Flight had always been humanity's dream.
Having eaten the Human-Human Fruit, Chopper more or less counted as human. He, too, had once longed to fly, to beat his wings through the sky and look down on all of Drum Kingdom.
But as he grew older, Chopper realized that dream would remain forever out of reach. After everything he had been through with Hiriluk, he found a dream he could actually achieve: learn better medicine, heal the sick, save lives, and become a cure for anything.
At Chopper's question, Kureha blinked and looked up at the sky. "He caught up already? He's fast. But if he came after us, Drake must have escaped. Without Vice Admiral Loa there, those Marines shouldn't be able to stop him."
Hearing that his captain was safe let Mole breathe a little easier. But the thought of facing Loa made his heart race.
"Run, Chopper! Don't let him catch us! He'll tear us to pieces!"
"What?!"
Chopper looked terrified.
"Hahaha! That's what I was thinking! Chopper, head for the Woods. I know a good hiding place!" Kureha turned and led the way into the forest. Chopper hurried after her.
High above, Loa spotted the distant brown figure and clicked his tongue. "Why'd you get so big? You're not nearly as cute!"
Once the group entered the forest, the brown figure vanished from sight. Loa looked down at the dense trees in surprise. "There's a forest this big in the middle of all this ice and snow?"
A thick conifer Woods spread across the snowy plain below. Trees grew so densely together that not a trace of white showed between them. From above, it looked like a rough patch of green cloth sewn onto fine white silk.
"You think I can't find you just because you ran