Varin woke some time later to a soft shuffling, the kind that didn't belong to boots or medical carts or anyone with typical human legs. It was light, quick, almost nervous. He cracked one eye open, vision still fogged at the edges.
What he saw made him freeze.
Small. Three feet tall. Brown fur. A tiny lab coat.
And a pair of hooves awkwardly holding a syringe, tapping the air bubbles out like he'd done the routine a thousand times before.
Varin's first thought was a deadpan plea to whatever gods he hadn't offended yet.
Please let that be the damn reindeer Kureha mentioned. Because if not, then some random three foot tall bipedal deer creature was currently filling a syringe with something and was definitely seconds from stabbing him.
The little thing looked up right as that thought crossed Varin's mind.
Wide eyes. Big nose. Antlers that looked a little too soft to be threatening but somehow made him more unsettling.
The reindeer yelped, nearly dropping the syringe, then scrambled behind the nearest supply cabinet like Varin was a hungry predator who'd just scented dinner.
Varin sighed into his pillow.
"Fantastic. You must be the assistant." He lifted a hand, palm up, slow and nonthreatening. "Promise I'm not gonna maul you. Not even a little. Probably."
A tiny set of hooves clacked nervously behind the cabinet in reply.
"You… aren't gonna try and eat me like the other two, are you?" the reindeer squeaked, voice wobbling between fear and that stubborn little edge he used when he was trying to pretend he wasn't afraid at all.
Varin blinked at him. "Did Luffy and Sanji try to eat you?"
The reindeer's ears snapped back flat. "They chased me around the whole castle!" he shouted, then immediately shrank in on himself, hooves fidgeting, cheeks puffed out. "B… but it's not like I was scared or anything! I just didn't feel like getting eaten by a bunch of idiots! Don't get the wrong idea!"
Varin choked on a laugh, clutching his bandaged ribs. Even half-dead he could picture it. Luffy barreling after anything that looked even vaguely edible and Sanji losing his mind at the sight of a talking animal that also happened to look tasty.
"Kid," Varin wheezed, "if you ran, that sounds pretty reasonable."
The reindeer peeked out from behind the cabinet, eyes big and round. "Well… you're a wolf," he muttered, staring at Varin like he was trying to decide if he needed to bolt again. "A really big wolf. And animals like me can tell! You give off that whole… predator smell!" He jabbed a hoof in Varin's direction. "So don't think you can trick me!"
Varin lifted both hands, palms open. "Relax. Last thing on my mind right now is turning you into a snack."
The reindeer huffed, crossing his tiny arms. "D… don't say stuff like that! It makes me embarrassed! Idiot!"
But he didn't run this time. He stepped out from behind the cabinet, shoulders tense but trying very hard to act braver than he felt.
Varin watched him waddle over on those tiny hooves, syringe held like it was both a medical tool and a weapon he wasn't totally sure how to use.
"So…" the reindeer mumbled, eyes darting up at him, "um… I guess I'll… give you your medicine now. But don't thank me or anything! It's not like I'm doing it because I care!"
Varin smiled tiredly. "I'd appreciate that."
The kid hesitated at first, ears twitching back like he expected Varin to swat him away. But he still stepped in, those small hooves surprisingly steady as he reached for Varin's forearm. He guided it up, searched for a vein with practiced instinct you wouldn't expect from someone who looked like they should be worried about wolves, not battlefield triage.
Then he pressed the syringe in. Quick. Clean. Like he'd done it before under worse circumstances. The medicine slipped into Varin's bloodstream with a cold, liquid burn.
The reindeer kid stayed there a second longer than he needed to, watching to make sure Varin didn't seize or pass out again. Only after the syringe was empty did he lower his hoof and wipe the back of his arm across his nose.
Varin blinked the haze back and let out a slow breath. "What's your name? Mine's Varin."
The kid startled a bit, like he didn't expect him to talk already. His eyes darted up, wide and unsure, but he didn't back away this time.
"Ch… Chopper," he said, voice small but braver than his posture. "I'm… I'm Chopper."
