Sorry about the long space of not posting. Short of laziness I'll be posting every other day. If anyone is still reading, thanks for your patience.
Lady of the Storm – Thanks! Shadow Dreamer 27 – You have no idea! Things are about to start moving very fast. SnufflesWillRise – Whoops! Thanks for pointing that out. You're the first one to catch it, or at least tell me so. :p Roy-Fan-33 – I'm sure Ed will get over it.
Oh, and if I haven't said this before, I'm basing this more on the series with little touches from the manga. Since the manga is ongoing and changing my perceptions of the characters with each new chapter, it was just easier to stick to the anime, that and I had already written the first draft and worked the plot out before 57 and 58 came out.
A Race Through Dark Places
"I am not one of Mustang's toadies!" Ed yelled, his voice breaking from the ferocity of it. He was not some leashed dog at Mustang's beck and call.
No way.
Weaving through the multitude of bodies as he tried to keep the insane woman in view, he bound left, then right, and over an apple cart. From behind, he could hear the angry cry of a vendor and Al apologizing but he refused to slow down. That woman, her tattoos and the suddenness of the attack all set him on edge.
There was something about her.
They send children after me?
"Hey!" Ed called out but she did not stop.
His quarry vanished into a crowd of women and children, causing Ed to search wildly about, trying to look over their heads but he was at a severe height disadvantage. "Damn, where is she?"
Spying movement out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of her green shawl as she raced along the side of the street toward a massive construction area. Taking off after her, he saw her vanish around a corner.
"Ha!" He could stop her at the stone footbridge, she could not escape short of jumping off into the river below and that would be suicide.
Luckily, there were few people coming or going from the bridge, as the distant temple n the other side of the waterway no longer served the community. Clapping his hands together, Ed then dropped down. A wall, a dozen paces onto the gently arching bridge shot up sealing off people heading his direction and giving others a chance to flee.
The hollow echo of Al's approach behind Ed rivaled the sound of the quick moving river rushing against the high canal walls that directed the flow through the city.
Panic lit the woman's eyes as she twisted about, searching for another escape but the tall buildings and the river pinned her in. She fell back against the wall Ed had created, even as her eyes med Ed's.
"I won't let you interfere," she hissed taking on the look of a cornered dog. "Just one more death." The glow of an alchemic reaction danced across the ground as she pressed her palms to it. Shards, like weeds, erupted from the hard packed ground, tearing a path toward Ed.
He moved to react but Al was faster, his large body acting as a shield and took the brunt of the attack. Glass and metal clattered as shard snapped against the unforgiving surface and fell harmlessly to the ground.
Still frozen in his protective posture, the younger Elric called out, "We mean you no harm!"
"She attacked us!" Ed snapped.
Reforming the shards that stuck up in a jagged formation into a wall, she made it rise high on a fragile base that easily collapsed under the weight, sending the translucent monolith tumbling toward the two brothers.
Ed responded instantly.
Shards became flower petals that floated harmlessly to the ground, covering the dusty brown in a shade of soft pink.
"Please stop!" Al begged her.
Undeterred, the woman created a single, fluid tendril that shot out. The sharp point pierced one of the eye openings of Al's helmet. A terrified scream tore through the still afternoon as the helmet was sent flying.
It hit the ground with a bang and rolled downhill toward the drop off into the fast moving river.
The ground changed, curving up moments before the helmet flew into the water.
"Get your head," Ed said as he pushed himself back to his feet and raced toward their adversary. "What are you running from?"
Triggering another glass spear, she watched in shock as Ed countered by clapping his hands together and his right arm morphed into a shield, tearing apart the sleeves of his clothing. The glass tendril snapped apart against the smooth surface.
"You're going to have to try harder than that," Ed said with a smile.
"No transmutation circle?" Her dark gaze shifted toward the headless armor collecting the helmet by the rivers edge. A thin smile formed across her thin features. "I understand now. You trespassed on sacred ground." Her smile widened. "Even I am not so mad."
