60 Swing and a Miss

Frost covered my hair as I stood on the deck in the middle of a blizzard, the Drum kingdom was only a day away, but ice and snow had been a constant for the better part of a week. At first, everyone was excited as they thought it meant a break from training, but they were wrong.

"How are you guys doing? Only a few more hours to go." Leana and Cal were submerged in barrels above hot coals, and the disparity between the temperatures was throwing their body functions in turmoil.

"Tell me again why we have to do this?" Leana was panting, her tongue hanging out of her mouth, and Cal wasn't fairing much better. "Both of you have been training your bodies and are on the cusp of a breakthrough. It is to refine your muscles to make sure that you're at peak performance."

They both glared at me, and I smiled, snorting Cal leaned against the rim of the barrel, "That sounds like a bunch of bullshit." Shrugging, I looked up into the sky, "Evos hasn't complained once yet. What does that say about you, Cal?"

My youngest pupil was hovering in mid-air, creating a vortex of clouds to hover. While it looked easy, I understood the complex physics required to stay balanced in such weather. Looking ahead, I could barely see through the snowstorm, even with my enhanced vision.

"So what are you going to do if we find him?" Ace stopped next to me, and I could feel the heat coming off of him. "Cut off his limbs, then drag him back to Pops." I could feel Ace look at me sideways, "Don't you think that's a little cruel crippling him."

"I already took his left foot. I don't see the problem. Besides, I can heal him back up." Ace paled, "That's even more frightening somehow." I sighed, "But to be truthful, I don't think he's going to be here. But while we're at the Drum kingdom, I want to see someone."

"Oh, you know someone out there?" I shook my head, "No, not personally, but my teacher told me about a fellow doctor who lives there. And I want to compare notes." My reasoning was enough for Ace as he nodded and squinted, trying to peer through the thick snowstorm.

"I think I see something!" Ace pointed, and I was able to follow his finger to a small dark smudge on the white landscape. "Okay, I guess we can get a little closer, but I don't want the natives firing at us preemptively. Make sure to ask anyone that wants to go into town. We'll depart in half an hour."

After their long stint in the bath, Leana and Cal declined to go into town, only leaving me Evos and Ace. Donning heavy cloaks, the three of us walked into town, trying not to draw any wanted attention. While we couldn't ask around if anyone had seen Teach, there were other ways to learn information.

The bell at the door rang as I stepped into the bar. Everyone turned to look at us over their shoulder before turning back around, writing us off as tourists. Sitting down at the counter, I smiled, "I'll have two glasses of your best rum."

The bartender nodded and, after a second, placed down two heavy mugs filled to the brim with amber liquid. Ace picked up one shook his head at me before he started to drink. Evos looked a little lost, but I ordered him a sandwich, and soon he was right as rain.

"So what brings the two of you to town?" One of the bar patrons asked, his beard still sprinkled with snow, "Just visiting, we're on vacation from Alabasta, we've heard stories about the weather here. What is it called snue, sow, ah what was it?"

The man chuckled, "I think you mean snow." I snapped my fingers, "That's it, Snow. Such a beautiful thing, but it was plain hell navigating through."

"You'll get the hang of it, though you're the second group of visitors we've had in the last month." I could hear Ace shift in his seat, "Oh really, you know some of our merchant friends usually come this way. Can you tell me what they looked like?"

The man snorted and looked like he wanted to spit, "They were no merchants. They were pirates, three of them, and the one who looked to be in charge had a peg leg. They only stayed for a few days, but the entire town was on edge the entire time."

After finishing our meal and paying the tab, we left the bar, "We were too slow, and now we don't have any leads." Ace slammed his fist into the wall cracking the stone, "Whiles that's true, we can still keep going. The guys said there were three of them, meaning Teach is amassing a crew. His next step will be to find a ship and treasure."

Evos nodded, "Then he would go to Alabasta right. It's the closest island." I shook my head, "No Crocodile is still there, and even if Teach isn't that infamous, it's a warlord's job to capture pirates. He wouldn't take the risk."

"Then what's the next island that doesn't have a War Lord?" I shrugged, "We can figure that out later, but I need to go find the witch doctor. Evos, are you coming?"

Evos nodded and started to float up into the air on a cloud, "Okay then, don't respond. Well, I'll see you back on the ship." I grew a pair of wings and jumped into the air. Catching up to Evos, I jumped on his platform and held on.

The cloud sped up, and I sat down, "Wait, where is she. I don't see anything but mountains." I smiled, "Just head towards the middle one. There should be a castle. Also, if you see a humanoid reindeer, don't freak out."

Scoffing, Evos followed my direction, "After meeting you, I don't think anything will shock me."