Chapter 2
Al fidgets a little at trying to figure out what to say. "Don't worry about it if you don't want to tell me I don't mind, Roy-Roy did silly things like that when we got older, he was always trying to make me laugh." Katherine smiles happily.
Al nods and gives what he can of a smile. "Well Katherine."
"You guys can call me Kat." She smiles at him gently.
"Well Kat make yourself at home, most of the time nii-san and I go to the library to learn more about alchemy if you'd like to join us I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
Kat looks at Al for a moment then to the ground, thinking about what she could do. "Well… I wanna see the town so I can get a little familiar with it. I have money so I might come back with stuff to make dinner with, what do you like to eat the most Al?" Kat looks up to the suit of armor happily.
Al looks at her a little shocked, barely being able to remember what food tasted like much less remember what was his favorite. "I like almost every kind of food I guess."
"Oh cool." Kat smiles and starts walking out of the room, "I'm going to go take a look around town do you wanna join me while we wait for Ed to wake up?"
Al looks at the time and seeing that there's still another hour till he needs to awaken Ed but still that would be walking into town and then walking strait back. "I don't think I'd be able to, I'm sure Ed wont mind having you tag along with us to town since the library is in town when you're done you can come into the library and let us know you're done how about that?"
"That sounds good, but what are we going to do for an hour?" Kat places her hands on the back of her head, looking around the place seeing that it's a nice apartment, it just needs a woman's touch.
"Well we could play poker?" Al holds up their deck of cards.
"Sure."
(SC)
After telling Ed about their plans, Ed soon got into a lecture about being careful around this area since it was a little more dangerous than Central City, people found it easier to take advantage of young women even during the day. Though Al tried to stop scaring Kat, Kat only rolled her eyes.
"I've dealt with many jerks, I'll be fine Ed-dono." Kat insists that she'll be safe.
Ed sighs, "You know if anything happens to you it's going to be my head."
Kat giggles, "Yes, yes of course I'll be extra careful so that Roy wont try to burn you to a crisp." Kat waves to the boys watching them walk up to the library and quickly leaves to look around town. Wearing something a little more casual Kat walks up to one of the stores wearing a long black skirt with black boots. Her shirt simple with 2/3's sleeve design, the main body of the shirt a dark blue with kanji saying 'love' the sleeves light blue. Though if one looked carefully they would be able to see a white-fingered glove hanging out of the pocket of her skirt.
Kat looks around some of the stores seeing neat little things she might want to add to the apartment, but it would be a 'ask Ed and Al first and buy latter' matter. She quickly made it to the food market getting some things for them to have for dinner and some breakfast since she new that they could get lunch at the cafeteria. Though Al was another matter. She wanted to make sure he was fed so she just bought him some jam and peanut butter with some bread.
After her shopping for her room and for food she starts on her way back to the library seeing that it's already dusk, she decides that she should watch the sun set for a little while on the library steps when she gets there of course.
As she walks she looks around hearing some men snicker and talk amongst themselves about her. She knew it alright she just didn't do anything about it, if anything she would take them as compliments in one way or another. Though she didn't know is that she was on the wrong path to the library.
She looks around seeing that she's way off course, 'shoot, I told them I'd be there by now and I'm lost!' She sits on a stoop setting her bags down sighing in irritation; she looks up at the house it was all too obvious that the house had been abandoned a long time ago. "Maaaaan, my luck stinks!"
She quickly looks up at the shadows covering the setting sun, thinking they're her new roommates only to find some men from around the area. She sighs again looking at her groceries. She looks up again, smiling at the two men, two others behind them. "Excuse me, could you give me directions to the local library?"
The men look at one another and back to her, "Now why would you wanna go their princess? There's nothing but books and nerds there."
Kat sighs standing on her two feet. "Because I'm meeting someone there, and I'm late please could you help me?"
The leader of the four smiles at the other three, his teeth looked terrible, dirt all over the man he obviously wasn't very clean, his long brown hair tied in back. While his scrawny body was covered more by what could be called rags than clothes, since he had a ripped up sleeveless shirt with torn up blue or once were blue jeans. "Well princess the thing is, you walk into our territory, you have to pay a toll to come to our neighborhood." He walks closer to her she only looks at him sternly her eyebrows knitting together.
