Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Golden Tiger Eyes ❯ Encounter ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter One:

 

I'll never forget the day we met; it was another day, just like any other. I was merely walking down the empty streets of Risenbool, looking for a store that I could by a few supplies from. I never expected to run into a real state alchemist.

“Agh,” I fell to the ground after hitting someone, not paying attention to where I was going, “I'm… I'm sorry.”

“It's alright… no biggie.”

I took the hand that was offered to me, using the extra help to pull myself to a standing position. Two pools of liquid gold clashed with mine. I was at a loss for words: The Full Metal Alchemist, Edward Elric, had been bumped with my idiocy and clumsiness.

“Are you alright, miss?” he asked, tilting his head to the side to get a better look at my blank expression.

I snapped out of my vivid daydream, easily being captivated by his mesmerizing eyes. “Yeah… I'm ok. I'm sorry I bumped into you. I should be more careful.”

“Oh, it's quite alright. Say… what's your name?”

“Erm… I'm Krow El'Venguar. You're… Edward Elric?”

“Heh, the Full Metal Alchemist, at your service!” The small alchemist beamed, pleasure radiating from his tiger-like eyes.

The Full Metal Alchemist… hmmm, that was a title to be proud of.

“So, what's a young lady like you doing in the streets of Risenbool?” asked Edward. He stretched his arms casually as if there wasn't a care in the world.

I explained to him that I was a traveler of sorts, specializing in crafting and potion making. He did ask me at one point if I had ever tried to create a Philosopher's Stone, but I told him I had never come across any material that could tell me how to make one. It seemed to disgust him a little at the mention of the subject. I wonder what could have made him grimace like that?

“-so, I decided to drop in and see if this place had some ingredients I need for a few potions.”

“I see, so are you planning on staying here for a while? You know, check out the sights?”

I quirked an eyebrow, giving him a look like he was out of his mind. “Not exactly,” I finally replied, shaking my head, “I was only dropping by.”

Edward frowned. Why did he seem disappointed? “Oh, well… if you do need a place to stay, I'll be over at the fountain. See that hunk of armor? That's my brother.”

I nodded.

“Well, hope to see you around!” And with that, he set himself racing across the street towards the fountain.

 

After my strange encounter with the blond Elric boy, I decided I should stay away from him. Something inside my stomach churned with a strange presence, although what that presence was, I have no idea. It scared me, none the less.

I turned into an alleyway, looking at the signs to see if any of them gave hint to a place full of ingredients, but that attempt suddenly failed as I felt that I was being watched. Turning around slowly, I catch sight of three giant men, all thug-looking and very unfriendly.

“Hey, you. You lost?” the first one asked me, advancing too quickly for my liking.

“No… not exactly.”

The hair on the back of my neck tingled with fear, and it was then that I knew I was in for some trouble.

Another one of the thugs chuckled deeply, vanishing and reappearing behind my nimble frame. My arms were seized… and a glint of metal caught my eye. Auto-mail was attached to the man's arms. They weren't very good models, but strong enough to keep me from bolting.

“Let… let go of me!” I snarled, writhing and squirming, attempting to get myself unstuck from the situation.

“Not a chance, girlie,” the man laughed, the hot, alcoholic breath washing over my neck. Another one of the men stepped forward and took a firm hold of my shirt, attempting to rip it off.

I did what any other girl would do:

“AAAAIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!”

“Gah, someone gag this insolent wench. We don't need to be-“

The man's voice was cut off as a metallic leg made contact with the flesh of his cheek, sending the man for a spin out the alley.

“Wha-what the heck was that?” The man who had a hold of my arms looked around, but not before he received a blow to the shoulder, causing him to let go of me. I fell to the ground, panting and wide-eyed.

“You know…” a familiar voice reached my ears, stirring that queasy feeling inside of me, “running around and taking advantage of a girl when she's just passing through isn't very considerate.”

