Storyteller

Once upon a time...


"RETREAT! RETREAT!" The announcement blared over the headquarters as Edward frantically ran into the flames. People were screaming, children crying for their parents, and men yelling in bloodcurdling shrieks before they fell silent suddenly. There was thick smoke everywhere, and Edward placed a handkerchief over his nose and mouth to filter the air getting into his lungs. He went into a brief spasm of coughing, batting uselessly at the air in front of his face to clear it.

"Flame!" he cried, plunging further into the burning compound. A beam fell nearby and he shuddered. "Alphonse? Where are you two?" he could barely see a foot in front of his face, and he knew his voice wouldn't carry that far. If it got any more unstable in here he would have to leave to keep the lineage safe.

Fuck the lineage. Al and Flame were everything to him.

"Brother!" He heard a soft, feminine voice cry and his heart leapt. "Over here, brother!" There was a note of panic to his younger sibling's voice, and Edward made towards it, blinking back the smoke from his stinging eyes.

The earth rolled beneath him as another explosion somewhere in the building rocked its foundations. He stumbled and nearly fell; staggering upright with the support of a warm bar of metal He wrenched his hand back from it and growled. The flames were getting far too close. He had to find Flame and Al soon. Somewhere nearby an agonised scream ripped out from one of the female soldier's throat. Edward tripped over a stray piece of wood, straightened and squinted through the smoke.

"Al?" He called again, looking towards where he thought he had heard his brother's voice originate.

"Over here, Brother!" Came the reply and Edward started forward again. "And hurry! Flame isn't moving!" There was a stab at Edward's heart and he all but ran through the smoke, nearly tripping over his younger brother. He fell to his knees immediately, beside a dark haired, pale skinned man. His leader, Flame.

"Fuck!" He said simply, running his hands over the man's face. Flame's high cheekbones were clammy, and his hair was soaked in sweat. Tracing the man's upper lip with his fingers, Edward felt breath coming from the man and glared.

"Don't swear!" Said Al. the boy was kneeling next to him. Edward shot him a dark look, then went back to checking the older man for damage.

"Don't tell your older brother what to do." He said distractedly.

He brushed a few locks of hair out of Flame's closed eyes, before checking around him for anything that could endanger their leader. He then placed his handkerchief over the man's nose and mouth, coughing when the unfiltered air hit his lungs. Al offered him his own cloth covering then, but Edward shook his head.

He nudged the man. "Flame." He hissed, pushing harder at his leader's shoulder. "Goddamnit Roy, you're still breathing so I'm not giving you CPR."

There was a weak chuckle, and the man's eyes slowly opened, revealing unfathomably deep blue depths. "And here I was hopeful." Relief flooded Edward's system, nearly enough to override the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He smiled softly before leaning down to press a kiss to the man's forehead.

"Dickhead." He said fondly, moving his hand to rest upon the man's shoulder. His smile was returned and both Flame and Edward ignored the horrified look Al gave Edward for swearing. Edward frowned. "Come on then, you're awake, let's go."

Roy shook his head. "I can't, Fullmetal."

"And why the hell not? In case you haven't noticed, the building is falling down around us here."

"He's broken his leg, brother." Alphonse supplied. Edward looked down at the man's leg in that moment and noticed that yes, it was bent at an impossible angle.

He frowned thoughtfully. "Well between us we should be able to carry him out of here." Another boom and earth shaking roll covered the end of his speech. Alphonse winced in fear.

Flame shook his head. "You'll never make it if you try and drag me along too. You two must leave and protect the lineage. Leave me behind." He glared at them both. "You are not putting yourselves in jeopardy for my sake again."

Edward bared his teeth at the man. "I'm not leaving you behind." He said matter-of-factly. "You're coming with us, Mustang, and that's my final say on the matter." That said he hoisted Mustang's torso up, ignoring the protests he received. He lifted the man as gently as he possibly could, apologising softly when Mustang winced. Alphonse hoisted the man's other side up, however even together they were too small to prevent Mustang's injured leg from scraping along the ground as they tried to move. The man gave an agonised yell and they placed him down again.

