Hey guys! So, for those of you who are wondering, this is a story from my other Profile, LeadArmstrong- I decided to join the two profiles to make things easier not only on me, but so I can share all of my works with ALL of my fan base. If you've read this story before, please don't hesitate to re-add it to your fave/follow list, and feel free to take a look at my other story Crazy Girl Book 1: The Dark Tournament.
If you are new to this story, then I hope you enjoy it!
"... didn't even let me finish my drink, those wankers..." A girl, maybe 13 by the look's of her, with platinum blond hair and dark indigo eyes stretched out atop a couple of empty booze barrels. "The only thing this place has going for it is the clear sky...maybe if I wasn't always on the go, I'd come to like living here..."
The tavern she set behind seemed more lively than normal, the men and women inside cheering joyously. The hell where they doing in there? Seeing who could pull the most rock dust out of their belly buttons? One voice in particular seemed to cut through all the others, shouting about "expensive things" and "being short". "Sound's like a fun party..." All sound suddenly cut off inside the tavern making the girl raise one finely manicured brow.
"GET OUT!" The sound of a human and a scrap-heap landing none-to-gracefully on the hard dirt road met her ears making a few worry lines appear on her forehead. Who were they picking on this time...?
"HEY! We're customers!" It was the white noise piercing voice that had shouted; the voice was young and brassy, and obviously male- who ever he was, he was new here, and therefore must have done something truly horrible to get kicked out considering he was a paying customer. This made the girl shimmy off the barrels and peek around the side of the building to see what all the fuss was about; it wasn't often anything interesting happened around here. She saw on the ground at the foot of the tavern stairs a short boy (who might have beat her in height by two inches... damn it) wearing a dark red coat, a pair of black boots, black leather pants, black high colored jacket, and white gloves. He had long golden blond hair that was braided at the nap of his neck and fell just to his shoulder blades, with his bangs falling gently on either side of his face, partly obscuring his rich golden eyes. Beside him was the source of that metallic clatter she had heard. This person (couldn't tell if it was a man or woman really) was much taller than the blonde-haired boy, and wore a full body suit of armor with a light blue loincloth around his middle that fell to mid-thigh, and a long piece of white hair protruding from the top of the helmet... weirdo's...
"We don't have any meals or bed's for a dog of the military!" The inn keeper shouted from the door, a crowd of miners standing behind him. All where glaring daggers of hate towards the blonde and his odd companion, that is until the armored person raised their hand to gain everyone's attention... this is going to be good...
"Umm, excuse me; I'm a normal person! I'm not a national anything!" The girl, and the blonde boy nearly fell over in exasperation, with the later calling the one in armor a traitor. To say she was shocked would be an understatement; despite the intimidating spiked shoulders and over whelming size, the voice that had echoed from inside the armor sounded kind and soft, pointing at the armor wearing boy as being MUCH younger then the blonde haired kid.
The towns people didn't seemed shocked to hear such a voice come from the armor, as they practically did a one eighty in their treatment of the armor clad youngster."Oh really? Come on in!" The inn keeper said, all but dragging the one in armor back into the tavern and slamming the door shut on the blondes face. Poor guy.
The girl sighed, her shoulders falling in defeat as the blonde boy stared open-mouthed at the door of the tavern. "W-what the hell just happened?" He asked out loud. He jumped in surprise when someone actually answered him.
"You opened your mouth and spilled the beans about who you are, that's what happened." The girl said before stepping out from the side of the building and making her way towards the blonde boy who gaped up at her in confusion.
"Who the heck are you?!" The blonde demanded as he got to his feet, seemingly ready for a fight.
The girl smirked, shoving her hands into the pockets of her to large black hoodie. "The names Dmitri Armstrong." The blond boy bit back a laugh making Dmitri level out her face into a glare that could kill. "Something funny?" She practically growled out.
The blonde boy bit his knuckle in a failed attempt to hold off his snickering. "D-Dmitri? That's a *pft* interesting name-YIKES!" The blonde boy fell back to the ground as his legs get kicked out from underneath him. Seconds later he is staring into the barrel of a huge gun; like, ten times bigger than him, looks like it weighs hundreds of pounds, gun.
The girl grit her teeth, her left index finger twitching over the trigger and her right hand up on the side of the huge gun holding it in place. "Any last words?!"
"WHAT THE HELL?! Where were you hiding that thing?!"
Dmitri smiled evilly, her eyes glinting with madness as she put a little pressure on the trigger much to the boys horror. "If I told you I'd have to bring you back from the dead after this so I could kill you again-"
"Brother?" Dmitri and the blonde boy jerked their heads towards the confused, echoing voice of the tall armored person who was standing at the top of the stairs with a small tray of food in his hand. "Ummm... did I miss something?"
Dmitri sighed, her blood lust already waning; what was the point of killing someone if you didn't enjoy it? "No; we where just talking." Dmitri said calmly making the blonde boy growl.
