“You are four days late, what took you so long?” Heon barked at Kric. The younger alchemist kept his gaze fixed firmly on the floor, not bothering to give an answer to the man or even look at him.

“I asked you a question, Diamond Alchemist!” the older man shouted. At the sound of his title, Kric looked up, unwittingly staring straight into Heon’s eyes. Hate swelled up in the younger man, and it was trying to not show through his eyes. For nearly three years this man had been out of his life, and it was only because the State had called the group together once more that he was traveling with them.

“Water, give him a break,” a woman to his right said softly. Breaking his gaze away from Heon, Kric looked at the five men and women who stood watching the argument, and it was one wearing a dark green coat who had spoken. Looking at her, the diamond alchemist’s heart melted. It was Chloe, otherwise known as the Plant Alchemist, and she was only two years older than Kric. While the man had traveled with the group his affection for her had grown, even though she was one of the ten who had helped kill the people of his village.

“The kid got here before we were about to leave, so get off his case,” Chloe continued. Grunting with disapproval, the older alchemist gave Kric one last glare, and began walking up the path.

She always gets Heon to stop shouting at me, yet I never know why… the young alchemist thought to himself, his gaze fixed on Chloe. As if knowing she watched being watched, the female alchemist looked straight at Kric. In that one moment that there vision was connected, every part of the diamond alchemist’s body began to hum with excitement, accidentally triggering his alchemic ability. Without knowing it, the ground around him began to rise, until it was at vision height, making Kric fall out of his sloppy day dream.

“Diamond, what happened this time!” a man shouted from the outside of the small barrier. With a thud the wall exploded, revealing two men with their fists out.

“Thanks Sam, Felix,” the younger alchemist said, wiping dust from his trousers. The other two alchemists gave him a funny look, then proceeded to follow Heon. Looking round, he saw that Chloe was already gone, already catching up with the Water Alchemist leading the group. Cursing under his breath, Kric fell into line behind another woman and followed the group.

“How’s life been treating you, Kric?” the woman said casually, turning her head to look at him.

“Not too bad Eva, how’s it been under Heon’s rule? Anymore ambushes that nearly got you killed?” Kric replied, keeping his gaze fixed on Chloe, who was talking mildly with Sam.

“A few, but nothing we couldn’t handle. I honestly think that you shouldn’t have left the group, we haven’t lost anybody since Isaac last year, and the other three…” the woman started, but faltered at the last part of the sentence. The younger alchemist knew why she had stopped, since the three that had died had been killed at his own hands, with the very blade that he now carried on his back. Another thing that had made her falter was that one of the three had been her husband, a kind man who only followed orders to help his country.

“If I could rewind time I would go back to that night,” Kric muttered silently.

“History can never rewritten, no matter how much we wish it,” Eva sighed. Knowing that the conversation was finished, the younger alchemist fell silent, thinking his own private thoughts.

~

After three straight hours of walking, the group came to a halt at the end of the path, where an unspeakable drop started. The group had started of at the base of a mountain, and now they were nearing its peak.

“We make camp for tonight, then we will make ourselves a path over the drop and back onto the path tomorrow, so get ready for the task ahead!” Heon shouted to the group. Moaning aloud, the alchemists dispersed.

“There’s never a trek we have to take without us putting some kind of effort into,” Felix moaned. Scratching the ground with a knife, the alchemist made an intricate design on the floor, then with a wave of his hand moved the earth around it, gradually forming it into a bunk bed, complete with a large piece of overhanging rock to shield it if it rained.

“Not bad brother, but the overhanging was a little overboard,” Sam laughed. With a jump he landed on the top bunk, laying down and closing his eyes. Rolling his own eyes at his brother’s action, Felix lay down on his own bunk, and followed his brother into a peaceful sleep. The others soon followed suit, each either making a single bed out of stone or making a bunk to share with another. Making his own alchemic circle, Kric tried to make a bed, but the stone rose out as just a rectangular piece of rock.

“You missed out the second wave symbol,” said a voice behind him. Turning round, the diamond alchemist saw it was Chloe, the sight of her making the man’s face go bright red. Giggling like she was a schoolgirl, the female alchemist bent down and added a few more symbols to Kric’s circle, finally finishing it with a stab in the middle. Pressing his hand to it, Kric watched as another stone bed rose out of the ground, this one a bunk bed.

“You want to share?” the man said with disbelief, making his face go even redder. She didn’t reply, but with a jump landed on the top bunk. His mind reduced to mere mush by the woman, Kric stupidly tried to follow the woman up.

“Diamond, you’re on the bottom!” a man shouted from behind Kric. With a heave someone pulled on the back of his overcoat, pulling off the bunk bed. Landing with a thud, the younger alchemist looked up to see another man, who was dressed in silver, Rowan, the Stone Alchemist. The man’s face was contorted with laughter at what had just happened.

“Very funny, now pull me up,” Kric grumbled. The other man pulled him up, patting him on the back.

“She will one day be yours, but until then you know the rules for alchemist fraternizing,” Rowan replied. Mumbling under his breath, the diamond alchemist laid down on his bed, pulling his coat over him for warmth. Though the bed was made of stone, it didn’t irritate him, his training had taught him that even stone is better than nothing to lie on. Drifting into a peaceful slumber, he closed is eyes and turned over.

------
Kric was once again stood in a campsite, but it was much smaller than the one where he fell asleep, and instead of stone beds around him were several small tents, each adorned with symbols around the top. His clothes had changed, he was now wearing ragged clothes, and his sword Wraith was in his hand, stained with blood. There were screams in the air, and people were running towards him, all taller than him. One shot a stone projectile at him, the end hitting him in the arm, making him feel immense pain. There was a sudden jolt in his vision and the area around him melted into nothing, leaving a black void around him.

Your training was never finished, here you can finally learn what you always wanted to know… a voice said, emitting from all around him. It filled the alchemist with peace, and the void suddenly disappeared, waking Kric from the illusion.
-----

The alchemist sat straight up, his forehead covered with beads of sweat. Looking left and right, Kric found that he was no longer in the campsite, but in a walled marble room, the glow hurting his eyes.

“Welcome to the Dome, my friend,” said a voice to his right.

Ooc: hope this is long enough, I didn’t put that many words in it ^_^