The Stone...?

[Dai]

A pair of red eyes scanned the room that he was in. The Ishvallan sighed. They'd been back in Briggs for a few weeks, now, and not one word of the Stone had been mentioned by Reila, so he decided to check with her. The faster they were rid of the damned thing, the better. His head was heavier, now, thanks to the addition of Wolfsbane, and he was still getting used to having the heavy chain-whip hanging off the back of his head. With a sigh, he realised that he was now standing outside the office of their superior, the recently-promoted Major General. He must've been moving quickly, or something. With a soft smile, he leant against the wall, and knocked on the door, a sharp sets of knocks that usually only he did. He then stayed standing there, waiting for Reila's call...

We need to get this done and dusted. The sooner, the better.

[Reila Tsukino]

The door was flung open instantly and the face of the young girl appeared before him. She grinned, "Dai!" A whip of long, strawberry blond hair blew past the redhead with her speed as she hugged him and ushered him backwards out of her office at the same time. "Quick, let's go somewhere else. You have to save me from this paperwork...I swear," She whispered in a stressed voice, checking over her shoulder. That was when voices filtered out from the doorway inquiring as to who it was. Reila's golden eyes grew serious as she turned back to him, "Let's run." Grabbing his hand, she darted down the hallway as silently as she could, turning the first corner, and slipping into an unoccupied room. It appeared to be a debriefing room, filled with leather chairs and a large projection screen. Reila breathed a sigh of relief and shut the door behind them, peering through the small window. "Okay, we should be safe here."

[Dai]

Daigoro was taken by surprise - the woman suddenly ran up, hugged him, and ushered him out of the room. He both blushed, and felt the sharp steel of Wolfsbane dig into his back, causing him to grimace in pain. Damn, that smarts. Daigoro closed his eyes, before Reila grabbed his hand and led him away from the voices asking who it was...

As soon as they entered the debriefing room, Daigoro moved a hand to his back, and rubbed it. That really hurt...

"Geez... I'm still not used to this thing, you know. Not blaming you, just be more careful next time, eh?" Daigoro smirked, and laughed softly, looking back at Reila. So, they were alone, huh? He sighed, and then smiled brightly, before taking a seat nearby.

"Congratulations on your recent promotion, ma'am. Major General, is it? You're the talk of the Fort, as far as I can tell..." He laughed softly, and leaned back, wondering if she'd heard about his promotion as well? To go from a Warrant Officer to a Captain in such a short space of time... He smirked. With a yawn and a stretch, he sat up straight again, red hair falling behind him, but now with a metallic twinge in between. He smiled, and wondered if she knew that his Alchemy had improved, too? His gaze then went to her shoulder, bringing back memories of the incident in South City.

"Is it... better?"

[Reila Tsukino]

Reila blinked as she turned from the window and stared at him awkwardly. Wait...what was he talking about? She would have felt bad for what she did, but nothing was registering in her mind as to what that was. Wait... didn't Dai say he was coming up with a new aspect to his alchemy? Thing, thing, thing...what was the thing he was talking about!? "Woah, woah! Slow down... can you explain it to me?" She moved closer to him, trying to smile past her confusion. "I mean, so I don't do it again." She bowed her head slightly, rewinding everything she had just done and coming up with nothing. Wait...was it because she had hugged him? She felt heat rise to her cheeks suddenly and she lowered her head further so her bangs covered her face. They were alone for the first time in weeks and she had already screwed up. Great.

She raised her head when he suddenly praised her and managed to smile, hoping the blush had drained from her cheeks, but knowing it didn't. "Thank you...and congratulations on yours, Captain Daigoro!" She laughed, running a hand through her hair and twirling it around her finger. "Major General...I never thought I'd ever rise this far. I don't even know why I did..." She shook her head, exiting those thoughts. Then she followed his eyes to her shoulder, hearing his voice wash over her gently like cold spring rain. The care in his voice made her heart skip a beat, but she tried to ignore the feeling, pulling her collar over her shoulder to reveal the hideous scar there. Frowning slightly, she shrugged. "At least it'll never get hot here in Briggs so I'll never have to wear a tank top." Looking on the bright side...that was always what she did, regardless of how much it hurt. She raised her hands like she was holding a sword and swung down, a strange snapping noise coming from her shoulder. "And see, the bone hasn't exactly healed yet, so I'm still useless..." That and she had so much paper work to do... The weight of everything just made her want to cry, but she was Reila; she always had to be strong. That was one thing Dai had taught her. As much as she felt tears gathering in her eyes, she would never let them fall for his sake.

