Wandering mind of an outcast

[Jennifer]

Shaiya sighed and limped to the nearest building she could lean on. "perfect" she muttered, looking at her right leg, which was now a tangled mass of wires and some metal plates from the knee down. Now she was jobless and in need of an automail mechanic, which she didn't have any money to pay. Sitting down, she turned her head up to look at the sky. It was only a little cloudy, but other than that, it was warm and sunny. Just a moment ago, it seemed a lot sunnier to Shaiya. She was going to a bakery, the same one she had been at yesterday, watching as they closed up, and saw the owner, a little old woman, put a 'help wanted' sign up in the window. But apparently it wasn't help with the bakery that she wanted, since her little demon of a child had come up to Shaiya with a big loaf of stale bread and practically shattered her automail. Who knew bread was that hard. Then again, Shaiya's automail was almost as old as she was. Closing her eyes for a moment, she tried to picture her brother's face. It was as clear in her mind as the day he died. Then she tried to picture her parents and sisters. She could remember what they looked like but their faces were blurry. Looking around herself, she couldn't see anyone. and brushed her bangs away from her forehead, tracing the burn there with her little finger. There really was nowhere for her to belong, it was better this way, better that she be alone.

[Pikachu]

Mikhail began to sort of limp his way down the streets. He was heading home from Central, bored from another useless day at work. There wasn't anything going on at the moment, outside of some stories about some kid who had gotten into the military. But Mikhail had no time to worry about rumors, so he never bothered to discuss them. Instead he started to head towards a bakery to pick up some bread for dinner. His plans, however, were interupted by the "Closed" sign on the door.

"Well, guess it's going to just be soup tonight. Knew I should left earlier."

Sighing, he turned around, moving carefully to make sure his cane didn't get caught in a crack or hole. While he enjoyed the cane for its 'combat' purposes, it sometimes became a pain when walking, especially if it caught on something. Usually it ended with it breaking and him having to repair it with alchemy, or he fell. It was a good thing that was rare, and that the only thing he usually had to deal with was the small click it made when it hit stone.

As he walked on, he noticed a girl with an automail leg leaning up against a building. Normally he'd dismiss it, but this girl caught his attention. The dark skin and red eyes gave her away; she was from Ishbal. He was surprised to see one this far into Amestris, especially when you consider the past history.

"Hey you there, Ishaballen. Mind telling me what you're doing up in these parts?" He asked, walking towards the girl to get a better look at her.

[Jennifer]

Shaiya looked up. The fact that someone had actually spoken to her instead of walking by and either running or giving her a disgusted look when they saw her eyes startled her. She could see the thin chain hanging out of his pocket. He was a state alchemist. Run. She started to sprint down the street but was tripped and stumbled to a halt as her leg started to cave in. Turning back, she snared at the state alchemist, crossing her hands and holding her palms out, aiming at him. "Don't even try to catch me, I'll kill you!" she yelled. Maybe he wasn't going to try to attack her, but she didn't trust state alchemists after what happened to her family. And why take the chance.

[Pikachu]

Mikhail just watched as the girl attempted to make a run for it, but was a bit surprised to see her collapse. It ws then he noticed the automail leg, or at least what he assumed it was an automail leg. Its condition was terrible. He was surprised that is was still working. Normally he'd at least tell her where she could get it fixed, but her threat told him it was best that he stay back for now.

"Spunky little girl, aren't you? I'm guessing you must have had a bad run in with state alchemist in the past. I don't blame you at all for acting that way."

He just leaned forward on his cane, teetering a little bit as he gained a sense of balance. Showing he wasn't afraid at all, he just stared her down. It wasn't the first time he had seen a defiant Ishballen, but it was probably the first time he saw one that he didn't have to kill.

"So let me take a guess at what that was. Alchemist destroy your village? Or did they kill your family? Either way, you don't have anything to fear from me. I personally think almost every state alchemist is a low life piece of scum, me included. They don't call us 'dogs' because we're all cute and cuddly."

[edfan]

It had seemed like a good idea at first, taking Tucker’s dog for a walk, he was always incredibly energetic, and frankly too energetic for Ed, whilst the dog was friendly, it had a terrible habit of sitting on him, though whether the dog did it absentmindedly sometimes or deliberately remained to be seen, still, Edward had taken it upon himself to try and tire the dog out somewhat so that he could continue with his studying uninterrupted.....a tactic that thus far had not been successful. “Alexander!” cried the young alchemist as he was jerked forward by the large white canine, only just managing to keep himself from falling face first onto the pavement, what had started out as a walk, had very quickly become more of a drag.....with Alexander doing the dragging and Edward was beginning to wonder just who was taking who for a walk!

So this was city life, such a change from the calm stillness of Resembool, it had taken a little bit of getting used to, but Edward had found that this place had so much more to offer, not that he didn’t hold any love for his home.....but then there wasn’t really a home there for him, not anymore. Since coming to Central, he and Alphonse had been placed with Shou Tucker, an alchemist who by some wonder had managed to create a chimera with the ability to understand and speak their language, that had been of great interest to him from the moment he had heard it. How had he managed to do it? It wasn’t supposed to be possible after all, but Edward had been through enough in his life to know that impossibilities, were sometimes more possible than people would have you think. Still, he would never get the chance to know much about the creature, what with studying for his upcoming state alchemy exam and the lack of information Tucker gave him on the matter, still, it could wait for now.

Suddenly there was a loud shout, and Edward was jolted from his thought, a young girl not that far off from where he was now was running from a man before she fell onto the floor, and of course from the distance, Edward wasn’t quite sure what was going on, all he saw was her, seemingly frightened at the presence of a man, and that was enough to set his mind into motion. Drawing closer the elder Elric scanned the sidewalk, golden eyes catching sight of a stone which he hastily retrieved from the floor, throwing it in the air once and catching it before hurtling it at the man that seemed to be bothering the girl. Edward was often one for acting on impulse, and this was one of those times where he should have perhaps thought more on the situation, but as far as he was concerned this girl was in trouble, and therefore, she needed help. “Hey!” he shouted angrily, glaring at the man with intensity, if he had to pick up another stone, he would.