Chapter.16 – Leaving Hope
The sky was pitch black in Risemboul, and the moon shone a light that lit up the small dirt paths of Risemboul. The group of soldiers rode along towards the Rockbell house. The local residents had told them that Roy and Riza Mustang lived there, but Roy had gone to war, and that Riza was now living with the Rockbells. The soldiers found no one at the Mustang place of residence, and had therefore decided to go and check the Rockbell's to see if Riza was there so they could question her, or better yet, if Roy was there. The closer they got, the more they could make out the figures of three people standing by the house. One was wearing armour, which only a few minutes ago, they had seen in the forest with a short blonde guy. The other two, they recognised as Roy and Riza Mustang. They grinned as they took out their guns.
"Look here boys!" shouted the blonde soldier, "We done found ourselves outlaws!"
There was a sudden explosion of a gun, and the blonde soldier fell of his horse with incredibly speed. The rest of the soldiers stopped in their tracks, watching as smoke slowly came out of Riza's gun she was holding. She was holding a shotgun in her hand, and she used the pump action, ready to fire again.
"You can all go now, or just face death," Roy shouted out to them. "Take your pick now,"
There was laughter from the soldiers as they charged towards them. The fight began so quickly that it was difficult to recall exactly when it started. Roy ducked to avoid the swipe of a sword one of them was holding. He had drawn transmutation circles into the ground, and was busy lighting matches, changing the oxygen density within the air to send explosions of fire along to the men. They were riding so quickly that many of Roy's explosions where short-lived. Riza was busy firing her weapon, constantly missing the soldiers. The three riders left were fast riders, and were riding in and out of Roy, Alphonse and Riza, dodging every one of their attacks. One of them fired a shot at Alphonse, hitting his helmet and sending it flying off his body. The soldier laughed at his false victory, believing that he had managed to kill him. Before he knew he was wrong, Alphonse had gotten back up, and hit him round the head, knocking him out instantly. He ended up slipping off his horse, which ran on down the road, his rider tangled in his reins. Alphonse swung around to see another Rider come at him. Alphonse reached up, grabbing him off of his horse, which ran off after the other horse. Riza was continuously firing her weapon, and had thrown her shotgun away in favour for her handguns. She managed to shoot the last rider off of his horse, but he managed to squeeze in a shot that clipped her arm. She screamed in pain as Roy rushed over to see if she was okay.
"Riza are you okay?" he screamed, holding her in his arms.
"It's fine, a flesh wound," she answered. At that moment, the solider with the sword swung his sword at Riza and Roy, who both dived out of the way. The soldier turned to Riza, hitting her quickly on the head with his elbow, sending her to the floor. Roy swore as he tried to get to Riza, but was blocked by the soldier. Alphonse was busy fighting the other soldier, whose gun had been crumpled by Alphonse. The other soldier continued to swing at Roy, who was diving out of the way to avoid his attacks. He then carefully swung his arms and legs, knocking the sword out of his hands.
"You're unarmed now," Roy said, grinning.
"You think so?" The soldier said, taking out his gun and firing it at Roy. Alphonse swung around, spotting Roy standing there, bewildered. The solider then fired again at Roy, and then again, and again, and again, emptying his entire gun into his body. Alphonse quickly swung back at the solder fighting him with all his might, quickly knocking him out cold. He then ran at the other soldier, diving on top of him and punching him around the face.
"You bastard!" he screamed, punching him again, and again, and again. Blood flew everywhere as he continued to punch him, and he then stopped, looking at the bloody soldiers face. He punched him one final time, knocking him out cold before going over to Roy, who was quivering on the floor.
"Roy," he said, not sure what to ask.
"Go… Check on… Riza," Roy coughed, blood dribbling down his mouth. Alphonse turned around, looking at Riza and then back at Roy. "Please…" he muttered. Alphonse nodded, walking over to Riza who was lying on the floor. He gently shook her, and she slowly woke up out of her stupor. She looked around, finding Roy lying on the floor. She got up, screaming as she went to his side.
"Roy!" she screamed, "Roy, oh god, not again… no…"
"Riza…" Roy said, "It's okay… You're safe… And I've seen you… again…"
Riza held Roy in her arms, his blood lit up by the moonlight. Tears streamed down her eyes as she watched Roy's eyes close, and his body go limp…