Disclaimer: I doesn't own Fullmetal Alchemist.
HUGE thanks to Mage of Hope for giving me the inspiration to write this chapter! She was such a huge help! THANK YOU, GIRL!
Ling gets so much attention in this chapter and the next 3 ! Also, just as a note for later, the iron oxide found in rust can be used to darken hair color, and even though it may have a redish tint- given enough- it can turn hair black.
A big thanks to all of my readers/reviewers/alerters/favoriters! Keep it up!
Not for the first time recently, when Raven awoke- even before her eyes were open- she felt as if she'd been run over by a freight train. And like the previous situation, she knew just from the smell that filled her nostrils with every inhale that she was back in the hospital.
Peelings her lids open slowly, painfully, she almost had to squint as she took in the familiar sight of an all-white room, brightly illuminated with the window curtains thrown back. In any other case, she would have been grateful for the sun's warming presence to keep her chills at bay, but the harsh whiteness of the room coupled with the bright light was blinding. Great, she thought ruefully. Now everything hurts.
Taking a deep breath, she winced as she attempted to pull herself into an upright position, a deep ache settling into her abdomen. Carefully so as not to jostle her side, Raven pulled up the left corner of her scrub shirt and felt her breath freeze in her lungs.
Stretching across a majority of her midsection was a large burn scar that marred her skin, discolored and showing signs of contracture. If she looked closely enough, she could make out a barely detectable pair of marks where her skin was darker than even the burn. Her stab wounds.
"You're awake, I see," a voice chimed, startling Raven. She looked up to see a nurse enter her room, a kind smile on her face as she moved to her bedside. "I wouldn't move around too much if I were you," she warned. "Though I doubt it'll reopen your wound, you don't want to irritate it too much. Small movements are alright for now, but give yourself time to fully heal before you start to stretch your muscles again," she instructed.
Nodding numbly, Raven smoothed her shirt back down, not wanting to see the gruesome mark. "How long have I been out?" she asked in a detached tone.
"About two and a half days," the nurse replied, quickly glancing at the girl's monitor and jotting down a few notes on a clipboard.
Raven felt her heart skip a beat. "You lost about fifty percent of your blood," the nurse informed her. "There wasn't too much internal damage- nothing that can't be fixed, anyway- but we had to give you a few blood transfusions."
"And the burn?" Raven inquired softly. "How did that happen?"
Tapping her bottom lip thoughtfully, she replied, "From what we can gather, the man who came in with you seared your wound closed to prevent further blood loss or infection. It may not be pretty, but it undoubtedly saved your life."
The girl was silent for a moment. Raven's memory of the events after Lust had begun to drag her away were muddled at best, but she clearly recalled a blazing heat spreading over her wounded side. At first she assumed it was a flare up of pain, that she had done something to irritate it, but now it was obvious. The Colonel had cauterized her wound and kept her from bleeding out. He'd saved her life.
"And how is he doing?" Raven asked quietly. "Mustang… and Havoc too? Are they alright?"
"Both of them are stable," the nurse answered calmly, instantly relieving Raven's worry. "Banged up like you, but they're both awake and seem to be recovering just fine."
So that must mean…"Do you think I could go visit them for a few minutes? It won't take long at all," she added when the woman opened her mouth to argue. "I won't be a bother and I'll come right back here once I'm done."
Biting her lip, the nurse relented, "Alright. Just a few minutes though, the doctors will want to run a few tests to see how well you're doing now that you're conscious. And," she made her way over to the bathroom door, pulled it back, and dug out a metal chair from behind it. Rolling the wheelchair over to the girl, the nurse continued, "Since we don't want to aggravate your wound, you'll have to make do with getting around in this for the time being."
Scowling, Raven countered, "But the skin around the burn is already starting to contract. If I don't stretch it-"
"Then you won't strain it or hurt yourself before you've had time to fully recover," the woman interjected. "You're either leaving this room in this wheelchair, or you're not leaving at all," she said firmly, a confident grin playing at the edges of her lips.
After mumbling incoherently for a good five minutes, Raven finally sighed in defeat. "Fine," she forced the word out. "I'll use the stupid wheelchair only if I get to maneuver it myself."
