I've been using the incorrect form of blond.*facepalm* Oops. I'll go back and fix those…

Ed is always on the verge of insanity, but in his defense, he was dumped in a foreign land, where everything is completely different than he is used to. He's not as crazy as before.

A Mysterious Illusion- He wasn't possessed, but that would be cool! It was more of an instinct thing. He didn't know what would happen until it actually passed. Well, you're welcome for updating, but don't tell me to do it again! You are not the boss of me! *Snaps fingers* …nothing happens… Fine, I'll do what you say. Here's your update.

Bravery

Ed was drawing circles on the soft ground with a stick, since he had no paper or pen. After sitting in a tree all night and day with no distractions, he remembered the events leading up to his dumping in this wretched land. He had been swallowed by Gluttony, as well as Ling and Envy. The terrible creature, Envy, had transformed into his true form. He had a Philosopher's Stone, and let Ed use it to get them all back home, after attacking him, that is.

It didn't work as planned, however, because something went horribly wrong. The transmutation rebounded somehow, and caused Ed to appear in this place instead of Amestris. He drew many new circles in the ground, but he had nothing to sacrifice to Truth. Ed feared he would never return home, but he knew he had to try.

Once the sun was in the center of the sky, Ed erased his circles and climbed into a tree. Noon was usually the time when the most travelers were wandering around the path. When he climbed to the little platform he transmuted into the tree, Ed grabbed a scrap piece of brown cloth he found laying in the last town he passed. Blond hair was unnatural here, so he only drew attention to himself.

With a quick clap, Ed sucked the color pigments out of the cloth and into a small cup of water. He let his ponytail dip into the cup, and clapped again. His golden locks turned into a dark brown color, and he tried to tie it into a topknot like many of the locals did. Disappointment hit Ed when he couldn't get his damned hair in a topknot, so he gave up and let it flow down.

An hour or two passed without a single person in sight. Ed's stomach growled from not eating anything since he left his friends the day before. He could eat his boot…again. He cringed slightly at the thought. There was plenty of tasty food around, and he was not desperate enough to eat his shoe.

Ed climbed down the tree and walked toward an upcoming village, with the smell of cooking meat invading his nose. He received minimal strange looks from the citizens when he strolled on the street. There were posters of him plastered on the walls, and he noticed there were more writings than before. Too bad he couldn't read what they said. Carefully, Ed walked on the wooded porches instead of the road, just in case Toph was near to echolocate his metal leg.

With his last few copper pieces, Ed bought himself two bowls of noodles and some sort of fruity dessert drink. He guzzled the food down and walked on the porches around town. So far, no one had questioned him or squealed with fear at the sight of him. It was a perfect, normal, and quiet day, until someone snuck up behind him and stole his bag.

"Hey! Get back here!" Ed chased the culprit down the street, and not a single stupid fire freak had tried to stop him. The thief made the bad decision to run down an unoccupied alley, so Ed clapped his hands and made the alley a dead end.

The thief turned around and dropped the bag. "You're an earthbender?" The alchemist put a fist into one of his hands, but realized that it was only a young kid.

"Why did you steal my bag? Give it back." Ed outstretched one of his hands and waited while the boy somberly picked up the bag, and handed over.

"Sorry, I thought you were a girl."

"That makes it okay?!" Ed grabbed the kid, using his left hand, by the arm and drug the boy back onto the main road. He forced him to sit down, despite the disapproving glances from the other people.

"Look, kid-" Ed started, but was interrupted.

"I'm not a kid! You are!"

"I'm fifteen, you little brat! Listen to your elders!" The boy hunched back and crossed his arms. "You can't go around stealing things. Go and get a job, or something. Alright?" The boy nodded and stood up.

"What's your name?" He asked before running off.

"Uh…Ling." It was the first thing that popped in Ed's mind. The boy waved and ran off. Ed sighed and leaned his back against the wall. His mind felt at ease, and he wasn't having many self arguments. The terrible feeling he felt had passed as soon as he ran away from his friends. He came up with the theory that he could sense the terrible woman's presence like Ling and Lan Fan had done with the homunculi. Even though he wasn't sure how, or why, he was at least glad he hadn't been hurt.

But you hurt your friends. "I didn't. They'll be fine without me." They will face the fire freak in five days. They need you, but you abandoned them. "I didn't leave them. I'll only bring pain to them, like I always do." Oh, trying to be noble? Stop pitying yourself, you're not that type of person. "I'm strong. I don't need to listen to you." …But, I am you, and you are me. You're talking to yourself… "Shut up, me." Are you going insane again? You'll never see your brother again if you don't snap out of it. "I'm fine! Leave me alone." Talking to yourself is a sign of insanity. Don't you want to see Al again? "I do! I don't give a damn about this country or anyone in it!" That's not true. Just accept the fact you're stuck here and help them out. "No, I'm not trapped. I will go home and help those who need me." These people desperately need you. But what did you do? You ran away. Coward!

Ed groaned and harshly banged his head against the wall. No one had been around at the time to hear him have a conversation with himself, which was good. He glanced down the street and was mortified when he saw a familiar group of kids. Ed quickly ruffled his brown hair to hide his face.

