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perfectworrytitle: Fire & Water
fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
community:![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
trope_bingo
prompt: square: au: a
word count: 906
rating: G
summary: Riza and Roy encounter a water elemental on their quest to find the Philosopher's Stone.
notes: I expanded on this fic I wrote to fill a request in a comment meme. The new version is substantially (approx 3x) longer.
Riza trudged through the thick underbrush behind Roy, whose heavy robes tangled on brambles as they trooped through the woods on their way towards Resembool from Central on their quest to find the Philosopher's Stone. It was imperative that they reach it before the Elric Brothers, a fact Riza reminded herself of often as her heavy ranger's boots squelched in the thick mud of the forest, a shortcut from the city to the country town where there was rumored to be a book left behind by Hoenhiem of Light that would point them to the Philosopher's Stone.
So they followed the river through the woods, with their feet sticking wetly in the heavy mud and sinking in if they stood still for too long. After days of slogging through this miserable tangle of muck and weeds, they reached a waterfall. The fog had obscured it's distance, and they found themselves suddenly face-to-face with an impassible cliff that jutted straight up into the sky for a hundred feet or more.
Riza narrowed her eyes, calculating a way to scale the cliff face with either Roy's magic or her own ingenuity; a flame mage might not do much good in a situation like this. Although preoccupied with the question of how to overcome this new obstacle without veering too far from their intended course, she did not fail to see the sudden movement of the waterfall from the corner of her eye. The twinkling, tinkling falls stopped for a moment and the water coalesced into the shape of a comely young lady with flowing hair. It wasn't her hair that Riza thought of, but her stance: poised to attack those who would cross the gate she defended.
"Colonel, watch out!"
Riza drew her bow and fired on the nymph, a water elemental who stood between them and their goal: the Philosopher's Stone, which some say could turn lead into gold. More immediately, the nymph stood between them and the waterfall they must pass to get to the mountain, and then over the mountain to the city beyond. Once defeated, she would show them the way through this impassable place; beyond, it was rumored, where alchemists and ancient wizards who knew the secret of immortality.
Through this dangerous terrain, Riza followed Roy, who would stop at nothing to lay claim to the Philosopher's Stone before the Elric Brothers found it and stole it for themselves. They had come too far from Central to fail in their quest now.
The nymph shifted, and Riza's arrow passed through her harmlessly, doing no more damage to the nymph than as if Riza had fired on the waterfall itself. Fog swirled around her and Roy, obscuring her vision. Roy stood beside her, inscribing a complex circle in the dirt with his staff. Above, the nymph readied itself for another attack, swirling in the air like a great malicious wave preparing to break upon them.
"Colonel, get back! Fire magic won't work against a water elemental!"
Riza tried to reach for Roy, but it was too late; the nymph's attack crashed down on them like a tidal wave. Riza stumbled backward, thrown by the force of the attack. Water rose up around them until she was kicking her feet just to keep her head above the water, weighed down by her heavy ranger's boots as they filled with water and she struggled to unclasp her green cloak before it pulled her beneath the surface.
Roy's heavy mages robes must be weighing him down, she thought frantically. He's useless against water elements. She reached out for a tree branch, hoping to grab hold of something solid and pull Roy to safety before he drowned. He had grown into a powerful mage, but water magic had a type advantage that no fire magician had ever overcome. How could they, when the very rules of nature and magic ordered the elements in a perfect harmonious circle. None could disobey these laws, at least not without the Philosopher's Stone.
As she struggled to keep her head above the choppy waves that rose, implausibly, in the middle of the forest grove, Riza suddenly felt her feet hit solid ground again. The air above her crackled and burned, hot enough to evaporate the magical sea and dry her hair and clothing, though Roy's protective magic, a charm tried to her belt, ensured that she was safe from any burn effects.
"I can break apart the hydrogen in the water," laughed Roy, "and use that for my flames!"
"Colonel," sighed Riza, pushing her game piece over to the next square, the elemental at the waterfall gate thus vanquished. "You're supposed to have weaknesses in the game. It makes things more interesting. No wonder Edward won't play with you."
The train rumbled beneath them, making the pieces tremble in their places. Riza grabbed the board before it could slide from the table. They were so close to reaching the Philosopher's Stone, she didn't want to start over again. It was a long train ride from Central to Ishbal, and they already made significant progress across the map.
