[fic] State of Mind - Chapter Two
Title: State of Mind
Author: elric_ward
Rating: PG
Genre: Survival. Slow burning plotfic
Word count: 1,371
Summary: Ward never liked the world, but he was content. Then life decided to turn things around and make it difficult for him.
Author Notes: Poor bugger just doesn’t know the right tricks. Hopefully things will look up soon?
I’m really getting into this writing thing. I’ve now got 8 more chapters (11 total + prologue) roughed out and a vague idea for the rest of the story (no set target size, but I have an idea of when it will end). Lol, I don’t care if I’m posting this to a near-dead comm. This is fun! I even got an ff.net account.
Prologue | Chapter One |
State of Mind
A Fullmetal Alchemist Zoofic by Elric ‘Hunter’ Ward
Copyright:
The Fullmetal Alchemist (Hagane no Renkinjutsushi) and all its respective work and ideas are copyrighted by Hiromu Arakawa and her distributors.
Comments and critique welcome.
Chapter Two
He hurt. Everywhere. He didn’t remember the journey back to his ‘den’, just a lot of staggered limping, crawling and a frantic break for water. When he hit the clearing with the big tree, the overwhelming relief he felt when he saw his metal box made him whimper out loud.
Scrambling quickly, he huddled right up the back of it, as far as possible from the world that had been such a source of confusion, fear and pain since he had awoken that morning. Curling up with his injured leg stretched out stiffly before him, Ward watched the world outside.
So, there was no Master here. The masters who were here were small and had painful monsters. Master had left him.
Ward stifled a sob and rising panic behind his hands. He didn’t hate Master. He didn’t like him either, but his life had been okay. He’d been fed and warm and clean. He should have snarled less, but he didn’t know he’d end up here. He didn’t know how to live here, he didn’t know anything about being not-domestic. He was cold, dirty and hungry.
<‘Stupid Master,’> he muttered, <‘Didn’t teach me the right tricks. Didn’t even leave me more pelts.’> He plucked tiredly at the sleeve of his pelt. It was so dirty, like the rest of him, he lamented. He glanced out at the darkening sky again, with its large intimidating tree branches clawing at the sky. He shivered as he glared at them. Fucking place with its monsters and dirt. He growled under his breath at the sky, heightening it before letting out a defiant and confused howl-wail at the half moon. With one last resentful look at the world-he-did-not-know and its big uncaring skies, the Elric closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. He needed a long rest before he thought more about his changed life problem. Exhaustion made restless sleep come quickly.
= = =
Ward’s ear flicked and then flicked twice again as bleary eyes opened. Something, something had woken him. He thought he had heard the Master return? Sitting up a little, he looked around nervously. He didn’t hear the Master and a cautious sniff didn’t reveal any scent of Master. There was a smell of something. Something that smelled of berries, comfort and…apples? Frowning, he slowly crawled to the entryway of his den-box as his nose twitched and sniffed. The morning light was soft and welcoming, although he knew better. This world was not soft and he was so hungry and…
Apples! There were three big apples just sitting a few metres from his den. His stomach growled at him to go eat those apples. Saliva was dripping from his mouth, as he cautiously edged out to the apples with his injured leg stiffly dragged behind him.
He sat over them cautiously. They looked so nice, but how did they get here? Was Master here? Was this a trick? Was there someone else? Whipping his head around he eyed the forests. The leaves swayed back at him and a bird was tweeting somewhere, but he couldn’t see anyone else. But…that berry-comfort scent was lingering. Was it someone?
He picked one of the apples and whuffed at it before giving it a tentative darting lick. It tasted like apple. Hesitantly eying his surroundings once more, Ward bit unto his apple quickly, juices running down his cheek. Hurriedly he ate the rest of it, core and all, the other two quick to follow.
Giving a contented burp, he stood and swayed awkwardly for a bit before stumbling over to a tree to relieve himself. Urgent business of bladder and stomach cared for, he staggered back to his den to settle down again and think.
