A/N: So, this is a fun sort of project being done between mebh and I, where we decided it would be cool to take the concept of daemons from His Dark Materials and put it in the FMA world. We're exploring this idea with a series of drabbles, I'm posting mine here and mebh's can be found on her page ( s/8188145/1/Souls ). Please check hers out if you haven't already, she is an exceptionally talented writer. Also, see her explanation for why this isn't in the crossover section if you're interested. As she says, we might be taking requests if anyone has an idea they really want to see and while, left to our own devices most of our ideas will be inevitably Roy-centric, we're happy to do chapters with other characters too.

Also, I don't own FMA

Enjoy!


"What are you doing?" Roy hissed, glancing round to check that neither Hughes nor Cassie, his annoyingly sharp-eared pine marten, could hear their conversation. Ariadne shrugged, her muscles shifting under her pale fur. She was in her element here in the wilderness, languid, regal and completely unconcerned for the worries of her master.

"I like her. What's wrong with that? We're just having fun. Something you seem to have forgotten how to do lately." Roy bit back a childish retort, reminding himself that he was not about to have this conversation with his daemon again. Why couldn't she just agree with him for once?

"She's Maes Hughes' daemon, that's what's wrong!"

Ariadne gave him a look that convinced him that yes, that remark had sounded every bit as petulant to her as it had to his own ears. "It's just..." Roy sighed, leaning down to scratch behind Ariadne's ears. His daemon purred and rubbed her head against his leg, still affectionate despite their quarrelling. "I just don't understand *why* you like her so much, Ari. I mean, daemons are meant to feel the same as their humans and, well... I can't stand Hughes."

"If daemons are meant to feel the same as humans," Ariadne replied, amusement clear in her voice, "then perhaps you don't hate him quite as much as you think you do."

"Don't be ridiculous." Roy huffed, turning to walk back to where he and Hughes had made camp, his feet sinking into the snow as he walked. Ariadne followed close by, navigating the terrain with enviable ease. "Hughes is the most annoying guy I know. Always acting like he's better than everyone else because he's friends with guys in the older years. He doesn't even like them that much, I can tell. He's just acting friendly with them for his own advantage."

Ariadne nodded. "That's probably true. Cassie never gets too close to any of their daemons, I know that. I don't think I've ever seen them touch, not even once." She leapt up onto a ledge of rock, her balance perfect despite the frost that clung to everything not already buried under snow. Far more slowly, Roy clambered up behind her. His fingers ached in their fur-lined gloves and kept slipping from their handholds in the rock. He thought wistfully of last term's survival training in the forests outside Central. Although it had seemed tough at the time, that experience was positively idyllic compared to the mountains of Briggs.

"Not like you two, then?" Roy knew he was being too harsh but he couldn't help it. The words were out of his mouth before he could even contemplate the wisdom of saying them. Jealousy had soured his thoughts for days now and he needed to release it into the open. "I swear, I haven't seen you be this friendly with anyone since Theo." A low rumbling came from Ariadne's throat; a warning or perhaps a quiet sound of pain. She bared her teeth, her tail flicking round to hit Roy against his thigh, hard. "We should never have left. They needed us." Roy opened his mouth but a quiet growl stopped him before he could even speak. "Riza needed you there, Roy. We shouldn't have left."

Without waiting for his reply, Ariadne reached the top of the rocky outcrop and began to descend towards flat ground, her footsteps more careful as the rocks grew steeper and sharper. Feeling the familiar tug of the bond between them, Roy hurried to follow. The campsite was clearly visible at this distance, a small dark shape against the expense of white. Roy thought he could even make out Hughes' lanky form crouched down a short distance from their tent, possibly rebuilding the fire after the blizzard the night before. Not that it would do them much good, the uncharitable part of Roy's mind thought. It was not a skill that Hughes particularly excelled at.

Suddenly Ariadne froze, her fur standing on end. Trusting her intuition, Roy stopped walking too, watching and listening for any sign of threat. In the absence of the loud crunch of his footsteps, the danger was clear; a near-silent creaking and slow splintering radiating out from beneath their feet. Distracted by their argument, neither he nor Ariadne had noticed that they had walked onto ice. Slowly, as slowly as he could, Roy edged towards Ariadne, wincing as a few sharp cracks rang out as a result of his movement. He rested his hand on her head, whether to comfort or be comforted, he didn't know. Ariadne was shaking beneath his palm; she knew as well as he did that if the ice broke it could be a death sentence for them both. Roy wanted to call out to Hughes but he was terrified that even the echo of his voice could shatter the fragile balance of the surface beneath them. It seemed, however, that it was too late for such worries. Moving closer to Ariadne had been a primal, instinctive action but their combined weight was more than the ice could stand. Roy clutched Ariadne to him, the pair sharing a last, terrified look before the ground gave way beneath them.


A scream broke through the still air, a single human voice, startling Maes from his thoughts. Cassie's ears stood up, her sharp hearing easily picking out the direction of the cry. The pine marten started running across the snow, Maes stumbling behind, his pack forgotten on the ground by the fire. The voice had grown silent, the harsh, panicked shrieks of a leopard taking its place. Mustang and Ariadne... he began to run faster, his imagination spurred on by the thought of his fellow cadet and his daemon lying frozen and lifeless in the snow, a death he had been too slow to prevent. His eyes scoured the landscape around him. He could see nothing at first but soon picked out a single pale shape, struggling to claw its way out of a jagged circle of dark water onto the ice above. Oh god, no... He edged his way towards the bank of the frozen lake, careful to avoid stepping on the ice. He was now only a few yards away from where his teammate had fallen in and he could make out the scene a lot more clearly. Ariadne's front paws were out of the water but her paws could find no purchase on the ice, her efforts only serving to widen the cracks around her. There was no sign of Mustang.

