Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Calling of Kurai ❯ The dangerous journey ahead ( Chapter 5 )

Calling of Kurai

 

Disclaimer: Don't own FMA. Arakawa Sensei does. End of story.

 

A/N: Okay two things before I start. First off, due to college and personal issues, this chapter was extremely delayed. I am very sorry for that. College is now over for the semester, so I should be able to update faster. Second, I accidentally deleted the fourth chapter, but have since put it back up.

 

Anyway, here is chapter five. I hope you enjoy.

 

Chapter 5: The Dangerous Journey Ahead

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Kasai's eyes turned from the huge, seemingly sparkling man to the rest of the people occupying the room. They all seemed to have paled slightly as the man walked up to them.

 

“Colonel Mustang, I came as soon as I heard the news of this horrible travesty.” Armstrong rushed up to Roy's desk, tears streaming down his face. “These crude murders and acts of senseless violence must be stopped. And now, even Lieutenant Ross has been taken by these monstrous creatures.” Ripping off his shirt before continuing, he added, “I, Alex Louis Armstrong, am here to help put an end to all this.”

 

“He took his shirt off again,” Havoc breathed out in the suddenly quiet room as Armstrong made several of his famous poses.

 

Roy cleared his throat and gestured towards Armstrong while looking to Kasai. “Kasai let me introduce you to the former Major Armstrong. Armstrong, this is Colonel Kasai from the Northeast area.”

 

Armstrong walked over and engulfed Kasai's hand in his own as he shook his hand. “It's a pleasure to meet you Colonel.” Kasai nodded and tried his best to not look uncomfortable in the presence of the large man.

 

Riza stepped forward. “Anyway, what were you saying before, about helping us?”

 

“Ah, yes. As you know I have currently been involved with the redevelopment in the city of Lior. You could all travel to the Northeast area as members of my organization to help develop under privileged areas as a ruse to investigate inconspicuously.”

 

Kasai's eyes narrowed slightly. “Under privileged? Fallen Grove isn't under privileged, it's just secluded.”

 

“Yes, this is what makes it the perfect place for this kind of `organization' to be run.” Roy pointed out.

 

“But if we just walk up and say that we're here to develop that area, they'll just be insulted and turn us away.”

 

“Maybe.” Breda was the one to speak this time. “But maybe not. If we can convince them that we're trying to make a better connection between them and the rest of the country, they might let us in.”

 

Falman caught on to where Breda was going. “I see. We might be able to convince them that we're planning on putting a railroad through.”

 

Riza looked over to Kasai whose frown had deepened. He seemed worried but remained quiet as it was obvious that everyone else wanted to go along with this plan.

 

“So,” Havoc started, “at night we'll do our investigations for the military, but what are we supposed to be during the day when everyone is looking at us?”

 

“Enjoy the festival, I suppose,” Roy said with a sarcastic smile on his face. “We can gather information by asking about the history of their city.” He paused and rested his chin in his hand. “We'll refer to each other without titles, to prevent people from knowing the truth.” When he noticed Fuery's confused look, he asked, “What's wrong, Master Sergeant?”

 

“How do we…, I mean, do we go by our last names or our first or what? It'd just seem wrong to address you or the First Lieutenant by something other than your ranking.”

 

“Maybe so, but in order to make this work, we must all act as if we know each other on a first name basis.” To make his point, Roy walked around the room, pointing to Havoc, Breda, Falman, Fuery, Brosh, and Armstrong and in turn said, “Jean, Heymans, Vato, Kain, Denny, Alex.” Pausing in front of Riza, he smirked playfully at her slightly narrowed eyes, “Riza.” Moving on over to where Kasai stood, he narrowed his eyes a little.

 

Kasai jumped a little, “Ah, uh… Jo-Joseph. My first name is, um, Joseph. Joseph Kasai.”

 

Roy nodded, “Joseph.” Moving back to the front of his desk, he turned around, “And you will all address me as Roy.” He looked around at each person before closing his eyes. Re-opening them, he moved towards to door. “We will join Armstrong's group. We will pose a civilians visiting Fallen Grove determining the possibility of furthering connections with the rest of the country. We will act as if we are complete equals, friends with common backgrounds, so to speak. We can work on our personal back stories on the train.” Reaching the door he turned back. “We don't have anymore time to waste. We will gather supplies needed and meet at the train station in an hour. Falman, you help Colonel Kasai get ready.” Falman nodded. “Any questions?” Seeing no one step forward, he said, “Very well. You're dismissed.”

