Here's chapter 2! Enjoy and reviews are greatly appreciated! :D
Chapter 2:
The strong smoky smell of incense filled the small room as a lone girl kneeled, hands together, in front of a table filled with tablets on it. On one, the name "Fu" was written on it. Moments of silence passed and Lan Fan's eyes slowly opened and gave the tablet one last bow.
Rest well grandpa.
Her gaze lingered on the tablet. She pried her gaze away from it and head towards her bed. She laid down and let out a deep sigh. Letting all the tension and fatigue from the day's hard work fade away. She looked around her small room. Little furniture and decorations were put up as she was always away. A small dresser stood at the opposite end of her bed and right next to the bed was a small desk she sat to write the occasional report.
Lan Fan closed her eyes and let her thoughts drift. The past few months were extremely busy for her. Besides protecting her prince, she was sent by him to show Alphonse Elric around the town when he came by. Following that, many cases of alchemy related crimes occurred and created nothing but trouble for Lan Fan. Especially when the prince went on his walks around town.
Gradually her thoughts slowed and she let her body go numb.
Snap.
Lan Fan's eyes shot wide open. She sat upright and brought out her kunai. She sensed a few presence of ki lingering outside her room and adrenaline coursed through her veins. She crept up and stood right next to the window of her room. She held her breath as she felt a person closing in.
BAM!
A person broke through her thin paper windows and Lan Fan seized the opportunity and aimed her kunai right at his neck. The kunai lodged itself deeply into the assailant's neck as he fell with a grunt. Lan Fan peeked through the window and pulled her head back in when a kunai whizzed past her, grazing her cheek. She closed her eyes and evened out her breathing.
'About 6 of them outside. I hope nothing happened to the young master…'
Her eyes snapped open and she flew out of the window, dashing straight towards the next assailant. She drew her automail blade and flung herself skywards and lunged her blade into the poor man's head. A man from behind her swung his blade down at her but Lan Fan flipped over him and held him in a choke hold.
"Who sent you here!?"
The man struggled and Lan Fan heard a crack sound as the man instantly went limp in her hold.
'Tch, poison…'
She threw the man back to the ground and hid in the shadows of the trees outside of her room.
'4 more…'
Lan Fan concealed her presence as she saw the remaining 4 men gather together.
"Where did that bitch run off to!?"
"We can't let her get away! She will definitely disrupt the execution!"
'Execution…? What in the world are they talking about?'
Her eyes widened as a sudden realization hit her.
'Young Master!'
Lan Fan cursed and berated herself for her inability to protect the young master again. She crouched further down into the shadows to plan her next move. Instantly spotting an opening, Lan Fan rushed forward and cut one of the tendons of the assailant's leg. Catching their attention, one of them man rushed towards her blind side and swung his blade down at her. Blood flew out and Lan Fan grunted out in pain. She jumped away from the remaining three men and started running away from them. The men started giving chase and threw the kunais they had to try and halt her progress. They ran into the forest and chased after Lan Fan.
The three men suddenly halted their steps.
"*pant,pant* Where the hell did she- -, did she disappear to?" All of them looked around as they entered a clearing on a hill.
"Oi oi! Look at that!"
The other two men looked down and saw a trail of blood. They looked towards each other and cautiously started to follow the blood trail up the slope. As they progressed, the blood was increasing in volume before coming to a halt.
"Heh, looks like luck ran out for that girl."
They peered over the cliff and saw the some of the blood leading downwards, as if someone fell off.
"Oi, look over there."
A broken and bloodied mask lay on the ground, right at the edge of the cliff. The largest of the three picked it up.
"Let's bring this back to the boss. We're done here."
His muscles ached. The cell barely had enough space for Ling and all that was there was some straw that served as bedding. The tingling of keys could be heard and Ling heard the wooden doors of his cell being opened. He glanced towards the man entering.
"I heard you've haven't been behaving, your highness."
General Sun sneered at him. Ling glanced at him before turning away.
General Sun's eyebrows twitched as he clenched his jaw.
"Still as cocky are you? Well, let's see how long you stay that way when you see this."
The General threw an item towards Ling's feet.
A broken and bloodied mask.
Ling's eyes widened as he lunged himself at the General, only to be held back by the restraints of the metal chains holding his limbs back.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER!?"
Ling seethed. If that scum even dared to harm Lan Fan in any way, he swore he would come for his head and hang it up for all to see.
The General smirked.
"It's good to see you so lively again. But don't worry, you'll be joining her…soon."
He grinned and cackled as he left the room.
Ling roared and sank down to his knees. Now he truly was left with nobody to depend on. He look out the window… the hour of the tiger was soon to be approaching.
The next time Ling opened his eyes, he was woken up by the sound of the guards.
"Convict number 3649, it's time for your execution."
Ling dejectedly stood up. Tired and weary from all the times he had tried to escape previously. Red angry marks marred his wrists and ankles from the shackles that bound him, that eat into his skin whenever he tried to go against them. He was roughly pulled up by the guards and shoved out of the cell. His world went black as the guards placed a blind fold over him and covered his head with a bag. His arms were re-tied and bound to his back by a piece of thick rope. The guards led him up the stone platform. A wide open platform where executions were held for the public to see; to judge. Everyone in the "audience" were murmuring.
"Is that really the emperor?"
"I thought he was an emperor who greatly cared for his people? He wouldn't kill the Jade Emperor…"
Ling was roughly shoved onto his knees.
"For treason of murdering the holy Jade Emperor, criminal 3649, Ling Yao, shall be stripped of your royal title and executed in front of your people!"
A voice boomed for all to hear. The bag was removed from Ling Yao's head as he felt his head being guided by rough grubby hands onto a stone slab.
'Is this really it?'
Ling wondered. He grit his teeth. He has let his people down, he has let his country down. He was disappointed Fu and most importantly, Lan Fan. His chances of survival was close to zero now. He tried all means to escape while he was stuck in the prison cell for those few days. All resulting in failure.
He heard the executioner run his sharpening stone slowly up his blade. He could feel his palms start to feel clammy from the sweat. Beads of cold sweat poured from his forehead and trickled down, making the blindfold damp. His whole body shook and his throat suddenly felt so constricted. He could feel the blade rise and Ling held his breath.
He felt the wind from the blade being swiftly brought down and then…
Nothing.
Was this how death was supposed to feel like? His whole body felt numb but his head was still throbbing and his thoughts were still whirling around in his head like a hurricane.
'-aka!'
What was that? It sounded familiar…
'-aka!, Waka! Please wake up!'
A sharp pain to his cheek brought him back to his senses. Ling bolted upright and gasped for breath. He clutched his throbbing head, covered in cold sweat as he squint his eyes from the sudden brightness. He looked at his surroundings and tried to orientate himself. His vision started to clear and he turned towards the familiar voice. He recognized that face. The face that he was so accustomed to seeing. Relief washed over him and he collapsed over the person.
Said person was flustered as she felt the young master's body wrapped around her.
Ling let out a tired chuckle as he let his world fade to black again.
Glad to have you back…
Lan Fan.