AN: Sugar High: Yeah, most people like it when I talk back to them, but most of the time I can't. I did that before on this story before it got deleted. I talked back to everyone and was deleted for too many author notes XD. So yeah, I really can't talk to anyone anymore. I only do if it's really needed or something. It's ok, lots of people I talk to on here have freaky-outy parents.
charriXD: Yeah, they pretty much are capris. The only reason I didn't put it like that is because some people last time chewed me out because they don't think they had capris back in that time. So just to be safe I described them like that.
The Way to a Man's Heart Isn't by Crushing His Ego Chapter 29: A Light in the Darkness Isn't Always a Good Thing
"Mwuuuuu…." a deep gruff sound was heard.
There was a pause in the room for a moment. Everything that had just been going on stopped.
Roy glanced around for a moment. He could have sworn he heard it, but there was nothing in sight. He continued to look around. "Was that a sick cow?" he asked, more confused then ever. Things just got weirder and weirder.
"A cow?" Kenny asked confused, "Where?" he said and began looking around as well.
"What's a cow?" Blare asked. He'd lived in this dump of a place his whole life, and had never seen anything but what ran around the old wooden buildings.
"You're such a dork," Reina replied with a smile as she turned back to Blare, who was still hiding behind his big brother, Tommy. "Cows are big fat animals that say 'moo' they eat grass all day long, are totally stupid, and we get milk from them."
"Oh," the small boy replied with a shy look on his face.
"That's a mean thing to say," Kenny retorted. "They can't help it, and I bet you're stupider then any cow. You're uglier then one."
"Mmmmnnnnmm" Reina said as she stuck her tongue out at Kenny. "I'm the most beautiful person ever... a little princess… no.. an angel!"
"Well then I'll get you with my devil powers!" Kenny retorted, playing of course, he has no evil powers.
Reina smirked, "How can you have the devil's powers if I'm the devil's wife?"
Jazz glanced up at Riza and saw an annoyed expression on her face. Huh-oh… I better stop this before she does… She thought when she remember Riza's gun.
"HEY GUYS!" she blurted out.
"Hmm?" Kenny and Reina both looked at her.
"Uhhh……" Jazz tried to think of something. I got it! She thought proudly and held one finger up like a teacher about to give a lecture. "Did you know two plus two equals orange fish?"
"…"
"So what is it then?" Tommy asked breaking the silence and changing the subject back to the noise. Reina, Roy, Riza, and Kenny stared back at him. They didn't know what to say.
"Uh…" Reina tried to think of something. "A…sick…cow…"
"Hey, you just said it wasn't!" Blare snapped as little kids often do. He was getting a little braver and stepped out from behind Tommy.
"Mwuuuu! Mwwwwuuuuuuu! MWWWWWWWUUUUUU!" the strange noise continued. It got louder and more impatient. Whatever was making this sound was truly in distress.
Sayo stood in silence, listening to the noise. She looked around for where it could be coming from. The expression on her face said she wanted to say something, but her weak nerves wouldn't let her say it, so she stood quietly, a distressed look on her face. That's not a cow, that's Kiro.
"Eh…" Roy and Riza just looked at each other confused. They weren't sure what to make of all these kids, or this predicament.
"What's you name?" Reina asked as she looked up at Roy, hugging his leg once again. Roy couldn't see it in the dark, but there was a huge smile on her face, eagerly awaiting for her knight in shining armor to respond.
"Daddy according to her," Roy said as he glanced at Jazz. She giggled a little and smiled.
"Daddy? That's your name?" Reina asked a little confused. "Your parents must have been pretty dull. Or they had high expectations for you," she said. The thought of Roy having kids when he was a little kid made her giggle, as well as gave her ideas for their marriage together.
"So… you want us to call you daddy?" Kenny asked.
"Lieutenant Colonel…" Riza mumbled angrily. Her muscles tensed once again, her jaws clenching. The whole pregnant thing really got to her. As her body tensed tighter and tighter she pulled her gun from its holster. Her body shook with rage as she aimed at Roy. "Tell them your name… sir. I will not hear 'daddy, daddy, daddy' this whole trip…."
"Eh…" Roy replied with a nervous smile.
"Um?" Kenny asked as he stared at Roy. His face was confused.
Roy smirked, "Just call me master."
"Uh?" all the kids looked at him confused, all except Reina that is.
"Ok Master! I'll follow you wherever you go, Master!"
An annoyed expression appeared on Riza's face as she put her gun away. "Just call him, Mister."
Roy glanced over at Riza. He remembered the moody thing and decided not to make her angrier. "Yeah, that works, too."
