It was far from quiet as the sled was pulled through the snow, even with the powder covering the ground softening the thunderous footfall of hoofs.

"So you know what his power is?"

Dolton was unsure of how to have such a conversation, especially when one that was involved was not presently capable of speaking, yet was so aware of every word being said.

"Not exactly," he admitted, taking things slow. Seeing the transformation had stirred up memories in him. It had been some time ago, not long after Blackbeard attacked the island.

He knew what it wasn't though. A Devil Fruit. While there were Devil Fruits of the same species, usually Zoan's like his own, there were no Devil Fruits that granted identical abilities.

Or abilities so close they might as well be identical. He already felt that calling it a Devil Fruit was a stretch. A needed lie at best, but this did it in.

Still, it wasn't that particular man that concerned Dolton at the moment. It was the man's partner. The one who told him to deliver a message to a Luffy, wearing a Straw Hat.

Dolton was internally kicking himself for forgetting. He had been right there, and he had forgotten! Still, he had time to deliver that message if all went well.

"It's not a Devil Fruit. Of that, I am certain," he spoke again, as the three-tailed bull made its whip like tails snap erratically. Why did he get the suspicion it came out to some variation of 'I told you so'?

"And how can you be sure of that!" Usopp shouted, even as the ice cold wind buffeted his face.

"Because I've met one with similar abilities," Dolton felt the sled briefly lurch beneath them, before a steady pace was again reached.

A surprise to him as well? He figured they would know. Then again, Dolton was certain this crew was fresh. If they had much knowledge of the Grand Line, much less the New World, he would be surprised.

Most knew what Whitebeard's 'Monster' was capable of. Or at least, they liked to pretend they did. Dolton had learned firsthand just how dangerous the man could become. How me made things so cold, it was as if the air itself was still.

"When?" Vivi asked. Dolton was unsure about her. For some reason, her face continued to tickle at the back of his mind. She seemed so familiar, yet for the life of him, he could not recall where he had seen her.

"Two Pirates arrived after Blackbeard's raid. They'd been trying to track him down for some time," Dolton admitted, feeling another sway of the sled. "But they hadn't had much luck."

He'd wait to deliver the message to their Capitan. It didn't help that he thought about the second raid, from a different group of pirates. The still air before a massive lizard unleashed ice and snow that made the winter look like spring.

"They stayed for a time, helping a bit with recovery, but left not long afterward," Dolton explained, frowning slightly. "They were capable of transforming into various creatures."

Dolton lacked any better word to describe them. Monsters, maybe. That was one of the man's unofficial titles. None of the forms Nathan had taken on were anything like the other man, but some instinct told him that their powers were similar. And while Dolton was first to admit he was far from a good judge of character, this was an instinct he refused to ignore.

"We knew it wasn't a Devil Fruit because Nathan says he never remembered eating one, and we've seen him handle salt water without sinking," Nami said towards the front of the sled. "Nathan, we'll need to go east at the upcoming fork in the road."

Dolton felt the sled sway as Nathan began to turn. But it wasn't toward the east. Nathan was heading west.

"The other way!" Nami shouted, Dolton watching her restrain herself from going for the reigns as Nathan self-corrected, heading down the proper route toward the village.

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"Come on, Sanji, even I know that isn't true," Thomas chuckled, before coughing, as Norris stepped around a small white rabbit, one doing its best impression of a wolf as Luffy punted it into the distance.

"Ah, really?" The same Luffy pouted, as if learning some sad truth of the universe wasn't what he thought it was. Then again, she blamed Sanji for this, filling Luffy's head with misinformation.

"Yes, as I've explained, skin color is largely determined by sun exposure over generations," Norris continued, realizing not for the first time that Luffy was not the most, educated pirate to sail the Grand Line. Which was truly saying something. Though by now, she had learned for all of Luffy's gullibility and lack of book smarts, it was inversely proportional to his emotional intelligence and stubbornness. "Colder climates like this tend to get less sunlight, thus, people tend to be paler."

Luffy cocked his head to the side as if he was trying to digest this information. She wasn't entirely sure that he would, but it didn't matter. Most of that conversation was Sanji's fault in the first place.

Still, it was a bit surprising. Vivi had always been soft. While she had no idea of the young Princess's true origins, something that Norris felt she was going to have to apologize for at some point down the line. But Luffy had been just as willing to divert them to get a doctor as Vivi had. Possibly even more so. It was weird. Luffy clearly considered them part of the crew already.

