Disclaimer- I do not own any of the Fullmetal Alchemist characters.

Stray

The streets were filled with busy people in the busy town of Central. It was spring and the people were as happy as ever. Of course at the time I couldn't see, but our mother was happy and our bellies were full, that's all that mattered to us. Only three of us survived out of the five. It's unfortunate but that's the life for a dog. I was the youngest out of us three. Our mother was a stray and we never knew we had a father. My eyes were the first to open and see the world and my oldest brother was next, then my other brother.

I can't remember much when I was so little but I do remember the first time I saw my mother. She was beautiful. Being part husky and part wolf gave her the best features of both. Mom's coat was almost all white except for a patch of grey around her shoulders going up the back of her neck. What I loved most about her was her amber eyes, not doubt from the wolf side of the family. Her warm tongue licked my face and then took care of my brothers.

My oldest brother had all the markings of a husky with white and light brown fur. His eyes were a deep blue and naturally he was the biggest. The second brother looked more like a wolf. Shiny black covered his body with a white under coat. He was the lucky one that got my mother's eyes. I couldn't quite see what I looked like but I had white paws and grey mixed in on my back and tail.

Living on the streets wasn't horrible but it defiantly had its faults. One day a few other strays were hunting for food on mother's territory. She made us stay hidden in an alley and went across the street to gain back what was hers. The three strays were big male. The alpha male was a black lab mix, the second was the female who looked like a German Shepard, and the third was a male Pit bull.

Mom approached them. They stopped digging through the trash and started to growl at her. She stood her ground and growled back. Their growls and barks became noticeable by the humans passing by. Eager to see my mom again, I came out of hiding to look across the street. My brothers came to my side and watched. She snapped at the alpha male and they started fighting. The male bit her right leg and she bit his neck. Her jaw was stronger than the male's due to wolf ancestry and it snapped in her mouth. Afraid for ending up the same way, the other two ran off.

We were so happy she was coming back. Our tails wagged and we barked for her. She was only five feet away when… well; let's just say she didn't deserve it. After our mom didn't wake up, we cried and whimpered. My oldest brother became the alpha male and that's how we lived for a few days.

It began to rain and we were hungry. In order to stay warm we huddled together against a building. I watched all the people come and go. The building was the biggest in the city and humans with special talents went there. I was the last to fall asleep when this giant metal armor stood over us. Instinctively the oldest brother growled at him while my other brother and I hid behind him. The suit of armor unexpectedly had a very sweet voice.

"Don't worry I won't hurt you." He reached for my brother and my brother bit his finger. The suit of armor just sat there looking at us. "It's ok, I can't feel that." His voice was sad and my alpha brother let go. The second brother crawled towards him and rolled over. We took this by surprise and did the same. He rubbed our bellies. The feeling was amazing we never had our bellies rubbed by a human. "Let's get you guys out of the rain."

We thought he was a human but it was just an empty shell. He put us in his hollow stomach and we started moving. "Al where were you, we gotta here or we'll miss the train!" we heard another humans voice and the shell ran to his side.

"Sorry brother." We all boarded the train. Out of boredom, we fell asleep the whole ride. When we woke up we were walking again. "I'm sure glad we came home."

"Yeah it's been awhile. Besides I thing I grew a little." They laughed and my brothers woke up. My oldest brother started to whine out of hungry and we followed his example. "Al! What did you find this time?"

"Please brother! It was raining and they're just babies!" The shell opened and a young boy with golden brown hair looked at us. He wore a red jacket and black clothes underneath. He picked me up first and I got scared. I struggled and bit his right hand. To my surprise my teeth impacted with cold hard metal.

"Thing again pup, you can't hurt me." I stopped struggling and looked him in the eyes. He had eyes a lot like my mother. He seemed friendly on the inside and unique on the outside. I fell in love and wagged my tail. He looked at me like he had a hard time resisting. A pretty girl came out of the house and hit him on the head. He dropped almost dropped me but the girl picked me up.

"Edward! What took you so long! And where did you get this cute puppy?" her mood went straight from mad to happy as she hugged me.

"Ow! Winry that hurt! And we aren't keeping them!" The boy rubbed his head and took me back. Winry pick up my oldest brother. I thought for sure he was going to bite her but he sniffed her and then wagged his tail. She hugged him close and he was in love too.

"Aww! I'm going to name him Bear." She hugged him tight and he licked her face. A big dog came from the house he was strange. One of his legs was replaced by metal. The suit of armor named Al picked up my other brother. He was timid and just stared into the empty eyes.

"I'll name him Buddy." He wagged his tail and licked the cold metal. I looked at the boy named Edward and wagged. He was irritated that no one was listening to him.

"We can't just go and give them names, we can't keep them." Winry hit him on the head again and he gave in. "Fine and name you…" he thought hard and looked into my eyes, he must have thought of something because the emotion in his eyes changed for a second. "Nina…" Al and Winry looked at him but he ignored them and petted my head. I could care less what name he gives me I was just happy to be loved again.

We loved these humans and our new friend named Den. Summer came and the boys played rough while I relaxed in the grass. We were bigger now and course hair replaced puppy fluff. Edward, Alphonse, and Winry came down to the creek and brought food with them. I ran towards Ed and tackled him. He pushed me off and made me sit. Bear went for Winry and Buddy went for Al. the food was left over from lunch and people food was the best. Den and Bear ate the most since they were the biggest.

When we were full, we enjoyed the company and got our backs rubbed for us. Edward was the most interesting to me. He had a metal arm and leg that they called automail. I never knew humans were so interesting. Bear loved Winry and was always jealous of Den. Buddy had Alphonse all to himself they were a lot alike. They were both the sweetest and kindest. Since we were bigger Ed and Al decided to make us collars.

