A/N: Alright, guys. Tonight I'll post two chapters, just because this leaves off at a point that needs to be continued. Please read and review. Demy and I would like to say how much we appreciate everyone's support. Love and hugs!
Disclaimer: We do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.
Chapter Ten
(SARAH)
I ended up falling asleep with my head leaning on Kain's arm anyway. I'm sure Travis was seething with rage, but he could deal with it. Well... I felt kind of bad for thinking that, considering Travis was the only reason we got out of that mess.
I awoke leaning on Travis's arm somehow. Kain wasn't beside me anymore. I looked around and didn't see him anywhere, then panicked and stood up. I ran out of the alcove and saw that he was just a few yards away. I walked over to him, shivering. Ishval was apparently cold in the morning.
"Hey, Kain," I said, approaching him. I noticed that he was wearing a long sleeved shirt instead of his blood-stained one with torn off sleeves. I assumed he got the long sleeved shirt from one of the bags that contained clothes.
He jumped slightly, having not noticed I was there. "Oh. Hello," he said, turning to face me. His eyes were red. Well, a different red. As if he'd been crying. But I doubted that. Highly.
"Whatcha doing out here?" I asked.
"I just...needed some air," he replied, crossing his arms, looking down at the sand being blown in the breeze.
I got closer to him. "You okay?"
"Yeah," he replied, not convincing me.
"Is there something you want to talk about?"
He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. "No," he said a bit harshly.
I could tell something was wrong. It was obvious that something was wrong. I grabbed him by the wrist. "Tell me what's wrong."
He sighed. "Nothing. It's just..." He paused for a while, as if not knowing what to say. "The village we went through last night... I didn't notice it at first, but when we were leaving, I realized it was my village."
"But your village was destroyed," I said, confused.
"Four years is plenty of time to rebuild. The fact is, I knew the people there. And they knew me and my parents. Personally. And they still wanted nothing to do with me." He closed his eyes, lowering his head.
I sighed looking up at him. "I'm so sorry, Kain."
"No, it's not any big deal. I'm just being stupid," he mumbled, starting to walk back to the alcove.
I tightened my grip on his wrist, making him stop. "Is that why you're covering up your tattoo?" I asked, gesturing to his shirt.
"I just figured if no one knows I'm an alchemist, I'm just another Ishvallan. Unless someone sees my tattoo or knows who I am, we should be able to avoid another incident like the one last night."
I nodded and released his wrist. "That must be awful... People you know not trusting you."
"Why do you think I never came back?" he said, then walked away.
There was still so much about Kain that I didn't know.
I rejoined the group in the alcove. Everyone had woken up by then and were killing time by doing various things that I noticed they did frequently during downtime. Cuddle, read, sit there looking bored. I'll let you match up the people to the activities.
"So where'd you two run off to?" Travis asked accusingly. I lightly kicked him in the leg.
"We were taking a walk," I replied nonchalantly.
"We're going to be walking all day," Theo stated. "You couldn't wait?"
I sighed, a female's signal to a guy to shut up, then sat down next to Clint, who had the alchemy book in his lap. I hadn't even known we had gotten that back.
I took the book and started flipping through it, not wanting to talk.
------------------------------------
(THEO)
Okay, I'm normally a pretty laid-back kid. Okay, that's a lie. It all depends. But one thing I didn't like was Sarah out of my line of sight. Kain was a pretty cool guy, but if he ever hurt her, I swear-
"I can feel it," Sarah said, slinging her pillowcase across her back.
"What?" I asked.
"It's all going to end, soon, Theo. We're going to bring him home."
"Eff yeah," Travis said,"I am so ready to like, ass-whoop some ninjas." He made his hands into lines, and and chopped the air frantically. I stared.
"Ya know, Sarah, it's not that hard to attract normal guys," I said. She laughed.
"Psh, normal is overrated."
Was it me, or did I see a hint of a smile on Kain's lips? I didn't want to know.