And Norris wasn't sure how she felt about that. Technically, as it turned out, she had been working under a pirate before now, one that was by all accounts, considerably less ethical than the Straw Hats. Crocodile. One of the Warlords of the Sea. Who was, by Vivi's account, making an absolute mess out of Alabasta. Normally, she wouldn't expect much, if anything, out of a pirate keeping their word, but still. A Warlord. One that had clashed with Whitebeard at that. Granted, he lost, as would most who challenged the strongest man on the seas.

It certainly hadn't been what she had signed up for. It didn't surprise her the Borque Works was shady, but she didn't think it was ever going to be this bad. Vivi, and her country, did not deserve it. Norris fully intended to help undo at least some of the damage she had unknowingly inflicted. She owed Vivi at least that much. But the fact that Luffy was willing to go this far for Thomas's well-being? It pulled at her. She intended to ask at some point just how Luffy got his bounty. Norris had a hard time believing that he had a bounty of that size, out of the East Blue of all places. At least, he should have had a bounty far sooner than recently. And he didn't even need to fight at Whiskey Peak.

Hopefully, they'd be able to pick up a doctor sooner rather than later. Maybe they'd be able to bribe the old crone at the top of the mountain. Dolton wasn't lying about her age. The man was too straight-laced for that. She knew the type, and she knew it well. How she had managed to live well past what any person should be beyond Norris. A Devil Fruit was probably involved somehow. The list wouldn't have been that long, either.

Sanji came to a stop, causing her to pause as well, the man pulling out a cigarette.

"That might be an issue."

Norris's eyes followed the man's gaze, seeing what lay in front of them. She had to agree. That was going to be a pretty major problem. Those had to have been the Lapin that Dolton had warned them about. And they were just as large as he claimed they were. Great beasts, the size of bears. And they all looked very hungry. Getting hit by something that large would be unpleasant, even for her. Even without Thomas on her back.

Yes, she had enough mass to soften any blows that did connect. She wasn't Luffy. He was without a doubt tougher and could take far more of a beating than she ever could. But he was made of rubber. Anything that hit him was going to be felt by Thomas. Badly. Not that she or Thomas would like feeling that hit much better.

For once, she was thankful that Sanji was here. Getting hit would spell disaster, and while Luffy was here, it was better that they had two, rather than just one. As much as she'd love to get a chance to fight these things, Norris had a far more important job to do than punch rabbits.

The rabbits began to break into a run as a single mass, almost a tidal wave of fluffy bodies, bounding towards them with the intent of eating their flesh. The first was easily avoided, even before Luffy's kick caught it square in the chest, sending it flying backward. The rest? Norris already began booking it towards the woods. Hopefully, something of that size would be unable to navigate through the trees as easily.

"We'll cover you!" Sanji shouted, before launching a kick of his own. The Lapin went far, but at the same time, she knew Sanji could do better. The snow. There couldn't be any other explanation. Neither of them could gain as much traction, or balance as well, or bring as much force to bear as possible.

Norris felt the cold air push in and out of her lungs and she pumped her arms and legs, making her way through the trees as quickly as she could. The cries of the Lapin as well as the splintering of wood told her that they were right on their tail, even as she made it over the edge of a small cliff face. A cliff face that hardly did anything to slow the Lapin down.

Or so she thought. The distance between them and their pursuers only began to grow and grow. Instead, they were just, hopping up and down, over and over. That, couldn't be all that they were doing, right? They wouldn't give up that quickly. Right?

Then Norris's eyes went up slope, her blood running cold. They couldn't be. There was no way that they could be willing to do something like that. But they were. No matter how she tried to look at it, they were doing just as she feared.

"I'm starting to think it would be better to risk Nathan's promised tick disease," Thomas looked over her shoulder, certainly less loopy than he'd been the past few hours.

But when you had a bunch of rabbits the size of bears causing an avalanche? Norris believed that was a somewhat rational response.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

I let out a snort as we pulled into the village. I'd heard Dolton's explanation of why he seemed so surprised, even if it left me with far more questions than it did answers. Who was this person? Why had they been going after this pirate called Blackbeard?

Why did they have supposedly similar powers to me?

Frankly, I didn't know much about how this world worked. But Dolton was treating the fact we had the same ability as abnormal, so it had to be the case. I didn't even know where these things were coming from. Looking gift horses in the mouth wasn't something I tended to do, but there were too many questions left unanswered. Hell, this person could have answers to my questions! If he was stronger than me, he probably had these abilities longer than I had. And if he had them longer, he might know things I didn't!

