I've finished school for the year now so I'll be able to update quite frequently.
If you can't remember what happened last time, go back and reread!!
4. A Break From Routine
Over the next few days everything went back to how it used to be, Armstrong left later that day, saying he'd only get in the way now Ed had his arm back and I'd arrived, so he left to spend the rest of the week at his home in Central.
Soon after we fell into a routine similar to the one that made life like before Ed and Al left to become state Alchemists.
Then someone came knocking on the door in the middle of the storm that had been raging for most of the time since we'd gone up to the Elric house.
"Are Edward and Alphonse Elric here ma'am? We need help with the dam." The kid they'd sent down was stood on the doorstep shivering, a lantern in his hand and a cap on his head.
"Get inside and get warm, I'll get the guys." I told him.
"No ma'am, I'm needed back at the river." He insisted.
The look on his face convinced me, and I called the guys.
"You come as well Kat, we'll need the help." Ed said, throwing me my coat.
"Make sure you don't get caught up in the flow, I want you all back here by the time it lets up!" Auntie called from the doorway as we ran down the lane towards the town.
"How bad is it?" I asked the kid as we entered the edge of the town and started down hill.
"Bad…" He replied simply, pointing down to the flooded streets that lay below.
As we made our way through the streets, I looked round to see people stood at the windows of the two story buildings, staying clear of the hazardous waters that were slowly creeping higher and higher up the walls of the houses and shops.
Then, two or three minutes after leaving the edge of the houses, we arrived at the broken banks of the river.
There were a lot of people here, trying their best to keep the water from entering the town a few yards behind us, but when we arrived, the boy ran ahead and called to his father that we'd come.
Without speaking to any of the villagers, I split up from the guys and headed up river a bit. As far as I could see through the pouring rain, Al had stayed where the villagers were, and Ed had gone down river.
Al looked to me and I nodded, clapping my hands, he nodded back and turned to his brother, clapping his hands together as he nodded again.
We timed it as closely as we could, meaning we could transmute a lot more than if we'd acted on our own.
A great wall of mud rose above us where the rivers bank used to be, and a ditch was formed between our hands and the wall, into which the water that had already escaped the river started to flow.
The wall was battered from the other side as I was standing straight, and it visibly shook, so I clapped my hands together again and slid down into the ditch of knee high water. It would be easier to work from here.
Placing my hands on both sides of the ditch, I not only thickened the existing wall, but created another one in the place I'd just been stood. This wall was half the size of the first and almost as thick, extending from a few yards behind me, all the way to where Al was stood, watching me.
Of course, the rule of equal exchange had to be taken into consideration, and the ditch became a hole, in which the villagers thought I was stuck in.
Running to where the second wall ended and the hole stopped, I repeated what I'd just done until I reached Ed. Retracing my steps until I was back where the villagers were, I clapped my hands together for the final time, placing them on the outer wall, creating a ladder of solid mud.
Grabbing hold of the first rung, I started to climb, but there was a loud crack from behind me, though I doubted anyone but myself could hear it.
"Edward!!" I yelled, staring behind me as a crack appeared in our work. I was frozen to the spot as I tried to decide whether to fix it or get out of the hole, "The wall's-" As I spoke the second time, the crack became a leak, and I cursed, leaping down from the ladder to fix it.
I'd been too late in making up my mind.
"What?!" I heard Ed yell down to me from the top of the outer wall, having created a ladder of his own.
He spotted the leak immediately, and that I had my hands on the wall.
"What's wrong Kat?!" He almost screamed, trying to make himself heard over the roar of water and crash of lightening.
Speaking of water, the levels in the hole had risen to thigh high, but the crack wasn't being fixed.
I gave up after a minute and waded to my ladder, climbing as quickly as I could.
"It won't close!" I told my friend when I reached him, shivering from the icy rain.
"Move over!" He commanded, climbing over the wall, sliding down the inside of the wall to land in the muddy water below.
