Hey! Me here with yet another chapter in store. So weird, I know(updating again)...I just felt the urge to update and so I did.(aside from the very appreciated reviews that I got from the previous chapter...Thanks very much! I was so happy to hear from all of you! Your review replies should be on their way.) This chapter lives up to its name...strange things happen here so...I won't spoil anything...but last note:
I don't own FMA!(No matter how bad I'd want to...) The only things that I own are Amber and the plot.
Chapter Eight
Unpredictable
Amber
We left Jaen the next morning, hoping James and his new family a long and happy life together. I had decided to wear my blue sweats with a black tank and had my hair up in a pony/bun, just for the heck of it. Ed and Al walked beside me, silent as usual. The walk to Aleli was short so we'd reach the town a little past midday. We were almost halfway there when I stopped and looked around me.
"What is it?" Ed asked, starting to get irritated.
"I thought I heard something," I replied as I kept on walking. The day was warm, compared to the past week, so my blazer was in my suitcase, which Al had insisted to carry. The silence was a bit annoying but I really didn't want to say something and have Ed argue with me.
"Hey look Vince, three kids out on their own," commented a voice nearby. I could tell that Ed was getting angry but Al managed to clam him down this time.
"Yeah," replied a second voice, my guess, Vince. "The brunette is a cutie." I felt the anger rising and coursing through my veins.
"She looks like a little doll!" cried out the first voice. At that, forget the anger, I was fully pissed off.
"What did you call me?" I growled.
"Hey dolly!" called out Vince. "Turn around so we can get a better look at you!"
"I'm not a doll!" I cried as I clasped my hands together and pressed them to the ground. Ed then stepped in front of me, armblade and most of his upper body exposed. 'Damn...he's kinda cute when shirtless...ach! What am I thinking? But then again...' I thought as I examined his bare back closely, there were scars where the automail limb began but other than that...he didn't look half bad.
"Stay behind me," he said as the two males revealed themselves. I looked at him in surprise, he was covering me?
"Why...?" I started to ask, getting a little more ticked off.
"This is just what they want," Ed interrupted. "To get you ticked off so you can start yelling at them."
"Edward," I growled. "I want to fight these guys...they called me a doll!" I whispered loudly.
"Take it easy..." Al said softly.
"But!" I began only to be silenced by Al.
"Come on blondie..." called out the first guy. "We just want to see her better..."
"And see what she's got in that bag too..." started the second one. Great, bandits.
"Let's just work together," I said with a heavy sigh. "Things will be done with a lot quicker."
"Fine," Ed said as he stood beside me. "Got a plan?" he asked, shocked that he agreed to this. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers.
"Just charge at them. I'll cover you and I've got something I want to try on them..." I said quickly as I disappeared. Ed looked around for a sign of me and noticed where I was, calmly sitting on a nearby tree. He focused harder on me and saw the fire in my eyes that indicated that I was ready, he charged at the bandits and they did the same towards him. Before their blows met, the bandits stopped as leaves that fell from the nearby trees cut their arms and exposed body parts.
"We'll leave, we'll leave!" they yelled as they ran off. I sighed in content as their figures faded away and I quickly jumped down from the tree I was in.
"We did good," I said as Ed and Al approached me.
"Yeah...guess so," Ed commented as I began to lead the way to Aleli once more. "Let me get this straight...you hate being called a doll?" he said, clear malignant tones imbedded in his voice.
Edward
"I absolutely despise it!" Amber yelled, starting to flare up. "Just because I'm sixteen, developing and have raging hormones does not mean that I can't fight like the guys. I'm not freaking fragile! I am human of course but that's beside the point!" she started rambling and explaining to me that calling her a doll was unkind and what not. That's perfect since I found just the right thing to say to get on her nerves...during all the rambling I noticed some sort of water ball form right on top of her, deciding to let her have what she deserves, I didn't say anything. Once her anger reached breaking point, the water fell on her, soaking her entirely and her cheeks were full of something. She spat some water from her mouth out, all of it landing on my face and sighed.
"What was that about?" Al asked.
"The elements cooling down my temper," she explained. She might have cooled off but I was angry now, who was she to spit water on my face?
"Why did you do that?" I yelled, referring to the water that she'd spitted onto my face.
"You were in the way," she said. "Or did you forget that oh so scintillating detail?" I growled at her, she did have a point...damn it! Why does she do that to me?
"You need to dry off Amber," Al warned. "You might catch-"
"Achoo!" Amber sneezed, cutting him off.
