-1The darkness of the tunnel gave way to bright, green countryside as the train sped along it's tracks. Daniel whined mildly whenever the train had to go through a tunnel, he was afraid of the dark. Al, Rose, Izumi, Winry and Daniel all sat in one compartment. Winry had fallen asleep hours ago, Izumi had been reading a book but had put it down since they had been in a particularly long tunnel, Al was staring out the window thoughtfully, and Daniel had buried his face in Rose's shirt, waiting for the tunnel to end.
"it's okay, Danny," Al said, "that was the last tunnel we have to go through." The little boy looked up from his mother's side, "really?" he asked hopefully.
"yep, nothing but farmland from here to Risembool." Al smiled. Daniel began to re-bury his face in Rose's shirt, "wh…wha happen a' Wisemboo?"
"we get off, dear" Izumi said bemusedly. Daniel blinked and began to relax "oh… otay…" Rose hugged the little boy to her side and stroked his hair, "then we get to go home for a bit, won't that be nice?" she said.
Daniel nodded, "but, why awen't we jus' gowin howme firs'?" he asked, confused.
"because Winry has to get her Automail supplies before we go back to Dublith, remember?" Rose replied.
"den why awe we gowing howme a' awll?"
Rose sighed, Daniel was getting to the stage when he asked multiple questions multiple times, "because we have to see how construction's going…" she explained for the third time that train ride, then she realized how to get him off the subject of Lior, "that means we get to go see Major Armstrong; you remember him don't you?" Daniel giggled, "hee-hee… ee's silly."
Al smiled and laughed lightly, "yes he is…" he said, mostly to himself. Armstrong had taken a personal initiative in the rebuilding of Lior. He also acted as Daniel's playmate whenever he could spare the time.
"mebbe dis time some a da odda kids'll wanna play too!" Daniel said excitedly.
"We'll see, hun…"Rose said, forcing her voice to be optimistic. "…we'll see."
OoOoOoOoOo
"GRANNY, WE'RE HERE!" Winry called happily as she burst in the door. "WEUR HEA, GAH-WANNEH!!!!" Daniel echoed as he followed directly behind. Pinako Rockbell poked her head out from the work room, "oh, already? I wasn't expecting you bunch for another week!" she said, setting down the prosthetic leg she was working on and coming to greet the visitors.
"there were some… environmental complications that hastened our departure." Izumi said as she calmly stepped into the house and set her luggage down. "ah… I suppose you mean the killing sprees, yes?" Pinako said, closing the door behind them.
Al was slightly surprised that the news had spread to such a rural area, but then again, it did have the entire military in a panic… now that it was confirmed that the suspect was ishbalan…
"yeah… they were getting a little to close for comfort…" Izumi said solemnly, "the police finally showed up at our hotel chasing their suspect…"
"YEAH! An' da ca's wa dwivin' awound, an' dey made a sound like dis: 'WEE-WOO-WEE-WOO!!!!" Daniel said excitedly, and began running around in circles, arms flying behind him. The sound of claws and metal clacking on the floor could be heard as Den came bounding towards the sound of children.
"DUGGIE!" Daniel yelled as he ran to greet the dog in turn.
Pinako smiled, "I was wondering when that old dog would realize that you were here… come, I bet you haven't eaten since you got on that train, I'll whip you up something to fill your bellies." she turned to Daniel, who had now taken to trying to mimic Den in any way he could… as he always did when he visited the Rockbell house, "Maybe today you'll prefer my cooking to Den's food, huh?"
"WOOF!"
"I'll take that as a no…"
OoOoOoOoOo
After a meal of stew… or ground dog food…whichever met the consumer's fancy… Izumi took Al out to run errands for Pinako. It was the only way she'd allow Pinako to give her free food. Daniel had curled up with Den on the rug., And Rose sat on the couch, looking at something in her hands.
It was a silver pendant, a locket, actually. It's metalwork was thin and spindly, the surface was tarnished and scratched, there was a deep dent in the center that offset the blue gemstone that was set in it. The clasp was bent and no longer permitted it to open. She had seen the locket once before, but her memory was fuzzy. She couldn't place what time or place she knew it from, but she knew that it had been well cared-for at one point. Seeing it's current condition was almost depressing. She had tried many times to at least un-bend the clasp but to no avail. What had happened that the owner who had once cared so much for this locket, had abandoned it and left it to become so battle-scarred?