He straightened a little, as if remembering he was supposed to look like a doctor and not a terrified deer in a human-sized room.
"You… you were hurt pretty bad," Chopper murmured, glancing at the bandages, the bruises, the stitched lines along Varin's side. "I… I didn't know if you'd make it."
He fidgeted, hooves tapping together anxiously.
"But you did," he added quickly, almost defensively. "Because I helped. And because you're tough. Probably."
Varin gave him a small, tired grin. "Probably."
Chopper's ears perked just enough to show he heard the gratitude hidden in the word, even if Varin wasn't the type to say it outright.
Then the kid took half a step back, eyes scanning Varin like he was checking for a dozen other issues at once, tail flicking in short, nervous jerks.
"You still look kinda messed up," Chopper muttered. "So don't do anything stupid. Or… or I'll punch you. And then fix you again. But I'll still punch you."
"Ha, definatly see kureha in you, so howd you get the whole human sthcik? Devil fruit or you just born weird?"Varim asked, titling his head so he was looking Chopper in the eye.
Chopper bristled immediately, fur puffing up like he'd been hit with static. "I'm not weird!" he squeaked, voice jumping an octave before he coughed and tried to drop it back down to something tougher. "I mean… I'm not that weird. And don't say stuff like that while you're lying there looking like a squashed crab!"
Varin snorted. "Relax, lad. I meant it as a compliment."
Chopper crossed his arms, nose lifting with a little huff that was way too proud for someone shaking in their hooves. "Well… if you must know… it was a Devil Fruit. The Hito Hito no Mi."
"Hito Hito," Varin repeated, trying to wrap his head around it. "Human human. So you ate a fruit that made you… part human?"
Chopper nodded, hooves tapping together. "Y… yeah. I used to just be a normal reindeer. Well, not normal normal. My nose was blue. The herd didn't like me. They said I was a monster even before I ate the fruit." His voice wavered for a second, eyes flicking away. Then he straightened, trying to bury the crack with bravado. "But then I ate the Hito Hito no Mi and I got even weirder. Could walk, talk, think. And transform."
Varin watched him shift his weight, expression torn between pride and that old ache that never quite left.
"So yeah," Chopper finished, looking anywhere but at him. "That's how I got the whole human… thing. And don't say it's cool or anything, because I'll kick you. Idiot."
Varin grinned. "It's cool."
Chopper exploded in fluster. "D… don't say that! I'll get embarrassed! You jerk!"
Chopper took a second to calm down, hooves fidgeting, breath puffing out in tiny frustrated bursts as he muttered something about idiots and compliments and stupid humans who don't listen. When he finally looked back at Varin, his eyes were sharp again, curious in that cautious way he had.
"So uh… how did you get so hurt anyway?" he asked. "I couldn't ask your crew because they kept trying to eat me… and the orange haired one…" He trailed off, shuddering like he'd remembered something traumatic.
Varin raised a brow. "Nami threatened you?"
Chopper shook his head. "No, she…tried to recruit me to your crew."
Varin snorted. "Sounds right."
Chopper huffed. "So… yeah. What happened to you?"
Varin adjusted his head on the pillow, ribs twinging. "Got into it with another Devil Fruit user. His fruit let him make wax. Not just candles. Stuff harder than steel. Even without being able to cut steel yet, I should've handled him."
Chopper leaned in, ears twitching. "But you didn't."
"No," Varin admitted. "I transformed. Not the full one. But a fragment, I suppose. A beast fueled by rage instead of sense. Didn't understand fire. Didn't get that its teeth weren't breaking through that wax. I took a good hit. Hard enough to knock me back into my human form. And then… well. Here I am."
Chopper looked at him for a long moment. Not scared. Just thoughtful.
"That's dangerous," he said quietly.
"Aye."
"You shouldn't transform if you can't control it."
"Aye."
Chopper puffed out his cheeks in irritation. "Stop agreeing so fast!"
Varin grinned. "Aye."
Chopper stomped a hoof. "You're impossible!"
Then, after a second, he slumped a little, voice going small.
