NaNoWriMo - FMA - A Mere Lifetime - Chapter 3

(Continued from Chapter 2)


Spring had completely taken hold here. For the past couple of mornings, Roy had stepped onto his front porch and just breathed. You could almost smell everything growing within an inch of its life. There was a small lake to the north, and the humidity travelled down to this area, bounded and prevented from moving east by that ridge across a low valley behind the house. This little cottage he’d bought several months ago was situated in a good position: on a hill from which he could view the valley and the ridge behind, and a gentler valley in front of the house that widened slowly toward a row of hills a few miles away to the west.

Behind him, slightly to the northeast, lay Ishbal, just a short distance away with its heat and its desert. Fascinating, what a couple of high ridges did to block the means of turning that land into as lush a region as this was. And before him, across a small rocky river and over those green hills just a bit southeast, was Risemboul.

( Continuing the hunt )

(Continue to Chapter 4)

NaNoWriMo - FMA - A Mere Lifetime - Chapter 4

(Continued from Chapter 3)

Olivia Armstrong was as good as her word. As soon as Riza had taken the surprising call from Pinako Rockbell in Risemboul, she had sent Breda and Falman rushing through the halls of the building, hoping to catch the General on her way out. Being the inquisitive person she was, she hadn’t gone that far, and immediately returned to Riza’s office, commandeering her phone.

Olivia had pulled a high-speed express train – coincidentally, the one Roy Mustang himself had used on official trips around the country during the past five years – and had gotten them on their way by evening, radioing ahead to be sure that all tracks they’d need would be entirely clear of traffic as they passed through. Far from the usual three days to Risemboul, it would take them just over a day and a half.

( Will they arrive in time? )

(Continued in Chapter 5)

NaNoWriMo - FMA - A Mere Lifetime - Chapter 5

(Continued from Chapter 4)


Before they descended from Roy’s hilltop house, Riza couldn’t resist taking one quick walk through the rooms. It was a very nice place, with wide windows on every external wall to allow as much light into the house as possible. Since Roy had only been there a few days, much of the house still had something of an empty look, despite being pretty well furnished. It just lacked most of the more personal touches that indicated that an actual human being lived in it. In that sense, the teapot and cups in the sink were almost comforting.

One room that did already show signs of human population was clearly intended to serve as a library, since several brand new polished bookcases stood along three of its walls. Only those on the wall to the left of the door had been designated for books so far, and only a few of those shelves had been populated. Unpacked boxes of books remained still stacked in one corner; clearly he hadn’t gotten around to opening them yet. But Riza could tell that even those books probably wouldn’t quite fill even that one wall of shelving. Roy had obviously expected to be here long enough to acquire many more books for this room before he was done.

( Planning the Pursuit )

(Continue to Chapter 6)

 

NaNoWriMo - FMA - A Mere Lifetime - Chapter 6

(Continued from Chapter 5)

“I came from farther north,” Mei told Riza as they waited for Ed and Al to consult with the farmer. The girl pointed back behind her, sweeping her hand vaguely toward the northern horizon as she talked. “I came through desert three times, two times to come here and once to go home. I never saw so far south in Amestris before.”

“And you were by yourself?” Havoc said, from his horse on the other side of Mei. “You were pretty young, the first time you travelled here. That was quite a journey for just a young girl.”

“There were nomads who helped sometimes,” Mei smiled. But then her eyes glinted. “Sometimes they didn’t help, too. But I could fight them off.”

“It’s still hard to imagine.” Havoc glanced at Riza, who’d been listening intently to the girl’s description of her journey even as her own eyes kept moving, back and forth, looking south across the fields of grass ahead of them.

Armstrong and Hohenheim sat a little aside, each of them holding the reins of one of the brothers’ horses, and each one lost in thought. But Riza noticed that Hohenheim, too, continued to scan the southern fields as though somehow he could detect Roy’s presence just by thinking about him.

( What happens when they find him\ )

(Continue to Chapter 7)

NaNoWriMo2010 - FMA - A Mere Lifetime - chapter 7

(Continued from Chapter 6)

Havoc strode up to Hohenheim and grabbed the front of the man’s jacket with both fists, jerking him forward. He glared into the man’s face and growled, “Just what do you think you’re doing? Do you mean to say you’ve known all along what was wrong with Roy, and you didn’t say a word?”

Hohenheim seemed untroubled by the other man’s vehement anger. “Yes, I’ve known ever since I heard he left Central. But despite how that sounds, I wasn’t trying to keep it from you. I just felt it was better if Roy told you himself. But he had to come to terms with it first, and that’s what I hoped to help him do, if I could just talk to him in private for a while. Obviously I never got the chance to do that.”

“You bastard!” Ed raged. “You never, ever change, do you?”

( A lonely journey )

(Continue to Chapter 8)

NaNoWriMo 2010 - FMA - A Mere Lifetime - Chapter 8

(Continued from Chapter 7)

She was always impressed by his reflexes. Virtually the instant he saw her, he was on his feet and over the other side of the cot, standing there as though it were somehow a barrier between them. To his credit, he didn’t start looking for an ignition glove or raise a hand as though to snap his fingers. There was that much recognition, at least, in that first moment. Though naturally she’d been ready to lunge aside if he’d had his glove on and had indeed sent a bit of flame her way.

Meanwhile, recognition of another sort flooded into his eyes as his brows came down and he snarled, “What the hell are you doing here?”

Which was, of course, exactly what he had said when they’d found him at the edge of the gorge. Riza didn’t move, responding mildly, “Are we going to have that whole conversation over again?”

( A bit of a rocky start )

(Continue to Chapter 9)