MangaMaid's Notes: Hey! I wasn't planning to post this until after I finished Chapter 7 of my story Heart's Fate, but it's my friend's birthday today! She liked this story that I am writing, so I thought I'd post it for her, since the gift I am working on won't probably be done today. Maybe tomorrow. Yeah... So, Happy Birthday Flaming Soul Alchemist!
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All was quiet in the streets of Central, the capital city of Amestris, the country where our story is set. That is, it was quiet until a loud cry sounded throughout the city. It rang out disturbing the peace with one word.
"THIEF!!!" A loud voice yelled, breaking the peace. "Come back here!!"
A short, blonde boy of 16 ran through the city streets. His golden eyes glinted with exhilaration as adrenaline pumped through his veins. His hair was in a short braid and a piece stuck straight up like an antenna. A grin was covering his face as well. His clothes, which consisted of black pants, a black tank top, a black overcoat, and a red cloak, were tattered and fraying. In his left hand was a loaf of spiced bread he had stolen from a bread vendor nearby. But the most noticeable features about him were the two metal appendages he had. His right arm and left leg were made out of automail, a type of prosthetic that was only made in the Amestris.
"HEY!" A voice yelled from behind, "Come back here!"
He turned to see a bunch of guards chasing him. His grin grew as he ran faster. The guards were having trouble keeping up with his speed that his automail leg was giving him.
'Hah,' he thought to himself, silent laughter sneaking into his thoughts, 'Those fat idiots will NEVER catch me!' Just then, the boy's silent laughter and his thoughts about escaping the guards instantly died as he found himself trapped as he turned and nearly ran into a dead end alleyway. 'Damn!' he swore in his mind, knowing full well that it was amateur mistakes like these that could get him caught.
If he was caught, he would only be able to hope that the Fuhrer would be in a good mood. If the Fuhrer was in a good mood, the boy would likely get prison time. If he wasn't in a good mood, beheading would most likely be the boy's fate. As the boy thought about this, a brilliant thought crossed his mind.
When the guards came rushing into the alley, the boy was nowhere to be found. They spun every which way, frowning as they looked for the little thief. But they could not spot him anywhere.
"Hey," one of the guards asked as he spun around, "Where is he?"
"Looking for me?" the boy's voice called, teasing the guards. They spun around until one noticed where he was. He was now on top of the wall. It seemed to be a miracle, as the wall was at least five times the tallest guard's height and the boy was at least half that height. The boy smirked down at them, watching the shock cross their faces.
"Hey there," called the captain of the guards, "We don't want any trouble. So why don't you be a good little boy and-"
He was interrupted by the boy yelling, "WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO LITTLE THAT YOU SAY YOU CAN'T SEE HIM EVEN IF YOU LOOK STRAIGHT DOWN AT THE GROUND!?!?!?"
The captain sweat-dropped. "I never said all that," he muttered to himself. Then, reminding himself of his job, he called up to the boy, "Look, if you're not going to come down. Then, we're going to come up!"
The boy smirked again and yelled, "Go ahead and try!"
As the guards glared at the boy, they saw an arm that looked as if it was made out of armor grab the blonde boy by the scruff of his cloak. The arm began to pull the boy away andthey saw that it was attached to a full suit of armor. The armor began to run, dragging the boy with it.
"Hey!" one of the guards yelled, seeing the boy be dragged away, the loaf of bread still in his hand, "He's got an accomplice!"
The captain yelled, "Shoot them!"
Suddenly, a young boy's voice came out of the armor. He yelled down to the guards, trying to warn them as he spoke. "NO PLEASE!!! DON'T DO IT!!! DON'T SHOOT! THE RICOCHET WILL-!"
But his warning came too late as the sounds of shots went into the air as shots were fired at the two boys. Bullets flew at the armored body, but they ricocheted off the metal and began hitting the walls around them, the ground, and even a few of the officers.
As howls and screams of pain rang through the air, the armored body sighed and said, with a sad tone in his voice, "I tried to warn them…"
The blonde boy laughed, "Ha ha! It was their own damn fault for not listening! Come on, Al. We'd better get going. Otherwise, they might catch us."
The armored boy, Al, nodded. Both boys ran on the top of the wall, onto a building ledge nearby. Then, they disappeared from sight.