The nurse raised an eyebrow. "Don't you want any help?"
Shaking her head, Raven replied, "The last thing I need is that jerk thinking I can't handle myself."
Headaches were nothing new to Roy Mustang. In fact, he often thought of them as an occupational hazard, something he dealt with on a daily basis wherever his job was concerned. Between putting up with bratty State Alchemists, procrastinating subordinates, and unending mountains of paperwork, there was rarely a moment his head wasn't throbbing. He had hoped that the steady stream of pain killers floating through his system would finally silence the pounding inside his skull, but still no luck. As if his recent injuries weren't enough, he was still left to deal with the always-present headaches.
And he was currently staring another one directly in the face.
"Finally awake, Iron Haste?" he asked lightly to the frowning girl in a wheelchair. For someone that lost about half the blood in her body, she appeared surprisingly spry, but then again, she was always a talented liar. She could have had her leg chopped off an acted as if it caused her no more pain than a paper cut.
"Yeah," she mumbled. "How's Havoc?" she nodded to the man sleeping soundly in the bed next to his.
Glancing over at his subordinate, Mustang replied, "He'll live. The doctors say his spine retained some damage, but he seems to be doing alright. And you?" he turned back to the dark haired girl. "I doubt you came for pleasantries, so what's on your mind?"
She bit her lip. "I don't remember much of what happened after Lust started dragging me away. I just wanted to fill the gaps in my memory."
Taking a deep breath, Mustang responded, "It's a good thing you're already sitting down. This might take a while."
He relayed the events of that night to her as best he could, though it wasn't much, considering he'd only been present for the last few minutes. With every detail he described, Raven's expression seemed to darken, though he wasn't surprised considering how serious the situation had gotten. By the time he had finished his retelling, she looked as if she'd eaten something months past its expiration date.
"So, you said that after burning her enough times, Lust finally died?" she repeated, clearly still trying to wrap her head around everything he had told her.
"Yeah, she couldn't regenerate after so many times, then her body just turned into dust," Mustang affirmed, his brow furrowing as Raven's eyes betrayed just how troubled she was by the statement. "Is something the matter? I thought you'd be glad to hear that thing is dead."
"I suppose..."
The Colonel sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Whatever it is you're thinking, just let it go for now. If you're as desperate to find a way to regain what you've lost as we all believe you to be, then don't waste your time worrying right now. Concentrate on healing, then you can fret until you're heart's content once you're released from here."
She blinked in shock at his words, and honestly, he hadn't entirely expected them himself. "Uh, sure," she said, unsure of how to respond.
Frowning, Mustang stared at Raven, suddenly missing her sharp wit and temper. This almost sullen-looking girl was too similar to how she had been after first joining the military, practically a zombie. Whatever thoughts she was lost in, they were obviously dragging her down, and in turn soured his mood a bit as well.
"So," he said, more to fill the silence in the room than anything, "I suppose now I won't have to watch my back waiting for you to sucker punch me anymore," he said, only half joking.
Scowling a bit, Raven retorted, "Even you have to admit that was somewhat deserving. You didn't have to be a complete and total ass about it."
He raised an eyebrow. "And you didn't have to completely and totally loose your temper the way you did," he retaliated.
"Whatever," she huffed, somewhat back to her old irksome self. Mustang raised an eyebrow at her, gazing at her with expectant black eyes. Her brow furrowed. "What?" she demanded.
"I think you know what."
"If you're looking for an apology, you won't get one," Raven said stubbornly.
Rolling his eyes tiredly, Mustang all but sighed, "Still hard-headed as ever, I see. What'll it take to get you to-"
"I will, however," she interrupted, her eyes loosing some of their ferocity, "say thank you."
The Colonel felt his jaw drop slightly. He had known better than to expect her to apologize for her behavior, but this? A genuine word of thanks was the last thing he anticipated. Quickly composing himself, he brushed off her comment as if she'd only stated an observation about the weather. "I can accept that; I did save your life. I suppose that makes you indebted to me," he said with a slight upturn of his mouth.