Maes got down onto his stomach, sliding across the lake towards the terrified daemon. He considered running back to fetch a rope but knew it would be useless. Ariadne was too panicked to think clearly and Mustang was either already unconscious or blocked from reaching the surface by the body of his struggling daemon. Quick and light, Cassie bounded ahead of him, nervous, distressed chatter escaping her as she realised she had no way of helping her friend. Cassie was far too small to lift Ariadne out of the water, Maes realised with growing horror. If he wanted to save the pair, he would have to do it himself. The thought of touching another person's daemon sent sickness rolling through Maes' stomach but he knew he had no other choice. Reaching the edge of the water he leant down and grasped Ariadne's body just below her front legs, pulling her up and out of the water. A jolt of energy ran up his arms at the contact, every instinct within him screaming to let go, to get as far away as he could, but he fought against it. Ariadne screamed at the touch, writhing and clawing at him and Maes pulled his head back just in time to avoid a swipe that would have taken out both his eyes. Cursing, he dragged her up onto the ice, pushing her soaking, shivering body towards solid ground. He was shaking with adrenaline and terror but he couldn't spare even a moment to collect himself. Peering into the blackness he could see Mustang just below the surface, his movements slow and confused as he struggled to escape the water, weighed down by his pack and soaked clothing. A single, gloveless hand shot out and grasped the edge of the ice, its fingers blue-tinged and shaking horribly. Maes grabbed it and reached down into the freezing water for Mustang's other hand, pulling the young man's near-motionless body towards him.

Once he had hauled Mustang onto the ice, Maes rolled him back onto the land. Ariadne was upon Mustang in an instant, draping herself over his body, keening and mewling as she pawed at his ice-white face. Mustang's eyes were closed and he wasn't breathing. Maes moved towards the pair, kneeling down to flip his teammate onto his side, knowing he needed to get him breathing again as soon as possible. Ariadne roared as Maes' hands touched her master and she curled herself around him, hissing and spitting as Maes and Cassie attempted to move her away.

"Damn it, Ariadne, get off him!" Maes shouted at the daemon, terror and desperation hardening his words. But Ariadne was beyond reasoning. The leopard was shaking, visibly weakened now that her master was so close to the brink of death. Bracing himself against the horrifying sense of invasion, Maes pushed Ariadne off Mustang, pulling the motionless body of his comrade closer towards him and further away from the other half of his soul. The sound Ariadne made when she was separated from Mustang was too terrible to comprehend. It was like the scream of a child torn from its mother's arms, a primal howl that spoke of nothing but desolation. Cassie keened, pressing her face against Maes' side, trying to get as close to him as possible. This was a fear she could understand only too easily.

There was nothing Maes could do but focus on saving Mustang's life. Hours of emergency training flashed through his mind in a single, frantic blur and he let his instincts take over, his hands guided by memories of countless resuscitations performed on lifeless dummies and badly acting cadets. The movements came far less easily now that it was a real human being under his hands, flickering in between life and death, but his training did not fail him and within moments Mustang was rolling away from him, coughing up lungfuls of icy water between frantic, gasping breaths. Ariadne flew to him, licking his face and pawing at his clothes, tiny, heartbreaking sounds escaping her as Mustang held her in his shaking arms. The daemon and her master clung to each other for long moments as Mustang's gasps turned to sobs, burying his face in the leopard's soaking fur to hide his tears. Maes knew that they had to get back to the tent as soon as possible, that the pair were not yet out of danger, but he could not bring himself to interrupt that sacred moment.

Eventually, Mustang lifted his white, tear-stained face to meet Maes' eyes and Maes shuddered under the wave of shame and self-disgust as he remembered how he had laid hands on Mustang's daemon. Even though it had been unavoidable, the only way to save Mustang's life, he knew with the whole of his being that it had been wrong. And if Mustang chose to hate him rather than thank him for his rescue, Maes didn't think he could blame him. But the young man said nothing, just stared up at Maes with exhausted, unreadable eyes. Maes supposed it was quite possible that he was in shock, that whatever reaction he would face would have to wait until Mustang was more fully recovered. If that was true, then Maes would deal with it when it happened. Survival was still the priority. Maes struggled to his feet, reaching down a hand towards his fellow cadet. Mustang stared at him for a moment before grasping it with his near-frozen fingers, letting Maes pull him up to standing. The young man swayed slightly and Maes put a steadying arm around his shoulders.

"Come on," He said, a confidence he did not feel echoing in his voice. "Let's get back to camp." Maes had no idea what things would be like between him and Mustang from then on; whether such a strange and horrifying turn of events would conspire to build a friendship between them or to strengthen their animosity but he knew for certain that an irrevocable change had occurred. So, with his future best friend or worst enemy leaning against him, Maes turned and started to lead them both back through the snow, their daemons following close behind.


Thanks for reading! Let us know what you think. :D