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Though I had to imagine the odds of us crossing paths were pretty low. He was involved with tracking down a dangerous pirate, after all. Then again, we were trying to fight one who was on the government's payroll, who was certainly breaking a ton of laws and his contract with the Navy in the process.

I stayed out with the sled. We didn't have much time, and taking it to undo the harness, letting me transform back, then if she wasn't there, redoing the whole process? Too much waste. Which left me sitting outside with not much to do. I got some odd looks from the villagers as I stood there, tails twitching as if by a mind of their own.

It felt out being looked at like that as if I was some type of animal. Which I suppose I was, from their perspective. Still had no idea how to handle it, but given how this was surprisingly the first time I'd been around civilians before when using my powers? I think I was handling things pretty okay, even if pretty much everyone was keeping a healthy distance from me.

I wasn't getting anything too hostile, though I think pulling up with Dolton in the back killed any chances of that being the case. However, I saw a man suddenly run into the building I had seen Nami and the others disappear into, a look of worry on his face. It didn't take long before Dolton surged out of the building, grabbing one of the nearby horses, and rushing back the way we had came.

That wasn't a good sign. Dolton wouldn't just up and leave unless he had a good reason to do so. And there wasn't a particularly long list of things that I could think of off the top of my head that he'd been willing to do something like that.

An attack? I snorted, stamping my feet as I pulled the sled around. That was just about the only thing I could think of that Dolton would just rush out there for. And there was no way he was going to be able to turn back a bunch of pirates on his own. Yeah, he looked pretty strong, but he could likely use all the help he could get.

But, Thomas. He needs that doctor, the sooner, the better. I didn't know if we could also cut off Luffy, Sanji, and Norris's progress up the mountain. But if we could at least manage to redirect her? Though Dolton. My mind was conflicted. Dolton had shown us no small degree of hospitality. Well, once we had convinced him that we weren't a threat to him or the people under his care.

I didn't just want to leave him. But at the same time, Thomas needed medical attention. Badly. And he was a member of the crew at the end of the day. I was caught at a crossroads. I wanted to help Dolton, but there was no way I could also help Thomas, the very person we came to this island to save. It was maddening.

Though it hadn't taken long for the rest of the crew to arrive, hopping into the sled.

"We need to head toward Gyasta!" I heard Nami shout as I began to pull, stomping through the snow. The faster we got the doctor, the faster they would return to the castle, and the faster we could get back and help Dolton.

I just needed to follow the road signs.

"It's north along the lake. We're going to need to move fast to catch up!" Nami continued as I nodded, picking up speed as I headed out of the village.

As I did, I failed to notice many of the men were gathering weapons.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Turn to the left!" The pain in Nami's voice was clear, but I had no way to tell me east from my west right now. I pulled into the turn, stomping my way through the snow as fast as my feet could carry me.

Usopp was saying something about seeing a lake like this before. I could see it out of the corner of my eye. It did look quite beautiful. The ice looked solid enough to walk on, and the snow was enough to grant some measure of traction.

But if the road didn't go over the ice, I wasn't going to try. It could probably handle a human, but three humans and a bull pulling a sled? That was far more risky, and while Kansas wasn't cold, it was cold enough for water to freeze. And I had no intention of having a doctor have to fix three to four cases of hypothermia on a good day.

And I doubt she'd be able to fix death. So no unintended swims for us.

My hoofs dug into the cliffside road, still keeping my top speed.

"What is that noise?" Vivi perked up suddenly. I strained my ears, trying to hear anything over the sound of my labored breathing. It was faint, but I could hear it if I focused on it. It sounded, like a rumble?

I was feeling it through my hooves, too. Born and raised in Kansas, I may have been, but I knew rocks. Mountains were common near fault lines. Fault lines meant earthquakes. Earthquakes meant rock slides, mudslides, and.

Avalanches.

And that was a lot of snow. That was a concerning amount of snow.

I didn't think I could get much faster than I already was. But as it turned out, death was a potent motivator. With cliffs overlooking the lake on the left and the avalanche on my right, I had no choice but to push ahead.

"It's gaining on us!" Usopp shouted in panic, even though he wasn't wrong. It was getting way too close, way too fast. At least I had a solution. Tauros, alongside many generation one Pokémon, learned several moves they frankly shouldn't have. The normal types in particular. Tauros was no exception to the rule. Two moves in particular stood out. Fire Blast and Flamethrower.

