Chapter 7: The Story Of Us All
"Al! Let's go! We'll miss our train!"
Alphonse and Hayden were busy playing around with Boston at the train station benches. Alphonse had parked himself on the bench while Hayden let Boston wander though the nearby rumput patch as she followed him. "Guys! Come on!" Hayden tore her attention away from the anak anjing, anjing and glanced over her shoulder, watching Ed run to the train on his own. She quickly swooped up Boston in her arms and pulled Al onto his feet. They all boarded the train quickly, shuffling through their pockets for the tickets.
Where was he to go? A lowly illegal alien stumbling through a forest clearing in cari of food. He was sure his two comrades were somewhere nearby, but they also were without any sort of food. Ling gripped his grumbling stomach as he propped himself up on a tree. He moaned from the bottom of his throat. He knew he had to keep going, if he was going to discover the secret to immortality he had to. Ling had always had this motto; "It's called the pursuit of happiness. Not the sit-around-and-wait of happiness." and and he believed in that thoroughly. He sighed; chest heaving heavily, and stumbled his way through the woods some more.
"Alright Ed, enough secrets. Where are we headed?" Ed and Hayden sat across from Alphonse on the long train ride. Hayden was occupied with stroking Boston's graphite ear. She was slumped down in the leather seats, her booted feet propped up against Al's kursi across from her. Hayden was fed up with constantly being kept in the dark with these two, but then again, she was keeping them in the dark as well. She couldn't exactly place what their friendship was based upon. What did they know about eachother? Their names? That was all. It was like she was traveling with a couple of strangers. But the lebih she thought about it, the lebih she believed it.
"We're gonna go to Rush Valley. My mechanic is there, I'm gonna have her make sure my automail is okay." Ed shot her a look from the corner of his childish eyes. "Since anda broke it." He folded his arms. Hayden just smirked to herself as Boston rolled over in her lap, exposing his berwarna merah muda, merah muda belly. She responded oleh rubbing her soft hands across it lovingly. Alphonse couldn't help but notice how loving she was to a creature she had just found. She was nothing like that when she met those two. But then again, she did protect them from Scar; and she did a hell of a great job with it too. Which brought him to his pertanyaan that he and Edward had asked a few days before.
"So, where did anda learn those fighting abilities? anda promised you'd tell us if we told anda about the man who attacked us. Hayden looked up in surprise and nodded. Her eyes traveled back down to her anak anjing, anjing as she opened her mouth.
"I've taken classes. I've also fought with quite a few Briggs soldiers when I was in the North before anda found me. They're pretty tough." She lied straight through her teeth. She knew exactly where she learned her deadly attacks, and what powered them. But she kept her lips shut about that part. She had a velvet tongue like no other.
Edward didn't believe her of course, the answer was too simple and there was no way she could learn something like that. Her moves looked like something teacher would have used in that situation. Nevertheless; Edward decided to buy into her lies. "Now anda two tell me about that man. And Ling."
A supposed "hit-man" had seated himself at a local bar in the south. He had his calloused hands wrapped around a glass brimming with auburn liquid, his tattooed palms mirroring throughout the cup. He knew he was supposed to be hunting down some renegade fake human. He was too smart for something like that. What was the point in chasing something that was coming for him anyway? Sure, he had been called "insane", "psychotic", "crazy", but he thoroughly believed he wasn't. That's how he was able to pass the mental capacitation tests before coming a
State Alchemist.
"It's almost closing time, anda gonna want anything else?" The bartender asked him. The Crimson Alchemist just shook his head and choked down the rest of his booze.
"Hey, barkeep! His drinks are on the house. Be good to that guy." berkata a man who was swarmed with women a few feet away on a leather couch. He gnashed his razor sharp teeth toward Kimblee. Another homunculus he had become aquatinted with. It seemed that he was incompatible with any human. The Devil's Nest seemed like the only place Kimblee was welcome, the only true place where he had friends. But did he feel sorry for himself? No.
"Oh. I thought so. I had saw his eyes..." Hayden trailed off. She was in the midst of taking in what was just told to her about the mysterious man labeled "Scar."She had already read him like a book. She could see all his memories. His brother, mother, father...she had seen them all. All she had to do was look into his soul. And to be honest, it was easy for her. That's what she was best at; membaca people. Though she had never gotten the chance to read Edward, atau his brother. "And he's only after State Alchemists, huh?" Hayden questioned as she gazed down at the sleeping pup in her lap. Edward nodded. "That doesn't seem like the will of his supposed 'God'".
The conductor of the train suddenly fuzzed and flickered to life on the overhead mic.