[Dai]

Daigoro blinked at Reila's comment. She didn't know yet? oh, right, she'd been stuck doing paperworks for the past few weeks... He laughed, and reached up behind his head, unclipping the handle of his chain-whip from the top of his hair with a smirk.

"Sorry, I didn't realise that you hadn't heard..." As soon as the handle was gripped tightly in his hand, he pulled up, and the whip slowly slid up and out of his ponytail. As soon as it was all out, it landed on the floor with a small bang, it was that heavy. He smirked.

"This is what I'm still getting used to. Had it fashioned for me to use with my Alchemy. When you hugged me it dug slightly into my back, that's all. Just hurt a little bit... No problems there..." He sighed, and brought his hair out in front of him. Time to get it back in... He began to slowly weave the metallic chain-whip back into his long red hair, all the way down to the base. As soon as it was done, he hooked the handle over the back of his head.

"It's called Wolfsbane." He then smirked when Reila had mentioned his promotion. So she had heard... Then she began to explain about her shoulder, and he grimaced at the scar that sat there.

"Ah, well. We all have our own scars to hide, now... And you don't have to be alone, remember that. You have crutches, known as subordinates..." He had come to Reila to talk about the stone, but this was the first time they'd been alone in weeks. He didn't want to ruin that with business talk.

[Reila Tsukino]

Reila watched his display with surprise and amusement. When he was finished, she smiled brightly. "Wow, no wonder..." She lowered her head again in shame. "I'm sorry; I had no idea." She watched him put it back curiously like a kitten seeing a flashlight for the first time. She dropped the pieces of her hair and walked over to a table, sitting down on it. She could have just used a chair, but the table was much more convenient at the moment. Reila was feeling a bit tired; the weight of the work she had gone through without breaks was dragging her down. She listened to him speak some more, her golden eyes downcast and in deep thought. She looked up and met his. "Thank you, but... they're a little more to me than just a crutch. I could never use them like that..." She grinned childishly and hoped down off the table. "We need to leave, they will be looking for me..." She pranced to the door and opened it. "And...I've been meaning to talk to you about the stone..." As always, it was neatly tucked into her bra. She was almost used to having it there, but also terrified of setting it off as Dai had done in South City.

[Dai]

Daigoro nodded. They would most certainly be looking for them. But... it seemed that Reila hadn't gotten his joke, huh? He sighed, but not loud enough for Reila to hear. He then jumped up, off of his chair, yawned and smirked. They... needed to get outside, or something. Somewhere where they could just walk around for an hour or so... Reila's voice suddenly came to him, spoken in Aerugese. That meant something was wrong... He blinked when she mentioned the stone - so she hadn't forgotten about it, either? Then again, it wasn't exactly in the place that you could forget about it...

He smirked, and looked at the woman, his expression now severe. The conversation had now just gotten serious. The words that came out of his mouth were not in Amestrian, but in Aerugese for safety.

"I know. We need to hide it, hopefully most people will have forgotten about it. At least, that's my idea. And you? What do you think?" Daigoro did want to hide the stone, but there was some feeling inside him too, something that kinda, sorta, wanted to be alone with Reila, even if it was just for an hour or two...