"Excuse me, miss." It was Sokka. Ed clenched his fist, but contained his composure after being called a girl. "Have there been any sightings of the Golden Hair Spirit around here?"

"No." Ed responded with a false falsetto in his voice. "You shouldn't look for him, he's too dangerous." Coward! Reveal yourself, now!

"We can handle the spirit, we actually caught him before."

"Abandon your quest. He'll only bring you sorrow." That's not true. You're a monster; these are your friends!

"Well, you sure seem to know quite a bit about the spirit." Sokka raised an eyebrow and tried to peer at Ed's face. "Sure you haven't seen him? He's pretty short." Ed bit his lip and slowly stood up.

"Don't judge someone by their height. Now get out of here." Trying to scare away your friends? Come on, show them your face. Do it now, or run away like a coward.

"Do I know you?" Sokka moved closer.

"No!" Ed screamed with his regular voice and pushed Sokka down. He sprinted, making sure to run on the wooden porches. So you are a coward. It's not nice to hurt your friends. "I'm saving them." Oh, come on. There's no alchemy or Homunculi here. No one is going to turn into a chimera or die for your cause. Ed kept running until he ran out of porches. The forest was close enough, so he darted into the trees and climbed the nearest one. Are you going to hide forever? What would Al say? Colonel Mustang? Teacher would kick your ass for being so stupid.

"Ed!"

"Edward!" The voices were definitely coming from his friends, who were coming closer to his hiding spot. This isn't like you. You're supposed to be brave. Confront them. "They know what I did. Why did I ever tell them that?" Because you trust them. You wanted them to know. So, coward, trust them and reveal yourself. "No, they must think I'm a monster." Arrogant fool.

"Ed! Come out so I can kick your butt!" Toph yelled. They were all starting to pronounce his name much better.

"Can you feel him at all?" Katara asked. Ed could clearly see them below.

"No, but I know he's around here somewhere."

"Ed, come on! We know you're out there." Sokka yelled into his cupped hands. See. They're looking for you, like good friends.

"Please! We want to talk." Katara shouted, and the group slowly started to wander away from Ed. They want to talk with you. You better hurry, or they'll disappear, the only ones in this land who don't want to kill you. "No. I'll only hurt them." Ed whispered to himself. Show yourself, coward. "I'm not a coward." That's why you're hiding in a tree? Because of your bravery? Face them.

Ed was abruptly startled when something landed on his flesh shoulder. The something turned out to be Momo, who was chattering very loud. The stupid lemur-thing was going to give away his position.

"Hey, where did Momo go?" Aang spoke, then freakishly jumped into a tree with his special air bending. Ed sat back with alarm when Aang landed in the tree next to him. The kid turned his head, and gold eyes met hazel. There. Aren't you glad your friends found you?

"Ed? Momo?" Aang mouth was wide.

"No!" Ed shimmied down as fast as he could and tried to run away. It's over, they caught you. Now be a good friend and stop running like a pansy. He ignored his internal argument and ran through the forest, with his friends shouting after him. They thought he was a monster, after he told them about his transmutation.

A rock wall jutted in front of Ed, which he couldn't evade in time. He collided with the wall and fell backwards, then quickly stood in a defensive position.

"Why are you running?" Toph questioned.

"I don't want to hurt you." Ed saw the other three catch up, and added, "Any of you." Cut the crap already.

"What are you talking about?" All four moved closer to Ed, whose heart was racing. They hated him! They would never forgive his sin. He would only hurt them if he continued to stay with them.

"Stay back!" Ed clapped his hands and transmuted a blade on his arm. If he scared his friends away, he wouldn't be able to hurt them. But you are hurting them, on the inside. "Shut the hell up." Ed muttered to himself.

"Are you okay? We're not going to hurt you." Katara spoke softly, and the group continued to advance. "We understand what you did when you were younger." Ed raised his weapon, and his amber eyes shined like fire.

"I'm a monster! A killer! My brother hates me, you hate me, everyone hates me!" Ed spat. That's a lie. Snap out of it, you're acting weird. A hand grabbed Ed's arm, and he spun around and lashed his blade at the person.

Toph let out a short cry and held her own arm, which now had a bleeding cut, though it wasn't too bad. You just hurt your friend! Your friend! You are the biggest bastard on Earth. No, make that the littlest biggest bastard…

"I'm a bastard! I'll only hurt you, like my brother! Go away!" Ed fell to his knees and started to tremble. "I want to go home!" He whipped his head furiously and faced the other three. "What are you gonna do?! I hurt my friend. I committed the taboo. Whatcha gonna do about it? Kill me? Torture me? Both? Answer me!" They walked over to the distressed alchemist and stood over him. Perhaps they would kick him while he was down. Instead, Katara grabbed his arms and pulled him up. They don't hate you. She's getting you on your feet. They probably just got him up so they could punch him in the face.

"I can handle whatever punch you blow! Pain is nothing to me!" Ed cackled, but he could hardly see a thing, since his eyes started to cloud over from the tears he was holding in.

Ed braced himself, but nothing came. Instead, Katara pulled him in and hugged him. The others did the same, and wrapped their arms kindly around Ed. They don't hate you… Ed raised his arms and returned the hug, and he let his tears fall. …They care about you.