Caroline: Yawn… Im tired…

Jordan: Im SuGaRhIgH!

Caroline: Yea well… you're not the one who was up till 3 on Friday, 1:04 on Saturday, & 12:45 last nite!

Jordan: CORRECTION- I was up till 3 on Friday.

Caroline: Oh… yea… u were, wernt u?

Jordan: --……… Yes.

Caroline: Ah well… hm… Cribs was funn. I got 2 push u out of a house.

Jordan: I kno

Caroline: We need to edit out the part tho whn u filmed me the door aftr that… u kno?

Jordan: Yea..

Caroline: & the part where YOU TRIPPED!

Jordan: --……………………………..dont push it.

Caroline: Ah well, for those of you wondering what Caroline's State Alchemist name is… its the end of this chapter….. & I still don't even know what it is….

Jordan: So lets get 2 it!

Chapter 14: Clenched Fists

The alchemist yawned as she wandered down the streets.

The black eyes of the man alongside her gazed down upon her.

"Tired?"

"Just a bit," she replied.

Silence rested between the two once more. He noticed a few minutes later, the girl smiled & seemed to be much more cheerful.

"What are you so happy about?" he asked. "Glad that Jordan's gone?" he joked, recalling the mission his sister had been sent out on a day earlier.

She laughed. "Well, that too," she said. "I'm just glad I'm a State Alchemist."

She clenched her fist. "That way…" she muttered. "I can bring back my dad for sure."

Roy looked down on her, his eyes narrowing. The man's good hearing was a family trait. Crap, now he was starting to sound like Armstrong.

"What did you say?" he asked suspiciously.

She looked up, blinking innocently. "What?" she asked.

He grabbed the girl by the collar. "What did you say?" he asked angrily.

"What's it to you?" she retorted angrily. "Let me go now, dammit!"

"Are you trying to resurrect your father again?" he asked, his eyes burning with anger.

She clenched her fists, trying to restrain from punching the man in front of her. "Yeah? So what? I'll get it right this time now that I'm a State Alchemist!"

He shook her just a bit. "Don't you understand? You'll never get it right, State Alchemist or not! That's why it's forbidden!"

"So what do you care if I try it or not?" she yelled.

"Because…" he said. "Because I made a promise I would protect you." The girl growled as she struggled to break free. "& I'm sorry if you don't like it!"

She finally broke free of the man's grip & jumped to her feet.

"Yeah, well," she said. "I can protect myself."

Before she could run off, a hand grabbed her by the arm. She turned & glared at Roy angrily.

"You're not going anywhere," he said as calmly as he could. "You're still just a child."

The girl broke free once again, but this time, punched her guardian. He stumbled back a little, but remained on his feet, trying to restrain from snapping his fingers.

The girl walked a few steps backward, making sure Roy wasn't going to stop her, & then ran off into the night.

A half hour later, the girl was around ten or fifteen blocks from where she started. She began to feel a bit guilty.

'What… what if… I was too… hard on him?' she thought. 'He was only trying to help…' She looked up to the stars, then down, her eyes closed, & gave a 'huff', her breath showing in the cold air.

"He deserved it," she said aloud. "He doesn't need to get involved in my problems."

'But still…' she thought. She thought for a moment, just standing there, then she turned around smiling.

"Ha! I'll go back & give him the cold shoulder! I won't speak to him till he begs for my forgiveness!" she turned her back on the alley beside her, not even thinking how unlikely it would be to have a 29 year old beg for a teenager's forgiveness.

Suddenly, a pair of arms reached out & grabbed the girl, one hand covering her mouth the other pulling her into the alley. Before she realized what was happening, she was thrown to the very end of the alley. She gritted her teeth from the pain of hitting her spine with the brick behind her. She looked up from the ground.

"Who… the hell are you & what do you want?" she asked, looking to the darkness for answers.

A figure stepped forward. "Hey, beautiful, it's me again."

She realized the voice. "Look," she said as calmly as she could. "I'm not into you or your sick little games, so unless you wanna get hurt, beat it."

