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Post by Fullmetals-Lover on Jun 14, 2009 17:42:06 GMT -5
This is my main fic. I'd really appreciate it if you would read it and tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is always welcome. ^ ^[/color]
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Post by Fullmetals-Lover on Jun 14, 2009 17:43:43 GMT -5
Chapter 1: The Meeting
It was quite the unexpected visit when the Central military suddenly barged into East City Headquarters. Their reason was unknown, kept a secret, although clearly something had gone wrong in Central City. Basque Grand, along with the other higher ups, deliberately kept the reason from Colonel Mustang as well. Despite of all the commotion, the East City soldiers had to somehow cope with it. Most of them spent their time in the mess hall chatting with the new coming Central soldiers.
An unpleased girl swung open the mess hall doors. As they closed behind her, she hung her head in disgust and sighed. She knew right from there that the rumors were true. She and her uncle weren’t the only soldiers from Central. The entire mess hall was crowded with the central newcomers. “And I thought they were joking,” sarcastically she grunted, stuffing her right hand into a pocket of her jean shorts. This conclusion caused her lips to curve into a frown, and she heavily started off down an isle of tables. Moving at a quick pace, she tried to block out the constant chattering that came from the soldiers. However, one voice sliced through the barrier that she built.
“Look! Can you believe how big Elicia’s gotten?” called out a familiar voice, too familiar that it was impossible for her to ignore. The girl turned her head in the direction of the voice, already knowing the owner of it. She stormed over to a table, locking her eyes on the black-haired man in uniform. He was completely oblivious to the irritated teen behind him and continued to babble on to the person across from him. “She can even ride a tricycle now! She follows me everywhere on that thing like my escort of cuteness!” A side of that, the man held a photo in his hand.
Without a second thought, the girl forcefully snatched the picture from his hands, cursing, “Damn it, Maes!”
The man cocked his head to the side, getting a glimpse of the angry girl. Instead of scolding her for such rude behavior, the man smiled brightly. “Well, there you are, Rae! Where have you been all this time?” His voice was soft and gentle, although he knew the anger within the girl was boiling.
“Don’t give me that. You know damn right where I’ve been,” the teenager spat.
“Oh yeah. You had that meeting with Roy. How’d it go?”
“Pain in the ass as usual,” muttered the girl; her voice slightly calming. As Maes chuckled in response, her eyes scanned across the pale table. A blonde hair boy sat on the opposite side, his hair tied back in a braid. Wearing black boots with maroon trim, black tank top and overcoat, the boy who seemed to be the age of twelve stared up at her with golden eyes. The two found themselves in a stare down, but with confusion instead. “Have…we met before?” Rae then asked the blonde, her eyes filling with wonder.
The boy blinked his golden orbs a couple times and took a moment to reply. “...Not that I can remember.”
"Odd," the brunette murmured to herself, folding her arms, "You look familiar..." It was then she began to space out, becoming deep thought. Somehow the blonde has a resemblance to a person in the past. However, being the person that she was, she was known to have trouble remembering things. She stood for many moments in silence, and just before Maes was about to speak, the boy's identity finally clicked. "I know who you are!" she gasped with joy and threw her hands down against the table.
“You do?” the boy asked, quirking a brow.
“Yeah! You’re the Fullmetal Alchemist! You’re the kid that snuck into my room three years ago! I remember it now!”
“…Wait! You’re that brat who tired to kill me!” the Fullmetal Alchemist retorted, jumping to his feet.
“I do prefer to use fists instead of brooms these days.”
The blonde grew furious, dreadfully hating the smirk in which the girl had exchanged to him. “Why you little-!" The memory was becoming so clear for the teen alchemists, so clear that the two couldn't help themselves but rethink it.
Flashback
It was about three years ago when young Edward Elric was invited to celebrate his birthday at the Hughes’ residence. It was a cold, gloomy winter day, and little by little the wind began to pick up. Meanwhile, Edward took the time to climb the staircase in which the building held. As he made his way to the second floor, and interesting sound came to him. The strumming of an acoustic guitar traveled throughout the upstairs halls. And being his usual curious self, Ed followed it.
The music led him to a bedroom at the far right of the hall. The door was opened slightly, allowing just a small amount of light to shine out. Edward glanced through the crack of the door and was startled to see a young girl playing the guitar. She sat pretzel leg on a full sized bed wearing dark blue jeans and a white tank top. Edward became fascinated as he watched the girl strum the instrument. He took a step forward and placed his hands against the door. As a result, the door creaked unpleasantly loud. The brunette froze the instant she heard the sound, making Edward jump back and hide in the darkness of the hall. He held his breath for a brief moment, but peered back inside when he thought it was long enough. However, the girl who once played the guitar was now nowhere in sight. Now confused, Ed entered the bedroom.
