Pyromaniac

Roy watched the flame on the candle dance, as if it were full of life but carefree. He ran his hand through his short black hair and lay back down on his small bed that only kept him warm with a small sheet. The northern cold kept him freezing and nothing more. His eyes strayed back to the dancing flame and he couldn't help but want to contain it and make it his own. Laughing to himself and forgetting that he was the only one awake in the boy's room, he thought about how unreal his wish could be.

Later that week, the 14 year old boy sat at his bed reading on of the thick, hardback book when he came across arrays that together combined might cause sparks to turn to an explosion or fire. He looked around the room for a pen or pencil to draw the arrays on something. When he found nothing, he pulled out the suitcase under his bed and retrieved the switchblade that had the initial R carved into the handle. Dropping down next to the bed, he quickly etched the three symbols into the wooden frame of the bed and studied them.

The next morning, as he snuck back into the library to put the books back, he spotted a box of markers and eyed them. He walked quickly to them, hoping that no one would catch him as he slyly slipped a black and a red marker from the set and stuck them in his jeans. He picked the books back up and set them in their places, except for the one he had been reading the night before, being sure to quickly get it out of the library.

Quickly getting back onto his bed, he pulled the thin markers from his pocket and the book and put them in his suitcase.

"Hey, geek, whatchya doin'?"

Roy whipped around to see a stocky red-headed boy standing in the doorway. He had an evil looking smirk on his face and his hands were on his hips. Roy kicked the suitcase under the bed and stood up to face the boy who was two inches taller than him and probably had a year on him.

"Shut up!"

"You're such a loser. All you do is read ever since you got here. That's why no one talks to you and no one likes you!" He glared at him. "Why can't you be normal?"

Roy remained silent. There was nothing he could say to the boy. He just stared at him.

"What's wrong? Are you gay, too?" He teased.

"No!" He grabbed the marker from under the bed and drew a transmutation circle on the floor, pulling a long concrete spear from the ground and aiming for the boy.

"Whoa!" Roy paused at the other's voice, who was gawking at the spear he had just transmuted. "How did you do that!"

Roy beamed at himself. "Alchemy."

"Whatever it was, it was awesome!"

Roy dropped that pole in his hand and grinned. "Where did you learn to do that?" The boy asked.

"Reading. There wasn't anything to do around here. I read."

The boy chuckled, "You're still a nerd."

Roy stepped away from the pole and smiled. "What's your name?"

"Jason Thourogood." He said it curtly and said, "Yours?"

"Roy." He thought for a second of a last name. "Roy Mustang." He hadn't been given a last name, and he thought this one sounded good enough.

"Well, Mustang, how old are you?"

"Fourteen." Roy said, grinned, asking him the same question. "How old're you, Jason?"

"Sixteen." He replied curtly, and then added, "I'll be seventeen next month."

"Cool."

And just like that, Roy Mustang had just made his first friend, and his last name.

Two years later, Roy still hadn't figured out the array for controlling fire from sparks. It seemed no matter how much he worked, he couldn't figure out how to get it right. Experimenting like he did, it created a lot of unexplained explosions and messes that he couldn't seem to stop.

One day, when working on the arrays in the front entry way with a spare piece of chalk he had taken, he heard someone enter the room and turned to see the headmaster.

"Boys, in two days," he announced loudly as Roy tried desperately to shield his arrays, "There will be a family, two parents and one son, who will be coming to adopt one of you." He said 'one' in a slimy way, as though he wished the family would come adopt them all. "I want you to all be on your best behavior, so we can hurry and get rid of you."

Roy shrugged his shoulders, but then realized. If he were adopted, he could practice alchemy whenever he liked. He might also have a large set of books to choose from. The possibilities seemed endless.

Two days later he walked into the main room of the orphanage with his hair pushed back neatly, two stray hairs finding their way to the front of his face. He had cleaned his clothes carefully and made them look even nicer by deepening their color. He tried to keep his mind off alchemy that day, but when he was trying to make himself look busy, he found himself working on the arrays with his chalk again. This time, there were only three that he hadn't used yet. There was a circle with a triangle set in the middle and a square in the middle of the triangle; there was also one with three circles set in one another, and between the first two, triangles bordered it. In the middle, above a smeared white chalky mess, was a circle with another circle set in it. There were two triangles overlapping each other and forming a diamond. There was a symbol on the top and bottom of the array.

He smiled at his work, but then looked down at his clothes. Chalk covered him, and his stick of chalk had been reduced to a stub. He took his hands, wiping them on the ground first to rid them of the white dust, and the patted his clothes dry. They looked a little gray, but he looked fine. Before he could try to find something to start sparks, the headmaster announced from the front door. "THE HAVOCS ARE HERE!"

Ah, the cliffhanger. I know, you're so excited about Jean being in my story! Aren't you glad? I'm attempting to incorporate all the military, and in the manga it's known that the Havocs on a farm. This intrigued me, so, yeah.

See ya later. I know I updated fast, but I love Roy so much I can't help it.

Love ya,

Cho