Happy New Year everyone!
Another OC introduction chapter, you guys really should tell me who you like the best or I'll never know if any of them are hitting it off.
Disclaimer: Even though I updated my profile page to make it look more modern, I do not own Full Metal Alchemist.
Ed isn't very surprised when the grey walls of the cafeteria greet him, as he has yet to see a wall of any other color. The room is pretty spacious, and has ten or eleven long tables in neat rows, with benches to sit on. On the far wall is a food line, where other Cadets have lined up and are pushing their trays down the line to get food. The food doesn't look bad, some kind of beef stew with a side of mashed potatoes.
Matt walks over to the line first, with Ed right behind him, "It smells good," Ed comments, peeking around Matt to get an extra look at the food.
Matt nods, grabbing a tray from the stack against the wall. The two make their way to the front of the line, get their food, and then have the task of finding a table. The one furthest from the food line is empty, so Ed and Matt sit down across from each other at one end.
Ed is facing the main part of the cafeteria, so he is the first to see a group of kids form a circle in the middle of the cafeteria. Ed motions to Matt, so he turns to look. "Isn't it a little early for them to be fighting?"
Matt agrees, "I think I saw someone in the being forced into the middle, I wonder what he did to cross them, we can't even see there are so many of them."
Ed stands up, "We can't just leave an innocent kid to get beat up. Back in my hometown, I would always help people in trouble."
Matt stands up slowly, still peering into the mob of soldiers, "You're right Ed, lets rescue the kid and teach those bullies a lesson!"
Ed and Matt cross the cafeteria in a few bounds. Ed steps into the mob, pulling the first person he can reach out of the circle. "Move it," he grunts, grabbing a second kid and forcing his way to the center. Matt is right behind him, trying to reason with the nearest thug.
Ed freezes as he recognizes the kid sitting on the ground in the middle of the mob. "Dahn!" Ed leans down and grabs Dahn by his arm, pulling him into a standing position. Once Dahn is balanced, he spins around, trying to pinpoint the leader of the group.
As if on cue, the smallest guy in the circle raises his arm, signaling for the gang to stop. They comply, and back up, forming a circle around Ed, Matt, and Dahn.
"Well well what do we have here? I didn't know a xingese kid could make friends outside his type." The leader mocks Dahn with a chuckle, taking a step forward to distinguish him from his lackeys.
Ed takes a step towards the leader, happy that for once, this guy is around his height.
Maybe around 5 foot 6, the leader of the gang has crew cut brown hair, a mean look in his eyes, and enough muscle to knock Ed into the next room.
"The name's Randall." Randall steps right in front of Ed, practically pressing their noses together. "Who are you and why are you defending this xingese kid?"
Ed narrows his gold eyes, silently daring Randall to break the contact. "I'm Ed, and Dahn is one of my friends. I don't let other people beat up my friends."
A smirk settles onto Randall's face, "So… you think you can take me?"
Ed smirks back, finding his confidence, "I don't just think, I know."
Randall takes a small step forward, bringing his right arm up in a fist and throwing it blindly, but Ed leans back, cleanly dodging the swipe. He retaliates by placing his hands onto Randall's shoulders and jabbing his knee into the other boy's gut. Randall grunts, causing Dahn to take a fearful step backwards. Matt steps in front of Dahn, shooting Ed a thumbs up.
Randall quickly shakes Ed off and backs up, huffing slightly as he tries to get his breath back. After a second he charges again, aiming his fist at Ed's chin.
With one second to spare Ed ducks down, causing Randall's fist to go over his head. With one swift motion, Ed stands up, flipping Randall over his body. Randall collapses to the ground with a groan and Ed backs away, giving him a second to clamber back to his feet.
Randall starts shifting to his left in a circular motion, so Ed matches. Randall raises one fist and after a moment charges for the third and final time.
The punch is lower, so Ed raises his arms to guard against it, but just as Randall's fist is about to connect with Ed's raised arms, a large beefy hand cuts in, clamping down on Randall's wrist. Ed looks up, shocked to see Commander Root looming over the fighting teens. He yanks up on Randall's wrist, raising him a few inches off the ground. "What did I tell you about fighting Shapiro? That's going to be 10 more laps on your running tonight, and you…" Root turns his dark gaze on Ed, Dahn, and Matt. "…Fighting amongst yourselves is not allowed in this training camp. The three of you will face punishment after class tomorrow morning." Root's head swivels around, looking at the audience, "if all of you don't scram right now you will be joining them."
The crowd disperses quickly and quietly. Root drops Randall to the ground, who slinks away while shooting an angry glare over his right shoulder.
Ed brushes the dust off his shirt, smiling at his two new friends, "Well we got our first punishment."
Dahn slouches over, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "umm… thanks for doing that Ed, you didn't have to save me. No one ever has before."
Ed clasps one hand onto Dahn's shoulder enthusiastically. "We're friends aren't we? Friends stick up for each other."
Matt steps in. "Yea! We are an unbeatable trio."
Dahn looks puzzled so Ed explains, "Dahn, this is Matt. Matt, this is Dahn. Come on, lets get back to our dinner, we can talk more there."
Dahn nods, and the two lead him over to where they left their food. They sit down, and Dahn disappears for a moment then returns with a tray of food.
Stories of the past are shared, meals are eaten, and soon everyone is happy and full.
"So…" Ed places down his fork and leans towards Dahn, "What was with that Randall kid, what does he have against you anyway?"
Dahn looks uncomfortable, but Matt chimes in knowingly, "its because he's xingese. Some folks from out West here are very racist against them. My momma raised me to always love everyone, no matter what they look like."
"We don't have racism in Central," Ed responds wistfully, staring over to where Randall is now sitting with his gang of friends.
"It's bad news," Dahn glances over as well, but quickly looks back down at his plate. "Those guys said they're in their second week here, but that means we'll still have to avoid them for two weeks."
Ed shrugs, "Randall didn't seem so bad, I think he just has a wrong impression of the xingese people, look at it this way, we have two weeks to turn him good. There are only around ten of us our the new class, so chances are we'll be put near the older graduates once we leave, we definitely want to get on his good side."
Matt nods with a smile. "You're right Ed, maybe under all that hard skin he's actually a softie. He's probably extremely loyal."
Dahn still seems doubtful, "We'll see, I hope you're right. Meanwhile, we have to face punishment tomorrow after class, and the first week of training is boot camp, this is going to be tough."
Ed nods in agreement, "Yea, but I've never faced a challenge I couldn't handle, and this won't be any different."
A little fight scene for you guys, I hoped it was detailed enough and not confusing.
Well… please review! Reviews will be rewarded with small metal giraffes that I will make with alchemy.