A/N: I know that I swore I'd never write an OC fic, but I just couldn't resist. I took some time from writing Sum of the Parts to write this chapter, plus I was home today since I broke my nose. I have to say that this is the longest chapter I've ever written on FF. Hope you like it. BTW, this is set during the series, two years after Ed gets his certification.
A lone figure walked down the road, taking small, careful steps as she walked. The road to Central was deserted; the city was still several miles off, and few people were awake at this early hour. Sharp, dark green eyes flicked incessantly over the empty landscape, apparently taking in each individual detail of the country around her.
The girl's silhouette was dark against the pale sky, making her seem a lone shadow. She was tall for her age, and slender; her dark hair was cut short across her jaw line, framing a pale and freckled face. A huge dog padded at her side, close enough for the girl's fingertips to brush his head. His too-big paws raised clouds of dust from the dirt road. In contrast, his silver-white fur caught the early rays of sunlight, giving him the shimmering appearance of a mirage.
Save for a large pack which was strapped to the big dog's back, they carried no belongings. The girl's clothing gave testament to a long and harsh journey, and, on closer inspection, the dog's gleaming coat was matted and dirty, but, other than that, their appearance gave no indication of where they had come from, though their path betrayed their destination; the great capital city of Central.
The pair continued on their path as the sun rose higher in the sky, undisturbed by any other travelers. Huge stretches of farmland extended beyond the road on both sides, acres of green without any other human life in sight. The air around the pair of travelers was still, not even carrying the barest hint of breeze which could relieve the pressing summer heat. The two only altered their pace once in over two hours of traveling, and then only for a few moments as they stopped to take a drink of water from a well-used canteen.
Soon, the dirt road became wider and more obviously used, and it began to intersect with other similar paths. The great tall buildings of Central were barely visible against the horizon when the first automobile came rumbling up behind the travelers. Without a word, they moved off onto the side of the road, the dog first, then the girl, her fingertips never losing their contact with the dog's fur.
Without stopping, they walked on as the silhouette of Central grew larger and larger before them. The dirt road turned to gravel, then cobblestones as they neared the city's suburbs. And, finally the two were at the city gates. Though they had never before been to the capital city, neither girl nor dog stopped to view the splendor of civilization that was Central. Once inside the gates, they found themselves inside the slums of Central; short, dark buildings rose above them, brickwork crumbling. There were ruts and puddles filling the streets; garbage lay strewn about with no real pattern or regard for placement. The pair stepped nimbly around each obstacle, seemingly paying it no heed, though the girl's tiny, pert nose wrinkled slightly every time they passed a piece of rotting garbage. At the larger heaps, she delicately covered her nose with her free left hand, still never losing contact with the dog.
They had almost made it through the slums when the dog growled deep in its throat, giving off a sound reminiscent of a thunderstorm. Simultaneously, three burly men stepped from the shadows of an alleyway. Their stained clothing and equally dirty faces made them almost blend into the greasy grey walls of the buildings. The largest held a club in one ham-sized fist, swinging it idly.
Taking a step away from the building, the leader spoke; "Hey, miss… whassa a pretty girl li' you doin' in a place li' this?" His deep voice was taunting. The dog growled louder. "Why don' you let us show ya' 'round?" His face twisted into what might have been a malevolent grin, had he enough teeth. The two other shadows behind him cackled as the three stepped even closer to the girl, eying her body once more before lunging.
The dog gave a great bark and leapt at the leader, leaving the girl's side for the first time that day. His heavy jaws clamped around the burly arm that held the club. In surprise and pain, the man let out a yell, dropping the weapon and attempting to beat off the attacking canine.
Though their leader was occupied, the two other men still advanced further towards the girl, whose face showed no expression. Her dark eyes flickered over the alleyway in front of her, never resting long on any detail. One hand clenched into a fist as she drew a deep breath.
"You don't want to mess with me," she stated flatly, her voice a deep and dangerous whisper. Then men only laughed at this little girl; she obviously wasn't very bright. Didn't she see that she had no chance? They stepped closer. From behind them, the great dog gave a growl as it relinquished its hold on the man's arm to lunge at his chest, knocking him to the ground.
The girl stood still as the men advanced towards her, savoring their approach. However, when they were no more than ten feet away, she spoke again; "I warned you," before bringing both hands up to clasp a large, smooth stone that hung on a cord around her neck. On it was inscribed a transmutation circle of intricate design. Immediately it gave off a burst of blinding light; the men stumbled backwards, clutching their eyes.
Edward Elric stepped out of his apartment, his brother's armored body close behind him. In his right hand, he clutched a large manila envelope, the product of several hours' toiling; his report for Colonel Mustang. He spoke as he locked the door to his apartment, checking each of the deadbolts before descending the front stairs.
"…like I said, Al. He had better not give us another damn mission right away, or I swear, I'll-" his words were cut short as he suddenly looked upwards; a huge beam of green light flashed some blocks away, illuminating the sky. He gaped, openmouthed, before turning to look at his brother.
"That was alchemy," they said in unison. Without another word, they began to run towards the light, all thoughts of paperwork or Colonel Mustang forgotten.
Only one man struggled to his feet after the girl's light-burst; one lay unconscious on the dirty street, the other, the leader, was pinned to the ground by the dog, his massive paws pressing into the man's barrel chest.
The surviving henchman drew closer. "Tha' wasssa rig' nifty trick ya' go' there, little girl," he said, grinning, "bu' ill' take more than a bit o' sunshine to beat me." Just as he lunged, the girl drew out a large stone from the depths of her pocket. She touched it to the stone at her neck, which was still glowing faintly. The new stone let out a new burst of light; she threw it gently into the air in front of her; it hung there for a moment before flying at the man. It struck him in the shoulder; there was a hiss as clothing a flesh burned before the stone dropped away, leaving the man with a charred circle of flesh on his chest. He clutched at the burn, howling in pain, before turning to flee.
