[fic] State of Mind - Chapter Five
Title: State of Mind
Author: elric_ward
Rating: M
Genre: Survival.
Word count: 1,769
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: Day late, woops. Last night was busy and I've spent all day today looking for the perfect jacket. Pity all the good ones are over $300 :(
Prologue | Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four |
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 Five
That damn bird was tweeting as Ward grumpily uncurled himself. It was time to face yet another day. One hopefully without the others and troubles he had before. He’d be happy if he just got his food, drinks and fixed up his clearing and den without disturbance.
Stretching the kinks out of his body, he gave a little contented roll in the doorway of his den. At least he had morning-foods. Even if Fons had given them to him as he suspected, it was his food now. Ward licked his lips as he hovered undecidedly between the meat and berries. What to eat first? The meat, he nodded to himself. It’d been awhile since he’d had a filling food. Even though it wasn’t cooked like Master gave him and covered in fur, it still looked very good. Not letting himself hesitate any longer, he sunk his teeth into the leg and tore of strips of sinew. Juices ran down his face and the fur added an undecidedly pleasant texture, although it tickled the back of his throat. It wasn’t too bad. It was great actually. He would have to work out how to get his own rabbit. Maybe he could provoke the Mustang into doing the fire-snap and get it cooked. It might work if he stuck the body in a tree.
He munched thoughtfully on the rest of the leg, bones cracking between his teeth and releasing the marrow. It could work. The dog would be too stupid to realise his amazing plan.
Smiling, Ward shoved the rest of the berries in his mouth while he stood up, brushing the crumbs from his fading pelts. But first, he needed to fix his shelter roof up. Since the rain dripped through onto him…and maybe a door to keep the wind out, he added to his mental list.
Looking around the clearing he spotted a suitable tree with big leaves the size of his hands. That would prove good for blocking the roof holes! He just had to…get them. Trotting over to it, he looked up. It was very high to the first few leaves, very high indeed.
Well.
He was an Elric. He would get up there and get those damn leaves. With new determination he crouched, flexed his nearly-healed leg, and leapt. Gasping desperately with his hands and digging his feet in, he did his best to stop sliding down. Once he’d stopped moving he chanced opening his eyes and looking down.
We was two feet off the ground. He looked up. About 10 feet to go. Breathing in, he slowly clambered, scrambled, inched and wiggled his way up the trunk to that first branch and hung onto it desperately. Crawling out upside down on it, he moved forward to the leaves, feeling the branch lowering with his body weight.
Almost there…. <‘Aha!’> he crowed with a handful of leaves, <‘I win tree! I win! No-one can beat me!’> He jiggled with glee, quickly leaning forward to grab the next clump with his mouth.
CRreeeeeeSNAP went the branch and Ward plummeted down with his prize into the dirt. <‘Nrgnnnnnn,’> he mumbled into his new face plant. Well, at least he had the leaves.
Pulling himself over to hid den, he set about shoving the leaves into all the holes he could find. Satisfied with his new rain-stopping invention, Ward sat back to admire it. Okay, so it wasn’t clean like his last den, and it was small…and dirty…and a quick sniff confirmed it smelled, but it was his, all his and he had made it all by himself.
Ward strutted around the clearing, proud of his latest accomplishment. It was even worth a tail twitch or two. Oh yes, he was awesome. Amazing. The best Edward ever! If this new trick didn’t impress the Master, nothing would!
Wait.
There was something missing.
He circled the den-box and its tree several times, then once again the reverse direction. He knew what it needed! A door.
Scrambling off into the bush, he soon found the branches he needed. It was much harder to drag them back to his den than it was to find them. Eventually he has them piled up in front of the entry way with a small…Elric-sized, not small space left behind for getting in and out. He shoved some branches inside the den to use as a cover-up for the hole.
Clapping his hands free of dirt, he nodded to himself. He was done for the day in the clearing. Time to get a drink, clean up and put Catch-Rabbit-Make-Dog-Burn-It-Plan in motion. Oh yes, this would be fun.
= = =
<‘Aaaaaaaah. That was good.’> he sighed, wiping traces of water away from his face. After all that work, he had needed it. Splashing his face some more, he managed to wipe of most of his newly acquired dirt.
<‘Now time to get that rabbit!’> Gleefully rubbing his hands together in anticipation, Ward turned around to go find one.