"A cold..." he finished saying.
"It's not that Al," she said while pulling out a handkerchief from her pocket. "I'm just allergic to a certain runt..." she said with a smirk.
"What did you say?" I cried.
"I was kidding about the runt...but it's just a normal random sneeze," Amber said, smirk still plastered on her face. All I could do that didn't involve bodily harm was just glare at her and hope that she'd die from it. Having no luck with that, I just followed her towards our next stop again, hoping that something would get rid of her on the way. I watched her from behind as she reached to her bun and undid it, her hair loosely finding its place behind her, at her waist, maybe longer.
"That hair's too long..." I commented, wondering where this one could lead.
"I like it that way," she said simply, without even bothering to look at me. "Aside from that, you shouldn't talk about this...your hair's long too," she snapped. Damn, she got me there...
"How long until we get there?" I asked, changing the subject.
"A little after noon or one a clock..." Amber replied while starting to finger comb her hair. "Can't say exactly...the bandits delayed us for a while..."
"They sure did..." I began. "Doll..." I could feel the air around us suddenly tense up with the words and I couldn't help but smile to myself. I could hear Al raise his metal fist move to hit me but then I felt a sudden sting on my right cheek. Amber had slapped me! I reached up to my cheek and looked at her in complete surprise.
"Don't even try to say it again..." she said angrily. She then turned on her heel and kept on walking. Al looked at Amber as she kept on moving and then turned to me.
"She did it for me..." he said as he ran up to catch up with her. I just stood there a while longer, shocked. She had a mean palm...that's for sure, I still feel the burn.
"Al, do-sorry, Amber! Wait for me!" I cried as I ran to catch up to them. Once I did, they slowed down so I would be able to catch my breath. I looked over from Al to Amber and saw just briefly, something in her eyes that indicated emotion...that's odd, she's a block of ice damn it!
"Here," she said while pulling out something from her bag and gave it to me. "Drink that and you'll feel better," she said while walking on again. I looked at the bottle, twirling it in my hand, wondering if this was actually poison or something that would make me sick. "Don't doubt so much...that could be your downfall..." Amber yelled all the way from where she was, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Who asked you?" I yelled while opening the bottle.
"I'm just reacting to your delay dumb ass!" she yelled back, not even bothering to look at me. "Now get that moving or we won't make it to Aleli!" Hoping that I was doing the right thing, I drank the entire bottle and ended up having a coughing fit due to the speed. From a small distance I heard a chuckle, which I knew came from Amber. I shook it off and caught up to her, throwing the bottle of water she'd given me. She caught it effortlessly and I just wanted to hurt her. "By the way...are you ever going to put on a shirt?" she asked after a while. That's when I remember that I had taken it off in the process of protecting her from the bandits...wait...did I just think that? With an embarrassed look, I pulled out a new shirt from my suitcase and quickly put it on. "Give me what's left of your glove...I can fix it..."
"Whatever," I said as I gave her the measly tiny pieces of white fabric. She then pulled out some thread from her bag and a needle. She threaded it and threw the bobbin ahead.
"Duck," she said with a snap. The bobbin "flew" back and before I knew it, Amber had caught it almost an inch from my face. I glared at her as she cut the thread and proceeded to work on my glove. Deciding that arguing would draw more attention, I kept my mouth shut as we kept on walking. Most of the trip that was left was silent and we finally reached Aleli.
"This place is small...why would there be military personnel here?" Al asked as we looked around.
"Probably to start another useless war..." Amber muttered.
"Then why did you become a military dog?" I asked.
"I already said why...if you didn't pay attention then that's your problem," she replied with a scoff. "By the way...this is yours," she said as she gave me my glove, completely good as new. I slipped it on and kept on walking after her wondering what we'd have to do...
"Amber wait up!" I yelled as I tried to catch up to her. She turned to me at the sound of her name being called and waited for me. Once I reached her side, I started to recover the air I'd just lost and met her gaze. "You walk fast..."
"That's the whole reason I wanted to walk most of the trip...I like it better than a stuffy metal heap," she snapped as she looked ahead. "It all seems pretty calm...we might leave tomorrow for Rohdas if this keeps up..." That's great! Less time I spend with Amber.
"Perfect," I said with a smirk. We started to make our way to a small inn to take two rooms for the night.
"I'm sorry," the clerk at the desk began. "We only have one room available...fits two people..."
"We'll take it," Amber said quickly. I turned to her in surprise, she was willing to share a room with me? I looked back at the clerk, and noticed that he was waiting for me to say something.