Raven grimaced. "Don't push your luck, Pony Boy," she warned. "I still haven't completely forgiven you." She wheeled her chair around to head back out the door, pausing in the threshold. "But I am grateful for what you did. So, thank you."
"Hmph," the Colonel made am arrogant noise, a bit miffed at her earlier comment but making a point to mask most of his irritation. "By the way," he began, causing her to stop once again in the doorway. "Tell your idiot friend that he can see you during visiting hours, not at ungodly hours of the night."
The girl's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"For the past two nights, some guy claiming to be a friend of yours has been sneaking in through the window thinking this was your room. If he keeps poking me awake in the middle of the night, asking for directions to your room, I will set his hair on fire. Think you can relay that to him?"
His words only seemed to deepen her confusion. "And which idiot friend of mine was this? By your definition, most, if not all of them are idiots," she said apathetically.
"The Xingese one," Mustang answered, crossing his arms. "He may have tried to steal my food too," he added.
At first, she seemed shocked by his statement, obviously not expecting his answer, then sighed, rubbing her temples. "That sounds like something he would do. Are you sure it was him?" she asked dubiously.
"Unless you know another brat from Xing with long black hair and a sword, I'm fairly sure it was him," the Colonel replied sarcastically.
Strangely, the corners of her lips turned up as she tried to restrain a smile. "I'll be sure to give him the message," she said quietly, rolling her chair with some difficulty out the door into the hallway. "See you around, Pony Boy," she called behind her as she disappeared down the hall.
Exasperated, Mustang fell back against his pillow. "Brats," he sighed.
Over the course of the next few days, Raven's time was divided between the monotonous task of staring at white walls- which she felt would slowly drive her to insanity- and reciting the periodic table of elements along with each element's atomic and mass numbers- which numbed her mind, but did nothing to calm her unease. Hospital stays were nothing new to her, but she never recalled ever being so impatient to be discharged.
It was foolish, she knew, to want to leave before having fully recovered. She would eventually find herself caught in a delicate situation, and just when she needed her strength most, it would fail her. Essentially she'd be a burden, nothing but dead weight better left behind. Raven grit her teeth. The last thing she wanted to do was weigh the others down- maybe even place them in danger- so for the time being, she would have to give herself time to heal.
The doctors had informed her that while none of her internal organs had been damaged, the loss of nearly half her body's blood was a troubling matter. They had prescribed her to rest for another five days to restore proper blood flow to her system and allow her abdomen to recover, but Raven wasn't sure how much more of this she could take. It was maddening to sit and wait with nothing but her thoughts to keep her company, but she couldn't afford to be weak when she was needed. One day, she decided. Only one more day and it's back to work.
She sighed, falling back against the stiff mattress and closing her eyes. Fatigue that had little to do with her lack of blood settled on her, but her mind was racing, making sleep impossible. More than anything, she wanted to get up and walk around, maybe exercise her muscles that had grown sore with disuse or stretch out her midsection to prevent further contracture. But she knew that the doctors would not allow it and sentence her back to her room, maybe even restrain her. Yeah, because they really need to tie a girl that has to move around in a wheelchair to her bed, she thought sarcastically. All she wanted was to busy her mind with something other than staring at a blank white wall, and needless to say, after four days she was beyond restless.
The only comfort she truly found was in the daily visits of Edward, Alphonse, and occasionally Winry and Ling. Since the latter was still considered an escaped criminal, morning and afternoon hours were a risky visiting time. Instead, Raven suspected he snuck in through the window every so often in the night, judging from his slightly singed hair she'd seen him sporting two days after her conversation with the Colonel. On the other hand, Winry was preparing to return to Rush Valley and assume her work- though Raven thought the blonde may have been a bit angry with her upon learning she had employed a new automail mechanic.
For the most part though, Raven had enjoyed each of their company. Ed always provided an opportunity for playful banter, Al was always kind and considerate, Winry was a fellow- and somewhat relatable- female, and Ling never ceased to make her laugh even when unintentional. It was only after they left that uncertainty settled upon her.
She'd been practically useless during the encounter with Lust, and it resulted in her being stabbed and endangering her companions. Raven never wanted to admit herself weak, but her actions clearly showed how far she had fallen behind. With time and effort, people were supposed to become stronger. Apparently, she had proven herself to be the exception to this rule.
