Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.. If you truly believe Trisha and Sloth are different people, then it would be safe to say I own the featuring Homunculus.
Pogi:I am Pogi Selamac and I would like to address a few notes the Author would like to remind the readers before they read the anthologies. These are seven one-shot stories of seven different homunculi who are pretty much lost in the world (We'd like to continue with these, but time and interest are so limited..). Keep in mind that no one's there to do any dirty deeds like the other guys. Second of all things, most of the homunculi will remain nameless for understandable reasons. The chapters are named after sins to pretty much give clues to who they are reincarnated from, which comes to the Author's third point. These seven are, in fact, reincarnated from people form the series and the Author would like people to guess who it is for he likes to... (reads papers) play guessing games with people. He says they should be fairly obvious, but who's to say? Just read it.
The sun was shining down on the desert one day. Besides the silence, all that could be heard was the sound of sand being lightly stepped into. Nearby the source of the sound were a trail of footsteps that followed a figure in a brown cloak. This mysterious figure was looked upon by lizards and vultures, watching the figure focus solely on its destination. Upon closeup, the figure remained hooded with his brown cloak, which covered down to the figure's knees, exposing his black pants and boots. Continuting to walk, harsh panting was heard from the completely covered head. For each time the figure's foot stepped onto the ground, sweat from the hood dripped onto the sand that was being walked on. As the figure kept walking, the steady pacing quickly turned into stumbling. It wasn't long before the figure fell, face looking towards the cloudless sunny sky. Looking up, a few falling feathers were giving a decent amount of shade. A few seconds later, the figure sat up and unhooded the face that was being covered from the sun, tired of the steamy heat of the cloak. The figure was a young man around the age of apporximately 19. His black hair, drenched with sweat, covered most of his face, but smothered him continually with heat. "What am I going to do?" asked the man, who's purple eyes looked away from the sunlight, seeing vultures coming nearby. "If I don't get to a town anytime soon, I think I might be food for these damn birds.." Looking at a distance, the man noticed something, which got him to stand up which whatever strength he has left. Fatigued as he is, he continued walking to what he thought to see was a city in the desert.
It wasn't beforelong until the cloaked stranger went into the city in the desert. It was wierd for him, because he though he stood out compared to everyone else around. Compared to the tanned people of this place, he felt paler than the clouds. Everywhere he went, men and women would look at him with deep concern. Children would look at him as if he was a demon. It meant nothing to him at the moment; he just wanted a place to sit from the head.
It was then that he found a booth nearby, in the shape of an almost bald man flexing. This being the largest store that's close by, he didn't even hesitate to walk over. He soon sat in the empty stools and rested his head into the shade of the roof that covered the booth, covering his eyes. Lying down there, he heard the people of the city walking down the streets, sweeping anything from their homes and the laughter of children. The laughter of one child stood out from the noise, as it it was directly behind him. To his surprise, he felt something tug on his cloak, which caused him to lift his head and look behind him. His purple eyes started down onto a little boy around 5, tanned like everyone else. He wore a green sleeveless shirt and blue shorts, along with red pants. The wanderer didn't know how to react to what he saw before him. At that moment, someone else ran up to the boy and picked him up onto her sitting lap.
"I'm sorry. My son usually does this when I'm not looking." said the woman, who was sitting in the next seat. Her look became more concerned as she examined the stranger's attire and his pale face. "You're not from around here are you?"
"I just came in from walking and I needed to sit down." Replied the wanderer.
"Where are you from exactly?"
"'What do you want?' is more like it!", shouted the owner of the booth they were sitting in. Upon look, the man was wearing a black teeshirt and a white apron, topped with a brown hat. This man had had a mustache that grew down to his chin. "I just can't have anyone sit down without having anything! What can I help you with?"
"The usual, please," said the woman, now looking at the other guest. "What do you want?"
"Just water."
Beforelong, a glass of water was put in front of the newcomer. This glass was filled with ice, with several drops dripping down down the cup. Looking at this made the stranger's mouth dry up, worse than before compared to the heat pushing down onto his cloak.
"Aren't you going to drink?" the woman asked as she fed her child.
"I'm going to.. it's just that it's been such a long time since I've had something to eat," he said as held onto the cool sensation into his right hand. "I've wondered how I could've survived in that desert for that long."
