Bane; "For those who complained that the last chapter was short, I have news for you. There's a reason. I can think ahead, which is why I'm never giving up on a fic. If one chapter is short, that means that either the next chapter is REALLY long, and has more dramatic flow than if I had continued, or there will be a REALLY long one in up coming chapters."
A; "She tells no lies…"
Drumstick; "A would never say that."
A; "And?"
Drumstick; "Well, you'd say something more like: 'Gosh, Bane. They should just get over the chapter's shortness.' Or 'Bane shouldn't have to write a long thing to explain why she did something'."
A; "I'm not that mean!"
Drumstick; -points to letter written to Basser in Brought to Light Chapter 8-
A; "That wasn't mean!"
Drumstick; -points to part that reads 'Dear Basser, you are an idiot.'
A; 0.o "Did I write that?"
Bane; "I think A has made progress enough for today."
Tension was high.
The figure that had been tormenting the girl stepped forward.
"You willing to take that chance?"
"By the sound of it, you couldn't be much older than a kid. Take the armour off. You might…get hurt."
Alphonse laughed.
"Maybe later."
Or maybe never again.
Refusing to underestimate this stranger, he spat, and walked off in the opposite direction. The others followed. This is so weird. Failing miserably at his attempt to understand what had just occured, Alphonse began to clatter down the path that the girl had taken. He searched for hours, and he never found her.
"Where you been?" Al dropped a bag of chicken legs before the salavating Edward.
"Met someone, Brother."
"Oh. Mmm. Who was he?"
The steel was incompatible to his amusement.
"Dunno. But she was pretty."
Chewing on a bone as though its marrow held the answer to the question, Ed managed to say through a mouthful of meat,
"She?"
"Yeah. But she wouldn't look at me."
Alphonse had to supress the urge to add, '…and I guess it was because I look the way I do.' The surprised laugher that had been so prominent just a few seconds ago was gone; Edward knew exactly what he had been biting back. Seventeen was a large sum of numbers to know someone for.
"Al, I'm sure that wasn't it."
"What wasn't it?"
He really was awful at hiding things.
"The reason she wouldn't look at you."
Alphonse released a sigh, understanding it meant admitting he knew what his older sibling was talking about, and not really caring.
"How would you know?"
"Because you don't scare me."
"Because you created me."
The words stung slightly. Twiddling his thumbs, Edward waited for his sibling to say something, anything.
Silence reared mercilessly."I got a call from the Colonel..."
"What did he say?" He inquired quickly; anything to repel the silence…
"I wasn't really listening to the bastard…"
"Brother!"
"I'm kidding Al, I'm kidding. He said he found a lead for us. Someone who attempted to make a philosopher's stone… and got farther than anyone has ever gone. So we're staying here for another week or so. We may be able to find them."
"So…they might know something that we don't."
The boy nodded. The excitement was plainly exposed to the world through his eyes of gold.
"But there's a slight problem."
"And, what is it?"
"They don't know who it is."
The situation dawned on him. They were going to have to search for one person in a village of nearly one hundred.
"And there's a good detail of progress."
Feeling slightly inpatient with this guessing-game, he sighed, glaring at his older sibling with reddened glow.
"We're looking for someone with automail." Edward smiled, thinking that even he couldn't deny the optimism that coursed through him with this new information. Some part of him would soon level it with his usual overdose of pessimism, but until then…
Her eyes shimmered in the moonlight. The streets were illuminated by it: the strangely welcoming, yet cold hue that took the night only ten days once every month. Of course, it appeared nearly every night in between, but the sky was not as binding, the light not nearly as captivating.
She was barefoot, and wore a casual white sundress. Her hair was tied back, its reddish tint giving it new beauty. She enjoyed looking good for the moon. It was a nice feeling to know that her Luna wouldn't cast her away as the sun saw fit to.
Her feet made only a small patter on the stone streets. She was alone, utterly in solitude. And she found herself hating it, and loving it at the same time.
He watched the evening pass through the window. Edward was already asleep, tostling in his usual nightmarish slumber.
Bane; "And flexing attractively in his Eddishly Gorgeous Boxers!"
A; -.-' "Now do you see why I make fun?"
His lazy interest in the streets changed as he sighted a girl, somewhat like the one he had met only today, wandering down the barren path. A longing, deep within him, erupted. He had to go see her…
As he opened the door, she paused, quickly jumping away. She positioned her arm over her face, as though to shield it, all in one moment. She was a good three yards apart from him now.
Within a twominute hesitation, she lowered her arm. He noticed that the pigment was oddly dicolored. As though it had had to reform and not mastered the proper tint. He could tell by the slight scarring that it had been something chemical related… by her reactions…had someone thrown a mild acid at her from a doorway? Alphonse dared not ask.
Recognizing his figure in the bright moon's rays, she gave a weak smile. Still, she didn't make her way nearer.
"I…I never thanked you for… helping me…"
'Saving' sounded to cliché to her. Although it would have been the better description in that case…
He nodded with a small clatter.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah…why?"
"Just… you're on your own again."
"Oh. I guess… I always come out for the full moon."
He took a moment to study the orb, and gave another nod.
"Never really noticed."
"No body ever does."
She would have turned and fled. Talking to people, having actual conversations with them was strange to her now. Ever since the rumor had spread, conversing was dangerous and unwanted.
But she owed it to him at least not to turn away. She had long ago ignored her decision to stop running, but her feet sent the ground to blurring, and her fear sent the world to spinning.
Bane; "It's a short chapter…but I think that you'll live… Besides…three other stories have been updated."
A; "Two other…pointless…stories…"
Drumstick; "So what are you waiting for? Review already!"
Bane; "Okay, I know Isaid there'd bean explanation...but I PROMISE, it'll come next chapter! I couldn't do it for this one because it broke the flow a bit...