Chapter One
A/N: This story was started by a request, so the idea did not spring into my head until after I was asked. Not that I am not a Ling fangirl, I am, so I saw this as the perfect opportunity to let out my fandom. It is yet another OC romance, which takes place after Brotherhood. I think those are my favorite type of fanfiction, considering that is almost all I have written.
A future note on the language, I tend to forget that Xing is the equivalent of China in the FMA world, so please excuse me if I throw in several Japanese terms here and there!
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.
Slowly moving across the Great Desert's sand was a caravan of Xingese tradesmen and their horses, pulling carts of oriental goods, food and drink, and canvas for tents behind them. They moved as a pack along their journey, sticking close to their animals. A slim white figure could be seen sprinting ahead, breaking away from their organized group, ignoring the warning calls of those behind her.
"Ushio! Ushio! It is a mirage!"
Instead of listening to the blurring voices of her family, Ushio pushed further, darting across the scorching desert sand on her toes. She was holding her breath as she ran, unable to force herself to draw in the hot air and the clouds of dust she was kicking up with it. She was driving herself forward by the thought of a figure there, about to pass out of dehydration. After all, it would not be the first time that her family's caravan came across someone crossing from Amestris.
She stopped in her tracks when she was about fifty meters from the sight of two dark, doubled over figures, simply to examine them. Ushio saw Xingese eyes glinting in the blazing sunlight and dingy dark hair hanging to their shoulders. Excitement erupted within her upon the realization that, in fact, there were people there, that her mind had not been playing trips on her.
Ushio glanced over her shoulder, watching the slow moving caravan of horses, their carts, and white cloaked figures follow her. Her family was too far behind to wait for them to keep up, and as much as she hated the fact of approaching strangers, she decided that it was better to help the figures sitting in the dunes as soon as possible. Ushio kicked the burning sand from her silk slippers and proceeded forward, keeping her pale black eyes on the figures.
"Ushio, wait for more help!"
There was no one amongst the caravan that could keep up with her in time, no one that had strong legs like hers. She was young, too young to be crossing the desert, but she was doing it anyway. Ushio kept to herself, to close family, but had a way of proving herself even if she was out of her element. She padded forward across the sand, kicking up heated clouds of dust behind her as she walked.
When she was merely several steps away from the figures, Ushio drew down her white cotton hood. Straggly ebony hair fell past her shoulders to her lower back, dirtied from weeks in the endless sand, and her eyes were momentarily blinded by the harsh sunlight pouring directly into them. She could now clearly see that it was a man and a woman, the woman was being forced to drag a limp body along helplessly through the sand. On the stranger's back was a heavy-looking bag, lumps jutting out along the sides.
"You're a trader," said the woman breathily. It sounded as though she was having difficulty simply forcing the words out of her mouth. Ushio was not quick to judge very often, but it was clear that the woman was having trouble because she chose to cross back to Xing wearing all black. She kept a straight face, nodding in reply.
"We are going to Amestris," explained Ushio, "where our business is. We would be happy to take you back with us; it is only a several day journey from here." She assumed that the woman had just left Amestris, but it was the closest way to emit her to any sort of medical treatment. The best the caravan could offer her was water and a small bowl of rice.
The woman lifted her head to the sun, lighting her wide, tired black eyes, as she pulled the man around to sit at her feet. She bent over him, casting a small shadow over his head. Ushio could see she was trying her best to keep him out of the sun. "No," warned the woman sharply, drawing in a deep breath. "Amestris is not safe at the moment, their capital is in ruins. You must head back."
Ushio felt it would be wrong to protest, to tell her that they had been traveling for two weeks and had no intentions of simply turning around. Instead, she offered her hand to the young woman. "Let me carry him for you," she offered gently. "You go ahead and get water for yourself." Ushio glanced at the group that had stopped meters behind her. "They will be happy to help you, I promise."
"No!" gasped the woman, wrapping her arms loosely around the man's unconscious shoulders. "It is my job to protect the young lord! I must do it. I must save him."
"Take some time for yourself," insisted Ushio. "Drink water and return to him when you are in health again. He will be in good hands, I promise." She took no time to think it strange that the woman had just called her partner 'young lord'. She pried the woman's hands away from the man's torso, causing him to slump into the dust. "Please."
With her chin tucked into her chest and her dark hair hanging around her face, the woman trudged forward, dragging her feet in the sand as Ushio tried to coax her into following her back to the caravan. Tall posts had been driven into the dunes by several men; an oriental carpet had been draped over it as a makeshift tent. Ushio led the woman to the tent, where one of the men offered to help take her off her hands. She felt guilty that she could not place a name with the man's face, but she supposed that is what she deserved for stowing away at her father's side during her travels.