[Reila Tsukino]

Exactly. There was no way in hell that she could forget about the stone...considering where it was. Reila twitched at the sudden seriousness in Dai's voice and looked off to the side, thinking. "Well, there's no way that people just forgot about the existence of a stone somewhere, but they have no idea that we have it..." She sighed and walked through the door, holding it open for him. She looked both ways down the hallway and furrowed her eyebrows in more thought. Now...where would they go exactly? She turned to the redhead she admired so much and opened her mouth to ask him, but clamped it shut. No, she had to make the decision, didn't she? She was the Head of Fort Briggs for god's sake. Place...place...place. She looked up at the pristine ceiling and debated. Somewhere where they could access it easily without being seen, somewhere where no one would find it, somewhere where someone they trusted could surveillance it 24-7. She stepped out into the hallway and went right instead of left. At least this way she wouldn't have to walk past her office and get caught. She headed off to the locker room that held all their snow gear: coats, boots, gloves, scarves, you name it. "Dai, we're taking a trip..."

[Dai]

The redhead nodded, following his commander down to the locker room. As she opened the door before them, he blinked, and immediately went for a warm coat, gloves and hat. That would be all that he needed, and he moved out of the room again, in case Reila was going to be getting changed, he needed to respect that sort of thing. With a small sigh, he sat down on a bench outside, watching the people go by, and smirked. Such oblivious people... He laughed to himself, and leaned back, thinking back to a time when they didn't have this sort of BS to deal with...

He began to remember the game that they'd gone and played in the cavern near the Fort. How much fun they'd had, it was one of the times of his life. He yawned. the day after that, his heart began to skip a beat whenever the young woman moved past or spoke to him. He still didn't understand these feelings of his (he's still kind of naive), but he knew that they were different for what he usually felt. As all these thoughts poured into his head, he suddenly heard the voice of one of Reila's secretarys, and looked over to them.

"Captain Ito, do you know where the Major General is?" Daigoro knew that she was trying to hide from people like this, and he shook his head. As the woman moved off, down the hall, Daigoro turned to the door, checked to make sure that Reila was decent, and moved into the room.

"They're looking for you. It's not as safe as we thought..."

[Reila Tsukino]

Shit shit shit! They were asking for her! Reila slipped on her white insulated coat at lightning speed, and tossed the hood over her head, moving away from the small window. She breathed easy when the secretary left. Then Dai walked in. She turned to face him as she zipped up the coat, threw the hood down, and began wrapping a scarf around her neck. The white fur from her hood framed her face as she stared off into space, the gears in her head turning faster than usual. She snapped out of her reverie when Dai spoke, followed by her soft laugh.

"Dai, no need to sound so serious; they aren't after my life you know... Plus, I'm a master of disguise! Watch." She flipped her hair up and folded it, shoving it beneath her coat and then down her snow pants. Once that was done, she looked like she had shoulder-length hair. With a cackle of success, the major general made a grab for her white boots--everything of her's was white. No, it really wasn't so she could blend in with the snow; it was actually because white was her favorite color. She began the gruesome task of tying them, but as she was doing so, she noticed something. "Dai, you forgot your snow boots... Where we're going...you'll be needing those." She tossed him the boots from his ajar locker and stood up, slapping at her puffy pants. She never liked looking fat in these... it didn't show off her slender figure. At. All. Depressing really.

She pulled the heavy metal door open with effort and gusts of freezing air swept in uninvited. Reila pranced out into the snowy weather and sighed. At least for today...could it not blizzard? It was going to be a long-ass walk. Hell, maybe even an hour. That was going to suck... She looked around, searching for something until one of the snowmobiles parked nearby caught her eye. Maybe they could steal one!? She ran down the ice-coated steps and almost fell a few times, clutching the railing as she went. She stopped in front of it, looking for Dai. "Maybe we could steal one, ne?" Shit, Dai had no idea where they were going. She waited for him to start staring at her like she was crazy... which she was.

[Dai]

Daigoro blinked when Reila chucked the snow boots at him. How could he have forgotten those? Typical. He then noticed her rush to get outside, and fiddled with his laces a little until they were fully tied up. Pulling Wolfsbane out of his hair and putting it into his locker, and then following her in suit, out the cold metal doors and into the snow. A cold gust of air froze just about every bone in his body - as was usual at Briggs, but it seemed to be better than usual today - always a good thing. As Reila just about slipped down the steps, Dai couldn't hold it in anymore, and just started laughing. She looked really funny!

