Disclaimer : Fullmetal Alchemist is not in any way owned by me, though I enjoyed watching it very much.

Blood Bound

The figure stood motionless against the setting sun, a still silhouette in the coming dusk. The fading rays of the slipping sun washed over the slim figure in faint glimmers, casting his shadow onto the damp earth at his back. The wind rushed at him, growing bolder and stronger yet as the sun's strengths slowly bled away. But still, the figure stood unmoving, as still as a stone statue, with his gaze locked on a distant point far away across the blood red river uncoiling before him. His long coat whipped violently about him as golden strands of hairs pulled themselves loose from the single plait neatly tied back. For one brief moment, his hair caught the last of the dying beams of the evening sun and they burst into brilliant dazzling colors of angry red and orange, looking as if his entire head was set aflame.

He blinked as some of the loose hairs momentarily found their way into his eyes, returning back his wondering mind to reality. He pulled his gaze away from the distance and glanced up at the darkening sky. Hundreds of faint spots scattered across the gray-pink heavens, winking silent greetings to him, while bidding their time when their full brilliance would be unmasked. Slowly, his hands traveled up to his breast pocket and reached into them, hesitating slightly before pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. He uncrumpled it carefully and clutched it tightly against the prying winds. In the failing light, he began to read its contents aloud solemnly, like a man would saying a sacred prayer.

Bound by sin, by the souls that suffered,
Bound by dreams, to redempt those treasured,
Bound by fears, these hearts beat together,
Bound by blood, through death and after.
By these blood that are mine, are yours,
Thus so are yours, are mine,
By these bonds that binds together,
Restore this tie that was broken,
Reunite these souls that was lost,
Return brother to brother,
And blood to blood.

For an eternity of a moment, he closed his eyes, as his strength wavered and give way entirely to despair. He didn't belong here; standing on an alien soil, underneath an alien sky, searching the alien constellation and breathing the alien air. He existed in an alien world, not his…never his. He was lost, hopelessly lost, alone and abandoned, damned for the rest of his life. Exasperation gripped him with cold, clammy fingers, as the wind continued to howl around him.

But then, he caught himself quickly, clamping tightly at his helplessness, he flung them away, far far away from his mind, away from his heart. He opened his eyes, the golden orb glinting fiercely with new fires of determination. He would not lose. He would not surrender, as he never had before. He would find his way back, back to Al, to Winry, to Risenpool and back to alchemy, even though it would take his entire lifetime to do it. After all, he was the Fullmetal Alchemist and he would always stay true to his name.

He loosened his grip on the piece of paper. Seizing its chance, the wind immediately snatched it away from his grasp and carried it away. He watched the paper rode the wind like a prized treasure arduously claimed. He watched it traveled further until it finally disappeared into the distance, swallowed by the virgin night.

"Al!!" he suddenly shouted into the thickening darkness, "Wait for me!!!". These words were quickly snatched away by the wind, just as the piece of paper was seized from him before, leaving behind a ringing silence hanging ominously in the air, save for the gusting of the wind.

Under the blooming glow of the pale moon, perched on her newly acclaimed throne in the velvety sky, the Fullmetal Alchemist abruptly turned around and walked away from the riverbank, pulling his coat tighter about him to ward off the growing chill of the night. As if sensing his departure, the wind suddenly died. In the silent darkness that followed, only the soft thudding of wood against the moist earth could be heard. Thud…thud…thud…


NOTE : Well, this is my first story! I honestly thought it would be something about Saiyuki, but I guess fate had a different plan…..As usual, please feel free to review, flames, torches, matches, whatever given, I'll surely accept. Thanks for reading this and I hope you enjoyed it, even though it might be a tiny bit only…hehe…