"This is no good, Brother." Al said sadly. "He's too heavy and we're too small."

Above the smoke and orange flames, Edward saw a brilliant shade of scarlet flash before his eyes. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THEY CAN'T HOIST A THIMBLE OVER THEIR HEADS?" He screamed, raising his fists and glaring at his brother.

"Nobody said that much, Fullmetal." Flame replied as he rested his hand on Fullmetal's outstretched arm in a placating manner. Not one to admit the gesture had the desired effect; Edward knelt down by the man once more, hand whisking out to wipe sweat off his brow. "Leave here, you two. I cannot be helped. And you must protect the legacy." Flame said quietly.

Edward frowned. "Al, go. I'll catch up."

Alphonse looked like he wanted to protest, but the desperate look on his brother's face stopped him. He nodded, reaching out briefly to touch the side of his brother's face before turning and scampering away to the closest exit to their position. Satisfied that his brother would be safe, Edward turned back to the man on the ground.

"I'm not leaving you." He said simply.

"Edward, don't be foolish, go!"

"I'm not leaving you, damnit!" He repeated forcefully, moving to lie draped over the man and ignoring the fact that Flame was pointedly trying to push him up and away. He rested his head upon the man's shoulder. "I love you."

Flame's breath hitched and one of his hands found its way to Edward's braid, playing with it absently. A strange calm settled over them both. "That's the first time you've said that." He said in a near whisper.

"I know." Edward nuzzled the man's shoulder slightly. "I love you, Roy Mustang. I love you and I'm not leaving you. We've sinned together."

Flame's eyes slid shut and a contented smile flitted through the pain on his features. "We'll face our sin together." The man replied as the walls around them started to crumble.

"Cripple! Cripple, wake up!" Edward Elric woke to a wet rag being slapped across his face rather unceremoniously. While seemingly cruel, this seemed the only way to be able to wake the man up in the mornings without him trying to kill things, so Edward allowed it.

"Whattimeizzit?" The boy asked, blinking slowly and blearily around at the straw flooring of the slave quarters. He struggled up; a tanned hand came immediately around to help him, and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with his one remaining hand. He shook out his hair, the filthy mane might once have been gold, but now was a sickly brown-grey colour from the dirt and dust and lack of showers a slave's life had. It was a dirty, greasy mess, much like the rest of him, and he tried to straighten it out and failed miserably.

A bowl of water was presented to him and he took a long drink before simply holding it and looking into its reflective surface. At least his eyes were still golden, he thought as he placed the bowl down and made a blind grab for his crutch. That too found its way to his hand and he staggered upright with it, before balancing precariously on one foot while he shovelled a small stale roll hungrily into his mouth.

A feminine face invaded his vision. "Time to collect the eggs!" It proclaimed in a soft voice. Rose was bending down to look up at him, her eyes set in a sparling smile from behind a pink fringe. It stood out in stark contrast in comparison to the rest of her long black hair and tanned skin. Her voice was fond and she held him up while he ate.

He scratched at his left leg stump; it was tingling today for some reason. Sighing, he shifted his weight from her to his crutch. He reached out pointedly, and Rose placed an old wicker-handled basket on his arm. Swinging forward resolutely, Edward began his daily limp down the hill from the slave quarters of Ellisbury farm to the hen coop. Ellisbury was a relatively new establishment, only two years old in fact, and as such the property was sweeping and vastly empty and the produce unestablished yet. Edward had been on the farm since the beginning of its life, and his life as a slave.

He scowled as he reached out to open the hen coop door. Legacy, his ass.