Don't, a voice warned at the back of her mind. The instant you believe yourself weak and useless is the instant you truly become weak and useless.
Tomorrow will be better, she repeated to herself over and over again like a broken record. Tomorrow, life begins again.
For the first time since she had arrived at the hospital, Raven found herself unwilling to wake up when the next day arrived. The outstretched claws of sleep were still grappling at her semi-conscious mind, ready to pull her under once again. She felt mentally exhausted, having spent most of the night tossing and turning as she tried to will herself to sleep, and even when it came upon her she had been plagued with nightmares. As tired as she may have been however, she had no intention of falling back asleep only to revisit garish scenes of her murdered friends and companions and ultimately her own death.
With a tired sigh, she rolled onto her side and sat up slowly, testing her ability to move about. Her side tingled somewhat, but the gut-wrenching pain that had been present upon her first awakening was gone. Lifting her shirt up, she examined her scarred abdomen for the first time in days. On the outside, it appeared little different than initially save for the fading signs of skin contracture, but Raven felt overall better. Though she was far from being in peak condition, she felt strong enough to move around on her own.
Further assessing her capabilities, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, shifting her weight from her left to her right. Her injured side ached a bit as she did so, but she figured that as she stretched her muscles out it would loosen up.
Gathering up her clothes that had been tucked away in her bedside drawer, she padded barefoot over to the small bathroom. Quietly locking the door, Raven filled the sink with water and ducked down to the cabinet beneath it. It was a simple matter of unlocking it with a quick transmutation, and an almost easier matter of rifling through an assortment of cleaning supplies until she found what she was looking for. Taking out a somewhat rusty pair of scissors, she scraped some of the dark flakes off into the water. Most of them were small enough to dissolve right into the water while some settled to the bottom in chunks. It mattered little to her whether or not they melted in the water, the transmutation would work as long as the necessary ingredients were present. Dousing her hair with the water and leaving the ends floating in the sink, she traced a quick circle onto the back of her hand and she laid her palm flat on the water's surface. Blue sparks danced and then fizzled out, and when Raven raised her head to look in the mirror, she saw entirely black hair.
She suppressed a shiver. It was a sight she hadn't seen in years, and honestly, she was a bit unsettled by it. Every day, she had woken up to bangs streaked with white, a reminder of the mistakes she had made and the price paid. Now that it was gone... nothing was truly different, she realized with a start. All it took was one look at her arms to convince herself of her wrongdoings, and she was still the same person. A bit roughed up and pure black hair, but still Raven Guardel.
Draining the sink and erasing all evidence of the transmutation, Raven shucked off her scratchy hospital scrubs and tossed them in a corner. Donning her fresh change of clothing- that still somehow managed to reek of antiseptic- Raven emerged from the bathroom, scribbled a quick thanks to the nurse or doctor that was sure to find it, and walked as quickly and as calmly as she could out the door.
Navigating through the maze of white hallways, Raven was happily surprised to find that her side wasn't screaming in protest with every step. In fact, she could almost feel her stomach muscles begin to unclench and the skin around her burn loosen up a bit. She sighed as she considered how long it would take for the contracture to completely smooth out- if it ever did. Though she continuously told herself that if Mustang hadn't acted as he did, she wouldn't be alive right now, but a small voice in the back of her head reminded her grudgingly that the Colonel had left her with a serious problem that may hinder her ability to move. Silencing it, she plastered a small smile on her face as she paused at the nurse's station to fill out her release forms. As annoyed with the man as she was, she had to admit her gratefulness to his actions; she would rather deal with the process of muscle rehabilitation than face death.
As she left the hospital behind her, Raven navigated her way through the city's bustling crowds of people flooding the streets toward Central Hotel. She tried to loose herself in the noise in attempt to calm her swirling thoughts and doubts, but found little success. However, she was quick to fix a lazy grin on her face as she suddenly found herself staring at the door of Ed and Al's hotel room, voices echoing from the other side. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she threw open their door.
