EPISODE 06 : THE CHEF & THE CHORE BOY
( Arlong The Saw )

USOPP FINDS BOTH Estrella and Luffy in Nami's room, where they silently watch Zoro.

Estrella chooses to take a seat farther away from the green-haired man, allowing Luffy time to murmur his stories and smile in a way that didn't reach his eyes.

The straw hat is distraught — He smiles and he laughs, but beneath his pearly white teeth is a disgusting phlegm of doubt that keeps rising further and further up his throat.

Nami saves Estrella from having to watch the scene in front of her, her voice carrying through the wooden walls.

"Luffy!" She calls for their captain from within the ship, and Estrella follows after him when he leaves Zoro.

The longer she stays by the man's side, the more her limbs feel glued to the chair, unable to rise and escape what she fears is consuming her.

Nami and Sanji stand in the kitchen, a good seven feet apart. The orange-haired woman gnaws on a piece of her hair, fingers curling and rubbing the strand together vigorously.

"The Arlong Pirates are at Baratie. We have to leave now." She pleads, and for the first time since Estrella has known Nami, the fear bleeds through her mask and etches onto her face.

Luffy looks at the woman, confused. "What? Why? Why should we leave?"

Nami stares at him, swallowing slightly. "Because they're looking for you."

"Me?" The straw hat raises a finger to dig into his bare chest.

"And the map." The tangerine-haired woman says irritably before turning to Sanji. "Those fishmen will tear this place apart if Zeff doesn't turn him over."

The blonde says nothing, only walks at a brisk pace out of the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Usopp asks, his voice catching slightly in his throat.

Sanji pauses. "If Baratie's in danger I need to be there."

Luffy gives the taller man a nod. "I'm coming with you."

Nami looks around the crew, her eyes growing dimmer as the seconds tick by. "Did you not hear what I just said? They are hunting you. We need to run."

"I'm with Nami on this one." Usopp chimes in his agreement. "I'm not really trying to ruffle any feathers or scales —"

"I'm not running." Luffy interrupts, eyebrows stern. "We're going to protect this place."

"This isn't your fight," Sanji states. "Why would you do that?"

The captain grins like it's the most obvious answer in the world. "You fed us."

Nami breaks in with a tremble in her voice, begging Luffy to reconsider. "Look, I know this crew. Their captain, Arlong, has the highest bounty in all of the East Blue. You do not want to mess with him."

Luffy doesn't hear her out. "It sounds like he messed with us first."

"Luffy, please." She whispers. Her eyes scan around the room. "Estrella, back me up on this."

The brunette looks at the faces on the ship. As nice as Sanji had been, she cannot jeopardize the safety of everyone on board to help him.

"I'm with Nami. If we leave, they'll follow after us. We don't have to get involved to help." Estrella lets her mind wander to the injured body lying against Nami's bed.

Luffy thinks for a moment, but Estrella can tell by the look in his eyes that his mind has already been made up.

"I can't let innocent people get hurt because of me." He says softly. "If those fishmen guys want a fight, we're gonna give them one."

He takes a few steps closer until he and Nami are face to face. "You stay with the ship and protect the map, hmm? It's gonna be safe with you."

Nami says nothing as she glares at the straw hat, and he playfully nudges her shoulder.

"Come on, Estrella. I need your help." Luffy smiles as he makes for the exit, eyes twinkling as if he knows there is no way he's going to lose.

Estrella hates that glimmer that never seems to fade within his eyes. She nods but doesn't return his grin.

She agrees, only for the sake of being Luffy's blade while his true weapon lies on the ledge of death, recovering his breath and his body.

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‎BARATIE IS FILLED with murmuring clamors of protest from the guests within. It is the first thing Estrella notices, trailing behind Luffy like a marionette lacking strings.

The stench of high-strung nerves fills the restaurant, and at the center is a man — No, not a man. He would hate to be regarded as such, for he believes himself to be far superior.

"Which one of you is Arlong?" Luffy presents the question with a snarl bubbling in his throat.

The man is hardly ever angry, but the joy in his twinkling eyes fades into simmering rage.

