Disclaimer: Obviously, Fullmetal Alchemist is not mine.
A/N: Hello, there. This is my first Royai fic so please bear with me. The ages will be fudged up since the story will develop farther into their late twenties. XP Expect some OOCness since I'm still trying to get a feel for the characters. This fic might change to M in later chapters... Anyways, hope you enjoy. =3
Alchemists of the Sky
By
Vye Kirishima
Prologue
"I've got the stone," he puffed into the receiver with ragged breaths. He turned the oval stone in multiple directions as he scrutinized it, noting the way the light reflected off and glimmered with streaks of crimson. "Almost got blasted to bits, but I still managed to get away somehow."
"Good. We're almost done on our end, as well. Meet you at the rendezvous point. Make sure you don't forget anything this time, got it?" The transmitter barked back a gruff rejoinder, followed by banging, clattering, and the sound of echoing gunshots.
He ignored the chaos that was bound to be happening on the other side and asked, "You know, to be perfectly honest, I don't see what's so special about it. Looks like an ordinary gem to me. Why are we scaling such a full-on, heavy attack for something so normal looking?"
"Shut up and do what you're told!"
"Well, someone's pissed." Their short banter prompted him to extend his arm by a foot, obviously not in the mood to have his eardrums explode from the noises buzzing through their communicational devices. He stood up from his sitting position and patted his long, azure trench coat. Placing the stone in his pocket, he began to walk to his destination.
Click!
The sound of a loading gun rang clearly in his ears. He knew what it meant. Before he could even twitch his fingers to counter, the feeling of a cool barrel buried itself into his mess of jet black hair from behind.
"Don't move, Alchemist," a firm voice instructed as his left wrist was gripped.
The Alchemist's brow twitched. 'Female. Well-built frame…' he thought.
"Put your hands up," the voice came again.
He complied, bringing his hands up to his head. His brows furrowed in deep thought. 'No older than 18, judging from her hand size and her voice.' At the thought, he couldn't help but smirk. 'The Amestris military have stooped lower than ever. Just when I thought they couldn't sink any lower, they do this. Letting such a rookie into their defense lines… What are they thinking?'
"What's so funny?" his captor asked as she searched through his clothing, the gun never leaving its place on his head.
A small chuckle tore through his lips. "Nothing," he answered dryly.
Before long, her hand pulled the stone out of his pocket. She looked it over and then spoke into a walkie-talkie, "I've found the stone and apprehended the one who had it in their possession. My current location is hangar 1-A. Awaiting further orders."
There was static, but a male voice gave feedback. "Hawkeye, keep them there and make sure to keep the stone secure until we get there."
"Yes, sir." She closed the conversation and placed the device onto her belt, hiding the stone as she did so. A sigh escaped her lips as she ordered, "Sit down."
The pirate did as told, keeping his hands on his head to avoid any sort of provocation. He sat there silently for the first minute until he asked, "So, your name is 'Hawkeye', is it?"
The barrel of the gun dug itself deeper, touching the bare skin of his skull in warning.
"… Is that a 'yes'?" he asked after a moment of waiting. He couldn't place his finger on it, but he recognized the name from somewhere.
"Please be silent," was the cold and subtle reply.
The man grumbled. "At least let me see your face before you kill me," he whispered under his breath in defeat.
The teenage soldier raised a brow at the request. She circled the man and met him face-to-face.
"U-uh… Um…" he stammered out. Shock was evident, not used to his face being in such close proximity with anyone else's.
His captor shifted her military cap upwards with her free hand before speaking, "My name is Riza Hawkeye. And I have no desire to harm you." Looking straight into his eyes, she continued, "Therefore, please do not think badly of me."
'Riza Hawkeye…' he told himself, playing with the name at the tip of his tongue. 'She's pretty,' he noted. The way stray locks of gold ran down from the cap and framed her features seemed appealing to him. Even her amber eyes had a shine in them that looked all too familiar.
Just as he was going to reply and introduce himself like any real gentleman, clamoring boots echoed its way into both their ears.
Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, the pirate seized the gun in her hand and flung it away from her grasp. It slid and skidded to a stop right below some flying vehicles.
Shocked and unarmed, the soldier took a step back to recapture her balance. She sent a glare towards the man and inquired, "You have no intention of surrendering?"
The man scoffed. "Of course not. I'm an Alchemist, Hawkeye. I can't just wuss out like the supposed badasses from your precious Amestris Army." Earning an even harsher glare from that comment, he grinned. "Sides~" He held up the soldier's military cap and stated, "I've got what I came for."