"But… I get it. I know what it's like to lose control. I made…. a drug, I guess is what you could call it, they mess with my transformations. Make me stronger, but harder to think. I've scared people before, too."
Varin blinked. "You? Scary?"
"I can be scary!" Chopper snapped, then immediately blushed. "S… sometimes."
Varin's grin softened. "Then I guess we both have beasts to figure out."
Chopper fidgeted, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like Don't say stuff like that, I'll get emotional stupid jerk before he straightened again.
"Well… fine. But if you transform in here and break my hospital bed I'm telling Kureha you did it on purpose."
Varin flexed his fingers, slow and deliberate, watching the tendons tighten under the skin like he still didn't trust his own hands. "I think we're clear on that part," he said. "I didn't transform willingly when it happened. Not sure I could if I tried."
Chopper's ears perked. "So it's not controlled at all?"
"No," Varin said. "Feels more like… something waiting. Something that decides for me." He swallowed, gaze drifting to the ceiling. "Feral. That's what it feels like. A wolf with its own mind. Mine, but not mine."
Chopper crept a little closer, curiosity outweighing fear. "Does it hurt? When it happens?"
"You're a Zoan too aye? Does it hurt when you transform?"
Chopper winced. "I guess not, that was stupid question."
"Aye. But it got me through a few fights," Varin added with a crooked smile. "Just not the last one."
Silence hung for a moment. Not the heavy kind. More like Chopper thinking as hard as his little brain could.
Then he poked Varin's arm with one tiny hoof. "Well… if it happens again, tell me first."
Varin raised a brow. "You want a warning before I turn into a giant beast that scares every animal on this island."
"Yes," Chopper said, puffing out his chest. "Because someone has to figure out how to treat you when you're half wolf and half stupid."
Varin chuckled. "Bold words for someone who fits in a backpack."
Chopper gasped. "Take that back! I'm very tall in Heavy Point!"
"Terrifying," Varin said, deadpan.
Chopper stomped the floor once, flustered. "Y…you really are impossible!"
Varin smirked. "Aye."
Chopper glared, cheeks puffed again, but then his voice softened.
"…You scared me. When I first saw you. I thought you were gonna bite me."
"Sorry about that."
Chopper shook his head. "It's okay. I scare easy. But… I think you're alright."
Varin lifted a brow. "High praise."
"You bet it is," Chopper said. "And don't ruin it by doing something dumb like standing up."
Varin slowly slid his legs off the bed.
Chopper shrieked, "Don't stand up!".
Varin pushed himself upright with the stubbornness of someone who'd rather chew glass than admit weakness. "Sorry, doc," he grunted. "But I'm going crazy just laying here. Haven't been this still since I was a wee lad."
Chopper immediately launched himself at Varin's shins, tiny hooves thumping against him like frantic little drumsticks. "Sit down sit down sit down you can't stand yet you're gonna tear all the stitching and Kureha's gonna throw you out the window and I'm not cleaning that up!"
Varin kept rising anyway, grimacing through the pull in his ribs. "Relax. I'm not running laps."
"YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN BE RUNNING A THOUGHT," Chopper yelled, still bonking him like an enraged toddler trying to fight a refrigerator.
Varin gave a tired laugh and scrubbed a hand through his hair. "Chopper, lad, unless you've got a tranquilizer dart over there, I'm gettin' up."
Chopper froze.
Very slowly, he turned his head toward the tray.
There was, in fact, a syringe.
A big one.
Varin followed his gaze. "Don't you dare."
Chopper grabbed it.
Varin backed up like the reindeer had suddenly sprouted fangs. "Chopper. Lad. Think about this."
Chopper pointed it like a sword. "Sit. Down. Before I sedate you so hard you wake up in next spring."
Varin blinked. "You… wouldn't."
Chopper's little hoof tightened around the syringe. "Try me."
For the first time since he'd woken up on Drum, Varin hesitated.
"…Fine," he muttered, easing himself back onto the bed with all the enthusiasm of a man sitting on a porcupine. "Happy?"
