A/N: Hello, and thank you for coming to this page! Here comes the long awaited update for Bring Me to Life, AKA, the chapter that dictates whether or not you shall return to this story the next update and/or review!
AND GODDAMN. I SUCK AT KEEPING SCHEDULES. You know what, readers, no more promises, all I want you to know is that updates are random but I won't abandon a story (Exception is Avaricious, and Rapacious is its rewrite).
Near Christmas! I wonder if I should do a Christmas special…nah. Hm. Maybe. (Always end sentences with a maybe to keep your readers guessing!)
Thank you and read & review, kind souls. I seem to never get new reviewers, not that I dislike my active ones. I love you guys. Seriously. Expect an anonymously signed package in your mail.
Disclaimer:I do not own FMA or FMA Brotherhood. Though if I were granted temporary ownership of Ling Yao, I'd dunk his head underwater in the bathtub for getting me addicted to pandas. And him.
Bring Me to Life
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| You're even cuter when you're in shock. |
Chapter 2
Hide and Seek
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The black-haired woman's face waved to and fro in a desperate attempt to spot the familiar figure of her lord. Sweat perspired on the frame of her brow to prove effort was exerted. Still, no such luck.
"Where are you?" Lan Fan cried out, knowing full well it was hopeless. Trying to find Ling was like finding a needle in a haystack—and it was even worse in such a place like Rush Valley. There were so many crooks and seams he could crawl into after fainting from hunger!
The rustling of leaves ensued afterwards, and suddenly blue-black hair fell from the depths of a nearby tree, the smiling face was portrayed upside down, sending spasms of shock up Lan Fan's spine, "Here I am~!" Zhen Ji giggled as her upper body hung from within the tree.
As she slowly interpreted the identity of the girl, Lan Fan spared her a look of disdain before glancing away, "Not you. I'm searching for Master Ling."
Zhen Ji frowned, watching Lan Fan leap gracefully to another tree branch. The older girl pulled herself right side up, and then followed in suit behind Lan Fan.
Her arms spread wide like a bird's wings would as she balanced herself on the limb Lan Fan was perched on. Allowing her hands to grip the body of the branch, Zhen Ji inquired, "Ling's gone? Where did he go?"
"If I'd known that, we wouldn't be in this situation," a canopy was formed over Lan Fan's eyes. Even past that horrible looking mask, Zhen could see the concern that lined her dark irises.
Maybe there was a little more somethingbetween Lan Fan and Ling…
Her knees bent forwards before recoiling, causing Zhen Ji to launch off of the tree, landing on a nearby building rooftop. Forming her own personal hand canopy, the Xingese girl smiled as she watched the whimsical, lively movements of the Rush Valley residents mingle and stride along the streets.
From her own observations of stalking the Xingese Prince, Zhen Ji thought the shifty-eyed boy was passed out along some random street. There was probably a dog cuddled up against him too. She giggled. Oh, how she loved dogs.
Lan Fan watched as Zhen Ji descended from the rooftop, some shingles tearing from the sheer force. "W-wait, where are you going?" Lan Fan paused for a moment. What did she care? Zhen Ji was an appropriate rival, after all. Though she was supposedly an expert in stalking, so perhaps it was wise to let her loose…
Lan Fan's sigh was accompanied with a look of remorse, her brows dropping in exasperation. She was probably more useful than Fu, who seemed to vanish whenever Ling did.
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The Xingese girl stuck out like a sore thumb while walking along with the other citizens of Rush Valley. Not only was she much more energetic than they, but her foreign attire may be described as 'flashy'. In Zhen's defense, the skirt and high collar proved useful to hide pointy weapons.
Zhen Ji thought it ingenious to check all of the food shacks before making her next move, however the Xingese prince was nowhere to be found within the premises. Forming another canopy with her hands to shield her from the afternoon sun, Zhen Ji displayed a frown, muttering to herself, "Now if I were Ling Yao, where would I be…"
Striding aimlessly through the desolate (In her opinion; the rusty automail and arid climate was quite distasteful) town, the Xingese retainer began to reminisce on recent events.
Most importantly, her union or partnership with Prince Ling Yao. Now one would question why she'd engage in a one-sided game of tag with the formidable royal blood, but Zhen was confident in her abilities; so much she wouldn't hesitate in provoking Lan Fan were she the type of person.
Back to the subject of tag, Zhen liked to play games! However, in all the seriousness that she harbored, being a rival retainer, Ling Yao more than likely would have had her executed on the spot. And three versus one didn't seem a very fair scenario. Her punishment in becoming compromised (Though she wasn't that subtle from the start) would be to serve the young prince.