"Mister….?" Tommy replied. "You sound like preacher…"
They all stared at Tommy, confused expressions on their faces. "Where did that come from?" Reina asked.
"Uh…." Tommy began to reply, he made a grunting noise that kind of sounded like 'I don't know'.
"Hm?" Riza and Roy stared at the strange little boy. Riza flinched a little, but not much, then folded her arms low over her stomach. She began rubbing her sore abdomen with her hand. Her folded arms shielded the movement so Roy wouldn't notice her rubbing it. Cramps… She cursed under her breath.
"Ok, that's just Tommy," Kenny said as he looked up and Roy and Riza again. "He grunted to show he didn't know."
"Oh…" Roy replied, unsure of what to say. He wasn't an expert at speaking on a child's level.
"Hey!" Jazz said excitedly as she turned to Kenny with a smile. Kiari sleeping in her warm arms, "That rhymed!"
Roy and Riza just glanced at each other. What have we gotten ourselves into?
"Mwwwuuuu!" the strange noise was heard again.
"What is that?" Roy asked as he looked around again. He was dumbfounded.
Sayo just stared at the ground. She was so quiet they had almost forgotten she was there. Something is wrong.
"I don't know," Tommy replied, "But it's getting annoying."
Mwwwwwwwwwuuuuuuuuu!" the noise was heard again.
Sayo couldn't keep quiet anymore. Her 'baby' was in trouble. She snapped up suddenly, tears in her lime green eyes. "That's not a cow! Or annoying! That Kiro! She's in trouble!"
"What's a Kiro?" Roy looked at the little girl confused.
"She's… she's my cat…" Sayo replied as a few tears fell to the ground. Her voice slurred and muffled as she cried. "I hav-avn't seen her in tw..o..o days… and she's in tro-ouble…" she said talking though her sobs. She could only imagine why her poor Kiro was crying out.
"Awwww… It's ok, Sayo. We'll find her," Jazz said as she walked over to Sayo with a comforting smile.
Riza's body suddenly snapped into a motherly mode. She walked over to Sayo and knelt down in front of her. Sayo couldn't see in the dark, but Riza's amber eyes were gentle and kind. "It's ok, we'll find her."
"Mwwuuu!" the noise was heard again.
Roy glanced around, trying to see where the sound was coming from. When he pinpointed a direction he headed that way, leaving Riza with the kids.
"Mwu!"
Ah… Roy thought to himself. "There you are." He said as he walked, his boots making the floor crack as his weight came down on them. The weak planks snapped a little, but didn't give way. He stopped a few moments later as a dumbfounded expression appeared on his face. Why does my leg feel so heavy? He wondered then he glanced down. "Oh… that's why…"
"Hehe," Reina said with a big grin, her dark brown eyes not leaving Roy's perfect face.
Roy sighed a little as he stared down at her. "Can you get off me, please?" he asked. He wasn't really sure how to talk to a ten year old that loved him. He thought maybe being polite would help.
"Why?" she asked still grinning.
"Because… it's hard to walk with you clinging like that," Roy replied.
"I'm not clinging," Reina replied, "I'm hugging!" she said happily as she pressed her face in the navy blue fabric, rubbing her skin on the material.
"Uh-huh…" Roy replied as he stared down at her, one eyebrow raised. "Well I need you to stop hugging for a minute," he said as he leaned over a little and grabbed one of Reina's arms. He began gently pulling on her, trying to loosen the tight grip she had.
"Mwuuu…"
"What are you doing?" she asked as she looked from his face to his hand, which was clasped around her upper arm. Her face lit up as an idea popped into her head. "Do you want to hold hands?" she squealed with delight.
"Uh…. that wasn't exactly wh-" Roy was cut off before he was even finished speaking. The gitty little girl released Roy's leg and now had is hand hostage.
"Your hands feel weird…" she said as she rubbed her fingers on the white fabric of Roy's glove. Her face had a confused yet interested expression on it as she moved her fingers back and forth across Roy's palm. She couldn't see in the dark that it was in fact material she was touching. She turned Roy's hand over and saw something that looked like a circle. "Is that a tattoo?" she asked with an excited shout.
"No!" Roy snapped back and pulled his hand away. Me with a tattoo, parish the thought. How could I ever scar this perfect skin with something like a tattoo? He thought to himself as he regained his composer and began walking away.
Reina looked after him a little confused. If it wasn't a tattoo what was it? Maybe he's some alien monster and that's a secret weapon, or a way to commutate with his home planet! I wonder if there's more? Maybe he has them in some 'secret' places. I must find out! She decided then looked toward Roy again. He was in the back of the room, pulling some of the wood off a covered window.