"We'll take it," I said with a nod. If she was willing to sacrifice a separate room so we could get a cheap place...I guess it wouldn't hurt to share a room with her. We made our way upstairs with Al close behind and once inside, Amber sat down on the bed. "I'm not going to say anything..."
"You just did," Amber said with a smirk. "We should take a walk around to ensure that everything is going all right and I suggest you leave the watch behind, that way, they'll think of us as innocent bystanders."
"What about you!" I cried. "You don't have it with you! I can't see the chain!" She then reached in to her skirt pocket and pulled the watch out for me to see, chain and all.
"I hate the prejudice we get for showing the goddamn chain so, I don't leave it out in the open like you..." Amber replied as she put the watch away again. I just glared at her, a habit I'm developing when I'm around her, and took off my watch, setting it on the bedside table. "This way," she said while leading the way to Aleli. We walked the town and people were really open to us, telling us that everything was working out quite well. We headed back to our room for the night, satisfied. "Time to call Roy..."
"What for?" I argued. "What would be the point in telling him everything now? Can't it wait?"
"Nope..." Amber replied cooly. She then picked up the phone and started to dial the number. I stood next to her, hoping to hear Roy's part of the conversation as well.
"Hello?" started a voice from the phone as someone picked up.
"Hey Riza," Amber started. "Just checking in...is Roy around?"
"I'll put him on right now," Riza replied as some random muffling was heard.
"Hello there Amber," Roy's voice began. "I assume you're calling to tell me how things are so far?"
"It's coming up roses sir," Amber said with a forced smile.
"Good," Roy replied. "And the seeds, how are they doing?"
"Well," Amber began thinking of what to say...or rather how to say it. "Not really taking the sunlight sir..." she began after a while. "They've been planted but nothing is sprouting..."
"Good to hear," Roy replied. "If everything in the night is clear then I see no obstacle for your next harvest." I looked at Amber with a raised brow at this time and she just shrugged in response. "By the way, I can't for you to arrive at Rohdas..." he said while hanging up.
"This had better have nothing to do with any perverseness..." she muttered as she hung up the phone.
"I'm going to guess that next harvest meant that we can go to Rohdas tomorrow morning," I said while shrugging my shoulders.
"What was your first clue?" Amber said with obvious sarcasm.
"Do you have to be like that?" I yelled.
"I'm just being myself..." Amber said while rummaging through her suitcase. "If you have a problem, please report to your nearest service station, if not, leave a message after the beep...oh wait...I'm human...I don't beep..." she said while going to the bathroom and locking herself in.
"Damn it Amber!" I yelled as I banged on the door. The only reply to that was the shower turning on and that aggravated me more. "That was not funny!"
"Because you were at the receiving end of the joke runt!" she yelled.
"Don't call me small!" I yelled. "Do you think that it's the only way to get on my nerves?"
"It usually works every time I say it," she countered, the shower turning off. I heard her get out and I walked away from the door so I wouldn't hurt the first time I saw her out of the bathroom. "All yours," she said while sitting down by the window. I quickly went to the bathroom and showered. Once I was dressed, I walked out to see Amber still sitting by the window, looking at the outside world, deep in thought.
"You feeling okay?" I asked, walking towards her slightly. She snapped out of her trance and glanced at me, confused. "I'm just asking...don't get any ideas..."
"I wasn't," she replied. "I'm perfectly fine...get to bed...Al is outside making sure that everything's perfect for our departure to Rohdas in the morning," she said while returning her gaze to the window.
"What about you?" I asked, climbing onto the bed.
"I'll join you later...right now I'm not tired...," she replied leaning back on the wall nearest to her.
"Fine," I scoffed as I closed and went into a dreamless slumber.
A few hours later, something woke me up but I'm not sure what it was. I looked around the room to see Amber still leaning against the wall, seeming to be looking out the window but she was actually sound asleep. Her deep breaths signaled that she had been asleep for a while. Deciding that it'd be better if I moved her, that way she won't wake up with any pains tomorrow to complain about on our trip, I got off the bed and walked over to her. I carefully lifted her up into my arms, cradling her like a little girl, slowly walking over to the only bed in the room. 'She feels cold to the touch...' I thought. I laid her down on one side and covered her with the blanket before drawing the curtains and laying down on my side of the bed. 'There, I was nice to her...leave me alone,' I thought to nothing in particular as I fell asleep, forgetting everything around me...
And so ends chapter eight of Steel and Ice. Hope you enjoyed and until next time people!
Laters!
Laski