Even so, the relationship wasn't going to be a burden. In fact, it benefited Zhen in her realmission.
Though her contemplations seemed an eternity, the girl became drawn back into reality just in time to visualize the dragging tracks she'd made in the ground.
"…" With a lazy eye and one fluttering open, the girl was confused as to why she had only covered about a yard's distance in that amount of time.
Her legs felt like jelly, as she wobbled on them, only half-heartedly attempting to stand up straight.
As if it were a surprise, the Xingese girl collapsed on the ground due to the disease all Xingese suffer appropriately named "mass hunger anxiety".
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"Um…brother?"
"What is it, Al? …Did you find another cat again? I swear to god, if you did, I'll—"
"It's not a cat, brother!" Alphonse stood up from his crouched position, stepping to the side and gesturing towards the dead girl in the alleyway.
"Not a stray cat; so what the hell is that anyway!"
"It's a girl."
While sucking the liquid dry out of his cup, the blonde boy traipsed towards his brother, bearing a stick. He cautiously nudged the girl's back with the branch, awaiting any sign of movement like a cat near a mouse's nest.
"Brother, don't do that!" Alphonse swatted the stick away, causing Edward to gasp, and they proceeded into a heated argument.
"Who cares, she's dead anyway!"
"Well, how would you know that?"
With such admirable intensity and with the sense that he was in no way incorrect, Edward raised the evidence of his proof: the stick, "She didn't react when I jabbed her with this thing. She's obviously dead, Al, so let's go grab some lunch."
The last word was that of bliss; salvation; redemption. Though the locks of her blue-black hair messily covered her slightly peeled eyes, Zhen used the words of encouragement to usher her own, "…Need…food…"
Any normal human would comment that with her manner of speaking, she would have been mistaken for a zombie. That was probably why they couldn't understand her mumbles, instead looking astonished. Despite how clean and rather cute she looked, Edward and Alphonse jumped backwards from the sudden, moaning voice, clutching one another:
"AUGH! Holy crap! It just talked!"
"I told you she was alive, Ed!"
Quickly pulling away from each other, Edward pointed at the girl, taking the responsibility to assume command of the new drastic situation he and his brother somehow always found themselves in, "Alright Al, let's spread the name of the valiant Elric brothers and save this dying girl from whatever disease that's taken a hold of her. You grab the legs, the arms, and the body. I'll supervise."
Standing beside Edward without any sense of the humor or sarcasm that dripped from his words, the armored boy protested, "Wait, doesn't that mean I'm doing all of the work?"
"There's no time, Al! Lives are at stake here! Let's bring her to Winry and hope she knows what to do with girls with stomach aches!" Edward pranced ahead a few steps in advance to Alphonse, who was just carrying Zhen in his arms, until the shorter one rubbed the back of his neck, "…On second thought, did I mention lunch earlier? Because I meant it. Let's get something to eat on the way."
"Brother!"
"Just a biiiiite, Al," Edward whined matter-of-factly, folding his arms behind his head as he strolled on through.
And despite hearing all of their chattering as clear as day, Zhen was infinitely grateful of the one called 'Ed's' bulging stomach.
All right, time to mooch some suckers.
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The loud noise of glass hitting wood erupted.
Then a very relieved and contented sigh followed.
Ed and Alphonse watched the girl with two dot tattoos labeled under her right eye; wiped her lips with a panda-printed cloth before she thanked them,
"Oh, wow! I'm saved! Thank you so much, kind Amestrians!"
"It's Edward Elric. And no, thank you for slobbering all over my shoulder. You should've told us you were hungry instead of stealing the food right from my mouth!" Looking like he was recently harassed, Edward boiled over, now currently flapping his red cloak beside him to dry out the saliva.
Zhen only smiled at him with the normal, shifty eyes plus v-shaped smile facial expression that was her signature look, "And I'm Alphonse! We're brothers. Pleased to have saved your life!" This of course, came from the hulking mass beside the steaming short brother.
Waving her hand in a gesture of gratitude, she replied, "Call me Zhen. Thank you so much. That's a really cool suit of armor you got there, Alphonse! So you're into knights?"
She could instantly feel the shift in the air around her that resonated from both boys after her question. For whatever reason was unknown to her. Ed and Al nervously rubbed the back of their heads, both muttering something along the lines of, "yeah," and "thanks".
Ed recovered quickly, immediately going down to business, "Since we're on the subject of outfits, can I ask you something?"