Chopper huffed, shoulders rising. "Very."
Varin let himself sink deeper into the straw-stuffed mattress, breathing out like the world had personally offended him. "Great. Taken down by a walking snowman with antlers. New low for me."
Chopper planted his hooves, arms crossed with all the confidence of someone exactly three feet tall. "Good. Remember it. Maybe it'll stop you from doing something dumb the next time you wake up."
"Alright," Chopper said after a moment, almost cheerful, "hold still."
Varin's eyes widened a fraction. "Hold on. Why do you look so happy about this?"
"Because," Chopper replied, stepping closer and raising the syringe like a tiny executioner, "I need to check on your crew. And you can't be trusted to stay put. At all."
He didn't give Varin another second.
The needle slipped into his arm with a quick, efficient motion.
"Ah, come on," Varin groaned as the cold numbness crept through his arm. "At least lie to me and say this is vitamins."
"It's not," Chopper said simply, pressing the plunger.
"Brutal honesty… you get that from Kureha too?"
"Probably."
Varin's vision began to smear at the edges, the world dipping like someone was tilting it by hand. Chopper's voice followed him into the fog, faint but annoyingly chipper.
"Just nap. I'll be back after I check on the others. Don't go anywhere."
Varin let out a slow, already slurred breath.
"Not… much choice… tiny doc…"
"Good. That's the correct answer."
"Really… tired… of… sleeping…" Varin mumbled, fighting the sedative like it was some kind of personal rival. His eyelids fluttered once, twice, then dropped hard. His whole body sagged, limbs going slack as the last bit of tension drained out of him.
Chopper watched until he was sure. Really sure. Like checking-for-a-pulse twice sure.
"Haaaaa… finally." He let his shoulders fall, ears drooping in exhausted relief. "There was enough tranquilizer in that to knock out an elephant. A big elephant. And he was still winning for a second. What is he made of, iron and bad decisions?"
Next time Varin woke up, it wasn't gentle or peaceful. No soft beeping, no Chopper muttering medical threats at him.
It was Nami shrieking at the top of her lungs as she sprinted past his open doorway, wrapped in a blanket to shield her From the cold.
Right behind her thundered a massive, round man with a gut like a barrel and a metal jaw gleaming in the lantern light. He barreled past with enough force to rattle the doorframe, shouting something incoherent but definitely aggressive.
They both vanished down the hall.
Two seconds later they ran past again, Nami doubling back the opposite direction, blanket flapping, the metal jaw guy stomping after her like some deranged wind-up toy.
Varin blinked. Once. Twice.
"…The hell?"
Another lap. Nami, blanket. Screaming.
Big metal-jaw dude, sweating like a hog.
Both ignoring the very injured man trying to sleep.
Varin swung his legs off the bed with a low groan, the kind that said he was absolutely not cleared for this but also absolutely done with being everyone's favorite tranquilized patient. The floor felt cold under his feet, and his muscles protested every inch he straightened.
They zoomed past again.
"Alright," he muttered, grabbing the nearest thing he could use for balance, which turned out to be the IV pole he ripped out of the stand. "Nope. I'm up. I'm investigating. Because apparently I live in a circus now."
He staggered toward the doorway, wincing as his still-sore body reminded him he had been heavily sedated not that long ago. But curiosity was a hell of a motivator, and the non-stop Nami-shrieking was even worse.
He stepped out into the hall just in time to watch Nami sprint by for the fourth round, blanket slipping dangerously low, yelling "SOMEONE DO SOMETHING!"
The metal-jawed stranger tripped trying to turn after her, skidded across the floor, and slammed shoulder-first into a wall with a clang loud enough to make Varin wince.
"…Yeah," Varin muttered under his breath, gripping the IV pole like a makeshift staff. "This is already one of those days."
He took a careful step into the hallway, eyes narrowing, ready to figure out what kind of chaos he'd just woken up into.
As he stared down at the scene and instantly regretted waking up. Nothing made sense. Nothing ever made sense with this crew, but this was a new level of absurdity.