<‘Fucking shit hole,’> he muttered as he poked a stick around. <‘No fucking idea what to do.’> The bird in the tree tweeted at him as he eyed it balefully. <‘I wonder if birds are edible?’> He snarled back. It tweeted again before flying off.
Ward sighed, <‘I know. I need to get clean.’> He pulled himself up and limp-staggered in the direction of that river, growling tiredly all the way. Now that he had a target, the distance was not so great although he was still panting by the time he got there.
Dropping to his knees with a wince, the Edward slowly lapped up enough water to fill up the rest of his belly. The cold water settled heavily at the bottom of his belly and he felt slightly ill. Pushing back the feelings, he looked at his reflection again. He was a mess. A huge, raggedy and muddy mess with a growing bruise on his face. He guessed from his run in with the yellow monster. Shuddering in memory at that horror, he carefully splashed his face again.
Well.
At least there was less mud, even if it was now a grimy spread down his face.
Next up he regarded his hair. It needed to be braided but… he’d never had to do it before. The masters had done it every morning for him. Now…with a frustrated sigh he combed his fingers through it, yanking at the knots. Then he, then he what? He grabs three parts and wraps them round?
The hair fell back.
He tried twisting it the other way, and again his hair fell back.
After many tries he finally nodded to himself in the water. He had braided his hair! By himself! Without help from any masters. Granted it was mostly repeated knots, tangles and a final larger knot to stop everything from swaying, but he had done it.
Smugly sitting up, the Elric finished off his grooming session with splashing his leg-pelts to get rid of the dirt. It…didn’t work as well as he’d hoped as he was now rather wet, but Ward thought there was less mud. Confident in his clean appearance, he limped back to his den.
= = =
Ward regarded the den uncertainly. It was a metal box with holes everywhere and half in a ditch. Even his latent and stunted instincts told him that none of this was good. He needed to move it, move it out of the ditch and to higher ground.
Pushing his arm-pelts back with quick movements, he limped over to the box. He was determined to make his new, if shitty, life work for him until the Master returned and that meant getting his den from there to there. Grabbing the side, he pushed! The den squelched. Ward kept pushing and slowly, so slowly the den squeeched its way out of the ditch and painstakingly across the muddy grass towards Ward’s new den-place. With a final ka-thump against the bark of a tree, he leant back breathing harshly and his leg aching fiercely. Panting, he staggered back from it to admire its new location and the muddy trail it had left behind it. Eyeing the holes present on its roof and sides, he looked around for leaves in reach and crammed them in. A pile of sticks, leaves and rocks quickly followed onto the roof as the Edward limped his way back and forth between his den and the forest.
It was almost complete. Now, it just needed bedding. Hanging onto a low branch of a nearby tree until it snapped and he could drag the branch, leaves and all, into the den solved that problem. Success! Looking around, Ward was surprised to note that the sun was low in the sky and the slight chill on the air. A quick trip to the river for a drink and another cleaning and he was ready to curl up in his new and improved den.
Sighing in the closest to happiness since he was stranded here, the Elric curled up in his den of metal, sticks and leaves to watch the sun slowly disappeared. Maybe he would make it, he thought blearily. At least until the Master comes back for him…
The small shape curled up tighter with his tail over his nose as it started to rain. Droplets filtered through the roof and landed on shivering ears.
<‘Great,’> came the disgusted reply from the den as the forest went dark and the stars glimmered.
= = =
No sign of missing pet
Volunteer groups have spent the past couple of days searching nearby woodland and parks for the stolen Elric. So far the Carter’s beloved pet has not been found.
When questioned, a lead was discovered from the newest member of the activist group. The young boy who was tricked into the theft has admitted that the group lost the Elric and its container while driving away from the mansion. He says he doesn’t know where or what road it was, just that “We heard a screech and it fell off. We figured it would be okay ‘cause it’d be in the wild and safe and stuff from humans now.”
Police investigations into the acts of the EPS (Elric Protection Squad) have resulted in the discovery of other stolen Elrics. Identifications are being made and Elrics are being returned to their owners or if unlicensed, to the National Amestris Zoo and Rehabilitation centres.
