Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa, but the OCs are all mine.
Author Note: This takes place after the manga, thus there will be spoilers. Also, the first few chapters deal mostly with OCs, so please bear with me :)
The boy ran, and ran, and ran, searching for what he had lost. His breath caught in his chest as he panted and heaved, drawing air desperately to his starving lungs. His arms pumped furiously as if to propel him farther with every swing. Branches slapped his face and torso, forcing him to acknowledge that it was not a dream. The boy came to the edge of the forest and stopped, no longer certain of where to go. He had searched everywhere, and now he was out of options. He raised his head to the clear, star-lit canopy above and roared out his frustration. His cry of pain echoed throughout the forest, sending nocturnal animals scurrying back into their respective burrows. The boy's hazel-green eyes filled with unshed tears as he struggled to catch his breath. His golden hair clung to his face in sweaty clumps and his pale white skin was scoured with small red scratches. "Why did you leave?" he sobbed brokenly, falling to the ground. "Where did you go?" He dug his fingers into the wet earth beneath him. "PRIYA!"
Ryan woke up with a start, one hand outstretched, his body drenched in sweat. He sighed and dropped his arm over his face. "What a bad dream" he murmured. He lay there on the bed for several more minutes before several loud thumps on his door forced him to rise. "Who is it?" he muttered as he placed his feet on the ground and draped a dressing gown over his lithe figure. "Come in!"
"Ryan, you're late!" With her loud, trumpeting voice, a girl stormed into the room, her round face drawn into a scowl.
Ryan observed the girl with amusement as she plodded around the room, attempting to find a surface not covered with clothing, newspapers or other personal items that Ryan had not bothered to put away. She was a girl of average height and a broad build with muscular arms and legs. Of course, her muscle was not apparent to the naked eye since she always wore loose, baggy clothing. Ryan only knew her true strength because she had bested him before. Her skin was a light brown, a sort of light chocolate colour. Her hair was nearly black with lighter brown streaks showing in the sunlight. It was tied back in a messy braid with thin wispy strands floating around her head. Her eyes, peering over purple rectangular glasses, were like a cup of black coffee – dark to the point of being black at the edges, but they faded to a chocolaty brown near her pupils. Ryan admired her straight nose and high brow, noticing the way her thin eyebrows moved animatedly as she grumbled about the state of his room. Her lips, always a little chapped, barely moved as she muttered her complaints in an undertone. Ryan smiled as he saw the small dimple on the right side of her upper lip. It was one of the few lasting marks that she had from her trombone-playing days.
The girl glared at Ryan. "What are you smirking at?" she asked suspiciously.
"Nothing."
The girl eyed Ryan, not quite believing him, and then seated herself on the bed next to him. "You need to clean your room."
"Did you wake me up just to comment on the state of my room?" Ryan ran a hand through his hair wearily, and then looked at his hand in disgust. His hair was dripping with sweat.
"Are you alright?" the girl asked suddenly. "You're sweating like a pig."
"Thanks for the observation" Ryan remarked dryly, grabbing a towel from his bedside table to dry his hair.
"No seriously, you look paler than you usually are. What's wrong?"
Worry filled the girl's face, making her seem younger than she already looked. She reached out and placed a tentative hand on Ryan's forehead. "You don't seem to have a fever."
Ryan brushed her hand away in irritation. "I'm fine. It was just a dream" he snapped. He could never stand it when she acted so kind.
"A dream?" The girl looked pensive. "What kind of dream?"
"It was just a dream!" Ryan stood up angrily, not caring that his dressing robe had slipped off.
"Okay, okay. Chillax." The girl drew back. "You're so touchy."
Ryan sighed. "Sorry. I'm just feeling a bit out of sorts."
"You could've fooled me" the girl remarked dryly. "You've been on edge the whole week."
"You said something about me being late?" Ryan reminded, wanting to draw the conversation away from him.
The girl slapped her palm against her forehead. "Damn! I completely forgot. We're supposed to visit Tou-san at nine o'clock sharp today!" She jumped up from the bed and ran towards the door. "Get ready now! We have to leave in exactly five minutes."
"Wait a second!" Ryan leaped forward, attempting to grab the girl's wrist. However, his foot got tangled in a bundled-up shirt and he tripped magnificently. The girl was pulled down after him, his hand clasped firmly around her wrist. They fell to the ground with an earth-shattering thump.
"What the hell, Ryan?" the girl shouted angrily. "I could have split my head open!"
"Shit, I caught my foot in something..." Ryan groaned, lying on top of her.
"Do I want to know what's going on?" a voice asked from the doorway.
Ryan looked up and froze. An almost perfect doppelganger of the girl beneath him leaned against the doorway, one eyebrow raised in amusement and her arms folded across her chest.
Ryan suddenly realized that he was not wearing any clothing and was laying on top of his companion in a most suggestive manner, while she was swearing incongruously.
"Well?" The doppelganger smiled gently.
"Ah, shit."