"Mwwwuuuu!" the noise became louder and clearer the closer Roy got to the outside.
It's coming from outside. Roy said to himself as he pulled the last plank off, and then proceeded to climb out the window.
"Uh!" Reina's face was overcome with shock when she saw her husband-to-be trying to escape. "Come back, Master!" she bellowed as she ran after him.
"Hey, lady?" Blare asked as Riza wiped some tears off Sayo's red cheeks. "Where'd your friend go?"
Riza looked up at him questionably. Then she looked around the room. She couldn't see Roy anywhere, but that could just be due to the dark.
"Reina's gone, too," Kenny added as he and Tommy walked over to the Lieutenant.
An annoyed expression appeared on Riza's face.
"Don't worry," Jazz said with a smile. "Reina is with him. He'll be ok."
"Uh… right…" Riza replied with an unsure tone of voice. Knowing the Lieutenant Colonel… he's bound to get into trouble sometime.
"What are you doing?" Reina asked as she ran after Roy. She had just jumped out of the window and was now chasing him down the street. He was walking at a very fast pace.
"Looking for that… Kiro thing," Roy replied as he followed the loud 'mwu' sounds.
"She's a cat, Sayo's cat," Reina replied as she walked just a foot or two behind Roy. He didn't see it, but she didn't take her dark eyes off him for a second. She was embedding every single one of his perfect features into her brain.
"Mwwwuuuu!"
"It's close," Roy said as he listened sharply. His military training was coming in very useful right now. His ears were trained to pick up even the smallest of noises. He needed this skill to catch a hint of an imposing enemy out on the field.
"She's not that far then, is she?" Reina replied with a smile. She tuned around, the window they had climbed out of was just a few hundred feet away.
"Can cats even meow that loud?" Roy asked.
"Kiro can! She can do it even louder when she's in heat!" Reina replied with an excited voice.
"Great…" Roy grumbled. Yet another reason to hate cats, they are loud and obnoxious and expect you to be their slave. They only come around when it's dinner time. Who would pick at cat over a dog? Dogs are great, little human slaves, the best creatures alive.
"Mwwwuuuu!" the sound was coming just to the left of them.
"She's right around here somewhere," Reina said as she listened. She looked around a bit, expecting Kiro to come bounding into her arms.
Roy's hearing was more precise and accurate then hers. He quickly found the spot. It was to the left of them. There was a building there, large boards and other building supplies leaned against the old wooden wall.
"Mwuuu! Mwuuu!" they heard the cat call out again. Roy could hear the excitement in the cat's voice. Apparently Kiro could hear them just a few feet away from her. It brought her new hope that she would be rescued.
Roy walked over to the wood pile. He knelt down beside it and began moving some of the planks. He pushed the leaning scraps away from the wall. "Huh?" under the wood lay a cat. It wasn't clearly visible in the dark night, but he could tell it was white, it had light brown tips on its ears, and he thought he saw one on its tail. She wasn't small like a kitten, but you could clearly see she hadn't blossomed into a full adult. She glanced up at Roy. Her eyes a dark ruby-red color.
"Kiro!" Reina shouted happily as she ran up beside Roy and knelt next to him. "Come here, girl!" she said with a big smile and open arms.
"Mwuuu…" the cat just stared back at her. She blinked once, her red eyes flashing as they reopened and the moonlight shining in the cracks of the wood bounced off them.
"What's wrong?" Reina asked somewhat disappointedly.
Kiro began biting at her white paws. She growled and struggled to stand, failing miserably.
Roy squinted his dark eyes as he tried to catch a glimpse of Kiro's feet. "Oh," he said once he found out what was wrong.
"What is it? Is she hurt?" Reina asked. Her was voice somewhat soft and full of concern.
"No," Roy replied as he stared down at the white cat. "Here, hold this up," he said as he motioned with his head for Reina to hold the board up and away from the wall.
"Ok!" Reina replied as she got up from her squatting position, and raced around Roy to the boards. She stood dead center in front of the old rotting planks. "Like this?" she asked as she took a hold of the boards, one hand on each side, the pulled back slowly. The weight began lifting away from Roy's palms as she pulled the wood toward her.
Roy nodded then glanced down at Kiro again. On her white legs he saw an old dirty brown rope. She had somehow managed to get all four legs hopelessly tangled in the rope that seemed to be never-ending. "Take it easy," he began, but finished his sentence in his mind. You little creature from hell.