A master was standing there. Ward blinked at him, then rubbed his eyes. Nope, there was still a master there. <‘Home? Master? Going home?’> Screw getting a rabbit, he was going home! Yipping gleefully, he zipped towards to his salvation. <‘Master master master master take me to Master?! Thank you thank you thank you thank-‘>
The world slipped sideways as Ward pitched forward onto his face for the second time that day.
<‘Mas…terrrr?’> He rolled his eye in his head, trying to see the master. Everything was fading as his hearing tunnelled out and he stared vaguely at a master’s foot-covers. Where had they come from? Wasn’t there a master nearby? Ward succumbed to the beckoning darkness with a slight sigh.
= = =
Ranger Marty put his rifle down and breathed a sigh of relief. His hands were shaky, but he hadn’t honestly expected the Elric, definitely an Edward, to charge him. He’d nearly frozen in front of its growls and sudden burst of speed.
Walking over he cautiously nudged the Elric, ensuring that he was definitely out and not stunned. No response. Good, he could get on with his job. He’d been looking for the Elric that had been hit by the bus and it seemed likely this was it. He’d come across no other Elrics - Edwards or Alphonses - in this part of the Park and the Alfons nearby was fine. Nor was the nearby gunbu pack harbouring any new members. This had to be the one.
Kneeling down with his notebook, he quickly wrote down what he had found so far. Elric…Edward variety. Young subadult, about 8 or 9 years old. Dressed in human clothing. No pelts of its own visible. Aggressive nature, charges.
Marty checked the Elric over for any recent injuries or possible breaks. Aside from some severe bruising on the left side of the body, particularly around the leg, it seemed to be relatively healthy. If a bit thin for the Autumn season. He assumed it probably wasn’t having much luck in this location when stocking up for the winter.
Healthy appearance…severe bruising…no breaks or fractures. Bit thin.
Leaning in closer, he checked more carefully. The Elric hadn’t been looking after itself too well, and the knotted state of his hair indicated that he wasn’t pair-bonded or courting another creature. A tag on his ear was of curiosity. Marty would have to look it up on the data banks later, see what area the Elric had come from as it certainly wasn’t one of their tags, being blue instead of green.
No pair-bond, probably searching for a mate. Uncared for hair, blue tag #326. Estimated height… 5’3 or 5’2.
Standing up and giving a stretch, the ranger looked around. No obvious den or hunting tracks were present. The trees on the other side were newly burnt, so it looked like the Mustang was still nearby and active although no signs were present to indicate a fight between an Edward and Mustang. Those nearly always left explosions, rocks and random debris around.
“Well little fella, that’s it for now. I’ll check up on you in a couple of weeks, eh? You stay away from that Mustang, right?” Marty smiled at the little Edward while he packed his stuff up and gave it the reverse-injection.
“Take care then little guy. Why don’t you head off a little further north? We’ve got a lovely Alfons you can pair-up with. Alphonses too.”
Swinging the rifle over his shoulder, Marty strode of whistling. The Park will be pleased to find out they finally had an Edward present. Especially so close to their unbonded Alfons and Alphonses.
= = =
Ward opened his eyes. His head was swimming and his stomach was nauseous. It took a huge effort for him to pull himself up onto his knees. He wobbled there while his bleary eyes searched for the master.
<‘Master? Where did you go? Master? MASTER?!’>
The master was gone. Maybe his Master didn’t want him anymore, and was just making sure he stayed away. Sighing morosely, he wobbled his way to his feet and shuffled off dejectedly to his den.
= = =
Bus fighting Elric found; healthy and well says Ranger
The Elric that stood down a school bus has been discovered to be “…healthy and well”, says a Ranger from the Amestris National Park.
After a few days combing the nearby forest, the injured Elric was found on the fringes of the park. After sedation, a quick study showed that the Elric had suffered no more than severe bruising and a possible concussion. The leg appears to be well and not broken or fractured.
The up-close study confirmed that the Elric is indeed of the Edward type. The Park mentions its relief that the teachers kept the children away, as Edwards are notoriously aggressive and will attack when confused and in pain. The Park stresses that when people come across an Elric, it is best to phone for help as the school did and not attempt to handle the situation yourself.
The Park is most excited to have a confirmed Edward present in the area. “This is great for the endangered species!” says Patrica Fowell, the park manager. “We have an Alfons of the Heiderich variation present nearby to the Edwards location, as well as a couple of other Alphonses further in the park. We hope that this Edward is looking to settle down. Even if he is not searching, this is a great opportunity to learn more.”
The Amestris National Park is open 9:00am to 5:30pm every weekday with special night viewings available at request.
