This is going to be a lot authors note, just kind of an update. Sorry!
Writers block? No, just stupidity. I haven't planned out this story very well, so I would like you to know I have no idea what I'm doing... for now. You wont see a chapter for a while because I've decided to start planning and writing out all my ideas. Luckily I do have a lot of plans for the future of the story, and after it's planned I will be coming out with a lot of chapters at a decent pace. You should know that I went back and edited my chapters a bit, so the writing is better. There are also things added here and there, but they wont really affect the story much, although there is a little foreshadowing.
To complete my long note, I'd like to give a shout-out to owl7498, FullmetalFan16, and Harryswoman! Thanks for the reviews and support.
"You wont get away with this!" said a voice she had recognized, but couldn't figure out the name that accompanied it. Riza couldn't see her either considering the darkness surrounding the two. "Don't you dare do anything to hurt the young master!" the voice growled, becoming more and more familiar, especially with her choice of words. Everything she said was in vain considering the guards had already left to wherever they went when they weren't watching Riza, and now this girl as well.
"Hello?" Hawkeye said, hoping this woman would respond. She may even know where the two were, unlike Riza who was completely clueless. All she could recall was a voice speaking to her and then the feeling of fainting. She had awoken in a moving vehicle before and seemed to travel a long way before stopping. She fainted again and woke up in the dark dungeon-like room.
"There is someone else here?" the voice questioned. "You sound familiar." she said, confirming what Riza had thought. She certainly knew this person.
Riza nodded, then felt silly because she obviously couldn't see her. "Do you know where we are?" she asked, doubting this woman knew.
"No." the voice responded with a sigh, then Riza heard the sound of footsteps approaching her. How does she know where I am? thought Riza, knowing they were to far away to hear the exact area her voice was coming from. That's when she realized who this was...
Roy Mustang sighed, no longer able to focus on his work which was taking hours to get done. It had been a couple days since the disappearance of Riza Hawkeye, and not knowing whether or not she was okay was starting to kill him. It was night and Roy had already sent his subordinates home, who were almost as stressed out as himself.
There was knock on the office door and Roy jumped in surprise. "Come in," he said, expecting the Elric brothers to enter for some reason. Instead, it was a young man who looked Xingese. The man entered and approached Mustang, a rolled up paper in his hand.
"Thank you, Brigadier General Mustang." he said with a foreign accent. "I am the ambassador of Xing, Ginwa Tai, and I'm here to question you about an issue of my country." said the man professionally as he handed Mustang the paper.
Roy opened it and skimmed it's contents before asking, "Would you mind explaining the problem?" The Brigadier General was slowly loosing his motivation for work over time, and if someone was here who could help him avoid work, he would take advantage of it.
"There have been quite a few instances where our army has lost members to whereabouts unknown, as well as citizens. Recently there has been a great detriment to the Emperor, Ling Yao. His guard, Ran Fan, has also gone missing." summarized the ambassador. His face looked grave and full of worry, even though he seemed to try hard to have a stoic expression.
Roy chuckled slightly then asked, "I see. May I ask why you have come to me and not our Fuhrer?" The power he was slowly gaining made Roy proud and more assured that he would someday replace Grumman, although he truly was curious as to why he was told this.
"I was told specifically by our Emperor to come to a Colonel Mustang. I was then informed that the person I was searching for had changed ranks and is now a Brigadier General. This brought me to yourself." said Ginwa. He seemed a little surprised that Roy had been amused by his countries problem. Why had Emperor Yao chosen this man to speak of such a matter?
"Are you aware Amestris is having this issue as well?" Roy asked, a sly grin on his face which further confused the surprised Xingese man, who shook his head. "Yes, we are currently trying to deal with the situation," Mustang paused, wondering if he should give the problems of his country and their inability to solve it to another country. He went with his gut and told the man, "We too have lost valuable members of our military, as well as citizens too." He left out the part about his Colonel being abducted as well, even though she seemed to be in the same situation as their Ran Fan.
