The Chimera
by Toothlesslove
Hiccup steadied his heart and held out his hand. The hollow, glimmering eyes of the creature are what disturbed him most, even more than its ungainly limbs, the long thick fur on its body, or its strange reptilian wings.
"Come here, it's going to be alright," he said in a firm voice to the animal cowering in the corner of the dark room. He glanced uneasily around the room, small and enclosed, with only two doors leading in or out. A door behind him, streaming with light, and one in the far corner of the structure, in the darkness. Men shouted outside in the open sunlight - so many soldiers whom he didn't recognize. So many foreign shouts, in a foreign land, among loud weapons firing. Nothing in this place was recognizable. Yet he had no time for them. Maybe not even time for this poor, strange creature before him.
Once he saw that it was so reluctant, so scared, to move either away or towards him, he made the first move. Hiccup stepped closer and touched the creature's cheek with the palm of his right hand. It wasn't dangerous. It stood just about his height, with a head similar to a horse, and its fur definitely mammalian - and yet those eyes. Those eyes haunted Hiccup. There were no pupils, only a hollow, pale space where there should have been a soul. It felt like a space of unremitting sadness. Maybe the soul was there, deep inside, only suffocated in a sorrow and despair he had yet to understand.
"Step away from the animal, civilian," spoke a voice from behind him. Hiccup turned to face the man, a tall soldier with black hair and stern black eyes. His visage stood framed in the single source of light in the room, as he entered through the door and stood in its glow. By the large coat and the way he carried his body, Hiccup could tell that he held high rank with pride.
But before Hiccup could answer, the animal bolted from under his hand.
The soldier swung a gun from his holster and took aim.
"NO!" Hiccup shouted in the same instant that the gun popped. But the creature was no longer there. Life and movement returned to its limbs and body as the animal fled through the other door into the darkness deeper inside the building. Its hoofbeats echoed frantically down a concrete corridor.
Instantly the soldier ran after the fleeing animal. Hiccup didn't hesitate but followed the soldier right behind him, lock-step in the same desperate rhythm, determined not to lose either one of these strangers.
"Why are you trying to kill it? It's done nothing wrong!" Hiccup shouted. They had caught up with the animal, which had apparently lost energy and lagged into barely a walk, stumbling as it rounded a corner of the corridor.
"Please leave, this is a quarantined area. You and anyone who is with you are in serious danger." The man now swung to face Hiccup. Apparently he was confident that the creature was in no condition to escape. The uneven lighting along the hallway, a bare bulb every forty feet, made it difficult to read his features, but it appeared that he was a relatively young yet well-developed man for the position that he held. His dark blue coat swayed as he faced Hiccup with gun drawn yet lowered towards the floor, pointing somewhere between Hiccup's legs. That was a vigilant move, thought Hiccup. It communicated a non-threatening stance that was yet ready to fire at the turn of a moment.
Hiccup breathed quietly, then slowly grasped his fire-sword. He held it out in the space between them. The man never took his eyes off him, and yet remained motionless. Perhaps he wasn't as impetuous an opponent as others Hiccup had grappled with, and he told himself that he would grant the same favor. With a slow, clear motion, Hiccup ignited the sword and let the flames shake awake the tiny narrow world of dark walls and echoing floors.
"I can't let you hurt him," Hiccup said.
"Why do you think it's a him?" replied the man with the narrow eyes. Hiccup was caught off guard slightly, for it didn't seem that was the natural answer of a soldier in battle. He figured the man was going somewhere with it.
"That creature is beyond the help of anyone, alchemist or not. Perhaps you've caught a glimpse of what it once was. But it's been changed, and it will never be the same again." The eyes gazed into his, the small soft coals charring darker still. "It belongs now to monsters that you have no business imagining in your sleep."
In one swift motion the soldier grabbed Hiccup's left hand - the one that held the fire-sword. Never mind that this implement writhed fully lit in flames. Hiccup buckled and pitched the fire towards the man's face. He barely twitched - pain almost invisible as a smile flashed across his face for the first time. Hiccup gritted his teeth and dug into the grip.
"You clearly don't know who I am," the man almost seemed to relish how the flames touched his cheek.