Next Chapter ->
Author: elric_ward
Rating: M
Genre: Survival.
Word count: 1,769
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: Day late, woops. Last night was busy and I've spent all day today looking for the perfect jacket. Pity all the good ones are over $300 :(
Prologue | Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four |
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 Five
That damn bird was tweeting as Ward grumpily uncurled himself. It was time to face yet another day. One hopefully without the others and troubles he had before. He’d be happy if he just got his food, drinks and fixed up his clearing and den without disturbance.
Stretching the kinks out of his body, he gave a little contented roll in the doorway of his den. At least he had morning-foods. Even if Fons had given them to him as he suspected, it was his food now. Ward licked his lips as he hovered undecidedly between the meat and berries. What to eat first? The meat, he nodded to himself. It’d been awhile since he’d had a filling food. Even though it wasn’t cooked like Master gave him and covered in fur, it still looked very good. Not letting himself hesitate any longer, he sunk his teeth into the leg and tore of strips of sinew. Juices ran down his face and the fur added an undecidedly pleasant texture, although it tickled the back of his throat. It wasn’t too bad. It was great actually. He would have to work out how to get his own rabbit. Maybe he could provoke the Mustang into doing the fire-snap and get it cooked. It might work if he stuck the body in a tree.
He munched thoughtfully on the rest of the leg, bones cracking between his teeth and releasing the marrow. It could work. The dog would be too stupid to realise his amazing plan.
Smiling, Ward shoved the rest of the berries in his mouth while he stood up, brushing the crumbs from his fading pelts. But first, he needed to fix his shelter roof up. Since the rain dripped through onto him…and maybe a door to keep the wind out, he added to his mental list.
Looking around the clearing he spotted a suitable tree with big leaves the size of his hands. That would prove good for blocking the roof holes! He just had to…get them. Trotting over to it, he looked up. It was very high to the first few leaves, very high indeed.
Well.
He was an Elric. He would get up there and get those damn leaves. With new determination he crouched, flexed his nearly-healed leg, and leapt. Gasping desperately with his hands and digging his feet in, he did his best to stop sliding down. Once he’d stopped moving he chanced opening his eyes and looking down.
We was two feet off the ground. He looked up. About 10 feet to go. Breathing in, he slowly clambered, scrambled, inched and wiggled his way up the trunk to that first branch and hung onto it desperately. Crawling out upside down on it, he moved forward to the leaves, feeling the branch lowering with his body weight.
Almost there…. <‘Aha!’> he crowed with a handful of leaves, <‘I win tree! I win! No-one can beat me!’> He jiggled with glee, quickly leaning forward to grab the next clump with his mouth.
CRreeeeeeSNAP went the branch and Ward plummeted down with his prize into the dirt. <‘Nrgnnnnnn,’> he mumbled into his new face plant. Well, at least he had the leaves.
Pulling himself over to hid den, he set about shoving the leaves into all the holes he could find. Satisfied with his new rain-stopping invention, Ward sat back to admire it. Okay, so it wasn’t clean like his last den, and it was small…and dirty…and a quick sniff confirmed it smelled, but it was his, all his and he had made it all by himself.
Ward strutted around the clearing, proud of his latest accomplishment. It was even worth a tail twitch or two. Oh yes, he was awesome. Amazing. The best Edward ever! If this new trick didn’t impress the Master, nothing would!
Wait.
There was something missing.
He circled the den-box and its tree several times, then once again the reverse direction. He knew what it needed! A door.
Scrambling off into the bush, he soon found the branches he needed. It was much harder to drag them back to his den than it was to find them. Eventually he has them piled up in front of the entry way with a small…Elric-sized, not small space left behind for getting in and out. He shoved some branches inside the den to use as a cover-up for the hole.
Clapping his hands free of dirt, he nodded to himself. He was done for the day in the clearing. Time to get a drink, clean up and put Catch-Rabbit-Make-Dog-Burn-It-Plan in motion. Oh yes, this would be fun.
= = =
<‘Aaaaaaaah. That was good.’> he sighed, wiping traces of water away from his face. After all that work, he had needed it. Splashing his face some more, he managed to wipe of most of his newly acquired dirt.
<‘Now time to get that rabbit!’> Gleefully rubbing his hands together in anticipation, Ward turned around to go find one.