"What were you doing in the desert, first of all things?"
"I was traveling around the cities, until I got lost," He took the glass to his lips as the cold water flowed into his thirsty mouth. This was followed by him dropping the glass in sigh. "I've been doing this as far as I can remember."
"Don't you have anyone to go to?"
"I only remember me in the desert. I've never had anyone... I have no home."
"What's your name?" asked the woman. The stranger looked straight into his glass, lost in his thoughts. Thinking about the question had him struggling, as it was shown on his face. "Is something wrong?"
".. It's nothing," said the stranger as he looked at the woman and her child.
"I'm Kain!" shouted the child with such enthusiasm.
"Sounds like a nice name," The stranger said with interest. "Why did you name him that?"
"He's named after this one fellow who used to be around." Replied the owner, coming from nowhere.
"What happened?" asked by the stranger interestingly as he looked at the two. The woman looked down a bit, as did the owner, who looked away instead. After a few seconds, he knew that something happened that's better off not being said. "I see.."
The stranger started back at his drink and grabbed his glass for the rest of the drink. Nothing was present but silence for the next minute, which concerned the child. Kain looked up to see that his mother was looking slightly at the stranger, who was too busy finishing his drink. The owner went back and attended to his business in the back of the shop. The stranger then put his empty glass down and wiped his mouth with his arm.
"Do you need a place to stay?" asked the woman sitting next to him.
"You'll do that?"
"We're only visiting for a while. I actually came from Risembool and we're staying at an inn with. We have about two bedrooms. We won't mind."
The stranger looked at the woman and her child for a few seconds. He didn't know how to reply to all this but to just give them a smile. This made the woman smile as well, which confused both Kain and the owner. A few minutes passed and the owner of the shop cleaned up the counter, watching the three leave off into the sun-blazed road.
It was night time in the city. The stars were shining bright along with the partial moon down onto the dark streets. On the road a bird was walking down, looking around for something to eat, but flew away as soon as it noticed somebody chasing it. In fright, the bird flew past a window the cloaked stranger was looking out from, hands supporting his weight so he can poke his head through. Turning around, he noticed the door was opening, revealing Kain with a large white feather in his hand.
"I found a feather! Want to see it?" said Kain, which left the stranger speechless.
"Kain," said his mother walking through the door her son went through. "Don't disturb him while he's washing."
"It's okay," he said, "I already finished washing and I'm ready to get some sleep. It's been a long day for me."
"I see. Kain, go and wash up before you go to bed."
"Alright, Mom" said the boy before he left the room.
The stranger looked at the woman, as she watched her son leave the room. She was dressed in a pink nightgown, which reached down to her knees. He never really took a full view on her, which was apparant by looking at her pink bangs, which was to compliment her brown long hair. She looked back at him with deep concern.
"It must be hard for you to do this everyday.."
"I don't really mind of course.. nothing beats a day of traveling through places and having the wind breeze through your hair. It's sort of nice if you look at it from a different perspective.."
Silence was all that filled the room as the two stared at eachother. The woman thought about the words he said in satisfaction as she looked down onto the floor and back at him. The man soon sat back down on his bed, taking off his boots.
"Can I ask you something?" the man asked. "why did you invite me to stay with you? As far as I've known traveling, people were never this hospitable to others they've just met."
"Good question" the woman replied, still standing at the doorway. "I felt like I can trust in you... This may sound silly, but you remind me of someone I used to know... "
"... I see" he said, not knowing how to reply from something like that.
"It's getting late" she said, "you should get some sleep now."
He smiled and without any further notice, he took off his cloak and revealed what he was going to sleep in for the night. The mother's eyes began to widen as she saw something vagely familiar on the young man. The man wore a black tight sleeveless shirt, detailed with 2 red lines on the back of his torso. One thing that stood out the most was a tattoo on his right shoulder; a tattoo of a red dragon in a formation of a circle, as if it was eating himself. He turned around, staring his purple eyes straight at his host.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
".. No... I'll leave you alone now. Good night.." said the shocked woman as she closed the door.
