"You're going to get shot," Ed said for the millionth time.
For the millionth time, Mustang ignored him.
Ed didn't even really know why he was talking out loud. It was obvious no one could hear a word he said, but he still felt the need to say it. Maybe it was nerves, or maybe his desperation was showing, but he was pretty certain that tonight wasn't going to end well.
"Look, I have firsthand knowledge of crazy country people," Ed continued from beside Hawkeye, talking over the thunder rolling in the distance. Clearly the storms weren't over, though Ed found the constant rain to be an unnecessary nuisance. It definitely slowed down Mustang and Hawkeye, at any rate. "They'll shoot you for stealing a chicken. Think what they'll do over a car."
They didn't listen. Big surprise there.
Mustang and Hawkeye had passed only four farm houses through the day. One had no car—only a lone mule and a rickety-looking cart—and one had no visible mode of transportation at all. Two had vehicles, but Hawkeye had refused to steal a car from the elderly, and since the night was nearing its end, Mustang decided that this one was the best option.
Now Mustang and Hawkeye crouched at the edge of the forest under a stand of cedar trees and surveyed the farm, looking all the world like the thieves they were becoming.
Albeit kind of pathetic thieves.
The car was a dilapidated pickup truck with flaking blue paint and wooden rails around the bed. Rust had all but consumed half of its body, giving it a mottled sort of appearance. It was parked in a shed that was missing its front wall, standing about a dozen yards from the run-down house. They surveyed the area from their vantage point at the edge of the forest, but as far as Ed could tell, all the lights were off, as to be expected at this time of night.
His eyes returned to the truck. It really was a sorry sight.
"And here's a question," Ed volunteered, gesturing to the truck with an open hand. "Will that thing even start?"
"Think it will start?" Hawkeye echoed. Ed gave her a petulant look she couldn't see, feeling slighted even though he knew there wasn't much reason to. After all, it wasn't their fault they couldn't see him.
"Better hope it does, or it's the mule," Mustang said, leaning heavily against a tree. A day's trek through the forest had done him no favors, and he looked even more pathetic than before, hair still damp from the rain throughout the day and maybe even a bit paler, though Ed couldn't be sure. The older man could hardly put any weight on his bad leg without grimacing.
Ed turned his attention to Hawkeye. She wasn't much better off. She, too, looked pale, but it could have just been a trick of the blackened overcast sky, though she had to be tired. Both of them were exhausted and dirty and running on empty, and Ed couldn't help but feel a little guilty that he felt completely fine. He suspected that he could have sprinted to Briggs and back without stopping and not even break a sweat.
Dead perks.
Still, as Ed stared at the two of them, he knew that they needed this car. There was no way they could make it on foot for more than another day.
It didn't mean that Ed had to like it, though.
Mustang pulled his collar up against the damp spring wind and turned to Hawkeye. "Do you know how to hotwire a car?"
Ed made a noise that could have potentially been attributed to a strangled cat. "Shouldn't you have thought of that before it got to this point?! I said that hours ago!"
Hawkeye looked at him. "I read an article about it in one of Fuery's journals. I believe with a bit of trial and error I can manage."
Mustang nodded. "Alright. Are you ready?"
"Sir."
"Let's move out."
Ed watched them make their slow way down the hill to the farm below and thought a moment.
What was he even doing here? He was already well over twenty-four hours into Truth's week timeframe. Unless this went off without a hitch and they made it up to Central—easily a four-day ride nonstop—then he was pushing it. If he had any sense, he'd head off to find Alphonse.
But then what? Al wouldn't be able to see him either, unless as a soul with no body of his own he was able to see what no one else could.
Like Ed would get that lucky. Didn't Truth mention something about him being able to "get along just fine" without his body?
He turned a dark glare up to the dark sky. "You lied to me! You sorry, lowdown, pathetic excuse for—"
Lightening split the night, a thunderous crash on its heels. Ed jumped a mile, vision bleached for just a moment with the brilliance of it.
"FINE! Fine, I won't say it!" he promised, waving his hands in a surrendering motion. The thunder retreated, rolling into distant rumbles. "But that doesn't mean I won't think it," he muttered, glaring at the sky once more before stuffing his hands in his pockets and following Mustang and Hawkeye down the hill.
Roy thought this whole venture was a little ill-conceived, but options were limited.
Still, Hallucination-Ed brought up a couple of good points. Not that Roy would ever admit it, even to a hallucination.
He really hoped the truck would start.
Roy and Riza reached the truck undetected, the open field easy enough terrain to cross, even with their given physical ailments. Thunder growled and snarled from a distance, with the exception of a particularly close burst that made Roy jump, eyes darting to the house to make sure no farmer was at the window with a shotgun pointed their way.
Finding no one, he pressed his side to the wall of the shack, peering around the open corner to the house while Riza turned her attention back to the truck. Riza approached the driver's side, quietly pulling the handle, but when she tried to open the door it let out an unholy shriek that Roy was certain woke the dead.
As if to illustrate his point, Ed appeared beside him. "Maybe you guys could be louder? I don't think everyone in Xing heard that."
The little smart aleck was mouthing off even in death. Unbelievable. If Roy survived this, he was going to therapy.
A low rumble rolled out from the darkest corner of the garage.
It wasn't thunder.
Roy froze. Riza froze.
They locked eyes, hers wide.
"Oh, great," Ed hissed.
All three looked at the corner and saw something big and black shifting in the shadows, like ink taking shape. White gleamed and Roy could make out an impressive row of teeth bared at them, a dark paw padding against concrete as the shadow materialized into the biggest dog Roy had ever seen.