"Rose?" Winry asked, jolting Rose from her thoughts, "it's awful quiet down here… I figure that means Daniel finally passed out."
"heh, yep… he's curled up with Den…" Rose said, nodding to the rug the two had fallen asleep on.
"ah, I see." Winry laughed, "well… if it gets too quiet down here… I could use some help getting the automail parts together…" Rose blinked, "but… what about…" she looked at Daniel on the rug.
"oh, there's no need to worry about them," Winry said, "you won't find a better bodyguard in all of Risembool than that dog right there… they'll be fine."
Rose blinked then smiled, "okay, I'll be right with you." Winry smiled back then turned bouncily and went back into her workroom. Rose took one more look at the pendant in her hand then sighed, she had looked at the damn thing millions of times before and she had never remembered it's origin… what made her think she'd remember it now? She went to shove it back in her pocket but she stopped… it didn't seem right to just stuff it away like a piece of garbage… instead, she put it around her neck and tucked the pendant under her shirt. Then she turned and followed Winry to the workroom.
The two girls worked in awkward silence for a long time. Collecting parts, stowing them in their correct space, repeat. The silence was broken only by the occasional clanking of metal. Winry was beginning to regret labeling both the parts and the compartments they went in… even an organization question was welcome at this point. Silence was torture to her.
Rose was always quiet; she wasn't really as open as Winry was either. Despite her caring personality, she seemed distant in a way. She was always happy to help other people, but she never told anybody about her own problems. She always tried to shoulder everything herself… in a way, she was just like Ed… it annoyed the crap out of Winry. She couldn't take it anymore.
"Rose…" she began, finally shattering the suffocating silence, "I know you're not really okay."
Rose blinked confusedly at this statement that had just seemed to drop out of the sky, "wh…wha?"
"ever since you got into that fight with Estele, you've been different. Now, I know you don't want to burden anybody with your problems, and you've got some things that you don't want to really think about but …" Winry paused and locked gaze with Rose, making sure not to waver, making sure to make it known that what she said was the dead truth, "you're a strong girl, Rose… but… you're still just a human… we all need someone to talk to… if you try to shoulder all of your problems on your own… you just get crushed…"
Rose stared at her blankly, "Winry…"
"I know you and I aren't really what you'd call 'friends' exactly, I mean we've been out shopping but we don't really know each other that well, but… you can always talk to me… if you find that you have something you need to say…"
There was more silence… Rose stared, mouth agape, then finally looked away. But said nothing. Winry sighed and went back to work… she really did want to help… but it seemed… Rose would still keep her distance…
"thank you…" Rose whispered. Winry looked at her again.
"Thank you Winry… that… that's the first time… anybody's said that to me in a long time…" tears streamed down Rose's face as she expressed her gratitude, "it means a lot to me… oh geez, look at me…" she put a hand over her eyes and began to laugh, embarrassed, "I'm sorry, I'm going to pieces over a friendship offering… how stupid…"
"It is not stupid!" Winry said coming up and putting a hand on Rose's shoulder, "I've cried over stupider things…"
"oh, like what?" Rose scoffed.
Winry thought for a moment then smiled, "once, when me, Ed and Al were kids…"
OoOoOoOoOo
"Ha ha ha! You're kidding!" Rose laughed.
"nope, dead serious. That dog ate an entire birthday cake by himself in only half an hour!" Winry laughed, reminisantly, "poor Al, first he cried because his birthday cake got eaten, then Granny said that much sugar and frosting might kill a dog so we all thought den was gonna die… and started crying again."
"That's so terrible!"
"you're telling me, that's still the worst birthday to date, I think."
Four hours had passed. It felt like ten minutes. The fact that there was still tools and parts strewn about the room no longer mattered to the two girls. It was amazing how easy it was to let everything spill out once they got started. Every story, embarrassing defect, and secret worry came spilling out. Rose felt as though a massive weight had been lifted from her chest.
They had moved to the living room, it had begun to get cold as the sun went down, so they wrapped themselves up in blankets and gotten themselves mugs of hot tea. They now sat on the couch in the same room that Daniel and Den were sleeping in.