After regaining his composure, he stood back up straight, and made his way down the stairs. Carefully. Without slipping. At all. He then looked up at the woman to see that she was by the snowmobiles, wanting to steal one. What the hell? They belonged to Briggs, didn't they? And besides, the keys were tucked away in her office... Dai's hand went into his pocket, and he sighed. Except for one. He smirked, and instead of saying that he had forgotten to take it back, he decided to feign ignorance and planning, by going up to Reila and dangling a key in her face.

"Came prepared, ne." With a grin, he climbed onto the snowmobile that he had used the week before, and checked the fuel level - good, it was full. A good few hours worth of travelling. He then decided to reveal why he had gone out on his trip the week before. He had been scouting, and could trust nobody but Reila with the reason. He waited for her to climb on, and turned to the woman with a smile.

"I know a place. But it's gonna be Hell and back to get there. It's only about 15 minutes on the snowmobile, but after that it's an hour-long walk up a natural track. There's a cave at the end, and we can hide it in there nice and easy... Sound good?" He asked, finishing with a grin. He had scouted the Briggs range for hours to find the place, and used up two or three bottle of extra gas, just so he could stay on the move. The only way that anybody could get to the track itself was if they got through another small cave - and it was usually quite dark. He smiled, and turned back to the front of the snowmobile, putting the key in and starting the engine.

[Reila Tsukino]

Reila spun around. "Hey! Were you just laughing at me?!" She giggled, pushing snow out of her shimmering bangs. She turned back to the snowmobile, trying to slip her hand inside to unlock it when she heard Dai approaching behind her and wheeled around to face him. She blinked as keys were jingled in her face and it took her a moment to register that they belonged to one of the twenty-five snowmobiles. But which one...!? She stood there stupefied as Dai climbed on a seemingly random one and checked the fuel. As he continued to run circles around her, she listened to her language flow over the falling snow and to her freezing ears. Had he been planning this the entire time...? And she had thought she had this under control. A smile slid across her glossed lips and she ran to his side through the deep snow, slipping only a few times. She hopped on it behind him and looked over his shoulder as he attempted to start it. When the key failed to fit in the ignition slot, Reila burst out laughing. "Prepared, huh?" She struggled not to fall over, wiping tears out of her eyes. She had to give him credit though; they did all look the same...And at least she didn't have to go all the way back to her office and to the nest of officials after her seal. "Well, I guess we have to start testing all of them...one down, twenty-four to go!" She snickered and crawled off the back into the snow again. "So it's an hour walk...up? It isn't like climbing up the side of a mountain, right? And..." She looked down nervously and then back up into his eyes. "...there aren't any bats, right?"

[Dai]

Daigoro just sat there... He'd been wrong about the verdamm snowmobile? He sighed, and then burst out laughing. Ah well, everybody makes mistakes... Some just make them worse than others... He smirked, and climbed off of the snowmobile, looking over the other 24, wondering which one was which. It was at that point Reila looked him directly in the eyes and asked him about bats. He just blinked - it was too cold out here for there to be any bats in the caves, but was he going to tell her that? Yes.

"There aren't any bats. But if there are any today, I'll protect you..." He sniggered, and then yawned. "Also, yes, it is a mountain-side path. But the view from the top is stunning. You'll enjoy it, even if this is for business." He grinned, and walked over to the next snowmobile, putting the key in. It didn't fit. He kept moving along the snowmobiles, none of them fitting the key that Dai had forgotten. None of them fit his key. NONE. The red-haired alchemist closed his eyes and sighed. None of them. NONE!!! He sighed and gloomed, before going back to the first one and trying again. It worked. And started. No shit.

"Well, would you look at that?" He beckoned the Major General over.

"Climb on. We're gonna have to get to the path before dark..." He waited for the woman to climb on. Once she was behind him, they moved off into the mountains.

And from one of the many windows of the Fort, that woman who had asked Dai about Reila earlier was looking out with the visage of horror on her face, recognising both officers on the snowmobile. So, that was where her superior went, huh? She grinned wickedly. Time to spread some rumours...

