Chapter 1

I ran down an alley way, trying to get away from a few of those military dogs as I like to call them, my breath heaving in and out at a ridged pace. I could hear the quick pacing footsteps behind me, they ran quickly, straight on my tail.

Why don't they just give up already? I thought to myself as I continued forward.

"GET BACK HERE!" they yelled behind me.

Ha, not a chance I shouted in my head as I continued to run.

Unfortunately, they were gaining on me and quick too. I knew that I had to do something and fast.

I looked around as I ran and spotted some crates up ahead.

Perfect

I sped up a bit, hurrying to the crates. I took a chance to look behind me, only to find that they were even closer now.

Uh-oh

Quickly, I grabbed a hold of some of the crates and shoved them over. It caused them to fall over onto the ground blocking those idiots and even causing a few to fall.

Serves them right. Now time to get out of here

I ran, making a dash into another alley. Just as I was about to turn another corner, I heard an explosion, followed by yelling.

"HURRY MEN, AFTER HER!"

Oh crap!

They weren't supposed to have gotten through that quickly and now I knew that I really was in trouble.

So, without a second thought, I ran as fast as I could down the alley way and into the crowded streets of Central. I knew that if I wished to be rid of those men, then I would have to lose them in the crowd.

I could hear bits and pieces of conversations as I walked through the busy market place. There were so many venders set up to sell things. They ranged from fruit to clothes, jewelry, fabric, trinkets and more.

"Hm…I think I lost them," I said quietly to myself as I walked up to a vender that was selling fruit.

"Good day Miss, how may I help you?" the man asked behind the booth.

I looked at him for a moment, glancing at the selection of fruit, then asked him about the price of the apples. He looked at me for a moment, taking notice of my thin physique.

"For you, 5 cents a pound," he said, making me smile slightly.

"Thank you sir," I said kindly, deciding to buy a few pounds.

He placed them in a sack for me and I watched as he also threw in a few peaches.

"There you go, hope you enjoy your time in Central. Come again."

I gave him a faint smile, bowing my head to him.

"Thank you sir, and don't worry, I will."

With that, I walked off to find a place to relax and eat.

Fast Forward

After a bit of walking, I came across a park. Luckily for me, there were no people there, so I could finally take off my sunglasses.

I sat down in front of a pond, there I could see my reflection. As I looked down at the water, a set of red eyes looked up at me. It was the reflection of a young girl with long brown hair, slightly tanned skin, and red eyes. I looked at my reflection sadly, those red eyes broadcasting their sadness back at me. They were the reason why I was always in so much trouble. I never did anything wrong, but when people see those eyes of mine, they become scared. Yes, incase you haven't figured it out yet, I'm an Ishbalan. Although, my skin is a bit lighter than most. They think that just because I'm different, it means that I'm bad, they think that just because I have red eyes, it means that I'm evil and can't be trusted.

I looked up when I heard a twig snap, only to find a few of those military alchemists. Unfortunately, I forgot to put my sunglasses back on, so they got to have a good look at my eyes. I heard a few of them gasp, but after that?

"GET HER!"

Crap!

I got up to run, only to be blocked off by two of them. Looking around me, I saw that a few more had shown up as well. One of them then tried to come at me.

Now's my chance I thought, and quickly slid underneath his legs, making a run for it.

"AFTER HER! DON'T LET HER GET AWAY!" one of them cried out.

I ran as fast as I could.

Fast Forward

It was starting to get dark now as clouds started to cover the sky. I knew those men were still behind me, following me as I ran. By the time that it started to rain, there was nobody outside. Everyone was inside their nice warm homes and out of the rain. One thing that I didn't like about being out in the rain while getting chased, was the fact that it made the ground slippery. Just then, I heard the sound of gun fire behind me and noticed that they were shooting at me now.

I only got a few more yards before I felt pain go through my shoulder. It was the pain caused me to fall to the ground holding my shoulder tightly.

"Mmm…" I groaned in pain as they surrounded me.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Looks like we finally caught you. Hey boys, what do you say to us having a little fun before the boss gets here?" the head asked as he started moving in on me.

BANG

He stopped right in his tracks, the crap scared out of him.

"And just what do you think you are doing soldier!" it was a woman.

"N-Nothing Lieutenant Hawke," he stuttered as he turned around with a nervous look on his face.

Now's my chance

I took that chance to run, even with my injured shoulder.

"What! AFTER HER!" he shouted.

BANG

"That's enough, let her go, you've caused her enough trouble for one night. Besides, you've got the wrong person," with that, she finished and started to leave.

"What do you mean? She's an Ishbalan for crying out loud!" he exclaimed.

"I don't care if she's Ishbalan or Bolivian, I said you've got the wrong person! Now, back to HQ. MOVE IT!"

Fast Forward

After a while, I came to an empty side street and sat down against a wall.

Sigh

I was exhausted. It was pouring now more so than ever and if things kept up at this rate I knew that I'd end up sick. Although, that was soon pushed out of my mind as I started to feel myself getting dizzy and lightheaded from blood loss. Soon, my vision started to blur. Then, the next thing I knew, I was on the ground unconscious.

The next day

"…Mmm…" I groaned.

Slowly, I cracked open my eyes to find that I was somewhere else, I wasn't where I had last been. Instead, I found myself gazing at shelves of dusty old books.

"Where am I?" I spoke quietly as I looked around a bit more.

It was then that I noticed my shoulder, it was wrapped up in cloth. I could also tell that the bullet had been removed.

"Hello? Anyone here? He-e-llll-ooo?" I called out, my voice echoing about, but I got no answer.

I sighed and then sat back down. I noticed that whoever it was that brought me here, had brought my bag along with them. I smiled to myself, grabbing it, and pulling out an apple.

I took a bite out of it and looked at some of the books sitting next to me on the floor.

Alchemy books…?

I slowly reached my hand over, grabbing one of them. I blew on the cover, causing the layers of dust that had accumulated on the book to fly everywhere, including up my nose making me sneeze. I looked at the cover closely, trying to see if I could make out what it said. The print itself had faded greatly, due to what I could only assume to be aging of the book. After a few moments, I deciphered the text and found it to be "The Building Blocks of Alchemy" by Marco.

That name…why is it so…familiar?

"…Crystal Alchemist…" I whispered.

The reason why the name was so familiar, was because Marco, the Crystal Alchemist, had been one of the military personnel that had come to my town those many years ago. Besides the Rockbell's, a pair of doctors, he was the only one who tried to help heal some of my people. In fact, he was the one that helped me escape when I was sick, he saved me and got me out of Ishbal.

Sadness and anger welled up inside of me as I recalled that night 5, almost 6 years ago. Enraged, I threw the book into the wall on the other side of the room. Hot tears ran down my face and onto the floor.

I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…

I hope that everyone enjoyed this. Please REVIEW and let me know what you think of this story so far? I've been waiting for a while to put this up, but here it is. Thanks everyone, enjoy. And please also take a look at my other stories. You might find something to your liking among my more popular ones. :)