The guards walked home knowing that the boys had escaped. Some, such as the newer guards, who were more cocky, were stunned and shocked at how they lost the two thieves. Others, such as more experienced officers, were angry at themselves for making such an amateur mistake as underestimating their opponent and letting the two thieves escape. A small few, however, were laughing at themselves for being outsmarted by a couple of young boys. But all of them knew that the Fuhrer, Roy Mustang, was not going to be pleased by the news about this in the slightest.
"Who were they?" asked one of the newer guards named Kain Fuery. He had short black hair and glasses. Today had been his first day out on the job and he hadn't recognized the two boys.
"You mean you don't recognize them at all?" asked another black-haired man with glasses. He had a smile on his face, but his tone had an undertone of disbelief coloring it.
"No," replied Fuery, a little surprised by the other man's reaction. He asked, "Did you recognize them Hughes?"
Hughes grinned and nodded. "Those two were the Elric brothers."
"The Elrics?" Fuery asked in surprise and awe. He continued, excitement coming into his tone, "You mean Edward and Alphonse Elric? The two most famous thieves in the whole country?"
"Yes," Hughes said, amused by how the new guard was reacting to the news.
"Whoa! I never thought I'd see the famous Elric brothers! And on my first day as a guard too! They're much different then I pictured them! Hey Hughes? Why did the big, armored guy follow the short, blonde guy?
Hughes laughed, "Because even though Alphonse looks bigger then Edward, he's actually younger than Ed."
"What?!" Fuery asked, disbelief now entering his tone. "There is no way that can be true!"
"Believe it or not," Hughes answered, "It is. And you would do well not to anger Edward, even though he is a thief."
"Why?" the guard asked, confused.
Hughes asked, with a sly look in his eye, "Want to know how Edward got on the top of that wall, even though it was at least ten times his height?" The guard nodded and Hughes continued, sounding as if he was disclosing a big secret, "He's an alchemist."
"Alchemist?" Fuery asked in shock. He stammered, "But I thought that all alchemists served the Fuhrer!"
Another guard, a black and gray haired man named Vato Falman, hearing their conversation, laughed, "You're an idiot if you think that. The Fuhrer has only about ¾ of the country's alchemists, maybe less. You must understand that there are some alchemists don't work for our great Fuhrer."
"Why don't they?" Fuery asked.
"Who can say?" Hughes said.
Falman nodded and said, "No one knows really. It's either they don't have the stuff to work for the military, they have a handicap that prevents them from doing it, or they just don't want to. But they just don't work for the Fuhrer. And you should know that Edward Elric is one of those small few."
On the other side of town…
Ed moved aside the cloth door that led into small, shabby, run-down apartment. Strewn across the floor were worn out blankets, dreary looking pillows, and papers with alchemy notes on them. The only things that looked neat and well kept were several books on alchemy. Those had been inherited from their parents.
Ed turned to Alphonse and said, "You know, Al, that since we're home, you can come out of that suit of armor."
The huge armor popped open and out came a 15 year old boy. He had shorter, darker blonde hair then Edward andmuch darker gold eyes. The only thing he seemed to share with his older brother was height. He was almost the same height as Ed, maybe a smidge taller. He wore a white button up shirt and black pants.
He smiled at Ed and said, "Thanks brother. It was getting a little warm in there."
Ed laughed at that and broke the loaf he had stolen in half, tossing the slightly bigger piece to Al and keeping the slightly smaller one for himself. He and Al began to eat and suddenly, both were quiet, not knowing what to say to each other. It was silent until Al broke it by asking a question.
"Brother, do we have to keep stealing?"
Ed sighed, "Al, you know the answer to that as well as I do."
"But brother," Al said, "It's wrong."
"Yeah, well," Ed said, standing up to brush the crumbs off of his pants. "It's what we have to do to survive." He continued a hint a laughter coming into his tone, "If you think about it, it's kinda like alchemy. Equal exchange and such."
"I don't understand," Al said, watching at Ed as he sat back down. "How can you compare something so petty as thievery to something as great as alchemy?"
"I've told you before!!!" Ed began to yell. But then, he stopped and sighed, "I'll explain. In order to live, we gotta eat. That's a give in. But to eat we have to have food and to get food, since we have no money and it's illegal to transmute things into gold, we have to steal it. Our equal exchange is to live all alone at our age, we have to live with people after us."
