Once again, I do not own FullMetal Alchemist. I think I can claim ownership to the two original characters introduced here though, despite their being created for the FullMetal universe. ;)
heh, originally I had intended this to be a quick, one shot type story. As I write this, it looks like it will take up four chapters. Hopefully it's worth it. :) Also, while it doesn't really matter too much, this story leans slightly more towards the manga, but does mention events from the anime. Chronologically, it doesn't really make that much sense, but hopefully it's easily overlooked.
again, any comments and critiques are most appreciated! Thanks to Rizalicious, Mustangfan29, and Dragnotchi for your reviews!
1st Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye frowned in concentration as she fired her pistol repeatedly into the paper target at the end of the range. Gunshots, muffled by the hearing protectors she wore, echoed all around her as several other officers in adjacent booths also fired at their respective targets. She paid them no attention as she emptied her gun and reached for a fresh magazine. She quickly locked it into place and once again opened fire on the target, this time aiming for the head of the silhouette. She had already shot out nearly all of the paper in the area of the torso.
She had only gotten about nine shots out when she suddenly had the feeling of being watched. Riza lowered her gun slightly and cast a glance over her left shoulder to see Colonel Mustang leaning lazily against the wall behind her, wincing slightly at the constant ring of bullets. He gave her an acknowledging nod and motioned for her to continue with a wave of his hand.
Hawkeye sighed to herself as she resumed her shooting, knowing full well why he was here. For the past two days he had been continuously pushing at her to duel him. He wouldn't elaborate on the nature of the duel, but made it clear that they wouldn't be taking shots at each other. He was becoming rather annoying about it all, and she was half tempted to just shoot him now, declare that the end of the matter, and to the nine hells with whatever he had had in mind.
Still, part of her was sorely tempted to accept. Mustang had a flair for the dramatic, so whatever he had planned was sure to be interesting at least. Perhaps... She finished her round and paused for a moment to admire her handy work on what was left of the target.
"Not bad," Mustang remarked from behind her as she gathered up her spent cartridges.
"Not good enough," she dismissed his praise absently as she placed her empty magazines and her hearing protectors in the appropriate containers, then silently berated herself for giving him such an easy opening.
"In that case," he quickly replied, falling into step beside her as they walked along the path between the training grounds and the main office building. "How about a little extra training?"
She glanced sideways at him. "Extra training, sir?" she asked, already knowing what the response would be.
He gave a small sound of acknowledgment, "On the parade grounds. It should be large enough," he said with a wry smile.
Hawkeye expelled a quick puff of air in exasperation, "Sir, we only just arrived in Central and already you want to repeat your little demolition incident from East HQ?" She remembered all too well the damage caused by his duel with Fullmetal, and the fact that both were required to clean up their mess afterwards. She had no desire to be stuck with such a task herself.
"Nonsense. This will be a whole new incident," he grinned as she rolled her eyes. "And as bullets wouldn't cause that much damage, I won't even hold you responsible for the cleanup," he added as if reading her thoughts.
"You'd need approval for - " she began, hoping to kill his plans right there, only to be cut off.
Mustang gave a careless wave of his hand. "Already taken care of. The Fuhrer is on a routine inspection of South City HQ, and the rest of the higher ups are very much interested in my, shall we say, 'new training program'," he walked a little taller at this, and she could nearly hear the mental praises he was no doubt giving himself for gaining some approval from his superiors. "So, if you'd be so kind as to accompany me..."
"Now, sir?" Hawkeye exclaimed in surprise as the Colonel veered away from their current path towards the parade grounds.
"Why not?" he called over his shoulder, his eyes glinting with challenge.
She found herself reluctantly following him despite her protests, "What about your paperwork for this afternoon, sir?" she was searching for any possible excuse now. "It's due by - "
"It's finished," he stated simply, cutting her off once again.
"Finished?" she stopped abruptly and stared at the back of her superior in shock. The Colonel was...finished? Without anything at all being said? Now he truly had her interest. It wasn't often that he completed his work in a timely fashion without at least one comment from herself.