It was the most amazing thing we've ever seen. Ed just clapped his hands and made a light blue collar appear. Then Al pressed his hands down on a drawing and made a green collar appear. Again Ed clapped his hands and made a red collar appear. They even had tags with our names on them. Mine was light blue, Bear's was red and Buddy's was green. We wore them proudly and thanked them with slippery tongues.

We must have been two years old by now and Buddy and I had gone on missions with Ed and Al while Bear stayed home with Winry and Den. During our time on missions I noticed that my eyes were special. Dogs were supposed to see color but I could see every color a human could see. Sadly I still couldn't see what color my eyes were. After a simple mission of helping out a human in need, we headed home. On the train Buddy and I were forced to hide in Al's empty shell.

Coming home was a happy reunion with Bear and Den. I thought this life would last forever… I was wrong. After dinner everything seemed normal until we went outside to look at the stars. We lied on our backs together for the last time that night. Edward wasn't his usual self and I became worried. The peaceful night was broken by a monsters howl. All of us stood and looked for the source.

"Edward what was that?" Winry stood behind us.

"I must be that chimera."

"What? Brother I thought you said you took care of it!"

"I thought I did. I never bothered to check after it fell off the roof." He clapped his hands and made a sharp blade appear from his metal arm. Bear, Buddy and I growl viciously towards the source. Our ears picked up its movement and we ran towards it. Den followed behind and Ed, Al, and Winry followed Den. Not far from the house, a huge chimera jumped from the forest. It was a lion mixed with an eagle, and snakes. Its back legs were claws like the bird and had three tails like a snake. The wings were injured and couldn't fly. In the front were big lion paws and jagged claws. Its tongue was a snake's and two fangs were long enough to sit on the outside of his mouth. Blood trickled from cuts and gashes.

Bear didn't hesitate even when Winry yelled at him to stop. He crushed his teeth into the front leg, almost breaking it. Buddy jumped and ripped the ear and I jumped on its back and bit a wing at the base. The bones were hollow and snapped under my pressure. Bear was thrown from its strength and Buddy was pulled from his tail. Edward was furious and stabbed it in the side then jumped out of its way.

I refused to let go and snapped the other wing. It roared in pain and Bear lunged at its neck. Buddy ignored his tail and bit the side of its face. Edward transmuted his arm into a gun but decided it was a bad idea with us on it. Images of our mother flashed in our eyes and we fought harder. The thought of loosing another family drove us over the barrier of normal strength. Edward lashed again this time on its other side.

Its strength weakened as it desperately tried to get us off. The fangs barely missed Bear and scratched his back. He jumped and grabbed hold of the throat again. Buddy latched on as well and they tried to suffocate it. I jumped from its back and slide underneath it. My teeth sunk deep into its throat and latched onto its wind pipe. The struggle slowly ceased and it fell to the ground, bloody and battered. Edward returned his arm to normal but we didn't let go. His warm hand petted my head and I released my hold. My brothers did the same.

We staggered away from the beast. Buddy's tail was broken and he didn't feel like getting up I went over to him and licked his face. We cried and Al gently picked him up. Bear and I limped behind and followed them into the house. "What happened?" Pinako grabbed her medical things and Al laid Buddy on the table. Buddy panted and whined. Winry explained while Pinako looked at his eyes, gums, and skin. "I'm not a vet but I'll do the best I can." Bear then suddenly fell down. The cut on his back burned.

I panicked and licked their faces. If I was human I'm sure my eyes would have been crying like my heart was. My brothers were the world to me. I went in circles and got in Pinako's way. She sent everyone out except for Winry. I lied on the porch with my front paws hanging over. I remember the first time I was able to see them. They were beautiful just like mom was. The stars were silent and the clouds were missing. Edward wanted to sit alone by the creek. Alphonse sat on the porch, petting the sad Den. I picked myself up and walked to Edward.

When he looked up at me his eyes were red and wet. I licked his face and lied next to him. "I'm sorry Nina, it's all my fault." I looked up at him and whined. I wished he could understand me that it wasn't his fault. "His fangs must have contained the capability to make venom due to the snake's genes." He buried his head in his knees.

The next morning they buried my brothers next to their loved ones. Clouds began covering the sky and hiding the sun. Rain is starting to fall. One by one they went inside. Edward went down to the creek and I lied down by my brothers. I missed their kindness and beautiful eyes. I remembered the day Bear had risked his life to bring us food. I remembered the day Buddy protected us from an unfriendly stray pup. I remembered their warmth. I walked down to the creek and laid in front of Edward, looking into the rippled water.

He gently petted my back with his human hand. I feel tired and weak. Edward sees it in my eyes and worries. "You swallowed the blood didn't you…" I whined and he picked me up in his arms. I licked his face and tasted a salty tear. The rain ceased and the sun warmed the earth. The creek slowed and became still and reflective like glass. It was the clearest I had ever seen it. I looked into the water to see myself for the first time. I looked just like mother with amazing, deep, turquoise eyes. What colorful eyes. Memories of the four of us together flashed in my mind. The first time I saw my mother, my brothers' sacrifice, her death, Bear's leadership, Buddy's genius, and my colors. Edward's tears are falling on my back. I remembered the day they named us. The colors are fading and I look into Edward's beautiful eyes. I look back to the still water again… 'What a beautiful day to die'… the colors faded into white. My mother appeared before me and licked my face. My brothers came running and pushed me to the ground. Our collars shined in the sun and we ran in the soft grass together again, forever; strays no more.