Golden Scales Chapter 25
Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.
o.O.0.O.o
A day had passed since I placed my call in Dublith. Instead of concrete and lampposts, Grass hugged the land and graceful willows arched over the river. Not unlike upside-down seaweed, the leaf-riddled vines swayed and danced in the current. In this particular portion of the river, a rainbow of green choked the earthen riverbed. With the moss, the weeds, the algae (was that the right word?), and the willow vines, I felt as if I was swimming through a creek rather than a river. It felt more… homey. Cozy. Tame, even.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed every inch of it.
This landscape seemed to stretch on forever. The further I swam, the denser the forest of vegetation grew. Of course, there were also a great many creatures in the river with me. Creatures that avoided me like the plague, and rightfully so in my opinion. Not that I didn't care for the fish. I'd just think it strange if they acted any other way.
As I passed through this part of the river, my mind floated off. I played many different scenarios in my head, over and over again until I came up with a solution for every imaginable problem. Not the healthiest way to spend my time, but I felt it necessary. And the peaceful environment helped me to clear my head just as the storm did.
Before long, the dense vegetation grew less and less dense as I swam further on. It appeared I had reached the end of that portion of the river when the green faded altogether. I passed the last willow tree as the walls of the river became bare once more.
I continued to swim. Although, after a while, I found myself growing a bit tired. This struck me as odd when the thought hit me. But then again, I didn't have the same stamina as humans did anymore. I remembered how I'd only eaten a few days ago, yet I still felt full. I supposed that rule went for sleep as well. Not that I minded.
After some time my muscles began to ache. my eyelids grew heavier with each fin-flick. The sunlight of the day declined, and the temperature dropped about ten degrees. I had to rub my arms just to stay warm enough to keep swimming. Eventually, I couldn't fight my fatigue any longer. With a drowsy thrash from my tailfin, I jetted to the side of the river. Here, I nestled into a large cave-like indent and bedded down for the night.
Much to the relief of my exhausted follower.
o.O.0.O.o
After a blissful ten consecutive hours of sleep, I awoke to a sight that should've only existed in a nightmare.
As soon as my hair picked up the unfamiliar onslaught of vibrations, my golden eyes snapped open and dilated. Panic seared my mind and body as I took in the horror. Through the murk of the water and the fog of my morning vision, my heart began pounding against my chest as I watched a familiar orange-metaled shape sink into the river. Connected to a reaching arm, a large bucket of sorts hinged back and forth. Sharp tines on the end of this bucket tore into the riverbed not five feet away from me.
Terrified, I thrashed my tailfin as hard as I could, desperately pinning myself against the back of the indent I'd nested in the night before. But the metal claw seemed to sense my movement, since a mere five seconds later the thing ceased its digging and came sailing right for me. Wasting no time, I scrambled out of its way just in time to avoid being run through with the sharpened tines. The claw proceeded to rip the wall of the river to shreds, where I had been just a few seconds before.
I didn't care to see more. I whipped around and darted southward. Unfortunately, that was when another one of those cursed things plunged into the water, narrowly missing me by inches.
What the hell?! I thought, Are these things trying to kill me?!
I got my answer a moment later when suddenly gigantic chunks of concrete and sharpened metal dumped themselves in my path. An avalanche of rock and steel divided the river and filled to the surface, completely cutting me off from the other side. And although I thought that this answer simply screamed "yes" to my mental question, above the surface, the humans weren't even aware of my presence as they worked to deconstruct an old bridge. This remained unknown to me, however, and I acted accordingly.
Giving up on heading south, I turned around and fought the river current to travel north. But as fate would have it, this series of unfortunate events had yet to finish its course. One last hurrah would bog me down before I resumed my journey to Resembool later that evening.
When I had finally found my groove and figured I was out of harm's way again, something put a stop to my movements very abruptly. A desperate gasp of agony fled my mouth, followed by an ear-shattering screech only a siren like me was capable of producing. Like ink, dark cobalt blue spread and plumed through the water. The color radiated from the same location as the intense pain: my tailfin.
Before a world of darkness swallowed me, I stole a glance backward just long enough to confirm what had happened. One of those steel beams had speared right through my tailfin and embedded itself into the riverbed. After a strong wince and a sob I failed to choke down, I saw no more.
o.O.0.O.o
Martel didn't even bother to stop and think. She just dived in. Her charge was in danger, and that was the only thing she registered. Her body took care of the rest.
