Sigh, once again, I don't have internet. I didn't have the money to pay it off this month, so they shut it off. Back to the ol' library routine until I can get it turned on again, I guess. Strangely enough though, I seem to update more when I have no internet. Weird, huh? Hehe...Anyway, hope that you enjoy this update. It's not as long as I'd like it to be...but like I said, it's at the library. I don't really have a choice but to create short chapters. Sigh.
Disclaimer: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist. I'd come up with something witty to say, but that takes time, and I only have ten minutes left on this computer. ((Yeah, yeah, I can hear SakuraSagura telling me that time doesn't exist now, heh. Yes, I know, but it's not like I know how to break free from it! Hehe. (sticks tongue out) Okay, that was immature of me, but who cares? I'm always immature!))
Ed sank to the bottom of the river as he gripped his stomach in pain. He was hungry, he knew…but he didn't have a clue as to where to find food, let alone on what to eat. He was getting tired and weary from lack of nourishment, but he had to press on, or he may never be able to find his people. They would surely know what he needed to sustain himself.
He swam a few more yards, only to find himself starting to be overcome by dizziness. His blood sugar was dropping. He had to stop and eat, but wait, no, he couldn't stop, he had to keep going…but he couldn't, not with this low level of energy he now possessed.
Edward clasped the shell necklace in his left hand, as he had always done through the years to comfort himself. Somehow it had always made him feel better…perhaps it was because it reminded him of his mother.
"Please," he said aloud, not knowing who to talk to, but having the urge to speak, all the same, "I need to go on, but I don't have the strength. Please…" He hung his head, ashamed of his admission, even to himself, and began to let himself sink down to the bottom of the river.
Just then, the shell underneath his hand grew hot, and Edward jerked his hand away from it in surprise and stared at the lonely shell floating just a few inches from his chest. It was letting off a slightly yellowish glow, and the aura around it was slowly increasing in size until it had completely surrounded Edward's body. He didn't know what to make of this…it had to be an illusion…of course it was. If it was an illusion then, he didn't need to be afraid of it…but it felt so good somehow, so he closed his eyes, and let the feeling take over him.
A short while later, the feeling passed, and Edward's eyes opened. He still had a lingering feeling of tiredness which he suspected wouldn't actually leave until he ate something, but he felt a certain energy at the same time, one which he didn't have before. He smirked, telling himself that it was all just a trick of the mind, but that he wasn't going to argue himself into being tired again. Taking advantage of the situation, he swam furiously, trying to cover as much distance as he could before the effect wore off.
It wasn't long before the effect of the energy burst he had experienced actually DID wear off, and he once again began sinking lower in the water from pure exhaustion. He seriously couldn't go on like this. His blood sugar level was dipping too low for his safety, and he needed rest as well. Well, rest was easy to come by, at least.
He was about to swim down to the bottom of the river to find a place to rest when he realized that the current was actually a lot stronger at this point than he'd anticipated, and it wouldn't let him stay in one place. This certainly wasn't a place one could rest. He swam back up to the surface and poked his head above water to try and get a grasp of his surroundings, but it didn't help much. All he could see was fast-moving water, with a bit of unfamiliar land stretched on either side of the river. No help whatsoever.
He submerged himself once again, and continued swimming in the direction that the current was pulling him, deciding that it wasn't worth the energy it'd cost to fight against it. He rubbed his arms in an attempt to warm himself up, as that surface air had felt quite cold to him right then. That was probably normal though. After all, he was wet, and it was pretty easy to get cold this time of year when you were wet. It was winter, after all…he was just lucky that Rizenbul…or wherever he was right now…didn't always stick to the rule of having snow in winter. Sometimes it was warm enough where one could wear shorts outside…not like anyone would ever catch him doing that…if he had legs, that is.
Edward continued along the current, slowly finding himself dipping in and out of consciousness. He really needed to sleep, but there wasn't anyplace around here that he could do so. He shrugged. He was practically sleeping now as it was, and the current was still pulling him forward. It couldn't be more dangerous to let himself fully sleep, so he closed his eyes, completely submitting himself to the mercy of the current.