He jumped to his feet, pointing an incriminating finger at her. "The hell we where! You where about to blow me into little tiny bits with that ridiculous gun-GAH! where the hell did it go?!" The blond boy looked high and low, searching for the monstrous gun. It couldn't have vanished into thin air, right? Right?!
"She disassembled it using alchemy," the armored person said making Blondie gap at Dmitri who was smirking cockily. "That's what you did, right?"
Dmitri chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "You caught me!" She said as she reached into her tank top pulling out a glass vial that looked to have a black powder inside of it. "In this vial are all the ingredients to make my precious baby; I use alchemy to build her, and then again to put her away." Dmitri laughed right out at the dumbfounded look on the blondes face. "Where the hell did you think I was keeping it?"
A light blush came over the blondes face as he began to stammer and stumble over his words. "Well, ah, you see-"
"Pervert." Dmitri said with a smirk making the blondes face go bright red. The armored person giggled much to Dmitri's enjoyment.
"Don't laugh at me Al, you where thinking the same thing I was!" The blonde said with a glare towards the armored boy.
"And that would be?" Al said in a teasing tone making the blonde growl and turn away from them, his arms crossed over his chest and his nose up in the air snootily. However, it seemed the blush was hard to get rid of as his cheeks where still moderately pink.
"It doesn't matter anymore!" Dmitri sighed as a loud grumble came from the blonde's stomach. "Damn it... I'm hungry..." The blond mumbled under his breath. As if suddenly remembering who he was, Al hurried over to the blond's side and offered him the tray of food.
"Here; I can't eat it, so I saved it for you..." Dmitri lifted a brow; why couldn't Al eat the food? Did he think it's been poisoned?
"LITTLE BROTHER!" The blonde said as he hugged the larger Al around the middle, his small arms not even making it half way around the armor. "YOU'RE A LIFE SAVER!" Al sighed in exasperation. Dmitri reached over and grabbed the sandwich on the tray, splitting it in half much to the shock of the two brothers.
"HEY! Get your own food!" The blond reached for her only to have her foot meet him in the face.
"Consider this payback for laughing at me, seeing as how I was unable to kill you."
The blonde groaned and fell over, his eyes dizzy from the impact of her boots to his skull.
"Uh, brother...?"
Dmitri took a bite of her half of the sandwich and knelt over the blonde, poking him with the index finger of her free hand."Did I kill him?" The blond twitched slightly making Dmitri chuckle. "Nope, he's still alive."
Some time later the blonde woke up, spitting and hissing at Dmitri like a pissed off cat. "What the hell did you have to go and do that for?!"
Dmitri sighed, leveling at him with a terrifying glare. "If you don't shut up and eat your half I'll eat it for you..." The blonde gulped, grabbing his half of the food and shoving it into his mouth with a small "yes ma'am". Dmitri huffed before sitting down on the steps with her back towards the two brothers. "So Al, you're the Elric brothers." Al nodded his head while Ed shifted his eyes between Al and their new acquaintance suspiciously; what all had he missed during his little nap? "And you, in the armor, you're Alphonse while you in the red, your Edward."
"That's right." Al said enthusiastically.
Dmitri slumps over, her face that of pure disrepair. "Why- why did he do this to me?! I'm not cut out for this kind of work; I don't play well with others!" Dmitri wailed out as if in terrible pain making both brothers jump in surprise.
"Ummm- are you ok?" Ed asked with uncertainty.
Dmitri turns around faster than either boy could react, grabbing hold of the Ed's shoulders and getting within inches of his face. "DO I LOOK OK TO YOU?!" Ed stutters in shock as Dmitri collapses into his lap, laying limply over his right thigh. "He's doing this to me on purpose; making me "play nice" with the other kids! And what's more, he made me come sooooo early! I mean, yeah, I had to come here anyway, but why did I have to wait so damn long for you two!? I mean, he had to have known you where running behind-!"Dmitri sat up a little, fire burning in her eyes as she held up a threatening fist. "I bet he knew all along that little bastard-"
"What the hell are you going on about?!" Ed shouted, cutting off Dmitri's rant.
"Who told you to meet us here?" Al asked cautiously.
"That rat bastard Mustang, that's who!" Ed's eyes widened considerably. "He told me to meet you guys here nearly four months ago; said I was to "keep an eye on you", or something like that." Dmitri pull's a shiny silver pocket watch out of nowhere, swinging it in the Ed's face making him go cross eyed from trying to follow it. "I mean, at first I was suspicious when I heard Al's name, but it must be true if you're carrying this!"
Ed snatched the watch away from her, opening it for a moment before closing it again aggressively. "How the hell did you get that?! And what does Mustang think he's playing at?"
Dmitri gave an exaggerated sigh, falling back onto the ground which caused a bit of desert dust to kick up. "Mustang assigned me to be your baby sitter; he sent me out here nearly 4 months ago to meet with the two of you, and to do a routine inspection of the town. How ever, I'm not sure what Roy could have sent you two out here to do."
"WHAT?!" Ed exclaimed, the vein at his temple pulsing irritably. "We came here on a whim! That bastards been watching our every move!"