"Knock, knock," Raven greeted as she walked into the Elrics' room, abruptly ending all conversation as four pairs of eyes turned to stare at her. Edward's mouth was still open, formed on the words he had been speaking until Raven had interrupted. Beside him sat his brother while Ling and Lan Fan were seated on a couch opposite the brothers. All had been watching Ed attentively, but the instant Raven walked though the door, everyone was silent. Brushing off their uncomfortable gaping, she crossed over to them and folded her arms over her chest. "I heard that you were holding a gathering for the psychologically disturbed, and figured my invite was lost in the mail," she said airily.
Blinking away his shock at her sudden appearance, Ed seemed to fight to keep his voice level as he said, "What the hell are you doing here? Shouldn't you still be in the hospital?"
Gazing at him blandly, Raven retorted, "It's nice to see you too. Way to make a girl feel welcome."
"I think Brother means to ask if your injuries are fully healed yet," Alphonse translated helpfully.
"For the most part yes. Right now I just need to concentrate on exercising my muscles to build my strength back up. And," she added with an upturn of her mouth, "I figured that sticking around with you guys would provide the perfect opportunity to do so."
Edward opened his mouth to snap a response when Ling's hand shot up in the air. "Question!" he announced with his eyes trained on the dark haired girl.
"Uh, yes?" Raven said, feeling like an old schoolteacher.
"When did your hair turn all black?" the Xingese boy inquired.
Blinking at him in astonishment, Raven found herself once again amazed at Ling's questionable attention span. "Of all the things to point out, you ask about my hair?"
Shrugging, he responded, "I already figured out from the fact that you're here that you're itching for some action, so no questions there. As for the action you seek, well," he gestured widely at the gathering, "you found it!"
Shaking her head a bit, Raven had to hand it to the Xingese boy; he could read her like an open book. Though whether or not it was entirely a good thing, she was uncertain. "And what exactly did I find?" she asked tentatively, looking from the Xingese pair to Alphonse before finally resting her eyes on Edward. Her face fell and stomach dropped as she registered his cautious expression. "Let me guess, something dangerous and potentially fatal," she stated more than asked.
"Not fatal per-say..." Ed answered doggedly.
Groaning in frustration, Raven rubbed her eyes with her thumb and index finger. "But still life threatening and highly stupid, no doubt," she assumed.
Crossing his arms in annoyance, Edward said tersely, "There should be minimal risk involved. At least listen to the plan before jumping to conclusions."
"Alright," she sighed, settling onto the armrest beside Ling, which earned her a pointed glare from Lan Fan. Ignoring her, Raven leaned her elbows on her knees, gazing attentively at the Elric brothers. "Enlighten me."
As Edward relayed their plan to Raven, she stayed completely silent while she mulled over their intentions. She found that as he went into further detail, a cold rock began to form in her stomach, and part of her deeply regretted having left the hospital.
"So, what do you think?" Alphonse asked after his brother finished explaining.
Exhaling slowly, Raven shook her head. "I think you're completely insane," she deadpanned. "As if purposely luring out the homunculi isn't dangerous enough, you want to have a showdown with Scar right in the middle of it? Either you've gone crazy or you're a moron, and I'm inclined to think both."
Frowning, Ed opened his mouth to snap a response when Ling interrupted. "Well, I hear insanity and stupidity go hand in hand," he offered unhelpfully, earning himself a glare from a very annoyed Edward. "But it's a good idea," he quickly amended. "This Scar guy needs to be taken care of, and we need to lure out the homunculi. It's like killing two stones with one bird."
Rubbing her forehead with her palm, Raven felt herself sigh in exasperation. "The amount of your combined stupidity could kill an entire species," she groaned in complaint.
"True," Ling admitted, slinging his arm over her shoulder with his signature grin, "but with you added to it, we could probably kill every living thing on the planet."
She sighed again, seeing no point in arguing something she knew to be true. "In fact, it just might be enough to take out the homunculi. Alright," she said decisively, "count me in. So when do we start?" she asked expectantly.
A grin slowly spread its way across Edward's face. "Now."
