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EPISODE 06 : THE CHEF & THE CHORE BOY ( Sea Weeper )
TO LOVE A killer is to love Sin. Estrella Narváez abhors Sin, but as for the killer,
She is tethered to it with torn wings and a bloody smile, for she loves the killer more than she could ever love anything else.
It is difficult to reverse such a fate — Just as a fish is unable to untangle itself from the fishing line that digs through its fins.
Estrella has always found the Ocean loves lulling her into its deep waters, and she sinks like a stone because that is all she's made of — Sin and Stone and everything bad that lingers within her of Punto Alto's deepest depths.
Arlong is an opportunist in the way Estrella loathes. He slimes his way in and with a flash of his jagged teeth takes away everything from everyone. What he leaves in his wake is nothing but destruction and salty tears.
He takes Luffy in that same manner — Tossing him out of Baratie and leaving him tumbling dangerously close to the dock's end.
Estrella is left to scramble her way out of the restaurant, Sanji and Usopp close on her heels, breaths short and chest constricted because for once she is afraid — Afraid of experiencing that loss she so desperately wishes to bury in her grave.
The other fishmen leave the crew alone. They are not part of Arlong's great killings, and therefore they are reduced to mere spectators of his exertion of power.
Luffy coughs out a ragged breath, massaging his throat. Red and purple hues blister his skin, and he writhes morbidly on the wooden floor, senses flooded with pain.
Estrella is too slow, too fractured of a body to get there in time, and Arlong blocks her path and keeps her from her captain.
"I don't know what's so special about you, boy," He spits out, nose mangled in a bloodcurdling snarl, face scrunched up hideously.
Luffy grins, his eyes flickering in pain, and he stands. Estrella catches a glimpse of his unruly curls and godforsaken straw hat, and she feels herself let out a breath.
"Why don't you come find out?" The pirate taunts, bringing his knobby fists up to shield his chest.
Punch after rubbery punch, Luffy throws Arlong off balance, tumbling and shaking the deck under his large frame.
But he is just a boy, and Arlong is almost three times his size — It takes minimal effort for the fishman to block one of Luffy's hits and grab him by the ankle, throwing him like a sack of potatoes.
Estrella feels dread crawl and scrape in her stomach as they near the port's edge, closer and closer to the waves that thrash against the old wood.
"Luffy!" Estrella calls for the man, but before she can run to him the arrival of two fishmen keeps her from moving.