"That doesn't seem fair," Al said in a thoughtful tone as he thought about it.
"Fair or not," Edward said, standing up and walking over to a cracked window. "It's what we have to do. Mom would want us to live on. We have to survive for her."
Al nodded. He sighed as he looked at what was left of his loaf of bread. Then he looked up at Ed and asked, "Hey brother, can we go and visit Nina today. We haven't seen her in a long time and we promised we'd play with her the next time we came."
Ed turned to Al and said, "Yeah. That's a good idea Al. Let's go."
Nina Tucker was a little girl long, brown hair that was always in two long braids. She lived with two twin sisters, Rose and Noah. Rose and Noah were identical twins, but Rose, who was the younger of the two twins, had pink bangs with her brown hair unlike Noah, the elder of the two, who just had plain brown hair. All three lived together because they were orphans.
Nina had become an orphan because her father had worked for the Fuhrer. He had been a state alchemist, the Sewing Life Alchemist, in fact, and he, to become a state alchemist, had turned Nina's mother into a chimera, a creature created by merging two or more animals through alchemy. Within days, Nina's mother had died. He had been caught, however, when he had tried to turn Nina into a chimera as well.
Ed and Al had been returning home after stealing some food. They had noticed as they were passing, that something looked odd. In the window they were passing, they saw Nina standing in an alchemy circle with her dog, Alexander, and he father about to transmute them together in a chimera. Ed rushed in through the window, distracting Tucker and grabbing Nina out of the alchemy circle. Al, who had been in his armor, had hit Tucker on the back of his head knocking him out. Then, while Al had taken Nina a safe distance away from her father, Ed had gone to a nearby phone and called the guards as an anonymous caller, explaining what happened. But when the guards came, Tucker was mysteriously dead.
After finding out that Tucker was dead, Ed and Al had taken care of Nina and, much to Ed's dismay, Alexander, until they had met Rose and Noah. Rose worked in an orchard, while Noah worked as a gypsy. How Rose and Noah had lost their parents, Ed and Al didn't know as they didn't like talking about it. They had instantly liked Nina as soon as they had met her. They had offered to take care of Nina and Alexander for the boys. They had also offered to take in Ed and Al, but Ed and Al had declined, not wanting to involve the sisters and Nina with themselves too much, because of their thievery.
When Ed and Al reached the house where Nina, Rose, and Noah lived, Nina and Alexander ran out to greet them. Alexander tackled Ed, knocking him to the ground while, Nina came running out, yelling, "Little big brother! Big little brother!"
"Get off me!!" Ed yelled as Alexander licked his face. Finally, with Al's help, he got Alexander off him. He stood up, wiping his face and brushing himself off.
Nina finally reached them, hugging their legs tightly. She looked up at them, hope shining in her face as she asked, "Did you come to play with me?"
Al knelt down to Nina's height and nodded .
"YAY!" Nina said, happy that she had someone to play with. She pulled on Al's arms, dragging him around the front yard.
Noah and Rose came out, smiling and waving to the Elric brothers, as the Elrics and Nina approached the house. A new thing that the brothers noticed as they walked approached, was that Rose had a ring on her left ring finger.
"So," Ed asked, noticing the ring on Rose's finger, "Cain proposed?"
"Yes," Rose said, nodding and smiling.
"Really? That's great!" Al exclaimed, smiling at Rose. "You two really go well together! I'm happy for you!"
"Thank you Al," Rose said, smiling and blushing.
Suddenly, a car horn sounded, catching the group of people off guard andgrabbing their attention. Everyone turned to see a small girl with bright, blonde hair in pigtails and green eyes who looked about 3 was playing in the street. Speeding at her was a sleek, black car. It was on a course that would make her road kill if someone didn't do something.
"Elicia!" a woman's voice yelled. It was probably the girl's mother, trying to get her to move out of the road. The girl looked up and stared at the car. Her face held a look of surprise, as if she had just noticed the car.
Ed, without thinking, put his hands together, then on the ground. A blue light that looked like electricity crackled and traveled from the point where Ed had put his hands down to where the little girl was. When the light reached its destination, a rock wall began to rise out from the road. The car's brakes screeched as the car itself skidded to a sudden halt, nearly crashing into the wall.
