Hunger

Chapter 3

Columbina sat on her knees, leaning over the body of the man she'd knocked clean on his ass. She frowned down at him, not quite sure what she should do. Minutes were going by and he hadn't stirred, a giant lump forming on the side of the head where she'd clocked him.

Part of her brain was screaming at her to run away; being stranded alone on an island with a man she didn't know in her state could prove perilous for either of them. The other part of her brain was awash with guilt that she'd reacted the way she had--upon further inspection the guy looked no older than some eighteen or nineteen year old kid that she'd damn near cut down before reaching his prime.

Speaking of the word cut, Columbina took notice of a few things about the stranger--three different katana were on his person. How that even worked in the midst of battle she might bother to ask him if he woke up. A bit of what looked like green hair peeked out from underneath the black bandana adorning his head. His left earlobe was pierced three times...

All irrelevant pieces of information save for the weapons. He was either some sort of swordsman or pretending to be one. Columbina felt around her boots, making sure that her twin pair of sai were still sheathed properly. Carefully, she gripped the handle of the left one and pulled it free, holding it aloft so she was good and ready to plunge it straight into the guy's femoral artery if need be.

Her breathing had steadied but her pulse beat erratically. She'd worry about her own vital signs once she was sure the swordsman's were intact.

With her free hand Columbina put her knuckles next to his face, relieved when a trickle of air hit her skin. Green boy was still breathing at least. She watched for his belly to rise and fall as he inhaled and exhaled, trying to count his respiration rate without the use of a watch. Once satisfied that he was okay on that front, Columbina pressed two of her fingers against his neck, searching for the carotid artery to take his pulse.

He seemed to be okay, which she wasn't sure she was thankful for yet or not.

She unsheathed the other sai and placed it above where she'd taken his pulse. Carefully leaning down to where her lips hovered mere centimeters over his, Columbina began to channel her Devil Fruit powers.

You'd better be thankful, bucko. I'm choosing to save your life while my own isn't promised right now.

She brushed her lips over his, not quite kissing him, just needing the tiniest bit of skin to skin contact to make sure her energy could be transferred into him. His breath tickled her face, smelling faintly of ale. She also caught a hint of what smelled like cloves, perhaps from some kind of blade maintenance oil he used.

In the twilight her powers came alive, if only for a brief second. The color of her normally grey eyes faded away like the sun in the distance, an eerie indigo glow replacing them. As she parted her lips a slip of that blue-violet energy left her and slithered it's way into the swordsman's mouth.

He let out a low moan, the sound more from pain than pleasure. He began to cough himself awake. Columbina tried not to flinch as a bit of spit hit her face.

Good. The bit she'd chosen to spare for him and would probably regret later had managed to rouse him. He was going to wake up with a giant headache and maybe a bit of a pitched tent in his pants--a sometimes unfortunate side effect of the energy being sexual in nature. She'd long ago learned to cast aside any feelings of weirdness in that respect when she needed to save a life.

"Luffy--!" the swordsman croaked out, his eyes flying open, boring into Columbina's which she'd quickly reverted back to their natural color.

"Luffy? Is that your name, kid? Luffy?" Columbina pressed her sai into their target points, "If I were you I'd not move, Luffy. You're not the first asshole to sneak up on a girl when she's not aware of her surroundings and you wouldn't be the first I've dropped for thinking they can get away with it."