Post by Shumei on Jun 30, 2008 14:48:27 GMT -5
“Hey… David, sir, are you sure this is the right way?”
With that, there was a dead silence. The wind picked up at that very moment, scattering small amounts of dirt from the old road they were traveling on. It was in the middle of a large field, green stretching on for miles, with the only way to know where you were was to follow the dusty roads. The young man who had inquired such a question had stopped cold in his tracks as the man in front of him turned back.
His superior officer was a decently imposing figure; although only in his late teens, he had already received a rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Of course, the entire group was still in their late teens, but that wasn’t the point of the matter. He was a fairly tall figure, standing at roughly six feet tall, take a couple inches, and his build was very thin. His outfit was the standard military outfit for the Amestrian Military; a grayish-blue jacket, with golden seems, and a light gray outline along the collar and edges, along with pants of a similar fashion. All members of the group were dressed identically, the only difference being the patches to show their rank. His hair was relatively average in length, his bangs coming just short of his fairly thick, dark eyebrows. The hair was nearly black in color, albeit his bangs having blonde tips on the left of the part in his hair. Silver framed glasses sat upon the bridge of his nose, and behind them were dark hazel eyes. The man stared coldly at the soldier, before cracking a slight grin.
“Don’t worry, Major Cremeans, I do actually know where I’m going. Isn’t that right, Lieutenant Colonel Palmer?” replied the man, turning to another member of the group. Upon hearing her name, the girl at the rear of the group snapped her gaze to her fellow Lieutenant Colonel. She was a little bit shorter than David, with an extremly thin build. She had a rather pale complexion, making her fairly bright red hair stand out even more that it would normally. She chuckled lightly, before looking off into the sky.
“If you say so, David.” replied Palmer. The Majors face went pale, as his eyes fixed instantly on the Lieutenant Colonel. He was worried that questioning David might be a dumb idea. However, only a smile appeared on David’s face, as he looked back to his friend. Scratching his head, the Major simply sighed, and the group continued. The fourth and final member of their group had remained silent the entire time, keeping to himself throughout all of this. The last member was a rather large man, quite a bit larger in build. He had short black hair, accompanied by a thin black beard that covered his chin and lower jaw. Like Palmer and Rowe, he was at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, as the large, rectangular patches on the top of his shoulders denoted. David looked back, raising a brow at the man.
“Hey, Miller, is everything alright?” asked David, adjusting his glasses. The man looked at the commanding officer, and slightly nodded.
“Don’t worry David, I’m just thinking about a girl back at Headquarters.” he replied, putting his hands in his pockets. Shrugging his shoulders, David grinned, simply continuing on his way. Considering the situation, he simply thought it reckless to be thinking about women at a time like this.
The four of them had been called out to the town of Resembool to investigate a recent string of arsons. The report suggested that as no materials were found that could’ve been the cause, the only possible explanation was that an alchemist was involved. Of the group, only one of them was an alchemist of the State; although Miller and Palmer knew alchemy, only Lieutenant Colonel Rowe was certified. Alchemy is an amazing power, created through the use of drawings known as Transmutation Circles. Depending on how they are drawn, they can do a vast myriad of abilities. Upon David’s right and left hands lie pure black gloves, with symbols printed on the top of his hands. He had been the first to be promoted to his current rank, earning him control of the group he now has to accompany him; he was previously alongside Palmer and Miller, and one point Cremeans, but during an armed uprising to the West, David earned promotion after promotion. After the previous leader was killed a few years ago during the Lior Uprising, the new commander took greater notice of those with alchemic skills, promoting them at a faster rate than the late leader of before.
David stopped, holding his arms out, causing his group to stop. The three looked amongst each other, before David turned back to them. Upon his face was a cold glare, sending chills down his subordinate’s spines. They had never seen him with such a stern expression before. Within a few seconds, they felt the wind pick up, and they realized what was wrong; the wind was warm, and reeked of sulphur and ash. The four then spotted a small cloud of black smoke rising in the distance. With a wave of his hand, David signaled for the group to run towards it, and they did so, sprinting as if their lives depended on it. The few people on the road quickly ran off to the side as the four officers dashed towards the smoke, with the lower officers having trouble keeping up with David.