It wasn't until he felt himself being thrown around mercilessly by the current that he finally woke up, and swam up to the surface to find out what was going on. It surprised him that it was even hard to get to the surface this time, considering how strong the current was right now. Thank goodness he didn't seem to need to breathe air, or he'd have died long ago.
He once again poked his head above the surface, and looked around. This time, however, his jaw practically dropped down to his fins. That explained the heavy current he seemed to be trapped in. There was a huge cutoff only a few yards distant. If he didn't get out of there, and fast, he was going to surely plummet over the waterfall. He knew that fish seemed to be able to handle such a fall…but…well…he wasn't exactly a fish, and he wasn't too keen on experimenting with his waterfall survival skills. He had to get out.
On his first impulse, he simply spun around and started trying to paddle back the way he had come. Of course, after only a second or two of trying such a futile attempt, he smacked his head for even thinking such a dumb idea, and tried to come up with a better one, one that wouldn't require much energy, since he didn't have much.
"I have to get to shore, it's my only chance," he managed to mutter to himself between gulps of air and water, as the current was continuing to throw the poor boy around mercilessly in its waves, like he was a toy. Edward picked the nearest shore, and began swimming with all his might to try and reach it. He had to get there, he had no other option.
He had nearly reached the shore, and had grabbed a hold of some reeds to try and stabilize himself as he pulled his body the rest of the way…but, alas, his grip on the reeds slipped, and a few of them uprooted in his hand, sending him on his way towards the waterfall once again, with only a fistful of reeds in his hand to prove that he had tried.
Edward's heart began beating faster. "No, I'm not going to die! I can't!" He dove down into the water in the hopes of finding something to hold onto…anything. He grabbed at some very smooth stones that lined the bottom of the riverbed at this location due to the excessively fast current, but his grip slipped over them, and all he got for his efforts was the irritating feeling of scratching his fingernails against stone.
Finally, he had reached the edge. There was nothing for him to hold onto, no way to turn back. If he'd had time to react emotionally to this situation, besides the automatic symptoms of fear, due to the adrenaline rush, he probably would have been crying by now, despite how unmanly it made him look.
He felt himself slip. He was falling. This was it. He was going to die, he knew it. Why had be been so stupid as to not see this coming? Most rivers have waterfalls somewhere on them if you followed them long enough, why hadn't he thought of that? What were Al and Winry doing now? And Auntie Pinako? What were they thinking about his sudden disappearance? Were they worried about him? He surely missed them. Heck, he almost missed that smug-faced Colonel Mustang about now. All he wanted right now was to see a familiar face, be held by someone he loved, and be told that everything would be alright, but he knew that that was not about to happen. His life was flashing before his eyes as he slowly descended to his watery grave.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he made impact with the earth below. For one brief moment, he opened up his eyes to try and assess where he was, but was swept away from his perch by the current he was now in, which he had absolutely no strength to resist, whether it was strong or not. His strength was completely gone.
Edward's lips twitched for a split second as he tried to think of a name to call. Maybe someone would hear him, and fetch the requested person to be by his side, but he only had the strength to call one name…who should he call for? For that matter, how would he even get his head above the water to make sure anyone heard him?
Realizing he was beaten by the forces of nature beyond his control, he closed his eyes without saying anything, and let out a single sob, just before the impact's effects caught up with him, and everything went black.
I hope you liked that. Leave me some reviews, so that I can update, hehe. Oh, and it looks like Fanfiction finally got its alerts working again, so make sure to go and read "My Body, Your Soul - Revised" and give it some reviews so that I can update that too. It's a rewrite of my classic story, and I'd hate to see it get less reviews than the original, just because the alerts didn't go out, heh. Anyway, hope to see you all around again soon! Ta ta for now! ((Yes, that saying's annoying, I know, but again, who cares? Hehe))