The Blade Alchemist: New Adventures

To Xing

Sarah POV

We knew the next train to New Optain was not until tomorrow, so we walked to the hotel to get rooms for the night. "So Lieutenant Colonel Havok, how do you know my dad?" He chuckled. "Just call me Havok. And we were friends from after the Promised Day. I was brought in to the hospital your father was staying in to be healed. And that's when I really spoke to him for the first time. We've been friends ever since." I smiled. "My dad has a lot of good friends." He chuckled again. "Yes he does. He's very lucky. And what about you? Tell me a bit about yourself."

"Well, where do I begin? As you can see, I'm a born chimera. You already know I'm a State Alchemist. Besides that, what do you want to know?" He smirked. "Any one special in your life?" I slightly blushed. "Well, yes. I am in love with this boy." He leaned over. "His name?" I sighed. "Sao Yao." He was slightly shocked. "Yao? As in Emperor Yao from Xing!?" I nodded. "Yes. He's Ling Yaos son." He snickered. "Well that's a good one. The prince of Xing and a wolf." I glared at him. "You keep your mouth shut about this!" He laughed. "Not a word. Either way, I'm happy for ya." We got to the hotel and rented the rooms.

The next morning, we left the hotel and took a cab to the station. We boarded the train and took a booth. "So Sarah. I heard you have a brother that's studying in Xing." Havok started. "Yes. His name is Mathew. He's there with uncle Al and aunt May studying alkahestry." He tilted his head. "How old is he?" I turned to him. "He's thirteen." His brows raised. "Thirteen? And he's staying in Xing?" I nodded. "He says he wants to be a doctor. And that alkahestry would better his medical field." He chuckled. "Thirteen and already fighting for what he wants to do. I'm impressed." I smiled. "So am I."

We got off the train at the city of New Optain for our follow on to Youswell. As it turned out, it was the next train to arrive at the station in about two hours. "Hey Havok. You best call your family while we wait. It will be awhile until you'll be able to talk to them again." He smiled and nodded. "You best do the same." I nodded and we both walked over to the pay phones. I picked up the receiver and dialed home.

"Ganters residence."

"Hey Scott. It's Sarah. How are you?"

"Not too well really. I caught a cold yesterday, and being part wolf don't help any."

"I'm sorry Scott. I hope you get better. Did anyone else get it?"

"Yeah. Susan and mom both got it, but not as bad. It's just their nose that's bothering them.

"That sucks. Any of Lings family get it?

"They left two days ago, so I don't know. Sao is still here, but he got lucky like Jenny did."

"Sao is still there?"

"Yeah. Wanna talk to him?"

"Yes please." There was a brief silence.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sao."

"Hi Sarah. I've missed you."

"Missed you too. How are you?"

"I'm fine. I feel bad for your brother though. That cold has really gotten to him."

"That bad?"

"Yeah. He's mainly been stuck in bed. But the doctor from town came by and said he should be fine."

"That's good."

"Sarah...I love you."

"Love you too Sao."

"Your mom is right here. Wanna talk to her?"

"I can't. I have to go. But please tell everyone I love them. And I'll call again when I can."

"Okay. Bye Sarah."

"Bye Sao." Click

"Well, I'm good to go. You?" Havok asked. "Yup. Good to go." We walked back to the station to wait for the train. About ten minuets passed, and the train rolled into the station and we boarded. We took a booth and Havok turned to me. "I got a question for ya." I turned to him. "Yeah." He just stared at me. "No offense, but do you always snore when you sleep?" I face palmed. My whole family had gotten used to it over the years, so I had completely forgotten about it. "Sorry about that. One of the traits I got from my mom. Your lucky, she's much worse. Or used to be until she had my younger siblings, then she never snored again. Unless she's drunk."

He started laughing. "It's no problem. Like I said, no offense, but it's just not something you normally expect from a woman." I chuckled. "None taken. And you forget that I'm part wolf. Wolves do snore, male or female." He chuckled too. "Well, I hate to be rude, but I can't sleep when you are. So how about we take turns?" I laughed. "Sounds good. I'm so sorry about that. Consider yourself lucky I don't howl...like my brother." Now he was surprised. "Your brother howls!? Which one!?" I glared at him. "Justin." His eyes went wide. "He howls in his sleep!?" I nodded. "And that's why I feel bad for his new wife. She is going to hate him." He laughed. "That poor woman. I don't know her, but now I feel really bad for her."

