So, yeah, i decided to redo this story, combining some of the chapters to make it longer.... the previous ones were too short. so, yeah, revised edition. R&R and Enjoy!
TS1991
Blood. Blood everywhere. It was in her eyes, her mouth, her mind. She couldn't get away from it. Screams. She couldn't run far enough. She couldn't run fast enough. She couldn't escape them.
Taikana ran, the greens and grays and browns of the forest around her hidden by tears. She couldn't see, but she kept running; even though she couldn't escape, she still had to try. Her beloved brother's screams of pain still echoed in her ears. The sight of him, back arched, blood pouring down his face from the wound over his eye, was branded in her mind. She couldn't see anything else.
The demon would come after her. She was never going to escape him. He would hunt her down like an animal; he would never stop. Not until… No, she couldn't think those words. If she did, the fear would overtake her, and she'd never get away. She had to… she had to try… even if it would never work.
Her breath came in harsh, short gasps, her legs burned, but still she did not stop. She ignored the tears running down her face, even though they made her blind. If she stopped, she would never move again. If she stopped, she'd have to think. 'Aki! Aki, I'm so sorry!' Her mind kept screaming, calling out to him, even though she knew he couldn't hear. He probably wasn't even… 'NO!' She wouldn't believe he was dead… he couldn't be… he just couldn't.
The forest was black in front of her. No light crept between the trees here. She didn't notice, trapped in her thoughts, kept prisoner by her own mind. She didn't notice she was falling until it was too late.
It was too dark. Air rushed past her face. In fear, her wings snapped out behind her, beating a furious tattoo in the void, in vain. She could get no purchase here. There was no air. She tried to breath, found she couldn't. Her lungs contracted, air whooshed out of her mouth in a silent scream.
Sound was a memory. Light was a myth. Warmth was a dream. Tai's mind continued to scream, even though her mouth made no sound. The blackness pressed in on her, stopping her mouth, her nose, her eyes, her ears. She was going to die here. This was how her life would end, suffocating in this black void.
Light. No, it couldn't be. She was dead, light no longer existed. This couldn't be right. Air. She could breathe again. This wasn't right. Warmth. No. This was not right. This was a dream, a memory. None of this existed anymore. Or did it? Sound. The blackness was disappearing.
She could see again, hear again, feel again… She stretched her hands out, towards the tiny pinprick of light that was her last hope. Was this a dream? No. Death wouldn't feel this nice. It wouldn't be this warm. The pinprick grew larger, closer. It was too bright; it hurt her eyes. She was too warm. The sound hurt her ears.
The light, she saw now, was a doorway. She was going to fall through it. Her throat constricted; once again, she couldn't breathe. The light enveloped her hand, her arm, her head. She was blind. Her hand hit something hard, and she heard a loud snapping sound. A moment later, she screamed as pain blossomed up her arm to her shoulder. The rest of her body hit the ground. Her wings had phased sometime during the fall, disappearing back into her body, where they wouldn't be seen. She rolled for a few seconds then finally came to rest in a crumpled, ragged heap.
Tai carefully opened her eyes. The sun was different, the sounds nothing like she'd ever heard before. Frightened, she drew her hands to her ears, ignoring the pain in her left wrist, and closed her eyes, trying not to see or hear anything. Once again, the sounds and sights of her last moments in her homeworld, for this place obviously was not Galonica, assailed her again. The blood, the screams, the demon's laughter.
"NO!" She couldn't deal with this now. "No…" Slowly, the picture of Akira was replaced by an ocean of black water. She lay on the shore of it, watching the waves rise higher and higher. After a moment, or an hour, or a day later, the waters rose over her head. With a sigh, Tai let them have their way and knew no more.
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"Ugh. I hate paperwork," Colonel Roy Mustang griped as he stared at the food-tall pile of paper on his desk. That was the problem with ascending ranks. The higher up you got, the more paperwork you had to deal with. "This is not what I signed up for." With a resigned sigh, he reached for the top sheet. Surprise, surprise. It was a list of complaints from Central HQ. Roy's blue eyes glittered with irritation and his mouth pulled down at the corners into his typical frown. There was only so much he could do in a day. Did the Central people think he was a machine or something?
Suppressing a groan, he began to squish the letter into a ball to throw at the trash can. Before it could get too crinkled, however, he was hit by sudden inspiration. Unrolling the letter, he carefully folded it into a paper airplane. His mouth pulling up into a slight grin, he lobbed the airplane in the general direction of the trash. He missed, but the plane made a very satisfying thunk when it hit the wall.
Grin broadening to a full-on smile now, Roy snatched the next sheet off the pile. It was another letter. This, too, he folded and launched at the trash. This one didn't fly so well. It shot almost straight up into the air then nosedived to the floor. Roy ignored it, already reaching for the next letter. This plane actually made it in the trash. Roy bit back a bark of laughter and began folding another plane.
About five minutes and multiple paper planes later, a knock on the office door startled him out of his recreation. "Colonel, what are you doing in there? You had better not be burning the curtains again!" A woman's voice spoke through the door. Roy smiled. Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye always managed to cheer him up. He didn't know why. Maybe it was a gift. "Colonel?"
"Don't worry, Lieutenant. I'm just making paper airplanes." He wondered what she'd make of that. Silence. "Lieutenant?"
"You're doing what?" she asked, sounding shocked.
"I got bored with reading reports and annoying letters from Central, so I decided to do something useful with them."
