AkumanoshippoNiamh-Yeah, Ed isn't always the sharpest tool in the shed. Was this update soon enough? :)
TheGiantMushroom-Sorry, the first chapter was a bit short and was a cliff hanger, but what fun is it if it's not a cliff hanger? Oh, and I changed the picture on you. Sorry. ;)
Circles
The shocked group of kids stared at Ed, who was quite proud of himself. Any minute now, the kids would either run away, feed him, or both. Ed was fine with both. What he was not expecting were the delayed words that came out of the smaller boy's mouth.
"Are you…mocking me?" What? Ed thought to himself.
"Fools! I have come back from the dead." Ed hated saying it, and immediately thought of his mother and her failed resurrection. "I am here to take revenge on the Fire Nation. Tremble beneath my awesome power, and feel my wrath!" Ed smiled. "Unless, of course, you give me food." Ed waited for food to be brought to him, but to his dismay, the group neither trembled, nor brought him food. They looked angry.
"He's lying." Stated the smaller girl.
"Right. Even without you, we could tell he is lying." The guy with the topknot (AKA guy Ed stole the coin from) told the girl. How did he not recognize the guy who mugged him?
"Who are you?" The older girl demanded.
"Uh…the Avatar?" Ed wasn't too confident. These kids looked right passed Ed's lie. How did they know he was using a different identity? No one else had questioned him before.
"Are you a spirit? Because I'm-" The younger boy started, but the older one nudged him hard, and whispered, "The plan!" Ed didn't know what this plan was, but he didn't want to be any part of it. Just as he was about to clap his hands, he was interrupted by the topknot guy.
"Who sent you?" The kid looked angry. Well, they all did, but more angry than before. Ed didn't know how to answer that. Technically, he was sent here to this stupid strange land. He couldn't let these kids know about his failed transmutation. That had to be a taboo, no matter what freak land you were in.
"Uh…" Ed stammered.
"Was it Zuko?" The older girl asked, with a quiet tone. Ed was getting irritated by questions he didn't know how to answer. And what the hell was a Zuko? A country?
"Yes. I was sent by Zuko." Wrong answer. Before he could say 'damn', Ed was blasted twenty feet away by an unseen force. What the hell just happened? The smaller boy looked like he just punched someone, but Ed knew he didn't feel anything, and even a simple punch couldn't throw someone that far. Ed tried to stand up, but realized his feet were trapped in ice. How did that happen? With a quick clap of his hands, Ed touched the ice and returned it into its liquid form.
"He's a water bender!" Yelled the shocked older girl. A water what? All he did was turn the water into a different state. Ed stood up, and waited for the group to come closer. When the were very close, Ed clapped his hands and transmuted a blade onto his automail arm. He swiped it menacingly at the threat, hoping they'd back off.
The kids were nearly on top of him. His heart was thumping way too fast. Panicked, Ed swung his left leg, hitting all four kids. He tried to run away from the freaks as fast as he could, until he smacked headfirst into a rock wall that wasn't there a minute ago.
When Ed stood up, his vision started to turn into black spots. His head was throbbing, and his stomach churned. He could feel rain drops on his face. The sky had been dark all day, but couldn't it have waited a bit longer to start raining?
Ed turned to face the stupid kids. Why were they so adamant on attacking him? All he did was pretend to be their dead leader and demand for food. He tripped over many rocks that kept popping out of the ground when he ran to confront the freaks. His face collided with another rock wall.
The rain was getting heavier. The older girl seemed to be controlling a big stream of water somehow. With a fluid movement, she sent an enormous icicle Ed's way. It narrowly missed, with Ed jumping out of the way and yelling a cry of shock. Was the crazy lady trying to kill him?!
His automail ports were really starting to hurt. He didn't know how much longer he could fight with the pain of his automail and an empty stomach. These crazy people were going to kill him if he didn't end this fight soon. He charged blindly, as the rain stung his eyes. Another damned rock wall collided with Ed.
The force of the wall caused Ed to fall down while he clenched his stomach. Losing was not an option. Al and everyone else he knew would never forgive him if he was killed off by a group of kids. "Sever all the pain." Ed muttered to himself, and slowly stood up.
Something was wrong. Ed felt off. He couldn't tell which way was up or down. Clenching his stomach tighter, Ed fell onto his hands and knees. Why was this happening? He puked his stomach's mostly empty contents onto the ground, and watched as something shiny flew towards him. What was that? The last thing Ed remembered was that shiny hard thing hitting his head.