Within only a few minutes, the four of them caught sight of a small, wooden house, engulfed in bright blue flames. They were shocked by the terror the flames created, as it seemed to combust spontaneously from nowhere. Suddenly, a small child ran from the house, and David’s group ran towards her. Before they could get to her, however, her skin began to glow slightly. Stopping, the four watched in horror as the child combust into flames, screaming in horrible agony. This caused Palmer to begin crying, and the others simply clenched their fists, swearing under their breath. Within the house of flames, David noticed a shadow stumbling around. Slowly, a tall figure emerged from the house, completely unscathed from the fire. They were wearing an outfit similar to that of David’s group, but with flames etched across the jacket. The man had long, bright blonde hair, tied back into a ponytail in the back, with sideburns on his face. He smiled, before bursting into maniacal laughter, his eyes turning red.
“So… the dogs of the military have been dispatched, has they? Sorry kid, but you don’t stand a chance against me, you little shit. I use to be known as the Blue Flame Alchemist back during the Ishbal Rebellion, but Mustang outshined me, and soared past me in the military. You’re going to die, just like all these damned farmers!” shouted the man, raising up his hands, revealing transmutation circles on his palms. David then turned around, a terrified look on his face.
“Get down!” he shouted, as he slapped the transmutation circle on his right glove. In an instant, the circle lit up, glowing a bright white, and David extended his index and middle fingers, as if holding a throwing knife. Almost instantly, ice began to form along the under of his fingers, forming into a blade. Charging forward full speed, he watched as the man clapped together his hands, and blue flames spread out from around his body. The man laughed, sneering at David with his cold, crimson visage.
“So you’re the Deepfreeze Alchemist… you’re a damn fool! I will send you to the depths of hell!” David then tapped the circle on his left glove, and held his arm out, shielding his face. Water then condensed around his arm, spreading out into a shield, before freezing. Still charging, David grinned as he burst through the wall of flames, the ice shield then breaking. Bringing his right hand up to the side of his face, he thrust his arm forward, tossing the blade of ice from his hand. The ice made contact, stabbing into the man’s right shoulder, causing him to scream out in pain. Kneeling to the ground, he looked up, glaring. “I-Impossible… ice shouldn’t be able to beat fire! It’s… not… possible!” he shrieked, jumping to his feet. Before David could think, he clapped his hands again, forming a fireball.
“Oh, hell…” muttered David, activating the circle on his right hand again. Suddenly, a loud noise shattered the air, and blood began to spray from the man’s chest as he fell to the ground. Looking back, David saw that all three of his subordinates were on one knee, resting their arms on their raised knee as they held out their handguns, smoke floating from the barrels. The three gave David a salute, all smiling. Relieved, David smiled back, returning the salute. Looking back to the house, David watched as the fire that had engulfed the house since before the fight seemed to just simply dye out. Raising his arms, David stretched his body, yawning. “I need to get out more… he almost got me that last time.” he murmured, beginning to talk back to his crew. Before he knew it, the wind picked up around him, and blue flames engulfed the area around David, as he quickly looked back to the house. The man was on his feet again, blood pouring from his chest, dripping onto the ground. Coughing up more blood, he stumbled forward, laughing.
“Y-you… little… bastard… I’ll… kill… you!” With that, the man clapped his hands, activating the arrays on his palms. David watched in amazement as all the blood from the man began flowing towards his arms, forming into a ball. Screaming, the man launched the ball of blood, as it burst into a flame that covered the entire area. Laughing, the man wiped the blood from his mouth as he looked upon where David had been standing, now completely covered in flames. “Deep…freeze… eh? You were… nothing.” he laughed, beginning to stumble off. Palmer, Miller, and Cremeans all began shouting, in shock of no longer knowing what happened to David. Within a few seconds, a surge of freezing air exploded from the field of flames, completely destroying the entire blaze. Standing there was David, his uniform and face covered in ash. Looking at the man, he began grinning.
“That’s right. Deepfreeze… and it’s the last thing you’ll ever have to remember!” shouted David, hitting the back of his hands together, activating both arrays. Within seconds, dozens of ice needles had formed around the man, shooting into his body rapidly. Blade after blade, blood continued spraying from his body, as he screamed in agony as loud as he could. The sight was so horrifying that Palmer shielded her eyes, while Cremeans started to become ill. David just stood there though, glaring as the final blade stabbed into the man, finally killing him. Turning, he walked back to his group, hanging his head. “I… didn’t want to do that… but I believe the situation called for it. Set up for the Resembool department to handle it from here. I have business back in Central. I will see you later, Miller and Cremeans. Palmer, let’s go.” With that, Rowe and Palmer departed from their friends, following the dirt road towards the train station.