"Elicia!" A blonde woman ran out and picked up her little girl.
A voice yelled out of the car, "WHO DARES STOP THE PROCESSION OF LING YAO, THE 12TH SON OF THE GREAT EMPEROR OF XING, ON HIS WAY TO WOO THE DAUGHTER OF THE FUHRER, ROY MUSTANG, AND HIS WIFE, RIZA, THE LOVELY WIN-"
"Shut up!" Ed yelled, stomping up to the car and looking at the speaker, an older man. "I stopped your stupid car!"
"You darestop the procession of Ling Yao, the 12th son of-"
"Yeah! So what?" Ed interrupted. "You were going to hit a little girl!"
The old man laughed and said, "Hm… You have a great amount of courage for one so small."
Ed's temper immediately flared. He yelled, "WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT HE NEEDS STILTS TO BE SEEN!?!?! IT'S NOT MY FAULT THAT ALL YOU DAMN PEOPLE ARE SO TALL!!!!"
The old man looked like he was about to yell at Edward when a new voice laughed. The new voice said, "Fu, do not be insulted. I find him quite funny."
Ed mumbled under his breath, "Great… First a thief, now a court jester."
Fu turned to the back and said, "Yes, Master Ling. Besides, he does not look of any importance, merely a beggar. We shall carry on."
Ed glared at the car as it drove away. He felt insulted. A beggar? That was all he was to them? Well, who cared what they thought? He stalked off towards the group, trying to reign in his fury. Trying being the key word.
The mother of Elicia walked towards the group and bowed to Ed in thanks. "Thank you so much!" she exclaimed. "I didn't know what to do! I was afraid Elicia would be killed."
"It's nothing," Ed said, rubbing the back of his head and smiling, embarrassed.
"Just the same. My name's Gracia Hughes. If you ever need anything don't hesitate to ask. You saved my daughter, so I'm in your debt."
"Oh… Well, if you don't mind could you forget this happened and not mention this?" Ed asked, turning away.
"What? Why?" Gracia asked, confused.
It was Alphonse who answered this time. "Trust my brother and forget this happened. It would be better if you didn't know us. It would be safer for both you and us, if you forgot this happened and didn't mention us to anyone."
"All right…" Gracia said, hesitant. She bowed again and left.
Al turned to Ed and asked, "Brother, who was that?"
"Didn't you hear that guy?" Ed said, irritated.
"Yes, but I don't understand. Why is a prince of Xing here?"
"Didn't you know?" Noah said.
"Know what?" Al asked.
"Apparently, Fuhrer Mustang is trying to find a suitor for his daughter and the princess, Winry," Rose explained. "It's not going well, since Winry practically refuses any prince that comes to offer his hand."
"Huh. Well, I wouldn't blame her," Ed said. "Marriage is a big commitment and marrying someone you don't know would be hard."
"Hmm. I suppose so," Al said, agreeing with his brother.
Ed looked at a silver pocket watch, opening it with alchemy. He stared at the top for a bit, and then looked at the time. It was getting to be about 2 in the afternoon. About time for the evening patrol.
After Ed and Al had become frequent thieves in Central, Fuhrer Mustang had ordered patrols to done at every even hour on the clock. Of course, this had done nothing to stop Ed and Al's thieving. But it was done andanyone who was caught in league with the Elrics would be put into prison.
"Well," Ed said, closing the watch and sealing it with alchemy. "It's almost two. We'd better get going."
"Aw, do you have to go?" Nina asked. "Can't you stay?"
"Nina," Edward said, bending down to her height. "You know we can't."
"Aw," Nina sighed.
"Don't worry," Al said, kneeling down too and smiling. "We'll come and visit again. I promise."
"Really?" Nina asked, hopeful.
"Yeah!" Al said.
"Well… ok… But come back soon!" Nina said, looking up at the two brothers.
Both brothers nodded. They looked back at the small group of family-like friends, waved once, and then ran for their ragged, run-down apartment.
In the royal palace…
Roy Mustang sighed as he looked at all the paperwork he had on his desk. He brushed his black bangs from his face and turned away, staring at the desk. Lots of problems were going on in Amestris, including a tension with the people of Ishbal.