Once the door was opened, he swung his way into the pen and towards the first laying box, shooing any hen that tried to get under his feet, looking for scraps. "Why are you asking me?" He glared at them. "You lot of fuckers eat better than I do here." The chickens clucked softly as he avoided stepping in their leavings. There was a brown dappled chicken sitting in the box when he peered into it, and he shooed her away exasperatedly, reaching in.

Pulling out the eggs one by one, he held each to his ear and shook it slightly first before putting it into his basket. Upon extracting an extremely large egg, he winced in sympathy for the chicken who had laid it, turning to the most likely culprit. "Another goose egg, Becca." He said, waving it at the bird. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were swapping with the ladies down at the lake."

In response, the chicken clucked almost indignantly before scurrying off to the other side of the pen. Edward laughed slightly, before turning back to what he was doing. "Well fuck you too you stupid bird." He moved towards the next laying box and he heard a hen behind him leap straight up into the one he'd just abandoned. The rooster in the corner screeched at him and he regarded it with a look of disdain. "I'm sure you'd taste good. Shut up."

"And you'd get into trouble if you did eat him." A voice said behind him and he grinned as he heard the coop door close. He shouldn't have left it open, but it would have been much too much fun to watch the able bodied slaves running around and trying to catch the hens if any had of escaped. "That rooster keeps the boss hen laying and you know it."

Edward leant on his crutch and turned to face the girl with a confident smile. "Hey Rose. Going to waste all the master's scraps on the birds again or can I have some today?" He reflected that two years ago he wouldn't have even thought to ask, but hunger changes a lot of your expectations.

"The birds, Cripple. The birds." She said, though there was an edge of regret to her voice and the way she handled unceremoniously dumping the bucket of scraps in the hen feeder. She placed the bucket down and laid her hand on his shoulder. "You must have been able to eat really well before you came here."

Edward nodded, shaking his shoulder to dislodge her. She grinned and gripped harder, ignoring the glare he sent her way and the way his shakes doubled. Eventually she let go and moved to the opposite end of the coop, gathering eggs in the pocket of an old, dirty apron she wore. Studying one, and bringing it over for him to check the freshness she asked him, "Why were you so late in rising this morning, my dear Cripple? I had to milk the cows all by my lonesome." She handed him the egg.

He held it to his ear and shook it experimentally. As he expected it made a whisper of a sloshing noise and he sighed, throwing it over his shoulder. It hit a beam and split open, the rotting contents making a disgusting smell float through the air. "I had the dream again." He said simply, taking eggs from her one by one and checking them. She watched him carefully and shook her head.

"One day you're going to tell me how you do that." She said as he threw another rotten egg over his shoulder. This one struck a hen and it clucked in surprised fear before taking off in a short hop and felling to the other side of the room.

He shrugged at her and said nothing.

Resting a hand on her knee and squatting, she looked up at him. "As for the dream, put it out of your mind. Put your memories out of it too, Cripple. There's nothing of a slave's life to be learned from your past or your dreams." She smiled at him, red eyes crinkling warmly. "You owe me one. If I hadn't found you when I did, you would have been whipped."

The door of the hen coop chose that moment to open, and both looked around to see who it was. Rose fell to her knees in a bow and Edward ducked his head. He hid his bared teeth as best he could and stared at the ground resolutely.

Biting his tongue against a curse, he remorsefully said "Master." Along with Rose.

"Continue." A voice he both loathed and feared told him and they followed the cold order immediately. Edward picked up an egg that had rolled out of Rose's apron and placed it in his basket before hunting for the eggs that the chickens hadn't laid in their boxes.

"Tow of the slaves the government granted me." His master's voice said, obviously to someone else just entering the coop. "Hard workers, both of them. It is a shame that the boy is incapacitated. He would have made a good rustler." There was a noise of bored assent, and Edward had to shake off a moment of Deja-vuu. He placed his hand down and scooped up an egg.

"It is a real pity. Without his limbs he isn't good for much at all. Just doing mediocre female chores." Their master said. Edward bristled dangerously, and Rose grabbed the back of his tunic in precaution.