"Oh, is that so?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "Well… I don't think we'll be the ones getting hurt here."

Four figures stepped out of the darkness behind him. One, a dirty-blonde girl, maybe 3 or 4 years older than her. Another, a man with light brown hair somewhere around his mid-20's. The other one was bald & a bit on the heavy side, looking around 30 or older, & the oldest one looked around 40, but had a thin gray beard & red bandanna. The man who was apparently in love with Caroline was at least 30 as well, & could've possibly been the bald one's twin. They were all wearing black or gray so they wouldn't be easy to see.

The girl glared at their leader. "I've beat you once, & I'll beat you again, now get your ass outta here before I decide to tear you all to pieces."

"Tear, huh?" the youngest boy said.

At that moment, each of them pulled out at least 1 knife. Some had less than others, but they were still knives. Every shape & size too. Pocketknives, switchblades, cleavers, kitchen knives, & other types as well. The girl gulped. The odds of beating five tough-looking fighters who wore dark clothing & carried knives was pretty low. She could probably escape & kick some ass along the way, but if that didn't work, she could go full throttle too… but just try not to kill anyone. She noticed a spot open between the man's legs & went for it. She dived, & tried to make it but was stopped by a line of pain.

She turned & noticed a hand holding a bloody knife right above her back. She saw a line of blood & a tear in her coat where a knife would've cut. Apparently, the man had made a minor cut in her back.

"You're not goin anywhere, shrimp," he said.

She panted a bit from the pain, then switched to lying on her back. She quickly kicked one of her legs up, aiming right for-

"Goddammit!"

Score! That knocked the man to the ground, right where she had been before she had used the power from her legs to back roll straight to her feet.

She turned, & saw the rest running at her with knives. She threw one over her shoulder, & made the other two butt heads. She faced the girl who stood there, her brown eyes meeting the cold green ones.

"You're pretty tough for a little girl," she said calmly.

"I'm… not short!" she said, still panting. She hadn't gotten scraped up too badly, but she thought while she was taking care of them, she got a few knife cuts as well.

'Gotta be more carerful,' she thought. 'Can't lose too much blood.'

The older girl put up her knife. The brunette blinked, confused. Was she going to let her go?

"I'd rather use the better weapon," the girl said.

At that moment, she pulled out a sword.

'Crap…' the girl thought. 'That's gonna be a hell of a lot harder to dodge.'

A three-year old rushed across the backyard, swinging wildly. The four-year old dodged every move, but then… the sword slipped out of her hands. The toddler smirked.

"Now you're done for!" she swung back for the final strike.

The girl caught the blade between her hands.

"What the-"

Just then, the brunette was kicked right at the ankles. Her legs caved in, & she fell to her knees. She sat there, & began to cry over her defeat. The darker-haired one stood up & offered her a hand. The girl looked up, tears & confusion in her eyes.

"You're not holding the sword right. You're swinging much too wildly. & you're acting out with rage. Transfer your anger into strength," she said. "But most of all, you'll never be a good warrior if you just use one weapon. Now get up & try again."

The brunette nodded & took her hand. She stood up.

"Thank you, aneue."

That was the first time the two ever got along. & the first lesson Caroline had learned the hard way. & she was getting ready to learn it that way again if she didn't follow it.

She was using only her fists & her feet against a sword. That's it! A sword!

She clapped her hands, & praying that it would work, transmuted her automail into a sword. She did somewhat well with the sword. Practicing with Jordan really paid off. She would win this. Just like she always did. However, an ego could become her downfall.

Just then, a sharp, horrible pain sliced across her stomach. A drip of blood trickled down her cheek. She staggered back a few feet.

"Goodbye, pipsqueak," the girl said.

The girl realized what she meant, & turned around as fast as she could, & then…

A bloodcurdling scream ejected from the youngest man's mouth. He fell straight to the ground, blood spurting from his stomach. She had cut his stomach wide open… maybe worse. The other girl rushed straight to him. Caroline realized her path was clear. She could run away now. But her legs wouldn't move.