In less time than Raven thought possible, the operation was underway. Presently, she was perched atop the ledge of a roof, looking out at the streets below and trying to keep tabs on the Elric brothers. It was times such as these when she wished she shared Ling's perceptive ability to sense another being's chi, as it would definitely make her task easier. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the Xingese prince sitting beside her, looking completely at ease despite the absurdity and the danger of their plan. She restrained a smile, wishing her nerves were as calm as his; she had been twitching impatiently for the past two hours as they sat and waited for either Scar or the homunculi to show their faces. Apparently she was not the only one on edge, as Lan Fan had resumed inspecting her arsenal of kunai knives for about the seventh time in ten minutes. For a trained martial artist, the Xingese girl seemed to have little patience, Raven noted.
Raven was barely aware of the fact that she was still observing Ling until their eyes finally met and he grinned slyly. "Is there something about me that fascinates you to the point of staring?" he said, causing her to faintly blush.
"I was just kind of wondering what it was like to be able to sense another person's chi," she said quickly.
He raised a skeptical eyebrow, but answered, "It comes in handy. All the people of Xing are born with the ability."
"I wonder why it's only the Xingese people that can sense chi. Why wouldn't Amestrians or Cretans be able to do the same?" she asked to no one in particular.
Shrugging, Ling offered, "Maybe because the people of your country aren't awesome enough to handle sensory abilities."
Raven laughed quietly, and then lapsed back into silence as she caught a glimpse of a dark haired man and blonde woman in military uniform huddling near the Elrics. Upon closer inspection, she realized that it was Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye talked rather animatedly with the brothers. Raven took a deep breath, trying to calm her buzzing nerves that were anxious for things to finally set in motion.
"Are you sure that you're up for this?" Ling asked, his tone uncommonly serious. "Are you going to be okay?"
Stifling a sigh, Raven began, "I appreciate your concern, but-"
"But ever since we left the hotel, you've been holding your stomach as if you're still in pain and you haven't taken your weight off your right side." He raised a dubious eyebrow at her. "I'm interested in hearing what your definition of 'okay' is. 'Alive'?" he guessed.
Raven was speechless. Glancing at herself, she noted her own rigid posture, arm cradling her stomach, and body weight leaning away from her injured side. At some point, unbeknownst to her, Ling had been observing her behavior and making note of her every minute action. She had seen glimpses of a boy that was more perceptive than he appeared in the past, but this... Raven would never be able to underestimate him again. "Well," she mumbled, wringing her wrists, "if it makes you feel any better, I'm not in pain. Nervous sure, but the doctors said that I should be all healed up for the most part."
Waving a dismissive hand, Ling replied airily, "What do doctors know anyway? I thought we already cleared up the fact that I'm more perceptive than most."
"So I've noticed," she mumbled. "It's almost scary how much you notice. You're like a mind-reading ninja."
Grinning, he chirped, "Something like that. Then again, it's not very hard to figure out what your tell is."
Raven's brow furrowed. "My tell?"
"It's what tells me when you're lying," Ling continued in the same chipper tone. "For you, it's in your eyes. It's almost like they feel guilty about lying, so they blink a lot. I guess it's your body's way of rejecting the fact that you lie."
She exhaled a short, half amused, half disbelieving breath. "Do I really?" He nodded. "So I'm that obvious?"
Shaking his head, Ling replied, "Not really. It took me a while to figure it out, but when I first visited you in the hospital is when I began to notice it. You kept trying to reassure Alphonse and me that you were feeling alright, but you were blinking a lot when you said it. That's about when I started to put the pieces together and figured out your tell."
An embarrassed flush colored her cheeks, though it had little to do with his powerful deductive skills. "I'm sorry for lying to you. I just…" she trailed off, unsure of what to say and how to even justify saying she hadn't wanted anyone concerned about her health.
"Everyone was really worried about you, you know," Ling said softly. "When Al came back alone that night, we all thought…" he trailed off, but she knew from his expression that he had momentarily believed her dead.
Biting her bottom lip, Raven murmured, "I know Edward says that I'm stupid for being so willing to die, but that's really not the case anymore. Back then, I was almost certain that I was going to bleed to death, and for once… the thought terrified me. It's only now that I realize that I don't want to die, that I'm willing to fight with every ounce of my strength to keep on living."