 

Everyone quickly left the office to go to their residences and gather supplies. Roy started to follow but quickly stopped and walked back to his desk.

 

Opening a drawer, he pulled out a few photos Hughes had given him years ago. `Almost forgot these.' There were four pictures in all. One of him and Hughes, arms slung over each others shoulders with broad smiles on their faces. The next was of his wife Gracia holding Elysia as she hugged a teddy bear she had gotten for her birthday. The third was of Roy and his subordinates posed outside of HQ. As usual, Armstrong's head had been cut off. The last was a picture of Roy standing next to Riza on the day she had adopted Black Hayate. It was one of the rare moments Hughes had ever gotten on film where both he and Riza were smiling. Hughes had walked in on their conversation and taken the picture before they could realize he was there. After which he had shouted out his congratulations on the `happy couple's new addition'. If the statement didn't get everyone's attention, the giant fireball did.

 

He smiled slightly as he quickly flipped through the pictures before sighing. `It's been over two years. Two years since you came over just to brag about your precious wife and daughter. Two years since you called me for the sole reason of telling me to get a wife. Two years since you randomly popped in show off embarrassing pictures of our past. It's so ironic. At the time I wished for you to stop bothering me, to stay out of my love life, to stop showing me these pictures while I was working. And now? Now all I have left are these pictures.'

 

“Colonel?” Roy didn't bother looking up to see the owner of the soft voice that addressed him. He knew it was his first lieutenant. He heard her walk over to the desk and stand next to him. Roy closed the drawer and looked up at her. Her stone expression was softened by the gentleness in her eyes. Reaching out, she handed him his coat.

 

Roy smiled and took his coat from her. Pulling it on, he placed the photos in his pocket. “Let's go, Lieutenant. We've got work to do.”

 

“Yes, Colonel.”

 

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“Are we there yet?” Breda said as he leant against a tree, gasping heavily.

 

Roy turned about to tell Breda to stop complaining, but thought better of it after glancing at the rest of his subordinates. Everyone looked extremely tired. Though they were both keeping up strong fronts, even Riza and Armstrong looked like they could use a rest as well. Now that he stopped to think about it, he could really use a nap himself. The exception was Kasai whom Roy assumed was used to traveling this range and Brosh who was riding in the carriage because of the injuries he had received earlier that day.

 

Roy sighed. They had been traveling for quite awhile. After getting everything they needed together, they had all gotten on the first train to the town of Silver Wick. It was a two-hour trip so by the time they had gotten to the Shori Mountains, it was already high noon. A man with a horse drawn carriage offered to take them and their luggage through the mountain pass. They had since then traveled over the rugged terrain for over three hours.

 

Kasai turned to Roy. “We're almost there. If we don't reach the train station by five, we'll miss the train and have to wait until tomorrow evening for the next.”

 

“Right,” Roy said, “Come on everyone. We can rest on the train.”

 

With a little encouragement, everyone got back on track and continued down the path. About half an hour later, they reached a small town at the base. Everyone removed their bags from the carriage and looked around. There was an eerie feeling in the air, something that couldn't be explained.

 

“Colonel Kasai,” Fuery said, panting briskly, “What town is this? Are you from here?”

 

“No, the place I come from is farther ahead. We'll pass it on the train. This is a small town called Densha. It was built here solely for the train station that'll take us to Fallen Grove. In fact, the only residents of this town are those that work on and run the train.”

 

Roy walked up to a shop and peered into the window. Blood covered the counter and floor. His frowned deepened. “Havoc, Breda,” Looking away from the window to see that he had their attention, he continued, “Go ahead with Armstrong and take the luggage to the station.

 

“Yes, Sir” they both turned and picked two bags apiece; Armstrong gathered the rest and the three left to check on the train.

 

“Something wrong, sir?” Falman inquired.

 

“I want to check something out in here first. Falman, Fuery, Brosh: Check around and see if you can find anyone.” The three saluted and went off to investigate. Roy pushed open the door and walked up to the counter to getting a closer look at the dried blood. `It's been awhile since this person was killed.' His eye narrowed when he noticed gouge marks in the counter. Removing his glove, he ran a finger along one of the marks.

 

Kasai entered the shop and stood beside Roy. “These marks… Could they have been caused by homunculus with the spikes?”

 

“No,” Roy stated simply. “These were done by a bladed weapon, like a sword or a dagger, a knife maybe.” He knelt to the floor getting a closer look at the blood there. `What the…?' Touching the blood on the ground, Roy realized that it was fresh. “Why is the blood on the floor fresh when the blood on the counter is old?”

