Kurai: hello everyone and welcome to The Road Home: REVISED! I hope you enjoy this hopefully better version of my old story from four years ago! I hope you will enjoy and stick around for the good stuff! Like the journey and so on and so forth!
Tristan: hope you enjoy! Sparky does not own Fullmetal Alchemist, just all the others that have nothing to do with the show!
Kurai: k! please enjoy!
"Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them." – William Shakespeare
I never understood why people hated nature. The cool breeze on a hot day, the sound of leaves waving in the wind, the creek passing by on its way to the river, giving a new shade of color to the landscape. I lay on the grass with my eyes closed, trees towering over me, giving me a perfect mixture of shade and sunlight as I floated between unconsciousness with all the heat. Life seemed awesome as I tried my best to catch up on much needed rest. As my thoughts started to drift off as sleep finally started to set in, a sharp screeched filled the air.
Panicked, I sat upright in time to hit my forehead against an equally hard surface, gaining a pained groan from said surface.
"Jesus Sparky! I didn't expect you to attack me head on, literally", a voice exclaimed as the owner rubbed his head in pain.
I glared at the owner of the voice, staring face to face with none other than one of my good friends Tristan, his hazel, gray eyes giving me an annoyed, pained look as I stuck out my tongue at him.
"Not my fault you tried to scare me, smart ass! I was minding my own business till you showed up and practically gave me a stroke!" I snapped back as I stood up annoyed, dusting my dark blue jeans off with a huff.
He just rolled his eyes as he jumped to his feet, damn how the hell could such a tall guy be so graceful? I sighed inwardly as I tried my best to stand up straight, not wanting to be out shown by him, even with my long legs that made my body uneven, giving me a clumsy time.
He rolled his eyes as he started heading back to the bridge close by, heading back to town over the river, "I was sure you would put up a fight with having to wake up so I was sure that was the quickest way, anyways it's almost time to start and everyone's already there".
Automatically I ran after him, excitement making the last of my anger evaporate as I practically skipped ahead. I had waited weeks for this moment and I wasn't about to miss it!
As we entered town I saw how late the day was as more and more people disappeared from the streets, night time just less than an hour away. Seeing how short on time we were, we raced back to my house, excitement already building as we climbing up the stairs to my room to the people sitting on the floor, waiting patiently.
My smiled broadened as I took in the faces of my closest friends. Along with Tristan there sat his best friend Jordan next to my other friends Liz and Vivian. They seemed to have been watching anime and movies while they waited as I saw my bookshelf of dvds piled next to the bed. Normally I would have been a bit annoyed at the fact that I would need to clean up later but my excitement made me turn a blind eye.
"You guys ready for tonight?" I practically yelled happily as I got my telescope from my closet and positioned it near my window, getting ready for the meteor shower that only happened every 45 years.
"Hell yeah! We've been waiting for you for hours!" Jordan replied with mock annoyance as he set up a small coffee table with snacks, grinning at his latest creations of sweets and cakes that never failed to cheer him up.
I smiled sheepishly as I finished setting up the telescope and camera and excitedly sat next to Vivian and Liz on my bed, careful not to crush my assortment of plush toys from my most favorite anime characters that took me years of hunting online to find. I peaked at my laptop screen that lay on Vivian's lap in curiosity as I spotted a Fullmetal Alchemist episode playing, causing my mood to brighten further (if possible!).
"Hell yeah! That's my favorite Fullmetal episode!" I said with a grin as I relaxed against the pillows, fully prepared to enjoy the fight between Edward Elric and Roy Mustang.
Unfortunately, Tristan had other plans as he snapped the laptop close with annoyance written all over his face. "Now's not the time for watching anime, we gotta get ready or we'll miss the meteor shower! Especially because of a certain Sparky that begged and dragged us all over today just for this" he said with annoyance clearly dripping with each word.
I sighed annoyed, jumping off my spot on the bed and heading towards the window, rubbing my mid waist length, dark brown hair in annoyance, making it messier than already (surprisingly that was possible), "Well what do you expect? My parents are visiting my relatives a couple of towns over for the weekend and I didn't wanna watch alone!"
Tristan thankfully decided to drop the subject just as Liz gasped, pointing out the window excitedly, "Look! The meteor shower is starting!" We all turned quickly as we saw the rays of light shooting down from the sky, like raindrops made of light sliding off a window. We watched in amazement as more and more rays fell, lighting the sky in a dance of lights just as Jordan turned off the lights, making the meteors easier to see.
We stared in amazement as we watched, all of us huddled together on the windowsill, letting a comfortable silence fall over us.
I sat mesmerized by the lights in the sky until a movement on the corner of my eye caught my attention. I peeked down into the garden confused as I saw a shadow hiding behind a rose bush. Shivers of fear slid down my spine as I noticed the shadow staring right at us, its dark gaze unwavering. As our eyes made contact the shadow quickly slid from behind the bush and jump over the fence, lightly landing on its feet on the other side, a challenging glance sent up to me as it seemed to wait for me to make a move, waiting for something.