The sun was shining brightly, which helped dry away the events of the storm. Ed groggily woke up to a horrible stench. His face and clothes were soaked with a putrid smelling yellow substance. He used his left hand to wipe it off his face, and inspected it. Oh, Truth! It was his own vomit. He was laying in his own damned puke! This sudden realization caused Ed to dry heave. Panicky, Ed looked around and saw three of those kids huddling and whispering. Now was his chance! Ed raised his hands and clapped.
The problem was that Ed's left hand ended up slapping his right shoulder. His arm was missing! Where the hell did it go? That's when he realized his arm was being inspected by the group of kids. "Hey! That's my-" Ed jumped to run at them, but was disappointed when he fell back down, in the pile of puke, of course. He looked back and saw he was only in his boxers, that, and his left leg was gone. Those sick bastards!
Ed drew a quick transmutation circle in the ground and created a cane. He struggled to stand up, but finally managed.
"I thought you were a water bender." A male's voice said behind him. Ed turned around and saw the topknot kid holding a boomerang and club defensively. Ed ignored the kid's statement.
"Give me my arm and leg! Now!" Ed demanded and looked up at the boy.
"Who's going to make me? You? I'd like to see you try, filthy Fire Nation brat." The kid glared at Ed and swiped at the transmuted cane. Ed pulled back and swung his remaining arm at the idiot. The kid hit the oncoming arm with his club, causing Ed to pull back and groan.
"Your whole arm is off! Give up while you can."
"This is nothing, just a wound." With a sore arm, Ed did the only thing he could think of. He jumped at the boy.
They were both struggling, Ed wished he had his arm and leg. As soon as one of the boy's arm made contact with the alchemist, Ed bit it as hard as he could.
The boy yelled and held his bit and puke covered arm.
"He bit me!" The boy's voice cracked when he yelled to his companions. "And what's this stuff covering me?" The boy turned to Ed. "Some sort of Fire Nation trap?"
Ed scowled. "That's my puke, jackass." Two of the kids came running over. The small girl stayed where she was and inspected the metal arm. The younger boy looked at Ed's cane, made a weird stomping motion, and destroyed it. How did he do that without a circle?
Without the cane for balance, Ed fell back the ground. Frantically, Ed drew a large circle in the soft ground with his finger. It was apparent that they didn't use arrays for their alchemy, so they didn't know what the circles were for. Once the first circle was done, Ed drew another circle. The kids looked at him like he was crazy. Ed smirked.
"Could you come closer for a minute? I have something very important to tell you." No one moved. The boy he had bitten gave him a harsh glare. "I apologize in advance." Ed touched the bigger circle and watched as the three kids went airborne as giant fists hit them. Quickly, Ed touched the smaller circle and created a cane with a dragon wrapped around it.
He hobbled up and limped as fast as he could to the small girl holding his arm. She should be easy enough to take down. The girl dropped the arm carelessly and made the same weird movements the smaller boy did. Before he knew it, Ed was trapped in a dark rock box.
Damn! If he drew a circle in the dark, it was likely he'd mess up and cause an awful rebound.
"Who is this kid?" The female voice was muffled through the rock prison. Ed frowned. He was not a kid.
"He's obviously Fire Nation. Did you see his eyes and clothes? Let's leave him here."
"Sokka! You can't just do that!" This voice belonged to the younger boy. And what kind of codename was 'Sokka'? "Besides. He's an earth bender, not a fire bender,"
"Then why hasn't he escaped from there yet?" It was the young girl who dropped his arm.
"He's probably scared. There has to be a reason an earth bender is hiding in the Fire Nation." The older girl spoke.
"I don't think claiming to be the Avatar is a very good disguise. What about his limbs? They're exactly like that guy with the third eye on his forehead." The one called 'Sokka' spoke. Guy with a third eye on his forehead, and he had automail. It must have been the same man Ed saw when he arrived in this strange country. "And Katara, didn't you say he bent the water?" Another strange codename. Katara.
"It could've been a trick from the rain. He's obviously an earth bender." The one called 'Katara' answered.
"Well," Sokka interjected, "he did say Zuko sent him. How do you explain that? He was sent here to get rid of us!"
"No. That was a lie." The small girl said.
"Why would he lie about something like that?" The younger boy asked. There was silence for a long time. "What should we do?" The boy finally broke the silence.
"How about you give me my arm and leg!" Ed yelled as loud as he could. He hated being useless.
"Quiet down in there, shorty." Sokka said and banged on the rock.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MICROSCOPIC MIDGET?! COME IN HERE AND FIGHT ME, YOU COWARDLY BASTARDS!" There was no response. Ed's stomach growled.
"Hey! If you're gonna leave me here, at least give me some food." Ed waited. Silence. "Please?" An hour passed. "Hello?" No answer.