The Fishman in question rears his big ugly head in their direction, and Usopp cowers behind Estrella. She offers him her shoulder, some might say in a protective stance, but she ignores it.

"Who's asking?" He grunts, and his abnormally thin and long nose comes close to gouging out the eye belonging to the slack man in his grip.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy." The pirate introduces himself in all his straw-hatted grandeur. "I heard you're looking for me."

Arlong's strong chin wobbles as he exposes rows of deathly sharp teeth. "Why, yes, I am."

He watches Luffy descend the winding staircase with narrowed eyes. Estrella, Usopp, and Sanji follow a few steps behind him, eyes traveling across the room, gaging their enemies.

Estrella spots around half a dozen fishmen scattered amongst the white linen-covered tables.

"So this is the pirate I've heard so much about?" The fishman's tone drips with condescension, the barbs in his nose as sharp as his tongue. "You know, I was expecting someone . . . bigger."

Luffy gives the man a once-over, seemingly uninterested. He raises his eyebrows in mock effect. "So was I."

"Do you know who I am, boy?" The smirk on Arlong's brutish face contorts into a deep scowl. "I'm Arlong the Saw. Even the Marines flee before my flag."

Estrella represses the urge to unsheathe her blade and simply disconnect one of the fishman's limbs. Luffy interrupts her violently graphic thoughts with a smile and a shrug.

"Not ringing a bell." He hums. "How'd you find me anyway?"

Arlong chuckles, a deep and off-putting sound that resonates through the eerily silent walls of Baratie. "An old friend helped me track you down."

He clicks his tongue and a fishman nearby digs through a black sack. Blue and vivid red are the first colors to greet Estrella's eyes, followed by the repulsive voice and yellowing teeth of none other than Buggy the Clown — Or at the very least, his head.

"Heya, Straw Hat!" He greets with a large grin painting his face. The man looks thoroughly glad to be out of the sack. "Did you miss me?"

Luffy reels back in shock. "Burpy?! What are you doing here?"

"Believe me, it wasn't my first choice either." A look of distaste runs along the clown's red-smeared lips. "But these fine fishy folk persuaded me to point them in the right direction, which ain't easy when you don't have any hands."

He chuckles to himself, and when no one else shares the sentiment, his chuckles die down.

"How'd you even know how to find me?" Luffy asks, raising a brow. From behind him, Usopp and Sanji look confused.

"I told you," Buggy says eerily. "I've got eyes and ears everywhere."

Just as the words leave his mouth, a flesh-colored appendage wriggles out of the red ribbon on Luffy's hat. Estrella feels the need to gag as the ear flies through the air and attaches itself to its owner.

Buggy cheers loudly to himself as his ear sticks back onto his head. "Ha! Stereo!"

Luffy swipes his hat off his head and stares at it, slight disgust crinkling his brow. "You were listening all along? You heard everything?"

"Everything." Buggy replies in exasperation. "And that got old quick, 'cause you shidiots have no idea what you're doing."

"Hey, Lips," The pirate-clown's head hops slightly to turn to look at the fishman who pulled him out of the sack. "How 'bout a scratch behind the old ear, huh?"

The fishman swirls the bottle of liquor in his grip apprehensively. "Sorry, honey."

Buggy's grin twists into annoyance. "Oh, come on! Give a clown a break. I — Oh, wait! No! Not back in the bag!" He wails. "It's so dark and wet and sandy . . ."

The rest of his words are muffled by the sack.

It is Arlong's turn to speak again. "I want my map, along with half of whatever you plunder as tribute."

Estrella scoffs at his words. Luffy has never 'plundered' from anyone — That man hardly has enough money to pay for a meal. If anyone deserves that money, it's Estrella.

( That is, after all, what Luffy promised her when they first crossed paths ).

"And if you bow down to me, I might even let you serve in my kingdom."

"I don't bow down to any man." Luffy scowls.

Arlong looks furious. "I'm no man."

" — Or fish." The straw hat adds. "And you're no king."

The fishman growls. "I will be when I get my Grand Line map."

Their captain breaks into a toothy grin. "Then, you're gonna have to fight me for it."

Arlong's razor-sharp teeth split into a half-snarl-half-smirk. "Then let the fighting begin."