"you're so lucky…"Rose said quietly, "I never had really close friends like that when I was little… hell, the first time I was able to talk like this to someone I wasn't blood relative to was… I was thirteen… Cain." she trailed off and her smile faded.
"Cain?" Winry asked, "Who's Cain?"
Rose paused, and contemplated her teacup, then spoke, "Cain was… Cain was my boyfriend… for three years."
"wow… I can't hold one for more than a month!" Winry marveled. Rose laughed gently then fell silent. Winry pulled the blanket closer around herself, "you must've really loved each other…"
"we did…" Rose said distantly, her eyes stared at a place that was far, far away, "but… he died."
"oh…" Winry said, "I'm sorry…" Rose smiled kindly, "oh, don't be. All things considered, it could've been much worse, he wasn't in pain, he didn't suffer at all, but… since my parents died, he was all I had. there isn't a day that I don't miss him."
There was another long silence. The only sounds were that of the night outside and of Den's snores. Rose stared into her teacup and was lost in her own thoughts. Winry realized that this was important. That this had been locked up inside Rose's head for a very long time. And that was when she realized how alike they were… Rose and herself.
"my parents were doctors in Ishbal during the war." she said, breaking the silence, "they didn't sympathize with the war effort so they went and helped to heal all the injured people they could. It wasn't that they wanted Amestris to lose, they just didn't want so many people to die… but since they were helping the opposing side with medical care, the military saw them as enemies as well… so they were killed."
Winry sat her cup down on the coffee table in front of the couch, "see, Rose. There's such a thing as a "dead family" club. It's worldwide, and had hundreds of members… but despite the fact that there are so many, every member feels totally alone, like there's nobody in the world who can understand…"
Winry sighed and looked up to Rose, "the truth is, no. anybody who isn't in the dead family club, cannot possibly understand… but…" she finished the tea in her cup and stood, "you aren't the only one in the club, Rose… and you're not alone." she gave Rose a sincere smile, "so don't be afraid to ask for help."
Rose could do nothing but smile still, "thank you, Winry…" she modestly whispered. It had been a very long time since someone had offered such unabashed companionship, and she didn't quite know what to say or how to react. Winry was cheery as ever, "you're welcome!" she said enthusiastically with a wide smile. For the first time in years… Rose mirrored that smile with pure, seemingly boundless joy.
OoOoOoOo
Sometime around midnight, Izumi, Pinako, and Al returned home. Izumi and Pinako also seemed to have stricken up a sudden friendship as they were laughing and chatting about silly things kids do when they entered the house. Al was looking rather less cheerful, as he was laden with the spoils of their trip. It was about that time that Rose decided it was probably time to get herself to bed… seeing as Daniel had already found himself a new teddy bear… even if Den was three times his size… and did not seem to have any intention of releasing said teddy.
The next day they were on the move again. They had finally packed up all stray tools in Winry's room, gently pried a tearful Daniel and Den apart promising a timely reunion, and somehow dragged an already unhappy Daniel onto the "big scawwy twain!"
The train ride itself though, was quiet. Daniel got bored after a while and curled up on the seat next to his mother for a nap. Al and Winry quickly followed; Izumi, though, was not known to be the kind of person that slept in front of other people, neither was Rose. So the two found themselves in a long silence.
Actually, Rose was the only one who found herself in awkward silence, Izumi was lost in her newspaper… sure enough, the headline on the front page screamed in huge letters, "MYSTERIOUS SUSPECT SEEN FLEEING CRIME SCENE; WITNESSES REPORT ISHBALAN DESENT!" below the headline, there was a huge picture of the suspect they had seen in mid-air as he plummeted off the building. The picture quality caught no more details than Rose's own eyes had. The body was blurred in motion, and neither gender nor facial features could be discerned… but rose couldn't deny the red eyes that had glared all-too-clearly at her through the chaotic scene.
She tried to think of something else.
OoOoOo
Al was in a deep, rather pleasant sleep. He dreamed of a vast field, the tall grass flowered in books labeled "How to Find and Retrieve MIA Family Members For Dummies." as he frolicked through the field Izumi strode up to him and said, "I've decided to try a new teaching technique that focuses on rewards instead of punishment." Al twirled a little then carried on dancing trough the flowers.