'What… what have I done?' she thought.

"Nii-san! Nii-san!" the girl started shaking her older brother, trying to get him up, but he wouldn't get up.

'Have I… have I…'

The girl turned. Her green eyes cut daggers through the brunette's pain-ridden ones. Suddenly arms grabbed the young girl & held her against a wall.

'What… what are they going to do now?' she thought her mind full of fear. She hadn't felt this way since… that night.

The girl stood in front of Caroline.

"You killed my brother," she said coldly.

The brown eyes gazed over him. He was still breathing, but there was no reason to state that, as it was questionable whether he would live to the next morning. She slowly looked back to the girl in front of her.

"You've already lost a fair amount of blood haven't you, girl?" she asked.

The brunette realized the cold, hard truth of it. She was already getting dizzy, & she couldn't fight much longer. She gulped.

'Am… am I going to die?'

"Let's see…" she said. "Your left arm is made of metal so if we cut off this right one…"

Caroline gasped as she got the point the girl was trying to make.

"Hold her against the wall," she ordered the men.

The girl's arms were gripped tighter & she watched her enemy pull out her sword. She felt a slight pressure where the girl held her blade to Caroline's right arm.

"One..."

'This is it,' the girl thought. 'I'm gonna die… right here. Roy…'

"Two…"

'I'm… sor-'

"Get... the… hell… away from her."

All heads turned to the entrance of the alley. & there stood the girl's protector.

The men loosened their grip, prepared to take the man on. The brunette dropped to her knees.

"What's she to you?" the girl asked, pulling her sword to her side.

"She's…"

Caroline watched. What if he walked off now? She had hurt him so much. Let him down so many times. What would he say? What could he say?

"She's my sister."

Caroline blinked. A… sister? That's… how he really thought of her?

The girl gave a 'heh'. "Well, your sister killed my brother."

That's true, Caroline thought. Now what would he say of his 'sister'?

"She had all the most reason to," Roy stated calmly.

The men & the girl rushed toward him, obviously offended by his comment. Caroline closed her eyes as she felt the heat on her face. They were all blown to the ground as the fire struck them. She stayed on her knees until she heard footsteps grow louder & louder & then the stopped. She looked up. Roy blinked. She expected him to yell at her, or give her the cold shoulder.

"You okay?"

She blinked,& then looked down.

"I'm sorry."

"I guess that's a 'no' then," he said. He picked her up, letting blood stain his gloves once again.

She put her arms around his neck as he carried her home.

"Roy," she said. "I'm… I'm sorry I yelled at you. I won't try it again. Promise."

He smiled warmly. "Forget it," he said.

Once they were home, he began to bandage her wounds.

"You were brave tonight," he said.

"No I wasn't,' she said honestly. "I was scared. I was only fighting because I didn't wanna die."

"Well, I know you fought your hardest," he said.

She nodded.

"Give me your hands," he suddenly said.

"What?" she asked.

"Just give me your hands."

She hesitated but put her hands in his.

"Now…" he said. "You can take everything you have, & you can close them up." He closed her hands. "Or you can open them, & let everything you have go." With that, he left the room, turning out the light.

The girl sat there, the moonlight shading her face. She realized she had taken her whole life with her hands open, but now… now was the time to close them.

She was going to lie now with clenched fists, for she was the Forsaken Alchemist.

To be continued…

Caroline: Wow… I didn't come up w/ that till a minute ago…

Jordan: Good 4 u

Caroline: James said it should be 'The Paper Alchemist'

Jordan: James sucks.

Caroline: Tyler sucks.

Both: YOU SUCK!

Caroline: Haha… not u readers… yall rule… unless u suck… haha jk!

Jordan: 1 MORE CHAPTER 2 GO B4 WE END THE FLASHBACKS!

Caroline: Yea… & I aint 2 sure if im gonna do a chaptr on character pfs now… maybe.. maybe not.. anyways R&R!