"Is she ok?" Reina asked again as Roy worked.
"Yeah, just…" Roy began as he fought with the rope, "…tangled…" The rope was thick, like your average rope. But it seemed almost like a fishing net. It never ended and you couldn't find any ends on it to start untangling it. He had to just grab here and there and try to untangle the cat's feet. "Stupid thing…" the military dog muttered to himself as he bent over and grabbed a piece of the rope between his jaws. He pulled on it hard, ripping it with his purely whites.
"Mwwwwuuuuu!" Kiro said as she watched Roy's…. interesting work. If cats could laugh or grin you could bet she'd be laughing at Roy's pathetic attempts to free her right about now.
"Oh shut up…" Roy grumbled as he glanced at the cat's expression.
"Are you done yet?" Reina asked a few moments later. Her arms were getting tired and she was getting bored.
"Almost," he replied. He was working on Kiro's last paw now. It was her back left leg. He only had a little ways left to go. At this point Kiro could free herself, but Roy wanted to finish what he started.
"I wonder where that guy got off to?" they heard a male voice walking toward the area.
"I dunno, he just disappeared," another voice replied. Reina couldn't hear how close they were because of the soft sand, but the sound their voices said they were dangerously close.
"Hurry up!" Reina snapped in a whisper like yell.
"Why?" Roy asked as he glanced up at her. His mind had been set on the rope and he hadn't caught the men's voices.
"They're coming!" Reina said. Her face terrified. She didn't mean too, but she yelled it out. The gangsters in the area weren't that nice to the orphans. They often beat them up and stole what little food they found, making the orphans terrified of them.
"Did you hear that?" one of the voices perked up.
"Someone's over here!" another voice yelled.
"Oh no!" Reina said. "Come on, we have to go!" she said as she dropped the board and grabbed Roy's arm. She pulled hard, forcing him to hurry along. But their hast wasn't fast enough.
"I see them!" they heard a voice shout. "It's that guy and a kid!"
Reina froze with fear. Roy just glared. The window was just a few hundred feet away. They had to get there somehow Roy had to warn Riza that the men were here and to save the kids. He glanced down at Reina. Her small body shook with fear as she stared. He then looked up in the direction she was staring in. Three gangsters were headed their way. They were all men; all of them were dressed in tight black leather. Black leather pants hugged their legs tightly; black t-shirts and leather jackets covered their upper bodies. They wore black cowboy like boots. One man had a red bandana or 'do rag' as some people called it on his head. He was the youngest of the group, he was tall and thin, his hair hidden by the red bandana on his head. The second guy was older, he wasn't so short, but was very fat. He had a long grayish white beard that traveled down to the middle of his chest. His hair was cut short, but there was a small ponytail in the back, it had several small black ponytail holders tailing all the way down, to keep his hair together instead of blowing around wildly in the wind. The last guy had the same build as the first, only a lot more muscle. His hair was long and black, pulled into a ponytail.
We have to get out of here. Roy thought to himself. The three men stood in front of them, blocking them from a straight forward escape. Roy glanced over and the window again, then down at Reina. In the blink of an eye he scooped her up in his arms and darted for the window.
"Not so fast, pretty boy!" the oldest gangster called out and grabbed for his holster. He quickly pulled out a black pistol.
Bang!
The sound of a gunshot cut through the crisp night air. Roy stopped dead in his tracks. They'd shoot him if he tried again. Damn, what do I do now? I hope Hawkeye didn't hear that. She'll walk out here unexpectedly and get shot. Roy thought gritting his teeth. He slowly put Reina down.
"Eh!" Reina cried as she ran behind Roy's leg and clenched the blue material in her fists. She clung to him for dear life as her small form stood behind him, shaking uncontrollably. She was too scared to even cry.
"Where do you think you're going?" the younger gangster asked with a smirk. "You don't want to leave before the party even starts, do you?" he asked as he pulled a large knife out from the holster strapped to the lower part of his leg.
Roy clenched his jaws with rage. A little growl escaped his lips as the moonlight bounced off the large blade and made it shine with a deadly glow. The man lifted the knife up to his face and ran his tongue along the dull edge of the blade. The wind began to howl and the buildings cracked as Roy looked on for a moment to make his move. If only he wasn't about to shoot me, I could have used my alchemy on them along time ago. Why did they have to make bullets faster them flames?
AN: So what did you think? This is where the serious fight scenes begin! Does the title make sense now? I was referring to the glow made from the blade. Hope that didn't come on too fast. I didn't really want to string it out too long. Is it leaving you dying and wanting more? Lol, what will happen next I wonder?