"I'm so glad I have these back," Maes said as we stared off again, flexing her fingers inside the white cloth.
"I'm glad you have them, too," I said,"we'd probably be toast without them--no pun intended."
She laughed, and I stared. "Wasn't that funny..." I said. She smiled up at me. "You're always funny, Theo."
I saw Sarah pretend to gag herself, and I shot her a look, but it was only half-heartedly angry. Travis laughed at her.
"You want me to take my bag, Theo?" she asked. I had hers slung over my back, but I told her no. I could be strong for her, I wanted her to know that.
She smiled at me.
"Theo?" she whispered to me around six that night.
"Yeah?"
"Would you be upset if I said I was glad your uncle was taken?"
I stared at her. "Why would you say that?"
She sighed. "Otherwise, you never would've come to Central, and we would've never met. I'd just be sitting in the backyard, waiting for you to come around, but you never would."
She looked down, upset with herself. "I can't say it's terrible, because that's not how I feel. I'm glad I've got you, Theo," she said. I blushed.
"For what it's worth, Maes, I can't say I'm glad he was taken, but hell yeah, I'm glad I found you."
"Theo?" I heard Sarah wimper, just a few feet to my right.
"Yeah?"
"What...what is that?" she asked. I stared.
"A river..." Travis said, smiling.
"That's weird."
"I guess there's gotta be water somewhere..."
"But Theo, it's the middle of the desert!"
I shrugged. Sarah stuck close to me as Travis filled his canteen and we walked closer to the river.
"I don't like this..." she mumbled.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"I dunno...something's off."
"You're just parinoid," I told her. "We can stop here for the night."
There were a few trees growing by river, and even Clint thought this was just impossible. Impossible or not, it was here. And I planned to take advange of it. Sarah sat down next to Travis, and they were talking by the campfire. I was dead tired, and after I got some food in me, fell right asleep.
---------------------------------------
(SARAH)
One by one, everyone fell asleep until it was just Travis and I. It wasn't that late, but everyone was tired and so was I. Although...I hadn't gotten a very long look at the alchemy book earlier, and there were a few things in it that intrigued me. I quietly took the book out of Clint's grip and sat reading by the fireside.
Travis came and sat next to me. "Hey, gorgeous," he purred. "Whatcha lookin' at?"
As much as I wanted to shove him away, I decided I'd be nice. "Transmutation circles," I replied vaguely.
"Hm." Travis looked into the fire, not giving an annoying response, like I'd expected. "You seem really stressed."
"Well, yeah," I replied. "I just... I know something is going to happen soon. I can feel it. I'm not sure what that something is, but..." I sighed and just studied the book harder. I came to a page about human transmutation. It scared me a bit, but I read through it, wondering how Father and Uncle could even attempt the forbidden alchemy, considering all of the warnings throughout the book.
"I've kind of had a feeling like that too. It's...weird," Travis mumbled. I guessed that was what was making him act so serious. Did we all have that feeling?
"Yeah. What we have ahead of us could be dangerous, and...I'm just afraid that..." I trailed off, still reading. If someone were to die, would I actually attempt human transmutation? Would I be that much of a wreck to risk my own life for a futile cause? "I'm just afraid..." Would I try it if Theo...?
Travis looked at me and gave me a reassuring smile, running his hand gently through my hair. "It'll all be okay. Trust me."
What was this feeling? Did I actually...have a crush on Travis?
I dismissed the thought and told him goodnight, laying down next to the fire, curled up around the alchemy book.
This was no time to think about boys. We were on a mission.
I wondered if Uncle was really here. If we were at least getting close. We had to be close by now...
I wasn't able to sleep at all. I distanced myself from the group a little bit and started drawing transmutation circles in the sand, seeing if I could even use alchemy. Once I had drawn a circle, I gingerly placed my hand in the center of it. I grinned as small bolts of blue lightning surrounded my hand. Looks like I had inherited the family skill after all.
