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EPISODE 07 : THE GIRL WITH THE SAWFISH TATTOO ( nojiko the guardian )
THE STRAW HAT pirates reached land before the afternoon. by then, zoro's legs had miraculously healed and he no longer needed to be all over anjali.
though, he still kept close enough so that their shoulders occasionally brushed together as they walked around the village — or, what was left of it, anyway.
one of the houses was completely torn from its foundations, the roof impaling the already ruined earth.
"never seen that before." zoro murmured.
anjali was walking in between him and sanji, everyone staring at the ruins of what was once a village with sadness in their eyes. this was where nami grew up.
was this really what she wanted to return to?
"what could have done this?" sanji asked quietly.
"arlong and his pirate crew." anjali responded through gritted teeth, hands clenched as her eyes went dark at the sight of what the fishmen had done.
"oh wow, great observation there! didn't realize arlong was the worst fish in the east blue!" buggy screeched, sarcasm oozing out of every word he spoke.
sanji was carrying him around, and anjali glared down at the sack before slamming her fist into it.
"ow!" the clown cried out, and didn't utter another word.
"that's one way to shut him up." sanji said, a small grin painting his face.
"he had it coming." anjali shrugged.
they continued their walk around the destroyed village, getting closer to the soft chatter of voices in the distance with every step they took. at last, they reached a clearing where a large crowd of people were gathered around.
anjali assumed they were the villagers. their faces were bleak and miserable, tugging at her chest and making her heart ache. even if her type of misery wasn't the same as theirs, anjali could imagine how they felt.
a heavily scarred man was standing, facing the crowd, a wooden box in his hands. he regarded the villagers like a friend, gently and with a frown.
"please, everyone. we don't have much time, and we're short again this month."
a villager stepped up, placing a few more coins into the wooden box. "is this enough?"
the uniformed man shook his head sadly.
"do we have time to get some more?" the villagers began clamoring, distress straining their voices and lining their faces.
"no."
a ringing silence filled the air, and anjali turned her neck so fast it could've snapped, the sound of a familiar voice echoing in her mind.
"you don't." nami, her arms crossed and tattoo fully exposed by her tank top, walked in through the already torn-down gates.