Not a moment too soon after she saw the plume of blue, she dropped from her perch and vaulted into action. She disregarded the danger of getting crushed or speared herself and dove in after the siren. The snake chimera yanked the beam out and tossed it away within seconds, but that only succeeded in increasing the amount of blood pouring from the siren's wound. So she dragged him to shore and carried him off into the woods, away from prying eyes.
Once she deemed the area safe, she gingerly set him down on the ground and ripped her shirt apart for bandages. After that, it was all she could do not to murder him right then and there.
Stupid! She mentally screamed at him, You lunatic! What the hell were you thinking?! You're going to give me a damn heart attack, kid! Don't you mind your own safety? 'Oh I think I'll just swim around in a demolition zone until I get crushed or speared by debris! Tra-la-la-la-la! ~'
Martel drew in a large breath to calm herself. It didn't help much. Her heart still raced. Her nerves were still shot. Her head still pounded. But her dumbass charge was safe now. She supposed that that was all that should matter at that point.
A good half hour later, Martel finally winded down enough to relax again. In that time, she'd unwrapped the bandages to survey the damage. Her eyes shot open a little wider when she was greeted with the sight of healthy and thriving flesh. Just a missing patch of scales where the wound used to be. Even so, she knew sirens well enough. It didn't surprise her as much as it should have.
The snake chimera removed the bandages and stayed with the siren until the sun slid further across the sky. When bright blue faded to purple, and the demolition crew took the rest of the night off, Martel dumped him back into the river. By then, half the debris had been removed from the ruins, leaving the siren a sufficient opening for when he came to again.
o.O.0.O.o
I released a deep sigh for the ninth time that day. Warm southern winds painted the day with gorgeous weather. Insects buzzed about above the surface while river creatures moseyed about below. Not a single cloud marred the sky, leaving the sun room to bathe everything in rich morning gold. Birds chirped and sang, noises which wriggled their way even below the glassy surface of the river. With each breath I drew in, the scent of clay filled my nostrils. As I cut through the river, the water felt smooth and creamy against my scales; and even that lone patch of skin on my tailfin.
I noticed said patch the evening before, but thought nothing of it. I supposed it was simply due to the lack of salt intake.
Despite my beautiful environment, and the energy that charged the air along with it, I released yet another sigh. I flicked my fins with a little less force than the day before. Of course, my mood couldn't deter me from moving forward altogether, but it worked against me. And I knew exactly why it did so. I just figured that something small like this couldn't slow me down this much.
But it did. Right then, it served as a thousand pounds of shock and embarrassment. Since the moment I'd recognized the wood above the river, I dreaded to think of what would happen if Al didn't believe me. Or if Al did believe me, but didn't accept me. I had been given time to make peace with it. Time which was spent without biased thoughts from my past. But Al would only be given two choices: accept or deny.
I hoped to God he wouldn't choose the latter.
After thoroughly stressing myself out thinking this, I ran my webbed hands through my hair. The sensory information the strands sent to me were comforting. It reminded me of the present, the now. What was happening now was what I should be focusing on. I spent the next few hours of travel imagining what could go right instead.
Before long my fins had carried me all the way to a familiar bend of the river. From where I stopped I could see the mouth of the forest, the grassy plains, and the distant shape of the Rockbell house. I drew in a sharp gasp when I caught sight of two figures standing on the west side of the river.
In a dream-like state, I flicked my fins to bring myself closer to the figures. Now I could see them a little clearer. The sight of the first figure sent an actual electric shock through my body: long blonde hair tied up in a messy ponytail, a grease-spattered pants with a jacket secured around her waist, a black crop-top, and an irritated expression marring her usually softened features. A wrench glittered menacingly in her white-knuckled grip. I swallowed a girlish squeak. At the sight of the second figure, every bit of tension fled my body: Alphonse, my baby brother, intact and rust-free. The armor held his arms in such a way that made him look like a mother scorning her child. His hip was slightly popped in that usual sassy manner. I muffled a small laugh and shook my head.
I was glad to see that Alphonse had remained his usual girlish self.
And it was because of that that I was able to muster enough courage to do what I did next. Seeing my innocent baby brother, and my enraged mechanic, brought me out of the oppressive nervousness that had been holding me back before. I drew in one final deep breath and released it slowly.
After opening my eyes again, I allowed my powerful tailfin to propel me to the surface.