Starting at the beginning would mean wiping any character development, not just their stats and returning to Central to begin their quest again. Riza's real interests lay less in the capturing the city and the stone, and more in the love story that had blossomed between the ranger and the mage.
fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
community:
trope_bingo prompt: square: au: a
word count: 906
rating: G
summary: Riza and Roy encounter a water elemental on their quest to find the Philosopher's Stone.
notes: I expanded on this fic I wrote to fill a request in a comment meme. The new version is substantially (approx 3x) longer.
Riza trudged through the thick underbrush behind Roy, whose heavy robes tangled on brambles as they trooped through the woods on their way towards Resembool from Central on their quest to find the Philosopher's Stone. It was imperative that they reach it before the Elric Brothers, a fact Riza reminded herself of often as her heavy ranger's boots squelched in the thick mud of the forest, a shortcut from the city to the country town where there was rumored to be a book left behind by Hoenhiem of Light that would point them to the Philosopher's Stone.
So they followed the river through the woods, with their feet sticking wetly in the heavy mud and sinking in if they stood still for too long. After days of slogging through this miserable tangle of muck and weeds, they reached a waterfall. The fog had obscured it's distance, and they found themselves suddenly face-to-face with an impassible cliff that jutted straight up into the sky for a hundred feet or more.
Riza narrowed her eyes, calculating a way to scale the cliff face with either Roy's magic or her own ingenuity; a flame mage might not do much good in a situation like this. Although preoccupied with the question of how to overcome this new obstacle without veering too far from their intended course, she did not fail to see the sudden movement of the waterfall from the corner of her eye. The twinkling, tinkling falls stopped for a moment and the water coalesced into the shape of a comely young lady with flowing hair. It wasn't her hair that Riza thought of, but her stance: poised to attack those who would cross the gate she defended.
"Colonel, watch out!"
Riza drew her bow and fired on the nymph, a water elemental who stood between them and their goal: the Philosopher's Stone, which some say could turn lead into gold. More immediately, the nymph stood between them and the waterfall they must pass to get to the mountain, and then over the mountain to the city beyond. Once defeated, she would show them the way through this impassable place; beyond, it was rumored, where alchemists and ancient wizards who knew the secret of immortality.
Through this dangerous terrain, Riza followed Roy, who would stop at nothing to lay claim to the Philosopher's Stone before the Elric Brothers found it and stole it for themselves. They had come too far from Central to fail in their quest now.
The nymph shifted, and Riza's arrow passed through her harmlessly, doing no more damage to the nymph than as if Riza had fired on the waterfall itself. Fog swirled around her and Roy, obscuring her vision. Roy stood beside her, inscribing a complex circle in the dirt with his staff. Above, the nymph readied itself for another attack, swirling in the air like a great malicious wave preparing to break upon them.
"Colonel, get back! Fire magic won't work against a water elemental!"
Riza tried to reach for Roy, but it was too late; the nymph's attack crashed down on them like a tidal wave. Riza stumbled backward, thrown by the force of the attack. Water rose up around them until she was kicking her feet just to keep her head above the water, weighed down by her heavy ranger's boots as they filled with water and she struggled to unclasp her green cloak before it pulled her beneath the surface.
Roy's heavy mages robes must be weighing him down, she thought frantically. He's useless against water elements. She reached out for a tree branch, hoping to grab hold of something solid and pull Roy to safety before he drowned. He had grown into a powerful mage, but water magic had a type advantage that no fire magician had ever overcome. How could they, when the very rules of nature and magic ordered the elements in a perfect harmonious circle. None could disobey these laws, at least not without the Philosopher's Stone.
As she struggled to keep her head above the choppy waves that rose, implausibly, in the middle of the forest grove, Riza suddenly felt her feet hit solid ground again. The air above her crackled and burned, hot enough to evaporate the magical sea and dry her hair and clothing, though Roy's protective magic, a charm tried to her belt, ensured that she was safe from any burn effects.
"I can break apart the hydrogen in the water," laughed Roy, "and use that for my flames!"
"Colonel," sighed Riza, pushing her game piece over to the next square, the elemental at the waterfall gate thus vanquished. "You're supposed to have weaknesses in the game. It makes things more interesting. No wonder Edward won't play with you."
The train rumbled beneath them, making the pieces tremble in their places. Riza grabbed the board before it could slide from the table. They were so close to reaching the Philosopher's Stone, she didn't want to start over again. It was a long train ride from Central to Ishbal, and they already made significant progress across the map.
Starting at the beginning would mean wiping any character development, not just their stats and returning to Central to begin their quest again. Riza's real interests lay less in the capturing the city and the stone, and more in the love story that had blossomed between the ranger and the mage.
