Hello one and all. I'd just like to say thank you to anyone who's reviewed this story so far. Statistically it's my most successful one yet, so it makes me very happy.
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.
Chapter 7
Selim awoke a few hours later, the silence actually being the thing that stirred him. He'd gotten so used to the banging and clanging that when it stopped he noticed it immediately. Pushing himself upright, the tired boy rubbed his eyes.
"Wha…? Selim groaned, not recognizing anything in the darkness around him. Standing up, he kept his hands on a crate to keep himself from running into it.
"You're in the train," Pride's voice echoed inside of his head coldly. That was right, he was running away. Squinting into the dark he tried to find a clear path to the door. It was too dark, though, so he had to feel his way along, just like when he had snuck in. Finally reaching the door, he peeked out.
They were stopped, like he had thought. He had no idea where he were or how far away from Central they were. He wasn't even sure how long he'd been on the train, having fallen asleep. Seeing as no one was watching his box cart though, he decided it would be best to just jump out here, and figure everything else out after. If he needed to get farther away, he would just hop on another train.
Dropping out of the train, he quickly left the station. Looking around, he'd never been in a place like this before. It wasn't anything like Central at all. There was grass everywhere, and hardly any people. He must have been asleep longer then he thought. Looking up at the sky, it was still sunset though. He must have been asleep for an entire day.
"Now where do you plan on hiding?" Pride asked, a condescending tone to his voice. It sounded like he was suggesting it would be hopeless, and he more like then not was.
"I don't know," Selim said quietly. He really didn't. He had no money, but it didn't look like there was any hotels here anyway, where ever here was. Walking along a dirt path, he thought about his options. He could find a nice, secluded spot and sleep in the grass. It didn't look like there was anyone who would attack him, and if he went far enough into a field, he doubted anyone would find him anyway. He wasn't tired right now, though. He'd just slept for a day.
Looking ahead he saw the path winded up a large hill. There was a tree at the top and…something else.
"What is it?" Pride asked, sounding bored. Selim wondered if it was boring sitting in his head all day. "I've gone though worse" Pride answered automatically. What could be worse? "Try the fourth grade nine times, passing each time." Oh.
"Well, I don't know what it is," Selim said, and continued to walk up the hill. It looked like a pile of something. Absently he wondered why the tree didn't have any leaves on it. It wasn't winter, was it dead?
Finally reaching the top of the hill, Selim stood in front of a huge pile of burnt wood and some twisted metal. From the looks of it, it was once a house. "The remains of a fire," Pride said coldly, sounding bored again. Selim suddenly remembered his own house fire, most likely started by that Mr. Mustang. "Cornel Roy Mustang?" Pride asked, sounding intrigued again. Selim nodded.
"He broke into my house and tried to kill father," The young boy said quietly. Pride didn't question him anymore, which Selim was grateful for. He still wasn't quite over that traumatizing event yet.
Selim wasn't sure how long he'd been staring at the burnt remains when he heard someone come up behind him. Instantly in defense mode, he turned around faster then he thought possible, expecting to see that Envy person, or his father again.
"Hello there, who are you?" It was just a girl. She was older then Selim, and her long, blonde hair was tied up in a pony tail. Her eyes were the same color blue as the sky, well, right now the sky was more red then blue, but you get the point. Selim smiled at her and laughed nervously. Pride had been making him paranoid.
"I'm Selim B-" He cut himself off quickly. He couldn't go around telling people his real name, he'd be sent home in no time. Thinking fast, he thought up a fake last name. "Bach, That's right, Selim Bach!" The blonde smiled at him, then glanced over at the blackened wood he'd been staring at a moment ago.
"What are you doing here? I've never seen you around town before?" She asked a bit suspiciously. Selim rubbed the back of his head nervously, trying to appear as cute as possible. His ability to do that had gotten him out of trouble back home quite a bit. That actually seemed to amuse Pride, if just a little.
"I, uh… I got on the wrong train, but I don't have any money to get another ticket, and the train with all my stuff on it left while I was asking for directions. So I was looking around and saw something at the top of this hill. Was this your house?" Selim explained. That sounded like a believable lie, right?
"That was actually quite good," Pride said, sounding a bit impressed. Selim had to hold back his smile, he had to look lost and embarrassed.
"Oh, that's terrible! You could stay at my house for tonight, I don't think the trains will be running for that much longer. Also, no, that's not my house, the people who lived here left years ago," The blonde girl said, and Selim nodded.
"Really? Thank you Ms. Lady!" the little boy said happily. Ms. Lady, as he had called her, laughed.
"I haven't introduced myself, have I? My names Winry Rockbell, pleased to meet you," Winry said, holding her hand out at him. Selim shook it and smiled back at her.
"Nice to meet you too, thanks again," He said, trying to sound polite. Winry nodded and started leading him back to her house. He assumed it was the yellow one, not to far from them, and his guess was confirmed when they stopped in front of the yard, and a large dog came up to them.
Selim smiled and went to pet the animal. He'd always wanted a dog, but was never allowed to get one. Before he was able to touch it, though, the dog began to growl at him. Stepping back, Selim was a bit afraid.
"Den! Stop that!," Winry chastised, and the dog quieted a bit, but didn't completely stop.
