09-02-2018, 12:53 PM
[font=trebuchet ms]To hear that Roy needed help was not in and of itself concerning- he had a tendency to get himself in over his head- but the panic clear in Thea's voice, combined with the thick stench of blood, instilled an all-too-familiar sense of dread in her chest.
The last time something like this had happened, the would-be killer had left him for dead instead of finishing him off- so he had been able to save himself by cauterizing his wounds. Given that Thea was not under attack, the same had probably happened here; and after last time, Riza knew better than to jump to conclusions. Roy was alive, albeit injured, and the medics were on their way to help him.
Still, if he was hurt, she couldn't leave him alone. She wouldn't have done so in Amestris, as his personal bodyguard; and she wouldn't do so now, as his wife.
Arriving at the scene, she took only a second to survey the situation. Imperia was tending to Roy- everyone else was useless to her right now. Pushing through the crowd, she stopped beside Roy, watching him closely. He was unconscious, bloodied, barely breathing. Gingerly pressing a paw against his chest, she could feel his pulse fading.
He wasn't dying. He had survived their wartorn country for several decades, had lived through Ishval, had been stabbed multiple times in the chest and yet had enough strength left to kill his assailant- an immortal being with regenerative abilities humanity could not hope to comprehend. He couldn't die like this.
"I promised you I would never give up on living," she whispered, her voice wavering slightly. "Promise me... promise me you won't either."
Despite knowing he couldn't hear her, the silence that followed, the lack of a pulse, struck her like a bullet to the chest.
It was one thing with Lust. Lust had not produced a body, had not brought Roy's broken form into the room with her. There was only her word to go off of, and to go off of an enemy's words was dangerous. Believing the homunculus' lies had almost gotten both her and Alphonse killed. Roy had had every right to chastise her for how she had responded in that situation.
There was no denying the sight of a corpse, the feel of a cold, lifeless body beneath her touch.
The words echoing around her carved into her, like a knife against the skin. Should've gone after him, huh? See if I can find his ghost. Are we safe here? Visit our neighbors. Incessantly, on and on it went, and she wanted so badly just to make them all shut up. To turn and scream at her father to stop. His knowledge of flame alchemy could not be so important as to justify hurting his daughter. The clan's grief and confusion could not be so important as to get in the way of justice being served.
Thea had seen the culprit. She knew who had done this.
"You saw him run." A statement of fact, made with an icy tone and a hard glare sent in Thea's direction. It was not an accusation, though underneath the surface was an intent to murder. Hunting down a fleeing creature came as easily to her as breathing, perhaps the one benefit to the marks that Ishval had left on her. If anything, this would be even easier than that, as her target was not an innocent civilian, but a murderer.
She no longer needed the distance that a gun provided. If she had to tear this person to shreds with her bare paws, she would, and the only remorse she felt would be for Roy.
Turning to face Thea, hiding her growing rage at the other's reluctance to identify the culprit, Riza met the other's gaze with piercing eyes.
"Who was it?"
The last time something like this had happened, the would-be killer had left him for dead instead of finishing him off- so he had been able to save himself by cauterizing his wounds. Given that Thea was not under attack, the same had probably happened here; and after last time, Riza knew better than to jump to conclusions. Roy was alive, albeit injured, and the medics were on their way to help him.
Still, if he was hurt, she couldn't leave him alone. She wouldn't have done so in Amestris, as his personal bodyguard; and she wouldn't do so now, as his wife.
Arriving at the scene, she took only a second to survey the situation. Imperia was tending to Roy- everyone else was useless to her right now. Pushing through the crowd, she stopped beside Roy, watching him closely. He was unconscious, bloodied, barely breathing. Gingerly pressing a paw against his chest, she could feel his pulse fading.
He wasn't dying. He had survived their wartorn country for several decades, had lived through Ishval, had been stabbed multiple times in the chest and yet had enough strength left to kill his assailant- an immortal being with regenerative abilities humanity could not hope to comprehend. He couldn't die like this.
"I promised you I would never give up on living," she whispered, her voice wavering slightly. "Promise me... promise me you won't either."
Despite knowing he couldn't hear her, the silence that followed, the lack of a pulse, struck her like a bullet to the chest.
It was one thing with Lust. Lust had not produced a body, had not brought Roy's broken form into the room with her. There was only her word to go off of, and to go off of an enemy's words was dangerous. Believing the homunculus' lies had almost gotten both her and Alphonse killed. Roy had had every right to chastise her for how she had responded in that situation.
There was no denying the sight of a corpse, the feel of a cold, lifeless body beneath her touch.
The words echoing around her carved into her, like a knife against the skin. Should've gone after him, huh? See if I can find his ghost. Are we safe here? Visit our neighbors. Incessantly, on and on it went, and she wanted so badly just to make them all shut up. To turn and scream at her father to stop. His knowledge of flame alchemy could not be so important as to justify hurting his daughter. The clan's grief and confusion could not be so important as to get in the way of justice being served.
Thea had seen the culprit. She knew who had done this.
"You saw him run." A statement of fact, made with an icy tone and a hard glare sent in Thea's direction. It was not an accusation, though underneath the surface was an intent to murder. Hunting down a fleeing creature came as easily to her as breathing, perhaps the one benefit to the marks that Ishval had left on her. If anything, this would be even easier than that, as her target was not an innocent civilian, but a murderer.
She no longer needed the distance that a gun provided. If she had to tear this person to shreds with her bare paws, she would, and the only remorse she felt would be for Roy.
Turning to face Thea, hiding her growing rage at the other's reluctance to identify the culprit, Riza met the other's gaze with piercing eyes.
"Who was it?"
[font=trebuchet ms]some weirdo