Shad: Hey, this is my first attempt at a story. Don't burn me to bad please. If I decide to write more chapters, you can burn me on the later ones. This is a crossover with Wolf's Rain and Full Metal Alchemist.Now, I don't own either of the shows, so no one can sue me. Please enjoy.
The sky was filled with dark storm clouds as the wind howled in anger across the land. Weeds and dust lifted from the ground and whipped I every direction. None dared to leave their houses in the small and ruined town. Shudders to window blew open, smacked and cracked against the houses. Garbage cans and debris fluttered through every alley as dogs and cats found hiding places from the storm. Only four people dared walk through the town through this time.
Kiba looked back at everyone with squinted blue eyes. "Toboe, pick it up!"
Toboe pouted up at him. "I'm doing just fine!" He had to yell over the howl of the wind. Just then, a torrential hail of water bombarded on them. They had to strain themselves to keep standing against the freezing cold water.
Hige held his arms over his face. "How far to the fort, Kiba?" His voice was barely audible over the sound of the rain. They were all heading somewhere. It was a life or death matter, and it was worse than the Nobles trying to get to Paradise. "Come on! It's freezing cold out here!"
Tsume just glared at everyone. "Stop complaining!" He peered around and saw something move sharply in an alleyway. "Run!" Just as he shouted, a barrage of bullets let the space between the buildings.
"Take them out!" A man shouted from behind a mask. They were soldiers, not the elite ones, but small cronies of the big operation. The suits they wore kept them safe and warm from the rain, but even their masks couldn't help them see through the curtain of water. Kiba and the others knew this.
As thunder and lightning danced across the darkening sky, they headed out of the small ruin of a town. The sound of vehicles followed on their tails as they sprinted up hills. "Keep going! Darcia's fortress is near!" Kiba shouted over the thunder.
How everything happened to turn out this was way was because of a small commotion in a small city about a month ago. The ancient alchemists were thought to be dead and forgotten, but the humans kept murmuring about a Noble knowing alchemy and a passage to a better world. At first, Kiba and the others thought they meant Paradise, but then they heard word about it being an even better place. A place where everything is fair, for humans and wolves. The only Noble the wolves knew happened to be their enemy, Darcia.
"Kiba, what are we going to do when we find Darcia?" Toboe asked with fear as they reached the top of the hill. The lightning flickered in his chocolate brown eyes.
Kiba looked at him then to the land below them. At the bottom of the hill was a large dark fortress. The lightning seemed to strike closest to that area than any other. That had to mean something. "Come on!" He raced down the hill in his wolf form. His ghostly white silhouette danced eerily in their eyes from the effects of the rain.
"You heard the man." Hige sighed as he followed. His chubbier form was quite noticeable to the eye.
Toboe looked at Tsume through his bangs. His clothes stuck to his skin as he shivered slightly inside. It wasn't just from fear or the cold, but from a small hint of loneliness and the feeling of being unappreciated. "Tsume, what if we die?"
The older wolf stared at the younger. His piercing yellow eyes studied him. Finally, he answered with a low voice. "Then we die." Then he vanished down the hill. His dark gray silhouette vanished behind the rain.
Toboe stood there feeling even more alone and afraid. He couldn't let this hold him back, though. He had to prove them he could do it, he could be brave. Clenching his fists, he promised himself. "I won't back out. No matter what." Then he sprinted after them, following their scent under the rain.
For some reason, the vehicle that carried the soldiers stopped at the top of the hill. They seemed afraid of the place below them. As if it resonated some sort of ominous evil they didn't understand. Of course, humans were afraid of what they didn't understand. To them, the wolves they were chasing as good as dead if they went to that place. "Score one for the boys back home." One of the men murmured.
It was unexpectedly easy for the four of them to reach the fortress and enter. There were no traps, no soldiers behind every corner, nothing. Hige looked around nervously, his nose twitching. "Guys, this place smells of death, but I don't see anything."
"Neither do I." Toboe agreed. "What if this place is abandoned or something?"
Kiba shook his head. "No, there's someone here. Can't you hear it? That sound?" They all quieted and listened. Something was in the air, but it wasn't audible to human ears. This was something in the air that had to be felt or heard by the keen senses. Only something really powerful could make this kind of sound. Something that could bend reality. Alchemy.
Tsume growled as his fur stood on end. "Come on. He must be starting." Pulling out his dagger, he ran down the hall. Everyone followed him. Hige thinking he was being an overbearing showoff. Kiba wasn't thinking anything of the older wolf. His thoughts were all on how Darcia could be doing what he was doing. Toboe was probably the only one thinking he could rely on the older wolf for protection, but he wanted to defend him as well. He wanted to be the one who could lead and be trusted.