After a fairly long walk, the two arrived at the small station, consisting of only a small platform, and a one-man booth for the person in charge of running the station. Trotting up the concrete steps, the two began waiting for their train, scheduled to arrive in roughly ten minutes. While waiting, Palmer turned her head toward David, a confused look on her face.
“Um… David?” She began, causing David to turn his head, making a slight ‘Hm?’ before continuing. “I’ve been meaning to ask… how does your alchemy work?” The question caused David to raise his hands up, tugging his sleeves upward to fully show the arrays on his gloves. They were fairly intricate, containing a small amount of writing at a size so small that not even someone with perfect vision could read it.
“Well, Courtney, I first analyze the density of H2O in the air. After that, I condense it in various ways, before using conductivity to remove the heat from it, causing it to form into ice. From there, I can fire it by setting off small bursts of hydrogen from the ends of the ice. That’s how I finished that arsonist, anyways. It took a lot of energy to cancel out the flames that guy created… I’m lucky that he was weakened; otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to save myself.” he said, setting down on a bench. Courtney looked at him blankly, tilting her head.
“Makes sense… of course, the alchemy I’m messing with isn’t as potent as that; I plan on taking after that Dr. Tim Marcoh, and learning how to transmute medicines efficiently.” With that, Courtney took a step forward, watching as a train pulled in. “Come on David, it’s time to go back to Central.” With that, the two entered the train. Upon setting down, David began staring out the window, watching as the train began to leave.
‘State Alchemists… the military’s special forces, using alchemy to handle situations outside the control of normal soldiers. Made for the people… but, we occasionally have to kill one to protect others… I wonder what Colonel Delawder will have for my next mission… I need to meet up with Lieutenant Colonel Dickess as well. It’s been a while since all of us have been in Central at the same time. It should be interesting.’ he thought to himself, resting his hand on the side of his seat. It would be another hour before they would arrive in Central, so closing his eyes, he began falling asleep, wanting to rest before meeting up with his colleagues.
“Hey, David… Out of curiosity, do you have your eye on anyone right now? You’ve been acting a little nervous while in Headquarters lately.” inquired Courtney, causing David to gaze with his left eye. He simply grinned, and closed his eyes.
“…Possibly. We’ll see how things go first, though.” he replied, before dozing off. David didn’t want to think about that at the moment, it would just cause him to stress out, and he needed his rest.
With that, there was a dead silence. The wind picked up at that very moment, scattering small amounts of dirt from the old road they were traveling on. It was in the middle of a large field, green stretching on for miles, with the only way to know where you were was to follow the dusty roads. The young man who had inquired such a question had stopped cold in his tracks as the man in front of him turned back.
His superior officer was a decently imposing figure; although only in his late teens, he had already received a rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Of course, the entire group was still in their late teens, but that wasn’t the point of the matter. He was a fairly tall figure, standing at roughly six feet tall, take a couple inches, and his build was very thin. His outfit was the standard military outfit for the Amestrian Military; a grayish-blue jacket, with golden seems, and a light gray outline along the collar and edges, along with pants of a similar fashion. All members of the group were dressed identically, the only difference being the patches to show their rank. His hair was relatively average in length, his bangs coming just short of his fairly thick, dark eyebrows. The hair was nearly black in color, albeit his bangs having blonde tips on the left of the part in his hair. Silver framed glasses sat upon the bridge of his nose, and behind them were dark hazel eyes. The man stared coldly at the soldier, before cracking a slight grin.
“Don’t worry, Major Cremeans, I do actually know where I’m going. Isn’t that right, Lieutenant Colonel Palmer?” replied the man, turning to another member of the group. Upon hearing her name, the girl at the rear of the group snapped her gaze to her fellow Lieutenant Colonel. She was a little bit shorter than David, with an extremly thin build. She had a rather pale complexion, making her fairly bright red hair stand out even more that it would normally. She chuckled lightly, before looking off into the sky.
“If you say so, David.” replied Palmer. The Majors face went pale, as his eyes fixed instantly on the Lieutenant Colonel. He was worried that questioning David might be a dumb idea. However, only a smile appeared on David’s face, as he looked back to his friend. Scratching his head, the Major simply sighed, and the group continued. The fourth and final member of their group had remained silent the entire time, keeping to himself throughout all of this. The last member was a rather large man, quite a bit larger in build. He had short black hair, accompanied by a thin black beard that covered his chin and lower jaw. Like Palmer and Rowe, he was at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, as the large, rectangular patches on the top of his shoulders denoted. David looked back, raising a brow at the man.
