick?!"

"You are the cutest thing I have ever seen!" Steven whispered while his cheeks turned rosy from blushing. "You are adorable! My name is Steven and I'm sorry for my crewmates."

The blond-haired man and the man with the sunglasses stared at each other. "So…so we aren't getting food?"

"DAMIAN! SANJI!" Petrea weakly rose out of the bed.

'What is she doing?!' Chopper thought to himself. "Get back in bed, Petrea! You aren't rested enough! If Doctorine comes back in, she will restrain you with the Seastone rope!"

"I will sit back down after I give these two knuckleheads what they deserve for attacking a friend of mine, especially after he used his medical skills to get us back to health!" She cracked her knuckles and the two men began to cower in fear…though it seemed like the blond-haired man was also excited at the same time.

'Wait…what did she say?'

"Oh my gosh! Luffy! He's a doctor AND a cute talking reindeer! He needs to join the crew!" Steven jumped up and down. "Please, Mr. Talking Reindeer? Please? Please? Please!"

"Steven!" Luffy folded his arms. "I am the captain and I will decide who to ask to join the crew."

Chopper did not know what to expect. Did he do something to upset the Straw Hat pirate? Was he going to call him a monster like all the others? Was he…

"Reindeer-guy!" Luffy smiled. "Join my crew!"

'What? Does he really…I can't! I can't! I CAN'T!'

"I…I can't be…I CAN'T BE YOUR FRIEND!" Chopper cried and ran away.

This was all too much for the reindeer. He had been so set in his ways to hate people. It was people like Wapol that killed the only other person who had been nice to him. It was people who called him a monster. This didn't make sense.

'Why do these people want to be nice to me?'