[Reila Tsukino]

That was a moment. They definitely just shared a moment there. Reila stared in complete awe for way too much time. Before she could say anything, the moment had already past. Dai was gone from her eyes now--off in the distance checking the other twenty-four snow mobiles. She played with the straps on her white puffy jacket, trying to will the deep blush to vanish from her cheeks. She kicked snow around at her feet. Protect her... Who would say that to a Major General commanding officer of Fort Briggs? Without...without there being something else compelling it? She stared long and hard at the small snow crystals gathering on her boot, separating each piece, and seeing the small rainbows inside of them. They were all so...beautiful. She looked up quickly when she heard the sound of an engine starting. She ran over to it and stopped abruptly when she saw Dai beckoning her. How was she going to face him?! With her heart beating this fast... she could barely breathe let alone walk.

Panic filled her at the thoughts that cascaded her head. She wanted to turn around and just run away, but her feet were planted too deeply in the snow for her to lift them. Her golden eyes were filled with unreadable emotions that past over them like flickering light from the sun. She held her breath, her mind working hard to keep up with the idea weighing on her judgment. She already knew the outcome. Her legs began moving before she willed them to, and she felt the cool touch of the snowmobile slide against her thighs as she sat down. Wait... wasn't this the first one he tried?! She laughed slightly at his comment and closed her eyes, burying her face in his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his waist. She took a deep breath, the smell of Dai assailing her senses. "Thank you..." All at once she let go and leaned back into her seat, situating herself so she wouldn't fall off. She had to look away to keep the sting of tears from breaking free of her eyes. No one...no one had ever said that to her before. To protect... She was the one that was always looking out for people. There was never anyone standing over her...watching out for her... When she was abandoned as a child... she was alone--always alone. Why was it so different now? She sneaked a glance at Dai without moving her head. It was so different. What was this...? She bit her lip, taking a deep, silent breath to steady herself and regain the composure that had fallen so far.

The worst part was that she couldn't do anything... She just... didn't understand... The blond slapped a hand against her forehead and shook her head in obvious distress. Realizing she had shown it, she quickly tried to cover it up with a shaky voice. "Erm.. so did you come here before...by yourself?" Stupid question!! She felt like an idiot. Why would she look so distressed over a retarded question like that?! Reila wanted to bash her head against the wall--unfortunately there were none around. She felt excited though, elated that Dai would show her the scenery at the top. It was like...she mattered. Or maybe she just hoped she did... Because not all people would abandon her, right...? She always wished, trying to look on the bright side. Dai was right, it wasn't about business at all, was it?

[Dai]

Dai's heart skipped a beat. Or two. Maybe three, he wasn't actually counting. But he knew what he felt, and that was the warmth of the Major General's body on his back, and her arms around his waist. Even the Aerugese whisper of thanks caused Dai's cheeks to go as red as his hair, and warm up even the coldest Briggs nights. He really didn't understand any of these feelings, except for one thing - movies always had this sort of thing in them. But who, in this day and age, believed Hollywood? Once Reila let go, Daigoro punched it, and the snowmobile carved a path through the snow. It wasn't too much of a drive to the first of two caves, but it was still annoying to traverse. Daigoro shook all thoughts of Reila out of his mind, and began to focus on the road ahead, making sure to avoid any rocks, or anything else of the like. The goggles around his eyes were beginning to fog up, and that was never a good thing.

Fifteen minutes of breath-holding later, and Daigoro and Reila were at the first cave. The man slowed the snowmobile down to a stop, and climbed off, holding out a hand for the woman to use to climb offf with. It was then that she asked her question, and he laughed.

"By myself? Yeah, I did. Here, and about half of the Briggs range, searching for a hiding place for the Stone. I would've let you in on it, but you were basically under total lockdown with your paperwork. Hell, I didn't even get the key to this snowmobile off of you personally. So I took matters into my own hands, and, well, here we are. And trust me - it's a good hiding place..." The redhead smirked, and walked into the cave, pulling out a small flashlight, just in case. Making sure that Reila was close, Dai found his way over to a strangely indented rock in the wall, and put a couple of hands on it. Shit - it was stuck. Not stuck stuck, just stuck enough so that it'd take more than one person to move it...

