DISCLAIMER - see chapter one
"Ha ha! Come catch me! Come catch me!" a young dark skinned girl shouted as she ran barefoot through the trees, her red eyes sparkling with mischief, her older brother chasing her, his laughter ringing in her ears as she ran, giggling joyfully,
"Hey! Wait up Chicho!" the older boy called, his dark hair short, the wind ruffling it as he ran, his foot catching and tripping him up into the dirt, where he rolled onto his side and clutched his grazed knee, dirt smudging his already dirty green shorts and white sleeveless top, his sister stopping,
"Avon! Are you alright?" the small girl asked as she looked at the painful red scrape, her brother grimacing, but trying to cover it with a grin, which suddenly disappeared,
"Hey, what's that?" he asked as he pointed over Chicho's shoulder, an animal of some sort in the bushes. Chicho looked at the rustling bush curiously, crawling a little closer, a dog limping out to her, its paw bleeding,
"Hey boy, come here." Chicho soothed as she held out a friendly hand, the black and white dog edging closer, sniffing her hand, drawing back a little as she reached out to touch him, but once she stroked him once he seemed more content, but apparently he didn't have affection on his mind as he took a few steps back the way he came and then looked back, barking and whining at them, "You think he wants us to follow him?" Chicho asked as she looked over her shoulder, her brother getting to his feet with a nod,
"Let's go." He said as he joined her, pulling her to her feet as they started off on their next exciting adventure, both of them running after the dog, who was rushing as fast as he could now that he had their attention. They ran through the trees, eventually reaching the bottom of a steep rocky slope, a young man's body lying at the bottom wearing an Amestris Military uniform, Chicho screamed in horror and covered her face at the blood splattered man, Avon putting his arms around her tightly, turning at a loud bark to see another bloodied body, a young blonde woman. He left his sister and walked over to the young man, checking his neck, but finding no pulse before heading for the young woman, seeing a gradual rise and fall of her chest, "Chicho! Get mother and father! Quickly! This one still lives!" he shouted, his sister taking off through the forest quickly as Avon knelt beside the dog and petted his head gently, reading the collar to find he was called Black Hayate, and he belonged to R. Hawkeye, 601B Central H. He didn't know what all of that meant exactly, but he could guess the woman was R. Hawkeye, though it didn't sound very feminine.
"Avon!" A man's voice called, one that he recognised as his father's,
"Over here!" He replied as he turned to the trees, the tall muscular figure of his father running towards him, his longhaired mother close behind with Chicho in her arms. "She must have fallen down the slope." Avon said as his father knelt down beside the woman, Hayate growling warily a moment, sniffing the man suspiciously as he examined the young woman, dried blood matting her hair, one arm at a nasty angle, some of her ribs broken, a leg broken, and probably other injuries he couldn't see of feel,
"Alright…we'll take her back to the group and see what Old Man Jinto has to say." The man decided as he got to his feet, crouching down and slipping his arms beneath the woman's shoulders and under her knees, standing up carefully, her weight quite light in his arms, the clip in her hair loose, clattering to the ground. Avon leaned down and picked it up, examining it, it was smooth black polished wood, and on the inside there was a carved inscription, 'To my beloved Riza.'
"Father! Her name is Riza, Riza Hawkeye!" he said excitedly as he brandished the hair clip, his father hefting the woman securely as he walked, his mother and sister just ahead,
"Marto, is this wise? We have no idea who this woman is! And she was with that military man…" the dark haired woman pointed out as she stepped to his side, her daughter walking on the ground beside her. The tall red-eyed man looked down at his wife with a warm smile,
"Selares, I know what you are saying, but this young woman…she could have a husband and children waiting for her…I could not forgive myself for leaving her like this, she needs our help, and if we do not help, we are no better than those that oppress us." He replied firmly, his wife falling silent with a troubled look before nodding in agreement, looking down as the young dog almost tripped her as it walked at Marto's side, looking up worriedly at the unconscious woman. Avon and Chicho seemed fond of the dog, they each took turned in walking beside him, petting him and assuring him as they approached their temporary home, small canvas tents set up, large carts waiting to go, horses grazing in the trees on the edge of the forest. "Selares, will you go and get Jinto? I will take her to our tent." Marto said as they reached the five tents, his wife walking to the central fire to find Jinto while he entered their tent and laid the woman on his son's bed beside the open door,
"Marto, I hear you have a patient for me." An old man's voice said from behind him, and turning he saw Jinto, a short man wearing the same ragged beige desert clothes as the rest of them, his red eyes peering around Marto's large form to the unconscious woman, "Dear Lord! I need water, splints, bandages, all the medical equipment we have left! Quickly!" He ordered as he pulled Marto out of the way and leaned over the woman, ripping her shirt open to see bruises, her whole torso covered in them, broken ribs clear beneath the surface. Next to carefully removed her shoes, careful of the swollen ankle, pulling her dark brown trousers off to examine her badly bruised leg, one broken in three or four places,
"Can you help her?" Avon asked from the doorway, Hayate sitting beside the bed sniffing the old man warily. Jinto turned to the twelve-year-old boy with an assuring smile,
"I will do my best…I know a little Zing medicine…I am no expert, but I can at least heal some of her injuries a little." He replied as he pulled a stick of coal from his coat and drew a small Zing array on his palms, laying his hand on the woman's chest, the ribs knitting back together, but they would still be bruised for a long time. Next he tried her leg, managing to fix the bones, and then he fixed the bones in her arm, but he didn't want to chance touching the injury on her head, he wasn't that experienced in Zing medicine, likely to do more harm than good. Marto entered with a wooden tub of water, his wife close behind with a bundle of bandages and an old medical kit from the Ishbal war, salvaged form the Amestrians after they left. "Very good, now…Selares, will you help?" he asked, thinking it only proper that Marto leave for the dignity of the young woman.