 

“Perhaps the killer came back to finish the job,” Kasai stated, “But then, where are the victims?”

 

Just about to answer, Roy was interrupted by Riza's guns cocking. “Colonel, look out!” He looked over at her in time to see her fire at the ceiling. He moved out of the way and looked up to see a lion-like chimera hanging from one of the beams. It was eating what looked like the remains of a human.

 

At Riza's gunfire, the chimera screeched and dropped its meal. Growling, it leapt towards Riza.

 

“Lieutenant, look out!” Roy screamed as he and Kasai pulled out their guns.

 

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Havoc, Breda, and Armstrong reached the train station and looked around. The train was obviously preparing for departure as workers loaded large crates into the cargo car, but there were no passengers to be seen.

 

Havoc walked up to the information counter, Breda and Armstrong close behind. “Hello. Is anyone here?”

 

A door in the back of the office opened and an older man, about 60, walked out. “More soldiers?” Walking over to the counter, he got a closer look at the three. “Haven't seen you boys around. Were you with that General that came through here last week?”

 

“No, sir. We just arrived a little while ago.”

 

“Is that so? Anyway, how can I help you?”

 

“Well, we,” Havoc started gesturing to Breda and Armstrong behind him, “as well as a few others that are still in town, want to go to Fallen Grove. When is the train leaving?”

 

“Train leaves at 5 o' clock sharp, everyday. You have about 30 minutes until it leaves. Are you going to the festival, by any chance?”

 

Havoc nodded. “That's right.”

 

“Wish I could go myself, really. Some big event must be going on, what with all the extra people going this year.”

 

Breda stepped forward. “Extra people? What do you mean?”

 

The old man smiled. “Well normally there'll only be a few outsiders you visit Fallen Grove for the monthly festival, but this year there's been upwards of a hundred passing through.”

 

“What kind of people?”

 

The man thought about it awhile as he looked towards the train. “From what I saw, most were women. Just last week though, a group of soldiers came through. About ten of them stayed here, the rest went on to the city. Don't know why, really. Fallen Grove's a very peaceful town. But where are my manners?” Turning back to the three, he smiled again. “Did you need some help with your group's luggage?”

 

“No thank you, sir. Do we need tickets to ride?”

 

“No, tickets aren't necessary. From the looks of it, you'll be the only ones on the train tonight.”

 

Turning from the counter, the three moved the larger luggage, which included their weapons, over to the train's cargo car. Afterwards, they went to a passenger car and placed the personal bags that contained everyone's civilian clothes.

 

Havoc looked over to Breda, “Do you think we should change yet?”

 

Shaking his head, he answered, “No, we have less than 30 minutes before the train leaves so we'll be better off changing later.”

 

“Right.” Standing up straight, Havoc turned to Armstrong. “We'd better go tell the Colonel how much time we have before we leave.”

 

“Yes, hopefully Colonel Mustang and the others will have finished looking around by now.”

 

Breda sat down and let out a sigh. “I'll take the torturous job of guarding everyone's belongings while you two enjoy the stroll though town.”

 

About to retort, Havoc was interrupted by Armstrong, “Good idea, Lieutenant Breda.” Grabbing Havoc by the arm, he started dragging him out of the train. “Come Lieutenant Havoc, time is wasting.”

 

“Ah, I can walk on my own you know. Let me…,” Havoc stopped his pleas when he heard gunshots. “What's going on? Hey!” One moment Havoc was being dragged by the arm, the next his was being swung onto Armstrong's massive shoulder. “What are you doing?”

 

“Something is amiss! We must make haste!” Armstrong shouted before sprinting off towards the town.

 

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Riza narrowly dodged the chimera claws as she rolled to the side. Ejecting both bullet cartridges, she reloaded and pushed off a wall, dodging another swipe. Roy and Kasai shot at the creature from behind but it seemed determined to get to Riza. Riza aimed and shot it several times in the face, but it continued its onslaught of attacks.

 

“Lieutenant,” Roy shouted, dropping his gun and pulling on his gloves, “try to get it outside.”

 

“Right.” She unloaded her gun again and started to move back towards the door when the chimera leapt at her again. When it made a slash for her face, she ducked into a low crouch and swung her leg kicking it directly in the face. With the chimera temporarily stunned, Riza made a dash outside. Outside, she found more cartridges on her belt and reloaded her gun.

