Ed froze when the sound of a far off explosion screamed in his ears, causing him and Al to jump.
Smoke from what they guessed was a forest fire filled the air, making Ed cough. Al, being only armor, was fine. But when the flames kept leaping high like pillars of heat, they knew it was no natural forest fire.
A shrill cheer came from the shroud of smoke. They stared at it, eyes searching for the trace of the sound.
Arms and the feathery tips of wings broke free of the dark clouds. The flutter of those wings blew away the surrounding smoke and ash, revealing a girls, arms stretched out for balance, tail and ears angled back from the wind, and amber eyes sparkling in thrill of flight and perhaps something else.
"A warrior...?" Al whispered.
She flinched and swerved in her flight, one wing awkward as it tilted sideways too much in her haste to avoid a blast of flame, shooting up as if to try and engulf her into itself.
Ed recognized it immediatly.
Roy's flame alchemy.
He and this warrior were fighting.
Flame after flame, none left even a burn mark on her, didn't even singe her. Roy looked irritated, snapping as fast as he could after spotting her in the clouds.
He growled deep in his throat as he snapped again, just to have her skillfully evade it, skimming over the top of the explosion of heat and seemingly hovering just out of range.
Riza dashed up beside Roy, aiming her pistol and firing without hesitation. The sudden attack alarmed the warrior, and in a brief moment of panic trying to dodge, Roy finally hit her, setting her on fire.
She screeched in agony and turned tail, rocketing towards the lake deep in the forest. Roy's smirk vanished and he shouted orders, chasing after.
Ed, staring after him, suddenly had an idea.
A warrior.
Judging by it's appearance, it had to be a Mistclan warrior. Could she turn them back to their original bodies?
With that lingering thought, he grabbed Al's metal hand and bolted off after Roy, mouth set in a determined line.
The two made it to the lake just in time to see her falling towards the lake, wings curled around her body, feathers morphed into razor sharp metal slabs used for speed. Surprisingly, it didn't seem heavy, just cut through the wind like paper.
Her eyes were closed and ears flat, preparing for a water impact. She stabbed straight into the water and sank deep below the protective waves, curled in on herself.
Roy grit his teeth. He couldn't attack her or even get her from his position.
Her wings unfurled in the water depths and morphed shape to become a greenish blue leathery substance, the space between each scaly outline of a feather webbed, that cut through the water currents like a knife, gliding her through effortlessly.
They gave a harsh flap downward, propelling her to the surface, eyes still shut tight. Drawing her arms out for leverage, her eyes snapped open and glowed.
Pillars of water shot from the lake, swirling and rippling. Clenching her hands into a fist, the water all flew through the air towards Roy, drenching him and knocking him back into a tree.
A crack and the tree fell backwards.
Coughing and sputtering, he shakily stood, wiping his mouth. "Colonel! Are you alright?" Al asked, worried. Roy finally noticed them, looking a bit surprised. Ed didn't care, his gaze was fixed on the girl beneath the waves.
Her face, though distorted by the water, was clearly starting to redden from lack of air. She kicked up, wings giving her both a boost and extra leverage in the currents and pushed her up.
Blasting up from the water, her wings changed from leather to pristine white feathers again and heaved her back up into the air, though slowly, for she was water logged now.
She gulped in air, filling her deflated lungs once more. Panting, she worked hard to keep aloft, perching in a tall tree close to her to shake off the worst of the water, wringing out her hair.
Roy cursed profanities and grabbed a gun from his pocket that Riza lent him. Turning to the brothers, he glared. "Don't just stand there, DO something! Knock her unconscious!" He snapped.
Ed grimaced, but reluctantly clapped, pressing his palms flat to the earth. An alchemy sign in shining blue light glowed underneath his hands.
The warrior tilted her head to look down at him, eyes curious. She scurried along the branch like a squirrel, sitting down and folding her wings as she stared at Ed in wonder, eyes sharp.
A harsh wind blew her hair from her face and she looked up, distracted as she faced the opposite direction the wind was blowing in. Ed tensed.
'NOW!'
Kay then! I finally uploaded this! It's been sitting on my desktop for MONTHS making me think of an abandoned puppy just sitting there alone. ;_; SOOOOOO, I uploaded it. Seeing as I'm no longer really in this fandom anymore, updates WILL BE RARE. Kay, biez now!
~Feather-chan