I bit my lip quietly as I looked at everyone, surprised to see everyone still gazing in wonder at the meteor shower, the joy of watching the awesome show having left my mind with the shadow's appearance. I quietly slid from the small group and stood up carefully, not wanting to alarm them.
Unfortunately, Tristan was always a tricky bastard to fool so the minute I stood up his head snapped to attention, looking at me with an unanswered question in his eyes.
"Where you going, Sparky?" he questioned as he stared at me confused. This question seemed to snap everyone out of their trance from the show as they all turned to look at me as well.
I smiled sheepish and pointed towards the door, "Nothin' was just going to the bathroom real fast, be back in a bit".
They nodded quickly, not wanting to question further, who knows, I was itching to see who that person was, even if I had to come up with something embarrassing to get them off my ass, but thankfully they didn't push it. I quickly headed downstairs once I saw their attentions caught on the show again, making sure to shut the door behind me. I grabbed my dark gray sweater off the coat hanger and quickly put on my black sneakers, hopping on one foot and cussing as I opened the back door quietly, finishing putting on my shoes. I quietly tiptoed down the wall of the house, making sure I couldn't be seen from my room window.
As I opened the back gate and slipped through quietly just as fear set in at the pit of my stomach, all curiosity of finding the mysterious person gone, making my insides squirm at realizing that I was doing. I wasn't a very brave person when it came to scary things, heck I freaked out whenever I see a shadow move (much to my embarrassment at realizing that it was just a door opening), so I wasn't surprised as I had a small battle in my head, deciding to continue or turn back, the scardy cat in me winning till I saw a movement at the corner of my eye, making me freeze in my tracks.
There stood a person clad in a black cape, their hood drawn over their face so only their lips were visible. I stood there in fear as the shadow smiled quietly, inclining with their head to follow, as they quietly walked ahead and past a corner, disappearing. I bit my lip quietly, knowing I couldn't turn back now, feeling like an idiot for coming out to begin with. Damn you curiosity! For all I knew I could be following a serial killer or a psycho stalker! I rubbed my hair in frustration but decided to keep going, knowing fully well that even if I turned back now, who knows what'll happen? The person already knew where I lived, who can say they won't try to take me by force? I shivered quietly at the thought of my friends being dragged into this and decided to finish this before anything worse happened, hopefully the shadow was a good guy.
I sighed quietly and followed the person the way they had just gone down, being careful not to be taken by surprise or accidentally tripping on anything, I was already clumsy enough in broad daylight, didn't wanna push my luck during the night time.
I looked around carefully as I rounded the corner, looking to spot the shadow and hoping they weren't hiding somewhere for a surprise attack. I let out a sigh of relief at seeing them standing at another corner at the end of the street, waiting patiently. I followed quickly, hoping I didn't lose them as they continued on.
After another few minutes of walking they stopped and spun around to face me, having led me to the bridge leading out of town, the same bridge I had crossed just a couple of hours ago after getting picked up by Tristan. I froze, waiting for something to jump out and attack me. Yet as I stared at the figure I noticed something weird, they seemed to be a bit nervous. I stared confused as they looked around with a hint of fear.
Without notice, I was slammed onto the floor of the bridge, the breath in my lungs leaving me on impact, making me gasp for breath. Shocked, I looked upward to the culprit, seeing a man with short raven black hair, a wicked grin framing their face as he sat on my back, leg crushing my head back to the floor.
"Tsk tsk tsk, this is almost TOO easy. Where's the fun if we don't have a chase?" the man sighed disappointed as he kept pressing his foot down on my head, making me gasp in pain, feeling like my skull was about to be crushed.
"Now now, our mission comes first. We're to dispose of the girl before she crosses over. Master's orders are absolute." A woman with short, spiky black hair said smoothly, appearing next to the man, a neutral look on her face as her dark purple eyes turned to the shadow I had been following.
I peeked upward a bit in confusion, surprised to see the figure staring at the two, having a defensive pose, ready to attack if tempted. Through the pain in my skull, I had expected the person to be behind the attack and yet it seemed like they were not friends, but enemies.
The man's grin widened as he took in the form of the shadow. "Well well, seems you didn't expect to find us now did you? Too bad for you but we didn't go back already, seems waiting till you lured her out yourself and out to the opening spot was a pretty good idea. Wouldn't want the passageway to open with the meteor shower nearing its peak" The shadow gave a low growl as I saw something shiny being pulled from under their cloak, gasping in awe as I took in the sword they held.
The women and man straightened up in anticipation, waiting for him/her to make the first move. Suddenly a yell pierced the silence as the women fell to her knees in pain, her hands clinging to the fabric of the back of her black dress as she spun around to find the culprit that attacked her.
I gasped in surprise as I saw Tristan standing behind her, holding a large tree branch menacingly as he took a swing at the man. The man growled and quickly moved out of the way, moving to quickly stand beside the women. I breathed in in relief as the painful pressure was taken off my head and back. Tristan quickly moved to help me stand, worry clearing visible in his eyes as he moved my away from the strange duo.