Asking for them to burn through all the snow was a tall order. But what choice did I have? I turned my head, preparing to release a gout of flame into the onrushing tidal wave of snow.

"Burff!"

Instead, all that left my throat was a weird cough, ash and soot exiting my mouth and noise.

"Nathan?" Nami's voice was full of edge. That didn't go according to plan. Okay, new plan time. What was the best way to avoid an avalanche?

To get above it. Well, get out of the way. But I had no clue what was on the other side of those cliffs, and there was no shelter in front or behind me.

That meant having to go up. But there was no.

I'm an idiot. I'm such a freaking idiot. There was a way out! There was an easy way out!

"Nathan, what are you doing!" Everyone screamed as I turned toward the avalanche. I dug my hoofs deep into the earth, before stamping down.

Earth and stone erupted, rising into the sky. It was narrow, but that was all it needed to be. My hooves dug into the stone, pulling the sled out of the snow and onto the rocks. Friction became more, but I still pulled, not stopping until I reached the top.

I turned around to see how everyone was doing behind me. I saw the three of them clinging together for dear life, looks of terror written all over their faces.

"Let us know that you have a plan next time!" Nami shouted as I did my best to give her a look. It wasn't like I could talk like this.

"Is this even going to work?" Usopp looked over the edge of the sled. I could understand why. This was merely the best solution. At this point, all we could do was hope and pray.

There was a reason I turned to face the avalanche. It gave a smaller profile. Less area to hit, like how a fence with gaps did better during windstorms than fences without gaps.

It didn't take long to feel the impact. The entire structure rattled from the force as the avalanche hit the makeshift ramp. Snow quickly began to swallow the lower portions into its mass. The roar was almost deafening as if cannons were going off in my ears.

The entire structure rattled and shook, bits of rocks beginning to fall. Each passing second brought more reasons to worry. Cracks were starting to form, entire chucks were devoured by the tide of snow. Entire portions lower down began to crumble, unable to resist.

I did my best to hold my ground, but the ground I could hold was getting smaller and smaller with each moment.

Then came a thundering crack, as the earth beneath my feet opened up. Screaming reached my ears as we all fell into the snow.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Nope. Just nope.

Norris didn't even take a second to break into a sprint, heading down the mountain. They weren't fighting that. She'd rather wrestle a dozen of those rabbits than fight that.

They needed to find elevation. Her eyes went to a nearby ledge. It jutted out of the slope. But looking up at the crashing wave of snow, it wasn't going to be enough. Maybe a tree? No, the trunk wouldn't hold up.

Unless.

An idea bloomed inside her mind. It would be risky.

But it would make for a good story if it worked.

"Norris, what are you doing!" She heard Sanji shout, as the tree came down.

"Hold on!" She shouted, keeping her balance as a sense of nostalgia came over her. Three. Two. One.

The force of the snow sent them downhill like a bullet.

"Wahoo!" She found herself shouting, even as the cold cut into her face. The tree wasn't maneuverable, but they were staying above the snow.

Luffy was also shouting in delight as they sped downhill.

That was one problem solved. It stunk that they were losing all their progress, but they could regain that once they were out of harm's way. They just needed to ride this out, and they would be perfectly fine.

Just as the thought passed through her mind, Norris spotted a glint in the corner of her eye, ducking. The glint was attached to claws that were in turn attached to a white, furry arm. The imminent danger passed, letting her look up.

For the first time in a while, Norris was completely, truly, confused. She was surfing down a mountain, on an avalanche, and around them were a horde of bear sized rabbits, also riding trees. This was her life at this moment.

"I'm going to bake these things into a stew!" Sanji shouted, as Norris began to steer. It wasn't her old board, but it would do. She wasn't going to be outperformed by rabbits, lack of water be damned!

Norris leaned in, curving through the throng of bodies, keeping them overshooting their attack runs. They were going to make it. They might have to start at the bottom again, but they would live through this.

They weren't. Before her, an unburied ledge loomed. Well played. It took her a few moments to calculate everything. This was going to hurt.

But it wasn't going to hurt everyone. Just her. She grabbed Luffy and Sanji, tossing them up into the air, before grabbing Thomas.

"Best of luck, prince," she said, before tossing him into the air as well. She knew Luffy would catch him.

"Bawahahaha!"

Norris laughed, deep within her gut as she felt the tree splinter beneath her feet, flinging her into the avalanche.