“Where’d she go?” Edward thought to himself as he proceeded into the room. His golden eyes searched around the room and widened in shock when they came across the many-stacked alchemy books on a nearby desk. He walked to the desk, picked up a book and opened it. “These are from the Central Library, but how can that be?” he said out loud, questioning how such a girl could have access to such books. As he held his hand to his chin and cupped it, he was in complete shock when an object came crashing down on his head.
SHHHWWAACK!
Falling to the floor, Edward clutched his head and grit his teeth. “What the hell?!” he cursed, glancing up at the mysterious figure shadowing above. To his surprise, it was the guitar-playing girl standing above him with a broom in her hands.
“Who the hell are you?!” she snarled.
“Edward Elric!”
“What do you want?! Why are you spying on me you creep?!”
Edward rolled to the side when the girl swung again and propped himself up against the bed. He was completely embarrassed, let alone frightened. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. At that moment, the bedroom door shot open and slammed against the wall. Inside raced Maes Hughes and a suit of armor.
“What’s going on in-” Maes began, but his sentence trailed off at the sight of Edward Elric on the floor and his beloved niece with a broom.
“That shrimp was spying on me!” retorted the brunette.
The once frightened Edward was no overcome with rage. He leaped to his feet and shouted, “SHRIMP?!”
The suit of armor was quick to take hold of him, almost as if it was use to such behavior. “Brother, calm down,” it ordered softly.
Ed regained control of his himself and spoke up. “Where’d you get those books? You can’t have access to them unless you’re a state alchemist.” Not bothering to answer, the girl smiled deviously.
End of Flashback
“Knock it off you two,” Hughes ordered with a heavy sigh. Both Edward and Rae plopped down on a stool, but continued to keep their eyes locked on each other. Maes could easily feel the tension between the two alchemist and felt it was better to change the subject before the two caused a racket.
“Oh, by the way Ed. I’m a lieutenant colonel now,” the man stated, holding up a finger. “Got me in charge of Court Marshal Investigations.”
“Sounds fun-filled-beyond belief,” Edward muttered, “Shouldn’t you be in Central then?”
“Why? So I can work in a bunch of empty offices?” Maes asked, “All the major big-wigs are fleeing Central as fast as they-” As the blonde’s face lit up in surprise, Rae elbowed her uncle, ending his sentence and causing him to switch the subject again. “So Ed! Uh, how’s that search going for the uh, you-know-what stone?” He leaned towards the boy, unsure if he wanted to keep Rae out of the conversation.
Edward’s gaze switched to the table’s surface. “Well,” he began, “ We’re closer, or I’d like to think we are. Right now I’m looking for a guy named Marcoh who might have an answer for me. But I can’t get Mustang to tell me what he’s got on him.”
Rae’s eyes widened when she overheard the name ‘Marcoh’. At the same time, Maes added a remark, unaware that she heard. “Well have you considered he might no have anything?”
Ed was quick to reply, “No, Roy Mustang’s hiding stuff from me. I can definitely tell-” but was quickly ended as the lighting dimmed above them.
“Did I hear you say the name Marcoh, Fullmetal?” a figure asked.
All three glanced up and saw the Brigadier General shadowing above them. Maes looked at him sternly and stated, “Brigadier General Grand.”
“The Iron Blood Alchemist,” Ed added boldly, “What do you want?”
“What do you want with Marcoh? He’s a filthy deserter,” Grand retorted, folding his arms. “Six years ago, a brigade of state alchemists were called on to neutralize the Eastern Rebellion. Marcoh was in their ranks, but he went AWOL before the battle was done. The coward’s been missing ever since…”
Rae couldn’t help but glare at him at this point. She knew what he was talking about the minute he mentioned Marcoh, and she hated it. The war was a topic she never liked to hear. She hated it ever since she was five.
As Iron Blood finished his lecture on Marcoh, he switched his gaze towards Rae. “And why are you here? A worthless alchemist like you should have stayed in Central.”
Rae furiously jumped to her feet. Loosing control of her actions, she was about to sock the man in the face when Maes grabbed her arm and pulled it back. She quickly yanked herself free from his grip and left the mess hall, ignoring the many staring alchemists and the slamming of the doors behind her. [/color]
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Post by Fullmetals-Lover on Jun 14, 2009 17:50:35 GMT -5
Chapter 2: Familar Faces
Leaving the East City Mess Hall, Rae paced heavily down a hall. Her arms were folded, her cheeks were flourished, and her teeth were bared. It was amazing how a few simple words could change her mood on a dime. Over and over, the Brigadier General’s comment echoed in her mind. That man knew well she couldn’t stand him. And the fact that he mentioned her father didn’t help at all. She hated Iron Blood with a passion.