Down at the end of the hall was a large door that reached the ceiling. It took all their strengths to open them and get through. Blue and black light flashed through the door as they entered. "Darcia!" Tsume hollered as he came barreling into the room. His dagger out, he struck at anything nearest to him. Before he could even comprehend what was in the room, he was blown back by a strong force. His body smashed back into the stone wall then he fell to the floor.
"Tsume!" Toboe ran over to his friend. He knelt to see if he was harmed, only to be pushed back.
"I'm fine." Tsume grunted as he stood on all fours. His hackles were raised as he bared his fangs with a deep growl.
Standing in the center of the room was their target, their enemy. Darcia smirked at them with only his human eyes staring at them. "I see you've heard of my accomplishments. Have you come to witness my greatest achievement?" He was standing in the center of a giant glowing pentagon. Dark lightning shot from the sides and lines of the circle. It created a strong wind that blew dusts and rocks across the room at small wave speeds. Almost like the circle had a pulse of its own.
Kiba stepped forward, his fangs bared and tail raised. "What are you doing? Are you still trying to reach Paradise?"
Darcia threw back his head and laughed. When he was finished, he reached up and removed the feathered mask he was wearing. "Paradise? Such a hopeless fantasy. There is a much better place, and I know how to reach it." He threw the mask across the room then placed his palms together. "Care to join me?"
"Darcia!" Kiba shouted in rage as he lunged at him. When he leaped up to attack him, they both began to glow a blinding blue light. Hige, Toboe, and Tsume watched as the two began to vanish in the light. Not just being hidden behind the light or anything. They were really vanishing!
None of them knew what to do as the light began to wane. It began to shrink in size and the body of their friend began to disappear. "Kiba!" Toboe ran at the light. Even though it screamed danger, he had to protect his friend. When he didn't hear the others follow him, he stopped right in front of the wall of light and stared back. Tsume and Hige were just standing there like stone statues. "Guys, come on! We have to save Kiba!"
Hige gave him an incredulous look. "Are you serious! You have no idea what that thing is!"
He looked back and saw the light was beginning to grow weaker. "I don't care what it is! Kiba is in there! Come on!" Not caring if they really came or not, he jumped into the light, closed his eyes, and waited for the worst. When pain didn't come, he opened his eyes and looked around. He found himself standing on ground made of light and no sound reached his ears. It was as if he stepped out of life as he knew it. "Where am I?" His voice was so quiet in the nothingness.
"Toboe!" A voice called to him from behind.
He turned around and saw a strange huge door. It had peculiar markings on it that made no sense to the pup. That wasn't really what he was concerned about. He was sure someone had called his name. "Who said my name?"
"Toboe!" The voice called again, but it was from inside the giant door.
Unsure of what to expect, Toboe walked toward the door. "Who's there?"
"Toboe." The voice again called, but fainter.
He placed a hand on the door then pressed his ear to it. Listening hard, he heard nothing. "Maybe I was just hearing things." When he removed his hand, the door began to creak. "Wha?" It began to open, groaning and creaking the entire time. "What's happening?" When the door finally opened, he stared into it.
At first, light flooded through it, but when the light faded, he stared inside and stood in shock. It took a few seconds for his brain to adjust to what he was seeing. Fear. He was experiencing an immense force of fear. When it finally clicked in his mind, he inhaled and screamed at the top of his lungs. He kept screaming even when he collapsed. His mind couldn't determine anything else to do but scream.
"Toboe!" Someone shook him roughly. He kept on screaming, though. "Toboe! Wake up!" The voice became clearer. "Wake up! Now"
Snapping his eyes open, Toboe sat bolt up and latched into the nearest thing to him. It took a few minutes for the tremors of fear to pass before he could finally breathe normally. He inhaled slowly then looked at what he was holding onto. Escape it wasn't a what but a whom. "Sorry!" He quickly threw himself away from Tsume.
Hige crouched down beside him and gave him a half worried look. "What the heck was with all that screaming?"
He looked up at the chubby wolf and sighed. "I had a nightmare we were at Darcia's fortress and I jumped through a blinding light." Holding his head, he tried to remember something else. "I don't really remember the rest of it."
"Uh, kid." Tsume stood and gestured to their surroundings. "That wasn't a nightmare."
Toboe stood and looked around with a heavy heart. Whatever happened back at the fortress seemed to have done something horribly wrong. They weren't at some haven for wolves and humans. Wherever they were, it did have humans and dogs, but there were soldiers everywhere. Hanging on metal pole was a sign just outside the alley they were standing in. On it, written in big letters, was the place they must have been in.
It wrote: Welcome to Central. Alchemist capital of the world.