Rose walked up with Daniel in her arms. The boy said, "I have grown disinterested in pulling hair and picking my nose, I have grown much more interested in taking my naptime when told and eating people food." Al smiled serenely, "follow that path, young one, and you will go far…" he said before continuing to twirl down his path. "you're my hero, Al!" Daniel called after him.
Havoc ran up holding a book in his hand labeled 'Not Ed's Diary.' "Al!" he yelled, "I just found an incredibly detailed diary that your brother was keeping for the four years after you tried to bring your mother back!" Al grinned happily, "yaaaaaaaaay."
Den ran toward Al on his hind legs wearing oven mitts and carrying a tray of cookies. "I have COOOOKIES!" the dog sang. Al danced airily over and took a bite out of one.
Winry appeared behind him and grabbed his hand, "Alphonse… there's something I've needed to say for a long time…" she said softly. She began to lean in close to him, blushing. "What is it winry? You can tell me anything…" Al said in an uncharacteristically masculine and romantic voice as he stared deeply into her eyes. She returned his gaze, lips parted as she leaned closer and whispered, "I…l-"
She was cut off by the thunderous footsteps echoing over the rolling hills, shaking the petals from the flowers. Black storm clouds gathered as the monstrous figure of Rat-Kimbly stomped towards him, reminiscent of Godzilla. Al began to panic and grabbed an enormous blanket and threw it over Kimbly's monstrous form. "who was that?" Winry asked as she appeared at Al's side. "NOBODY! Imean-uh… nothing… nobody's there, nothing's there, why would you think anybody was there?" he laughed nervously gesturing to the writhing mass under the blanket that was the size of a small house. "now… what were you saying?" he quickly changed the subject. The blush instantly reappeared on her cheeks and she resumed her position, inches from his face and whispered softly, "alphonse, I… love…"
"Zolf J. Kimbly!" Winry finished bouncily before shoving him out of the way and running to leap into the arms of the monstrous rat, who had torn the cloth to shreds. Al looked on in horror, "what???" he cried miserably from the ground. Daniel appeared at Kimbly's ankle tugging at his fur with one hand and digging in his left nostril with the other, "I have suddenly remembered how satisfying hair-pulling is and how liberating nose-picking is!" Al staggered back to his feet and turned to run but Izumi suddenly appeared in front of him. "Rats make me violent…" she growled, "you won't like me when I'm violent…" she let out an earth-rumbling roar as she grew three times her normal size and her skin took on a green hue. Al stared up at her in terror. She raised one of her enormous fists and bellowed "IZUMI SMASH!" before sending him flying, screaming, across the field. Rat-Kimbley laughed louder.
Al landed in front of Havoc, who was flipping through the diary and laughing, "This isn't Ed's Diary! It's yours!" he laughed. "noooooooooooooo!" Al wailed. Kimbly threw back his massive head and roared with laughter, pointing a taloned finger at him. Winry in his arms joined him as did Daniel, Izumi, and Havoc.
Al wallowed in his misery, and sobbed. Rose came and hugged him gently, "It's okay, Al… everything will turn out okay in the end…" she said comfortingly. Al sniffed and dried his tears, "thanks, Rose. At least you'll always be here for me…" Rat Kimbly stopped laughing immediately and pointed his finger at Rose. "SURLY GOAT RAY!" he bellowed and a red beam of light shot from his finger and hit Rose. Al looked on in horror as Rose morphed into a goat with a pink bonnet. Goat-Rose turned and began eating the pages of a nearby copy of "How to Find and Retrieve MIA Family Members For Dummies." She then turned to him with a mouthful of paper, "never mind, kid. You're screwed." she said bluntly before continuing on to devour all of Den's cookies.
Al grabbed his hair and turned his face to the heavens as he wailed in agony, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"ALPHONSE!" Izumi snapped, harshly waking him from his dream, "wake up, it's time to get off." Al blinked and looked around. Izumi stood over him with her hands on her hips impatiently. At some point he had slid down to lay out entirely on the bench. Rose and Winry stood in the doorway and looked at him with a mixture of confusion, worry and pity. Daniel stared blankly as he held his mother's hand with one hand, and picked his nose with the other. There was a long pause as Al got his bearings and nobody spoke.