"Finished," he repeated. "I also took the liberty of granting you a day off tomorrow so that you can recover from your humiliating defeat," the Colonel added smugly, turning to see the effect of his words. He frowned slightly when he saw that she had stopped. "Coming, Lieutenant?" Mustang called, standing casually with his hands in his pockets, the very picture of confidence. A light breeze ruffled his hair, and swirled the half cape of his uniform, adding to the image of bravado.
"Yes, sir" she replied with a defeated sigh. "And thank you for the day off," she added, not gracing the other half of his comment with a reply.
"Don't mention it, Lt.," he smiled, then turned his attention before him as they approached the edge of the parade grounds.
Riza looked about curiously. The area looked rather empty, with no sign of what Mustang had planned for them. Set about in a wide circle were numerous stone barriers, similar to what was used when he had dueled Fullmetal, but slightly higher. Mustang paused for a moment as he approached the edge of the circle, then headed briskly around to the right towards a group of men in military uniform leaning lazily against one of the barriers.
As they neared, she recognized four of the men as Havoc, Falman, Breda, and Fuery; two others she remembered seeing around the base, but could not recall their names. It was the seventh, whose face was completely new to her, that noticed their arrival first. He straightened immediately upon seeing them, and strode up to meet them.
He appeared to be in his late twenties to early thirties, and carried himself as if he hadn't a care in the world. Golden brown hair just a bit longer than the Colonel's bounced around his face as he walked almost as if it had a mind of its own. Clean shaven, and with an immaculately kept uniform, he was the picture of neatness. Yet somehow he managed to acquire a haphazard, borderline scruffy appearance.
"Ah, Colonel! I see you finally got your Lieutenant to join you!" the man remarked as he and the others gave a salute. He turned to Hawkeye, his green eyes full of amusement. "Glad you could make it Lieutenant! I had half a mind to come hunt you down and fling you over my shoulder if you didn't show today," he said with a wink.
Mustang made a small strangled noise in his throat, then hastily covered it with a cough. "Yes, well, may I introduce Major Thomas Durnhoft, The Living Stone Alchemist. He has graciously agreed to provide us with some targets."
"Major," she greeted as she gave a crisp salute. He gave an acknowledging nod as he returned the salute, causing several strands of golden brown hair to bounce into his face. He swept them back carelessly in a manner suggesting he was long since accustomed to such a maneuver. An air of good humored innocence hung about him, giving Hawkeye the impression that he hadn't seen any fighting beyond the mock battles used for training.
"I hope they will prove sufficiently challenging," he remarked. "I've been experimenting with different compositions and have managed to get some that can move rather quickly without shaking themselves apart.
"Lieutenant Kessler," the Major addressed the shorter of the two men beside him. "Kindly pass the word that we're ready to proceed."
"Yes, sir!" Kessler gave a hasty salute before turning and trotting off towards the main offices.
"So, what's the wager?" Durnhoft asked, turning back to the two duelists. Behind him the other men were muttering furiously amongst themselves, no doubt placing their own bets on the outcome.
"We haven't established one, actually," Mustang admitted, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
"I'm not fond of gambling, sir," Hawkeye put in politely, doing her best to discreetly examine the makeshift arena for some clue as to what to expect. She didn't find it entirely fair to be kept in the dark about the nature of a contest she was about to participate in.
"Not much of a bet then," the Major observed.
"If I may ask, sirs, just what is the nature of this exercise?" Hawkeye put in before either had a chance to begin naming conditions.
Durnhoft looked from her to Mustang in shock. "You didn't tell her?"
"I explained that it would be target practice," Mustang defended himself, looking slightly sheepish.
"That's all? With respect sir, that's what most people would call cheating," Durnhoft replied before addressing Lieutenant Hawkeye. "I'm to assume you are not familiar with my alchemy then? No? Well, simply put I create golems. Animated rocks basically," he said with a shrug. "That's what you two will be taking shots at once the audience arrives."
"Ah," she would have said more but a slight buzz of conversation directed their attention behind them. She had expected to see Generals and other high ranking persons, but it seemed as if the entire military had come to watch their show. As they noisily settled themselves around the circle she spared a quick glance to the Colonel to see that he was equally surprised at the turnout. As a group of Generals approached, she had to wonder: Just what have I gotten myself into?