The door opened and Riza stared at him, her brown eyes concerned. "I always knew you would go crazy, Colonel. Thanks for proving me right."
"I'm not that crazy, am I?" Roy asked, worried. "I mean, I'm ok most of time, right?"
Riza smiled. Despite her severe hairstyle, when she smiled, Roy thought she was quite pretty, something he would die before admitting to anyone but himself. "Most of the time is not all of the time, Colonel." She glanced at the airplanes scattered all over the floor. She bent, picked one up, and tossed it at the trash can in the corner. It went straight in. "You must have really bad aim. The trash can's closer to you than it is to me."
"I wasn't aiming for the trash can that often. They made funny noises when they hit the floor or the wall." He couldn't keep from grinning. Riza just stared at him.
"You need a break, Roy. I'll do this; you go take a walk." Riza walked around the desk, Roy staring at her nervously, and grabbed him by the collar. She dragged him to the door and dumped him unceremoniously in the hallway, introducing his face to the carpeted floor. "Don't come back until you're more relaxed." The door slammed shut and he heard the lock click.
Roy just lay on the floor for a long moment. Then, realizing that just laying there wasn't helping anything, he got to his feet and headed towards the doors. Once outside, he paused, deciding where wanted to go. Not to a pub, he was still on duty. After a moment, he decided to just go for a long walk through some of the back roads and alleys. There weren't many people back there and it would be quiet and possibly relaxing. With a grin, he took off towards the nearest one.
He spend several hours meandering from alley to alley, enjoying the stillness and the quiet. He was wandering around aimlessly when it happened. One second, everything was quiet, and then a loud, painfully bright explosion split the air. A doorway of bright light appeared at the back end of an alley, growing larger and brighter by the second. Disturbed and intrigued at the same time, Roy remained where he was, staring in fascination. 'This is probably really stupid. I should probably be running right now.' But, for some strange reason, he remained still.
A few minutes later, a girl dropped out of the door, one hand outstretched, like she was reaching for something. She had really long red hair and it fell around her in shimmering waves. She hit the ground hard, and he heard a sharp crack, like a gunshot. He knew, however, that it was the girl's wrist. She'd fallen on her hand and her wrist had snapped. He saw her face crumple in pain, but she made no sound.
The girl's cheeks were wet, and tears were still steaming from her eyes. Her face, arms, and hands were scratched and bloody, but she was apparently oblivious to the fact. Slowly, her eyes cracked open and she studied the sky. For a moment, she just sat there, staring then, all of a sudden, she clapped her hands to her ears and closed her eyes, slowly shaking her head. Roy could see that she was hurting, but he didn't know what to do, so he remained still.
"NO!" The girl's sudden scream made Roy jump about a foot in the air. "No…" She continued to whisper, "no" for a moment, and then she collapsed.
Roy finally realized that he could move again. He ran forward and knelt by the girl. Even unconscious, her face was still twisted in pain, whether from her broken wrist or from something in her mind, he had no idea. However, he did know that she needed help, and soon. He didn't think she had any life-threatening injuries, but… he wasn't going to take chances.
Carefully sliding one arm around her back and the other under her knees, he carefully lifted her. She was surprisingly light for someone so… large. Up close, he'd been unable to help but notice how long and well-muscled she was. Carrying her bridal style, he headed back to HQ, hoping no one would see him before he got there.
He was in luck. No one was on the streets or the hallways when he returned. Outside his office door, he could hear Riza shuffling through papers.
"Riza. Riza, open the door." His voice came out rougher than he'd intended, but it was loud enough to be heard through the door and the noise on the other side.
"Feeling better?" she asked as the lock slid back.
"I was. Open the door, please," he commanded. The door slammed open, and Riza appeared, glaring at him. The glare vanished as she realized what he was carrying.
"Oh, my… What happened?"
"I have no idea. She needs help. I was hoping you'd know someone who could help her."
"Yes. A friend of mine works at a private hospital near here. We'll take her there."
"We? You're coming?" Roy was surprised.
"Of course," she responded, insulted. "She doesn't know you."
"Right. OK, then, should we take a car or walk?"
"Car." Riza strode off smartly, Roy struggling to keep up. They found an unused military car and drove to the hospital. Once there, Riza spoke to her friend, and they managed to get the girl into a room.
The doctor, a pretty, brown-haired young woman named Hailey Kalla, looked the girl over while Roy waited outside her room. Riza had gone back to HQ to finish up the paperwork once she knew the girl would be looked after. Roy was going to give her the news when he returned himself.
"Colonel Mustang?" Hailey asked. She'd opened the door and was motioning for him to come in. He entered the room and saw the girl lying on the bed, her arm in a splint, the rest of her cuts cleaned and the worst of them bandaged. She looked so delicate and fragile.
"How is she?" He hoped his voice didn't reveal how worried he was.
"She'll be all right. None of her injuries are life-threatening, or even close to it. I think she's just tired. She'll probably sleep for a while. If you want to stay, you're welcome to, but don't wake her up. She needs the rest to heal." Hailey smiled at him, then walked out.
Roy studied the girl. "Who are you?" he wondered aloud. She didn't respond, not that he'd expected her to. He walked over to the bed and gently brushed her hair away from her face. "I hope you recover, from whatever it is that's hurting you." He then turned and walked out, pausing only to let Hailey know that he'd be back soon to check on her. Then he headed out into the darkening night.
A/N Yay, first chappy done! I'm so happy... anyway, done with the random outbursts now... R&R pwease!!!!!!!