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EPISODE 05 : EAT AT BARATIE! ( Death's Dove )
AT TIMES WHEN Estrella Narváez finds she cannot breathe — sinking within her suffocating skin — She clenches tightly the monument of her Home, cool metal searing against her palms like a palpitation of a bloody and broken heart.
Dracule Mihawk, as he promised, did not deter from Roronoa Zoro at dawn, despite Estrella's moderately benign protests.
She avoids the man the way she would anybody else; But Mihawk is not anybody else. He is a man who has killed Estrella countless times. He has watched her die for an eternity that consumes her, he has watched her fall into the depths of Mother Ocean, and he has fished her out.
From beside her, Monkey D. Luffy watches the scene with an expression that cannot possibly be contempt, but seems so all the same. He adjusts his straw hat the way Estrella does her sword — Cautiously. Expertly. As though such an object meant more than life itself.
Zoro is five steps ahead of them, and Nami is nowhere to be seen. Estrella knows because she spent countless minutes of her morning searching for that splash of orange hair and the smell of tangerines, only to find them gone.
An ill dread settles in the bounty hunter's stomach, replacing the alcohol she had so sparingly consumed last night in hopes of avoiding the pressure of discussing backgrounds and sob stories.
Estrella debates whether she should say any kind words of encouragement to the green-haired man, but she decides otherwise. The fleeting memory of the day before is still fresh in her mind.
Usopp is the closest to her, head bowed and neck exposed as he slouches his way down the rickety dock. His eyes are downcast, full of morning tears and mounting anxiety.
Estrella feels pity for him. She silently hands him a drink from her flask ( She stole it long ago from the ship's storage ) and motions for him to take it.
The sharpshooter is too trustworthy. He takes the drink without a second thought, washing away the alcohol plaguing his mouth with a thank you and a tired grin.
Estrella faces forward once more. She can feel the piercing stare of the Warlord, who watches her silently.
Don't tell me you're attached to that crew?
The words thrum dangerously against her temple, and her eyes close as she inhales sharply, turning away from Mihawk's hallucinogenic eyes.
It is the Warlord who speaks first, saving Estrella from her spiral into anger. She clenches her weapon, feeling her own pulse against the hilt.
"Monkey D. Luffy." Dracule Mihawk sounds the same as he always does; Dull, with slight intrigue hanging off his downturned lips.
