Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist. All recognizable characters are the sole property of Hiromu Arakawa. All unrecognizable ones are the creative property of yours truly; their theft is punishable by severe use of wicked juju via black voodoo that shall and has been proven to result in the subduing and forced watch of Excel Saga episodes dubbed with American voices (not sure if that's a usable form of punishment but it's worth a shot!).
Because, like mama always told ya...stealing is wrong.
Title: BENEATH THE SKY SO BLUE
Summoner: For almost three years he has been her mentor and teacher. She would have been considered an aspiring alchemist if only they were in Amestris. But somehow amidst the European Theatre of World War II, alchemy may yet rise into our own world.
Rating: T
Warning: Mild language and violence. Some possible mature themes. Further or added warnings will be posted on a chapter-to-chapter basis.
Author Note: No! Say it ain't so! Another story with the dreaded OC, OH THE HUMANITY OF IT ALL! Yes, yes, and yes! And as I've always said before, I really can't bring myself to care much. I've always wanted to attempt a Full Metal Alchemist fanfiction, but was afraid I would get lost in the storylines f I tried to tap into the anime series. But before I start, and before you all start asking questions and pointing out the obvious:
Yes, the title of this story is named after the last episode of Trigun (one of my all time favorite anime/manga series).
Yes, this storyline will be taking place after The Conqueror of Shamballa, during World War II and specifically during the European Theatre.
Yes, I do have an entire storyline planned out but please do not be expecting regular updates. I will try to make this as interesting as possible.
Beneath The Sky So Blue
Prologue
Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth. – Alphonse ElricFull Metal Alchemist
A grey drizzle misted the sky, choking it with the dismal feeling of deep depression that had become a part of everyday life for the city of London. Cars putted down the cobblestone streets, the soles of shoes clapped against the pavement of sidewalks, the lowly murmur of voices and other mixing noises drifted through a wounded city. Jagged gaps in the skyline bit towards the sky like the battered grin of a fighter on the loosing end of a knock out punch. In many places rubble replaced buildings and other various forms of architecture, only further fueling the dreary state of the city.
Everyone seemed to walk with hunched shoulders and a drag in their step. Their faces were weary and tried from the constant fear of being attacked at any given moment. Bombs had rained down upon them from the sky, pelting their lives with unimaginable destruction and upheaval that sent many innocents into a spiraling state of depression and hopelessness in the future. However, as citizens dragged their feet and proceeded to force themselves through the daily routine of life, there were some who managed to cling to something that remained of a once peaceful and bright life that fear of war had attempted to consume.
"Oi! Sensei!"
It was like a knife cutting through thick butter, words splitting the clammy air and arousing a sort of minor annoyance in quite a few who heard the loud shouting call. Foreign words that sounded a bit funny as a very much American voice produced them. Outside a small bakery, a few men had gathered to chat and read the paper as they had always done since before the war. They were long times friends since school, and each had families and grandchildren that they were utterly devoted to. Kindly older gentleman who offered friendly greetings to anyone coming in and out of the bakery, or passing by. But the shouting, and the use of such foreign words, caused them to pause amidst their conversation and scowl beneath thick bushy brows and hat brims.
Across the street from them on the other sidewalk, hands waving back and forth madly above her head, a young girl who looked somewhere in her mid to late teens had been the one to utter such a harsh shout. She now had several rather unamused glares bearing in her direction, but she seemed all but oblivious to them as she continued to bear a large grin on her young face. She was in the middle of that transition period where childhood disappears in the oncoming advancement of adulthood, so thus her face still retained a rather round childish look but held the sharper lines of maturity about the jawline. The grin she wore only further added to the child-like charm, causing a few passersby to smile a bit for some reason or other.
"Hey, come on now, you don't need to shout." A rather attractive looking man who appeared to be somewhere in his twenties, approached her with a bit of sheepish look on his face as he rubbed the back of his neck. Beside him, another blonde gentleman who looked to be only a few years younger than he, followed along but was grinning as well minus the sheepishness the other had. "Seriously kiddo, your annoying when you shout like that."
