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Chapter Two- Samurai

"Look! A woman!"

"She looks like she fell from the sky."

"Who the hell cares! All I know is that she's a babe!"

Riza's eyes fluttered open as she heard the voices over her. They were speaking an odd language rapidly. She pushed herself up and her head looked up to see a hand offered to her. She took it and she was shocked by the strength the hand held as it pulled her up from the ground. The owner was a long pale faced man wearing small glasses and his black hair was tied up in a ponytail. The robe like blue top with white diamonds and the large black pants puzzled Riza. She had never seen this sort of fashion before. Riza also noted the two swords hanging from his waist. She then realized she was still holding onto the man's hand and she quickly let go, embarrassed.

"Thank you for helping me up." She told him politely and was shocked to hear a loud shriek from behind her.

"A Yankee! A Yankee!" The owner of the voice was a brown haired woman with black eyes. She wore a dark pink robe with light pink flowers printed on the sleeves and near the bottom of the robe. Her hair was held up by two sticks with red balls on them. On her shoulder was a small grey squirrel.

Riza looked at the woman confused. "Yankee? I'm from Amestris."

The woman looked quizzically at her and then at the man in blue.

"She must be lost like us." The man said.

"Yeah. Can she travel with us? It doesn't look like she has anywhere else to go. It would be horrible to leave her out by herself…" The girl scratched her head.

"What the hell!"

Riza was through with these people. Not only did they not speak her language but the man in red tried to grope her! She was pleased that he was flat on the ground. She turned to the other man and the woman.

"Thank you for helping me up. Goodbye now." Riza then turned and realized that she had no idea where to go. She decided to just start walking along the path and hope she ended up in a town soon. She sighed and her thoughts began to wander to her Colonel as she stared at the road in front of her. She had not taken two steps however when the woman cried out to her.

"Matsu onegai!"

Riza stopped and assumed that it was her way to say wait up or something of that nature. She turned around and the woman ran towards her. Se stopped in front of Riza and pointed at her. Then the woman used two fingers and imitated legs walking and then gestured to herself and the men standing behind her. Riza understood the crude sign language to be her asking if she wanted to travel with them. Riza frowned when she saw the man in red grinning at her cheesily. The other man then proceeded to whack the man in red in the back of his head. The woman gave Riza a pleading look and she decided why not? The man in blue seemed civilized and she could deal with perverts. She nodded her head at the woman who squealed in delight.

The woman pointed to her self and said "Fuu."

Riza pointed to herself and said "Riza." She then pointed to the other woman for confirmation and asked "Fuu?"

Fuu nodded ecstatically and then gestured for the men to come closer. The man in blue pointed to himself and said quietly "Jin." He then pointed to the man in red and said "Mugen." Riza looked at Mugen and found his looks weren't as repulsive as his words. His dark brown spiky hair matched the unruly and free look in his black eyes. His loose red jacket hung over his shoulders exposing the grey shirt underneath. He had dark blue shorts on and crossing his chest was a yellow and blue strap that held the sword on his back. Riza also noticed that all three of them wore wooden shoes.

Fuu then grinned and pointed in the direction that Riza had begun to walk in and the group began to walk. Fuu and Riza took the lead as they tried to understand each other but all they were able to learn was each others ages and that neither of them belonged in this strange world. The path way that was once shadowed by forest gave way to a barren desert. They decided to make camp before they ventured into the desert and they quickly built a fire. Mugen went off to find food and Riza quickly found that Jin wasn't a talkative person. He just seemed to nod at whatever he was able to understand of her crude sign language. Mugen bounded back triumphantly with a rabbit in each hand and Fuu yelling at him as she struggled through the bushes with firewood in her arms.

While they ate, Fuu and Riza found a stick and drew into the ground to communicate. Riza learned that they were from a country called Japan and had opened a door and landed here. Riza drew that the same thing had happened to her companions and she drew the Elric brothers and her colonel. The stick lingered over the drawing of her colonel and she looked up into the fire wondering what had become of him. There was no question in her mind as she decided to look for him but how and where? She was traveling with people she couldn't communicate properly with! She turned at a petite hand on her shoulder and saw Fuu's concerned face. She gestured to the ground and Riza saw that Fuu had drawn her face next to her Colonel's. Fuu then drew a heart in between them and looked at Riza questioningly. Riza's face burned and she shook her head vigorously. Fuu laughed and gave Riza a sly look that said 'Yeah, sure…' Riza protested again by shaking her head and Fuu looked thoughtful. She then snapped her fingers and pointed to the picture of the Colonel and Riza and then to Riza and herself. She then said "Tomodachi."