He moved an arm, summoning the woman over. "Here, can you help me with this, please? I've got to move it over to the side, but it seems to be stuck somehow..."

[Reila Tsukino]

Dai was going so fast that Reila had to use her fingers as windshield wipers over her goggles. She blinked, trying to see past the endless white expanse. How on earth did he know where he was going!? Reila sighed, but just as the breath escaped her lips, she gasped it back in. There was a cave! She took his hand without thinking and hopped out, running up to the entrance. "Woww..." She swooned, moving but closer to admire the glorious stalactites and stalagmites. She spun around when Dai spoke, golden eyes aghast. "...Did you really?" She was proud of him and yet at the same time, ashamed of herself. How could she let him go out like that all on his own for her sake? She hadn't even noticed! How pathetic. It was true though... she really was in lock down. That damn paperwork had to get done somehow (and it still wasn't). She smirked, narrowing her eyes. "Oh~? Took matters into your own hands, hm? I wonder what that involved..." This was too amusing.

Reila followed him into the cave, thankful that he had brought a flashlight because she had not. She tried to ignore her urges to look up in search of bats, and instead, stared straight forward, concentrating with each step. Trust Dai, trust Dai, trust Dai... She looked up and saw...!! Was that a bat?! Oh shit! Was that shape a-- She ran into something hard and slimy and squeaked with surprise. Slowly, she creaked her eyes open only a slit, focusing on the dark object. A giant bat...?! Within a moment her tachi came from nowhere and was in her hands. She jumped back and whacked the giant vampire bat with beady black eyes, slimy scales, and jagged bones into the opposing cave wall. When it crumbed to pieces, she opened her eyes and stared at the fragments of a rock. And then stared some more until Dai's words registered in her head. "Oh...oops."

[Dai]

Dai turned straight away to the sound of Reila's tachi hitting solid rock. He blinked, and walked over to her, sword still drawn. He looked at the rock that she'd just cut, and then back at her. To the rock, to her. Rock. Her. Rock. Her. Rock. Her. Her. Her. Her. Her! He smiled, and laughed softly, before moving closer still. He then looed back at the rock, and laughed a bit louder.

"Wow... I'd hate to be that rock. And I told you, there are no bats here this time of year - and I'll protect you if there are." He didn't just mean from the bats, not now, not ever. He was going to make sure he protected her from everything, like she had to them... "Now come on, we should be trying to get this boulder out of the way..." He moved off again, and back to the indent, putting his hands onto it, and waiting for Reila. Once she had gotten to it, he made a motion with his head in the direction to push, and the two officers began to push. Slowly, but surely, it began to move out of the way, before it came clean of the hole and made an opening in the rock, light blinding Dai after reflecting off of the snow.

"Ready... for a walk?" The expanse that stood before them could only be described in one word - breathtaking. This was the first part of their walk up to the top of the path, and it began with an ice canyon, the walls about fifty feet high, all colours of the rainbow swirling around them as ice pieces swirled about through the air. Daigoro smiled - he had completely chanced on this place, and it seemed perfect. But this, again, was only the first part of their trek.

He smiled - if Reila enjoyed this bit? Hell, this was definitely not as much a business trip as Reila would've thought...

[Reila Tsukino]

Reila nodded. And hearing it again made her blush deeply. Thank god it was dark and he wouldn't be able to see her reddening cheeks. She sheathed her tachi and slid it back at her waist, moving to assist her head of military operations with moving the bolder that would lead them to god knows where. She pushed in the direction he motioned to her and eventually she felt it scratch out of the way. The light flashed at her and she turned away, clenching her eyes shut momentarily. She turned back to the fresh air rushing in and opened her eyes, the white light pouring over her. The long-haired girl stepped out into it, seeming to disappear into a different world. It was a world that belonged to just her--her and Dai. She smiled, raising her eyes to the cloudy sky, chasing the rainbows with gold. It was all so beautiful. She just looked, trying to capture the images and record it in her memory for forever. "I'm ready, but we have to come here again sometime..."