Ling's brow furrowed. "What made you change your mind?"
A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "The fact that I had people who cared about me. People who made me want to continue living. People who made it worth living."
Silence hung in the air for a few moments as the weight of her words settled on them. Raven chewed the inside of her cheek; she was unused to sharing something so personal to someone, but she felt strangely comfortable confiding in the Xingese boy. What had taken her weeks to reveal to the Elrics had taken days to tell Ling, and she found herself slowly beginning to truly trust Ling- a feat she probably wouldn't have considered herself capable of three months ago. In the recesses of her mind, Izumi's words echoed, Find someone to confide in, someone you know you can absolutely trust with your secrets.
"Does that include me?" Ling's voice chimed, interrupting her thoughts.
"Which part?"
"The one about making life worth living," he elaborated. "Is my name somewhere on that list?"
Just as she opened her mouth to respond, Ling and Lan Fan's heads snapped up simultaneously, their gazes turning to the west. The prince's brow furrowed. "That's a strange presence," he commented, turning to his subordinate. "You can feel it too, right?"
Nodding, Lan Fan replied, "Yes."
"I suppose that's our cue," Raven said, stretching out her stiff muscles.
Ling raised a questioning eyebrow. "Edward said you would only do surveillance with us then head over to the meeting place."
Clenching her fist, she replied firmly, "I can handle this. At the very least, I can provide you guys some backup in case more homunculi come. They won't hurt me, not if I'm supposed to be one of their 'precious sacrifices'. I'll be fine," her tone left little room for argument.
After a brief hesitation, Ling finally nodded. "Then let's move."
Without further prompting, the three of them took off leaping from rooftop to rooftop over the city, following the homunculi's scent. Raven could feel her abdomen burn from the workout, her stomach muscles still a bit stiff from disuse, but the knot that had been forming there was beginning to loosen. As adrenaline slowly pulsed through her body, she felt her limbs growing lighter and the discomfort in her midsection subside. If she could manage to keep it up, she figured she may just be useful for something other than a standby replacement fighter.
"Rae," Ling called from the front of the group, breaking the girl out of her thoughts, "I want you to stay close to me. This might get messy."
Her brow furrowed. "Why do you say that?"
"I think there may be two of them," he answered. "It's a bit hard to tell though; their chi is even stranger than yours," he added absentmindedly.
"Thanks," she muttered under her breath sarcastically. In a louder voice, she asked as she dropped down to a lower ledge of a multilevel roof, "How close are we?"
"Directly ahead," Lan Fan answered shortly, much to Raven's surprise. As she looked up, she stopped dead in her tracks, nearly teetering off the edge of the roof and knocking Ling down with her in the process.
Just as the Xingese warrior predicted, a massive blob of flesh came careening toward them from seemingly nowhere, though it didn't appear to have noticed the three on the rooftops. Upon closer inspection, Raven noticed that it was a very short, very fat, very bald man wearing some sort of black skintight suit. Despite his size, he seemed to have little difficulty vaulting from roof to roof at a pace that probably would have matched Ling's. His way of running reminded Raven strangely of a child: wildly sprinting, only looking far off in the distance at their objective while completely neglecting any obstacles placed directly in front of them.
In this case, his obstacle was Lan Fan's booted foot that smacked him solidly in the face.
He was sent flying on impact, hurling backward through the air and crashing into the roof of a building. That family's not going to be too happy when they get home and find a giant hole in their roof, Raven thought wryly. Her humor died swiftly as Ling pulled out his cutlass in one smooth motion and rested the flat back edge of it on his shoulder like a baseball bat, grinning confidently.
"Hi! How's it going?" he called cheerily to the fat man hauling himself up from the wreckage. "That is one pretty unusual body you've got there. How many people are inside you?"
The fat man's small dark eyes drifted uncomprehendingly between the prince, the wide-eyed girl standing behind him, and the masked warrior. "Who are you?" he asked timidly.
Raven's brow furrowed. This was a homunculus? Of the three she'd had the displeasure of encountering, this one seemed almost too incompetent to be called a creature such as the homunculus. He certainly possessed the sinful qualities of the gluttonous, but lacked the overall threatening demeanor that Raven had always felt went hand-in-hand with the homunculi.