"Well I don't care I need help getting out of here! And I don't have any more money left on me at the moment! So if you don't mind I'm sure I'll be able to pay you another day if you'll only just-" Kat's quickly silenced by the muzzle of a pistol at her lips.
"We'll get our toll whether it be money…" He grins as the other men chuckle as he runs the back of his hand against Kat's arm, "Or through your body."
Kat blinks trying to look a little frightened, "I… s-see… ummm… I think, y-yea I have some money in one of my bags let me get it."
"That's a girl," The man lowers his weapon, finding no reason to scare the girl anymore.
Kat looks through her bag and quickly picks up her wallet and something being covered up by the wallet. "Lets see… umm… I have…" She looks up as she opens it flinging her knife to the ground causing it to stick up right in front of the leaders foot.
Kat quickly drops to the ground slamming her hands to the ground cursing lightly as she feels the sting on her shoulder. 'What a jerk he actually shot at me!' She thinks to herself as sweat rolls down her face obviously not expecting to get hit.
"That was not smart girl!" The leader points out, "Come on boys! She's got terrible aim!" The man turns around seeing that his minions are all tied up by vines their throats being squeezed tightly keeping them from talking, much less yelling.
The ragged man turns around finding it hard to run away, he looks at the girl seeing that she still has her hands on the ground, her knife glowing slightly, smiling at them with each hand on either side of the pocketknife. "You were saying about my aim?"
Kat looks to the side hearing the police, she looks back to them grinning, "Now you're going to get it!" She makes the vines crawl on the leader squeezing the gun and letting go of the other men's necks and just putting the vines over their mouths too keep them quiet.
The officers look at the men and the young woman, more than obvious that she's an alchemist. "Freeze! Step away from the knife!" One of the men yells out hold his gun many of the other police points their guns at her. Kat looks at them shocked, she couldn't believe it they didn't know that she was a state alchemist?
"You don't understand they were threatening to hurt me at gun point!" Kat yells out, slowly moving away from her pocketknife.
One of the officers looks at the leader seeing a gun in his hand the vines on his hand still very tight to keep him from shooting anyone.
(SC)
Ed and Al noticed the cops leaving for the bad parts of the city, and since it had been at least half an hour since Kat was supposed to show up they feared the worst.
Arriving there, Ed and Al see the young woman's handy work, 'Well she works with plants fun. She's lucky they have dirt roads around here! Or she'd been out of luck.' Ed sighs and walks up to the chief of police, whispering; "Sir that girl is under my care until she's pointed housing she's a state alchemist. She would not attack with out reason."
"And how do you know that Full Metal? Have you been with her long enough to know that?" The chief of police spouts out angrily.
"She had better or other words she'll have to answer to the Fire Alchemist." Ed glares at Kat looking rather intimidating. "State alchemist Kat let those men go now, the police will handle this."
Kat looks at the police and Ed a little hurt feeling as though she'd done wrong, 'he doesn't trust me…' she walks up to the knife and pulls it out putting it back into her groceries. She walks up to the chief and Ed bowing, "I'm sorry for the trouble…" The plants quickly turn to what looks like withered plants and a pool of dirty water.
Ed looks at the girl and sighs, "Just answer the chiefs questions truthfully and we can get out of here." Ed walks off waiting with Al for Kat's return.
(SC)
Kat had told the police what had happened and that she was only acting out of self-defense, she only meant to restrain the men. They had caught her in trying to protect herself. Satisfied they let her go with a warning to be a little more careful in being defensive since not everyone can use alchemy.
On the walk home all three stayed in an uncomfortable silence. It wasn't that Ed was mad at Kat for what happened or even that she got lost he was just lost in thought. Kat feared to speak in fear that Ed would become 'angrier' at her even if he weren't really mad to begin with. Al tried bringing up some sort of conversation though received nothing and eventually stopped trying.