"Of course Jinto." Selares replied, her husband ushering Avon outside, Jinto taking hold of the brown leather collar on the dog, but it was obvious Hayate had no intention of leaving as he snarled and barked angrily, gnashing his teeth as the old man, Selares stepping back fearfully,
"So…you wish to stay…" he observed, Hayate barking one and looking up at him firmly as if replying to his question. Jinto let out a chuckle and petted the dog's head, "Very well, sit there at the end of the bed and stay quiet." He ordered as he pointed to the end by Riza's feet, Hayate looking over his shoulder and moving obediently to the end of the bed, which was a thin mat on the floor with a thin blanket and pillow, all salvaged from the wall, though some of the blankets and pillows were new now that the war was truly over and they were gradually able to make a little money. As Hayate laid down at the end of the bed Jinto knelt be Riza's head and felt her skull, surprised and grateful to feel no loose fragments of bone, though there was a crack, right on the edge of her forehead beneath her fringe, blood staining the left side of her face. "I'll hold her body, you try to wash that blood off her face." He instructed, pulling Riza's torso into his lap and holding her over the tub so that her head was in the water, Selares supporting her so that she didn't drown as she rinse the woman's matted hair, fresh blood leaking from the wound. Once she was clean she gently laid the blonde head in her lap on an old towel and dried the hair, Jinto leaning over with a needle and thread to sew the cut up, wrapping a bandage over the cut beneath the woman's fringe,
"What about her other injuries?" Selares asked as Jinto laid her back in the bed,
"Already dealt with. She'll be sore when she wakes up, and for a few months after that, but otherwise she'll be fine…at least I hope." He replied as he got to his feet, "I would like you to start bandaging her arm, leg and ankle, I'll be back shortly to help bind the ribs." He added as he exited the tent, Selares eyeing the dog distrustfully as she picked up the first long strip of bandage and began wrapping the young woman's arm firmly.
"Mother, is the lady okay?" Chicho's voice asked quietly from the doorway. Selares turned to her daughter with a smile, the little girl's hand clutching the open tent flap, her dark hair now tied in two long plats,
"Old Man Jinto believes so." Her mother replied assuringly as she moved on to the leg, giving the dog another wary look,
"Let me help!" Chicho piped up as she hurried to her mother's side, lifting the young woman's leg gently as her mother wrapped the bandage around securely,
"Careful of her ankle." Selares warned as Chicho lowered her leg, crouching beside Hayate as her mother bound the swollen ankle. Jinto returned just as she tied off the ankle bandage, Selares holding her in a sitting position as Jinto bound her ribs tightly, hoping that there was no internal damage he had missed.
"Any word Havoc?" Roy demanded as he stepped out of his office, Havoc looking up solemnly and shaking his head in the negative, Roy balling his hand into a fist, but containing his anger otherwise, "It's been three days!" he cursed as he sat once again on Riza's desk,
"Chief, they're out there, they're looking for her, and when they find any sign at all they'll tell us." Havoc assured as confidently as he could, but after three days he was beginning to feel doubts. Their most recent search had taken them to a small Ishbalan community in the south, but there was no sign of her, and the people who had seen her stated she had left in the company of a young Private two days ago. The only problem with the statement was that Roy had not sent anyone to meet her, and the physical description of him could have been any number of the Privates in the military,
"You're right…I know you're right, I'm just…" Roy trailed off, reluctant to show Havoc any weakness; he was a General, his people were supposed to look to him for guidance and support, and confidence,
"Worried." Havoc finished, Roy nodding reluctantly, "Me too." Havoc added with a grim look, chewing absently on the butt of is unlit cigarette,
"Go ahead and light up Havoc." Roy said as he watched the Second Lieutenant chew, his fingers tapping impatiently on his folded arms,
"But Sir, it's against regulations to." He began, Roy holding up a hand to cut him off, standing up and opening the window behind Riza's desk, slumping down into her leather chair, something he had bought, a sort of privilege, just for her and Havoc since they were the next two ranking officers in this office, the other three sitting on padded office chairs, comfortable but not to the extent of the leather ones.
"Go on, or do I have to make it an order?" he asked as he raised his feet,
"Sir! Remember whose desk you're sitting at…and what she'll do to you if she finds out about this!" Havoc warned, Roy's booted feet inches from the surface of her usually gleaming desk, only a very light layer of dust covering the surface from her absence. Roy inwardly praised and thanked Havoc for his warning, moving his feet back to the floor, already imagining the bullets flying at him as Riza frowned at him, shouting about putting dirty boots on other people's desks when he should be doing his paperwork, Riza…I guess I shouldn't be as worried as I feel…he thought, knowing she could hit any target dead on, and she was good at hand to hand combat too. He looked up at the metallic flick of the lighter, the smell of smoke drifting through the closed air of the office, a slight breeze coming in through the window.
"Where are you Riza?" He wondered aloud as he leaned back in her chair and looked out of the window, the sky clear, the sun beaming down on the courtyard outside. Roy looked across at Havoc as the phone rang, Havoc pulling it to his ear before the first ring ended,
"General Mustang's office, Havoc speaking." He said, trying to keep the urgency out of his voice, "Right…where are you…uh-huh…yeah…stay there." Havoc said, nodding and scribbling on a piece of paper before putting the phone down, Roy already on his feet, "They found on of our cars on the sixty nine road, the one that goes around the mountain, and while searching the area they found the body of the Private, along with a lot of blood in another area, but no body, they're going a test now to see if it could be Riza's." Havoc reported as Roy opened the door and stepped into the corridor, Havoc at his side as they hurried to the car.