" There seems to be something in the way of the tracks. Brace for impact." Boston was aroused from his sleep. Edward shot Al a questioning look as he kicked his feet under him an leaned out of the window. He squinted his golden eyes, the wind stinging his face and throwing his hair around wildly. He could make out something yellow laying across the tracks, though it was hard to keep his steady from the violent movement of the train. A sudden epiphany hit him lil a brick wall. He knew what was on the track, and they were just going to keep moving along. Edward leapt out of his train window, crawling up the side to try to get onto the top.
"Ed! What the hell?!" Hayden retch to grab onto his red jacket, but it slipped out of her hands. Edward just continued along the puncak, atas of the locomotive that was barreling toward an unknown object. He tried his best to keep upright, stumbling along while his hair whipped around his face. Sooner than he knew it, he had retch the front car, the engine room. Now he definitely knew what the object on the track was. Ed thought quickly, jumping off the front of the train; scaring the conductor as he did so. He had landed quite a few feet ahead of the train, luckily. Ed clapped his hands together, transmuting the train tracks so they curled up around the face of the fast moving train. This slowed the locomotive considerably, but it wasn't enough to save himself. Searching for something to transmute, he had to settle for the gravel at his booted feet. A quick flash of blue light, and a large stone dinding had stopped the barreling engine. Ed knew the trip to Rush Valley was shot now. Unless they felt like walking the whole way there.
A few train patrons piled out of the forced open doors to investigate. Among them was Hayden and Alphonse.
"Brother! What happened?!" Al exclaimed. Edward inhale heavily, pointing to a body behind him.
"Ling happened."
"So I'm guessing we'll have to just trek until we get there, huh? Where are we?" Al asked, carrying an unconscious Ling on his back. They had headed down road of the mutilated track, letting the officials deal with the wreckage. All Ed knew was; Ling was beyond lucky he was aboard that specific train.
"What's wrong with him?" Hayden asked, holding Boston up so he could smell the young lord's body. Ed groaned as he palmed his eyeball.
"He's hungry. But we don't have any food. Don't tell me we have to carry this zombie around until we find a town..." Edward snarled as he thought about jut how grueling that task would be. He was busy enough as it was, what with this Hayden girl and all. Now he had his hands full with being blamed for a train wreck, making it to Rush Valley, AND carrying around a corpse. Lovely.
"Hold on." Hayden held the pup with one arm and dug into one of her pockets on her jacket. She fished out a breadstick that was tied up in a napkin. She tossed it to Ed. "I bought it for Boston, just in case he got hungry. Here." Edward caught it gracefully; looking up at the sky. Clouds had accumulated overhead, blocking out the sun as night created a midnight backdrop.
"Al! Let's go! We'll miss our train!"
Alphonse and Hayden were busy playing around with Boston at the train station benches. Alphonse had parked himself on the bench while Hayden let Boston wander though the nearby rumput patch as she followed him. "Guys! Come on!" Hayden tore her attention away from the anak anjing, anjing and glanced over her shoulder, watching Ed run to the train on his own. She quickly swooped up Boston in her arms and pulled Al onto his feet. They all boarded the train quickly, shuffling through their pockets for the tickets.
Where was he to go? A lowly illegal alien stumbling through a forest clearing in cari of food. He was sure his two comrades were somewhere nearby, but they also were without any sort of food. Ling gripped his grumbling stomach as he propped himself up on a tree. He moaned from the bottom of his throat. He knew he had to keep going, if he was going to discover the secret to immortality he had to. Ling had always had this motto; "It's called the pursuit of happiness. Not the sit-around-and-wait of happiness." and and he believed in that thoroughly. He sighed; chest heaving heavily, and stumbled his way through the woods some more.
"Alright Ed, enough secrets. Where are we headed?" Ed and Hayden sat across from Alphonse on the long train ride. Hayden was occupied with stroking Boston's graphite ear. She was slumped down in the leather seats, her booted feet propped up against Al's kursi across from her. Hayden was fed up with constantly being kept in the dark with these two, but then again, she was keeping them in the dark as well. She couldn't exactly place what their friendship was based upon. What did they know about eachother? Their names? That was all. It was like she was traveling with a couple of strangers. But the lebih she thought about it, the lebih she believed it.
"We're gonna go to Rush Valley. My mechanic is there, I'm gonna have her make sure my automail is okay." Ed shot her a look from the corner of his childish eyes. "Since anda broke it." He folded his arms. Hayden just smirked to herself as Boston rolled over in her lap, exposing his berwarna merah muda, merah muda belly. She responded oleh rubbing her soft hands across it lovingly. Alphonse couldn't help but notice how loving she was to a creature she had just found. She was nothing like that when she met those two. But then again, she did protect them from Scar; and she did a hell of a great job with it too. Which brought him to his pertanyaan that he and Edward had asked a few days before.
"So, where did anda learn those fighting abilities? anda promised you'd tell us if we told anda about the man who attacked us. Hayden looked up in surprise and nodded. Her eyes traveled back down to her anak anjing, anjing as she opened her mouth.