"I'm not a girl." He hissed at her and she shrugged, handing him an egg.

"That girl there though." Their master said and Edward frowned. "She is highly skilled and very useful. If not for her colour I would almost make her a paid maid. Rose they told us she was called. No one knew the boy's name so we call him cripple."

The visitor chose that moment to speak. "What happened to his arm and his leg?" Edward's heart stopped and logdged itself firmly in his throat. He choked and slipped off his crutch, falling to his knee as his leg gave way.

"Cripple?" Rose asked. They were being ignored by their master in favour of the man prattling on about the hen coop. "What's wrong?"

"Mustang." Edward said, a touch too loud. His voice was choked and he was aware that his master's attention was now firmly on him. He spun his upper body angrily and glared. "Roy Fucking Mustang." He spat the name out as a curse and staggered to his feet. Rose shushed him desperately and tried to hold him back, but Edward was too angry to even notice. "You TRAITOR. You FUCKING TRAITOR!" He screamed and the damage was done.

His master backhanded him fiercely across the face and he overbalanced, falling with a thud into a pile of chicken leavings. His crutch spun away from him and he reached out to grab it. His master was faster, bringing the wooden stick up and bringing it down hard along Edward's spine. Edward grit his teeth against the yell that threatened to break from him. Tears of humiliation made themselves known at the corner of his eyes and he fought them back. He glared at the black haired noble with the gleaming black eyes.

Why aren't you stopping this?

"You, slave, have no right to speak to a nobleman in such a manner." His master said, bringing the crutch down once more. With a resounding crack, it snapped in half. "That is, of course, unless you have a death wish."

Noble? Then you really did sell us out.

"Turn over, boy." Mustang said, and Edward complied, still caught in the trap of doing whatever the man told him. He glared at the face above him, the high cheekbones and slender nose so familiar. Even the scowl present was sickeningly similar to what he dreamt about.

"Look me in the eye." He slowly raised his eyes up to meet Mustangs. They were still unfathomable depths, but they were eerily cold, regarding him only as a mild curiosity to toy with, not as anything important. He stared at the way light didn't seem to reflect off their surface, and how blue bled into the black of his pupil so well it was nearly impossible to tell where one colour ended and the other began. There was a moment of confusion flickering in those depths before it was gone, replaced with that irksome cold calm. Edward growled angrily. "What is your name?" Mustang asked him and Edward swallowed.

"Mustang do you really believe that to be necessary?" Edward's master asked incredulously and the man in question smirked.

"He is familiar to me and I do not know why." The hot anger burned stronger through Edward's skin. How dare that man forget him! "Slave, answer."

"Edward Elric, sir. Fullmetal." There was a gasp of surprise from Rose and his master. Of course they wouldn't assume that the cripple on their farm was a famous member of the crushed alchemist resistance movement of two years ago.

There was a pause in which nothing was said, and Edward staggered to his feet. "Such is the fate of a blasphemer." Mustang breathed. Edward looked down his nose at the man, a feat to preform when he was a head shorter than the one in front of him. Mustang smirked and turned to Edward's master. "I'll buy him from you."

"Mustang, he is a wanted criminal! He should be killed!" Edward's master informed the man.

"If he was not killed, instead given slavery as punishment, it is not your place to decide what he should receive for past crimes. He is a slave now, no more and no less. And I wish to buy him." Mustang replied. "Will fifty pieces of gold be enough?"

Even Edward gaped at the amount.

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A/n: w00t! Slavefic!

Just kidding. XD But yes. Ahem. New fic from me. This is my 'secret project' I've been talking about for a few months now. It's going to be sort of a "One thousand and one nights" tale where Edward will become a storyteller of sorts.

It differs greatly from that legend though, as you will discover, and the stories hold a great deal of importance. Hopefully I can get you all as hooked to this as you seem to be with AWWA. XD

Leave a review? -shakes her little can-