I spent the rest of the night like Clint usually did, never taking my eyes off of the book except to draw a transmutation circle. All of it was just intriguing, and kind of fun. I had a hard time believing Ishvalans would actually disapprove of alchemy, considering its usefulness.
But I kept finding myself flipping back to the human transmutation page.
-------------------------------------
(THEO)
I woke up to the screaming. I heard an audible snap! beside me and everything was suddenly engulfed in flame. I heard Clint screaming. I heard Sarah screaming. I heard Kain and Travis both yelling, trying to find Sarah in the haze. I screamed for Sarah, for Maes.
"Theo!" I heard next to me. Maes.
"We have to get out of here now! They've found us!"
"Who?" I asked, grabbing her hand and feeling around for the others in the smoke.
"Does it matter?" Travis said. He had Clint and Sarah dragging off of him. "Obviously, nobody likes us, so let's just assume it's one of the thousand enemies we've made over the past week!"
He was right. Sarah was choking on smoke.
"Where's Kain?" she asked, looking at everyone. She looked me in the eyes, voice tight.
"Where is he?" she said, each word filled with more emotion than the next. Her body was limp, and Travis didn't know she was using that so he would lighten his grip, and she ran off.
"Sarah!" he screamed. Frantically, he handed Maes Clint. I stared.
"I can't let her go in there alone," I told Maes. "I can't stay here-"
"Travis will find her or die trying. You know that."
I stared at her. Travis was the biggest arrogant, lazy, goof-off I've ever met. I think he'd rather be at home eating a sandwich than be here.
But I had to trust him. Even if I didn't want to.
Kain came out of the fire next, gripping Sarah tight. Her eyes were watering and her hair was covered in soot. The neighboring trees had caught fire now.
"Our supplies..." Clint said. Maes pressed his head to her chest.
"The book," Sarah said, eyes wide.
"I still have it!" Clint said.
"Travis!" Sarah screamed. "Travis, we're fine! C'mon!"
And a figure came closer and closer, and Sarah smiled.
"We're almost out of here..." she said, smiling. But as he got closer, I noticed that he wasn't near as tall, and the hair was much too short. Sarah gulped.
"T-Travis?" Clint said, and I put my hand over his mouth.
The man was just a few inches taller than me, with brown hair and glasses, and the creepiest mustache like, ever. He smiled at us, and raised a gun.
Sarah screamed, and I noticed both Kain and Maes tensed for a fight.
But they didn't need to.
I watched after I heard the huge explosion noise, blowing out my eardrum. The man crumpled, and blood shot out the right side of his head. It fell out of his nose and eyes and mouth. Maes screamed.
"Travis!" Sarah said. He was coming up, coughing and panting, pistol limp in his hand.
"Told ya I was a good shot," he coughed.
Sarah did something odd, and ran up and put her arms around him.
"That was amazing, I thought we-"
"Sarah," Kain warned. Then I saw it too. More bodies coming out of the smoke and into the fire in front of us.
"Sarah," Kain said, "get behind me."
She did as she was told. Maes stepped in front of me, flexing her fingers in her glove, and Travis stood next to her, pistol aimed.
Then all hell broke loose.
Sarah wanted to fight too, but I told her I was going to protect her here. I took her and Clint behind a tree on the riverbank, and stood guard for them. I had nothing but a pocket knife. Great.
"Theo," Sarah whispered,"you can't hide me here. Theo, they could be dying!"
"Sarah, you are my only priority right now," I told her. I shook my head. "I shouldn't have brought you. I keep thinking your going to get hurt-"
"Well, I'm not," she said, pulling a knife from her pocket. "Stay and watch Clint. I'm going over there."
Then I heard Maes scream. Sarah and I exchanged looks, and I picked up Clint (who found it quite irratating that I did, not so much at the time....) and sprinted with Sarah.