The people of Ishbal didn't like alchemy and wanted the people to stop using it in Ishbal territory. Unfortunately, some people of Amestris didn't like that ides and were stubborn about using it. Some even provoked Ishbalans purposely by using alchemy near them. It made tensions tighter and Roy didn't want to think about what would happen if it led to war. Also, as that wasn't bad enough the Elric brothers' thievery was getting out of hand.
A sudden sound of things hitting things upstairs made Roy look up at the ceiling. If he knew that noise like he knew he knew it, it meant Winrywasn't getting along with the new suitor. Some prince of Xing, he didn't remember exactly.
A yelp upstairs confirmed it. Roy sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. That yelp either meant Winryhad hit her target or her dog, Den, had bitten him. A few minutes later, a black-haired boy with shifty eyes and his black hair in a ponytail, came rushing in. He had a huge lump on his head and Roy could see that his pants were torn.
So it appeared both had happened. Oh well.
"Most gracious Fuhrer," the prince said, walking up to him. "I, Ling Yao, am afraid that I cannot take your… lovely daughter to be my wife. She would not… fit our customs, you see."
"Well, can't say I'm surprised," Roy said, bored already. "You the 72nd she's refused. Don't worry, I don't take it offensively that you don't want to marry her. You've stayed longer than the rest. You can go home."
"Thank you sir," Ling said. Then he bolted for the door.
After he left, Roy stood up and sighed again. He walked up a flight of stairs to his daughter's room. He knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Winry asked from inside. Her voice didn't sound happy.
"It's me," Roy said, opening the door. "May I come in?" He looked at his blonde and blue-eyed daughter. He sighed looking at her back, until she turned to see her father . She was a little surprised he was here.
"Hello Father," Winry said, nervously. She knew why he was here.
"Hello Winry. I need to speak with you."
"What about?"
"I think you know," Roy said. "Winry, this refusing suitors business is getting out of hand. I have enough on my plate without it. Why are you doing this?"
Winry sighed. "Father," she pleaded, "If I want to marry, I want to marry a man I love. Not a man you choose. I am stuck in the palace all day with only the servants, Den, you, and Mother to keep me company. I want to go out into the world, but I am not allowed for my own safety. All I ask in return is that you let me marry the man I want to marry. Can't you at least grant me that freedom? "
"Winry, you don't understand. With Amestris facing the prospect of war, your country needs you to do the right thing for the people."
"But Father!"
"It's hard, I know!" Roy interrupted. "But, it's what must be done! We tried reasoning with them. We tried ignoring them. We've even tried Marcoh's Philosopher's stones! But they are created at the cost of human lives! We've tried everything Winry, but it looks like war is almost inevitable. We need a union between Amestris and another country. Please Winry, try to understand. If I could let you marry a man that you loved I would. But I cannot."
Winry felt tears in her eyes. She looked at her father's face. The once happy-filled face that she knew as a child was now harder andsadder. Lines she had not remembered had entered his face. She realized how hard this was on her father. He had to deal with so much andeven with her mother, Queen Riza, it was hard to deal with the war. She sighed.
"Father," she said, her voice choking up. "I understand… I just want to marry a person I love. I've never been allowed to work on automail, go outside the palace, or anything else I wanted to do that could have endangered me. I just want this one freedom. Is it really, really too much to ask of you? For one simple freedom?
Roy turned and walked to the door. He put his hand on the handle. Then he sighed. "Oh Winry. My dear daughter, Winry. I know it shouldn't be such a hard thing to give. But it's the one thing that as Fuhrer and King, I have to deny you. I am very sorry, dear." Then he opened the door and left, closing it behind him.
Winry stood, stunned. She looked blankly at the closed door as tears filled her eyes. She felt tears leaking down her face. Her eyes blurred as more tears filled them and began to spill over clouding her vision. She ran to her bed, throwing herself on it, and began to sob.
Den, feeling Winry's sadness and strife, went to her and began to whine, nuzzling up against her. She looked up and turned to gaze at him.
"Oh, Den," she said, still sobbing. "What on earth am I going to do?"
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Ending Comments: Yes, this is the first chapter. Second will be written soon.