I stayed where I was, staying in sight of the others.
Al got worried and joined me at the top of the wall.
"What's going on?!" He asked, peering down at his elder brother.
"The crack won't close!" I replied, watching as Edward struggled with it, "I think the force of the water's too great for a simple transmutation." I concluded as Ed shook his head and gave up, almost running up the ladder to join us, though his progress was greatly hindered by the waist high level of water.
"Al, get everyone back into the village, get them into the furthest houses possible, then come back here, okay?" Ed demanded when he reached us again.
Al agreed, albeit reluctantly, and left us to fulfil his part.
"Right, we need to block the flow of water, before the hole gets any bigger." Ed sighed, and we dropped to the bottom of the hole.
The amount of water had risen in that small space of time, and it was almost to my chest, meaning the crack would be below the surface of the water on a few seconds if we didn't act quickly.
Then I had an idea,
"Why don't we use ice?!" I suggested, "it's cold enough for it to hold until morning at least!"
Ed nodded, not wasting any breath on words.
Clapping our hands together, we placed them in the water, making it harder, and spreading it up both of the walls so the water level went down to our thighs.
Once we'd finished, we stepped back and watched the place where the crack had been.
The wall shook again.
And again.
And then it was still.
So, happy with our work, we turned and strode to the outer wall, creating another, wider ladder of ice and mud for us to climb.
We were about half way up, almost shoulder to shoulder, when the sky was lit up by several forks of lightening, and the sound of thunder crashed around my head, forcing me to stop, for it caused me to lose the concentration to climb.
And that's when it hit me.
Literally.
The force of the freezing water on my back pressed me into the ice, breaking all of the rungs around me
It felt like I was being battered, and I couldn't breath until it was over.
But when it was over, I took one ragged breath and screamed, falling backwards to the water below.
I didn't see where Edward was. He could've been at the top of the wall by now; he had carried on ahead of me. Or he could already be in the water, because it had hit above me first.
I never got time to find out, because almost as soon as I started screaming, I hit the quickly rising water and started to sink.
Lashing out with my arms, I tried to swim back to the surface, but the force of the water was too much, and a part of the wall collapsed above me.
I couldn't get out of the way quick enough, and even though it was broken up, and the mud was starting to soften, there was still a lot of ice, which hit me as I tried to get out of the way.
Pushing it off, I scraped my hand, almost tearing it completely open, and I exhaled because of the sudden pain.
Very. Very. Bad idea.
Now all of my air was gone, and I could tell that it would be impossible for me to swim to the surface, especially wearing the amount of heavy clothing that was definitely more hassle than it's worth trying to remove it all in my situation.
So.
I was out of air.
Out of options.
And out of strength.
I tried to struggle against the heavy water that was dragging me down closer and closer to the bottom, but it was all to no avail and a simple waste of strength.
I couldn't breath in, because all I'd be doing was drowning myself.
Not breathing in would mean I'd suffocate myself.
So I carried on struggling as much as I could, even though all of my strength had been reduced to nothing by now.
It was on the stupid whim of my reflexes, of my want to survive that made me try to breathe in again, only succeeding in filling my lungs with the acrid water that surrounded me.
My vision was blurred, and I was only just aware of sinking through the muddy water.
Everything went black for a second, and the next thing I knew I was staring up through clear water.
I could see Ed too, though that was just my imagination. Ed hadn't heard the wall collapse, he hadn't heard the roar of water as it hit me, and my brief scream as I fell.
Surely the clear water above me, and the warmth of its embrace was enough proof of my death.
The last image that flashed through my mind was of the night before, when I was sat between Winry and Auntie, opposite Edward and Alphonse. We were laughing at Ed's joke, and even now that memory brought a smile to my face.
I only had one regret from my life, but that was forgotten as I hit the bottom of the hole and the darkness consumed me.
OMG! I had field trip writing this!! Scary cliff-hanger though :/
Don't forget to R+R!!