"SURLY GOAT RAY! BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!" Daniel suddenly exclaimed, pointing at Al.
"AAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!" Al screamed and scampered into the corner. Daniel flinched at the sound of Al's scream and slowly lowered his finger in confusion, "… it was just pwetend…" the little boy said sheepishly.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
They walked down the dirt road and stared in awe at the newly restored buildings. Most of them had been piles of rubble when they last saw them but now looked like they were never damaged. There were children playing in the streets again and were totally unafraid of being attacked. The smell of warm sand and freshly-cooked food had replaced the smell of gunpowder and blood. A butterfly even fluttered past them, Daniel smiled brightly and swiped at it playfully. Rose smiled, at last her home was showing signs of healing.
Izumi looked around and smiled a little, "much better than when we left it. Major Armstrong must have been really putting some effort forth… it's nice to find a soldier that isn't complete scum." for Izumi, who still strongly disapproved of the military, that was a compliment.
"Even if he is a little strange…" Al added. Izumi sighed, "He is that, I must admit…" she murmured. "but for someone so big, I don't know how he gets along with kids so well… you'd think they'd be afraid of him…" said Winry.
"no…" Rose began, "the reason the kids aren't afraid of him is because he's honest, you just know it when you see him. He made a promise to protect them, so they know that nothing bad can happen to them when he's around… his size rather guarantees that. So it's no surprise that they aren't afraid of him…"
As they reached the middle of the town, they could hear deep rumbling laughter that was a telltale sign of-
"MAEJAH AHMSTWONG!!!!" Daniel squealed as he immediately recognized the massive man just ahead of them playing with the children in the park. The little boy pulled at Rose's arm toward Armstrong, signaling that he wanted to go play too.
Armstrong had heard Daniel call his name and looked up and waved to them, smiling. Rose smiled and waved back and reluctantly gave in to Daniel's tugging. She smiled nervously as they approached the major and Rose felt the disapproving gaze of a dozen mothers on her and her child.
"Hello, Major. How've you been?" Winry greeted him cheerfully. Armstrong laughed, his entire body shaking with the force and shaking the dozens of children that clung to him. "couldn't be much better, I should say!" he announced, "And how about yourselves? Keeping out of trouble I hope?" he looked at Daniel on the last question. The little boy put his hands behind his back and twisted one toe in the dirt "yeeeeeeeeeeeees…" he said, smiling innocently.
"Good lad." Armstrong smiled as he ruffled the boy's hair with one massive hand. He looked at rose then at one of the children clinging to his arm. He peeled the young boy off his jacket and set him down next to Daniel then proceeded to all of the other kids that were plastered to him as he said, "I have to go talk with Miss Thomas and her friends, children…" the kids let out a unanimous groan, but he continued over them, "how about you play with Daniel until I come back? Alright?"
The children all looked at Daniel uneasily, then looked back at their mothers who looked at each other in the same fashion. Some looked at their friends or sisters and shook their heads. Izumi glared at them in disgust. It was now painfully obvious why Rose was often reluctant to return to her home. She didn't know why the people seemed to regard her with such distaste, but there was no excuse to deny her child of social interaction, not one. She couldn't even imagine any reason they would have to dislike Rose, of all people,in the first place!
The major waited for a few moments then sighed, disappointed, even after all this time, people still would not accept Rose or her child. Rose smiled half-heartedly, "it's alright, major," she said quietly so neither the mothers nor the children would hear, "at least you tried…"
"go on, Julian, invite Daniel to a play a game with you…" One mother with a purple bandana and plum-colored eyes sitting on a bench finally spoke up. Rose looked at the woman in surprise. The woman smiled kindly, "I bet he'd love to learn how to play that game Daddy taught you yesterday." she said. Her friend sitting next to her looked at her in dismay, "Andrea!" she hissed, looking at the other women nervously. Andrea rolled her eyes, "oh please, Eva, the boy isn't diseased or anything, why shouldn't he play with the other kids?" Eva looked at her friend for a long moment. The little boy that had been attached to the major's shoulder scampered up to her and begged, "can I play too, mommy? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?" Eva sighed, "go on, Jeremy, you can play too." she said in forfeit. Jeremy squealed with happiness and ran to join Julian who was chattering away with Daniel about the game they were going to play.
