Summer Knight
Ah, the wonders and experiences of a young summer. The sun appears brighter, yet not as hot, when one is a child. Water is colder, bluer, more refreshing; grass much greener, sky that much more breathtaking.
It was one of these amazing seasons for a certain young alchemist and his brother. Living in the rural town of Risembool, Edward and Alphonse could revel in the cold, hot, freshness of nature in ways those in the city couldn't possibly imagine. They had always spent their warm days in a group of three, they and their dear friend Winry. But today it would just be the brothers running down hills, over rocks, and swimming in the small river. Little did they know, that two would very soon become three; but not by adding the usual.
"I'm gonna beat you again if you don't speed up, Al!" Edward, a boy of eight, shouted tauntingly to his brother behind him on the hill.
"Don't count me out yet, brother!" Alphonse challenged, throwing as much energy into his seven-year-old legs as he could.
The two brothers raced down the hill in that same manner; laughing loudly and yelling good-natured jeers to one another. Their finish line was marked by skid-like lines in the dirt by the bank of a river; created by sudden stops. Just past the raised earth was a thinner line in the grass, showing a few unsuccessful attempts at braking.
A boyish smirk crossed Edward's lips when he glimpsed the finish line, "I can count you out now, Al! You aren't catching me anytime soon!"
There was no response to his latest assurance of victory and he turned back to find out why, but ended up looking just to his side. Next to him, and then passing him, was his younger brother rolling down the hill as if in an endless somersault. His smirk turned agape with shock, "I said a race not a roll!"
Ed soon became the one now falling behind and then the one in official second place when Al rolled straight into the river. Al emerged quickly however as the water was shallow.
"I warned you didn't I?" Al said with a wide, toothy grin while staggering a bit with dizziness and breathing heavily from the part of the race in which he'd actually ran.
Braking slowly by the river as opposed to the usual skid, Ed crossed his arms, "I don't recall rolling ever being permitted in a footrace," he panted.
"Aw, you're just miffed cause I beat you," he shook some water from his caramel-colored hair.
"Okay, okay. You beat me," another smirk came over his face. "So that makes our scores, what, 17 to 9?"
"Only because you enjoy being 'creative'.
Pouting and narrowing his eyes in boyish frustration, the older brother muttered, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Al just kept up his grin and wrung out his shirt, "Why don't you ask those cards you always keep up your sleeve?"
Ed flinched, didn't respond, and turned back up the hill, "C'mon, let's have another go!"
"Don't expect to win!" Al replied defiantly, and the two began their march up the grass. They didn't progress but three steps before stopping in their tracks; frozen in place by an unsettling sound.
Someone, a young girl by the sound of it, let out a startled scream somewhere around the river. Following the outcry, a loud, almost roaring, bark echoed across the field. Judging by the deep, menacing tone of the bay and the frightened volume of the shriek, this girl was in very much trouble.
"Which way do you-?" But Al couldn't finish his sentence. For as he turned to question Edward, he found he was already sprinting to the right; rushing with the flow of the river with energy as if the previous race had never occurred. Al was quick to follow suit, calling out an inaudible plea to 'at least let him catch up'.
"Get away from me!" the girl called again just as she came into view of the two boys.
When they were close enough that the girl-who was sitting as though forced down and pressed to the edge of the river-was in full focus, they could see that the beast across from her was gigantic! And only getting bigger the closer they came. Just as Edward was nearing her side, the hound leaped forward with another blast from his bared teeth and she threw up her arms and scooted back.
"Watch out!" Ed screamed out of habit, as her scoot sent her over the river's edge.
"Ah!" another exclamation of surprise sounded from her lips. So sure was she that she would soon be soaking wet, she squinted her eyes shut.
But that ice-cold water never touched her skin, in fact it barely brushed against her clothes. Instead she felt something warm holding her up above the water, which quickly became a someone when she judged the warmth to be that of arms. And at that knowledge she opened her eyes slowly to thank whomever they belonged to. Or at least, that had been her plan.
The sun shone behind his head, adding slight shadow to his features turned to look with angry determination at the black, snarling beast, and a brilliant ring of light all around him. His eyes, though she couldn't fully identify their color, were sparkling in the rays and reflected the motion of the river below them. He gave the phrase 'knight in shining armor' a very literal, very handsome, meaning, and it instantly halted any ideas of speech.
