Fan Fiction / Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Wings ❯ Prologue: In the Beginning, There Was... Boredom ( Prologue )

PLEASE READ THIS FIRST! (It will save you from later confusion about the way I write!)

 

This is going to be the first story I've ever posted, so constructive feedback is much appreciated!

It's going to get pretty wild, later on. Yes, there will be some OC's, and it's going to be a crossover between my original fiction stories' characters and FMA. This is not the same as a story with original FMA characters. So, I consider it to be a crossover, but with an original universe, rather than with another existing universe. Just to make that clear. I don't know how frequently I'll update, but I'll try for at least a chapter a week. School keeps me pretty busy, so I might not be able to do that. This is the first time in a long time I have tried actually writing one of my stories. Usually I use artwork, rather than text, in expressing my stories. I actually have quite a few stories going, but right now, all of them are in my head and are too long and complicated for me to put down in writing properly. Also, I (and you readers) may find that this plot changes as the story progresses… my stories tend to write themselves along the way. I start writing the beginning of the story, even if I haven't fully developed my idea, and the plot (and details) work themselves out. You could say that my stories write themselves, and I am just a slave to the keyboard, typing it all as it happens.

 

Sorry for the long explanation. Now, without further adieu… I present:

 

Broken Wings, Prologue- In the Beginning, There Was… Boredom

(I do not own FMA; Aiylah Lohengren, Tiras, Lutra, Mauroleith, Lumania, Longloth, and everything else in the Roshtan Realm are all © to ME!)

 

 

 

Edward sighed.

 

“If that bastard Colonel gives me one more stupid assignment like this one, I SWEAR I'm going to transmute his head into a brick and toss him into the nearest lake, the military be DAMNED! `Look for signs of anything unusual,' he says! I'll show him `unusual.' I'll shove my unusual foot right up his-”

 

“Brother!” Alphonse looked at his brother, mortified…or, at least, as mortified as a suit of armor is capable of looking.

 

“-nose. But, seriously, Al, aren't you getting tired of this? It's been three days already, and nothing's come up,” Edward continued. He was really getting sick of the Colonel's antics. One false lead after another and he was still no closer to finding the Stone than he had been six months ago. And now there was this pointless (in Ed's opinion) little OUTPOST mission to a little town in the middle of nowhere, where he was supposed to twiddle his thumbs, looking for “signs of anything unusual.” Yep. BO-RING. Not to mention the fact that he was cut off from Central's library, so he couldn't even research while he was here.

 

“Oh, come on, Brother! It's not that bad…” Alphonse chided. “I mean, it could always be worse…The Colonel could have just sent you here alone, right? I'm sure he has a good reason to send us here!” Surely he could find some way to cheer Ed up… or it was going to be a VERY long assignment.

 

Ed just waved a gloved hand in dismissal. “I know,” he growled, “but, dammit, Al, I don't want to be here! Why couldn't he send someone ELSE to do his dirty work? This assignment is just insulting! Anyone can look for weird crap going on, but I'm a State Alchemist!” His voice was growing shrill; Alphonse winced, producing a hollow, metallic creak. Wrong thing to say. And Ed wasn't done yet.

 

“You would think that he would stop treating us like children! No child could pass the State Alchemy Exam! And yet he gives us this… this baby's assignment!” Edward continued to rant. “It's like he's got some kind of personal vendetta! He just LOVES to piss me off!” Ed trailed off, having run out of things to say. Alphonse was getting worried. When Edward was this angry, the situation could become dangerous.

 

“Brother, please! Calm down! I bet he sent us up here because he knows how observant you are. If something IS going on, you're probably the first person who would notice!” Edward deflated a little.

 

“Yeah, I guess you could be right…” He smirked. “Mustang KNOWS I can be shrewd when I want to be…” The barest hint of a smile graced his lips. “I mean, State Alchemists aren't exactly well respected- I HAD to be shrewd, and careful, just to avoid getting driven out of most of the towns we stayed in. That was, of course, before I became famous.” Alphonse rolled his eyes, sighing inwardly with relief. Mission successful! Ed was like a firecracker- all it took was a little spark to set him off; and when he went off, it was always with a BANG!

 

 

 

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Back in Central HQ…

 

The Flame Alchemist, Colonel Roy Mustang was currently doing…absolutely nothing. Well, to be precise, he was shuffling a stack of papers around on his desk… a stack that never seemed to stop growing. His gaze shifted upward, to the window. His midnight blue eyes narrowed. It was snowing outside. He sighed. Snow wasn't much better than rain, and he really hated the rain… It made him feel so useless.

 

He shivered, suddenly. It was as if a blanket of obscurity had suddenly settled over his mind, while an icy claw tickled his throat… The sensation vanished as if it had never been.

 

Suppressing a yawn, he returned his gaze to the mountain of papers in front of him. That was strange. I wonder if it has anything to do with that odd report I heard in Damera… Hn. Probably just a draft of cold air. Back to the task at hand. Oh, how he loathed paperwork…

 

KNOCK, KNOCK.