Next Chapter ->
Author: elric_ward
Rating: PG
Genre: Survival. Slow burning plotfic
Word count: 1,371
Summary: Ward never liked the world, but he was content. Then life decided to turn things around and make it difficult for him.
Author Notes: Poor bugger just doesn’t know the right tricks. Hopefully things will look up soon?
I’m really getting into this writing thing. I’ve now got 8 more chapters (11 total + prologue) roughed out and a vague idea for the rest of the story (no set target size, but I have an idea of when it will end). Lol, I don’t care if I’m posting this to a near-dead comm. This is fun! I even got an ff.net account.
Prologue | Chapter One |
State of Mind
A Fullmetal Alchemist Zoofic by Elric ‘Hunter’ Ward
Copyright:
The Fullmetal Alchemist (Hagane no Renkinjutsushi) and all its respective work and ideas are copyrighted by Hiromu Arakawa and her distributors.
Comments and critique welcome.
Chapter Two
He hurt. Everywhere. He didn’t remember the journey back to his ‘den’, just a lot of staggered limping, crawling and a frantic break for water. When he hit the clearing with the big tree, the overwhelming relief he felt when he saw his metal box made him whimper out loud.
Scrambling quickly, he huddled right up the back of it, as far as possible from the world that had been such a source of confusion, fear and pain since he had awoken that morning. Curling up with his injured leg stretched out stiffly before him, Ward watched the world outside.
So, there was no Master here. The masters who were here were small and had painful monsters. Master had left him.
Ward stifled a sob and rising panic behind his hands. He didn’t hate Master. He didn’t like him either, but his life had been okay. He’d been fed and warm and clean. He should have snarled less, but he didn’t know he’d end up here. He didn’t know how to live here, he didn’t know anything about being not-domestic. He was cold, dirty and hungry.
<‘Stupid Master,’> he muttered, <‘Didn’t teach me the right tricks. Didn’t even leave me more pelts.’> He plucked tiredly at the sleeve of his pelt. It was so dirty, like the rest of him, he lamented. He glanced out at the darkening sky again, with its large intimidating tree branches clawing at the sky. He shivered as he glared at them. Fucking place with its monsters and dirt. He growled under his breath at the sky, heightening it before letting out a defiant and confused howl-wail at the half moon. With one last resentful look at the world-he-did-not-know and its big uncaring skies, the Elric closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. He needed a long rest before he thought more about his changed life problem. Exhaustion made restless sleep come quickly.
= = =
Ward’s ear flicked and then flicked twice again as bleary eyes opened. Something, something had woken him. He thought he had heard the Master return? Sitting up a little, he looked around nervously. He didn’t hear the Master and a cautious sniff didn’t reveal any scent of Master. There was a smell of something. Something that smelled of berries, comfort and…apples? Frowning, he slowly crawled to the entryway of his den-box as his nose twitched and sniffed. The morning light was soft and welcoming, although he knew better. This world was not soft and he was so hungry and…
Apples! There were three big apples just sitting a few metres from his den. His stomach growled at him to go eat those apples. Saliva was dripping from his mouth, as he cautiously edged out to the apples with his injured leg stiffly dragged behind him.
He sat over them cautiously. They looked so nice, but how did they get here? Was Master here? Was this a trick? Was there someone else? Whipping his head around he eyed the forests. The leaves swayed back at him and a bird was tweeting somewhere, but he couldn’t see anyone else. But…that berry-comfort scent was lingering. Was it someone?
He picked one of the apples and whuffed at it before giving it a tentative darting lick. It tasted like apple. Hesitantly eying his surroundings once more, Ward bit unto his apple quickly, juices running down his cheek. Hurriedly he ate the rest of it, core and all, the other two quick to follow.
Giving a contented burp, he stood and swayed awkwardly for a bit before stumbling over to a tree to relieve himself. Urgent business of bladder and stomach cared for, he staggered back to his den to settle down again and think.
