Chapter Title: Sneaking
Characters: Scar, Ed, Clara
Pairings: None! I can't write romance for the life of me!
Spoilers: Nope
Warnings: None, actually
Disclaimer: If I owned the show, there would be a bit more detail about Scar's backstory. Unfortunately, I don't own it. XP
A/N: I'm so sorry, everyone! This has taken far too long to post, I know. First I had exams, then a family reunion out in the middle of nowhere (without my laptop), then I went to Scarborough Faire with my friends, then I was working on my costume for A-Kon (I'm going as Scar-san!), and THEN I couldn't think of anything to write! Argh…so frustrating. On the plus side, I bought all 51 episodes on EBay, and they should get here by Tuesday, so I can watch Scar-san all I want! Joy!
"regular speech"
'thoughts'
cat speech-
'Why does Fullmetal insist on continuing to get himself into situations where I feel obliged to assist him?' Scar thought to himself as he padded swiftly through the streets. One good thing about being a cat was that it enabled him to track Clara down by scent, and that's just what he was doing. It might not be as easy as it would have been if he had been turned into, say, a bloodhound, but it was possible. And the fact that he could, by now, immediately recognize her foul stench helped matters quite a bit. She seemed to be sticking to less traveled parts of the city, making it even easier to track her in the absence of multitudes of other people's scents. He had yet to see Alphonse, and wondered briefly if the younger Elric brother had taken a wrong turn somewhere
Clara darted through the streets and alleyways towards her hiding place, an old warehouse that had been abandoned for about a year. She smirked at Ed thrashing about, trying vainly to break out of her hold on his neck.
He yowled at her furiously, -Let me go you psycho! Put…me…DOWN!-
"Now, now," Clara's voice was mock-sweet as she slowed and opened the door to enter the warehouse, "We've arrived, so calm down, little alchemist…"
Ed, as could be expected, exploded, -WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALLER THAN A GRAIN OF RICE?- Ed's reaction was so loud, in fact, that Scar heard it very faintly from several blocks away and, recognizing it immediately, headed directly towards the sound. But anyway, back to Ed's plight. Clara shut and locked the door quickly before strolling leisurely through the haphazard stacks of empty wooden crates until she reached another door, behind which was an old but sturdy looking staircase leading up to a small 'surveillance' office. The small amount of office furniture was filthy with dust and cobwebs, and yellowed papers covered in numbers and crabbed handwriting were strewn about carelessly, and at Clara's entry, several mice scurried for cover. Before Ed could examine the room further, he was tossed carelessly into a smaller, open-end-up crate that had been next to the door, and before he could jump out Clara had put the lid into place, effectively trapping him. It took only a few seconds for Ed to notice something very important. There were no air holes.
After Scar heard Ed shouting at Clara, he had been able to move towards the warehouse using a much more direct route than he would have taken if he had continued to use the winding scent trail. It wasn't long before he had reached it in all of its abandoned warehouse-y-ness. But, being Scar, he realized that simply dashing in, while 'heroic', would be extremely foolish. And Scar wasn't much for heroics, anyway. Things like this required a more covert approach. Some sneaking was in order.
Scar had slunk around the building, and it hadn't been long before he had discovered a broken window, one of the really big ones on the lower floor. It had been a bit difficult to get safely around the broken edges of the glass that remained in the pane, but Scar had managed well enough. Once inside, he had needed to navigate through the veritable maze of empty packing crates, muscles tensed to react as swiftly as possible in the very real possibility of attack. The silence was unnerving, and he found himself breathing as softly as he could; every fibre of his being was screaming with nervous adrenaline, and his injured shoulder throbbed. He was well aware that, much to his chagrin, if it came to a fight he would be at a severe disadvantage. In fact, as of the moment, his only advantage was surprise, and that was minimal and a contested fact anyway. The situation was simply Not Good. He sighed inwardly, 'How do I manage to get into situations like this?'
After much wandering, he at last made his way through the crates and found the slightly ajar door that led to the staircase that led to the surveillance office where Clara and Ed were located. With more than a little trepidation, he cautiously padded up the stairs, for once thankful that he was a cat. If he had still been a human, the old stairs would no doubt have creaked and groaned loudly under his feet; it was like a fairly dependable, low tech alarm system for Clara. But, since Scar was a cat, he was able to creep up the stairs without so much as a squeak from the old stairs, and he cautiously peered through the, also slightly ajar, door into the office. Surprisingly enough, Clara didn't seem to be inside, although, he thought, wrinkling his nose in distaste, her smell was all over the place. He could also scent Ed faintly, and glanced around the room, trying to ascertain the young alchemist's location. His eyes rested upon a smallish, sealed crate…from which emanated faint scuffling sounds. Ah, there he was.
Another quick glance around the room to make sure that Clara was not there, and Scar quickly darted into the room, stopping in front of the crate containing Ed, -Fullmetal, are you still alive in there?-
The scuffling stopped abruptly, and Ed's muffled voice was heard from inside the crate, -Scar! I'm trapped in here, and I'm running out of air! Get me out!-
'Well, this situation just got worse,' Scar thought grimly as he replied, -And exactly how am I supposed to do that?-
There was silence for a few moments, before, -Er…I dunno?-
Scar sighed in frustration, before the 'click' of a closing door sounded from behind him. He whirled, but before he could fully register what he was seeing, he had been snatched into the air by his neck. Crimson orbs narrowed in fury as he stared into the smirking face of the last person he wanted to see.
"Well, now. What have we here?"
A/N: Blah…not only did it take forever, it was a short chapter, too. Sorry again. Anyway, if you didn't catch it, that's Clara who's got Scar-san now. Now I'm going to work on my costume, and the next chapter (which will hopefully be longer and have a shorter arrival time). Well, after I answer all the reviews I got, anyway.
Scar's fangurl: Yeah, finals are a pain. But they're over now, so I'll be writing more!
Anase the Shadow Alchemist: Hehehe…of course Scar-san wins that one. They are remarkably similar though…I hadn't noticed that before.
Basser: You rock. You just do. I'm glad you like my writing style. :)
Courtney-neko: Thanks! Nice review style, it made me smile.
Lunatic Pandora1: Oooo, really? I can't wait to get my DVDs, then I can hear both.
Shale 101: Thanks. Yeah, poor Scar-san. I abuse him so much. XD
ILUVED: Thanks!
Silvertails Tora: It's okay; I do that all the time. Thanks for liking my story!
Crazyanimefreak15: I'm sorry! I had a ton to do, but now I don't have so much so I'll update faster.
Uniasus: Nice name. Thanks for the compliments and the good luck. Good luck on yours! (If you haven't already taken them…)
