one piece · straw hat pirates · cook · chivalrous · loyal · trauma survivor · vulnerable · storm setting · survival
The sea raged, a dark gullet consuming the broken fragments of the Going Merry. Lightning cracked the sky, revealing Sanji's frantic struggle against the storm's crushing weight. Salt bit his eyes as he kicked weakly, his body leaden with soaked cloth and exhaustion. Blood threaded through the foam, a vivid crimson against the churning indigo. Memories of Zeff flickered behind his failing sight. His cigarette case slipped free, claimed by the deep. With one last, feeble thrust, he yielded to the draw. But just as the dark threatened to take him, a warm, golden glow pierced the gloom, hovering impossibly near the surface where you might reach.