“Hey, Miller, is everything alright?” asked David, adjusting his glasses. The man looked at the commanding officer, and slightly nodded.
“Don’t worry David, I’m just thinking about a girl back at Headquarters.” he replied, putting his hands in his pockets. Shrugging his shoulders, David grinned, simply continuing on his way. Considering the situation, he simply thought it reckless to be thinking about women at a time like this.
The four of them had been called out to the town of Resembool to investigate a recent string of arsons. The report suggested that as no materials were found that could’ve been the cause, the only possible explanation was that an alchemist was involved. Of the group, only one of them was an alchemist of the State; although Miller and Palmer knew alchemy, only Lieutenant Colonel Rowe was certified. Alchemy is an amazing power, created through the use of drawings known as Transmutation Circles. Depending on how they are drawn, they can do a vast myriad of abilities. Upon David’s right and left hands lie pure black gloves, with symbols printed on the top of his hands. He had been the first to be promoted to his current rank, earning him control of the group he now has to accompany him; he was previously alongside Palmer and Miller, and one point Cremeans, but during an armed uprising to the West, David earned promotion after promotion. After the previous leader was killed a few years ago during the Lior Uprising, the new commander took greater notice of those with alchemic skills, promoting them at a faster rate than the late leader of before.
David stopped, holding his arms out, causing his group to stop. The three looked amongst each other, before David turned back to them. Upon his face was a cold glare, sending chills down his subordinate’s spines. They had never seen him with such a stern expression before. Within a few seconds, they felt the wind pick up, and they realized what was wrong; the wind was warm, and reeked of sulphur and ash. The four then spotted a small cloud of black smoke rising in the distance. With a wave of his hand, David signaled for the group to run towards it, and they did so, sprinting as if their lives depended on it. The few people on the road quickly ran off to the side as the four officers dashed towards the smoke, with the lower officers having trouble keeping up with David.
Within only a few minutes, the four of them caught sight of a small, wooden house, engulfed in bright blue flames. They were shocked by the terror the flames created, as it seemed to combust spontaneously from nowhere. Suddenly, a small child ran from the house, and David’s group ran towards her. Before they could get to her, however, her skin began to glow slightly. Stopping, the four watched in horror as the child combust into flames, screaming in horrible agony. This caused Palmer to begin crying, and the others simply clenched their fists, swearing under their breath. Within the house of flames, David noticed a shadow stumbling around. Slowly, a tall figure emerged from the house, completely unscathed from the fire. They were wearing an outfit similar to that of David’s group, but with flames etched across the jacket. The man had long, bright blonde hair, tied back into a ponytail in the back, with sideburns on his face. He smiled, before bursting into maniacal laughter, his eyes turning red.
“So… the dogs of the military have been dispatched, has they? Sorry kid, but you don’t stand a chance against me, you little shit. I use to be known as the Blue Flame Alchemist back during the Ishbal Rebellion, but Mustang outshined me, and soared past me in the military. You’re going to die, just like all these damned farmers!” shouted the man, raising up his hands, revealing transmutation circles on his palms. David then turned around, a terrified look on his face.
“Get down!” he shouted, as he slapped the transmutation circle on his right glove. In an instant, the circle lit up, glowing a bright white, and David extended his index and middle fingers, as if holding a throwing knife. Almost instantly, ice began to form along the under of his fingers, forming into a blade. Charging forward full speed, he watched as the man clapped together his hands, and blue flames spread out from around his body. The man laughed, sneering at David with his cold, crimson visage.
“So you’re the Deepfreeze Alchemist… you’re a damn fool! I will send you to the depths of hell!” David then tapped the circle on his left glove, and held his arm out, shielding his face. Water then condensed around his arm, spreading out into a shield, before freezing. Still charging, David grinned as he burst through the wall of flames, the ice shield then breaking. Bringing his right hand up to the side of his face, he thrust his arm forward, tossing the blade of ice from his hand. The ice made contact, stabbing into the man’s right shoulder, causing him to scream out in pain. Kneeling to the ground, he looked up, glaring. “I-Impossible… ice shouldn’t be able to beat fire! It’s… not… possible!” he shrieked, jumping to his feet. Before David could think, he clapped his hands again, forming a fireball.
