A/N: This prologue was originally written as a drabble, but the idea simply wouldn't contain itself. So now it's a prologue. :D The actual chapters will be longer; I'm hoping for at least 3k.
Context-wise, this starts in medias res, ie. after Fullmetal has been stricken from the physical records and all obvious traces of him removed in some shape or form (eg. people who knew him well hid themselves, were killed, removed from society, discredited or their memories altered; his name was removed from any written record etc.) so all that's left of him are whispers here and there. The background behind that: why Fullmetal was erased from existence, who caused that etc. will be explored later on, but for now we'll explore a few select characters a few years later as they try and put the world back together.
And while this does involve amnesia!Ed, I can more or less guarantee it won't be typical amnesia!Ed. I have other plans for him. :D
Rust
the story of a world looking for their hero
and a man looking for his purpose
Prologue
Sometimes, as he wandered the world, he heard whispers of a legend called Fullmetal. A man with an ironclad arm, leg and heart. A man whose eyes and hair shone like the sun, and who had stretched his blood red wings and flown higher than anyone dared before he'd vanished from the earth.
His, the wanderer's, hair was blond; his eyes a cat-like yellow, and his leg clacked and jiggled like the worn out lump of automail it was. Sometimes, passersby thought he was the legendary Fullmetal; they'd call to him, whispered when they got close. He'd shake his head and wonder why he felt something stab, somewhere deep in his brain, when they turned away with their saddened expressions. But then he'd shrug and move on, because he was a man who chased fact, not legend.
But sometimes he did wonder about this Fullmetal. Why everyone was so fearful of speaking his name – why it was whispered so carefully, away from the eyes of the law. Sometimes he wondered who Fullmetal was, what he'd done, to become a legend…if he'd ever existed.
There was no record to say someone with that name or title ever had.