 

Noticing its prey outside, the chimera followed, flinching only slightly at the bullets coming towards it. About to Attack again, Roy snapped his fingers, engulfing the creature in fire. Even though the creature continued to advance, Riza stood her ground, guns ready, until it fell over, finally dead. Letting out a breath of relief, Riza put her guns back in their proper holsters.

 

Roy ran over to her, breathing heavily, “Are you okay, Lieutenant?”

 

“I'm fine, Sir.” Noticing his heavy breathing, she became worried. “Sir, are you okay?”

 

“Ah, just a combination of all the walking and the chimera attacking you, I'll be fine though.” He smiled slightly at her and she looked down at the burnt, bloody creature. “You don't seem to be out of breath at all. Perfectly executed as usual, First Lieutenant.” Placing a hand on her shoulder, he got her to look at him again. She returned the small smile.

 

“Thank you, Sir.”

 

“A…amazing.” Roy and Riza both looked over at Kasai, who stood in the door of the shop.

 

“What is?” Roy asked puzzled, then remembered that, even though they were traveling together, this was the first time Kasai had seen his alchemy and Riza's fighting skills in action. “Oh, right, sorry.”

 

“You're an alchemist, I understand what you did, even though it was still amazing,” Kasai started, as he moved forward, “But you, Lieutenant, you are incredible!”

 

“I was only doing my job of protecting the Colonel and defending myself.” Riza simply stated in her stone solid voice, her smile gone.

 

“The First Lieutenant is our group's, not to mention the army's, best sharpshooter. Her skills with guns are practically unmatched.”

 

“Yes but, even when that thing attacked her, she never backed down.” Looking back to Riza, he added, “You are a very strong person, Lieutenant.”

 

Riza gave Kasai a small, polite bow. “Thank you for your praise.”

 

“I'm surprised you're not higher in the ranks.”

 

Roy laughed at that. “Yes, I can see how you're confused. She certainly has the capabilities to get promoted.” Roy decided to go back into the shop and look at what the chimera had dropped.

 

Kasai frowned at that. “Then why…”

 

Riza answered him with a short, simple answer. “I am satisfied with my current position.” She walked past him and back into the shop.

 

Kasai watched her pass him and softly added, “Absolutely amazing.”

 

Riza walked up behind Roy as he knelt next to what remained of a mangled body. Before they had been to busy fighting, but now they could clearly see that, when alive, this man had an officer from Central.

 

“Do you think he was with General Hakuro's troop?”

 

“More than likely.” Noticing Kasai walk, Roy asked, “Are there phones in Fallen Grove?”

 

Kasai looked at the body for a few seconds, seemingly in thought, before answering. “Yes, but I believe that they are only used for calling people in the city, although I do believe that it's possible to call the station here.”

 

`I thought so.' Roy turned back to the body, “He may have left some men behind in case something he needed to contact Central.”

 

“If he left men here, then he should have been able to contact HQ. I wonder why he didn't.” Riza wondered aloud.

 

“A chimera and a recently slain soldier.” Roy thought about this a little longer before standing and walking towards the door. “Let's look around some more. Maybe the others found something that will help answer some questions.”

 

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Falman stopped suddenly, alerting Fuery and Brosh. “Is something wrong?” Fuery asked.

 

Falman didn't answer but instead placed a finger to his lips before signaling to an alley between to warehouses. Moving down the alley, the three came across a slightly opened down. Inside, muffled voices could clearly be heard. Crouching, the three snuck inside and peered over a crate.

 

“Ah!” Falman and Brosh gasped out at the same time. Fuery looked at the two confused.

 

Denny pointed to the two people occupying the room. “The woman there, that's the spider-woman, the one with the long black hair.”

 

Falman continued looking at the black haired woman. `She's a homunculus, then? That would explain why she looks so much like Yamome from back then.'

 

“What on earth are you doing here? Shouldn't you be back with the Madame? Or perhaps wasting time with that child?” Yamome shouted at a cloaked man standing in the center of the room. “I'm perfectly in control of things here. Go back and do your own job.”

 

The man laughed, angering Yamome further. “Control? That's odd. `That one guy' doesn't seem to be here. Is he under your control?”

 

“Oh please, that mindless beast is far beyond anyone's control.”

 

Through an open door, Tetsu walked in while rubbing her temples. “Damn noisy woman.”

 

“Tetsu, you're supposed to be watching her.”

 

“I hate watching women. Why couldn't we have captured one of those men instead? I'd have no trouble watching them.”