The hallway he thought he'd stepped into was actually some kind of sprawling central chamber, tall ceiling, stone pillars, tapestries, wide staircases that spiraled off in every direction. A castle, yeah, but the kind of castle where someone had decided doorways were optional and chaos was mandatory.
Somewhere off to his left, through the distant open main gates, he could hear shouting, metal clanging, either a fight or a parade or both. He filed that away for later.
For now?
He did what any rational half-awake, half-medicated, wholly confused man would do.
He yelled.
"Oi! What in the nine realms is going on out here? Some of us are on bed arrest!"
His voice cracked through the chamber like a thrown axe. Nami and her pursuer both froze mid-chase, mid-scream, mid-wheezing-waddle. They were a floor below him, staring up with matching looks of surprise, although only one of them looked even remotely sane.
"Varin! Save me! This maniac wants to eat me!" Nami shrieked, still clutching the blanket like it was her last possession on earth.
Varin squinted at the man behind her. When he'd last seen him, the guy had been a walking boulder. Now he looked like someone had pressed him through a pasta maker. Leaner. Meaner. Metal jaw still shiny, but now on a body that somehow didn't look like it could flatten a carriage by sitting on it.
Varin leaned over the railing like he was inspecting a malfunctioning appliance rather than a man threatening cannibalism.
"Oh aye? That true, mister—hold on." His eyes narrowed. "How in the hell did you lose three hundred pounds in the time it took me to walk out my room? Did someone deflate you? Did you molt? What am I looking at?"
Nami, still wrapped in her blanket and running for dear life, shrieked back at him, "Why are you asking him questions?! What part of he's trying to eat me did you not get?!"
Varin pointed at her without looking away from the suddenly-skinny man.
"And you're a chronic liar who might just be using me as a meat shield to escape trouble you caused yourself."
"Eeehh?" the metal-jaw man sputtered, his voice a weird mix of hunger and confusion. "So you're part of that Straw Hat brat's crew too? Come on down here so I can munch ya!"
Varin sighed like a man who had just gotten confirmation that, yes, the universe really was out to make his day weirder.
"Alright, I'll give you that one, Nami."
Before either of them could react, Varin vaulted the railing in one smooth, reckless motion. The drop wasn't small, but his body responded like someone had switched him back on—whatever Chopper and Kureha pumped into him was doing wonders.
He hit the snowy ground with a solid thud, knees bending, momentum absorbed cleanly. Steam puffed around his boots. His breath fogged the air.
And he straightened up calmly, brushing ice off his sleeve.
The metal-jaw man blinked. "H-hey now, you didn't have to jump. I just meant—"
"Oh no," Varin said, rolling his shoulders, cracking his neck. "You threatened to eat someone for breakfast. That means you and I are having a conversation."
"A… conversa—?"
"Yeah. With my fists."
Nami, from the stairs, yelled, "Hit him extra hard for scaring me!"
Varin didn't look back. "Still not sure you didn't deserve some of that, but I'll put it on the tab."
The metal jawed guy crouched lower, his breath hissing through those steel teeth like he was warming up to bite through a car door. That jaw clicked again, sharp and impatient. "Come on then, brat. Let's see if you taste better than you talk!"
Varin rolled his shoulders, joints popping in a chain all the way down his spine. "You know… I think I've said this before. Might've been drunk, might've been half dead, can't remember," he muttered, almost like he was talking to the snow. "But I've been feeling… veykr. Weak in common tongue. Soft. Mushy even."
He took another step, closing the distance with a slow steady pace that made the metal jawed man's eyes twitch. Varin didn't hurry. Didn't tense. Just kept walking.
"I've not done much since I joined up," he went on, rubbing his wrist, rolling it, cracking the knuckles again. "Mostly pickin up sloppy seconds from me captain and the first mate. Barely had to throw a proper punch." His jaw tightened as he worked at a kink in his neck. "Then the first real fight I get in, I end up gettin my ass kicked cause I lost my temper."
Another step. Snow crunching under his boots. His breath fogging the air.