I looked up. There, in all his golden-eyed glory, stood the Full Metal Alchemist. His hair blew around his shadowed face, the wandering strands caressing his cheeks with a golden glow. His auto-mail arm hung limply at his side and the blood red cape he always wore clung to him like a mother and child. He flashed a soft, caring smile at me before returning to a hateful glare at the thugs.

“You walk around this town as if you owned it, and I'd have to say that's pretty pathetic. Never in my lifetime have I seen such idiocy towards a young woman. Just who do you think you are?” Edward hissed through his teeth, his golden tiger eyes glittering in the shadows of the alleyway.

The thug that had been holding me sat up, clutching his injured shoulder with a muscular hand. “Grrr, you little pun-“

Another yelp from the man signaled that Edward had hit him again.

“WHO'RE YOU CALLING LITTLE, YOU CLAMMY SQUID?!” the young alchemist spat, his eyes ablaze with fury.

There was a long dreadful silence. Edward continued to fume, releasing quite an amount of steam before he realized that the men were no longer looking at him… but at something behind him.

“It's… it's… it's the Full Metal Alchemist! RUN!” At that, all of the thugs bolted.

“Hi, Nii-san,” chirped Edward's older brother from behind.

There was another dreadful silence. “…They saw you, didn't they, Al?”

“Yeah, they thought I was the Full Metal…”

I stared at them, mostly at the gigantic suit of armor that towered over the state alchemist. My heart pounded furiously inside my chest as I tried to regain my breath.

“Nii-san?”

“Al?”

“Who's that?” The suit of armor pointed a finger at me.

“Hm? Oh, her. That's Krow En'Va-something-or-other, a girl I met earlier today. She specializes in making crafts and potions.”

“Really?” Alphonse looked from his brother to me and back again. “Does she know anything about the-“

“The stone? No…” Edward finished, his head dropping.

I kind of felt sorry for the two, although I could have felt more sorry if I had known why they needed the stone so badly.

As I sat there, thinking of why they wanted the stone, Edward turned to me with a glimmer in his eyes. “Hey,” he said softly, offering his hand to me for the second time that day, “you should probably find a place to stay for the night. I thought you would have been gone by now, but I guess you must have not found what you were looking for.”

I shook my head, “No, I didn't find anything. Even thought I didn't, I really shouldn't stay here. I need to keep moving.”

Edward kept his hand outstretched. “I'm serious, you should find a place to settle down. Soon, it'll become too dark for you to be wandering around here and then what will you do?

“I have a flashlight.”

“Geesh, what is your problem? Do you not have any money or something?”

“Of course I have money. If I didn't, I wouldn't be worrying about finding potion ingredients.”

I could tell that the State Alchemist was starting to get a little paranoid. “You could stay at my place. There's plenty of room.”

That strange knot of… was it lust?… started to harden as the thought of spending the night at his house seeped into my mind. I was so busy thinking about what could happen that I didn't notice Edward seeing my eyes bug out.

“Er, are you alright? You look like you've just seen a ghost.”

“Yeah,” Al nodded his head in agreement, “are you going to be ok? Did those thugs try to ra-“

“Al…” Edward silenced his younger brother with a glare.

“Sorry…”

The wind picked up just the slightest as Ed continued to stand there with his hand extended, his liquid gold eyes bearing down upon me. It didn't really help the queasy feeling in my stomach either. It felt odd.

“…Fine.”

Both of the Elric brothers stared at me.

“I'll stay at your house, but just for tonight.”

Edward turned his head to look at Alphonse, who only shrugged in reply. The State Alchemist grinned. “Whatever you say.”

As I finally took the hand that was offered to me, Ed gave my arm a slight yank which made me yelp. I stared.

Our faces didn't leave any space between each other and my eyes bugged out even more than they had not long ago. I felt like I was about to die:

I had just been kissed by Edward Elric, the Full Metal Alchemist.