Truth of the Heart
Okay, well the last chapter...I didn't like much. I had so much trouble opening this, and I hope it wasn't too OOC. I've been trying to work with as many characters as possible while keeping their personality as I have done with my Doctor Who fanfics. But, the huge change of culture has been a bit hard. First to my natural American side, then to British and now to Japanese. Just bear with me.
And, if anyone's wondering, I took the titles from the 100 Themes. I'm not sure if it counts, but I'm trying to do all the themes while having a huge plotline with it.
Also, cookies to anyone who gets the reference to a certain show in this chapter!
Anyway. Enjoy!
Chapter 2: It's Kind of A Fight...
The wind whipped in Ed's face as he ran to catch up with the thief. He was running at full speed, the rhythymic clanging behind him signalling that Al and Winry were still behind him, though running a little more slowly.
The thief rounded a corner, which Ed followed. He would not let this klepto swipe his watch. His one possession he couldn't do without...
The thief turned right, and Ed followed again. It was evident that this person was trying to lose him. And, he had to admit, if he were just a regular city-person, one who wasn't trained and who didn't have an auto-mail leg, that he would've lost sight of the thief minutes ago.
After more twists and turns, the thief ran out of places to go. Swiftly, without breaking path, the thief ran into the forest, Ed tailing behind. He had not heard Al's armor clanging behind him, nor Winry's sneakers hitting the pavement for quite awhile, but it didn't stop him nonetheless. He knew they would catch up eventually.
Ed was already loosing the thief, as it seemed that this stranger was running incredibly fast. The headstart that the thief had taken at the hotel was growing bigger, no longer just a gap but now a great distance.
And, to make matters worse, Ed tripped on a protruding root, falling face down on the ground with a loud frustrated growl.
The thief turned back around, pausing to look at the noise, but then quickly turned back to continue running.
"Oh, no you don't!" Ed shouted, clapping his hands together to make a circle and then slapping them to the ground.
The ground rumbled, and large bolts as if they were lightning emerged from the spot, travelling fast in a line to the place where the thief stood, then, supassing their running speed. A stump rose from the ground, tripping the thief and knocking them to the ground. Ed stood up and raced toward the robber.
He saw the watch, grasped tightly by the thief's right hand. He took this opportunity to try to take the watch back, however the thief was quicker.
The thief's left leg shot out, catching Ed squarely in the stomach and using him as leverage to get another running start.
Ed fell down hard, but still had to stop this thief from getting away. He kicked out, catching the thief in the ankle and made the thief fall on their knees. He stood, the thief also standing, turning to face him.
"Give me back my watch!" Ed shouted.
The thief didn't answer, but turned back to run again. Ed caught the thief by the arm, and when he did he got a fist in his face. The blow wasn't hard, but it did the trick. He got mad.
"I didn't want to, but--" he started, and threw a punch with his left arm, his flesh arm, so he wouldn't seriously damage the thief. After all, it seemed it was just a klepto, not a 'bad' guy.
The thief blocked with their own left, swiftly. Again, it did not seem as if the thief was targeting him but only wanted the watch. More than once, he was reminded of the girl Paninya, who did something similar in Rush Valley.
Again, Ed threw a punch. This time with his right, but going a little easy on the person. Well, easier than he would if he were fighting a homunculi. He was starting to get more than a little annoyed and right now he wanted nothing better to do than to unmask this bastard who stole from him and then picked a fight.
Again the thief blocked, this time, a little surprised at the force behind it (which was really just the metal) and Ed took this opportunity to trip the thief with a low kick. The thief fell on the ground, on their back, crashing on the leaves with a soft oomph!
As Ed tried to jump on the thief and therefore immobilize them, the thief rolled quickly to the side, and Ed landed on his knees in a pile of leaves.
"Brother!" "Ed!" shouted Al and Winry at the same time. He heard the rustle of leaves and the sound of metal hitting the ground.
Ed smirked as he stood. However, he did not waver the slightest or look back as he smirked. "Took you guys long enough."