Riza looked at her confused and Fuu pointed to herself and Jin. "Tomodachi." Jin looked up from his rabbit nodded and looked back down. She pointed to herself and Mugen and said the same thing. Then she pointed to Riza and herself and said it again.

Riza thought hard and suddenly the light bulb clicked "Friend! Tomodachi means friend!" She said excitedly pointing to Fuu and herself who clapped happily. Riza was happy she stayed with these people. She was learning a new language and she had traveling companions. Being with these people also distracted her thoughts of the horrific things that could have happened to her Colonel and the Elric brothers. She tried not to stress herself too much and learning the language kept her occupied greatly. Even as she laid her head sown to go to sleep, her head was occupied with translations and what they would do the next day.

The next day was hardly eventful and the days following that. Riza had caught onto the language quickly through her and Fuu's hard signing. Riza loved the language, nihongo, the way the words flowed off her tongue. The language had many emotions, Mugen usually portraying the language as harsh while Jin showed it to be graceful. Fuu brought out the silly side in the words and Riza hoped to add her own emotion to the syllables.

"I'm BORED! There's nothing to fight out here!" Riza turned at the sound of Mugen's voice. She caught most of the words but she was a bit confused so she turned to Jin.

"There is nothing of what?" He turned to her and the frowned.

"Tatakai." He balled his fists and moved them as though he was punching someone.

"Oh, fight. Tatakai is fight. Hai?" She asked and he nodded.

"But we are lucky that there is nothing to fight. He shouldn't be complaining." Jin said and Riza didn't understand him. Before she could ask she heard Fuu shriek.

Fuu was pointing to a large creature that Riza didn't know how to describe. It seemed like things were added to it as appendages and tails and heads were sticking out form the towering bulk of its body. Riza immediately drew her gun but was hesitant to shoot. What if this country did not have guns and she somehow threw off the balance of the world. She had read a story once about a man who went back in time on a safari adventure and went off the path. He stepped on a butterfly and killed it, causing his world to be altered greatly.

However, before she could reach a decision, Mugen and Jin whizzed past them and she heard Fuu shout "Get him boys!"

Riza's eyes widened as she saw the men draw their swords. They had both taken a side, tag teaming against the beast. Jin moved like a still stream flowing smoothly no matter what happened to him. His neck was that of a swan and his bodily turns and twists were that of clay, easily shaped and molded. Mugen however was quite the opposite. He was a fast stream; his body twisting and turning in was Riza had never seemed before. She was surprised that his eccentric movements seemed to form an odd rhythm to the water and that he wasn't worn out. She noted however eccentric his rhythm was, as smooth as Jin's.

After the beast was slain, Riza knew what had to be done. She was not going to stand helpless. She would not be traveling with Mugen, Jin, and Fuu for forever as they searched for their way home and she hated being a damsel in distress. She also figured that swords were used around in this world, otherwise they would have other weapons. Later that evening, she asked Jin "You teach me?" and she pointed to his sword.

He looked surprised and then thoughtful. He looked at Mugen who shrugged and rolled over, ready to sleep. Fuu gave an okay and Jin looked at his other sword. Riza bowed to him, she knew this was a sign of respect in their country and said, "Please."

"That will be please Teacher."

She looked up at him surprised, a small smile on his face. "Sensei. Thank you Sensei!"

He studied her for a moment, sizing her up and down before saying, "I think you have what it takes to be a Ronin Samurai."

Riza looked at him puzzled. "Ronin Samurai?" The words, though unfamiliar sounded powerful to her ears. "You Samurai?" She asked pointing to Jin.

"No. I have no master. I am a ronin samurai. Samurai have masters." He explained simply as possible but Riza understood the jist. Ronins have no masters. She thought of her Colonel and wondered if he was her master. She supposed in a way he was, the way she had dedicated herself to him. If she was worthy, she decided she would call herself a ronin until she found Roy again.

She nodded at Jin and said firmly, "Hai Sensei. Ronin Samurai."

The next few days were hell and heaven to Riza. Jin was merciless but she was happy to have a skill that she would be able to improve. Lately, going to the shooting range had been boring, even to blow off steam. She knew that she could hit all the targets even when she was pissed, so what was the point in going? Not only was her brain thrilled at the prospect of something completely new but that her body was in better shape than it had ever been. The consequence was that after about a week, she could hardly walk from the pain of the sudden stretching. Still, she believed it was worth it. She wouldn't be useless, which she hated.

What she found most peculiar was that her fighting style was almost like a fusion of Mugen and Jin's styles. She moved as elegantly as Jin but when called for, she was able to switch into some Mugen's eccentric movements. She even had to wonder how she was able to move like he did without breaking anything but in the end, it really didn't matter as long as she didn't break anything later on.