The distressed brunette shook her head furiously side-to-side and clenched her eyes shut. Being completely oblivious to her surroundings, she swerved around a hall corner and crashed head first into a figure. It held its ground firmly and stared down bewilderedly at the reckless young alchemist. She fell backward and landed flat on her butt, which was more of a reflex than a movement caused by impact. Embarrassed by her careless actions, Rae cursed under her breath and slowly lifted her gaze from the floor to the person she collided with. A warm, welcoming smile soon replaced the frown on her face once she realized who the person was.
“M-Miss Anderson! I’m terribly sorry!” Kain Fuery frantically apologized as he held out a hand.
As she took his hand and was lifted to her feet, Rae shook her head side to side. “No need to apologize. It was clearly my fault.”
“But are you hurt?”
“No. I’m fine, really,” she smiled, closing her eyes.
The look on her face made the boy blush. “T-that’s good.”
“Anyway, it’s a good thing I ran into you. Do you mind showing me the dorms?” Rae asked, “East City Headquarters is quite a maze.”
“Not at all.”
It didn’t take them long to get to the dorms. The two said their goodbyes and went in separate directions. Rae searched for the dorm room she and her uncle were staying in. Since the Central soldiers took most of the rooms, Rae walked down hall after hall. She came across a room that stopped her in her tracks, for a rustling sound came from within it. At first, it startled her, but she was quick to realize what it came from. The sound was familiar.
Rae stuck her head through the doorway and peered inside. What she found inside was a suit of armor sitting on the floor. She smiled, knowing it was Alphonse Elric. “Well, hi-yea Alphonse.”
Surprised by the sudden call of his name, the armor flinched. “…Is that you Rae?” His voice was soft and innocent, like a young child’s.
Rae stepped inside and closed the door. “Sure is.” She was glad Al remembered her, unlike his brother. “Long-time-no-see, right?”
“Yeah, it’s been so long. ‘Wait ‘till I tell Brother.”
“No need to. I’ve already seen him,” Rae added as she sat down on the lower level of the dorm’s bunk bed.
The armor sat up in surprise. “Really? When?”
“About fifteen minutes ago.”
“How’d he take it?”
“Well-” At the exact moment, something soft brushed up against the brunette’s leg. With widened eyes, she glanced down and saw a small, yellow and black kitten rubbing against her boot. Alphonse could tell what happened just by the expression on Rae’s face, yet he continued to remain silent.
“Al? Care to explain why there’s a cat in your room?”
The armor nervously fiddled with his fingers. “Well, I found him in the rain- he was cold and hungry.”
“That’s sweet of you Al, but you know animals aren’t allowed in the dorms,” reminded Rae.
“I know, but I couldn’t just leave him out there.”
“Does your brother know?”
Alphonse stared down at the floor. “Yeah, but he’s not too happy about it.”
”Well then. I’ll just have to have word with him.”
“You really think you can convince him?”
“I’ll find a way.” Rae smiled once more. She scooped up the cat and placed it in her lap. As she stroked it, she switched the topic. “So Al. What have you guys been up to for the past three years?”
The armor looked towards the window, attempting to see through its muggy glass. “…Oh nothing, really.”
“Oh really?” Rae quirked a brow in disbelief, “There has to be something." She could tell that there was something he didn’t want to mention, so she decided to bring up something else. “You know, the last time I saw you was after Ed was certified.”
“Yeah. Brother was assigned his first mission.”
“Ahh, I remember hearing about that. Quite a pain, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, it was…” For the next couple of hours, the two spent their time catching up, chatting about their lives and what they did. It was 6:00 by the time Rae looked at the clock. She stood up from the bed and lifted her arms in the air, stretching. “We’ll I’m beat. I’m gonna go.”
“You’re tired?” Al asked.
She brought her arms back to her sides. “Yeah, I couldn’t sleep at all on the train. “Not a good idea to sleep in front of the military, now is it? It gives off a bad impression.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“Well I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight Al,” the brunette returned as she left the room. Once the door was closed, she sighed and headed down the hall. She had almost forgotten why she was there in the first place, to find her dorm. As she turned down another hall, her room came into her view. Sighing once more, she entered the room and shut the door. She plopped down on a bed, closed her eyes, and listened to the silence.
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