A master was standing there. Ward blinked at him, then rubbed his eyes. Nope, there was still a master there. <‘Home? Master? Going home?’> Screw getting a rabbit, he was going home! Yipping gleefully, he zipped towards to his salvation. <‘Master master master master take me to Master?! Thank you thank you thank you thank-‘>
The world slipped sideways as Ward pitched forward onto his face for the second time that day.
<‘Mas…terrrr?’> He rolled his eye in his head, trying to see the master. Everything was fading as his hearing tunnelled out and he stared vaguely at a master’s foot-covers. Where had they come from? Wasn’t there a master nearby? Ward succumbed to the beckoning darkness with a slight sigh.
= = =
Ranger Marty put his rifle down and breathed a sigh of relief. His hands were shaky, but he hadn’t honestly expected the Elric, definitely an Edward, to charge him. He’d nearly frozen in front of its growls and sudden burst of speed.
Walking over he cautiously nudged the Elric, ensuring that he was definitely out and not stunned. No response. Good, he could get on with his job. He’d been looking for the Elric that had been hit by the bus and it seemed likely this was it. He’d come across no other Elrics - Edwards or Alphonses - in this part of the Park and the Alfons nearby was fine. Nor was the nearby gunbu pack harbouring any new members. This had to be the one.
Kneeling down with his notebook, he quickly wrote down what he had found so far. Elric…Edward variety. Young subadult, about 8 or 9 years old. Dressed in human clothing. No pelts of its own visible. Aggressive nature, charges.
Marty checked the Elric over for any recent injuries or possible breaks. Aside from some severe bruising on the left side of the body, particularly around the leg, it seemed to be relatively healthy. If a bit thin for the Autumn season. He assumed it probably wasn’t having much luck in this location when stocking up for the winter.
Healthy appearance…severe bruising…no breaks or fractures. Bit thin.
Leaning in closer, he checked more carefully. The Elric hadn’t been looking after itself too well, and the knotted state of his hair indicated that he wasn’t pair-bonded or courting another creature. A tag on his ear was of curiosity. Marty would have to look it up on the data banks later, see what area the Elric had come from as it certainly wasn’t one of their tags, being blue instead of green.
No pair-bond, probably searching for a mate. Uncared for hair, blue tag #326. Estimated height… 5’3 or 5’2.
Standing up and giving a stretch, the ranger looked around. No obvious den or hunting tracks were present. The trees on the other side were newly burnt, so it looked like the Mustang was still nearby and active although no signs were present to indicate a fight between an Edward and Mustang. Those nearly always left explosions, rocks and random debris around.
“Well little fella, that’s it for now. I’ll check up on you in a couple of weeks, eh? You stay away from that Mustang, right?” Marty smiled at the little Edward while he packed his stuff up and gave it the reverse-injection.
“Take care then little guy. Why don’t you head off a little further north? We’ve got a lovely Alfons you can pair-up with. Alphonses too.”
Swinging the rifle over his shoulder, Marty strode of whistling. The Park will be pleased to find out they finally had an Edward present. Especially so close to their unbonded Alfons and Alphonses.
= = =
Ward opened his eyes. His head was swimming and his stomach was nauseous. It took a huge effort for him to pull himself up onto his knees. He wobbled there while his bleary eyes searched for the master.
<‘Master? Where did you go? Master? MASTER?!’>
The master was gone. Maybe his Master didn’t want him anymore, and was just making sure he stayed away. Sighing morosely, he wobbled his way to his feet and shuffled off dejectedly to his den.
= = =
Bus fighting Elric found; healthy and well says Ranger
The Elric that stood down a school bus has been discovered to be “…healthy and well”, says a Ranger from the Amestris National Park.
After a few days combing the nearby forest, the injured Elric was found on the fringes of the park. After sedation, a quick study showed that the Elric had suffered no more than severe bruising and a possible concussion. The leg appears to be well and not broken or fractured.
The up-close study confirmed that the Elric is indeed of the Edward type. The Park mentions its relief that the teachers kept the children away, as Edwards are notoriously aggressive and will attack when confused and in pain. The Park stresses that when people come across an Elric, it is best to phone for help as the school did and not attempt to handle the situation yourself.
The Park is most excited to have a confirmed Edward present in the area. “This is great for the endangered species!” says Patrica Fowell, the park manager. “We have an Alfons of the Heiderich variation present nearby to the Edwards location, as well as a couple of other Alphonses further in the park. We hope that this Edward is looking to settle down. Even if he is not searching, this is a great opportunity to learn more.”
The Amestris National Park is open 9:00am to 5:30pm every weekday with special night viewings available at request.
Next Chapter ->