Another benefit to the intense training was the concentration factor. Riza had little time to imagine worst-possible-scenarios of what had happened to the Elric brothers and her Colonel. Even when they stopped to rest, she was engaged in conversation with Fuu, which required her brain to work on translations and for sign language when the need arose. At night, she was too exhausted to do anything but fall into a dreamless sleep.

After about two weeks of traveling, Riza was able to hold her own against Jin for longer than five minutes. She never dared to say it but she was afraid to even think about going against Mugen even though Fuu claimed that they were pretty evenly matched. It was around this point that they met other travelers and peddlers on the path way, indicating a town was near by. Within a day, they had reached a large black sign that read in white 'Welcome to the town of rAp.' A gold crown was hanging from the capital 'A' and Riza's companions were astonished that Riza could read the English. They quickly concluded that the town must also speak English which made Riza happy knowing that she would be able to communicate with the towns people.

The townspeople however were a bit intimidating. They passed by men with gold chains around their necks giving them looks that said "Just try to come over here biatch." The women in the town looked like skanks and Riza wondered if they would ever finda coinappraiser.

"Hey, travelers! Come over here. I got somethin' you might want."

The Ronin group stopped and saw a black man with an orange sports shirt and a few gold chains around his neck. His hair was in many little braids in his lap was a pen and notepad. He was seated behind a stand with odd paintings of people with large heads and small bodies.

"What the hell are these?" Mugen asked and the man cocked his head.

"I'm sorry, my companions speak a different language. He asked what kind of paintings these are." Riza said and the man smiled.

"Baby, these are called caricatures. Small bodies with large heads basically. They're meant to be humorous and for fun. Usually I take what I see off the street and paint that. Sometimes I paint posed pictures as well. Feel free to look around." He gestured to his art with an open palm.

"Riza-chan, what did he say?" Fuu asked eagerly and Riza translated what he had said.

"That's it?" Mugen scoffed and Fuu turned to yell at him.

"Whadaya mean? These are cool! I want one…" Fuu mumbled and looked longingly at the pictures.

"They are interesting but we do need to move on." Jin said, looking mildly interested.

Fuu turned around and tugged on Riza's sleeve. "Look! Isn't that one the best?" Riza smiled and nodded and the man stood up.

"She like this one?" It was a beach landscape picture but the vibrant colors and the large small effect was evident in the trees and the water.

"She does but I'm afraid we have no money. Do you know where I can find a coin appraiser? I have some coins that I would like to get money for." Riza asked and the man scratched his chin.

"Actually, I think I do. The bank appraises coins I think. Keep going d own this road and you'll hit it. You can't miss it. Trust me." He said pointing down the road in the direction they were walking in.

"Thank you so much Mr.?"

"Nujabes. The name's Nujabes baby. If you need any help around rAp, just come back here." The vender said and Riza bowed slightly, a habit she had picked up from her companions.

"We'll be back for sure. Come on. We can cash in my sens at the back." She said tuning to her companions. As they turned to leave she heard Nujabes call out to her.

"Hey Babe! What are you guys?"

Riza turned around and with a pause called back "Samurai!"

After they passed through the market place, the town opened up to large, beautiful buildings. Riza assumed they were office buildings but they looked like mansions. There were advertisements for singers and places. A more prominent one was for "Ouran" a hosting and brothel business. Mugen swore that that's where he would go first after he got some money. Riza swore that he wouldn't get any money and Mugen went into his usual "What the hell!" and other various phrases.

"Well, I think that this is the bank." Jin stated and Fuu nodded in amazement.

Nujabes was right about the back. It was a large building that had a bright, flashy sign that read 'BANK'. Riza dragged everyone inside and was able to exchange a piece of sens for two bags of gold. When they left the bank, Mugen and Fuu looked at her hungrily.

"Mugen, if I give you money you'll spend it all on women and food. If I give it too you Fuu you'll spend it on food and Jin… well you get a bag because you're responsible." Riza said as she handed the smaller bag to Jin.

"Why do you get the bigger bag!" Mugen demanded and Riza sighed.

"I don't. I'm putting some of this in reserves. Anyway, I think that we should find a hotel and check in before we go off on our own. That way, we have a central meeting place." Riza said and Fuu nodded her head vigorously in agreement.

"Sounds good to me. What about over there?" Jin asked and began to walk over to a mansion like building that read 'Hotel'. The group checked in and got a room.

As soon as they were back on the street, Mugen yelled "See ya suckers!" and dragged Jin away with him.

Riza and Fuu looked at each other, shrugged, and began to walk down the foreign streets of rAp.