A few more hours passed and Ed started to worry. It was so dark in the tiny cell, he couldn't tell if it was day or night. The cell was starting to smell awful, thanks to Ed being caked with dry vomit and blood. Did those bastards leave him here to die? He hadn't heard any talking for hours. What a stupid way to die. Starvation. Wait, no, this cell didn't have any vents. He would die of suffocation before starvation.
Alphonse. Winry. Granny Pinako. Teacher. Hell, even that stupid colonel Mustang. He was never going to see them again because he was going to die of suffocation in a weird country. Alphonse. He made a promise. He promised they'd get their bodies back. How was he supposed to keep that promise if he died?
Frantically, Ed began to pound on the wall until his fist bled. "Hey! Let me out! Anybody?!" The air was starting to feel very stale. "Bastards! Get me out of here! My little brother needs me! Please! Let me out!" The more he yelled, the more it sounded like a high pitched scream.
"Brother! Al! Alphonse! I won't break our promise. Damn it, you bastards! Let me out, now!" Tears began to swell his eyes. His words were choked. There was no answer. He was going to die in vain.
Suddenly, a small light filled the room. Fresh air burst through the small hole, as well as a small fruit. From the lighting, Ed guessed it was almost night. The hole closed back up, and Ed freaked out.
"You're going to kill me if I don't have fresh air!" A hole opened on top of the roof, and Ed sighed with relief. He devoured the pungent fruit and fell asleep from exhaustion.
After several hours of solid sleep, Ed woke up, and briefly panicked. Why was he surrounded by rock walls? Then he remembered the events of the previous day. He just hoped he could get his stolen limbs back soon.
Not too long after he woke up, one of the rock walls was torn off. The small girl and Sokka were standing in the entrance. Sokka had a long black sword pointed at Ed, prepared for anything. Ed chuckled. How could he cause any harm while in his crippled state? He looked at the girl. Her eyes were clouded. Was she blind? Ed waited to see what the two wanted.
"Get up." Sokka demanded. Ed smiled grimly.
"I can't. Not without my leg." He sighed when neither made a move to grab his leg. Deciding it would be best to listen to the guy aiming a sword at him, Ed crawled pitifully out of his prison.
"We're leaving." What was this guy's problem?
"Can't you let me wash up first? Unless you want me to give you a great big hug…" Ed glared at Sokka. He was going to puke again if he had to keep on smelling that horrid smell.
"Fine. Katara!" The older girl came over and gave a questioning look at Sokka.
"Take him to the river to clean up, the head strait back here. Don't let him draw any circles." So, they were onto that after all. Sokka then leaned down and stared at Ed. "If you do anything to hurt my sister, you will instantly regret it."
Ed watched as the boy and younger girl walked to the enormous chimera. Katara cautiously offered her hand, but retreated when Ed made no movement to accept it. Trying to get up without help was too difficult. He didn't need help from his enemies, that would be like giving up. When he was finally able to stand, he hopped a step, and fell back down again. He repeated this process several times.
They weren't making good time, and Ed could see the frustration on the girl's face. Finally, she grabbed Ed's arm and hoisted it around her shoulder. They arrived at the river in no time. Ed ventured into the shallow water and began to wash of the disgusting dried puke and blood. He took out his braid with difficulty, but was finally able to wash his greasy dirty hair. Once he was completely done bathing, Ed put his hair back up, with difficulty, in a ponytail.
"All done." He announced dryly. Katara stood next to Ed, ready to lift him up. Ed could tell she was staring at him, expecting him to lash out like a feral animal.
"Your hand is hurt."
"I hadn't noticed." Katara dipped Ed's hand in the water, which started to glow. Ed was mortified. What was the crazy lady doing?!
"What are you doing? How are you doing that?"
"I'm a healer." She stated obviously.
"How are you moving the water?" She looked confused.
"I'm a water bender, just like you're an earth bender."
"Bender?" Katara did not respond, but continued healing Ed's hand. "This place is full of alchemy freaks." Ed muttered to himself. Katara helped Ed back to camp and set him on the ground next to the unnatural chimera.
"Great. Now that we're buddies, can I have my clothes and limbs back?" Ed asked the four kids. Ed was dragged into a saddle on the chimera by Sokka, then his clothes were thrown at him. Thankfully, someone had washed them. Unfortunately, Ed wasn't given his arm or leg back. Sokka grabbed a bundle of rope and tied Ed's arm to his side.
"Yip Yip!" The boy on the chimera's head yelled. The great beast took off and flew. How the hell was it doing that? It defied the laws of nature! His eyes grew wide and he let out a yell. Sokka glared at Ed.
When Ed calmed down slightly, Sokka sat next to Ed, with his sword at his side. "Listen, you're too dangerous to be allowed to wander around on your own, so you're going to stay with us for awhile." Ed gaped at the boy. What!?