Another moment later, and Hiccup's right hand popped open Zippleback gas and ignited it almost in the same motion. The mini-explosion rocked his body, but he had performed this stunt a thousand times before. Smoke blacked out the lights. His sword swung free again. Hiccup jumped several feet in the air and landed beside the trembling, watching creature. Somehow, though its face looked dead, it looked at Hiccup and mewed a small noise.
Hiccup grinned. "You don't know me, either." He looked up at the soldier, heard a coughing fit. Those perfect porcelain cheeks and burnished uniform had dulled their luster in the detonation, but the man's personality bristled. Hiccup wasn't waiting around for the revenge.
He lunged forward and smacked the gun with his sword. Incredibly, the man dropped the gun without a fight as the sword's momentum sent the weapon zinging through the hall with a crash. That wasn't the only loud sound, either. Hiccup realized it now, but in the middle of the sword ignition and Zippleback explosions and guns hitting walls - there were voices, and roars, and pounding feet. Behind them, people - no, creatures - running towards them. They were arriving now. Large, able-bodied, athletic mixtures of reptiles, mammals, and humans. Nobody was pure, all were horrible puzzles of each other. Their bodies paraded long spines and diseased boils and tentacles dripping with presumable poison. Their mouths smiled open with fangs and laughing tongues. Eight, maybe twelve, bobbed their long necks and tails in the flickering hallway from whence Hiccup and the soldier had traveled just a minute before.
Hiccup couldn't believe his ears when they spoke aloud in laughter. "This is your fortunate day, soldier dog. Gorgeous death will free you from your slavery!"
This time, the man stepped between Hiccup and the monsters. Unarmed, he slipped on a slim white glove on his hand. He said simply: "You picked the wrong soldier to kill."
The next instant fire consumed the world. Like a sun blazing in the middle of the night, a huge gulf of light swallowed the entire pack of squirming beasts. Groaning human voices wailed in uncontrollable pain. The large explosion rocked Hiccup on the balls of his feet as he momentarily shielded his face with his arms. Another fire detonated, and through the smoke he could see the soldier directing its deadly force with the turn of his wrist. No weapon was visible, nothing at all. Again, another explosion, and more unearthly screams.
The gloved hand grabbed Hiccup's wrist. Hiccup winced and found himself gazing up into those coal-black eyes. "Come with me."
"Wait a second." Hiccup knelt beside the trembling creature with its gangly legs and webbed wings. It didn't struggle as he draped its underbelly squarely between his shoulders. He rose and winced again as the full weight dragged down all around him. But he had surprising strength for his size. It was just like carrying a sheep through the fields of Berk.
Incredibly, the man didn't object to rescuing this animal that moments before he had aimed to kill. He led Hiccup at a full run through the endless hallway. Somewhere behind them, the monsters were in pain but alive. The soldier and his astounding abilities - whatever they were - had given them precious time to escape. The only problem was, escape to where? This corridor not only stretched without seeming end, it also never again curved or twisted in any other direction. There were no doors or openings on either the right or the left. They were locked in a headlong flight without a destination.
"A smuggler's tunnel!" the soldier muttered under his breath. "These things go for miles underneath the city. They mislead even spies into dead-ends or traps." He abruptly stopped under the flickering light of a lone light bulb. The past ten bulbs had burnt out behind them. Hiccup panted and slowed down, stopping several feet short of the lone light and its attendant. The full-blown run carrying an animal Hiccup's size had knocked the energy out of him. He sagged under its weight as the poor thing bleated fearfully. He watched the man evaluate him, the calculation almost visible across his face as he sized up the slim boy and the load he was carrying.
Already, loud noises from both directions of the corridor were approaching them from either side. Already, another battle was about to begin.
Like the first time he saw the soldier, the man again stepped between the single glow of light and the surrounding darkness. All Hiccup could see were the silhouette of the coat and the dark hair framing his face.
"You're tiring too easily. This is your last chance to ditch the animal. I'm serious. You are risking your life for something that is no longer human. You may not understand the process - few do - but this animal -" he towered over Hiccup, darkening his field of vision as the man caressed one side of the creature's face. Something indiscernible passed through his eyes, as his and the creature's met.