"Make that two of us. I even warned her, but she thought I was lying. But she'll find out soon enough." He started laughing harder. "So can I ask a personal question?" he asked. "Sure." He stared at me for a minuet. "I know that your mother had three and four of you at a time. Was that because she's part wolf?" I nodded. "Yes. And both times she was pregnant for only three months." He twitched. "Three months!?" I nodded. "Her pregnancy went at a wolfs rate as well as having multiple kids at a time." He looked at me a little concerned. "Mind if ask another personal question?" I nodded. "Do you think when you have kids, it will be the same for you?" I face palmed. "I freaking hope not! I have no idea how my mom could do it twice!" He chuckled.

"Well, at any rate, I know your mother is very happy with the results." I smiled. "Yes. She is." I stayed awake while Havok took a nap. I was starting to doze off, so I stood up and walked around for a bit. My thoughts went to what Havok had asked about me having kids. What if am like mom? What if when I get pregnant, I end up having multiples as well? What would I do? I don't know if I could handle that. Just how in the hell did mom do it? Twice? Well, whatever happens, I hope that it's with Sao. I really love him so much. And I know he does too. "Sarah." I turned around to see Havok behind me. "Yeah?" He let out a yawn. "You can go get some sleep if you're tired."

"Thanks. I'll do that." I walked past him and back to the booth. I layed down on the bench and slowly fell asleep. I was woken up by Havok shaking me. "Hey Sarah. We're here." I sat up and yawned. "What time is it?" He looked at his watch. "It's 10:25pm. We can get a head start on the trip across the desert." I nodded and stood up. We left the station and walked to the outskirts of the city to the stables. We rented some horses and began our long ride across the desert. "How long do you think it will take us?" I asked. "Depending on if we run into any sand storms, five to seven days." I moaned. I hated the heat. Like mom, I loved the cold. This was going to be a long trip.

We decided to set up camp and sleep during the day, and travel by night. It sucked trying to sleep when it was this hot out, but we managed at least a couple of hours each by switching out, due to my snoring. On the third day, we just happened to run across some traveling merchants. They were a little guarded towards us, but after everything that has happened, I don't blame them. We bought some fresh supplies and water from them and told them to be careful. We traveled for another three days, and we could finally see a settlement in the distance.

We rode up to it and asked on of the inhabitants where we were. He told us that we were a half days ride from the nearest city. The sun was just coming up, so we asked if we could stay until nightfall. The man told us that we could, and led us to a small bamboo hut. "Thank you sir." I stated and he nodded. "May I ask where you are from?" I smiled. "From Amestris." The man twitched and stared at us. "I am sorry for my rudeness, but I must ask you to leave." I looked at him confused. "You just said we could stay. What did we do to change your mind?" Havok asked. "We want nothing to do with your raids. Please leave."

"Sir, that is why we are here. To stop these raids. I assure you that we, nor the country of Amestris have anything to do with it. We are just trying to help." I stated and the man sighed. "I can see you are good people and mean no harm. But the others may attack you if they find out who you are. And this is a small settlement, so they will. I ask you to leave for your own safety." I sighed. "Alright. We'll leave. But can we ask you a few questions?" The man shook his head. "Not here. I'll follow you out of the settlement, then answer your questions there." Me and Havok nodded and we mounted back up and left with the man following us.

We got about a mile away from the settlement and started setting up camp. "So, what did you want to ask?" I turned to the man. "What all have you heard about these raids?" The man thought for a moment. "From what I know, they have been going on for about a five months now. Every time that the attackers were seen, they were wearing Amestrian military uniforms. They would attack the caravans and kill everyone, but not take any of the supplies. They've been doing it just to murder the men driving them." I turned to Havok. "Just like Ling said. Men in Amestrian uniforms. And so far it looks like it's working."

"Excuse me, but when you say 'Ling', do you mean Emperor Ling Yao?" I turned back and nodded. "Yes. He's a very close family friend." The man lowered his head. "I see. It seems that he has left more than just his people behind." I looked at Havok, then back to the man. "What do you mean sir?" He looked back at me. "You mean you haven't heard!?" he asked with wide eyes. "No." The man lowered his head and sighed. "I regret to tell you that Emperor Ling Yao has been slain." I gasped and froze, as did Havok. "What!? When!?" Havok yelled. "His body was found two days ago in the desert. The guards that were protecting him were killed as well. They found multiple bodies of the attackers, all wearing Amestrian uniforms."

I was completely frozen in shock. "Ling...is….dead!?" The man nodded. "If he was a close friend of yours, then we have all lost someone dear to us." Something then clicked in my head. "What about the rest of the family!? They were traveling with him!" The man raised his head. "They were with him!? They only recovered the Emperors body! No one else!" I turned to Havok and he nodded. "They either got away, or they were captured!" he stated and I turned to the man. "Do you know where his body was found!?" The man nodded. "I do. I can take you there after nightfall." I nodded. "Alright! If that really was Ling that was killed, his family was with him! We are going to find them!"