Chapter 2. "Ling Yao"
Disclaimer: I do not own anything involving Fullmetal Alchemist.
The story starts out kinda like the 2003 anime, but it dissolves into the 2009 Brotherhood version…if that makes sense 0.o
Enjoy the read!
***
She was blind!
She couldn't see a single thing!
Eternal brightness, never to see another shade of colour for as long as she lived!
...Oh, wait never mind she could see now.
Ode blinked a few times uncertain if her surroundings were merely an illusion from the sudden light. Milky lanterns glowed in distant lines all across the streets, while buildings towered all along the area.
'Where are we?' Nothing snapped inside her head that would recall this strange new place. Maybe she never saw it, or it was so long ago she couldn't remember. Well, she couldn't remember anything so that doesn't explain her predicament.
"Keep on going," the other lady hissed, as she started to shove and steer Ode away from the building. "You can sight see later, when we're far from here."
"But, where is here?" she asked. No one answered the curious girl but continued on their journey out of the city.
***
1 hour…
2 hours…
3 hours…
Maybe it was because the break out interfered with her night schedule, or maybe it was because she was so bored she zoned out for a few hours; whatever the reason, the next time Ode glanced around her surroundings she was on someone's back and in a new city.
"This looks new," she yawned, catching the attention of the man named Dolcetto
"Good your awake, now I won't have to carry you for another three hours," Dolcetto said.
"You wouldn't have had to, the runt and I are going into the town for a little while," the lady replied, while casting her eyes on the girl resting on his back. "We'll meet you all in the next town when we're finished with the errands."
"Errands? What do you need to get?"
"What the hell do you think? Some supplies and a new wardrobe for the appendage clinging onto your back." The blonde lady scowled.
Ode took a moment and gazed down at the clothes she was wearing. It appeared to be a white hospital gown of some sort, except the design was nothing like the ones the other prisoners wore. The cloth clung tighter to the body, and was obviously made for a female body type.
"Heh, got a point there. Alright kid brace yourself," Dolcetto said. A second later the teens feet dropped to the ground and had removed her arms from his neck.
The boss; Greed, noticed the pair of girls ready for their departure and called them both to him for one last order.
"Make sure to catch the next train out of here, alright? It would be such a pain to have to wait until morning for you to arrive," he told the blonde. The lady nodded before grabbing onto Ode's arm and directing her away from the group.
"Oh, and Martel," Greed called, turning his head slightly so he could see her.
"What is it?"
"Pick something flattering on Ode," he grinned playfully, staring directly at the Jane Doe. "A pretty girl like her shouldn't be hidden behind baggy clothes."
"What did he mean by that?" the clueless girl inquired loudly."C'mon runt," was all Martel said, though Ode could have sworn she was grumbling something under her breath.
'No one seems to like answering my questions…'***
Martel told her to stay and wait at the wall, while she took care of all the errands Greed instructed her to attend to. She found some amusement scuffling loose soil in a small pile with her feet, only to run them through and knock them on her shoes, But what it only could entertain for a few minutes or so.
At least she was able to get a new outfit, rather than wear the filthy hospital gown that she had worn all those years in the labs. The outfit was a long plain black dress, with four silver buttons going down in a straight line on her chest. The lady demanded she put on the dress immediately before they were to get caught…whatever that means.
The moon was shining through the lucid night. Did she ever look up at the dark blue sky and see the moon was grinning right back at her? So many mysteries clouded over every thought…so many questions, but no one would answer them. Despite the little bird finally leaving the closed up cage, she still felt condemned to forever live in a cage.
Little bird…Little bird…
How many feathers must fall off
from your graceful idle wings?
Oh I wonder how the little bird will fall..,
You're times short so keep at bay
Before your song sadly dies away
Oh I wonder how the little bird will fall…
…In love.
"What are you singing?"
Ode wrenched her head up from her knees to investigate on whose voice it belongs to. Her cinnamon eyes met squinted ones that even though it would seem the person could not see they were able to see everything.
It was a male around her age with black hair resting in a low ponytail, and wearing a bronzish-yellow shirt. However the design didn't seem like it came from here…infact, he didn't seem like he was from this country. Ode also noted he too was carrying a sword, but this time it was hanging from his back as opposed to Dolcetto where it hanged from his belt.
"I'm singing a song I know…" she said. The young man smiled warmly at her and then swiftly dropped into a crouch format right in front of the sitting teen.
"What's it called?"
"I dunno." She confessed with a shrug of her shoulders.
"If you could, would you ever ask a bird how his day was?" the foreign man asked half-heartedly.
"Huh?" Ode tilted her head slightly like a curious dog, letting a few strays of hair fall over her face. The troubled teen replayed the words inside her head a few dozen times before coming to some conclusion.
"Well…of course I would. Birds usually sing for a reason; they just want to be heard. So I guess they would be grateful for someone to ask them how their day was and maybe they would reward you, and be willing to answer more questions so they have someone to talk to."
The Jane Doe now had her hand under her chin in a classic thinking pose as she pondered over the conversation she would have a with a bird if she could. "How about you smiling eyes? Would you ask how a birds day was?"
The dark haired stranger just grinned wider. "Nope! Why would you ask such a weird question?" Ode blinked in confusion at the squinting eyed youth. She felt something rise inside her making her feel uncomfortable. She knew this feeling it was very familiar. But what was this emotion?
'Oh! That's right…embarrassment'
"But you're the one who asked me the question." She gawked.
"I know, but I didn't expect you to answer." He laughed some.
"…You're weird." The brown-eyed girl rested her chin onto her knees like before, puzzled on what she should do next. Should she continue to talk him? Would he ask another strange question? It was the stranger that decided to speak next.
"I'm Ling Yao." He greeted extending his hand out to Ode.
Yet another being wanted to know the name of the girl.
'It seems like I'm getting popular today. I've never met this many people before.'
"I'm Ode." She responded back, and the two strangers shook hands, not knowing what would become from this little encounter.