<‘Fucking shit hole,’> he muttered as he poked a stick around. <‘No fucking idea what to do.’> The bird in the tree tweeted at him as he eyed it balefully. <‘I wonder if birds are edible?’> He snarled back. It tweeted again before flying off.
Ward sighed, <‘I know. I need to get clean.’> He pulled himself up and limp-staggered in the direction of that river, growling tiredly all the way. Now that he had a target, the distance was not so great although he was still panting by the time he got there.
Dropping to his knees with a wince, the Edward slowly lapped up enough water to fill up the rest of his belly. The cold water settled heavily at the bottom of his belly and he felt slightly ill. Pushing back the feelings, he looked at his reflection again. He was a mess. A huge, raggedy and muddy mess with a growing bruise on his face. He guessed from his run in with the yellow monster. Shuddering in memory at that horror, he carefully splashed his face again.
Well.
At least there was less mud, even if it was now a grimy spread down his face.
Next up he regarded his hair. It needed to be braided but… he’d never had to do it before. The masters had done it every morning for him. Now…with a frustrated sigh he combed his fingers through it, yanking at the knots. Then he, then he what? He grabs three parts and wraps them round?
The hair fell back.
He tried twisting it the other way, and again his hair fell back.
After many tries he finally nodded to himself in the water. He had braided his hair! By himself! Without help from any masters. Granted it was mostly repeated knots, tangles and a final larger knot to stop everything from swaying, but he had done it.
Smugly sitting up, the Elric finished off his grooming session with splashing his leg-pelts to get rid of the dirt. It…didn’t work as well as he’d hoped as he was now rather wet, but Ward thought there was less mud. Confident in his clean appearance, he limped back to his den.
= = =
Ward regarded the den uncertainly. It was a metal box with holes everywhere and half in a ditch. Even his latent and stunted instincts told him that none of this was good. He needed to move it, move it out of the ditch and to higher ground.
Pushing his arm-pelts back with quick movements, he limped over to the box. He was determined to make his new, if shitty, life work for him until the Master returned and that meant getting his den from there to there. Grabbing the side, he pushed! The den squelched. Ward kept pushing and slowly, so slowly the den squeeched its way out of the ditch and painstakingly across the muddy grass towards Ward’s new den-place. With a final ka-thump against the bark of a tree, he leant back breathing harshly and his leg aching fiercely. Panting, he staggered back from it to admire its new location and the muddy trail it had left behind it. Eyeing the holes present on its roof and sides, he looked around for leaves in reach and crammed them in. A pile of sticks, leaves and rocks quickly followed onto the roof as the Edward limped his way back and forth between his den and the forest.
It was almost complete. Now, it just needed bedding. Hanging onto a low branch of a nearby tree until it snapped and he could drag the branch, leaves and all, into the den solved that problem. Success! Looking around, Ward was surprised to note that the sun was low in the sky and the slight chill on the air. A quick trip to the river for a drink and another cleaning and he was ready to curl up in his new and improved den.
Sighing in the closest to happiness since he was stranded here, the Elric curled up in his den of metal, sticks and leaves to watch the sun slowly disappeared. Maybe he would make it, he thought blearily. At least until the Master comes back for him…
The small shape curled up tighter with his tail over his nose as it started to rain. Droplets filtered through the roof and landed on shivering ears.
<‘Great,’> came the disgusted reply from the den as the forest went dark and the stars glimmered.
= = =
No sign of missing pet
Volunteer groups have spent the past couple of days searching nearby woodland and parks for the stolen Elric. So far the Carter’s beloved pet has not been found.
When questioned, a lead was discovered from the newest member of the activist group. The young boy who was tricked into the theft has admitted that the group lost the Elric and its container while driving away from the mansion. He says he doesn’t know where or what road it was, just that “We heard a screech and it fell off. We figured it would be okay ‘cause it’d be in the wild and safe and stuff from humans now.”
Police investigations into the acts of the EPS (Elric Protection Squad) have resulted in the discovery of other stolen Elrics. Identifications are being made and Elrics are being returned to their owners or if unlicensed, to the National Amestris Zoo and Rehabilitation centres.
Next Chapter ->