“Oh, hell…” muttered David, activating the circle on his right hand again. Suddenly, a loud noise shattered the air, and blood began to spray from the man’s chest as he fell to the ground. Looking back, David saw that all three of his subordinates were on one knee, resting their arms on their raised knee as they held out their handguns, smoke floating from the barrels. The three gave David a salute, all smiling. Relieved, David smiled back, returning the salute. Looking back to the house, David watched as the fire that had engulfed the house since before the fight seemed to just simply dye out. Raising his arms, David stretched his body, yawning. “I need to get out more… he almost got me that last time.” he murmured, beginning to talk back to his crew. Before he knew it, the wind picked up around him, and blue flames engulfed the area around David, as he quickly looked back to the house. The man was on his feet again, blood pouring from his chest, dripping onto the ground. Coughing up more blood, he stumbled forward, laughing.
“Y-you… little… bastard… I’ll… kill… you!” With that, the man clapped his hands, activating the arrays on his palms. David watched in amazement as all the blood from the man began flowing towards his arms, forming into a ball. Screaming, the man launched the ball of blood, as it burst into a flame that covered the entire area. Laughing, the man wiped the blood from his mouth as he looked upon where David had been standing, now completely covered in flames. “Deep…freeze… eh? You were… nothing.” he laughed, beginning to stumble off. Palmer, Miller, and Cremeans all began shouting, in shock of no longer knowing what happened to David. Within a few seconds, a surge of freezing air exploded from the field of flames, completely destroying the entire blaze. Standing there was David, his uniform and face covered in ash. Looking at the man, he began grinning.
“That’s right. Deepfreeze… and it’s the last thing you’ll ever have to remember!” shouted David, hitting the back of his hands together, activating both arrays. Within seconds, dozens of ice needles had formed around the man, shooting into his body rapidly. Blade after blade, blood continued spraying from his body, as he screamed in agony as loud as he could. The sight was so horrifying that Palmer shielded her eyes, while Cremeans started to become ill. David just stood there though, glaring as the final blade stabbed into the man, finally killing him. Turning, he walked back to his group, hanging his head. “I… didn’t want to do that… but I believe the situation called for it. Set up for the Resembool department to handle it from here. I have business back in Central. I will see you later, Miller and Cremeans. Palmer, let’s go.” With that, Rowe and Palmer departed from their friends, following the dirt road towards the train station.
After a fairly long walk, the two arrived at the small station, consisting of only a small platform, and a one-man booth for the person in charge of running the station. Trotting up the concrete steps, the two began waiting for their train, scheduled to arrive in roughly ten minutes. While waiting, Palmer turned her head toward David, a confused look on her face.
“Um… David?” She began, causing David to turn his head, making a slight ‘Hm?’ before continuing. “I’ve been meaning to ask… how does your alchemy work?” The question caused David to raise his hands up, tugging his sleeves upward to fully show the arrays on his gloves. They were fairly intricate, containing a small amount of writing at a size so small that not even someone with perfect vision could read it.
“Well, Courtney, I first analyze the density of H2O in the air. After that, I condense it in various ways, before using conductivity to remove the heat from it, causing it to form into ice. From there, I can fire it by setting off small bursts of hydrogen from the ends of the ice. That’s how I finished that arsonist, anyways. It took a lot of energy to cancel out the flames that guy created… I’m lucky that he was weakened; otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to save myself.” he said, setting down on a bench. Courtney looked at him blankly, tilting her head.
“Makes sense… of course, the alchemy I’m messing with isn’t as potent as that; I plan on taking after that Dr. Tim Marcoh, and learning how to transmute medicines efficiently.” With that, Courtney took a step forward, watching as a train pulled in. “Come on David, it’s time to go back to Central.” With that, the two entered the train. Upon setting down, David began staring out the window, watching as the train began to leave.
‘State Alchemists… the military’s special forces, using alchemy to handle situations outside the control of normal soldiers. Made for the people… but, we occasionally have to kill one to protect others… I wonder what Colonel Delawder will have for my next mission… I need to meet up with Lieutenant Colonel Dickess as well. It’s been a while since all of us have been in Central at the same time. It should be interesting.’ he thought to himself, resting his hand on the side of his seat. It would be another hour before they would arrive in Central, so closing his eyes, he began falling asleep, wanting to rest before meeting up with his colleagues.
“Hey, David… Out of curiosity, do you have your eye on anyone right now? You’ve been acting a little nervous while in Headquarters lately.” inquired Courtney, causing David to gaze with his left eye. He simply grinned, and closed his eyes.
“…Possibly. We’ll see how things go first, though.” he replied, before dozing off. David didn’t want to think about that at the moment, it would just cause him to stress out, and he needed his rest.