Dmitri crossed her arms over her chest, a thoughtful frown coming to her lips. "So he didn't even know that you two would be coming here... I really hate that man sometimes..." Dmitri said making Ed and Al both nod in agreement. "But, even if it is late in coming, I am glad you two are here." She sat up then, catching both brothers undivided attention. "While doing my inspection I have come to notice a few things about this place, namely the condition that the people are forced to live and work in."
Al jumped in then, enlightening Ed to what Dmitri and himself had discussed while Ed lay unconscious. "There are corrupt agents here; because of them, the town's people can't get enough food." Ed stopped mid chew, his eyes falling half mast at the information. "That's why they kicked you out; everyone hates the military here, more so than what's normal for this time."
Dmitri nodded in agreement. "Yes, the people are most unwelcoming to our kind here; even those who resent their enlistment to the military are like scum to these people." Dmitri thought back to the bitter-sweet rum taken away from her so harshly... ok, it was only because she is under age, but still! Those scoundrels! "I have yet to speak one on one with the First Lieutenant that runs this place; I was hoping, Ed, that you could come as my back up of sorts-?"
"-UT OF THE WAY!" Dmitri, Ed and Al all peeked over their shoulders as a new commotion started up inside the tavern. Dmitri and Al snuck over to the door, peaking in through the small opening the uneven wood provided. At the back of the room near the back entrance stood two burly looking men in standard military uniforms and one scrawny, snobbish man wearing the same uniform with a few extra buttons and metals on it showing his rank.
"Speak of the devil..." Dimitri mumbled under her breath drawing Ed's attention. He wedged his way between Dmitri and the door, staying low enough that she could still see over his head.
"It's you First Lieutenant. Welcome to this filthy place." The inn keeper said sarcastically. Every civilian in the room was sporting one of two looks; hatred and disgust. The scrawny First Lieutenant scoffed, his partially bald head shinning in the dull candle light of the room as he made his way to stand just before the counter.
"Nice greeting." The First Lieutenant said, arrogance laced through his voice like poison. The Lieutenant wagged his finger as if scolding a child, making the scowl on the inn keepers face deepen. "It seems that this place isn't paying its taxes. How ever this does not stop at you; I could say that same for everyone in this town."
"I apologize; I can't do anything about our pay being low." The inn keeper said, his frustration barely restrained in his tightly clipped words.
The Lieutenant looks around the room, a sharp frown coming to pull at his thin lips. "Hmph, and yet, there is more than enough to just enjoy alcohol? Which means, it would be acceptable if I lowered your income a little-?" Every towns person in the room gasped and shouted in outrage.
"What?! We already can't feed ourselves-"
"What about the children?!"
"We can't afford your taxes at it is-!"
A boy, no older than 9, growled and threw a dirty bar rag to the First Lieutenant, the offending material landing square in the Lieutenant's face.
"DON'T PUSH US AROUND!" The boy shouted furiously. Before anyone could react the First Lieutenant struck the child across the face, sending him sprawling to the ground.
The inn keeper, and consequentially the boy's father, reached towards the boy as if to run to his aid. "Kayal!"
"You little runt!" One of the brutish grunts shouted as he drew his sword from its scabbard.
"Don't give him any mercy because he's a child." The First Lieutenant said angrily and he motioned for his grunt to attack. The big man raised his blade above his head. "This is a warning to you all; you shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you!" The brute shifts his weight and brings the blade down, his aim for the neck of the boy who lay cowering on the floor. The boy finches, awaiting the end of his life. The sound of metal striking metal echoed through the room followed by the sound of a cocking shotgun and shifting armor.
Dmitri pushed the barrel of her shot-gun to the back of the First Lieutenants head while Ed blocked the sword with his auto-mail arm, the impact breaking the blade in two. Al stood behind the other brute, lifting him off the ground by that back of his uniform.
"You're causing a lot of trouble tonight, First Lieutenant Yoki..." Dmitri said calmly, breaking the sudden silence.
"W-who- who the hell are these ruffians?!" The grunt being held by Al shouted as he struggled against the big boys hold. T
he First Lieutenant shook with mild fear at the feeling of the cold barrel against his head. "T-this has nothing to do with you! S-stay out of it!" Ed snickered, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his state alchemist pocket watch, flashing it at the first Lieutenant who paled at the sight of it.
"Nah, I saw the first Lieutenant, so I figured we should stop in and say "hi", right Dmitri?" Dmitri lowers her gun allowing the First Lieutenant to scuttle away from her. She took the moment to reach into her own pocket and produce a pocket watch identical to Eds much to the blondes surprise. First Lieutenant Yoki squealed in terror as he set eyes on Dmitri, recognition making his jaw flap open and closed like a fish out of water.
"Of course, it would have been rude for us to drop in without giving you a proper greeting." Dmitri said, pulling her shot gun back to rest casually against her shoulder. "It seems the three of us have quite a bit to discuss, right Ed?"
First Lieutenant Yoki glanced between the two of them nervously"M-Major Armstrong, w-what a p-pleasant surprise!"