Sarah had to grab a tree to support herself. We should've been happy, but I wasn't. Our friends had killed them all. Well, about six or so remained, and they were fleeing, except for one.
The earth was littered with bodies filled with bullet holes, with blown out brains. Some of the corpses were charred, and I wanted to believe it was from Maes' first accidental fire. But I couldn't.
Travis had put his gun away for a long Kantana. He was engaged in a sword fight with one of our attackers. I noticed now they where white, each of them looking extremely Amestrian. This was the anti-Ishvalan group. It had to be.
Travis was gaining on the man, and Sarah cheered him on. He smiled at her, and continued fighting, his eyes shining and his goofy smile set on his face, his tongue stuck out of one corner in concetration.
That was when it happened.
It didn't even happen from the front, but from the back. I didn't even see the man come behind him, I just noticed the sword emerging from Travis' torso, and his face contorting with pain. The man pulled the sword out, and Travis crumpled twitching.
"Travis!!" Sarah screamed, a half-mad sob escaping her. Maes eyes burned, and she snapped, and flames flew to the two swordsmen, setting them on fire. They both ran for the river, but neither made it.
Sarah was sobbing and screaming, and ran to Travis' side. Maes grabbed me.
"No, no, no, no..." she whispered. I didn't know what to say. So I let Travis do all the talking.
-----------------------------------
(SARAH)
I knelt down beside Travis, sobbing as hard as my eyes would let me. Through my blurred vision I saw the stab wound, the pool of blood around Travis increasing.
"Travis!" I shrieked.
He reached up and ran his hand along my cheek, then tucked my hair behind my ear. "Hey, babe," he whispered, smiling at me. Blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth. "What's up?" He coughed, causing more blood to drip out of his mouth.
I hugged him awkwardly, pressing my face to his chest, his blood soaking my shirt. "Travis...! Travis, I'm so sorry...!" I sobbed.
He started breathing heavier, each breath more labored than the next. "Not...your fault..." he whispered.
I sat back up, still sobbing hysterically, not able to get any words out. Maes was next to me now, tears streaming down her face. The other boys were standing right behind us.
He laughed weakly. "Looks like I need to work on my sword skills." Travis smiled sadly at me. "I wish I could've...been more help..."
I clutched onto his hand. "Travis..."
He looked over at Maes. "What kind of big brother am I...?" he laughed. "Dying like this...when I need to go with you and..."
Maes shushed him. "Don't say that... You'll... You'll be okay, Travis..." she cried.
"You're a terrible liar, sis." He rolled his eyes and grinned, then winced in pain.
I couldn't stand it, I was sobbing uncontrollably by then. I ran my fingers through his hair. "Travis..."
"Sarah... I..."
I placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. "You're gonna be okay... You're gonna..."
"Sarah... you're so beautiful..." he whispered, smiling sadly. "I'm glad I got...to..." He closed his eyes and I saw his chest rise and fall one last time. He was still smiling.
"Travis!" I cried. "No!"
Maes cried silently next to me, burying her face in her hands. Theo and Kain stood solemnly, while Clint was trying to hold back tears.
"I'm so sorry..." I whispered. Theo placed his hand on my back, kneeling down next to me. I hugged him and buried my face in his shirt.
Clint and Maes hugged each other tightly grieving for their brother together.
Kain clenched his fists and mumbled almost inaudibly. "God...a soul has just returned to you... Please accept him into thy kingdom and grant this poor soul rest and salvation..." He sighed and looked at Theo. "It may sound awful, but we must leave. They've found us. We have to keep moving."
"No! No!" I screamed. "We can't leave!" Theo's shirt was soaked with my tears.
Kain knelt on the other side of me. "Sarah..I'm sorry, but we have to leave."
I looked back at Travis's body. Travis would no longer speak, laugh, cry, or anything... And it was my fault... He wouldn't have even come with us if it weren't for me... And now he was dead...
-------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment