Roy sped through the courtyard towards her, igniting the world as he ran. He was determined to catch this intruder.
She jumped over his head before she reached down and grabbed his collar. Twisting away from him, she threw him aside. She was lunging towards him when he snapped and the fire exploded around the duo.
There was no scream of agony or cry for help, as she'd jumped back. Her foot had caught fire, but she'd shed her shoes. Landing cat-like with a twitch of pain from the stones on her toes. Still, she got to her feet and raised her hands together. Whens he opened her hands, the gloves she was wearing rippled and a funnel of air shot towards Roy, with lightning speed, tearing up the stones in it's wake.
Roy gritted his teeth and slipped around it. "What's with you?"
She put her hands together, her gloves still as the rest of her cloths rippled and formed around her. She was using wind Alchemy. But the way it tore through the stones was clearly not from just wind alone.
"What kind of Alchemist are you?"
She didn't say anything, just ran at him again, this time, her hands were revealed by the palms.
Roy knew those signs from countless books and countless research knowledge. They were the symbols that some medical Alchemists used for amputation. It was also used by the Alchemists who deconstruct using elements, such as Roy, and the decoration at the bottom designated the type.
Her sign for the right hand was amputation. Her sign for her left hand was that for deconstruction of air and moving air. Together, they could create wind that could slice right through anything.
Roy snapped his fingers and the fire exploded and he knew he made contact, but she came spiraling out of the flames, her wind shedding the flames. He gasped and took a step back before he resorted to combat. He grabbed her hand and threw her to the ground. As she went down, her face made contact with the stones. She turned onto her back and brought both her feet together, kicking Roy in the stomach, hard.
She put her hands so her fingertips touched the stones and used just that to push herself into a sitting position away form her landing spot.
Aley wiped blood from her lip and the scratches on her face. "Give me back my pendant!"
Roy blinked. He had almost forgotten about it. Slowly, he reached into his pocket and lifted it out. "This is property of Amestris. You're under investigation for the destruction of the east part of the city as well as the near fatality of Major Alex Louis Armstrong!"
She lunged at him and Roy had no time to react. Her wind ripped right through him, sending him onto his back. She was atop him, using his own collar to strangle him and pinning his hands down with her knees. "Give it back!"
He glared at her. "No."
Suddenly, a bullet penetrated right through Aley's head, from the left temple to the right. It virtually exploded it's way out, her blood splashing to the stones as she began to fall onto Roy. But the wind gently blew her to the side and she landed beside him.
A tear that had stayed, finally fell from her eye.
Riza ran over and touched Roy's arm. "Sir?"
Bradley came to stand behind Aley. "So, you've met our mystery Alchemist."
Riza looked up as Roy sat up. "Sir, should we really leave her out in the open like this?"
Bradley smiled cruelly. "You should take her inside, since you were the one who mistook her for a threat."
Roy blinked and then looked right at Bradley. "What?"
Bradley's smile faded and he glared down at them. "Aley isn't from this country. You all assumed she was a threat." He knelt down and brushed the tear from her wide eyes before he closed them. "Did you know that she nearly died of starvation crossing the dessert while we fought the Civil War of Ishval? I found her in the wreckage of that." He rolled her onto her back as he spoke his next, lingering, stinging words. "She's never known a single human to be kind to her. To die without seeing her killer's eyes is just crude to someone who's never been treated like a real woman."
Riza slowly lowered her gun and it clattered to the stones at her side. "She..."
"Was beaten and whipped by her master. Had her over-flow of neglect. She was a slave for the Emperor of Xing. The last of her surviving clan of servants and slaves for the Yao clan before they were replaced." Bradley stood up. "Take her inside so she can at least be cleaned."
-GreedLing-
Greed felt the feeling drain from Ling quite suddenly. "Ling?" He reached up and touched his face, covering it with his hand. "Ling!"
'She's...'
Greed blinked as a tear fell from his own eyes. "Wha-?"
He withdrew his hand and fear gripped him. The moisture was tears. They were tears of sorrow, the kind he'd cried when he'd killed his old friend. The kind that he swore he'd never cry again. The ones that were seeping from Ling's heart.
"Ling, what the hell happened?"
'Greed, hurry! We need to get to the Capital!'
"Are you nuts or something? IF we get there and IF we make it in, how do you expect me to stay calm?" Greed yelled, starting to run again. He jumped over a gap in the buildings. He didn't get an answer. "What's so special about this girl anyways?"
There was no answer, only a soft sob.
Greed looked inward and saw Ling.
He was curled up, hugging his knees and rocking back and forth. This wasn't the strong man who'd absorbed Greed. It was a scared boy, losing his precious things. But it wasn't like a brat getting what he wanted.
"Fine."
He left it at that.