"Do you want me to...?" Al asked, as the thief rolled backward, landing on their feet in the process, and then got into a fighting stance.
Ed smirked, pride getting the best of him. He would bring this amateur down by himself. "No, Al. I got this one."
He charged at the thief, feigning a punch with his right when he really was going in for the left. The thief however, noticed this and blocked the punch with their leg, raising it in as they had tried throwing a roundhouse kick in the process.
Facing each other again, Ed tried to punch the thief with his right, expecting to be blocked. The thief fell for it, and Ed took the opportunity to use his left to hit the thief in the gut. The thief doubled over, and Ed promptly tripped them.
The thief fell backward, breathing heavily, the watch tumbling inches from their hand. Ed jumped on the thief, grinning, leaning over to take the watch from the ground. Now the next thing to do was see the person's identity...
"Gotcha now, you bast--" he stopped when he yanked the hood off.
Long light brown hair tumbled down. Dark eyes looked up at him, rolling in defeat...
He turned toward his brother and childhood friend, grinning.
"Look, Al, I caught a girl."
"I'm really sorry," the girl started, more disappointment in her voice than guilt. "I was going to return it, I swear. And, um...I hope I didn't hurt you."
They had led her back to their hotel room, about twenty minutes after the fiasco. Ed had his watch returned, putting it back in his pocket (without the chain sticking out this time) and they were asking her who she was.
She was sitting on the edge of the bed, Al sitting on the floor to the left of her, Winry sitting on the bed on the right, and Ed sitting across from her, in a chair.
He looked at the girl intensely, wondering why she would want to steal his pocketwatch.
"Where'd you learn how to fight like that?" he asked instead. "I thought Kedalton was supposed to be a peaceful town."
"I...I learned it from some people who used to live here," the girl replied, biting her lip. "But really, you shouldn't've gone so easy on me."
"What do you mean 'easy'?" asked Ed, a little mad.
"You always went for the left. Your right was always a fake-out or when you did throw your right it was always too soft," she replied.
Ed smirked. So she had noticed. Maybe not as amateur as he had thought. However, her fighting techniques could still use a little work.
"I'm glad, too, Ed!" Winry grinned, a devious look in her eyes. "Because if you had broken my auto-mail again..."
Ed's eyes widened and he cringed at the thought of another wrench to the head. "I think I've had enough concussions, Win."
"Auto-mail, eh?" the girl smiled. "No wonder. But for the future, I'd suggest that you actually try. I'll even try, too." She laughed.
"You went easy on him?" Al asked.
"Yeah, right!" Ed laughed. "You're just saying that because you know you can't beat me!"
"You wanna bet?" the girl challenged. "Come on, show me your moves, pipsqueak!"
"Who're you calling pipsqueak you pint-sized klepto!" Ed stood up, yelling.
"Metal leprechaun!" the girl stood up, too, facing Ed, her face red with anger.
"Pickpocket elf!"
"Jerk!"
"Bitch!"
"Bastard!"
"You know," Al started, whispering to Winry loudly. "I think she's as small as Ed."
"WHO'RE YOU CALLING SMALL?!" both yelled in unison, turning on Al.
They turned and faced each other. The girl brought her hand over her head and then measured the distance to Ed's head. It was the same!
"How old are you?" the girl asked suspiciously.
"Fifteen," Ed replied.
The girl grinned, then, out of nowhere, hugged Ed estatically. "Me too! Haha! I'm the same size as another fifteen year old! My life is complete!"
She laughed, and Ed thought that she was crazy.
"So...about the watch," Al started, and the girl stopped laughing, her face turning serious. She sat back on the bed, a slight blush creeping across her cheeks. "Why'd you take it in the first place?"
"It's silly. I just..." she started. Her hazel eyes stared intensly out the window, not looking at them. The small blush grew to a deeper shade of red. "I wanted to learn alchemy."
"You could've just asked, you know," Al told her.