Narrowing his gaze, Ed looked her over carefully. On the surface, she was unremarkable, little different than the women he had seen in every city and town between Central City and Risembool. Surveying the jagged sea that covered the ground between them, he knew quite well she was not ordinary. "Why would the military be after you?"
"You don't even know why you are chasing me, dog?" she spat.
Ed darkened. "You attacked us."
"Who did you try to bring back?"
Surprise made Ed withdraw slightly. It was like she was not looking at him, but rather through him.
Slowly, she brought her hands up so he could see the various transmutation circles imprinted on her palms and fingers. The elder Elric immediately recognized the two larger ones as the source of her alchemic glass and control of it but the ones on her fingers. Only fragments of the circles remained in his mind after she withdrew the view.
"Healing arrays?" he asked.
"I understand exactly what you are. A soul bound to armor and a body missing parts of itself." She looked the blond haired youth over carefully. "The question is, did you do it yourself or did you use the Stone of the Sages?"
With her words, Ed brightened. "You know of the Philosopher's Stone?"
"Only suffering and death surrounds it," she said absently, shifting her gaze to watch Al put his head back on.
Hungry for whatever knowledge this woman possessed, Ed stepped closer. "If you know anything about it, tell us."
The fear that had encircled her only moments earlier seemed to melt away as she met Ed's gaze. "For what purpose do you seek it?"
"To get our bodies back."
"The military will take it away from you before you can use it."
"The hell they will," Ed growled.
"You are just a pawn to them, a tool that the military will trample over once you acquire what they want. It is a weapon to them, more powerful than a vast array of soldiers." Cruel laughter.
"You have no concept of what a spirit crushing machine the State is. It destroyed alchemists like Marcoh and I and turned others into soulless killers with no hope for redemption."
"Marcoh?" The fires of hope were stoked. "You know Tim Marcoh?"
Reaching behind her, the artificially created wall was altered, becoming glass that was melted away, flowing like liquid over the edge of the footbridge into the river below.
"I'm not finished!" Ed yelled as he raced toward her.
Without hesitation, she turned, grabbing her shawl as she moved, pulling it free. With a quick motion, she whipped it out toward the approaching youth.
Soft threads turned into spun glass, shattering against Ed's automail arm. He had only a fraction of a second to close his eyes. Protecting them. Tiny shards, like ice in a winter storm, pelted him, ripping through his red coat, tearing into his skin and leaving stinging cuts. He screamed and broke off the attack as he shook off the altered shawl.
"You are a very talented alchemist," she said. "Throw away your bindings to the State before they break you."
"Wait!" Ed called, blinking through tear-rimmed eyes.
"You are not responsible for what happened during the rebellion. You were too young to be involved and therefore, for now, you are not my enemy.
"But I can't let you follow me." She dropped to the ground, her palms pressing against the hardened surface.
"Brother!" Al screamed as shards shot up from the ground and slammed into him. Though they could not penetrate the metal, they could knock the boy back. "Ed!" came another terrified cry as he was sent toppling over the edge and down the stone slope toward the river below.
"Al!" Before the word had even left Ed's mouth, he was in motion. His hands pressing to the ground willing the stone embankment below to be transformed, bending it to his will and catching Al before he landed in the water.
Racing over the glass covered ground, he threw himself down at the edge overlooking the river. Shallow breaths and his thundering heart reflected the terror that had gripped him at the thought of losing Al.
Below, the younger lay cradled in giant hands that reached out from the stone wall. The water flowed by just a hand width below the hulking, armored form.
"Thanks," Al called up, his voice trembling.
"I couldn't…the blood seal," was all Ed managed. He just sat there, his weight balanced on his arms, staring over the edge where Al lay. Blood beaded and trickled down his flesh arm from the crisscrossing of dozens of skin-deep cuts. It dripped from stinging wounds on his cheeks and around his eyes. His neck burned from the sweat mixing with the cuts. None of that mattered as long as Al was safe.
Rocking back on his knees he glanced about but the woman was gone.