B/N I wrote this based on a CCD retreat that I was forced to go on in order to keep me sane. About 90 of these events and dialogue and 100 of the names (except for the FMA people, but including the team names) are real and really happened. Even laying on the floor in the beginning. The only MAJOR difference is that we didn't sleep over; we got picked up, but the times are the same, and also, in the second chapter…but we'll get to that when that chapter comes up. Ed's in the group I was in, Al and Winry are in my friend Liz's group, and Roy is in my friends Andrew and Lindsay's group.
This fanfiction is brought to you by: The Avenue Q CD that I got yesterday.
Retreat; Friday; Day 1"Uggh," Ed groaned as he came to his senses.
But no sooner had he done so than he heard someone- a girl- say sternly, "No talking!"
Ed slowly sat up and looked around. He was in a large room filled with books (possibly a library), and there were many kids, probably around a hundred surrounding him. He scanned faces and was relieved to find Winry, Alphonse (in his human body, of course), and Roy there.
"Where are we?" Winry asked, looking bewildered.
"I don't know, but what's with the plates around your necks?" Ed asked, referring to the plates with their names written on them, with some kind of design on each (Roy's had blue lines around the edges and Winry and Al both had orange dots), with a string running through them and going around their necks, like necklaces.
"You have one too, FullMetal," Roy informed him. Ed looked down to see his plate with a yellow Sun.
At that point, pretty much everyone in the room was talking, so some kids in the front shouted, "Let's go antioch, let's go!" and everyone else clapped twice and became silent.
"Okay, guys, now that the initial activity is over, go to your small groups. Just follow people with the same plate designs as you," A stuck-up sounding girl said.
Everyone but the FullMetal group started leaving the room.
"I think we should go too," Al said, "Just to see what's going on."
"Easy for you to say," Ed muttered, "You and Winry are in the same group; I'm all by myself."
"Shut up," Roy told him, "Just go."
In a minute, the room was empty and everyone was in their "small groups". Ed found himself surrounded by other people with sunshine plates. There were five "team leaders" as they explained to him, but one wasn't even part of their group.
Ed didn't understand what was going on, but he decided to play along anyway. The group of around fifteen kids were trying to think of a "team name" that had to do with "god" and the color yellow. Ed didn't think that it was a good idea to tell them that he didn't believe in any gods, but whatever.
"C'mon, it's been "god's great golden Suns" for the past five years!" a team leader named Mike said.
"Think of something that's yellow and make a name out of it," said another team leader named Manny, "Like that kid's hair!" he pointed to Ed, who blushed, and everyone laughed. "But really, what's something that's yellow?"
"Urine!" the team leader who wasn't supposed to be there, whose plate said Mike Burke, exclaimed.
"But what's that have to do with god?" some girls asked.
Another boy answered, "It's called 'rain'!" which sent the group into laughter. After a short time, the team thought of the name "(god's) PEEPS". Peeps meaning those marshmallow chicks, people, and pee.
In another few minutes, they heard a hand bell ring and went into the library again. Ed was relieved to see Al and Winry there. Oh, and the Colonel, too. But he was a bit preoccupied with one of the many cute girls there at the moment, so Ed went over to the other two.
However, before they could say anything, the stuck-up girl in front, whose plate said "Catherine", started calling teams up, and a representative from each team stood up and said their team name. (A/N Ok, so it went like this. Each time we met back in the library, someone different would tell about what each team talked about. Everyone was supposed to go at some point, but like Ed, I didn't xD) Al, very nervously introduced his team as "orange tugboats of god", and the girl that Roy was hitting on introduced the blue team as "the blue jesus lizards". Ed wondered who could possibly have suggested the lizard part.
But once the name introductions were over, they still couldn't speak, because two of the "team leaders" gave some kind of speech, and they were immediately sent back to their "small groups" with no talking allowed.
Once they got back to the other rooms, the "team leaders" asked questions regarding the speeches.
"Oh, and if you call the talks 'speeches', I'll turn the hose on you!" Manny threatened.
"Don't worry, he doesn't have a hose," one of the two remaining team leaders, a girl, told them, while Mike Burke drew a hangman on the board.
"Jesus!" A boy with curly hair immediately guessed once the lines were up, and Mike Burke cursed playfully and erased the board with a broom and made another one. They all guessed letters until the word "jesus" was on the board again, and the bell rung, signaling the return to the library where they shared what they talked about in their "small groups" before the FullMetal group could say anything to one another. After everyone was done, they played a song that they had apparently forgotten to play after the talk not speech. Ed had no idea where the music was coming from, but they were all asked to hold hands with the people next to them. The order they were sitting in was Al, Winry, Ed and Roy.
Sure, Ed was fine with holding Winry's hand; she was a girl, after all, and he kind of liked her. But Roy? He refused. Anyway, Roy was perfectly fine holding hands with that cute girl.
When the song ended, one of the leaders from the green group called out, "Holding hands with someone of the same sex does not mean that you're gay!"
Another leader, a boy, added, "Unless you want it to be!"
"Well, FullMetal? Do you?" Roy asked the younger boy, sneering.
"Roy, leave him alone," Winry hissed at him. They were then sent to the cafeteria to have a snack.
"Wow, these things are really good," Ed said, shoving some more goldfish in his mouth. Winry and Al rolled their eyes at him. Roy was nowhere to be seen; coincidentally, neither was the cute girl.
"So…what's going here?" Winry asked.
"We are in a 'christian' church, where 'candidates' for a thing called 'confirmation' are on a three day 'retreat' to learn about their 'god'. Right now we're eating a bit before we sing this song that's printed on the backs of our plates, and then we're going to bed until about 7:30 tomorrow morning when we'll wake up again and continue," Al informed the other two. Ed and Winry just stared at him. "I'm good at finding stuff out like that!" Al said nervously.
"Um…Right. So how did we get here?" Ed asked.
"Last I remember, we were in Central…and we were trying to fall asleep…and something that Roy did…" Winry thought, "I don't know."
"So how do we get out?" Ed asked.
"The doors are all locked," Al told him, "And the only time that I heard of that they'll be open is tomorrow around seven when some of the guys are going to pick up breakfast."
"Damn…" Ed muttered.
But before they could continue, they were told over a megaphone to throw their things away, and were called into the gym next door, where they were told to move into a circle. They were then told to start singing to the guitars that two of the "leaders" were playing. When Ed and Roy (who had mysteriously reappeared, along with the cute girl) refused to sing, they were brought to the middle and forced to sing by themselves, without any guitars or anything.
Of course, Winry and Al got a good laugh out of it, but Ed and Roy were glaring at each other all the way back to the library, where the boys were sleeping, leaving Winry in the cafeteria with the rest of the girls.
After seeing two of the two older, sluttier girls humping each other by the doorway, Al felt bad for the young mechanic.
Ok, that's it for this chapter! This will only be a 3 chapter story, since the retreat was only 3 days long. If anyone needs any clarification, let me know! Reviews will make me feel like my weekend wasn't totally wasted! …Ok, so it was totally wasted, and those are 3 days of my life that I'll never get back, but reviews will make me feel better )