[Short and sweet =3 <3]

[Dai]

Dai smiled and nodded - she wasn't wrong. Even if the rest of the mountain range was hit by blizzards, this part of the world was nice and clear of them, perfect for a leisurely walk. He walked out of the cave, and into the bright light, looking around at the beauty of the region. He turned back to Reila and smirked.

"Good for a picnic, huh? Bring up a lunch - just the two of us." Suddenly realising what he had just said, he quickly continued. "So, you know, nobody gets suspicious as to how we found this place so easily..." Wh a nervous laugh, Dai turned back around, face reddened. What was with him today? He sighed, and kept walking along, traving along the wall with a single auto-mail finger, looking up the icy expanse. He smiled, and turned back around, not realising that there was still a pale red tinge to his cheeks.

"Be prepared for a walk, ma'am. Don't worry, we should be safe from the blizzard."

[Reila Tsukino]

Reila laughed, her eyes shining brightly. She saw right through it, but she wasn't repulsed like she usually was. Dai wasn't like the others... He was sweet and caring, trustworthy and...always there. She smiled to herself, imaging what it would be like to come back and have a peaceful lunch here. She had never done anything like that... Not even with Danny. She sighed, wondering what he could possibly be doing now with his homunculus friends. She felt abandoned for the second time and it hurt beyond measure. "Yes...we should," She answered softly.

Her eyes watched as Dai trailed his metal finger over the ice. She realized he couldn't feel how cold it was...and reached her own hand out to touch the slippery surface. It was so cold... She pulled away when her finger began to go numb and smiled sadly. "Dai... how..." Reila began in a whisper and then stopped herself. She looked away quickly. No, she couldn't ask him something like that. Reila wouldn't be able to stand seeing him sad as he told her... If he could tell her... She looked up as he spoke, glad he didn't hear her start to ask. She twitched at what he said though and crossed her arms, sighing. "Daiii!" She whined, "Don't call me m'am; it makes me feel old, you're older than me, you know? Reila is fine, just please not m'am anything but that!"

[Dai]

She was looking at it. Even if it was just a fleeting glance, even if it was just for a second, Reila had looked at his arm with an expression of sadness of some sort. His eyes went down slightly, but he looked back up again. Heck, nobody had ever asked him about it - and it was one of his most guarded secrets... But maybe he should finally let go... And Reila would be the perfect candidate for his story. He smiled, and moved closer to the woman, before speaking, slowly at first.

"Don't worry - it's nothing to be ashamed of. You can ask if you want..." His smile faded slightly, and he held the arm up to her. "I... had only been in the Military for a week, just fresh from training. The team I was assigned to were sent on the case of a serial killer, one who had been killing military officers. Turns out he was a rogue State Alchemist, but nobody had told us that. When we finally found him, I tried to confront him with my Alchemy, and, well, he attacked. With an Alchemically-sharpened machete.

Well, you can see the result. Instead of allowing myself to be pulled out of service indefinitely, I asked to be outfitted with Automail. Two years later, I recovered, and went back into service - only to be move to Briggs a week later. And you know the rest of the story from there... Dai laughed, glad to have that off his chest, of all things, he then turned back, and began to walk, out of the canyon, and onto a path that wound itself around the mountain. Even from where he was standing, Dai could see most of the mountain range...

[Reila Tsukino]

Reila let her arms drop from her chest and sped up her pace so she walked beside him in tune. She wasn't pitying him, she didn't feel bad for him... she just felt curiosity and sorrow at what happened. It was sad... that people had to go through experiences like that--ones that they couldn't help at all regardless. Even being the strongest--the fittest, shit still happens that can't be helped. But what was making Reila smile so brightly despite Dai's terrible loss was what he gained from it.