"But now?" He shook out his arms, letting that trapped stiffness bleed out. "I'm thinking I need to earn my keep. Seven years alone turned me rusty. Didn't know how much it stuck till I tried swinging at someone again."
He cracked his back in one long, satisfying stretch.
Then his eyes lifted, finally landing on his opponent. Calm. Clear. Almost excited.
"So… let's see if I can knock that jaw clean off and get things runnin proper again."
The metal jawed man didn't wait for a cue. He lunged, snow blasting out behind him, jaw opening wide enough that Varin could see the hinges straining.
Varin didn't flinch. Didn't step back. He just shifted his weight like he was remembering how his own body worked again.
The guy's jaw snapped shut right where Varin's throat had been a heartbeat earlier. Varin twisted sideways, slapped a hand down on the metal cheek like he was pushing aside an overeager dog.
"Easy lad," he said, tone calm as a frozen lake. "I've not warmed up yet."
The metal jawed man snarled, spinning with surprising speed, aiming a kick straight for Varin's ribs. Varin ducked under it, brushing snow off his sleeve like the attack had been a mild inconvenience.
Nami yelled from behind a snowbank, "Stop playing with him and hit him already!"
"Woman, please," Varin called back, stepping around another bite aimed at his shoulder. "Man's tryin his best, I'm tryin to respect the effort."
The metal jawed guy roared, grabbed a chunk of snow packed with ice, and hurled it at Varin's face. Varin leaned left. The chunk blasted a crater in the wall behind him, shards scattering like knives.
"Right," Varin said, planting his feet. "Warm up's over."
The man charged again, head low, jaw open, ready to clamp down on anything that fit between the teeth.
Varin didn't dodge this time.
He stepped in.
One movement.
Clean. Simple. No flourish.
His fist shot straight into the guy's gut, right above the belt line. A blunt, heavy hit that sounded more like a tree trunk snapping than a punch landing.
The metal jawed man wheezed, body folding around Varin's knuckles like he'd been hit with a cannonball.
Varin held him up by the vest so he didn't drop too fast.
"There we go," he said, like he'd found the right rhythm in an old dance. "That feels familiar."
He let go.
The guy hit the snow on his knees, coughing, jaw hanging loose.
Varin flexed his fingers one more time, then drove his knee straight up under the man's jaw. The metal plate didn't just bend, it collapsed inward with a thick crunch that vibrated through Varin's whole leg. The guy's eyes rolled back before he even hit the snow, body going slack like someone cut every string holding him together.
"And it seems you were a sloppy second as well," Varin said tiredly, brushing a fleck of metal off his knee. "Shameful. A true disgrace. Odin would weep at this sight."
He nudged the unconscious man with the toe of his boot just to double check. Nothing. Not even a twitch.
"Good lad. Stay there."
He turned away, rolling his shoulder, wrist popping, already feeling a burn in his knuckles that told him he'd actually done something worthwhile for once. He barely got three steps before the front doors slammed open so hard the hinges groaned.
"HEY FAT GUY, WHERE'D YA GO, I STILL NEED TO KICK YOUR ASS!"
Luffy came barreling in like a loose cannon in sandals, eyes blazing with excitement rather than concern. The moment he saw the metal jawed man lying folded on the ground, he skidded to a stop so fast he kicked up a spray of snow.
He stared. Jaw dropped. Then swung around to Varin with the baffled enthusiasm of a kid discovering fireworks.
"Varin! You beat him up already?! I only got to punch hin a few times."
Varin rubbed the bridge of his nose. "He was tryin to eat your navigator. I felt that took priority."
"But I wanted to fight him," Luffy complained, pointing dramatically at the unconscious body. "That guy was super weird! Not really strong! And mean he shot choppers flag.!"
"Aye, well he's not mean anymore," Varin said. "Just weird."
Nami stormed over, blanket still wrapped around her, fury and embarrassment mixing on her face. "Luffy he was going to EAT me, where were you!"
Luffy put his hands on his hips. "I got distracted watching chopper beat up some people, he was really cool!"
Nami screamed into the snow.