Amber eyes shot wide open. She gingerly placed her hand on her head and immediately noticed that her headwear had indeed been stolen. "The stone!" she exclaimed. 'When did he…?!'
"Yep." A smirk formed on his face as he turned around and bolted out of the hangar.
Naturally, Riza followed, keeping in close distance as she sent word of his escape through the walkie-talkie. Once again, clanging of boots filled the halls as he ran, and she chased him, followed by reinforcements from the army.
The Alchemist made certain to take sharp turns and abrupt jumps onto different staircases in an attempt to lose his pursuers. Oddly enough, the one he wanted to lose the most was the young blonde following closely behind. The multitude of echoing footfalls had droned down, only containing his and her clanging steps.
He looked over his shoulder and praised in between huffs, "You're… not bad…! You're not bad… at all… Hawkeye!"
The female merely shot him another glare and hastened her pace. They were nearing hangar 2-D, much to her dismay. 'That must be their rendezvous point. I still have a chance to take the stone back before we reach the hangar…' she thought to herself.
'Ah, that's not good,' he wryly thought in slight amusement. That slight amusement all but disappeared into thin air as the blonde reached her arm out.
Just as she was about to grab onto the flailing tail of his coat, a sudden blast of wind caused her to fly back and ram into the metallic wall behind her.
"Dammit, Mustang! I said meet at the rendezvous point! Not meet near it!" a masculine voice barked as the owner grabbed onto the runaway's arm.
"Right, right. Sorry," he managed out a lame apology as he climbed aboard the hovering vehicle.
"Let's fly!" the driver cheered, steering the chopper to hangar 2-D. "Open it!"
Obliging, the two men positioned near the launch doors of the hangar pressed the button, and the shutters unlocked.
The pilot slowed down at the doors to give the men who opened the doors time to board. Just as he was about to kick the engine up and speed away, a thud reverberated within the vehicle.
The man who had previously escaped the blonde soldier looked down. Dangling on the chopper's tail was, much to his not so pleasant surprise, Riza Hawkeye. She didn't waste any time and began to swing back and forth to gain momentum. With one solid swing, she hopped on board and cocked a gun straight at the pilot.
'Where'd she get that? I threw her gun below the other choppers in hangar 1-A!' Mustang had to wonder.
"Land," she hissed between tightly gritted teeth.
The pilot's lips tugged downwards as he slowly brought his hand down with the handle. The chopper slowly descended before more clanging sounds rattled. Gunshots echoed as the pirates took cover.
"Get us out of here!" one of the pirates shouted.
"We'll get killed like this! We have what we want, so let's retreat already!" another supplied angrily.
As the blonde tried to reach for her communication device to tell them to cease fire, Mustang sprang up and stole the weapon that was aiming for the pilot, quickly taking aim straight for Riza.
"Shouldn't have done that, Hawkeye." He clicked his tongue as he motioned his head towards the door. "Let's go. I hate being in firing range of these barbarians."
"What about the girl?" One of the men on board asked as the pilot made haste towards the still opened doors.
"We'll handle it later; let's just get out of here first!"
Taking that to heart, the chopper's driver took control and headed towards their hideout.
"We're here! Finally!" a blonde male cheered as he hopped out of the vehicle and stretched his sleeping limbs. "Yo, Mustang! Make sure you bring that stone to the doctor so we can finally call it a day! I'm beat…" He trotted away with a satisfied grin across his face.
During the entire ride, the Amestris soldier had remained silent, her eyes never leaving Mustang's as he continued to keep her at gunpoint.
Heaving out a sigh, he finally relaxed and holstered the weapon. "So, I guess you'll be stuck here for a while," he mumbled. When he got no reply, he continued, "You already know we're pirates. We're the Alchemists. We control the sky."
The soldier merely rolled her eyes.
Roy glared at her for once. "Anyways, my name is Roy. Roy Mustang. I've been meaning to tell you my name since you told me yours, and I sort—"
"—Why… Why are you keeping me here?" Riza cut in, getting straight to the point.
"Huh?"
Once again, the blonde asked, "Why are you keeping me in your territory? I don't belong on this crew's ship. I'm a soldier, not a pirate."
Roy smirked. "So what? You have the makings of an excellent pirate, if you ask me. Why not learn a thing or two while you're here?"
"What…?" she muttered out.
"Welcome to the Alchemists' den!" Roy announced, waving his arms out in emphasis.
Riza shook her head and had to wonder, 'Great. How do I get out of here...?'
A/N: So~ How was it? =3 Reviews would really help! XD