"I've taken classes. I've also fought with quite a few Briggs soldiers when I was in the North before anda found me. They're pretty tough." She lied straight through her teeth. She knew exactly where she learned her deadly attacks, and what powered them. But she kept her lips shut about that part. She had a velvet tongue like no other.
Edward didn't believe her of course, the answer was too simple and there was no way she could learn something like that. Her moves looked like something teacher would have used in that situation. Nevertheless; Edward decided to buy into her lies. "Now anda two tell me about that man. And Ling."
A supposed "hit-man" had seated himself at a local bar in the south. He had his calloused hands wrapped around a glass brimming with auburn liquid, his tattooed palms mirroring throughout the cup. He knew he was supposed to be hunting down some renegade fake human. He was too smart for something like that. What was the point in chasing something that was coming for him anyway? Sure, he had been called "insane", "psychotic", "crazy", but he thoroughly believed he wasn't. That's how he was able to pass the mental capacitation tests before coming a
State Alchemist.
"It's almost closing time, anda gonna want anything else?" The bartender asked him. The Crimson Alchemist just shook his head and choked down the rest of his booze.
"Hey, barkeep! His drinks are on the house. Be good to that guy." berkata a man who was swarmed with women a few feet away on a leather couch. He gnashed his razor sharp teeth toward Kimblee. Another homunculus he had become aquatinted with. It seemed that he was incompatible with any human. The Devil's Nest seemed like the only place Kimblee was welcome, the only true place where he had friends. But did he feel sorry for himself? No.
"Oh. I thought so. I had saw his eyes..." Hayden trailed off. She was in the midst of taking in what was just told to her about the mysterious man labeled "Scar."She had already read him like a book. She could see all his memories. His brother, mother, father...she had seen them all. All she had to do was look into his soul. And to be honest, it was easy for her. That's what she was best at; membaca people. Though she had never gotten the chance to read Edward, atau his brother. "And he's only after State Alchemists, huh?" Hayden questioned as she gazed down at the sleeping pup in her lap. Edward nodded. "That doesn't seem like the will of his supposed 'God'".
The conductor of the train suddenly fuzzed and flickered to life on the overhead mic.
" There seems to be something in the way of the tracks. Brace for impact." Boston was aroused from his sleep. Edward shot Al a questioning look as he kicked his feet under him an leaned out of the window. He squinted his golden eyes, the wind stinging his face and throwing his hair around wildly. He could make out something yellow laying across the tracks, though it was hard to keep his steady from the violent movement of the train. A sudden epiphany hit him lil a brick wall. He knew what was on the track, and they were just going to keep moving along. Edward leapt out of his train window, crawling up the side to try to get onto the top.
"Ed! What the hell?!" Hayden retch to grab onto his red jacket, but it slipped out of her hands. Edward just continued along the puncak, atas of the locomotive that was barreling toward an unknown object. He tried his best to keep upright, stumbling along while his hair whipped around his face. Sooner than he knew it, he had retch the front car, the engine room. Now he definitely knew what the object on the track was. Ed thought quickly, jumping off the front of the train; scaring the conductor as he did so. He had landed quite a few feet ahead of the train, luckily. Ed clapped his hands together, transmuting the train tracks so they curled up around the face of the fast moving train. This slowed the locomotive considerably, but it wasn't enough to save himself. Searching for something to transmute, he had to settle for the gravel at his booted feet. A quick flash of blue light, and a large stone dinding had stopped the barreling engine. Ed knew the trip to Rush Valley was shot now. Unless they felt like walking the whole way there.
A few train patrons piled out of the forced open doors to investigate. Among them was Hayden and Alphonse.
"Brother! What happened?!" Al exclaimed. Edward inhale heavily, pointing to a body behind him.
"Ling happened."
"So I'm guessing we'll have to just trek until we get there, huh? Where are we?" Al asked, carrying an unconscious Ling on his back. They had headed down road of the mutilated track, letting the officials deal with the wreckage. All Ed knew was; Ling was beyond lucky he was aboard that specific train.
"What's wrong with him?" Hayden asked, holding Boston up so he could smell the young lord's body. Ed groaned as he palmed his eyeball.
"He's hungry. But we don't have any food. Don't tell me we have to carry this zombie around until we find a town..." Edward snarled as he thought about jut how grueling that task would be. He was busy enough as it was, what with this Hayden girl and all. Now he had his hands full with being blamed for a train wreck, making it to Rush Valley, AND carrying around a corpse. Lovely.
"Hold on." Hayden held the pup with one arm and dug into one of her pockets on her jacket. She fished out a breadstick that was tied up in a napkin. She tossed it to Ed. "I bought it for Boston, just in case he got hungry. Here." Edward caught it gracefully; looking up at the sky. Clouds had accumulated overhead, blocking out the sun as night created a midnight backdrop.