"I suppose this is a bigger problem than we had anticipated." said Ginwa skeptically. "I had come to ask for Amestris' help," he admitted. This man surely didn't agree with his country's leader, but was faithful enough to carry on his wishes.
"Equivalent exchange." muttered Roy to himself. "I guess we will help you if you help us, but sadly I am not the man running this country," he said with a sigh. "We will need to discuss this with the Fuhrer. I could call him and ask if he is busy now, the sooner the better."
Roy lifted the phone from it's perch and dialed the number of Grumman's office. As usual, he had to say his code to get through. Finally there was an answer on the other line. "Fuhrer Grumman." it said simply.
"Hello Fuhrer. This is Brigadier General Roy Mustang, are you busy?" asked Roy patiently.
"I just got out of a meeting. If it's urgent I suppose I could lend you some of my time." Grumman said with boredom.
"I would say this is important. I will be at your office momentarily, and I'm bringing a friend." Roy said, then waited for a response, even though he knew the Fuhrer would be fine with it.
"Make it quick." Grumman said jokingly, then the two hung up on each other.
After many ID checks as usual, especially for Ginwa, they reached the Fuhrer's office. Two guards stood on either side of him tensely. "Could you excuse us?" Grumman asked in an order-like tone. The guards looked at each other nervously and hesitated, but nodded in fear of a court martial. Once they were gone, Fuhrer Grumman said, "Now, what is it you need to tell me?" he looked towards Ginwa Tai for a moment, then back at Roy for an explanation.
"This is Ginwa Tai, the ambassador of Xing..." the Brigadier General then explained what the man had told him and finished with, "...Ran Fan, the aide of Emperor Ling was also kidnapped." Grumman cocked his eyebrows a moment, then smiled. This left Ginwa confused considering Roy had the same reaction when he told him about Ran Fan.
"I see. Any ideas on how to solve this issue?" Grumman asked Roy, as well at Ginwa. The two looked to each other and frowned.
Roy, taking a deep breath said, "I believe it would be best to collaborate with Xing." Roy said, making Ginwa nod in agreement. Roy suspected he was relieved Xing wasn't the only country with issues, and that Xing would be in Amestris' debt.
"Yes, I agree with you Brigadier General," the Fuhrer stood up a moment, then said, "The desert is quite a vast border between our countries. Ginwa, did your emperor speak you on this matter?" Grumman had an understanding look in his eyes, almost curious as well.
"We didn't discuss this matter in particular, but I believe I have failed to inform you of something." Ginwa paused a moment, then said with a little frustration in his voice, "Emperor Ling Yao is crossing the desert as we speak. I came ahead of his group so I could inform you." Grumman was certainly not expecting such an answer as the one the ambassador gave, and Roy was equally as shocked.
"Why is your emperor coming here?" Roy asked in surprise.
Ginwa looked more and more angry by the minute, and seemed to have trouble keeping in his true thoughts, which he let out by accident. "Emperor Yao became very attached to this country during his visit. While I believe he makes a great Emperor, he has not thought rationally about this. Currently the prince of the Chang family -for reason I do not know- is acting as Prince during his leave.
Grumman thought about this and the three looked at each other in silence. Finally, the Fuhrer said, "Maybe it's for the best that we talk face to face on the issue. I have a proposition for him." he left it at that, not giving the two any more information. "When might your Emperor arrive?" he asked.
"About 2 days." confirmed Ginwa.
"Roy, I would like you to find our guest a place to stay. Then you are to arrange a meeting place, date, and time for the Emperor and I. You will attend this meeting along with a single man of his choice." Grumman half-ordered half-told Roy Mustang, who nodded.
"Yes, sir." he said, saluting as he did so.
"Oh, and one more thing. You are now in charge of more than just this case." Grumman said, making Roy give him a gentle smile in thanks. He was sure Grumman was talking about his Colonel, and was thankful he could do something about it.
Boring chapter, sorry! How do you people spell Ran Fan? Ran Fan or Lan Fan? The English manga has Lan Fan, so I'm think I should change it to that... Thanks for reading and I hope to finish my planning soon so I can update!