She listened quietly to him as he spoke of something no one would want to remember and frowned. A machete, really? The guy just hacked his arm right off? ... Reila had no idea what that kind of pain would feel like. She knew what starvation was like...slowly dying--the constant pain as your body slowly shrinks to skin and bones. She knew what fracturing your shoulder felt like, and almost getting your neck cut off by a claw. But a whole arm...losing part of yourself by such simple-minded means...? That was too much. She looked down, the soft sound of her boots sorting through the snow. And he went right back to the military just like that? What were those two years like...? What did he do, how did he feel? She wanted to ask--to know...so she could understand, but she didn't want to turn that laugh of his into that sad expression again. So she stayed quiet, letting those questions soak in her mind for a while.

Then she looked up and saw the mountain range in all its majesty rising up to the sky as if reaching for it. She let a smile weave onto her lips, and wrapped hers arms around Dai's metal one. Then she grinned and lay her head on his shoulder. "At least it wasn't your head."

[Dai]

Dai smiled, looking down at the girl who hung onto his arm. No, there was nothing else to be said. They just needed to keep walking. So walk they did, along the path that spread itself around the mountain, with views that covered just about the entire range. He'd picked a strange spot for the stone, but he had his reasons. It may have been unaffected by the storms, but it was still surrounded by blizzards that you had to get through to get there. Almost as if it had an elemental wall surrounding it. He smiled softly, and walked up the path to the top.

Time for an hour long walk, huh?

----------------TIME SHIFT----------------------

It had been an hour. A full hour of sightseeing, and amazed looks from both Dai and Reila in turn. It really was a beautiful part of the world that they were in. But now, they were at the top. And this was where it really shone. An almost 360 degree view of the Briggs Range. It was breathtaking and exhilirating, all at the same time. Such... a beautiful view. Dai turned and looked at Reila with a soft smile, before turning back to the flat that they stood atop. There it was.

The cave sat there, dug into the mountain that continued up a couple hundred more feet to the proper peak. He smirked, and let go of Reila's arm, before gripping her hand with his automail and leading her to the mouth. This was it, they'd finally be rid of the damned thing. As he led her into the cave, not being rough, of course, he began to realise how big it was... Perfect. The two Alchemists stood before the cave, Dai definitely looking with a visage of awe...

[Reila Tsukino]

There wasn't much more admiring Reila could do. Her eyes had already become stars of wonder, taking in all she could, and burning it into her memory. This was one of the best moments of her life and she would cherish it forever. Never before had she witnessed such beauty... but it was the fact that she wasn't alone that really mattered. When Dai moved out of her grip she smiled, gazing at the cave before them. It really was perfect... Her heart skipped a beat suddenly when she felt a cold, icy touch encompass her hand. She stared at the metal appendage for just a moment before she was pulled off towards the cave. They were holding hands. ...They were holding hands. She had never held a guy's hand before. Never. She felt like her heart was in her throat, but she tried swallowing it to keep her calm appearance. Calm...calm. It wasn't working. What should she do!? Focus...focus. She took a deep breath and tried to will the hot blush on her cheeks to go away. Somewhere far away...

As they entered the cave, the idea of bats didn't even occur to her; she was far too trapped in her mental turmoil to even process the fact that she was in a cave. Her free hand went to her chest and down her shirt where she, as discreetly as she could, retrieved the stone. It glinted red in the darkness as if trying to speak of all the blood spilled over it. She raised their hands, and turned his Automail over, placing the valued gem into his metal palm. She smiled sweetly, a thousand words reflecting through her golden eyes.

[Dai]

The redhead smiled and nodded confidently. Nothing needed to be said. Their hands broke apart, and Dai slowly walked into the cavern. If Reila wanted to follow now, she would. Each step he took into the void seemed to simply cause his heart to beat that mcuh faster for it. But he kept going, even though his heart was in his throat and his face was a pale red. He slowly made it to the end of the cavern, his heart and his head both beating in unison. He knelt down before the wall at the end, and moved his hands across the stone, looking and feeling for somewhere to hide the accursed object. He suddenly found what he was looking for, a small hollow hidden by an overhang of rock. Hidden from the world, yet easy enough to find again. He smiled, and stood back up, turning to Reila with a smirk.

It's gone... Not forever, and definitely not forgotten, but it's gone. That's all that we need... He smiled widely, and put a hand on her shoulder. No, nothing needed to be said. Nothing at all...

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