A/N: Ack! Looks like somebody fell behind in updating! Dun worry, it's not that I didn't have anything written (quite the contrary, I have a ton of SxL stuff written), I just couldn't decide which to post. I settled for this one, because I've never seen it tackled before, and thought it'd be an interesting go. It's also for this challenge I'm doing with Shizu Kuwabara, and the prompt was "Monster", so here it is!

What are we dealing with here and what does it have to do with SxL, you ask? Okay, remember the oh-so-famous scene when young Scar shows up right after his brother did the transmutation, and then you see that look on Scar's face? He looks rather terrified, doesn't he? So I decided to lengthen the scene and take young Scar inside. -insert evil laughter here-

Dedication & Plug: To the first official SxL community at Live Journal, because they are awesome! Go over there and join! Also, I'm gonna start plugging good fics I've read, and since I'm finding myself in Alphonse mode, dude, Shizu Kuwabara's This is me is perfect! It really describes the dilemma of our dear and precious Al, so go read it!

Monster

Something wasn't right - the air that hung so low told him so. It was like a blanket meant to suffocate him as he ran, breathing heavily, and rushing past the people of his homeland. No one dared to question the boy's motives for running so frantically as he did, dismissing it as something of a private family crisis. After all, they already knew he was the brother of the man who had been widowed not long before, so he had every right to still be upset over her death.

But he felt something else. He had a sense of anxiety sweep over him as he saw his brother's home just in sight, and that nagging feeling in his stomach only strengthened, making him want to double over in pain it was such an awful feeling. But he pressed on, banging his fists against the door that had been barred from his entrance. He knew something was wrong - he could feel it. There was an even more frightening air that floated about the small stone house, and it worried him; made him tense with utter fear for what could lie beyond that door.

"Brother, open this door! You have to talk to me and tell me what's going on!" he screamed against the wooden door, both angry and fearsome at the same time. "Brother!"

Just as he threw his fist forward one last time, the door opened, and hiding behind it like a coward was his brother, now scared out of his mind for what atrocity he had committed. The boy looked upon him for a moment, questioning his strange behavior when he noted the blood that stained his clothes. "Brother, what have you done! Have you touched the sinful alchemy Ishbala has forbidden!" he demanded furiously.

His brother hung his head in shame as he stepped out of the house, rolling mist following behind him as he shed tears of bitter defeat. "Forgive me, Brother... it cannot be done this way."

Furrowing his inquisitive brow, the younger encouraged the rest out of him. "What cannot be done? What have you done, Brother!"

A painful sobbed was wrenched from his throat as he covered his face with a bloodied hand, the red liquid staining his warm cheeks with its shrilling coldness. Finding his quiet voice, he replied before walking away. "I tried... and failed to bring her back with the Great Art. It cannot be done and Ishbala has punished me for my actions. She is now nothing more than a monster."

"Brother, you... you didn't...?" He had received nothing more than a guilty moan when he shot his gaze back at another sound; it sounded something along the lines of a growl. Nervously, he stepped inside and peered through the dark clouds at whatever his brother had created, still hearing the detested noises it was making. The closer he got, the louder the sounds became, hisses and rumbles coming from the creature his brother feared. But why fear something that alchemy could create? Alchemy couldn't create life, so there was no point in being afraid of something it spawned.

But he feared this.

When its sharp, glowing eyes spotted the young boy staring at it so, it let out a high-pitched screech, but the boy didn't move, frozen in horror for this ungodly visage. It was covered in blood and God knows what else, and his eyes lost their brilliant crimson shine as the creature seemed to bubble with anticipation. He didn't know what it was trying to do... perhaps move? He bit his lip and held his ground, despite knowing he was immobile due to his well-seen fear, as the mass of various elements continued to groan and hiss, as if it were gasping for life. What life? There was no life that this creature deserved.

Then he saw her face, briefly, but it was long enough to make him realize just what his brother had done. Withholding the aching urge to scream, he grabbed the candle lit on the table, the only thing providing such dim light for the room, and then took the cloth it sat on as well. Glaring his most intimidating stare for his age, he brought the cloth over the dancing flame, and then tossed it at the monster before him. Again, its screeching peaked as the fire spread quickly over its so-called body, burning the apparent flesh on contact and searing into its very depths.

As the smoke began to billow and the sizzling sounds of the flames licking the flesh of the creature went on, he snarled viciously and spoke. "Go back to the Hell you came from!" he shouted, only to hear the most cruel of voices reply.

"And I'll take you with me." it seethed, its tone dark and forboding, the voice even more frightening than the way its body looked.

He took a step back as the flaming creature attempted to rise up and take him away into the painful death it deserved, still breathing in a growl, heaving up and down with each gasp it made. When it made a shrilling cry that was surely meant to be the last thing he heard, he made a running dash out the door, unheard of terror painting his face in a pale hue never seen before by his people. He had never been so afraid in his life, and he understood why his brother was so traumatized, now in nothing more than a cowardly state of mind. And it was all because of this creature...

This thing his brother had created was indeed a monster - a monster that he could not kill.

A/N: Meh, not as creepy as I would have liked for it to be, but it got the message across, I guess. And so it begins! The nightmares are gonna start comin', Scar... better run. And you better review! If you choose to flame, ha ha, you'll be fed to my neighbor's goldfish. Thanks for your time, all! Cheerio!

47th Light