As the moon shined high that night, the pale man slept in his bed, sound asleep. In the other room, Kain slept as well with the white feather he found in his hand. In the same bed was his mother, still wide awake, lost in thought. All that crossed her mind was tattoo on that man's right shoulder. Images of that tattoo quickly ran through her eyes as did the image of that man she welcomed to spend her visit with. Sweat ran down her face as she felt her blood racing within her body. Feeling uncomfortable in her position, she shifted so that she faced he son. From there, she noticed the door where the man was sleeping, right behind the feather that's being held in Kain's hand. Not wanting to see it anymore, she faced the other way, in hopes of clear thought and a good night's sleep.
The sun rose out of the sandy ground from the eyes of the vultures in the desert. Three of them flew over the sky to find a body on the ground and flew right above it, like bees attracted to honey. The three birds rotated eachother in a circular pattern, just like the dragon and its tail as pictured on the man's right shoulder. In the city that same man stayed, the three inn guests left the building they slept in last night. The sun shined a golden morning glow at the three as Kain and her mother looked at the cloaked man they've invited.
"We're going back to Risembool today.." the mother said with a disappointed delight. "Are you going to be able to handle yourself?"
"I'll be fine," he said. "This isn't the first time I've been in a situation like that yesterday, but it was nice of you to make me feel welcome."
"But where will you go?"
"I don't know.." he said looking around, "The next city shouldn't be far away."
"... Kain. Please go inside for a moment." said the mother sternly.
With no argument, the child walked into the house playing with the white feather. He soon looked out the window to find the shadows of the his mother and the stranger looking at eachother. The mother's eyes aimed straight into the man's purple eyes. His image was distorted by the tears swelling up in her eyes. The man had absolutely no idea what was happening, or why she was crying.
"You're him aren't you?.." she whispered, further confusing him, ".. you've been around this whole time.."
"What?" He answered in confusion, "I don't know what you're talking about.."
"Don't give me that! You're here now aren't you? Do you realize what I've been through since you've left? So much has happened to me.. I've been lied to by so many... I've been used by so many.. I've been told so much lies and I've bought into them all! My spirit's been broken for years.. Everything I knew was taken away from me and I thought I lost everything.. All I had was my child..Kain.. but now you've come back.. somehow you came back.. and we can be together again.. "
Everything was silent at that point. The cloaked stranger had the most confused and frighted look on his face, absent from sympathizing with her thoughts. Above them where birds watching on top of the surrounding buildings. The tearing mother slowly walked up to the cloaked stranger, causing him to step back a bit. She soon jumped onto him and embraced him into her arms as her tears fell onto the dry ground.
The cloaked stranger looked at her in deep confusion for a while. He didn't know how to react to what was happening to him. Looking down onto her, his eyes soon began to widen in shock. His purple eyes shrunk a bit as his eyes exposed the red veins. Images ran through his head of him walking through the desert, attacked by vultures who swooped down at him. Remembering everytime a vulture would attack, he grabbed it by the leg and slammed it down onto the ground. A quick flash ran before his eyes as he noticed images of a bald man in black robes with a red glow on his hand. Yet another image flashed before his eyes, with memories of him waking up from his bed in the middle of a dark room. The only thing that luminated the room was the same red glow near the other end of the room. Curious of what it was, he walked up to it, just far enough to touch it with his hand. Before he could another image flashed before him, as it was an image of the same woman who welcomed him.
Everything was coming to him so fast, he was too afraid, too confused, too scared to comprehend these images in such a fast moment. As the two stood there, a flash of white light illuminated from his cloak, catching the attention of the woman hugging him. Before she even knew it, her embrace was broken and she was knocked down on the floor by a punch of white feathers. Upon looking upwards, she noticed that a giant white wing appeared below the cloak of the stranger. This caught the attention of Kain from the inn as he glanced with shock through the window.
"Get away from me!"
"What do you mean?" she said getting up. "Why are you doing this to me?"
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" As the man screamed in terror, another flash illuminated beneath his cloak, exposing another large wing. "DON'T COME ANYWHERE NEAR ME AGAIN!"
With that said, both wings extended and started flapping. The mother could do nothing but watch as the man she once knew levitated before her eyes. He was raised just above the buildings, scaring away the glancing vultures. He eventually reached up to the point where he blocked the sun from the view of the very woman staring up at him. In fear, the man turned around and flew away from the city. She couldn't do anything but stand there and watch as he flew away into the sun.
Pogi: There's 1/7th of the Homunculi Anthologies. We here appreciate reviews and criticisms. Until then, we'll be back sometime soon.