 

CREEEEAAAK… SLAM!

 

He sighed. “Yes, First Lieutenant Hawkeye?”

 

THUD

 

“More paperwork, Sir.” Roy stared down at the papers in dismay, then up at the impassive First Lieutenant. Yikes. She was like a rose… pretty, with lots of thorns. Too many thorns. And she was not to be swayed.

 

“I suppose you want me to fill all of these out, too, First Lieutenant?”

 

“That would be in your best interest, Sir.”

 

CLICK

 

She had pulled out her gun. Ouch. Forced to do paperwork at gunpoint. That was never fun…for the Colonel, anyway. For First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, it was standard procedure when dealing with a perpetually lazy Colonel. And Roy Mustang was the Prince of Procrastination, when it came to filling out paperwork… Indeed. The man was begging for strict discipline.

 

“Colonel. Paperwork. Now.”

 

Roy smiled innocently. “Of course. Do you have any reason to doubt me?” Riza was not amused.

 

“With all due respect, Sir, yes, I do. You have a history of neglecting-”

 

“All right! Forget I asked.” I should just burn the whole damn pile… His fingers twitched subconsciously. He started to reach for his pocket…

 

“Leave the ignition gloves where they are, Sir.” Damn. Ah, well. It wasn't worth a bullet hole in his forehead. He sighed and picked up a pen, resignedly. I wonder how Fullmetal is doing… Sadly enough, Roy actually looked forward to reading the kid's reports. They were the only interesting papers he ever received… The First Lieutenant's frown deepened. Back to work.

 

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An unknown location- Roshtan Realm (Other Universe)

 

A cold wind was blowing. But, something wasn't right. It was coming from the forest, not the sea. And it wasn't in the air that he felt it… it was in his mind. Aiylah Lohengren was worried. Seriously worried. The Lutran dawn sky had never been so dark. And the forests of Longloth were screaming… Something was happening on Lumania… and Lumania's perils were usually reflected here, in Mauroleith. The sister worlds were linked, after all. His skin began to crawl.

 

“Aiylah. You've been staring at that scrying pool and shivering for three hours. You're making me anxious,” drawled a voice above his shoulder. The boy looked up, startled, his long crimson hair falling over his shoulder. Of course- it was only Tiras. The young man's startlingly blue eyes were twinkling with laughter, even as he scowled. “You know, you look like a girl with all of that hair… you should cut it.”

 

“Now, why would I want to do that? It's tied back in a tail. That's good enough. And YOU are trying to distract me. “ Aiylah's aqua cat's eyes were dark with worry, even as he joked, the twin horizontal red stripes below them serving as a constant reminder that he was, in fact, not human. Tiras blinked and looked down into the pool.

 

“Odd. Feels like a storm… but it doesn't smell like water…” Tiras absently ran his fingers through his dark, golden hair. It was a strange feeling- like static in the air, when lightning is about to strike. The tension… it was a nearly tangible thing.

 

“What does it smell like, then?” Aiylah knew that Tiras now felt the same shadow on his mind. And, indeed- his reply was solemn, and his demeanor grim.

 

“Fire. It smells like a storm of fire.”

 

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??????????

 

“WELL?”

 

“Everything is going smoothly, Lord…except-“

 

“WHAT IS IT?”

 

“Well, there is one…we think he suspects…But it should not be an issue.”

 

“GOOD. THEN BEGIN THE FIRST STAGE.”

 

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A world away is not far enough

To escape the Shadow's embrace.

A terror that silences every heart's song

Is marked by a thousand nameless graves.

-

In the coldness you feel,

The wounds will not heal.

And “hope” is a word from mad ravings.

 

The Shadow devours

The radiant Light's flowers,

And the people are naught but gods' playthings.

-

It's hard to forgive you,

But it's worse to forget

The ones Love abandoned

And what Hate begets.

 

I try to remember;

The chains were unbound!

But it's gone, now, forever;

I've lost all I found.

-

It's almost too late to save you,

But I try however I can.

Worlds will collide from your waking dream's power;

All I can do now is follow you, again.

 

All of us just try to live,

And take on whatever life brings.

But even though mankind tries to soar,

All we can do… is flap broken wings.

-

I'll flap my broken wings.

 

I'll fly to you, someway, somehow-

 

I'll flap my broken wings.

 

 

-Original poem “Broken Wings”

 

TBC…

 

Well? Like? Dislike? Read and review, PLEASE! I really like feedback, of all kinds, even ideas. If I get the feeling that a story is disliked in general, I WILL DISCONTINUE IT. But don't worry, I won't go there, yet. I will not be able to post a new chapter every day, like some amazing people, but I will try to post at least one or two a week. If I can find a way, I will TRY to find a way to post any artwork I have done that is related to these stories. They will probably be on sites like: either http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/, or Deviant Arts. I don't know. I appreciate artwork done by other people, as well, although I would ask that you not draw any of the original characters unless I have already posted pictures of them (sorry, but I am really picky- I want to make sure people know exactly how I want my characters to look!), but I hope nobody minds. I take fanart as a big complement.