She looked at him incredulously. "You're the dogs of the military, though. You could've just gotten another one. Besides, it's not like State Alchemists help people much anyway."
Ed looked out the window, not replying. Of course, he was known for being the State Alchemist who also helped the people, but thievery was a whole different story...
"Why do you want to study alchemy so bad?" asked Winry.
The girl sighed, looking out the window and following Ed's gaze to a group of kids playing in the streets. "I...I just wanna help."
"What do you mean?" asked Al.
"It's...a long story...never mind," the girl replied. She stood up, getting off the bed, and smiled. "I should get going. My family's probably wondering where I am. I'll see you guys--!"
"Wait!" Ed stopped her. "You just tried to steal from us and don't even give us a good explanation why?"
The girl smiled, another small pink blush on her cheeks. "I'm Keiko. Keiko Lyria. Feel free to stop by my house. I'll tell you everything."
She started to run to the door, but then she turned back, slightly cringing. "Just, um, please...don't tell them what happened? I can make it up to you however you want, but if someone catches wind of what I did, my family could be banished. Kedalton's a peaceful town."
And with that, she ran out, the door closing softly behind her. Ed clasped the pocketwatch, smiling deviously.
"Brother?" Al asked.
"Come on, guys. I have a feeling that she knows more than she's letting on." He walked toward the door where Keiko had just exited from, then turned and looked back got off the chair he was sitting on, positioned across from the seat that Keiko was just sitting in on the bed.
It was a peaceful night. Townsfolk were out and about, sitting around a fire, talking, telling stories. Kids were playing peacefully with each other, chasing one another in a game of 'tag' while teens were hanging around, whispering gossip and playing games in the forest.
However, it was not a good night for all.
In a building, serveral floors below ground, a man's scream ripped out, though no one in the village above ground could hear.
Another man was tied to a chair, his eyes wide in fear and his face and shirt drenched with sweat. The lights were on, pointed at him. He could hear the man screaming, perhaps being tortured or just hired for special effects? He shook his head, but that made his head throb. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he was getting delirious.
A man, dressed up nicely with short cropped hair in a blue uniform approached him, two guards behind him, one female the other male. Both guards were wearing a gas mask. The uniformed man, however, was not.
The uniformed man held something up to the light to show the man bound to the chair. It glinted in the light, the carvings in the silver standing out to him more than ever. The bound man showed no expression in his face.
"So, this watch. It's the crest of State Alchemists, is it not?"
The bound man said nothing.
"What is your name?" the uniformed man asked.
Still the man said nothing.
"According to the picture, it says that you're the legendary State Alchemist, the Silver Lance Alchemist. Merrick Sario, if I'm not mistaken?"
And still the man said nothing.
The uniformed man walked up to Merrick, getting into his face, sneering. "Come on, Mr. Silver Lance. I'm willing to go easy on you. Just...tell me the truth and I'll let you go."
"You can kill me if you want, but I'll never tell you anything," spat Merrick.
The uniformed man turned toward his subordinates, shrugging. He took a few more steps backward, taking an unused mask from the female guard.
"Well...I'm sure we can find a way to compromise," the uniformed man smirked. He put on the mask, holding up a small vile of red liquid.
He dropped it, red vapor rising into the air. Merrick held his breath, trying not to inhale, but within half a minute it was no use. He breathed heavily, out of air, but then tried not to inhale again.
"This is an Ishbalan truth serum called Pentathol. One little whiff of this and you'll be telling what we want to know. And then some. Of course, the side-effect to this can be quite troublesome. Like with any truth serum, Pentathol is imperfect. I believe there is an active poison in this that can take a few days to get rid of. It will be a slow and painful death, but I will have my information."
He laughed, as did the guards.
"Well, it seems you got yourself in a perdicament, eh?" the man grinned. "Well, it does seem as if you gave me no choice. Now..."
He leaned in closer to the man, his breath invading Merrick's nostrils.
"I heard that there were two boys that came in today."