"Kat…"
"Yes Edward-dono…" Kat speaks up like a hurt child.
Ed looks back at Kat seeing that she's hurt or some how became hurt. Becoming overly worried he stops and looks her over, "Are you alright?"
"Yes…"
"Then why are you acting like this?" Ed places his hands on his hips thinking that the girls just acting like a little child now.
"You're angry with me aren't you?" She points out lowering her head still feeling hurt.
"Wha-? No! Whatever gave you that idea?" Ed tries to look her in the eye by bending down.
"You sounded mad at the crime scene, like I wasn't supposed to use my alchemy." Kat's voice begins to become more forced or trying to hide something.
"Oh that? That's just a show for the officers, Al and I do acts like that all the time when dealing with people. I'm not mad at you ok?" Ed puts his hands on his knees to get a better look of the girl.
Kat sniffles nodding her head lightly as a single tear falls down her face, "Ok…"
Ed blinks, "Are you sure you're ok?"
Kat holds her hurt arm, the officers didn't offer any assistance to her wounds, she thought they didn't notice them then, she sniffles looking away, "My arm got hurt, but I'll be fine." She half lied it did hurt like the dickens since it felt like it was constantly burning and had been slashed all at the same time. Still that was not the reason why she was crying, she was just relieved to know that Ed wasn't mad at her and she knew she was easy to cry so she made up the excuse of her arm.
Ed looks at her arm seeing that the hole in her sleeve, "We'll have to look at it when we get back home, ok? It's right around the corner."
(SC)
When making it into their apartment Ed gets the medical supplies for the wound as Al put away what he could. Kat was ordered to sit down until Ed got back with what he might need, and Al got tea ready for her.
"Sorry that happened to yea on your first day Kat." Ed speaks up from the bathroom; the sound of things being shifted around could be easily heard.
"What do you mean?" Kat speaks up.
"Well about those thugs, there are some places around here that aren't very safe and you have to kind of watch yourself. But hey at least you helped the police find the thugs they'd been looking for!" Ed says while walking back into the room with the first aid kit.
Ed sits next to Kat looking at the shirt, "Do you wanna keep this shirt or would you say it's ruined?"
"It's pretty ruined I'd say…" Kat sighs really liking the shirt.
Ed quickly rips the hole to make it wider for him to see the wound. The wound itself looked angry and a little deep. "Having any trouble moving your arm?"
"No not really."
"Well that's good." Ed cleans up the wound with a cotton ball and medical gloves. "If I hurt you let me know…" Ed dabs the chemical onto the wound causing it to bubble up and cause Kat to wince looking away.
"It stings a lot! OWWW! THAT HURTS!" Kat whimpers rather loudly.
Ed gets a clean cotton ball cleaning off the bubbling substance, "Sorry about that, that's all I have next to alcohol."
"What'd you use hydrogen peroxide?" Kat grumbles.
"Yea."
"Baka! That's not meant for this kind of wound! You need to use the alcohol for this kind of wound it's more sufficient though both sting about the same…." Kat mutters the last part.
"Gomen, we don't have much alcohol left we need to buy more. But at least it's clean now." Ed returns to work stitching the wound together, putting antibiotic cream on the outside before wrapping it up.
Al enters the room with the tea, "This should help with your wound, and since it's only a graze of a bullet it probably burns a lot this should help with that."
Kat smiles and takes the tea, "Thank you so much both of you."
"Sure thing." Ed smiles at Kat finishing the tie on her gauze, "Not too tight is it?"
"Nope it's perfect!" Kat smiles at them, slowly sipping her tea.
(TBC)
Trom: I know what you're thinking how can hydrogen peroxide hurt someone it only bubbles. Well that's not true since Hydrogen peroxide eats up bacteria and various other things, if a wound is deep enough or if your use it too much on one wound you can end up hurting yourself thus the stinging ;. I was one of the baka's who HAD to use it way to much cause… the bubbles just freaking rocked :D!
Ed:Looks at Trom worriedly: You're weird you know that?
Trom: I know ;.