 

“First off, if we had captured a man, you'd just kill it with your sick little hobbies. Second, you know very well the Madame's plans have no reason for any men. Besides, you may as well take her to the train and load her up.”

 

“Why do I have to do it?”

 

“Because I said so, now go.”

 

“But I'm older than you. I should be giving you orders.'

 

“Older? You were 18 at the most when you died.”

 

“I'm over 200 years old.”

 

“Very well then, you're an old crone in the body of a loose woman.”

 

“Why you little brat!”

 

“Little brat!”

 

“Ladies, ladies, please.” The cloaked man tried to intervene.

 

“You stay out of this!” Both yelled at him before going back to each other. The cloaked man let out a sigh before leaning against a crate.

 

Falman, Fuery, and Brosh looked to each other before ducking out of sight again.

 

“Who do you think this `Madame' is?” Fuery whispered.

 

“It sounds like she might be the one in charge of the Homunculi. I wonder what she's planning to do with all those women.”

“They said something about a woman,” Brosh started, before suddenly realizing, “Do you think they mean Ross?!”

 

Both Falman and Fuery shushed him. They were worried that they may have been heard but the two women were still arguing, so they assumed that everything was okay.

 

Falman pointed' towards the door Tetsu had walked through and the three crept past the crates snuck inside. Once they were in the clear, they looked around the dark room.

 

“Ross?” Denny called in a loud whisper. “Ross, are you here?” Seeing a shadow in the back move slightly, Brosh ran over finding a gagged Ross leaning against the back wall. Pulling out the gag, he began to untie her. “Ross, I'm so glad that you're okay.”

 

“Ross?” All four froze and turned to the owner of the new voice; the cloaked man from before. “Is that the name of this troublesome woman that those two are bickering over?”

 

Though they couldn't see his eyes because of the cloak they knew he was staring straight at them. His mocking smile put them all at unease.

 

“I can't believe you guys are so careless. Sneaking in, listening to a conversation, talking aloud,” His smile deepened, “Did you really think you wouldn't be noticed? Careless, careless.”

 

“Who are you?” Fuery asked timidly.

 

“I am little more than a lost memory. I know nothing of my living past other than I was torn for my resting place and made into this creature you see before you. They gave me an assignment, and the name Nos Rosuto,” He held his hand up as if to say `Ta-da' before continuing,” But you, for the reminder of your lives, may just call me Nos.”

 

Falman and Fuery moved in front of Brosh who was still in the process of untying Ross and pulled out their guns. “My, so loyal.” Throwing his arms to his sides, he pulled out four knives, two per hand. “Stepping forward to defend your ally while he rescues the lady: It's just like reading a novel.”

 

Falman and Fuery took a step back and braced themselves, taking aim as Nos darted forward.

 

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“Gunshots?” Kasai stopped as the sound reached them. “Where are they coming from?”

 

“Maybe the others found another chimera,” Roy stated turning to Riza, who once again took out her guns. “Let's hurry, we can't waste anymore time.” About to move forward, Roy noticed a growing shadow on the ground. “What the…”

 

“Colonel, move!” Riza jumped forward and pulled back on Roy's jacket just seconds before he got hit by the huge metal creature he had last seen over a week ago.

 

The impact threw them both back a few feet and, since Roy landed on top of Riza, the majority of the debris hit him squarely in the back. He grimaced slightly before quickly pushing himself up off the ground and reaching out to offer Riza some help up. Hearing a footstep, Roy spun around to see the creature begin moving towards them.

 

It was over ten feet tall and covered in a smooth metal. At some points the metal would ripple, almost as if it was a liquid instead of a solid. Roy moved in front of Riza and raised his hand ready to attack when the creature began to talk in a distorted voice.

 

“M..us…Must…”

 

“Must?” Roy asked puzzled.

 

The head rippled and began to form a more human-like face. “Mus… tang… Colo…nel…Musta…ng…” The creature repeated over and over as he continued to move forward.

 

Riza began to aim her gun but then lowered it know that she'd do more harm than good by firing at solid metal.

 

“Colonel…Mustang.” The face finally formed causing both Roy and Riza's eyes to widen in shock.

 

Before them was one of the faces of their past enemies. His cold eyes sending shivers down their spines. When they had last seen this man, only half of his cruel face was covered by metal. Now it was covered.

 

This creature before them was none other than the former Colonel Frank Archer.

 

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End Chapter 4

 

Thank you for reading. Please R&R