Still cradling the dumbstruck girl in his arms, Edward stepped out of the knee-deep water. He eased her down to the grass next to him, never taking his eyes off the beast, and glared into the monster's dark, menacing eyes. His glare quickly turned into a baneful, provocative, smirk, looking as if to dare the beast attack. The look didn't go unnoticed, and another guttural growl sounded in the behemoth's throat before he prepared to strike.
Moving like lightning, Edward crouched to the ground and scribbled a quick series of circles in the mud just as the beast leaped into the air. The smirk widened, showing his teeth, as he slammed his hands to the drawing. Instantly, a large fist of the same mud, turned dry and hard through a process of science, shot up through the grass and into the creature's snarling jaw. The enormous beast yelped and fell onto the grass. When the first weapon crumbled on impact, Ed summoned up a series of dull swords made up of mud and grass and poised them in the air just above the frightened beast. Just as the sword was about to fall, he jumped to his feet and ran in the opposite direction down the river with his tail clasped tightly between his legs.
And through all this the girl watched, legs curled on the side and tucked under her, from the sidelines. Watching the boy as he'd fought-countenance and pupils glowing bright blue in the light of his strikes, lips grinning in triumph- had only cemented her vision of the chivalrous being she'd compared him to.
"Someone get a new dog?" Al asked once the danger had passed.
"Naw," Ed replied, standing and brushing off his hands, "It was way too big and dangerous to be anything but wild." It was then that he turned to look for the first time at the girl he had saved. "Hey," he began, eyes and smile filled with gentle concern, "you ok?"
"Yeh-yeah," she stuttered, not failing to notice he had eyes to match the color and sweetness of honey. 'He's handsome,' she thought.
"You sure? That thing didn't get you before we got here, did he?" Ed crouched in front of her, partially looking for injuries and partially attempting to identify her.
She looked to be the same age as he was. A small tuft of hair the color of sunshine stuck up out of the clip holding the rest of it to the back of her head; save for her bangs, which hung across the left side of her forehead, and two small strands sticking out stubbornly to the right. Her eyes matched the earth after a gentle rainstorm, and were wide with amazement and brimming with gratitude. All framed perfectly with the deep-cerulean of her dress, and a light touch of rose in her cheeks.
The girl shook her head, "No. You got here just in time," and then she smiled, sending rose into his cheeks as well.
'She's pretty,' he thought.
"I-I've never seen you around here," Edward said, attempting to ignore his previous thought while being wary of the heat in his face.
"I'm just visiting. I came down here because it's boring with all those grownups," a more sheepish smile came over her lips. "But, I kinda forgot where the house was. So I just stayed by the river, then that flea bag showed up and…well, you know the rest."
"Right," he took a crack at suavity. "But what I don't know is your name."
"Oh, my name's Riza. And yours?"
"Edward. But you don't have to say the whole thing."
Alphonse, smiling wider the longer they talked, finally chirped, "And I'm Alphonse. Or Al for short."
Riza turned away from Ed for the first time since meeting his eyes and smiled, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Al. Ed."
The two brothers exchanged glances: Ed gave him a thank you for his help and an apology for his own momentary disregard, while Al said he was welcome and forgiven. 'After all,' Al chuckled with his eyes, 'he'd found himself a new girlfriend.' At that Ed's eyes widened and he stood up, closing his eyes to look at neither of them with the rose slowly blossoming.
Riza blinked, unaware of the conversation and made to stand up, but was soon stopped by an outstretched hand, "Hm?"
Ed opened one eye and looked down at her, smiling a little and twitching his fingers.
She took his hand firmly and allowed herself to be slightly pulled to her feet. Upon standing up she began a habitual motion to smooth out her dress, but found she still only had one free hand.
"You said you were kinda lost right?"
"Yeah," the pink once faded returned as a light squeeze came to her hand. Although he had no real idea he'd done it.
"We can fix that! Al and I know this place really well," he turned to Alphonse.
"Uh huh," Al smiled. "We'd love to help you, Riza!"
"So what do you say?" Edward turned back to Riza with a smile.
"Okay! Thank you, Sir Edward! And of course you too Alphonse," she said with a grateful, innocent smile.