"Oh, you're interested in what I'm wearing?" The girl looked down, unable to spot what was so odd about her attire. She stretched the fabric that tightened at her chest; "I don't see why this gives me strange looks from people. Back in Xing, every girl has a vest and a shirt with an open collar like this. It's practically impossible to tell Xingese apart sometimes!" (Asian joke)
Alphonse looked uncomfortable watching Zhen tamper with her chest area, but Edward remained brave and courageous in further questioning the naïve girl, "Xing? You're from Xing?"
"Yep! It's a real hassle with the desert between us and everything, but there was a certain person I needed to keep an eye on." The girl raised an index finger, locking hazel irises with golden.
Now the short boy looked more comfortable to be around, "Why would you come from there? I thought relations between Amestris and Xing were rare because of said desert."
"Oh, yes, you're spot on. But I'm here on a very special occasion."
"Party?" Alphonse mused, looking so much larger in comparison next to his brother.
"Ha, you're cute." Zhen half-heartedly joked at Alphonse. Turning her gaze back on Edward she continued, "No, actually, I'm here with a friend. Have you seen another cute looking teenager with weird eyes?" [1]
Edward's jaw dropped, skeptical, as his younger brother answered for him, "A 'cute looking teenager with weird eyes'…Nope! I don't think anyone we've seen fits that description." The boy in the suit of armor shrugged his shoulders.
"Uh, how about that guy over there? He looks like he has weird eyes." Zhen found Edward pointing his index finger behind her, and she followed his eyes.
Sure enough, there was a perfectly content boy whose bare chest and squinted eyes set him apart from other Rush Valley inhabitants. An irritated look grew on Zhen's face immediately once she found Ling walking towards their table.
The first thing the Xingese Prince did was slap a hand on the girl's back playfully, and almost drooled on any leftover food, "Heeeeeey there, Zhen! Wow, that's a lot of food you have there!" He slipped beside the girl and began to mercilessly devour the food. [2]
All three of them granted Ling hateful or disturbed looks, but Zhen was the only one who dared question him, "…Ling. What do you think you're doing? Where have you been?" Biting her lip and keeping up a smile, Zhen tried her best to withhold her growing anger.
Of course she was angry! She wouldn't have collapsed on the ground if he'd had just stayed with the group and be responsible!
After swallowing his eleventh bite of food, Ling replied, almost singing, "Ahhh~ I've been finding out information on the Philosopher's Stone! What have you been doing?" She watched a poor piece of salmon become forked before disappearing into Ling's mouth cavity. He chewed, swallowed, and then added, "You were eating, right? Well, I guess I won't punish you since you were kind enough to leave me some food."
Zhen stopped, eyes frozen wide with bewilderment. That was a word she'd never heard of before. "Philosopher's Stone?" she repeated after him, watching him quietly and being unaware of any food projectiles.
From the corner of her eyes she glanced at Ed and Al's unreadable expressions. It was like anger, fear, concern—whatever. The thing was the look on their faces looked pretty grave, and it had something to do with this peculiar stone. She quietly reprimanded Ling's carelessness, "Ling, what are you talking about?"
Unfortunately he couldn't hear her mousy voice over the sound of his munching, and so Edward's own voice dominated the conversation,
"Why do you want to learn about the Philosopher's Stone?"
About the same time Edward finished his sentence, Ling halted his eating process, and placed each hand within his sleeve to appear more intimidating and serious,
"Judging from that scary look on your face, I'm guessing you two are familiar with the Stone. You must be alchemists then?" Ling raised an eyebrow, unfazed by Ed's glares.
Zhen seemed to shrink in her seat, and tried her best to focus only on Alphonse's timid expression than Ling and Edward's stare off.
"I'll ask again: What do you want with the Stone?"
"It's quite simple, really." Ling smirked, facial expression looking too goofy to fit the situation at hand. "…Immortality."
Instantaneously as he revealed this, Zhen was witness to how he looked when his eyes opened. It was sort of scary, and sort of weird, since she was so used to his eyes looking closed.
But how funny his face looked (In Zhen's opinion) paled in comparison to Edward looking defiant and immediately denying having any knowledge of the Stone, "Nope, sorry, can't help you. I don't know anything about the Stone."
His eyes closing again, Ling shrugged his shoulders, "Aw, come on, you can't be serious. After all those ugly faces you made at me, you're going to just walk away and leave me empty handed?" He whined the last sentence.
Edward stood up from his seat, Alphonse following in suit. Just as he looked about ready to leave, the Elric boy replied, "I told you, I don't know anything about it."