"I hope dogs love you as much as you love them, Mustang," Ed whispered, earlier exasperation now definitely apprehension.
"Sir?" Riza asked tightly.
"Get in the car," Roy hissed, not daring to move. "Slowly."
Roy was all-too aware of the beast's yellow eyes locked on him, burning with animal hatred as it took another step forward, ears alert and short muzzle curled in a snarl. The thick black fur on its neck stood on end, looking more like a hairy mountaintop instead of a dog's massive shoulders.
Roy had seen smaller buffalo.
"Good dog," he murmured, backing up one step, reaching out blindly to grasp at the door handle while the other hand reached for his gun, hoping the whole while that a boom of thunder wouldn't set the animal off. His sweaty palms slipped against the cool metal of his sidearm and the weapon tumbled over his fingers and to the ground with a loud clack
The dog took a single, lunging step forward with a malicious growl.
It took everything in Roy's power not to jump back in response. "Okay, okay! Nothing to get excited about . . . just a little gun . . ."
Riza was already in the driver's seat, her own gun drawn, but she didn't have a clear shot. "Sir," she said, her voice strained.
"It's alright, Riza," Roy assured her, but really, he was just trying to assure the dog. And himself.
The animal took another step closer, and it was only a matter of moments before it was going to lunge, and then Roy would have more than a bum leg to worry about.
Then, Ed stepped between Roy and the dog.
The dog paused, growl coming to a rumbling halt.
"Good dog," Ed said. "I want to bite him too, but that won't solve anything, okay?" The dog's snarl eased, but the growl came rolling again as it took a hesitant step back.
And its eyes were most definitely locked on Hallucination-Ed.
Well. This certainly gave Roy something else to ponder.
"Wow. Guess dogs really are smarter than people, huh?" Ed said, stepping forward. The dog retreated again, making as if to go around Ed and get at Roy, but Ed cut him off again. "Now if only Colonel Idiot would get in the truck already."
Roy could take a hint, even from his own subconscious—albeit his subconscious was doing a bang-up job of acting like the tangible world right now. Regardless, Roy bent down to pick up the gun, watching the dog warily as it made for Roy again and again was halted by Ed. Without wasting any more time, Roy yanked open the truck door and threw himself inside.
Riza gave him an indecipherable look before putting her gun on the dash and bending down to yank lose a handful of wires underneath the steering wheel. "What stopped the dog?"
"Maybe my boyish good looks and rugged charm?" Roy tried, looking back outside at where Ed was still corralling the dog, keeping the beast from getting any closer to the truck. Roy was somehow projecting some sort of supernatural Edward Elric doppelganger with his fragmented, hindered mind.
Actually, Ed being a ghost actually made more sense.
Roy was going to stop thinking about it now.
"If you could see my face, sir, you would know that I'm not convinced."
"Something has him spooked," Roy said instead. "Are you finished?"
"Almost," she said, her knife deftly peeling off the insulation on a pair of wires. She twisted them together, the cab light blinking to life as she did. Then she pulled one more wire free from the bunch, tapping it against the other two.
Sparks flew and the engine coughed, sputtered, then caught.
The dog lost its mind, barking and roaring, jaw snapping repeatedly as spittle flew in strings across the windshield.
"Uh, Riza?" Roy asked nervously as Hallucination-Ed threw himself bodily through the back door and onto the bench seat with what sounded like a pained yelp.
She dropped the wires, moved the stick shift and hit the gas, rolling out of the garage at speeds the truck probably hadn't seen since Drachma owned North City.
All of the commotion was enough to bring the dog's owner to the window with a shotgun.
"Riza," Roy said again, this time with more urgency. Or maybe panic.
"Shut up, sir!" she snapped, throwing the stick shift again as a round of buckshot slammed against the passenger door.
Another salvo cracked against the steel bed as Riza floored it, the dog pursuing in their wake, teeth flashing in the dark until it slowly disappeared behind a sudden veil of rain and mist.
Roy panted, one hand gripping his cane, the other his gun. His hands shook from adrenaline, breath forming wispy clouds against the passenger window. The rain picked up speed, pattering at a sharp staccato against the windshield as they moved down the country road, covering in a minute what they could have barely made in an hour.
"Well," Hallucination-Ed said at last. "You didn't get shot."
Short chapter is short :') But this is my gift to you! Merry Christmas!
It seems like the second I focus on art, writing takes a backseat, and vice-verse. I always come here with the best excuses, don't I? Lol.
Not overly pleased with this chapter, but I rarely am, so there's that lol.
Quick life update: I'm about to start grad school! I'm pretty excited about it! Call me crazy, but I kind of miss doing homework (I know, I'm a nutcase). We just think I don't have time for my fanfics now xD But maybe this'll help me become more disciplined and organized . . . yeah, I know, I'm laughing too haha. Anyway, that's what I'll be doing for the next couple of years. And that stuff gets to be expensive ._. Like, holy Moses. So, if anyone is interested, my commissions are open over on deviant art (I also take writing commissions as well!). The link is in my profile ;)
In other news, I've got a lot of personal stuff going on right now that I'm not ready to delve into just yet, but it might have an impact on my writing. It's going to be a rough few months mentally and emotionally, and though that kind of thing usually helps my writing, it might not this time. I'm not trying to be overly vague, I'm just having a hard time admitting/dealing with what I'm about to deal with and am not ready to put it all out there yet. Prayers are appreciated, for sure.
Anyway, I hope to update Starlight Star Bright soon. The next chapter is about half done! I'll respond to reviews for the last chapter here in the next couple of hours.
Merry Christmas! May the Lord bless you and keep you in this year and the next, and I'll see you in the next chapter of SLSB :)
God Bless,
-RainFlame