As she watched the woman have a cold cloth pressed to her forehead, Ushio turned swiftly in the sand back to the unconscious man, her heels dug firmly into the ground. Strands of dark hair fell over one of his eyes, shading more than half of his pale face from the sun. His features were very vaguely familiar to Ushio, and she thought that he was rather handsome as far as boys she had ever seen were. She stepped over his torso, placing her feet on either side of him, and bent over at the waist, trying to slide her hands under his shoulder blades. He was much too heavy for her to lift. Ushio instead took his loose arms by the hands and pulled him upright, wrapping her arm around his back. She was then able to stand up and slowly move across the dunes to the tent where the woman sat, pale and miserable.
When she had returned to the caravan and placed the man in the woman's care, Ushio could see the others setting up tents in the sand for the night. The makeshift tent had been taken down, and the woman now sat in a folding wood chair inside one of the cloth shelters, a cloth placed on her forehead and clutching a cup of water. The man Ushio had helped to the tent was now propped up with his back against the woman's shins, his head resting on her knees.
Other traders were bustling around, busy setting up their own camp for the night. They seemed to act like they had more important things to tend to than a couple of travellers found in the sand, so Ushio was leaning against the front post of their tent alone. Her onyx eyes were locked with the woman's, but neither of them spoke a word. Ushio could not tell if her cheeks were warming because of the sun or because she was nervous, but her heart was beating rapidly within her chest, telling her that it was most likely she was conscious of her terrible socializing skills.
"Ushio!" her father, Jiang, called over the desert winds. He stood several now-arranged tents away from her, in a white hooded cloak, squinting into the sunlight. Ushio looked up towards her father. "I will watch over your place tonight, look after them. We should make it to Amestris by tomorrow evening."
Ushio nodded vigorously, her motion over-animated to be seen from a distance. Her head snapped back to look at the woman when she heard her rasping voice crackle across the tent:
"You must tell them to turn back. Continuing on to Amestris will not do any of you any good. As I told you, their capital is in ruins and their military is struggling to regain a strong hold on the country." The woman's hands had rested protectively on the man's shoulders again, the cup of water placed in her lap, her dark eyes glinting in the dim lighting. She appeared even weaker in the shade.
She wondered what the woman expected her to do; she had no say in what the others did. She drew the flaps of the tent down, blocking out both the wind and the sunlight. "You are going to have to warn them yourself," informed Ushio, "not to mention introduce yourself since we are going to take care of you until we arrive there."
Ushio realized that she had barely been speaking above a whisper and suddenly became self-conscious of her every movement.
The woman gave a prompt nod in reply. Ushio watched the movement slowly begin to grow subtle, almost until she was nodding because she could not keep her head still. "I will," promised the woman.
They drifted into a silence. Ushio's half-lidded eyes were fixed on the woman curiously, watching her grip the unconscious man's shoulders tightly, protectively. She appeared to worry more about his well-being than her own. Ushio felt she should be filling the awkward stillness with questions, mostly to pull the woman's attention towards herself and her safety but to satisfy Ushio's own curiosity.
"What is your name?" asked Ushio timidly.
The woman glanced up at her. "I am Lan Fan," she murmured, placing her hand over the man's forehead, "guardian of Ling Yao, the future emperor of Xing."
Ushio assumed that was the man she had her arms so possessively. The name was famous, at least around the capital and the trade routes, Ling Yao. He was the prince who travelled to Amestris in search of immortality. She had heard several stories of him, but never imagined a face to go with his name. He was much…prettier than expected.
With another look at the woman's – Lan Fan's – face, Ushio was able to piece together the story. It made sense to her now, why she had been in Amestris but was not a trader of any sort. They were normally the only people that crossed the desert. "How long have you been in the desert?" she inquired.
"A week," answered Lan Fan. "No very much food from the start and no water for three days now." On cue, she lifted the cup off of her lap and to her lips, gulping down the last bits of water.
"We should wake him then," said Ushio, making a small gesture towards the unconscious man. She did not want Lan Fan to think she planned to let them sit there, dehydrated and dying. "Give him something to drink as well and lie him down in an actual bed instead of against your chair."
Lan Fan agreed, "Of course" and proceeded to do just that. She shook him gently by his shoulders and his arms, trying to bring him around. Ushio could have sworn that she saw his head begin to bob, a sure sign that he was coming to. His dark eyes fluttered open, and once they were, it was hard to tell that they were open at all.
A muffled groan slipped through his slightly parted lips, "Food…"
Ushio held back a giggle as she backed toward the front of the tent, using the plan of fetching him a glass of water as an excuse to leave them alone.
"My young lord," Lan Fan gasped, relieved. She held her palm over his forehead again, holding his head back in her lap.
"I will be right back," said Ushio, ducking for the door.
"He is delirious," muttered Lan Fan. "He will need a doctor. Get someone in here!" She continued to ramble on, thanking the heavens that he was well enough to speak but that he was on the brink of death and the sort. "I am here, I am right here."
Dark irises settled upon Ushio, causing her to freeze in her tracks. The prince's eyes appeared closed, but the tiniest glint of light was reflected back at her. "Beautiful…"
XxDaydreamxSyndromexX was happy with it, and so am I. All I need now is the feedback of my readers, so please review!