"I really don't think you're one to talk." The girl shot back, a slender brow twitching above a green eye. Her arms jammed across her chest in a forceful and rather stubborn manner as she turned her face elsewhere to show her annoyance to the comment made at her expense.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" The man snapped, crossing what left of the gap between them and nearly setting himself right in her face. The vein on his right temple throbbed, golden eyes narrowing down at her since he stood a good half foot taller.
Returning her attention forward, her own forehead smacking right into his she curled the corner of her upper lip. "Exactly what it sounds like!" She retorted with a growl reminiscent to that of a small dog.
The man returned the growl and pushed forward against her brow since she decided to butt heads. In return, she pushed back so that as they tried to one up the other for dominance in the argument it appeared as though they were rising and falling in their height over one another. As they growled at one another, the other blonde stood off to the side, an embarrassed grin forming over the original one he had been wearing while a hand on the back of his neck while the other tried to wave for their attention as he knew they were causing a scene.
"Fuzake Na!" The girl suddenly shouted as she pulled her head back and then pitched it forward quickly so that her forehead collided with blonde's in one rather loud smack that even had the older men standing in front to bakery flinching in response, as they could only imagine the headache.
The blonde teetered backwards a few steps, hands gloved in white clutching at the spot on his own forehead that had been struck. He gave a jumbled mix of curses that were strung together in a manner that sounded more like gibberish than anything else. Dropping his hands, he shot the girl a scathing look and appeared to be preparing a lung at her, however, the other blonde intervened by grabbing him by the arm to hold him back.
"Brother stop!" He commanded in more of an urging manner than anything else. "You see what you've been teaching her? Now she's even started using your own curses!"
"So what?! That doesn't give her the right to head butt me! I'm her teacher for chrissake!" The blonde hissed back in response. "I should be respected!"
This caused the younger blonde to suddenly choke on a laugh as he attempted to maintain a serious demeanor. However, his attempt failed as he burst into a fit of laughter and also released his brother. "You sound just like him!" He sputtered between gasps for air as he was near doubled over with laughter.
A rather red stain began to flush the other man's face, turning him beet red from both embarrassment and irritation to what had been said about him. "I-I do not!" He stammered, his arms now jamming over his chest to further object to the very idea suggested. However, the laughter merely continued and soon the girl joined in as well as it become rather contagious for some reason, causing the beet red to grow much more vibrant. "Al, shut the hell up already!"
"I'm sorry, brother." He laughed, "It's just so funny!" A whole fit of laughter over took him as he could hear the girl laughing as well. "Rae, stop it! I can't breathe!"
This caused the burning red man to whirl about and face her all over again, but as he opened his mouth let loose on her with a whole load of angry shouts and curses, he took notice of something peculiar. Peeking out from beneath the somewhat slanted line of her bangs, there was a red line that looked to be somewhere in between thick and thin as it slowly crawled out to further reveal itself. Loosing all steam, the blonde man stared with a slack jaw as he hunched forward and reached out a hand towards her forehead.
Swiping her bangs out of the way and to the side, he frowned as a rather red splotch stared back at him. Exhaling a heavy sigh he closed his eyes for a brief moment before he screwed his face up and gave the girl a rather reprimanding look. "You see what happens when you act stupid like that?!" He scolded.
There was a brief still pause that had the girl staring back at him with a rather blank look before she lifted a brow. "See what?"
The other blonde burst into a round of laughter while his brother grew irritated all over again. For a good fifteen minutes longer, the two bickered and even ended up a few physical hits on one another before they were separated finally. At the lead of the younger blonde, the group moved off down the street, the stares of the old men outside the bakery following them for a moment before they rounded a bend and disappeared.
"I'll never understand why she spends so much time with those brothers." One of the men muttered while shaking his head.
Another smirked a bit beneath a thick silver mustache. "I think it's done her some good to find friends." He mused, earning a few perplexed looks in return. "Rae has always been a firecracker from the get go, but when her father went off to fight in the war, her attitude dropped and she seemed to loose a lot of what was herself. But when those Elric brothers showed up, Rae took them like a moth to the flame." He grinned a bit more now as he recalled that day. "Warms my heart to see her smiling like that again."
Fuzake Na: Many will recognize this as one of Ed's infamous lines from the anime series. The phrase roughly translates as "Don't fuck with me!"