He only ran a few steps before he was stopped short. A wall of iron bars blocked the entire alley. He turned back towards the girl, but was stopped as another row of bars sprouted from the ground, just barely missing his face. Through the pain, he growled at the girl. "You…"
More bars sprang up around the unconscious thug; the great dog sprang back as more encircled the leader. The dog retreated to its master's side. The man in the cage glared at the two. "You-- what did you do?" he spat, stuttering slightly.
At that moment, a boy stepped around the corner, his blond braid swinging around his shoulder. "I'd say that it's more of a question of what you did," Edward Elric said slowly. "Why don't you people ever learn?"
"Who the hell are you?" the man barked, shrinking backwards, only to be repelled by the iron bars behind him.
"I'm the State Alchemist who's going to make sure you never hurt anyone ever again." Ed stated flatly.
"What? How could you be a State Alchemist? You're so tiny!" the man chortled.
"WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE GETS STUCK IN THE CRACKS IN THE SIDEWALK?!?!" Ed's temper erupted; Alphonse tried in vain to calm him down. When he was finished, he resorted to glaring at the man, panting heavily.
"So you're him;" the girl said softly, "Edward Elric."
"Yeah... You know me?"
"I've heard about you, that's all. They say you do great things with Alchemy."
"Well, your trick was pretty neat, too. How did you do it?"
"It's pretty simple. Once you understand that mass and energy are equivalent, you can convert anything with mass into light to heat or both. With the rock, I just transmuted enough of it to heat it up, but kept the rest of its mass intact."
"That's amazing! How did you figure how to do that?" Alphonse' voice was eager, "Did someone teach you?"
There was a trace of bitterness in the girl's voice when she spoke. "My…dad taught me alchemy." She said the word dad as though it pained her greatly. "But I learned this by myself. Maybe it's a kind of silly reason…but I first tried to do it so I could see better. I wanted to be able to read wherever I was."
"That's not silly at all!" Alphonse interjected. Ed smiled crookedly.
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" he jerked his thumb at the trapped thugs.
"I don't really know…I was just trying to get to Central when they jumped me. You showed up pretty soon after."
"Yeah, well you could see your alchemy all across the city; but you were lucky; this part of the city is dangerous, even for an alchemist."
"I can handle myself and Max takes care of me, too." She petted the large dog's head affectionately. "Besides, I'm just as old as you are and you two take care of yourselves," she added quietly.
"Yeah…I guess. But…no, you're right. And, I guess it's none of my business. But how do you know so much about us?"
"I read an article about you in the paper two years ago when you got your certification. My sister wanted to be just like you until… never mind."
"You know all about us, but we don't know anything about you. What's your name?" Alphonse asked.
"It's Rae." The girl said solemnly. "And, like I said, this is Max." She indicated the dog.
"So, Rae, do you need somewhere to stay? I have friends who could take you in, if you need to."
Rae bit her lip. She hated to be beholden to strangers, but she knew absolutely nothing about Central. She stared at the ground a moment, still unsure, before accepting.
"That's great! Hey, Al, would you mind running over the Hughes' and asking the Lieutenant Colonel if Rae can stay with them? I'm positive that he'll say yes, but she can always stay with us, if not. I'd like to hear more about her alchemy."
"Sure, brother," Alphonse replied cheerily, "but what about you?"
"I think I'll take these guys down to the station with Rae and turn them over to the police. They're not going to get away with attacking people on the street."
"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?"
"That's okay, Al. Go visit Hughes. I'm sure Elysia will be glad to see you, and that way, they'll be ready by the time we get over there."
Al gave them a wave and was off, heading back towards the suburbs where the Hughes family lived. When he was no longer in sight, Rae turned slightly towards the State Alchemist.
"Ed…may I ask you a question? It might seem strange," she hesitated, a look of mingled shyness and embarrassment on her face.
"Umm... sure. What?"
"Is Alphonse…Is he still a suit of armor?" her face flushed red.
"Y-yeah…" he opened and closed his mouth wordlessly for a few moments. "Couldn't you see…?"
"Well, it's been two years since I saw the picture of you, and now, well…" he voice trailed off as her eyes flicked rapidly around the dim alleyway, never focusing. "I'm blind." She said simply. Ed could detect a hint of repressed sadness in her voice.
"Oh. Um… I'm sorry." Ed stammered nervously.
"It's okay; I just don't like to dwell on it. Max guides me around, so most people can't tell. And sometimes, I can see shadows, or faint outlines…that's why I wanted to learn about making light with alchemy so badly. To see if it could help me see again."
"I had another question for you about your alchemy. I just didn't want Al here, because I don't think that he noticed, and I didn't want to upset him, especially if you're going to such lengths to hide it. But… that transmutation circle on your necklace isn't for making light. I may not need them, but I know enough circle lore to know that. And you transmuted that rock without a circle, too, though you tried to hide it by touching it to your necklace. You said that, two years ago you could see. And now, you're blind. So I have to ask you: When did you see the Gate? When did you attempt a human transmutation?"
Rae smiled grimly. "You really are as smart as everyone says. And since everyone knows you can transmute without a circle, maybe you can understand this better, because I've never told this story to anyone. But it's the reason I had to come to Central."
Ed sputtered. "Y--you really did…?"
"Just listen, and promise you won't judge me, at least not until I finish. It all started two years ago…"
A/N: Wow, so you're still here. That's great!!! I'd really love to hear what people think, 'cause I'm not sure that I want to keep going with it. But I left you guys at a cliffie, so I may have to. Reviews and ConCrit greatly appreciated!!
MoD