He takes one step, and the deafening sound of a gunshot pierces the air. Estrella hears her ears ring as the empty cartridge clinks against the tiled floor.

On the other side of the restaurant stands a man with a braided mustache and a chef's hat — Estrella recognizes him immediately as the man who stitched up Zoro — Red Leg Zeff. He holds a gun in his arms, pointing at Arlong.

A nearby fishman yells in rage and slams his heavy foot into Zeff's wooden leg, shattering it into fragments that scatter against the floor.

"Zeff!" Sanji yells loudly, bolting to help his mentor and friend.

The blonde kicks a fishman before leaping onto a table and making a few fancy twirls before landing some good hits on the square-jawed fishman that broke the head chef's peg leg.

"Really great fighter." Luffy comments with raised brows, and Estrella gently shoves him forward.

With his final kick, Sanji's leg gets taken ahold of by the fishman, and he punches the blonde into a table.

"Now would be a good time to step in." She says with an air of not really wanting to be there, but nonetheless wanting to get the job done.

Estrella kneels beneath the now fallen table, hoisting Sanji up by the armpits into a sitting position. He scrambles up fairly easily, his fingers catching on Estrella's clothes with hesitance as he coughs out the blow from his stomach.

"Thanks," He mutters weakly as Estrella drags him towards the staircase, and Usopp helps steady him.

The brunette hums her response, keeping her eyes on the restaurant-turned-battlefield.

"Gum-Gum Pistol!" Luffy yells as he catapults his arm towards Arlong.

He catches it with ease, bringing the straw hat reeling forward into his webbed grip. The fishman throws Luffy into a pillar, striking him straight across the head and leaving him to land with a groan on the floor.

"Shit," Estrella murmurs under her breath, leaving Sanji and Usopp to regain their vigor before joining the battle.

Her weapon finally has the chance to breathe, and it does so with glee, erupting into a dance of fury that twists and turns, leaving thick indents of bloody trophies upon the flesh of the fishmen.

Estrella's fingers ache; Her sword has lain untouched for the past few days, and the ichor that courses her veins is thick and slow — She cannot wield the weapon of Home as she once had.

The blade dances slowly, choppily, failing its mark where it never had before. Estrella scrunches her face into a scowl, and her emotions seep into the metal the way they always do, and she finds a new motivation.

Protect the Substitute.

( If she cannot reach Home, then Estrella Narváez will not let what she has slip through her fingers again ).

"Get up." Arlong grows as he drags Luffy.

Estrella wants to sink her blade into his thick neck, but she has two fishmen lunging toward her and so little time.

Luffy will survive, Estrella reminds herself. He always does.

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‎ ✣ AUTHOR'S NOTE !

twenty chapters wowowow

i didn't forget ab this fic i promise u 😓 i was js busy bc i uploaded a whc1 fic on a whim and now i have to balance writing chapters for both with my outside life !! (this is not shameless promo i swear im just genuinely struggling LMAOO 🙏)

rlly short chapter tho bc it's basically just half the fight scene 😣 i was going to write the whole scene but then i realized that it would be too long so ill finish it next update !!

nami betrayal to come 😓 both scared and excited to write that 🤗 also estrella backstory very very veryyyy soon (prob like around the time where they sail to nami's village/ when nami is revealed to be a 'traitor' !!)

i'm pretty sure i asked this already butttt since we're nearing the end of the first volume i wanted yalls opinions on the love interest ! who's ur fav ?? i need reasons, answers and opinions bc im still conflicted on who to make endgame ☹️ honestly im easily swayed so the ending could depend on u guys 😭

next chapter will be finishing the fight and ofc on nami's 'betrayal'! def buckle up bc i doubt it'll be a happy chap 😊

as always feedback would be very appreciated !! questions, advice, etc, anything goes!!!! i take criticism pretty well so dw ab hurting my feelings

anyway pls lmk if there are any mistakes in the spelling or anything so i can fix it !

also don't b afraid to vote or comment, i will probably (very likely) reply!!!! and if you don't understand something, plsplspls lmk!! i want yall to fully understand what's going on

happy reads!

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─── ANNIE