"Stupid mutt," Pride growled, although Selim thought he felt a bit disappointed. "What are you thinking about? What would I be disappointed about?" Selim sighed under his breath. "Nothing," He mumbled quietly, so that Winry didn't hear.
"Sorry about Den, he's usually really well behaved," Winry apologized. Selim shook his head and smiled at her.
"It's fine," He said, and took one last look at the dog. "Oh! It has automail!" Selim said excitedly. He really wished the dog would let him pet him now, he'd seen a few people with automail before, but not much, and never an animal.
"Yep, I made it myself," Winry said, sounding quite proud. Selim had to suppress his giggles, whenever he thought of being proud, or pride, it just reminded him of the voice in his head.
"Wow, you're an automail mechanic?" The black haired boy asked. He would have never guessed that. He imagined automail mechanics as burly men covered in grease all the time, not a skinny girl like her. He believed her though.
"Yep. Now, why don't we go in and get some dinner. Maybe I can show you some of my works in progress," Winry said, and Selim nodded then followed her inside.
The inside of the house was nice, just like the outside. He was glad they had left the dog outside, he didn't want to have it growling at him all night.
"Grandma, I'm back, and I have a visitor!" Winry called into the house. So she lived with her grandmother? Selim poked at a few screws left on a table. Were they for automail? He could tell Pride felt curious about everything here as well, especially Winry. He kept mumbling about a young, blond automail mechanic. And how, it couldn't be. Selim was about to ask him what he meant when an old woman stepped into the doorway.
"Well, who do we have here? What's your name boy?" The short, wrinkly woman asked. Selim couldn't help but notice that she was almost shorter then he was!
"Selim Bach, nice to meet you," He said happily. The old woman smiled at him and nodded.
"I'll go set another plate for dinner," She said, and left the room. When it was just the two of them, Winry sat down on a couch.
"So, where were you going? Aren't you a little young to be traveling by yourself?" She asked.
"Dublith," Selim said, picking the first city that came to his head, "I was going to stay with some relatives," He finished. He didn't think it was the best idea to tell random people he was running away. They'd probably try to take him home.
"Did you tell them what happened?" Winry asked. Selim nodded.
"Hey, can you show me some automail?" He asked excitedly, hoping to change the subject. Winry smiled at him and nodded.
"Alright, my workshop is this way," She said, getting up and walking across the room. Opening a door, she began walking down some stares, Selim following close behind. Once at the bottom of the stairs, Selim looked around. There were tools and screws and half finished pieces all over the place.
"Whoa! It's so cool!" He said poking at what appeared to be the beginning of a leg. "Who's this for?" He asked, poking the leg again.
"A friend of mine. He's always breaking his, so I tend to begin building a rough copy for a new one, just in case," She explained. Selim moved from the leg to another part of the workshop, poking at things here and there, but careful not to break anything.
"Your friend must be really clumsy, if he breaks his leg a lot," he said absently. How did someone break his leg a lot? Must be the same reason why he needed automail in the first place.
"Yeah, he is," Winry said, keeping her eyes on his the whole time, making sure he didn't mess with anything too much.
"Dinner's ready," Selim heard the old woman call from upstairs. Following Winry, he went to the kitchen. Whatever it was smelt delicious.
"Well, eat up," the old woman said, placing a bowl of stew in front of him. Selim did as he was told. It was really good, no offence to the chef back home or anything. After dinner Winry led him upstairs to the guest room. "You can stay here for tonight. Hmm, let me see if I can find any pajamas that'll fit you," She said, and began rummaging through some draws, mumbling all the while. "Lets see…should be some of Ed's or Al's… I though we put them in here…. Ah, here they are!" the blonde announced happily, holding an old shirt and some pants.
"Here you go, they should fit. Well, I'll leave you to it, then," Winry said, and Selim nodded, now holding the old clothes.
"Alright, thank you again, Ms. Winry," Selim said. Winry turned around and smiled at him before leaving the room.
Putting the pajamas on, Selim smiled to himself. It felt good to be able to change his clothes. Sure, it'd only been about two days, but he guessed being the presidents son did make him a little bit spoiled.
"The people here sure are nice, right Pride?" Selim asked. Pride had been pretty quiet all day, he wondered if something was wrong.
"I suppose so," He said, seeming deep in thought. Selim frowned.
"Something wrong?" Sure, Pride was a strange voice that lived in his head that he'd only known for two days, and he had been asleep for the entirety of one of those days, but he was starting to get a little attached to him. He didn't have many friends. Or any, really.
"No," Pride didn't say anything after that. Selim sighed softly, not wanting to push him. Sitting down on the bed, it wasn't as soft as the ones back home, but infinitively better then the floor of a boxcar. If everything went well, he'd be on a train to Dublith tomorrow morning, and then… He didn't know, but he'd think of something.
"Goodnight, Pride," Selim said, already starting to doze off. Pride snorted, and Selim could almost see him rolling his eyes.
"You humans never cease to surprise me," Selim opened his eyes again and frowned.
"What do you mean? Pride?" Pride didn't answer though, so Selim just closed his eyes again, falling asleep rather quickly.
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Well, there you have it. Selim is in Rizenbul, (Or however you spell it) and it is revealed that Pride has gone through fourth grade nine times. Well, please review.