"- this thing belongs to the monsters. It IS a monster. It's called a chimera, and whatever life it's got left is one of misery and pain and loneliness. Beings like these are the same ones attacking us. Beings like these are created for one purpose only - to destroy all life in obedience to their master's will. And know for certain that their master is coming for us."
The creature slipped off Hiccup's shoulders, struggling now for the ground and to cower in the small space between Hiccup's bent legs and the hard wall behind him. Hiccup found himself pressed against the wall as the soldier leaned in close over him and barricaded any exit with an arm slung across Hiccup's chest. The free hand traced over Hiccup's hip and grasped the hilt of the fire-sword on his belt. He did not take the sword from Hiccup, not yet, but he ensured that he couldn't use it at the moment, either.
Hiccup replied, steadily, his voice edged in heat and calm. "I don't know what kind of world you live in, but I've seen monsters, too. I've lived with them my whole life. Since I was a child, I'd been told that they were killers and the only solution was to kill back. I believed it until I saw a monster for myself. He saved my life. He's the reason I am here, and the reason I won't stop until I find him and help anyone else who is lost and needs someone to believe in them."
Stains from the Zippleback blast still etched ash across the man's face. For the first time, a flicker of emotion passed through his eyes. It wasn't anger, or sorrow, but something almost wistful. Perhaps it was in remembrance of some time long ago, or someone once loved. It didn't last for very long. He smirked.
"With a soft heart like that, you'll die very easily in this world."
"Not if we work together."
The thundering cries and laughter were so close now, just at the edge of the circle of light that surrounded them. Monsters on the right and the left, walls front and back and top and bottom. Just three souls huddled in one spot, with only the protection of fire separating them from the endless cold of death and eternity. But the weight in the stale air had lifted. It seemed the man had decided to trust him after all.
"Take the right side, I'll take the left," he commanded, "and don't unleash those explosions of yours until my signal. These beasts are violent but have a herd-mentality. Knock out the frontal assault, and we may force the backup into retreat."
They had positioned themselves back to back to one another, with the gentle animal protected between them.
"We'll have to make an impressive show of it," Hiccup sardonically observed, as the hum and rattle of dozens of animal bodies packed the tunnel far into its dark depths. Just the heads of these ghastly creatures were visible - writhing, mouthing heads, so bunched up and stacked on top of one another in a living, breathing honeycomb. Hiccup caught his breath. He didn't dare count how many. His new friend may have astounding fire powers, but what good would those do with endless combatants and no exit strategy? There had to be a better way.
"How far above here is the street level?" Hiccup asked.
"We're only one level down, say, twenty or thirty feet below ground. Judging by the distance we've traveled, I'd say we're under North Market intersection. Wait - that's just what we need."
"Your magic fire can blast through plaster, dirt, and concrete, right?"
"Yes, if I concentrate enough force into a single point. But it's going to get messy and hot in here. We need to shield ourselves - quickly."
The soldier pushed the creature gently but firmly against the corner of the floor and the wall, so that it folded up its legs underneath and lay its head on the floor as if going to sleep. And then he grabbed Hiccup with both hands and pushed him prostrate to the floor next to the animal.
"Wait - I don't think -" Hiccup protested.
"Do as I say and stop complaining."
Hiccup obeyed as the soldier proceeded to spread his upper body across both Hiccup and the animal's prone figure. Hiccup couldn't see much with his own body flattened against the floor and his arms folded flat against the surface near his face. But he could hear very clearly - the whistle of laughter and clacking jaws as nasty things crawled closer to the light. Hiccup held his breath as the soldier's body stiffened across his back and held him immobile.
A burning blast irreparably severed the darkness. Not one, not two or three or four, but hot continuous blasting thundered above Hiccup's head. Plaster screamed and rent itself as the hall shook off its integrity. Searing, close-knit air melted solid into liquid. Living and nonliving screams exploded into the air as the entire structure above and beneath shook and gave way in a massive cardiovascular earthquake. Steel and concrete veins buckled and broke in the city's underground heart.