The two brothers exchanged confused looks, and then turned them toward the girl. "Huh?" they said in unison.
"You always add a 'Sir' at the beginning of a knight's name. Don't you know?"
"Knight?" they echoed with a puzzled blink.
"You slayed the evil monster, rescued the princess and now you're returning her to the kingdom. Sounds knightly to me," although she was one to speak her mind, she decided against informing him that she'd first compared him to a hero upon seeing his impressive form glimmering like a knight on horseback. And that the other thing that made him a knight in her eyes was how accurately the phrase handsome could be put with him; as it usually is with the heroes of fairytales.
Edward blushed a little deeper, Alphonse grinned a little wider, and Riza smiled a little sweeter.
"O-oh…I guess that makes sense. But you know you don't have to call me, 'Sir'."
"Alright!" she nodded.
Still not noticing her hand, he turned to the left mumbling an embarrassed, "C'mon we should get going" and Riza and Al followed. She was gripping his right hand, he nudging his left side before giving what he saw as a couple a little space.
"What was that thing you did back there? With that light and all those swords?" Riza tilted her head when they were a few feet up the hill.
"Never seen alchemy before, huh?" Ed looked at her with a chuckle.
"Huh uh."
"Just took the water out of some of the ground to harden it and then formed it into what you saw. Nothing special."
"Nothing special!?"
Her sudden enthusiasm made him jump.
"You're too modest, you know that? It was to something special! What you did back there was amazing."
She always seemed to know exactly what to say to make him blush, "Er, well then, uh, thank you."
"Just speaking the truth, Sir Edward."
It got quiet for a bit after that. Riza was thinking very little about how her words and titles might affect him, while Edward was thinking of nothing else. Yes, he and his brother had received much praise and multiple compliments for their skills, but for some reason, they meant oh so much more when coming from this girl.
"How long are you here for?" Edward asked once they were in the streets and off the hill.
"Actually," she sighed, "I'm only here for one day."
"That's all!? Can't you stay longer than that?"
"I wish…I'm already late."
"Oh…"
After another, much shorter silence, Riza looked over at him, eyes and lips smiling sweetly, "I'll come back…the hero and the princess always reunite."
"You, uh," he smiled, adding extra red to the remains of a previous crimson, "you promise?"
Riza nodded, preparing to answer, when suddenly a woman's voice met their ears, "Riza! Where are you!? It's time to go!"
She gasped and quickly turned in the direction of the voice, "Coming mom!"
Silence, awkward and sad, came up before Riza finally spoke, "Um, Ed? You know you're still holding my hand, right?"
"Huh? Gah! Oh, uh, s-sorry about that," Edward was quick to release her fingers.
"It's alright, trust me," she giggled.
Neither wanted to say goodbye just yet, so neither said a word. Eventually though, Riza spoke again, "Hey, uh, Edward?" she mumbled, fidgeting with her dress.
"Yeah?" Ed blinked, this was the farewell he was dreading.
Riza's face became hotter than flame and a color to match. Stepping closer to him she said, "Thank you so much, Edward," she paused her speech to close her eyes and gently press her lips to his, "and I promise I'll come back."
A heat one hundred times more scorching than the hottest summer day, and color about one thousand times deeper than even the deepest shade of crimson, found its way up into his cheeks and even around his ears. His lips opened slowly in shock against hers, but he made no sound accept a few incoherent mumblings and murmurs from within his throat.
Riza, still rose-red, giggled when she pulled away, "Don't you know anything about fairytales, Ed? The princess always shares a kiss with the hero…" her next words were a little quieter and more shy, "because the princess always falls for her knight."
Sir Edward still couldn't speak, and the princess closed his silent, gaping mouth with a finger to his chin.
"Fare thee well, brave Sir Edward," said the princess with a curtsy. "I pray our paths cross again sooner rather than later." And then with smile and another curtsy to her gallant, she turned to reclaim her place with the queen.
"Princess Riza seems quite taken with you, Sir Edward," nudged the grinning Squire.
"I dare say, Squire," Sir Edward swallowed hard, not fully aware of his words, "that I'm quite taken with her as well."
The Squire laughed out loud and threw his arm over the bright-red knight's shoulder, "Come, what say you to that rematch?"