Zhen Ji watched from her seat beside Ling as Edward and Alphonse began to walk away. She focused so intently on both of their backs, that she hadn't picked up on Ling's signal. Just as she glanced at the Xingese Prince, air kicked up behind her, brushing past her person and sending her hair in turmoil.
As she struggled to fix the messy strands, the Xingese girl saw two familiar black figures bearing knives against the two Amestrian brothers.
Ling's voice filled in the tense silence, "You're a very bad liar, and despite my appearance, I'm not as oblivious as I may seem," Ling rested his head on one palm, and the other in his lap, "You see, you're not the first person I've asked about the Philosopher's Stone. And the most popular answer people gave me was complete unfamiliarity with the Stone. They hadn't even heard of it!"
Even with the kunai knife hovering against his throat, Edward gave off no signs of fear, "…It's kind of impolite, sending your henchmen after two strangers you just met."
"You two are very special exceptions, and it looks like you can help me in finding what it is I'm looking for." Ling looked playful as he waved one of his hands up and down, adding, "I mean it's not like I want to kill you two or anything! Just give me the information I need and I'll be on my merry way, alright~?"
Edward ignored the rants of Ling and instead stared at the masked figure from his peripheral vision. "Looks like we're not going to get out of here peacefully."
Just when Zhen Ji thought Edward was going to give up, he launched his elbow towards Lan Fan, though the former sidestepped the attack, grabbing the brunt of his arm and pulling him towards her. The shocked Elric boy's whole body came tumbling down against the ground, and as he recovered Lan Fan gained a foot's distance between the two.
Alphonse only had time to call out for his brother before Fu subdued him, dodging his simple punch before leaping off of his hulking figure and drop kicking him in the face.
The two brothers met each other on the ground, completely stranger to the foreign martial arts. "What kind of fighting style is that?" Alphonse uttered.
"I don't know, some kind of Xingese sort of thing, I guess," Edward smirked, standing up on his two feet. Picking up a sprint at Lan Fan, he hollered, "But they're still not as tough—"
"As teacher!"
Displaying their impressive acts of Amestrian Alchemy and Xingese martial arts, Lan Fan, Fu, Alphonse, and Edward disappeared within the quickly forming pillars of rock and dust clouds…
…Leaving Zhen Ji with Ling Yao, who cooed at the scene, "There they goooo~"
Zhen pressed her face to her palm, looking quite sick for some reason. It could have been because of Ling's abrasive first impression, or she had just ate too much, "…They're just kids, Ling. Don't you think you're being a little too harsh?" She glared at Ling.
To which Ling only replied with a very meaningful smile, "Aw. You're even cuter when you're angry with me."
Cue shocked-offended Zhen Ji now! What are we, a married couple?
"Anyway. It's not like I'm their father or anything. They don't look too much older than me, if at all, " Ling flicked his finger at the empty stacks of bowls, "…Besides, I mean it when I say I'm certain they're exactly what I need to gain the Philosopher's Stone."
"How old are you anyway?"
"I'm 15!" He chimed, sounding quite proud.
Though Zhen was unimpressed.
"You're only 15?"
"Why, what's the matter? Are you timid about dating older guys?" Ling teased her, not sounding very serious at all. But that didn't help the red on Zhen's face.
She quickly regained her cool and smirked, looking ignorant, "Oh, who said anything about dating? Besides… I don't date younger guys."
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"…You WHAT!"
Zhen Ji is only 16. Calm your pecs, Ling, gosh.
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[1] - Does this mean that Zhen Ji thinks one of the Elric brothers are cute? WHAT BLASPHEMY IS THIS
[2] – Girl tip: If you're a boy, never tell a girl that's a lot of food and if they're really going to eat it all. But Ling's daring, yeah? This only applies to girls that are…well…girls who care and are easily offended, I guess.
Come on, Zhen. Don't lead him on and then crush his dreams like that.
I KNOW. THERE WASN'T MUCH LING X ZHEN ACTION. But a good story not only focuses on the main pairing, but the OC's interactions with other characters.
Whew. Good thing I got that done. Now the next chapter, I can put some Ling x Zhen Ji action, can't I? And since it's Christmas break, you can look up to an update next weekend or something of the sort.
Probably going to do Ling x Zhen x Greed because I haven't read a love triangle between GreedLing and an OC before, and because of the poll. Tell you what, Greed wins by a LONGSHOT.
Thanks for reading and review! I'll put some new stuff in the next chapter, I promise.