Time seemed to stand still, or at the very least, erase a few of its former steps. Hiccup's consciousness flickered, and he thought he heard someone shake him, but the ringing of the blasts was the only noise in his head. The next thing Hiccup knew, fresh air met his lungs. The weight above him was gone. Crumbling walls gave way as he got to his feet and realized that the entire section of the building was gone above him. Only a burning charred mess remained. Melted studs still whiffed of smoke. Beside him, he heard a small moan. Hiccup ignited his fire-sword, and with the burning flame, he hacked off a plaster board that had fallen across the loyal creature beside him.
In the sunlight now, its eyes looked up at him, still hollow and pale, but also eager, maybe even hopeful. Hiccup grinned and quickly picked up the animal and slung it over his shoulders again.
His climb out of the burning hole reached a new vista: an expansive, bustling metropolis. The earth literally had been ripped apart in the middle of what must have been one of the largest intersections and marketplaces of the city. Metallic cages of transportation wheeled through the street underneath multistory apartments and shops. Hundreds of people thronged the markets, standing, gaping, intaking the free spectacle. Oddly, there seemed to be very little panic among the masses. A quick glance through the faces offered an explanation: A regiment of soldiers had been deployed to impose order on the madness. Soldiers kept back the crowds and crews mopped up the broken street. Some appeared to be hunting down the monsters. From the corner of his eye, he saw soldiers scrambling along the destruction, searching and sealing off any openings. Any trace of a strange animal or a violent nightmare was swept clean, without so much as a fang left in the debris. With the boisterous sun above and the antiseptic renovations below, the idea of monsters didn't seem very credible at all. As if the whole thing had been a dream, and chimera just a word in his imagination.
Where was the soldier who had saved his life?
He didn't have to wonder long. Apparently, the one thing that attracts a military's attention is a secret carried out into the open. Like bees buzzing around a carcass, soldiers gathered round him - staring at the animal slung across his shoulders. Very soon, he spotted the soldier whom he knew, just a little distance in the center of the regiment. He was standing next to another tall, heavy-set man who wore an eye patch. Men guarded this man like feathers framing a peacock, so he must have been important.
Hiccup walked up through the center of the regiment towards the two men. Soldiers flanked him in a mix of escort and scrutiny - yet none stopped him. They surrounded him so thick that Hiccup couldn't even see the people on the street - and perhaps that was their intention. All eyes were on him as he approached the man with the eye patch, the leader of all.
Realizing his fire-sword was still ignited in his hand, and this was cause for some alarm among the troops, Hiccup held out the sword slowly in front of him, and switched the flame off. He stood tall and gazed back at the man with the eye patch, whose stern expression had changed to one of mirth.
"Very impressive, Hiccup Haddock!"
Hiccup stared back. "You know my name?" He glanced towards the soldier whom he knew. The same narrow eyes, silky coal hair and flapping blue coat, though now burnt and shredded in many places. The same ruthlessness yet honesty in his face. Now that same face expressed surprise - towards his leader.
The leader smiled with much pleasure. "I know much more than your name. You are the son of the late Stoick the Vast, and you've come from a far land. You are a warrior and the chief of your people. It's our fortune today that you have visited us. I heard that you assisted one of my most trusted men in a covert operation."
The leader paused, waiting for Hiccup to respond. The revelation that he was a chief rippled through the surroundings of the military gathering. The new aura of prestige and honor given to him by a mere word never sat well with him. He felt that this man was showing off some kind of suspicious knowledge laced in the sweet words of flattery. More to the point, he wasn't the man he wanted to talk to.
"To be honest, this soldier saved my life and the life of this creature. Before I go, I'd like to thank him." Hiccup shifted the weight across his shoulders. The animal bleated softly, almost sleepily, as if it finally found rest after a long journey. Yet in the leader's eyes, a small portion of contempt crossed his face at its mention.
But the soldier held no such misgivings. He stepped close to Hiccup, finally facing him in the sunlight, his figure towering like an elm with a crown of dark leaves.
"I'm Roy Mustang. It was my honor to fight alongside you."
With that, Mustang gently bowed his head.
Hiccup bowed his head, too.
Formalities completed, Mustang's eyes still searched Hiccup's. Under the leader's watchful eye, perhaps Mustang would not voice his true thoughts, yet the soldier had one more thing to say.
"Take care of that soft heart of yours. You'll need it now more than ever in a place like Amestris."