Author's Note: I do not own FMA or its characters. This is AU and was previously posted as part of An Apple a Day.

Captive

Riza Hawkeye was different from the rest of the slaves, and everyone knew it. From the slavers themselves to the other slaves, they all had realized that she was something different. Part of it was the fact that Riza was somehow defiant despite the fact that she complied with the orders given her. Slavery hadn't broken her yet. But what people weren't aware of was the fact that Riza actually knew what was going on. She could speak the language of her captors, not that she was going to tell anybody that. However, she did have a problem.

The fact that she was currently bound for the capitol of Xing and a life of slavery was not a pleasant one. However, existence in Amestris right now wasn't exactly pleasant either. Riza didn't know how things had degenerated so quickly. Her best source of information about that had disappear just before the government had begun putting heavy restrictions on everything from public meetings to what food people could buy. Men were being drafted into the army at increasing rates, and violence and lawlessness had been on the rise. It really wasn't any safer there.

And Riza did have contacts in Xing. She just didn't know if she would be able to get in touch with them. Her father's former student was the son of a Xing noblewoman. After her father's death, Roy had told her that she could call upon him for anything. But that still meant that she had to find a way to contact him. Riza wasn't sure how to do that now. Roy has been planning on joining the military and becoming a State Alchemist. In fact, Riza had given him her father's research on flame alchemy in order to do so. However, Roy had never showed up at the state trials, and things had gotten so bad more quickly than Riza could find out what might have happened to him.

She was pretty sure that she was still alive. Riza knew Roy well enough to know that he would oppose what the government had done, and the government would make a big deal out of capturing and executing him. She just didn't know where he was currently. Roy had always been something of an oddity. He was the son of a highly ranked Xing noblewoman and a wealthy Amestrian merchant. He'd been raised with a combination of Amestrian and Xing ideals and values and could move easily in both cultures. It had been his aunt who had sent him to study with Riza's father. That was when he and Riza had met.

Riza would admit that she had developed a crush on the man. He was three years older than she was, and he was one of the few males that she had met who had always treated her as an equal. His friendship had always meant more to her than that crush, and her father had kept and romantic attachment between them from really developing. But Roy was her best chance of making a decent life for herself at this point. She just had to make sure she survived to find and contact him.

Her captors were actually helping with that. Riza had been listening in on their conversations. Amestrians made for fairly exotic slaves, and this group was being taken straight to the capitol to be sold to the nobility. The slavers expected to get quite good prices for all of them, and that meant both keeping them all alive and well, but also not injuring or damaging them in any way. And that was why Riza had made no attempt to escape as of yet. Well, that and the fact that she knew that she couldn't easily survive in the desert on her own. She had some tentative plans for what do when they reached the capitol, but it was hard to plan when she didn't have the details she needed.

With a sigh, Riza shifted on her meager pallet, trying to find a more comfortable position to sleep in. Not that she was very likely to get much sleep. Riza had been sleeping lightly ever since she had been captured. It meant that she woke at every little sound or disturbance, but it was better than being caught off guard. There were only a few more days before they reached the capitol now. Once they were in the capitol, Riza had some decisions to make about what to do.

She could try and escape. That was probably her best option if she could manage it. If she was sold to someone, it might be easier to escape from them, but Riza wasn't sure she could wait that out for a good opportunity. Of course, what would be the best possible outcome would be for Roy to be at the slave auction and for him to buy her. Riza didn't think that was too likely. For one thing, Roy didn't believe in slavery, and Riza doubted he owned any slaves if he was here in Xing. So, she would probably have to figure something else out.

Riza sighed again softly and fingered the excessively long chain that kept her bound to the tent pole. She wasn't sure what she was going to do or what she would do next. Riza didn't really like that, but she couldn't change it. She tried to clear her mind. She needed the rest. When they reached the capitol, she would need to be alert and ready to act.

Theme: Excessive Chain