Other women nodded to their kids as well. Rose was speechless as she watched all the kids eagerly crowding around Daniel and already declaring themselves on his team. But, even so, just under half of the mothers came and led their children away, saying that it was time to leave. But Major Armstrong was the only one who noticed them. He gave them each a disappointed gaze as they left. Winry leaned over to Al and whispered, "why're those people leaving so suddenly?" Al shrugged and shook his head as he replied, "I don't know…"
"Julian's been dying to teach someone that game all day…" Andrea laughed as she appeared next to Rose, "he taught everyone else yesterday and nobody wanted to hear the rules twice…" Rose looked at her blankly and blinked… was this woman… being friendly towards her? Andrea leaned over and explained quietly, "if you hear the rules more than once it's harder to claim ignorance when you cheat…" Rose smiled and laughed a little nervously, "oh, I see…"
"I'm Andrea Partridge, by the way." said Andrea, offering Rose her hand.
Rose shook the woman's hand and timidly replied, "Rose Thomas, but, you probably know that already, huh?" Andrea laughed, "yeah, the name rings a little bell." she joked good-naturedly. "So who're your friends?" she asked looking at the rest of the group behind her.
"oh! These are my friends I've been traveling with," Rose said, "Winry Rockbell-"
"-Hi!" Winry smiled and waved energetically.
"Alphonse Elric-"
"-Pleased to meet you." Al said politely.
"and Izumi Curtis."
"what is wrong with you people?" Izumi snapped as she glared at the woman, arms crossed. Andrea was taken aback by the sudden tone change in greetings. She asked in confusion, "huh?" Rose flinched, "Miss Curtis!" she cried in a tone that begged Izumi to be quiet. She had finally made friendly with the people! She didn't really care that they had been hostile towards her before, and really didn't want Izumi to bring it up. But Izumi neither complied to Rose's plea, nor even changed her expression.
"What thought could have possibly possessed you people to treat a little boy like he was some kind of contamination?" Izumi spat curtly. Rose tried desperately to make Izumi stop, "please, Miss Curtis, It's alright, I-"
"no, it's not…" Andrea cut her off, "Miss Curtis, you ask a very valid question, and I cannot possibly come up with an answer to justify our actions. I actually meant to offer my apologies to you today."
"but, you just defended her!" Winry pointed out. Rose nodded and said, "exactly, there's no need for you to apologize after being so kind…" Andrea shook her head and sighed.
"I finally did the right thing today, yes." she began, "but I won't lie to any of you and say that I wasn't right with all of the others; criticizing you, Rose, and Daniel for the last year or so. Even though I did finally do the right thing today, I'm just as guilty as all those other women who were shaking their heads at me today. But if you'll accept it, I'd like to apologize for their- no, our behavior. We had no right…"
Rose blinked for a moment, once again at a loss for words.
"I want to apologize too," another voice said.
"And me."
"Me too…"
Rose looked up and saw that all of the women who had stayed had appeared behind Andrea. "we all want to apologize, Rose," Eva said, "and invite you to come back to Lior to stay… if you still want to." Dumbstruck, Rose stared at the group of women that stared back at her, waiting for a reply. Was this really happening? She looked back at Armstrong who simply smiled and said, "well? What're you going to say, Miss Thomas?"
Rose took another moment to let the event sink in then turned to the women and smiled kindly. "you gave my son friends to play with didn't you?" she said, "You don't have to apologize for anything. Look," she gestured to Daniel as he laughed as he played with the other kids, "you finally gave Daniel a chance to be happy, I should think that makes up for everything…
"Consider the past forgiven and forgotten."
OoOoOoOoOoOo
The room was dark. The few windows that were there were covered by thick curtains. A few thin slits of sunlight managed to bleed through the seams but that was all that lighted the darkness, that was all that was necessary. That was how he lived. Sunlight was a useless creature. Had he not had company, even the seams would be covered… but he had learned long ago that very few could live like he did. So, out of courtesy, he had allowed sunlight into his domain.
He lounged in a chair, his feet propped up on a coffee table. The scant light that landed on his boots reflected off the silver fastenings and illuminated the lower half of his face resting on his hand, both riddled in small scars.
"I don't like it." he said, voice toneless and gravely… as though he was unpracticed in using it.