"What are you doing here?!" I gasped at him surprised, expecting him to still be with everyone back at my house.
"You're welcome, and anyways you were taking a while so I decided to look for you and good thing too" he said quietly, taking in the three figures.
I panicked and looked at them, waiting for them to attack until I noticed the shadow had taken a defensive stance between them and us. My head spun in confusion, WTF was happening?!
I clinged to Tristan panicky, seeing at the shadow stood their defensive ground as the duo attacked. Two against one was too much! It was unfair! I looked at Tristan worried "We gotta- help 'em!".
Tristan looked at me confused but nodded worried, knowing that if anything happened to them it would be our fault, he/she was risking their life to help us after all!
"You gotta head back though, as far as I know from what I heard, it seems they're after you" Tristan said as he turned to me.
I growled annoyed, "No way in hell I'm leaving you two fighting with two psychos by yourselves! I can help! We can have an upper hand with the three of us!"
Tristan sighed annoyed, giving me his look that quickly told me I was being too stubborn again. But before he could reply he quickly pushed me aside as the man attacked, barely missing cutting off my head by an inch as he swung a spear wildly, a mad look in his eyes as he growled annoyed. "Hold the fuck still brat! The faster I kill you the faster I can get home!" he yelled as he swung at me again.
I stumbled back panicking, adrenaline kicking in as I tried my best not to get my head cut off. Tristan quickly recovered as he swung at the man, easily blocking his next attack. The man growled in annoyance as he tried to push Tristan off with a thrust of his spear.
Suddenly the man gasped in pain and yelped as a sword flew past him and landed on the floor besides him, having cut his arm deep enough to make him drop his spear in pain.
Tristan and me looked up at the shadow in awe as they quickly grabbed the sword, kicking the man back and right into the surprised women as she was about to attack the shadow from behind, knocking them both down. The shadow took a protective stand once again in front of us, poised to attack again as the duo stood up, anger filling their faces as they readied to attack again, the man preparing to attack, weapon or not.
I grinned; these guys have nothing on the cloak dude! He had them practically running already and he/she didn't even look tired!
Yet my celebration was cut short as the women seemed to appear out of nowhere, knocking the shadow down hard, making her/him gasp in pain. Before either Tristan or I had a moment to react, the man appeared in front of Tristan, knocking him to the side and tumbling over the edge of the bridge.
"NO!" I gasped as I quickly reached for his hand, barely grabbing on as he slid downward, the river under him looking ominous under the dark sky. I held on with as much strength as I could.
I looked down at him worried but panicked, seeing his eyes widen as he saw the man standing over me, grinning wide as he raised his spear to attack.
"About time we got this over with!" he yelled with triumph as he swung his spear. I closed my eyes in anticipation, not daring to let go of Tristan to move out of the way before I felt something slam into me hard, making me gasp as I fell over the bridge.
I quickly grabbed onto the edge of the bridge with my free hand as I kept a tight hold on Tristan's hand, making sure to not let go. I bit my lip in pain as we dangled from the bridge, putting as much strength as I had into holding on to both Tristan and the bridge.
Tristan looked at me worried, "Sparky! You gotta climb back up! With or without me!"
I growled in annoyance, glancing down at him, "Shut it! I'm getting us both up this bridge no matter what!" I grabbed onto his hand tighter to show my determination.
I looked up at the bridge, seeing the cloaked figure standing back upright, having knocked the man down right on time, unfortunately making him accidentally slam into us at the same time. I sighed in relief at seeing the women lying on the floor, grabbing her leg in pain as she glared at us, I gasped noticing a stump under her dress where her leg should be, doing my best to ignore the limp piece of flesh lying close by her.
I looked up at the cloaked person, waiting for them to help us up until I saw him/her staring at me, eyes hidden by the hood.
Both me and Tristan smiled with relief, seeing them reach down and grab onto my hand, lifting me up a little. A few seconds dangling from the bridge by the cloaked person's hand made dread creep into the pit of my stomach, seeing as they had no intention to help us up.
The cloaked figure looked at me, smiling sadly, "I'm sorry, but you'll thank me later".
I gasped in fear as they let go of my hand. I seemed to fall in slow motion, seeing the person's dark brown eyes stare at me, a small sad smile on their face. Behind them I saw the meteors falling in the sky, reminding me of the moment with all my friends and our meteor shower watching plans going on, which seemed like hours ago. Maybe they would still be there watching, maybe thinking we were getting food or just messing around and wasting time. Would they worry? Would they even notice us gone? I thought quietly as darkness overtook me, making me oblivious to the bright blue light engulfing Tristan and my limp forms.
Kurai: please stay tuned for chapter two which will hopefully be posted within a day! And don't forget to RxR! Criticism is welcome in the fact that it is polite and helpful tips, yet flaming is not allowed for it is rude and prefer not to deal with it, so that being said thank you for reading!
And I hope to meet another night.