"Why does he always send me to do the dirty work?" Zeff muttered to himself as he emerged from a cave at the base of one of Drum Island's many steep cliffs.
The fog of his cold breath rose above his head as he attempted to get his bearings through the mild storm. The whipping winds were nothing too violent, but his unfamiliarity with the area made getting back to The Fancy a frustrating prospect. While he contemplated conserving his energy while Rocks was getting his treatment, he shrugged his shoulders as a little practice with his new abilities would also probably not be the worst thing in the world. Raising his right hand in front of him with his palm facing out, he closed his eyes as he did his best to concentrate.
"Cold Storage," Zeff whispered as the winds that kept whipping by his face began to suddenly cease.
The falling snowflakes gravitated toward his outstretched palm like metal to a powerful magnet, and the air itself began to warm rapidly. Taking consistent deep breaths, Zeff slowly opened his eyes as the winter storm that had been annoying him a moment ago swirled like a small white tornado in his palm, and he couldn't help but laugh as he looked around at the still and peaceful environment that he now found himself in.
Unfortunately, that peace lasted for no more than a few seconds before the distant sounds of cannon fire drew Zeff's attention. With the storm still actively swirling in his palm, he traced the source of the noise from the second round of cannon fire toward the direction of the dock that The Fancy would have anchored at.
"God dammit, who did those kids piss off already?" Zeff muttered as he crushed the small tornado in his hand, the snowflakes that it had been reduced to melting back into the snow beneath Zeff's feet as he marched in the direction of the chaos.
***
The chaos of building being torn apart by cannon fire and the screams of the civilians of Drum were all that Sakazuki and Mayando could hear as they shoved and tackled various bystanders out of the way of falling debris.
"We can't just keep running around and putting out fires, Mayando!" Sakazuki shouted as he infused Haki into his fist before punching through a falling beam. "Whoever those pirates are should be getting to the shore soon, I'm going to go stop them!" he shouted through the pandemonium that surrounded them, sprinting back toward the dock before his crew mate could respond.
Dashing through the streets was incredibly difficult for Sakazuki to navigate through, as the fires from the burning buildings mixing with the heavy snowfall created a mix of steam and fog that heavily obscured his vision. The discovery of his ability to tap into The Color of the Supreme King when he was a teenager and his natural knack for Armament Haki made him feel like an invincible warrior at times, but Zeff explaining the concept to him was the first time that he had ever even heard of the concept of Observation Haki. While he was confident in his usage of Haki in general, his current situation made it clear that adding variety to his suite of abilities probably wouldn't hurt.
Despite the heavily obscured environment, Sakazuki managed to eventually find his way out of the town proper, and was just in time to see the trio of ships that had been attacking Drum drop anchor. Each ship had roughly 50 people disembarking from each, all of them wearing a similarly styled set of armor to the man he had first seen when the fog had cleared. The bright flower pattern was elegant in its design, but the high quality of the clearly master crafted armor that the patterns were painted upon gave away the combat prowess of their owners.
While they all wore matching sets of armor, the towering man that Sakazuki had initially seen leading the small fleet was clearly in charge. Landing on the dock first, he approached the town with a confident stride, stopping briefly once he saw the young pirate standing before him.
"Can I help you, young man?" He asked in a strangely warm and polite tone.
"What? What are you talking about? Why are you attacking Drum?" He asked incredulously as the small army of soldiers began to descend from the ships.
"I'm sorry, but that's confidential information," he said as he slowly continued his approach. "What I can tell you is that my name is General Kageki, and my crew and I are a part of the Happo Navy. The royal government of the Land of Flowers has sent us here on urgent business, so please step aside or we will be forced to proceed through you," he said without breaking his stride.
"Whatever official business this is doesn't need to have this level of collateral damage. These people are innocent," Sakazuki said as he clenched his fist tightly.
"Oh, what naïveté," he said as he opened his palm so that it faced Sakazuki. "No one is innocent, young man," he said before a sudden burst of force coming from Kageki's direction knocked Sakazuki off of his feet.
Landing on his back and kicking up a small cloud of powder, he shook his head as he attempted to get his bearings. Just as he stood to his feet, the massive general suddenly appeared towering over him, and steadily held his palm out once more.
"Stand down, young man. Being a hero isn't worth-" he began to say before the sound of a shout caused him to look toward the village.
"15000 Pound Waterfall!" The voice shouted just before a massive wall of water knocked Kageki off of his feet.
The general sailed through the air like a shooting star before crashing into some of the troops behind him, and Sakazuki turned around to see Mayando holding his palm out in a flawless Fishman Karate stance.
"Zeff better cook a feast when he gets back for leaving this all to us," he said with a smile as he grasped Sakazuki's hand and pulled him up to his feet.