Across the coffee table from him, his visitor scowled and leaned forward. He felt a glare upon him but was unaffected. His visitor sighed and he could hear the sound of clothes rustling and coins chiming against one another. A drawstring bag was thrown onto the table and slid a few inches passing through the slivers of light before hitting his boot and spilling it's contents over his feet. Coins clattered and avalanched over each other out of the bag, coming to rest at last in the light's path, scattering the sparse light onto the ceiling in dozens of hazy beams.
"Does that make it more appealing, Snowstorm?" the woman across from him crooned deviously. Snowstorm sighed; his mouth did not show a change in expression. "I told you, I don't like doing women and children." replied Snowstorm flatly. The woman made an exasperated noise and threw her hands in the air.
"has the lack of vitamin C effected your cognitive ability, or are you just stupid?" she spat venomously as she rose from her chair and began to advance on him, "You're an assassin, my dear friend. You don't get to have your preferences, only your price, so name it." she slammed her hands down on the arms of his chair on the last part, her face an inch from his, her body blocked the light reflecting from his shoes so his face was invisible. He didn't so much as bat an eye.
"indeed, my dear friend… I am an assassin…" Snowstorm said calmly. A light played on the wall and his rather aggressive visitor snapped her vision to her belly where the tip Snowstorm's blade was resting against her navel, reflecting another sliver of light on the wall.
"so you should have known better than to use cheap imitation on me…" Snowstorm crooned mockingly. His smile was invisible in the darkness. "but," he began as he retracted his blade from her belly and gently pushed her back, "you make a point. I lost the right to an opinion a long time ago…" he rose from his seat and knelt before the coffee table, his back to the light, and began sifting through the coins, "how much is here?" he asked curtly.
"eight thousand" she answered.
"I'll do it for double."
"deal."
"once you send the rest of the money, I'll carry out your order." Snowstorm said, depositing the coins back into their bag.
"you'll get it within the week" She said before turning on her heel to leave.
"but the question begs to be asked…" Snowstorm said, making her stop, "what will the underground think? When an assassin of your esteem, when Sandstorm, the devil's red-eyed concubine, must turn to her rival to eliminate her enemies? What will they say when the desert succubus… cannot manage to finish a mere woman and her child?"
Sandstorm stopped dead as her rival spoke. When he finished she smirked and turned to him, "I suppose… they will say something similar to what they said the day Snowstorm Eli, the cold-hearted ruler of darkness…" he turned just so he could see half of the twisted, malicious smile on her face and one of her mad, flaming red eyes, "broke down on his knees before his superior and cried…" she hissed, her voice demonic and inhuman.
Snowstorm paused for a moment then sniffed in amusement. "I suppose they would." he said, accepting the insult that had been dealt. Sandstorm turned again and said, "but thankfully for both of us this is neither of those days, you see, I am only relaying a message to you from a dear friend of mine… she's a little new to the underground network but is quite well-known on the surface."
"really?" Snowstorm said in mock polite interest, "mind telling me a name, perchance?" he leaned forward and put his chin in one hand.
"her surface name is quite too well-known for me to reveal, but underground, you can call her Arachane." said Sandstorm. She left quickly before her rival could inquire further.
Snowstorm sat for a moment longer then put his hands on the table in front of him and pushed himself up. "Arachane, huh?" he thought aloud, "sigh I wonder which life she lives on the surface…"
He strode over to the window and looked through the seams of the curtain to the street below and watched the people walking there, oblivious that a serial murderer was watching them. "which life will make the transition to the underworld and shun the light to live in darkness?"
On the street below, Ana Estele walked past an old, decrepit, graffiti-ridden apartment complex and stopped to wrinkle her nose in disgust as she saw people going inside. She couldn't imagine anyone having so little self-respect as to live in such a place. How filthy.
She began to walk on her way when she felt an intent gaze upon her. She snapped her head upward and stared back into a pallid blue eye peering out of a window of the disgusting building. Unlike most she caught looking at her so intently, this pair of eyes did not blink or disappear. They gazed right back. She smiled… at last… someone with backbone. She nodded her respect and moved on… even if they were watching her… they were no danger… there was no threat that she couldn't eliminate… she would devour any insect that stood in her way…
Like flies in a spider's web.