"Don't bother running," Lan Fan warned gruffly. "I sense your presence, and I can follow it."
Strangely, the supposed homunculus smiled childishly, as if the idea amused him. "Follow?" he echoed. "Me? Then I'll just eat you now," he reasoned, opening his jaw wide.
Raven's eyes widened as she spotted a familiar mark tattooed on his tongue, that of a serpent devouring its own tail. The Ouroboros. He's one of the homunculi alright, but… she trailed off, her eyes scanning their surroundings. Ling said there were two, so where…
"So, you're able to detect his presence, are you?" an eerily family voice mused from below. Following the sound, Raven traced it to the street below and felt her breath catch in her lungs. There was no mistaking the clean-cut military uniform, cropped dark hair and matching mustache, black eye patch, and the gleaming twin swords strapped to his waist.
Fuhrer King Bradley, leader of the nation of Amestris.
His single green eye carefully regarded each one of them, and Raven felt a chill travel down her spine as it passed over her. Her limbs froze as recognition flashed in his dark orb, and she felt herself completely unable to move, unable to breathe, and unable to think. Panic and fear continued to grip her even as his sight slid past her to Ling before finally landing on Lan Fan. "Well, that's quite the nuisance," he growled, unsheathing his swords. "Let's take care of it."
In a wild burst of speed, Bradley was racing up a building, barreling toward the Xingese girl like an unstoppable force of nature. Ling shouted to her, ordering her to run, but no one even had a chance to blink as the blades swiped at her, filling the air with shards of her mask and crimson drops of blood.
The atmosphere was shattered with Ling's panicked cry of, "Lan Fan!" as the girl began to fall. As tormented as his voice was, it was enough to snap Raven out of her terror and force herself to move. Her senses kicked into overdrive as she saw the Xingese warrior land roughly on the roof of a low building while her peripherals caught sight of the homunculus she presumed to be Gluttony leaping toward her.
Before she had a chance to warn the prince, he was already shooting through the air, his sword at the ready. In one clean slice, the top half of Gluttony's head was sheared off along with his hands, spraying more blood into the air. His huge body flopped uselessly down in pieces not feet from where Lan Fan laid unmoving, but Raven knew better than to hope the fat homunculus would remain dead for long.
Raven's feet moved of their own accord, jumping down from her perch to land beside Ling and the barely conscious girl lying next to him. "Lan Fan! Please! Stay with me!" he urged.
"We need to get her out of here," Raven commanded, glancing behind them as she saw red sparks dance around Gluttony's slowly reforming body. "If we get her somewhere safe, I can stop the bleeding, but we have to loose these guys first," she said warily.
Nodding briskly, Ling gathered the limp girl up in his arms and swung her over his shoulder. Just as he stood up, Bradley landed ten feet away from them, sword in hand and a deep scowl set on his face. From the corner of her eyes, Raven spotted Gluttony slowly rising to his feet, an ugly smile plastered on his face. Weighing their options with the limited time Lan Fan had, she felt the words leave her lips before she could thoroughly think them through, "I'll take the fat guy on; do you think you can handle Bradley?"
Ling stiffened at her side, his grip on Lan Fan and his cutlass tightening. "Are you sure?" he asked tightly. "Will you be alright on your own?"
"We don't really have another choice," she answered grimly. "If you see an opening, take it and run," she ordered, sinking into a fighting stance and turning to face the enormous homunculus.
As if from far away, she heard the military man scoff at her statement. "You think you can escape from me that easily?" Bradley's voice rumbled, causing her blood to freeze in her veins. "You're sorely mistaken!" He dove at her with the same lightning speed as before against Lan Fan, his sword trained on her.
Acting entirely on adrenaline alone, Raven's hands clapped together and pressed against her automail arm, her ears waiting for the loud bang of a screw shooting out at her attacker. None came, and she watched in horror and bewilderment as the plates of her knuckles formed into short spikes. Shit! she mentally screamed as a flash of silver darted before her eyes and Bradley's sword was staring her in the face. She didn't even have time to breathe as the Führer made the final lunge and drove his blade home.